Yearly Archives: 2016

#1079: Pvt Vasquez

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

PVT JEANETTE VASQUEZ

ALIENS (NECA)

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No one likes Aliens more than me.  Okay, that’s probably not true.  A lot of people like Aliens, and some of them are pretty devoted.  I’m pretty sure the original Queen model is still in the possession of a private collector.  I can’t really top that.  What’s my point?  Right, I like Aliens.  I like Aliens a lot.  I’ve been absolutely loving the plethora of new Aliens-themed merch this year.  After virtually none for most of my lifetime, it’s been a refreshing change.  I think NECA’s Aliens line is perhaps my favorite of all the Aliens stuff, since they’re killing it not just in terms of line-up, but also in the level of attention granted to each individual figure.  In honor of the 30th anniversary of Aliens, they’ve been pulling out all the stops, and giving us a couple of figures that had previously been thought off-limits.  One  of the most anticipated new releases is today’s focus figure, Private Jeanette Vasquez, perhaps the most pivotal character still left un-released.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

vasquezneca1Vasquez is part of Series 9 of NECA’s Aliens line, which has been entirely devoted to the anniversary of Aliens.  It’s been a little while since we’ve gotten an all Aliens set, so I’m pretty happy about that.  The figure is about 6 1/2 inches tall, which is about right for Vasquez’s height compared to the rest of the line, and she has 26 points of articulation, plus a moving eye retical, and 6 points of articulation on the smartgun.  That’s a whole lot of articulation!  Vasquez is sporting an all-new sculpt, and it’s a really impressive one at that.  Every time I think NECA can’t top themselves, they turn right around and do just that.  Seriously, this is easily one of the best NECA’s ever done.  Heck, it’s just one of the best action figure sculpts I’ve seen, period.  Her build is just right, the armor is perfectly translated, and the level of texture on things like the bandana is nothing short of amazing.  Perhaps the only slight issue might be the likeness on the face, and even that’s just a slight issue.  It’s more than clear who this is, but there are some angles where she’s just a little off.  It’s more than acceptable for a translation into sculpted action figure, though, so I’m not complaining.  This sculpt is really impressive.  The paintwork is pretty good too.  There are a few small details, such as the tear drop tattoo under her eye and the “Adios” written on her gun, which are missing, but everything else is phenomenal.  The headband stands out again, with the pattern being very well-rendered, but as a whole, she’s just a very sharp looking figure.  Even the eyes look good, and those throw most companies.  Vasquez’s main accessory is her smartgun, which is the same as the one included with the Alien Day Kenner Ripley figure, just with the arm attached.  Fortunately, Vasquez’s hands are actually molded for the gun, so she doesn’t drop it all the time like Ripley tends to.  Vasquez also includes a removable shoulder lamp (the same as the previous Marines), as well as a blast effect piece for her gun.  The blast effect is a lot of fun, and I hope we see more things like this with future figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ever since Vasquez was shown on Alien Day, I’ve been anxiously awaiting her release.  Unfortunately, she hit stores right as I was in the midst of a move, meaning I had no time to go looking for her.  So, I had to wait until things had settled a bit.  I found her at my new local TRU, which was very exciting.  Vasquez is a fantastic figure, the best of NECA’s Marines (no small feat, let me tell you).  I’m really happy to have her, and round out my Marines just a little bit more.  Now I just need a Drake to go with her…

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#1078: Robin – Dark Knight Returns

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

ROBIN – DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

DC COMICS MULTIVERSE (MATTEL)

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One of DC’s longest lasting legacy characters is Robin.  It’s fitting, what with Robin being one of the earliest examples of a sidekick in comics.  As many times as legacy characters may be rolled back to prior  incarnations, Robin always seems to keep moving forward.  Since Dick Grayson vacated the role in 1984, there have been many others to take on the title.  The first is, of course, Jason Todd, but a fairly close second (albeit in an alternate future) was Carrie Kelley.  Carrie hails from Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, and is easily one of the most distinctive parts of the story.  So, it’s not a huge surprise that Carrie has just gotten an action figure in commemoration of the story’s 35th anniversary.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

