Author Archives: Ethan Wilson

#0834: Amazing Heroes Series 1

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

BLACK TERROR, DAREDEVIL, CAPTAIN ACTION, STARDUST, GREEN TURTLE, BLANK SLATE, CHAMPION OF MARS, SILVER STREAK, & MADMAN

AMAZING HEROES

AmazHero1

In the 1940s, Superhero Comics made their first emergence, replacing adventure pulps as the thing for magazines to be.  It was the era that gave us a good chunk of the DC line-up (though a fair portion of them weren’t initially owned by DC), as well as Captain America, Namor, and the original Human Torch (who wasn’t actually human). These characters have managed to stick around for a pretty long time, and their success allowed the companies who owned them to stay in business for the ensuing 75 years. Unfortunately, a lot of comic publishers from the era weren’t quite so lucky when the initial superhero boom came cooled down in the early 50s, causing many to shut their doors. While some were absorbed by other companies (see: DC absorbing Charlton, Faucett, and a few others), many simply disappeared, leaving scads of characters with no home. These characters eventually fell into the public domain. Since these characters have no associated licensing fees, you would think they’d be natural fits for action figures. Trouble is, they all went out of publication (and therefore fell out of the public eye) quite some time ago, making them a very, very niche property. However, through the help of some Kickstarter funding, some of these guys have finally made their way into plastic form!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These nine figures make up Series 1 of Fresh Monkey Fiction’s Amazing Heroes line. They are the result of two separate Kickstarter campaigns.

I’m not usually one to discuss packaging, but it’s worth noting that the Amazing Heroes packaging was designed to be collector friendly, so the figures can easily be removed and replaced. 7 of the included figures include extra, character specific cards, with art provided by several well-known comic artists.

AmazHeroPacks

SERIES 1:

The initial Series 1 campaign ran wrapped up in August of 2014. It consisted of six of the nine total figures.

BLACK TERROR

AmazHero4Black Terror is probably one of the better known characters included here, no doubt due to his fairly distinctive design. The figure stands 4 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulaiton. He’s built on the standard body for this line, which is used for all of the included figures. If it looks familiar, that’s because I’ve sort of looked at it once before; the Amazing Heroes figures are patterned after Mattel’s Secret Wars line from the 80s. The body isn’t a straight copy, of course; the build is quite similar, but the actual construction is a little different, as the AH body is built for easier customizablity, and does not feature any hollow parts like the SW figures. The body wasn’t the best fit for the Marvel Super Heroes of the 80s, but it feels much better for 40s era characters, such as Black Terror. Terror uses the main haired male head, which seems to have been sculpted specifically with him in mind. The sculpt is nice and sharp, with a fair amount of detailing, but not so much as to make it feel out of place on the more simplistic body. Terror also uses a cloth cape, handled in the same style as Kenner’s Super Powers figures. It’s definitely goofy looking, but in just the right way. Terror’s paint work is nice and sharp. Most of his costume details are handled via paint, and, while there’s a little bit of unevenness to some of the line work, the general look is very clean.

DAREDEVIL

AmazHero5Wait, isn’t Daredevil a Marvel character? Why yes, yes he is. But, before Matt Murdock became the horn-headed Daredevil we all know and love, Bart Hill held the name. Instead of blind, this Daredevil was mute. He was actually a fairly successful character, and probably has the most modern-day appearances of all the figures in this set. He’s also got one of the coolest costumes in comics. The figure uses the same base body as Black Terror, but he uses a different head(which loses the hair and defined ears), as well as an add-on piece for his distinctive spiked belt. The belt isn’t a perfect fit to the body, but it’s pretty close, and the sculpt is a very nice translation of the design. Daredevil’s paint is key to his costume being “one of the coolest in comics.”  Fortunately, his two-toned nature is handled very well. With the exception of one small section, the blue is painted on top of red plastic, which is definitely the right way to handle it because red paint tends to be the absolute worst. The colors here are nice and bold, and he just looks really sharp. Daredevil includes his signature boomerang, which he holds very well.

CAPTAIN ACTION

AmazHero6Captain Action is the one figure in the first set who’s not actually public domain, but his rights holders agreed to having him included here. Unlike the others in this set, this is far from the first action figure Captain Action has received, since he began life as a competitor to G.I. Joe (in fact, his line was actually the first instance of licensed action figures, though the good captain was himself wholly owned by Ideal Toys). The Captain gets a head sculpt that is different from the two prior sculpts, with a slicked back hairstyle and a slightly more expressive face. He was originally set to use the same head as Black Terror, but FMF used some of the Series 1.5 funding to get a third basic head produced, which is definitely a better fit for Captain Action. He also gets a separate piece for his traditional officer’s cap, which is molded to the sculpt of his hair, allowing it to sit quite nicely and securely. Captain Action’s paintwork is on par with Terror’s; it’s not 100% perfect, but there’s not anything particularly bad. The figure comes packed with a pistol, just like the one the original CA carried. I wouldn’t have minded getting his lightning-bolt-shaped sword too, but I suppose the line had to be drawn somewhere. Also, while he has no disguise pieces, the interchangeable nature of the figures means you can have him masquerade as any of the other characters in the set!

