Monthly Archives: May 2021

#2776: Ultimate Mech Suit Captain America

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

ULTIMATE MECH SUIT CAPTAIN AMERICA

AVENGERS: MECH STRIKE (HASBRO)

“Captain America gears up in a massive, high-powered mech strike suit combat the evil Thanos!”

With a lack of actual Avengers movies to tie into at the moment, as well as a general lack of other Avengers things to really go for (since the game didn’t exactly do the business that they were hoping for), this year, the Avengers are getting a more specifically toy-geared push, with the Mech Strike branding.  It’s a pretty simple concept, really: the Avengers are all getting big robo-suits.  I know.  It’s a real high-art concept, to be sure.  I like the Avengers, and I also like big robo-suits, so I don’t hate the idea.  I’m looking at one of the resulting toys today, with Ultimate Mech Suit Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultimate Mech Suit Captain America is part of Hasbro’s wider-range Avengers: Mech Strike line, which starting showing up at retail in the last month or so.  There are a few different price points for the figures, with Cap and the corresponding Iron Man both being at the mid-range $20 price point.  These figures are a whole figure and mech-suit set-up, which really gives the whole intended experience, I feel.  The core Captain America figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 15 points of articulation.  He’s a pretty basic Captain America, following the general look of the “house style Cap” we’ve been seeing since the MCU took off.  It’s pretty decently designed, and there are a lot of smaller details on the uniform that make him pretty fun.  He’s also pretty posable.  Obviously, he’s not quite Legends material or anything, but all of the basics are covered.  The only thing I could really drag him on is the lack of waist joint, but that’s fairly minor.  There are a few ports worked into the sculpt, as well, which are mainly used for giving him spots to attach the included shield.  They’re not too jarring, and generally fit well with the overall aesthetic of the core design.  His paint’s on the rather basic side, but it’s enough to get the job done.  The basic red, white, and blue is all there, and the application’s mostly pretty clean.  The reds are a little sloppier, but it’s admittedly a more difficult color to get consistent.  There are definitely some sculpted details that get left unpainted, especially on the blue sections, but this is kind of expected, what with the style and price point.  This core figure’s primary function, of course, isn’t really to be seen.  Instead, he’s supposed to be the pilot of the aforementioned “Ultimate Mech Suit.”  The fully suited up figure stands about 7 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation, all of which are contained in the arms.  It’s not exceedingly posable, largely due to it being more or less a shell that folds over the main Cap figure.  The arms are, at least, able to get some movement, but he’s otherwise a rather static, and also rather chunk boi.  The design’s honestly pretty appealing, at least to me.  It’s a big, bulky, and appropriately spangle-y mecha, with very clean line-work.  It feels a little bit Ultra Magnus-y to me, but that may be me filling in some things I want to see.  Wouldn’t mind him getting some killer shoulder pylons, though.  The only slight trouble to how the design of the thing works is that there’s nothing to be done with Cap’s arms once he’s in the mecha; they just kind of hang there, which looks a little silly.  Fortunately, they do blend in alright with the sides of the mecha’s torso, if you just wrap them around.  Still, it would have been nice to see them come up with something a little bit more clever.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had only a passing familiarity with this line when I got a text from Max a few weeks ago, informing me that he had been in a Captain America mood, which had led him to pick this figure up.  It certainly looked nifty, but I wasn’t in a major rush to get one of my own.  Upon talking to Max a little more about it, it turned out he wasn’t really feeling it as much as he’d hoped to, so he asked if I wanted it for a good deal.  I had just put together a whole shelf of my Captain America stuff, so I had a place to put it, which I guess was as good a reason as any to take it off Max’s hands.  Ultimately, it’s still not something I think I would have picked up for myself, largely due to not really being in the main target market for this line.  That being said, I do like it now that I have it, and I can’t really knock it’s cool factor.  And how many times are we going to get a cool Captain America Mecha?  Okay, probably a lot going forward, but this one’s still cool.

