#3305: Longbox Heroes
THE TICK IN DISGUISE, BARRY HUBRIS, & MADMAN
LONGBOX HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)
Fun FiQ Fact #0084: The Tick and Madman are both associated with the name “Townsend”, Tick having been played by Townsend Coleman in his ’90s animated series, and Madman’s original pre-death name being “Zane Townsend.”
Back in November, I took a look at The Rocketeer, the first offering from Fresh Monkey Fiction’s Longbox Heroes. I’ve been patiently waiting for the rest of the figures I had on pre-order to arrive, and they’re finally here, and I’m very happy about that. So, now I get to talk about The Tick, another not quite the right guy The Tick, and Madman! Let’s get ginchy! Spoooooooon! Whatever Barry’s catchphrase is!
THE FIGURES THEMSELVES
The Tick in Disguise, Barry, and Madman are figures 15, 16, and 8, respectively, in the launch line-up of Longbox Heroes, a Big Bad Toystore-exclusive line from Fresh Monkey Fiction. While everything was intended to hit at the same time initially, due to license constraints, all of the Rocketeer figures got released earlier than the rest of the line, splitting everything into two assortments. The second portion hit in March of this year.
THE TICK IN DISGUISE
There are a couple of Tick-based figures in this line-up, with two in particular based on the main big guy. There’s a standard version, based on his earlier appearances, as well as this one, which is him “in disguise”. It’s the one that spoke to me, so it’s the one I went with. The figure is a little over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. His articulation scheme is the same as we saw on the Rocketeer, which is the Super Powers set-up, but with extra swivels at the knees. The sculpt, which like the rest of the line is handled by Jason “Toyotter” Geyer, is a solid offering. It’s of course more basic than what we saw on Rocketeer, as is expected for the Tick’s design. He’s appropriately a lot larger than the other figures in the line-up, but still very much in keeping with the Super Powers-inspired stylings of the line. His main unique piece is the head, which is based on the more refined Tick of the later ’90s, post cartoon and all. I love that goofy grin on the head so much; it gives me flashbacks to my old Tick figure from the ’90s. For the most part, Tick’s color work is handled by molded plastic, in contrast to the Rocketeer’s totally painted set-up. This is more accurate to the Super Powers aesthetic, and, per Toyotter himself, was the plan for the whole line, but just didn’t work out for the earlier figures. This release goes for a brighter blue, which I really dig, again going very much for that cartoon-style look. Tick is packed with the necktie that serves as his “disguise,” which can be easily taken off by popping off the figure’s head, as well as a “Longbox Heroes” display stand.
BARRY HUBRIS
When the Tick was originally created, he was intended to be brown, but it was decided that blue worked better on the page. In reference to this, Barry Hubris, another man who claims the title of “The Tick” was created and given Tick’s original color scheme. Like Disguised Tick, this figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. Barry is built on the same body as Tick, which makes sense, since they were about the same build and all. He’s got a unique head sculpt, which gets Barry’s crazed look down nicely. His color work is again heavily reliant on molded plastic for the bulk of things, but he’s got a fair bit more painted elements than the Disguised Tick did. The application’s all very sharp and clean, and his costume elements are well defined. Barry’s only accessory is his display stand; it might have been nice to get his shield, but at the same time, I get it.
MADMAN
Madman is no stranger to Fresh Monkey Fiction’s retro-inspired toylines, having also been part of their Secret Wars-inspired Amazing Heroes line. But, you simply can’t have too much Madman, so he’s in this line, too. Honestly, Madman should be in *more* lines. Every line. All Madman. All the time. There are even multiple Madman figures in this very line-up. This one is the most standard of the bunch. The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has he same 9 points of articulation as all of the others. His sculpt is…I mean, sure it’s simple, but it’s also just so on the mark for the style of the line and of Allred’s work with the character. It’s really sharply detailed, and and there’s a lot more going on with it than is immediately visible. There’s even the very slight wrinkling on the ankles of his boots. His color work is really solid too. The white is molded, as it should be, and the painted elements are the sharpest of all the figures I’ve gotten from the line. Like Barry, Madman’s only accessory is a display stand, which is honestly pretty great for some of the wackier poses the character demands.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
Like I said in my Rocketeer review, Super Powers is one of my favorite toy lines, so the prospect of any sort of continuation was very exciting to me, so I jumped on the pre-orders for these guys pretty darn quickly. It’s been a patient wait since then and….I mean, it was just so very much worth it. I think Madman’s my favorite of the three here, but I love all three. What I wouldn’t give for an Arthur to go with Tick, but until then, I guess Madman is just filling in for him.
