Author Archives: Ethan Wilson

#2861: Morph – Age of Apocalypse

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

MORPH — AGE OF APOCALYPSE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Toy Biz’s tie-in to the big X-books crossover “Age of Apocalypse” in 1996 was a pretty quick, almost slapdash sort of a thing.  A single assortment, one and done, with no real follow-up.  They covered some of the heaviest hitters from the set, but with a story so widespread, there were certainly some gaps.  Toy Biz wound up filling in the line-up a little bit in the ensuing years via a handful of one-off and oddball releases, including a mail away offer to get our boy Morph out to people.  I mean, really, how can you not have Morph, right?  It would just be wrong.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morph was offered up as an exclusive through ToyFare Magazine #22, first made available to order in June of 1999, and shipping out later that year.  He was the fifth post-line addition to the AoA line-up, following Gambit, Rogue, Nemesis, Blink, and X-Man.  He wound up being the last addition, actually, which seems both fitting and also downright unreasonable.  I mean, sure, he’s a great character to end the line-up on, but also how could you wait so long to do him?  How could you do that, now defunct toy company?  I demand answers!  Okay, maybe not so much.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  As with all of these mail aways, he was constructed from as few new parts as possible, which was effectively none.  He uses the body of the AoA Magneto, with the modified torso piece from the Battle Brigade release, which adds in the neck articulation.  In place of either of the Magneto heads, Morph instead gets the standard head from the Spider-Man line’s Chameleon.  It’s all topped off with a cloth cape, which is affixed to the back of the torso, which is also really prone to fraying at the edges.  In general, it’s a selection of parts that gets a lot of the specifics of his design down, but misses the broader design elements of the character.  Like, the head is bald, lacks a nose and ears, and has wider eyes, which is all accurate, but he’s also really angry and mean looking, and very square jawed, which isn’t so much.  Likewise, the body gets some of the costume details down, but then it’s also way too bulked up for him.  Given that he’s a shape shifter, you can make it work, but he does feel a little bit like he’s missing the forest for the trees.  Generally speaking, the paint’s not too bad for a Toy Biz release of the era.  All of the important details are there, and he matches Morph’s design from the books.  He’s perhaps a touch too bright, but I don’t mind that so much.  Some of the application is a little sloppy, but not terribly so.  That said, I did have a weird issue with the one in all the pictures here, which is that the cape sat up against his boot in the package, and now he’s got a weird pattern on that boot.  Morph included no accessories, but honestly, what is there to give him?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure is the reason I know that AoA Morph exists.  Well, not specifically this figure; this figure is a replacement I picked up last year, when a sealed one got traded into All Time.  My original’s not quite as photogenic these days (like I said, that cape likes to fray), but he was given to me by a family friend, who had ordered him specifically for me back in the day.  It was how I found out about the character, and a few years later, it was why I picked up the first trade of Exiles, because he was on the cover.  Subsequently, I’ve become quite a fan of the character.  This figure may not be the best version, but it was better than nothing, and I certainly have a soft spot for him.

 

#2860: Ironheart

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

IRONHEART

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A certified super-genius, Riri Williams turns a dorm room project into a high-tech, high-flying suit of armor— and becomes a force for good.”

