#4115: Wedge Antilles

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

WEDGE ANTILLES

STAR WARS RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hey! Hey!  Did you guys know that Wedge Antilles is my favorite Star Wars character?  Even though he’s minor?  And that it’s not the expanded universe stuff that I like, it’s literally just the, like, one scene per movie in the original trilogy?  I mean, if you’ve read literally *any* other Wedge review here on the site, you probably do, because I apparently feel the need to start the reviews of him all the same way.  Look, 4000 reviews and you’re bound to repeat yourself a bit, right?  Well, anyway, despite his presence in all three of the original movies, Wedge is notably absent from Kenner’s original vintage run, which has been a pretty notable omission all that time.  But, with all these throwback retro figures floating around these days, it’s the perfect time to make up for that omission, right?  Right!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wedge Antilles is part of the 2026 Star Wars Retro Collection exclusive 6-pack. They’re the only six figures for the line this year, sold as one large package, much like last year, rather than as a proper assortment of individual figures (though the figures are still individually packaged within the set).  All of the figures are A New Hope-based this time around, though technically Wedge could also work as a Jedi figure, since his look is the same between them.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  His sculpt is all-new, and not directly patterned on any vintage figure molds.  It’s honestly kind of interesting that there’s not even a little bit of detail borrowing from the vintage Pilot Luke figure.  Instead, we’re starting from scratch and…it’s kind of a mixed bag?  Like, I think the weird part is he feels maybe a bit too good to really feel like a vintage Kenner figure.  The folds and hang of his outfit are just a little too natural, and the details are just a little too accurate.  He’s got gloves, which Pilot Luke didn’t, but I’m willing to let that slide, because it’s the kind of shift I can see happening later in the line.  But beyond that, there are small details, like the strap on the back of his vest, or the pockets on his arms, which probably shouldn’t be there.  But, then other parts, like his head that’s just a little bit too small to allow for the helmet, which feel pretty close.  The paint kind of continues the trend set by the sculpt, where it’s just a touch too good, and too accurate.  The biggest thing that throws me is the presence of the grey detailing, since the vintage one just sort of split the difference with the black and white details.  It feels a bit more in line with PotF2, which is obviously not *quite* the vibe they’re going for.  But, it’s not actually bad, so I’ll at least give it that.  Wedge is packed with his helmet and a blaster.  Both are new molds, and they’re pretty fun.  The helmet’s too big, but in the right way.  The blaster could have just been a re-use, but it’s a new Han-style blaster, which I really dig.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I sure do love Wedge figures, and I spent a good amount of time sort of pretending Pilot Luke was Wedge for the purposes of my vintage collection.  With all the Retro Collection figures, I was sort of hoping maybe we might see him, but the focus always seemed to be elsewhere.  I was excited when he was finally shown off, but less excited about him being in a boxed set exclusive to a place I don’t shop.  I’ve been sort of keeping my eye on second hand sources for just Wedge, and happened upon one for a good price, so I jumped on it.  He’s not perfect, but in the sort of way where he’s too close to perfect, if that makes sense?  Ultimately, though it’s a cool Wedge figure, and that’s what I wanted, so I’m happy.

#4114: Mr. Knight

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

MR. KNIGHT

TELEVISION MASTERPIECE SERIES (HOT TOYS)

