Monthly Archives: January 2025

#3784: Nurse Chapel

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

NURSE CHAPEL

STAR TREK (PLAYMATES)

Okay, we’re doing this Star Trek thing! One! More! Time!  …You know, for now, at least.  Today’s subject is Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry’s second wife, and a central piece of Trek since the very beginning.  Originally appearing as Pike’s “Number One” in the unaired pilot “The Cage,” Barrett’s role as a regular was removed when they went to series proper, but she returned as recurring character Nurse Christine Chapel (amongst many other roles throughout the franchise’s run).  Chapel was her most frequent on-screen role, and it also earned her a couple of action figures, the first of which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nurse Chapel is part of the fifth “mixed” assortment of their Star Trek line.  She was released at the same time as Rand, thereby wrapping up the auxiliary central cast to go with the main crew boxed set.  The figure stands just under 4 1/2 inches tall and she has 12 points of articulation.  The articulation’s all pretty standard for the line, with the caveat that her hip joints are restricted by the choice to go hard plastic on the skirt portion of her uniform.  Her sculpt is actually pretty good for the line.  The proportions are a bit more balanced than some of the others, notably avoiding the big-headed-ness of a lot of the line.  She’s also got a pretty respectable likeness to Barrett, which is nice to see.  There’s not a ton of texturing, but that’s on par with the other TOS figures, so she fits in well.  The color work is basic, but it’s cleanly handled, especially on the face.  Chapel is packed with a display stand (with her own unique medical insignia), as well as an assortment of medical instruments.  And she can even hold them all!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It took me a while to get around to getting this one.  She was actually the last piece of the original crew I didn’t have, though I do remember my dad buying his copies of her and Rand new in store back in the ’90s.  I got this one loose, a could of loose Star Trek collections ago at work.  She’s honestly a pretty good figure.  The likeness is strong, and the proportions look good.  All in all, a neat little figure of a pretty important part of Trek lore.

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.

#3783: Superman – 1978

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

SUPERMAN — 1978

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE TOYS)

Oh man, two whole Superman reviews, in the same week?  That’s crazy, right?  Well, maybe not so much, I guess.  I do like Superman, so I have a few of them shuffling around.  Also, I had the DCUC one on the schedule before I even knew when I’d be getting this one in-hand, so, you know, less than intentional.  And that one was comics-based, whereas this one is based on Christopher Reeve’s iconic turn in the role, starting with 1978’s Superman: The Movie.  Reeve is a defining in the role of Superman much in he same way that Superman himself was defining for super heroes as a whole.  Neither Reeve, nor the first of his films, really has a true equal.  Figure coverage of Reeve has increased notably in more recent years, but he’s still a little more on the scarce side, especially for more conventional offerings.  Five years into their run with the license, McFarlane has added Reeve’s Superman to the main DC line-up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman – 1978 Movie is figure #25 in the Collector Edition sub-line of DC Multiverse, and hit in the area of right at the end of last year, right at the beginning of this year.  There were two versions, the standard and a Platinum Edition based on his evil counterpart from Superman III.  The one seen here is the standard, but the only difference between the two is the deco.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 39 points of articulation.  The sculpt on this guy looks to be an all-new one, though I’m not 100% sure.  The initial shots of this one didn’t wow me, so I wasn’t sure about how it would look in hand.  I have to say, it actually looks a lot better in person than I’d expected it to.  It’s a little tricky to get it to photograph well, but it genuinely looks good.  Aside from the rather strange look of the elbows when they’re bent, the articulation scheme is solid, and he’s got a good range of motion.  The head sculpt has a pretty respectable Reeve likeness.  It’s not exactly lifelike, and there’s a bit of caricature to it to better adhere it to the rest of the line’s stylings, but it’s pretty clear who it’s meant to be, and it captures the spirit of the character nicely.  The body sculpt is pretty basic for the most part, apart from that slightly odd extra bit of detailing on the wrists, and has a decent enough set of proportions, which match well with Reeve’s build.  He’s got a cloth cape with wires running through for full posability.  I actually really, really like the cape.  The wires are really strong, and hold up very well, adding a lot of options for posing him.  Superman’s color work is appropriately bright and colorful.  It’s heavy on molded colors, but the paint work that’s there is generally pretty clean, and the face is pretty lifelike.  Superman is packed with a pretty impressive selection of accessories.  He gets an extra head, 10 hands (pair of fists, pair of flat, pair of loose grip, pair of open gesture, a pointing right, and a left holding the Kryptonian crystal), a flight stand, and a card.  The alternate head is clearly meant to be used for the alternate color scheme, and looks slightly odd on the classic colors, but it’s got a good Reeve likeness.  The hands add a ton of posing options, and the flight stand is always a good addition.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in the main body, I wasn’t really wowed by the prototype shots for this guy, so I went in with low expectations.  McFarlane struggling to get us a decent Superman at all in this scale just furthered that argument.  In hand he looked good.  Out of the box, he’s even better.  This is genuinely a great figure, start to finish, and just one of my very favorite McFarlane offerings.  I didn’t expect it to blow the NECA figure out of the water, but it kind of does.