#2775: B-127

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B-127

TRANSFORMERS: STUDIO SERIES (HASBRO)

While the majority of this year’s Studio Series offerings are based on Transformers: The Movie, there are still a few of the live-action film designs worked in.  For the most part, that’s not so much for me, but my one exception to that rule comes in the form of Bumblebee, the only one of the live-action Transformers movies I actually liked and would want own any real product from.  The film’s smaller cast means there aren’t a *ton* of potential figures, but the main robots from the film all have a few different looks to choose from.  Specifically, our titular ‘bot gets four notable looks.  So far, we’ve gotten his VW Bug look and his Jeep look, and the Camaro look’s been covered by other films, so the one notable one missing was his Cybertronian appearance.  So, without further ado, let’s look at B-127!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

B-127 is figure 70 in the Studio Series line-up, and is one of two figures in the latest Deluxe Class assortment of the line (the other one being Dino from Dark of the Moon).  He’s the line’s eighth figure based on Bumblebee, and will be shortly joined by the Cybertronian Starscream.  In his robot mode, B-127 stands 4 1/2 inches tall and has 16 workable points of articulation.  Structurally, B-127 is almost entirely re-use, as was sort of expected.  He’s a new head on Ciffjumper’s body.  Since Cliffjumper’s body was based on Bee’s Cybertronian appearance, it was something we all knew was coming, and also something that’s totally warranted.  It helps that it’s also just a rather nice mold.  The head gives us Bee’s armored up attack mode look, which pairs off nicely with the standard robot-faced Bee head we got on Offroad Bumblebee.  While for more of a screen accurate set-up, they should probably be reversed for the two modes, I’m personally pretty happy with how they’re set-up.  Also, they can be swapped, if you’re interested in such a thing. Bee’s alt-mode is the exact same Cybertronian car mode that Cliffjumper had, which again makes sense, since it was technically Bee’s first.  It’s not a bad design, and the transformation’s pretty easy to work with.  Like the other two derivations of this mold, B-127 includes a blaster attachment for his arm.  Nothing fancy, but it’s certainly useful.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to get this guy when he was first shown off.  I already had Cliffjumper and Jeep Bumblebee, so he’s a little bit on the redundant side, I suppose.  However, once I saw him in hand, I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely he’d turned out, and I especially like that new head.  Sure, he doesn’t turn into a Jeep, but I suppose I can’t hold that against every non-Jeep Bumblebee, can I?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2774: Zartan

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

ZARTAN

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Man, who would have guessed that a master of disguise would be so hard to find?  What is he, good at this job or something?  I mean, come to think of it, what if Zartan’s actually been in my collection the whole time?  I did have two Snake Eyeses floating around at the beginning there…

Joining the line in 1983, Zartan’s been a pretty consistent fixture of the G.I. Joe franchise ever since, cementing himself as one of the most distinctive baddies, right up there with Cobra Commander and Destro.  He’s found himself in every re-interpretation of the franchise since, right down to being one of the few carry-over characters in both of the live-action films.  How about that?  His name’s been high on most-wanted lists since Classified was launched, and now he’s finally here…as much as any of the Classified releases are here, anyway.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zartan is figure 26 in the G.I. Joe: Classified line, and was technically in the same assortment as the Cobra Infantry figure.  However, as of this time, they seem to only be shipping in separate solid cases, rather than assortment cases like previous (and later) line-ups.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Zartan’s articulation scheme is the same one we’ve grown accustomed to for the line; it’s a good set-up, and I really have no issues with it, so no complaints there.  Zartan looks to be an entirely new sculpt, at least from what I can tell.  Given his non-standard design, it’s not a huge shock, I suppose.  Speaking of design, Zartan’s definitely cut from the Destro styling here, going for something quite close to his very distinctive V1 design, just with some of the very specific smaller details changed, for the sake of the larger canvas to work with.  It’s a good design, and definitely reads well for Zartan.  It’s nice that they went for the classic Zartan, rather than trying to mix things up, because prior lines have tried, and it rarely goes well.  The construction on the figure is rather similar to the others in the line, with lots of separate overlay pieces and the like.  It gives him a nice layered appearance, but it also results in a figure that’s a little less sturdy than I might like.  The hood and scarf (which appears to be a re-use from the Viper) are nice, but they lack any actual way to affix them to the figure, which means they move around a lot, and pop out of place, which can be rather frustrating.  Likewise, as cool as it is that they included the monkey’s paw and the snake head, the fact that they’re separate pieces means that they fall off, making them easily lost (I’ve already lost the snake somewhere, because I didn’t notice it had popped off until after the fact).  Additionally, while the armor on the chest is cool, the fact that the shoulder pads are just attached to it, rather than using the separate attachment like we saw on Baroness and Storm Shadow does feel like a slight step down, and makes posing a little more restricted.  Ultimately, it’s a sculpt that looks very nice, but he’s nowhere near as fun to mess with as some of the other figures.  In terms of paint work, he’s generally pretty good.  He’s very brown, which is right for the character.  The eyes do seem a little wonky on mine, as they did on all of the copies I was able to look at.  It’s not the end of the world, I suppose.  Otherwise, the application’s all pretty good.  He does lack the color changing feature he was originally advertised with, it should be noted, because Hasbro has supposedly lost the recipe for the vintage figure’s plastic.  Zartan is packed with a small gun, a knife, a back pack, and a mask patterned after the one included with the original figure.  Interestingly, while Zartan now has pupils (which the vintage figure did not), the mask doesn’t (which the original did).  I don’t know how convincing a disguise that’s going to be, Zartan.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Zartan was supposed to hit early in the year, but he seemed to be struck by quite a few delays (likely due in part to the plastic thing), so I had more of a wait on him than the Trooper that was shown alongside him, whom I got back in February.  I actually wound up getting Zartan a whole month after the the Flint and Lady Jaye I just looked at the last two days, even.  Ultimately, after all that waiting, I was a little bit underwhelmed by the figure, I think.  He’s not bad, but he’s not quite as good as I’d hoped.  Still, he looks good with the rest of the line, so I’ll be fine with sticking him on the shelf and just leaving him there.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2773: Flint

