Monthly Archives: August 2024

#3668: Clone Captain Rex

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

CLONE CAPTAIN REX

STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Remember two weeks ago when I ended a lengthy hiatus from Vintage Collection with a review of a Bad Batch-based Captain Rex figure?  Did you know it was almost a review of a *different* Bad Batch-based Captain Rex figure from The Vintage Collection?  I mean, probably not.  I don’t tend to let other people know about my planned reviews in advance.  Anyway, there was the new Rex, so I hotplated him, but I didn’t want to just forget about the other one, so, two Rexes in one month?  Is that really so bad?  I don’t think so.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Captain Rex was released as part of the Amazon-exclusive Bad Batch-themed Star Wars: The Vintage Collection four-pack, alongside three other non-Batch troopers.  He’s numbered VC208, making him numerically the first of the four included figures.  He’s based on Rex’s incognito look from the show, just like his Black Series figure from the same time. The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Rex is built on the previous Clone Trooper base body, which was first introduced in 2011, and is…well, it certainly shows its age.  The articulation is the earliest implementation of “super-articulated” in its more modern sense.  There’s a lot of movement, but it’s not as intuitive, and it’s a little floppy.  He’s also rather lanky, made only more evident by the removable helmet, which bulks the head up.  He gets a new belt piece and pauldron, as well as a cloth kama and poncho.  The pauldron is a curious oddity, since it’s not the full thing, due to being based directly on the animation models, which had tweaked it so that it wouldn’t clip through the poncho.  It’s not actually meant to be seen, and was swapped out for the full version in all of the scenes without the poncho present.  The helmet is also tweaked to add his extra visor piece.  It’s articulated, but it’s also connected to the range finder, so they both move in tandem, which looks a little weird.  Under the helmet we get an unmasked head, which is just a standard clone head re-used, meaning it’s got too much hair to be Rex, since he had his close cropped hair still in Bad Batch.  The color work is decent enough.  Not too far removed from the more recent one, though the blue paint seems a little more wobbly.  There’s some slop on the hairline, but otherwise, application is decent and pretty clean.  Rex is packed with his twin blaster pistols, which he can hold or holster, as per usual.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I like Rex a lot, but I wasn’t rushing out to buy three other figures just to get this one, especially because its a Vintage Collection release.  So, I opted to play the waiting game.  It worked out, because I was able to snag a loose one through All Time, when it was traded in a couple of months ago.  He’s a rather dated figure, and far moreso than he should be, given he’s only actually three years old.  But, he’s at least a more unique design, and he’s got the poncho to hide some of the worst of it.  Ultimately, it’s another Rex, and I can certainly dig that.

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.

#3667: Blue Beetle & The Bug

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

BLUE BEETLE & THE BUG

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

Back in the ’90s, the Super Powers fandom had a lot of hypothetical discussions about what characters the line might have done had it continued.  In 2004, Jason “Toy Otter” Geyer’s Super Powers Archive ran a huge piece regarding the discovery of Kenner prototypes, which revealed what the next wave or two of the line would have been.  One of the most notable omissions from Kenner’s plan, at least going by characters that had long been theorized to be part of any continuation, was Ted Kord, aka Blue Beetle.  He may not have been marked to get his due from Kenner (for Super Powers, anyway; they *had* planned to do him for the scrapped fourth wave of Total Justice, and that figure was eventually released by Hasbro), but that doesn’t mean he was completely overlooked, because he’s part of the McFarlane revival!  And it’s not just him!  He got a vehicle, too!  And….I’m actually excited?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blue Beetle is part of Series 7 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which was released early summer this year.  Beetle is one of the two figures in the set that’s not a variant on a prior figure, and if you’re counting Kilowog as a Green Lantern, he’s the only truly new character entirely.  Ted is seen here in his classic attire, which is the absolute correct choice for such a release.  The figure stands a hair under 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  I’ve been talking a lot about scaling with this line, and I’m going to continue to do so.  Ted’s scaling is by far the best I’ve seen from the line.  He’s actually just exactly the size he should be, with no issues at all.  He’ll fit right in with the vintage stuff.  Aiding with that is the sculpt, which is…well, it’s just really nice, you guys.  Everything about it feels just very genuine and on the mark for Super Powers.   The build, the detailing, the slight preposing, the stance of the legs.  Sure, there’s the visible pins, which aren’t quite right, but everything else works well enough that I just don’t notice them.  His costume elements are all sculpted, it should be noted, with raised edges for the darker blue sections.  Kenner didn’t lean on purely painting for much of the detailing on their figures, so this just helps to further push the authenticity.  The goggles are a separate piece, fitted into the head, which keeps the lines sharp, and the face gets a nice, friendly, slightly whimsical that fits the character so well.  The paint work is generally clean, with very minimal slop, and it’s a good match for his comics appearances.  He’s got no accessories, which isn’t the end of the world, but it’s a shame he didn’t get his BB gun.  It’s really the only thing I can note as an issue here.

