Monthly Archives: November 2014

#0395: Ghostbusters Video Game Minimates

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

CHEF DEMASSI, THE ARCHITECT, BLACK SLIME MONSTER, AZETLOR

GHOSTBUSTERS MINIMATES

Hey, look at that, more Minimates. This time around, I’ll be turning to Ghostbusters Minimates, a line I haven’t shown enough love. DST’s take on the ‘busters was pretty notable for offering just about every character from Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2. However, before they had even finished a complete set of the main characters in their signature uniforms, they released this little gem of a set, based on the then current Ghostbusters video game. The set offers figures of four of the more pivotal ghosts created for that game.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released as an Amazon exclusive, but its history is sort of confusing. It was originally meant to be packed in with this super-mega release of the game that had this huge selection of various goodies. Minimate fans in particular weren’t happy about having to drop a rather large sum of money just to get these four, but many signed up for the preorders anyway. Then, the release was cancelled. Most people figured the ‘mates were not to be, but Amazon stepped in and offered the set as their own exclusive, sold on its own.

CHEF DEMASSI

The Chef is one of the early ghosts in the game, fought at the famous Sedgwick Hotel, where the ‘busters got their start. He’s a take on the basic Italian Chef, and he actually fits in with the ghosts from the movies pretty well. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and it features 7 points of articulation, due to the lack of a lower half. The figure makes use of the arms and torso of the standard Minimate body, with different pieces for the head, hands, and lower half, as well as add-ons for the rolled sleeves, torso, and skirt. The head is originally from the DC Minimates Series 8 Sinestro, the hands are from Marvel Minimates Series 18’s Venom, the floating lower half piece is from this line’s Slimer, the sleeves are from the first Back to the Future Marty McFly, the torso cover is from Marvel Minimates Series 26’s Blob, and the skirt is from Marvel Minimates Series 18’s Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane. All of the pieces are well sculpted, and they add up to a pretty decent approximation of the character from the game, though the hole in the top of the head is sort of annoying. The paintwork on the figure is great; everything is cleanly applied, and all of the detail lines are nice and sharp. They’ve even given him little food stains on his coat! Chef Demassi included no accessories.

THE ARCHITECT

The Architect is the game’s primary villain, and he actually turns out to be Ivo Shandor, the man who built Dana and Luis’s apartment building from the first movie, which was a nice way of tying things together. The Architect is bout 2 ½ inches in height and he features 14 points of articulation, though most of the leg movement is rendered motionless by the skirt. The figure’s look appears to be based on the big figure towards the end of the game, but it’s missing the horns. He makes use of the basic Minimate body, with add-ons for the hair and skirt. The hair is from Ultimate Sabretooth, way back in Series 3 of Marvel Minimates, and the skirt is from The Spirit’s Formal Wear Sand Serrif. The pieces aren’t bad, though the hair is a little out of date. They make for a decent approximation of the Architect’s look. The Architect’s paint is, if nothing else, interesting to look at. He’s got a molten rock kind of a look to him, which is handled by strategic use of red and gold line work, with some dark grey thrown in for a little extra detail here and there. Everything is pretty well applied, and it ends up looking essentially like the design should. The Architect included an energy blast piece, which adds a bit of variety to the figure.

BLACK SLIME MONSTER

So, the first Ghostbusters had green slime, the second had pink, guess it’s fitting that the game got black slime. And if you’re going to have black slime, you have to have a Black Slime Monster, right? Sure, why not. The Black Slime Monster is just over 2 ½ inches tall and sports 14 points of articulation. The figure uses that standard Minimate body, with specific hands and feet, as well as add-ons for the torso and waist. The hands are from the Marvel Minimates Series 18 Venom (just like Chef Demassi), the feet are from the Series 20 Abomination, and the torso and waist pieces are from the Series 22 movie Abomination. The pieces are all pretty good, and they add up to a pretty decent approximation of the design from the game. The paintwork on the figure is decent. Nothing amazing or anything, but everything’s well applied, and the figure looks appropriately “mucky.” He at the very least makes for a visually interesting monster. The Black Slime Monster included a hook on a chain, which is a re-use from DC Minimates Series 7’s Lobo.