Though Tony Stark may maintain that he and the Iron Man armor are always one and the same, that hasn’t stopped him from handing off the armor to others, from time to time.  The latest in that bunch of people is Riri Williams, an MIT student who built her own suit of armor, and got Tony’s attention.  So, when he got knocked into a coma in Civil War II, she was granted the mantle, at least for a little bit, and ultimately came into her own, assuming the identity of “Ironheart.”  And now, she’s also got herself an action figure.  That’s the biggest victory, really.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ironheart is figure 4 in the Ursa Major Series of Marvel Legends.  Given the Iron Man theme of the set, she’s a natural choice.  Also, this marks Hasbro’s first time making an Ironheart, though they were beaten to the actual first figure by Minimates, who did her in 2018.  Still, this is pretty notable, so I’m not gonna fault them too much.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  Following the trend set by Lady Jaye in the Classified line, Ironheart’s articulation is notable for featuring double joints on the elbows.  It works super well, and feels really smooth when in motion.  In general, her articulation scheme gives her a really wide range of motion, which makes for a pretty enjoyable time when it comes to posing her.  Additionally, she’s got the pinless construction on both the elbows and the knees, which helps keep that sleek feel going.  Ironheart’s sculpt is all-new, patterned on Stefano Caselli’s design for her first cleaned up armor design.  It’s very clean and polished, which I really like, and it’s a rather accurate recreation of the design as it’s seen in the comics.  It certainly pairs off well with the more streamlined Invincible Iron Man figure from a few years back, though it honestly even improves upon how that figure was implemented, in terms of both look and functionality.  Her paintwork is generally pretty straightforward, as most Legends are.  It’s very shiny and slick, which is appropriate, and the application’s all pretty cleanly applied.  In terms of accessories, Riri is pretty well off, getting an alternate unmasked head (patterned on her later look while piloting the armor), two sets of hands in fists and repulsor poses, two new repulsor effects, two new smoke effects, and the leg of Ursa Major.  I’m a little bummed that the repulsor hands are back to fixed wrists after the Modular armor had the proper joints, but otherwise I’m very happy with the selection here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m not a Bendis fan in the slightest, so I wasn’t reading Iron Man when Riri was introduced.  I caught her once she moved over to the Champions, and I generally enjoyed her there.  I can’t say she’s a must have character for me, but she’s got a pretty kick ass design, and it’s always nice to add a little more diversity to the shelf.  On top of that, she’s just a very nice toy.  Genuinely very fun.  I can definitely get behind that.

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.

#2859: Darkstar

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

DARKSTAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Drafted as a Soviet operative on a nefarious mission, Laynia Petrovna eventually broke free from the system and began to use her super-secret skills to her own ends.”

Marvel’s Russian super-powered characters have gotten a little bit of focus recently, thanks in no small part to Black Widow’s recent turn in the spotlight.  Not quite up to bat on that front, at least yet, however, is Laynia Petrovna, also known as Darkstar.  Darkstar was a member of the Soviet Winter Guard, but after being sent to recover Natasha, she instead wound up defecting herself, joining up with Widow’s current super team, The Champions.  The Champions wound up rather short-lived, and Darkstar wound up kind of in the background of the Marvel universe.  Not the best spot for getting toys, but she’s finally crossed that line, and had her own official Marvel Legend.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darkstar is figure 3 in the Ursa Major Series of Marvel Legends.  The set is generally Iron Man-themed, which isn’t really that much of a fit for Darkstar, but I guess she’s not entirely out of place.  I do think it’s a little amusing that, after Widow borrowed a few of Iron Man’s related characters for her assortment, Iron Man in turn has gotten a character that would make sense in a Widow assortment.  Not that I’m complaining about any of it, mind you. Darkstar has had a few designs over the years, but this figure goes with her second one.  It’s not her Champions one, so I’m predisposed to not like it, but it’s also the one that got used in X-Men: The Animated Series, so I’m also predisposed to like it.  What a conundrum.  In all honestly, it’s probably the cleanest and boldest of her designs, so I can get the choice.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Darkstar is built on the Phoenix body, which is honestly a good match for how she’s usually depicted in terms of build.  Her head is an all-new piece, and it does a pretty respectable job of capturing how she’s usually drawn in the comics, as well as differentiating the body from the rest of the characters built on it.  I like the slightly different way that the hair hangs over her left shoulder; it’s a small touch, but it gives her a little extra character.  In terms of color work, Darkstar is pretty straightforward.  The black and yellow makes for a nice contrast, and she’s got quite a bold appearance to her.  The application is all pretty clean, and in general she looks quite nice.  Darkstar includes three sets of hands, in fists, gripping, and open gesture, as well as the torso to the Ursa Major Build-A-Figure.  It’s a little odd that she doesn’t get any energy effects or anything, but I do like getting the full assortment of hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Darkstar is one of those characters I wasn’t sure I’d ever see in figure form, though admitedly, it seemed more and more promising as the line progressed.  She’s a solid deep cut sort of character, and I’m always down for having more characters to fill in more of those slightly obscure teams.  I suppose it might be too much to ask for her Champions costume, though?  Yeah, probably.  Well, this one is nice too.