Of course, if you’d still like to accessorize your Blue Beetle, there’s always the option of going for The Bug, Blue Beetle’s Mobile headquarters.  McFarlane’s been keeping up with doing a few vehicles to coincide with the figures, and The Bug hit right alongside Ted.  It’s pretty great timing, not just for tying in with the Ted figure, but also since the Bug was quite prominent in last year’s Blue Beetle movie.  The vehicle measures 11 1/2 inches long by 12 inches wide.  It’s sporting an all-new sculpt, which, like Ted, is a good match for the vintage line’s work.  Having handled the vintage Batmobile, the Bug has a very similar feel to its construction, right down to the polished exterior with the cool transparent windows.  It’s even got its own action feature!  The’s a grapple on the bottom, which Ted can hang from.  It pulls out, and can spring back when the hatch on the bottom is pressed.  Accessing the interior of the ship is really easy; the “wings” on the back are spring loaded and pop up when you press the button on the back.  Inside, there’s two seats at the front, one for Ted, and one for that Booster Gold figure that got shown off on the back of this box.  There’s also a whole little space set-up in the back for the mobile HQ bit, which is certainly nifty.  There’s not paint on the Bug, but it does get a few decals.  The inside gets the most of them, with coverage for all of the consoles, and even a mock-up of the internal hatch to match the sculpted one on the bottom.  Outside, there’s a fun little “I heart NY” sticker on the back, which is a great little character touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This pair right here is the thing that truly broke me on the McFarlane Super Powers.  I’d seen others that looked cool enough, but nothing I *needed*.  Then they showed off these two and I just had to have them.  They haven’t been the easiest items in the line to get.  I found the Bug at the same time as the Peacemaker three-pack, but there was no Ted in sight.  I almost passed, but my Dad insisted on getting it for me, which gave me the push to track Ted down online.  I’m glad I did, because I haven’t been happier with a McFarlane offering.  Honestly, I haven’t been happier with a DC offering in a very long time.  I’ve wanted a Super Powers continuation since I was a kid, and this right here is exactly what I wanted.

#3666: Giant Donatello

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

GIANT DONATELLO

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM (PLAYMATES)