carriekelly1Carrie Kelley was released in the Doomsday series of Mattel’s DC Comics Multiverse line.  It’s the same series that features armored Batman and the Mutant Leader, all of which bear the 35th Anniversary insignia.  This is Carrie’s second figure, with the first coming several years ago courtesy of DC Direct.  The figure is 5 1/4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation.  As with a lot of Mattel’s output, the articulation count may be high, but the figure’s mobility is just so-so.  The elbows and knees can’t even bend a full 90 degrees, which is really weak.  Surely this is all for the sake of the sculpt, though, right?  Well, sort of, but not really.  The head sculpt is easily the best part, as it’s a pretty spot-on recreation of several panels of Miller’s artwork.  There’s one major issue I have with the head, but I’ll touch on that when I get to paint.  The rest of the sculpt is passable at best and mediocre at worst.  The overall appearance is fine, and she looks decent when in a straight standing pose. That being said, if you move her out of a basic standing pose, the sculpt exhibits a carriekelly3large number of flaws, where the articulation just leaves these odd flat spots on the limbs.  Also, the freaking cape block makes it’s awful appearance once again here, and I think this is probably the worst example of it I’ve seen so far.  I’m really not sure why Mattel has no idea how to attach a cape other than a huge solid brick of plastic sticking out of the figure’s back.  It shouldn’t be this hard.  You should be able to have a caped character without giving them a freaking hunchback.  The paintwork on Carrie is alright, but there are a few pressing issues.  The colors are nice and bright, and match up nicely with the comic colors.  The biggest issue here is the lenses of the glasses.  In the comic, Carrie’s eyes are consistently visible through the lenses, but here, they’re opaque.  Matte’s done clear lenses in the past, so I’m not sure why they were left out here.  Carrie includes a sling shot (which she can’t hold very well, due to her right hand only having a hole drilled halfway through, for reasons beyond me), as well as the leg of the New-52 Doomsday.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found Carrie at Toys R Us a little while ago, while looking for the X-Men Legends figures.  I had been looking forward to this figure to go with the other three figures I’ve got from this set.  I can’t lie, this figure is kinda a letdown.  She’s not a bad figure, but she’s just not up to par with the likes of Hasbro and NECA, or even Funko, all of which are in the same price range.  This figure should have been a home run, but instead she’s just another mediocre figure from Mattel.

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#1077: Deadpool

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

DEADPOOL

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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Just a few weeks ago, I took a look at most of the latest set of X-Men-themed Marvel Legends.  I got all of the figures necessary to complete the build-a-figure, but there was still one more figure I didn’t have at the time, so he didn’t get reviewed.  But now I’ve got the figure, so why not give it a review?

It’s worth noting that I run hot and cold with Deadpool.  I was never really into him in the ‘90s, since he was still sort of being formed at the time.  I had a few of his figures from the old X-Force line, and they were cool and all.  I was actually pretty into the character around the time of Ultimate Alliance (where he was one of my favorite characters to play), and picked up a couple of his comic book runs over the years. Then he sort of did the Wolverine thing and became really really popular really really fast, and certain parts of the character got more exaggerated, and they happened to be the parts I was a little less fond of.  But, you can’t deny he’s a popular guy, and his latest Legend seems somewhat over due.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

deadpoolhas3Deadpool is the last figure in the Juggernaut series of Marvel Legends. He’s the only figure in the set not to include a piece of the unstoppable guy, which was probably a good idea, since it allows Deadpool fans to buy just the one figure without getting the random piece and it allows fans wanting to complete Juggernaut to not have to worry about tracking down what is undoubtedly the most popular figure in the series.  Deadpool has sported more or less the same design for most of his 25-year career, but there have been a number of minor changes here and there over the years.  This figure is based on the character’s most recent Marvel Now! look.  It’s a pretty good design, offering fans without prior Deadpool figures a basic Deadpool, while also offering something new for the older collectors.  The figure is 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 deadpoolhas4points of articulation.  Wade is built on the Bucky Cap body, which is a good fit for him.  He has a unique head, forearms, hands, shins and feet, as well as add-ons for his harness, belt, and thigh holster.  The new pieces blend well with the base body, and they offer a lot of really fun character-specific elements, from the slightly askew eyes, to the pinky-out trigger finger.  Clearly a lot of fun was had sculpting this guy.  Though he’s built on one of the most common base-bodies in the Hasbro stock, he actually feels incredibly unique.  Deadpool’s paintwork is pretty standard Legends faire, but it’s worth noting that, like the rest of this series, the application is a lot cleaner than some of Hasbro’s prior attempts.  Hands down, the best thing about this figure is the accessory selection.  Since he doesn’t have a B-a-F piece, Hasbro’s made sure to pack him with a full arsenal, which includes two pistols, a large machine gun, a smaller machine gun, two katanas, a knife, and a rocket launcher (with a boxing glove at the end, because why not).  He also includes an extra unmasked head, and most amusingly, a taco.  Combine that with Spider-Man’s pizza, and the Legends are starting to get some nice food options.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had sort of resigned not to find this guy, since he was the most sought after figure in an already very sought after set of figures, and I didn’t need him to finish Juggernaut.  After finding Rogue and writing all of the reviews, I figured I was done with this series.  A couple days after the Juggernaut review went live, I was moving into my new apartment, and my parents had stopped by a nearby Walmart to pick up a few necessities.  When they arrived at the apartment, this guy was also in the bag, which was a nice pleasant surprise.  Despite my mixed feelings about the current state of the character, this is a really awesome figure, and caps off what is perhaps the best series of Hasbro’s run with Legends, if not the best series of Legends period.