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.

#2858: Stealth Iron Man

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STEALTH IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark designed the Stealth Armor to maximize on concealment over offensive weaponry.”

First appearing in 1981, a Stealth variant of the standard Iron Man armor has become a rather common place variant for the character going forward.  They don’t tend to have a ton of media appearances, but it’s still a pretty easily banked upon variant, since it’s easily justifiable as a straight repaint.  There have been three updates since (at least, going by the comics), but it’s really hard to do better than the Model 7 armor that originated the concept, and which is really only done proper justice when it’s a repaint of the classic armor.  Hey, doesn’t Hasbro have an updated version of the classic armor mold that they *just* put out in the last two years?  Why yes they do.  Maybe they should do a Stealth variant.  Oh, wait, they did.  Sorry, it just snuck up on me here.  It was hard to see it.  Because it’s so stealthy, you see.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Stealth Iron Man is figure 2 in the Ursa Major Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s our second Iron Man variant, but he won’t be our last.  It’s the first time in a while that we’ve gotten a Stealth Iron Man in Legends, and the first time ever that he’s just been a standard release, rather than a variant or a very hard to find exclusive like the last two.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Surprising no one, Stealth Iron Man is a complete parts re-use of the 80th Iron Man figure.  Given that the two armors are supposed to look the same, and always are drawn as nothing but a color swap, this is a totally justified case of re-use.  It also helps that it’s just a really good sculpt, so seeing it turn up again certainly isn’t hurting my feelings.  This figure’s main selling point is its new color scheme, which is now all monochromatic and dark blue.  Well, sort of monochromatic; there’s actually some slight changing in the exact shades, corresponding to the red and yellow sections of the normal color scheme, which is honestly a nice touch.  Technically, the armor’s supposed to be all black, and the blue was just a coloring technique in the comic, but I think the blue honestly makes for a slightly more interesting design.  The Stealth Armor keeps the two sets of hands from the 80th release (colored to match, of course), as well as the unmasked head (which also gets a slightly tweaked paint scheme), two blast effects (in red this time), and the left leg to the Ursa Major Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been expecting the release of this guy since we got the 80th mold, so it’s not like he was a shock when he was shown off.  That being said, I was still happy to see him finally crop up.  He’s a rather by the numbers release, but he does very well playing by those numbers, and it makes for a strong addition to the line, and a really fun Iron Man variant that certainly earns its place in the line-up.

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.

#2857: Vault Guardsman

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VAULT GUARDSMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With armor equipped with repulsor rays, high-carbon steel alloy mesh and radiation shielding, Vault Guardsman turns his sights on the complete destruction of Iron Man.”

Okay, so in today’s entry in “Ethan critiques the bios,” let’s just get the obvious confusion on Hasbro’s part over who the heck this figure is actually supposed to be, and moreover, who the Guardsman is in general.  First appearing in 1970, the Guardsman was Kevin O’Brien, former engineer for Stark Industries, whose faulty armor caused his mind to go haywire, and drove his desire to kill Iron Man.  Kevin was killed in battle, leading his brother Michael to dawn the armor seeking vengeance.  That time, however, Tony was able to convince Michael that the suit was affecting his mind, and talk him down, so that he actually served as Iron Man’s ally.  Eventually, the armor was mass produced for use by the guards at the Vault super prison, which is when they switched over to the name “Vault Guardsman.”  However, the Vault Guardsman isn’t just one guy, nor have they ever been all that invested in destroying Iron Man.  So, you know, there it is.  It’s cool to get a figure, regardless.  Let’s just celebrate that, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vault Guardsman is figure 1 in the Ursa Major Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s a pretty strong choice for an Iron Man-centric series, and this marks Guardsman’s first time in Legends form, which is pretty cool.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Guardsman is built on the Reaper body, at least at his core.  It’s a sensible enough choice, at least from a build standpoint.  It does mean he’s still got the visible pins on his arms and legs, but otherwise it still looks pretty decent.  He gets a new torso and head, which aid in making him look like the classic Guardsman we all know and love.  I was honestly a little surprised by the new torso piece, since it seems like the sort of thing that Hasbro previously would have done with just paint, but they instead went the extra mile here.  I’m glad they did, because it really does just look better this way.  The Guardsman’s paint work is generally okay, although, much like the Minimate version, I do feel like the two greens maybe aren’t quite divergent enough from each other.  I really feel like the darker sections should be a lot closer to black, at least going by the illustrations.  It turns out a bit better in the photos, but in person the contrast can be a bit easier to miss.  That said, I do like the metallic sheen that they’ve given him.  It gives him a pretty slick look.  Guardsman is packed with two sets of hands, gripping and in fists, a pistol (borrowed from Yon-Rogg), and the left arm to the Ursa Major Build-A-Figure.  Curiously, the gripping hands are the ones from Kraven, so there are still the sculpted wraps.  Seeing as non-wrapped versions of the hands exist for this mold, I feel like this may have been an unintentional thing.  Also, they’re not designed for actually holding the gun, but that’s not really new for this mold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really like the Guardsman, as a concept and as a design.  I’m such a fan, that I actually bought the Spider-Man Classics Venom back in the day, purely because of that really cool base with the fallen Guardsman in the rubble.  I’ve been waiting a very long time to finally get a proper 6 inch figure of him, so I was very happy to see him turn up here.  He’s a rather basic figure, but that’s not a bad thing.  Sure, I wouldn’t mind the colors being tweaked, and the alternate hands are a little weird, but overall, I’m just happy to have him.  He’s fun.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2856: Modular Iron Man

