Author Archives: Ethan Wilson

#4119: Luke Skywalker – Bespin Duel

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

LUKE SKYWALKER — BESPIN DUEL

STAR WARS SAGA (HASBRO)

“As Luke battles Darth Vader in Cloud City, he rebuffs Vader’s attempts to mae him submit to the dark side. Wounded by Vader, Luke heroically chooses to plummet to almost certain death rather than to yield to the dark side. Managing to grab hold of a weathervane, he shrugs to hang on until his Rebel friends can rescue him.”

Well, it’s come to this.  I finished a whole run of Power of the Force reviews.  I finished my meager Episode I and Power of the Jedi collections.  Chronologically, that leaves just one thing: Star Wars Saga.  Since completely rebranding with an entirely movie centric line for Episode I didn’t turn out great for retailers when reception to the movie was lukewarm, the tie-in line for Attack of the Clones maintained the cross-franchise reach of Power of the Jedi.  Though not officially named so on the packaging, the ensuing line was dubbed “Saga” by the fanbase, a name that stuck for its three-year run.  Coupled with the Attack of the Clones figures at launch were some classics from the Original Trilogy, including today’s focus, Bespin Duel Luke Skywalker.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker — Bespin Duel is figure 29 in the first year of Star Wars Saga.  He was designed to pair off the Bespin Duel Darth Vader, to replicate parts of their fight from Empire.  Luke is in his rebel fatigues, most commonly referred to as his “Bespin” attire, his main look for Empire, which was making its third appearance in the scale here.  The figure stands just under 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He was notably quite posable for the time.  The line was only just starting to get into more involved articulation with Episode I and had kind of taken a bit of a step back, with Saga trending more towards really pre-posed, almost statue like figures.  While Luke still maintains some of that pre-posing, he breaks from the more static trends.  His sculpt was totally new, and unique to him (though it got re-released in its entirety a couple of times), and its a departure from a lot of the Lukes we’d seen previously.  Gone are the barrel-chested proportions of the Power of the Force days, for something that does look a lot more like the actual Mark Hammil’s build.  His new head sculpt is more expressive than earlier Lukes, capturing the moment where Luke finds out about his true parentage, scrunched up face and all.  It’s quite a detailed sculpt, and shows the stronger side of what Saga brought to the table.  It’s not entirely without the messed up parts of Saga, with the most notable issue being that his arms are just not the same length.  The posing hides it, but it’s certainly there.  The figure gets a slashing action feature, activated by pushing the button on his back, as well as a removable right hand.  There were three variants on the removable hand, one magnetic with the magnet on the stump, one magnetic with the magnet as a peg on the hand, and one with a basic plastic peg.  The one seen here is the third one, which is less flashy, but works.  Luke’s color work is actually pretty cool, because his fatigues get a pretty decent wash to bring out the details of the sculpt, and he even gets some of he blood on his face, seen in the movie.  Luke was packed with his lightsaber (which had a metal hilt that could be removed), a blaster pistol (which could be stored in the working holster on his leg), a bacta pack that goes over his stump, and a rather impressive weather vane piece for him to hang from.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Attack of the Clones is honestly the worst Star Wars movie, and Saga is probably the worst Star Wars toyline, but my deep dark secret is that I not only loved them both at the time, I also love them both now.  It’s 100% nostalgia, and I won’t remotely deny that, but they just hit at the right time for me to be super into them.  I bought a lot of the Saga figures back in the day, but also lost or sold pretty much all of them over the years.  Luke was one I owned back in the day, but he didn’t make it through unscathed.  He’s notably the only one I’ve actually gone back and replaced, because I think he’s genuinely a neat figure.  Like, not even a nostalgic thing, I think he’s just one of the best figures from the set, free of a lot of the issues that plague the rest of the line.

