#3992: Shatterstar

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

SHATTERSTAR

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“An alien warrior from another planet, Shatterstar’s whole body has been scientifically redesigned to make him the ultimate warrior! That means his reflexes are super-humanly fast, his endurance is unmatched and his ability in battle is overwhelming. Shatterstar can learn how to use any weapon, no matter how strange, in seconds. But his favorite weapons are his swords which can easily slice through even the toughest steel!”

How often do you get to write a review of a guy who’s his own grandpa?  Well, if you’re me, about once every year and a half, averaging it out.  Admittedly, that’s literally all Shatterstar and Longshot, who are locked in a time-travel-based cycle of father and son…or something.  Look, we’re not gonna deal with that, because today we’re jumping back to a time before all of that, when Shatterstar was just a guy with weird two bladed swords and no discernible backstory or motivation at all.  Oh yeah!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shatterstar was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  It was his first figure, and one of three he got during Toy Biz’s run.  This one, unlike the later ones, was based on his original costume design, in all its inconsistent Liefeld-y goodness.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  His articulation is all the basics for the scale, and, unlike a number of the others in this first set, he even gets both elbow joints.  His sculpt was new, and remained unique to his release.  It’s on par with the other figures in the first series, which is to say it’s kind of an awkward sort of thing.  Details are kind of on the softer side, with his face in particular just sort of seeming like silly putty.  The build on him is skinnier than later figures, which is ultimately closer to Shatterstar’s usual build, especially under Liefeld, but he’s got an oddly small waist, and oddly large legs.  His stance is sort of stiff, and not really natural, and his feet are strangely positioned.  So, you know, the whole thing’s just rather awkward, is what I’m getting at.  It’s not really a shock this one never got re-used.  Shatterstar’s paint work is notably thick and shiny in its application, which makes him look especially fake and plastic, but…I mean, the color work is good, so there’s at least that.  Shatterstar is packed with a pair of his two bladed swords.  They’re both the same sculpt, which means the left sword’s blades angle the wrong way outwards.  That said, the sizing feels more accurate than the later ones, since they’re not too small, and the alternate coloring on the hilts is really nice.  Shatterstar has a “slashing” action feature; turning his waist swings both arms up and down in an alternating fashion.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Two-and-a-half decades ago, give or take, I was staying at my grandparents house, and found a random issue of X-Force (issue 6, I’m fairly certain), which my father had rescued from a donation bin while working at the library years prior.  It was my first exposure to the book, or Liefeld in general, and, being 8, I loved it.  Shatterstar was central to the issue, so my next trip to Cosmic Comix involved me getting this guy, because I thought he was cool.  He is absolutely not a great figure, but I loved him at the time, and it’s saddled me with this nostalgic twinge for Shatterstar ever since, which is, I guess, okay?  So, you know, I kinda love him, even if he’s not great. 

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0060: Thor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

THOR

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

When does a Flashback Friday Figure Addendum come a day late?  When it’s actually a Thor’s day!  …Get it?  Because, you know, it’s, Thor.  And Thursday’s his day?  Yep, I’ll just show myself out, then.  Actually, no I won’t, because it’s my site, so I kinda need to be here.  You guys are free to leave any time though, so, you know, just putting that out there.  Let’s look at Thor again!

“Thor, the legendary Norse God of Thunder, is the most powerful Marvel Super Hero. With his amazing hammer, Mjolnir, Thor can fly, smash through any obstacle and create and control the mightiest storms – even tornadoes and hurricanes. Though Thor’s home is Asgard, where all the Norse gods live, Thor spends most of his time on Earth with his friends Iron Man and Captain America helping them fight the forces of evil and injustice that threaten the world.”

