Yearly Archives: 2014

#0263: Wolverine – Brown Costume, Woverine – Brood-Infected, & the Brood

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

WOLVERINE – BROWN COSTUME, WOLVERINE – BROOD-INFECTED, & THE BROOD

MARVEL MINIMATES

Wolverine&BroodBroodverine&Brood

Okay, it’s time for another review from the wonderful world of Minimates! Once again, the figures in today’s review hail from the flagship Marvel Minimates line, which is a pretty huge line of figures. This time around, it’s two versions of Wolverine and the alien race the Brood from the X-Men side of things. Let’s have a look!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Wolverine, the Brood, and Brood-infected Wolverine were released as part of Marvel Minimates Series 47, which was based around the “Outback” era of the X-Men comics during the 80s. Basic Wolverine was the basic release, with the Brood-Infected Wolverine as the one-per-case variant. One Brood was packed with each of the Wolverines.

WOLVERINE

This was this series’ normal Wolverine. He’s based on Wolverine’s brown costume, which he quite prominently wore for most of the 80s and a short period of the 90s. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. The figure features a sculpted mask, belt, boots, and hands. All of these pieces have been used on previous figures, but given the similarities between this and other Wolverine looks, this is a completely understandable practice. Generally, they are the best available Wolverine pieces, so that works out well. The paint work on Wolverine is okay, but not the greatest. There are a few sloppy lines here and there, and my figure was missing the upper part of his left glove entirely. Obviously, the last one was an isolated incident, but it speaks poorly for the general quality control of this series. Wolverine includes a spare hair piece and a pulled down mask to hang on his shoulders. Both are new, which is impressive for a figure that is otherwise re-use.

WOLVERINE – BROOD INFECTED

The Brood infected wolverine is a tweak on the basic Wolverine in the series. He is meant to depict Wolverine in the midst of being transformed into one of the Brood. He’s in the brown costume, like the normal Wolverine, but this time around it’s a lot more greyed out, to match his different skin tone. Like the regular Wolverine, this one is built on the standard Minimate body and features a sculpted mask, belt, boots, and hands. The belt and hands are the same as those seen on the regular figure, but the mask and boots are different and in fact are brand new to this particular figure. Both pieces represent slightly more exaggerated proportions than the regular versions, which lend themselves more to the Brood-transformation. The paint work is okay, but not great. There aren’t any outstanding issues like with the normal version, but he still suffers from some fuzzy lines, and a few misplaced details. This Wolverine includes a pair of Brood tentacles, which can be put on in place of his normal hands.

THE BROOD

The Brood are one of the more prominent alien races to grace the pages of X-Men. They have quite a few similarities to the Xenomorphs of the Alien franchise, though, interestingly enough, I’m not a huge fan of them. This is meant to be a basic Brood drone, which is the most common design choice, and the one that is best to army build. The figure is sort of based on the base Minimate body, but he does not make use of anything below the waist. The figure makes use of several unique sculpted bits, and sits horizontal, so it measures a little under 2 inches in height and about 3 inches long, with 20 points of articulation, thanks to his six arms. The figure features a sculpted head, torso cover with ball joints for two extra arms on either side, a tendril on each arm, and a tail that plugs into the bottom of his torso. All of these pieces are new to the Brood, though the tendrils are shared with the infected Wolverine. They all work pretty well, though the head is more like a hat piece to the normal head, which makes it look odd when viewed from bellow. The paint work on the figure is mostly just the basic green-brown, with a few details on the head and tail. Everything is pretty clean, though there are a few instances of slop. The Brood includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with many other Marvel Minimates sets, these two were purchased, along with the rest of their series, from my local comicbook store on the day of release. I was excited for the series overall, but these two sets were probably my least favorite. Initially, I hadn’t even intended to pick up the Brood-Infected Wolverine set at all, but when I saw them at the store, I figured they looked cool enough. I’m still not the biggest fan of the Brood, and that figure in particular pushes the use of the base body almost to its breaking point, but I can’t think of another way to translate the design. These sets gave us a pretty great version of Wolverine’s brown costume, a neat Brood-Infected version, and a decent Brood figure for those who are fans. All in all, I’d say these sets are a pretty decent win for the line.