#3304: Daredevil VS Hydro-Man
DAREDEVIL VS HYDRO-MAN
MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)
Fun FiQ Fact #0083: Despite both characters making appearances on the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man cartoons in the ’90s, Daredevil and Hydro-Man were never both present in the same episode.
I gotta be honest, of all the ’90s Marvel cartoons, Spider-Man: The Animated Series is probably my least favorite. I know, bold statement. I’m a guy that defends Avengers: United They Stand and Silver Surfer; how can I take a swing at one of the big ones? Hard to say. Something about the show’s pacing always bugged me. I can appreciate its significance, and it did give us some very cool toys back in the day. After doing a year of figures based on X-Men: The Animated Series, Hasbro switched over to Spider-Man, which I had less need for, of course. But then they went and got me with a set I couldn’t pass up. So, let’s look at Daredevil vs Hydro-Man!
THE FIGURES THEMSELVES
Daredevil and Hydro-Man are the fifth release in the Spider-Man: The Animated Series sub-set of Marvel Legends. They keep the X-Men set’s VHS-style packaging, but they’re now all two-packs, instead of singles, with each pairing being a hero/villain match-up. This set is a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive, at least thus far. The whole line was *supposed* to be exclusive, but three of the six two-packs jumped to a Fan Channel release, so it’s hard to say.
DAREDEVIL
Our second Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Daredevil in rather short succession, and yet again he’s part of a multi-pack. At least it’s just a two-pack this time. The aim of this one seems to really be just getting more mileage out of the new stuff from the last one. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 38 points of articulation. Structurally, he’s identical to the three-pack figure I looked at not that long ago. That figure moved Matt to the Renew Your Vows body, which works well for the character. He uses that figure’s Paul Harding sculpted head sculpt, as well as getting a new one, with his teeth bared. The calm one’s no slouch, but that new sculpt is really solid. I really like it. The big change-up to this figure is the paint work. He’s still in the same general costume, of course, but the show very much dialed into the comics’ 
tendency to go for very dynamic shading on Matt’s costume, and that’s reflected here. He gets a lot of black shading, done with a cross-hatching style to it. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I turned out really, really well. It’s not like a lot of the other cel-shading, where it’s really directional; it feels like a proper dynamic design for DD, and I think it adds something that was missing from the three-pack release. I especially like the actual distinction for the boots and gloves this time around. DD gets the two heads, three sets of hands (in fists, gripping, and open gesture), his batons, and a line to go between them, which is impressive, since the three-pack figure actually came with a fair bit less.
HYDRO-MAN
Our villain this time around is Morris Bench, aka Hydro-Man. I last reviewed a Hydro-Man before the release of Far From Home, a movie which didn’t *actually* feature him. Sure looked like it would at the time, though. Hydro-Man only has two appearances in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, but he was used in the show’s opening credits, which gave him a little extra staying power. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. Like his last figure, he uses the Netflix Luke Cage as a starting point. He actually keeps the figure’s arms this time, rather than using the water ones from before. He 
gets a new head sculpt, which is a bit more dialed into the animation look. For full accuracy, his hair should be a bit longer in the back, but it’s ultimately not bad. Since the standard black T-shirt and jeans look was covered pretty well by the last Hydro-Man, this figure’s coloring replicates his fully water form, molding him entirely in translucent blue plastic. It works well, and he’s quite striking. He gets a little bit of white accenting to give him a little extra flair, which I dig, but it’s minor. Hydro-Man is packed with the water effect pieces from the last figure, as well as two sets of hands in fists and open gesture.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
The rest of this line’s been very easy to skip, and I thought DD would be too after I got the three-pack release. Then I saw this set, and the new stuff with DD just made it impossible to pass this one up. The shading works so, so well, and the extra head and hands make him even better than an already very good figure. This is my definitive DD Legend, and there’s no question about that. Hydro-Man? Well, he was more along for the ride. I don’t mind having him, and he’s certainly fun, but I also don’t see him replacing the other figure outright in my collection. Still, he’s certainly fun.