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#1076: Faramir in Gondorian Armor

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

FARAMIR IN GONDORIAN ARMOR

LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING (TOY BIZ)

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Hey, remember how I didn’t really have a lot of Lord of the Rings figures in my collection?  Well, this summer I sort of tried to fix that.  Now, I’ve already looked at my favorite of the villains, the Witch-King, but what about the story’s heroes?  I think I’ve talked before of my aversion to main characters.  I gat why they’re there, and I even tend to like them, but my favorite characters are always the ones just slightly off the side of things.  For the Lord of the Rings, my favorite hero is definitely Faramir, brother of Boromir (I was also pretty fond of Boromir, too), and Ranger of Gondor.  Fortunately for me, Faramir got a couple of figures over the course of Toy Biz’s Lord of the Rings line, one of which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

faramir2Faramir was part of the second series of Toy Biz’s Return of the King line (alongside the previously review Witch-King).  This was his second of the three figures he got from Toy Biz.  This one depicts him in his Gondorian armor from the last film in the trilogy.  It’s not his main look, but it got some decent play during RotK’s big battle scene.  The figure is a little over 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Or at least he should have 30 points of articulation.  Mine is down one of is bicep swivels, due to soft pegs and sticky paint, resulting in his arm tearing off on his way out of the packaging.  Fortunately, my handy dandy tube of super glue fixed him up, but now he’s a little more restricted.  As a whole, though, this guy’s a fair bit easier to pose than the Witch-King, which is certainly a pleasant change.  However, on the flip side of things, his sculpt is a little weaker than the Witch-King’s.  On the plus side, his head sculpt sports a pretty good likeness of David Wenham as Faramir.  It’s not as spot on as some of the figures in the line were, but it was definitely better than the Two Towers Faramir.  In particular, they did a good job capturing the slight detailing of his beard, and also avoided making his hair too bulky.  The rest of the figure is certainly well detailed.  The armor is very lovingly recreated, based on what Faramir is seen sporting in the film, and there’s some wonderful fine detail work exhibited by the various layers of it.  This figure’s biggest issue is proportions.  The head and torso are fine, but the arms end up being rather on the large side, resulting not only in them being out of scale with the rest of him, but also in him not being able to put them down at his sides properly.  The hands in particular are huge, and the elbow joints are painfully obvious.  The legs are also rather on the large side, with the feet definitely possessing a clown shoes vibe.  The overall appearance is fine, but it could certainly be better.  He also included an action feature, which is rather similar to than of the Witch-King.  When the button on his back is pushed, Faramir’s right arm swings down.  It works alright, but results in there being a rather obvious button on his back, which is rather frustrating.  Faramir’s paintwork is pretty good.  There are some minor issues here and there (the placement of the eyes being a major one), but he generally looks like he should, and he even has some cool washes on the armor to bring out more of the details in the sculpt.  Faramir included a sword and the helmet which accompanies his armor.  Both pieces are pretty cool, though the helmet is a little larger to accommodate Faramir’s hair.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never had any of the Faramir figures growing up, which is sort of weird, because I always rather liked the guy.  I do remember this one, but I just never bought him for whatever reason.  I ended up finding back a couple of months ago from Complete In Box (at the same time that I got Tormund).  He’s not a perfect figure by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s still pretty cool, and I’m just happy to have a Faramir.

#1075: Grand Slam

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

GRAND SLAM

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6

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GI Joe as a franchise has always been subject to change.  Despite being the creators of the action figure market, Hasbro has spent the better part of their 50+ years with the franchise playing catch-up to the rest of the industry.  In the early 00s, anime was hitting pretty big with the hip kids in the US, and Hasbro tried to cash in on that fad via Sigma 6, an anime-styled retooling of the Real American Hero incarnation of the line.  Though the line initially started out rather focused on a small selection of characters, towards its end, many of the old mainstays from the ‘80s line were added to expand the line-up a bit.  One such character was Grand Slam, one of the earliest Joes in the ‘80s line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

