Monthly Archives: October 2016

Three Years

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General

year3

Oh, wow, three years already?  Wow, that one snuck up on me.  Yep, so The FiQ’s officially made it through one more year, and what a year it’s been.  I’d like to start things off by pointing out that this is the first set of 365 reviews I’ve done without missing a single day (in fact, it was a leap year, so I went 366…), which has been a pretty big deal for me.  Now, to just do that every year, for the rest of my life…

So, in my third year reviewing figures here at The FiQ, I wrote 250,177 words about 493 figures, 8 vehicles, 3 playsets, and one movie.  The amount of figures reviewed is down from last year, but total items reviewed is actually the same.  I’m actually down about 4,000 words from where I was last year.  Whether that’s good or bad is totally up to you.

This year brought my total views on the site up to 101,313, and I gained an additional 21 followers, which brings my total number up to 105!  In addition, there were 48 comments this year, excluding those made by yours truly.

Taking a look at the contents of my individual reviews, it would appear Minimates was unseated this year as the most prevalent subject of review.  The top subject was Star Wars, which was the focus of 47 reviews (covering 66 individual figures), with Minimates not far behind that with 44 reviews, and Marvel Legends just behind that at 43 reviews.  As of today, I’ve reviewed 41% of my total collection (which went up another 500 unique figures this year)

Looking at the contributions of others, this year also saw four guest reviews from four different reviewers (one whom was a new addition this year) and totaling 2,069 words.  Thanks guys!

As I did last year, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge my top 5 reviewing experiences of the last year.  Not gonna lie, it was much harder to narrow it down to just 5 this time around.  Some very good figures got left off this list.

#0795: SUPERMAN

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This is the Superman figure I’ve wanted pretty much since I started collecting action figures.  I love Christopher Reeve’s Superman, and I’ve been waiting for a solid action figure of him.  The larger figures were fine, but not really what I wanted, and Mattel’s smaller figure held me over, but had a whole host of flaws that prevented it from being all it could be.  NECA’s figure was not only a licensing miracle and the best version of Reeve’s Superman, but also one of the best Superman figures I’ve ever owned.

#0805: COURAGE

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I Am Elemental were on this list last year, and were hands down one of my favorite reviewing experiences of Year 2.  Their sophomore effort, Courage, took everything cool about their initial figures and made it cooler.  This figure has all the quality of a high-end import figure, but at a much lower price, and it’s just an awesome figure to boot. 

#1017: BLACK PANTHER

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Civil War was one of this year’s highlights, and Black Panther darn near stole the whole show.  For the Legends tie-in set for the line, Hasbro turned out a Panther figure that is quite possibly their greatest figure they’ve produced since taking over the Marvel license.

#1028: FREDDIE MERCURY

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This figure sort of came out of left field, being from a different venue than my usual action figure interests.  Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts stuff had impressed me in the past, but Freddie was definitely an outside the box choice, and they put a lot of effort into making this figure just as cool as possible.

#1079: VASQUEZ

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Here’s a figure that just barely squeaked her way onto this list, coming at the very tail-end of Year 3.  Holy crap is this a well-done figure.  The likeness, the detail, the playability.  It’s all there and it’s all awesome.  A great showing by NECA for Aliens’ 30th Anniversary.

–HONORABLE MENTIONS–

#0754: US AGENT

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This is a figure I’ve wanted for 20 years, ever since I saw his prototype on the cardbacks of the old Iron Man figures.  It was very exciting to find one of these, even if he came into existence through somewhat dubious circumstances.

#0808: POE’S X-WING FIGHTER (w/ POE DAMERON)

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There are few toys I’ve gotten in the last year that brought me more joy than Poe’s X-Wing from Hasbro’s Force Awakens line.  It was by no means a perfect product, but it set me back to my childhood days of playing with my POTF2 X-Wing.  I loved it so much, I even bought the Walmart-exclusive repaint later down the line. (Honestly, this mention could really go to the whole small-scale Force Awakens/Rogue One product set.  Something about them just made me feel like a kid again when collecting them).

Well, thanks again to all my faithful reader who have stuck with me through all of my crazy action figure rantings, and welcome to any new readers I’ve picked up along the way.  Here’s to another great year!

