Yearly Archives: 2024

#3683: Metaluna Mutant

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

METALUNA MUTANT

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS REACTION FIGURES (SUPER 7)

1955’s This Island Earth is a generally mediocre and rather forgettable sci-fi movie, whose entire reputation is salvaged by one thing and one thing only: a killer creature design. Okay, I might be being a little unfair to the movie. It’s honestly not bad, but the Metaluna Mutant is such a memorable design that pretty much everything that’s not him fades away moments after the movie’s over. Universal seemed to recognize this too, as he’s I believe the latest addition to their Universal Monsters stable, coming in some 20 years after the bulk of the others. And, since he’s got such a distinctive look, he’s also a prime candidate for toy coverage. Hooray!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Metaluna Mutant was released in the first series of Universal Monsters ReAction Figures released under the Super 7 banner. The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. Super 7 taking over ReAction directly was accompanied by a slight shift in the exact styling of the sculpts, which is reflected here. While the Funko Universal figures were honestly some of the best under their tenure, they were still a little soft in the details compared to a genuine Kenner product. The Mutant, on the other hand, is quite sharply rendered. He’s not a perfect match for his on-screen counterpart, but that wouldn’t be quite right anyway. He instead goes a bit more idealized, “what you’d remember in your head after seeing the movie”, which feels right for the vibe. There’s lots of fun little details going on here, with all of the membrane stuff on the head, as well as the folds and creases on the “pants.” His paint work is very much dialed into the style they’re going for. Rather than strictly movie coloring, he’s got a far more saturated hue, which gives him more of that ’70s era pop. I really dig the little vein lines on the arms and legs; they help to sell the overall look in a small but notable way. The Mutant is packed with no accessories, but I’m not sure what you’d give him anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had a fairly expansive viewing sci-fi classics as a kid, thanks to my dad’s own fascination with the genre. This Island Earth was shown to me when I was about 7 or 8, and it hit pretty well, largely because this guy was just so cool. I recall the Sideshow 8 inch figure coming out around that time, and being rather interested in him, but I didn’t wind up getting one for another 20 years. This one’s an even more recent addition, snagged from a batch of traded in figures at All Time a month or two ago. He’s simple, but very fun.

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.

#3682: Black Manta

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

BLACK MANTA

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“Aquaman’s greatest enemy is the scourge of the seven seas, David Hyde whose heart is as cold as the ocean depths he hunts.”

Last week, I was talking about Challenge of the Super Friends in reference to its impact on the toy world.  Though the Super Friends and the Legion of Doom were in many ways meant to be parallels, right down to their membership, the Legion came up short on most of their toy coverage.  Much like Sinestro, Aquaman’s opposite number Black Manta, wouldn’t get his first figure until DC Direct came along.  Humorously, it was in a throw-back to a vintage line, Pocket Super Heroes, which, I feel, makes a solid lead-in to today’s DC Direct branded throw-back to a vintage line Black Manta figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Manta is part of Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, under the DC Direct banner.  Manta’s actually been in the line before, as a purely Walmart-exclusive figure that wasn’t part of the assortment structure, and was on the rarer side of the Walmart releases.  So, he’s effectively new.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  The scaling is pretty good again; he’s a little taller, but it’s easy to write that off as being the helmet.  The articulation is pretty much the line’s standard, but the neck’s restricted by the cords running from the helmet to the backpack, which causes it to kind of spring back to a point just off of center.  The construction of this figure is using the same base body as Vigilante, with a modified torso to add the collar for the helmet, as well as unique parts for the head and lower legs.  The head is pretty spot-on for the classic Manta helmet, filtered through the Kenner aesthetic.  The paint work for this figure differentiates him from the prior release; the last one was lots of blues, while this one goes for actually black for the suit, as well as giving him red lenses on his eyes, rather than the yellow of the last one.  Generally, application is pretty cleanly handled, and he fits in well with the rest of the line, as well as the vintage stuff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, um, I don’t think I’ve ever bought a Black Manta figure before?  It’s that whole Aquaman thing, where my dad has the whole collection devoted to the guy, so he just naturally winds up with all of the Manta figures.  It’s not that I *don’t* want a Black Manta, just I’ve never happed to get one.  Even this Manta was a bit of an impulse purchase, honestly.  I was ordering Booster, and I decided to see who else was available.  I knew I wanted Kilowog for sure, and since I was ordering, and I’d already gotten one Legion of Doom member from this run, I threw this guy in too.  He’s rather by the numbers, but he turned out pretty nicely, and he’s certainly a sensible fit for continuing the line, and a great counterpart for the original Aquaman.

