Yearly Archives: 2014

Guest Review #0004: Quorra

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

QUORRA

TRON: LEGACY (SPIN MASTER)

Qorra2

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!

As I’ve said before, my action figure collection tends to stem from video games. Today’s figure follows this pattern, even though the game itself exists in a movie, but was then made as a real game, sorta… it’s complicated. Anyway, today I’ll be looking at Quorra from Tron: Legacy. I’ll also be reviewing an action figure of her as well made by Spin Master.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is based on Quorra’s initial appearance in the film when she rescues Sam from GAMES. Regrettably this means that she is depicted wearing her helmet which only stays on for about a minute of screen time and there isn’t the alternate Olivia Wilde, slanted bangs head that everyone hoped for. Quorra stands about 4″ tall and features 23 points of articulation. One of the gimmicks for this line of figures is that they light up, in keeping with the aesthetic of the movie. Aside from the unfortunate perma-helmet, the figure’s sculpt is unique to this character, and is pretty decent with just a few minor hiccups. The legs are a little skinny and the proportions around the waist are slightly off, making Quorra look a just a tad chunky if viewed from the side, but then again this is to accommodate the battery and aforementioned light so I’ll let it slide. Also, for whatever reason, her skirt is made of hard plastic which substantially restricts hip movement which stinks because the overall figure has fairly good range of motion. If it weren’t for the skirt, and maybe the neck, you could probably pull off some cool action poses. The paint keeps up this trend of decent-but-not-fantastic with a few small areas of bleed over as well as a couple spots of careless slop marring and otherwise pristine paint job. Quorra comes packaged with her Identity Disk and sword as well as a stand on which to display her. So overall, yes the figure has its problems, but for the most part I can overlook those flaws because she’s my favorite character from the movie. It also helps that I only paid $5 for the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I purchased this figure not long after I saw Tron: Legacy for the first time. I knew I wanted a little light up figure after they were cleverly shown off in the opening scene by a horrifically CGI-ed Jeff Bridges, it only became clearer later on who I wanted a figure of. After finding out that the 12″ Impulse Projection line of figures from the movie did not include Quorra, I settled on the 3″ version I have now.

#0231: Arnim Zola & Captain America

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

ARNIM ZOLA & CIVIL WAR CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL MINIMATES

ArnimZola&Cap ArnimZola&CapAlt2

Minimates. What more can I say. I’ve reviewed them numerous times before, and I try to think of original anecdotes about them, but there’s really only so much you can say. Still, they are the greatest toyline on the market today, so that’s a big plus. Today, I’ll be looking at Arnim Zola, a recurring Captain America foe, and Captain America himself.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 42nd series of Marvel Minimates. That particular series was meant to loosely tie-in with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, which were both released the same year.

ARNIM ZOLA

Arnim is presented here in his classic “face on a chest monitor” look, which is definitely the one to go with if you’re doing an Arnim Zola figure. He’s built on the usual Minimate body, so he has 14 points of articulation and stands around 2 ½ inches tall. Arnim features a uniquely sculpted camera head and torso piece, as well as reused “puffy sleeves.” The pieces work pretty well, and give a nice depiction of the character’s usual look. The paint work on the figure is all nice and clean, with no slop, bleed-over, or fuzzy lines. He also features some impressive detail work on his “torso face” which pretty much perfectly replicates Arnim’s snickering, disembodied face.

CIVIL WAR CAPTAIN AMERICA

Yes, it’s another Cap. This one has been dubbed “Civil War Captain America” but I’m not really sure why. Cap wasn’t involved with the historical American Civil War (and if he had been, I doubt he would have dressed this way) which only leaves the Marvel cross-over of the same name. However, Cap doesn’t dress like this in that story. It seems that the real inspiration for Cap was actually his incarnation on Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, where he was frequently seen wearing a similar outfit while riding around on his motorcycle. At any rate, the figure is built on the basic Minimate body like Arnim, so he’s got the usual stats. He features a sculpted helmet, jacket, belt, left hand w/ shield strap, and boots. All of the pieces have been used before, with the helmet coming from Ultimate WW2 Cap, the jacket coming from James Rhodes, the belt coming from Cap reborn, the hand coming from one of the movie Caps, and the boots coming from numerous figures. The pieces are all good pieces and work pretty nicely. The painted details aren’t bad, though I’m not the biggest fan of Cap’s face. The Avengers logo on his arm is also a nice touch. Cap includes a spare set of arms and gloves and a proper Cap mask to allow you to display him as a more basic Cap, as well as a hairpiece for all those wanting him unmasked.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got these two along with the rest of series 42 from my favorite online retailer, Luke’s Toy Store! I mostly bought the series for the Thor sets included, but I wanted this one too, mostly for Arnim. In hand, I think they’re both pretty solid ‘mates, but Cap suffers from some serious redundancy.