#3303: Faramir
FARAMIR
LORD OF THE RINGS (ASMUS TOYS)
Fun FiQ Fact #0082: David Wenham, who portrays Faramir in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, has been part of two comic book adaptations: 300 and Iron Fist. Look, he was good in Iron Fist, even if the show around him…wasn’t?
The Lord of the Rings movies were pretty much an inescapable part of the cultural lexicon when I was growing up, hitting theatres during the back half of my elementary school years. So, I obviously couldn’t really avoid them, and I’ve got my own particular interests within them. I’ve never been so much a main characters guy, so I didn’t latch so much onto the characters everyone else did. One of my favorites since pretty much when the movies came out was Faramir, Ranger of Gondor. I never did get any of his figures growing up, but I’ve been working to make up for that in recent years. Here’s more to that!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Faramir was added to Asmus’ Lord of the Rings line towards the end of 2020. There were two versions of him available, with an extra accessory that was only offered with Asmus’ direct store exclusive version. I’ll touch on all of that a bit later down. The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he’s got over 30 points of articulation.
Asmus is priced in the same realm as the lines of Sideshow and Hot Toys, so that’s the type of figure they’re aiming for. That’s certainly evident in the included head sculpt, or at least the intent is. It’s definitely not quite Hot Toys quality, but I’d put it on par with the average Sideshow sculpt. The face has an alright likeness of David Wenham; it’s certainly got his glum expression as Faramir down, at least. The face is perhaps a touch narrow, and I think the nose isn’t quite the right shape, but it’s all pretty close. Faramir’s hair is sculpted, and it’s a big honking chunk of hair, for sure. The joining at the front is not so subtle, which I’m not a huge fan of; normal lighting masks it alright, but the photos show it off front and center. At least the shaping of the hair’s not bad. The paint work on the head is respectable, if again not quite Hot Toys quality.
Faramir is depicted in his ranger gear from Two Towers and the beginning of Return of the King. It’s certainly his most distinctive, and let’s all be honest, coolest, look. The figure uses a mixed media set-up, with a lot of different parts and layers, much like his real outfit. The sculpted boots are nice enough to look at, but don’t have any sort of posing, which can be rather limiting. His cloak, outer “jacket”, belt, and quiver, all need to be put on the figure out of the box. Some of that’s easy, some of it’s less so. You need to pop the head off to get the cloak on, which gave me no trouble, but I’ve read there were some issues of breakage on the neck joint. The quiver and belt are both really tricky, and the quiver’s actual assembly looks to just be wrong, so it hangs a little odd. But, once everything is all assembled, it all vibes together quite nicely, and he doesn’t look too over padded or anything, which is a plus.
The underlying body seems to be pretty basic. With all the extras on it, it’s not super amazingly posable, but it at least gets some okay poses. The ratcheted joints were a bit frightening at first, but I ultimately like how they work for holding poses.