Happy Thorsday everyone! …She already did this bit earlier, didn’t she? *sigh* This is what I get for letting other people write for the site. Well, there goes my intro. Anyway, I’m also looking at a Thor figure today, but I’m looking at the original, Odinson variety of Thor. This one hails from the ‘90s, which was actually a pretty barren time for Thor figures, believe it or not. There were only three figures of him in the space of the decade, and today I look at the first of those three.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Thor was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line, alongside fellow Avenger and previous subject of review Iron Man. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. He’s ostensibly based on Thor’s classic design, though he’s a bit removed from how he usually looks. See how he doesn’t have a cape? There’s no missing piece there; he just never had a cape. They left it out, for whatever reason. Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they were actually basing him on Thor from Adventures in Babysitting? I mean, he doesn’t look *unlike* Vincent D’Onofrio. Maybe I’m onto something here. Thor’s sculpt was unique to him, and follows the style seen with the likes of Cap, Iron Man, and Silver Surfer. There’s a definite Super Powers sort of aesthetic, albeit a slightly dumbed down version. It’s not quite as strong a sculpt as Series 1’s Captain America (which is probably my favorite in the line), but it’s certainly an improvement over the really goofy Iron Man sculpt. Still, he’s kind of oddly proportioned, and the hair just sort of looks weird suddenly stopping the way it does. Thor’s paintwork follows the sculpt in its strange lack of cohesion to his usual design. Instead of the usual black for the tunic, this guy’s got the same blue used on his pants. It makes for a slightly less bold look, and means he looks a little blander than usual. It probably that doesn’t help that the little chest circles are light blue instead of silver, and the helmet is just a straight white. The paint definitely seams a bit lax on this guy. Thor was originally packed with his hammer Mjolnir, which mine is missing. He also has a hammer swinging action feature built into his right arm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Marvel Super Heroes Series 2 was pretty much entirely gone from retail when I started collecting, so I went quite a while without a Thor (all I had was the rather lackluster Marvel Masterpiece boxed set version). I ended up getting this guy over the summer, via Yesterday’s Fun. He’s okay, I guess. Not anything amazing, but he fits well enough with the rest of the set of Marvel Super Heroes Avengers.

This review originally ran second on the day it was published, following a guest review by my late wife Jess, who had reviewed the Marvel Legends Jane Foster Thor, and had, appropriately, stolen my thunder on the opening joke.  We’d actually deliberately planned it out that way, because we liked being silly in the public view.  That was quite a bit of fun.

I think my actual review on this guy was generally solid.  He’s got some issues that hold him back from being great, but in the larger context of Marvel Super Heroes, he works well enough.  What I was missing at the time were his accessories.  I called out the missing hammer, but neglected to mention that he also included a lightning bolt piece.  I have subsequently located replacements for mine, and along the way also determined that there were actually two lengths of hammer for this figure, one long, and one short.  There also exist two different molds of this release, one with a button for his hammer throwing feature, and one without.  Now I have both.  Hurrah.

#3991: AT-AT Commander & Driver

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

AT-AT COMMANDER & DRIVER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Oh man, I haven’t reviewed any Power of the Force II figures since last year, you guys! …that’s, like, a whole month.  Crazy.  So, let’s jump back into the fray of ‘90s Kenner 3 3/4-inch Star Wars! As I make my way through what remains of the line, I am, of course, running low on standard release figures, but there’s still the oddball and pack-in releases to be considered.  Early in the line, the vehicles were packaged without figures, but as the line progressed, and Kenner was looking to get as many figures out as possible, pack-ins became the standard.  Most just included a single figure, but the line’s largest vehicle, the Electronic AT-AT, featured two figures of its own, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The AT-AT Commander and Driver were packed in with the Star Wars: Power of the Force II AT-AT, released in 1997.  Both figures were exclusive to this set, and remained so for the run of the line.

The Commander is unnamed, but is clearly meant to be General Maximillian Veers, the primary AT-AT Commander seen in the movie’s Hoth battle.  This was his second figure, following up on his vintage counterpart.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt is similar to the other Imperial Officer figures the line put out, albeit with the obvious change-up that he’s wearing the armor seen in the AT-AT scenes.  His detailing is definitely on the softer side, and his head seems a touch oversized relative to the body sculpt, but I do really like the detailing on the armored sections of the uniform.  There’s not really much of a Julian Glover likeness, but it doesn’t look *unlike* him, and the uniform is distinct enough that it’s pretty clear who he’s supposed to be.  His color work is basic, but does all the stuff it needs to do.  I do also really appreciate that he’s got the varied grey shades, to help the armor and cloth stand-out from each other.

I’ve actually already looked at *an* AT-AT Driver from Power of the Force, but it wasn’t this one, it was the ever so slightly different single card release that they did so that people could have a second Driver to pilot the AT-AT without needing to buy a whole second big vehicle.  This one’s the original, though.  He’s really not different, in a broad sense (and, in fact, you would’t really want him to be), but he’s the slightest bit taller than the single, and his pose is a bit more rigid.  The details are also somewhat softer on this release than the single, more in line with the Commander’s sculpt.  His paint work is more or less identical, though, and that’s again a good thing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

At one point in time, I considered going the route of buying the vehicles that came with figures for my complete run of Power of the Force, but this was the one that broke me, because it’s so big, and kind of pricey, and I just wasn’t looking for the commitment.  Thankfully, I was able to find both of the pack-in figures loose, so that made that whole bit easier for me.  These figures aren’t great by any stretch, but they’re decent enough, provided you’re not buying a big vehicle to get them.

