Monthly Archives: May 2017

1301: Spider-Man – Homemade Suit

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

SPIDER-MAN — HOMEMADE SUIT

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (HASBRO)

“Peter Parker swings around New York City in a suit he made himself as the web-slinging hero, Spider-Man!”

One of the biggest things to come out of last summer’s Captain America: Civil War was the introduction of Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Tom Holland’s portrayal of Peter was the best to grace the silver screen, and even in a smaller role, he was one of my favorite things about Civil War.  Needless to say, I’m pretty excited for his upcoming solo flick, Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is hitting in July.  The tie-in toys are just starting to hit, and while the Legends assortment hasn’t yet seen a wide release, I did snag one of the figures from the basic line, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Homemade Suit Spider-Man is one of the four figures in the first series of Spider-Man: Homecoming figures from Hasbro.  As the name notes, he’s sporting his initial homemade costume, seen very briefly in Civil War before he gets a new one from Tony.  It’s looking like this suit will be getting a bigger focus in Homecoming, given its prominence in the various merchandise.  The costume’s pretty nifty; it kind of calls back to Scarlet Spider’s design, but with the colors switched up a bit to make him more resemble the classic Spidey.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and has 15 points of articulation.  Size-wise, he’s a little hard to place.  He’s a bit smaller than the Legends stuff, but also a little larger than the old TB 5-inch stuff.  He’s sort of compatible with the more recent Doctor Who figures from Character Options.  Ultimately, he’s kind of close enough to a few lines that you could probably fudge him to fit if you were so inclined.  The articulation is a bit on the basic side, but given the price, it’s actually not bad.  Maybe some hinges on the hips would be nice, but that’s my only real complaint.  The sculpt is a bit more primitive than a Legends figure, but certainly not bad.  All of the important details are present, and the proportions are about right for a skinny teenager.  I like that you can make out his nose beneath the mask.  The paint is probably the one area where there’s some room for improvement.  The molded and painted reds don’t really match up, and the blue seems really pale and drab.  Also, I’m pretty sure the deco on the gloves isn’t quite right, but I’m not 100% on that.  My biggest complaint is the silver paint that’s been used for the web shooters, which doesn’t seem to have adhered very well to the plastic.  It’s been slowly chipping and scraping off since I opened it.  Simply running a fingernail across it is enough to give it a scratch, which is really annoying.  It’s a basic silver, so it’s easy to repaint, but that’s still not something I should have to do with a figure I just bought.  Fortunately, it’s just limited to that one color, so I’m hopeful it’s just a fluke.  The figure’s one accessory is a web attachment, which is kinda cool, though I think it’d be even cooler if the large end of it were a suction cup.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Walmart near me was in the process of resetting their toy aisle for about two weeks, and they had one of those diagrams hanging to show what was going out, which included the Legends assortment.  I checked back just about every day for about a week and a half, but that one aisle remained un-set the whole time.  I passed up these basic figures a few times while waiting, and on one of my later trips, I finally gave in and grabbed this guy.  If you’re looking for Legends quality, wait for the Legends version of this costume, but if you just want a fun, cheap figure, there are worse things you could do than buy this guy.  Issue with the silver paint aside, he’s a lot of fun, and he makes me nostalgic for my old Toy Biz figures.

#1300: Loki

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

LOKI

AVENGERS (HOT TOYS)

Would you look at that?  Seems I’ve made it another hundred reviews.  As I noted in my Thor review, I’m honestly getting to the point where 100 reviews isn’t that much of a milestone.  This particular review will mark the thirteenth time I’ve done it.  Still, it’s worth noting it, right?

In honor of getting though another hundred of these things, I’ll be doing another of my milestone deluxe reviews, focusing on one of my higher end figures.  Like almost all of my high-end reviews, today’s figure is from Hot Toys, and is yet another figure from their impressive Marvel Cinematic Universe subset of offerings.  For the last monumental review, I looked at Thor, and today I’ll be following up on that with a look at his mischievous brother, Loki!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Loki is figure 176 in Hot Toys’ Movie Masterpiece Series, directly following the Avengers version of his brother and immediately preceding the Dark Knight Rises re-release of the Batpod.  The figure hit around May of 2013, a full year after the release of the film he was featured in.  As with Thor, Loki is based on his appearance in 2012’s Avengers, specifically his fully armored appearance, seen during the film’s big climactic battle.  Initially, Loki was to be done in his armored look from 2011’s Thor, and a finished prototype even showed up a few places, but in an effort of finish out the Avengers set and be a bit more timely, he was re-fitted into his later costume.  It’s for the best, really, since I think his Avengers look is his best to date, and a more fitting adaptation of his comics design.  Loki stands a little over 12 inches tall and he has “over 30 points of articulation” according to the Sideshow solicitation for him.