#3681: Metalhead

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

METALHEAD

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (PLAYMATES)

Alright, we had two weeks off, but now I’m going back to having a regular TMNT review.  Because, you know, apparently this is a thing I do now?  Look, it kind of surprises me too.  There’s been a lot of good TMNT options lately, and it’s also been pretty dialed into the three characters I’m sure to focus one.  I’ve had a bunch of Donatello, a little bit of Casey, but no Metalhead for a bit.  And, you know what?  I could go for some cool robot turtle action right about now.  It sure is convenient that there’s some available!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metalhead was released in the second assortment of the tie-in line for Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is the new show that’s spun out of Mutant Mayhem.  Thus far, both of the show’s tie-in assortments have been under the “Mutations Mix ‘N Match” banner, which is the swapping gimmick that Playmates like to return to every so often.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation, plus an articulated hatch on the front of his torso.  While all of the standard Mutant Mayhem figures had a higher level of articulation, the newer figures have all gone to a more reduced set-up, which is fairly common between main launches, honestly.  It also better facilitates the Mix ‘N Match set-up.  And, with everything being on ball-joints, there’s still quite a bit of range to be had.  Metalhead’s design this time around is a lot more pieced together than prior designs, which is honestly pretty fun.  He very much fits in with the newer Turtles designs, while also keeping some of the more recurrent design elements from other Metalheads  I dig the decision to keep the head more squared off, much like the 2012 version, and I also like the move to a lankier build, which generally feels more in line with the latest incarnation of the Turtles proper.   The sculpt is a pretty solid recreation of the show’s design for the most part.  He’s not quite as lanky in the limbs, since he needs to still be stable, of course.  He shares a few of his parts with the Mechazoid figure, which is sensible, since he’s supposed to be built from Mechazoid parts and all.  His sculpt is rather geometric, which plays in his favor, but there’s some smaller wear and tear detailing, which keeps things from being too bland.  I also like the small touches, like the little smile etched into his faceplate, giving him that friendlier vibe.  His color work is on the simpler side, but there’s a decent amount of base coverage.  The application’s a little fuzzy around the edges, especially on the yellows, and there are a few details, like his shoe on his left foot, which get overlooked, but it generally works well for the price point.  Metalhead his packed with a sword, sai, nunchuck, and bo staff for the purposes of replicating the four brothers.  All of them can be stored on him, which is very fun.  He’s also got a small disc, which I think is a pizza?  It goes nicely in the torso storage, which is also cool.  And, in order to aid with the “Mix ‘n Match” feature, he’s also packed with Raph’s head and Leo’s left arm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had found the first round of these, which was just the four Turtles, back in June, and I actually snagged the Donnie at the time, since he came with Metalhead’s head.  But, of course, I wanted Metalhead proper, so I was on the prowl for him for a bit.  Thankfully, he wasn’t too much trouble to find, ultimately.  He’s nifty.  I definitely dig this new Metalhead design, and I think it translated well to figure form.  In a perfect world, I’d have loved for him to be a little better articulated, but beyond that, I do really dig this one a lot.

#3680: Booster Gold

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

BOOSTER GOLD

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“A scoundrel from the future intent on making a name for himself in the past, Booster Gold has nevertheless exhibited his share of heroism.”