That’s pretty much it…

#1095: Adam Warlock

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

ADAM WARLOCK

MARVEL OVERPOWER CARD GAME

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Around this time last year, I discussed the interesting case of the US Agent figure from Toy Biz’s ‘90s Iron Man line.  He was slotted for the third series of the line, but dropped at the last minute when Toy Biz cut all of their lines back to six figures per series.  US Agent’s mold would bounce around for a bit, and he was ultimately only available through a difficult to acquire, non-Toy Biz or Marvel sanctioned release. 

Running concurrently with the Iron Man line was a Fantastic Four line, which was also subject to the downsizing of assortments.  US Agent’s equivalent in this line was Adam Warlock, who was presumably dropped from the FF line-up because he, like US Agent, was the only character not to be featured on the cartoon the line was meant to tie-in with.  Adam would prove far more fortunate than poor US Agent in regards to his figure’s release, however, with Toy Biz actually finding a venue to put him out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

adamwarlocktb2After being dropped from the third series of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line in 1995, Adam Warlock was ultimately released in 1996 as part of a small KB Toys-exclusive line of four figures designed to coincide with Fleer’s Marvel: Overpower Card Game. The other three figures were straight forward repaints of earlier figures, and much more popular characters to boot, making Adam seem like an odd choice.  I guess Toy Biz just really wanted to get him out there!  Adam is seen here sporting his early ‘90s design, which was kind of a merging of his two previous looks.  It’s my favorite of his looks, but it’s entirely possible that I like it because it’s the one I saw on all those card backs in the ‘90s.  The figure is just over 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Because of the light-up feature integrated into his eyes and Infinity stone, Adam doesn’t get any neck articulation, which results in him feeling rather stiff, even when placed with this compatriots from the same time period.  Stiffness aside, Adam’s sculpt is pretty good.  It’s certainly on par with the rest of the ‘90s FF figures, which is good, overall.  The proportions are a little weird in some areas (especially the upper arms; those things are huge), and the head’s a little soft in terms of detail, but he generally looks pretty good.  Warlock has a removable cape, which actually a fair bit different from the cape his FF prototype was sporting.  This one is much more dynamic in pose, and fits more with the stuff Toy Biz was starting to put out in 1996.  I kind of prefer the prototype version, if I’m honest.  The flow of this one kind of clashes with the style of the figure proper, since he’s just sort of standing there, and it’s all crazy wind-blown.  It also has some trouble sitting right on his shoulders, which can get very annoying.  Another thing that was changed from Adam’s prototype to thee Overpower figure is the paint scheme.  It’s not terribly different, but the yellow was swapped out for gold, and the red has been made a little less vibrant.  Like the new cape, it’s more in keeping with the sort of work TB was doing in 1996, but it results in him not fitting in quite as well with the FF figures as he should.  The gold paint has also not stood the test of time, meaning some of the details get lost.  Adam included his signature staff, as well as an Adam Warlock  Overpower card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like US Agent, Adam Warlock is a figure I always wanted, due to his presence on the back of the Iron Man and Fantastic Four card backs, but was never able to find, due to the lack of information on such things at the time (the internet was around, but we toy geeks hadn’t quite migrated to it yet).  I’ve known about the existence of this particular figure for several  years, and I’ve even seen him once or twice in person, but I never got around to picking him up.  I ended up finding Adam while exploring the new area I’m living in, at a very cool shop called Power Comics.  Adam’s not quite as fun as US Agent, mostly due to Toy Biz changing so much from ’95 to ’96, and this guy getting hit with some weird amalgamation of those two years’ styles.  If he’d been a straight recreation of the figure as originally intended (like US Agent was), I think he might have been a bit better.  As it stands, I think he’s still the best version of the guy out there.

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#1094: Aliens TRU 3

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

KANE, PHANTOM XENOMORPH, HIVEWORLD RED ALIEN, HIVEWORLD ALIEN, LT. GORMAN, & ATTACKING ALIEN WARRIOR

ALIENS MINIMATES

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After almost two weeks of Star Wars coverage, I’m switching over to another popular sci-fi franchise (and perhaps my favorite sci-fi franchise at that), the Alien franchise!  I’ll be taking another look at the ever growing Aliens Minimates line today, with that latest round of Toys R Us-exclusive ‘mates.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The six figures covered today are all from the third TRU-exclusive series of Aliens Minimates.  Currently, five of the six figures are exclusive to this set, with only the Attacking Alien Warrior being a repeat, though there will also be a slightly differently deco-ed Kane available with the upcoming Space Jockey set.