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.

#3782: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

TURTLES OF GRAYSKULL (MATTEL)

“Nobody knows how truly dangerous the Snake Men are more than Mekaneck, the snake-hunting specialist able to spy on King Hiss from a distance.”

Hey, it’s time for more Masters of the Universe!  Not nearly as much of a break this time as the last, which isn’t so bad.  I’m actually jumping back into Turtles of Grayskull, the crossover with TMNT, but in contrast to all of my prior ToG reviews, this one’s actually of a proper Masters character.  Why’s that? Because there’s a Mekaneck, so I kind of have to, right?  It’s, like, a legal requirement, or something.  Don’t question it, just do it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck is part of Series 5 of Turtles of Grayskull.  This is the first assortment of the new year, and the first to shift into this year’s theme, which is Snake Men related.  He’s one of the two Masters characters in the set, and also one of the two “new” characters.  What’s the rationale on Mekaneck’s inclusion?  I don’t know for sure.  They’ve tied him more directly in with the Snake Men, which is fine, I suppose.  I’m not gonna question that which gives me a new Mekaneck.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  While the Masters characters don’t get quite the same sort of re-working for this line as the Turtles, they still have been getting some adjustments.  In Mekaneck’s case, he’s a lot more armored up, and actually covered head to toe.  It’s different for the sake of different, I suppose, but it better fits the slightly skewed aesthetic of ToG.  It’s got a different vibe from classic Mekaneck, but I definitely dig it, and it still feels like the character.  It’s also a sharper design, with a bit more going on, which gives his sculpt more to do.  In terms of coloring, he keeps the same general scheme, but the layout and balance is a little more tweaked.  I feel like he could use a touch more red, but otherwise, it’s not bad.  Mekaneck is packed with usual club (but now in a slightly more metallic shade of yellow), and two neck extension pieces, which are the same molds as the Origins release.  He also gets a new shield piece, which you can even put on his back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, I really didn’t expect this one at all.  Like, I love the guy and all, but Mekaneck’s usually a bit of a wait even in a Masters-exclusive line, so in a cross-over line with twice as many major characters to balance, I just didn’t expect him to warrant a spot.  But, he did, and the concept got shown off first, which made me happy.  Then they showed off the prototype, and that made me happier.  And then he actually got released and that made me the happiest.  He’s a heck of a lot of fun, and I’m always happy to have another Mekanech.

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.

