#4070: The Regulator

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

THE REGULATOR

SEAQUEST DSV (PLAYMATES)

“Name: Dr. Leslie Ferina, aka “The Regulator”

Rank: Renegade Black Market Trader

Last Recorded Location: “Down World,” beneath the sea, south of Madagascar

UEO Case File #: Q8983-S/21-74373

Character Profile: Once thought of as true genius. Illegal trader of marine equipment and weapons. Long suspected a thief. Frightening, ruthless and violent. Paranoid loner. Contemptuous of society’s laws and rules.

Personal History: Showed exceptional scientific aptitude as a child. Received college scholarship at age 14. Ph.D in Marine Geophysics, 1992. Credited with the development of the “Hemosponge” artificial gill system, 1996. Stripped of credentials in 1999 after surgically adapting a miniature Hemosponge on a land based mammal. Listed as suicide and disappeared from public view, 2005. Now operated on black market from secluded underwater location, accompanied only by his companion Verne — the orangutan he once tried to surgically alter to breath underwater.

Mission Specialty: Obsessed with the search for the beginning of land-based evolution. Once kidnapped Darwin, who he believed could speak regular English, to aid in “research” of his spherical evolution theory.”

My very first SeaQuest DSV here on the site wasn’t of any of the members of the show’s regular cast, but was instead Dr. Rubin Zeller, a single episode antagonist, admittedly from one of the show’s best regarded episodes.  In this sense, I suppose it’s fitting that my last SeaQuest DSV review would be of the line’s *other* non-series regular figure, also a single episode antagonist, the eponymous character from “The Regulator.”  Though not as universally praised as “Games” and certainly leaning more into the show’s tendency for camp, “The Regulator” is a pretty solid building up of the world and the backstories of the characters, with Leslie “The Regulator” Ferina serving as an interesting character, whom it’s ultimately disappoint the show never got back to.  Well, at least he got an action figure. 

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Regulator is the final figure in Playmates Toys’ SeaQuest DSV tie-in toyline.  He’s one of the two antagonists included, but at least, unlike Zeller, the characters he interacts with the most were all actually included in the line.  Leslie has a number of looks over the course of the episode, but the figure goes for his introductory design, which is honestly his best and most memorable, so it makes a lot of sense.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  He’s missing the waist swivel that the others had, and his neck joint is restricted by the hair, but otherwise, it works like the others.  His sculpt is…fine.  It’s honestly the weakest of the batch.  The body isn’t too bad, but feels a little softer than the others.  There’s at least some pretty sharp detailing on the boots and gloves.  The head’s just really not on the mark.  Despite the likenesses generally being quite strong, there’s pretty much no John Bedford Lloyd in this one.  His face is too wide, his hair too straight, and his expression just odd, and unlike the character.  The glasses are part of the attire, but don’t really translate well, and further hamper the likeness.  Regulator’s paint work is rather on the basic side.  It covers the general set-up, but there’s certainly some overlooked details, especially the hat, and the shirt’s pattern is greatly simplified.  Leslie is packed with his orangutan Verne, a voltage drive, PAL, harpoon gun, and display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Regulator is the not only the last SeaQuest  figure I’m reviewing, he’s also the last one I added to my collection.  I mostly just focused on the crew originally, but once I got Zeller, I figured I might as well just round them out.  I don’t remember exactly when I got Leslie, but I recall finding him at Gidget’s Gadgets during one of my family vacations.  Going by his placement in my database, it looks like December of 2017.  He was sealed at the time, and I only just opened him before doing this review.   He’s not as impressive as the rest of the line.  The choice of design is sensible, but the implementation is wonky.  And, as with Zeller, his presence in place of another member of the crew is rather unfortunate.  But, that’s what it is, and that’s a wrap on the line, which is quite a neat little set of quirky little figures.

#4069: Ambush Attack Batman

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

AMBUSH ATTACK BATMAN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

“The cold front moving through the streets of Gotham City lately is the diabolical plan of Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane plotting to put the Dynamic Duo on ice! Batman and Robin respond immediately by using the Batcomputer deep within the Batcave to develop Covert Strike Cape technology: specially designed assault capes that reveal secret arsenals of cutting edge weaponry to battle against the evil forces threatening Gotham City! Discover the new, secret technology that gives Batman, Robin, and Batgirl the power to bring fiendish foes to justice!”