For about a decade now, every time I’ve reviewed a Moon Knight figure, I’ve done this whole bit about “yelling” out the name and all caps and being very overly excited.  But, these days, I’ve matured.  I’ve found myself as a more refined connoisseur of Moon Knights.  It’s all a very classy affair.  Ah, yes.  Moon Knight.  Did you hear?  There’s a new Moon Knight.  Quite exciting, isn’t it?  Yes, quite.  See, classy?  And what could be a classier Moon Knight to review than a Hot Toy?  And not just any Hot Toys Moon Knight.  Oh, no, this is a Hot Toys Mr. Knight.  He gets the honorific because of how refined and respectable he is.  What’s that?  Oh, Mr. Knight is when Steven’s in control, so he’s actually kind of a goober the whole time?  So, I’ve just kept it all in check for, like, nothing?  Cool.  Great.  Well, you know what, let’s review this figure.  Of MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON KNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Knight is part of Hot Toys’ Television Masterpiece Series, where he’s figure TMS139, placing him between Vi from League of Legends and the Artisan edition of hooded Moon Knight.  He’s the second entry from the Moon Knight show, following up on the 2023 standard Moon Knight.  This one was shown off way back at the end of 2024, originally with a mid-to-late 2025 release window, but he got dragged out to August of this year due to all manner of distribution issues emanating from the insanity that is the world we live in.  While the first Moon Knight was based on Marc’s more classic incarnation of the avatar, this one is based on the Declan Shalvey-designed suited look sported when Steven is in control.  The figure stands just under 11 1/2 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

The first Moon Knight figure only sported a single head sculpt, fully masked.  This one goes back to the Hot Toys tendency towards having options.  The one he comes wearing is the masked one, which, like the prior one, is quite an impressive piece.  All of the texturing present in the show mask is clearly replicated here, and you can clearly make out the face beneath it all.  Like the prior Moon Knight, the masked head has a light-up eye feature, which works more or less the same way…or at least it’s supposed to.  On my figure, a few hours after putting the batteries in, it stopped having an “on/off” switch and instead had a “on/more on” switch that just modulated the brightness, and required taking out the batteries to turn back off.  That’s really not ideal.  The figure’s second head is an unmasked Marc/Steven, sporting Oscar Isaac’s likeness, the first time on a Hot Toy, despite a Poe Dameron figure having been teased a literal decade ago.  It’s quite an amazing sculpt, very clearly capturing Isaac’s likeness, which is something that’s proved rather difficult for Hasbro in all of their many attempts.  This head also gets moving eyes, much like Superman and Spider-Punk.  It’s cool that this has become a more standardized feature, and it gives him a lot more variety for character.  Also, if you position them just right, you can hide the pupils entirely, to get a mid-transformation look like in the show.

Mr. Knight, both in the comics and in the show, is always seen in a three-piece white suit, and the figure replicates that here, with an outfit tailored to the underlying body.  While the standard Moon Knight had some cheats involved to approximate a complicated outfit design, Mr. Knight really doesn’t employ any cheats.  They’re really just gone and done the whole suit, with a full vest, shirt, and tie underneath of it.  Much like the actual construction of the thing, there’s some layers to all of this.  The patterning on the material is nothing short of amazing, as are all of the tiny little details, and the stitching and assembly is all really on point.  He’s even got a little pocket square (though be careful; it’s not attached and will fall out while you aren’t looking), and the jacket has a wire running on the edge, so you can pose it dynamically.  There are, however, some curiosities at play.  As noted, every article of clothing is a full article, no partials or stand-ins.  The vest is fully tailored and detailed, right down to the strap and buckle on the back.  The shirt is likewise full-sleeved, and even has said sleeves rolled up, just like they are when he removes the jacket.  The underlying body uses the muscle forearms, which are the ones meant for showing, rather than the more basic ones for when they won’t be visible.  So, I was a bit surprised that none of the promotional photos showed the jacket off, and the instructions with the figure noted that the outfit wasn’t removable.  Well, I noted the instructions thing *after* taking the jacket off, unfortunately, at which point it was really difficult to get back in place, and I ultimately did some minor damage getting it back on (just some undone fabric glue and a popped seam, both hidden in pretty much any pose), so, you know, don’t take it off, I guess.  Given all of the various extra detailing under the jacket that will never be seen, I’d guess there was at some point a plan for it to be removable, but they couldn’t make it work, so they abandoned it.  Clearly, this was decided after the body was picked, but before it was cast, as the elbow joints are notably black plastic, which is certainly not something you’d do if you intended the arms to be visible.

