Monthly Archives: January 2014

#0087: The Alien

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

ALIEN

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 9 of my post-Christmas Review, and it’s my final review of the Alien ReAction line by Funko.  If you haven’t read my previous reviews of the line and you want a little bit of backstory, go here to my review of Ripley.

I’ve saved the best for last, with this one.  Today, I’ll be looking at the title character, the Big Chap, The Alien himself.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien is, of course, part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  The Alien only really has the one look once it’s fully grown, and that’s the look depicted here.  The Alien stands closer to 4 inches, making him a bit taller than the rest of the figures in the line, and he’s got 6 points of articulation.   While it’s fairly obviously still a sculpt from the late 70s, it’s a pretty good one.  I’d say that the alien is probably on par with Kane sculpt-wise.  The details look to correspond pretty well to the design of the creature from the movie.  The clear head dome is removable, which allows you to see the head underneath and also allows you to operate the Alien’s inner mouth.  The inner mouth works nice and smoothly, when you push down the lever-thing.  There’s not much paint to speak of on the Alien.  His teeth are painted silver, and there’s a bit of paint denoting a few of the ridges underneath of the dome.   All of the paintwork is clean, with no real slop.  The alien has no accessories, but given that it’s a larger and more complex figure than the others, that’s perfectly alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like all the others in the first wave, this bad boy was a gift from my superbly amazingly supportive parents.  He’s probably the best figure in the series, which is good, because he’s probably the most important.

All in all, this was a really cool line of figures.  I’d really like to see Funko tackle another series.  It’d be really cool to get Parker, Lambert and Brett so we can finally have the whole crew.  And would it be too much to ask for a set of ALIENS figures to go with them?

#0086: Ash

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

ASH

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 8 of my post-Christmas review, and I’m continuing my reviews of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  If this is the first of the ReAction reviews you’ve read, go here to check out my review of Ripley, which explains the background of the line.  Today, I’m looking at the Nostromo’s science officer Ash.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ash here was a part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  Ash has two looks over the course of the film, but they’ve depicted him here in the more formal uniform he wears for the majority of his time in the film.  Ash stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Ash’s sculpt is pretty on par with the rest of the line.  It’s not bad, just simplistic, which isn’t much of a surprise, given when the figure was sculpted.  All the important details are present, but he can seem a bit bland at times.  The likeness on the head sculpt is iffy at best, but it bears a passing resemblance to Ian Holm, which is about as much as you can ask of a figure of the time.  As with the rest of the wave, Ash features a rather simplistic paint scheme.  It’s all pretty well done, and looks pretty good.  I do have one complaint, though.  They’ve painted Ash’s hair black, while Ian Holm looked to have grey hair in the film.  The black hair was also present on Kenner’s prototype, so perhaps that’s what the studio wanted.  Ash also includes the motion detector that he builds to track the film’s alien.  Like with the flamethrower, it seems a bit on the small side, but it fits the style of the line, so that’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the rest of the series, I received Ash as a (slightly late) Christmas gift from way-too-supportive-of-my-crazy-habits parents.  Ash probably takes second to last place as far as my line-up of the wave goes, but that’s not a bad thing.  He just suffers from a slightly blander design than, say, the Alien or Kane in his space suit.  Like Dallas, Ash adds a lot to the wave as a whole, and I’m sure will go over well with fans of the film.

#0085: Kane

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KANE

ALIEN REACTION

For Day 7 of my post-Christmas Review, I’ll be taking a look at another figure from the first wave of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  For the details of how this line came to be, go ahead and read up about it in my review of Ripley.

Today, I’ll be looking at the Alien’s first true victim, Kane.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane was part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction series.  Kane has a few looks over the course of the film, but they decided to depict him in his space suit from the scenes where the crew explores the planet.  It’s probably the best choice for a character like Kane, as most of his key scenes occur on the planet surface.  Kane stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Kane probably has the best sculpt in the line, and it’s a pretty good sculpt even by today’s standards.  The suit has texturing on pretty much every surface of the figure, which is certainly impressive.  While the facial likeness isn’t anything amazing, I was actually surprised by how much of John Hurt I could see in it, which is really neat.  The paint is once again on the simple side, but it does its job, and looks appropriate to what the figure’s going for.  Kane’s only real accessory is his removable helmet, which is really cool.  It clicks on well and stays in place without much issue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Ripley and Dallas, Kane was a gift from my super awesome parents.  He’s definitely a top contender for best in the wave, and he’s just a lot of fun in general.  I’m hopeful that Funko decides to continue the line so that we can get Lambert and Dallas in their accompanying space suits.  I feel like Kane’s a figure that you could enjoy even if you aren’t a big fan of the style.