Remember when I looked at a Batman & Robin figure last week?  Cool, well I guess I’m gonna do that again!  While from the 1989 film on, the live-action Batman movies have had selling merchandise as at least part of their purpose, Batman & Robin took it to new levels, with director Joel Schumacher reportedly reminding actors between takes that they were shooting a “toy commercial.”  And, for all its faults, it did sell some toys.  For as many toyetic concepts existed in the film itself, the toyline expanded them even further, and…well there were certainly some reaches.  Batman and Robin got paraded around with all manner of frivolous outfits and gimmicks, and today we’re looking at one of those, Ambush Attack Batman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ambush Attack Batman was released in the second year of Kenner’s Batman & Robin tie-in line.  The theme for that second round was “Covert Strike Cape” so all of the figures had some sort of cape-related feature.  I’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The  core figure is pretty typical of the Kenner lines at this point.  He’s got the most basic of movement, and the slightest bit of a pre-pose to him, as if he’s sort of mid-step.  The sculpt is new, which was honestly notable in the second year, where there was a decent amount of parts re-using from the Batman Forever line.  It’s…fine?  There’s the standard Clooney Batman head, which looks the part well enough, and the body has a sort of armored look that’s fine enough.  It’s a bit out of step with the more classical armor approaches of the movie’s aesthetic, being a lot more tech heavy and segmented, but perhaps I’m reading a bit too much into the designs here?  It’s a goofy Batman variant, and it does what it needs to.  There’s a spot on his lower back where the cape clips into place, which keeps it nice and secure.  The cape is huge and very wide.  It’s designed to swing forward at his waist, allowing for use of the capture claws mounted on the bottom portion.  It makes him a little hard to stand, but that’s not really surprising, because there’s not much call for properly balancing something like this.  The color scheme on this figure is rather unique, placing Batman in a predominantly green and yellow set-up.  There’s a part of me that’s genuinely curious, given the “Ambush Attack” descriptor and the green and yellow coloring, if there was an Ambush Bug fan at Kenner who was sneaking in a reference with this release.  I have nothing to go on for that, mind you, but I think it would be neat.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have much from the second year of this line, because I’d largely moved on to better things.  I was back to more of a Marvel push, and whatever DC I wanted would have most certainly been related to the animated side.  This guy and one other second year Batman were gifts, most likely for my birthday, from a family friend, who was most certainly operating on “he likes super heroes, so I’ll just buy him a couple of Batman figures.”  They would have most certainly been on some kind of sale by that point.  I can’t say I ever thought much of him.  I recall it even took me a bit to actually open him, a rarity at the time, and the most use he got during play time would have been as a stand-in for some sort of Green Lantern Batman.  He’s fine, but honestly a bit unfocused and unclear on what his gimmick is really supposed to be.  But, he survived a good number of collection purges, so I must not have hated him.  

#4068: Kane – 2nd Edition

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

KANE — 2ND EDITION

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“A product of the same Weapon X program that created Wolverine, Garrison Kane’s arms were replaced with a pair of multi-purpose bionic weapons. Now, alongside his mentor Cable, he battles those menaces that would jeopardize the prosperity of the future as a member of the mercenary unit called Six Pack!”