Isn’t it crazy to think that one of comics’ more notable fan favorite dynamic duos (who aren’t, you know, the actual Dynamic Duo) consists of two characters created two whole decades apart from each other?  That being saind, while Ted Kord, aka Blue Beetle, was created in 1966, that was for Charlton, and he wasn’t worked into the mainstream DC universe until 1986, the same year that Booster Gold debuted.  They wouldn’t be paired off until they both joined the Justice League in 1987, but it’s stuck since then, continuing even through with Ted’s successor Jaime Reyes.  When Ted or Booster get a figure, usually the other’s right there, or not far behind, something that has continued with McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which teased Booster’s inclusion on the packaging of Blue Beetle’s Bug vehicle.  And now he’s here!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Booster Gold is part of Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.  They started trickling out in the last month or so, following up pretty closely on Series 7.  Series 8 has three new character additions for the line, which includes Booster.  The figure stands a little under 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Booster’s scaling places him just a little bit taller than Ted, which makes sense, and is consistent with their usual depictions.  In general, Booster’s a little more bulked up than Ted, which is an element a lot of his figures tend to miss, so I’m glad this one didn’t.  Like Ted, this sculpt feels really, truly genuine for a Kenner Super Powers figure.  The slight raising of the costume elements calls to mind how the original Green Lantern costume was handled, and gives the whole thing a little extra pop.  I’m also thrilled to see they remembered to give him is Legion flight ring, as that’s such an easily missed element.  Booster’s color work is very bright and vibrant.  He’s straight yellow and blue, rather than going for any sort of metallic.  I think it works well here, and it again feels pretty authentic to the whole Kenner vibe.  His paint application is generally clean, apart from the notable spot of missing blue paint on the interior of his right elbow.  Booster is without any accessories, which is a slight bummer, because it feels like it would have been the perfect opportunity to include his robot buddy Skeets.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, once I’d gotten Ted, there was no way I was going to miss out on Booster.  So, I had the Amazon link, and I was gonna order him…and then I missed out on him.  That’s on me, guys.  Anyway, I’d had good luck with GameStop for the Blue Beetle figure, so I checked back with them, and they happened to have Booster, as well as a handful of other figures I was looking for, all in stock.  Booster was my primary interest, and he’s definitely my favorite of the ones I snagged.  He pairs off very nicely with Ted, and the two of them with the Bug is just a fantastic set-up.  Honestly, the whole line’s been worth it just for these three items.

#3679: Crusader Robin

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

CRUSADER ROBIN — SPECIAL LEGENDS EDITION

LEGENDS OF BATMAN (KENNER)

“Armed with his powerful crossbow, bat-shaped shield and cunning wit, Crusader Robin accompanied Silver Knight Batman on his zealous mission to impose peace on the war-torn medieval world. Since being rendered an orphan at the hands of marauding infidels, Crusader Robin constantly battled internal demons as well as the ones visible to the outside world. His never ending quest for justice – coupled with his youthful energy – made Crusader Robin a powerful force – one that the enemy would be wise not to take lightly. Crusader Robin’s brilliant new costume colors inspire his peace-keeping troops to make an all-out effort in battles to come.”