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

FLINT

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

First arriving in the toy line in 1985, alongside his usual compatriot Lady Jaye, the Joes’ Chief Warrant Officer, Flint, was another character that had been introduced just prior to his inclusion in the line, first appearing in 1984 on the cartoon.  Flint’s a character that can easily wind up as very similar to Duke, and has in a few instances (G.I. Joe: Retalliation being a prominent example) just been a sort of a Duke replacement.  I find the character works best as a foil to Duke, but that’s just me.  Whatever the case, I like Flint, and I’ve already looked at Lady Jaye, so I’m pretty much obligated to look at Flint, too.  Let’s do that now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flint is figure 26 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up, hitting in the same assortment that also gave us yesterday’s Lady Jaye.  As I brought up with that figure, Flint’s actually a non-exclusive item, which is still something of a novelty in this line.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Flint’s design calls back to the character’s V1 design, but is slightly more tweaked than Jaye was, owing both to some actual updates to the design, and also to a healthy helping of re-used parts.  Following in the steps of the 25th Anniversary Flint, this figure uses the line’s version of Duke as it’s starting point.  It’s not a bad idea, and Duke has in general been serving as a basis for a lot of the line’s figures, since he’s rather on the basic side.  Add in that Flint and Duke just generally have similar design elements, and it’s even more sensible.  The only notable change-up is that, like the Viper, the sleeves aren’t rolled up high enough for a classic Flint appearance.  Ultimately, it’s not a major change-up, though, and the overall read of his design still has the same broad strokes.  Beyond the changes brought by the shared Duke parts, Flint’s design follows the general set-up of a lot of the line’s updated designs, taking the classic Flint look, but re-envisioning the exact purpose of certain elements.  Notably, his classic suspenders are now a full selection of chest armor, with the internal pieces being black plating, to match with the shirt’s visual appearance.  He also gains the armor on his lower legs, matching up with most of the other Joes.  Following in the footsteps of a few of the later 3 3/4 inch Flints, this version has a removable beret.  It’s a pretty nice piece, and kind of surprisingly, it’s not a re-use of the one that came with Beach Head.  It’s sits closely and securely on the head.  Said head is a pretty nice sculpt in its own right.  While I saw a touch of a John Cena resemblance in the Duke sculpt, I’m rescinding that comment, and applying it to Flint instead, because it’s even more there for him.  The paint work on Flint is generally pretty decent.  He’s got the face printing, which even features a small scar over his eye (the opposite eye from Duke), and an impressive fade on the edges of his hair.  Beyond that, the base paint work is all pretty sharply and cleanly applied.  Flint is slightly lighter on the accessories than some of the other Joes, but he still gets his shotgun and pistol.  The pistol’s the same one included with Duke, which is reasonable enough.  The shotgun’s a fun piece, and even has a hinge in the middle for opening it up.  Definitely a solid weapon set-up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m big on having both Lady Jaye and Flint together, so I was pretty happy when the two of them were announced for the line at the same time.  Likewise, I was definitely down to pick up the two of them together at the same time.  Flint’s more by the numbers than Jaye was, so he’s not quite breaking the same ground.  That being said, I’d put him at least on par with, if not maybe a little better than, Beach Head, who was previously my personal favorite from the line.  As it stands, these two are a killer pair, and definitely the highlight of the line for me so far.  I’m hopeful this is a trend for the line this year, alongside the whole them also being standard releases.  That would be a nice trend, too.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2772: Lady Jaye

