Monthly Archives: October 2023

#3182: Elektra Natchios Daredevil

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

ELEKTRA NATCHIOS DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Martial artist and former assassin Elektra Natchios dedicates herself to fighting crime under the mantle of Daredevil when Matt Murdock is sent to prison”

So, it’s Halloween, and it’s usually a time for spooky and scary stuff, but, uhh, I don’t know, I guess I’m not overly feeling it?  Or perhaps I’m reeling from the horror of the very real passage of time and the changes that it brings!  OOOOOOOOOOOO!  SCARY! …Is that it?  Is that doing it for you?  Eh, close enough.  So, yeah, in any sort of serialized fiction, even long-running fiction with a bit of a status quo, there’s always a degree of change and growth.  Over in the Daredevil comics, Elektra has gone from being a rather deadly master assassin to dead to back again to Skrull to back again to actually heroic character, carrying on the mantle of Daredevil while Matt’s been off doing his own thing.  It’s the most recent turn that’s actually finally gotten me to care about Elektra in any way whatsoever.  And that’s perhaps the scariest thing of all.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Elektra Natchios Daredevil is part of the latest retro card series of Spide-Man Marvel Legends, which is notably a very modern series of figures almost across the board.  So modern, in fact, that most of the figures aren’t even on properly retro style packaging, Elektra included.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation.  Her movement is about what you’d expect from a Legends release at this stage.  Some of the joints are a little stiff, and I wouldn’t mind more range on the mid-torso joint, but she generally moves pretty well.  Elektra’s sculpt is an all-new one, handled by Rene Aldrete.  It’s generally pretty solid.  Her look and build is consistent with the standard Elektra from back in the Sp//dr Series, and the details from her new look definitely work well.  I dig the detailing on the hand and feet wraps, and the slight dynamic flow to the loin cloth and scarf is very fun.  If I have one minor complaint, it’s that we only get the one scarf piece, which is covering her face (as it does by default in the comics), meaning you can’t really see her lower face sculpt without taking it off, thereby throwing off her whole look.  But, if we’re only getting one scarf, this is the direction I’d prefer for them to go.  Elektra’s color work is pretty decent.  It’s not really anything crazy; just a lot of red and black, which is accurate to the source material.  A lot of it’s molded, so that’s very clean.  What paint work she gets is also very clean, and I do quite like the shading on the eyes.  Elektra is packed with her twin sais, which are the same ones from the last couple of releases.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in the intro, I’ve never been much of an Elektra fan.  She’s just really never clicked with me in any sort of way.  Not even her portrayal on the Daredevil show turned me around, and that’s the show that got me to like the Punisher.  So, when they moved her into the Daredevil role, I was skeptical…and then I actually started to like her, which was downright baffling to me.  I kind of *had* to buy the figure version at that point.  She’s fun.  I do wish she had an alternate scarf and maybe an extra unmasked head, but ultimately, even as just the core figure, I do really like 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.

#3181: Supergirl

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

SUPERGIRL

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

One of the goals of DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths was to streamline not just the DC universe as a whole, but also the background of its most popular characters. For Superman, this meant cutting out much of his “Super-family.” His cousin Supergirl died during the events of the crossover, and wasn’t granted an immediate replacement, so as to keep Clark as the “Last Son of Krypton.” In the comics, there were a few other workarounds to keep the Supergirl name going, largely overhauling the whole concept of the character, but for Superman: The Animated Series, they tried to keep her as close to the original, while still playing by DC’s rules.  So, she was no longer Kal-El’s biological cousin from Argo City, a remnant of Krypton which survived.  Instead, she was the last survivor of Argo, Krypton’s sister planet, thrown into chaos by Krypton’s destruction.  Not the worst change-up in the world, right?  And she got an action figure out of the whole thing too!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Supergirl was released in Series 4 of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series line-up.  After Series 3 got only an international release, Series 4 was set to follow suit, but Kenner was able to make a deal with Diamond Distributors to at least get the series to comic stores on the domestic side, saving this set from the same weird delay that hit Series 3.  She would also eventually see a larger domestic release under Hasbro’s tenure, when she was re-released with some minor tweaks, alongside her series-mates Bizarro and Metello, in the “Super Heroes vs Super Villains” boxed set.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and she has 4 points of articulation.  None of her articulation is great, honestly.  The neck is restricted by her hair, her right arm is restricted by the action feature, and she’s got no movement at all below the waist.  Pretty much, she’s just good for standing…although, with no movement on the legs at all, she’s not always so great at that either.  Her sculpt was a totally unique one, and it only got re-used for the one boxed set release later.  None of the STAS sculpts were strictly show accurate, and Kara definitely falls in line with that.  Honestly, it’s not bad.  She generally looks the part from the show, with the only major inaccuracy being the shaping of the skirt; it’s one of those odd things that was common for this line, where they added extra details that they didn’t actually need, with all the folds and flow.  The paint work on the standard release of this figure was pretty straight forward and on point for her design from the show.  For the boxed set version, however, they cut the black piping for the edges of the shirt, which makes her look sort of half finished.  Supergirl was packed with “Aerial Assault Armor,” which is essentially just a snap-on version of Superman’s space suit from the show.  She never wore any such thing, but it’s actually a pretty fun concept, and nicely executed too.  She even gets funky missile launchers!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed out on most of Series 4 as a kid.  I remember seeing them, but they were always back behind the counter at various comic book stores, and always over priced for what they were.  I recall picking up a loose copy of the boxed set release some time after its release, shortly after discovering All Time Toys in 2007.  That one held me over until I was able to get a proper Series 4 version, also from All Time, this past summer.  She’s not a very mobile figure, but she’s a pretty solid recreation of the show design, and at least she wasn’t just another Superman variant.

