#4081: Razor Skate Robin

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

RAZOR SKATE ROBIN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

Okay, I took a couple of weeks off from the retro DC reviews so that I could look at new stuff, but lets go back to the retro stuff for a moment.  I started the month off with a civilian/quick change version of Bruce Wayne from Batman & Robin, so why not cap off this month’s DC reviews with the equivalent version of Robin, who in contrast to the Batman, is called “Robin” not “Dick Grayson.”  So, you know, I guess that’s just how it is.  Anyway, here’s Razor Skate Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Razor Skate Robin was released in the initial assortment for Kenner’s Batman & Robin tie-in line.  There were two Robins in the standard assortment; this one and the Iceboard Robin that served as the line’s standard Robin.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The core figure is Chris O’Donell in an outfit kind of similar to what the Bruce Wayne was wearing.  Like, it’s maybe a sweater and some sweat pants?  Honestly, the oddest part’s definitely the full-on gloves, but they aren’t terrible.  His head not only looks like Chris O’Donell, but also looks like him *in* the movie, which is a step up from the Clooney offering.  A good chunk of this mold would later be re-used for the JLA Atom figure.  The head sculpt was consistent with the Iceboard figure, but without the sculpted mask.  In general, the sculpt’s decent quality, with pretty sharp detailing and a not crazy pose or proportions.  The color work is fine; it’s not anything crazy, which is interesting for a figure from this era.  He’s mostly white and blue, and the application’s not too bad.  His transformation is facilitated with a bunch of add-on armor pieces, which includes a headset, cape/chest armor, and a pair of clip-on boots.  While still not a standard Robin, it generally feels a bit more organically connected to his movie design than the matching Batman look.  The most out there part of the whole thing is the goggles/headset in place of the usual mask.  Not a bad solution, ultimately though, and less problematic than the color changing mask from the transforming Robin from Forever.  As with the Batman, the boots include skates on the bottom (as called out by the name), which is a fun bit.  He’s also packed with like a pincer sort of thing?  It’s weird, but about what you’d expect from this line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As noted in my Bruce review, this figure was part of the pair, which I got on my birthday the year the movie came out.  While the Bruce was whatever, this figure was one that definitely stuck with me for a while.  He got a lot of use, both as Robin and as a number of other generic civilians (he was almost certainly a Rick Jones for my Avengers at some point).  I actually held onto almost all of him over the years, which is quite an accomplishment, but did lose the headgear, so I had to replace that one piece (which is why this review is running today, rather than three weeks ago when I actually wanted to run it).  He’s a clear variant and all, but I think he works a lot better than the typical quick-change figure.

#4080: Krule

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

KRULE

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“A member of the long-lived strain of mutantkind called the Externals, Krule has had literally a millennium to perfect the arts of savagery and torture he enjoys so much. Because of his fiery personality, he finds himself unable to work his evil schemes slowly over centuries in the manner of his fellow Externals. Krule is more likely to act in a moment of passion, counting on his ferocious mutant strength to see him through to victory! Krule’s campaigns have led him into battle against the members of X-Force, particularly Cannonball who, as one of the External High-Lords, he considers to be a blood enemy!”