#0230: Wildebeast

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

WILDEBEAST

TEEN TITANS GO! (BANDAI)

Wildebeast

Some toylines are good, some are mediocre, and some just suck. In general, toys made by Bandai America fall into the last category. How they manage to pick up hot licenses is beyond me, given their dreck-like output. Maybe they know a guy. That must be nice. Today, we venture again into their Teen Titans Go! toyline, based on the Teen Titans TV show of the early 2000s. This time around it’s Wildebeast. Yay.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wildebeast was released as part of series 4 of the Teen Titans Go! line. He stands 3.5 inches tall, just like the rest of the figures in the line because Bandai has no idea how scale works. The figure also only features 5-ish points of articulation, a downgrade from the 9 received by figures in previous series. I say “5-ish” because one of those points is a neck joint that has been rendered functionally useless by the figure’s sculpted mane. The figure’s sculpt isn’t too bad. Nothing to write home about, but fairly accurate to the character’s look on the show. The paintwork is pretty bad. Not only is it incredibly basic, but there is noticeable slop and bleed-over and the colors aren’t really right either. Wildebeast included a single accessory: a rock club that the character never, ever used. Way to go guys.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bandai’s toys suck. Teen Titans Go! was no exception. I mentioned in my review of Robin and Beast Boy that I had a bit of nostalgia for them, having gone on a trip with my Mom to get them. Wildebeast doesn’t get that. I think I probably picked him up from Target, most likely because he was packed with someone else I wanted. I guess it’s not the worst figure ever, but it doesn’t have a whole lot going for it.

#0229: Green Goblin

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

GREEN GOBLIN

SPIDER-MAN: THE MOVIE (TOYBIZ)

 

The first Spider-Man movie may have been surpassed by other superhero movies in recent years, but when it was released it was my favorite superhero movie, and remained in that spot until it was dislodged by its sequel. The movie was also one of the earliest comicbook based movies to get a decent tie-in toyline, on par with, and perhaps even better than the comic stuff at the time. I’m certain it surprises no one that I owned a few of the figures from that toyline, and today I’ll be looking at one of the figures of the film’s big bad, the Green Goblin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Goblin was part of the first series of Spider-Man movie figures. The figure stands 6 inches tall and features 38 points of articulation. He has an all new sculpt based on Willem Dafoe’s performance as the character in the film. It’s a pretty good sculpt and, whether you like the suit or not, it’s a good representation of the suit’s design. Under the figure’s removable mask is an unmasked Norman Osborn head, which bares more than a passing resemblance to Dafoe. The resemblance might be a bit closer were it not for the slick back hair style, but it was necessary in order to facilitate the removable mask feature. The mask is a well done piece and is essentially a scaled down version of the real thing, though it is missing the backing it had in the movie. This is once again to aid the removability. The paintwork is cleanly applied, with no real issues with slop or bleed over. His skin tone is a tad too yellow for my tastes, but only a tad. The figure came packaged with his goblin glider and a flight stand, but both of mine have been lost. Sorry! (EDIT: Okay, not quite…)

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Green Goblin from the KB Toys in my local mall shortly after the first series was released. That would have been a few months before the release of the movie. For some reason, I wanted Green Goblin, but none of the other figures in the series. So, I only had the Goblin for a while. He’s a quality figure for sure, but that goblin costume looks worse every time I see it.

#0228: MSA-003 Nemo

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

MSA-003 NEMO

HG GUNDAM HGUC

Nemo

And now for something completely different. Previous reviews on the site have been based on finished action figures, purchased by me, fully assembled elsewhere, in processes unknown to me. Not today. No, today, I’ll be taking a look at a figure I built all by myself. Well, not all by myself. There were instructions, and the basic parts were supplied for me. But, I did most of the heavy lifting this time.

