Greetings dear readers! I may not have been hit by the Christmas bug this year, but I’ve decided that it’s nice to take a break from time to time, so let’s make it an annual thing! I’ll be taking off from now til the start of the new year, so thanks for reading and I’ll see you all after the new year!
-Ethan
Happy Chrithmas. Its Chrisman. Merry Crisis. Merry Chrysler. Do you get it? Like the Vine thing? Ah, what a timely reference, right? I’m hip and with it and I know how to get home with the downies. No, wait, that’s that right. Ah, it’s Christmas, so I’m just gonna give into the hokey not coolness. Let’s be all festive and cheerful. Anyway, here’s another Star Wars guy, named after the fact that he purges members of a religious sect. Yay for festive cheer? Anyway, here’s the Purge Trooper, I guess.
The Holiday Edition Purge Stormtrooper is figure 5 out of 6 from the 2023 Holiday line-up for Black Series. He, like the Jawa I looked at last year, was a Fan Channel release. He was *supposed* to be out before the holiday….but he *just* missed it. Oh well. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation. I haven’t personally messed with the Purge Stormtrooper mold yet, since I didn’t snag any of the earlier runs. It’s largely just the old style Clone mold again, so it does what it does, but the head’s new, he’s got a pauldron, and the belt’s been tweaked. He’s also got a cloth kama piece. In general, he’s got the same pluses and minuses as the Clone I looked at yesterday, so he looks good, but posing can be a bit iffy. The decos for last year’s run were generally a bit less “just vomit some holiday colors on the figure” so the Purge Trooper is a little more focused in his design, directly referencing the 
classic Nutcracker design. Honestly, it works quite well with this particular mold. I’m not sure it hits quite as well as the Santa Jawa, but it’s solid. I especially like how they made the jaw work within the helmet design’s mouth piece. The Purge Trooper gets a blaster rifle in a deco that matches him, as well as a re-decoed Mouse Droid. It’s a weird deco on the droid, but I think it’s supposed to be a nut? It doesn’t quite read right. Also, doing a Nutcracker-themed trooper deco, packing him with a Mouse Droid, and not going for some sort of, oh, I don’t know, mouse themed deco seems like a missed opportunity. Like, it’s right there, guys. A mouse is literally the antagonist of the story, guys.
I got this guy brand new last year, right after the holiday. Admittedly, it felt a tad silly, but there it was. I kept him sealed all year, waiting to open him up when it came time to decorate. While I can’t say the Purge Trooper design and concept is one I really love, I do like the angle they took for this particular release, at least for the main figure. I do wish they’d picked a better deco for the droid, but at the same time, I’m just kinda glad to get the mold.
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.
Twas the night—er, day before Christmas, and all through the house, Ethan was realizing he hadn’t actually had a review go live on Christmas Eve in two years. I didn’t used to do the themed review until the actual day, but last year I had two new Star Wars holiday-themed figures, so I did both days…well, sort of. Anyway, there aren’t new holiday Black Series figures this year, but I’ve wound up with some old ones to fall back on, so let’s do that! Here’s another Clone Trooper, because these guys are just everywhere.
The Holiday Edition Clone Trooper was part of the debut run of Holiday Star Wars: The Black Series figures in 2020. He was exclusive to GameStop and was figure 5 in the set of 5. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation. This guy is using the older style Clone base body, with the Phase II-style helmet. These figures were released after the introduction of the newer style of Clone, but presumably the exclusive offerings had to be turned around at a quicker pace, hence the older molds. The Walgreens Clone Lieutenant did the same thing, and he was from right around the same point. The mold certainly has its limitations, but at the same time, it was solid for its time, and still looks pretty decent. As with all of these figures, the deco is what’s really selling him. It’s appropriately tacky, with sort of an ugly Christmas sweater set-up on the torso armor. Apart from the fact that he’s a Clone Trooper who inexplicably has TIE Fighters and a Death Star on his sweater, it’s a nifty idea, and honestly pretty solidly executed. Beyond that, he’s just got a lot of red and green, as well as the striped stockings look that’s been recurrent with this sub-line. The stripes are a bit inconsistent, but everything else is quite sharp. The first year of holiday figures didn’t do any guns (amusing, since they were all some variation of trooper), but went instead with melee weaponry. This guy gets the Knight of Ren’s sickle thing painted up like a candy cane. I don’t know that it quite lands the way it was intended to, but it’s not terrible. He’s also packed with a porg, who’s got a little tiny scarf painted on, and I just love that.