grandslam2Grand Slam was released in the first 2007 Commando wave of GI Joe: Sigma 6.  Though the figures up to this point had been based on the corresponding Sigma 6 cartoon, Grand Slam was a design totally original to the toy line (it’s possible he was set to appear later in the cartoon, prior to its cancellation).  The figure is about 8 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Grand Slam was deliberately introduced into the line with the intent of re-using the already existing Heavy Duty molds, so the fact that he uses a lot of HD’s parts isn’t a huge surprise.  He uses the torso, arms, hands, and boots from HD. Those parts were cool the first time around, and they were still cool here, if rather on the stylized side.  The flip-up comm link still remains one of my favorite features from this line.  Grand Slam also gets his own head and leg sculpts. The head is, obviously, there to make it clear he’s a new character (though that would become less and less common on new characters as the line continued).  It’s somewhat generic, but works reasonably well for Grad Slam, and it’s well-fitted to the body.  The legs are the result of a change in style as the line progressed.  Initially figures made use of cloth parts for things like coats, vests, and even pants.  By the time Grand Slam came along, Hasbro had started aiming for more conventional action figure sculpts, so Grand Slam’s pants are sculpted rather than tailored.  This does the figure a lot of favors, in my opinion.  Not only does it differentiate him a bit more from HD, but it also allows his look to be a bit more consistent, stylistically.  Plus, they’ve got a lot of really great detail worked into them, which adds a bit more character to what could be an otherwise rather generic figure.    The paintwork on this guy is fairly decent, if not anything particularly outstanding.  By this point, the line had mostly given up on the wacky bright colors, so Grand Slam sticks to mostly drab greens and browns.  It’s not thrilling, but it’s still rather appealing.  As a Commando figure, Grand Slam originally included a whole bunch of extras, the only of which I actually have is his set of metal dog tags.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was initially very excited by the change to Sigma 6, but fairly quickly lost interest because of how difficult it was to find many of the figures.  Grand Slam was released a good ways after I’d stopped collecting the line, so I didn’t get him at retail.  I actually found him just a couple of months ago at the 2nd Avenue near where I live.  He was only a few bucks and was just laying there sans accessories, so I figured why not? He’s a pretty cool figure, actually, and I’m glad I picked him up.  He actually did a bit to reinvigorate my interest in my Sigma 6 figures.  Which may not be the best thing…

#1074: Tormund Giantsbane

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

TORMUND GIANTSBANE

GAME OF THRONES

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So, today is, among other things, Rogue Friday, the day when the first wave of all the product for the next Star Wars film, Rogue One, hits retail shelves.  While we’re on the subject of grand, sweeping, fantastical tales of swords, “sorcery,” evil paternal figures, loss of limbs, and incest, here’s something about Game of Thrones! (Hell of a segue, right?)  This past spring, I got into the show pretty hardcore.  I even picked up the whole assortment of Legacy Collection figures that Funko put out a few years ago.  Unfortunately, that line was rather short-lived, leaving a number of important characters unreleased.  Funko still has the license, and decided to give GoT figures another shot, albeit in a different format than before.  The figures have moved to the smaller 3 3/4-inch scale, and, though they haven’t gone quite as “retro” as the ReAction stuff, they’re decidedly more old-school than the last set of figures.  There’s a handful of figures available, but I’ve only picked up one so far: Tormund Giantsbane!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

tormund2Tormund is one of the 9 figures in the first series of Funko’s new Game of Thrones line.  All of the figures in the first series are themed around the Wall (of which there is a playset, due out some time soon), which makes Tormund right at home, being one of the Free Folk and all.  The figure stands a little over 4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  The articulation is a lot more basic than the Legacy figures, and in the case of the knees, it’s practically not there at all.  Tormund’s good for standing there, but you won’t really be getting much else out of him.  The lack of even some cut joints for the wrists seems like a missed opportunity.  Also, there’s very little attempt to work the movement into the sculpt naturally.  It’s just sort of there, where ever there may be.  Tormund’s sculpt isn’t terrible.  It’s certainly better than Funko’s prior work in this scale.  He’s less detailed than a Legacy figure, but at 2/3 the scale, that’s understandable.  Granted, I think he could be a little better, but he has a suitable amount of detailing for his size.  He does seem a little skinny for Tormund, though, especially around the neck.  The head sculpt exhibits a passable likeness of actor Kiristofer Hivju.  It’s far from spot on, and the hair seems rather tame compared to the show, but you can sort of see who he’s supposed to be.  Likenesses have never been Funko’s thing, and Tormund sort of showcases that.  The paintwork on Tormund is fairly well handled.  He’s got a lot of brown going on, which isn’t terribly exciting, but it’s accurate.  The hair sort of is an issue again; I feel like it should be more stark (heh) red than it is now.  Tormund’s only accessory is a small sword, which he holds alright, but it looks a little loose there.  At least I didn’t have to almost break his fingers to get it there, though, so maybe Funko’s learning.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It was actually this line of figures that got me interested in the whole GoT thing.  That being said, I’ve not had much luck finding them at retail.  I found Tormund at Complete in Box, this really cool game store in PA, while out with my brother on his birthday.  I wasn’t going to get him, but Super Awesome Girlfriend decided to buy him for me (because she’s an enabler and all).  Is Tormund a fantastic figure?  No, not really.  He’s an average figure at best.  Compared to the larger figures, he’s a bit of a letdown.  This whole line seems a bit odd, because it’s hard to tell exactly what audience Funko’s aiming for with these guys.  They’ve got this sort of nostalgic quality to them that doesn’t make much sense for a line based on a show from the last six years.  That being said, if this smaller line takes off and Funko can get us some more of the characters that the larger line never offered, I could see myself picking up a few more of them to go along with Tormund here.