STARDUST

AmazHero7Stardust the Super-Wizard I was previously unfamiliar with, but reading up on him, he certainly is an interesting character. If you though Superman was overpowered, this guy can do pretty much everything Supes can, in addition to being able to transmogrify people! He’s also probably the figure done the least justice by the base body. His listed height is 6’8”, which would make him at least a little bigger than the rest of the Amazing Heroes. In addition, his original artist, Fletcher Hanks, had a very unique art style, which makes fitting him to a base body, or even rendering him in three dimensions at all a bit of a mean feat. So, it would seem FMF did their best to render him within the established style. As well as using the base body, Stardust also uses the same basic male head used for Black Terror. It works surprisingly well, and looks quite different than it did on Terror. A lot of this is owed to the paint, which offers enough subtle differences to make him look convincingly like a different person. The only real downside to Stardust is the rather unfortunate grey coloring of his original design, though next to the more colorful designs of his series-mates, he actually does stand out a bit.

GREEN TURTLE

AmazHero8The Green Turtle! Wait, isn’t that a sports bar? Umm, yeah, but he’s also a superhero. More importantly, he’s the first Asian superhero in comics, which is pretty nifty. I actually know a fair bit about Green Turtle, thanks to the recent (and fantastically done) revival, The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew. He’s definitely a fun character! He uses the same head as Daredevil, as well as a cloth cape, handled in the same way as Black Terror’s. It’s too bad it’s just straight green, as opposed to featuring the more intricate design of the comics, but I imagine such a design would have proved rather pricey. The rest of his unique features are done via paint, which is handled pretty well overall. The colors are nice and bright, and the general application is nice and clean. I’m also glad to see that Green Turtle has a slightly different skin tone than the others in the series, given his different ethnicity.

BLANK SLATE

AmazHero11The Blank Slate is kind of a multi-purpose figure. He’s the line’s one villain, based on a Daredevil foe from the 40s [EDIT: Helpful reader Lich informed me that the Blank Slate isn’t an actual Daredevil villain; he was given a fake backstory for the line.  I should have researched a bit better). Through a simple head swap, he can be either the lead Blank or one of his minions, which also makes the figure an army builder. And on top of all of that, he’s also a great base body, should people want to make their own Amazing Heroes figures. He uses the same basic body, and includes both the Terror and Daredevil style heads.

 

SERIES 1.5:

While the Series 1 was successful in funding the 6 main figures, it didn’t raise enough funds to get the two stretch goal figures into production. Fresh Monkey Fiction ran another Kickstarter in December of 2014, offering the two new figures, as well as Mike Allred’s cult favorite superhero, Madman.

CHAMPION OF MARS

AmazHero12I know what you’re thinking, but no, this isn’t John Carter. No, this is “Champion of Mars.” See, because John Carter isn’t in the public domain. However, some of his comics are, so we get this guy based on the art of said comics. But he’s definitely NOT John Carter! That said, “Champion” is really hard to keep typing, so I’m just going to use a common male name in its place. Let’s go with John. So, John here uses the same head as Captain Action, which was actually sculpted specifically with him in mind. In addition, he also has an add-on piece for his harness, which is a very nicely detailed piece, which adds a lot to the figure. Lastly, he’s got a cloth cape, which is identical to the one included with Black Terror. John’s paintwork is a lot more brown than his compatriots, which is actually quite appropriate for the character, and gives him a unique flair amongst the others. John is packed with a sword, which is a little flimsy, but still very cool.

SILVER STREAK

AmazHero13I don’t actually know much about Silver Streak, but he does appear to be your fairly average speedster character. And he’s even red and yellow! He also uses the same head as Captain Action, which, if I’m honest feels like one use too many. That being said, the head does actually fit Silver Streak pretty well, and I guess the blonde does enough to differentiate the two. I’ll just make sure to keep the three of them separate on the shelf! Silver Streak probably has the most vibrant paint work of all the figures, despite it not actually featuring anything even close to silver. Everything is nice and sharp, and the red in particular really pops, to say nothing of that pretty sweet patterning on the belt!