Faramir’s standard release (which is the one I’m looking at here), gets three sets of hands (relaxed, fists, and gripping), a diecast sword, five arrows, and a display stand. Did you notice the mention of the arrows? And the quiver in the outfit section? Cool. Yeah. Well, the standard version *doesn’t* have a bow. Nope, that was the exclusive piece. Sure, let’s just give him the quiver full of arrows, but no bow. Nothing weird about that, right? Right.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
Remember the big epic collection that All Time got that they’re still processing? Yeah, well there were a lot of Lord of the Rings figures in it. But it’s okay, because I didn’t need them. I don’t need much in the way of Lord of the Rings. I can just focus on the other stuff and–right there was a Faramir, wasn’t there? Oh, and he’s got that mournful look, right there on the box. The sort of look that asks me if I wish now that his and Boromir’s places were traded. You can’t just leave that look behind. So, umm, I didn’t? Honestly, I was tempted by this figure when he was new, so getting the chance to snag him was very nice. I’m annoyed by the bow thing, but beyond that, I really do love him.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#3302: Angel
ANGEL
MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)
Fun FiQ Fact #0081: Warren Worthington III was the third mutant to join the X-Men, following Cyclops and Iceman.
As a kid, the real centerpiece of my X-Men collection was my Toy Biz First Appearance boxed set. Missing from that set for a good chunk of my childhood was its Angel figure, who was my favorite figure included. Though Warren hasn’t held his high spot in my X-Men rankings as I’ve gotten older (which is less about me liking him less, and more about me finding other X-Men I like *more*), I do still have a soft spot for him, in both of his main incarnations, especially when it comes to action figures. When it comes to Marvel Legends, we’ve gotten only a few figures. There’s a really solid Archangel, but the Angel figures? They’ve been less on the mark. Let’s see how the latest one turned out!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Angel is a deluxe-sized Marvel Legends release, who has been hitting in the last few weeks, pretty much in tandem with the Wolverine anniversary-related releases. It’s been an X-themed heaven in Legends recently, so, you know, an Angel is appropriate. This guy is sporting Warren’s ’70s-’80s era red and white number, which he started wearing in Champions, sported in his return to X-Men, and had during his tenure on Defenders. It had a good run, and it’s his most distinctive and memorable of his “Angel” looks. It’s also the one that got Legends treatment before, so this is a proper update. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 40 points of articulation, factoring in the wings. It’s nice to see the extra movement in the wings, especially given that the Toy Biz figure’s static wings were its biggest drawback. Angel is using the same base body as Nighthawk, with a modified upper torso to allow for the attachment of the wings. 
He also gets two new head sculpts, one based on his earlier appearances in the costume, the other based more on his Defenders time. I’m more partial to the earlier look, but both sculpts are very nicely handled. The wings are also newly sculpted, and designed to work with more articulation than prior models. It’s handled well, and they look pretty decent, while also managing to be quite posable. Angel’s color work leans heavily on reds and whites, as expected. The paint’s pretty clean for the base body, and there’s some quite nice accenting on the feathers of the wings. He’s got white boots and gloves, which, for me, is frustrating, because I want him to be specifically Champions Angel, but I guess that’s more a me problem. Angel is packed with two sets of hands, one open, the other in fists.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
I do really like the classic Angel design, but it’s not one that’s been lucky in the toy department. It’s entirely absent from the 5-inch run, and the original Legends figure just always really disappointed me. This one doesn’t disappoint me. In fact, I really quite like him. I’d like him more with yellow boots and gloves, but let’s not get too picky here.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#3301: S.T.R.I.P.E.
STRIPE
DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)
Fun FiQ Fact #0080: The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy are a unique instance of a kid superhero having an adult sidekick, with Pat “Stripesy” Duggan serving as sidekick to both Sylvester Pemberton and Courtney Whitmore during their turns in the role.