#0262: Winter Soldier

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

WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL SELECT

WintersoldierSelect

On the Fourth of July, I took a look at Diamond Select Toys’ Marvel Select line’s version of Captain America. I wouldn’t want Cap to be lonely, so how about giving him a buddy. And who better than Cap’s bestest friend ever, Bucky Barnes! Okay, actually it’s Winter Soldier, but they’re actually the same person (umm….spoilers?). Anyway, Marvel Select just got a comic version of Winter Soldier, released to tie-in with this summer’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Let’s see how the figure turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Winter Soldier is a Disney Store exclusive from the Marvel Select line, released in early 2014. The figure stands about 7 inches tall and features 29 points of articulation. I believe he’s meant to be based on the Soldier’s most recent look, which is an amalgam of his original comic look and his look in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The figure features an all-new sculpt, and a pretty good one at that. Right off the bat, it’s a more consistent sculpt than a lot of previous Select figures, like Captain America for example. It’s not a perfect sculpt; the chin is perhaps a bit too large, and the arms are a little gangly. Other than that, it’s a great piece of work. The Soldier’s costume allows for lots of textures in the different types of material used in the uniform, and the sculpt handles them all very nicely. The move to a new style of hip joint is probably the greatest thing about the figure, especially looking at the direction of the line as a whole. The new joint is similar to those seen on a DC Universe Classics figure, and it allows for a better range of movement without interrupting the sculpt. I do wish the range of motion was a little bit better on the ankles, but they aren’t terrible. The paint work is pretty decent. There’s no real occurrence of slop or bleed over, and there’s a lot of nice texture work that really accents the sculpt well. Winter Soldier features a nice assortment of accessories, which include a sniper rifle, a handgun, a submachine gun with a strap, a crate with Russian markings, and a stand made to look like a section of wall and floor. The crate in particular is quite impressive, just due to the impressive amount of details present on almost every side.

WinterSoldierSelect2WinterSoldierSelect3WinterSoldierCrate

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Winter Soldier from the Disney Store at the local mall. I was there to take care of a few other things and my friend Tim wanted to stop in the Disney Store to look at the new Guardians of the Galaxy Nerf stuff, which he had spied through the window. While he was looking at those, I happened across the store’s Marvel Select display. I had seen pictures of this guy online, but hadn’t thought much about it. I’m at best a moderate fan of Winter Soldier. Before this year I didn’t even own a single figure of him. But, seeing the figure in person was enough to sway me. I’m definitely glad I decided to get him; he’s probably one of the best figures the Marvel Select line has to offer, and he’s just a pretty great toy in general!

WinterSoldierSelectComparison

#0261: Iron Patriot & Extremis Soldier

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

IRON PATRIOT & EXTREMIS SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Extremis&Patriot

Minimates represent a large portion of my large collection of action figures, and Marvel Minimates are the backbone of the Minimates brand, so it’s no surprise that Marvel Minimates have a high frequency of review on this site. Add in the fact that the reviews are a little bit easier to write, and also tend to garner a decent sized number of page views, and you’ve got a winning combination.  So, today, I’ll once again being going back to the Minimates well, this time to review Iron Man 3’s Iron Patriot & Extremis Soldier. Let’s jump on in!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Patriot and the Extremis Soldier were released in Marvel Minimates Series 49. The series was a tie-in to Iron Man 3, so it depicted characters from the movie. The set was also released in slightly different packaging in the Toys R Us exclusive Iron Man 3 assortment, making it the easiest to acquire of the movie sets.

IRON PATRIOT

Iron Patriot is the newer, friendlier name for Colonel James Rhodes’s War Machine armor. He’s a pretty pivotal character in the movie, so his inclusion here is a no-brainer. He’s built on the standard Minimate frame, which meads he features 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall. The figure features ten sculpted additions: helmet, chest plate, shoulders, hands, waist, boots, and shoulder cannon. All of these pieces are new to this figure, although they were shared with his Series-mate the War Machine 2.0. It’s a sensible set of parts to share, given that they’re actually the same armor with a different paint job. The sculpt is pretty decent, though all the add-ons do end up making him look just the slightest bit pudgy. The paint work is pretty good overall, but it’s not as great as other Minimate releases. The detail lines are all nice and clean, but the basic color layout is a bit sloppy, especially in the transitions between silver and the other colors. Underneath of the helmet is a fully detailed Rhodes face, which has a pretty decent Don Cheadle likeness and has nice and clean paint apps. Iron Patriot’s sole accessory is a basic clear display stand, but given the large amount of parts that went into his armor, that’s more than acceptable.