#0084: Dallas

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CAPTAIN DALLAS

ALIEN REACTION

Day 6 of my post-Christmas Review!  Continuing the theme from yesterday, it’s the next figure from the first wave of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  For the full story on how the line came to be, check out my review of Ripley.

Today’s figure is the Nostromo’s  ill-fated captain, Dallas.  Let’s see what that’s about!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dallas was released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  He’s depicted in his jacketed look he sports for a fair bit of the film.  He stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Like with Ripley, he doesn’t have a super detailed sculpt, but since it’s a sculpt from 1979, that’s okay.  Of all the sculpts in the line, I feel that Dallas’s is the most dated looking.  The details are all very smooth, and the likeness really isn’t there.  Out of context, people would probably have a difficult time saying who he was.  That’s not to say the sculpt doesn’t have its merits.  The texturing on his jacket looks really good, and is more intricate than I would have expected from a figure of the time.  The paint is once again on the simplistic side, but it’s not badly done.  He has lettering on the back of his coat, which reads “NOSTROMO.”  It’s a really nice touch, and could have been overlooked, so I really appreciate it.  Lastly, Dallas includes the same flamethrower that came with Ripley.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Ripley and the rest of the wave, Dallas was a gift from my incredibly awesome parents.  He’s probably my least favorite in the set, but that’s not a bad thing.  I just like him less than some of the cooler figures.  Still, he looks great with the rest of the set, and he’s a cool figure if you’re a fan of the movie or of figures in this style.

#0083: Ripley

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RIPLEY

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 5 of the post-Christmas Review, where I cover the figures I received during the past holiday season.  I’ve looked at one figure from the world of ALIEN before, but for Christmas I received a full set of Funko’s new Alien ReAction line.

The story behind this line is that back in 1979, when ALIEN was released, Kenner acquired the license to produce a line of figures similar to their Star Wars line.  They only released two items, a board game and a large scale version of the Alien from the film.  The Alien was pulled from shelves when it began scaring children, and when that happened, Kenner thought better of their plan to make toys from an R-rated horror film and scrapped their planned 3 ¾ inch line.  The prototypes had been shown and were well known in the toy community as one of the holy grails of unproduced figures.

Flash forward 35 years.  A small company by the name of Super 7 acquired the original prototypes and the license to make them and began taking orders for a fairly small run of the figures.  A few months later, there was a significant amount of buzz surrounding them, and it looked like they might become a very difficult to get item.  But all was well!  Longtime toymaker Funko swooped in to save the day, and partnered with Super 7 to get the figures a wide release!

So, after 35 years of waiting, the first wave of ALIEN Figures has been released.  Today, I’ll be looking at the film’s heroine, Ripley.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So, Ripley was obviously released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  Ripley had a few looks in the movie, but she’s shown here in her jumpsuit that she wears for the majority of the film.  She stands about 3 ¾ inches even and she has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t super detailed, but given that it was actually sculpted in ’79, I’m gonna cut it some serious slack.  It’s not bad for the time period, though it’s difficult to see much of Sigourney Weaver in the face.  The jumpsuit looks about right for what she wore, although it doesn’t have some of the finer details that the one in the movie did.  The paint is also on the simple side, but it’s to be expected.  All of the lines are clean, and there’s no real slop to speak of, so it’s well applied.  Quite frankly, anything more detailed would look strange on this sculpt.  Ripley also includes the flamethrower she carries at the end of the film.  It’s a little bit undersized, but that once again fits the aesthetic that the figure is attempting to capture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ripley, along with the rest of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line, was a gift from my awesome parents.  They missed being here in time for Christmas, but they arrived shortly after, and they were certainly worth the wait.

This isn’t a figure that’s going to appeal to everyone.  You’ve definitely got to have a love of the style of figure that this represents.  But, it’s a perfect style for figures from this movie, in my opinion.  It captures the feel of the time period perfectly.  Ripley may not be a perfect representation of Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal, but it’s definitely a fun little figure!

#0082: Power Man & Iron Fist

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POWER MAN & IRON FIST

MARVEL MINIMATES

Day 4 of my post-Christmas Review is now here, and shocking absolutely everyone, it’s more Minimates!  This time around, it’s another set of Marvel Minimates, though it’s actually one of the older ones that I missed on its initial release.  It’s everyone’s favorite Heroes for Hire:  Power Man and Iron Fist!