Hey, remember when I was talking about Cannonball theoretically being one of the “Externals” last week?  And also talking about the whole concept of “Externals” as a whole back in February with the so goofy I have to love him Gideon?  Well, let’s talk about it more, I guess. Here’s Krule, who it’s very important to note has absolutely no similarities to Clancy Brown’s character The Kurgan from Highlander, because that would require you to believe that there were any similarities between the Externals and the immortals in Highlander, and that would be crazy because X-Force definitely wouldn’t just rip-off Highlander like that, right?  And they wouldn’t also change the name of the character from “Krule” to “Crule” to further distance things, right?  Right.  Anyway, let’s look at this figure of a guy who in no way looks like he could be voiced by Clancy Brown.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Krule was released in Series 2 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  He follows Gideon’s lead, in sort of a “one External per set” kind of what that would be totally dropped after this series, because the Externals were also rather quickly dropped themselves.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He’s got no movement on the elbows and knees, and also, for some reason, his waist swivel is only one direction?  And his left arm has sort of a click to it like it’s supposed to do something, but it doesn’t so it’s just…odd.  Also, I’ve not mentioned it before now, but this entire assortment has no peg-holes in their feet, which becomes more of an issue with Krule, whose lack of knee joints makes him a bit less stable.  His sculpt was unique to him and it’s…I mean, it’s accurate, I guess. He’s bulky and bald and wearing very little.  He’s got a separate braid piece that I guess he can kind of use as a weapon?  It wound up re-used for the Fantastic Four Thanos.  It at least makes a little more sense here.  Krule’s color work is fine.  Basic, and super wonky in its shades, for sure.  Who doesn’t love the mix of magenta and orange?  They go so naturally together, right?  My copy has some pretty notable slop around the edges of the orange, especially on the arms and legs.  Krule is packed with a pair of alien skulls (which are most certainly not a Xenomorph and a Predator, because why would they do that?) which…like, he can’t hold them, and the back just tells you to put them on the braid, which you can remove and turn into a “Radical Warrior Bracelet.”  You know, as you do.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Unlike Gideon, who I remember from my childhood, I don’t recall anything about Krule (and in fact frequently confuse him with Killspree).  I got him with a few other sealed X-Force figures (which I believe included the Gideon in my collection currently), and then he just kind of sat for a while before I noticed him.  He’s…fine.  Kind of boring, for the most part, with some strange and not really worked out gimmicks.  Honestly, there’s a part of me that wishes we’d gotten the rest of the Externals in equally phoned in figures to Gideon and Krule, just for the absurdity of it all, but, alas, it was not to be.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0080: Quicksilver

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

QUICKSILVER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s officially Friday!  Oh yeah!  We made it to Friday!  Let’s do a bit of Flashing back, but, you know, not to this week, no rather to the far away land of 2023, with a look back at Quicksilver!

“The speedster known as Quicksilver belongs to a family of strong mutants, his sister is the Scarlet Witch and his father is Magneto! Quicksilver spend the early part of his career as a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, before realizing his powers would best be put to use for the good of all Mankind. Since that time, Quicksilver has been a member of several super-teams, including X-Factor and the Avengers!”

Though he hasn’t quite made the lasting impressing that his twin sister has in recent years, Quicksilver is still certainly in a better spot than he was back before 2014. Nowadays, he’s almost a household name…well, one of him is, anyway. Not sure which. Probably not the comics one, but that’s the one I’m looking at anyway, so let’s just stick with that. Anyway, here’s a Quicksilver, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quicksilver was released in the infamous “Muntant Armor” series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line. There were two variants of Quicksilver available, one in his classic blue and white costume and one in his his then-current white and grey one. Back in 2015, I looked at the white and grey, so today’s review focusses on the blue and white. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation. As noted in the prior review, Quicksilver was built on the smaller male base body, which Toy Biz got quite a few uses out of around this time. He shares his mostly new head sculpt (retooled from the Battle Brigade Archangel) with his variant, and it’s still a pretty good take on the character. His paint work was obviously the main selling point. It’s a pretty solid recreation of his classic design. For true accuracy, it should have the black shorts, but this isn’t horribly inaccurate or anything. Application is pretty clean for the most part, with minimal slop or bleed over. Both versions of Quicksilver got the same accessories, a weird machine gun thing (missing from both of mine) and a dust cloud running effect stand, which was re-used from Meanstreak, but was now in a fun translucent grey, which was generally just a little more effective for the appearance of a dust cloud.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My dad had this version of Quicksilver, while I had the other one when I was growing up. I was always a fan of this one too, but I liked having my own distinct version. Over the years, though, I’ve been slowly working at getting a full run of the Toy Biz Marvel, and I was able to snag this guy at a toy show, in order to help me towards that goal. It’s intriguing that Toy Biz did Pietro with both costumes, seeing as he’s exactly the sort of character that you don’t really need multiple figures for, but now, well, now I have both, and I guess that’s kinda cool, right? 

This review was almost written back in 2018, when one of my ideas for making up for the “lost days” of reviews from my first year before moving ending my fifth was to review a bunch of Toy Biz variants to figures I’d already reviewed.  When I got all the Vipers for the Day of the Vipers, I scrapped the Toy Biz idea, and this guy got shelved.  The final review is from March of 2023, which was the lead-up to my daughter being born, and I was writing a *lot* of reviews in advance to prep for some reduced time devoted to the site.  As such, I was focusing a lot more heavily on stuff I could pretty much slot anywhere, without worry of references being dated or out of place.  This one was written about six months ahead of publication, which is a heck of a lead time. It’s kind of short and loose, but also I’d already reviewed the other variant, and even done an addendum, so I’d said a lot about the release and the mold.  I have since then added a *second* addendum to the variant review, so even more has been said.  As with the last Quicksilver addendum, the big addition here is that I found the weird machine gun accessory, which makes little sense for Quicksilver or the “Muntant Armor” gimmick of the assortment.  He can’t even hold it all that well.  But, he’s got it, and I guess that’s the most important thing.