EXTREMIS SOLDIER

The Extremis Soldier doesn’t refer to a single character in Iron Man 3, but rather a whole subset of characters who were suped up on Extremis and working for the big bad. They were key to the final battle of the movie, and Diamond has created a hodge-podge of looks to simulate the soldier in a generic way that allows a collector to have a few in a group. The figure is built on the standard frame, just like Iron Patriot, so he has the same height and articulation. The Extremis soldier incudes a sculpted hairpiece, vest, and holster. All three of these pieces are re-use. The hair originally appeared on Series 24’s Shocker, the holster comes from Series 27’s Nick Fury, and the vest comes from the first version of Trench Mauser from the Expendables line. The pieces offer a pretty good approximation of the kind of stuff the soldiers wore. The paintwork on the Extremis soldier is quite good, better than Iron Patriot for sure. All of the line work is nice and clean, and the Extremis details present on the face, torso, and shoulders looks great. The Extremis Soldier includes a pistol, which we’ve seen a few times before, and a spare blonde hairpiece, originally seen on Series 35’s Happy Hogan, which allows for an alternate look.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like most of my Minimates purchases, I picked up Iron Patriot and the Extremis Soldier as soon as they were available, which would have been a week or two after the release of Iron Man 3. Although the paint is a little bit sloppy on Patriot, he’s a nice bold design that really stands out on the shelf, and he’s got some really great sculpted pieces. Add in a pretty sweet looking Extremis Soldier who has several potential looks, and you’ve got a set that’s pretty much a winner!

Extremis&PatriotAlt

#0260: Black Lightning

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

BLACK LIGHTNING

TOTAL JUSTICE

BlackLightning1

In the 90s, any DC toyline whose title didn’t include “Batman” was a rarity. In fact they were almost non-existent. Even today’s focus line Total Justice was originally called Batman: Total Justice. And this was a line that didn’t even really focus on Batman! I guess Kenner must have come to their sense by the time the line actually saw release, because the packaging dropped Batman’s name from the title.

Anyway, Total Justice was essentially a line based on the Justice League. Years later, the line would even be continued under the name JLA. The line offered many collectors the first chance since Super Powers to actually have a decent line up of DC characters, but it was plagued by silly “Tactical Armor,” a lack of decent articulation, and, most famously, X-Treme! poses. However, it was the only chance at getting those characters for quite some time, so collectors had to grin and bear it. Let’s have a look at one of the line’s more obscure additions, Black Lightning!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BlackLightning2Black Lightning was released in the third and final series of Total Justice. This series was easily the most daring series of the line, as it lacked any heavy hitters. Black Lightning stands about 5 inches tall and features 5 points of articulation. The figure depicts Lightning in his costume from the time, which deviated a fair bit from his other costumes. It’s not a terrible design, but it’s easily my least favorite look of his, which hurts the figure a bit. Black Lightning featured an all new sculpt, though the arms and legs would be slightly retooled to be used for JLA’s Impulse and Superboy, respectively. The sculpt is actually rather reserved by Total Justice standards. The legs are in a slightly wonky pose, but the arms are actually in a pretty natural stance, and the face is surprisingly calm for this series. The paint work is rather simple, but it’s mostly evenly applied, with no real issues present. Black Lightning included torso and leg armor, as well as a big missile launcher thing. While this series was the first of Total Justice to give figures more sensible accessories, Lightning was not as lucky as his peers, and got stuck with the same usual wacky stuff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Black Lightning was the Total Justice figure I was always missing. There are other figures from the line I still don’t have, but this one was the only one from the final series, and he was also one of two heroes not to see a re-release in the JLA line (the other was Hawkman. I think it mostly had to do with the dated designs the figures sported.) So, when I finally found him at my local comicbook store a few weeks ago, I was happy to get one. Not thrilled or anything, but content. Sometimes, being content is enough.