While Marvel jumped full-force into their comics-inspired toy lines in the ’90s, DC, who generally were having a greater success than Marvel with their outside media, tended to lean more heavily on tie-in products. They did at least have a few shorter run lines dedicated to comic versions of their heaviest of hitters, Batman and Superman, with Legends of Batman offering up a number of comics looks, albeit mixed in with some made-up and otherwise “Elseworlds” inspired takes. Batman got to try out all sorts of different personas, and sometimes his sidekick Robin was even lucky enough to tag along. Dick Grayson, seen in his Nightwing gear, got a pretty standard figure, but there were also two more Robins, both leaning more into the Elseworlds side. Today, I’m looking at the knight themed Crusader Robin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Crusader Robin (who, it should be noted, has no relation to the Crusader Batman from the same line, which served as a “standard” Batman) was part of the “2.5” revision to the second series of Kenner’s Legends of Batman line…originally. But that’s not the figure I’m reviewing here. No, this one is the “Special Legends Edition”, one of a whole sub-line of repaints created by Kenner to be sold through the Warner Brothers Studio Store, back when they were trying to give it an actual retail presence in the ’90s. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The Legends of Batman line preceded Total Justice in its usage of rather intense pre-posing for the figures, and Robin’s a pretty good example of this.  In particular, he’s got a rather wide stance, which makes keeping him standing rather tricky.  You have to get his balance *just* right, and even then, it’s kind of a toss-up.  Well, maybe not a toss-up, because if you toss the figure up, nothing’s gonna stand.  But, you get my point.  The sculpt has quite a bit going on, with Robin’s usual spandex re-imagined into a mix of armored plates and chainmail.  The chainmail in particular makes for some visually interesting texture work, which is fun.  The color work on the standard release was pretty close to the Tim Drake Robin’s color scheme, but for this release, it winds up going a lot heavier into the reds, which serve to replace the black from the standard, as well as most of the yellow as well.  What I find interesting about both releases is the decision to give him a medium brown color for his hair, given that all three potential Robin identities at the time had black hair.  Presumably they were attempting to loosely tie-in with Batman Forever‘s casting of Chris O’Donnell, but it’s still kind of weird to see it done on a comics-inspired figure.  Robin was packed with a crossbow, three green arrows for it, a bird-shaped shield, a cape, and a removable helmet.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, my first Robin, of course, was Hydro Claw Robin, but he was a movie Robin, and I wanted one that wasn’t.  I recall this resulting in a store trip with my Grandmother, expressly for the purposes of getting a comic Robin, which resulted in me getting the standard version of this guy, who was, admittedly, the best option at the time.  That one took quite a beating, and at one point got completely covered in acrylic paint for some sort of project.  It’s been a project *since* then to clean him back up, which is still ongoing.  In the mean time, I only in the last few years discovered the “Special Legends Edition” figures even existed, and during my family vacation this summer, I happed upon this guy.  He’s fun, as was the original.  It’s crazy that there wasn’t a standard Robin in this line, but with as cool as this one is, I can’t really knock it.

 

#3678: Luke Skywalker – Snowspeeder Prototype Edition

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

LUKE SKYWALKER — SNOWSPEEDER PROTOTYPE EDITION

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

“This Luke Skywalker is inspired by the colorful prototypes that enable the development team to look past the deco and focus on the sculpt, analyze mold alignment, and adjust for quality.”

During the action figure production process, there are a number of prototyping stages.  Once the sculpt is completed and has been tooled into a steel mold for the purposes of mass-production, the molds have to be tested to make sure they work properly.  Since you don’t want to use the plastic you’ve paid to use on final production for something that may or may not work and which will effectively be junked once the mold has been confirmed as properly working, factories will run these tests with whatever plastic they have left over from other jobs, often resulting in colorful results.  Over the years, some of the test run prototypes have surfaced, and they’re a fun little quirk of the process.  And, because it’s been determined that there’s money to be made in that particular quirk, Hasbro has jumped on mass-producing them.  Thus far, we’ve gotten six of them as part of the Star Wars: Retro Collection, and I’ve finally gotten one!  Huzzah!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker (Snowspeeder) Prototype Edition is a Target-exclusive offering for the Retro Collection, as all of the Prototype Editions have been thus far.  He arrived in January of 2023, and is the fifth of the six Prototype Edition releases.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Obviously, all of the Prototype Edition figures are re-using a mold that Hasbro’s already got in production for the main Retro Collection line, but in Luke’s case, he’s notable for being a new, actual in-house Hasbro mold, rather than a recreation of an old Kenner one.  As there were no proper Snowspeeder pilots in the vintage line, Hasbro did a sizeable rework on the X-Wing Pilot Luke from Kenner’s vintage line, bulking him a bit to add the extra padding, as well as making sure he’s got the gloves, and the modified boots.  He also brings the helmet’s visor down over his eyes, as it was more frequently seen in the movie.  For color work, these figures have no paint, instead relying on a variety of different colors for each of the body parts.  There are actually six different variations of color layouts available, with the blue, red, green, yellow, purple, and orange each being applied to a different body part depending on the variant.  This one has blue for the head, red on the torso, orange on the right arm, green on the left arm, yellow on the right leg, and purple on the left leg.  He’s packed with his lightsaber (which is molded in the same color as the head, so it’s blue here) and his grapple.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been low-key wanting one of these since Hasbro started doing them, but not enough to really go hunting for any of them.  Likewise, I kind of wanted this mold, but also not enough to track down its original release with the board game.  This guy landed in front of me, and that made the whole thing a lot easier.  He’s very definitely a novelty, and I don’t see myself going in for any more of them (well, maybe an IG-88 if they did him), but I do like having at least one of them.