It’s truly amazing to watch a lot of the X-Force cast’s bios evolve as they reappear in the Toy Biz line and have clearly had major developments to their backstories in the comics.  Garrison Kane’s first figure was produced while he was still one of the book’s many mystery characters, but by figure 2 we knew a little more about him, and so his bio actually, you know, talks more about who he is and less about what this figure’s action feature represents.  They even mention Six Pack!  Everybody loves Six Pack!  Alright, let’s take a look at the second Kane figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane (2nd Edition) was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  It’s crazy to think that, of all the characters in the first round to immediately get a second go, it was Kane who showed right back up.  Shatterstar, Deadpool, and Warpath all got second figures too, but they had to wait, whereas Kane was just right back at the head of the line.  I guess it was more a case of getting while the getting was good, because he didn’t get any additional follow-ups.  While the first Kane figure was the subject of a downright obscene number of variants, they had it better under control for his second figure, so he just has one standardized release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Elbow joints had still not become standardized yet, so he lacks them, but he does get a swivel on his right wrist, even if it’s really just tied into his action feature.  He gets two of them, both tied into his hands.  His right hand, which is permanently in propeller mode, has a spinning mode, while his left has a “super punch,” which really just means it means the hand moves back and forth *a little.*  Beyond the action features and articulation, Kane’s sculpt showcases the rather quick evolution of the line’s sculpts.  His first figure was quite rudimentary, but by this assortment, they were a lot more involved, with far sharper detailing and generally bulkier promotions.  It makes for a decent match for Kane’s non-Liefeld appearances, and is generally a rather nice little sculpt.  The permanent propeller hand is really goofy, of course, so he’d probably benefit from an alternate hand or something, but it was what it was.  He had a removable vest piece, which was later re-used for the Fantastic Four Mr. Fantastic, which adds some more variety to his look.  Kane’s paint work is generally basic, and marks a slight departure from his original colors, but he still maintains enough consistency that he generally looks like the same guy.  Kane is packed with a small gun, which he can hold him his left hand, and only his left hand, because his right hand is a propeller.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kane was added to my collection at the same time as last week’s Cable II figure, when they were traded in at work still sealed and were still quite cheap.  I remember the first Kane, but have very little memory of the second one’s existence when I was a kid.  I think I just lumped him in with the original.  It’s not like I had any real frame of reference on the character.  I didn’t know much of what to expect on this figure, but I actually quite enjoy the final product.  Even with his permanent propeller hand.

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.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0078: Senyaka

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

SENYAKA

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Hey, we’re here, and it’s Friday, and we officially made it, you guys.  Last Friday wasn’t a Flashback day, so I didn’t do my whole end of the week motivation, so here’s me getting back to it.  We did it!  And for getting to the end of the week?  Well, here’s some more Toy Biz Marvel coverage.  Unfortunately, we’re looking back at Senyaka.  It’s the best I can offer.  We’ll try to make the best of it?

“A member of the humanity-hating Acolytes, Senyaka is perhaps the most ruthless soldier in Magneto’s war against mankind! Often leading the other Acolytes into battle, Senyaka uses his psionic whips to course pain into his ensnared foes! Even more deadly, however, is his power to energize his own energies by sapping his victim’s very life forces. Though struck down in battle by Magneto himself, Senyaka has returned to plague humans once again, with each attack more lethal than the last!”

Remember in my last two Toy Biz X-Men reviews, where I was discussing characters who were pretty much only relevant during the ’90s? Yeah, so today’s focus wasn’t even particularly relevant *then.* That bio up there? Probably the most that’s ever been said about Senyaka. I think I actually learned stuff from that bio, which I guess is the point, isn’t it? Well, Senyaka got an action figure, so I guess I should maybe review it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Senyaka was released twice during the Toy Biz X-Men run. Initially, he was offered up as a TRU-exclusive alongside Series 7 in 1994, and then was added to a proper assortment in 1995 as part of the Mutant Genesis Series. He’s the same figure either way, and mostly it just served to make him *incredibly* easy to find. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation. He’s got no movement at his neck or right elbow, due to how the figure is designed, making him a bit on the stiff side. Apparently, Senyaka’s had multiple costumes? Who knew? Well, he’s sporting his Alcolytes costume, which seems reasonable enough. The sculpt is pretty typical for the line. He’s stiff, he’s buff, and he’s got pouches and shoulder pads. There’s not a ton of detailing going on, but it looks like all of the important stuff is there. Senyaka’s paint work is pretty standard. The base color work is all pretty clean, and the colors seem to more or less match what Senyaka was usually sporting. Senyaka had a slightly different accessory selection depending on release. Both included his whip, but the Mutant Genesis release also added a nunchuck-looking thing. Mine has neither, so I guess doesn’t really matter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Senyaka’s another one of those “if I’m getting the rest of the line, I might as well” figures. I’ve got no attachment to the character, but then who really does? I got mine loose, hence the lack of accessories. Perhaps someday I’ll find them. Ultimately, there’s nothing really impressive about this guy, but he’s certainly not the worst thing the line offered, and fills in a line-up of villains alright.