GAHHHHHHHHH!

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General

This will mark the second time I’ve written a non-review, non-info-dump piece for this site.  In less than a week no less.  Sorry guys, I’ve got a lot on my mind apparently…

Today, I’ll be discussing yet another thing that plagues the action figure collector.  Perhaps the greatest foe.  If action figure collectors were super heroes, this would be there super villain.  In the Star Wars universe, they would be at home in Mos Eisly, a place for vile scum and villainy.  I speak of THE SCALPER.

For the uniformed, a scalper is a term to refer to someone who purchases an item they don’t intend to use with the intent of later re-selling it to someone who actually wants it for a profit.  In the main stream, it was common for a long time to see people buying block of tickets to baseball or football game that they knew would be popular, and then selling them at several times the retail price.  The US government actually declared this particular practice illegal.  However, this was solely in regards to sports events, so no luck to the action figure collector when the scalpers eventually turned up there.

It’s hard to say exactly when the scalpers first showed up on the toy scene.  It’s generally considered to be somewhere in the early to mid-90s.  The original Star Wars figures had become quite a commodity, particularly because finding a packaged sample of many of the early figures was very difficult.  No one had forseen the popularity, so nobody really bought any to keep preserved.  But, there was a demand, which leads to a higher value.  So, when Kenner brought back the Star Wars line with Power of the Force II, people went mad trying to get ahold of as many extras as possible, hoping to get in while the getting was good, so to speak.  That’s when I, as a 3 or 4 year old toy collector, first encountered the scalper.

My parents had just recently shown me the Star Wars movies, and I had just gotten into the toys, thanks to one Dagobah Training Luke Skywalker.  Luke wasn’t enough for me, I had to have all the main characters!  It’s important to note that I was different from the usual little boy who collected action figures in that I didn’t have an issue with toys of girls.  They were just as valid to the collection as the guys.  So, I wanted a Princess Leia figure, darn it!  Problem was, Princess Leia was the short-pack, which meant finding her was no simple feat.

One day, my dad took me to the mall, and more importantly, the KB Toys in said mall.  We walked back to the action figure aisle to see what there was to see, and there it was!  An entire rack of Princess Leia action figures!  I was so excited!  I ran, I mean literally ran, to the rack, intent on getting that Princess Leia figure I so desperately wanted.  Just as I reached the rack, an arm moved in front of me, the hand going to the back of the rack.  The arm scooped the entire racks worth of figures into a shopping basket.  This was the arm of the dreaded scalper.

He turned away from the now empty rack.  My excitement was thouroughly squashed.  But my dad, being who he was wasn’t going to just let this guy walk off.  He got the man’s attention and politely asked if he’d be willing to spare one of the Leia figures so that I might have one.  The guy looked at me and said I was welcome to buy one from him at his dealer’s table at the next local convention, for his marked up price.  My dad kept his calm and asked the man’s name, which the man provided.  My dad then asked the name of the convention the man was planning to be a dealer at.  The man said “Farpoint.”  My dad, the chairman of Farpoint at the time, responded with “No you won’t” and walked away with me in tow.

Don’t worry dear reader, I got a Princess Leia at a reasonable price not too long after.  However, that doesn’t change the encounter.  This guy looked down at me, a little kid, all wide-eyed and innocent, and told me I couldn’t have that toy.  For a profit a couple of dollars, this man practically took the figure from my hands.  I’m sorry, but where does one get off doing something like that?

If you’re wondering why I’m bringing this up now, I’ll get to that in just a second.  See, scalpers have kinda gone on to become like my sitcom arch-nemesis.  That foe that I always seem to run into,  but never directly.  I would frequently find the aftermath of a scalper.  All the short-packed figures would be gone, or I’d see an item listed on ebay or at a convention for several times its original price.  But after that initial encounter, I’d never run into one, face to face.  Until two days ago.