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.

#3677: Kilowog

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

KILOWOG

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“A brilliant geneticist on his home world Bolovax Vik, Kilowog served as Green Lantern of Sector 674. Following the destruction of his planet during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kilowog trained new Green Lantern recruits, teaching essential tools to survive the most dangerous job in the universe.”

Kenner’s sole Green Lantern entry for their Super Powers line was Hal Jordan, who was still the main GL at the time. There were plans at early stages to include a greater GL focus in the line, and the list of unproduced figures they’d planned even included a John Stewart. It’s hard to say if they’d have ever gotten to a character like Killowog, who wasn’t even introduced in the comics until the line’s final year in 1986. Nevertheless, he’s become one of the quintessential Green Lanterns over the years, and there’s no denying he’s got a cool visual, so he found his way into McFarlane’s continuation of Kenner’s line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kilowog was released in Series 7 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.  He’s the second of the new character additions, the other being Blue Beetle.  He’s also the line’s third GL, and he pairs off with the Sinestro Corps Sinestro figure from the same assortment.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His sizing is a lot larger than the rest of the line, putting him pretty much on the same mark as the vintage Darkseid figure.  It’s appropriate for the character, of course, and it’s nice to see, in contrast to how McFarlane scaling can sometimes go, that the line’s general trend smaller doesn’t affect a character who *should* be larger.  His sculpt is an all-new one, and it’s likely to remain fairly unique.  I think it’s honestly one of the line’s strongest (though I feel like I keep saying that for each new figure I get).  It’s a great match for his classic appearance, and fits in really well with the pre-existing Kenner aesthetic, especially the vintage Hal.  I appreciate the larger build, while still having a balanced set of proportions, and I really like the extra heft he’s got.  Kilowog’s paint work is okay.  It’s not his strongest mark.  The edges are a little sloppy in some spots, especially on his ring.  I’m also a bit bummed that the green’s off from the vintage GL, but I understand something like that can be kind of tricky.  It’s at least not a bad shade.  Kilowog is without any accessories, but given his larger size, that’s an understandable cut-back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Before I was even sure I was going to actually jump in on this line, Kilowog was one I was waffling on, because I sure do like a good Kilowog figure, and even before they addressed the scaling issues, I figured he’d fit in okay with the older stuff.  I figured I’d snag him if I saw him in person, but then I didn’t, and I got impatient, so I wound up ordering him from GameStop.  Yes, I ordered a McFarlane DC product from GameStop.  I don’t really know what the world’s coming to, honestly.  Kilowog’s pretty darn great, and another figure that really feels like an authentic continuation of the vintage line.