Ah, a June 2020 review.  After the Day of the Wolverines, I was more invested in getting Toy Biz Marvel back on the schedule, and Senyaka wound up as one of those.  I wasn’t exactly enamored to be reviewing him.  I think I’d probably be a touch kinder to him these days, but I can’t say my review was exactly off the mark.  When last I discussed him, the figure was missing his primary accessory from his original release, as well as his secondary accessory from the later release.  Now he’s got both his whip and his nunchuck.  Hooray!  Compete Senyaka!  That’s the best kind of Senyaka…I guess?  Doesn’t make him less stiff, but I guess it’s kinda cool to have the extras, even if he can’t *really* hold the nunchucks.

#4067: DJ R-3X

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

DJ R-3X

DROID DEPOT (DISNEY)

“All different types of droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. Rex, a former pilot of a Starspeeder 3000 for Star Tours, was recently reprogrammed to be a DJ in Oga’s Cantina. Join DJ R-3X on their adventures throughout the galaxy. May the Force be with you… and your droids!”

The beats are about to get riggity-Rexed!  I’m sorry, was that bad?  Well, I’m standing by it.  While I haven’t discussed the Disney Parks attraction Star Tours much here on the site, I did talk a little bit about it, way back in 2020, when I discussed its original star, pilot droid RX-24, the original “Captain Rex.”  Rex was of course removed from the ride in its 2011 reworking, which made R2-D2 and C-3PO the main focuses of the ride.  Rex was sidelined for the better part of a decade, but finally resurfaced as part of Galaxy’s Edge, now as “DJ R-3X.”  He’s gotten a couple of figures, the latest of which is part of Disney’s in-house parks merch, which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DJ R-3X was a November 2025 offering from Disney’s Droid Depot line, the Parks and website exclusive line which replaced the Droid Factory build-a-droids.  This is Rex’s second figure since he became a DJ, the first being his 2020 Black Series figure (though I guess that was technically released twice.)  The figure stands just over 3 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  He’s actually not much smaller than the Black Series figure, and thus doesn’t really look *drastically* different.  His movement is mostly the same as well, though he’s actually got some extra utility thanks to the headphones and visor’s articulation, which was missing from the Black Series release. I do miss the spinning sections of the torso, and I’ve found that the joints on the arms are a bit looser than I’d like, but overall, he’s got a respectable set-up.  The sculpt is a good match for the prop from the parks, and the detailing is all pretty sharp.  His color work is actually a bit of an improvement over the Hasbro version, which was fine, but certainly more on the basic side of things.  This one, on the other hand, is quite remarkably weathered, which is certainly fitting of the very lived-in aesthetic of Star Wars as a whole, but specifically the Galaxy’s Edge  area.  Like the last Rex, this guy is without accessories, but he’s involved enough on his own that it doesn’t feel so light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m not much of a Disney parks guy, and in fact hadn’t been to Disney World since going on a trip with my parents back in 2007, meaning the last time I was there, Disney hadn’t yet acquired Star Wars, and therefore didn’t have anything apart from Star Tours for the license.  I hadn’t gotten to see any of the Galaxy’s Edge stuff, including Rex’s revamped placement.  My son Matty turned 10 this year, so for his spring break, we all flew down to Disney, and we got to spend some time in Galaxy’s Edge, which was super fun.  While there, I found this guy, and I absolutely couldn’t pass him up, because, well, it’s Rex.  He’s got some quirks for sure, but I like him for different reasons than the Black Series.  They’re both good for different reasons, though, so I’m glad to have them both.