Today’s figure comes from Bandai’s line of Gundam model kits. They’re based on designs from the various Gundam anime and manga, and are made up a large assortment of pieces that can be snapped together to form a fully functioning action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nemo3The figure I’m looking at is the MSA-003 Nemo, which is apparently a “massed-produced mobile fighting suit.” From what I can tell, it’s an army builder. Anyway, Nemo is figure #150 in Bandai’s HG GUNDAM HGUC model line (I think I got all that right, but it’s a bit difficult to tell with most of the info on the box being in Japanese.) The figure is in 1/144 scale, which means he stands about 5 inches tall. He also features 35 points of articulation, which is certainly impressive for a model. From what I’ve been able to find online, the sculpt looks pretty faithful to the Nemo design, which is a good thing. It’s a nice and clean sculpt, with some pretty great details worked in. Above all, all of the pieces fit together pretty much perfectly, which is the most important part of the kit. The figure features no actual paint work, though it makes use of parts molded in five different colors in order to give the figure the proper color scheme. What can’t be feasibly handled with a solid molded piece is handled via decal. The decals go on without too much trouble (though I did have to put out the tweezers), and stay in place very well. Perhaps my favorite part of the figure is the combination of a silver decal and a piece of translucent orange plastic in order to create Nemo’s visor. It really gives it a great amount of dimension. Amazingly for a model kit, Nemo also includes five interchangeable hands, two beam swords, a machine gun, and a shield. All of these pieces can be used to great effect and offer a lot of variety in display choices.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Nemo from a local hobby store while on a trip there with my Dad. I’ve never been much of a Gundam fan, but I saw Nemo amongst the assortment of kits they had and he just called to me. I liked the color scheme, and I’m a sucker for a cool robot design. I had heard of the Gundam kits, but I didn’t actually have any experience with them. I figured I’d give this one a shot, and I’m glad I did. Putting this figure together was quite a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting the insights on how such a figure is assembled. And, at the end of it all, I get an awesome robot dude that’s fully poseable! How cool is that?

Nemo2

#0227: Boomerang – Deadliest Foes

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

BOOMERANG – DEADLIEST FOES

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

Boomerang

I’m almost done with my recent round of Marvel Legends reviews. One more to go, and then I’ll be jumping back to the usual retrospective reviews. This one doesn’t come from Captain America: The Winter Soldier set, but its sister Spider-Man line. It’s based on Boomerang, one of Spider-Man’s lesser known foes, and one of my personal favorites. For more on Boomerang, head here. Let’s take a look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Boomerang is a part of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marvel Legends Infinite Series. Officially, he’s referred to as “Deadliest Foes,” and is shipping in the second wave of the series, as a replacement for the initially shipped Beetle figure. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation. He’s based on Boomerang’s more recent redesign from his stint as a member of the Thunderbolts, and most recently his starring role in Superior Foes of Spider-Man. I know there’s been some contention over the decision to use the redesign instead of his classic design, but I actually am happy with the choice. The new design is actually quite striking. The figure is built on the basic male body, that same one used for Baron Zemo, flared boots and gloves and all. Interestingly, the prototype on the box features painted on boots and gloves. I think I like the final product more. The base body is quite a nice starting point, and the head sculpt is also a solid piece of work. I’m not 100% in favor of the gritted teeth look, but it’s not terrible, and it doesn’t look as bad as other attempts at such an expression. And it does add a lot of character to the figure. In what seems to be a running theme for all of my Hasbro reviews, a great sculpt is let down by bad paint. It’s less an issue with slop/bleed over and more an issue with consistency of application. The white areas of the paint seem to need another coat, and the head paint seems exceedingly…gloppy. It’s almost like they dabbed the paint on. Really weird looking, and certainly disappointing. The figure includes a “backpack,” four boomerangs of two different sizes which can be stored in the backpack, and the left leg of Ultimate Green Goblin, the series’ Build-A-Figure.

Boomerang2 Boomerang3

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Boomerang on Amazon, once his price had stabilized to essentially retail. The figure leaves me feeling very mixed. I’m glad to have a Boomerang figure, and it’s a great sculpt, but the paint leaves quite a bit to be desired. I really want to support Hasbro in their attempts to do good with this line, and they do really seem to be trying, but the paint apps on this figure and the Mandroid are really, really bad. It holds both figures back from being as good as they should be, and I’m certain it’ll end up turning people off of the line, especially with the ever increasing price-point.

Action Figures For the Questioning #011: Display Stands

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Action Figures For the Questioning

I’ve been in the action figure world for about 20 years.  So, it’s safe to say I’ve got a fair bit of knowledge on the terms that tend to be thrown around by collectors with little or no explanation as to what they mean.  I generally try to explain a concept on its first appearance on this site, but much as Stan Lee once said to assume every comic book was somebody’s first, I too must assume that every review on this site might be the first to be read by a new visitor.  As such, I’ve decided to put together a guide to some of the more frequently used terms and names that might show up.