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#1073: Etrigan & Klarion

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

ETRIGAN & KLARION

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DCC)

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For the most part, Batman: The Animated Series stuck to the more…grounded (?) side of the DCU.  Sure, there were some slightly more out there concepts (Man-Bat is in the very first episode, and R’as shows up a few times), but they at least mostly stuck by things with more plausible explanations.  Superman: The Animated Series was really the first to bridge those more out there concepts, so, when Batman came back, I guess the creators were just a little more comfortable with the stranger side of things.  “The Demon Within” doesn’t even try to ease people into it or anything, throwing the viewer right into the thick of things, and just sort of hoping they won’t get too lost in the DCU’s supernatural side.  Today, I’ll be taking a look at that episode’s two focus characters, Etrigan & Klarion.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Etrigan and Klarion collectively are entry 26 in DCC’s Batman: Animated line.  They’re the deluxe item for the latest series of figures, and, along with R’as Al Ghul and Zatanna, make for a rather supernatural-themed series.  Both figures are based on the appearances of the characters in the episode “The Demon Within.”

ETRIGAN

klarionetrigan2There’s no denying that Etrigan’s supposed to be this set’s star figure.  He is the episode’s titular character after all.  Etrigan comes from a pretty nice pedigree, being one of Jack Kirby’s early creations for DC.  He’s never been much more than a fringe character, but he’s always pretty cool.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  Like Bane, Etrigan features the mid-torso joint, which I really like, and hope we continue to see on future figures.  I do wish he had rocker joints in his ankles, as it can be a little difficult to keep him standing without having his feet flat.  As far as Etrigan’s sculpt goes, I’m of mixed emotions.  Let’s talk about the good first.  Pretty much everything below the neck s pretty much spot on.  The sizing is good, and I really like the overall proportions of the figure.  The legs could maybe stand to be a little less simplistic, and the feet seem a little goofier here than they were on the show, but those are rather minor issues.  Etrigan’s cape is certainly well sculpted, but as with Phantasm, I’m worried about the integrity of the rubber over time.  Mine is already showing some signs of wear, especially on the one painted spot.  That’s concerning.  What really drags this figure down is the head.  Simply put, it’s just wrong.  It’s too big compared to the rest of the body, it’s too wide, the mouth is too small, the ears are too detached from the sides, his  forehead lacks the always present worry lines, and above all his eyes are at least twice as large as they should be and they’re the wrong klarionetrigan4shape to boot.  Any one of these issues would have been okay on its own.  Heck, all them but the eyes could have looked okay too.  But as it stands, the head isn’t even close.  The problems were present on the prototype, and I’d hoped they would fix them prior to release, but it actually looks like they just got worse on the final figure.  I’m really not sure how there was no one at any step of the process to look at this and say “that ain’t right.”  It wouldn’t be so glaring if it weren’t for the rest of the line being so accurate.  Paint is another area where I’m a little iffy.  The prototype showed him with a more vibrant color scheme, which seemed more closely matched to the episode.  The final product is rather dull by comparison.  I suppose that it could be seen as matching the episode’s darker lighting a little better, but it just seems a little bland.  Etrigan includes three sets of hands (fists, gripping, and open) and a display stand with his design sheet on it (which just further showcases how off the sculpt is).  Given Etrigan only appeared in one episode of the show, it would have been nice to get an extra head with the brand on it, since he spends a fair portion of the episode looking that way.  Perhaps they could put that in with another figure down the line and use it as an opportunity to give us a more accurate sculpt…

KLARION

klarionetrigan3Klarion the Witch Boy is a bit less known than Etrigan, but is also a Jack Kirby creation, who’s been Etrigan-related since his creation.  The show made him a little more mundane than his initial incarnation, but maybe teenager from another dimension was a bit too much for a Batman show.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 20 points of articulation, which is pretty impressive for a figure of his stature, especially in this line.  Klarion’s sculpt is far more consistent than Etrigan’s.  By and large, he’s just a lot closer to his design on the show, which is a definite plus.  His sculpt is nice and sharp, and he gets a lot of the smaller details right.  For a more klarionetrigan5minor character like Klarion, accuracy is really key, and DCC’s really got this guy spot on.  Klarion’s paintwork is pretty straight forward, mostly being blacks and whites.  The application is all nice and clean, and the shades are all a pretty good match for what’s on the show.  Klarion includes three sets of hands (same configurations as Etrigan’s), his cat Teekl (who is fully articulation), a display stand, and the branding iron from “Demon Within”….which I somehow managed to leave out of the photos, and now can’t locate.  Sorry guys, Ethan’s a doofus…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

“The Demon Within” is the first episode of The New Batman Adventures I remember watching.  At the time, I didn’t know anything about Etrigan, so it was a pretty great introduction, and it’s one of my favorite episodes of the show to this day.  So, I was pretty pumped when this set was announced and snapped it up as soon as it arrived at Cosmic Comix.  There’s no getting around the inaccuracies on Etrigan.  They really hold the figure back, and I was really let down by the final product.  He’s not awful, and I do really hope DCC does that extra head thing somewhere down the line.  On the plus side, Klarion’s pretty awesome, which is good, since he’s far less likely to get re-released.