#3781: Red Hulk

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

RED HULK — BRAVE NEW WORLD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In the immortal words of Harrison Ford: “What’s a Red Hulk?”  Oh, wouldn’t that be bliss?  Maybe I’m being a bit too callous there.  The MCU’s been setting the stage for Red Hulk in some fashion pretty much its whole existence, including bringing back William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross even after the rest of the Incredible Hulk cast got dropped.  Then William Hurt died, and that put using Ross again in sort of a questionable area.  But, we couldn’t *possibly* drop such an important and high-brow idea as Red Hulk, so they’ve recast Ross, with Harrison Ford taking up the part.  He’s certainly got the surly energy down.  So, of course, the best place to debut a Hulk villain is…in a Captain America movie.  Look, let’s not nitpick.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Red Hulk is the third of the three Deluxe-sized Marvel Legends that serve as the tie-in for Captain America: Brave New World.  It’s again pretty reasonable, given the sizing on this guy.  Speaking of sizing, the figure stands about 8 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Near as I can tell, this is an all-new mold, not sharing any parts in common with any of the Ruffalized Hulks.  He’s certainly got a similar ancestry, in particular feeling quite a bit like the Endgame Hulk Build-A-Figure, at least in terms of construction.  He’s obviously got the pinless joints, of course, which cleans things up, but other than that, it definitely feels like a solid, pretty by the numbers MCU-style Hulk sculpt.  There are two heads, one angry, and one less so.  They appear to be based on slightly earlier renders for the character, before the Harrison Ford resemblance got pushed up a bit more.  There are certainly elements of Ford in there, maybe a younger version, but it’s a bit more generic than it should be.  Paint it green, and I think it would look as much like Ruffalo as it does Ford.  In general, Red Hulk’s sculpt feels a touch more comic book-y than other MCU figures, something that might be further pushed by how little his design has changed between the two mediums.  In terms of color work, the figure is largely reliant on molded colors, which work well enough.  The face detailing’s clean enough, if a tad basic, and I do enjoy the chest hair as an accent, though I’m not sure how realistic it winds up being.  Red Hulk is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.  It’s not a ton, but neither is it particularly lacking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I largely got Red Hulk because I got the other two, and felt compelled to get the whole set.  I’m not much of a Red Hulk fan in the first place, and have always found the concept and execution rather shallow, and not really worth the time investment they tend to get.  I do like the idea of Ford as Ross, so I’m interested to see the direction they take him the movie.  The figure’s okay.  Can’t really say he’s all that thrilling or different, but he’s at the very least another way to get a Red Hulk.  For me, he’s the weakest of the set, but that’s more about personal preference, and the fact that the other two are just more technically impressive than this one.  Still, he’s solid.

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.

#3780: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

It’s time for more of the review subject gift that keeps on giving, DC Universe Classics.  I’m taking a break from this month’s general theme with DCUC of Hal Jordans and Green Lanterns, because why not.  Also, because it’s Superman, and I realized all this time in I hadn’t reviewed the basic DCUC Superman, which seems like something of an oversight.  So, let’s fix that particular oversight and get him done now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