When I was a kid, I got my first introduction to the “modern” incarnation of Stars and STRIPE via their guest appearance in Impulse, an issue I got as a free give away at an early Baltimore Comic Con I attended (which was also my introduction to Impulse himself). I had known of their golden age incarnation thanks to reading my dad’s copy of the JLA/JSA team-up featuring the Seven Soldiers of Victory, but I felt kind of like I got in on the ground floor with the new ones. They haven’t been excessively blessed with action figures over the years, especially not as a pair, but they did both at the very least make it into DC Universe Classics. I reviewed the Stars part of the team a while back, so now I’m looking at STRIPE!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
STRIPE was the Collect-N-Connect for the 19th Series of DC Universe Classics. The assortment was JSA-themed, and while Pat was never directly affiliated with the JSA himself, he’s been pretty closely tied to them enough for his inclusion to make sense. The figure stands 9 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation. His movement isn’t terrible for a figure of his build, with the only notable hang-up being that his mid-torso joint is effectively useless. Beyond that, it’s not bad. The sculpt, handled by the Four Horsemen, was built from a number of the same parts as the Stel CnC. The legs are entirely shared, as well as the upper arms and the pelvis. The rest of it was unique to this figure, and it all meshes together pretty well into one cohesive piece. Said cohesive piece is interesting, because STRIPE’s design is not actually based on any pre-existing look for the character. He’d had two notable comics looks and another design for JLU, and while there are certainly elements of all those looks here, it’s still something largely unique. Certainly some of this comes from the ability to share parts with Stel (who got an upscaling of his own to also be able to share these parts), but there seems to have been a degree of letting the Four Horsemen go wild a bit with it. While I’d have liked to get something more in line with his original look from the comics, I can’t deny that this is a pretty cool design in its own right, and it still works well for the character. STRIPE’s paint work is pretty basic looking, but there’s a bit more to it. He’s entirely painted, and the bulk of him is a pearlescent white, which is very fun. The accent colors really pop, and he’s even got a light blue wash to help bring out more of the sculpted elements.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
I tried to actually build this guy when he was new, but I never succeeded. I wound up with half of him and just never got more. I kept hoping I might find the missing pieces, but it didn’t happen. However, as luck would have it, just as I was giving up on the whole endeavor, a mere decade after starting on him, a complete one got traded into All Time, and, boom, here he is. Fun times. He’s nifty. Still would love a more comics accurate one too, but this one holds up nicely.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#3300: Tron ReAction Figures
TRON & FLYNN w/ LIGHTCYCLES
TRON REACTION FIGURES (SUPER 7)
Fun FiQ Fact #0079: I saw the original Tron for the first time about a week before the release of Tron Legacy, exclusively to know what was going on prior to watching the sequel.
I *love* Tron Legacy. It’s a defining movie for me. Just, like, the whole thing. I love the music, the design, the choreography, the characters…I love it all. It’s super great. You know what’s not super great about Legacy? It’s tie-in products. Sure, there were a few slightly nifty products when the movie came out, but there was a *lot* more trash. And I just really want some figures that are semi-decent. Until then, I will forever be stuck making due with stuff from the first movie. I love Legacy. Did I mention that? The first movie? It’s…fine. Like, I get the ground-breaking nature and all. But…ehhh? Still, I’m not gonna say no to everything Tron related, if that’s all I’m gonna get. So, here’s some Tron stuff.
THE FIGURE THEMSELVES
Tron and Flynn with their respective Lightcycles were released as part of Super 7’s Tron ReAction line. The line as a whole was a Disney Parks exclusive, but Tron and Flynn were both also offered up for order on ShopDisney.
First up, it’s the title character, Tron! The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. He’s just got the standard ReAction articulation, which is exactly what you expect. He’s based on the original Tron look, hockey pads and all. The sculpt is a pretty basic one, but that’s really what you need for this style of figure. The face has a respectable likeness of Bruce Boxleitner, especially given the style and sizing. Obviously, it’s not to the same level as either of the two DST figures, but it works well enough. I like the slight detailing for his costume elements; it’s simple, but very effective. Tron’s color work is really solid. He’s molded in glow-in-the-dark plastic, with plenty of line-work for all of those classic “tron-lines”. It works really well. Tron is packed with his identity disk, which can be stored on the figure’s back.
