Yearly Archives: 2016

#0960: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

CapCW1

Despite the movie being out for over a month now, the tie-in toys for Captain America: Civil War are still coming out in little dabs and trickles, here and there. There are three assortments of Marvel Legends being released this year to coincide with Civil War, and while the first of those three has been out for a few months, the actual movie-related figures are in the second and third assortments. The second set is starting to hit stores now, and today I’ll be taking a look at the latest version of Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CapCW2Cap is part of the second series of this year’s Captain America-inspired Marvel Legends. The series has officially been dubbed the “Giant-Man Series,” after its Build-A-Figure. The figure is about 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. He’s based on Cap’s appearance in Civil War…sort of. Why “sort of”? Well, if you’re a faithful follower of the site, this guy probably looks familiar. That’s because his sculpt is 100% the same as the one used for the Age of Ultron version of Cap. Which in turn means it’s using everything but the torso from the Winter Soldier STRIKE Suit Cap. That’s not a terrible thing; those are both strong figures, mostly due to the high quality of the sculpt.  And, to be fair, the three designs aren’t that different from each other. However, the AoU figure made some compromises on his design for the sake of re-use from the STRIKE Suit Cap, so this figure inherits those compromises, in addition to having several of his own. The AoU figure at least got the new torso to somewhat make up for it, but this figure doesn’t get anything new. At the very least, a new set of hands without the extra holes in the gloves would have been nice. Also, while the sculpt is still very strong, minor flaws that weren’t a big deal the first time around, such as the slightly small stature of the figure, become much more noticeable with each iteration. This isn’t a bad sculpt at all, and independent from the other two figures to use it, this Cap is still quite good. The paintwork on this figure is a marked improvement over the AoU figure, at least in terms of application, which is all around much sharper and exhibits far less bleed over. The actual palette is much more subdued than the AoU figure, which I think suits the sculpt a bit more than the brighter look of the AoU Cap. For accessories, Cap includes his shield (the same as the ones included with the other two Caps), and the head of Giant-Man. He lacks the unmasked head and extra hands of the last two figures, which coupled with the much smaller B-A-F piece and the totally reused sculpt is a serious step down in terms of value.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Super Awesome Girlfriend and I found this figure at a Walmart on the way back from the beach. She asked if I wanted him and I decided I’d be good and skip him, since I already have the other two. So, she decided she’d buy Cap anyway, for herself. Then, when we walked out of the store, she turned to me and said: “Upon further thought, I don’t have space for this Captain America right now. I think I’ll have to leave it with you. Do you think you can take care of it, like a shared custody thing?” She’s crafty that one.

This figure perplexes me. I’ve gotten more or less the same figure twice before, but this time he’s got a far less impressive accessory complement. Plus, they’re putting almost the exact same figure in a three-pack with Spidey, only that one had the missing accessories. I should be annoyed by this figure. But I’m not. Actually, he’s my favorite of the three Caps, and I don’t feel like he’s a waste at all. It’s weird.

CapCW3

#0959: Guy Gardner & Kilowog

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

GUY GARDNER & KILOWOG

DC MINIMATES

Guy&Kilowog1

Today, I’ll be taking another look at the somewhat sad tale of DC Minimates. The line was amazing when it was new, and showed a ton of promise. And then, after eight series, it ended, and despite lots and lots (I mean LOTS) of requests, there’s been no return in the eight years since its demise. As amazing as it seemed at the time, the failure of DC Minimates seems pretty obvious looking back. In a desperate attempt to play catch-up with Marvel (who had a 15 series lead at this point), DC Direct frontloaded the line, by putting just about every heavy hitter in the first three series. This presented a bit of a problem for later series, as finding anchor figures was no simple task. As such, Series 4 and 5 went more or less anchor-less, instead relying on characters who were stand-ins for the heavy hitters. One such example is today’s set, which features the original stand-in Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, along with everyone’s favorite Poozer trainer, Kilowog!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Guy and Kilowog were released in Series 5 of DC Minimates. Due to the prominence of the Green Lantern books at the time, they were probably the best known pair in Series 5. That’s probably a first for either of them.