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

LADY JAYE

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

G.I. Joe: Classified Series has certainly had a kind of a rough start.  The line’s certainly far from a failure, and was honestly one of Hasbro’s hottest lines last year.  The trouble is that it’s so darn hard to actually collect it, since more than half of the releases last year were actually hard to find exclusives (and even the non-exclusive hasn’t been overly plentiful, either).  Fortunately, 2021 looks to at least be trying to keep a little more of it in the main line, so hopefully that might help with some of the distribution issues.  I managed to get my hands on some of the most recent figures, so I’m going to be jumping into things with a look at one of my favorite Joes, Lady Jaye!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lady Jaye is figure 25 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line.  She’s a main line release, not exclusive to any specific retailers, and is, along with Flint, one of two new figures in the latest assortment of the line.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 36 points of articulation.  Jaye’s articulation scheme marks a notable change from and improvement upon the articulation set-up for prior female figures in the line.  Where both Scarlet and Baroness had more restricted movement than their male counterparts, Lady Jaye actually pretty much just matches the male articulation, right down to keeping the double joints on the elbows, which have previously proved problematic implementing on female figures, due to the smaller arms.  Fortunately, they’ve taken advantage of their new pinless construction joints in order to help the arms look not only more seamless, but also be more stable in terms of construction.  It really works well, and makes her even more fun to play around with.  Lady Jaye’s design is actually a fairly faithful recreation of her classic V1 look from ’85.  Admittedly, her original, rather utilitarian design is one of those ones that lends itself best to modernization, so it still looks fine in the updated setting of the new Joes.  All of the elements of the original design remain present, with some extra details added in to help to fill out the larger canvas just a bit more.  So, she’s bee granted a few extra panels of detailing on her fatigues, as well as a few more armored elements on her legs, to match the rest of the line a little more.  As a send-up to the V1 figure, Jaye has her hat, of course, but that’s the one element she notably lacked in the cartoon.  In order to give collectors both options, Jaye has a removable hat, but not quite the way you’d expect; it’s actually a whole wig that comes off of the figure’s head, which makes it look a lot better proportioned to the head.  I was a touch concerned about it falling off easily, but it actually stays in place securely, and adds a lot of extra display versatility to the figure.  The rest of the sculpt is a pretty impressive summation of the character as seen in various media over the years, and that facial expression in particular feels pretty spot on.  Jaye’s paint work is, as expected for the character, pretty reserved, but a good match for her usual look.  She’s got the printed face work again, which looks quite nice, and they’ve placed a couple of insignias, in order to help spice things up a bit, I guess.  It’s all quite nice work.  Lady Jaye’s accessory selection is pretty decent.  In addition to the previously mentioned alternate hair pieces, she’s got her usual javelin set-up, which in this case is a multiple piece construction, which can be disassembled and reconfigured.  It’s made up of two actual javelins, with three different heads to swap around between them, as well as the actual hand held mechanism of it all, which can hold one javelin, while the other, as well as the two tips not in use, can be stowed on her back pack.  Said back pack also has an articulated arm featuring a camera at the top, calling back to the original figure’s separate spy camera piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Given her prominence in the old cartoons, Lady Jaye has long been one of my favorites when it comes to Joes, so I was definitely happy to hear her name get leaked early on for this line-up, and I was even happier when she was shown off, because she sure did look pretty cool.  I was very fortunate to be able to snag her from one of All Time’s early cases of the wave, and I have to say, in hand, she may very well be the line’s most impressive figure.  What she does, she does very well.  Hasbro’s really set a new standard with this one.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2771: Ryu & Akuma