#4118: Roboto – 200X

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

ROBOTO — 200X

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

Remember two weeks ago, when I was talking about Masters of the Universe and the three characters I’m bound to buy in pretty much every incarnation?  Well, let’s circle back to that.  Two weeks ago, I was looking at an Orko figure, based on his appearance in the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon, which served as my introduction to the franchise.  Origins, which spun-off a “Cartoon Collection” for specifically animation-based figures, is quite a ways into a run of 200X figures, which includes not just the previously reviewed Orko, but also Roboto, who is one of the line’s deluxe figures.  So, today, I’m looking at that figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto — 200X is a deluxe release for the Masters of the Universe Origins line, under the Cartoon Collection banner.  He was announced alongside Wave 30, but released off on his own, albeit in close proximity to their release.  And why is that?  Size.  Yeah, this guy’s kinda huge.  The figure stands just over 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  He dwarfs the rest of the line, by quite a bit, and it’s sort of an interesting dilemma.  In my last Roboto review, of the movie figure, I noted it was rather underscaled for the movie version, who should really tower over the rest of the cast.  This figure not only towers over the other figures, but it’s about twice as wide as well, and while Roboto is certainly larger than everyone else in the 200X, it feels like this sort of exaggerates things a bit.  He almost feels like he’s from a different line of figures.  Not helping matters is that, in many ways, he quite literally feels like he’s from a different line.  The Origins figures have a certain way they’re assembled and, well, this guy doesn’t really follow that.  I got a lot more of an early Masterverse vibe from him, especially when it came to his joints, which have that kind of gummy feeling to them that I remember cropping up in Masterverse.  His sheer size, coupled with gummy joints, means that it’s a pain to move him, for fear that the relatively small and gummy joints might tear or break.  I found this to be especially and issue on his elbows, which either don’t have much range, or have a range I’m just not comfortable reaching.  Also, though he’s huge, he’s also got a lot of hollow parts, making him lighter weight than you’d expect.  This has an especially odd feeling when it comes to the legs, which kind of swing around a bit on the hips.  It’s odd.  Issues of scaling and construction aside, though, how’s the actual sculpt? Well, I must admit, he looks really cool.  Since the proper 200X Roboto wasn’t actually based on the animation model, we never really got a version of it in 3D form.  This one does very well, and certainly looks the part.  The sculpting is clean and nicely symmetrical, as he should be.  Roboto’s coloring is on the basic side, but matches his sort of washed out palette from the show.  Application is mostly clean, but there was some stray spots of red on the side of his head that shouldn’t be there.  Roboto was packed with his shoulder cannon and a swappable arm cannon for his left arm.  The shoulder cannon can go on either shoulder, but struggles staying in place securely, due to the rubber shoulder pads.  I do like arm cannon, though it’s a shame he couldn’t get one for both arms, since he uses both in the show.  Also, interesting to choose the left arm for the swap, given it’s classically the right one he does it with.  I guess they were going for some variety.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I saw this figure when he was unveiled, and the prototype really didn’t sell the size of him.  I meant to get him, but he, like Orko, kind of got pushed off a bunch.  I’d heard from others he wasn’t *great*, so I held off, ultimately snagging him because I was already buying some other stuff from my friends at All Time Toys.  In hand, he’s…well, he’s got issues.  I knew that going in, and I expected them, but they’re still very definitely there.  It keeps him from being as cool as he could be, and I don’t think he’s as nice a figure as the other two Origins Robotos.  That said, I do love this design, and I think it looks really cool as a figure, so perfect or not, I’m happy I have him.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#4117: Eradicator

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

ERADICATOR

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“The Eradicator is an ancient artifact of Krypton with sentient personality, who has been ally and enemy to Superman.”

During the “Reign of the Supermen” storyline, where four potential replacements for the original Man of Steel arose following his death, the new guys were all kind of set-up to represent the various trends of characters in comics.  The Eradicator took on the role of “edgy rebrand” with a “kewl” sounding name and a more lethal attitude towards criminals, but was, interestingly, not the one that turned out to be evil, merely lacking the human empathy that makes Superman, you know, Superman.  He was also the only of the new Supermen who didn’t really stick around, though he’s returned here and there as the story allows for it.  Eradicator’s first figure was supposed to be in Kenner’s Man of Steel line, but was cancelled and shunted to a mail-away release through ToyFare magazine.  Now he’s getting the (pseudo) Kenner treatment again, with some Super Powers coverage!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Eradicator is the fourth figure in Wave 13 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation line, numbered 64 in the overall line.  He’s the last figure in this set to share a number with a prior release, which he claimed from Wave 11’s Cyborg.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Eradicator in the comics had a body that used some of Clark’s DNA, so he looked quite a bit like him (mostly; they were inconsistent about his hair), and so it’s little surprise that he’s using a lot of Superman parts.  He’s using a variation of the updated Superman body from Wave 9, but specifically the slightly more streamlined version from Wave 10’s black suit Superman.  The gripping hand on the right arm is kind of redundant, and the belt throws off the look a little bit, but generally it works.  He gets a new head sculpt, which is similar to the standard Superman, but with Eradicator’s signature goggles, and also a much more angry expression, better fitting Eradicator’s personality.  He also gets a cloth cape piece, which isn’t *quite* accurate to Eradicator’s usual look, which had the cape more dramatically flared at the shoulders and also went behind his logo.  That said, such a look would be quite difficult to do while also maintaining the aesthetic of the line, so I think they made it work well enough to pass muster.  The cape is once more missing the “S” on the back, but I’ve made my peace with that this far into the assortment.  Eradicator’s paint work is generally pretty good.  Application is clean, and the shades are all pretty eye-catching.  My only complaint is the color for the goggles; they’re gold, when yellow would be more accurate to the vintage style.  Super minor thing, though, and not enough to ruin the figure by any stretch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since Eradicator didn’t stick around in the comics the way the others did, he was gone by the time I was reading, and it was his Kenner figure that introduced me to the idea, which has always tied me more to his presence as a toy.  There’s no denying he’s got a design that looks cool as a toy, and that holds up here.  This figure is kind of easy to overlook in an assortment with some flashier offerings, but he’s no slouch, and the minor issues I have with him certainly don’t keep him from being a very cool figure.