#3990: Crusading Chameleon

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

COLOR CHANGING CRUSADING CHAMELEON

THE TICK (BANDAI)

“Can’t….do….plaid!”

Hey, how ‘bout a little more Tick?  Not, you know, actually the Tick himself, of course, but something I think is just as good, if not perhaps a little better.  I may be slightly biased, though.  Last week, I talked about some of the colorful allies added to the cast by the cartoon.  While some of them were short on appearances, a few were recurring players.  In season 1, Die Fledermaus and Sewer Urchin were the most frequent collaborators, but joining them more than a few times was the Crusading Chameleon (though, he was actually dubbed the “Caped Chameleon” in the show’s pilot).  He’s a fun quirky character who gets some decent use, but was ultimately dropped for practical reasons having nothing to do with the character himself at all.  Between the first and second season of the show, the Monkees went back on tour, which meant that Mickey Dolenz was unavailable to continue voicing Arthur.  Rob Paulsen stepped in to replace him for the rest of the show, which meant that Crusading Chameleon, voiced by Paulsen in the first season, was written out to avoid having Paulsen doubling up.  But, his prominent spot in the show’s first season meant he got in on the merch, so hey, action figure coverage!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Color Changing Crusading Chameleon was released in the second series of Bandai’s The Tick tie-in line.  Amusingly, the series hit during the show’s second season, after he’d been written out, but who am I to complain about a Crusading Chameleon figure.  He may have been off the show, but he can have infinite adventures…in my mind!  The figure is about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  He gets the basic 5 POA of the others in the line, but also gets swivels on his forearms and lower legs, as well as a moving tail, which is all pretty fun.  His sculpt was unique to him, and remained so.  The first series sculpts were kind of rudimentary, but Series 2 made some definite strides forward.  As such, Crusading Chameleon has a sculpt that’s actually a fair bit nicer than the last two figures I looked at, with a closer match to his animation model, as well as better scaling relative to the other characters.  He’s got a degree of pre-posing, but it’s a pose that works well for the character, and it’s such that he can get some variety out of the articulation despite the pre-posing.  The cape is a separate piece; it’s rather thin, hard plastic, which remains free-floating.  It’s a little stiff and static, but generally, it works well enough.  His color work is generally simple enough, matching his color scheme on the show pretty well.  It ties into the figure’s action feature, which allows him to change colors, much like on the show (provided it’s not plaid he’s trying to do).  Exposing his eyes and hands to cold changes them from their usual green to a reddish brown, and heating them back up changes them up again.  It’s gimmicky and all, but it’s fun, and it works surprisingly welll, even three decades later.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been a Crusading Chameleon fan since first seeing him in “Tick vs The Idea Men.”  I missed most of the Tick toys when they were new, so it wasn’t until later, towards the end of high school, that I tracked any down.  The internet wasn’t as forgiving on information about the line at the time, which meant I didn’t actually know that this guy existed, so I thought the only Crusading Chameleon was the little figurine, so that was the line I backed.  Years later, I discovered this figure’s existence, and he’s been on my list sort of passively since.  When I got Arthur for Christmas, that reignited my interest, so I finally put in the effort to track one of these down.  I’m really glad I did, because he’s a ton of fun in the best possible way.

#3989: Superman & Krypto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

SUPERMAN & KRYPTO — 2025 MOVIE

MOVIE MASTERPIECE SERIES (HASBRO)

Last year definitely had some good movies, but none stood out to me as much as Superman, far and away my favorite movie of the year.  Heck, I liked it enough to see it six times in the theatre and as a parent of two, I frequently don’t get to see movies I like *once* in the theatre.  In the dumpster fire that was 2025, Superman was a movie that really connected with me, and gave me some hope that maybe, just maybe, being a good person was still a worthwhile thing.  David Corenswet’s performance as the title character is, to my eyes, a defining performance, and I’ve been snagging a bunch of toy coverage of him as its come along.  Since it’s kind of one of my favorite movies now, it’s also the sort of movie I feel comfortable dropping actual, serious money on the merch for, which, more specifically, means I’m dropping Hot Toys level money, you know, on a Hot Toys figure.  And hey, now I’ll have two Hot Toys reviews that are punk rock!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is figure MMS812 Hot Toys’ Movie Masterpiece Series. Numerically, he’s wedged between the Revenge of the Sith Darth Vader and First Steps Thing.  He started hitting domestically right in the last couple of weeks of 2025, which is a pretty nice turnaround relative to the movie’s release.  This is the first, and thus far only, offering from Superman by Hot Toys.  Officially, it’s billed as a Superman and Krypto set, but it’s very definitely a Superman figure that includes Krypto as an accessory, so I’ll be reviewing it as such.  The figure stands just under 13 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