SPACE SUIT KANE & PHANTOM XENOMORPH

alienstru3eAlthough the whole line is under the Aliens banner, that doesn’t stop DST from including sets based on the first movie from time to time (as a matter of fact, the entire third specialty assortment was Alien themed).  Kane’s shown up as a ‘mate before in the 35th Anniversary set, but this time around, he’s wearing his pressure suit, an important look for the character.  The figure uses the base Minimate body, and as such stands about 2 1/2 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has add-ons for the helmet, torso, belt, upper legs, shin coverings, and wrist bands.  These pieces are shared with the other pressure-suited characters from the third specialty assortment, but Kane’s my first look at the pieces.  They do a very nice job of translating the movie look into ‘mate form, and there’s definitely some great detail work here.  The generic upper leg pieces look a little strange compared to the more detailed pieces, but they work well, and you do have to draw the line somewhere.  The paintwork on Kane is pretty great, actually.  The design of the helmet doesn’t allow space for anything more than the basic head under it, so Kane’s cap from the film is just painted on, but it actually looks pretty decent.  The face appears to be the same one used on the first Kane, but it’s lower on the head this time, which makes it look a bit better.  The rest of the details are all pretty sharp, and I appreciate that the quilted pattern goes all the way up his chest, rather than stopping at the armored piece.  Kane was packed with a sidearm, a flashlight, and a clear display stand.

alienstru3dThe Phantom Xenomorph is pretty much the same figure as the Xeno included in the Crew of the Nostromo set, but molded in smokey grey tinted translucent plastic.  To that end, he’s a little over 2 1/2 inches tall and has 16 points of articulation.  As far as variants of the Big Chap go, this one’s pretty fun, and certainly a bit more exciting than the slight head variations we’ve gotten before.  His only accessory is a clear display stand.

HIVEWORLD ALIENS

alienstru3bRemember when NECA did these guys?  Well, it’s pretty much the same principle here.  They’re based on the two warring factions of Xenos from Aliens: Genocide, and are really just another inventive way of getting two more Xeno variants out there.  They both use the standard Xeno parts, with the Red one using the “screaming” head, and the black one the closed-mouth one.  The Red Xeno is nice and vibrant, and definitely sticks out.  That being said, the Black Xeno isn’t just a straight rehash of what we’ve seen before; rather than straight black, he’s actually a very dark blue, much like the black drones were in the actual comic art.  It’s a subtle change, but it at least makes him a little different.  These two include clear display stands and nothing else.  If I’m honest, that’s a little bit of a letdown.  I had sort of hoped these might be along the lines of the Red vs Blue Spartan set from the Halo Minimates line, where a number of different pieces would be included to build all three variants of the standard Xeno (closed mouth, screaming, and inner mouth extended), but I can see how that might have not been cost effective.

DRESS UNIFORM LT. GORMAN & ATTACKING ALIEN WARRIOR

alienstru3cLt. Gorman makes his first appearance here, albeit in a more obscure uniform.  The standard Gorman’s going to be packed with the upcoming APC, so this set includes Gorman in his dress uniform from when he and Burke go to meet Ripley about returning to LV-426.  Gorman’s mostly a vanilla-mate, with only a belt add-on.  He’s missing his hat from that scene, but I don’t believe there’s a proper hat available to re-use, and new tooling obviously wasn’t an option.  This figure is mostly carried by the paintwork, which does a pretty good job recreating Gorman’s look from early in the film.  I’m not sure the head really captures William Hope, but it’s a fair attempt.  It’s worth noting that, like both Apones, Gorman’s patch still incorrectly reads “USMC”, not “USCM” like it should.  It’s a minor issue of course, but it might be nice for DST to catch that one of these days.  Gorman includes a handgun and a clear display stand.