And, perhaps not the title character, but certainly a central one, it’s Kevin Flynn! …Yeah? He’s like Tron, but, you know, not. Flynn was actually the only character to get multiple figures, since there was a single card and the one with the lightcycle. The single was his “disguised” colors, where this one is the standard. Like Tron, he stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. His sculpt is very similar to Tron’s, but they only actually share the right arm; everything else is minorly tweaked in some way. Even the head’s got a Bridges likeness; it’s very similar to the Tron head, but I think that’s more the style and similar traits between the two actors. His color work is very similar to Tron’s as well. He’s also molded in the glowing plastic, and he’s got his own unique “tron-line” detailing, to help distinguish him. He’s packed with the same identity disk as Tron, which can likewise be mounted on his back.
Both figures are packaged with a Lightcycle, designed to work with the included figure. The cycles are each about 6 1/2 inches long, and they have moving wheels and an opening hatch. Both cycles (and the one included with the Ram figure I don’t have) use the same sculpt. The sculpt is very basic, but it matches what we see on screen pretty well, and it does what it needs to. The figures fit inside, though with the 5POA set-up, they do admittedly look pretty goofy, just folded in half in there. The coloring is where the change-up occurs. Tron gets orange and Flynn gets yellow. Both are accented by some black paint, as well as a little bit of the same blue glowing plastic used by the figures. The glowing doesn’t work as well on the cycles, but it’s still nifty.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
I haven’t been to a Disney park since 2007, and I missed these on Shop Disney. So, how did I get them? Well, a bit of luck, really. They just so happened to come through All Time, and I just so happened to be there at the time, allowing me to just so happen to get them for a reasonable price. They’re basic, but I do really like them. It’s the simplicity that really sells them.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#3299: Nightcrawler
NIGHTCRAWLER
MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)
Fun FiQ Fact #0078: Nightcrawler’s creation predates the All New, All Different X-Men, and in fact predates his creator Dave Cockrum’s time at Marvel; he was originally intended to be part of Legion of Super Heroes spin-off book from Cockrum’s time at DC. When Dave left DC, he took Nightcrawler with him.
Though certainly a popular X-Man, it feels like we never get enough Nightcrawler figures. He’s always just a little sparser than you might expect. Since the introduction of Marvel Legends, he’s gotten two, now three figures. That’s not a lot. They’re always pretty good, though, and after the last one, it felt like there wasn’t much room for improvement. Well, about that…
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Nightcrawler is part of the second X-Men ’97-tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends. He was notable for being the only figure in the line-up *not* featured in the first three episodes of the show. He finally made his return last week, and boy was that an episode of…like…things. Just…okay? Now he’s in the opening credits, and it’s a whole thing. Look, new figure. That’s the point. The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation. Sculpturally, this figure uses a handful of parts from the prior Nightcrawler, namely the torso, pelvis, and tail. Those were solid parts, and are hard to beat for a standard Nightcrawler set-up, so it’s worth a re-use. He replaces the Pizza Spidey arms and legs with new, albeit similarly built ones. Now, they have no visible pins, and the glove and boot details are etched in, rather than just simply painted. He also gets new hands and feet, which are *slightly* different from the prior 
versions, but not drastically so. It’s all topped off with two new heads based on Nightcrawler’s updated show design. One is calm and slightly friendly, while the other is gritting his teeth. Both have the same swooshy hair, which is a lot of fun. I very much dig them. His color work is a lot of molded colors, but there’s some paint work in there too. Some of the base work, especially on the gloves and boots, is a touch uneven, but the detailing on both heads is incredibly sharp. Nightcrawler is packed with two sets of hands, one set open, the other set in fists.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
I wasn’t gonna buy this one. Honest. I saw him with the rest of the set and I was all set to say “I don’t need that.” I’ve got my Wendigo Series one, and he’s fantastic, and just can’t be topped. He’s the Nightcrawler I always wanted, and I have no need to replace him. And I won’t be. Because I’ve just decided I’m gonna *also* have this one. Look, if I can do it with Cyclops, I can also do it with Nightcrawler. And you can’t stop me. I mean, I guess you could, if you really tried. But why? Why would you do that? Anyway, I saw this one in person, and I resisted for a bit, but only for a bit. He’s not drastically different from the last one, but he’s different enough that I see him as an alternative, not a replacement.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#3298: Ultraman Geed Primitive
ULTRAMAN GEED PRIMITIVE
S.H. FIGUARTS (BANDAI)
Fun FiQ Fact #0077: Ultraman Geed is one of the few Ultramen whose name is also a valid word in Scrabble!