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

RYU & AKUMA

STREET FIGHTER II MINIMATES

2005 into 2006 marked a rather turbulent time for the Minimates brand.  DST and Art Asylum were definitely trying to expand it, but there was some trouble with that.  Attempts to add DC and Lord of the Rings kind of fell through, so a desire for other licenses to replace them was building.  Marvel, still the flagship line, went on hiatus for over a year, while they tried to regroup on other licenses.  In early 2006, they attempted to get into the video game character market with Minimates based on the classic fighting game Street Fighter II, hoping that might be the thing that took off and saved the line.  Spoilers: it wasn’t.  In the line’s one and only assortment, we got some of the game’s heavy hitters, which included today’s figures, Ryu and Akuma!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ryu and Akuma were released in the standard retail assortment of Street Fighter II Minimates.  The two of them were based on their standard Player 1 colors, but there was also an AFX-exclusive variant pack that put them in their P2 colors, as well as changing up their expressions.  The standard versions also surfaced overseas as part of a blind-box assortment, which also featured the P2 colors, but this time without the changed expressions.

RYU

Ryu, one of two character’s carried over from the first game, is arguably the star of the Street Fighter series, so he’s certainly a sensible choice for the line-up.  He’s seen here in his standard white gi with red accents set-up.  The figure was built on the standard base body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He has four add-on pieces, for his hair, the bottom of his robe, and his hand bracers.  It’s honestly a pretty nice selection of parts, and matches up pretty well with his in-game sprite, while still helping him remain consistent with the overall ‘mate aesthetic.  There’s still some flow and expression to the parts, but they aren’t overly detailed like some later parts would be.  His details are handled largely through paint work, of course, and it’s pretty nicely done.  The face has just enough detail to really capture the character, and his body is well defined.  I appreciate that they’ve gone to the trouble of actually outline the edges of his sleeves and pants, so that they’re a little more defined.  Interestingly, like Spider-Woman from last week, Ryu is totally painted.  It looks nice, so I can’t really complain.  Ryu is packed with a blue effects piece, presumably meant to replicate his Haduken attack, which makes for some fun posing options.

AKUMA

Facing off against Ryu is the game’s hidden final boss, Akuma, a pretty solid opponent for Ryu.  He’s built rather similarly to Ryu, which is honestly appropriate.   The only part that’s actually shared between the two is the arm bracer piece, which works well for both of them.  His hair is obviously a new piece, as is the skirt piece, which they could have probably gotten away with re-using, but they didn’t, so good for them.  He also gets a new piece for the necklace as well, which is something that could have been painted on, but wasn’t, and is honestly the better for it.  The hair’s a little bit devoid of detail, which makes it look a little wonky, but for the most part it looks okay.  The detail work on this guy is a good match for Ryu, and he is likewise totally painted.  I appreciate that they actually changed up the tampo for the torso detailing, as that’s another area where they didn’t *have* to change it.  Akuma is packed with the same effects piece as Ryu, but in purple instead of blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The SFII Minimates line was one I really wanted to support, but it was one that I unfortunately didn’t really see in person.  The only ones I ever found were the P2 colors for these two, which got clearance out at KB toys of all places.  Interestingly, my Ryu from that set was erroneously the single pack version, so I never had the changed up expression for him.  I eventually got the chance to get the proper P1 versions when All Time got in that big Minimates collection back in 2019, which I was pretty happy about.  These two are well made to be sure, and it’s a shame the line didn’t take off the way DST hoped they would.