I was at a nearby Toys R Us, looking for a gift for someone.  However, it being me, I figured I’d also look around to see if I could find any figures I’d been looking for.  I was heading down the Marvel aisle, towards the rack of Marvel Legends when a guy stepped into the aisle from the other side, and started going through the rack.  I stepped back to give the guy his space, as I don’t like to be over bearing.  Generally, I don’t jump to the scalper conclusion, but this guy was heavy set, un-shaven, and wearing a baseball cap and an ill-fitting football jersey.  That’s like the scalper uniform.  Anyway, I kept my distance, and let him finish looking through the rack.  He pulled out two figures, Black Cat and Carnage, which I had actually been looking for.  They’re rather difficult to find, and they go for quite a pretty penny on the aftermarket.  But maybe this guy was just a fellow collector.  Maybe he too had been looking for these figures.  I could deal with that.  And then, with a smug look, he turned to his companion and said “I can’t believe they still have these.  I can get like over a hundred bucks for these on ebay!”

And there it was.  The illusion was shattered.  The guy walked off, the victor in his own mind I suppose.  Take that geeks!  He can make money selling something meant to be fun for over five times its retail value!  What a winner!

Perhaps I’m just too nice a guy, but I for the life of me can’t wrap my head around the mentality that makes these guys do this.  It’s not a legitimate career.  The only service they provide is ripping off someone who really wanted the item.  Someone who would have been fine going to the store and getting it themselves, were they given the opportunity.  To add insult to injury, every scalper I’ve ever run into seems to get pleasure out of getting an item someone else wants.  They don’t want it for themselves, they just want the money.  I’m sorry, but there’s much easier, much less despicable ways to get a hundred bucks.  The scalper is the blight of the toy collecting hobby, effectively eliminating any fun to be had acquiring the items, and instead leaving the people actually doing the collecting to have to choose between not having the item they want or paying through the nose to get it.  Where’s the fun in that?

#0259: Professor X – Space Rider

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

PROFESSOR X

X-MEN SPACE RIDERS

SpaceX1

X-Men. In Space! Yeah, I know, it’s a really highbrow concept. It was the late 90s, what do you want? Besides, the X-Men have actually spent a fair bit of time in space, so outfitting them with Space gear isn’t the worst possible idea, now is it? Plus, it totally gives the toymakers another excuse to re-release all the main X-Men that people just love buying. How could it go wrong? It couldn’t, it just couldn’t. Fool proof plan here. So, let’s just take a look at the Professor X from this line up, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SpaceX2Professor X was released as part of the first, and only, series of X-Men Space Riders. The line was an off-shoot of the main X-Men line, much the same way the Savage Land line was. The figures were released as boxed items, along with some sizeable accessories. Space Riser Professor X stands about 5 inches tall and features 7 points of articulation. As far as I can tell, the Professor got a whole new sculpt for this line. They didn’t even reuse the same head like they did on the last one! The sculpt is a bit strange in a few areas, most notably the strange way his legs connect to his torso. One thing I do really like is the hydraulics on his legs, as they make for a good explanation to how exactly Charles is up and walking around. The right hand is sculpted around a bit of metal to aid in the figure’s interface with his vehicle, so it ends up looking a little bit on the odd side. The paint work is basic, but for the most part it’s cleanly applied, with very few issues of slop or bleed over. Professor X features a removable helmet, which fits nicely and looks super cool, and a “Space Sled,” which includes two missiles and at one point had a light up feature. The sled is an interesting piece, and interlocks with the sleds included with the rest of the series to form one big space ship. Thrilling!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Professor X was purchased from my local comic book store just a few weeks ago. The owner had just gotten in a selection of older action figures, and had them all sitting on a table for $5.99 a piece. I had never gotten any of the Space Riders back in the day, apart from a Cyclops I got loose, but I was always fascinated by the figures. So, for $6, I figured it was worth the purchase. Professor X is a little dated compared to more recent figures, but I can’t help but look at this figure and think “Man, that looks cool!”