AZETLOR

When you’re making a set entirely out of re-used pieces, sometimes you end up with a figure that’s more than a little off. Case in point with the final figure in the set (and, incidentally, my personal favorite), Azetlor. The character has a few designs in the game, and this one doesn’t really look much like any of them. Which isn’t to say it’s a bad figure, just not a particularly accurate one. The Azetlor is about 2 ½ inches tall and he’s got 14 points of articulation. The figure pretty much the standard Minimate body, but with a DC Minimates Sinestro head in place of the standard one. What’s interesting is that all of the prototype shots show this guy with the normal head, but they decided to change it somewhere along the way. So, with a mostly basic build, he relies on paint to make him work. He’s molded in clear plastic, with details painted on here and there, making him look like bits of debris floating to make up a vaguely human shape. It’s all done very nicely. All of the lines are nice and clean, and the blue parts have some impressive shading, which gives the figure some much needed dimension. The Azetlor included no accessories

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I totally skipped this set when it was first released. And I never really tracked it down. I almost bought the Azetlor by himself a few times, but I never really was pulled in by the rest of the set. So, what changed? Price changed. Cosmic Comix, my local comicbook store, got in a large quantity of this set, and they were selling them for $2.99 a piece. That’s less than $1 a figure! For that, they were more than worth it! It’s actually a pretty decent set of Minimates, especially if you’re just looking for some good generic monsters!

#0394: Tomar Re

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

TOMAR RE

GREEN LANTERN (MOVIE)

The 2011 Green Lantern was certainly not the greatest thing to be shown on the silver screen. That being said it’s far from the worst, and I personally found it to be about on par with the Tim Burton Batman films, which suited me just fine. One of the nice things about one of your favorite characters getting a movie is all the toys that are bound to be released to coincide. Sadly, while I found the Green Lantern movie to be inoffensive, the same can’t be said for the vast majority of the toys released for it. One of the few figures from the line I didn’t hate is Tomar Re, the subject of today’s review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tomar Re was technically part of the first series of Green Lantern figures, but he was not amongst the initial assortment of figures. I think he came in the second wave of product. The figure is about 3 ¾ inches tall and he features 8 points of articulation. The articulation is one of the most annoying parts of this line, because it was about 10 years out of date at the time of release. It’s completely useless for anything outside of a standing pose, and in some cases it couldn’t even do that. Case in point, Tomar’s right leg is slightly warped, and the articulation is such that standing is not a thing that happens. Tomar’s sculpt is fine. There was a deluxe Tomar in wonky colors that was released first, so technically this one’s a re-use of that one. There’s some okay texture work on the body, which is nice, I suppose. However, the head is rather smooth, and definitely too squat for the character. In fact, the whole body is off when compared to the on screen character. He’s just too bulky. Were this figure 10-15 years older, the scale might be excusable, but come on, Hasbro’s Battle Droids from 1999 looked better than this. The paintwork is rather vaguely handled. In some places, lines are very sharp, but in others, everything just sort of runs together. That’s sort of what they looked like in the movie, but it wasn’t this bad. He just ends up being a bit of a mush of colors. Tomar included a construct of some sort, but I threw all the constructs together, so I don’t remember which was his.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Tomar from a Walmart near where I was vacationing the year these were released. This was notably two days AFTER I broke down and bought the wonky colored deluxe Tomar because I hadn’t been able to find this one. Yay. It’s hard to say much about this figure that isn’t negative. I honestly don’t hate it, and I really think it was one of the better small scale figures Mattel offered in this line, but that isn’t saying much. There’s a reason this line didn’t sell well, and it wasn’t the poor performance of the movie.