#4116: Silver Fox

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

SILVER FOX

MAVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“Bursting onto the scene are the most powerful heroes and villains. Leading the pack against evil is the gamma-powered savage She-Hulk and the she-devil of the Savage Land — Shanna! Keeping to the shadows is the enigmatic ninja, Elektra, while Silver Fox relies on her training as a top secret government operative. But it is the Viper, who uses her powers and abilities for personal gain, no matter what she must destroy to get it.”

Wolverine’s had a lot of ex-girlfriends, most of them dead, what with his advanced healing and all.  Given the kind of stuff he gets into, there’s frequently some convoluted stories that go along with them, but it’s hard to get past Silver Fox in that regard.  Though she’s not really been relevant since the ‘90s, that hasn’t stopped her storyline from remaining really confusing.  She’s definitely dead, perhaps even twice over, and maybe she’s two different people?  She appeared in the Animated Series and also X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but in both cases she seems to be using the name and little more, further confusing things.  Even her segment in the back of the box text up there doesn’t quite know what to do with her, just going for a rather generic “top secret government operative” rather than getting into that she was actually a rather highly placed operative in Hydra, which would, you know, make her not so great a person.  Given her short run and confusing nature, her comics incarnation has, unsurprisingly, only gotten one figure, courtesy of the Toy Biz run.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silver Fox was released in the seventh series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Hall of Fame line.  It was the final assortment of the line, and also the third in the “She-Force” sub-set.  If you’re doing Silver Fox, I think it’s fair to say you might be scraping the bottom of the barrel just a little bit.  But, you know, here we were.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation, though the neck joint is pretty well restricted, so you’re not gonna be doing much with it.  The bulk of the figure is using the second Invisible Woman mold, which is a rather basic body that works for a lot of characters.  Curiously, it’s got a peg hole on the inner forearm of the right arm, which wasn’t there before.  Both she and Shanna from the same series have it, but I don’t really know why.  It’s not very visible, though, so it’s really not a big deal.  Her head is from Ninja Psylocke, which isn’t a bad match for her usual depictions.  The glue’s not great on the hair, though, so it pops off pretty easily.  She’s got a soft-goods cape, which is sort of awkward on the clasp, but otherwise is a nice material and hangs well.  Silver Fox’s paint work does the heavy lifting here, since it’s all parts re-use.  The black hair changes up the head sculpt pretty well, and the metallic green is a good choice for the body suit.  Silver Fox is packed with a blaster rifle, repainted from Cyborg Cable, as well as an Iron Man trading card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My knowledge of Silver Fox comes exclusively from the single episode of the cartoon where she appears, and is mostly paired off with Maverick.  I guess she’s okay in that one?  I can’t say she made a major impression, and drove me to actually track down the figure or anything.  But, when my wife and I took a trip to Factory Antique Mall last year, I did some Toy Biz hunting, and she was one of the figures I managed to snag.  She’s fine.  The hair thing’s kind of funny and silly, but she does the job alright, and, I mean, it’s literally the only option, so she’s got that going for her.  If you need a Silver Fox action figure, you just pretty much gotta, right?

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0089: Plastic Man

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

PLASTIC MAN

JLA (HASBRO)

Well, we’re here at the end of the week.  I mean, I hope we’re all here.  It’s been kind of a rough week for, you know, everyone getting through it.  You know what we need?  Levity!  So, for today’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum, let’s have a look back at a silly stretchy sort of guy, with Plastic Man!