In addition to the interchangeable heads, Mr. Knight gets a rather basic assortment of parts, including 4 pairs of hands, 1 pair of eskrima sticks, a scarab amulet, a doohickey for moving the eyes on the unmasked head, and a display stand.  The hands come in gripping, fists, relaxed, and open gesture, and make for a decent variety of posing options.  They swap easily enough, and there’s also a spare pair of wrist pegs should you have any breakage issues.  The sticks are nicely detailed, featuring the markings seen in the show, and slide well into the hands.  The scarab isn’t really for this figure, but it’s a neat little extra.  The display stand is one of the basic ones, and as impressive as the more deluxe stand from the last figure was, I’m glad this one’s just basic, if just for the space considerations.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I began my wait for this figure at the end of the review of the last HT Moon Knight.  I knew it was a good likelihood he was coming, it was just a matter of when.  Admittedly, it was a longer gap than I was expecting before he was announced (and I almost caved on getting a third party version in the mean time), and then it was an even longer gap than I was expecting between his announcement and his actual arrival.  I honestly wasn’t even sure he was gonna show up.  But he did, and I’m glad for it.  He’s not perfect.  The last one, though lacking the unmasked head, was a pretty solid figure, without any notable issues I can recall.  This one has some issues.  Not minor.  Not enough to ruin the figure.  But, certainly enough for me to feel like there may have been some concessions made just to get him out the door.  At the end of the day, though, I really am just glad to finally have him.

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.

#4113: Cyborg Superman

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

CYBORG SUPERMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Cyborg Superman, also known as ‘The Cyborg’ is an evil counterpart to Superman with a robotic body designed using Kryptonian technology and genetics.”

Astronaut Hank Henshaw was originally introduced in the comics in 1990, as a sort of dark “real world outcome” take on the Fantastic Four origin story.  Though originally intended as a one-off character, his creator Dan Jurgens thought there was more to explore with the character, so during 1993’s “Reign of the Supermen” storyline, he was reintroduced as Cyborg Superman, claiming to be the genuine article rebuilt with Kryptonian technology following his demise at Doomsday’s hands.  Though the other three replacement Supermen from “Reign” would all receive figures through Kenner’s Man of Steel line in the ‘90s (well, okay, technically Eradicator actually made it out as a ToyFare exclusive), Cyborg Superman was notably absent from the line, not seeing any sort of toy release until nearly a decade later, under via DC Direct.  He’s finally getting that retro figure treatment now, though, through McFarlane’s continuation of Super Powers.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyborg Superman is the third figure in Wave 13 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation, numbered 63 overall in the line (which he took from Wave 11’s Nightwing, since we’re still doubling up there for whatever reason).  Cyborg Superman dials right into the overall Superman theme of this assortment, and while he’s a little outside the original line’s run, it’s not crazy to think of it continuing far enough to include him, especially given the McFarlane run has already tapped into “Knightfall.”  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  It should come as no surprise that Cyborg Superman is using some Superman parts in his construction, but I was admittedly not expecting it to be the first Superman mold, rather than the improved one from Wave 9. He replaces the head, right arm, and left lower leg with new parts, so he does at least lose the Todd-inspired head sculpt, but he’s still a touch too tall and a little bit pigeon-toed.  Generally, though, the new parts do a lot to help rehabilitate the mold.  The head is more in line with the updated Superman, while still showcasing Henshaw’s slightly more hardened, angrier expression, and the raised and etched in elements of the robotic pieces are quite impressive.  *Technically* the torso should really have been resculpted as well, since it’s half-robotic, but ultimately, with the arm being resculpted and the cape hiding a lot of it, the look is pretty well pulled off.  The cape is the exact same one included with Supergirl and Powergirl, which means that like Supergirl, he’s missing the logo on the back, which is kind of annoying, but not the end of the world.  His paint work is…well, okay, it’s not strictly speaking accurate, because a proper Kenner Cyborg Superman would almost certainly be vac-metalized.  That said, such a process is clearly beyond the scope of the McFarlane figures even with full retail support, so it’s definitely not happening here, and it’s not fair to hold it against him.  The basic silver is perhaps not quite as exciting, but it’s well done.  My only actual complaint on the painting is that they missed painting the red loops on his belt, even though they’re still sculpted there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first introduction to Cyborg Superman was actually fan complaints that he wasn’t included in Man of Steel, which led to me finding out more about him, and eventually buying the DCD figure when it was released.  He’s an interesting enough character, and he’s certainly got quite a striking design, so the fact that he’s got as few figures as he does is genuinely surprising.  This one’s got a few flaws that hold him back from perfect, but I do quite like him, and I think he’s a good fit for the line.