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.

#3180: Web Armor Spider-Man

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

WEB ARMOR SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL MINIMATES

“Developed in the Empire State University labs, this short-lived protective armor was created by Spider-Man to protect the wall-crawler from powerful projectile bullets and other dangerous attacks.”

First appearing in Web of Spider-Man #100, Spidey’s first iteration of his Spider-Armor was a short-lived one, not even making it to the end of its first appearance.  It’s distinctive design and the rather memorable cover to its one appearance have helped to cement it as a recurring Spidey-variant, leading to its inclusion in a lot of different toylines.  That includes Marvel Minimates, whose take on the design I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Web Armor Spider-Man was an Action Figure Xpress-exclusive Marvel Minimates release, used as a free-with-purchase incentive starting in November of 2007.  They actually had him for a notable amount of time, and he was also eventually released in a TRU-exclusive two-pack, alongside the Thunderbolts Venom, in 2009.  He’s built on the standard post-C3 ‘mate body, so he’s 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Spidey is a totally vanilla ‘mate with no add-ons, so he relies entirely on paint for his detailing.  It’s a pretty solid paint set-up.  They managed to make the web-lines look distinctly different from the standard printed ones, giving it the impression of dimensions.  He also gets the printing on the feet, which was a rarity at the time, and even more of a rarity going forward.  Apart from the need for the knees to break up the boots due to where the articulation falls, it’s a very nice set-up.  Since he was a promo, Spidey didn’t get any accessories.  Not even that same web piece we got all those times.  Where could I possibly find one of those?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Somehow, despite making orders with AFX a good number of times, I seemed to miss the window on this guy, so I didn’t have him until a very long period of time after his two releases.  I finally managed to snag one as part of the large collection of ‘mates that All Time got in back in 2019.  He’s basic, but he’s fun, and I’m always down for a cool Spider-Armor figure.

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.

#3179: Gray Hulk & Dr. Bruce Banner

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

GRAY HULK & DR. BRUCE BANNER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Caught in the heart of a Gamma Bomb explosion, Dr. Bruce Banner now finds himself transformed when darkness falls, into the most powerful creature to walk the earth – the Incredible Hulk”

Did you know that the Hulk was gray when he first appeared?  Well, if you don’t, you really should; I mention it every time I review a figure of Gray Hulk.  It’s honestly because I’m not really sure what else to say about the look.  I mean, it’s all pretty cut and dry. He’s Hulk. He’s gray. Great choice for an anniversary year, so, he very often is. We got him for Marvel’s 80th in 2019, and now we’re getting him again for the Avengers’ 60th, this time with a comics styled Bruce Banner in tow!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gray Hulk and Dr. Bruce Banner are part of the “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” sub-line of Marvel Legends. They’re one of a handful of two-packs from the line-up, hitting the same price point as the similarly balanced deluxe/standard split Destroyer and Thor.

GRAY HULK

This is, I believe, our fourth Gray Hulk for Legends, not counting the Joe Fixit versions. It’s the third under Hasbro’s tenure, with the last one being the previously mentioned 80th anniversary one.  This guy is effectively just a slight tweak on that one.  The figure is 8 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  From the neck down, he’s identical to the two 80th Hulks.  It’s a good, solid base, with a strong articulation scheme and a nice, balanced set of proportions.  It’s been the go-to for Hulk since the 80th introduced it four years ago, and it’s a solid case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  This Hulk gets not one, but two brand-new head sculpts, both courtesy of Paul Harding.  One’s baring his teeth in a sort of a sneer, while the other is closed mouth, while still very pissed off.  These two are slightly cleaner, and a bit more Kirby-esque than the prior version.  The color work this time around is less nuanced than the prior version, relying more on flat molded colors, and less on much in the way of accent work.  It’s certainly a very clean set-up, which is more directly in-line with the coloring of the comics…you know, apart from the whole being a consistent shade of gray all the way through thing.  Gray Hulk is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture/gripping), the tattered shirt piece that the last one got (which still doesn’t stay on very securely), and the crushed pipe piece.