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

MODULAR IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A dazzling technological achievement, the modular suit allows Tony Stark to reconfigure sub-systems like boots, gloves, helmets and scanners on the fly.”

For the first couple of decades of his existence, Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor was on an upward trend of advancements.  Everything kept getting sleeker and more streamlined.  The Silver Centurion and Neo-Classic armors marked a slight step backwards, or perhaps maybe just a lateral movement, but in 1994, the trend went back to advancement with the introduction of the Model 13 armor, better known as the Modular Armor, which streamlined down the core armor, and focused more on different systems to add-on for specific needs.  The armor only stuck around for about a year and a half in the comics, but it made its mark in popular culture, thanks to its inclusion in both Iron Man: The Animated Series and Marvel Vs Capcom 2, which kept it in the eyes of a whole generation of super hero fans.  Because of that, there’s been some definite call for an update to this design for Marvel Legends, and Hasbro was kind enough to oblige.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Modular Iron Man is part of the Ursa Major Series of Marvel Legends, which has been just starting to hit retail shelves in the last month.  It’s an Iron Man-centric set, which is something we haven’t seen since the Iron Man 3 tie-ins, which means it’s something we haven’t seen at all in this packaging style.  It feels a little bit overdue.  Likewise, Modular Iron Man also feels a little overdue, since this marks his first figure in this style since when Toy Biz was running things, back in 2006.  That’s a while.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as that of the 80th Iron Man, which is a reasonable set-up for such a character.  He does get an extra joint at the base of the neck, which adds a little more motion there. The shoulders are a bit limited, at least on mine, but he’s otherwise got a pretty decent range.  He also makes use of the pinless construction for both his elbows and knees, which helps with that sleeker appearance.  Despite his similarities to the 80th base in terms of build and articulation, Modular is a totally new sculpt.  I’m honestly a little surprised, but certainly not upset.  He deserves it, and it was definitely a good call.  The whole thing is very clean and well-rendered, and certainly looks like the armor as it was depicted in the comics.  The various modular hook-ups are all separate pieces, fixed in place on the main figure, which helps sell the depth, and also means there’s room for some later version that swaps out for some of his modular attachments, I suppose.  Other than that, it’s a really good looking sculpt, and a really nice rendition of this armor design.  It’s a good, solid, sculpt.  Modular Iron Man goes for a more real world take on his color scheme, so we’re going for metallic red and gold.  While it’s maybe not as striking as a nice red/yellow set-up, it does match with Hasbro’s usual colors for their Iron Men more recently.  It’s a decent look in its own right, and it’s actually pretty light on any real painting, which keeps it quite clean looking.  Modular Iron Man is packed with two sets of hands (fists and repulser blast), as well as two blast effects.  I’m glad that both sets of hands actually get full wrist movement, but this guy does otherwise feel a little bit on the light side.  An unmasked head and maybe one or two extra effects would have been cool.  As it stands, he’s just pretty basic.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting a truly phenomenal classic Iron Man in 2019, this was my next major want for an Iron Man, driven even more by last year’s also phenomenal War Machine figure.  This guy was my most wanted figure from this set by a good margin, and I was super thrilled to get my hands on him.  While I’d maybe have liked some extra accessories, and I’d also love to see a version with flat colors, there’s still no denying that this figure turned out really, really well.