We’ve seen this Alien Warrior several times before, starting with the Aliens vs Marines army dump set that kicked off the line.  It’s a pretty standard Xeno, so it’s hard to complain about it showing up again.  It being packed with this version of Gorman seems a bit odd, since he didn’t wear his dress uniform on the planet, but I suppose the Alien is here to make the set a little less stuffy.  The Alien includes two eggs (one opened, one closed) and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I grabbed this whole set at my local TRU a couple of months back.  They’re a bit of a mixed bag really.  Kane and the Phantom Xeno are by far the winning set here, in terms of both execution and excitement factor.  The Genocide pack is decent, but the lack of any sort of extras makes it feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.  Gorman and the Attacking Alien are perfectly fine, and it’s cool to finally have a Gorman, but nothing about this set is particularly exciting.  All in all, I’m glad to have this series, and there’s a lot to like, but they don’t have the same “wow” factor as previous series.

#1093: Imperial Hovertank Pilot

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

IMPERIAL HOVERTANK PILOT

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Well, dear readers, we’ve made it to the end of the Rogue Friday stuff.  I’ve looked at all of the regular release figures that I’ve gotten.  However, I also managed to grab one of the many store-exclusives, that were up for grabs.  This one fits the theme of the last few days, being another Black Series figure. Rogue One is offering us a whole bunch of different specialized Imperial troopers, such as today’s Hovertank Pilot, who follows the precedent set by the TIE fighter pilots, the AT-AT drivers, and even the Biker Scouts, of being a trooper specifically designed to drive a thing.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

hovertankpilot2The Imperial Hovertank Pilot is part of the Star Wars: The Black Series line and is a Toys R Us-exclusive figure.  He was released alongside the latest Black Series set on Rogue Friday, but appears to have shipped in cases of just Hovertank Pilots.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  So far, the figure has a totally unique sculpt, but that’s likely to change, given the closeness of the Pilot and Scarif Trooper designs.  From the looks of things, all of the Pilot’s armor but the helmet and belt is the same as the Scarif Trooper.  The helmet lacks the mouthpiece, sports a much thinner visor, and is wider at the base than the Scarif helmet, and the belt lacks the skirt, in favor of two slightly longer pouches on the frontmost pockets.  I like the design of the Pilot, but, like the Death Trooper, I’m not certain it quite fits the OT-aesthetic.  It’s certainly close (especially on the parts shared with the Scarif Trooper), but something about the helmet looks more First Order than Imperial.  Someone brought up that this figure almost looks like a first order take on the Biker Scout, and I kind of agree.  But, like I said, it’s still a solid design on its own.  The sculpt does a good job translating the design (at least from what we’ve seen of it), and features a nice assortment of smaller detail work.  In particular, I like the texturing on the clothing under the armor.  The shoulders seem a touch wide, but other than that, the proportions feel pretty solid.  The paintwork is actually a good deal better than a lot of Black Series figures.  Not only is the basic application pretty clean, but he’s also got some really great wear and tear on his armored parts, which makes him stand out a bit next to the other spotless Troopers we’ve gotten.  Here’s hoping we get more like him!  The Hovertank Pilot includes a standard Stormtrooper blaster.  Like some of the others in this series, he feels a little light on accessories, but I don’t really know what else you could give him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I’m sure no one’s shocked to find out that I got this guy at TRU during their midnight opening event for Rogue Friday.  I actually wasn’t sure I was going to grab him, and I didn’t pick him up on my first pass.  However, when I looped back around to the Black Series figures, he was still there, and I decided to go for it.  I’m glad I did.  After K-2, I’d say this guy’s my favorite of the Rogue Friday stuff.  He’s just a very well put together figure.  I look forward to getting the Scarif Troopers on this body!

Okay, that’s it for the Rogue Friday stuff (well, mostly).  I think this launch was much more successful than the Force Awakens product, and I hope that Hasbro is able to keep it more or less consistent for the Episode VIII launch.  Only time will tell! Tomorrow, I’ll be back to some non-Star Wars figures.

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#1092: Kylo Ren – Unmasked

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

KYLO REN – UNMASKED

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Alright, let’s keep moving on with the Rogue One stuff.  Today we’ll be looking at…Kylo Ren?  Okay, I used my bad Terminator rip-off joke with the Poe set at the very beginning, so I can’t use it here.  Ummm…here’s Kylo Ren?