If there’s one super power that has a tendency to be underestimated, it’s shape-shifting, particularly of the stretching type. Mister Fantastic, arguably the most famous “stretchy” character out there often has that part of his talents down played to focus on his high-level intellect. I’ve always felt that was a shame. I love stretchy characters because I think they have a lot of potential for creativity on the part of the writer/artist. They’re just a whole lot of fun! In fact, one of my favorite characters of all time is the Elongated Man. He’s not the character I’m looking at today, but he almost would have been, had it not been for the fact that Julie Schwartz, one of the guys behind the creation of Elongated Man (and so many other Silver Age DC characters, but that’s more for a later time), didn’t remember that DC owned the name Plastic Man. Granted, EM would have still be the same character, just with Plastic Man’s name, similar to the Hal Jordan Green Lantern and the Barry Allen Flash. I’m getting a bit off topic, aren’t I?

For those of you who don’t know, Plastic Man is Eel O’Brien, a one-time crook who gets doused by a strange chemical and left behind by his gang during a heist. When he awakes, he discovers he has the ability to stretch his body into impossible shapes. He decides to use this power to bring his old partners to justice and creates the identity of Plastic Man. He was big in the 40s, but faded into obscurity until around the 80s, where he saw a bit of a resurgence in popularity, eventually leading to him joining the Justice League of America during Grant Morison’s run on the series in the 90s. But, what of the figure?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Plas was released in the 3rd series of Kenner’s JLA series. JLA was a line of figures exclusive to KB toys in the late 90s. They were made using retooled molds from Kenner’s Total Justice line from a few years previous. Plas’s inclusion in the line makes sense given his place on the titular team at the time. Plas has 5 points of articulation and stands about 7 inches tall with his neck fully extended. The line was in 5 inch scale, so he fits right in. The line used a few common pieces for certain figures, and Plas features the generic male torso, used by a few of the figures. The rest of the figure’s sculpt is unique. It all works together pretty well, though I can’t help but feel that the re-used torso looks a bit too stubby in comparison to the rest of the figure. The head and arms are cast in rubber with wires running through them, allowing you to pose the arms and neck in a variety of ways. The paint is passable. It’s fairly basic, but that fits with the rest of the line. The biggest issue with the paint is that it had some peeling issues on the rubber pieces, particularly the white on his goggles and teeth, which is almost gone on my figure. The hands have also suffered from some noticeable yellowing. Sadly, these are both issues of working with rubbery materials. I don’t know that anything could have been done to prevent them. Plas included a JLA logo stand, in red I believe.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Plas from the KB Toy outlet in the town where my family vacationed. I know I had seen the figure before, and had been interested in getting it, but I never did. My parents bought him and another JLA figure (I believe it was Impulse) for me, which was pretty cool. It’s actually not a bad figure, though it sadly did suffer from a few issues over time. I’d be curious if a Plas who had less playtime might have come out unscathed.

This review was published in the early spring of 2014, less than halfway through my first year working in the site.  It’s particularly wordy for the time, I feel, and also goes off topic a bit there.  Like, I talk for a very long time before getting to anything about Plastic Man.  I even get in an Elongated Man mention, eight whole years before reviewing any of my Elongated Man figures.  No clue why I waited so long, especially given I had two Plastic Man reviews in my first year.  I’m getting side-tracked again, and I’m not even actually reviewing this time!  Since the original review, I’ve found his red JLA-logo stand, and also done some work restoring some of the messed up paint, so he looks a lot closer to his original self.  With the paint fixed up, I do really like how that head sculpt works; it’s one of the nicer ones from this line.  Also, giving me David Byrne vibes?  In some alternate reality, maybe there’s an ‘80s Plastic Man movie starring Byrne in the role.  He’s certainly eccentric enough!