GUY GARDNER

Guy&Kilowog2Guy Gardner was originally introduced as the “back-up” Green Lantern of sector 2814, who was supposed to take over for Hal Jordan, should anything bad happen to him. Presumably, this was only if Hal was incapacitated in some way other than death, though, since the comics have established that there’s a different process in place for replacing a dead Lantern. When he first appeared, Guy really wasn’t much different than Hal. Which kinda makes sense when you think about it. However, when they decided to have Guy be more than a one-shot wonder, his personality was changed, to make him a bit more unique. Also a bit more surly, cocky, and all-around less friendly. It was at this point that Guy got a new, more ‘80s vintage design, which is the basis of this Minimate. The figure is a little shy of 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. He has 7 add-on pieces for is hair, vest, belt, boots, and the edges of his gloves. The wristbands, belt, and boots were re-used from a number of earlier figures, but the hair and vest are unique to Guy. They’re a pretty good approximation of Guy’s look in the comics, though the hair feels like it could use a touch more detail work. Guy’s paintwork is fairly straight forward. His colors are pretty well chosen, and the details are all nice and sharp. His face does seem just a touch high on the head, causing the eyebrows to be covered by the hair. Guy was packed with a smaller lantern power battery, the same as Hal’s.

KILOWOG

Guy&Kilowog3Kilowog is a surprisingly recent addition to the Green Lantern mythos, first showing up in the late ‘80s. He was around for less than a decade, before being killed by Hal Jordan during the horribly written Emerald Twilight. He then spent another decade or so being dead, but was brought back to life a few years before Green Lantern: Rebirth restored the GL Corps to its former glory. Despite being out of the game for quite a while, Kilowog is still one of the most prominent Green Lanterns. Kilowog uses his post-Rebirth design, which was mostly based on his DCAU look. The figure is built on the larger 2 ½ inch base body, since he was a pretty sizeable guy. It’s a little odd to see this body nowadays, but it’s not too bad for Kilowog. He has a unique head, which, aside from seeming a little squat, is a pretty good fit. He also has a bulkier add-on piece for his torso, which makes him a bit more imposing than some of the others to use the larger body. Though it has no character specific details, Kilowog was the only figure to use it. Kilowog’s paint isn’t too far removed from what Guy has. He uses all the same shades and such, which is good for consistency’s sake. His logo is slightly different than the ones seen on Guy and Hal, which is nice, since Kilowog sports his modern design. Kilowog was packed with a larger power battery (re-used from DCD’s Pocket Heroes line).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like every set in the DC Minimates line, I picked these two up from Cosmic Comix the week they were released. As both a Green Lantern geek and a Minimates geek, I was pretty excited for these two. That being said, neither of them is super stand out. I mean, they’re solid ‘mates, especially for the time, but they don’t do anything particularly noteworthy…which is probably why the pegwarmed pretty hard. Not bad little figures, though.

#0958: Venom

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

VENOM

SPIDER-MAN: ORIGINS (HASBRO)

VenomSig1

When Hasbro took over the Marvel license, it was actually a little bit of time before they started producing their own molds. The first two series of Marvel Legends had already been designed and sculpted by Toy Biz, which eased the transition there. Since the beginning of Marvel Legends, there was a complementary Spider-Man line. Hasbro kept this tradition up, and launched Spider-Man: Origins, which was a line made up exclusively of repainted figures, offering collectors a second chance at some harder to find molds, and earning them a little bit of good will with the fans. Today, I’ll be looking at one of those repaints, which happens to be a figure of Venom. And awaaaaaay we go!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VenomSig2Venom was released as part of a two-pack in the “Battle-Packs” assortment of Spider-Man: Origins. He was packed with a fairly basic classic Spider-Man. This Venom is just a repaint of the version from Series 4 of Toy Biz’s 6-inch Spider-Man line, a figure which itself made use of re-tooled pieces from the Planet of the Symbiotes Lasher figure. The figure stands 7 ½ inches tall and has 20 points of articulation. Though his articulation count’s fairly high, his actually movement is rather limited, so he’s not good for much besides a basic standing pose. I reviewed this sculpt rather favorably back when it was Lasher, but I’m not sure how well it made the transition into Venom. Some of the details specific to Lasher have been removed, which makes sense, but also robs the sculpt of some of its richness. The new pieces include the head, lower arms, and lower legs. The head’s not a bad piece, though to position of the neck coupled with the limited articulation means he’s stuck looking up forever. The arms and legs aren’t terrible, but they’re rather long and thin (presumably to make him a bit taller than Lasher), which means they don’t match up very well with the stockier pieces from Lasher. They also don’t have the same sort of musculature, which makes them stand out a bit. And that’s not even touching on the clown shoe feet this guy’s sporting. Yeesh. The original release’s paint was one of its weaker points. Toy Biz tried to do blue highlights, and ended up highlighting a bit too much. Hasbro opted to forego the highlights, instead just doing the black parts in a dark blue/grey. It’s not perfect, and it lacks the striking nature of the original design, but it looks better than the original, overall.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This Venom is another figure from the small lot of figures I got from Goodwill a few weeks ago (the same lot that included SM3 Venom and the 12-Inch Symbiote Spider-Man). Neither variation of this figure was ever at the top of my list, but he was in with other figures I was interested in, and the whole thing was only $10. He’s not a super exciting figure, but he’s not horrible either.