#4079: Qui-Gon Jinn

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

QUI-GON JINN

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

Well, with Power of the Force officially done, and my small handful of actually new Star Wars stuff to review actually burned through, I guess it’s time to move on.  Not from Star Wars, of course.  I’m a toy site.  That would be crazy.  No, move onto the thing that followed (or actually kind of ran a bit in tandem with, I guess) Power of the Force: the Episode I tie-ins!  I’ve reviewed all of two figures from the at the time tie-ins, both of them Obi-Wan, so today I’m jumping over to the other rather important Jedi from the film, Qui-Got Jinn!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Qui-Gon Jinn is one of the three deluxe figures from Hasbro’s Star Wars: Episode I tie-in line, released alongside similarly deluxe versions of Obi-Wan and Darth Maul.  Like the other two, he consisted of a rather standard core figure, with an action feature activated by a kind of wonky lightsaber hilt-looking thing.  The figure stands just over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  The deluxe figures lacked the wrist and elbow swivels of the standard figures (Obi-Wan kept one of the elbow swivels, but Qui-Gon wasn’t as lucky), and the shoulder movement was restricted by the action feature.  While Obi-Wan’s sculpt wasn’t really all that different from the standard, Qui-Gon’s is actually quite different.  He’s a lot more pre-posed, in sort of a mid-battle set-up, with his hair swept back and his teeth bared.  While it’s a bit more limiting, it’s also a more dynamic, and I feel slightly more exciting sculpt.  It’s not as crazy as some of the Saga figures got, though, and he’s more stable on his feet.  Qui-Gon’s color work is pretty good.  Nothing crazy for the era, with the body work mostly focusing on base color stuff.  The head’s a bit more involved, with the hair getting some grey streaks in it.  Qui-Gon was packed with his standard lightsaber, as well as the larger “control” saber, which clipped around the figure’s waist and could activate the action feature.  As with Obi-Wan, I lost that one at some point, because I was some sort of silly child.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got a fair bit of Episode I related stuff for my birthday the year the movie came out, and I recall this Qui-Gon was amongst the bunch.  He was specifically my first Qui-Gon figure, and I recall being pretty excited to get him.  I got the standard not to long after (I think he may have just been a slightly delayed birthday present, truth be told), but I always liked this one a little bit more.  He’s not exactly a figure with a lot going on, but over 25 years out, I do still quite like him, and he’s probably still my favorite Qui-on figure.

#4078: Captain Christopher Pike

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

CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER PIKE

STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES (EXO-6)

Hey, it’s a Star Trek review, which means it’s time for me to talk about how I’m not *really* into Star Trek.  But, honestly, I’m starting to realize I’m perhaps misrepresenting that point a bit.  I mean, I’m certainly not *as* into Star Trek as a lot of Star Trek fans I know, but, maybe, just maybe, that’s because I spent the first two and a half decades of my life helping run Star Trek fan conventions, which has a tendency to skew your personal accounting of fandom.  By the metrics of some of the most obsessed and dedicated Star Trek fans in the country, all gathered in one space?  Maybe not the biggest fan.  By the metrics of the average person?  I know way too much not to be considered a decent fan.  I have opinions on the movies and shows, and favorite episodes, and favorite crew members, and a lot of toys.  Like, again, relative to others, maybe not a ton, but still a sizable amount.  While the merchandise in my collection has general trended towards to the cheaper stuff, usually, more recently I’ve even started adding some more expensive pieces to the mix.  Back in 2024, I looked at one of EXO-6’s high-end 1/6 scale figures, and now, I’m back with another one of those.  This time around, it’s my personal favorite captain of the USS Enterprise, Captain Christopher Pike!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Christopher Pike from “The Cage” is the 41st figure in EXO-6’s Star Trek Series, denoted “EXO-01-041” on the shipping box for the figure.  He went up for order last year, and has been making his way out to people slowly through the first half of 2026.  He’s directly called out as being from “The Cage” on the box, and his announcement and orders went up during the 60th anniversary of the pilot episode, and his actual release coincides with the 60th anniversary of “The Menagerie,” which worked the pilot’s footage into the show proper, which feels rather appropriate.  The figure stands about 12 1/4 inches tall and, as with all of the clothed 12-inch figures I look at here on the site, he’s got that nebulous “over 30 points of articulation.”