Unlike most of the more recent Hot Toys figures on which I’ve focused, Superman only gets a single head sculpt, rather than multiples, though that’s largely because he doesn’t have a masked look like the others.  Instead, this one just focuses on his main Superman look.  It does have moving eyes, much like Spider-Punk’s unmasked head.  They’re not PERS (the parallel rolling system), so you have to actually match them up manually, which can take some finessing.  Thankfully, they’re also not prone to popping out of the sockets the same way as Punk’s, which I’m certainly a fan of.  The actual head sculpt is generally pretty solid.  I’m not sure it’s quite a spot-on Corenswet.  I think the eyes are a touch large (a frequent symptom of the moving eye feature on these), and his jaw feels a little too small relative to the rest of his features.  That said, it’s still a very lifelike sculpt, and there’s a lot of Corenswet’s likeness visible in the final product.  This marks the first of the figures I’ve looked at from this movie that I think gets his hair right, rather than plastering it down to his sides more than it was in the movie, so I do certainly appreciate that.  I also like the expression, which isn’t too dour or serious, and is thusly in keeping with Corenswet’s portrayal of Clark.  The paint work is up to HT’s usual standards of lifelike nature.  Nothing surprising, but still very good.

Corenswet’s Superman costume was the topic of a lot of discussion prior to the film’s release, with mixed opinions about how well it translated the classic look.  I’ve been happy they kept the red trunks since the beginning, and I’ve warmed up to the other elements over time, notably the collar, which was my biggest point of contention when it was first shown off.  I think it’s a look that benefits from being seen in motion, but also getting to see it in-hand helps it too.  The figure’s suit is largely one piece, much like the movie.  The trunks and belt are separate, but not designed for removal, and the same is true of the cape.  There’s a pair of plastic boots/feet as well, which sell the whole thing.  The suit is well tailored to the figure, and fits more or less like it does in the movie.  The texturing seems a touch exaggerated from what we see on-screen, but not to the point of distraction.  The slightly rubberized nature of the suit does mean you’ll want to be careful about leaving it in deep poses; I’ve have him in a flying pose with one knee bent since opening him, and noticed a bit of stretching when I returned him to a neutral pose.  Nothing that will ruin the figure, but worth noting.  The cape has wiring running through it, so you can do a bit of posing, to the extent that gravity lets you, of course.  I quite like the sculpted “S” on the back of the cape, as it gives it a nice pop.  The boots are perhaps my favorite piece of the suit, as they’re a flexible enough material that he can still use his ankle joints, which is a rarity on other figures at this scale.  I’m also quite a fan of the coloring on the suit, which is more in line with the film’s final coloring than the other merchandise has been.

The underlying body is designed for a mix of posing and build.  It’s a good match for Corenswet’s build in the role, which helps the head sculpt in selling the likeness.  It’s decently posable, and the costume sits nicely on it, making it a good fit for all the things in needs to do.

Superman is packed with the Krypto mentioned in the title, as well as 10 hands and a display stand. 

 Krypto is mentioned as part of the figure set here, and, well, that’s honestly kind of a misnomer.  I get the appeal of pushing Krypto, what with him being a rather popular part of the movie and all, but what we get here isn’t a proper figure at all, just more of a figurine that accompanies the main figure.  Apart from wiring in his cloth cape to match Clark’s, Krypto isn’t posable, just in the one flying pose.  He gets a flight stand of his own to hold him up, which is good, since it’s not like he can really stand on his own.  His sculpt is a fine match for the the model in the movie, but does feel rather soft on detailing for a Hot Toys offering.  The paint is likewise a bit thick and basic for the most part.

Superman himself gets hands in relaxed, fist, gripping, flat, and open gesture poses, which work the way all Hot Toys hands do.  They give him a nice selection of variety, but I’m also not going to be swapping them like crazy, as they take a bit of doing.  The display stand is a rather elaborate, somewhat modular piece, patterned on part of the Fortress of Solitude.  It’s impressive, and I like the options for how to use it.  There’s two ways to attach him to it, with the standard “cradle” attachment piece, as well as an arm with a magnetic attachment to aid in flying poses.  I wish the magnetic arm had a joint on it for some more variety in angles, but I definitely like the magnetic set-up for use with the flying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Superman was my favorite comic book movie since Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is a pretty big deal for me, because I *really* like The Winter Soldier (and also saw it six times int he theatre).  Unfortunately, I stopped my main stretch of Hot Toys collecting just before the Winter Soldier figures got released, so I never got Cap from that movie, which I always regretted.  I wasn’t planning to do that again, so I made sure to get myself down for this guy fairly quickly.  I was primarily in this for the Superman, with Krypto more as an accessory, and that’s good, because that’s how the final product worked out.  I definitely feel like the “set” angle is a marketing move more than a proper approach from the beginning.  That said, the Clark figure is pretty darn fantastic, and a really great representation of the character for the shelf.  He poses well, looks very nice on display, and with the big stand set-up, he makes for quite a centerpiece.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3988: Kane