I just keep coming back to TMNT, don’t I?  Four weeks in a row!  And not only that, I’m coming at you guys with two Donatellos in a row.  Because, you know, that’s just how I roll.  It’s all Donatello, all the time…when it’s TMNT…and it’s not Casey.  That’s not the point, though.  No, the point is I’m taking a look at a Donatello, and he’s more than the average Donatello.  He’s a Giant Donatello.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Giant Donatello was released by Playmates as part of their tie-in line for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, alongside giant versions of the other three turtle brothers.  It’s a time-honored tradition for Playmates, making the four turtles “giant” and all that.  The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  Compared to his smaller counterpart, Donnie is a little more restricted, losing the elbow joints of the standard figure.  It’s not an uncommon change on these larger figures, as it’s an easy way for Playmates to keep costs lower.  It does make it a little trickier to get him to hold his bo staff properly, but it’s not impossible, especially since he’s still got the shoulder and wrist joints.  Changes in articulation aside, the sculpt on this figure is pretty similar to the smaller one.  It’s solid, doing a good job of recreating his animation model.  I do like that the expression’s been changed to be a little friendlier this time around; it feels just a touch more in-character for Donnie.  His color work is pretty basic, with the molded colors doing the bulk of the work.  There’s a little bit of paint work, which is all pretty cleanly applied.  He’s packed with his bo staff, which is again similar to the smaller one, but now it’s also hollow!  He also gets his glasses and headphones, allowing you to do that whole kitted-out look from the movie.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I last reviewed a Mutant Mayhem figure, I hadn’t yet seen the movie.  In the almost solid year since then, I actually did get around to watching it, and it was pretty fun.  I watched it with the family, of course, and Matthew in particular really enjoyed it.  He knows that Donnie’s my favorite Turtle, so he asked my parents to help him get me this guy for my birthday this year, which was pretty freaking sweet.  I’ve never had any of the prior Giant turtles for myself, so it’s cool to finally have one.  He’s big, and he’s chunky, and he’s quite fun.

#3665: Peacemaker, Vigilante, & Judomaster

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PEACEMAKER, VIGILANTE, & JUDOMASTER

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

It’s been a year since I’ve discussed McFarlane’s revival of Super Powers here on the site.  My previous venture into the line was…mixed.  I’m a huge fan of the vintage line, and the idea of revival *should* excite me, but McFarlane’s output was…well, it was McFarlane output.  There might have been some good ideas, but they were saddled with the strangeness that Todd seems intent on injecting into everything he does.  But, Todd just keeps dragging me back in, because even if it’s mixed results, there’s limited options for DC, and it’s not like anyone else is doing a Super Powers continuation.  So, here I am, going back to the well on McFarlane, specifically looking at the Peacemaker multipack!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Peacemaker, Vigilanter, and Judomaster were released late last year as a three-pack in McFarlane’s Super Powers line.  The set is loosely designed to tie-in with the Peacemaker show, though the characters are obviously in their comics attire.

PEACEMAKER

Peacemaker, whose main contribution to the world of comics was inspiring the Comedian in Watchmen, has gotten a real elevation in his recognition in the last few years, thanks largely to John Cena’s turn as the character in The Suicide Squad and its follow-up Peacemaker.  As a result, he got this figure, his very first comics-based figure.  Pretty nifty.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  So, first and foremost, let’s address the number one issue with this line: scaling.  The previous figures were all scaled a bit too large, typically running about half an inch too tall to properly fit with the vintage line.  Peacemaker, however, is, like, pretty much spot on.  Since he’s under 5 inches, and Smith’s always been depicted as a slightly bigger guy, he fits in pretty much perfectly with the actual proper Kenner figures.  He’s got an all-new sculpt, and it’s a marked improvement on prior offerings itself.  His stance definitely feels more proper Super Powers in its nature. The weird pigeon-toed issue’s gone, and the proportions are a solid match for how Kenner tended to handle things.  His head uses a separate assembly for the helmet, which is really sharply detailed.  In general, the sculpt is pretty clean and slick.  I have two minor complaints, the first being the continued presence of visible knee joints (which, honestly, bug me a lot less here than on earlier figures), and the belt assembly being just a touch sloppy on my figure.  Beyond that, though, he’s really great.  He’s even got a gripping hand, should you want to arm him with some sort of weapon.  His color work is appropriately bright and eye catching.  The application is pretty clean, and it again matches well with the style.  I like that he’s not totally painted up, which also feels more authentic.  The only slight oddity is that he’s got no paint on his eyes, so there’s just flesh-tone visible under the helmet.  It’s a very small area, but it looks strange.