#4112: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“It’s non-stop action when the Marvel Universe’s greatest heroines join forces against the power of the Black Queen! Locked in mortal combat with the notorious Queen, Jean Grey of the X-Men uses her telepathic powers to summon help. Jean is joined by fellow X-Man Storm, Avenger Ms. Marvel, and the mysterious Spider-Woman. Together, this team has all the power it needs to stop the Black Queen in her tracks!”

Hey, remember Marvel Hall of Fame, from way back in last month’s reviews?  Well, it’s back, in pog form!  Or, like, Jean Grey form, I guess.  Despite her rather prominent spot in the franchise and its various media adaptations, Toy Biz’s X-Men line was sparse on Jean Grey figures, especially her ‘90s outfit, was absent for most of the run.  It’s first real appearance in 5-inch form was not in the X-Men line at all, but rather Hall of Fame, where it cropped up as one of the line’s quick, slapdash repaints.  Let’s see how that turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean Grey was released Series 2 of Marvel Hall of Fame, in 1996.  This was the Puzzle Zoo-exclusive line’s first “She-Force” assortment, before they really became a trend.  Jean was still in the Jim Lee get-up at the time, so this figure was more or less accurate to what was in the comics.  Sort of.  Let’s dig further into that.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  All of the Hall of Fame figures were repaints of some variety, and in Jean’s case she’s a complete re-use of the X-Force line’s Domino.  It’s…fine.  I do like that the figure gets proper hip joints, and not v-hips, but I don’t love the total lack of neck articulation or the odd swivels at the elbows.  In terms of actual costume design, while there are some similarities between the two costume designs if you squint, it’s not exactly a 1 for 1.  Generally, they do their best with the paint, which kind of tries to mimmic the layout of Jean’s costume.  The head gear is better than I’d expected, and the shoulders and wrists are pretty close, but it’s really the extraneous belts and pouches that ultimately throw it all off.  Also those crazy eyes.  Don’t love those crazy eyes.  Jean was packed with Domino’s guns and missiles, recolored to match better.  They make no sense at all for the character, but I do like the coloring at least.  Also included was a trading card, in my case Belladonna, Gambit’s ex.  I think she might be the most common card I’ve had turn up with these figures at this point.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember seeing the figure from time to time in the earlier days of my collecting, mostly in larger lots of figures online.  Something always felt rather off about her, though, and I’ve hesitated to track her down for many years because of that.  She’s actually the most recent addition to my Hall of Fame figures, in fact purchased as part of a larger Toy Biz lot, so I guess that’s just how she hits the market.  She’s odd, just from top to bottom.  I guess I can sort of see where they were trying to go with the costume similarities, but the thing is that Domino and Jean are very different characters with very different demeanors, and that translates to an odd match-up.  Ultimately, I don’t really love this one, but I admire what they were trying to do.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0088: Night Creeper

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

NIGHT CREEPER

G.I. JOE: SPY TROOPS (HASBRO)

Hey there faithful readers, and welcome to the end of the week.  Oh, yes, it’s ending.  Fantastic.  Since it’s Friday, let’s celebrate it the only way I know how, with a Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Today, I’m going in for seconds on a particularly sneaky ninja, with a return look at the Spy Troops Night Creeper!