Kylo seems to be a rather polarizing character.  It seems that most either love him or despise him.  I fall into the first category, but can sort of understand people in the second.  I chalk my enjoyment of him up to his being perhaps the greatest onscreen portrayal of Dr Doom to date, in everything but name.  Anyway, Kylo’s gotten himself another figure, and I’m reviewing that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

kylounmasked2Kylo Ren is the last figure in the first set of Rogue One-based Star Wars: The Black Series figures (the set is technically Series 7 of the Force Awakens stuff, which explains his present here).  He’s figure #26, and he’s the highest numbered Black Series figure to date, which is cool I suppose.  This Kylo was previously available at this year’s Celebration event, with a couple of extra pieces not included here, but this is his first main retail release.  The figure is about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  For the most part, this figure is the same as last year’s #03 Kylo.  The only difference between the two is the head, which is unmasked this time around (as denoted by the figure’s name).  The head offers a pretty good likeness of actor Adam Driver, looking just as pouty as he should.  The head fits well on the body, and looks the part, so no complaints here.  The body is alright; I still have my issues with the cloth parts, but I’ve come to terms with them now.  As far as paint goes, most of the changes are once again on the head, which is handled pretty well, though his skin is really pale.  The only change to the body is on the gloves, which have been given a shiny finish here, which actually makes the figure look a little better.  The exclusive Kylo had a lot of extras, including a First Order flag, Vader’s helmet, and an extra helmeted head.  This figure lacks those.  All he gets is two versions of his lightsaber.  Instead of the removable blade version from the first figure (which was technically inaccurate), he gets one with a permanently affixed blade and one without.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I hadn’t initially planned on Kylo being one of my Rogue Friday purchases.  In fact, I passed him up at TRU’s midnight opening (well, initially, anyway.  Then he was gone by the time I got back).  However, when I picked up the Death Trooper, this guy was sitting there too, and I just kind of wanted him.  I’m actually quite glad I picked him up, because he makes a few nice changes to the prior Kylo, and is just a really fun figure all-around.

#1091: Imperial Death Trooper

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

IMPERIAL DEATH TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Picking up from yesterday’s intro, today marks the second of the two character designs to be featured in both the larger and smaller scale Rogue One lines from Hasbro.  To be fair to the Death Trooper, though, this is currently his only single-release figure, which certainly has some added appeal, doesn’t it?  Yeah, I’m sorry guys, I don’t have a lot of stuff I can say here, not having seen the movie and all.  Let’s just take a look at the figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

deathtrooper2The Imperial Death Trooper is part of the first set of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and he’s figure #25, making him the fourth figure in the set.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  While he doesn’t quite have the range of K-2, the posablity on this guy is a marked improvement over the First Order Troopers we got last year, and he doesn’t feel like he compromises his look for movement either, like the original trooper did.  Right off the bat, this Death Trooper doesn’t feel quite as insanely skinny as his small-scale counterpart.  He’s still more svelte than the average figure, but in a more realistic and believable way, which I think makes his whole design just look a tad better.  The detailing on the armor is nice and sharp, and there are plenty of extra details not seen on the smaller figure.  Getting a closer look at the armor, the Death Trooper really does feel like it belongs somewhere between the clones and the Stormtroopers chronologically.  Now, whether it’s actually supposed to be in-between is another matter entirely, but I like the shared elements.  It makes him fit in very well.  I also like the Darth Vader-style belt, which, as small as it is, still really sells the time period these guys come from.  I’m still not 100% sold on these guys fitting into the Original Trilogy timeline, but we’ll see how the movie handles it.  The paint on the Death Trooper is actually pretty impressive, especially when compared to the rather low level of detailing on the smaller figure.  There’s a ton of great little accent work on the armor (including a very slight green tint to the lenses on the helmet), and there’s even  noticeable difference between the finish on the armor and the underlying bodysuit.  The Death Trooper includes a large, shotgun-style gun (same as the smaller figure), as well as a smaller blaster, which is actually one of the available pistols in the latest Battlefront game.  Both guns are pretty cool, though, like Cassian’s blaster, I do wish they had a little bit of paint on them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed the Death Trooper at the TRU midnight opening.  I made it a point to grab Jyn, Cassian, and K-2, but I moved onto the 3 3/4 inch figures before securing this guy, and by the time I got back, there were none of him left.  Fortunately, Target saved the day the following morning, placing him right at the front of the big display near the store’s entrance.  I wasn’t sure about the Death Trooper’s design at first, but the figure is definitely amongst the strongest in the initial assortment of products.