DR. BRUCE BANNER

Bruce Banner isn’t *crazy* rare when it comes to toys, but he’s not exactly super plentiful either.  This marks only his second time as a Legends release, and the first one was movie based.  In terms of comic coverage, the closest we got before this was the old Hulk Classics figure, which was vaguely Legends compatible, but not quite there.  This guy is clearly designed to match up with his box-mate’s Incredible Hulk #1-basis, what with the classic lab-coat and glasses appearance and all.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Banner’s largely just using the Coulson body, which works well enough, being a basic suited set-up and all.  He’s got Reed Richards’ labcoat in place of the usual suit jacket, as well as a brand-new head sculpt.  The new head is…well it feels just a touch too pretty for Bruce, I feel.  Like, it’s not bad, but it’s a bit young looking, and rather delicate.  He feels more like a model than a scientist.  Not to worry, though, because you can easily hide those good looks behind his super nerdy glasses, which are totally removable, and totally stay in place, and totally look really good.  I believe this also makes him the first Banner figure that’s not a Minimate to have the glasses, which is pretty darn nifty.  Bruce’s color scheme is slightly unconventional for him.  He tends to be all about those purple pants.  However, since he’s supposed to be matching with the Hulk from this set, he’s got blue pants and an orange shirt.  It’s different, but honestly doesn’t feel too odd for him.  The actual paint work is largely confined to the face, which is printed, and looks pretty clean.  Banner’s extras are limited to just those removable glasses (which, by the way, are very easy to miss in the box, so be careful with that).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I already had the 80th Grey Hulk, so I wasn’t necessarily looking for an upgrade.  That said, I didn’t have a suitable comics-style Bruce Banner, so that one at the very least piqued my interest.  Did I *want* to buy another Hulk to get him?  Maybe not.  But I did, and I honestly don’t mind it.  I like the new heads a lot, and I like Banner a lot, so I’m considering the whole thing an overall win.

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.

#3178: Edward “Torpedo” Leialoha

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

EDWARD “TORPEDO” LEIALOHA

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

“Torpedo was a scuba instructor prior to enlistment. Attained black belts in three martial arts by age 19 (Wu-Shu, Kenpo, and Go-Ju-Ryu). Proficient with Filipino butterfly knife(Bali-Song). Training records after SEAL School: CLASSIFIED. Qualified Expert: Most NATO small arms, NATO and Warsaw Pact explosive devices.

Spends off-duty hours perfecting his fighting skills and marksmanship. Strict vegetarian. Regarded by his teammates as a highly competent professional, but has the personality of a cold fish.”

The first year of G.I. Joe’s move to the 3 3/4-inch scale was without any environment-specific figures.  When you’re trying to revive a brand, you probably don’t want to potentially limit sales on any of your figures by tying them too heavily into a set-up that not every kid is going to have.  Year two, however, injected a little bit of that, though, and gave us our first of a few different underwater specialists, in the form of Torpedo.  He’s not as flashy as the likes of Wet-Suit and Deep-Six, but he was still the first, and he’s also the first of them to join Classified, with a figure I’m looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Edward “Torpedo” Leialoha is figure 73 in Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  At this point, they’ve moved away from actual assortments, instead just doing groupings of individual figures shipping in solid cases.  He’s a wide release figure, loosely grouped with Rock ‘n Roll and Copperhead.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation.  Torpedo is sporting an all-new sculpt, handled by sculptor Paul Harding.  It’s already been set for some re-use on the upcoming Action Sailer anniversary figure, which makes sense, it being a pretty basic frogman set-up and all.  He’s clearly patterned on Torpedo’s v1 release, but he absorbs some of the design elements introduced in the 25th Anniversary release, most notably the lack of a permanently affixed mask.  It’s a very strong sculpt; there’s a lot of subtlety, and very balanced proportions, and I really like the unique quality of the facial sculpt.  The basic wetsuit has a lot of clean lines, and the extra add-on pieces break it up really nicely.  I definitely dig the slight dressing up that the harness gives the whole look.  In general, it keeps a lot of the vibe of the original look, while actually doing a little bit of updating.  It still remains a bit more real world than some of the early-line figures and their heavier sci-fi influence, but it’s not falling into the “vintage figure but bigger” territory of some of the more recent stuff.  Torpedo’s color scheme largely sticks to the grey and black of the vintage figure, but he does get a few other accents mixed in, as well as getting a fully painted face.  On my figure there’s a little slop on the edge of the skintone, but he is otherwise pretty solid.  Torpedo’s last name, Leialoha, and his birthplace as listed on his original file card, indicate that he’s of Polynesian decent, and his skin tone is a bit darker to support that, a noted change from how pale he tends to be.  It’s a pretty nice change, honestly, and adds some pleasant visual diversity to the Joes.  Torpedo is packed with his scuba gear, which includes a mask, tanks, and a pair of flippers.  They lean more into the real-world scuba look than previous designs, which lines up well with the rest of the design cues from this release.  Torpedo also includes a harpoon gun (like his vintage counterpart), a knife, and a rifle.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My last G.I. Joe: Classified Series review ran in June (and was actually written about a month before that), which emphasizes for me just how removed I feel from the whole line.  Torpedo isn’t a character that I have a ton of attachment to, previously at least, so, while he looked cool, by the time he hit, I was kind of presuming I’d be passing him.  When he showed up in person, something about him called to me, I think largely because the classic frogman look has always been one of my favorite things about G.I. Joe, going back to the 12-inch figures, even.  I was hemming and hawing over buying the figure when Max decided to just make the decision for me, and buy this guy for me as a birthday present.  That sure was nice of him.  The nerve of some people, right?  I’ve been down on this line, but Torpedo does feel like a step in the right direction to me.  He doesn’t feel quite as slavishly devoted to his original figure, and he’s not as impossibly fiddly as Falcon was, so I do generally quite like him.