Loki’s head was the source of some strife amongst fans and Hot Toys.  There was a debate about how exactly his helmet should be handled.  The final solution was a removable helmet, which not everyone was thrilled with, due largely to the necessary compromises for both the head and the helmet.  The head did actually turn out pretty well.  The Hiddleston likeness is one of HT’s best, at least as far as the face is concerned.  The compromises, of course, really come into play with the hair, which ends up a little matted down to the head.  Admittedly, Loki’s hair in the movie doesn’t have a ton of volume, but it’s still a little more present than what we see here.  It’s still very well sculpted, and quite realistic, but it’s undeniably sculpted to sit best under the helmet.  He’s not really designed with an un-helmeted appearance in mind.  Which, if I’m honest, results in a bit of disappointment when you finally get the helmet placed on the head, which is no easy feat, let me tell you.  It’s two pieces that pop apart; the bottom is supposed to slide up under the head and the top goes over top and then you snap the two pieces back together.  I’ve never been able to get a perfect fit, and the difficulty involved means that you really aren’t going to be taking it off a lot. This whole two piece construction is meant to give the helmet a tighter fit (which is also true of the actual film prop as well), but due to the scale, it’s still noticeably thicker than Loki’s helmet from the film.  To be fair, it’s mostly only an issue when viewing the figure head-on; in profile or even three-quarter view, it looks pretty good.  The detailing on the helmet is the usual HT-quality, of course, which is nice.  Ultimately, it’s far from terrible, but I just really feel the figure would have benefited from two separate heads to depict him with and without the helmet (especially since in the movie the helmet just magically appears on his head; we don’t see him carrying it around or anything).  The paint on both items is up to the usual HT standards; the face is incredibly lifelike, and the helmet looks suitably weathered.

Loki’s outfit is something of a mixed media effort, though not quire so much as Thor.  Most of the base clothing is actual cloth, with plastic boots and armor plates.  The plastic bits are all exquisitely sculpted, and the cloth sections are generally pretty well tailored.  The coat(s) sit really nicely, and I really love the way the cape hands.  Easily the best cloth cape I’ve ever seen.  My one real complaint is the weird bead things that line the edges of the coats.  In the movie, they look to be a zipper or something, but this figure uses these needs that look like those things that banks use to make sure you don’t steal their pens.  It’s not bad from far away, but looks rather hokey when you get up close.  I’m not sure why they were handled this way, rather than the way most zippers are handled at this scale.  I mean, they don’t ruin the figure, but they do just look weird.

Loki includes the following accessories:

  • 11 interchangeable hands
  • 2 versions of this scepter
  • 2 daggers
  • Shackles
  • Muzzle
  • Display stand

The hands come in relaxed (R and L), fists (R and L), dagger holding (R and L), gripping (R and L), gesture (R and L), and larger gesture (L).  All of them are very nicely sculpted and they suit the character.  They swap out pretty easily, but there’s an extra set of wrist pegs as well, just in case something goes wrong.

The scepter comes in both short and long configurations, which is nice, I guess, but in this get-up, he really only needs the larger one.  Still, both are very nicely sculpted, and it’s nice to have the option.

The daggers are both the same piece, and are just as well sculpted as the scepters.  They don’t get much use in the film, but they’re still a cool extra to have.

The shackles and muzzle allow for Loki’s look from the final scene of the movie, when he and Thor go back to Asgard.  It’s nice that they included them, and they allow him to pair up nicely with Thor and the contained Tesseract.  Technically, like the short scepter, they don’t really go with this costume, but the inclusion’s still nice.

Then there’s the stand, which is the same basic stand we’ve seen over and over again.  There’s a logo for Avengers and Loki’s name is on the front.  It helps him not fall down.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When the Thor version of Loki was first announced I was really excited, because I really like Hiddleston as Loki, and was bummed he wasn’t one of the first two released.  When that figure was re-worked into this one, I was initially uncertain about getting it, but ultimately decided he still looked cool enough that I’d kick myself if i didn’t get him.  In the ensuing months between pre-ordering him from Sideshow and his release, I grew to like the Avengers design even more, and I’m ultimately pretty happy that this is the one they went with.  The figure is not without his issues, but I think he’s still one of the coolest HT figures in my collection.  He’s just hard not to love.