Today, I’ll be taking a look at an entry in the original Action Figure toyline, G.I. Joe!  Like my last G.I. Joe review, this figure hails from the Real American Hero incarnation of the line.  In the early 2000s, Hasbro attempted to bring this incarnation back after a few years of hiatus.  The reinvented line started as a simple “G.I. Joe vs. Cobra” idea, but quickly moved from gimmick to gimmick to keep things fresh.  One of those gimmicks was called “Spy Troops” and revolved around certain figures featuring special gear that would allow them to blend in with their enemies.  This time around, I’ll be looking at one of the Cobra forces from the line, the Night Creeper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Night Creeper was released as part of the 2003 wave of Spy Troops figures.  He was paired in a two pack with Kamukura, one of the many G.I. Joe ninjas.  The Night Creepers were one of Cobras many ninja armies, so the pairing makes sense.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and features 20 points of articulation.  The sculpt on the figure is a bit dated now, with an odd kind of “v” shape to the body and long arms, but at the time, it was actually quite good.  Viewed through that lens, it’s pretty good, if not perfect.  There’s lots of cool little details present, which give the figure a lot of character.  The paint on the figure is minimal, with most of the figure being molded in the appropriate shade of blue, but the small amounts of paint present are all nice and clean.  The Night Creeper was actually very well accessorized, with a sword for his basic look, plus a dive mask, re-breather, flippers, and a harpoon gun to allow the Creeper to masquerade as G.I. Joe Wetsuit.  I’ve lost the Wetsuit pieces, but they did the job quite convincingly, and actually made for a slightly better figure than the official Wetsuit release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually bought Night Creeper solely for the Kamukura figure that was packed with him, but I quickly grew to like the Night Creeper a bit more.  The early 2000s G.I. Joe line was far from perfect, and was even downright bad at times, but the Night Creeper was one of the better figures.

The Night Creeper was actually only my second G.I. Joe review here on the site, which is honestly crazy.  Some lines started off on the site with looks at particularly significant figures or at least early additions to my collection, but the Joes kicked it off with a Rise of Cobra figure followed by a random ‘00s off-shoot trooper.  Guess that’s just how it be sometimes.  I was generally rather complimentary towards this figure the first time around, and I’ll stand by that.  Though I have no real attachment to the Night Creeper in general, this figure is quite nice, and I think holds up as one of the better offerings of the era.  When I first reviewed the figure, he was missing all of the parts for his “spy” disguise as Wet Suit, but I’ve since located them.  I think it’s a pretty convincing set-up, and sells the gimmick a lot better than a good portion of this line ever did.

#4111: Scout Trooper – Imperial Patrol

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

SCOUT TROOPER — IMPERIAL PATROL

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE JEDI/SAGA (HASBRO)

“Although lightly armored, Imperial scout troopers are essentially highly mobile stormtroopers. They patrol perimeters, perform reconnaissance missions, and scout enemy locations. They are equipped for high maneuverability and long periods without support.”

Hasbro’s Power of the Jedi line, more than being its own standalone line, was more than anything about wrapping up loose ends before moving onto the next thing.  In addition to serving as a way to release the last of the Episode I product, they also added a few new items to the Power of the Force stylings, with some OT characters that didn’t quite get proper coverage earlier.  While all of the environment-specific Imperial troops got some degree of coverage in PotF2, the Scout Trooper notably only got a vehicle pack-in release, and a kind of wonky one at that.  Power of the Jedi offered up one that served as a slightly more conventional figure, and I’m looking at that one today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Scout Trooper — Imperial Patrol was released in Star Wars: Power of the Jedi’s first year, in 2000.  There were two versions of the figure available, clean and dirty.  The dirty version, seen here, was re-released in 2002 with a bunch of new accessories as part of the Saga line’s “Endor Victory” accessory set.  The core figure is effectively the same, though the pelvis piece is reversed on the second release.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  In contrast to the vehicle pack-in figure, which was specifically built to ride the speeder bike, this one is specifically built to stand around, which he does pretty well.  He’s got some minor pre-posing, mostly limited to the arms, but the articulation all has decent clearance, and he can do some nice basic posing.  It’s interesting to be getting such a basic articulation set-up this late in the game, but as mentioned in the intro, there was definitely some attempt to close out the PotF style a little bit.  The actual detailing on the sculpt is quite nicely handled.  His proportions aren’t anything crazy (though his head’s arguably a little small and his hands are a little big) and his uniform is rather well detailed, and accurate to the source.  It’s not hyper detailed, but there’s plenty to keep the sculpt from getting boring.  The color work starts out with some pretty basic black and white, but adds some dirt and battle scarring on the top of it.  It’s a touch heavy-handed in some spots, but it generally works okay.  I definitely like the boots best of all.  The Scout Trooper is packed with his blaster pistol, which he can hold or store in his ankle holster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never actually got a chance to pick up the original Power of the Jedi release of this guy, but in 2002 I was in prime buying so much Star Wars product mode, and ended up snagging the accessory set release.  Over the years, I’ve lost pretty much all of the accessory set parts, but I managed to hang on to at least the main figure.  He’s basic, but fun, and pretty well up my alley in terms of how I like my Star Wars figures.