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

KANE

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Evil Mutants watch out! The long arm of justice now has a name: Kane, the mutant with the “rocket-powered” hand! Few people know his past, and those that do keep quiet about it-if they know what’s good for them! Kane’s an expert tracker, and can master even the most complex weapons system in minutes. But his flying hand with its vise-like grip is his favorite weapon-and the one his enemies fear the most.”

Hey, here we are, back with more X-Force!  It’s a thing that I am most certainly an expert on, just through and through, because I know so very much about all the X-Force stuff.  Take for instance, Kane.  He’s…a guy named “Kane.”  Umm….evil mutants watch out?  Long arm of justice?  Expert tracker?  Kane?

Okay, joking aside, I know a little bit about Kane, who was introduced early in the X-Force run as a guy from Cable’s past back before they’d really nailed down what exactly that past might be.  He’s a member of Cable’s first team, “Six Pack” (yes, really), and he, like all the good mystery men from X-Men characters’ pasts is a cyborg.  He didn’t really take off the same way as others from the early days, but he got two figures before he faded into relative obscurity.  Here’s the first of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line that they spun out of their X-Men line.  He was subject to no fewer than four paint variations, concerning the color of his hair and the strap on his leg, and exactly how they were combined, but the sculpt remained the same all the way through.  The version seen here is the most common of the four, by virtue of being released on two separate card backs.  The figure stands a little under 5 inches tall (the early X-Force offerings ran a little bit small) and he has 8 points of articulation.  One of those joints is wrist movement on his left arm, which is actually just incidental movement, brought about by his “Snap Back Living Hand!” feature.  His hand is attached to a string that’s on a spring mechanism; you can pull it out, and then pushing the lever on his back snaps it back into place.  It’s an inoffensive gimmick, and it’s not a bad take on his “rocket-powered” hand.  It does mean you and spin his wrist, though, so there’s that.  His sculpt is rather common of these early figures.  It’s not crazy detailed, and, especially compared to Liefeld’s line-heavy illustrations, looks rather basic and simple.  Kane’s face looks almost child-like, and his proportions are thin and stretched out.  His costume details are at least pretty consistent with the ones seen in the book, as ridiculous a costume design as this may be.   His paint work is basic, but fine.  It was the source of the variations, with the one seen here sporting black hair and a red band on his leg.  There were also samples with grey hair, as well as those with blue straps, and corresponding mixes of the hair and strap colors.  Kane was packed with  a blaster/gun thing, which he can hold in his right hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I know a bit more now, I knew very little of Kane as a kid.  He’s in X-Men: The Animated Series, but it’s a different design, and he’s never named, so I didn’t connect it.  Mostly, I just remember that he was on the back of the boxes, and I never knew who he was, and then he didn’t really reappear after that.  So, I never got his figures.  At least, until I decided to get all of the Toy Biz Marvel stuff, so then I needed to.  I got this guy loose, given to me by Jason from All Time when I fished him out of a plastic bag of mostly junk that got traded into All Time back in, gosh, probably 2019?  He didn’t have his gun, but I came across that in one of the bags of spare Toy Biz parts I’ve accumulated over the years.  He’s not the most impressive figure, and he’s not the most impressive character, but there’s a certain bit of novelty to him, for sure.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0059: Ahab

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

AHAB

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s Friday, which around here is my own day of personal reflection…well, within the context of the site, at the very least.  You know, in that sort of Flashback Friday Figure Addendum sort of way.  I’m jumping once more back into the world of old Toy Biz Marvel reviews, with Ahab!

“A houndmaster from a future timeline in which mutants are hunted down and destroyed, Ahab has time-traveled to the present to continue his mission of eliminating dangerous mutants. Employing advanced Sentinel technology in his powerful cyborg body, Ahab ruthlessly enslaves those mutants he does not kill, transforming them into telepathic hounds which he uses to track down others of their kind. Only the combined powers of the X-Men, X-Factor, the New Mutants and the Fantastic Four were able to put a stop to Ahab’s murderous rampage through our time in the past. Should he reappear, who knows what havoc he might wreak!”