#1299: Bloodstorm

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

BLOODSTORM

MUTANT X (TOY BIZ)

“Ororo Munroe was once the X-Man code-named Storm for her ability to control the weather.  After a horrific encounter with Dracula, she died and returned as a vampire.  Soon thereafter, she left the X-Men, seeking answers about her self and her new state-of-being.  She later returned to join Havok’s mutant superteazm, The Six, calling herself Bloodstorm.  Ororo retained her mutant power of weather control but now has the preternatural gifts of the living dead at her disposal making her an even more formidable opponent.  Bloodstorm can transform her body into mist, summon and control the myriad of creatures of the night and on occasion use a “hypnotic stare” to hold humans in her thrall.  Her vampiric nature amplifies her control of the forces of nature but makes her unpredictable in battle.”

Well, I don’t think I can get any more in-depth than that there bio, now can I?  So, this particular variant of Storm hails from Mutant X, an alternate reality-based X-Men series from the ‘90s.  I only have a handful of issues from the series, but I always enjoyed it (having Havok as the main character probably helped a lot).  There were a handful of action figures released, and I had to whole set.  Today, I’ll be looking at the alternate version of Storm, dubbed “Bloodstorm” because it was the ‘90s.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bloodstorm is one of the four figures in the Previews-exclusive Mutant X series, put out by Toy Biz in 1998.  You’d think that with the main team being called “The Six” and all, they might try to, you know, release *six* figures and finish out the whole team, but this was the same company that on more than one occasion neglected to release all four of the Fantastic Four in a given style, so I guess it wasn’t a huge shock.  Storm stands about 5 inches tall and has 10 points of articulation.  While much of Storm’s mold was technically new to her, she was largely built on top of the Alpha Flight Guardian body, with the extra details sculpted on where needed.  In the end, only the arms are truly identical between the two figures.  The body is decent enough for how Bloodstorm tended to be drawn in the comics, and I like the extra details, but I did always feel she was a little on the short side for Storm (this was a common issue with the Toy Biz Storm figures).  She got an all-new head sculpt, which is really good, almost too good for the body it’s been placed on.  There’s a ton of detail work, and it’s really sharply handled.  I really love the intensity of the facial expression.  About the only issue I have with it is the pony tail, which is made from a soft rubber material and can be rather easily torn off if you aren’t careful.  Her coat is a soft goods piece, which looks alright, I guess.  It was supposed to be actually sculpted on, going by the prototype, but I guess it didn’t cost out.  At least this way you get the extra look.  The paintwork on this figure is generally pretty good, apart from a few oddities here and there.  I’m really not sure what’s going on with her abdomen; it looks like they tried to airbrush it or something, but it just didn’t work out right.  On the flip side, the work on the head is fantastic, and does a wonderful job of showing off the already great head sculpt.  Her one accessory is a metallic green “X” stand, which is the same stand included with all of the Generation X figure, just in a different color.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the previously reviewed The Fallen figure (sorry about that review in advance; it’s not one of my better ones), Bloodstorm was Christmas gift from my parents.  I recall not having much of an opinion one way or the other about her when I got her (Bloodstorm wasn’t really one of my favorite characters from the series), but I have to say, after taking her back out to review her, I was pleasantly surprised by this figure.

#1298: Imperial AT-ACT Driver

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

IMPERIAL AT-ACT DRIVER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“The Empire’s combat drivers are trained to handle everything on the Imperial ground arsenal, from heavily armed AT-ATs to the more utilitarian AT-ACT walkers.”