#4110: Orko – 200X

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

ORKO — 200X

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

Well, this year hasn’t been *without* Masters of the Universe reviews, but it has been a little sparse.  I had the two movie tie-in figures of two of the three figures I always buy from any given incarnation, but that’s been it.  And, that decidedly leaves me without a review of the third guy, Orko, who as of yet doesn’t have a movie figure.  So, with that lack of movie Orko, I guess I’ll just have to sub something else in.  As luck would have it, there’s a new Orko I haven’t reviewed, and this one’s based on my favorite incarnation of the franchise, the 2002 cartoon!  In 2022, Mattel dipped their toes in the 200x well with a He-Man translated into Origins’ more ‘80s style, and in 2024 launched the Cartoon Collection sub-line which was patterned more closely on the Filmation models.  This year, they expanded the Cartoon Collection to include the 2002 show, and there’s 25 figures released or shown off thus far, which is really quite a few.  Anyway, here’s the Orko!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko — 200x is part of the 30th Wave of Masters of the Universe Origins, which is the fourth assortment dedicated to 200x under the Cartoon Collection banner.  This is the line’s third Orko, which is a nice number of Orkos for sure.  The figure is just over 3 1/2 inches tall without his flight stand and he has 17 points of articulation.  In a trend of continuing improvements to how the Orko figures move, he not only has fully articulated arms and ball joints on the top and bottom of the head, allowing for full posing of the head and hat, but also has swivels on the ears, so that they can finally be properly oriented when the hat is repositioned.  This Orko is yet another all-new sculpt, this time based directly on the animation model from the show, something not even the original 200x figure did.  He’s notably a bit lankier than the prior Orkos, and his hat and cloak are slightly more disheveled.  Additionally, the lower portion of the cloak is more dynamic and tailored, which looks cool, but does mean that, unlike the last two Origins Orkos, this one can’t stand without the included flight base.  In general, it’s a decent enough match for the cartoon, and it all pieces together pretty well.  I did find my copy had a lot more flashing than I’m used to seeing on these figures, especially on his scarf and hands.  It’s not hard to clean it up myself, but it’s a little annoying.  Orko’s color work is more on the muted side, just like show that spawned him.  It’s still very Orko, though, so that’s really the important thing.  The paint work is minor, but what’s there works well enough for the most part.  That said, there’s some slop around the edges of the yellow trim.  Orko is packed with the more simplistic flight stand seen on the last Orko, a variation of his “hero’s medal” (which was actually part of his standard design in the show), and a pair of magic effect pieces that go over the hands.  While the magic parts are an interesting idea, I find the execution a little clumsy.  Personally, I’d have loved to see an alternate helmeted head for his “play” from the pilot, but I guess that’s a very specific extra.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember back when I almost didn’t buy the original Origins Orko and then I did and I thought that would be all I needed? Ah, simpler times.  In my defense, I never did imagine they’d do a whole 200x run.  It’s the show that gave me my love of Orko, and we’ve never gotten a proper animation based figure of him, so I was pretty happy to see this one.  He’s a neat figure.  I think, in terms of straightforward figures, the Filmation one may still be the slightly better figure, but this one’s quite nice, and does some cool stuff.