#0957: Kang

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

KANG

MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS (MATTEL)

KangSW1

Yesterday, I said that Doctor Doom was the greatest comicbook villain of all time. But, what about the second greatest comicbook villain? If I’m honest, I’d probably go with the focus of today’s review, Kang the Conqueror. Now, I’m sure at least some of my readers aren’t super familiar with Kang. Kang’s an old-school Avengers villain. He’s a guy from the future, who went all the way back to ancient Egypt, then decided to come to the present, and then eventually went back to the future, so that he could then come back to the present. It’s a little complicated. In his past he was both Rama Tut and Iron Lad, and in the future he becomes Immortus (another Avengers villain). The point is, he’s a lot of fun. He’s managed to get a surprising number of action figures over the years, but today I’ll be looking at his very first.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

KangSW2Kang is another figure from the first series of Mattel’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars line. He’s kind of an odd choice, truth be told. He’s not one of Marvel’s better known villains, and plays a very minor role in the tie-in comics. Still,I’m hardly going to complain about getting a Kang figure! He stands 4 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Kang was built on the basic body for the line, with the arms from Iron Man (and Doctor Doom) and a unique head. The head is goofy, but not a terrible translation of his design from the comics. It’s not quite as good as some of the later Kang figures, but it doesn’t totally suck. It’s a little flat. The Iron Man arms are actually a pretty good fit, though Kang is usually depicted in a loose-fitting shirt in the comics. Kang also has an add-on piece for his belt/suspender thing, which works pretty decently for what it’s supposed to be. Kang’s paintwork isn’t super exciting. I mean, it’s accurate to his design, more or less, but it doesn’t do a whole lot to make it very exciting. The purple and green are both very dark and sort of run together. Also, the face is just straight light blue, with no variation, which looks kind of lazy. Kang included a blaster and yet another goofy lenticular shield.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Kang at the same time as Doom (and, by extension, Bane), from a dealer at Balticon. My Dad actually bought a Kang about 15 years ago at a flea market, and I’ve sort of wanted my own ever since, though not enough to do any serious searching. But, for $2, he was definitely worth picking up. There have been better Kangs since this one, but this one’s still not bad!

#0956: Doctor Doom

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

DOCTOR DOOM

MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS (MATTEL)

DoomSW1

If you asked me who I though the greatest super hero in comics was, I probably wouldn’t be able to give you a single answer. Maybe I could give like a list of five or so, but that’s the best I can do. The best super VILLAIN in comics, though? That’s easy. It’s Doctor Doom. No question. He’s as good as it gets, mostly because he doesn’t shy away from being an absurd comicbook caricature. He’s ridiculous, his plans are over the top and needlessly complicated, and he likes to speak in the third person a lot. He’s just a very fun character. Of course, movie makers decided that they could “improve” on that, resulting in two rather terrible live-action takes on the character, but I digress. Despite being the number one foe of the Fantasic Four, who were all represented in Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes line, Victor Von Doom wouldn’t get his first action figure for another decade. I’ll be looking at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DoomSW2Doctor Doom was released in the first series of Mattel’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars line. Doctor Doom has an interesting place in the line. He had a rather prominent role in the tie-in comic series produced by Marvel, but it’s worth noting that three of the four members of the Fantastic Four were also prominent in the series, yet Doom is the only FF-related character that the line released. Slightly odd if you ask me, but given how much of this line relied on using the same basic pieces for every figure, I guess Mattel just didn’t want to justify the costs of new molds for the likes of Sue or Ben.  Anyway, this figure stands 4 ½ inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. Rather than going with the classic Doctor Doom design (because, hey, it had only been around for 20 years. Nobody was attached to it or anything), this figure gets a Mattel original design. It keeps a lot of the same basic cues as the usual Doom look, but gives him a more generic battle armor sort of look. To be fair, the design did appear in the comic tie-in towards the end, but I feel that was more to tie-in with the toy than working the other way around. Despite the line being mostly built on the same basic body, Doom actually uses none of the standard parts. That’s not to say he’s totally unique; he shares his arms and legs with Iron Man. Though Doom’s armor is usually not as sleek as Iron Man’s, but they’re close enough that it works alright. The right leg has been slightly tweaked to add a leg strap (apparently Doom was ahead of the ‘90s pouch craze), which works well enough. Doom has a unique head and torso, which are…decent? They don’t suck. There are even some fun little details, such as the jetpack on the back of the torso and the little rivets on the faceplate. Individually, they really aren’t bad, but they don’t work very together. The weirdest thing is the head, which has Doom’s signature hood, which ends rather abruptly. It’s almost as if it was sculpted to rest on top of some sort of cape piece, but no such piece was included. At one time, Doctor Doom had a rather complicated paint scheme on the torso, but Secret Wars figures are notorious for their paint wear, and this figure was no exception. As it stands, my figure’s only paint is on the head, for the eyes and mask, which are basic, but pretty well handled. Doctor Doom originally included two blasters and one of the wonky lenticular shields that all of the line’s figures had.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Doctor Doom last weekend at Balticon. I got him from the same vendor’s table where I got Bane, so he was another $2 figure. Secret Wars really isn’t a line I saw myself getting very invested in, but I keep finding them for pretty good deals. Doom is probably the weakest figure I’ve looked at so far. He really shows off a lot of the line’s flaws, especially with the toy-original design. Still, he’s not the worst figure I’ve ever owned, and I like having him for the novelty.