#3676: Dhalsim

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

DHALSIM

ULTRA STREET FIGHTER II (JADA)

I’ve talked about Street Fighter here on the site only a few times, and the bulk of it’s been Minimate-related, which I suppose isn’t really disqualifying in any real sense, but sort of feels like it to me?  I’m weird like that.  The thing about Street Fighter that’s important is that I rather like it, but, like, in this very sort of involved yet also only tangentally interested sort of way.  It’s my go-to fighting game, and I love its colorful cast, and I love the cool toys its gotten, and I’m always intrigued by it, but I nevertheless always feel like sort of an outsider, and I couldn’t really tell you why.  I’m working on it.  Jada Toys, who have been making some pretty amazing strides in action figures the last few years, and Street Fighter is one of the licenses they’ve dived into.  I’ve been waiting for the right figure to jump in with, and it turns out that’s Dhalsim!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dhalsim is part of the second round of Jada’s Ultra Street Fighter II line, which also includes Bison and Ken.  Dhalsim and Bison are hitting at the same time, while Ken preceded them by a bit, in sort of a reverse of Ryu and Fei Long from the first series shipping together, with Chun-Li trailing behind them.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation.  Jada’s articulation scheme on the Universal Monsters and Mega Man lines has been pretty impressive, and the Street Fighter figures only improve on that.  Dhalsim’s articulation is very strong, once more being pretty much on par with Hasbro’s work with their 6 inch lines, right down to the use of pinless joints on the elbows and knees.  In particular, the addition of the butterfly joints at the shoulders is very useful for proper fighting poses.  The sculpt on Dhalsim is all-new, patterned on his more idealized model from more recent updates to the game.  It works well with the articulation scheme, working everything in pretty cleanly, while also keeping the overall look a good match for his design.  There are two different heads, one calm, and the other shouting, giving some additional variety to his posing.  I love the use of actual metal hoops for the earrings on both heads, and the general likeness is very good.  His necklace and bangles are free-floating pieces, which I’m typically pretty iffy on, but in Dhalsim’s case, the free movement of those pieces is kind of a feature, so it works pretty well.  Dhalsim’s paint work is rather basic for the most part.  It generally works pretty well, but there’s some notable slop on the wraps on the wrists.  Dhalsim is packed with two sets of hands (in open gesture and flat poses), alternate bendy arms and legs for his stretchy attacks, and a stand to aid in keeping him balanced when using the alternate limbs.  The hands swap easily enough, but you do have to be careful to not lose the bangles.  Likewise, the limbs also swap easily, though the arms take a little more doing the first time they’re used.  In a perfect world, I’d have liked to be able to use the fists from the stretched arms on the standard limbs, but that’s very minor, and what we got works well within the confines of Dhalsim’s attacks within the game.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My introductions to Street Fighter as a whole are kind of all over the place, but Dhalsim figures into a couple of them.  I actually got a small little MUSCLE-style Dhalsim as an arcade prize years before I had any ideas of the game at all.  My first experience actually playing any version of the games was a ported copy saved on one of the computers at my middle school, where the only character I had any luck playing against the CPU was Dhalsim.  I wasn’t certain I’d get this one when he was first shown off, but once I saw him in hand, there was no way I was passing on him.  He’s a fantastic introduction to the line, and a fantastic figure in his own right.  I’m very excited for the rest of the line.  I’m not going full completism or anything, but I definitely want more of these figures.

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.