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.

#4109: Power Girl

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

POWER GIRL

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Power Girl is the Earth-Two equivalent of Supergirl, native Kryptonian and cousin to Superman”

There was a moment, about a month ago, when I was a little concerned that I might run out of a good stock of DC stuff to review on Tuesdays.  I’m significantly less worried about that these days.  Why’s that?  I’ve got so many new Super Powers to review, that’s why!  Last week, I was marveling at Supergirl, the first new female character added to the line since the vintage run, who actually doubled the number of them in the set.  Well, we’re bringing that count up to three today with Supergirl’s alternate universe equivalent, Power Girl!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Power Girl is the second figure in Wave 13 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation line, officially numbered 62 in the line, a number she’s stealing from Cyborg, due to Wave 13 doubling up on the Wave 11 numbers for whatever reason.  In addition to following up on Supergirl’s Super Family theme, Power Girl also joins the rapidly increasing Justice Society line-up that’s been added by the revival, though this time we’re getting a later run addition, though one that’s certainly still within the purview of the vintage line’s run.  The figure stands 4 5/8 inches tall and she has 7 points of articulation.  Structurally, Power Girl is very similar to Supergirl, which makes a degree of sense, especially for this era of the character, before certain assets became quite so prominent in her design.  Speaking of design, she’s more or less using Power Girl’s second costume design, when they removed the boob window in favor of a v-neck collar.  It’s what she was wearing at the time of the original line, so I can’t really fault it, and I think it translates the best to this style of all the available choices.  Like Supergirl, she’s using a modified version of the Wonder Woman body, which has removed all of the Wonder Woman-specific elements.  Power Girl gets a unique set of lower legs, featuring buccaneer boots, as well as a unique head sculpt.  While not quite as strong as the Supergirl head, this one’s still pretty solid, and it’s certainly sharp.  Like Supergirl, she’s got a cloth cape, and it’s still kind of odd sitting, but in Karen’s case, that’s not as much of an issue, since her cape usually hung over her shoulders a bit more, which this one does.  Her color work is generally strong.  It’s bright, eye catching, and fairly cleanly applied.  For whatever reason, she’s got a choker painted onto her neck, which isn’t really a Power Girl thing, at least with this costume, but admittedly I don’t hate it, and it breaks up the neck a bit, so I don’t hate it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I wasn’t exactly bummed about the line having no Power Girl the way I was about Supergirl, I was at the very least a little sad to see the end of more JSA members when all was said and done.  In that regard, I was certainly pleasantly surprised to see her crop up here.  She’s a fun addition, while maybe not quite as polished as Supergirl was, she’s quite nice.

#4108: Shadow Dancer

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

SHADOW DANCER

X-MEN 2099 (TOY BIZ)

“Centuries ago, an alien spacecraft from a distant galaxy became trapped in a cave deep within the deserts of Oklahoma. Stranded, the craft’s lone survivor made the surrounding hills and mountains its home, undisturbed by the general populace. Despite its monstrous appearance, the Shadow Dancer is a being of peace, and uses its ability to blend into darkness to serve as silent guardian to those who pass through his desert.”