#0258: Batgirl & Bane

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

BATGIRL & BANE

DC MINIMATES

Bane&Batgirl

One of the great tragedies for many Minimates collectors was the cancellation of DC Direct’s DC Minimates after only eight series. Not only did the line present us with definitive versions of many of DC’s top characters, it also gave us some wacky side characters like Ambush Bug and Ma Hunkel, and it was the first Minimate line to push the envelope in terms of sculpting. However, the line was met with its fair share of difficulties, most notably hitting shelves when Minimates were at a low point and being gone just before they hit it big. Still, we got a decent 64 figure run, and that’s certainly better than nothing. Today I’ll be looking at two figures from the Batman side of things, Batgirl and Bane.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Batgirl and Bane were released as part of the fourth series of DC Minimates. They’re an odd pair, seing as the two have never actually met. Heck, they didn’t even exist at the same time! Anyway, they’re both Batman characters, I guess.

BATGIRL

Batgirl is built on the basic Minimate body, so she stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. She’s based on the Barbra Gordon version of the character, in her second costume. She features a sculpted mask, cape, belt and gloves. The cape and gloves were previously used on both the series one and series three Batmen, as well as being used before that in the DC C3 line. The mask and belt are new, so as to properly depict her exposed hair and more elaborate belt design. The paint work is pretty clean on Batgirl, with no real slop, and some very sharp line work on all the transitions. This set was released during the period of time when Minimates were using full slip over masks for everyone, even characters that only had half masks, so Batgirl got a full face mask. Some figures took advantage of this and gave the figure a different facial expression on the unmasked head. Sadly, Batgirl didn’t do this, which is a shame, as it would have the unmasked face be Barbra in full librarian mode. Batgirl includes a pair of bat-cuffs and a spare hair piece to display her unmasked.

BANE

Bane demonstrates one of the unique traits of the DC Minimates line: use of the larger Minimate body. The body features the same articulation and relative proportions, but is about a half an inch taller than the basic body. So, DC used it for larger characters such as Bane here. Bane features three sculpted parts: mask, belt, and wrist gauntlet with tube that plugs into the mask. All of these pieces are new to Bane, mostly due to his use of the larger body. All of the pieces accurately capture Bane’s look from the comics, so kudos to them on that. The paint work is pretty good overall, though there a few issues. The shirt features black detailing with gray highlights, but on the edges of the torso, the gray highlights have been missed, leaving their spots flesh-toned. Also, the sides of the shirt don’t quite line up with the front. Finally, the mask, while well detailed, seems to sit a bit too low, which gives him an abnormally large head. Under the mask, there’s a fully detailed face with hair, which Is a nice touch I suppose, though I hardly see anyone displaying him this way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the rest of the DC Minimates line, I purchased these two as soon as they were released. While I think they’re both well done figures, I remember being disappointed in general by the lineup for Series Four, as well as baffled by the choice to pack these two together. It’s a cool set, but it’s hard to tell what audience they were aiming for, as the two figures present appeal to two different sensibilities.

#0257: Private Hudson vs Xenomorph Warrior

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

PRIVATE WILLIAM HUDSON & XENOMORPH WARRIOR

ALIENS (NECA)

HudsonVsXeno3

It’s no secret to those who follow this site that I think the movie Aliens is one of the greatest movies ever made. As a toy collector, I want toys from just about everything, even bad movies! Heck, I even bought a bunch of the figures from James Cameron’s Avatar, before I came to my senses and sold them all off. So, it stands to reason that I would want all the toys imaginable from the greatest movie of all time, right? Well, that’s where things get tricky. See, there’s been a few toys here and there from the movie over the years, but a lot of them weren’t that great or they were solely focused on the aliens themselves. I don’t watch the movie for the aliens, I watch it for the awesome characters standing up to the aliens!

HudsonVsXenoI was thrilled beyond belief when NECA announced that they were making a line of Aliens figures and the humans would be one of the focuses. So far, we’ve only gotten two of the marines, but Bishop’s on his way in Series Three and NECA’s already confirmed that Riley should be showing up in one of the series after that.