MADMAN

AmazHero14Madman is kind of unique amongst these figures. Not only is he not public domain, he’s actually a fairly contemporary character. This isn’t even Madman’s first figure. Heck, it’s not even the first Madman I’ve reviewed here. But it’s Madman, and it’s not like you can have too many Madman figures, can you? Of course not! Plus, Madman’s actually one of the few contemporary characters who actually fits in pretty well with the rest of these guys.  In addition to the standard body, Madman has been given his own head sculpt, as well as add-on pieces for the cuffs of his gloves. The head sculpt is downright amazing (heh!) and does a great job of melding Allred’s style with that of the rest of the line. The paint on Madman is pretty solid overall. There’s a tiny bit of slop around the eyes, but the rest of the work is nice and clean.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After being broken in to the whole Kickstarter thing with I Am Elemental and Return of Skeleton Warriors, it was really hard to say no to these guys. So, I backed the first campaign. And then, I backed the second one too, because I wasn’t going to let the set go incomplete, darn it! It’s been a long wait to get these guys, but they sure were worth it. These are just a whole lot of fun!

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#0833: Ant-Man

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

ANT-MAN

MARVEL HERO MASHERS

AntManMasher1

Hasbro’s Hero Mashers lines are kind of an odd thing.  They’re incredibly gimmicky, and as actual figures they don’t really have much to offer an adult collector.  For a kid, I’m sure they’re awesome, but I think it’s safe to say I’m not in their target demographic.  So, it’s a bit hard for me to explain why I keep buying them.  A toy addiction is a serious thing, folks.  Let’s look at one I bought a while ago and have been putting off reviewing for far too long, Ant-Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AntManMasher2Ant-Man is part of the mid-2015 assortment of Marvel Hero Mashers.  He was undoubtedly released to coincide with the Ant-Man movie released last summer.  He’s part of the basic figure assortment, which means he’s at the lowest price-point is somewhat minimal on extras.  The figure is about 6 inches tall and has 18 points of articulation.  Like the Star Wars line’s Darth Vader, Ant-Man’s shoulders are just simple cut joints, not disc and pin joints like prior Mashers.  This is a slight letdown, but I’ve moved on.  At least they look the same aesthetically.  Design-wise, Ant-Man actually uses the second Eric O’Grady Ant-Man design for his costume choice.  The only real difference between the classic Ant-Man look and this one is the presence of the shoulder pads, which make hiding the shoulder plugs a bit easier.  That’s probably why they went with this one.  His sculpt is pretty standard for a human Masher; he’s rather jagged and squared-off at the edges, and his proportions are on the cartoony side.  If I had to guess, I’d say he probably uses some previously used parts for most of the body, since none of his specific costume details have been sculpted in.  That’s fine, since Ant-Man’s usually a “re-use a body” sort of a character.  The head is definitely a new piece; it’s not my favorite Ant-Man head, and I feel it compromises the helmet design a bit too much to adhere to the style, but it fits well enough and doesn’t look terrible.  Ant-Man’s paint is pretty decent; the colors are nice and vibrant and there’s minimal slop and bleed over.  He certainly fits in with what we’ve seen before from the line.  Ant-Man includes a pair of giant ants, which both have handles, making them look like weird bug guns.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked Ant-Man up waaaaaay back in August, while Tim and I were out hunting for Nerf Rival stuff.  He was at a Walmart where we stopped, and I thought he looked sort of cool.  Plus, he’s an Ant-Man figure, and I don’t tend to pass on those.  So, why the six month delay in reviewing him?  Well, to be totally honest, he’s a perfectly decent figure, but he really didn’t “wow” me in any capacity.  He’s a fine toy, but I feel more and more that Mashers just aren’t for me.  Now, if only I could stop buying them…

#0832: Pvt Frost & Burning Warrior Alien

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

PVT FROST & BURNING WARRIOR ALIEN

ALIENS MINIMATES

FrostXeno1

“What are we supposed to use?  Harsh language?”

— Private Ricco Frost

One of the frustrating things about many of the toylines based on Aliens is the overall lack of any of the human characters.  The film has quite a rich cast of colorful characters, and only a small handful of them ever made it into plastic form.  Most lines avoided humans all together, and those that didn’t, such as Kenner’s line from the 90s, quickly abandoned the film’s actual characters for characters of their own creation.  Fortunately, through the efforts of both NECA and DST, the lack of character selection from the film is quickly being resolved.  Today, we’ll be looking at one of my favorite Marines, Pvt Frost, as well as another variant of the titular creature.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Frost and the Alien are part of the second specialty series of Aliens Minimates, which started hitting stores in late December.  Currently, both figures in this set are unique to this assortment.