Toy Biz’s X-Men 2099 line might not have come even close to completing any line-up of the team from the book’s run, but at least they did include a bunch of non-team members, right?  Right.  Take for instance, the super crucial character, Shadow Dancer, who had all of three appearances.  Gotta get an action figure of that one, right?  Oh yeah.  So, let’s look at the Shadow Dancer, being of three appearances!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shadow Dancer is the final figure in the Series 2 line-up of the X-Men 2099 tie-in line, wrapping up an assortment that was light on characters from the titular team.  The figure stands right at 5 inches tall (and almost as wide) and has 7 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme is sort of oddball here.  There’s joints at the shoulders, elbows, and hips, as well as a swivel on the tail.  The hips and shoulders are pretty standard, but the elbows only move outward and inward, not up and down like usual.  It makes it so the Shadow Dancer can, at best, do sort of a hugging thing, while not really offering much other variety on posing.  At least the figure’s imposing stature makes up for it.  There’s no denying this figure sure is a big hunk of plastic, but it kind of needs to be, to accurately depict what’s in the comics.  The sculpt is appropriately big and monstrous, with some decent texturing and smaller detail work.  The jaw is hinged, and when you turn the dial on the figure’s back, it chatters up and down.  It’s gimmicky, but neat.  The color work on the Shadow Dancer is predominately a sort of maroon, which is molded, with a fair amount of dark silver accenting via paint work.  It’s nothing crazy, but it does what it needs too.  Shadow Dancer didn’t include any accessories, but given the size, it’s understandable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with almost the entirety of this line, I got Shadow Dancer in a big bulk lot of loose figures, back in 2020.  While I had to augment a lot of them with parts from other figures later, the Shadow Dancer, with its lack of smaller easily lost parts, was included in its entirety, which is pretty nifty.  There’s not a ton going on with this figure, but at the same time, there doesn’t really need to be.  It’s a big, chunky monster thing, with a rather neat and understated action feature.  And, I can say from the amusement it brought my son Matty when he was digging through my figures a few years  back, it does seem to resonate pretty well with that kid mindset.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0087: Hal Jordan

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum

HAL JORDAN

GREEN LANTERN MOVIE (MATTEL)

We’ve officially made it to another Friday!  Alright, welcome to Friday!  We’re once again doing that fun Flashback Friday Figure Addendum bit, this time flipping back over to the DC side of things, with a moderately topical choice.  Since The Lanterns will be bringing Hal Jordan back to the world of live action DC this weekend, let’s have a return look at a bit of product from the *last* live action Hal Jordan project.

Having rounded up all of my Christmas gift reviews (barring any late gifts, I suppose), I’ll be moving back to my regularly scheduled programming of random figures from my vast collection.  A large subset of my collection is solely Green Lantern items, due to me being a really big fan of the character.  Being such a fan, sometimes I buy stuff solely because it’s Green Lantern.  That was the case with today’s figure, which hails from Mattel’s toy line to tie in with 2011’s Green Lantern movie.  It’s the basic version of the main character, Hal Jordan.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hal was released in the first wave of figures from Mattel’s Green Lantern line, which came out a few short weeks before the movie’s release.    He stands about 4 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.    He’s based on Hal’s fully GL’ed up look from the movie.  The sculpt is passable, though the details are a bit on the soft side. The likeness on the head is pretty good, with a decent representation of Ryan Reynolds from the movie.  The paint is fine, nothing spectacular, but there’s no slop of smudges which is nice, but details like Green Lantern’s power ring are left completely unpainted.  This gives the figure a cheap look, but it’s wasn’t a “cheap” figure to buy.  Hal includes a clear green construct.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yeah, so this figure is, well he’s not very good.  If he’d been released 10 years earlier, perhaps it’d be okay, but not for a modern day figure.  It’s cheaply made, the paint is as simplistic as possible, and he has practically no articulation, which means he’s not a very entertaining figure.  I have this figure because and only because it’s a Green Lantern action figure.

Hey, look at us, being back in the pre-third digit days.  This review was my first one to run after my first post-holiday season in January of 2014, though I’m fairly confident I’d written it prior to the full bulk of my gift reviews.  As I recall, the house my family was staying in for the holidays still didn’t have wifi at the time, so I spent a lot of my time writing reviews.

As early as this review may be, it was actually my third Hal Jordan review, and my fourth Green Lantern review.  They were definitely packed in there in the early days.  I was…well, I think I tried to be as nice as possible with this figure in the original review, but that still wasn’t super complimentary.  It’s not a great figure, so I do think I had a valid point.  What I didn’t have on hand (heh) during the original review was his construct.  The standard Hal included a giant fist construct, a classic Hal construct, and that’s honestly pretty cool.  I mean, he can’t really stand with it attached, but still kind of cool.  Also included was one of the “wearable” rings that were super small.  What are these, toys for children?