#3177: Super Adaptoid

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

SUPER ADAPTOID

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Originally developed by Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) to combat Captain America, the Super-Adaptoid can duplicate the powers and abilities of heroes nearby allowing it to contend with the entire Avengers team”

Look, all the cool super hero teams have a green guy that copies their powers.  It’s just what’s done.  The Avengers are just part of the quota.  First debuting as simply “The Adaptoid” in 1966, after copying the powers and traits of the whole active roster of the Avengers, the robotic creation of AIM took on the monicker “Super Adaptoid,” which has pretty much stuck ever since.  He’s fought more than just the Avengers, including facing off against the X-Men (where he tussled with their *orange* guy that copied their powers, Mimic), and even got to be a regular on Hulu’s MODOK series, shortlived though it may have been.  And now he’s getting some actual proper action figure treatment that’s not just a tie-in to a weird toys to life game.  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Super Adaptoid is part of Hasbro’s “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” sub-line of Marvel Legends, celebrating the Avengers 60th Anniversary.  He occupies the same spot in this line that Surtur did in the “Infinity Saga” set, as an above deluxe-sized price point all his own.  This guy is ostensibly using the classic Adaptoid look, which is the best Adaptoid look.  There are some slight tweaks, and some reasons for those tweaks that I’ll get into later down in the review.  The figure stands just shy of 12 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  At his core, Super Adaptoid is using a large chunk of the molds from the 12-inch Captain America that they put out back in 2016.  It’s not the craziest idea, since a lot of his elements are borrowed from Cap, and it allows him to be at that slightly larger scale that he tended to settle into after absorbing Goliath’s powers.  It does result in him leaning a bit more into the modern Cap vibe than the classic, since that’s what the molds are geared towards.  Adaptoid gets a new head, forearms, hands, and boots, as well as modified shoulders to remove the extra shoulder pads from the Cap, and an extra piece over the star to change it to the Iron Man-looking reactor.  The new head gives him that classic Adaptoid appearance, and is a nice, clean sculpt.  The new gloves and boots do move him a little more into his classic appearance, which is honestly a nice touch; they make me kind of want to see the body get adapted to a more Classic Cap in general, honestly.  He’s missing the wings that were usually present with this look, but at this point, I’m taking what I can get.  His color work is a lot of green, as it should be.  It’s not a ton of paint, but what’s there works well, and it’s cleanly applied.  Super Adaptoid is packed with an imitation Cap shield and an imitation Mjolnir, both of which are just recolored from the 12-inch releases for those two figures.  They work alright, but the Cap shield runs into some issues having to do with the changes they’ve made for this release.  The original version had removable straps, since it was able to be mounted on the back of the figure.  They’ve removed the mounting function from the core figure, and also glued the straps in place, while also giving the figure only one set of hands: gripping right and fist left.  Unfortunately, this all adds up to the figure not being to really properly get the shield in place, since the smaller strap is meant to be gripped, but there’s no left gripping hand, so you have to try and fit it over the first, which it’s not designed to go over.  The new gloves are also too large for the forearms to fit through the larger strap, which means it’s all around an awkward experience, especially without the option to take off either of the straps.  Ultimately, I popped the glove off at the fore-arm cut joint, which it’s not *supposed* to do, but it can, so it *works* but only just barely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been wanting a classic style Adaptoid figure of some sort for a good long while, so I was definitely excited when his name got leaked, albeit with the knowledge that he was *probably* going to be a re-tool like this.  So, I wasn’t shocked when he was shown off this way.  In hand, he’s got some issues to be sure, but I’m honestly just happy to have gotten him at all.