PVT FROST

FrostXeno10Despite technically being one of the more minor Marines and only appearing in about a quarter of the film, Frost is actually a kind of memorable guy.  I mean, sure, he’s not Apone, or even Drake, but he manages to get quite a bit of dialogue, and a lot of his lines are fairly memorable.  He’s probably the most humanized of the secondary Marines.  Which makes him being the first character to die, after an hour of waiting, all the more gripping.  Frost’s figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation for a Minimate.  He features the same armor pieces we’ve seen several times before on the various Marines.  Like his series-mate, Crowe, his shoulder lamp is not removable, which is a bit of a letdown after the Series 1 Marines, but not the worst thing ever.  The armor parts are still very nice pieces of work, which quite nicely replicate the Marines’ armor from the movie.  Frost has probably the best paintwork in this whole series.  There are one or two instances of bleed over, but other than that, everything’s pretty clean.  His face is a pretty great likeness of Ricco Ross, and the line work is really sharp.  He’s even got a bit of the armor graffiti we see in the film; a heart with an arrow through it and the name “Heath” in the middle.  This was in honor of Ross’s girlfriend Heather, though I suppose in universe Frost might just be a really big 10 Things I hate about You fan.  Or he’s really into candy bars.  Regardless, it’s nice to see the armor graffiti hasn’t been forgotten.  For accessories, Frost includes an extra hairpiece, the standard issue pulse rifle, a flame thrower (w/ flame attachment), and a clear display stand.  The flamethrower is a new addition to the line, and it looks really great.  Of course, packing Frost with the flamethrower is a bit like packing Thomas and Martha Wayne with a handgun, but let’s not dwell.  It’s just awesome that Frost got two whole weapons!

BURNING WARRIOR ALIEN

FrostXeno12Hey look!  Another Alien!  It’s okay though, guys, this one’s actually totally new and unique!  Yay!  Yes, it seems the DST is well aware that people might get bored buying essentially the same Alien Warrior over and over again, so they’re trying to mix things up.  Since this Alien’s packed with a flamethrower wielding character, this figure is made to look like it’s on the receiving end of the weapon.  Sculpturally, this figure is the same as all of the prior Alien Warriors, with one slight change: not it’s got little flame-y bits on the shoulders (which are re-used from the Marvel line’s Dark Phoenix), in order to make the figure look like it’s really on fire.  The one downside is that these extra pieces remove the elbow movement entirely, but at least they’re removable.  In addition to the two new pieces,  the majority of the figure is molded in translucent orange plastic, to give the figure the appearance of being ablaze.  All of the usual Alien details are still there, but now there’s a slight flame pattern over them.  The end result is maybe not a spot-on recreation of a burning Alien, but interesting nonetheless.  The Burning Warrior Alien includes a newborn alien and a clear display stand.  I’m definitely glad to see the newborn showing up multiple places, because it’s a good piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Frost and the Burning Alien, like the other two sets from Series 2, were part of a slightly delayed Christmas present from my parents.  Frost is probably the best basic Marine so far.  The painted details are all really sharp, and he has a great accessory complement.  Pretty good for a seemingly minor character.  The Burning Alien certainly isn’t going to be an everyday Alien, as he’s quite scene specific, but it’s a really fun variant, and a great way to keep the Aliens in this line interesting.  This is easily the best set in Series 2.

#0831: Pvt Crowe & Attacking Warrior Alien

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

PVT CROWE & ATTACKING WARRIOR ALIEN

ALIENS MINIMATES

CroweXeno1

“You always say that, you always say ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this drop’”

Pvt. Tim Crowe

I love me some Aliens, and I love me some Minimates. So, I’m pretty pumped to have the second series of two-packs from the line. The line tends to follow the model of 1 Marine, 1 Alien for at least two of the sets in each series (and all of the sets in the TRU-exclusive series). Some of those sets are a bit more colorful and exciting, with some of the more prominent Marines being featured. However, some are just sort of fill space, just like some of the marines and aliens in the actual film. Today’s set is one of those.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two are one of the four sets in the second series of Aliens Minimates. Crowe will presumably remain unique to the specialty assortment, but only time will tell if this particular Alien will show up elsewhere.

