Monthly Archives: July 2025

#3897: Chewbacca as Boushh’s Bounty

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

CHEWBACCA as BOUSHH’S BOUNTY

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Chewbacca, acting as a prisoner, and Princess Leia, disguised as the bounty hunter Boussh, infiltrate Jabba’s Palace. There they hope to rescue the carbonite-encased Han Solo.”

Well, I’m out of “Flashback Photo” figures from the Power of the Force line, so I guess I’ll just have to go back to the *rest* of my un-reviewed PotF figures.  Back in April, when I last looked at a Chewbacca figure, it was the Flashback figure, which got around the whole “how do you differentiate Chewy figures” by going for a very scene specific look from Empire.  That same year, they did the same thing, but for Return of the Jedi.  So, here’s that figure.  It’s Chewbacca as Boushh’s Bounty!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chewbacca as Boushh’s Bounty was released in 1998 as part of Kenner’s Power of the Force line.  He’s the first of three Chewies released that year (though the last of them I’m reviewing here), and the second of the standard release Chewbacca figures for the line.  The figure is about 4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  All three of the ’98 Chewbaccas use a variation of the same updated sculpt, removed a bit from the muscle-bound look of the ’95 figure.  In particular, this one is really similar to the Hoth figure, though he’s a little more stiff in his posture.  He’s also got the adjusted neck set-up to feature the collar he wears while posing as Boushh’s bounty.  It’s non-removable, so he’s dialed rather into the specific scene.  Overall, it’s an okay sculpt, if perhaps not much to write home about.  The paint work is more conventional than the Hoth variant.  There’s some good variation to the coloring on his fur, which is certainly cool.  Unfortunately, a recurring issue with this release is that his eyes are almost always crossed, which looks really silly.  Chewy is packed with his bowcaster, which he doesn’t use in the scene, but it’s at least something.  It’s just the same standard one used by all the others, which is fair enough.  He’s also got a Freeze Frame slide, showing the scene he’s based on.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Chewbacca on the earlier side of my dive back into the line, so late fall of 2018, I think?  I never had any “updated sculpt” Chewbacca figures, and this one was fairly easily available, so I picked him up in a larger batch of figures.  Like so many of the the time, I didn’t open him for a while, but I did open him a bit quicker compared to some, so as to populate my Jabba’s Palace playset when I got it.  He’s goofy, especially with those eyes, and a bit limited, but he’s a unique enough idea.

#3896: Mr. Fantastic

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

MR. FANTASTIC

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fantastic Four: First Steps is officially here, and I can officially say it’s the best Fantastic Four movie they’ve made! …what, is that not a high bar to clear?  Well, it’s also the best super hero movie with Pedro Pascal!  Take that, Wonder Woman 1984!  Okay, so, I do seem to be dancing around this one a bit, don’t I?  Well, the truth is that I saw FF over the weekend and I liked it, but I don’t know that I loved it.  It’s not entirely the movie’s fault; I’m still really in that post-Superman high, and it’s not an entirely fair comparison.  The film’s strengths also definitely outweigh its weaknesses, though, so it’s a net positive for sure.  One of the film’s undoubted strengths, however, is the casting on the titular team, headlined by the aforementioned Mr. Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Fantastic is part of the First Steps tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends, which hit just before the film’s release, earlier this month.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Like the rest of the team, Reed’s seen here in his main team suit, with the closest ties to their standard suits from the comics.  While the comic suits tend to be uniform across at least three of the four, the movie differentiates them a bit more between the team.  Reed’s is notable in its omission of any white accenting around the collar, making it the most understated of the suits.  His sculpt is unique to him, and generally pretty solid.  The face notably has a very strong likeness of Pascal, even better than the ones we’ve seen for The Mandalorian.  It even got the Matthew seal of approval, for what it’s worth.  The hair’s a bit shorter and closer cropped at the top than it actually is in the film; it looks like it’s based more on the early promo work for the film than the actual film proper.  It’s not too terribly far off, though.  The body sculpt is fairly balanced and does a respectable job of replicating his costume design from the movie.  The articulation’s a bit obvious, especially the mid-torso joint, but I like the texturing work, especially on the piping and stitching.  Reed’s color work is really strong on the face and hair, and notably cleaner on the body than Sue’s.  The blue is a little paler than the color on the screen, again seeming to be patterned closer to the early promo images than the final film.  Reed is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture), as well as a pair of alternate arms stretched out.  The stretched arms are slightly bendable, which is a fun way of showing off his power set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Pedro Pascal as Reed was pretty inspired casting from the start, so I was certainly down for some toy coverage of that.  Pascal’s come up short on figures in the past, but that’s not the case here.  That likeness is super killer, and this figure is really fun, especially with those extra bendy arms.  Reed got the coolest figures out of the 2005 tie-ins, so it’s nice to see the character still being treated well even now.