Pike has a single head sculpt, and since this is clearly him from “The Cage,” that’s based on Jeffery Hunter in the role.  Hunter’s likeness can kind of get all over the place when it comes to toys (as the standard Playmates figure showcases clearly with his very cartoony look), but EXO-6 have done a pretty admirable job here.  He’s a very serious Pike, which is ultimately more fitting of Hunter’s demeanor in the role (in contrast to Shatner’s more jovial Kirk), especially in the context of what we see of him in “The Cage.”  Unlike the Data sculpts, I don’t feel this one has any real weak angles, and the likeness is pretty easy to catch no matter how you’re viewing him.  The sculpt here also is a little bit sharper than the two Data sculpts, bringing it closer to Hot Toys, and certainly on par with the better Sideshow offerings.  The paint work is likewise a bit of a step up, going for a generally more lifelike and more accented quality.

Pike has his turtle-necked uniform from “The Cage,” consisting of his tunic, slacks, field jacket, and sculpted boots.  The core uniform is pretty closely tailored to the body, and seems to be a decent match for what Hunter’s wearing in the show.  I appreciate in particular that the pants are a different cut than the standard TOS flared pants, as that’s a detail that’s usually overlooked with the Cage-era uniforms.  He’s even got working pockets!  It’s all topped off with his field jacket.  While the main show just had the crew walking around in their standard bridge attire, the pilot gave them all extra jackets for surface missions, and they’re kind of a rarity in toy form.  Playmates gave one to their 12 inch release, but none of the others, and no one else has done one for Pike since.  This one’s really cool, it’s well tailored, looks the part, and even gets a fancy set of magnetic closures on the flap, so that it be seamless.  The only slight downside is that, to keep him from looking too bulky when jacketed, he ends up looking a touch too skinny without the jacket, but I prefer the jacketed look, so I don’t mind the trade off.

Pike’s underlying body seems to be more or less the same as the one used for Data, which works fine by me.  It’s a perfectly serviceable modern era 1/6 scale body, with a decent articulation set-up, and the uniform hangs well on it.  His skin tone is also a closer match than with Data, which makes for a more cohesive look, should the sleeves creep up during posing.

Pike’s accessory selection includes three pairs of hands (in relaxed, fists, and gripping), a phaser, a communicator, a harness, and a display stand.  It’s a generally basic set-up, but covers the main stuff a Hunter Pike would need.  Maybe some sort of extra head, either of a differing expression, or even a scarred Sean Kenney Pike, but those both feel a bit outside of the norms for EXO-6. Of what’s actually included, the communicator’s my personal favorite part, because I’m just a sucker for that clear communicator design.  The stand is the same as Data’s right down to the transporter pad-based design, and the swap out illustration for the larger combined set-up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m a big Pike fan, especially the Jeffery Hunter version, so I’m always a sucker for a figure of him.  I do, have a running gag of being denied figures of him, though, with my Nana buying me a weird Independence Day alien for my fourth birthday instead of the 9-inch figure, and a whole ordeal where I thought I was getting the 12-inch Playmates figure from my Grandmother for Christmas the year it came out, only to unwrap an Insurrection Worf figure instead (admittedly, not at all a bad figure, just not what I was expecting).  I was, apparently, notified by my father of this figure’s pre-order going up, but I don’t actually recall that happening, which I blame on sleep deprivation, if I’m honest.  Whatever the case, this figure was purchased for me by my father as a Christmas present last year, though he obviously wasn’t there on the day.  That would be too easy for a Pike figure.  But, I have him now, and he’s actually quite cool.  Anyway, there’s over 1000 words about a high-end Star Trek figure from a supposed not-Star-Trek-fan.

#4077: Superman – Returns

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

SUPERMAN — RETURNS

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

“Both a son of the otherworldly Krypton and Planet Earth’s smalltown Smallville, the metahuman Super Hero Superman, aka Metropolis’s Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, must now juggle both jobs and personas while under the most severe attack he’s ever faced. If Lex Luthor has his way, Superman will soon see the last of Earth…and earthlings will rejoice.”