#0955: Bane

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

BANE

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

BaneBTAS1

One of Batman: The Animated Series’ greatest successes was condensing Batman’s rich, 50-year history into one easy to follow, cohesive show. This involved taking characters from all eras of Batman’s history and making them all fit with the show’s art deco style. For the most part, they managed this task pretty well. However, there were a few that slipped through the cracks. At the time of the series’ debut, Bane was a very new addition to the comics, but he was a fairly popular one, so he made his way into the show. Unfortunately, the producers had a bit of trouble working Bane into the show’s style, resulting in a rather goofy interpretation of the character, true to neither the original character nor the show itself. Nevertheless, that version of Bane got a toy in Kenner’s tie-in line, resulting in Bane’s very first action figure, which I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BaneBTAS2Bane was released in Series 5 of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series line. He was one of two new villains in the line, alongside Killer Croc, which is actually kind of appropriate, seeing as Croc featured prominently in Bane’s first appearance. The figure is 5 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Due to his swinging action feature, the shoulders move as one, however, with careful posing, they can be moved independently from each other. This figure is based on Bane’s single B:TAS appearance, in the episode “Bane.” It’s similar to his original comics appearance, but the luchador themes have been played waaaaay up, which severely reduces his intimidation factor. The sculpt does, at the very least, do a nice job of translating the show design into three dimensions. In fact, it’s probably one of the most faithful sculpts that Kenner ever produced. His arms are a bit pre-posed in order to facilitate his throwing feature, so they’re slightly out of whack when he isn’t holding anything. That being said, it’s not awful looking. He just looks a bit like he’s sorry for interrupting somebody’s conversation. His legs also seem a bit on the short side, especially when compared to the arms. However, this was somewhat common for the line, so Bane doesn’t really look super out of place. Bane’s paint is actually pretty solid. The colors are pretty bold, so he really pops, and the application is pretty solid. Bane originally included a bent section of girder, which he could “throw,” but mine doesn’t have his.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bane is a recent addition to my collection. At Balticon last weekend, one of the dealers had a large box full of loose figures. I believe they had purchased someone’s collection. Anyway, they were $2 each, so I ended up fishing out 15 of them to purchase. Bane was the only DC figure in the lot. Since I never got one back in the ‘90s, I was actually pretty happy to find him. Yeah, it’s a goofy design, and yeah, it’s a rather goofy figure. But I still really like this guy. He’s really not bad.

#0954: Vitruvian Hacks Pt 2

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

ATHENIAN WARRIOR, UNDERWORLD WARRIOR, AMAZON WARRIOR, COLUBRIDA GUARD, STONEFIST, & SKELETON WARRIOR

VITRUVIAN H.A.C.K.S.

BossHacksP2a

Some things are worth the wait. On the list of things I would classify as “worth the wait” are Boss Fight Studios’ Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. line. In mid-2014, they ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to cover the startup costs for the line. Unfortunately, a few production snags cropped up, causing a number of delays for the line, and pushing the estimated release date back about a year. The first wave of figures (reviewed here) made its way to backers back in March, with the promise that the subsequent three waves would be arriving shortly. Those waves are making their way out to Kickstarter backers now. Today, I’ll be looking at a random assortment of those figures: the Athenian Warrior, Underworld Warrior, Amazon Warrior, Colubrida Guard, Stonefist, and Skeleton Warrior.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

BossHacksP2PackagingOkay, let’s break this down. These figures are all from the first series of Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. The Athenian Warrior and Underworld Warrior are from Wave 2, and the Amazon Warrior, Colubrida Guard, and Stonefist are from Wave 4. The Skeleton Warrior is a special extra figure, given to backers to make up for the delay in production on the figures. With the exception of the skeleton, all of these figures were stretch-goals from the Kickstarter campaign.