Shoutout to 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.

#3895: Ultraman

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

ULTRAMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

While a lot of Superman’s plot and character choices were pretty straightforward and without any crazy surprises, early set photos showed a figure clad entirely in black, with a full-face mask, whose identity was unknown.  It was eventually revealed that the character’s name was “Ultraman,” a name associated with Superman’s evil Earth-3 counterpart from the Crime Syndicate in the comics.  Rumors about the identity of the person under the mask flew about, with lots of ideas, some straightforward, and some far-reaching.  At the end, his identity is pretty straight-forward and probably the most obvious choice.  Anyway, he did get some toy coverage, so let’s look at a bit of that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultraman is the final single-release figure in Series 12 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which is an entire movie-based assortment.  Ultraman is slightly quirky in his release, as he wasn’t actually shown off or put up for order at the same time as the other four figures, but he did end up shipping in the same case as the rest of them.  Perhaps it was a secrecy thing.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s built on the first Superman base body, which I usually have issues with the sizing on, but Ultraman had some definite bulk going on, so it doesn’t seem to out of place here.  Still not crazy about how it makes him pigeon-toed, but I’ve made my peace with that.  He gets a new head and belt.  They’re both on the simpler side, as is the style of the line, and it helps keep them batter matched up with the base body they’re placed on.  It means he’s definitely a lot more streamlined from the movie’s design for the character, which had a lot more padding, pouches, and stitching.  It makes him a little less visual interesting, and a bit more plain-Jane, but it also ends up a bit more in-style with the rest of the line.  His paint work is rather on the simple side.  In terms of coloring, they play up the slightly purple hue of his costume in the movie, which does read a bit better for vintage design than going more for black.  There’s a some minor paint detailing for the broad stroke elements of his costume design.  He gets no accessories.  An alternate head would have been cool, but also feels like it would have been impossible for a pre-film release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ordered the other four when they first dropped, but Ultraman didn’t go up with them, so I didn’t get him immediately.  I actually forgot about him until the other four arrived, at which point I double checked and saw he was in stock and jumped on him then.  He’s…fine.  He feels more like a space filler than anything.  The character in the movie is more a plot element than anything, and I would have liked to see just about any other major character take his place here.  But, I can hardly say I dislike the figure, and I’m at the point of being happy to get any additional Super Powers, especially from a movie that has become one of my favorites in the genre.

#3894: Invisible Woman

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

INVISIBLE WOMAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Caught in a bombardment of intense cosmic radiation while on an experimental space flight, Susan Richards found herself endowed with the power to become transparent at will, and the ability to form invisible force-fields of incredible durability. Now, as a member of the Fantastic Four, Sue battles to defend humanity as the elusive Invisible Woman!”