VIGILANTE

Vigilante is a fun choice here.  Obviously, he was included thanks to his increased visibility thanks to Peacemaker, but getting further into the Super Powers lore, Vigilante was one of the proposed characters for Kenner’s 1987 line-up, had there been a fourth year of the line.  So, it’s nice to see him finally get his due.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Scaling wise, Vigilante is just a *touch* too tall for proper fit with the vintage line, but he’s so very close that it works fine in most settings, and it’s certainly better than earlier figures.  His sculpt is decent enough; his toes point inward a little too much, but his proportions are pretty decently handled.  He seems to be at least somewhat inspired by the original Flash figure, which isn’t the worst fit.  Generally, it’s more basic sculpt than Peacemaker’s, but it does pretty well with the source material.  Vigilante’s paint work is decent enough.  Nothing too fancy, but the application’s pretty clean, and the colors are well chosen.

JUDOMASTER

Judomaster is the most obscure of the three figures included here, though we did at least see a version of him in Peacemaker alongside the other two.  Like Peacemaker, he started out as a Charlton character, before getting folded into DC.  He’s mostly filled in the background of big crossovers since then, which honestly is effectively his role in Peacemaker, too.  Judomaster is new to the world of action figures, and this one is based on his original incarnation.  The figure is a little under 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Scaling wise, Judomaster is probably the most off of the set, since he should really be the shortest of the three, but isn’t.  Of course, he’s still better than the early run figures, so it’s still a win.  Judomaster’s sculpt is totally unique, and it’s honestly pretty impressive how much work they put into this guy.  Like, I mean, it’s Judomaster, and here we are getting a sculpt that details all of his individual costume elements.  It’s a character I wouldn’t be shocked to see phoned in, and yet, it’s absolutely not.  He even gets his own pretty unique pose, which is fun.  The paint work is nice and bright, and pretty cleanly handled too.  The red and yellow feels particularly on-brand for Super Powers.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was announced after I’d gotten the two prior figures I had from this line, so I was already aware of the ups and downs.  I was interested, but still kind of put off by the scaling thing, so I didn’t jump on it right away.  That said, I’d been hearing really good things about the course of the line since I’d dropped it.  A few weeks back, Matthew really wanted to stop into the Gamestop next to where we were grabbing lunch, so we obliged, and there was one of these sets there.  It looked really good in person, so I went for it.  I’m glad I did, because they’re all quite good.  Peacemaker is the best of the set, for sure.  He hits all of the marks he needs to.  Vigilante was the one I was looking forward to, and I think he’s probably the weakest in terms of execution, but still pretty solid.  Judomaster wasn’t a figure I really needed, but he’s better than I’d expected.  In general, a very fun set.

#3664: Strong Guy

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

STRONG GUY

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Last week, I jumped back into Toy Biz Marvel with a discussion of the repaints that kept the line fresh on the pegs of KB Toys, one of the greatest supporters of the brand in the ’90s.  There were a variety of different ways they kept up with things, but at the tail end of the decade, they really dialed in on X-Men specifically.  There was a range of differences in terms of what they did with those figures.  Today’s offering, Strong Guy, was on the minor end of things when it came to change-ups.  Let’s jump into those, I guess?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Strong Guy was released in the first assortment of the KB-exclusive X-Men repaint line, released in 1998.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt is re-use of the Series 6 Strong Guy, which was the only other Strong Guy Toy Biz ever did.  It was definitely a little on the small side for Guido, at least as he was usually depicted in the comics at the time, and the articulation was a bit stripped down by the line’s usual standards, but it was a sculpt that certainly looked the part for the character.  While the Magneto from this line had a rather drastically different color scheme from the original AoA release, Strong Guy doesn’t quite go that far, but it’s still a bit beyond the differences between the Morph releases, which you could chalk up to production changes.  The colors are rather desaturated compared to the original release, which is certainly an interesting choice.  Also, the one true application change here is the moving of his X-logo from his left side to centered on his vest.  I guess that works better for branding?  I don’t know.  I don’t think Guido ever had the logo there, but I honestly didn’t keep up with all of his costume changes.  Like the original release, this figure was without accessories, but he does still have his “power punch” feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Given how long it took me to even get around to opening my original Strong Guy, I guess it’s not a shock that I didn’t rush out to get this guy.  Honestly, I wasn’t even super sure I was going to do all of the variant hunting for all of these figures, at least initially, but I’ve gotten more invested in that over the years, so, when I found this guy at Factory Antiques, I opted to jump on it.  There’s not much new to this one, and it’s hard to say exactly *why* Toy Biz felt the need to do him, but, you know what?  I won’t knock them for doing another Strong Guy.