ATHENIAN WARRIOR – DEFENDER OF ATHENS

BossHacksP2cIn my last Boss Fight review, I made it a point to give each of the army builder characters an actual name. So, what the heck, why not continue the trend? I’m gonna call this guy Burt. Burt’s an Athenian Warrior, which would technically make him an enemy of Lenny the Spartan Warrior from Wave 1. However, the backstory of the line has the forces joining together to fight the Gorgon army. So, they’re all buddies now! The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation. Burt uses the same basic male body we saw on the Spartan and Cursed Spartan from Wave 1. Burt uses the bald, bearless head (same as the Cursed Spartan), which works pretty decently. He has new armor pieces, which are different from the Spartan pieces, but similar enough that they believably share a common ancestry. The Athenian armor is much more ornate than the utilitarian Spartan armor, and it has a BossHacksP2llot of really great little details, and even a spot on his back to store a sword or spear. There’s also far more texturing this time, which adds some more depth to the design. The main Athenian helmet is similar to the Spartan design, but the Mohawk is going the opposite direction, and it is once again a bit more ornate. There’s also a second helmet, which is far more simplistic and sleek, and offers a bit of variety, should you want to army build. The paint on Burt is decent, but probably the weakest of the figures I’ve gotten. The colors are all pretty vibrant, and there’s lots of really cool detail work. The main issue with my figure is the eyes, which are just off enough to make him look slightly weird. Burt includes a sword, spear, shield, sheath, a spare set of hands, and a display stand.

UNDERWORLD WARRIOR – HADES ARMY

BossHacksP2eAfter covering the real world armies of Athens and Sparta, Boss Fight decided to also get into some of the armies of some of the gods. Hades, god of the Underworld, apparently decided he wanted to get in on the fight with the Gorgons and created his own Underworld-dwelling army. Iggy here (props to Super Awesome Girlfriend for the name) is a member of said army. Now, you might have noticed some similarities to Wave 1’s Cursed Spartan. This is actually intentional. According to the backstory presented on the package, Iggy started his life as a Cursed Spartan, who was imbued with additional powers by Hades, in exchange for his service. BossHacksP2iStructurally, this figure is identical to the Cursed Spartan. I loved that figure’s sculpt, and I still love it here. To change things up, Iggy gets a new paint job, which adds a molten rock motif. The detailing is simple, but quite effective. The bright orange and yellow is surprisingly convincing as cracking molten rock. Iggy includes two swords (long and short), a sheath, a spear, a shield, an extra pair of hands, and a display stand.

AMAZON WARRIOR – ARES ARMY

BossHacksP2dAmazon’s are a pretty common occurrence in mythology and fiction in general, so it’s not a huge shock to see the concept appear in this line.  Apparently, they’re working for Ares. I mean, I guess that works. Not the God I would have placed them with, but I can’t really complain. The Amazon (who I’ve decided to name Linda) stands just shy of 4 inches tall and has 25 points of articulation. This marks the first time we’ve seen the full female body, legs and all. It feels pretty comparable to the male body, though it’s worth noting that the ankle articulation is a different design. It’s similar to some of Hasbro’s more recent Marvel Legends articulation. I honestly can’t say which layout I prefer. Linda has a new head, which has BossHacksP2jshort hair. It works pretty well, and it looks convincingly tough. The Amazonian armor is fairly similar to the Spartan armor in terms of design. The figure re-uses the Spartan Warrior’s helmet, as well as the Coral Gorgon’s chest armor and wrist bracers. She gets a new skirt piece and shin guards, which are rather similar to the Spartan pieces. The skirt has a small loop, which can hold one of her weapons. The paint on Linda is pretty impressive. The armor more or less matches up with the Spartan colors, though the gold appears to be a little brighter. The tribal tattoos on the arms and legs are quite nicely detailed, and add an awesome uniqueness to the design, and they even continue onto her shoulders, under the armor. Linda includes long and short swords, a spear, a shield (which is by far my favorite shield design in the set), a spare set of hands, and a display stand.