#2770: Robin

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

ROBIN

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

What good’s Batman without his trusty sidekick?  Well, classically, a very lonely, lonely hero indeed.  So, in an effort to not let him be too lonely, toy companies do tend to produce at least one Robin to go along with most Batmen.  Such was the case with Kenner’s Super Powers, which took advantage of Robin’s placement amongst the pseudo Justice League line-up of the Super Friends in order to include him early on in the line’s run, with a figure I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin was part of the first series of Super Powers in 1984.  Dick Grayson had given up the mantle in the comics at this point, and with his successor Jason Todd taking up the title the prior year.  Dick even took on his Nightwing name the same year as this figure’s release.  However, all of this was still a recent enough development that Dick was still more clearly associated with the identity, hence the figure’s bio still identifying him as Dick, and him very clearly being based on a slightly later career Grayson.  The figure stands just under 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s got that same articulation set-up as the other figures; if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  Like last week’s Flash figure, Robin marks another really noticeable change in build, being demonstrably smaller and less built up than the other heroes featured in the first series.  It actually makes him look a bit more like a teenager (albeit a very athletic one), which is definitely a plus.  The overall design for the character looks pretty decent; the face definitely follows the Super Friends look for him, which certainly works well for the character.  His outfit is nicely detailed as well, with some rather nice work on the scaled shorts in particular.  Robin’s cape is, like the rest of the line, cloth, though he’s also got the collar to his cape sculpted onto his torso.  It makes him look  a little bit goofy, I suppose, with the plastic clip in the cape sitting above it, but it’s not terrible.  Robin’s paint work is pretty straight forward for Robin.  All of the basics are covered, and he’s bright and eye-catching.  The hair and the tips of the feet are definitely the most prone to wear on this guy, but not quite as bad as, say, Flash’s nose.  Robin’s action feature is his “Power Action Karate Chop.”  Squeezing his legs brings his right arm down.  It works well with the sculpted pose on the hand, and feels pretty well-matched to the character.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Robin, like Flash and Superman before him, was a character who went through an upgrade in my Super Powers collection, since my first one was actually the Toy Biz release, which is probably one of the closest matches, honestly.  That one, which I got from a Balticon dealer’s table during a trip with my dad, was ultimately replaced by the proper Kenner release I reviewed here, when I fished him out of a loose figure bin at Baltimore Comic Con a few years later.  Whichever figure you’re looking at, this is really the best Dick Grayson Robin figure out there, and fits with Super Powers’ overall quintessential feel once again.

#2769: R5-D4

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

R5-D4

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A red astromech droid, R5-D4 thought he’d found a home when the Jawas sold him to Owen Lars, along with the protocol droid C-3PO. But R5’s motivator blew as he rolled away from the sandcrawler, forcing the Jawas to take him back in exchange for R2-D2.”

The Mandalorian has had a number of returning characters from elsewhere in the Star Wars mythos, some big returns, and some rather small.  On the small side was a character that’s easy to miss in both of his on-screen appearances.  A little less so in A New Hope, where R5-D4 is notably the astromech whose head blows up, prompting Owen and Luke to buy R2 instead, but it’s not like he gets name dropped there, or anything.  His reappearance in The Mandalorian almost feels like it could just be a similarly designed droid, until we see the back of him, revealing a small scorch mark where his motivator would have blown all those years prior.  It’s a nice little touch, and a welcome return for a character most people don’t even know exists.  As another astromech, R5 is prone to getting toys, since he can frequently make use of R2 parts.  That was the case for today’s offering, which is the Black Series version of the character.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R5-D4 was released in 2017, as part of the vintage-carded-styled A New Hope 40th Anniversary sub-set of Black Series figures.  R5 was a GameStop exclusive, but was also available through Think Geek, due to their partnership at the time.  It so far marks his only time getting a Black Series release.  The figure’s just over 4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  His movement set-up is the same as R2’s, which tracks, since he’s largely the same collection of pieces as R2.  Like I said, frequently makes use of R2 parts.  It’s film accurate, so it’s not like it’s a bad idea or anything.  The notable change-up here is on the head, which swaps out R2’s dome for the more cylindrical set-up that R5 had going on.  It melds well with the pre-existing parts, and is generally a pretty nice piece in its own right.  R5’s paint work was notably a bit better than the basic R2 we had at this point, since in addition to getting a pretty solid selection of base color work, he also got a little bit of accenting on the white sections of the body in order to make him look a little grimy from being on Tatooine all those years.  It’s actually pretty minor, and a very good sample of work from Hasbro, especially for this era.  The weirdest part is the one stripe of reflective coloring on the head, which is actually a decal.  I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t look bad, and it’s in a spot where it being a decal’s not going to be quite as detrimental.  Unlike the first two releases of R2, which had a ton of accessories, R5 is barebones, with nothing beyond just himself in the package.  It definitely feels light, but then again, I have no clue what exactly you would give R5.  The ’90s opted for missiles, but that’s out of place these days, I suppose.  What a shame.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