You can’t have Star Wars figures without a metric ton of generic Trooper figures.  They’ve long been the backbone of the line, so it’s not a huge surprise that the movie makers put effort into introducing a few extra variants every time there’s a new movie.  Rogue One gave us the whole Scarif sub-set of troopers, which are some of my new favorites.  Today’s figure isn’t *technically* a Scarif trooper, but he share’s a lot of design elements, and he only actually shows up during the Scarif sequences of the movie, so I’m grouping him with them.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Imperial AT-ACT Driver is a Target-exclusive entry in the Star Wars: The Black Series line.  He follows the store-exclusive trooper trend, coming out after the TRU-exclusive Hovertank Pilot and the Walmart-exclusive Scarif Trooper.  In the movie, there are actually two drivers seen in the AT-ACT; a basic driver and a commander.  This figure represents the commander.  Of course, thanks to the fairly easily swapped heads on all these troopers, if you swap the head on this guy onto the Hovertank Pilot’s body, you can get both the basic AT-ACT driver and the Tank Commander, if one were so inclined. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s a total parts re-use; he’s got the body of the Hovertank Pilot and the head of the Scarif trooper.  It’s totally warranted re-use, since the movie design was the same.  Plus, the pieces are solid, so I have no issues with having them used again.  This figure’s main differences are, of course, the paint.  The basic colors match up with those of the Hovertank pilot (no doubt intentional, since it makes the previously mentioned head swap much easier), but he also gets the additional grey markings on the shoulders to denote him as a commander.  The markings are nice and sharp, which is good.  There’s also a little bit of weathering on the armored sections, offering a bit of accenting to the sculpt.  I’m glad to see the weathering on troopers is remaining a rather consistent thing.  The AT-ACT Driver includes a standard E-11 Blaster.  In uses the same extra detailing used for the blaster included with the K-Mart-exclusive Jyn, which is another thing that’s nice to see be a recurring feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy caught me by surprise, since he wasn’t really promoted that much by either Hasbro or Target.  On the same trip where Tim bought me Moon Knight, I also found this guy, but I was still planning to pass, since I was trying to hold off on buying as much.  Of course, this just wouldn’t sit with Super Awesome Girlfriend, who insisted on getting him for me.  This figure doesn’t exactly offer anything new, but I do really like him.  He’s probably my personal favorite of the various Rogue One troopers that have gotten Black Series releases.

#1297: Yokai

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

YOKAI

BIG HERO 6 (BANDAI)

Hey, remember waaaaaay back in 2014 when Big Hero 6 was released?  And I picked up exactly one of the action figures?  Well, I got more.  Because that’s what I do, I guess.  Today, I’ll be looking not at one of the members of the titular team, but rather at their foe from the film, the kabuki masked dude whose name was apparently Yokai.  Who knew?  Well, Bandai knew, and I guess Disney also probably knew.  But I didn’t know, mostly because he’s not ever referred to as Yokai in the movie.  But, I guess putting the name of his alter ego on the package would be a bit of a spoiler, wouldn’t it?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Yokai was released in the first series of Big Hero 6 figures from Bandai, alongside the six members of the team.  The figure stands a little over 3 1/2 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  Yokai falls victim to the same problem that a lot of Bandai America’s output does: terrible relative scale in terms of the line as a whole.  As a full-grown adult, he should be pretty tall in comparison to the adolescent characters that make up the rest of the line, but due to Bandai’s very odd views on scaling, he’s at most a quarter of an inch taller than Hiro, a character he should tower over.  The way it’s done, Yokai feels like he’s from an entirely different line than the rest of the figures, barring maybe Baymax.  This is the same issue that plagued every version of Slade back when they were doing the Teen Titans figures, and it’s a shame they’re making the same mistakes a decade later.  Scaling issues aside, the sculpt isn’t terrible.  It’s hardly a perfect recreation of his on-screen design (which would be a good deal thinner), but he’s a passable recreation, I suppose.  There’s some pretty solid work on the various details of his costume, and it’s clear who he’s supposed to be.  I wish his coat was a bit less floaty, but it’s the sort of thing I’ve come to expect from Bandai America.  The paint work on the figure isn’t anything amazing, but it’s certainly passable.  The colors all match up with the character’s film design, and the application is all pretty clean.  The best work is on the mask, which is nice and bold, and helps him stand out.  Yokai is packed with a attachment for the hand that’s designed to simulate the nanobots Yokai uses in the movie.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had totally planned to grab a few more of the Big Hero 6 figures after I got Wasabi back in 2014, but I got kind of distracted by other lines of figures.  Back in March, I stumbled across most of the line for a deep discount at the nearest Ollie’s, which was enough to prod me into grabbing a set.  Yokai’s…okay.  After being pleasantly surprised by Wasabi, this guy feels more like an unfortunate return to form for Bandai America.  He’s still better than vast majority of the Teen Titans figures, and a perfectly enjoyable figure in his own right, but in the context  of the line as a whole, he’s got some definite issues.

#1296: First Order Stormtrooper

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

FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

“Equipped with sleek armor and powerful weapons, the Stormtroopers enforce the will of the First Order.”