COLUBRIDA GUARD – GORGON HORDE

BossHacksP2bRemember how the Underworld Warrior was pretty much a straight re-use of the Cursed Spartan? Well, the Colubrida Guard is structurally the same as Wave 1’s Coral Gorgon. Once again, there’s a good explanation: the Colubrida Guard are the lieutenants of the Gorgon army, and are supposed to be similar to the other Gorgons in design. The main difference between the two figures is the paint. The Colubrida Guard trades in the more subdued red of the Coral Gorgon for a near neon-orange shade. Seriously, this thing practically glows! It’s a fantastic shade, BossHacksP2mand it makes the figure pop right to the front of any set up. Contrasting the immensely bright coloring of the actual Gorgon, the armor has been changed from gold to an almost black shade of metallic grey. The Colubrida Guard includes two swords, a sheath, a shield, extra hands, and a display stand. The swords and sheath are done up to match the Cursed Spartan, indicating that the Guards have been stealing their weapons from Medusa’s victims. That’s a pretty awesome touch!

STONEFIST –GORGON HUNTER

BossHacksP2nHere’s one figure I don’t have to name, because he’s already got one! He’s STONEFIST! THE GORGON HUNTER! This dude’s a badass, let me tell you. He’s an Athenian Warrior who came face to face with Medusa and survived the ordeal but slicing out his own eyes. This resulted in his left arm being turned to unbreakable stone and also gave him super-human senses. This guy’s pretty much the Greek Myth version of Daredevil. Stonefist is the same as the Athenian Warrior in terms of construction, though he only gets the less ornate helmet. Also, worth noting: my figure ended up with two left shoulders. It’s a rather minor difference, and not enough to ruin the figure, but it’s slightly noticeable. Stonefist’s color scheme has been tweaked ever so slightly from the basic Athenian look. Obviously, BossHacksP2kthere’s the “stone fist,” which is achieved by painting his left arm up like one of the Cursed Spartans. He’s also fairly pale, and has noticeable scaring over his eyes. The color scheme of his armor has also been changed a bit: they’ve added a bit of blue, which, when interacting with the red, makes him look a little like a super hero. The gold is all slightly tarnished, and he’s done a bit of tweaking to his helmet, adding some graffiti to the front, sort of like a WWII fighter plane. Stonefist includes three swords (one of each type we’ve seen so far), a spear, a sheath, a shield (same design as the Athenian’s, but with the eyes scratched out. Nice touch), extra hands, and a display stand.

SKELETON WARRIOR – PINK

BossHacksP2fLast up, it’s the figure I wasn’t expecting, the Skeleton Warrior. Not to be confused with the Skeleton Warriors (danananuhnuuuu)!  So, Freleng here is just a basic skeleton, but he’s been done in pink. Why he’s pink is anyone’s guess; maybe he’s made of bubble gum. The figure is about 4 inches tall and has 28 points of articulation (including BossHacksp2han articulated jaw!). The sculpt of the figure is a fairly realistic take on a skeleton, and it’s appropriately sized to fit within the basic male body. The parts aren’t quite cross compatible, but I imagine you could do some swapping with minor customization. Freleng includes a basic display stand, done up in the same shade of pink as him. He also has a set of 6 clear add-on pieces. Two of them attach to the feet and are used to secure him to the stand. The other four can be attached to the arms and legs, to allow him to wear the armor off of one of the basic male bodies. Undead army FTW!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Amazon and Underworld Warrior were the remaining two figures from my Kickstarter pledge, but I actually got the other three main release figures via Boss Fight’s online store. As cool as the Wave 1 figures were, these were the ones I was really looking forward to. My favorite of the bunch is probably Stonefist, just because I really like the concept. The Amazon is no slouch, though. The Colubrida Guard and Underworld Warrior aren’t much different from the Coral Gorgon and the Cursed Spartan, but the changes make both figures a bit more exciting. The Athenian isn’t super exciting, but I think a lot of that has to do with how similar he is to Stonefist. The real surprise star for me, though, is the Skeleton. He’s just the freebie figure, but he’s surprisingly mobile, and just a whole lot of fun to mess with. All-in-all, this is yet another fantastic set of figures. I can’t wait to get more from Boss Fight!

BossHacksP2o

#0953: Captain America & Winter Soldier

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA & WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Cap&WSCW1