1978’s Superman: The Movie revolutionized comic book movie adaptations, bringing the hero into a real world setting, and also granting us a defining portrayal of Superman courtesy of Christopher Reeve.  It’s really good.  It’s sequels?  Well, a lot of people like II.  I don’t know that it’s the classic that the first one is, but people like it, so that’s…good?  There’s another two, but people don’t generally like those.  They so didn’t like Quest For Peace that there were no Superman movies for almost 20 years afterwords.  The next film was sort of a sequel to the first two movies, ignoring the latter two, but, obviously with an all-new cast.  Superman Returns saw Superman returning after 5 years away from Earth (and presumably about 5 years after Superman II, though with an updated timeline), and…it’s…fine?  It isn’t great, and it’s certainly not up to the original.  There’s a lot of questionable choices.  That said, the film’s choice of Superman, Brandon Routh, was not a questionable choice, and was in fact a pretty solid follow-up to Reeve.  While Returns didn’t give him the greatest material to work with, he did eventually get to return to the role for CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earth’s” crossover, which definitely better served him.  The movie hasn’t gotten really any merchandise at all since the tie-in stuff from 2006, but Routh’s turn as the Man of Steel has made its way into McFarlane’s run before they wrap up, and I’m taking a look at him today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman — Returns is a standard release from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line, as part of a “Theatrical” assortment that also includes Henry Cavill’s Superman from Dawn of Justice.  Only the best Superman movies are represented here.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 39 points of articulation.  His sculpt shares a good number of parts with the Reeve Superman, which isn’t the craziest idea.  *Technically* the suit should have a texture to it, but it was only sort of visible.  He gets a brand new head, pelvis, and boots, as well as a modified torso with the raised logo.  The head’s a pretty respectable likeness of Routh; a little more cartoony and stylized, much like the Reeve sculpt, but that’s not bad, and it makes them consistent with each other.  As with the Reeve Superman, Routh gets a cloth cape, but this one doesn’t get any sort of wire running through it.  Thankfully, it’s at least a fabric that has a nice natural hang to it, so it’s not as awkward as the Zero Hour cape ended up being.  In terms of color work, he’s a lot of molded colors, which works generally well.  They’ve captured the overall shades of his costume from the movie pretty closely, and the paint work on the face is very sharply defined.  In terms of accessories, he’s *very* stripped down, with only a stand and a card.  It’s not even a flight stand; just the basic black disc.  He doesn’t even get extra hands, which have up to now been pretty standard for Superman.  Instead, he’s just got fists, which do line up with the image on the card, but also feel a bit limiting; he can’t even do the poster shot pose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though I’ll admit its flaws, I do have a soft spot for Returns and for Routh in the role.  I still have my original figure from the movie line, but of course it’s not in scale with much of anything else, certainly not any of my other Supermen.  I was looking forward to this one, but he sold out pretty quickly online, and I wasn’t sure how much hunting I’d be doing.  On our way back from South Carolina, we had to stop for some baby wipes, and the only practical place to stop was a Walmart, and the layout was such that it walked me right past the freshly stocked McFarlane display, which had this guy front and center, so I decided it was a sign and bought him.  He’s lacking on the parts front for sure, but the core figure really is quite nice.  McFarlane really did get making a good Superman figure down to a science during their run, I’ll give them that.

#4076: Cannonball

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

CANNONBALL

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Sam Guthrie lived an uneventful life in a small Kentucky town, until a mining accident triggered his latent mutant powers! He found that he could propel himself through the air at fantastic speeds, and, while doing so, his “blast field” rendered him impervious to harm. Sam realized that he had to use his powers to help bring about a better world, a task he strives to accomplish in the company of X-Force as Cannonball!”