PVT CROWE

CroweXeno2Man, if you thought Wierzbowski was scraping the bottom of the barrel, at least his name was memorable. Crowe’s claim to fame is that he is both seen on-screen AND has a line or two of dialogue, however is never both on-screen and speaking at the same time. Crowe stands roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Crowe uses the same helmet, chest piece, and boot add-ons as all of the other standard Marines so far. Crowe’s shoulder lamp, it should be noted, is not removable like the Series 1 Marines, which is a slight letdown, but not a major shortcoming. The general sculpt of the pieces is still pretty great, and a very nice translation of the armor shown in the film. Crowe’s paintwork is decently handled overall, but has one glaring issue, which I’ll get to in a second. The general application is pretty clean, and the basic work is on par with the prior Marines, if perhaps a bit more muted in color. The armor lacks any sort of customization, which is slightly disappointing, but hardly a change, given that Dietrich, Drake, and Apone all lacked those details. The face is a decent enough likeness of the late Tip Tipping; he certainly looks more like his on-screen counterpart than the other more minor Marines. Now, about that glaring issue: do you see Crowe’s sleeves, or more accurately, his general lack of them? Yeah, that’s not quite right. The Marines in the film all have various different states of how they keep they’re sleeves. While most opted for an around the bicep look, Crowe’s are generally seen pulled down to his wrists. So, they aren’t quite right here. But, aside from that, he looks fine. Crowe is packed with a standard issue pulse rifle, an extra hair piece for an un-helmeted look (re-used from Marvel Minimates’ Indestructible Hulk), and a clear display stand.

ATTACKING WARRIOR ALIEN

CrowXeno3Yep, it’s another Alien. I mean, it’s totally fair, what with them being the title characters and all. You kind of expect there to be a lot of them (156 of them to be properly cannon for the second movie), but they do tend to get a bit…same-y. This one is essentially identical to all of the other basic attacking Aliens we’ve gotten. That’s not bad; it’s a good sculpt, with a lot of fun details, and the paint adds a lot. This figure does have one minor difference: the tip of his tail is a light grey, as opposed to the usual black. I don’t know that this is based on anything in particular in the movie (unless it’s supposed to represent the Alien’s stinger tail, which is how Gorman is injured in the novelization and the initial film script), but it does make him nicely different from the others. This figure is also different in terms of accessories. In addition to the usual display stand, the Alien also includes an alien egg in both open and closed orientations. The pieces are a tad light on detail, but still cool, and certainly a fun accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the Ripley & Newt set, this pair was part of a slightly delayed Christmas gift from my parents. It’s probably the least exciting set from this series (well, excepting the Hudson & Vasquez set, since they’re both straight re-releases), but I still like it. Crowe is essential to completing the Marines, and is a solid ‘mate, even with his slight inaccuracies. The Alien is still as good as every other time we’ve gotten it, and the slight change makes it a valid variant, I suppose. Plus, those eggs are definitely a plus.

CroweXeno4

#0830: Jumpsuit Ripley & Newt

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

JUMPSUIT RIPLEY & NEWT

ALIENS MINIMATES

RipleyNewt1

“They mostly come at night.  Mostly.”

-Rebecca “Newt” Jordan

Aliens is oft remembered for the Colonial Marines, but they’re just part of the film’s small group of survivors.  One of the most important characters in the movie is Newt, the lone surviving colonist following the initial Xenomorph attack on LV-426.  She’s found her way into the latest series of Aliens Minimates, alongside a Ripley variant.  Let’s see how this set turned out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair is part of the second series of Aliens Minimates.  So far these two are both exclusive to the specialty release, but time will tell as to whether either of them will be picked for TRU release.

JUMPSUIT RIPLEY

RipleyNewt9The last Ripley ‘mate we got was based on her appearance from the last act of the film, when she’s storming the Alien hive.  It’s an important look to be sure, but it’s not how she’s spends the majority of the movie.  This figure is how she spends most of the movie, in a jumpsuit and a leather jacket.  The figure is 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  She has add-on pieces for her hair, jacket, watch, and the rolled up sleeves on her arms.  The hair and watch are the same pieces used on the previous Ripley, which is good for consistency.  They’re also just pretty good pieces, so no complaints there.  The jacket is from the second Michael Knight minimate, which is a pretty common reuse.  Technically, it should have pockets on the front and straps at the tops of the shoulders, but the piece is close enough, especially at the smaller scale. Ripley’s paint is generally pretty decent.  The overall application is all really clean and the detail lines are tight.  The face doesn’t quite look like Sigourney weaver, but it isn’t horrid.  It’s clearly the same person as the Rescue Mission version.  I do wish she looked a little less bored, though.  The legs are identical to the prior Ripley, which is once again good for consistency. For accessories, Ripley is packed with a standard issue pulse rifle, a pair of arms to match the jumpsuit, and a clear display stand.  The rifle is just as nice as always, and the extra arms allow for this figure to cover another important Ripley look (sans-jacket). I would have liked to have gotten a motion tracker or something, but what she has is acceptable.