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.

#3176: Anti-Kryptonite Suit Superman

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

ANTI-KRYPTONITE SUIT SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

Though he may be nigh-invulnerable, Superman is not without his weaknesses. Of particular note is Kryptonite, the irradiated remains of his home planet Krypton, first introduced in the Superman radio show so that Clark’s actor could be absent for a few episodes. It’s become its own thing, with all sorts of different types that do all sorts of different things. But basic green Kryptonite just makes the guy real weak. Not so great when you’ve got people to save, so, with a little bit of outside help, Clark devised a way to protect himself: the Anti-Kryptonite Suit!  The suit’s been around in some form for quite some time in the comics, but also got some pretty notable usage in Superman: The Animated Series, which also netted the concept its first proper action figure, which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Anti-Kryptonite Superman follows in the footsteps of Fortress of Solitude Superman, being part of the intended third series of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series, which, despite being shown off in 1997, was not released in the United States until 2001, and as effectively as a KB Toys exclusive at that.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  This line had an interesting relationship with its source material, in that they didn’t pay *that* much attention to it.  A lot of the Superman variants were just made up entirely, so they sort of just did their best to stay on brand, while doing a new design.  In the case of this guy, he *isn’t* made up, but they kind of approached him as if he was.  Some of the more basic design elements of the animated Anti-Kryptonite suit are still present, albeit dressed up a little bit to fit the style of the toys, but it’s all filtered through a desire to tie him back into the classic Superman color scheme, as well as a general move more to the toyetic side of things.  It occupies a weird space because it’s honestly not a bad look on its own…but it’s not the source material.  The sculpt is pretty decent; he got the second best of the Superman heads for the line, and there’s some pretty nifty smaller detailing going into the suit design.  The paint work marks a notable departure for the figure; rather than using the show colors, he’s instead using the standard Superman scheme.  Admittedly, this is an area where you can really see Kenner’s reasoning, since it’s harder to sell kids on the largely grey coloring of the cartoon design.  At least the color work isn’t anything stupidly garrish or anything like that.  Anti-Kryptonite got his removable helmet, as well as a whole big articulated crane thing that goes over his shoulders, and could “capture” the piece of Kryptonite he also included.  Again, it’s a departure from the show design, but it’s also a rather fun gimmick for a toy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was really fixated on the Anti-Kryptonite for a good chunk of my childhood.  I think I had gotten Metallo from this same line not too long before this set finally started to hit, and I had this whole internal team-up arc for him, and you can’t very well have Superman team up with Metallo if he’s not properly protected from Metallo’s Kryptonite heart, right?  Right.  I recall I got this one during one of my family’s fall weekend trips to the beach, back when there was still a KB at the outlets nearby, and I was pretty excited about it.  And then I also got a duplicate one in slightly better condition from All Time back in the spring, so now I’ve got two of them, I guess.

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.

#3175: Amazing Heroes Series 6

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

BLUE FLAME, VULCAN, LASH LIGHTNING, CAPTAIN TOOTSIE, THE CLAW, ATOMAN, BLACK COBRA, & BLACK FURY

AMAZING HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

Oh, man, who we are!  We’re almost at the end!  Just one more review! ….one more eight figure review… No, I’m losing steam again.  I shan’t do that!  I’m making it to the end!  Forward, into battle!

In 2021, after running their own crowdfunding internally on their webstore, Amazing Heroes got another shot in the arm in the form of Big Bad Toy Store, who financed the whole next assortment.  And, they even financed a whole eight figures this time around, as well as returning the line to its fully public domain set-up.  This one’s gonna be even more rapid-fire than anything else, so let’s get into it!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Blue Flame, Vulcan, Lash Lightning, Captain Tootsie, The Claw, Atoman, Black Cobra, and Black Fury make up Series 6 of Amazing Heroes, and they were available through BBTS and Fresh Monkey Fiction’s website, with preorders opening in early 2021, and the figures shipping out late-summer/early-fall.

Hey, look, it’s the Human Torch!  No, wait, this guy’s blue.  Can’t be the same guy.  This must be the Blue Flame.  Classic mistake, honestly.  Blue Flame was originally shown as a stretch goal for Series 4, but he didn’t make it.  But, Fresh Monkey Fiction isn’t one to let a good idea die, so he resurfaced here.  The figure is on the standard body, so he’s 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He gets a new head, now with all of the features removed…you know just like Human Torch…sorry, Blue Flame.  The paint work does the nifty scorch lines thing, which is fun, and he’s got some flame effects.  And he’s blue, which is especially fun.