You know how sometimes there’s bad figures of good characters? Or, on the flip side, good figures of bad characters? Today represents neither of those things. Today, I look at what might be one of the very worst figures ever released in Toy Biz’s 5-inch X-Men line. He’s a little figure by the name of Ahab. Let’s just get straight to it, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ahab was released in Series 5 of X-Men. In a series populated by fan-favorites, he’s…well, he’s not. He’s an odd choice for the set, and the line in general really. I mean, I guess he was involved in some semi-important stories in the comics. But, given that one of the characters completely absent from Toy Biz’s entire run was Rachel Summers, who’s sort of the only reason Ahab matters at all, he feels out of place. Maybe there’s a big Ahab fanbase out there or something. I don’t know. Anyway, the figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, he lacks neck and elbow movement, which makes for a very stiff figure. Already not the greatest start. Ahab has what has to be one of the clunkiest sculpts of any figure in this line. I genuinely don’t know how they managed to mess him up this bad. I mean, he’s hardly got the greatest design in the comics, but it’s better than this, to be sure. Everything about this figure is blocky, stiff, and inorganic. That’s fine for the blocky, stiff, and inorganic parts, but not so much for the parts that aren’t those things. His head is particularly bad, given it’s incredibly thin, tall look, and complete lack of neck. He’s got this sort of cyborg-zombie-Abraham-Lincoln thing going on, and the sculpt doesn’t seem to be able to decide what’s his hair and what’s his headgear. They just sort of meld together. He’s also got this look on his face like he just crapped his pants. Which, in a gross way, leads me to my next complaint: his legs. Or, more specifically, his hips, which are oddly shaped, not particularly accurate to his comics design, and start a considerable distance after his torso ends. Ahab’s paintwork is decent enough for what it is. It’s pretty basic, and far from the most appealing color scheme. Burnt sienna and lavender isn’t exactly an imposing combo. Also, we get the same issues the sculpt had with the hair/headgear changeover, which just sort of…happens. The figure was originally packed with a missile launcher and three “harpoons,” which I don’t have.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, if I hate this guy so much, why do I own him? Is he another gift from a confused family member? Nope, he’s actually a pretty recent acquisition. In the last few months, I’ve decided to try and complete my ‘90s X-Men collection. That meant I was gonna have to get this guy eventually. I found this one at Yesterday’s Fun for $1, which is really about the cap of how much I’m willing to pay for him. He’s an awful figure. Just awful. But, I like to look at the positives: the collection only improves from here! 

Okay, so, for the second time since I started doing these, I find myself honestly not liking a review I wrote.  It’s odd for it to be one so late in the run, after I’d established the style more, but…yeah, I just feel like this one seemed a bit mean spirited.  Looking at the publication date, it went up the day after my birthday in 2017, and, well, I was going through some stuff at the time, which I think may have impacted my writing a little bit.  It’s not to say that I think I was wrong about Ahab being a less than stellar figure.  That he most certainly is.  Worst in the Toy Biz run?  Eh, I don’t know if I can really stand by that.  He’s not super fun, and I think I made a good point that it’s odd they made him and no Rachel Summers to go along, given he mostly exists as a foil to her.  Worst though?  Seems a bit hyperbolic.

In 2017, I was still content to have a bunch of incomplete figures in my collection, and I’m less about that now, so this summer I actually bought a second Ahab (I know, crazy) so that I could get the missile launcher and harpoons.  They, like the figure, aren’t great, and are even worse in the sense of how they interact with him, which is not very well.  But, at least he’s complete.  And, he’s the only Ahab figure out there, so he’s at least got some novelty?  I don’t know, I’m trying to be nice!

#3987: Ahsoka Clone Trooper

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

AHSOKA’S CLONE TROOPER

STAR WARS: GALAXY OF ADVENTURES (HASBRO)