#0393: Psycho Pirate

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

PSYCHO PIRATE

CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS

When DC first came onto the super hero scene (then still known as National Comics), they had no idea what kind of success the concept would have. However, the superhero boom of the Golden Age was relatively short lived. It started just as the 40s did, and it was pretty much done a few years into the 50s. But, in the 60s, they wanted to bring it back. To do this, the re-imagined their characters in new ways, resulting in the Silver Age. The old versions were largely forgotten, until a story called “The Flash of Two Worlds” teamed up the Golden and Silver Age Flashes, explaining that they came from two separate universes. Earth 1 held the contemporary characters, while Earth 2 housed the heroes of old. Over the years, DC added more and more universes, resulting in the Multiverse. In the 80s, they decided this was all too confusing, so they created Crisis on Infinite Earths, which did away with all but one universe. So, what does this have to do with Psycho Pirate? Not a whole lot, to be honest. He has a decently sized role in Crisis, and it got him a toy. So there.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Psycho Pirate was released in the first series of DC Direct’s Crisis on Infinite Earths line. The Psycho Pirate depicted here is the second version of the character, Roger Hayden. Hayden was created in the 60s, which means he showed up during the Silver Age, but his first appearance is clearly set on Earth 2, making him a Golden Age villain, sort of kind of. Basically, his deal is that he’s got a mask that lets him control emotions. He’s based on his appearance in Crisis, as depicted by George Perez. The figure is about 6 ¼ inches tall and he features 15 points of articulation. DC Direct was pretty big on everybody getting their own sculpt at the time, so Psycho Pirate’s sculpt is 100% unique to him. It’s a pretty great sculpt, too. The proportions are all pretty decent, and the face is undoubtedly a George Perez face. I also love how expressive the hands are. Perhaps the only issue with the sculpt is how flat the upper arms are. The paint work doesn’t quite match up to the sculpt, but it’s not bad. For the most part, things are clean, but there are some issues with bleed over on the sculpted lines. The red also has a tendency to bleed through where it shouldn’t. Also, while I like the boots having a glossy sheen, I’m not quite sure why the inside of the cape has been given the same treatment. It looks fine, but it just seems odd. On the plus side, the colors are nice and bold, and the work on the face is very nice. Psycho Pirate includes his Medusa Mask, which fits very nicely on his face, and a display stand that reads “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Psycho Pirate is a figure that actually got me to read the source material so that I had a reason for purchasing the figure. I had seen him in the store, and I liked the look of him, so I picked up one of the anniversary trades of Crisis from my library and gave it a read. Then, just a few weeks later, I received the figure as a birthday present from my brother Christian, who had some help from my dad. Looking back at this figure, I was happy to see it had aged as well as it did. It’s really a very nice figure.

#0392: Professor X

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

PROFESSOR X

MARVEL 10-INCH (TOYBIZ)

Frickin’ Professor X! Dude just keeps showing up on the list of figures to review! I swear I’m not doing this on purpose. Anyway, when Toybiz had the Marvel license in the 90s (when Marvel was at the height of their 90s comic boom), they were milking the license for all they could. They had huge success with their 5-inch figures, and they decided to use the same molds, sized up, to create a line of 10-inch figures. Through use of a number of set parts, they were able to create a lot of characters at a low price. However, this meant some characters had to be tweaked to find their way into the line. Professor X was one such character.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Professor X was part of the KB exclusive line of 10-inch figures. The line never really had any wave or series structure; figures were just sort of stocked wherever they showed up. Professor X is about 10 inches tall, and he features 9 points of articulation, which was pretty much standard for the line. Obviously, due to the constraints of the line, he’s not a typical Professor X. He’s decidedly more toy-etic. The design’s not totally made up, though; it’s similar to the look he had during the 90s “Fatal Atrractions” story, minus the goofy headgear. The figure makes use of an up-scaled version of the body of Tony Stark from the Iron Man line, with a larger version of the same Professor X head used on the regular and astral projection variants of the character. The body is a pretty decent sculpt, even if it is in the goofy “techno underwear.” The head is rotocast (meaning it’s hollow), which ends up doing the sculpt some serious favors. It just looks a lot cleaner and sharper. Professor X’s paint work is pretty good, especially for the time. The body had a few spots where there is some bleed over, but it’s mostly good. The eyes and eyebrows are surprisingly clean, and they look very nice. Professor X included a recolored version of the helmet included with Weapon X Wolverine, presumably as a stand in for Cerebro.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t actually have a whole lot of memories about this one. I think my Dad got it for me, but other than that, it’s kind of a blank. It’s a nice enough figure, and it’s certainly a unique way of handling the limited tooling options available. The 10-Inch line really did a lot to boost Toybiz’s creativity!