NECA is a slightly smaller toy company, which means there can end up being quite a wait from series to series of a line. So, to keep the momentum going on Aliens, they’ve released three two-packs, scattered between the main releases. The two-packs re-use parts and tend to be re-releases of previously seen characters. Today, I’ll be looking at Private Hudson facing off against a Xenomorph that’s a little worse for wear!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as a two-pack outside of the regular Series structure. It’s the third of the two-packs NECA has done for its Aliens line. These two were originally meant to bridge the gap between Series One and Two, but due to delays, they ended up coming out a little ways after Series Two, which actually makes for a nice bridge between Two and Three.

PRIVATE WILLIAM HUDSON

HudsonScreamingThis is Hudson’s second figure in the Aliens line. Both figures so far have depicted Hudson after the initial attack on the alien hive, as denoted by the bandage on his left arm. The Series One version of Hudson depicted him immediately after the attack, but this one depicts him as he appears in the last third of the film, when the aliens are attacking the remaining marine forces. The big difference is that Hudson has his helmet and his game face. He’s ready to fight. Hudson stands about 7 inches tall and features 30 points of articulation. From the neck down, the figure is more or less identical to the Series One release. So, I’ll be focusing on the new head sculpt. The big change is the addition of a helmet, a piece that was woefully from the Series One marines. The helmet is different from the one used on the second Hicks figure. In the movie, Hudson has a cover on his helmet, so I’m glad to see NECA pay attention to this detail. The helmet also sits better on Hudson than it did on Hicks, which makes it look less doofy. That’s definitely a plus. The actual head is pretty decent. The screaming expression makes more sense here than it did on Hicks, as Hudson did tend to be the more reactive of the two. Hudson’s scream here is less a frightened one, and more a “come get some” yell, which is pretty much spot on to Hudson’s look during his last stand. The paint work on this figure is alright. The helmet exhibits the best work, with all of Hudson’s graffiti cleanly applied. The face is a bit messier, with some harsh cuts between his 5 o’clock shadow and the rest of his face, and a fairly messy hairline. It’s not bad overall, but it could be better. Hudson includes a shoulder lamp, a welder, and a pulse rifle, all the same as the regular release.

HudsonComparison Hicks&Hudson

XENOMORPH WARRIOR

XenoShotThis is the sixth version of the basic Xenomorph in the line. Like the last one, this one is another exploration of the “just got shot” look. He stands about 8 inches tall and features 38 points of articulation. The figure is mostly the same sculpt as all the previous Xenomorph figures, which is hardly a bad thing. It’s a great sculpt, so I think NECA should milk it for all it’s worth. The key difference is the addition of blast effects to the figure’s upper torso to simulate the effect of the Xeno being gunned down by one of the marines. It appears that these pieces have just been glued onto the basic body, with no real changes to the underlying structure. The new pieces seem to be sculpted well enough, although the larger one got smashed in the package, which makes it look a little…droopy. You know, one in ten….uhh never mind. The paint is the key part of pretty much every NECA Xeno release. In this case, the Xeno has been given brown highlights, similar to those on the Series One version. They seem to have been applied cleaner, which is a definite plus, but both the Series Two Xeno and the Xeno packed with Screaming Hicks have convinced me that Xenos just look better in blue. Also, the blood spurts on this figure are more dull than the neon greens on the previous shot-up Xeno, which I feel robs the figure of the needed pop.

XenosShot XenoComparison

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In contrast to the other two-packs NECA released, I fully intended to pick this set up from the moment it was announced. I felt the screaming expression and helmeted look were more key looks for Hudson, and I foolishly believed that the Brown Xeno look was superior. Interestingly, I actually ended up putting off purchasing this one a bit more than the other two. In the end, my opinion about Hudson turned out to be true. I’m going to have a rough time picking which version of the character will be staying on the shelf once more marines arrive, as both are great interpretations of him. The Xeno is a serviceable Xeno variation, I suppose. It’s not as cool as the exploding head version packed with Hicks, and I’m not the biggest fan of the brown, but I suppose it could be worse. All in all, a pretty good set, but not quite as exciting as I’d hoped it would be.

#0256: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL SELECT

CaptainAmerica

Happy Fourth of July everybody! For most of my non-American readers it’s just a day in July, but for those of us in the US, it’s a day in July where we grill stuff and then watch stuff explode! Oh, and something about independence or some such. I think they might have mentioned it once in school, but I wasn’t paying attention.