NEWT

RipleyNewt11Newt is definitely the main focus of this set, being not only a new character, but also the most pivotal character who had not yet been released.  Newt’s figure is based on her appearance when she’s found by Ripley and the Marines, after she’s been hiding from the Aliens for a while. Newt has one add-on piece for her hair.  It’s a re-use from BSG’s Tory Foster.  It’s a decent enough piece, though it does seem a little too… kempt(?) for Newt.  She also uses the shorter arms and legs introduced with the Peter Pan sets, so that she can be a little shorter, since she’s a kid. The paint on Newt is actually pretty nicely handled.  It’s maybe a little more cartoony than I was initially expecting, especially the bright yellow of the hair, but the overall look is really sharp.  The face does a reasonable job capturing a young Carrie Henn, though the smudges of dirt, while a nice touch, are completely covered by the hair piece. Newt includes Casey, the disembodied head of her doll, and a clear display stand.  The head is definitely a cool touch, since she’s rarely seen without it in the movie.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two were a slightly late Christmas  present from my parents, who know very well how much I love Aliens. This Ripley has the misfortune of following the Series 1 version.  She is by no means a disappointing figure, but she just fails to be quite as exciting as the earlier figure. Newt is a surprisingly cool figure.   While she’s not ever going to be Hicks in terms of sheer awesomeness, there’s a lot to like about this figure, and she’s a key character to boot.

#0829: Guavian Enforcer

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

GUAVIAN ENFORCER

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

GuavianEn1

It feels like forever since I’ve done a Star Wars review. <Checks previous reviews> Okay, it’s only been two weeks. Well, that’s still too long! It’s time for another! Plus, I’ve still got to catch up on reviewing things I got before the holiday season came and threw everything out of whack. Anyway, here’s another Force Awakens-based review. Let’s have another look at the Guavian Enforcer, but this time with more of me knowing what the heck he is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GuavianEn2The Guavian Enforcer is part of the smaller-scale Star Wars: The Force Awakens line. He’s from the second assortment of the “Space” subset of the line (the same one as General Hux). The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. The Guavian’s sculpt is new to this particular figure, but it in many ways feels like a simple scale-down of the Black Series version of the character. It’s not, obviously, since that figure had a totally different articulation scheme, and the details were just the slightest bit different, but they’re pretty close. Which is good really, since it’s supposed to be the same design. The sculpt is definitely high-quality. The proportions are pretty great, and there’s a ton of texture and small detail work. The separate parts of the costume could perhaps stand to be a little more defined, but at this scale, the work is acceptable. The Guavian’s paint work is fairly straightforward; he’s molded in red, with paint for the black and silver bits. The application is passable, if not anything amazing. He lacks a lot of the more subtle work from the larger scale figure, which is a shame, but reasonable at the smaller scale, I suppose. The figure is packed with one of the two guns packed with the larger Enforcer (the shotgun looking one), as well as a piece the Build-A-Thingy for this subset. On the plus side, this one’s a giant gun, so it can actually be used as an extra piece for the figure, if you don’t plan to finish building the whatever it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Guavian Enforcer was purchased from a nearby Walmart, while I was out and about with my brother. He’s the very last TFA figure I picked up prior to seeing the movie, so therefore the last one I bought with no idea of his role in the film. Fortunately, I found the Guavians in the film enjoyable enough, and I do really like their design. So, I’d consider this figure a win.

GuavianEn3

#0828: Spider-Man 2099

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

SPIDERMAN 2099

SPIDER-MAN (TOYBIZ)

Spidey2099a

The 90s was definitely an interesting time for comics. Marvel was pretty much slapping their brands on whatever ideas they could to see what stuck. From this came Marvel 2099, a bunch of books set in the year 2099. Generally speaking, they tended to be 90s insanity at its finest, so most of them have been (thankfully) forgotten. The only one who really stuck was Spider-Man 2099, probably because a) his series didn’t totally suck and b) his costume was super cool. I think that second bit is the lion’s share of what made him last. The design also made him a natural fit for action figures. I’ve looked at his two most recent figures, but let’s look at his first action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spidey2099bSpider-Man 2099 was released in Series 7 of Toy Biz’s 90s Spider-Man line. The figure is just over 5 inches tall and has 11 points of articulation. Structurally, he uses one of Toy Biz’s favorite 5 inch bodies, which was first introduced with the Octo-Spider-Man from Series 6. It’s a decent enough sculpt, with fairly balanced proportions. My biggest issue with this base body, which was the scrawny forearms, is not an issue with this particular figure, as he has a new set of forearms/hands, specially sculpted to reflect 2099’s clawed hands. These new pieces actually seem a touch on the large side for the body, though not to insane levels. 2099’s cape was handled via a cloth piece, which attached to the figure at the neck and wrists. It’s much more solid than it was in the comics, and it actually looks a bit better if you unhook it from the wrists. There were actually two different color variations available for this figure: dark and light blue. Mine is the lighter one, but the difference is fairly minor. The red detailing is handled via paint, and it’s applied pretty nicely. The red is a touch inconsistent, but it’s not bad. 2099 is packed with a big giant fiery axe (which came in both red and white variations), and a big giant gun thing. He’s never used either of those things, but it was the 90s, so…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

2099 isn’t one of the figures I had growing up, but he was one who always fascinated me. I ended up finding him at the last Shoreleave, from the same dealer who sold me Punisher, as well as a number of other 5-inch figures at Balticon. They really like me. Anyway, he was a little bit pricey, so I was going to hold off. However, Super Awesome Girlfriend was there, and was having none of that, so she bought him for me. One of these days, she’ll stop doing that. He’s a fun little figure, and definitely worth the purchase.