I just recently reviewed another figure of Power Man, so I won’t go into great detail there, but this time he comes with his trusty partner Iron Fist, who’s a guy with an…iron fist.  Okay, not literally, but he’s got a complicated origin I don’t feel like getting into here.  He’s a guy who’s really good at martial arts.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as a ToyFare exclusive 2-pack, released around the 7th series of the Marvel Minimates line.  For those of you paying attention, the last set I reviewed here was a Toys R Us exclusive set released to coincide with the 51st wave of the line, so these guys are from quite a ways back.

POWER MAN

First up, it’s the original Hero for Hire, Luke Cage, aka Power Man.  Power Man is depicted here in his original costume from his series in the 70s.  He’s built on the usual Minimate body, so he has the standard 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He has four sculpted pieces:  his hair, belt, and bracelets.  These pieces were all new to the figure, but have been used a few times since, particularly the bracelets, which have seen rather frequent reuse.  These pieces are all well sculpted, but are very definitely a product of the much more simplistic look of Minimates at the time.  The paint is alright, but definitely not up to par with the current offerings.  The detail lines are sparse and fairly heavy, and there’s a sizeable amount of slop around the boots.  Power Man includes no accessories.

IRON FIST

Next, it’s the master of Kung-Fu, Iron Fist.  Iron Fist is also depicted in his original costume from the 70s.  Like Power Man, he’s on the usual body, so he’s got the typical stuff there.  Iron Fist features three sculpted pieces: mask, torso cover, and sash.  These were all new to the figure at the time, but the mask and sash have both seen reuses within the line.  These pieces are all pretty well done, though the torso cover is a bit on the bulky side for Iron Fist, who shouldn’t be that big of a guy.  The paint on Iron fist is a bit better than that of Power Man, though he still has some pretty noticeable slop on his shoes.  One cool detail is the ability of the torso to be reversed, so Iron Fist can be displayed with or without his dragon tattoo.  Iron Fist is accessorized with a little translucent piece that slips over his hand and simulates his chi being transferred through his “iron fist.”   It’s a well done piece that would later see monumental reuse.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These guys were yet another Christmas gift from my uber-supportive parents.  I had wanted this set for a good long while after missing out on ordering it from ToyFare, so I was very happy to unwrap it on Christmas morning.  It’s certainly not on the same level as some of the more recent releases in the line, but it definitely reminded me of cool the line still was, even at this point.  It’s so cool to see how far the line has come.

#0081: Captain Pike & U.S.S. Enterprise

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CAPTAIN PIKE & U.S.S. ENTERPRISE

STAR TREK MINIMATES

It’s Day 3 of my post-Christmas Review.  For those of you that have been following the blog, it should be no surprise that amongst my assortment of gifts, there were Minimates.  Though in my own defense, there weren’t a whole lot, but there were a few.  It’s another Star Trek Minimates review, though I’ll be looking at one of Diamond’s vehicles for the first time.  On we go!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

First up, I’ll be looking at the Minimate included in the set, Captain Christopher Pike.  A little back-story for the uninitiated: Captain Pike was the captain of the Enterprise in the original pilot of the original Star Trek series.  He was replaced by William Shatner’s Captain Kirk in the series proper, when Pike’s actor Jeffery Hunter decided to drop out of the show.    Anyway, he’s a fairly popular character, so he’s no stranger to the toy-world.  This is actually his second venture into the world of Minimates, but since the first one was just mediocre, I was glad to see him get a second shot.  Pike is based on his main look from the episode in which he appears.  It’s the look that’s most often chosen, and it’s the one that most people know, so that’s alright I guess.  Pike’s built on the usual Minimate body, so he has the typical 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He has a sculpted hair piece, collar, and pants cuffs.  These are all well done and suit the character well enough.  I believe that they’re all reused pieces, but they work well enough, so no complaints there.  The rest of the work on the figure is done via paint, which is all applied cleanly and evenly.  The detail lines are all very sharp.  The Jeffery Hunter likeness isn’t spot on, perhaps a bit too old looking, but it’s serviceable.  Pike himself is pretty much an accessory to the Enterprise, but even still, he still includes his trusty phaser.  The phaser looks really cool, and is based on the uniquely designed one that Pike carries in his episode.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