#3663: Death Star Escape

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

HAN SOLO, CHEWBACCA, & LUKE SKYWALKER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The Rebel Alliance has infiltrated the Galactic Empire’s most powerful battle station, the Death Star! posing as stormtroopers escorting a prisoner, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca attempt a daring rescue of the captive Princess Leia. Can they escape the dreaded Death Star, or is the Rebellion about to suffer the loss of its newest heroes?”

Hey, Cinema Scenes!  It’s been a hot minute since I’ve looked at one of these!  While Kenner/Hasbro used the later run of Cinema Scenes to fill in more obscure characters from the background of specific scenes, the earliest run of the line was more about recreating distinctive scenes, often with variants of previously released figures from the line.  One of the earliest recreated scenes was the first film’s escape from the Death Star detention center, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The “Death Star Escape” set was the Power of the Force line’s debut Cinema Scenes set, released in 1997 as a Toys “R” Us exclusive.  As with all of the Cinema Scenes sets, in addition to the three figures, this set also included a stand, meant to look like a section of the Death Star’s floor.

HAN SOLO

Originally confined to a Froot Loops promotional offer, Stormtrooper disguise Han made a pretty quick reappearance here. The figure is about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has the usual 6 points of articulation. His sculpt is similar to the previous one, but different for the sake of different. His pose is certainly changed up, largely the arms, which are now stretched outwards. The prior version was one of the rare instances of a figure that could conceivably hold his weapon two-handed (though, ironically, he had no weapon to hold), but not so with this one, who is back to the single hand hold.  Han’s paint work is very similar to the mail-away version, but the plastic used is a little different.  The skin-tone on the head is paler, and the torso and pelvis are prone to discoloring over time.  Han is packed with his removable helmet, and a standard blaster rifle.

CHEWBACCA

Chewbacca doesn’t have a drastic shift in looks in the movies, so he didn’t have any drastic shifts in figures during Power of the Force either.  He started off with one figure to cover all of the movies, and this one is a very, very minor tweak on that.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation, with the caveat of the neck not *really* moving.  He’s almost exactly the same figure as the standard release, with the only notable change being the position of the arms.  It’s Chewy at his most swoll, encapsulating the early line as a whole.  The color work is also pretty much identical, for what it’s worth.  He does get a new accessory, which is directly tied into the new arms: handcuffs!  Perfect for recreating the scene.

LUKE SKYWALKER

Luke’s Stormtrooper Disguised figure was a standard release, so we didn’t *need* a re-release, but, you know, you gotta finish up the scene, I guess.  He takes pretty much the same approach as the Han, replacing the more basic standing pose of the single release Luke with a a wider stance, even wider than Han’s.  He’s got the same basic color work, and he’s got the same issue with the discoloring on the torso and pelvis.  Paint work on the face is honestly a lot nicer, though, so he’s at least got that going for him.  And hey, look at that, same helmet and blaster as well.  Lot of same-ness going on.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is honestly a pretty common Cinema Scenes set, so it’s genuinely surprising it took me this long to get around to picking one up.  I guess the right opportunity never presented itself to me.  Well, you know, until it did, which is why I own it now.  I’d seen a couple of loose ones, but didn’t really want to go that route, but a sealed set came into All Time, and now I’ve got one.  It’s easily the weakest, most forgettable of these sets.  There’s nothing that really makes it worthwhile, and I genuinely only have it for completion’s sake.  I don’t know of any other reason to get one, but, at the same time, it’s not like it’s a *bad* set, or anything.

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.