Vulcan’s the descendant of the Roman God of Fire, who is also named Vulcan, which certainly has to get confusing.  Being descended from a God of Fire, he’s got fire powers.  Two fire powers guys in a row.  Weird.  Vulcan’s not blue, though, so I guess that makes it less confusing.  Vulcan is another figure that dates back to earlier, having been shown off during the very first Kickstarter as one of four choices of figures that you could back an entire production run for.  Like I said, they don’t let these things go to waste.  He’s using the Captain Action-style head, which is fun, and definitely looks the part of the character from the comics.  It’s got red hair, now, though, which certainly helps it look different.  Beyond that, he’s rather green.

“Lash” Lightning is another one that was held onto from the first Kickstarter.  I guess, what with BBTS financing a whole run of figures, they were entitled to pick two of the four.  Robert Morgan takes on the persona of “Lash” Lightning after training with the Old Man of the Pyramids and getting an amulet, because it was the ’40s and that’s just sort of how Egypt worked back then.  Especially if you were American!  Lash is another figure using the Captain Action head.  Now, he’s ginger, rather than the stark red hair of Vulcan.  I guess that’s different enough too.  Beyond that, he gets a pretty involved paint scheme, which is honestly pretty fun.

Captain Tootsie is, if you can believe it, and honest to god mascot of Tootsie Rolls.  I’m not making that up.  He was created by Captain Marvel/Shazam co-creator CC Beck, and he needed to consume Tootsie Rolls to gain bursts of energy to complete whatever tasks were before him.  He also had a sidekick named “Rollo”, because why not.  His figure is using the standard male head and the main body.  It’s not a terrible set-up, but it’s a bit of a shame he couldn’t get a slightly more Beck-inspired head sculpt.  As it stands, he’s a bit generic, but admittedly, so’s his design.

The Claw is yet another villain.  We didn’t get one of those in Series 5, I suppose, so he was overdue.  Claw was one of those villains of the Golden Age who just sort of fought everybody, and he’s also got the good virtue of just being a straight up alien, rather than some sort of horribly caricatured take on a real person.  Yay?  He did figure Daredevil a few times, so it’s a nice tie-back to the earliest figures.  He’s also got an all-new head, which actually does a respectable job of capturing his comics appearance.  It certainly works far better than anything they already had on hand for him.  He’s also got a clot robe piece, which is basic, but does what it needs to.  There are two sets of arms as well, one with white painted claws on the ends of the fingers, the other without, just so you have some options.

Atoman is another atomic powered hero, because that’s where everyone went for a while.  He’s honestly a pretty by the numbers character when you get down to it.  As such, he’s a pretty by the numbers construction, too.  Basic male head on the standard body.  He does get a cape as well, just to keep things a little more…cape-y?  Sure, why can’t that be a thing?  The colors are red and yellow, which is a pretty neat set-up; he winds up with a bit of a Firestorm vibe, I find.

Black Cobra is a Cold War-era character, so he’s sort of got a different vibe than the others.  It’s a very Commie-smasher, government agent thing.  He, too, uses the standard body and basic haired head; he’s one I feel might have worked with the other male head, but I guess it was already used twice, and you don’t want it to overstay its welcome.  His paint work is the roughest of all the figures in this set.  It’s not bad, but there’s definitely some slop.

And here we are with our last guy, the Black Fury.  Totally different from the Black Terror, by the way.  That’s a whole other guy in black with a red cape and skull and crossbones logo.  How could you possibly confuse them?  Black Fury is Daily Clarion gossip columnist John Perry, who decides that be best way to get gossip is to…go out and fight crime?  Like, he’s not even noble about it, he’s just like “oh, man, I wonder if bad guys ever spill the tea while duking out with good guys” and then he just goes for it.  Hey, good for him.  The figure’s honestly pretty fun.  He’s got a clean design, and it definitely translates well.  He’s even got a cool red cape, and some of this set’s best paint work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It was actually part of this set that alerted me to all of the others.  The guy that brought everything to All Time brought Vulcan and Claw first, and I snagged those, and was hopeful I might see some others, and then he just brought the rest.  And here I am.  Blue Flame was another one that was very high on my list, so I was definitely glad to see him.  The others in this set are decidedly goofy, to be sure.  I did like learning more about them all, though.  Honestly, that’s kind of my favorite thing about this whole venture.  Just learning all the craziness of these old, largely untouched characters.  It’s fun times.  There’s one more set, which introduced a female buck, which I’d like to track down some day, but for now, I’m done.  I made it, you guys.  It didn’t totally kill me!

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.

#3174: Amazing Heroes Series 5

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

MR. MONSTER, BADGER, E-MAN, STRAY, & BLACK PIRATE

AMAZING HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

Oh boy, it’s part 5 of the Day of Amazement, and guys, I’m tired. Like, sure, there’s a thrill to these whole big bunch of reviews in a day thing, but the inertia’s always worn off by this point, and you’re just left wondering who placed you in this horrible position. And then you remember that you did it to yourself, and I’ll tell ya, that doesn’t really help matters. Why do I keep doing this? At this point, I think I honestly don’t know how to quit. Don’t worry, though, I’ll pull through this and the next review, and I’ll get back that thrill, and in about 2 1/2 years time, I’ll convince myself to do it again, because of all the *fun* I had the last time. I’m gonna need one of you to stop me next time. Oh, sure, you’ll have no way of knowing, but at least now I can blame somebody else.