#0391: Constable Rick Grimes & Douglas Monroe

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

CONSTABLE RICK GRIMES & DOUGLAS MONROE

WALKING DEAD MINIMATES

Minimates are sort of like potato chips: you can’t have just one. I mean, for one thing, they don’t tend to be sold in single packs (though it does happen), which definitely limits the possibilities of getting just one. But also, they’re just so darn addicting, that buying one set will often lead to the purchase of at least a few more. Or a few hundred more in my case. Such is the case with the most recent series of The Walking Dead Minimates. I couldn’t just get poor Carl by himself. And who would make a better companion for Carl than his father, Rick? Plus, there’s a random old guy thrown in just cuz!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Rick and Douglas were released as a two-pack in the 6th series of The Walking Dead Minimates. This series is loosely based around the “Alexandria” arc from around issue 75.

CONSTABLE RICK GRIMES

“Arriving with his fellow survivors at the walled compound known as The Community, Rick was offered the role of constable, due to his police experience.” Rick has had his fair share of looks over the courses of the series. Generally, he got more and more haggard as the series progressed. The “Alexandria” arc functioned as a bit of a factory reset for Rick, bringing him (mostly) back to where he’d been at the start of the series. It’s a nice change of pace, but, to no one’s surprise, it doesn’t last long. Still, it’s an important look for a number of reasons, and it makes for a Rick that stands out from the pack. Rick is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation. Spoilers if you haven’t made it past the first 20 or so issues of a series that’s well past 100: Rick loses a hand, hence the one missing point of articulation. Rick makes use of the standard body, with a bandaged stump in place of the right hand, as well as sculpted add-ons for the hair, coat, tie, and boot holster. The holster is a new piece, and it works pretty well, though it does lead to an uneven stance. The rest of the pieces a re-used. The coat and hair are from the Series 1 Rick, the bandage is from the TRU exclusive Survivor Rick, and the tie first saw use on the boxed set based on the movie version of The Spirit. Don’t hold its origins against it! All of these are well sculpted pieces that work very nicely for the desired look. Technically, the bandage shouldn’t be over the coat sleeve, but it’s a nice enough piece that I don’t mind. Rick’s paint is pretty good.  Everything is nice and cleanly applied for the most part. There’s a little bit of slop at the top of the tie, and around the coat collar, but other than that it looks really nice. The detail lines are all nice and sharp. I really like that Rick’s face is just a happier, slightly older, clean-shaven version of the Series 1 Rick. Rick includes a small revolver that fits in his ankle holster, and a clear display stand.