You can’t keep me away from the Ultras for too long! …unless you’re my pending review pile following today’s review, I guess. You know, ’cause there’s no more Ultramen in it. Not yet anyway. Well, I guess I’ll just have to really make this one count? I don’t know, let’s give it a try. While my primary exposure to Ultraman remains the dubbed version of the original series, I do still dabble in some of the newer entries. I watched a fair bit of Mebius, as well as stray episodes of a few others, which did include the first few episodes of today’s focus Geed, which is noteworthy for being the only Ultra series I’ve watched while it was still coming out. That’s pretty cool, right?
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Ultraman Geed Primitive was released as part of Bandai’s SH Figuarts line in February of 2018, just two months after the first run of the show wrapped up. The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 43 points of articulation. As his name implies, Geed is seen here in his “Primitive” form, which is his standardized look for the bulk of the. It’s purposefully designed to merge the classic Ultraman and Belial designs together, making it slightly more unique amongst the standard Ultras. The sculpt does a good job of recreating the look. It’s very sharply defined and clean, as well as being very accurate to the show. I was also really impressed by how 
the articulation was worked into the sculpt, as it’s pretty natural looking, while still maintaining a range of motion that’s better than many of the other Ultras. Geed’s color scheme sticks with the typical red and silver, with an extra dash of black thrown in. The application of the paint is all pretty clean; there’s some minor bleed over in some spots, but it’s generally solid. Geed is packed with four pairs of hands (fists, open gesture, relaxed, and flat), an hand with the Wrecking Burst effect attached, and a swappable color timer.
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THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
Since Ginga broke on me, I went back to the Ultra well that was the massive collection still being processed at All Time. I knew I wanted Orb, so I was initially just planning to grab him, but Geed here was also hanging around, and I felt myself called to him as well. He was just an along for the ride figure, but I find myself really liking this one a lot. He’s simple, but works very well.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#3297: Goblin Queen
GOBLIN QUEEN
MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)
Fun FiQ Fact #0076: Though she’s existed since 1983, Madelyn Pryor has had, to date, only two action figures, more than 20 years apart from each other.
I find Madelyn Pryor a generally tedious character. The concept’s not awful, I guess. I can certainly understand Claremont’s initial desire to give Scott Summers his planned “happily ever after” even with the adjustments to the end of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” resulting in Jean’s demise. But, it does put Madelyn in an unfortunate spot of being nothing more than a placeholder, which isn’t ideal. The whole dissolution of her marriage to Scott is sloppy at best, and “Inferno” is making the best of a bad situation. So, X-Men ’97‘s take on the entire thing is, honestly, a refreshing reinvention of the set-up, which I actually quite enjoyed. And it got her a second figure!