My last Galaxy of Adventures review was published in January of 2020.  Good thing nothing major has happened since then, huh?  Oh, wait, sorry, I’m getting word that *everything* major has happened since then.  My mistake.  When I wrote my last GoA review, the line was still quite new, and most of what had been shown off was already released.  We had two items, both from the then upcoming final season of Clone Wars, that we knew were coming, but we didn’t know when.  In the chaos that was 2020 and its effects on the retail landscape, more GoA figures were released, but not in any way that was consistent or easily located, and it was a good couple of figures before we got the two we were expecting, and even then, they were kind of an understated release.  But, umm, I got one?  So, without further ado, here’s Ashoka’s Clone Trooper, about six years overdue.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ahsoka’s Clone Trooper was, at least initially, meant to be released in the third series of Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures, which would have, presumably, hit in the spring of 2020, to coincide with the release of the final episodes of Clone Wars, which are the episodes wherein this design appeared.  Distribution chain issues made that troublesome, so he and his assortment mates just sort of quietly showed up at the end of 2020, in pretty much no notable numbers much of anywhere, with no fanfare to speak of, and then kind of disappeared just as quickly and quietly.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is much the same as the other figures in the line.  I always found it to be quite an effective set-up, hitting all of the major spots and offering up a good range of motion, while still keeping him at that basic price point level.  His sculpt was unique, though given its just the standard Phase II Clone armor, I’d imagine the plan wasn’t for it to stay that way, had the line gotten the chance to progress more naturally.  More than a few times in my old reviews, I referenced the line as having something of a Clone Wars aesthetic to it, and that’s none more evident than here, on a character from Clone Wars.  In fact, this winds up being the closest we’ve gotten to an Ahsoka Trooper that actually looks like they did on the screen, since all the other figures have been “real world” versions.   I really like this sculpt, and think it’s very clean and striking, and really works well.  The color work is what sells it specifically as an Ahsoka Trooper, with the distinctive markings on the helmet and all.  The paint’s a little bit spotty around some of the edges, but generally, it works well.  The Trooper is packed with a simple blaster rifle, which he can hold easily in his hands.  He sports an “action feature” in the form of spring-loaded shoulder joints, allowing for a “blaster fire” effect.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a huge fan of this line early on, as can no doubt be seen in all those early run reviews.  Unfortunately, the pandemic changed a lot of things in my life, which included how I shopped for toys, meaning I wasn’t going out of my way at retail to find things.  I ended up snagging a few of the later figures that came in through All Time second hand, but this one eluded me, which was a shame, because I was genuinely very excited for him.  It wound up kind of dampening my desire to get any others, and the line went away not long after that anyway, so that was that.  At least until I took Matty to Yesterday’s Fun while we were in the area back in December, and after buying him a few things, noticed this guy sitting near the counter.  I quite like this figure, and he’s pretty much exactly what I’d been hoping for six years ago when he was shown off.  It’s not often something takes me back to where I was six years ago, but this one did it, and that was honestly a nice experience. 

#3986: Pose Striking Die Fledermaus

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

POSE STRIKING DIE FLEDERMAUS 

THE TICK (BANDAI)

Okay, so the Tick’s catchphrase is “Spooooooooooon!” and Arthur’s is “Not in the Face! Not in the Face!” but what is Die Fledermaus’s?  Presumably something about leaving town for a week when danger rears its head.  One of the things that Ben Endlund talked about in his discussions of the production of the Tick cartoon was the need to introduce a more colorful cast of supporting players.  A lot of the effort went into creating super villains (who are largely not a thing in the early days of the comics), but there’s a notable cast of recurring heroes as well.  Die Fledermous, who’s name is the German word for “bat,” is a wholly original character with no similarities to any other masked super heroes owned by any other comic companies, in case you were wondering.  He got one single figure during the show’s run, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pose Striking Die Fledermaus was released in the first series of Bandai’s The Tick tie-in line.  While most of the main cast were present in both the standard 5-inch line and the smaller 2 1/2-inch figurine line, Die Fledermaus was notable for only being in the larger scale line, making this figure his only toy.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Die Fledermaus, due to Bandai’s odd approach to scale, winds up as one of the tallest figures in the line, which isn’t quite accurate to the source material.  At least he was taller than Arthur.  The figure’s sculpt was unique to this release.  Die Fledermaus’s design isn’t a super complex one, but this figure notable takes an even more bare bones approach, with a sculpt that’s rather rudimentary.  The head’s quite a nice piece of work, at least, and is ultimately the best thing about it.  The mask is well defined, and there’s a clearly uneasy expression under the mask that feels very true to the character.  His body sculpt is rather lanky and tubular, which doesn’t quite feel right for Die Fledermaus, who, while not as bulky as the Tick, was usually shown as being of a moderate build.  He’s got very basic articulation, and a lot of what’s going on is worked into his “Pose Striking” action feature.  When you push up the lever on his back, his arms raise outward.  This is coupled with a cloth cape (which unfortunately lacks the more distinctive shaping at the top that it had in the show) allows him to “dramatically” flair the cape outward.  Unfortunately, it’s a very basic feature, and has no real way of locking in place, so it’s just sort of unimpressive.  Die Fledermaus’s color work once again falls into that “basic” realm, though this is one area where it’s really appropriate.  The application of paint’s generally good here, and he’s an okay match for the show.  The only downside is that he’s a victim of a line-wide issue, where his torso yellowed over time, and doesn’t quite match his limbs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed the vast majority of Bandai’s The Tick run when it was new.  My freshman year of college, I decided I wanted to try to fix that, and ultimately bought a bunch of the smaller scale line, only to discover that there was no Die Fledermaus in that run.  Shortly after, I found this figure, and no other Tick figures, still sealed at an antique store, so I bought him.  And then, 15 years later, I got the Arthur figure I reviewed last week, which prompted me to retrieve this figure, still sealed, from my parents’ house, and finally open him.  I think he may hold a record for amount of time I’ve owned a figure without opening them.  And why?  I couldn’t tell you.  I just didn’t do it.  Now I have, and, well, I can’t say he’s an amazingly impressive figure, but also I can’t say I dislike him in the slightest.  He’s silly, but he’s fun, and I’m glad to finally have gotten the chance to recognize that.