#4066: Force Commander & Microtron

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

FORCE COMMANDER & MICROTRON

MICRONAUTS REACTION+ FIGRURES (SUPER 7)

Back in December of last year, I got to take my first look at Super 7’s revival of Micronauts, a brand with a history of really struggling, not just at retail, but also behind the scenes.  Despite all that, it seems like Super 7’s had at least a little more luck than others, and they’ve even managed to get through multiple rounds of follow-ups.  I’ve finally pulled myself together and jumped on board for those, so today, I’m taking a look at the second round of figures, Force Commander and Microtron!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Force Commander and Microtron are Series 2 of Super 7’s Micronauts ReAction+ Figures, which like the first series, is an o-ring construction based line.  And, much like the first series, both figures included were larger scale, non-o-ring figures in the vintage line, in a sort of reversal of things.

FORCE COMMANDER

“Force Commander, ruler of Homeworld, the Capitol of the Microverse under the rule of Baron Karza.  Captured and merged with his horse Oberon in the Body Banks, he temporarily became a centaur-like being.  As Force Commander, he was a leader of the rebellion against Baron Karza.”

Karza’s opposite number (at least in the toyline; the fiction never really treated him as such, more often treating him as somewhat misguided and out of touch), Force Commander’s original figure jointed the vintage line in its second year, alongside the Baron.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Force Commander and Karza have classically shared most of their parts, and this release is no exception.  From the neck down, he’s identical to the Series 1 Karza, which is accurate, and also not a bad thing, since the Karza sculpt is really quite nice.  He has a new head sculpt.  There are two head variants on the original figure, and Super 7’s gone with Hong Kong-produced version with larger eyes and rebreather.  It’s the generally more “on-model” of the two, and looks a bit better, so it’s the right choice.  The sculpt is clean and sharp and fits well with the rest of the mold.  Force Commander’s color work is pretty much the same set-up as Karza, just swapping out white plastic for the black plastic.  I think it ends up rather striking.  Force Commander has a backpack piece, modeled on his original rocket pack, now as a simple plug-in back pack.

MICROTRON

“Microtron has been Princess Mari’s diminutive roboid attendant since her birth.  He is equipped with an interlingual translator.  He never abandons her while she joins the underground and the Micronauts fighting Baron Karza.”

As with Biotron from Series 1, the original Microtron was less a figure himself and more a vehicle/accessory to the main figures from the line. He was much larger in scale, and had features like a seat that flipped out of the top of his head.  Just like Biotron, the comics would shrink him down significantly to better interact with the other characters, which the toys never really replicated.  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  While the original figure had no real movement below the shoulders, this figure uses the o-ring construction to give him movement at the waist, and he’s also got swivels at the “hips” on the tops of the treads, so there’s some more room for tweaking his posing there.  The sculpt is a pretty respectable recreation of the original, just shrunk down and made more posable.  His color scheme is particularly eye-catching, and like Biotron, he gets to dabble in the signature Mircronauts chrome a bit, albeit not for the head, but rather his visor and arms.  It’s quite a fun look, and it gives him a lot of pop that might get lost if he were just relying on painted silver.  The original Microtron had a number of swappable parts, but this release just grants him his drill piece.  It’s chromed as well, and you can still place it in its original (somewhat unfortunate) spot on the front of the pelvis, or in any of the 5mm sockets on the front or back of the torso.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the first series, I kind of dragged my feet on getting these, and I don’t really know why exactly I did that, but I finally bought them, and now here they are.  Back in the Palisades days, I really wanted a Force Commander, but was never able to get one, so I’m happy to finally have the chance here.  Karza was neat, but I like Force Commander just a little bit better.  Microtron is just a cool little robot guy, and I can never really complain about getting one of those.  Despite the delay in getting them, I think this one’s a bit more exciting for me than the first.