DISPLAY STAND

DisplayStand

What is it?:

A stand meant to aid a figure in remaining vertical.  More often than not, designed to be innocuous and small, but can also be large and obtrusive.  Mostly seen with more collector oriented lines.

Example:

Recent releases of Minimates include a small clear stand.

#0226: Mandroid

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

MANDROID

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

Mandroid

I think I’ve probably said all I can about the awesomeness that is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. If you still haven’t seen it or don’t agree, there’s probably no helping you at this point. You’re just doing it wrong. If you’ve been following the site, you know I just picked up Hasbro’s most recent set of Marvel Legends, meant to coincide with the film. I’ve been pretty happy with them so far, and I was definitely for the line’s Build-A-Figure, based on the Mandroid. Quick sum up on the Mandroid: it’s battle armor worn by certain SHIELD Agents in big battles with super-humans. It’s super cool. Let’s see how the figure fairs, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Mandroid was released as the Build-A-Figure for the Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinite Series line, with pieces packed with six (technically eight, with the swap figures) figures over the course of two series of the line. The figure stands about 7 inches tall and features 28 points of articulation (29 if you count the mounted gun). The Mandroid seems to be loosely based on the classic Mandroid design, with a movie-style flair added to it. It’s a strong enough design, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it in the more proper gold color scheme somewhere down the line. The figure makes use of the Iron Man 3 Marvel Legends Iron Monger Build-A-Figure’s legs and lower torso, as well as slightly tweaked versions of that figure’s arms, all coupled with a brand new head and upper torso. The re-use all works well for the design, and seems to fit pretty seamlessly with the new parts. The newer pieces look pretty spot on to the classic Mandroid design. As seems to be a running theme with this series, the figure’s sculpt is let down a bit by the paint application. The figure is mostly molded in the appropriate silver, so there are no issues with those parts, but the black paint shows a few areas of bleed over, and the yellow paint is just plain messy. The visor on the head has serious amounts of bleed over on the outlying areas. The left arm gets it the worst, with the yellow bits barely even lining up with the sculpted lines they’re meant to follow, plus a general inconsistent coating, and random blotches of yellow in incorrect places all over the arm to boot! Fortunately, the yellow is a rather minor part of the figure, and most of the offending areas aren’t oft seen, but the visor is utterly inexcusable. The sculpt of the figure is impressive enough that I’m willing to overlook the paint, but the figure could have been so much more impressive if they had been a bit more careful.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If you’ve been following my previous reviews of the CA:TWSMLIS line, then you pretty much know how I acquired this figure. It’s not terribly exciting, but it did lead to me picking up some figures I wouldn’t have otherwise in order to get Mandroid pieces. So, was it worth it? Well, there are some serious issues with the figure’s paint, which really let me down, but overall, I’d have to say yes, the figure was worth the extra purchases. The Mandroid is a cool design, regardless of the issues the figure faces, and the excess figures were overall acceptable. Honestly, this is probably the happiest I’ve been with a full set of figures in a fair bit of time!

Cap&Mandroid

#0225: Captain America – Now!

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA – NOW!

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

CapNow!

In my Spider-Girl review, I discussed the different reasons for buying figures. My decision to purchase the figure of today’s review is firmly planted in the “completing a Build-A-Figure” camp. I wouldn’t want my poor Mandroid figure to forever be headless, now would I? Getting that piece also meant getting this figure. In all fairness, I’ve bought worse figures for sillier reasons. Anyway, the figure is the somewhat demanding sounding Captain America – Now! Let’s see how this one turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cap was released as part of the first series of Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinite Series, and is also going to be seeing a re-release in the second set of revision cases for series two. Cap stands a bit over 6 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. As the title indicates, Cap is based on his appearance from Marvel’s recent Marvel Now! initiative. I don’t think it has the lasting power of the classic design, but it’s not a bad design, and it is the character’s current look, so it’s nice to see it released. Cap features an all new sculpt, and it’s a pretty good one. He’s got some great texture work, and I quite like the hexagonal pattern on the torso and upper arms. For some reason, the sculpt on the face seems a bit off for Cap. I think that the chin might be a bit too short and the mouth might be a touch too big. The paint work is okay overall, but there are a few spots of noticeable slop, plus a fair bit of inconsistent application on the red stripes on his lower torso. It’s not too distracting, but it is quite noticeable with minor inspection.  Cap seems to be a bit light in the accessories department, especially compared to the rest of the line. He’s limited to his shield, which is reused from Ultimate Cap from the previous Marvel Legends line, and the Mandroid’s head, which happens to be the smallest of the Mandroid pieces as well. It leaves the figure feeling a bit light, but I suppose the figure itself does seem to have a bit more heft than the others.