#1072: Poe Dameron

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

POE DAMERON

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

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Man, it’s hard to believe it’s been over a year since The Force Awakens product started hitting shelves.  This Friday, we’ll be seeing another midnight release, this time around for the products from Rogue One.  With Force Awakens, there was a lot of product being released in a relatively short span of time, so it was a little difficult to keep track of it all.  The main characters were available in a variety of scales, from a few different manufacturers.  Of course, I’ve looked at Hasbro’s 3 3/4-inch and 6-inch lines, but the Disney Store also got in on the action, offering a line of die cast figures (die cast is just all the rage right now).  The line more or less slipped under my radar.  I knew it existed, but wasn’t quite aware of the depth of the line until rather recently, which is why I’m only just now reviewing my first figure from the line, Poe Dameron.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

poedamdiecast3Poe is from the second round of the Disney Store-exclusive Star Wars: Elite Series.  He was released to coincide with the movie’s release back in December, and was the last of the film’s three leads to make it into the line (Poe’s absence from the first series of so many of the lines is a bit odd, especially given how popular the character proved to be.  Perhaps Disney under-estimated his appeal).  The figure stands about 7 inches tall (placing him roughly in scale with most of NECA’s output, as a reference), and he has 16 points of articulation.  He’s also reeeallly heavy, thanks to all that metal.  His torso, pelvis, arms, and legs are all metal, with plastic being used for the head, hands, feet, poedamdiecast4belt/tubes, and a few of his joints.  Poe’s certainly constructed from a lot more metal than a lot of die cast items, which is actually pretty cool.  It results in the figure being a little less posable than I might like, but the sheer heft of this guy is pretty nifty, and you can still manage some decent poses.  As far as the sculpt goes, Poe’s overall not bad, but not without a few issues.  On a whole, the details seem a little soft.  I’m not sure if it’s the sculpt or the paint, but he’s got a certain animated feel too him.  I’m also not really a fan pf the left hand, which looks a little like it was replaced by an inflated latex glove, due to the weird, puffy absence of a palm.  Possibly the most notable issue is more a construction thing than anything.  In poedamdiecast2order to be properly assembled, Poe needs to have 9 visible screws on his back, apparently.  That seems a little excessive to me, but I could be wrong.  At the very least, they aren’t visible from the front.  Moving past those issues, I think Poe’s actually got a pretty decent sculpt.  In particular, the head, I feel, is a better Oscar Isaac than we’ve seen elsewhere.  It’s still not perfect (it would appear he’s the Harrison Ford of the new trio in that respect), but it looks pretty good.  Poe’s paint is alright, though it’s kind of basic in terms of color, and a little sloppy in more than a few areas.  It’s also quite thick.  Plus, I’ve already noticed one or two chips on mine, which is slightly frightening.  I’ll be interested to see how it holds up in the long run.  Poe included his small blaster, his helmet, and a display stand.  The blaster and the stand are both pretty cool, but the helmet is a slight letdown, due to the opaque nature of the visor, and the fact that Poe actually can’t wear it. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Poe from the Disney Store that was in the same mall as the Apple Store where I was buying my new computer.  I actually wasn’t aware that they had made a Poe in this line, so he was a nice surprise find.  He’s not a perfect figure but I think he might be my favorite Poe straight out of the box (my amalgamation of the two Black Series Poes is still my favorite overall, though).  Poe is still my favorite part of TFA, so it was really cool to find a new Poe to buy.

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#1071: Commissioner Gordon

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

COMMISSIONER GORDON

BATMAN: ANIMATED (DCC)

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Batman: The Animated Series is in many ways a defining take on the Batman mythos, with a particular definitive trait being the voice actors portraying the characters.  Of course, everyone knows and loves Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill’s Batman and Joker, but it goes beyond the two of them.  I’ve written before about how Lorren Lester is the only voice I hear when I read Dick Grayson’s dialogue in a comic, but beyond him, there’s one actor who epitomized my view on the character he portrayed: the late Bob Hastings* as Commissioner Gordon.  Hastings got down both sides of Gordon perfectly, playing him as a strict and confident leader, who was still capable of being a warm, fatherly figure to his men (and his daughter…and Batman.  He was very fatherly), something Hastings’ predecessors never quite got.  As a rather normal looking guy in a trench coat and tie, Gordon wasn’t privy to many action figures. He got exactly one during the run of the Kenner/Hasbro Batman: The Animated Series lines, and even then it was based on his later New Adventures look, of which I was never a huge fan.  Fortunately, DC Collectibles’ ongoing line of Animated figures is proving to be far more complete than earlier attempts, meaning we finally got a proper B:TAS Gordon figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