#4115: Wedge Antilles

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

WEDGE ANTILLES

STAR WARS RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hey! Hey!  Did you guys know that Wedge Antilles is my favorite Star Wars character?  Even though he’s minor?  And that it’s not the expanded universe stuff that I like, it’s literally just the, like, one scene per movie in the original trilogy?  I mean, if you’ve read literally *any* other Wedge review here on the site, you probably do, because I apparently feel the need to start the reviews of him all the same way.  Look, 4000 reviews and you’re bound to repeat yourself a bit, right?  Well, anyway, despite his presence in all three of the original movies, Wedge is notably absent from Kenner’s original vintage run, which has been a pretty notable omission all that time.  But, with all these throwback retro figures floating around these days, it’s the perfect time to make up for that omission, right?  Right!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wedge Antilles is part of the 2026 Star Wars Retro Collection exclusive 6-pack. They’re the only six figures for the line this year, sold as one large package, much like last year, rather than as a proper assortment of individual figures (though the figures are still individually packaged within the set).  All of the figures are A New Hope-based this time around, though technically Wedge could also work as a Jedi figure, since his look is the same between them.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  His sculpt is all-new, and not directly patterned on any vintage figure molds.  It’s honestly kind of interesting that there’s not even a little bit of detail borrowing from the vintage Pilot Luke figure.  Instead, we’re starting from scratch and…it’s kind of a mixed bag?  Like, I think the weird part is he feels maybe a bit too good to really feel like a vintage Kenner figure.  The folds and hang of his outfit are just a little too natural, and the details are just a little too accurate.  He’s got gloves, which Pilot Luke didn’t, but I’m willing to let that slide, because it’s the kind of shift I can see happening later in the line.  But beyond that, there are small details, like the strap on the back of his vest, or the pockets on his arms, which probably shouldn’t be there.  But, then other parts, like his head that’s just a little bit too small to allow for the helmet, which feel pretty close.  The paint kind of continues the trend set by the sculpt, where it’s just a touch too good, and too accurate.  The biggest thing that throws me is the presence of the grey detailing, since the vintage one just sort of split the difference with the black and white details.  It feels a bit more in line with PotF2, which is obviously not *quite* the vibe they’re going for.  But, it’s not actually bad, so I’ll at least give it that.  Wedge is packed with his helmet and a blaster.  Both are new molds, and they’re pretty fun.  The helmet’s too big, but in the right way.  The blaster could have just been a re-use, but it’s a new Han-style blaster, which I really dig.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I sure do love Wedge figures, and I spent a good amount of time sort of pretending Pilot Luke was Wedge for the purposes of my vintage collection.  With all the Retro Collection figures, I was sort of hoping maybe we might see him, but the focus always seemed to be elsewhere.  I was excited when he was finally shown off, but less excited about him being in a boxed set exclusive to a place I don’t shop.  I’ve been sort of keeping my eye on second hand sources for just Wedge, and happened upon one for a good price, so I jumped on it.  He’s not perfect, but in the sort of way where he’s too close to perfect, if that makes sense?  Ultimately, though it’s a cool Wedge figure, and that’s what I wanted, so I’m happy.

#4114: Mr. Knight

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

MR. KNIGHT

TELEVISION MASTERPIECE SERIES (HOT TOYS)

For about a decade now, every time I’ve reviewed a Moon Knight figure, I’ve done this whole bit about “yelling” out the name and all caps and being very overly excited.  But, these days, I’ve matured.  I’ve found myself as a more refined connoisseur of Moon Knights.  It’s all a very classy affair.  Ah, yes.  Moon Knight.  Did you hear?  There’s a new Moon Knight.  Quite exciting, isn’t it?  Yes, quite.  See, classy?  And what could be a classier Moon Knight to review than a Hot Toy?  And not just any Hot Toys Moon Knight.  Oh, no, this is a Hot Toys Mr. Knight.  He gets the honorific because of how refined and respectable he is.  What’s that?  Oh, Mr. Knight is when Steven’s in control, so he’s actually kind of a goober the whole time?  So, I’ve just kept it all in check for, like, nothing?  Cool.  Great.  Well, you know what, let’s review this figure.  Of MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON KNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Knight is part of Hot Toys’ Television Masterpiece Series, where he’s figure TMS139, placing him between Vi from League of Legends and the Artisan edition of hooded Moon Knight.  He’s the second entry from the Moon Knight show, following up on the 2023 standard Moon Knight.  This one was shown off way back at the end of 2024, originally with a mid-to-late 2025 release window, but he got dragged out to August of this year due to all manner of distribution issues emanating from the insanity that is the world we live in.  While the first Moon Knight was based on Marc’s more classic incarnation of the avatar, this one is based on the Declan Shalvey-designed suited look sported when Steven is in control.  The figure stands just under 11 1/2 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