In preparation of the whole Fantastic Four movie release, I decided at the beginning of the month I was going to review Toy Biz figures of the whole FF.  The trouble is, that while I hadn’t reviewed the three men of the team in their Marvel Super Heroes releases, I’ve gone so far as to review *both* of the MSH Invisible Woman figures.  I’ve also already reviewed her hasty repaint release from Fantastic Four, so I’m actually wrapping things up for Sue in the Toy Biz 5-inch range today.  Let’s get to this!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Invisible Woman was released in Series 2 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  Like her brother Johnny, the intent was for the Series 2 figure to be Sue’s first figure in the line, but retailers balked at the idea of not having the complete team at launch, resulting in a repainted Spider-Woman that served as a stand in, until the real thing arrived later.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation…sort of.  The neck joint is especially restricted to the point of effectively not being there.  Still, she at least gets elbow joints, making her more posable than her predecessor.  The sculpt here was all-new to this figure, but would later become a favorite of Toy Biz’s during their heavier repaint days.  It’s not a bad sculpt.  Perhaps a touch skinny on the limbs, but generally good, and in keeping with her animation model from the show.  The initial prototype for this figure was in standard colors, but when they did the stand-in figure for Series 1, so was that one.  In an effort to be more unique, this figure was molded entirely in clear plastic, simulating her abilities.  The irony of it all is that this sculpt never ended up being released in actual color as Sue, not even for all the repaints.  It works alright, and apart from some minor yellowing, it’s still pretty good.  She was packed with a wheeled stand and a small shield, which are similar to the ones used on the Series 1 figure, but ultimately totally unique.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall getting this figure relatively early on in my collecting, but I don’t recall the exact circumstances of exactly *how* I got her.  The Marvel Super Heroes figure was my first Sue, so this one would have been a back-up at best.  I recall my original’s arm broke at the elbow, and I ended up replacing her with a spare that came in a lot with my Black Bolt figure.  She’s a decent figure, if perhaps limited in her application.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0037: Iron Man & The Thing

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , , ,

IRON MAN & THE THING

MARVEL MINIMATES (DIAMOND SELECT TOYS)

Hey, it’s time for another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum, with even more Minimates, I suppose.  I’m going a little bit more themed this week, so at least half of this revisitation of a review is Fantastic Four-themed.  So, let’s look back and Iron Man and The Thing!

Look! It’s more Minimates! Yes, I’ll be looking at even more Minimates, once again from the Marvel line. This time I’ll be looking at a set from the “Best Of” sub series. The idea behind this sub set was keeping the definitive versions of the main Marvel Heroes and villains on the market, while trying to produce the best possible minimates of those looks. I’ll be taking a look at Iron Man and the Thing from that line.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released as part of the first “Best Of” series of Marvel Minimates.

IRON MAN

First up is Iron Man. He’s depicted in his classic red and yellow armor he wore for most of the 60s and 70s. Unlike previous minimates of this particular look, the yellow is actually yellow on this one, instead of Gold. Iron Man is built on the basic minimate body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. He features a sculpted helmet and belt, as well as sculpted boot and glove cuffs. Paint-wise, the details are all well done, though some of the red paint is a little thin in places, and seems a bit fuzzy on the edges of the boots and gloves. But since those are meant to be covered by the cuff pieces, it’s not really an issue. Iron Man also features an extra left hand in a repulsor pose, a flying stand, and a hairpiece to display him sans helmet. These are all reused pieces, but they work well here.

THE THING

Next is Benjamin J Grimm, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing. Ben’s look is a bit more difficult to nail down than IM’s. I think it’s meant to be Ben in his look from the mid 2000s, after he switched back to shorts from pants, but I can’t be certain. The “4” on the belt buckle is throwing me off. Anyway, he’s built on the basic minimate body, but with sculpted hands and feet instead of the regular ones. As such, he stands a bit taller than IM and has 12 points of articulation. In addition to the sculpted hands and feet, Ben’s other sculpted pieces are: Headpiece, upper arms, torso, waist and upper legs. These are all slip over pieces, and have been used on previous Thing figures. With that many sculpted pieces, the paint work on Ben is minimal. He’s got detailing on his face, and on his belt and that’s about it. They’re both clean and well done. Ben also includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t buy this set when it was initially released, as I already had a few classic Iron Men, and my default version of the Thing is the look John Byrne gave him in the 80s. However, my comic book store was having a sale on minimates, and had these guys for about 40% off, so I decided to pick them up. While the Thing is still not my go to, I think the Iron Man may very well become my new default Iron Man.

Well, it’s certainly review-shaped, now isn’t it?  I feel like I didn’t much commit to much in the way of actual opinion on the figures, and the order of operations is a bit all over the place, but it’s generally okay.  I don’t know.  It’s odd, because this was an early Minimate review, and it was also an Item I’d *just* gotten, but I just wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about these guys.  I’m still not especially enthusiastic about them.  They certainly existed in an era of “buying Minimates because I buy Minimates.”