#4065: Battle Gear Bruce Wayne

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

BATTLE GEAR BRUCE WAYNE

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

After a quick look back at prior reviews, it seems my only reviews for Batman & Robin are from 2020, when I was focussed on pulling some more items out of the back catalogue during the shutdown.  At that point, I looked at both Ice Board Robin and the standard Batgirl.  And then a whole lot of nothing.  Notably, not a single Batman.  So, I guess I’ll sort of address that here.  Kind of.  It’s not *technically* Batman, it’s Bruce Wayne, but I’ve got it on pretty good authority they *might* be the same guy.  I mean, have you ever seen them both in my collection at the same time?  Well, yes, but still!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Battle Gear Bruce Wayne is part of the initial assortment of Kenner’s tie-in line for Batman & Robin.  He’s one of the three Batman variants in the initial drop, though he’s not officially labeled as such.  Interestingly, there are quick change secret identity variants of both Batman and Robin in this first assortment, but while Dick is labeled “Robin,” Bruce uses his real name.  Why?  Who knows.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  In his core look, he’s a George Clooney Bruce Wayne…sort of.  I mean, he looks more or less like Clooney, but not especially like Clooney from Batman & Robin, and he’s not really wearing anything much like what Bruce wears in the movie.  But, it’s certainly far from the worst look we’ve gotten on one of these Bruce-to-Batman figures.  The coloring is fine; honestly, it’s surprisingly subdued given the source material’s neon color scheme.  To facilitate the transformation to Batman, Bruce includes five clip-on armor pieces.  The chest plate has a head and cape on it, which slip over the main figure, who, much like the Val Kilmer Bruce from the prior movie line, has a spring-loaded head, which depresses so that the Batman head can take its place.  The final appearance is…well, it’s a Batman, I guess.  Not really a standard Batman, or anything close to the look seen in the movie but, I guess it’s…fine?  I do rather like the inclusion of the skates on the bottoms of the leg pieces.  That’s fun.  He’s also got this odd sort of claw-missile thing that goes into one of the armor pieces, and it gives our one bit of neon for the figure, which feels appropriate.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My whole Batman & Robin collection is made up of figures I actually got back when they were new, and the vast majority of them were gifts, mostly for my birthday the year the movie came out.  This guy’s from that latter category…or at least he was.  I got one for my birthday (with the corresponding Robin), but, while I kept all the armor, I lost the actual Bruce figure (which also happened with my Val Kilmer Bruce, for that matter).  I found a replacement Bruce later, and boom, here we are.  He’s goofy and silly, and not movie accurate, but for a toy from a toy commercial movie, he’s pretty fun.

#4064: Cable – 2nd Edition

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

CABLE — 2ND EDITION

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“The mysterious warrior called Cable stands ready to battle evil wherever it appears-even in the cold void of space! Armed with a high-tech suit of space armor and weapons that won’t be invented for hundreds of years, Cable seeks out the extraterrestrial enemies of mankind-and exterminates them with extreme prejudice.”

Back at the beginning of the year, a whole six months ago, I reviewed my first Toy Biz Cable figure, which I noted was weird, given how many variations were produced of him during the run.  So, you know, I guess it’s time to go back to that well, with a specific focus on environment-specific variants.  Oh yeah, let’s go ahead and take this guy out into deep space!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cable — 2nd Edition was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  He’s the second Cable, and the first of two included in the assortment.  This one was specifically sporting his “Deep Space Armor,” which, as far as I can tell, isn’t actually based on a specific comics design.  But I’m getting ahead of myself there.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt was totally unique to him, and, as noted above, sees to be a wholesale Toy Biz creation.  While the first series of X-Force followed the same style as the early X-Men figures, the second series started introducing more updated sculpts, and this Cable is included in that batch.  You can hardly tell he’s supposed to be the same person as the first Cable figure.  In general, I think it’s mostly an improvement, in terms of build and detailing, but I’ll admit the head is a bit less on the mark for specifically Liefeld’s version of Cable.  All that being said, it’s certainly not a bad sculpt at all. There’s a lot of neat detail work, and it feels pretty accurate to the character.  The head dome part is removable, albeit after a fashion, allowing a better view of the head sculpt.  The head’s a separate piece, but the neck doesn’t budge on my figure, and I know better than to force it on these guys.  His paint work is pretty nice.  The orange and blue feels rather unique.  The first release of this has a fair bit of detailing, which they’d incrementally strip from him on later releases.  Cable is packed with a rather large gun, to the great surprise of everyone, I’m sure.  Parts of it slide, I suppose to simulate some sort of firing?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I avoided most of the Cables as a kid, because I just didn’t feel the need to have more than one.  I do recall seeing them all on the back of the various boxes, and this one always kind of caught my eye as a counterpart to the Space Suit Wolverine.  Though certainly a departure from the first figure, he sets the standard for the rest of the line’s Cables going forward, and it’s not really a bad standard to set.