CapNow!2CapNow!3

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This Cap was not amongst the figures I recently received from Big Bad Toystore. However, when I realized that I’d have all of the Mandroid pieces save the head, I figured I’d go ahead and pick him up. I ended up getting him from Amazon, at a slightly marked up price. Seems the figure’s become a bit more desirable since Series two was released. He’s not a bad figure, but he’s not my Cap. At best, he’s an amusing variant. Which isn’t the worst thing, truth be told. He’s a solid addition to a great line.

#0224: Winter Soldier

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

WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITY SERIES

WinterSoldier1

Let’s see, so far in the Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinite Series reviews, I’ve discussed the quality of the film, the quality of the toys, the stupid decisions regarding the pack outs, oh yes, and Nazis, of course. This review ends up getting the short end of the stick, I’m afraid. Well, it’s a review of the film’s title bad guy. If you didn’t know by this point, he’s… SPOILERS

 

…actually Captain America’s best friend, Bucky Barnes, saved from near death and brain washed to become the ultimate assassin. Fun times.  So, let’s take a look at his figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Winter Soldier is part of the second series of Captain America: The Winter Soldier Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The figure is a little over 6 inches tall and he features 30 points of articulation. He is, of course, based on the character’s appearance in TWS, but is specifically from the middle-ish area of the movie, after he loses the coat he sports in early scenes and before he loses the mask and eye-liner. The figure gets a brand new sculpt, and it’s an impressive one at that. I thought the 3 ¾ inch version’s sculpt was pretty good, and this one just adds even more detail, and a fair bit of extra articulation. The wrist, ankle and abdominal articulation really gives the figure a whole new dimension. If I had one complaint, it would be that the robot arm doesn’t look quite as good with the smaller one, due to the double jointed elbow. However, the added movement is important, so I’m willing to let it slide. The paint work on WS is probably the cleanest I’ve seen on the line so far, which is a comforting thing to see. However, once again, I don’t like the robo-arm quite as much. They’ve given it a dark wash that makes it look rather scummy. It does bring out the details, but the Soldier’s arm was consistently clean and shiny in the movie, so it looks off. Not terrible, mind you, just slightly off. The downfall of this figure, is the accessories. They’re all fine in theory, just not really in execution. First off, there’s the Mandroid leg. That’s pretty straight forward, with no issues. I’ll be looking at that in two days, along with the rest of the Mandroid. Then, there’s the alternate head. Here’s where the trouble begins. Sculpturally, it’s not a bad depiction of Bucky, sans mask. The paint is what messes it up. First, the eye shadow goes waaay to far down his face. It pretty much covers the entirety of his face, for Pete’s sake! Then, they gave him these really thin, drawn on eyebrows, which are set way to high up. He looks very surprised, I must say. With a proper paint job, this head would actually be pretty good. I’ve included a quick photoshop job to demonstrate this. As it is, it’s just…eughhh. Lastly, and leastly, there’s the gun. Well, I say gun. It’s more of a strange red fish thing that happens to have a handle. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be, but it’s certainly not anything he carried in the movie. Is there a reason he can’t have a real gun? Zemo and Red Skull have real guns. Why must Bucky be stuck with this monstrosity? He can’t even hold it like a real gun! I suppose it’s not as bad as Widow’s total lack of guns, but I don’t think it’s much better.

WinterSoldier2(unmasked) WinterSoldier5 WinterSoldier4(accessory) WinterSoldier2(unmaskedCompare)

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bucky is the last piece of my series two set I received from Big Bad Toystore. I knew even before I saw the movie I was going to want this guy, so I’m happy to finally have him. The wonky gun thing is a bit of a bummer, but I swapped in the larger rifle from one of my Star Wars: The Black Series Stormtroopers, and that seems to work a bit better. Sure, it’s still not right, but at least it’s based on a real gun, and it’s not a bright color. The alt head is also a bit of a disappointment, but I always intended to display the masked one anyway, so I’m not really bugged by that. Truth be told, Winter Soldier is probably my favorite figure from this line up. He’s a heck of a lot of fun!

WinterSoldier3(Comparison)wbubble