#3985: Tyr

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

TYR

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

Last year, I reviewed 25 Super Powers figures here on the site, which is a crazy metric for a line that was three decades dead and only had 35 total figures when I started the site.  McFarlane running a revival certainly helped bump those stats.  The main point I’m getting at here is that the rarity of a Super Powers review wasn’t really a thing last year.  Unfortunately, we’re going back to more standard operating on such things this year.  But, let’s at least start off on a good note, with a proper vintage figure review!  Today, we’re looking at that true classic of a DC character, Tyr. ….What, you don’t know Tyr?  I can’t believe you don’t know Tyr!  He’s only….wait, hang on, sorry, let me check the wiki…oh, darn, there’s no wiki.  Right.  So, like, the before times.  Tyr, despite indications to the contrary, was *not* a Kenner original creation like so many others in the final year of Super Powers, but rather a fairly minor Legion of Super Heroes villain.  He’d resurfaced not terribly long before his toy, but again as a minor player, making his inclusion odd to say the least, especially given that the Legion themselves wouldn’t get any sort of action figure coverage for another decade and a half.  But hey, that’s Kenner.  And this is Tyr.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tyr was released in the third and final series of Kenner’s Super Powers line in 1986.  As with many of the characters contained within, this was Tyr’s first figure, and would also remain his only figure until DC Universe Classics released him as an expressed homage to Super Powers in 2010.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall (not counting his mohawk) and he has 6 points of articulation.  Tyr’s articulation scheme is the same as all of the line’s standard figures, which is good and sensible.  He had a unique sculpt, which remained so, thanks largely to the end of the line.  He was based on Dave Cockrum’s design for the character from the comics, and honestly it’s a design that meshes pretty darn well with the established aesthetics of the later run Super Powers figures, which only further added to him feeling like a Kenner original character.  The sculpt is, honestly, not the strongest work from this line.  While the proportions and general build are okay, he feels oddly devoid of smaller details, and generally just very basic and kind of geometric. The head’s certainly the best part, with a lot more texturing, notably on the hair, as well as a little more definition in his face.  The body, on the other hand, is weaker.  His posing is very stiff and flat, and it’s not helped by the rather boxy nature of the right arm, which also feels like it sits too low?  I don’t know.  Said right arm is also home to the figure’s action feature.  Squeezing his legs raises the arm and shoots the missile portion.  It’s a basic feature, but more nuanced in how it works, since it doesn’t use any exposed buttons of levers.  Honestly, this part’s actually really cool, so props to Kenner on that.  His color work is pretty much point for point what he looks like in the comics.  It does what is needs to.  There’s a bit of bleed over on some of the smaller line-work, but it generally looks good.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, like many other people, only know of Tyr’s existence because of this toy.  And that’s pretty crazy, because my dad’s a pretty huge Legion fan who absolutely owned Tyr’s earliest appearances when I was growing up.  I remember seeing him in the line-up on the Super Powers Archive, and, well, I can’t say he ever impressed me terribly.  He was one of those far away figures I don’t know if I ever really saw myself owning.  And then, suddenly, he was one of the last three I didn’t have.  And, now, here he is.  My dad got him for me for Christmas, as has become the tradition, and he got here a little late (as has also become a tradition, I guess), so he was officially my first figure of the new year.  He’s, like, fine.  That’s really it.  Fine.  Like, it’s cool to own him, and he’s the first Legion toy, so I guess that’s neat.  And, admittedly, the missile firing bit is fun.  So I’ll give them that.  But the actual figure is sort of just fine.  Still, I’m glad to own him, and he’s cool on the shelf.  And now I just need two more, with the caveat that my visual line-up is complete, because I do have stand-ins for Cyborg and Mr. Freeze.