…where was I? Something with toys? Oh, yeah, Day of Amazement. Yep. That’s the one. So, we’re on Series 5, and by this point, FMF had moved things back to their own site, but they built their own crowd funding thing, which they ran in September of 2020.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Mr. Monster, Badger, E-Man, Stray, and Black Pirate were all part of Series 5 of Amazing Heroes, which also included a re-release of Nexus from Series 2, as well as being augmented by a Comic House-exclusive Captain Canuck and a separately backed Oddity Madman.  What’s interesting about this particular set is that it’s largely *not* public domain characters, instead placing a heavy focus on creator-owned independent characters.  A lot of these had actually shown up previously as potential incentives for earlier campaigns, and wound up all bundled together for one fun creator-owned series here.

Mr. Monster sort of bridges the world between the two aesthetics, having originally appeared in 1947, created by Fred Kelly.  He had two appearances before disappearing into obscurity.  He was later discovered and revived by Michael T Gilbert, who reinvented the character in the ’70s and secured the trademark for the name on his new version of the character.  Mr. Monster is a legacy title, currently held by Dr. Strongfort Stearn, who fights all of the monsters of the night in true pulp hero fashion.  The figure uses the standard body, so he’s 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Series 5 marked a switch up of sorts, because all of the new not public domain characters were also granted some new molds.  In addition to repurposing the flared gloves introduced on Series 4’s Blue Beetle, Mr. Monster also gets a brand-new head, as well as a belt add-on piece.  Since his usual build isn’t quite a perfect match for the general style of the line, Mr. Monster has been adjusted a touch to better fit with the rest of the line.  It works pretty well, and still keeps him true to the character’s spirit and design.  His paint work is quite sharp and clean, and also quite bright and eye catching, and is generally far more in line with Series 4’s quality.  Mr. Monster is packed with a pair of pistols, which are the same ones that were previously available separately on Fresh Monkey Fiction’s site, for the purposes of arming Black Bat.

Badger is, of course, fully into the creator-owned territory, having been created by Mike Baron in 1983.  He’s the sort of character that I’ve been aware of for a while, but not, like, every really *that* familiar with.  He’s a scrappy sort of guy with multiple personalities, though, so he does seem at least a little bit up my alley.  Badger also gets new parts, though in his case it’s just a new head.  It’s…well, it’s certainly a change-up.  I don’t know that it *quite* fits the vibe of the rest of the line for me, but I can definitely dig them going for something a little bit different.  Badger’s paint work is a little sloppier than Mr. Monster’s.  It’s still not awful, but there are a few spots that are a little sloppy, notably the change-over of color on the hips.

E-Man is a character who’s reputation for me is that my cousins used to call me “E-man” as a nickname (which stopped with the birth of my brother Christian, for whom the first letter plus “man” set-up created less than stellar results, at least verbally), and I found some back-issues of E-Man at one point and everyone joked they were about me.  Beyond that, I had no real idea who he was.  His design and name similarities to Elongated Man led me to believe for a good while that he was a stretchy guy, but that’s apparently not the case.  E-Man is actually a sentient packet of energy, which formed itself into a super hero, which is honestly kind of cool.  He was created by Joe Staton and Nicola Cuti, and he was a late-stage creation of Charlton, before moving elsewhere when they closed up shop.  E-Man gets a new head sculpt, which is honestly one of my favorites from the line.  There’s just so much character and expression behind it, and I really love that.  His paint work is also incredibly clean and sharp; there was room for the yellow and orange to meld together too much, but they rather smartly applied black outlining, which really finishes the look off super nicely.

Stray is a surprisingly new character, having only been introduced five years before joining the line.  Creators Vito Delsante and Sean Izaakse are clearly dialing into some Batman and Robin stylings, with Stray himself being a sort of stand-in for Dick Grayson, albeit with his own unique set-up.  He’s a fun concept, and a fun design, and a great way of adding a little bit of variety to the whole set-up.  Stray’s got an all-new head, which gives him his distinctive head gear.  It’s a pretty strong sculpt and it fits well with the overall style of the line.  Stray’s paint work is pretty involved, and a pretty different sort of color scheme.  His application is pretty clean; there’s a few little spots of slop, but it’s generally solid work.