Anyway, what better way is there to celebrate an American holiday than with the Sentinel of Liberty himself, Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cap was released as one of the first Marvel Select figures offered through the Disney Store, following Disney’s purchase of Marvel. He was released along with an assortment of other Avengers figures, some being re-releases of earlier figures and some being all new. To date, I believe Cap is the only of the figures in that group not to see a release elsewhere, though there’s still time. Cap stands about 7 inches tall and features 25 points of articulation. The figure features a brand new sculpt, which is of…varying quality. For the most part, it’s good. It’s based on artist John Cassidy’s depiction of the character, which is a great starting point. The upper body is all good, with great scale details on his upper torso, and some wonderful detail work in the folds on his sleeves and gloves. The head isn’t perfect, but it’s actually pretty good. Aside from the eyes being a little bit too big, it looks great. The biggest issue with the sculpt is the legs, or more importantly, the hip joints. I’m not sure what they were going for, but they sit too low, and distract from the flow of the sculpt without offering much in the way of articulation. I essence, it’s a total fail. It’s especially disappointing given the great sculpted work and range of articulation elsewhere on the figure. It’s almost like they ran out of time and had to rush to finish. For the most part, the paint work is in line with the better parts of the sculpt. Aside from some slightly off paint on his eyes, the paint looks really great. They’ve even added some nice texturing to bring out all of the sculpt’s little details. Cap includes his mighty shield and a stand based on Cassidy’s cover to Captain America Volume 4 Issue 6, which is a nice touch. My only issue is the way the shield connects to Cap’s arm, which is haphazard at best.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting bitten pretty seriously by the Marvel Select bug with the Disney Store Exclusive Hawkeye and Black Widow, I came across Captain America at my local Disney Store. He was marked down a few dollars and he looked like a pretty decent version of Cap, so I decided I might as well get him. As fate would have it, he was even more marked down than I thought, so I got him for quite a deal. All in all, he’s probably one of the better basic Captain America figures to see release in the last few years, even with a few minor issues.

CaptainAmericaAlt

#0255: Spider-Man – Spider-Sense

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

SPIDER-MAN – SPIDER -SENSE

MARVEL 10-INCH

Spider-SenseSpidey

In the 90s, Toybiz was at the height of their popularity with their massive 5-inch scale Marvel line. However, this wasn’t enough for them. Since the figures were sculpted in two-up form, meaning they were sculpted at twice the size, they could easily reproduce the figures in a larger 10-inch scale, thereby doubling their profits! They started out by producing separate lines much in the same manner their 5-inch lines were handled, before ultimately meshing all the lines into one. Today, I’ll be taking a look at one of their variants of Spider-Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man was released early in the 10-inch line, prior to the move to a merged series. As such, he was released under the Spider-Man brand. The figure stands about 10 inches tall and features 11 points of articulation. The figure is based on his “spider-sense” look, which is how his spider senses would occasionally be portrayed, most notably in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which most of these figures took influence from. It was a fairly popular look to do, as it also appeared in the 5-inch line. Interestingly, this figure is not just a larger version of that figure, or even just a simple repaint of the basic Spider-Man. He looks to share his head and legs with the basic Spider-Man, but the Torso and arms appear to be all new. This appears to have been done to allow use of the figure’s suction cup feature, which allows you to simulate Spidey’s wall crawling abilities by sticking him to windows and stuff. However, the weight of the figure prevents him from staying in place for very long. The figure seems lankier than some of the other Spider-Men of the time, which is actually nice to see. The paint work is pretty good, if a bit basic. There don’t appear to be any issues with sloppiness and there isn’t really any chance for bleed over. You’ll notice that my figure has taken a bit of wear and tear. The figure included no accessories to my knowledge.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As far as I recall, Spider-Man was a gift to me from one of my parents’ friends. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but it was probably for my birthday or something. I believe it was one of the earlier 10-inch figures I received, and it was certainly the first Spider-Man. It’s a fun little figure, though not one I would seek out on my own. At the time, however, I was just happy to be getting more action figures!