The first Moon Knight figure only sported a single head sculpt, fully masked.  This one goes back to the Hot Toys tendency towards having options.  The one he comes wearing is the masked one, which, like the prior one, is quite an impressive piece.  All of the texturing present in the show mask is clearly replicated here, and you can clearly make out the face beneath it all.  Like the prior Moon Knight, the masked head has a light-up eye feature, which works more or less the same way…or at least it’s supposed to.  On my figure, a few hours after putting the batteries in, it stopped having an “on/off” switch and instead had a “on/more on” switch that just modulated the brightness, and required taking out the batteries to turn back off.  That’s really not ideal.  The figure’s second head is an unmasked Marc/Steven, sporting Oscar Isaac’s likeness, the first time on a Hot Toy, despite a Poe Dameron figure having been teased a literal decade ago.  It’s quite an amazing sculpt, very clearly capturing Isaac’s likeness, which is something that’s proved rather difficult for Hasbro in all of their many attempts.  This head also gets moving eyes, much like Superman and Spider-Punk.  It’s cool that this has become a more standardized feature, and it gives him a lot more variety for character.  Also, if you position them just right, you can hide the pupils entirely, to get a mid-transformation look like in the show.

Mr. Knight, both in the comics and in the show, is always seen in a three-piece white suit, and the figure replicates that here, with an outfit tailored to the underlying body.  While the standard Moon Knight had some cheats involved to approximate a complicated outfit design, Mr. Knight really doesn’t employ any cheats.  They’re really just gone and done the whole suit, with a full vest, shirt, and tie underneath of it.  Much like the actual construction of the thing, there’s some layers to all of this.  The patterning on the material is nothing short of amazing, as are all of the tiny little details, and the stitching and assembly is all really on point.  He’s even got a little pocket square (though be careful; it’s not attached and will fall out while you aren’t looking), and the jacket has a wire running on the edge, so you can pose it dynamically.  There are, however, some curiosities at play.  As noted, every article of clothing is a full article, no partials or stand-ins.  The vest is fully tailored and detailed, right down to the strap and buckle on the back.  The shirt is likewise full-sleeved, and even has said sleeves rolled up, just like they are when he removes the jacket.  The underlying body uses the muscle forearms, which are the ones meant for showing, rather than the more basic ones for when they won’t be visible.  So, I was a bit surprised that none of the promotional photos showed the jacket off, and the instructions with the figure noted that the outfit wasn’t removable.  Well, I noted the instructions thing *after* taking the jacket off, unfortunately, at which point it was really difficult to get back in place, and I ultimately did some minor damage getting it back on (just some undone fabric glue and a popped seam, both hidden in pretty much any pose), so, you know, don’t take it off, I guess.  Given all of the various extra detailing under the jacket that will never be seen, I’d guess there was at some point a plan for it to be removable, but they couldn’t make it work, so they abandoned it.  Clearly, this was decided after the body was picked, but before it was cast, as the elbow joints are notably black plastic, which is certainly not something you’d do if you intended the arms to be visible.

In addition to the interchangeable heads, Mr. Knight gets a rather basic assortment of parts, including 4 pairs of hands, 1 pair of eskrima sticks, a scarab amulet, a doohickey for moving the eyes on the unmasked head, and a display stand.  The hands come in gripping, fists, relaxed, and open gesture, and make for a decent variety of posing options.  They swap easily enough, and there’s also a spare pair of wrist pegs should you have any breakage issues.  The sticks are nicely detailed, featuring the markings seen in the show, and slide well into the hands.  The scarab isn’t really for this figure, but it’s a neat little extra.  The display stand is one of the basic ones, and as impressive as the more deluxe stand from the last figure was, I’m glad this one’s just basic, if just for the space considerations.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I began my wait for this figure at the end of the review of the last HT Moon Knight.  I knew it was a good likelihood he was coming, it was just a matter of when.  Admittedly, it was a longer gap than I was expecting before he was announced (and I almost caved on getting a third party version in the mean time), and then it was an even longer gap than I was expecting between his announcement and his actual arrival.  I honestly wasn’t even sure he was gonna show up.  But he did, and I’m glad for it.  He’s not perfect.  The last one, though lacking the unmasked head, was a pretty solid figure, without any notable issues I can recall.  This one has some issues.  Not minor.  Not enough to ruin the figure.  But, certainly enough for me to feel like there may have been some concessions made just to get him out the door.  At the end of the day, though, I really am just glad to finally have him.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#4113: Cyborg Superman

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

CYBORG SUPERMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Cyborg Superman, also known as ‘The Cyborg’ is an evil counterpart to Superman with a robotic body designed using Kryptonian technology and genetics.”