#3675: Sinestro

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

SINESTRO

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

Though it served as the most visible media presence of DC’s heroes for a long stretch of time, Hanna Barbera’s Super Friends didn’t have any direct toy tie-ins. Both Mego’s World’s Greatest Superheroes and Kenner’s Super Powers were clearly drawing from the show’s influence, of course, but there were a great many characters, even notable ones from the comics, who didn’t get coverage. Green Lantern and his evil counterpart on the Legion of Doom, Sinestro, were both left out of Mego’s run, and while GL found his way into Super Powers, Sinestro remained unlucky, not getting his first figure until the DC Direct days. It’s fitting, then, that he would be added to Super Powers by (what remains of) DC Direct!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sinestro was released in Series 6 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation, which they released under the DC Direct banner. He’s the first of two Sinestros released in close succession, this one based on the character’s classic blue and black, while the other is his more modern Corps uniform. He pairs off in Series 6 with an updated Hal Jordan. The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. Sinestro has typically been depicted as tall and lithe, something this figure’s stature captures. He’s taller than the average Kenner Super Powers figure, but in the way he should be, rather than in an “out of scale” sense like some of the line’s earlier offerings. The sculpt is all-new, and pretty decent. It definitely feels like it captures the Kenner style pretty well. You can certainly see where elements of it were designed with re-use for the Corps model in mind, meaning he does ultimately wind up with some costume details that are a little outside of the intended era. The collar in particular is just a little too modernized in its shaping. His head is likewise a tad more modernized, calling to mind his DCAU appearances, and lacking the larger forehead typical of classic Sinestro. None of it’s bad, mind you, and Kenner wasn’t always 100% faithful in their own figures, so he doesn’t look entirely out of place. Sinestro’s color work is pretty solid, hitting the usual colors, and feeling pretty on the mark for what a Super Powers paint job should look like. Sinestro is packed with his power battery, which, like the figure is maybe just a touch too modern. In reality, Kenner would have probably just reused Hal’s, so getting something different at all isn’t so bad.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After being won over so thoroughly by the Blue Beetle, I’ve gotten more invested in this line as a whole, so I’m looking more at some of the other figures that would fit well with my vintage set. I happened to find this guy at the Walmart close to my work. He’s not quite as on the mark as a few of the others I’ve looked at, but he’s still a marked improvement on the earlier releases, and a solid counterpart to my vintage Hal.

#3674: Stealth Venom

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

STEALTH VENOM

SPIDER-MAN (TOY BIZ)

“In the past, Venom has been both hero and villain, and Spider-Man knows how powerful he can be! With his chameleon-like abilities, Venom can even blend into his surroundings and virtually ‘disappear’ from sight. So, although Venom is unpredictable, one thing is certain; when he does appear, things heat up!”

Ah, yes, Venom’s chameleon like abilities. Of all the Spider-Man villains out there, surely it’s Venom whose abilities could be best classified as “chameleon-like.” …look, guys, I can’t just stand by and let this Chameleon erasure happen! He’s the original Spider-Man villain. Can’t we get him some respect? No? Well, I tried. I guess I’ll just review this “chameleon-like” Venom.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Stealth Venom was released in Series 7 of Toy Biz’s Spider-Man line.  The whole set was dialed into Toy Biz’s tendency to give their lines the occasional repaint-heavy line-up, so there were minimal new parts across the board, all dialed into more recognizable characters.  This was Venom’s third time in the line, and the first of the kind of made-up variants.  It was far from the last of either thing, of course.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Venom lacks elbow joints for reasons I’m not entirely sure of, but there it is.  Otherwise, it’s pretty standard stuff.  His sculpt from the neck down was the same as the unmasked Venom from earlier in the line.  It’s honestly not a bad sculpt, and in particular it captured the animated approach to Venom pretty well.  He got a new head, which removed the removable mask feature…un-removed?  I don’t know.  There’s no unmasked head is my point.  It’s really bulky at the neck, and I’m not entirely sure why.  Also, he’s got this sort of permanently looking up thing going on, which seems odd for someone of his stature.  Venom’s stealth-ness came from the color work, which was translucent.  There were actually two different versions; the one seen here was the one that more closely mimicked Venom’s usual set-up, while the second one inverted the colors.  This one’s not nearly as different at a glance, especially in the photos, but I guess it works out alright.  Venom was packed with two clip-on hand attachments, as well as a web-line that was wrapped around his waist.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was surprisingly short on Venom figures growing up.  I had one of the 10-inchers, and I jumped on the original Spider-Man Classics one pretty quickly, but the 5-inch ones all eluded me until later in life.  This guy was mixed in with a handful of Toy Biz figures that got traded into All Time a month or two ago, and he was surprisingly complete, so hooray for me!  He’s kinda goofy, obviously, but it’s not like I’m collecting the Toy Biz stuff for its serious adherence to the comics lore, am I?  Now, I guess I just have to track down that 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.