DOUGLAS MONROE

“Douglas, a former congressman, was acting leader of The Community when Rick and his fellow survivors arrived, and he welcomed their help.” Douglas was a fairly minor character in the context of the series as a whole, but he was important to the “Alexandria” arc, so it’s nice that they included him. Douglas is a little under 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. The figure uses the basic Minimate body, with an additional piece for his jacket. The jacket piece is a re-use from the Back to the Future “Enchantment Under the Sea” Marty, which has since been re-used on countless other figures. It’s a good basic suit jacket, so it works well. Everything else on Douglas is done with paint, and it’s done superbly. The basic colors are all nice and clean, and the detail lines are nothing short of amazing. He has pinstripes on his shirt which continue all around the torso, and the shirt and pants have a surprising amount of folds and creases depicted. He also got a belt that goes all the way around, and his face is the spitting image of his comic appearance. Douglas includes a spare set of arms done up to match his torso, with pinstripes and everything, as well as a handgun and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Rick and Douglas from Cosmic Comix, my local comicbook store. Initially, I had only planned to pick up Carl to go with the small selection of characters I had from the first two series, but for whatever reason, this Rick figure appealed to me. Actually having the figures and playing around with them, Rick may very well be my favorite version of the character so far, but the biggest surprise for me is how much I like Douglas. He’s not the most exciting character, and the figure had the potential to be rather boring, but Diamond really brought their A game to this figure, resulting in a top quality figure. While I can’t say these have necessarily pulled me back in the line (the next series is supposed to be based on the storyline that got me to stop reading), I will say I’ll probably pick up the occasional set from here out, and I might even go back and get some of the sets I missed.

#0390: Carl Grimes & Burning Zombie

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

CARL GRIMES & BURNING ZOMBIE

WALKING DEAD MINIMATES

My relationship with The Walking Dead is a strained one. Shortly after discovering Robert Kirkman’s Invincible, I decided to track down a few of the other things he’d worked on. This of course led to The Walking Dead. I quite enjoyed it, for about 99 issues. Then, I read issue 100, and my interest in continuing reading stopped dead. This had the unfortunate side effect of turning me off of the line of comic-based Minimates just two series in, meaning I missed out on a few of the principle characters. But there was one character I knew I couldn’t miss: Carl.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Carl and the Burning Zombie were released in Series 6 of The Walking Dead Minimates. I know that there was originally meant to be a TRU series to go along with this one, but TRU backed out, leading to a bit of consolidation. I can’t remember if Carl was always in the main series or not, but he was released and that’s what counts.

CARL GRIMES

“Rick’s son, Carl had trouble adjusting to life inside The Community, and when their defenses were breached, he lost an eye trying to escape.” Carl is easily the most important character to still be unrepresented in this line. This was an issue that was noted pretty much from the start, though. In the initial 15 or so Minimates DST showed off when they confirmed the license, Carl was nowhere to be seen. As it turns out, Diamond was just waiting til they were certain they could get him right. Carl is around 2 ¼ inches in height and he features 10 points of articulation. Carl uses the standard Minimate body as a starting point, but he features a special set of lower arms and legs to give him a smaller, more childlike appearance, as well as sculpted add-ons for his hat/hair, backpack, and belt/holster. The arms and legs were first used on for the Thunderkittens from Thundercats. They provide a slight change in height and stature, at the expense of the articulation in the wrists and ankles. It’s not a perfect tradeoff, but it’s reasonable enough, and it provides enough of a difference to make it worthwhile. All of Carl’s sculpted pieces are re-use: the hat and holster are from Series 1’s Rick Grimes, and the backpack is from TRU Series 1’s Glenn. Since the hat is meant to actually be Rick’s the reuse is sensible, and the bag and holster are pretty good pieces. Carl’s paintwork is pretty good. All of the basic work is clean and well applied. The detail lines are also pretty great. I love that he’s got a Science Dog t-shirt. The face seems a bit too old for Carl, though. The cheekbone lines age him. Not terribly so, but it doesn’t look quite right. Carl is well accessorized; he includes an extra bandaged head, a hairpiece (re-used from Series 2’s Sailor Zombie), a handkerchief, a coat with an extra set of sleeved arms to match, a rifle, a handgun, a flashlight, and a clear display stand. The bandaged head is actually a bit better than the regular. For some reason, he looks younger. Don’t know why.