Astronaut Hank Henshaw was originally introduced in the comics in 1990, as a sort of dark “real world outcome” take on the Fantastic Four origin story.  Though originally intended as a one-off character, his creator Dan Jurgens thought there was more to explore with the character, so during 1993’s “Reign of the Supermen” storyline, he was reintroduced as Cyborg Superman, claiming to be the genuine article rebuilt with Kryptonian technology following his demise at Doomsday’s hands.  Though the other three replacement Supermen from “Reign” would all receive figures through Kenner’s Man of Steel line in the ‘90s (well, okay, technically Eradicator actually made it out as a ToyFare exclusive), Cyborg Superman was notably absent from the line, not seeing any sort of toy release until nearly a decade later, under via DC Direct.  He’s finally getting that retro figure treatment now, though, through McFarlane’s continuation of Super Powers.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyborg Superman is the third figure in Wave 13 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation, numbered 63 overall in the line (which he took from Wave 11’s Nightwing, since we’re still doubling up there for whatever reason).  Cyborg Superman dials right into the overall Superman theme of this assortment, and while he’s a little outside the original line’s run, it’s not crazy to think of it continuing far enough to include him, especially given the McFarlane run has already tapped into “Knightfall.”  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  It should come as no surprise that Cyborg Superman is using some Superman parts in his construction, but I was admittedly not expecting it to be the first Superman mold, rather than the improved one from Wave 9. He replaces the head, right arm, and left lower leg with new parts, so he does at least lose the Todd-inspired head sculpt, but he’s still a touch too tall and a little bit pigeon-toed.  Generally, though, the new parts do a lot to help rehabilitate the mold.  The head is more in line with the updated Superman, while still showcasing Henshaw’s slightly more hardened, angrier expression, and the raised and etched in elements of the robotic pieces are quite impressive.  *Technically* the torso should really have been resculpted as well, since it’s half-robotic, but ultimately, with the arm being resculpted and the cape hiding a lot of it, the look is pretty well pulled off.  The cape is the exact same one included with Supergirl and Powergirl, which means that like Supergirl, he’s missing the logo on the back, which is kind of annoying, but not the end of the world.  His paint work is…well, okay, it’s not strictly speaking accurate, because a proper Kenner Cyborg Superman would almost certainly be vac-metalized.  That said, such a process is clearly beyond the scope of the McFarlane figures even with full retail support, so it’s definitely not happening here, and it’s not fair to hold it against him.  The basic silver is perhaps not quite as exciting, but it’s well done.  My only actual complaint on the painting is that they missed painting the red loops on his belt, even though they’re still sculpted there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first introduction to Cyborg Superman was actually fan complaints that he wasn’t included in Man of Steel, which led to me finding out more about him, and eventually buying the DCD figure when it was released.  He’s an interesting enough character, and he’s certainly got quite a striking design, so the fact that he’s got as few figures as he does is genuinely surprising.  This one’s got a few flaws that hold him back from perfect, but I do quite like him, and I think he’s a good fit for the line.

#4112: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“It’s non-stop action when the Marvel Universe’s greatest heroines join forces against the power of the Black Queen! Locked in mortal combat with the notorious Queen, Jean Grey of the X-Men uses her telepathic powers to summon help. Jean is joined by fellow X-Man Storm, Avenger Ms. Marvel, and the mysterious Spider-Woman. Together, this team has all the power it needs to stop the Black Queen in her tracks!”