In regards to the actual review metrics, I should note that in both my original review and the revised version I wrote for Minimates Central, I neglected to mention the shoulder add-ons that Iron Man got, created at the same time as the helmet, belt, glove, and boot cuffs for the Series 25 Classic Iron Man.  They’re rather important to the whole look, and are certainly cool, even if they do sometimes make the arms fall off a little too easily.  Beyond that, things seemed to be pretty much where they were supposed to be.  Otherwise, enjoy the updated photos!

#3893: Anakin Skywalker

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

ANAKIN SKYWALKER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“As a youth, Anakin Skywalker was brought before the Jedi Council as a candidate for Jedi training. With some dissension, the Council voted to allow Anakin to become the apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and over time Anakin became a powerful Jedi. The Council’s concerns, however, proved to be well founded. The dark side soon overwhelmed Anakin and changed him, creating Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. Darth Vader faithfully served at Emperor Palpatine’s side, leading the Imperial efforts to crush the Rebellion. He was even ready, if necessary, to take the life of his own son, Luke Skywalker. But in the final confrontation between father and son, Luke’s pleas finally awakened the good buried deep within Darth Vader.”

While there were plenty of Darth Vaders to be had, prior to 1999, there were very few Anakin Skywalker figures on the market.  The vintage line only had a single one, released at the *very* end.  Power of the Force did a little better, upping that quantity to a whole two.  The first was a “spirit” figure, packed alongside similar versions of Obi-Wan and Yoda in a Cinema Scene pack.  The second was, like the vintage line, at the very end of the run.  He’s also hella quirky.  Let’s talk about him now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Anakin Skywalker was part of the 1999 portion of the “Flashback Photos” Star Wars: Power of the Force figures, alongside C-3PO and Aunt Beru.  Despite us not seeing this look until he was good and dead, this figure gives us old-man Jedi as if he were real and in the flesh.  Why?  Don’t think about it too hard.  The figure stands just over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  That said, you can really only use the neck and shoulders, since the legs and waist are hidden beneath the robes.  Despite his structural similarities, the only part actually shared with the Spirit figure is the head.  Otherwise, he’s all-new, and remained pretty well unique.  The sculpt’s rather on the static side, but this version of the character really just did stand around, I suppose.  It’s not a bad sculpt at all, and l can certainly appreciate the more reserved approach to posing at this late stage in the game.  His color work just goes for solid colors, because we’re just leaning into that hypothetical living version of him, I guess.  The application’s all good and clean, and pretty much what you would expect from this line.  Anakin is packed with a lightsaber, which is notable for two reasons.  Firstly, that the ghosts don’t use lightsabers, so it’s sort of odd for him to have one.  Secondly, you’ll notice I said “a lightsaber” not “his lightsaber.” That’s because it’s actually Obi-Wan’s saber, not Anakin’s.  Not entirely sure why that is.  He’s also packed with a flashback photo, which shows Anakin in Jedi and in Phantom Menace.  This is the *third* flashback photo to have kid Anakin as the Phantom Menace picture, especially notable because no one else so much as doubled up on them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall this one was rather early in my push to start completing this line of figures.  I got him alongside the Flashback Photo versions of Luke and Leia, you know for a neat little family reunion type thing.  Honestly, it’s a figure that always rather intrigued me.  He’s not anything crazy amazing or anything, but he’s a fun, if perhaps slightly quirky figure and he’s certainly remained rather unique.

Shoutout to 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.