Though the original cast of New Mutants are really none of them slouches in terms of long-term viability, perhaps the breakaway hit of the bunch is Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, who stuck with the team through its whole run as the New Mutants, and then stuck around for a good amount of time when the rebranded as “X-Force” and even got moved up to the main X-Men team for a while in the ‘90s.  But, before his main team stint, he remained a major focal point of X-Force, which delved into not only his hero’s journey, but also had a whole sub-plot where he was supposedly one of the Externals, which just kind of got dropped because it was vague and confusing?  Anyway, his only figure during Toy Biz’s run came from the early X-Force days, and I’m looking at that today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cannonball was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  There were two color variants on the Series 2 release, as well as a third variation released as part of KB Toys’ exclusive X-Men reissue line in 1998, and I’ll discuss the specifics on those in the paint section.  He’s based on his initial X-Force look, which was still current when the figure hit shelves.  It’s certainly one of Sam’s most distinctive and signature designs, so that’s a plus.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Size-wise, he feels more in line with the first series, rather than the scaled up second series, but in terms of quality of sculpt, he’s definitely more like the rest of Series 2.  There’s a lot of detailing, and especially a lot of character going into his face.  It does kind of make him look a lot older than he should be, but that’s not all that out of place for Sam’s usual depictions, so it kind of works.  Sam’s original release aimed to capture the sort of lavender/lilac hue of his costume in the comics, but ended up a lot more pink than intended.  There was a running change during the X-Force run to a much darker purple shade, which is closer to, like, his colors on the covers I suppose.  The paint masking on the two is the same, and while I think the contrast is a little better on the second one, the general coloring on the first one ultimately feels a bit more true to the character for me.  Clearly that was a prevailing feeling, since his 1998 re-release brought the pink back, this time with a vengeance.  The general application was a bit more punched up for this release as well, with a better layout of colors on the face, as well as a few extra smaller details, and making the accenting silver.  The one weird quirk of this release, however, is that the back of his head, rather than being the proper brown of his aviator cap, is just flesh tone, which is…odd.  All three figures included a silver launching pad, which is a sort of gimmicky way of showing off his powers, but is also fun in the goofiest and best sort of way.  Also, you can put it on his back, if you want?  Why?  I don’t know, but it’s an option.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My main knowledge of Cannonball growing up was from his time in the X-Men in the ‘90s.  As such, I’m rather partial to that look for him, which doesn’t much look like this look.  I did end up getting one of these, some time in the mid ‘00s, from an older couple selling off their son’s collection at the Farpoint dealer’s room.  That was the original pink one, and I was always fine with that, but I’ve managed to pull the other two over the years as well, which feels all nice and complete.  I still like the original the best, and would certainly not say no to his X-Men look, but they’re all kind of nifty in their own way.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0079: Corsair

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

CORSAIR

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

And here we are, at the end of the week.  It’s been a hell of a week, but it’s over.  Let’s just celebrate that simple fact.  Last week, I didn’t have a post of the flashback variety, but it’s okay, because I’m bringing it back around this week.  Just in time for Father’s Day, it’s the Summers dad, Corsair!

“Snatched from the Earth by a passing Shi’ar spacecraft, Christopher Summers was pressed into service as a slave of that galactic empire. But Summers burst the bonds of his captivity, and now in the company of his fellow Starjammers, he roams the cosmos as the free booting space pirate known as Corsair!”

“The Phoenix Saga” opened up a lot of new avenues for the X-Men. I guess going into space will do that for you. In addition to contending with the whole Shi’ar Empire, they also came upon a band of space pirates, the Starjammers. Originally pitched by artist Dave Cockrum as a standalone set of characters, they were reworked into the crew of a displaced Christopher Summers, the man eventually revealed to be the father of X-Men Cyclops and Havok (and Vulcan, too, but I don’t wanna talk about it). As the bio above notes, Christopher took on the name “Corsair” and even managed to get himself an action figure, which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Corsair was released in the 8th Series of Toy Biz’s X-Men series, officially dubbed the “Phoenix Saga” Series, and designed to tie-in with the storyline’s adaptation on the cartoon. Corsair played a large role in that adaptation, so his presence in the tie-in made quite a bit of sense. Interestingly, Corsair was actually the third Starjammer to grace the line, following Ch’od and Raza’s inclusion in Series 7. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. He’s a pretty standard offering for the line in terms of mobility and construction, being hampered by no odd lack of joints or the addition of any weird action features. He’s just a nice, basic sculpt. The details are all pretty cleanly handled, and he’s got a nicely balanced set of proportions. He’s perhaps a touch exaggerated, but certainly no where near as badly as later figures in the line. He does go for Corsair’s slightly updated shoulder pad-bearing design, introduced in the early ’90s (because everyone had to have shoulder pads in the ’90s, of course). It’s the one used on the cartoon, and it really wasn’t much of a change from the original design, so it ended up working out okay. If there was one change I’d like to see on this figure, I wouldn’t have minded if his hair had a little bit more of a dynamic flair to it; it was usually pretty fabulous, and it seems a little tame here. It’s not the end of the world, though; I’ll learn to live, I’m sure. Corsair’s paint work is overall pretty cleanly handled. It’s basic, but it’s also bright and eye-catching, as Corsair should be. Corsair was originally packed with a sword, gun, and grapple. My figure’s only got the sword left, but that’s honestly the best part, so I’m okay with it. Interestingly, Corsair is one of only two figures in the Phoenix Saga Series not to gain extra accessories when the assortment was moved over to the larger-style cards. I guess they felt like he had enough already.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Corsair as gift from my Nana back when he was new. I don’t remember exactly the occasion, but I know it wasn’t a birthday, because my cousin Rusty also got one at the same time. Maybe it was an end of school thing? Or possibly an Easter thing? I don’t know. I do know that Rusty had no clue who Corsair was and definitely didn’t appreciate getting him as much as I did. He’s a pretty solid figure, so I definitely am glad he was one I held onto.