Hey, remember Marvel Hall of Fame, from way back in last month’s reviews?  Well, it’s back, in pog form!  Or, like, Jean Grey form, I guess.  Despite her rather prominent spot in the franchise and its various media adaptations, Toy Biz’s X-Men line was sparse on Jean Grey figures, especially her ‘90s outfit, was absent for most of the run.  It’s first real appearance in 5-inch form was not in the X-Men line at all, but rather Hall of Fame, where it cropped up as one of the line’s quick, slapdash repaints.  Let’s see how that turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean Grey was released Series 2 of Marvel Hall of Fame, in 1996.  This was the Puzzle Zoo-exclusive line’s first “She-Force” assortment, before they really became a trend.  Jean was still in the Jim Lee get-up at the time, so this figure was more or less accurate to what was in the comics.  Sort of.  Let’s dig further into that.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  All of the Hall of Fame figures were repaints of some variety, and in Jean’s case she’s a complete re-use of the X-Force line’s Domino.  It’s…fine.  I do like that the figure gets proper hip joints, and not v-hips, but I don’t love the total lack of neck articulation or the odd swivels at the elbows.  In terms of actual costume design, while there are some similarities between the two costume designs if you squint, it’s not exactly a 1 for 1.  Generally, they do their best with the paint, which kind of tries to mimmic the layout of Jean’s costume.  The head gear is better than I’d expected, and the shoulders and wrists are pretty close, but it’s really the extraneous belts and pouches that ultimately throw it all off.  Also those crazy eyes.  Don’t love those crazy eyes.  Jean was packed with Domino’s guns and missiles, recolored to match better.  They make no sense at all for the character, but I do like the coloring at least.  Also included was a trading card, in my case Belladonna, Gambit’s ex.  I think she might be the most common card I’ve had turn up with these figures at this point.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember seeing the figure from time to time in the earlier days of my collecting, mostly in larger lots of figures online.  Something always felt rather off about her, though, and I’ve hesitated to track her down for many years because of that.  She’s actually the most recent addition to my Hall of Fame figures, in fact purchased as part of a larger Toy Biz lot, so I guess that’s just how she hits the market.  She’s odd, just from top to bottom.  I guess I can sort of see where they were trying to go with the costume similarities, but the thing is that Domino and Jean are very different characters with very different demeanors, and that translates to an odd match-up.  Ultimately, I don’t really love this one, but I admire what they were trying to do.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0088: Night Creeper

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

NIGHT CREEPER

G.I. JOE: SPY TROOPS (HASBRO)

Hey there faithful readers, and welcome to the end of the week.  Oh, yes, it’s ending.  Fantastic.  Since it’s Friday, let’s celebrate it the only way I know how, with a Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Today, I’m going in for seconds on a particularly sneaky ninja, with a return look at the Spy Troops Night Creeper!

Today, I’ll be taking a look at an entry in the original Action Figure toyline, G.I. Joe!  Like my last G.I. Joe review, this figure hails from the Real American Hero incarnation of the line.  In the early 2000s, Hasbro attempted to bring this incarnation back after a few years of hiatus.  The reinvented line started as a simple “G.I. Joe vs. Cobra” idea, but quickly moved from gimmick to gimmick to keep things fresh.  One of those gimmicks was called “Spy Troops” and revolved around certain figures featuring special gear that would allow them to blend in with their enemies.  This time around, I’ll be looking at one of the Cobra forces from the line, the Night Creeper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Night Creeper was released as part of the 2003 wave of Spy Troops figures.  He was paired in a two pack with Kamukura, one of the many G.I. Joe ninjas.  The Night Creepers were one of Cobras many ninja armies, so the pairing makes sense.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and features 20 points of articulation.  The sculpt on the figure is a bit dated now, with an odd kind of “v” shape to the body and long arms, but at the time, it was actually quite good.  Viewed through that lens, it’s pretty good, if not perfect.  There’s lots of cool little details present, which give the figure a lot of character.  The paint on the figure is minimal, with most of the figure being molded in the appropriate shade of blue, but the small amounts of paint present are all nice and clean.  The Night Creeper was actually very well accessorized, with a sword for his basic look, plus a dive mask, re-breather, flippers, and a harpoon gun to allow the Creeper to masquerade as G.I. Joe Wetsuit.  I’ve lost the Wetsuit pieces, but they did the job quite convincingly, and actually made for a slightly better figure than the official Wetsuit release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually bought Night Creeper solely for the Kamukura figure that was packed with him, but I quickly grew to like the Night Creeper a bit more.  The early 2000s G.I. Joe line was far from perfect, and was even downright bad at times, but the Night Creeper was one of the better figures.

The Night Creeper was actually only my second G.I. Joe review here on the site, which is honestly crazy.  Some lines started off on the site with looks at particularly significant figures or at least early additions to my collection, but the Joes kicked it off with a Rise of Cobra figure followed by a random ‘00s off-shoot trooper.  Guess that’s just how it be sometimes.  I was generally rather complimentary towards this figure the first time around, and I’ll stand by that.  Though I have no real attachment to the Night Creeper in general, this figure is quite nice, and I think holds up as one of the better offerings of the era.  When I first reviewed the figure, he was missing all of the parts for his “spy” disguise as Wet Suit, but I’ve since located them.  I think it’s a pretty convincing set-up, and sells the gimmick a lot better than a good portion of this line ever did.