#3892: Invisible Woman

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

INVISIBLE WOMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

We’re just two days away from the release of July’s *other* super hero movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps.  How am I feeling about it?  Hopeful.  Admittedly, I’m also feeling like it has the difficult task of having to top Superman, and boy was Superman very, very good.  Can FF also be that good?  Well, I sure do hope so.  If the trailers are anything to go by, it’s set to at the very least be an improvement over the previous cinematic outings for Marvel’s first family.  While the *last* live action FF was a total ghost on the marketing front, Marvel’s putting a bit more behind this one, which includes a full complement of Marvel Legends.  Today, I’m kicking off my look at those with Venessa Kirby as Susan Richards, aka the Invisible Woman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Invisible Woman is part of the six-figure Fantastic Four: First Steps tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  We get the full team, plus an extra variant of Johnny, and the Silver Surfer, all in rather fun retro-inspired packaging.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  There were some concerns when prototype shots surfaced that there would be issues with the neck articulation on this figure.  While the hair certainly impedes the range, the final production figure still makes out a bit better, and can get at least a little bit of upwards motion, so she won’t forever be staring at the floor in action poses.  Otherwise, her articulation is pretty much what we’ve come to expect from the more recent movie figures, which is to say, it’s pretty good.  The sculpt is all-new for Sue, and it’s quite nice. The head sports a solid likeness of Kirby, especially on the face.  The hair’s a bit thick, but the general shaping is in like with what we’ve seen so mar from the movie.  The body is tasked with replicating her costume design, which is an intriguing mix of the classic and Byrne designs, as well as throwing in a bit of ‘60s space suit flair.  It’s a good look, and it’s a solid recreation of the design, at least as far as I can tell.  The smaller elements seem to be worked out pretty well, and the underlying body has a nicely balanced set of proportions.  Sue’s paint work is a bit of a mixed bag.  The face, which is using the printing, is exceptionally good.  It’s very lifelike and helps to sell the already strong likeness of the sculpt.  The hair is notably without any accenting, which kind of flat, but at leas it’s not messy.  The body on the other hand has some notable slop on the collar and symbol, which are unfortunately very obvious places to have such issues.  There are also a few other errant spots of incorrect colors, but generally, things look okay.  Sue is packed with four hands (open right, fist right, relaxed left, and gripping left), and a shield piece to attach to the open right hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been waiting on a good FF movie for a good long while, and good toys to go with it for most of that time too.  I did have an attachment to the ’05 line, which, even though the movie was just “meh” was at least a fun line of toys.  But, with a real gap in any sort of FF coverage, I’m certainly excited to see more this time around.  Sue is undoubtedly a fun figure, living up to the current Legends standards, and doing all the things you’d hope for her to.

Shoutout to 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.

#3891: Metamorpho – Movie

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

METAMORPHO — MOVIE

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

Have I mentioned how much I liked the new Superman movie?  Well, I’m gonna mention it again, because it bears repeating.  It was really, really good.  Just start to finish.  Few films have understood the DC characters the way this one did.  That extends to the quirky odd-ball characters, which includes Metamorpho, who makes his live action debut in the film, portrayed by Anthony Carrigan in his third live action DC role.  He gets to be sufficiently cool and likable, to the point that he was a favorite of both my wife and son, neither of whom knew the character prior to the movie.  I guess maybe the guy that made Rocket Raccoon a household name might have a way with quirky odd-ball characters.  Metamorpho’s been getting a definite marketing push from the movie tie-ins, which includes getting a Super Powers figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metamorpho (Movie) was released in Series 12 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line.  He’s the fourth of the five single-carded movie tie-in figures.  Like Guy, this is Metamorpho’s second Super Powers figure, following up on a comics release from last year.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He uses a lot of parts from the comic Metamorpho, specifically the torso, arms, and lower right leg.  He gets a new head, upper legs, and lower left leg, as well as a new belt piece.  The movie’s design is ultimately pretty faithful to the classic comics look, so the re-use is pretty sensible, and the new parts help to bring him more in line with the movie’s adjustments.  I actually find myself preferring the head sculpt on this one to the comics version; it’s just got a little bit more character.  As with all of the head sculpts from these figures, the likeness isn’t really a match for Carrigan, but it’s close enough to sort of suggest him.  Perhaps the oddest part of the mix of old and new parts is that the texturing on his face disappears when you get to his neck, but other than that, things work pretty nicely.  The color work on this Metamorpho is notably a bit more desaturated than his comics counterpart.  It still very much reads as Metamorpho, though, and I’m glad that this time they did a better job of consistent paint versus no paint on similarly colored sections.  There’s a little bit of slop on the change-over from his right leg to his shorts, but otherwise the application is pretty clean.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was ultimately a little bit let down by the comics Metamorpho.  Like, he wasn’t bad, but he felt a bit more middle of the road than I’d expected.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to go for this one, since he’s a bit similar, but I opted to get the whole set, and he was along for the ride.  I’m glad I did, because not only did I thoroughly enjoy the movie’s take on Rex, but I also think this figure turned out a little bit better than the prior one.  And here I live, in this world where I have two different Super Powers Metamorphos in my collection.  Who’d’ve thunk?