There was a strange path of release to this particular figure, and I’m gonna break that down here.  Since DC Universe Classics spun out of the somewhat similarly designed DC Super Heroes line, Mattel didn’t immediately put out a new classic Superman.  The first Supes was in Series 2, and it was Superman Blue, with a Superman Red variant.  Eradicator got released in the exceptionally hard to get Walmart-exclusive Series 5, and had some more classic Supes vibes, but his classic Supes head had red eyes.  Series 6 was set to have regeneration suit Superman as the standard and classic suit with the long hair as the variant, but those got swapped before release, so we had something slightly approximating a classic Superman.  Then we got a two pack release with the standard costume and the short haired head from Eradicator, but the eyes were still red, so still not classic.  Classic costume with classic hair and classic eyes would finally get its release in the first Walmart Exclusive five-pack in 2009.  That same figure later got a single “World’s Greatest Super Heroes” release and two-pack releases with a repack of the DCSH Parasite and a recolored MOTUC He-Man, all in 2010.  So, finally a standard Superman, and four ways to get him.  I bought mine loose, so I couldn’t tell you which particular release it was, but they’re all effectively the same.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He used a variation of the standard-most male body, with the Eradicator head, and the Superman specific cape, belt, and calves.  Generally, they’re pretty good parts.  The head’s maybe a touch long, and the cape sits a little odd on the shoulders, but that’s really all I’ve got on those fronts.  He certainly reads well as a classic Superman.  The color work is okay.  The paint gets a little sloppy, especially on the yellow/red change-overs.  The logo is a little thin, I feel, and the blue always struck me as the slightest bit too dark.  I believe the WGSH release gave this guy one of the blue oval stands, but otherwise, he was never given any extras that I know of.  Mine’s got nothing, but it’s Superman, so I guess your options are a bit more limited.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wanted this figure, but I didn’t really want a multipack to get him, and I managed to never see the single release at retail.  I ended up finally getting a loose one off eBay, back in 2011 I believe.  I was trying to fill out my JLA roster, and being as close as I was the the Satellite era roster, I really needed this guy.  Ultimately, he’s not a crazy good, defining piece for the character or the line, but it was a solid version of an essential character, filling out the roster of a pretty solid line.

#3779: Lieutenant Commander Data

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

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DATA

STAR TREK: UNIVERSE (PLAYMATES)

I’m apparently keeping this Star Trek thing running.  And also this Data thing running.  So here we are.  But for today’s review, I’m jumping a ways ahead…while also back.  Back in 2022, Playmates picked up the Trek license for the third time, and this time around tried to do the thing everyone said they wanted, which was more figures in the same scale as their original line, but with some modern advances in sculpt and articulation.  It was a valiant effort, but…well, like so many Trek lines, it didn’t really have legs.  We got a small handful of figures from a few different themes, and Data was amongst the Next Gen figures.  So, two three years after the fact, here’s that figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lieutenant Commander Data was one of the eight figures that launched Playmates’ Star Trek: Universe line.  All of the figures were on the same Universe card outside of the US, but domestically, the “retro” figures were put on retro inspired.  Data and the other two Next Gen figures were released in packaging replicating their original Playmates releases.  Like Data’s original Playmates figure, he’s based on his post-Season 3 version of the standard uniform, which is really the “classic” Data look.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 21 points of articulation.  He’s a little taller than the vintage Playmates Trek, and the articulation is completely different.  There’s a lot of universal joints in play, and he also gets wrist and ankle movement, which wasn’t present on earlier figures.  He does lose out on waist movement, which feels a little bit like a step back.  That said, he can at least sit down, which is an improvement across the board.  The sculpt is an interesting approach, because it feels like it’s aiming to sort of capture the retro stylings, but it’s not quite a match for how they used to do things.  Most notably, the hands are really small.  Like “look like they should be on a 3 3/4 inch figure” small.  Not sure why they’re so small.  The head is okay; it’s not unlike Brent Spiner, but I can’t really say it looks more like him than the vintage one did.  Data’s paint work is generally not too bad.  It’s very basic, and the collar is notably pretty sloppy, but it generally gets the job done.  Data is packed with a phaser, tricorder, diagnostic testing unit, and display stand.  They’re modeled on the accessories from the original release, so the phaser has the permanently attached beam, and they all have hand holds attached.  In this day and age, not having the beam be removable feels like a real missed opportunity.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had no shortage of opportunities to get most of the vintage Playmates Trek run, so I wasn’t in dire need of any of the new ones when they hit, but I admired Playmates giving it a try.  One of the Datas fell off the card at work, so I snagged that one, since it was a Data and all.  And then I pretty much forgot I owned it for a year and some change, which isn’t the sort of thing you should do.  I finally unearthed him, and here we are.  I think I might have been part of the problem?  Or, maybe Playmates was?  He’s a weird figure for sure, but I feel like if the line had gone further, there could have been some cool stuff.  Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

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.