#3662: Spider-Man & Wolverine – Fantastic Four

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

SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE — FANTASTIC FOUR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Though the emotional through line of the Fantastic Four is undoubtedly the core family of four, the team itself has been no stranger to line-up changes over the years. Perhaps the most drastic of those changes was “The New Fantastic Four”, a team quickly assembled when the original four were presumed dead.  Rather than leaning into the usual quirky second tier character set-up that FF replacements tended to be, the New FF was all heavy hitters, with a line-up comprised of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and the Hulk.  The concept’s been brought back a few times since, more recently during Dan Slott’s run on FF, where Franklin and Valeria need assistance defending the Earth while the main four are off-planet, and call in Spider-Man and Wolverine, who get snazzy new team uniforms for the set-up.  Super toyetic, right?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man and Wolverine are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, which just started hitting at the tail end of last month.  They seem to be loosely tied into the larger Wolverine anniversary celebration, though they’re slightly removed.  Both figures are based on their team suits as seen in Fantastic Four #21.

SPIDER-MAN

While Spidey’s gotten a few FF-related costumes previously, this marked his first time that got specifically a Fantastic Four design.  This one takes the usual Spidey costume layout, and mixes it with the inverted color scheme suit design the FF had earlier in the Slott run.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Amazing Fantasy body, which remains my favorite Spider-Man body that Hasbro has put out.  It’s just a really good base body, with balanced proportions and a really good range of motion on all of the articulation.  It’s a solid match for a more svelte Spidey, which is how he was depicted in the books.  The key selling point here is the new color scheme, which is heavy on the blue and black.  It matches with previously released Franklin and Valeria, and the application on the paint is all pretty cleanly handled.  Spidey is packed with four sets of hands, in fists, gripping, thwipping, and open gesture.

WOLVERINE

Wolverine’s ties to the FF are a little on the looser side, but he’s Wolverine, so, you know, he goes where he wants, I guess.  His costume design follows Spidey’s lead, also working in a bit of the classic brown costume, at least in terms of layout of the costume pieces.  The figure stands a little under 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Wolverine is largely using the same bank of parts Wolverine has been using since the Juggernaut Series release. It’s not quite as slick as newer molds, but it gets the job done. Since this costume lacks Logan’s usual distinctive boot shape, he’s got the more basic shins from the Retro card black suit release, and he’s also using the slightly more modern claw shape from the X-Force costume. His color scheme matches Spidey, which means it also matches Franklin and Val, which is certainly a plus. The application is generally clean, with no real issues to speak of. Wolverine gets no extras, not even extra hands, which is a bit of a bummer.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set definitely falls into that category of “things you don’t know you want until they exist” for me. I read the issues where these looks appeared, and I enjoyed them, but I didn’t feel like I *needed* them. But, when they got shown off, and I already had Franklin and Val in-hand, I was a pretty easy mark. They’re not much to write home about, I suppose, since they’re just straight repaints of figures we’ve already got, but they’re still solid figures, and they’re sensible variants.

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.

#3661: Donatello – Original Sketch

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

DONATELLO — ORIGINAL SKETCH

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PLAYMATES)

“Long ago in Dover, New Hampshire, two upstart comic book artists passed the time making each other laugh. Kevin Eastman sketched an unlikely combination of “Ninja” and “Turtle.” Peter Laird answered back with his own version. Before long, a new sketch emerged of all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle brothers, ready for action. And the rest, as they say, is history!”