#3890: Mr. Fantastic

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

MR. FANTASTIC

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

“Mr. Fantastic is the awe-inspiring leader of the Fantastic Four. Now only is he able to stretch and twist his elastic body into almost any shape, he is also a brilliant scientist! When he’s not fighting super-villians, he can be found either in his laboratory or workshop, creating new compounds or inventing new machines to benefit mankind!”

In more modern super hero storytelling narratives, super intelligence is often seen as a marker for, if not outright villainy, than at least being a real jerk all the time.  This was less the case earlier on.  Sure, there were mad scientists and all, but characters such as Reed Richards existed to make the world a better place, and look out for people.  Reed’s teetered on the edge of the good versus jerk thing over the years, but he almost always bounces back to good, because that’s really who he is at the end of the day…at least in the mainstream universe.  But that’s the one that counts, right?  Right.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Fantastic was released in Series 3 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line.  This was Reed’s second figure, following his Mego from the ‘70s, and the first of only two figures under Toy Biz’s 5-inch run.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Like both Ben and Johnny, he’s got a rather reduced articulation scheme for the line, especially notable in light of Sue getting the full load out.  In Reed’s case, however, this is actually linked to his “action feature.”  Dubbed “5-way” stretch, Reed can extend at the neck, waist, biceps, forearms, thighs, and shins to replicate his stretching.  It’s a sort of off look, of course, and also results in the figure being extremely fragile, but it’s an intriguing idea.  The sculpt is in line with the rest of the team, so he’s a bit more basic and rudimentary than later figures.  The nature of the stretching feature also makes him a rather stiff looking figure.  That being said, I think it’s a more Reed Richards-y sculpt than the later cartoon one, especially in terms of build.  Color work is very dependent on molded colors on this guy, and there’s a tendency in certain samples for the blues to be rather mis-matched.  On mine, they’ve held up okay, though.  The actual paint work proper’s alright; Toy Biz did always know how to do a solid job with a “4” logo.  Reed is packed with a blaster thing of some sort.  I don’t recognize it as a story specific element, nor do I know why Reed would need a gun (unless it were wooden and for the intended purpose of breaking Magneto’s mind), but there it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My initial Fantastic Four line-up was comprised of whichever version of each character was most easily accessible when I started collecting.  In the case of Reed, that was this guy.  Well, okay, it was another copy of this release.  Remember how I mentioned he was fragile?  Yeah, my original gradually broke at just about every stretch point.  I always liked this version, so that was a bummer.  But, I was able to find a replacement a few years back, and I’m a lot more careful with my toys these days.  He’s stiff, fragile, and gimmicky, but this really is my favorite of the two Toy Biz Reeds.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0036: Wolverine – Prisoner & Kenuichio Harada

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

WOLVERINE — PRISONER & KENUICHIO HARADA

MARVEL MINIMATES (DIAMOND SELECT TOYS)

Last week’s Marvel Minimates Flashback Friday Figure Addendum went so well, I’ve decided to keep it going.  Honestly, I’ve got things mapped out far enough ahead that I would have kept it going anyway.  It’s my site, and all.  So, I’m going back to the very early days of the site, with a set that’s noteworthy for being the first set of Minimates I reviewed new for the site.  That’s pretty nifty!  Of course, it’s stuff from The Wolverine, so maybe let’s not let “nifty” take us too far.  Anyway, here’s Prisoner Wolverine & Kenuichio Harada!

The Wolverine was released this summer.  It was a sequel to X-Men 3, and it was one of those few times that a movie actually manages to make its predecessor better, not by making it look better by comparison, but by retroactively adding some emotion to a lackluster film.  The Wolverine was not a perfect movie, but it wasn’t bad either.