Wow, that’s the same bio used on the Hasbro Black Series figures.  I guess Disney’s really strict about what goes in those bios.  I mean, I guess it’s a decent enough write-up for the Stormtroopers.  It’s not like there’s a whole lot to them, right?  So, hey, it’s been a while since I reviewed a basic Stormtrooper (First Order or otherwise).  How about one of those?  This time, the figure’s metal.  Oooooooooh!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The First Order Stormtrooper was released as part of the very first series of Disney’s Star Wars: Elite Series, which hit way back on the first Force Friday event.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  He’s very similar in construction to the previously reviewed Poe figure (metal for the torso,arms, and legs, and plastic for the hands, feet and head), though he does feel a bit lighter weight.  That’s probably due to the slightly more svelte design.  He’s still rather restricted in terms of movement (he’s yet another FO Trooper that can’t actually hold his blaster two-handed), but he’s on par with the other two figures I’ve gotten.  It could certainly be worse.  While there was a definite upturn in the level of detail displayed on the K-2 figure, the Trooper, as an older release, is still rather on the soft side.  Given the sleeker nature of the Stormtroopers, it’s not too bad, but he does miss out on the fun underlying jumpsuit details that we saw on the Black Series version of this design.  On the plus side, he lacks the weird hand thing that plagued the Poe figure, and just seems to have better proportions in general. He also doesn’t face any issues of facial likeness, which seems to alleviate a major issue the Disney figures seem to face.  Like both prior Elite Series figures I’ve looked at, the Stormtrooper is assembled using screws along the back of the figure.  10 of them to be exact.  While K-2 added covers so as to prevent them from ruining the aesthetics, the Stormtrooper takes after Poe, which means his assembly screws are left totally uncovered.  It’s definitely distracting, but at least it’s confined to the back of the figure.  The paint on the Stormtrooper is decent enough; it’s not like there’s a lot of really complex work or anything going on, so there’s less that can be screwed up.  There’s still some slight slop here and there, but for the most part he looks pretty clean.  The figure is packed with two blasters (one large and one small) and a display stand, which is the same as the ones included with Poe and K-2.  The smaller blaster is designed to be stowed on the right thigh, but I ended up having to do a little work on my figure to get the two pieces to fit together, due to a slight malformation of the gun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was given to me by my friend Rio, who is an exchange student visiting from Japan.  Rio has been staying with one of Super Awesome Girlfriend’s friends, and has become a fixture of our group of friends over the last several months.  She also really likes to give gifts, so she’s made a point of getting something for each of us over the course of a few trips she’s made to various attractions.  When she traveled to Disney World, she got something for Super Awesome Girlfriend, but not for me.  I wasn’t expecting anything, so I was far from upset, but Rio wanted to get me something.  On her trip to NYC over spring break, she tracked down the Disney Store and, with a little guidance from Super Awesome Girlfriend, picked this guy out for me.  He’s actually pretty cool, and you can never have too many Stormtroopers, right?  Anyway, Rio is heading back home to Japan today, so I thought I’d give this figure a review as a send off and a testament to how great it’s been to have her around these last few months.  Good luck, Rio!

#1295: Egyptian Catwoman & Batman

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

EGYPTIAN CATWOMAN & BATMAN

LEGENDS OF BATMAN (KENNER)

In an effort to prevent this site from becoming all Marvel Legends all the time, and risking becoming too monotonous, today I’m going to be looking at a DC-related item.  Just to add a bit of variety.  Now, yesterday, I looked at a caped vigilante of the night with a bit of an Egyptian flair.  Today, I’ll be looking at…a caped vigilante of the night with a bit of an Egyptian flair.  The more things, the more they stay the same, right?  Today’s review takes us once more to Kenner’s Legends of Batman line from the ‘90s.  While prior reviews have focused primarily on the line’s pirate-sub-line, this time we’re looking at another of the goofy reimaginings, with Egyptian Batman and his foe Egyptian Catwoman!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Egyptian Catwoman and Batman were released in 1996 as one of a pair of two-packs in the Legends of Batman line (the other two-pack was the previously reviewed Pirate Two-Face & Pirate Batman).  Like most of the goofy variants from this line, these two were original creations of Kenner, and had no ties to the comics beyond being Batman and Catwoman.