BURNING ZOMBIE

“Survival Tip: While not an effective way to kill a walker, fire is a good way to dispose of fallen corpses, a breeding ground for disease.” Burning Zombie is yet another basic zombie. Like the shoulder Zombie, I feel certain this one is based on a specific Zombie from the comics, but I don’t have an extensive enough knowledge of the series to know exactly where it comes from. It’s a pretty standard Zombie, though.  The Burning Zombie is about 2 ½ inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation. The figure is built out of the typical Minimate parts, with an additional piece for the flames. This piece previously saw use on the TRU exclusive Nova Flame Human Torch. It’s a good piece, and it’s well served to what they want to represent. Aside from that one piece, the figure really relies on paint. Fortunately, the paintwork is great on this figure. Everything is nice and clean and all the detail work is really sharp. The little details and texture on the zombie’s skin is outstanding, as is the detail work on the pants. Diamond continues to go the extra mile with their zombies in this line. The Burning Zombie includes a torch (presumably the one it was lit with) and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Carl and the Burning Zombie were acquired from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix. I had passed on quite a few series of this line, but Carl proved to be enough to pull me back in, at least for a few sets from this series. It helps that Carl is one of the best figures in the line, and that he was packed with a pretty fantastic Zombie. I had a minor issue or two with Carl, but overall this was a tremendous set, an a fantastic showing for a pivotal character’s introduction into the line!

#0389: Man-Bat

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

MAN-BAT

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

Batman: The Animated Series started off with quite a bang (quite literally; it’s one of the first things in the opening credits). The first episode, “On Leather Wings,” showed the full potential of the series, and to this day remains one of my two favorite episodes of the series. One of the most interesting things about the episode was the choice of foe. They steered clear of any of the major Bat-Rogues, such as Joker or Penguin, or even Riddler, and instead turned their focus on Man-Bat, a character who to date still remains foreign to all but the most die-hard DC fans. When people do know the character, they tend to remember the animated incarnation. Today, I’ll be taking a look at Kenner’s version of the character from the tie-in toyline of the time.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Man-Bat was released in Series 2 of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series. The figure marks Man-Bat’s very first action figure, though Kenner themselves had planned to release a classic comic version of the character had their DC Super Powers line continued past Series 3. Man-Bat is about 5 ½ inches tall and he features 12 points of articulation, which was stellar for the time. Man-Bat had two appearances on the show, and the look was a little different in each. This one is based on the first version, which is the actual MAN-Bat (Kirk Langstrom’s wife ends up being the creature in the second, resulting in a “Woman-Bat”). Standards for figures have changed over the years, but for the time, this figure was quite good. It’s not a spot on recreation of Man-Bat, mind you. The shape of the head is a little off, the arms are a bit too skinny, and the legs are a bit too small when compared to the rest of the figure. But, as a whole, the figure makes a good approximation of the character from the show. It’s certainly as accurate as, say, Kenner’s Joker figure, so the inconsistencies help the figure blend more with the rest of the line. Man-Bat’s paint work is pretty straight forward. He’s mostly molded in an appropriate brown plastic, with paint for his pants, eyes, and mouth. Everything is pretty cleanly applied, so that’s good. Man-Bat originally included a small length of string and a hook so that the figure could be made to look as if he were flying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed out on the first few series of BTAS figures, due to not quite being into collecting. So, Man-Bat was a figure I didn’t have while growing up. I went through a period immediately after my freshman year of college where I attempted to fill as many holes in my 90s collections as possible. Man-Bat was a rather pricey figure at the time, so I had to hold off on him. As luck would have it, while visiting that year’s Mego Meet, I come across a loose Man-Bat for $2 or $3. Man-Bat was certainly one of the more unique figures in the line, and his presence in the inaugural episode of the show means he holds a special place in the line. Incidentally, DC Collectibles has announced that a more accurate Man-Bat will be released in the second series of their own BTAS line. Until then, this guy’s still pretty important.