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.

#2855: Cantina Aliens

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

LABRIA, NABRUN LEIDS, & TAKEEL

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Their remote location makes the spaceports of Tatooine havens for many suspicious travelers from across the galaxy. At the Mos Eisley spaceport, Chalmun’s Cantina is a popular hangout for the rough crowd and deadly violence breaks out on a daily basis. Takeel, a Snivvian, is known to dabble in bounty hunting and smuggling. The horned Devaronian Labria calls himself an ‘information broker,’ though his information is questionable at best. No one knows for sure what the Morseerian known as Nabrun Leids looks like underneath his breath mask, which he must wear in all non-methane environments. The former fighter pilot will fly anyone or anything anywhere, if the price is suitable. These kinds of patrons have helped make Tatooine’s spaceports famous as a wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

Initially more focused on actually replicating scenes from the movies with maybe one new figure, and a few retooled ones to better fit the set-up, Power of the Force‘s “Cinema Scenes” line fairly quickly became a way for Kenner to quickly drop three whole new figures, very frequently of quite obscure characters, all in one shot, loosely connected by the theme of all being present in a given scene or locale.  We got two sets dedicated to the Mos Eisly Cantina.  The first was more plot relevant, depicting Obi-Wan facing off against Ponda Baba and Dr Evazan, but the second stuck to the background a bit, and gave us some obscure alien patrons.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The “Cantina Aliens” Cinema Scenes set was added to the Power of the Force line in 1998, as part of the middle year of this particular sub-set.  After quite a bit of focus the first year, this set was the only one in 1998 to be based on A New Hope, and would likewise be the last of the ANH Cinema Scenes.

LABRIA

Officially named “Kardue’sai’Malloc”, this guy’s a weird looking devil dude with a sort of unfortunate name here.  So, you know, there’s that, I suppose.  He’s about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He has some trouble balancing, at least on my copy, made even more difficult by the cape, which also cuts down on his shoulder articulation a little bit.  His sculpt is totally unique, and it does a respectable job of capturing the design from the film.  He’s in line with the rest of the mid-run PotF figures, with a slighlty bulked up build, and a bit of preposing (which also contributes to the difficulty standing).  The cape is removable, and has a rather nice draping effect which keeps it over the shoulders.  Honestly, one of the better capes from the line.  His paint work is pretty basic, and fairly monochromatic, but it gets the job done, and there’s more to it than it could be, so kudos to Kenner there.  He’s packed with a small blaster pistol.

NABRUN LEIDS

That freak!  In the gas mask!  …no, wait, that’s a different guy.  Sorry.  Nabrun Leids is another of the Cantina denizens, characterized by his face obscuring gas mask.  Slightly less obvious are the extra arms, but they’re there too.  The figure stands a little under 3 3/4 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.  He’s granted two extra joints, thanks to the two extra arms.  His sculpt is another unique one (though it did get a repaint early in the ’00s as well), and it’s honestly not bad for the era.  It pretty much follows the design, at least what we can see of it, from the movie.  The paint work is again pretty basic, even more so than on Labria.  I do dig the pearlescent white plastic for the jumpsuit, though.  Nabrun is packed with a larger blaster rifle.  He has a little trouble holding it, but it’s a cool design.