Next is the true star of the series, the U.S.S Enterprise.  This in particular is the version from Pike’s episode, which has a few minor differences from the one used in the series proper.  Since I’m only a moderate Trek fan, I won’t attempt to list the differences, I’ll just say that they’re there.  The Enterprise is about 8 or 9 inches tall with stand, and roughly 4 without, and about 8 inches long.  It’s packaged in four pieces; Saucer, body and each nacelle.  The pieces snap together with a small bit of effort, and stay together well.  The saucer and the body each have a hinged top to allow a figure to be placed within them.  The sculpt of the Enterprise is fairly nice.  It’s done with a nice simplicity, and the proportions have been tweaked a bit so as to better fit the Minimate style.  As with most Minimates, a great deal of the Enterprise’s detail is supplied via paint detailing.  The paint is pretty good, though it’s not quite as clean as the paint on Pike, with a few noticeable scrapes and smudges.  Nothing that ruins the piece, mind you, but enough to be noticeable in comparison to some of the other stuff Diamond has done.  The top of the saucer opens to reveal a nice, miniatureized version of the bridge, depicted via s set of decals.  It would be nice if they were actually painted on the walls, but the decals look good enough.  The main focal point of the interior is the captain’s chair.  It’s a very nice approximation of the chair from the show, and it can rotate within the saucer.  It can also be removed and placed on an extra included stand, in case you want to just display the Captain sitting in his chair separate from the Enterprise itself.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was another Christmas gift from my increasingly awesome parents.  Pike is my favorite Trek captain, so I was glad to get him, and the Enterprise is actually a whole lot of fun.  If you’re just looking for a fun little toy Enterprise that doesn’t cost too much, picking up one of the many variations of this one that Diamond has released is very definitely the way to go!

#0080: Ultraman Dyna

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

ULTRAMAN DYNA

ULTRA-ACT

We now venture into Day 2 of the post-Christmas Review, reviewing the figures I received as gifts during the holiday.  My second review is another figure from the Ultra-Act line (Marking 3 reviews from this line in a row).  My last two Ultra-Act reviews have been of earlier Ultramen.  This time I’ll be jumping a head a bit to the 90s for Ultraman Dyna.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultraman Dyna was released as part of the 2012 series of the Ultra-Act line.  Dyna had a few different looks in his series, but for this figure, they’ve chosen to do his “Flash-Type” look.  As it was his default look in the show, it’s a good choice, though I wouldn’t mind seeing his “Miracle-Type” look down the line.  He’s just over 6 inches tall and has 40 points of articulation,just like the previous two Ultramen I’ve reveiewed.  Once again, the figure’s sculpt remains accurate to his appearance in the show.  Dyna’s design is more simplistic, not quite as much as the original Ultraman, but moreso thatn Taro, putting Dyna somewhere in between the two.  It all looks pretty good.  I miss the details on the gloves and boots that Taro had, but that lack of them is accurate to the character’s look on the show, so I can’t really complain.  The paint is somewhere in between the previous two.  It’s really good for the most part, but there’s a tiny, tiny bit of scuff on his chin.  Nothing horrible, just somewhat noticeable.  Everything else is nice and clean.  Continuing the trend of the others, Dyna has a nice variety of accessories.  He includes the requisite red color timer, an alternate light-piped head, a plug to allow him to be connected to a stand, an alternate shoulder piece, and 9 hands: fisted (L and R), Karate chop (L and R), splayed (L and R), thumbs up (R), a hand holding an energy ball, and a hand with a beam.  Like with the other two, the color timer’s a nice addition, but I don’t have much use for it.  The extra head is nice in theory, but iffy in execution, as light piping seems to always be.  The alternate shoulder piece is similar to Taro’s, allowing the shoulder to go into deeper poses, but Dyna’s is folded on both sides to allow both shoulders to move.  The hands are similar to the ones with the others, though the energy beam is more expansive, which fits a more modern Ultraman.  The thumbs up is also cool, and I quite like the hand with the ball of energy.  As with the others, the hands really add a lot to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Taro, Dyna was a Christmas gift from my super awesome parents.  Dyna is actually pretty important to me, as he was the first Ultraman I had a toy of, back in the 90s.  As such, he’s my personal favorite,  so I was very happy to get this guy this year!