Corsair’s a mid-2020 review, in that bliss that was post-Day of the Wolverines.  I think it hits pretty much all the important notes, in terms of reviewing.  I did erroneously state that there were no additional accessories for the larger-carded release.  In fact, in addition to the original sword and pistol, the second release also added a whole zipline thing to the mix, which feels appropriately pirate-y.  My figure only had the sword before, but now he’s got everything, which is pretty cool.

#4075: Colonel Ward

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

COLONEL WARD

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

So, it’s apparently been over a year since I reviewed a standard, not seasonal Black Series figure.  Which is…like, I guess I did sort of move on from the line, huh?  Well, there it is.  After a seven year gap, there’s another Star Wars movie in theaters, with The Mandalorian and Grogu, the conclusion to the show, that’s now on the big screen.  How is it?  Well, it’s a conclusion to the show on the big screen, that’s for sure.  Okay, that sounds like I’m being sort of pithy, but I actually did quite like it.  It’s got some cool set pieces, some cool creatures, and, most importantly, it’s also got Sigourney Weaver, who is also cool.  And certainly cool enough to get an action figure, so let’s check that out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Colonel Ward is he fourth figure in the Mandalorian and Grogu tie-in line-up of Star Wars: The Black Series, shipping as one of the product launch figures for the movie.  Ward is based on her pilot’s gear look from the end of the movie, which has a bit less screen time than her fatigues look from most of the run, but is also a bit more exciting as a figure, so it’s a solid choice.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Thus far, the X-Wing pilots have been pretty consistently using the original Pilot Luke mold from 2013, which is perfectly fine looking, but had a slightly less intuitive articulation than more recent figures, making a little clunky by modern standards.  Ward introduces a new body, which looks rather similar functionally, while working a bit more smoothly.  It remains effectively gender neutral, so I suppose it could be used for an updated Luke as well, should they choose to go that way.  She gets what is bound to remain a unique head sculpt.  It’s a pretty decent match for an older Weaver, with a lot of her signature intensity visible in the facial expression.  The hair isn’t quite as voluminous as Weaver’s in the movie, in order to make it work a bit better with the helmet, but it’s ultimately a good middle ground.  Ward’s color work is heavily reliant on molded colors, with minimal paint, mostly on the face.  While the application that’s there is good, there’s definitely some notable missing spots.  The hair is rather flat, and it’s disappointing that the belt is just an unpainted flat grey.  Like, none of it’s bad from a technical stand point, but it does feel a little underwhelming.  Ward is packed with a removable helmet, which is our third take on the classic Rebel pilot helmet.  This one omits the chin strap, in favor of just the microphone.  It also adds a removable visor to the mix, to make it look like it’s been retracted, which we don’t usually see here.  While the paint on the main figure is just sort of meh, the helmet gets a lot of really neat detailing, which adds a lot of pop to the figure. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m obviously always happy to see Sigourney Weaver show up in, pretty much anything, so I was excited to see her added to the Mandalorian and Grogu cast.  I didn’t really think too much about the toy side of things, and I ended up missing this figure a few times.  We went to see the movie while we were visiting South Carolina as part of a memorial for Jess, and on the way back, we passed the Walmart that I stopped at very many times while living down there with Jess a decade ago, where I got a good number of my Black Series figures from the time, usually on Jess’s urging.  I felt the need to check and see if they might have this figure, and sure enough they did, which was honestly pretty cool.  She’s not a perfect figure, but she’s fun, and I think she’s got a neat novelty to her.  Is it crazy that I’m kind of hoping they decide to do Michael Biehn’s character from The Mandalorian now so that I can have the two Aliens people as Star Wars people?  Is that too much of a reach?