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#0827: Egon Spengler

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

EGON SPENGLER

REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (KENNER)

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Hey, did you like yesterday’s Ghostbusters-themed review? Well, whether you liked it or not, I’m doing another one today. Because this is my site. So there. Also, because I have this master list of items I review, and I don’t dare deviate from it. Therein lies madness.

Anyway, let’s have another look at Kenner’s The Real Ghostbusters line, with another member from the titular team. This time around, it’s the nerdiest of the nerds, the scientist amongst scientists, Egon Spengler.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

EgonRGB2Egon is part of the first series of the previously mentioned The Real Ghostbusters line from Kenner. He was released in early 1987. Like Ray, he pre-dates the move to wacky variants for the line; he’s just a basic version of Egon. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. His sculpt is a pretty decent approximation of his cartoon design, though he’s not as close as the other ‘busters. The proportions of the body are definitely right, and the face is pretty close. The hair is the most “off” part; it’s just a little too subtle to properly capture Egon’s ‘do from the show. The general quality of the sculpt is really nice, though, and the base detail work is really nice. His build is appropriately different from Ray’s, being tall and lanky, as opposed to short and stocky. The figure’s paintwork is pretty good, though it’s a fair bit more subdued than the cartoon look. The blue is quite grey, and he lacks the pink accenting. The color of his hair is also much paler. However, the application is pretty nice and he works as a pretty good mid-point between the movie and cartoon designs. Egon was packed with his proton pack and a “Gulper Ghost.”

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When stopping at that antique store on the way down to NC, I didn’t just find Ray on that low sitting shelf, I also found good ol’ Egon here. I actually had a couple of the Egon figures from this line growing up (he was my favorite of the Ghostbusters, or at least the one I related to the most), but I never had the most basic version of him, so I picked this one up. Sure, he’s not super exciting, but he’s a solid figure.

#0826: Ray Stanz

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

RAY STANZ

REAL GHOSTBUSTERS (KENNER)

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Ghostbusters was a pretty big deal in the ‘80s. Unlike so many other films from that decade that had no business getting toys, but miraculously got them, Ghostbusters wouldn’t get any movie-dedicated toys until the early 2000s (and the actual ‘busters wouldn’t get figures until 2009). Anyone who wanted Ghostbusters toys would have to settle for the next best thing: Real Ghostbusters. Yes, the cartoon based on the movie did get a toyline, from the masters of licensed toys, Kenner. Today, I’ll be looking at ¼ of the title team, Ray Stanz.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RayRGB2Ray was released in early 1987 as part of the first wave of Kenner’s The Real Ghostbusters line. The first wave pre-dates Kenner’s move into wacky variant territory for the main characters, so he’s a pretty straightforward version of Ray. The figure is roughly 4 ¼ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Ray’s sculpt offers a pretty nice representation of his design from the show. Obviously, he looks nothing like Dan Ackroyd, which is correct. The basic sculpt is somewhat simple, but he actually shows a bit more detail than his animated counterpart. He’s got a unique build, which very much fits the character, and the jumpsuit actually has a nice amount of finer detail work. Ray’s paint is pretty much to be expected. Of the four Ghostbusters, his color palette changed the least from movie to show, so he’s mostly just brown and dark grey. They aren’t the most exciting colors, but they look fine. He has his proper ghostbusting logo on his right shoulder, which is nice and sharp. Ray was originally packed with his proton pack and a “Wrapper Ghost.” As is the case with many retro figures I own, mine did not include these pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ray was a rather interesting find. On the way down to visit some extended family in NC, my family and I stopped at a few antique stores. I actually did a few rounds of the store, having found nothing, but at one point, I stopped to tie my shoe, and noticed Ray sitting on a bottom shelf. Since he was a fairly low price, and I never actually owned a Ray figure, I picked him up. He’s definitely a nice figure, even if he isn’t the most thrilling.