CATWOMAN

“Ancient Egypt revered the cat—with the exception of Egyptian Catwoman.  The mightiest woman pharaoh ever to rule, Egyptian Catwoman tainted the royal throne through her misuse of her immense power.  Forcing whole nations into slavery to build her lavish palace, pyramids, and towering monoliths, Egyptian Catwoman was despised and feared throughout the land.  Only her sworn enemy, Egyptian Batman, could stand up to her evil-doings and massive cat-claw battle staff to release her unfortunate subjects from her iron rule.”

Unlike Two-Face, it would seem Egyptian Catwoman is a markedly different character from her main universe character.  With that said, despite what her bio may insist, she doesn’t seem to be all that different from the average Pharaoh, apart from her willingness to fight her own battles.  Guess the cat-claw battle staff helps.  Also, can we address how silly it is that the bio has to call her “Egyptian Catwoman” every time she’s mentioned?  It just sounds kind of silly, especially since those living in ancient Egypt would be very unlikely to throw “Egyptian” in front of their name.  It’d be like me referring to myself as “American Ethan H Wilson” all the time.  Wouldn’t “Pharaoh Catwoman” have been a better choice?  Oh well.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation (counting the tail, which turns at its base).  Most of the articulation isn’t of much use, since she’s rather preposed; it’s really only there to let you fine tune things so that she doesn’t fall over so much (whether it actually helps with that issue is debatable).  The sculpt is okay, I guess.  It’s not as good as Pirate Two-Face, but also not as bad as Pirate Batman.  It’s somewhere in between.  The pre-posing is at least a pretty decent pose, which is clearly designed to interact with the Egyptian Batman figure.  In terms of design, she seems to take a good deal of influence from her then current Jim Balent-designed outfit, mostly in terms of color and general layout of the various elements.  There are, of course, the Egyptian-styled elements, which are all pretty decently rendered, if perhaps a bit on the soft side.  The Wolverine claws seem a bit overkill, but there are worse things.  The paint work on Catwoman is acceptable, but far from perfect.  There’s a lot of fuzz around the edges, and the gold paint doesn’t seem to have held up particularly well.  Catwoman includes a headdress (meant to evoke her exposed hair in the comics), as well as the previously mentioned cat-claw battle staff.

BATMAN

“Many years ago, the son of a high-ranking Egyptian official disguised himself as Egyptian Batman and made it his life’s mission to out an end to evil-doers.  He didn’t have to look far for his main target: his own father’s sponsor, Egyptian Catwoman.  Battling the evil, feline pharaoh with only his powerful bat-shield staff and keen intellect as weapons, Egyptian Batman strived to make his homeland a prosperous, peaceful place once again.”

Okay, so here’s my question here: why a bat?  Like, it makes sense for Bruce Wayne, but random Egyptian dude?  Cats work into the whole Egyptian mythology thing, but bats?  I don’t know.  Anyway, the figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The articulation works a little better here, since the figure’s a little less preposed, which is a definite plus.  I think Egyptian Batman may well sport my favorite sculpt of the five Legends of Batman figures I’ve looked at so far.  Sure, he’s still got slightly exaggerated proportions and kind of insane muscles, but there’s a sort of balance to it.  I definitely get a Neal Adams sort of vibe from this figure.  The general design is also one of the stronger ones.  It maintains the basics of the classic Batman design, but also perseveres the whole Egyptian aesthetic, in a way that I feel works better than his pack-mate.  I particularly dig the morphing of his traditional bat-ears into more of a jackal sort of design.  It preserves the basic silhouette, but offers something new and different for the figure.  The paint work is pretty straightforward.  It’s mostly pretty clean, and the colors suit the character.  There’s still an issue with the gold paint one this figure, but it seems less present on this guy.  Like Catwoman, Batman includes a headdress, as well as his previously mentioned shield staff, which he has a little trouble holding properly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the prior two-pack, I don’t actually remember seeing this set in stores when it was released.  This one I do recall seeing a few times elsewhere over the years, but I just never got around to getting one.  Super Awesome Girlfriend picked this set up for me at the same time as the Pirate set.  I was actually more interested in the pirate set at first (since they go with my other figures), but after opening them both up, this set was actually my favorite of the two, largely due to the pretty awesome Egyptian Batman figure.  If you’re looking for a good jumping on point for this line, you could do a lot worse than this set.