R5 is a figure I came very close to buying new.  I saw him at the Think Geek in a mall in Seattle in the summer of 2017, and thought very seriously about buying him, since I’ve always liked him and all, but money was tight at the time, and I had already bought other stuff that day, so I wound up passing.  I never saw him again, and always kicked myself for not picking him up.  So, when this guy came into All Time a few months back, I jumped at the chance to get him, especially after his return appearance on The Mandalorian.  He’s not a figure that does a ton new, I suppose, but that’s just generally R5.  He’s still pretty darn nifty, and a little bit more unique than just another R2.  He’s a real sleeper figure for me.  You don’t expect to be all that impressed by him, but he’ll catch you off guard, in a rather subtle sort of way.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this guy for review.  If you’re looking for Black Series, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2768: Tusken Raider

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

TUSKEN RAIDER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES ARCHIVE (HASBRO)

“Fearsome desert savages, Tusken Raiders are the foremost reason Tatooine colonists do not wander far from their isolated communities.”

The Mandalorian gets a lot of credit for finally actually doing something worth while with Boba Fett and thereby making all the fuss around him finally worth it, but for me, it’s biggest tale of redemption lies not with Boba, but with Tatooine’s largely unexplored nomad populace, the Tusken Raiders.  The films portray them as little more than savages, generally a purely malevolent force.  The beat up Luke, shoot at Anakin, and murder Shmi….not exactly in that order.  Even when Anakin slaughters an entire camp of them, we’re largely meant to be concerned with the effect said killing has on Anakin, not looking into the horrific slaughtering of a camp that just occurred.  In The Mandalorian, we not only have our first non-antagonist interaction with the Raiders in the mainstream cannon, but also see our first “heroic” character that doesn’t immediately treat them as horrific monsters.  Din’s brief communication with them in Season 1 demonstrates that they do in fact have a language of their own (just a largely non-verbal one, which was a fascinating change), but also hints at something more complex to their culture than violent acts.  Season 2 delves even further, giving us a closer look at their true nature, and even allowing them to actually be good guys for a change.  Perfect time for a re-issue of their Black Series figure, I’d say!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Tusken Raider is part of the fourth assortment of The Black Series Archive.  This whole assortment is dedicated to reissuing army builders, specifically ones that have some new found prominence courtesy of The Mandalorian.  The Raider re-releases the one that showed up twice before, both in 2017, once as part of the main line, and once as part of the 40th Anniversary for A New Hope.  All three figures are effectively the same, especially with no need for updated face printing and the like.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme is definitely a product of it’s time; he’s pretty much got the same set-up as the ANH Obi-Wan, so the elbows are slightly restricted in movement, and the legs are kind of encased in the plastic skirt.  It’s not the end of the world, though, and it’s certainly not the worst the line had.  In fact, it’s pretty useful, once you kind of reset yourself back to how the articulation was earlier in the line.  Fortunately, though the sculpt may be older, the actual sculpting work is really top notch.  It definitely ranks very highly on the scale of Hasbro’s sculpts for this line, with the work on the head in particular being a fantastic example of realistic detailing at this scale.  It really does a spot-on job of capturing the Tusken’s head gear as seen in the movies.  The rest of the sculpt isn’t too bad itself, detailing the various layers to the clothing, as well as the smaller work on the bandoliers and belt.  It’s all topped off with a cloth robe piece, which melds well with the sculpted elements, and also adds a bit more flowiness to the design.  Technically, you can remove the robe, but I opted not to get into that, as it didn’t look very easy to get back in place properly.  The paint work on the Raider is pretty decent work.  The base work is generally pretty clean (although there’s a little slop on the edges of the bandoliers), and there’s a fair bit of accent work on the wraps, which does a nice job of bringing out the sculpted details.  Given Hasbro’s tendency to skimp on some of the painted details for this line, it’s nice that they went the extra mile here.  The Raider is packed with a selection of extras that’s definitely designed with optimal army building in mind.  He’s got a rifle, as well as a Gaderffii stick with three different attachments for the top, allowing for some customization.  Both pieces are easy for him to hold, and are nicely detailed items in their own right.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed out on the first two releases of this figure, since 2017 was kind of a lighter year for me in terms of income, and subsequently in terms of buying as well.  At the time, I didn’t really feel like I needed the Tusken Raider, so I didn’t feel terribly as if I’d missed out.  Their appearances on The Mandalorian gave me a new appreciation for them, so I was definitely glad to get another chance with this re-release.  The figure’s a very nice one, and was definitely one of 2017’s best sculpts.  Even now, it’s no slouch.  I didn’t know what I was missing, but now that I do, I’m very happy to have added this one to my collection.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for Black Series, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2767: Mandalorian Loyalist