#0079: Ultraman Taro

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

ULTRAMAN TARO

ULTRA-ACT

Today marks Day 1 of my post-Christmas Review, where I’ll do reviews of all the figures I received this year as gifts during the holiday season.  Up first is my second review in the Ultra-Act line.  Last time I looked at the original Ultraman, this time I’ll be looking at Ultraman Taro, the fifth incarnation of Ultraman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Taro here was released as part of the 2013 series of the Ultra-Act line.  This is the character’s first release in the line.  He’s based on the character’s appearance in his series Ultraman Taro, which ran from 1973 to 1974.  As far as I know, Taro only had one look, and this is it, so I suppose it’s the logical choice.  Taro stands just a hair over 6 inches tall, making him about the same height as the first Ultraman.  He’s also got the same 40 points of articulation as the previous figure.  The joints are a bit tighter on this figure, which I prefer a bit more.  The figure’s sculpt looks fairly accurate to the character’s look on the show, though it does appear that Bandai has given him a slightly more “heroic” build than the stunt man in the original suit had.  This is fine by me, as it helps to keep the older Ultras in a similar style to the more modern ones, and quite frankly, makes for a more impressive figure.  Taro’s design is a bit more detailed than the original Ultraman’s, and they’ve pulled off those details convincingly.  There’s some great work on the hands and feet showing all the seams and wrinkles present in the boots and gloves.  The paint here’s not quite as good as it was on the original Ultraman, in my opinion, but it’s still very well done.  My only real issue is that the green gem on his forehead is a tiny bit sloppy.  It’s forgivable, given the scale they’re working at, but I wish it were just a smidge better.  Like the last Ultraman, Taro’s got a wide array of accessories.  He includes an alternate red color timer, a plug to allow him to be connected to one of the figarts stands, his lance, his king bracelet at full expanded size, three interchangeable left glove cuffs, an alternate shoulder piece and 10 pairs of hands:  fisted (L and R), karate chop (L and R), action gesture (L and R), a hand to hold the king bracelet (R), a hand to hold the lance (R), a hand with a beam attached (L), and a wide splayed hand (R).  The color timer is a standard for the line.  It’s the same as the normal one, just red.  The plug for the stand is only of use if you’ve buy one of their stands, which I haven’t.  The lance and the king bracelet are nicely done, and fit well into the appropriate hands.  The glove cuffs allow you to display Taro with his bracelet in various states.  The Shoulder piece is a clever idea.  It’s bent on the right side to allow the figure’s right shoulder to be placed in more deep stances.   The hands all look great and swap out with ease, and add a lot of play value to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Taro was a Christmas gift from my parents this year.  I’ve been wanting one for a while, and my parents got a hold of one for me for the holiday.  I was quite excited to get this guy, as he’s one of the more unique looking Ultramen, and really looks cool in the display.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

#0078: Ultraman

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

ULTRAMAN

ULTRA-ACT

So, after yesterday’s review being a bit of a downer, today I’ll be looking at something far more exciting!  This is my first review from Ultra-Act, a line I’m beginning to love way too much.  The purpose of the line is to release highly-articulated, highly-accessorized figures of the many versions of Japanese hero Ultraman!  I’ll be looking at the one who started it all, the original Ultraman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Ultra-Act figures, similarly to Marvel Select, aren’t released in traditional waves, but rather single releases.  Ultraman was released as part of the 2012 series of the Ultra-Act line.  He’s the second release of this version of the character, with a few “improvements” from the original.  More broadly, he’s based on Ultraman from the 1966 series, but specifically he’s based on the design from a bit later in the series.  It’s the look that the character sported for the majority of the series, and it’s how most people remember the character.  It’s also the most refined of his looks from the show, so it was well chosen.  Ultraman stands a hair over 6 inches tall and has 40 points of articulation.  The sculpt looks fairly accurate to the character’s look on the show.  The details are a little soft, but that’s actually appropriate, so no issues there.  The eyes are really well done, with the texturing being handled very well.  The paint is superb, with no noticeable slop or smudges.  The flat finish helps to make it look more realistic, which is cool.  The accessories are definitely one of the figure’s coolest areas.  Ultraman includes an alternate color timer in red instead of blue, 2 dust clouds that can be placed at Ultraman’s feet, and 10 hands: fisted (L and R), relaxed (L and R), splayed (L and R), karate-chop (L and R), peace sign (R), hand with energy beam (R), and hand with an energy disk (R).  The hands are of course the main affair here, and they’re all done really well.  They swap out pretty easily, and the variety of gestures really adds a lot to what you can do with the figure.  The color timer and the dirt cloud I can take or leave, but they’re also neat additions and go a long way to make the figure worth-while.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this guy earlier this year from Amazon, with a little help from my parents funds-wise.  He’s so much fun, and I super glad to have him.  I’ve been a huge Ultraman fan since I was 3 or 4 years old, but I’ve never had a figure that really lived up to the character until now.  The Ultra-Act line is a bit on the pricey side, being imports and all, but having this guy in hand, he’s so worth it!  He’s just one of those figures that’s hard to put down.

What more do you want from me?  It’s Ultraman!