Remembering Granddad

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General

My grandfather died this weekend.  He would have been 95 come this October.  He was a veteran of two wars, a teacher, and an engineer.  He was one of the smartest people I’ll ever know.  He was also one of the most stubborn, but that tends to come with the territory.  Over the last few years, he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s, which has been slowly chipping away at him.  It was difficult for the family, of course, but it was also difficult for him, as little by little, his ability to do things independently slipped from his grasp.

Granddad was a do-er, you see.  He liked to do everything himself.  This included building the house he and my Grandmother were living in, which after 50 years, is finally being completed by his children and grandchildren.  He moved at his own pace, which was often too slow for the rest of his family (a decade ago, his then thirty-year-old avocado green refrigerator stopped working.  He refused to allow a replacement to be bought and spent the better part of a year fixing it, much to my Grandmother’s chagrin), but I think he got a certain degree of amusement out of that.  He liked making people adhere to his plan, no matter how ridiculous or backwards it might seem.

As stubborn and belligerent as he could be, he was also incredibly thoughtful when he put his mind to it.  It was still always via his own idiosyncrasies, of course, but that was him.  For about 20 years, he religiously recorded thousands of TV programs onto VHS (only on the main network channels, of course, since he was far too stubborn to ever get around to getting cable).  At some point, I’m certain every family member got at least one tape from him, containing any number of shows he thought they’d be interested in.  In my case, it was almost always full of cartoons, because that was my speed, but I also have a copy of the ‘90s tv-movie Generation X because some network was showing it late one night, and he knew I liked the X-Men.  It was the little stuff.

I know most of my life stories tend to revolve around action figures in some way.  My Grandmother tended to be the one who followed all of my action figure stuff, but Granddad wasn’t completely out of the loop (although I do recall one time getting frustrated with him for mistaking Dragon Man’s wings for a Batman cape.  In my defense, I was about 7 at the time.)  One story in particular has always stuck out to me. 

When I was about four, I’d often spend the day at my grandparents’ house.  My dad pulled out his old Megos for me to play with.  One day, while playing with them, poor Superman’s internal band snapped, and he fell all to pieces.  I was quite distraught, but Granddad stepped in an assured me it would be alright.  He sat me down at the dining room table and, being the engineer that he was, he drew up several diagrams of just how we were going to fix that figure.  While it was my dad that ultimately fixed the figure (like I said, Granddad moved at his own pace), it’s something that’s always stuck out to me.  That was his defining moment in my life.  Not because it was about a toy, but because he took the time to not only make me feel better, but also to give me the knowledge of how to solve the problem on my own.  And that meant a lot.

Thank you for everything, Granddad.  I love you, and I will miss you very much.

#1294: Marvel’s Moon Knight

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

MARVEL’S MOON KNIGHT

MARVEL LEGENDS — 3.75 (HASBRO)

“A vision in an Egyptian temple leads Marc Spector to don a silver shroud and become the crime-fighting hero, Moon Knight.”

Moon Knight is one of the many Marvel heroes who began his career as an antagonist.  First created as a foe for Werewolf By Night, Moon Knight proved popular enough with readers to earn his own title, and in the process has become arguably better known than the character he was created to fight.  He was a fairly basic costumed vigilante to start with (he frequently found himself used as off-Batman); his only notable twist was that he had two secret identities, a wealthy playboy and a cab driver, neither of which was actually his original identity.  Which, for those keeping track, is a whopping four identities.  Eventually, it was decided that all these identities were actually due to Marc possessing a multiple personality disorder (which may or may not have been caused by the Egyptian God Khonshu’s influence on him).  You see, Marc isn’t pretending to be Moon Knight, or Steven Grant, or Jake Lockley; he *is* those people.  They’re all still very similar to Marc at their core, but each uniquely different in abilities, temperament, etc.  He’s definitely a fun character when handled right.  Above all, though?  He looks cool, and that makes for a good toy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Moon Knight was released in the first 2017 series of the smaller-scale Marvel Legends line.  It’s sort of an oddball assortment of characters, but that’s honestly the best chance of getting made that Moon Knight ever gets.  The figure stands a little over 4 inches tall and he has 19 points of articulation.  Moon Knight is sporting his most recent costume; it’s got a lot in common with earlier Moon Knight designs, but with the usual streamlining we see on so much these days.  There are also crescents.  A lot of crescents.  Because the moon.  I’m generally a fan of this look, and I certainly like it more than some heroes’ modern designs.  He’s built on the most recent male base body, with a unique head, forearms, and shins, as well as an add-on piece for his cape and chest armor.  The base body is a good fit for Moon Knight.  It’s actually a first, I think; his base bodies have tended to be a little off on prior figures.  The new pieces are all pretty solid.  I wasn’t crazy about the head sculpt at first, but as I’ve had the chance to mess around with the figure and see it from different angles, it’s really grown on me.  It should be noted that it really looks best when viewed somewhat from above, rather than the upward facing angle most of the promo shots show it in.  The hood and cape both have a really awesome knitted texture going on, which helps to keep the figure from getting too monotonous, while still managing to not look overdone like some texturing at this scale can.  Moon Knight’s paint work is pretty straight forward black and white for the most part.  The application is all pretty clean; there’s some slop here and there, but nothing unacceptable for the scale.  I do like the presence of both flat and pearlescent white; it helps to differentiate between the armored bits and the cloth bits.  Moon Knight includes no accessories, which is a real letdown given the amount of money these things retail for.  At least give him his staff!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