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

MANDALORIAN LOYALIST

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“When Darth Maul betrayed and defeated Pre Vizsla, Death Watch splintered into two groups. Those who wanted to embrace Mandalore’s warrior heritage remained loyal to Maul.”

Okay, so, I can’t help but feel that the bio above would actually be more appropriate for the *other* Mandalorian trooper from this particular set.  You know, the one that was a figure of one of the Mandos that actually was loyal to Maul?  Rather than this guy, who is clearly meant to be one of the Mandalorians who sticks with Bo-Katan and is on the “heroic” side of the Siege of Mandalore?  Oh, god, I’m critiquing bios again.  I gotta stop letting myself do that!  I’m probably really messing hardcore with some poor copy writer at Hasbro who’s just trying to do their best.  Why can’t I just leave them alone?  It’s just toys!  And it’s not even the part of toys that anyone really cares about, either!  …I mean, not that it’s not a very important part of the job.  You go, copy writer!  …Where was I?  Ah, yes, action figure review.  Yes.  Let’s do that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Mandalorian Loyalist is figure #04 in the Clone Wars sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series Phase IV.  He’s part of the Walmart-exclusive four figure assortment based on the final arc of The Clone Wars.  The set hit shelves last fall, in theory at least, though in practice most people are still waiting.  As touched on above, this figure is based on the armor worn by the Mandos that remained loyal to Bo-Katan, and kept their slightly more heroic looking blues and greys.  It’s not as ornate as the Super Commando, but it’s about function over form, I’d imagine.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Structurally, this figure is virtually identical to his Maul-supporting equivalent.  That means he too is built from a lot of Jango’s parts.  It’s still a clunkier body than what we’re used to these days, but after now having two Mandos built on it, I’m warming a bit more to its overall look.  Perhaps it just works a little better for this particular design.  He doesn’t get the updated shoulders from the last one, instead keeping Jango’s less pointy ones.  He keeps the modified belt and upper legs of the Super Commando, which brings him more in line with the animation designs.  His only truly unique piece is his helmet, which is similar to the Super Commando one, but without all the horns.  Like I noted above, this new helmet’s not super showy or anything, but it gets the job done, and it does look nice.  The paint work on the Loyalist is what really separates him from the Super Commando.  He’s a lot bluer, and a lot more subdued, but it’s a good look.  There’s some solid work on the weathering for his armor, as well as the markings on each of his shoulders.  There are a lot of details on this one that are easy to miss.  The Loyalist is packed with the same accessories as the Super Commando: a jetpack borrowed from Jango and a pair of pistols borrowed from Sabine.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t really have a ton of luck with this assortment at retail.  Max was able to set me up with the Super Commando, but I saw none of the others.  That certainly bummed me out, because, ideally, I kind of wanted the whole set.  This guy was probably my second most wanted figure of the bunch, so I was hoping for another shot.  Fortunately, he came in with the same trade that netted me the Clone Lieutenant I reviewed yesterday, making the whole “getting him” part that much easier!  This figure surprised me a little bit.  I wasn’t let down by the Super Commando or anything, but after getting him, I expected very little from this one.  I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely he turned out, and by how much work Hasbro put into this seemingly more basic design.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’re looking for Black Series, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.