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.

An Ode To Power of the Force

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

Yesterday, May 28, 2026, I published my very last Power of the Force review.  It was a big moment for me, and in honor of it, I’d like to take a moment today to discuss my journey to this point, both on the site, and somewhat behind the scenes.

On March 26, 2014, I published my first review of a figure from Kenner’s ‘90s Power of the Force line (referred to as “Power of the Force II” or “PotF2” by fans, to differentiate from the shorter-lived line of the same name from the ‘80s).  The subject was Luke Skywalker in Dagobah Fatigues, appropriately enough my very first Star Wars action figure, bought brand new off the shelf in 1996.  My site was less then six months old at the time, and was really just a way of filling time between college classes.  I recall this review specifically was written on an iPad I was *supposed* to be using for notes in my Accounting 101 class, which was particularly boring that night.  At the time, I viewed the whole exercise as more about a quick nostalgic look at a toy from my youth, filling space before I got to some cool new thing that excited me.  I only wrote one more PotF review in that first year, a two-for-one of Jawas, also from my old collection.

The presence of the line here on the site was fairly spotty for the next couple of years, until a need for content to keep up with the daily schedule I was so dead-set on keeping led me to make the line a bi-monthly feature in the spring of 2017.  Even then, I viewed it as a way to clear out my backlog of old figures to review, not really as the beginning of anything significant beyond that.  

When I started working at a toy store in the fall of 2018, it gave me an unprecedented level of access to vintage action figures in general, but especially Power of the Force.  I started with a more general “hey it would be cool to get more characters I don’t own” approach, still not fully plunging into completism just yet.  Early in my time at this job, I had the opportunity to buy *most* of the figures I was missing from the Expanded Universe set, my favorite sub-set of the line.  I was left a single figure shy of the run, and I actually resorted to hunting the last one down, marking the first time I’d done more than just wait for a Power of the Force figure to land in front of me pretty much since the line was new.  Suddenly the dam broke; I’d completed the sub-set and now I felt encouraged to go further.

From that point forward, it became a mission.  I had checklists, and notes on how far I was willing to go with variants.  My boss and co-workers gave me first crack at any ‘90s Star Wars collections that came in, and would even give me a heads up on specific pieces.  At first, I didn’t care too much about completing my originals, but the parts became easy enough to find, adding more to the fun of it all.  I could build elaborate schedules of themes for reviews, balancing and tying in with all sorts of outside elements.  Admittedly, I got overwhelmed by the scale of it a few times, leading to periods of time where I’d have stacks of unopened figures for months, sometimes years (there’s a whole other post rattling around in my brain about the fine line between “collecting” and “hoarding” that may yet surface).  As I pulled more and more of the common figures I needed from collections coming into work, I found myself slowing down significantly.  When I departed my toy store job last summer, I was in need of only 15 pieces to complete my run.

In the last 10 months, I’ve slowly worked my way to completing the run, while also cracking open the stuff I’d already bought, and cleaning up and re-completing old figures for some addendums.  It’s been an interesting experience working my way up to this point, especially as things near the end.  There was a bit of a middle-of-the-journey slump, where I got stuck reviewing the less exciting figures, with some I’m sure less exciting reviews.  But, especially as I’ve come closer to the end, I’ve found myself reveling in some of the quirks, and even finding some gems that I honestly didn’t expect to like as much as I did.  The end has brought me the same spark of excitement that I had in the fall of 2018, when I first tapped back into the line as a proper collection.  In the middle, I don’t know that I was really expecting that.  There have been a few times where I came very close to giving up on the goal, but I’ve managed to pull through it, and at the end of it, I can say I’m honestly glad I did.