#0388: Alan Scott & Solomon Grundy

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

ALAN SCOTT & SOLOMON GRUNDY

DC POCKET HEROES

Before Minimates made it onto the scene, minifigures hadn’t yet settled on being “block” figures. In 2002, DC Direct decided to do a line of smaller scale figures, which were inspired by Mego’s Pocket Super Heroes line of the 80s. Instead of dedicated character sculpts like the original figures, DC Direct opted for a basic body with add-on pieces, not unlike Minimates or LEGO Minifigures (or Kubricks, a contemporary of DC Pocket Heroes.) The line never really hit it big, but it was successful enough to get seven assortments of two-packs and four larger boxed sets. It covered characters from all over the DC Universe, but tended to focus more on “classic” characters and looks. Today, I’ll be taking a look at the line’s versions of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, and Solomon Grundy.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Alan and Grundy were released in the third assortment of the first series of DC Pocket Heroes, released in December of 2002.

ALAN SCOTT

Alan Scott isn’t really anybody’s default Green Lantern, but he’s the original, making him very important. His figure is about 3 ½ inches tall and features 6 points of articulation. He’s based on Alan’s original appearance, back when he was THE Green Lantern. Admittedly, it’s a goofy design, and it doesn’t have the sleekness of the Silver Age design, but it’s not bad. He makes use of the standard Pocket Heroes body, with add-ons for the hair and cape/collar. Unlike Minimates, these pieces aren’t removable, making him a more traditional action figure. The hair and cape are both basic pieces for the line, but they suit the character well, so the re-use is certainly warranted. The base Pocket Heroes body is an interesting piece. It’s a lot clumsier in terms of design than other such bodies. It wasn’t as versatile as DC Direct wanted it to be. However, Alan is one of the characters that fits pretty well on it. The only real issue I see is that the sculpted boots don’t line up with Alan’s actual boots. I don’t know why they didn’t just leave the boots off the sculpt, but I guess that’s what they went with. The paint on Alan Scott is serviceable. It’s nothing amazing, and there are definitely some issues, especially on the color overlay of the boots (the green bleeds through the red, and the red bleeds through the yellow). He’s also got a gash of paint missing on his right eye. However, the paint is mostly bold and colorful, and it looks good for the character. Alan Scott included no accessories.

SOLOMON GRUNDY

Solomon Grundy. Born on a Monday. So, yeah… Grundy is technically a zombie, I guess, and he was a recurrent foe for a few of the Golden Age DC heroes. He had more than a few run-ins with Alan Scott, so this pairing is sensible. Grundy is about 3 ½ inches tall and he sports 6 points of articulation. He’s based on Grundy’s classic, more reserved design. Like Alan, he makes use of the standard Pocket Heroes body, with an add-on for his hair. The hair was new to this figure, though it would eventually see re-use on the line’s version of Bizarro. The body doesn’t work as well here as it did for Alan. The body is very clearly meant to be used for characters in tights, wearing boots. Grundy has neither of those, resulting in an odd looking figure. Obviously a generic suit body wouldn’t have really worked either, but this looks silly. The figure’s paint isn’t too bad, given that they had to work around the base body. Everything is relatively clean, and the detail lines are pretty sharp. The face is kind of gooney looking, though. An, to top it all off, my Grundy figure’s …uhh…backside… fell off right out of the package, which makes him look even sillier!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Golden Age Green Lantern. When I was in 2nd grade, I even dressed up as him for Halloween. So, it’s no surprise that I picked up his Pocket Heroes figure. He actually wasn’t as easy for me to get a hold of as some of the others, though. I actually ended up having to special order this set through a local comicbook store because it had sold out. All in all, Pocket Heroes are a sort of a goofy little set of figures. Some of them didn’t really work, but some of them really did. This set includes one of each.

Guest Review #0016: Siris V2

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

SIRIS v.2

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

SirisV2a

Today’s review is written by Tim Marron.  Check out more from Tim over at Tim’s Blarg and Timsical Thoughts.  Take it away Tim!