In 2020, I was very definitely not going out and hunting exclusives, so I didn’t get any of these the first year. This was the one from that batch I wanted the most, but I just never came across it. Earlier this year, however, a set of them were traded in at All Time and I was able to snag a few of them, this guy included. They continue to be exceptionally hokey, but I sure do love me some hokey decorations.
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.
“Rich playboy Warren Worthington III was the X-Men’s Angel until the day that he was captured and transformed into one of the horsemen of Apocalypse. A darker reflection of his previous self, Archangel now possessed wings made of metal – wings that he could barely control, wings that fired paralyzing “feathers” at friends as well as enemies. Constantly battling his dark side, Archangel longed to regain the goodness that he once stood for. Recently finding kinship with the X-Men’s Psylocke, Archangel has come to terms with his transformation, and has started to rebuild the life he thought he had lost forever!”
Do you guys like X-Men? I heard somewhere that you might. I mean, I do. And it’s my site. So, you know, it’s ultimately my call, right? Amusingly, I was actually not gonna do an X-themed review today, but then I thought better of it. Yay for me. And here, on the day before the day before X-Mas, I’m reviewing an X-Man named Archangel, which feels somewhat appropriate, right? Sort of that “lo, an angel of Xavier appear and they were sore afraid” kinda vibe? Of course, it’s just Warren Worthington, and he’s kind of a push over prep school guy, so, maybe not “sore afraid.” I’m getting sore afraid of this intro going any longer, if I’m honest.
Archangel is from the Battle Brigade Series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, which was the 14th assortment. I’ve already reviewed the standard version of this figure, but he, like all of the figures in this particular line-up, also had a color variant. While the standard was in his white and blue, Neal Adams-inspired costume, this one’s in the Champions-inspired version. The figure stands 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. He’s the exact same mold as the standard version, which was itself largely re-used from the “Invasion” series release. It’s still a little bulky for Warren, and we’re just ignoring the sculpted wrist bands. Still, it’s not too terrible. I do rather like this particular head sculpt, especially for this version of Warren. The wings remain a bit floppy as well, but they do at least look the part. In terms of paint work, this guy’s got the same layout as the standard, but with red in place of the blue. It’s a little rough on some of the edges, but otherwise looks pretty solid. Like the standard and Invasion releases, this guy gets no accessories. He’s still got the wing-flapping action, though, which remains pretty nifty.
This guy is actually quite a recent acquisition for me. I’ve been wanting one since shortly after I got my original, so it’s been a good 20 years, but in all that time, I’ve never seen the variant in person. I was at Ocean City Comic Con last weekend, and found a booth that had exactly one sealed Toy Biz X-Men figure in it, which happened to be this guy. I was honestly pretty excited. He’s obviously not super different from the regular release, but the color change-up is enough to give him a pretty unique look. It certainly helps that I liked the standard figure so much in the first place.
“On the planet of Kashyyyk, Commander Gree serves Jedi Master Yoda and helps the Wookiees fight the invading Separatists. When the secret Order 66 is issued, Commander Gree suddenly turns on the Jedi, but Yoda senses his betrayal and quickly eliminates him.”