#3778: Falcon

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

FALCON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A former lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, Joaquin Torres has picked up Sam’s old wings to take on the role of Falcon.”

It’s all well and good when you move a sidekick up to the main role, but in the world of copyrights and trademarks and the like, you don’t wanna leave that sidekick title open for too long.  When Sam Wilson moved into the role of Captain America in the comics, that left the “Falcon” title wide open, leading to the introduction of Joaquin Torres, the second Falcon.  With Sam also moving up to Captain in the MCU, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier introduced Torres as a side character, who’s getting upgraded to Sam’s primary support for Brave New World.  Not so bad!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Falcon is the second deluxe tie-in Marvel Legends figure for Brave New World, who hit alongside the others at the beginning of the month.  This is Joaquin’s very first time in figure form of any sort, which is actually pretty nifty.  Movie figures don’t tend to do that as much these days.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and the core figure has 30 points of articulation.  He’s another all-new sculpt, based on his all-new film design.  Comics Joaquin is a metahuman, so his costume plays into that.  Since his MCU counterpart’s just an average guy using Sam’s old tech, he’s got a design more inspired by the sorts of designs we’ve seen with Sam previously.  That said, they keep a lot of the general design elements, and there are some call-backs to the comic Joaquin design.  It’s certainly a bit MCU-ified, but I’m not one to pull those particular designs apart as much.  The sculpt does a nice job of conveying this new look, and it’s just generally a pretty nice looking offering.  The proportions work very well, there’s good texturing work, and the likeness on both heads (with full face-mask and the mask pulled back) is a pretty strong match for actor Danny Ramirez.  Living up to his name, he’s also got a wing pack.  This one’s more similar to the Build-A-Wings from the first Sam Cap, with the three points of motion on each wing.  He’s got handles on the front of each, which is an interesting idea, but they’re really soft plastic, and he doesn’t have any proper gripping hands, so he doesn’t really hold them.  Falcon’s color scheme is decidedly different from Sam’s usual; in a callback to Sam’s original costume, it’s predominantly green.  It makes for a good contrast, and the paint work here conveys it well.  His application is pretty clean, as we’ve come to expect.  He’s benefit from some accenting, but he’s standard Legends fare.  Falcon is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open gesture), a collapsed wing pack, and his own Redwing drone.  Like Sam, there’s no stand or anything for Redwing, so he just sort of has to sit there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I enjoyed Joaquin during Sam’s time as Cap, and I liked what we got to see of him in Falcon and The Winter Soldier, so I’m pretty excited to see more of him in the upcoming movie.  I’m also always game for a figure of a character that hasn’t gotten one before.  His design isn’t quite as unique as the comics one, but it’s also not a bad one, and I think it makes for a pretty good toy.  This guy’s just as nice as the Cap figure, and they make for quite a nice pair.

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.

#3777: Guile

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

GUILE

ULTRA STREET FIGHTER II (JADA)