Is Power of the Force the greatest Star Wars line?  Well, I don’t know exactly how you quantify that, but regardless, the answer is “probably not.”  It’s got one heck of a learning curve on it, and some of the craziest “you had to be there” choices you can imagine.  There’s a definite glut of just kind of middling product, where you can just absolutely see them trying to see what sticks, but at the core of it all, it’s just so frequently unapologetic that it’s supposed to be a toyline for actually playing with, meaning even a “boring” or “middling” entry is still a good offering in terms of just being a good, core action figure.  As some crazy valuable investment or high end collector’s line, it absolutely fails.  But, that’s also not at all what it was meant to be, whether the collectors of the time got that or not.  And as someone who was actually a kid when it started and got to experience it the way lots of fans experienced the original vintage line?  Boy, do I just love it.  What a fantastic 30 years of collecting this has been.

#4063: Mace Windu

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

MACE WINDU

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“In the days before Palpatine’s Empire began its reign of terror, the Galactic Republic governed the affairs of the galaxy from the capital of Couruscant. In addition, the city-planet was also the seat of the legendary 12-member Jedi Council. Wisdom and experience were equally as important as abilities in the Force among the Jedi Council members. For this reason, Mace Windu, a senior member of the Jedi Council, was especially honored and revered throughout the Galactic Republic.”

Hey, remember last week, when I discussed the “Sneak Preview” offerings from Power of the Force to give people a taste of the then-upcoming Episode I line?  Well, there were two items offered.  The STAP and Battle Droid were offered up at standard retail, but promoted on the back of the box and available via a mail-away promotion was Samuel L Jackson’s senior Jedi Council member himself, Mace Windu!  Yes, this is from the before movie times when we were all like “this Mace Windu guy is clearly gonna *do stuff* in this movie” rather than “wow, that Mace Windu guy really didn’t *do anything* in that movie.”  Look, whatever the case, let’s look at the novelty that is the very first Mace Windu action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mace Windu was offered up as a mail-away promotion for Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  He required a whopping six proofs of purchase from standard figures, largely because he was really operating as a covert way of clearing excess stock off of retail shelves in preparation of all that hot new Episode I product that was definitely going to be a long-term investment, right?  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Mace was sporting what was an all-new sculpt at the time, though he wound up sharing his head, torso, and legs with the standard Episode I Mace.  This one was unique in offering up Mace just sort of casually wearing his robe, rather than with the hood up, or without the robe entirely, which makes it a nice sort of straight forward figure.  The head has a serviceable likeness of Jackson, given it’s the only one before they started scanning likenesses with the Attack of the Clones figures.  It’s got a nice, neutral expression, which fits Mace pretty well.  The body sculpt gets a surprising amount of texture detailing, which works really well to sell all the different fabrics.  The sculpted outer robe is similar to that of the Flashback Anakin figure, though it’s distinctly different.  His paint work is decent, mostly just base work, but it’s clean.  He does get the tiniest little bit of mud splatter on his boots, which is actually a pretty cool touch.  Mace is packed with a lightsaber.  It’s hard to call it *his* lightsaber, since it’s very much blue, but that was the case for all his Episode I merch, since it was supposed to be that color, before Jackson requested a different color in Attack so that he could more easily find himself in fight scenes.  Since Mace never powers up his saber in Phantom Menace, maybe it was just a different color then?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly don’t recall this promotion at all, which is strange, since I was very much collecting the line at the time.  I vaguely recall the final figure, mostly seen at toy shows and comic shops around the time, always for far more than a seven-year-old would be looking to pay.  For whatever reason, even later, I just never got one, perhaps because he quickly became comically cheap.  As it stands, Mace gets the significance of being the very final Power of the Force figure I needed to round out my full run of all the figures.  Not on purpose or anything, mostly just because he happened to be the last one.  He’s also the last one I’m reviewing here on the site.  He’s a fitting, I suppose, as something of a transitional figure.  And, after almost exactly 30 years, my Power of the Force collection that started with a comedically muscled Dagobah Fatigues Luke is complete. Weird.