I am nothing if not willing to go through with the bit. The bit in this case, of course, is doing a weekly Star Wars review based on one of the prequel movie tie-in lines, in order. I did Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, so now it’s time to jump to Revenge of the Sith. While I have nostalgic attachment to all of the prequels, and am willing to discuss my enjoyment of the first two…well, it’s not the worst of the prequels in terms of quality, but I think it’s the prequel I’ve always enjoyed the least, which is, of course, a big contrast, I think, from most people. Look, I think it’s big dumb fun, but it’s also a real mess. Honestly, that’s a sentence that describes the third entry in every Star Wars trilogy, so there you have it. It does have cool clones, though, and in particular I’ve always been fond of Commander Gree.
Commander Gree was figure 59 in the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith tie-in line. He was one of the late-run figures for the year, hitting retail right before the holidays, which also made him quite difficult to get. the figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation. Gree made use of the second Phase II Clone Trooper from the line, dubbed “Super-Articulated” at the time. It was a solid sculpt, and remained the best version of this style of clone for quite a ways after this line, and was re-used to a crazy degree, as you would well expect. Gree is himself not too far off the standard armor, so it generally works just fine for him. The main selling point here was the new deco for Gree. Technically, it’s not entirely accurate to his on-screen appearance, specifically dealing with the details on the helmet, but it reads well enough, and it’s honestly fun and got a sufficient bit of pop to it, so I dig it. There were two possible shades of green for his visor, darker and lighter. Mine’s the lighter, which is the one I prefer, even if it’s the less accurate of the two. Gree is packed with a standard blaster, a removable antenna, and a large missile-launcher-style blaster. The launcher is laughably silly, but I can again dig it.
I recall finding both this guy and Bly in store shortly before Christmas when they hit, but it being so close to the holiday, I couldn’t get them, and my parents weren’t able to get them for me before the holiday craze wiped them out. I didn’t have to wait too long for him, fortunately. I recall him being a late winter purchase from Cosmic Comix, who had managed to get in some relatively recent figures and a reasonable enough price post-holidays. Gree was my favorite clone from the film, and subsequently my favorite figure from this line, so he survived a good number of collection purges. He honestly holds up really well.
“Riddle us this: what cerebral criminal with an affinity for purple and green loves challenging the Dark Knight with cleverly calculated crimes and puzzling plots?”
The Riddler is a character notable in the context of the vintage Super Powers line in an interesting fashion that hinges on him *not* being in the vintage Super Powers line. He’s not even one of the scrapped figures from after the line ended. However, after the line ended in the US, it was picked up by two companies in Argentina, Pacipa and PlayFul, who released the figures under the Super Amigos branding. They added a single new character to the line, and it was, you guessed it, the Riddler (called El Acertijo), who was just a straight repaint of Green Lantern. Toy Biz’s re-purposing of the Kenner molds also resulted in a Riddler (this time a re-worked Flash), and all this time later, McFarlane is getting in on the Riddler fun too.
The Riddler is part of Series 9 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line. He’s designed to pair off with the Batman in the assortment (who’s the “classic” mold, but in black and grey this time). The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation. Like the Argentinian figure, which this one is clearly meant to be emulating, he’s a total parts re-use. However, it’s not strictly Green Lantern this time around. The head’s still GL, re-purposed from the McFarlane update to Hal, which I actually haven’t yet gotten. It’s different from the Kenner one, but not in any major way; just different. Instead of re-using the body from that figure, this guy is instead on the Nightwing body. It’s a bit of a bummer, since the Nightwing body’s an older 
one, and therefore too large for the proper scaling the line’s moved into more recently. Also, while I *get* not re-using the GL body, since it has the ring and such, and is therefore inaccurate for Riddler, it’s weird to be clearly referencing the old figure while not actually recreating the old figure. Even the early renders of the figure on the back of the box are using the GL mold, so they got it at *some* point in the process. As it stands, this one exists in a strange middle ground. In terms of coloring, they’ve aimed to recreate the original Amigos version, and not done a terrible job of that. I mean, the original is actually a bit terrible, with the lesser plastic quality and all, so this one’s even a touch better. Riddler is without any accessories or extras.