For the third week in a row, if you can believe it, I’m taking a look at a video game-based figure.  Following up on last week’s Street Fighter review, I’m doing another.  This time around, I’m taking a look at the aggressively all-American Guile!  You know, the very American character played in the live action film by the very French Belgian Jean-Claude Van Damme?  Classic.  Guile is one of the second game’s breakaway characters, down to his stage’s theme even being the one used for the main game theme as well.  Also, he’s got weird hair, which has only gotten weirder as time has gone on.  And also, here’s the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Guile is part of the third round of Jada’s Ultra Street Fighter II line, alongside last week’s Cammy and Dee-Jay.  The figure stands just over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme here is much like Cammy’s, but with the addition of butterfly shoulders, which are a really good addition. He’s got some great range, and he holds poses well.  Guile’s sculpt is all-new, and based on his design from II.  It’s quite nice, clean, and distinctive.  There’s a nice mix of textures, which could have been easily been overlooked.  I especially like the lining of the shirt.  In addition to all that, you definitely get all of the necessary elements for recognizing Guile.  He’s even got that crazy weird hair.  It’s very much crazy and weird, in exactly the way Guile’s hair should be.  Like the others in the line, Guile has two heads, one calmer, and the other more intense.  Both are really solid, and match well to his usual look.  Guile’s paint work is cleanly handled, and matches well to the game sprites.  I quite like how the camo pattern on the pants turned out.  Guile is packed with two pairs of hands (in fists and an open/gripping combo), a comb, dogtags, an effect replicating his “Sonic Boom” attack, and a display stand.  The comb in particular is a fun little accessory that is exactly the sort of goofy thing I’m here for.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve never played Guile much within the games themselves, but I’ve enjoyed his appearances in other media, especially in the animated film, so I was excited by the prospect of a figure, especially at a more affordable price than a Figuart.  He’s got one of those really classic designs, and it translates really well into toy form.  The end result is another really nicely sculpted, really playable figure for this line.  Jada is continuing to knock it out of the park with their action figure offerings, and I really can’t wait to see what else they put out.

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.

#3776: Captain America – Brave New World

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — BRAVE NEW WORLD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“After carrying the mantle of Captain America for a few years, Sam Wilson must use his intelligence and make new allies to stop a force unlike any he’s seen before.”

Every so often, it’s good to highlight some people that like to punch Nazis.  Because Nazis need some punching.  And who better to lead the charge in Nazi punching than Captain America?  There’s a new Captain America movie coming out next month, and I sure do love Captain America movies (well, most of them; I don’t wanna talk about the 1990 one), so I’m excited.  This one is Sam Wilson’s first time headlining a film in the title role, which I do love as well.  And, there’s new toys.  I especially love that.  Here’s one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is one of the three Deluxe-sized Marvel Legends releases tying into the release of Brave New World.  It’s not a bad approach, and certainly works a bit better than the Build-A-Wing approach of the prior Sam Cap.  This way, he’s a nice one-and-done offering.  At his core, the figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. He’s got what appears to be an all-new sculpt, based on his new design for the film.  His new costume isn’t ultimately too drastic a departure from the last one when you get down to the sculpted details; a lot of the elements are the same, just recolored in such a way to more closely mimic some of the Steve Cap costume elements.  He does go a little more casual, loosing the “mask” elements that connected to his goggles, and rolling up the sleeves (a change that Carol Danvers also did in her most recent movie; I guess the Captains are all just rolling up their sleeves now).  I feel like he maybe seems a little bit too skinny for Sam, but it might just be me.  It’s got some respectable proportion balancing, though, and the likeness on the head is a very good match for Anthony Mackie.  As with the last figure, he’s also got his wings, which add an additional 8 points of articulation to the figure.  They’re a total rebuild from the last ones, adding an extra segment with an extra joint, as well as being sharper and cleaner.  I honestly thought the old ones were pretty good, but these ones just improve on them and are super awesome.  Sam gets a fair bit of painted detailing, and it all works pretty well.  It’s generally pretty clean on the application front, and the new color scheme is at the very least an obvious departure from the last one.  Sam is packed with two pairs of hands (fists and open), an extra helmeted head, an alternate folded up backpack, Redwing, and his shield.  The helmeted head is nifty, but really hard to get on the body, so I don’t see myself using it much.  Redwing appears to be the same one from the Build-A-Figure release, but has no stand or anything to mount on, so I don’t really know what to do with him.  The shield is the John Walker Cap version of the mold, so it can be mounted on either of the two backpacks, which is certainly an improvement.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These figures snuck up on me.  Admittedly, so did the movie.  I have no real excuse for the second one, because it’s been delayed and all.  It’s on me, you guys.  I haven’t been as up on things.  I didn’t *need* this one, of course, but it’s a new Cap, and I always have a hard time saying no to those.  Ultimately, this one’s pretty darn solid.  Not perfect, but the wings alone make him worth it.