TAKEEL

Last up is Takeel, a character that kind of already had a figure before this one, depending on how you look at things.  Takeel is part of the race commonly referred to as “Snaggletooth.”  There were two different Snaggletooths in the vintage line, one from a Cantina set, so arguably he’s technically a remake, I guess?  But the name’s unique to this one, so it gets murky.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt is pretty decently rendered.  It’s certainly a better take on a Snivvian than the original, and one that doesn’t look too bad in a modern light.  I suppose there are some areas that could benefit from maybe some additional texture work, but it’s still a solid offering. The paint’s again on the basic side, and he’s probably the one figure in this set that could benefit from some extra accenting on the paint work, but the basics work out alright.  Takeel is packed with a smaller blaster rifle.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I snagged this set when it was traded into All Time last summer, as part of a larger collection of figures.  I recall seeing this set, but it never much spoke to me as a kid.  None of these particular designs really jumped out at me, I guess.  I wasn’t expecting much from it when I cracked it open, but I honestly was pretty pleasantly surprised.  They’re all pretty solid aliens, and fill out the scene really nicely.

#2854: Bullseye

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

BULLSEYE

MARVEL UNIVERSE (TOY BIZ)

He’s maybe not Daredevil’s most prominent villain, but Bullseye’s probably his most *consistent* villain.  While DD’s other foes either didn’t start as his, or got passed off to other heroes, Bullseye actually debuted in DD’s book, and stayed with him most of his career.  How kind of him.  Of course, with Daredevil not tending to get his own dedicated toylines, that does mean that there are less reasons for him to get toy treatment.  That being the case, his first figure wasn’t a mainstream release at all, but rather an exclusive.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bullseye was the mail-away exclusive offer in ToyFare #1, made available to order in September of 1997, and shipping out early the next year.  Bullseye’s costume really hadn’t changed much at this point in his career, apart from some minor adjustments here and there.  This one went for the most adjusted possible appearance, in order to keep him more current.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Structurally, Bullseye was built mostly out of parts from Punisher, with the head of Scorpion, both from the Spider-Man line.  Since they’re the same line and roughly the same time, the parts mesh together pretty decently.  The head maybe looks a bit too small, and it’s sort of tilted downward, but it generally works, and the parts do match up alright with Bullseye’s usual depictions.  The paint work on Bullseye is alright.  It gets the important details and he looks the part, but the application could certainly stand to be a little cleaner.  The stripes on the boots and gloves are a little uneven, and the paint on the face doesn’t quite seem like it knows exactly where it wants to go.  Overall, though, he’s about par for the course on these.  Accessories were a rarity on these figures, but Bullseye does actually get one; he’s got the same small knife that was included with Punisher, presumably so as to not leave him forever with an empty sheath on his leg.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bullseye is one of the most recent ToyFare exclusives that I acquired.  I picked him up in late 2019, as part of a collection of otherwise ’90s DC stuff that came into All Time.  I wasn’t really expecting him to be there, you know, being Marvel and all, but he was, which saved me the trouble of tracking one down.  He’s not much to write home about, I suppose, but he does an alright job of capturing the character, and he’s a good choice for re-use, because he really doesn’t suffer much from the lack of new parts.  Ultimately, a decent addition.

#2853: Mr. Freeze

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MR. FREEZE

BATMAN: THE CAPED CRUSADER)  (SPIN MASTER)