Man, for someone who’s only fleetingly into Ninja Turtles, I’ve had a bunch of Turtles stuff to review recently. Today, we’re jumping waaaaaay back, all the way to the beginning…ish. The creation of the TMNT is a case of serial escalation. Kevin Eastman’s first illustration was a single turtle wielding nunchucks, which co-creator Peter Laird responded to with his own refined illustration, which Eastman in turn responded to with *four* turtles, each with a different weapon. In honor of the franchise’s 40th anniversary, NECA put together a two-pack of Eastman and Laird’s first Turtles, and following the trend of escalation, Playmates has their own set, based on Eastman’s original drawing of all four. I’ve picked up the Donatello, and I’m taking a look at him today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Original Sketch Donatello is part of Playmates’ overarching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line. He and the other three Original Sketch figures are seemingly Target-exclusive, in the sense that it’s the only place they’ve shown up so far.  They started hitting retail shelves in June.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 20 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is more or less the same as the 2012-era Turtles, although with a universal joint on his neck in place of the balljoint.  His range of motion is a little restricted, owing a lot to his short and round build.  That said, he can still get into plenty of poses, including the one seen in the original sketch, which is kind of the main idea.  The sculpt is all-new for this set.  Obviously, a good number of the parts are shared between the four turtles, but Donnie gets a unique head, as well as the harness for his staff.  The whole sculpt is a pretty decent little recreation of the sketch.  There’s some adjustments, of course, to make it work in three dimensions, and they’ve also added a touch of texturing to the skin.  The one thing I’m not super crazy about is the the hollowed out portion of the feet; it’s not visible most of the time, but it’s definitely wonky when you can see it.  While the original sketch was just line work, and therefore black and white, Playmates opted to do colors for this release, matching them each up to their vintage figures.  It’s an interesting mix, seeing a pre-Playmates style Turtle in their later coloring, but it honestly works pretty well.  Donnie is packed with his bo staff, a display stand (which connects with the other three), a cardstock version of the sketch, and a broken ooze canister, which serves to hold the sketch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t religiously follow TMNT news, so I missed the lead up on these guys, only discovering them when I found a couple of them in-store.  Of course, Donnie wasn’t one of the first two I found, so I had to keep looking.  Thankfully, it didn’t take me too long, and, boom, there he was.  He’s very fun.  I didn’t have super high expectations, but he’s just a solid little toy, and he’s very cool for the price point.  I dig him.  I dig him a lot.

#3660: Iron Fist & Luke Cage

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

IRON FIST & LUKE CAGE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In the ’70s, Marvel attempted to jump on a number of different popularity trains, and amongst them were Kung-Fu and Blaxploitation, resulting in the creation of Iron Fist and Luke Cage, two wholly separate and unrelated characters, at least at their start.  However, as the decade moved on, both of the characters struggled on their own.  Marvel’s solution was to roll them both into the same book, creating the “Heroes for Hire” (pluralizing the title already previously granted to Cage on his own).  It was quite a successful move, and the characters have remained linked ever since.  The pairing’s been the source of quite a bit of toy coverage, including, most recently, Marvel Legends‘ celebration of Marvel’s 85th anniversary.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Fist and Luke Cage a two-pack Marvel Legends release, under the “Celebrating 85 Years” banner.  Interestingly, despite the pairing of the characters, this is the first time the two of them have been released together in two-pack form in the whole run of the line.  The closest we’ve gotten before this was the con-exclusive Netflix-based boxed set and the Amazon-exclusive comics boxed set that were both released to tie-in with Defenders, but those obviously through in the other characters as well.  Heck, prior to this, the singles of the characters had never even been in the same assortment!

IRON FIST

The second of Marvel’s Kung-Fu heroes, following Shang-Chi, Danny Rand aka Iron Fist is no stranger to Legends, getting his first and second figures both under Toy Biz’s run.  Under Hasbro, he’s had three figures, all of them in more recent costumes.  This one, however, returns to his original ’70s garb, which we haven’t seen since Toy Biz.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 38 points of articulation.  Iron Fist uses the “Renew Your Vows” Spidey base body as a starting point, with two new heads, and a new upper and lower torso, and belt piece, all courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding.  The base body has a great range of motion, which makes for all sorts of great kung-fu posing.  The new parts vibe really well with the pre-existing pieces.  The new heads give us both calm and screaming options, which are both really strong, and they’ve even both got posable ties on the back of the mask.  The color work on this figure uses a lot of molded coloring, with a bit of paint work.  It’s clean, concise, and bold, and it very definitely works with the mold.  The figure is packed with four pairs of hands (fists, flat, and two different open palm gestures) and two different chi effect pieces.