Hey, we’ve made it to the one proper public domain guy in the set.  They gotta have at least one.  Even by the usual public domain standards, though, Black Pirate is pretty obscure. Don Angelo di Martini appeared in two issues of Avventure in Alto Mare, before the book was ordered to cease publication by Mussolini’s Fascist Party.  He may have made sure the trains ran on time, but apparently Black Pirate was not on his list of things to keep running on time.  For shame.  Well, at least he got a figure out of it all.  Take that, fascists!  Black Pirate uses the base body, with the flared gloves and cuffed boots from Series 4.  He’s also using the bald head, and he gets a cloth cape as well.  In terms of paint work, he’s got a lot of black, as you would expect.  His face is a little messed on my copy, which is a little annoying, but there’s a workaround.  In addition to the sword accessory, which was shown off from the beginning, Black Pirate *also* got a “mystery accessory.”  It turned out to be a second head.  This one’s an all-new one, which gives him a hat atop his mask, granting him a resemblance to another all-black wearing guy with a sword and a mustache, who should totally be in the public domain, but in a myriad of court cases that would make Disney’s head spin, isn’t.  What’s that guy’s name?  I mean, it’s definitely *not* Zorro, right? Right.  Honestly, the whole mystery piece angle was pretty brilliant, and I love the option to turn this guy into someone who’s very definitely not Zorro.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall a handful of these guys from when they were shown off in earlier campaigns, but I was totally out of the running on the line by the time this assortment showed up.  So, it was something of a pleasant surprise, honestly.  E-Man speaks to me for the odd nostalgic reasons, and I love Black Pirate for reasons that can’t legally be disclosed.  Stray’s a cool modern character, and the other two have pretty fun visuals in their own right.  Okay, just one more to go.  I can do this, right?

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.

#3173: Amazing Heroes Series 4

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

MAGNO, RUBBERMAN, & FANTOM OF THE FAIR

AMAZING HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

2019 was a pretty solid year for Amazing Heroes, all things considered.  Series 2 finally made it off the ground, and Series 3’s pre-orders came and went.  After the Series 3 venture, Fresh Monkey Fiction went back to the crowd-funding well, but not the Kickstarter well, instead using the smaller platform “Jumpstart” to get four additional figures funded.  This is the one time I got back into the line after Series 1, as I grabbed myself a Blue Beetle, because I’m not gonna be the idiot who skipped a Blue Beetle.  There were three not-Blue Beetle figures, which I’m getting to now!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Magno, Rubberman, and Fantom of the Fair are the aforementioned “not-Blue Beetle figures” from Amazing Heroes Series 4.  They were likewise part of the Jumpstart campaign that ran through December 31st of 2019, and they shipped out in the summer of the hell-hole that was 2020.

Magno is…well, he’s a magnetic guy.  You know, what with the name and all.  He had a sidekick who dressed pretty much identically to him and was named “Davey”.  Just Davey.  That’s the whole thing.  And they fought, amongst others, a guy called “the Clown.”  Is Magno just Spawn?  Well, they do both have capes, so there’s that.  The figure’s on the basic body that they’re all on, so he’s 4 1/2 inches tall like the rest of them and moves at the same 5 points of articulation. Magno uses the secondary hair-sporting head, which fits well with his usual depiction. He also gets a new set of legs, sporting cuffed boots, which is a pretty big deal, and he’s got a cloth cape, with a collar, even. Magno’s color scheme is bright, clean, and honestly pretty involved. It’s clean in its application and also pretty sharp on the edges, showing even further improvement from the Series 3 figures.

The line is still doing its best to manage at least one villain per set here, and for this round it’s Herr Riktor, aka Rubberman! He’s the head of a rubber factory in Nazi Germany, who falls into a vat of hot rubber, which does what all vats of stuff do in comics, and gives him super powers. You know, as you do. He was a foe of Iron Ace, a guy in knight’s armor who also flew a plane. You know, as you do. He’s got a very, very basic design, but is also the sort that feels tailor made to this type of figure. He’s actually got three different heads; the mustachioed one is Riktor, while the other two, much like Series 2’s Puzzler, are henchmen. I do rather like the set-up and I also rather like his shade of purple.

Last up is the Fantom of the Fair, later known as “Fantoman.” He’s essentially a heroic Phantom of the Opera, who swaps out the opera house in Paris for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. He had an underground lab, connected to an underground river, connected to an underground hip bone, connected to the Fair, which he guarded. He had a somewhat inconsistent look, but it’s okay, because the figure has that covered. He’s got a cloth cape with collar, plus three different heads. There’s a bald fully masked, a fully masked with hair, and a half-masked, which is also red? I don’t know, but they all look pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, I more vividly recall this set than the others, since I bought Blue Beetle while he was new and all. I thought about getting the whole set, I really did, but it wasn’t in the cards at the time. It’s cool, though, because, look, here they all are. In terms of quality control, Series 4 is just absolutely fantastic, and considering they were the ones made at the height of the pandemic, that’s really just astounding. I knew none of these guys going in, but I do sorta like them all.

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.