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.

#3775: Hal Jordan vs Thaal Sinestro

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

HAL JORDAN VS THAAL SINESTRO

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Hey, hey, hey, it’s another DC Universe Classics review!  I’m enjoying the weekly rhythm on these, so I’m keeping it going for a bit.  I’m also keeping the Hal Jordan theme going, because why not?  Last week, I brought up how there were no Hals in 2009, but there were three of him in 2010.  Well, he’s another one of the 2010 ones, facing down his arch enemy, Thaal Sinestro, in exclusive two-pack form!  Who doesn’t love that?  Well, a few people, for, admittedly, valid reasons.  But let’s not dwell on that here.  Onto the review!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hal Jordan and Thaal Sinestro were released as a Toys “R” Us-exclusive DC Universe Classics two-pack, which hit towards the later part of 2010.  It was one of six two-packs released in 2010, and one of the two released at TRU.  The pack contains the two figures, accessories for each of them, and a split color yellow and green power battery for them to fight over.

HAL JORDAN

This was Hal’s fifth entry into DCUC, and it was sort of an amalgam of some ideas that had come before.  Structurally, he’s the same as the last two Hals I looked at.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  He’s using the medium base body and the standard Hal head sculpt.  They were good the first few times, and they were still good.  In fact, on my figure at least, he’s got even better plastic quality than the prior two.  The main change-up here is the paint work, which is pretty drastic this time.  This one is a glossy, metallic finish, which I actually really like.  It’s very sleek, and an intriguing contrast to the flatter colors.  He also takes some inspiration directly from his Super Friends appearance, with a slightly adjusted logo (something that not even the officially Super Friends based figure got right), and visible pupils.  The eyes got him labeled as “creepy eyes Hal” by a lot of the fanbase, but I’ve never been quite as bugged by them myself.  While prior Hals were without any constructs, this one gave him a few options: a gun attachment (from John Stewart), buzzsaw (from Gold), and a mace (from Iron).  It’s crazy that they went into the John Stewart molds for a construct and didn’t give him the giant fist that always felt tailor made for Hal.  It’s even crazier that they *never* gave that attachment to Hal in the whole of the line.  But, at least he got something.

THAAL SINESTRO

What, didn’t you know Sinestro was his last name?  Yeah, he’s actually Thaal.  I *totally* knew that before this pack came out and didn’t totally discover it when the set was announced.  I’m a proper GL fan.  I couldn’t miss a detail like that, right?  Right.  Last week, I discussed the height issues of the original DCUC Sinestro.  The 5-Pack didn’t really come up with a good solution, but this pack aimed for something a little better.  Generally, it succeeds, but there’s certainly some Frankensteining involved.  He starts with the skinnier base body of Deadman, and adds on the forearms, head, collar, and belt of the Series 3 release.  Honestly, it’s not terrible.  His forearms are perhaps a little short, and the neck joint is rather tight, but otherwise, it goes together alright, and is certainly a better end product than his original diminutive showing or the 5-pack version.  Sinestro’s paint work is basic and clean, and generally a good match for the stuff that came before.  Sinestro gets his own assortment of constructs in yellow, including Gold’s pickaxe, Iron’s wrench, and Hawkman’s mace.  The mace is handheld, which is weird, but it’s just one of the three, at least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember this set’s release, and I remember the frustration around it at the time.  It was kind of pricey for an ultimately unneeded repaint of Hal and the Sinestro we should have gotten in the first place.  I, being a college freshman, with not a ton of money, didn’t go out to get one right away.  I did, however, find a loose pair not too long after the fact, while trying to build back up my GL collection.  Honestly, this set’s not a bad one.  It gets a bad rap, but Sinestro’s the best one Mattel offered, and I do like the Hal a lot more than I’d initially expected.  There were certainly worse offerings from the line.