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Goblin Queen is the third figure in Series 2 of Hasbro’s X-Men ’97-tie-in sub-line of Marvel Legends. I suppose you could get technical and say she’s *actually* the second of two Madelyns in the set, depending on how you treat the second head with the Jean Grey figure. But, you know, let’s not focus on that for now. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation. Her articulation scheme is generally what we’ve come to expect for this line at this point, at least in terms of set-up. In terms of range, Madelyn is rather restricted. It comes with the territory, at least as far as the design is concerned. She’s good for standing around, provided you can get her balanced, which is admittedly a little tricky, but not impossible. Madelyn’s sculpt is largely new; the arms appear to be the standard double-jointed female arms, but everything else looks new. It’s a solid piece of work, though on mine the upper part of her chest doesn’t slot quite right into the rest of it, so there’s an odd shelf and the edge of her skin…which is odd. Beyond that, though, I do generally like the sculpt. The head in particular manages to stay consistent with Jean’s sculpt, while still having its own flair of character. Madelyn’s color work is decent 
enough, if not 100% accurate to the show. I don’t know if there was a change to the design during production, but in the final product, the leggings on her thighs are much closer to regular skin tone than what we see here. It throws the vibe of the look off a touch, but it’s ultimately not the end of the world, I guess. The rest of the paint is pretty nice, and I do quite like the slight variations in the colors on her outfit. Madelyn is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture), a pair of energy effects, and, most importantly, baby Nathan Summers. Nathan is using the body of the baby Hulk/baby Nightcrawler, but gets a new head, and even gets the special x-printing on the blanket, which is extra fun.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
I may find Madelyn’s storyline’s questionable at times, but I don’t hate the character or anything, and I’m not opposed to a figure. This was certainly high on my list when these figures were shown off. I do like her, though I can’t say she quite shines for me the same way as Cyclops and Jean. It could certainly be worse, though, and I especially like the baby Nathan.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
#3296: Batgirl
BATGIRL
DC: THE NEW 52 (DC COLLECTIBLES)
Fun FiQ Fact #0075: Barbra Gordon, the second Batgirl, was introduced into the comics in 1967 as a prelude to the character’s introduction in the third season of the live action Batman.
Barbara Gordon’s victimization at the hands of the Joker in Alan Moore’s “The Killing Joke” is a pretty messy story for a lot of different reasons. Ultimately, DC’s decision not to quickly reverse Barbara’s paralyzation, and in fact embrace it and make her a stronger character *because* of it worked in her favor, with her Oracle role becoming quite a defining turn for her. That said, it was still definitely a bummer the way they ended her time as Batgirl. So, honestly, one of the New 52’s biggest selling points for me was its reversal of Barbara paralysis, allowing her to return to the role. And return she did! She’s even maintained it through several reboots, which is cool, and now she’s a major supporting player in Nightwing, which continues to be a favorite book of mine. But we’re not talking about that right now. No, we’re jumping back to the New 52 days right now. Oh yeah.
THE FIGURE ITSELF
Batgirl was released in DC Collectibles’ DC: The New 52 line in September of 2014, with a second run in February of the following year. She was released alongside Supergirl both times, and Nightwing the second time. The figure stands about 6 3/4 inches tall and she has 19 points of articulation. She’s down the two thigh swivels that Nightwing got, but swaps them for shin swivels at the top of the boots. Beyond that, the articulation scheme remains more or less the same. It’s not a fantastic range of motion or anything, but it’s alright for some more basic posing. Again, it’s biggest hold-up is the lack of mid-torso joint. Still, it’s not awful. She has a totally unique sculpt, based on her New 52-era design. Her re-work is one of the ones that was a lot more “just add ridges to the classic look” oriented. Honestly, it’s one of the more passable looks. I think the ridges on the yellow sections are a little much, but it generally still works okay. The sculpt translates it well, and generally makes some of the parts I like less work a little better. My figure has a slightly warped right ear, which was caused by how she was packaged, but beyond that, the sculpt holds up. I quite like the head sculpt in particular; while the Nightwing sculpt didn’t quite feel like Dick Grayson to me, this one definitely feels like Barbra Gordon. The color work on Batgirl is decently handled. She’s technically using a slightly later color scheme for the design, since her earliest appearances had a purple lining to the cape. That said, I like this scheme a little more. I do wish the paint used an actual black for the bulk of the costume, rather than the very dark grey, but it’s at least a clean application. Batgirl is packed with a grapple gun, which there is no way for her to hold without snapping the thumb off her hand. Gotta love that DCC quality.
THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION
After breaking on the Nightwing figure I reviewed last week, I felt a need for a corresponding Batgirl. I was in luck, because this one came into All Time fairly shortly thereafter, allowing for me to stick to my usual Nightwing/Batgirl pairing. She’s actually a little better than the Nightwing figure, I think. Not the best Batgirl ever or anything, but certainly still very cool.
Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.
The Figure In Question 