Spin Master’s DC lines had a slightly rough start last year, what with the pandemic and everything, but they’re seemingly starting to get things a bit more back on track this year.  In particular, they seem to be having alright luck with the Batman half of their product lines.  Thus far, they’ve even had a small handful of store exclusives, with Target in particular having a few different pairs of Batman and one villain variant at a time.  The latest villainous addition is one of my favorites, Mr. Freeze, who I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Freeze is one of the two latest Target-exclusive figures from Spin Master’s Batman: The Caped Crusader line, the other being another Batman repaint.  Freeze, on the other hand, is actually an all-new figure, which I do believe is a first for one of these exclusives.  That’s pretty nifty, I guess.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  He lacks the usual neck movement, as most Freeze figures do, thanks to the domed helmet, which is a permanent fixture on this guy.  Design wise, he’s taking his cues largely from the post-New 52 version of the character.  While I was iffy on the design earlier in its run, the slight adjustments to it have made it a little bit more palatable.  I’m still not big on the suns out guns out arms, but I’ll live.  Structurally, he’s an all-new sculpt.  It’s pretty decent and generally in keeping with the rest of the line in styling.  There’s some pretty nice detailing going on in his various tech pieces, and I appreciate that he’s got a fully detailed head underneath the helmet.  It’s even got that pitch-perfect lack of expression on the face.  Can’t have any emotion on a Mr. Freeze figure.  I mean, not in front of other people, anyway.  That’s for later, back in his cell, when he’s all weepy and stuff.  But we don’t talk about that.  It gets awkward.  So let’s move on.  In terms of paint work, Freeze is rather basic.  There’s a little bit of painted work on the torso, but that’s it, with everything else just relying on the molded colors.  It’s not really far off from his usual colors anyway, so it works out fine.  There are a few smaller details that get left the same color as the surrounding stuff, but it’s still generally in keeping with the rest of the line.  Freeze is packed with three accessories, all of which are guns.  Lotta guns.  He likes his guns. They’re all re-used, which is a little bit of a let-down, but I guess they have to save some tooling where they can.  The re-used Killer Moth gun works out okay, but the Batman and Joker guns are a bit less so, since they’ve got a Bat-emblem and a pie tin on them, respectively.  Kind of not Freeze’s usual branding.  At least with the clear blue plastic, it’s not quite as immediately evident, but it would have been nice to see at least one new one here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with so many of the Spin Master DCs, this one’s Max’s fault.  Okay, well, not entirely, I suppose, since I actually told him about the figure’s existence in the first place.  So, that’s on me.  I’m very definitely a Freeze fan, so I’m glad to see him added to the line, and while it may not be my first choice of outfit, it’s still pretty darn fun.  Spin Master’s quite good at keeping things fun, and I very much appreciate that.

2852: Clamp Champ

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

CLAMP CHAMP

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

“Heroic master of capture”

You’re reading this review in the far-flung future of August, but I’m writing it in the second to last week of July, which means that I just checked out Masters of the Universe: Revelations, which just dropped yesterday, my time.  I quite enjoyed it myself, though it was certainly much more a “Masters” show than it was a “He-Man” show.  It was jam-packed with some fun nods to the franchise’s history, with a lot of cameos and easter eggs worked in.  Notably, it gave the very first animated appearance to today’s focus, Clamp Champ, which is kinda cool, since he’s always just shy of making it into such things.  On top of that, he’s back in the toy world, so let’s take a look at that today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clamp Champ is one of the deluxe Masters of the Universe Origins releases, alongside Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor, and Ram Man.  This marks Clamp Champ’s third time as a proper action figure, following the vintage and Classics releases.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He maintains the same articulation scheme as the other two figures from the line, which is fine by me, since it’s a pretty good one.  Structurally, he’s quite similar to most of the line, as expected.  He’s built on the standard barbarian style body, with a new head and chest armor.  The new pieces are pretty straight updates on his original parts, and generally look pretty decent.  The chest piece is a slightly softer plastic, like all the new ones, presumably to make it a bit less prone to breaking over time.  Clamp Champ actually gets two different heads (since the Deluxes are all getting that treatment right now), meaning there’s an extra facial expression to be had.  The second one has an almost evil looking grin, which doesn’t quite feel right for the character, but I won’t knock a little bit of extra variety.  Clamp Champ’s paint work isn’t anything crazy, but it’s generally pretty well-applied, and a good match for his vintage counterpart.  He’s bright and colorful, and I dig it.  Clamp Champ is quite well accessorized, including his Techno Clamp, the previously mentioned extra head, an extra left hand in an open pose (rather than the basic grip), and a mini clamp based on the one first used in his intended 200x design.  Not a bad selection at all, and definitely worthy of the higher price point.  The Techno Clamp even has it’s proper spring-loaded feature and everything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first introduction to Clamp Champ came in the form of a poll ToyFare magazine ran in the 200x era about who fans wanted to see updated into the new style.  Being still quite a novice in terms of the franchise, I actually had to look most of the choices up, but something about Clamp Champ just really resonated with me, so he was my choice.  He was never got added to that line proper, and I was out by the time that he got the staction release, but I’ve held onto that soft-spot for the character.  Mattel’s decision to make him sub-exclusive in Classics at the last minute was a major factor in why I dropped out of that line, and likewise, his announcement for Origins was a big factor in me jumping in on this one.  This guy’s honestly pretty fun, and adds to my quite eclectic selection from the line.

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.