As big a movie as it was, one of the best parts of Captain America: Civil War was that it didn’t abandon the plot threads of its predecessor, The Winter Soldier. Cap and Bucky’s friendship was front and center, and their desire to look out for each other forms the emotional core of the film. Neither character is a stranger to toys, but they’ve gotten a few movie specific figures, including some Minimates, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America and Winter Soldier are part of Marvel Minimates Series 66, which is the first of two series based on Captain America: Civil War. Like Panther & Iron Man, these two are one of the sets shared between the specialty and TRU assortments.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Cap&WSCW2Cap’s STRIKE Suit in The Winter Soldier is generally viewed as one of the stronger MCU designs, so it’s not a shock that his subsequent looks have been tweaks on that design. His Civil War design isn’t much different than his AoU design, just with a few minor changes here and there. Because of the similarity in designs, this Cap and the Series 61 Cap are constructed from the same selection of pieces: add-ons for the helmet, harness, belt, and gloves.  These are all pretty great pieces, and they work very nicely capturing Cap’s onscreen design. Cap’s paintwork is also pretty strong. His costume is exquisitely detailed, and the linework is some of the sharpest that I’ve seen on a Minimate in some time. There’s some minor issue with the basic color work, such as the misplaced “A” on the forehead and the slight bleed over from the brown of the gloves onto the “fingers.” However, the overall paint looks pretty solid. Under the mask, there’s a very angry Steve Rogers, which matches up well with the Mark 46’s Tony expression. For accessories, Cap includes his shield, a shield-bearing hand, an extra hairpiece for an unmasked look, and a clear display stand.

WINTER SOLDIER

Cap&WSCW3Though he might seem a little lacking compared to his pack -mate’s eight different MCU-based Minimates, Bucky here has still gotten three MCU-mates of his own. This one is based on Bucky’s look from the back half of the film. It’s admittedly not quite as exciting a look as the one he was sporting in Winter Soldier, but it’s not terrible. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. Bucky has two add-on pieces, both re-used: one for his hair and on for the bottom bit of his jacket. The hair isn’t quite a perfect match (since his hair’s a bit shorter this time than it was last time), but it’s close enough to work. Bucky’s paint isn’t quite as solid as Cap’s. A lot of it’s the design, which just doesn’t allow for as many fun details, but there are also a few instances of slop or smears, most noticeably the red star on his shoulder. In addition, there’s one notable flaw: his left hand. The fingers should be silver, since that’s his robotic side, but the figure gives fleshy fingers to both hands. It’s a rather simple mistake, and not too difficult to correct. The likeness on the face is a bit generic, but there’s some definite resemblance to Sebastian Stan. In terms of accessories, this Winter Soldier is a little lacking compared to the last movie’s version. He includes a pistol, an SMG, two knives, and a clear display stand. That’s an okay assortment, but I feel like a rifle would have been a better fit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was picked up at the same time as Panther and Iron Man. I don’t find this set to be quite as strong as that one, but it’s not bad. Cap’s a pretty strong figure. He’s not super different from the AoU version, but he definitely has a superior paint job. I think that the Series 55 version of Winter Soldier is still my preferred version, but this one’s still a pretty solid ‘mate.

#0952: Black Panther & Iron Man

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

BLACK PANTHER & IRON MAN – MARK 46

MARVEL MINIMATES

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It’s not really news to the regular followers of this site, but I really, really enjoyed Captain America: Civil War. While it was still undeniably Cap’s movie, the supporting players really stood out. One of the best parts of the movie was Black Panther, who was introduced into the MCU with a standout performance from Chadwick Boseman. I can’t wait to see more of this guy! Until his solo Black Panther movie hits, I’ll just have to hold myself over with some of his toys. Though I haven’t yet found his awesome looking Marvel Legends figure, I did manage to snag his Minimate, which I’ll be looking at today, along with his pack-mate Iron Man.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Panther and Iron Man were released in Series 66 of the Marvel Minimates line. The whole series is based on Captain America: Civil War. These two are also one of the shared sets between the specialty and TRU assortments.*

BLACK PANTHER

PantherIM2Amazingly enough, is is only Black Panther’s third appearance as a Minimate. He hasn’t shown up since Series 29! This one is, unsurprisingly, based on his movie appearance. Admittedly, it’s not very far off from his basic comics appearance, so he could really work as either version in a pinch. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. Panther’s only add-on is his mask, which is the same piece used by the last two Panther ‘mates. It’s a well-sculpted, simplistic piece, which suits the character very well. It’s too bad he didn’t get a set of clawed hands as well, but that’s a fairly minor nit. The rest of Panther’s detailing is done via paintwork, and it’s some pretty exceptional work at that. There’s a ton of small detail work to make up the unique texturing of Panther’s costume in the movie, and I love how much depth the variations of finish give him. Under the mask, there’s a fully detailed head, with painted on hair and ears. It’s not a perfect likeness of Boseman as T’Challa; for some reason he’s missing his facial hair (which appears to be the case with the Legends figure as well), and his expression is also a bit bland. But, it’s still a nice touch, and adds an extra bit of coolness to the figure. Panther’s only accessory is a clear display stand. It seems a bit light, but I’m not really sure what else they could have given him.