comgordon2Commissioner Gordon is figure 23 in DCC’s Batman: Animated line.  The numbering places him in Series 6, I believe, alongside Zatanna, Ra’s Al Ghul, and the Etrigan/Klarion two-pack.  It’s a little hard to keep track, especially since DCC doesn’t solicit them with Series numbers.  He’s new.  That’s the point.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 22 points of articulation.  One of the more notable features of the early Batman: The Animated Series designs is the certain level of fluidity they all possessed.  Sure, Batman was fairly consistent, but a lot of the other characters would have little changes in design from one shot to the next.  This was especially true of Gordon, which makes this figure sort of an amalgam of his best looks so to speak.  His body was always pretty consistent, so the sculpt has a pretty easy time capturing it.  He’s appropriately stocky, which is a nice  change of pace when compared to the others in the line.  Gordon actually looks like a pretty normal dude (well, by Bruce Timm standards, anyway).  The area with the most artistic license is definitely the head.  While the face is a pretty good recreation (it varies depending on the angle you’re viewing from), the hair is where things are really off.  In the show, Gordon had this pretty crazy cowlick at the front of his hair, which had a tendency to move around in relation to the rest of his face depending on how he was angled in any given shot (it was allegedly hard to work with, which is why his redesign removed it entirely).  Here, rather than pick a definite side for the hair, they just kind of put it roughly center and scaled it down.  It’s alright, but it means that no matter the angle, he never looks quite right.  The glasses are also a bit off, mostly due to the scale of the figure, and them needing to be permanently attached to his face.  That being said, on comgordon3the show the lenses were very definitely rectangular, and they aren’t at all rectangular here.  How did that happen?  The paintwork on Gordon isn’t anything spectacular or amazing.  It’s actually rather drab, truth be told, but that’s accurate, so kudos to them on that one.  There is one issue in regards to the chosen colors: his pants are sort of a pale beige here, when they really should be a slightly darker warm tan.  The prototype actually had a much more accurate coloring, so I’m not really sure what happened.  It’s hardly enough to ruin the figure (and, quite frankly, it’s the sort of thing that 99% of people will never, ever notice), but it’s just a little weird. Gordon is packed with three sets of hands (fists, trigger  finger, and normal grip), a revolver, a megaphone, and a display stand with his design sheet on it.  It would have been nice to get something specific to one of his episodes, but what’s there is pretty reasonable. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Gordon was purchased from Cosmic Comix, making use of a pretty nice coupon.  Of the three regular figures in this set, Gordon was the one that jumped out at me, which is kind of a bit surprising, since he’s really rather average looking.  As it stands, he’s really one of my favorite figures from this line, even with his slight inaccuracies.  Here’s to more figures like this!

*Fun fact: back in the 60s, one of Hastings’ earliest roles was as Superboy on Filmation’s cartoon of the same name, so he was with DC for the long-haul.

#1070: Sam Wilson – Captain America, Vision, & Kate Bishop – Hawkeye

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

SAM WILSON – CAPTAIN AMERICA, VISION, & KATE BISHOP – HAWKEYE

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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Wow, Hasbro sure is swamping us with Marvel Legends, aren’t they?  After a fair delay, the Giant-Man Series finally hit just about everywhere, very closely trailed by the Juggernaut Series.  The Abomination and Dr Strange series are also starting to hit in some areas as well. On top of that, there have been a number of exclusive items, with Walgreens getting two figures right on top of each other, and Walmart getting a pair of exclusives (that I still need to find).  There have also been two boxed sets: the Civil War Spider-Man set (which had a movie Spidey alongside re-decoed versions of Cap and Iron Man), and a set containing Sam Wilson as Cap, Kate Bishop as Hawkeye, and Vision…as Vision!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This trio is exclusive to Toys R Us and is loosely themed around looks from the post-Axis Marvel Now! stuff.  Sam and Kate both follow a firm legacy heroes theme, which kind of makes Vision stick out a bit.  Of course, flip-side, Sam and Vision are both part of the main Avengers line-up, and Kate isn’t.  So, exactly who’s left out is really up to you.