I’ve always been fascinated by the Amigos Riddler, and it’s one of those figure’s I’d love to own at some point, but never gotten the chance to. This one represented a nice runner up, especially based on the early renders with the different body. Ultimately, I don’t like it as much as I’d hoped to. Instead of being a quirky reference figure, he winds up as more of a middle of the road standard figure. Not bad, but not much to write home about. In terms of a Riddler that fits with the vintage line, the Toy Biz one might actually be a bit better, since he’s a more unique offering. Still, this one’s a perfectly serviceable figure on his own.
I do not talk about The Simpsons much here on the site. A large part of that is due to only having a passing familiarity with most of the franchise until I watched the whole run during the pandemic, so I haven’t picked up many of the associated toys. I do have a few figures here and there, and amongst the reviews I’ve done here on the site, there’s certainly been a focus on Radioactive Man, star of Bart’s favorite comic in-universe. What can I say? I like super heroes. The last figure I looked at came from Super 7’s abruptly ended Ultimates line, this one comes from the next company at bat with the license, JAKKS Pacific, who kicked things off earlier this year with figures at multiple scales and price points, including a deluxe offering for Radioactive Man!
Radioactive Man is one of the three Deluxe figures kicking off that portion of JAKKS’ The Simpsons line, alongside variants of Mr. Burns and Homer. The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 21 points of articulation. In terms of scaling, they’re not too terribly far off from Playmates’ stuff, but they’re a little different stylistically, so they don’t quite vibe. The articulation lands somewhere between Playmates and Super 7. He’s got a better spread then the very barebones Playmates figures, of course, but not the same range as the Super 7 figures. There are some very definitely limitations when posing this guy, with the 
elbows and knees not getting past 90 degree bends, and the neck essentially being a cut joint. That said, he’s not prone to popping apart the way the Super 7 one was, so there’s some give and take. Unlike the Playmates Radioactive Man, who was based on the “film” version, this one’s clearly the comics guy, but he’s an earlier run look than the Super 7 figure, which definitely stuck to more recent appearances. I dig the decision to take a different approach here, and I think this one stands out well. The sculpt translates the design nicely to three dimensions, and they manage to work in the articulation without it being too 
cumbersome. It’s pretty clean, which is what you want out of an animation-based figure for sure. The color work here is mostly done through molded plastics, with minimal paint. The colors are mostly okay, but there’s some change-ups from piece-to-piece on the exact shade of red, which I don’t love. Also, there’s a production code printed on the inside of his cape in black, which is super obvious and rather annoying. The figure’s got a light-up feature, as part of the deluxe set-up; you press his belt buckle, and his emblem pulses. It’s nifty, but not essential, but it also doesn’t really mess-up his look when it’s off, so I don’t mind it. He’s packed with a larger display base, which looks like a comic cover, and also features and optional flight stand. His posablility limits what you can do with it a bit, but it’s still a fun extra.
I honestly didn’t expect JAKKS to tackle this guy quite so quickly in their run, because he’s usually a later down the road sort of character. Having *just* gotten the Super 7 figure (okay, like 8 months ago, but still), I didn’t know if I needed to get this one. That said, once I saw him in person, I liked him enough to justify dropping retail to get one. He’s got a different approach compared to prior variants, but it’s one what works, and that results in a solid toy. I haven’t picked up any other figures, but this one makes me feel like the line’s off to a pretty good start.
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.
“Bizarro is an imperfect clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor to destroy the Man of Steel, but the defective duplicate has never succeeded. And, as a superpowered being with very low intellect, Bizarro is a brute known for his childlike and dangerous temper tantrums.”