LUKE CAGE

Luke actually just got the Legends treatment rather recently, with a ’70s based figure in the Mindless Ones assortment from the end of last year.  Of course, with a ’70s figure released that recently, that does sort of mean this one had to be a different look, so they’ve opted for a more modern Luke.  It’s not a terrible choice, but it does mean that the two figures don’t necessarily have the same vibe, since Danny’s very ’70s and Luke is…not.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Luke is sporting an all-new sculpt courtesy of Rene Aldrete.  The body sculpt feels like it’s begging for re-use down the line, since it’s just a pretty basic t-shirt and jeans get-up.  There’s a ton of great texture work present, which really sells the more civilian aspect of Luke’s modern look.  It’s topped off by two new heads, which, much like Iron Fist, have calm and screaming expressions.  It’s a good mix, and seems to have a touch more character than the head we got from the ’70s Luke last year.  Color work for this figure is especially reliant on molded colors, which works surprisingly well.  There’s a little paint, mostly on the face and belt, which is handled very cleanly.  Luke is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, the other in a gripping/open gesture combo.  The fists have brass knuckles, which read “LUKE” and “CAGE.”  They’re fun, but I’m also a bit surprised there’s not also standard fists without them.  It makes continuity between the poses a little confusing, since they’re not really set up for mix-and-matching the same way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been wanting an updated classic Iron Fist for quite a while, like even before we got the Luke Cage.  Then we got the Luke Cage, and I only wanted the Iron Fist update even more.  After getting Luke on his own, I wasn’t thrilled by the prospect of having to buy a two pack with yet another Luke to get the matching Iron Fist.  I still find it a little odd that they’d release them so close together, but not just do the full ’70s style two-pack.  But, whatever the case, this set’s a strong one.  The two figures may not quite match up as a pair, but they’re individually really strong figures.  Iron Fist winds up as the star piece for me, but I found myself liking the Luke a lot more than I’d expected to.

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.

#3659: Magneto

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

MAGNETO

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

For the bulk of the ’90s, KB Toys filled up a good portion of their action figure aisle with Toy Biz Marvel figures.  Earlier in the decade, they got a lot of close-out and liquidation deals on older figures, so they had a pretty steady stock of those, allowing for ease of access to fill-in a collection.  As they sold through that stock, however, they needed more.  The easiest solution was just to ask Toy Biz to reprint some old molds in stripped down packaging, which honestly worked out pretty well.  A lot of the figures wound up being nearly identical to the earlier releases, but every so often they’d mix things up.  Case in point?  Today’s Magneto figure.  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Magneto was released in the second KB-exclusive repaint assortment of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, released in 1998.  He was an ever so slightly tweaked version of the prior repaint release of Magneto from the Marvel Hall of Fame line the prior year.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, this figure is the same as the AoA Magneto.  It’s a solid mold, through and through.  Definitely a more specifically dialed-in version of the character, of course, but it was Toy Biz’s most recent version of the character at the time, and AoA styling or not, the mold that fit the most with the rest of their output at the time.  The major change-up here is the paint.  Rather than a straight adaptation of the AoA costume, this one’s got more of an amalgamated look.  Definitely still leaning into the main classic color scheme, but he’s also got bare arms and a big white “M” on his chest now, which both call back to his ’80s costume (which finally got its proper figure due this year as part of the Legends ’97 tie-in line-up).  He’s also got a bit of silver thrown into the mix as well, for a little extra accenting.  It’s not a strictly comics-based look, but it’s honestly a pretty solid set-up, and the paint work is definitely very strong.  Like his AoA-counterpart, this guy is packed with his removable helmet and cape, as well as the big hand attachment.  I dig the hand a lot more this time, since it’s gets fully-painted detailing, which sells the whole look a bit better.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually came very close to getting this figure a number of times back in the ’90s, before I’d gotten the proper AoA version.  But, once I got that one, I didn’t feel like I *needed* this one.  Look, I was young; I didn’t know where I was ultimately going with this ’90s Toy Biz thing.  It’s one of those figures I’ve always remembered, and I’ve been hoping to get one for a bit.  As luck would have it, I happened upon a loose one while wandering through Factory Antiques during a day trip back in the spring.  He’s pretty nifty.  Like, yeah, not comics accurate, but it’s just a lot of fun.