#4074: Emperor & Time Travelers

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

EMPEROR & TIME TRAVELERS

MICRONAUTS REACTION+ FIGURES (SUPER 7)

Well, it was a six month break between reviews last time, but this time around, you only have to wait two weeks for more Micronauts.  Did you want more Micronauts?  I hope so, because I have more Micronauts.  So, there’s gonna be more.  That’s just how it is.  Anyway, let’s just jump right into these guys, and see how they turned out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Emperor, Time Traveler (Blue), and Time Traveler (Yellow) make up the third series of Super 7’s Micronauts ReAction+ Figures line.  While prior assortments only had two figures, this one is three, as we’ve doubled up on the Time Traveler.  The next assortment is back to two, so I can’t say I quite understand the change, but I shan’t complain.

EMPEROR

“Despite his imposing appearance, Emperor rules over the heroic Micronauts in their battle against Baron Karza and his Acroyear.  His true nature and goals for the Microverse after defeating Karza are known only to himself.  Many speculate whether his aims are for good or evil.”

While the figures in the line up to this point have all been the early bulk of the original line, real flagship figures, this one marks a change up, based instead on the 1980/1981 Magno Emperor, a rather rare piece from the original run, post-Mego, with a much wider release in Italy than in the US.  Palisades also included him in their ill-fated line, but that one may well be rarer than the original.  His bio up there suggests he’s not a villain, something not really pulled from any source I’m aware of, and also seemingly at odds with the back of the package, which gives him the same red background as Karza, rather than the blue used by all the others.  Also, I guess “Emperor” is his name, rather than a title, given the lack of a “the” in front of it?  Guy named Emperor becoming a ruler feels a bit on the nose, but maybe it’s a common name in the Microverse, like Jeff.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Much like his original release, this figure is the same as Karza and Force Commander from the neck down.  It remains a good sculpt, and I can’t really raise any complaints.  He does get a new head sculpt, which seems like a pretty good rendition of his original look, scaled well to the existing body mold.  He also gets a vinyl cape, which isn’t quite as impressive as the sculpted piece from his original, but still does the job pretty well, especially for the scale.  His color work features vac metallization on the torso and pelvis, which adds a pretty cool bit of pop, and separates him a bit more from Karza’s design.  He’s packed with the same backpack as Karza and Force Commander, as well as a sword.  The sword is neat, but I do miss the distinctive hand guard from the vintage figure.

TIME TRAVELERS

“The Time Travelers can move forward and backward in time.  They see possible futures, and when they detect a threat to the Microverse, they take steps counter that threat.  In their Temple of Time, they sift through clues and formulate strategies.”

The Time Traveler is kind of the signature figure of the original run, so it’s admittedly a little bit surprising that it’s taken until wave 3 to get him, but at the same time, given *everyone* has him, usually in multiples, I suppose it’s okay to hold out a bit.  Super 7 did at least come out swinging, though, with two color variants at once.  He’s also the first of the proper 3 3/4 inch figures from the original run to be transferred over here.  His construction is more like the o-ring Joes that followed the vintage line, than the original.  He lacks the interchangeable hands and feet and associated articulation, but does gain the bicep swivels that have become standard for the style.  He’s also a little bulkier than the original, making him feel generally sturdier, and his head sculpt sports a sharper selection of details.  Like the original release, the Time Traveler has a removable torso plate, with two options available, updates of the “windows” and “log cabin” looks.  They’re not compatible with the originals, but work on the same basic design philosophy.  In terms of coloring, he’s operating on the original translucent and chrome set-up, with both blue and yellow offered here.  I’m partial to the blue, but I dig them both in their own way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After kind of sleeping on the first two rounds of these, this was the assortment that really got me motivated to jump in right away.  I’ve always wanted an Emperor in some form and I’m a sucker for the Time Traveler.  So, I snagged them from Entertainment Earth as soon as they dropped.  I really like them.  Honestly, I’ve been liking the line ore and more as its moved along, and each further release makes me like the prior ones even more.  While I’ll admit the next wave doesn’t quite excite me as much, I’m still very much excited by the prospect of more.  With a figure like Emperor, I have hope we might see King Atlas or the Green Baron to keep the mold going, and the Time Traveler makes me want to see how a Space Glider might turn out.  All in all, I do really love this set.