March was a pretty hard month for me in terms of purchases, so I swore I wasn’t buying any figures for the entirety of April.  Remember how I said I swore I wasn’t buying any figures in April?  Well, it turns out my friends and family are all big fans of loophole abuse.  Tim and Jill came down for a visit in mid-April, and I spotted this guy while we were out and about.  I looked at him, but ultimately put him back.  Of course, Tim saw me empty handed and demanded I show him where the figure was and then proceeded to buy it for me.  Because they’re all a bunch of no good enablers, that’s why.  One of these day’s I’ll pay them all back.  Literally.  Like, with money.  Or other goods.

I wasn’t initially sure about this figure, given that he was being released in such close proximity to his larger scale figure in there main ML line, but the timing of the releases worked out so that he hit right as I was really wanting a Moon Knight figure.  It’s for the best really, because if they’d been released at the same time, I’d have skipped this guy, and that’d be a real shame, because he’s actually really cool.  Here’s hoping the large figure’s even better!

#1293: Tusken Raider

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

TUSKEN RAIDER

STAR WAR: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The Sand People are easily frighted, but they’ll be back, and in greater numbers”

The Tusken Raiders.  What the heck are they?  Are they aliens?  Or just weird nomad people?  We never do see what they look like under all those wrappings.  Heck, they weren’t even called “Tusken Raiders” originally; they were just “Sand People.”  But I guess, like Walrus Man, Hammer Head, and Snuggle Tooth, that name was deemed too goofy to be real.   This is why we can’t have nice things.  Well, okay, that’s not true.  We have some nice things.  For instance, we have this Tusken Raider figure that I’m reviewing today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Tusken Raider was released in the second wave of the 1996 assortment of Power of the Force II figures from Kenner, which happens to be the same set that gave us the previously reviewed Greedo figure.  Like Greedo, the Raider wasn’t featured on cardbacks for some reason.  This was the second sand person/Tusken Raider in the line, following the original vintage release.  The figure stands a little over 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  As I’ve noted before, the PotF2 figures were pretty high on the stylization scale, but as the line progressed, this lessened a bit.  The Raider is definitely a little puffier than most depictions of the design have been, and the head is rather on the small side.  There are also some slight bits of preposing, but it’s mostly limited to the arms, where it more or less makes sense.  The sculpting on the legs/feet isn’t particularly crazy, but for whatever reason, this figure tends to fall over a lot, which is really annoying.  Overall, I like this sculpt, but there are some bits of it that are rather uneven.  For instance, while there’s some great detail work on the head and robes, and there’s even a fully detailed torso under the main robe piece (which is removable), the hands are large and mostly devoid of extra detail, which ends up just looking really goofy.  Still, when compared to some of the Series 1 figures, he’s still a definite step-up.  The paint work on the Raider is mostly pretty passable.  Lots of tans and browns, and there’s even a bit of subtle work at the base of the sleeves and the skirt of the robe.  Not the most thrilling color scheme of all time, but accurate to what’s seen on-screen.  The Raider’s one accessory is his Gaderffi stick.  There were two variations of the figure’s left hand sculpt.  Mine is the earlier, closed grip hand, which prevents him from holding the stick anywhere but the very top, which is a little goofy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Greedo, I didn’t have this one growing up. I had my dad’s vintage Sand Person, which held me over.  I ended up grabbing this guy from this year’s Farpoint charity auction.  He’s not a bad figure at all.  Not super thrilling, but fun enough to keep me interested.