#1090: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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In contrast to their output from The Force Awakens, Hasbro has mostly steered away from doubling up character/costume selection for The Black Series and their smaller scale lines for their first batch of products.  There are a handful of exceptions, such as today’s subject K-2SO.  Of course, in K-2’s case, it seems acceptable, seeing as it looks like he’s only got the one look for the movie, and he’s definitely set to be a fan-favorite.  Let’s see how his second figure turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2sobs2K-2SO is part of the first set of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures.  He’s figure #2, which makes him the third figure in the set.  The figure is 7 1/2 inches tall (making him shorter than only Chewbacca in terms of the other figures in the line) and he has 31 points of articulation, which is just downright impressive.  Even more impressive is the general posability. Pretty much everywhere that the real K-2 has movement, so does this figure.  The range of movement is the best we’ve seen on a Black Series figure.  K-2’s really cool design has been very nicely translated into figure form here.  The smaller scale figure had quite an impressive sculpt, so this one definitely had a bar to clear in that respect.  I’m happy to say it cleared that bar with room to spare.  K-2 is incredibly well detailed, with lots pf sharp work on the various plates and pistons.  This figure offers us a really nice look at some of the cool little details his design features to tie him in with the rest of the Imperial designs, such as the “OII” that is seen on the backs of the Stormtroopers, and the torso’s overall similarities to the Snowtrooper chest piece.  It helps to make K-2 feel appropriately Original Trilogy in style, as well as selling the whole “reprogrammed Imperial droid” thing.  The downfall of many a Hasbro figure is lackluster or even just mediocre paint, but that’s not the case with K-2.  The majority of the figure is done in a nice, dark gunmetal grey with a flat finish, which looks very accurate to the film.  On top of that, he’s got the proper detail work for his eyes, the orange around his shoulders and hips, and the Imperial insignias on his shoulders.  The insignias are slightly worn off, which, along with the other small bits of silver here and there, gives him a nice worn-in look, which is especially appropriate for an OT-era character.  K-2 has no accessories.  Early prototype shots showed him with a Stormtrooper blaster, but that was dropped somewhere along the way.  Given the size and quality of this guy, he hardly feels lacking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the figure I most wanted going into the Rogue Friday midnight opening, and as such was the very first figure I grabbed when I got into TRU (though a lot of that was due to the Black Series display being the closest to the door).  K-2 is hands down the best item to come out of the Rogue One launch.  In fact, he’s possibly the best figure to come out of The Black Series period.  Heck, he may well be one of Hasbro’s best overall offerings of all of their various licenses.  This is a figure everyone should own, even if you haven’t seen a single Star Wars movie.  He’s just really, really, really cool.

k2sobs3

1089: Cassian Andor – Eadu

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

CASSIAN ANDOR – EADU

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

cassianeadu1

One Rogue One character conspicuously missing from my 3 3/4-inch reviews was Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, who looks to be one of the film’s central characters.  Currently, the only way to get a smaller scale Captain Andor is to buy the big U-Wing vehicle, which seemed like a touch much to me on top of all the other figures I bought.  Fortunately, there should be a number of different Cassians hitting shelves in the next month or so, so I shouldn’t be without one for long.  In the mean time, I can tide myself over with his larger scale figure, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