Here we go, strolling over the crest of a hill to overlook a scenic vista of some old vaguely gothic castle and announcing quietly, “Siris, I will review you.” Yes, I have more of Infinity Blade‘s lead character for you today and this time he’s changed his outfit. Let’s take a look at my second version of him. Start Bloodline 2.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SirisV2eFor those unfamiliar, one of the main game mechanics of the Infinity Blade series is the abundance of weapon and armor options from which to earn experience points which have to be swapped out for different gear once they are “mastered”. You know, like when you have to change clothes because you get too good at wearing them…? I mean, that’s what I do, at least, but we’re getting side-tracked here. This version of Siris shows him wearing the Dark Plate armor, Dark Plate Helm, and wielding the Poison Scythe sword. The Poison Scythe is a dual weapon in the game so, in this case, he has no shield. Also, Siris is posed in the Glory pose and is sculpted in the small 3.5″ scale. I can’t say much about the sculpt that I haven’t said already, aside from one thing. Viewed in the game, Siris’ right arm is held out to the side more, resulting in the sword being at about hip height. It seems that the people at Sandboxr adjusted the model so that now the tip of the sword touches the ground. I understand why they might have done this, but it makes the pose feel a bit more static than I would have liked. The colors are all well applied and definitely look true-to-game though a little bit more contrast in the sword would be nice. As before, Siris includes no accessories and no articulation.

SirisV2b SirisV2d SirisV2cSirisV2Game

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually received this figure in the mail at the same time as my Isa v.1 figure. I thought the initial Siris was very new and clean looking so I tried going for the opposite with this one when kitting him out. Plus, it gave me a reason to give him the Poison Scythe, which is based off an Egyptian sword called a khopesh, and I’m a big fan of khopeshes. It is a little irritating that they lowered his sword arm so much and I would have maybe liked an extra coat of the varnish, but he’s still a good figure and I may actually like this one just a bit more than Siris v.1. Perhaps his descendants will fare even better.

#0387: Professor X

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

PROFESSOR X

X-MEN

I feel like I’ve been writing a lot of X-Men reviews recently. In particular, I feel like I’ve been reviewing a lot of figures of their founder, Professor Charles Xavier. I think I own most of the figures of this character, which is a decent number, but he seems to have shown up more than characters like Cyclops and Wolverine, who I have literally dozens of. Perhaps my Xavier figures are influencing me a bit… ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD… wait, sorry, that’s not right. Anyway, today I’ll be looking at Xavier’s very first action figure, which didn’t see release until almost 30 years into his career. Guess there wasn’t a huge market for a bald guy in a wheelchair.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Professor X was released as part of the fourth series of Toybiz’s X-Men line. The figure is about 4 inches in height (due to his seated nature) and he features 8 points of articulation (thanks to the hinged arm-rests on the chair). Xavier is depicted here in his then-current look from the early 90s, which depicts him in his hover chair instead of the traditional wheelchair. It’s admittedly a more toy-etic look, and it was the look he had at the time, so it’s not a bad choice. The figure’s sculpt was previously used for the X-Men Hall of Fame 10-pack, but that was more of a display item, and Xavier was permanently affixed to the stand, making this release a necessity. It’s a pretty good sculpt overall. It’s in keeping with the work of the time, which is good. The right hand is sculpted to hold something, but I’m not sure what it would be, so that’s annoying. Also, the front of his chair has an odd latchkey piece, which I assume was used to affix the original Xavier to the stand. It would have been nice for it to have been removed for this release. Oh well. Xavier’s paint is pretty good for the time. Everything is pretty clean, but some of the details, like the eyes aren’t quite as sharp as they could be. Xavier included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Xavier was a later addition to my X-Men collection. I got into the line after the figure’s release, and he never saw a re-release like others. I remember my Dad getting one for himself in the early days of ebay, as a part of a lot. I got the other figures and he got Xavier, which honestly didn’t bug me. Professor X wasn’t really in on the action, so I didn’t feel like I needed one. Several years later, I got Xavier along with a bunch of other figures from a friend who was getting rid of his old toys. I was glad to finally have the figure, and he’s been a pretty cool part of my collection since. The figure actually snapped in half at the waist thanks to a fall from the shelf during the minor earthquake we got here on the east coast a few years ago!