Wow, would you look at that? I haven’t even gone a whole week, and here I am, reviewing another McFarlane DC figure. They just keep getting closer and closer together. Well, this particular figure is Super Powers, so I give myself a little more leeway on that front, at least. To follow-up on the updated Superman I looked at last month, here’s his opposite number of sorts, Bizarro. Bizarro’s notable in the realm of Super Powers, having been one of Kenner’s proposed figures from the scrapped post-Series 3 line-up, meaning he’s not really new, he’s just really, really overdue. He also keeps to the Legion of Doom theme, much like Sinestro and Black Manta from prior assortments. Also, I’m doing this entire review without the backwards talking gimmick because I just don’t hate myself enough to do that sort of thing anymore.
Bizarro is part of Series 9 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation under the DC Direct banner. He’s the counterpart to the Superman from the same set, following McFarlane’s recurrent theming of good guy/bad guy pairings. The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. Bizarro is, unsurprisingly, re-using a lot of Owen Oertling’s updated Superman sculpt. It’s a great sculpt, and it’s very likely Kenner had planned to re-use a lot of their own Superman mold when they got to Bizarro, so it adds up. He gets a new head sculpt, which is slightly more modernized, but not crazily so. Honestly, Kenner’s proposal for Bizarro had some more contemporary art mixed in with the “classic,” so this isn’t that far out. It’s sharp, clean, and sufficiently different from the Superman sculpt, so I dig it. He also gets his “Bizarro No. 1” sign, which looks the part and hangs well on the body. He also gets the cloth cape, with that same neck connector I’m iffy on, but beyond that it works fine. Bizarro’s color work generally matches Superman, which is good. The application’s not too bad, but the red seems a little thin in some spots. He’s got some decent accenting on the face, which isn’t strictly authentic to Kenner’s style, but is exactly the sort of thing I’m willing to give McFarlane a pass on, because it just looks so nice here.
As has become my very surprising standard operating procedure for this line, I wound up preordering this guy through GameStop, along with the rest of the set. He was particularly high on my list from this set due to his spot as one of the proper Kenner continuation figures. I was happy to see him included. He’s got a slightly more unique spin than some of the others, but in a good way, and certainly in a better fashion than the early run “unique” spins from the line. He’s a good match not only for the updated Superman, but also the vintage one, making him a great use of the line’s status.
“Super strong and virtually indestructible, Rogue is a one-woman fighting force! But when there are too many enemies for even Rogue to handle at once, she relies on her Double-Barrel cannon slammer. Flying in above the clouds, Rogue faces the forces of Master Molds Sentinel squadrons and is overwhelmed by their number. But with the help of her cannon slammer and her fellow X-Men, the Sentinels don’t last long enough to realize what hit them. With a mutant power matched only by her southern charms, Rogue is one mutant to be reckoned with!”
Hey, look, it’s time for more Toy Biz X-Men! The things that keep me happy. And taking them away would make me unhappy. You certainly wouldn’t want to make me unhappy, would you? Good. Glad we’re all on the same page there. As Toy Biz moved later into the run of their 5-inch line, they had run out of standard versions of the main characters, so they had to start doing some good old fashioned wacky-varianting. They went heavier on gimmicks, with their “Secret Weapon Force” branding in particular standing out as a notable push. New designs, even comics-based ones, were filtered through these gimmicks. Here’s a gimmicky Rogue.
Rogue was released in the “Power Slammers” assortment, which was released under the Secret Weapon Force heading in Toy Biz’s 1998 X-Men line-up. This marked Rogue’s fourth figure in the 5-inch line, and was based on her Shi’ar mining uniform, which she sported for a stretch of less than a year. It debuted in 1997, so it was pretty quick turnaround for such a thing. It’s a pretty notable departure from her traditional designs, and was fairly short-lived, but it’s nothing if not unique. The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and she has 12 points of articulation. On my figure, the joints are exceptionally loose, to the point of making it difficult to keep her standing, which is frustrating to say the least. I am also, as always, not really a fan of the v-hips, but it is what it is. Rogue’s sculpt was new at the time, though most of it would be re-used two years later for the movie line’s team suit Rogue. It’s rather on the stylized front, but a 
decent match for the art from within the books at the time. There’s a touch of pre-posing, but generally to a minor degree, and the level of detailing honestly is pretty solid. The head’s particularly unique, and the hair in front of her face is certainly a neat touch. Rogue’s color work is generally solid. It’s an odd color scheme (the Shi’ar outfits were generally off-model in their coloring), but it’s accurate. The’s a bit of fuzz at the edges of some of the painted elements, but the overall appearance is decent. Rogue was packed with a big giant gun thing, which serves as the titular “power slammer.” When the bit at the top is slammed down, there are small yellow ball projectiles that fly out. It’s super silly and super goofy, but it does at least go totally apart from the core figure.