cassianeadu2Cassian Andor is part of the first assortment of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and is #23, which makes him the second figure in the set chronologically.  As noted in his name, this figure is based on his look while on Eadu.  Judging by the number of layers this guy is wearing, it seems Eadu might be on par with Hoth in terms of extreme temperatures (though, as Jyn’s Eadu figure shows, maybe not *quite* as extreme as Hoth).  This is, admittedly, not a look we’ve seen much of Cassian wearing in the trailers (where he’s more often seen in the brown leather jacket-ed look that will be part of the Target-exclusive three-pack next month), but he was wearing the jacket in the very first cast shot we saw from Rogue One last year,  which gives it a bit of credence.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, he’s about what you’d expect from a Black Series figure.  The details aren’t anything amazing, but they’re decent, and there’s certainly some nice work on the various parts of his clothing, especially on the gloves.  The head sculpt is alright, though I’m not seeing a whole lot of Luna in it.  Like last year’s Poe figure, this may be more of a paint issue than a sculpt one.  I do have to say, they did quite a nice job sculpting the stubble on his face.  It makes the grey paint on the lower half of his face look a bit less silly.  The figure’s mobility is a bit hampered by the sculpt, but that’s mostly to due with the design.  I imagine the exclusive figure will be a bit more posable.  The paint on Cassian is okay overall, with the best work being on the body.  Even the head’s not awful, just not quite right for the character.  It’s mostly to do with the solid black goatee, I think.  It makes him look like a totally different person.  For the most part, the paint is rather basic, with lots of solid patches of color.  I can’t help but feel that this is a figure that would have been greatly helped by some accent work, just to make him a bit more interesting. Cassian includes a helmet and goggles to complete his cold weather look, as well as a blaster pistol and a slightly larger blaster rifle.  The helmet is okay, but kind of on the bulky side.  The two blasters are cool, though I think the larger one could stand a little paint.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was actually rather surprised to discover at TRU’s midnight opening that there was no small-scale Cassian available on his own.  This solidified my decision to pick up the full set of both scales, since I wanted K-2 in the smaller scale, but didn’t want to have K-2 without Cassian, meaning I needed to pick up this figure.  It’s like Hasbro planned it that way or something.  I’ve seen a lot of people calling Cassian the weakest of this particular bunch.  I don’t know that I can refute those claims.  He’s kind of on the average side, and easily gets lost compared to some of the other stellar figures in this set.  That being said, he’s still a solidly put together figure, and even if you aren’t interested in him as Cassian, he makes for a good Hoth attire Rebel soldier.

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1088: Jyn Erso – Jedha

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

JYN ERSO – JEDHA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Alright, the 3 3/4-scale Rogue One stuff is done for now (though I’m sure there will be plenty more things for me to review, going by what Hasbro’s shown off in the last week), so we move on to the larger-scale Black Series stuff.  As of late, it’s been a little difficult to say where this line was headed, what with a large chunk of the Force Awakens stuff either showing up too sparsely, or being too heavily packed.  It looks like Rogue One might help getting things back on track.  The first of the new figures is main character Jyn Erso, who I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

jynbs2Jyn is sort of taking the place of last year’s First Order Stormtrooper in regards to release style.  She was first released as a preview item at this year’s SDCC, before being slotted into the regular release line-up.  She’ll also be showing up as part of the Target-exclusive 3-pack with Cassian Andor and the Death Trooper Specialist some time next month.  They all look to be the same figure, but for this review, I’m looking at the regular release figure.  She’s part of the first series of Rogue One-inspred Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and she’s figure #22, making her chronologically the first figure in the series.  Yes, you read that number right, she’s #22, meaning Hasbro actually kept the number scheme for The Black Series for more than a year.  And there was much rejoicing (yaaaaay.)  Jyn here is wearing her Jedha outfit, which, from what we’ve seen in the marketing for the movie looks to be a fairly present look.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Jyn’s sculpt is fairly decent overall, and is certainly on par with what we’ve come to expect from The Black Series.  The hood is kind of bulky and odd looking, but it’s not awful, and it can easily be removed, resulting in a superior figure.  The underlying head sculpt is pretty decent, and bears more than a passing resemblance to Felicity Jones (though it’s not quite spot on).  It’s a little softer than I might like, but it’s not awful.  The body sculpt is also pretty great, with a nice set of proportions and some nice layering on the various clothes.  The verst is technically removable, but since the arms still have the jacket sleeves on them, I can’t see many people removing it.  The paintwork on Jyn is passable.  It’s not anything amazing or anything, but it’s better than a lot of last year’s Black Series offerings, which is a nice improvement.  If Hasbro could start adding a little bit of accent work here and there, I think the figures could be even better.  Jyn’s only accessory is her blaster pistol (the same as the one included with her smaller-scale counterpart).  It’s a little light given the price (and the fact that the same series features are re-issue of last year’s Rey, which has a staff, BB-8, and an added lightsaber), but hood makes up for it a bit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jyn was one of the first items I grabbed from TRU during their midnight opening.  I didn’t know she’d be showing up in the Target set as well, or else I’d probably have held off on this particular release.  That being said, she’s a solid figure, and a lot of fun to mess around with.  There are worse things than owning two of a good figure, I suppose.