IRON MAN – MARK 46

PantherIM3Tony Stark really likes tweaking his armor. The Mark 46 serves as his only armor during the course of Civil War (I believe this is the first time he’s only had one). It’s not too far removed from the Mark 45, which he wore at the end of Age of Ultron. However, there are a few minor differences, most of which seem to be there to help bulk Tony up so he doesn’t look too overpowered by Cap. As a Minimate, the Mark 46 is built from the same pieces as the Marks 42 and 43, minus the chest piece. That means he’s got add-ons for his helmet, gloves, pelvis, and boots, as well as a non-standard set of upper arms. It’s not my favorite set of pieces, and the selection isn’t a spot-on recreation of what’s seen in the film (there are way too many join lines), but the end result isn’t too bad. The upper arms are still very limiting in terms of articulation, but the effect is at least somewhat lessened by the omission of the chest plate. The paint does a lot to really sell this figure. The colors of red and gold chosen work pretty nicely together, and the detail lines all do a good job of recreating the on-screen armor. There’s a bit of slop on the arms, but it’s all minor and fairly unnoticeable. Under the helmet, there’s a very angry Tony Stark face. I like the change of expression, though I do wonder why he’s lacking the black eye that Tony was sporting during all of his armored scenes. Iron Man is packed with a spare hair piece, a flying stand, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these two up from Cosmic Comix the week they were released. Amusingly enough, it was actually on the way to take Super Awesome Girlfriend to see the movie. Panther’s definitely the selling point of this set. He’s a new addition to the MCU subset of ‘mates, and the first shot a lot of newer collectors have had at a Black Panther Minimate. He’s also just a pretty solid ‘mate all around. Iron Man’s certainly not a bad addition, but there’s so many Iron Men out there that this one blends in with the crowd a bit. He’s really not bad, and he may well be my favorite MCU Iron Man. He’s just not super thrilling is all. Still, this is definitely a fun set!

*Amusingly enough, in a similar fashion to the Hawkeye/Vision set, the first Black Panther ‘mate was packed with an Iron Man variant.  History repeats!

 

#0951: Luke Skywalker – Stormtrooper Disguise

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

LUKE SKYWALKER – STORMTROOPER DISGUISE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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“Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?”

I haven’t reviewed any Star Wars: The Black Series figures in a while. And even then, the last handful of them have all been The Force Awakens-related. So, how about an Original Trilogy figure? Yeah, that’ll be nice. The most recurrent character in the line is by far Luke Skywalker. I mean, it’s fair; he is the central character of the first three movies. He also gets a few notable costume changes. One such change is when he steals the armor of an Imperial Stormtrooper in order to infiltrate the Death Star. It’s a rather popular version of the character, and it’s been represented in action figure form since way back in the vintage line. Now, let’s have a look at the latest version!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LukeTrooper2Luke was released as part of the pre-Force Awakens incarnation of Star Wars: The Black Series, as figure #12. He was released in the 8th assortment of figures, alongside Emperor Palpatine and the Clone Captain. As noted in the intro, this figure is based on Luke’s Stormtrooper disguise look from the second half A New Hope. The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Seeing as he was running around in their armor, it’s not a shock to find out that this figure makes some pretty hefty use of the pieces used for the Stormtrooper/Sandtrooper. Luke ends up getting the arms and legs from that figure, along with the head of the X-Wing Luke from Series 1. Those pieces were all pretty good the first time around, and they’re still pretty great here. The head in particular is probably the best Hamill likeness in this scale. Luke also has a new torso and pelvis, which aid in making him “a little short for a Stromtrooper.” The end result looks pretty good, though the arms require some careful posing, as they are a touch on the long side. The paint on Black Series figures has been known to make or break the figures. Luke’s far from the worst I’ve seen from the line, and the head in particular is quite clean. That said, there’s still quite a bit of slop in the changes between black and white, which can be more than a bit distracting. Luke is packed with a standard blaster rifle, a communicator, and a removable Stormtrooper helmet. The helmet is the biggest deal here. It’s similar to the solid head seen on the normal Trooper, but obviously it’s been hollowed out so Luke can wear it. The details are a little softer here, but they don’t look terrible, and he fits in pretty well with the other Troopers.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Luke here was a graduation gift from my Super Awesome Girlfriend. On her way up to visit me, she stopped at a Walgreens and saw this guy there all alone. She picked him up, but between purchasing him and giving him to me, she had convinced herself that I already had him. Imagine her relief when she found out I didn’t actually own one! I never picked this guy up because he looked like a fairly simple re-use figure, but there’s actually a lot to like about this guy. Definitely glad to have him!

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