Rogue comes from the era of the line where I missed more than I got when they were new. There were a lot of repeats on characters, and I had most of my core cast, Rogue included, so I didn’t double up on most of them. Since jumping back in, though, they’ve been some of my focuses. I managed to snag Rogue from Yesterday’s Fun while vacationing a couple of summers ago. She’s alright. The look’s certainly unique, but the figure has some issues, especially the loose joints, which hold it back.
A week ago, I was writing an intro about The Phantom Menace (for the SECOND time….), and I guess I’ve just decided to make my way on through the Star Wars…es. So, let’s jump to Attack of the Clones! Look, I’ve come around on the prequels as a whole in recent years, but Attack is emphatically the worst Star Wars movie, and it’s not even close. It’s barely even a movie. It’s a Wikipedia entry that they filmed to bridge the two actual movies in the prequels. The thing is, I’m nostalgic as hell for it. And the toys? Oh, they’re emphatically some of the worst Star Wars toys produced. But guess what? I’m nostalgic as hell for those, too. I’m an enigma, you guys. Jango Fett was a big deal when Attack hit, and a lot of the toys centered on him. Here’s the one with the best action feature ever.
Jango Fett (Final Battle) is figure 31 in the Star Wars Saga line, which ran alongside Attack‘s release. He was one of the three Jangos available at launch, and the second of the two “standard” ones. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation. His articulation, like so many of the Saga figures, is mostly pointless, thanks to how heavily pre-posed these figures were. In Jango’s case, that pre-posing is exceedingly awkward, and doesn’t really much allow for…anything. He’s also super hard to stand, largely because what even are his legs supposed to be doing? What’s crazy is the’s got actual knee joints, a thing that were still not exceedingly common at this time, and they’re useless, which is just laughable. On the plus side, I guess the actually quality of the sculpt isn’t bad. It’s clean and the detailing is sharp, and he’s pretty accurate to the movie. The biggest drawback (other than the posing) is the advertised action feature, where his gauntlet launches a fire-shaped missile. It’s not very effective, and it means his left arm is misshapen. Making up for it, however, is the unadvertised second action feature. Saga made use of magnets on a number of figures, and a recurring instance was for easily removable body parts, to simulate the damage characters might take. In Jango’s case, his whole neck joint’s a magnet, so you can behead him, easy-peasy. It’s so freaking morbid, and I absolutely love it. Jango’s paint work is a bit murky, which wasn’t uncommon in this era. He’s got a lot of fake dirt build-up, which is definitely a bit too heavy. It’s at least all pretty cleanly applied, so there’s that. Jango is packed with the fire projectile, as well as his twin pistols. Unfortunately, the holsters are non-functioning on this release, so there’s nowhere to store them.
When these figures came out, both of my cousins around my age who collected Star Wars had this version of Jango, but I didn’t, and I always desperately wanted one. Something about how morbid that head feature was just greatly amused me. He’s on the short list of Saga figures I’ve purchased as an adult; he was traded into All Time a couple of years ago, and I just couldn’t resist him. He’s terrible, but at the same time also wonderful. He’s the perfect encapsulation of my relationship with the movie and its toyline as a whole.
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.
The Figure In Question 