#1087: Rebel Commando Pao & Imperial Death Trooper

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

REBEL COMMANDO PAO & IMPERIAL DEATH TROOPER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

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Today I’ll be wrapping up the 3 3/4 inch half of my Rogue Friday reviews.  On my plate today, I’ve got another weird new alien and another new Imperial Trooper.  Commando Pao doesn’t look like he’s going to be big part of the movie, but judging by the marketing, I think it’s safe to say the Imperial Death Troopers will be.  These guys have been on everything, including the top of all the small-scale figure packaging.  Which makes it a bit surprising that the only way to get them in the smaller line so far is via the two-pack I’m reviewing today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Pau and the Death Trooper are the last set in the first series of battle-packs from Hasbro’s smaller Star Wars: Rogue One line.

REBEL COMMANDO PAO

paudeathtrooper2As with a lot of the characters from this movie, not a whole lot is known about Pao.  According to his bio, he’s “an amphibious Drababta,” whatever that is.  Pao is one of the shorter figures in the line, standing about 3 1/2 inches tall.  He’s got the usual joints at the shoulders and hips, but in place of the usual neck joint, Pao gets a set of two joints that allow his mouth to open and close.  It’s actually pretty well designed, and it allows him to look up and down just a little bit too.  Pao’s sculpt is very nicely rendered, with lots of really great detail work, especially in the wrinkles on his jacket.  It’s also nice that they were able to work the mouth movement in without really messing up his face sculpt too bad. He looks to be pretty accurate to what we’ve seen of Pao so far.  Pao’s paintwork is quite nicely handled.  His color scheme is rather muted, and fits well with the other Rebels we’ve seen, as well as those from the original trilogy.  The application is pretty good for the scale, and the eyes are actually far better looking than most of Hasbro’s humans from this same line.  There’s some slight slop here and there, but nothing beyond what you’d expect in a mass produced toy at this scale.  Pao includes a backpack (which is very similar in design to the ones we see the Rebels wearing on Hoth in the second film), as well as a blaster rifle.

IMPERIAL DEATH TROOPER

paudeathtrooper3The Death Trooper is sort of a concept that’s been popping up since very early in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, going back to the Black Hole Troopers in the 1978 Star Wars newspaper strip, and has shown up as recently as Star Wars: Battlefront with the Shadow Troopers.  Simply put, it’s an elite subset of Stormtroopers denoted by their black armor.  The Death Trooper marks the first time this concept has been used in the “official” cannon, however, so that’s cool.  The Death Trooper stands a little over 4 inches tall and has the usual 5 points of articulation (though the right hip joint on my figure is stuck).  This is one of the taller figures in the line (with only K-2 and Moroff outpacing him), but he’s also one of the skinniest, which has been a point of contention for a lot of the fanbase.  Director Gareth Edwards has commented that he purposefully cast very tall, skinny actors for the parts of the Death Troopers, in order to give them a more menacing look.  That being said, this figure seems even skinnier than the images we’ve seen so far of the Death Troopers in the film, which makes him look a little comical.  He’s not awful or anything.  In fact, the detail work on the figure is rather impressive, especially on the helmet and the underlying bodysuit.  He just looks like he skipped a few lunches.  Or like he has the same metabolism as me.  The Death Trooper’s paint is fairly lax, with only s little bit of silver here and there and the two spots of green at the very front of his helmet.  It’s a good look, though, and everything has been applied pretty cleanly.  The Death Trooper includes his unique new blaster rifle, as well as another big missile launcher thing, which is particularly comical here, since he can’t really stand up with it on.  The clear green missiles are cool, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, so I didn’t get these guys at the TRU midnight opening, or even at Target the next morning.  I saw the set both times and just left it there.  Not sure why really.  I ended up coming across it again while running some errands at the end of the weekend, and I guess the third time was the charm.  I actually quite like this set, though, like the Moroff/Scarif Squad Leader set, it’s not for the reasons I though I’d like it initially.  I bought this for the Death Trooper, and he’s cool, but I think Pao is the real star here.  A lot of really strong work has been put into him, and he’s just a really fun figure.

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