#0825: SDCC Ant-Man Minimates

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

SHRINKING ANT-MAN, SHRINKING YELLOW JACKET, ANT-HONY, & SCOTT LANG

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Ant-Man seems to be that movie I keep forgetting when looking back on 2015. It’s a shame, really, because I actually enjoyed the film immensely, and thought it was a highlight of the summer. But, I keep forgetting about it. For instance, there were two sets of Marvel Minimates based on the film, both of which have been readily available since November, and I’ve only picked up one. Furthermore, I’ve had said set since November and not yet gotten around to reviewing it. Today I fix that.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were one of the SDCC exclusive items this year, offered via a partnership between DST and Action Figure Xpress. This set is meant to accent the main specialty release set… which I don’t have. Oh well.

SHRINKING ANT-MAN

AntManSDCC2As the main character, it’s only natural for Ant-Man to get one or two variants. That said, the suit maintains a pretty standard look throughout the entirety of the film, so coming up with a compellingly different version of the character can be a little difficult. Enter the “shrinking” variant, which is certainly different. Structurally, he’s the same as the normal Ant-Man. He uses the standard Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. He has add-ons for his helmet and belt. They’re decent enough matches for the film designs; the helmet is a little off, but that’s true of all the figures for the movie, since the mask was changed somewhat last minute. Regardless, the pieces look pretty great. The paintwork is kind of the key thing with this figure. He’s (mostly) molded in clear plastic. The torso of the figure has some white detail lines, outlining a few different Ant-Men, each smaller than the last, to make it look like he’s shrinking. The effect works well enough, but you do really have to view him head-on to get it to look right. Under the helmet, instead of Scott Lang (like on the regular release) it’s a younger Hank Pym. The likeness is pretty fantastic, and I love that we actually got a young Hank Pym. Ant-Man includes a hairpiece (re-used from BSG’s Apollo), a normally painted torso piece, a slab of rock, a smaller ‘mate painted up in Ant-Man’s basic colors, an effect base, and a basic display stand, made up like a giant penny.

SHRINKING YELLOWJACKET

AntManSDCC3If you have two main characters with shrinking abilities, it’s not really fair to give just one of them a figure replicating the shrinking feature. So, here’s shrinking Yellowjacket. Like Ant-Man, he’s structurally the same as his normal release version. He’s got add-ons for his helmet and harness/extra legs. These are pretty decent parts, but I don’t feel they’re as strong as Ant-Man’s, and I do wish the legs were actually poseable. Still, they work well enough, and he certainly looks the part. His paint is handled very similarly to Ant-Man’s, with the necessary changes for the differences in character designs. Under the helmet is Darren Cross. His expression is a bit more angry than the regular version, so there’s a bit of variety there. The face doesn’t really look much like Cross in the movie, especially the stubble, which just seems to be too heavy. Yellowjacket includes a normally painted torso, a slab of rock, a smaller ‘mate in black and gold, a flying stand, and a display base painted like a bottle cap.

ANT-HONY

AntManSDCC5Scott’s ant buddy Ant-Hony was definitely a surprisingly enjoyable character, and who would have thought he’d actually get three whole figures? I certainly expecting the ‘mate, though. Ant-Hony follows the lead of ‘mates such as the Brood drone, moving away from the standard Minimate build. Ant-Hony uses the head and arms (three sets of them, actually) of the basic ‘mate, along with the six-armed torso piece, which has been used a few times before. The figure also uses the little nubby feet pieces from the Brood, wings from the Wasp, and all-new pieces for the top of the head and his lower half. The end result is a slightly odd looking figure, but it approximates an ant’s shape fairly well. The paint is mostly just the same dark brown, but he does also have detailing for his eyes. Ant-Hony comes packed with a flight stand.

SCOTT LANG

AntManSDCC4Civilian variants are fairly commonplace with movie ‘mates, so getting a basic Scott in this set is to be expected, especially since he’s not the one in the Ant-Man suit. He’s based on the look he sports when breaking into Pym’s mansion early in the film, which is easily the most distinct of his non-costumed looks. The figure is entirely reliant on re-used parts, with the hat from Punisher: Warzone’s Looney Bin Jim and the coat from Big Bang Theory’s Leonard. The parts are both pretty generic, but they certainly work well to capture Scott’s look from the film. Scott’s paint is pretty straightforward; it’s mostly just a bunch of dark blues (which is film accurate). There’s not an overabundance of detail work on the body, but the waist of his pants has a bit of line work. His face is actually a really great likeness of Paul Rudd, and I love that he’s got the little bandages on his brow. Scott includes an extra hair piece, a spare set of short-sleeved arms, ungloved hands, a backpack, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As noted several times before on this site, I didn’t go to SDCC 2015. So, I had to wait for this set to show up elsewhere. Specifically, I waited for it to come into stock at Luke’s Toy Store, my preferred Minimate retailer. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this set, but I was pleasantly surprised by every ‘mate contained. Definitely a worthy purchase.