SAM WILSON – CAPTAIN AMERICA

falccapviskateguy5We’ve gotten him in both Minimate and 3 3/4-inch form, so it was about time we got a FalCap Marvel Legend.  Bonus points for being the first Sam Wilson Legend since the Toy Biz run!  The figure is about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, he shares several pieces with 2014’s Marvel Now! Cap figure.  He has the arms, legs, and pelvis from that figure, along with an all-new head, torso, belt, and shoulders.  The Now! Cap parts aren’t a perfect match for FalCap’s design, but they’re close enough to work without too much trouble.  The new pieces match up well with the older parts, and are pretty decent sculpts on their own terms as well.  I wasn’t 100% sold on the head sculpt at first glance (as with so many of Hasbro’s Cap sculpts, I think it looks a little too mean for the character), but after having it in hand, I actually don’t mind it.  His hair seems a little closer cropped than his usual comics appearance, but it’s not like it’s completely wrong or anything.  All in all, it’s one of those sculpts that has some minor flaws here and there, but looks a lot better as a whole, which is what really matters.  The paintwork on FalCap is pretty solid. The shades on the colors are a bit more subdued than those on Now! Cap, which is fair, since he was probably a little too bright.  These colors look about right for Sam’s comics design, and still have enough vibrance to give him some pop.  The application of said paint is decent enough, though there’s still a bit of slop, especially on the switches from blue to white.  He could be a little better, but he could also could be far worse.  FalCap includes his mighty shield, which is all well and good, but what he doesn’t include are his wings.  Sure, he doesn’t always have them, but he does most of the time, and their omission here is a bit glaring.

VISION

falccapviskateguy3Vision’s a popular guy!  This is his third Legend in the last year, and the second time he’s been in one of these exclusive three-packs.  This time around, he’s based on his Daniel Acura-designed look from the latter half of Remender’s Uncanny Avengers run, which also happens to be the costume he’s wearing currently.  If I’m honest, it feels a little over designed, though, and I miss the yellow.  Also, the red bits make it look like he’s running around half naked.   That said, I like it a bit better then his first Now! look.  The figure is about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Bucky Cap body, with a new head and an add-on for the cape.  I was a bit disappointed with the last Vision head sculpt, so I’m happy they didn’t re-use it a third time here. This may well be my favorite Legends Vision sculpt.  It just captures the character quite nicely, and is very sharply defined features.  The cape is kind of an awkward design, but it’s been translated into three dimensions well enough.  It’s definitely a better attempt at a cape than the one Hasbro was using before (which, judging by all the currently shown figures, has been justly retired from the line).  Paint is the one real downside to this guy.  Of the three figures included in this set, this guy definitely has the sloppiest paint in the bunch.  It’s just all over the place.  I mean, he looks okay from a normal viewing distance, but up close he’s got a lot of rough edges, and there’s a few spots where the paint doesn’t really follow the sculpt very well.  That being said, the colors are at least nice and vibrant, and he stands out quite nicely on the the shelf.  Vision doesn’t get any accessories, but I can’t really think of what you’d give him, so that’s okay.

KATE BISHOP –  HAWKEYE

falccapviskateguy2At long last, Kate Bishop makes her way into the action figure world!  It took them long enough, since the rest of her Young Avengers teammates were released way back in 2006.  Of course, this costume doesn’t technically match the rest of them, and we still don’t have Cassie Lang, but let’s not kick the gift horse in the mouth here.  Kate here is sporting her more recent, jumpsuit look from the pages of the last two Hawkeye series.  It’s not a bad look (and it makes me feel a little bad that I never got one of the Now! Hawkeye figures), and it’s the one she’s been wearing for the last several years.  The figure is about 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  She’s built on the Phoenix body, which is definitely a good one.  It works pretty well for Kate, especially since this is the slightly more grown-up version of Kate from the last few years.  She gets a new head and lower legs, which blend well with the rest of the body.  The head does a very good job of capturing Kate, and possesses a lot more personality than is usually seen on female figures.  Kate also got a new left hand for gripping her bow, which is cool.  She has to make due with the basic open gesture right hand to be her drawing hand, which isn’t perfect, but isn’t as bad as you might think.  She also gets an add-on piece for her belt and quiver, which sits very nicely, and does a great job of completing her look.  Kate ends up with the best paintwork of the three figures in this set (which is nice, since it’s her debut figure and all).  It’s still not 100% perfect, but it’s pretty close.  Kate is packed with her bow, which is the same one included with the last few Hawkeyes, but with proper paint this time around.  Some arrows might have been nice, but the lack of them isn’t new to this figure, so it’s not hugely surprising.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these guys up from my local TRU last month.  I was actually searching (unsuccessfully) for the Juggernaut series at the time, so these guys were a little bit of a surprise.  This is a set I’ve been eagerly awaiting, ever since it’s announcement.  Kate is the main draw, of course, since she’s never had a figure before, and I’m a pretty big Young Avengers fan.  She’s the strongest figure in the set, too, making her the   real star here.  That being said, FalCap was somewhat overdue, the new Vision is much appreciated, and both figures are both really solid additions to the line.  Unlike prior sets, all three figures included here are real winners, and I don’t think any of the three feels like a forced heavy hitter.

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