Like most of the recent Marvel movies, Diamond Select Toys did a selection of figures from their Minimates line in order to tie-in with the movie.  Like previous movies, this one was given a comic book store assortment, and a Toys R Us assortment.  I’ll be taking a look at one of the sets from the Toys R Us assortment today.

The characters featured are, of course, Wolverine himself, and somewhat antagonist, Kenuichio Harada.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Like I said above, these guys were released as part of the Toys R Us tie-in series for The Wolverine.

WOLVERINE (PRISONER)

First up is the titular character.  Wolverine is depicted here in his “prisoner” look, which is what he’s wearing during the WWII era flash-backs in the film when he is a POW in Japan.  There’re some important scenes that feature him with this look, so it’s not surprising to see it pop up here.  It’s a bit odd to see it packed with Harada, but it’s not a huge deal.  The figure is once again built on the basic Minimate body, standing about 2 ½ inches tall and featuring 14 points of articulation.  He features sculpted hair and claws and a sculpted belt.  I’m not 100%, but I’m fairly certain that the claws are a reuse from a previous Wolverine.  The other pieces are new, although the hair piece was also used on two of the three other Wolverines in the wave.  Wolvie is mostly molded in the appropriate colors, but the paint still makes up most of the detailing.  It’s well done and fairly intricate.  The face on this version is fairly calm, which is okay, since Wolverine kept pretty calm during the captivity scenes.  The Hugh Jackman likeness is better than some of the one’s we’ve seen in the past, but not quite dead on.  Wolverine includes the sword he was presented by Yashida, a display stand, and three sets of hands:  one regular, one clawed, and one bone clawed.  The Adamantium claws aren’t scene accurate, but I appreciate that they give people the option to choose.

KENUICHIO HARADA

Next is Japanese Hawkeye  Kenuichio Harada, technically an antagonist, but an unwilling one, making him more of an anti-villain.  He’s shown here in his ninja gear from the film, which is what he spends most of his screen time in, so it makes sense.  Like Wolverine, he’s built on the basic Minimate body, meaning he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the standard 14 points of articulation, although his hair restricts the neck joint a bit.  Harada has a sculpted jacket and hair, as well as wrist pieces to simulate the ends of his gloves.  The hair and jacket are new pieces, although the jacket is shared with the Black Clan ninjas also in this wave.  The hair seems a bit off for the character, whose hair was far less bulky in the film.  It looks right in the control art on the box, but something seems to have been lost in translation.  Paint wise, he’s really only got the detailing on his face, which is passable.  The likeness isn’t as good as Wolverine’s, but it isn’t too bad.  Harada is rounded out with his trusty bow, two arrows, an alternate masked head, and a clear display stand.  The Bow and arrows appear to be reused from one of the Haweyes from last year, and the head is identical to the head on the Black Clan ninja.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oh boy.  Hold on tight guys, it’s another tru.com story.  Yeah, so I’m always uncertain as to whether my local TRU will get their exclusive wave, so I tend to order online.  I’ve mentioned before that tru.com has a tendency not to put up pictures or label their sets correctly, making online ordering difficult.  But it’s okay, as long as you have the proper sku code, which allows you to go directly to the corret product page.  And that’s how I ordered this set and the other exclusive set from this wave.  Unfortunately, I seem to be smarter than tru’s online store, as they still sent me Wolverine and Shingen in place of this set.  And that’s not cool because Shingen kinda sucks.  Anyway, I ended up having to drive to my local TRU and exchange it.  Which is what I was trying to avoid.

Oh well, I have them now.  Which is good, because Harada was my favorite character in the film and I’d be bummed to have missed out on him.

Well, I was somewhat complimentary of The Wolverine.  It was still new and fresh in my mind, and Days of Future Past hadn’t come out to reset my expectations of the X-Men movies, so I was rather positive.  I don’t know I’d be as positive now, but admittedly, I haven’t watched the movie since 2013, so it’s hard to truly gauge.  My review’s honestly pretty much spot-on beyond that.  I got the Minimates reviews down pretty quickly, as you can see.  I had personally forgotten a lot of my TRU.com-centered diatribe.  Seven years without them has let me forget how frustrating dealing with them could be.