Author Archives: Ethan Wilson

#3715: Crimson Viper

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

CRIMSON VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

A Cobra Viper!  Does this mean Ethan’s gonna trot out the “Day of the Vipers” gag again?  Eh, I’ll see how I’m feeling on the day.  Oh, today’s actually the day?  Right.  Well then, welcome to the 10th entry in the “Day of the Vipers,” a day which is apparently six years long.  Seems about right.  When I last left off on the perpetuating Day, I was looking at Hasbro’s revisit to 1989’s “Python Patrol” subtheme.  Today’s entry represents some split interests.  See, it’s a Crimson Viper, a concept first officially introduced into the line in 2002, as part of a Joe Con-exclusive boxed set.  The Crimson Viper stood in for the Crimson Guard, whose mold didn’t seem to be around at the time, and was also an excuse to re-deco the Viper into all red.  So, this is a throw back to the 2002 figure, right?  Not exactly.  But, I’ll get to that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Crimson Viper if figure 85 in Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He was notable for being released during the plastic free packaging era of the line (which I honestly didn’t hate the way a lot of people did), and also for being the first time that the Viper got a proper mass release.  Weird when you think about it, huh?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Structurally, this figure is identical to all of the other Classified Vipers, for better or for worse.  I generally do like the mold, but when we first got it, I did really think we might see some modifications to it as we moved forward.  But, look how much mileage Hasbro got of the original Viper mold; it it really that surprising that they’d keep using this one?  I mean, I guess they could have maybe thrown the BAT’s legs on it, for old times’ sake?  The change here is signified by the name.  He’s a “Crimson” Viper, so he’s got a more red leaning.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  While the 2002 and subsequent “Crimson” Vipers were all a bright shade of red, this guy’s more of a maroon.  My initial thought was “wow, that’s not as striking” and no, it’s not.  But he’s also got the bandana, in blue this time, and the blue’s also kind of washed out.  And that looks pretty familiar with the more subdued main color.  So, here’s the thing: I think this figure, though named “Crimson Viper” might actually be a throwback to the 1997 Real American Hero Collection Viper, and his weird K-Mart on a Sunday Morning vibes.  Which, honestly? Kinda love that.  Like other Vipers at this scale, this guy gets his removable goggles (which actually sit pretty snuggly this time), the bandanna, his back pack, a pistol, and the updated rifle and removable clip.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In the greatest act of betrayal I’ve ever participated in, I skipped this figure when it was new.  I know.  How could I?  Well, the reality is I’ve largely quit Classified, and I’m really doing my best to stick to that.  This figure in particular hit right after I got Tunnel Rat, the figure that pretty much killed the line for me, so I wasn’t open to following it further.  I’d already picked up so many Vipers, and I was questioning if I really needed another.  So, I passed.  But, then a loose one landed in front of me at All Time, and I figured I might as well get the Viper I didn’t have.  Yay for completionism.  My initial response was he’s fine but kind of same-y.  However, while writing this all down, and going back into the “Day of the Vipers” stuff, I found myself loving that little twinge of “yes he’s the same, but let me explain the minute differences” which I do truly love.  The referencing of the 1997 ugly duckling Viper also helps a lot, because nothing from that run ever really gets the love it deserves.  So, you know what?  I’m glad I went back for this one.

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.

#3714: Silver Surfer

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

SILVER SURFER

SILVER SURFER (TOY BIZ)

“Deep in outer space, far beyond Earth, there wages a never-ending cosmic battle between good and evil. With the power-hungry Titan known as Thanos leading the forces of evil to destroy the universe, all hope seems lost. Together with the bounty hunter, Raze, Thanos is virtually unbeatable. The fate of the universe now rests in the hands of Drax the Destroyer and the noble Silver Surfer. Can the two of them stop Thanos and Raze and bring peace to the universe? The decision – and the power – is yours!

Possessing extraordinary cosmic powers, the Silver Surfer soars through space on his board in search of his homeworld, the planet Zenn-La. On his endless voyage, the Surfer happens upon a war-torn planet plagued by the evil Thanos. The Surfer knows he must stop the mad Titan, and engages Thanos in battle. Channeling his cosmic power through his cosmic star blaster, the Surfer produces a blast that sends Thanos reeling!”

There were a whole bevy of Marvel cartoons running in the ’90s.  While shows like Spider-Man and X-Men met more wide success, there were also a bunch of shorter run entries.  In 1998, we got one season of a Silver Surfer cartoon, launched on the tails of those two more successful shows.  It didn’t quite gain its foothold, but it did at the very least get a decent little toyline out of the deal, with a bunch of cosmically-themed characters and, of course, a bunch of variants of the title character.  I’m looking at one of the Surfers today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silver Surfer was released in the “Cosmic Power Blasters” assortment of Toy Biz’s Silver Surfer tie-in line, which hit in 1998, alongside the show.  He was the main version of the Surfer for this particular set, and had two color variants: standard silver and blue.  This one is the standard.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  Though decently articulated, the figure does suffer from some slightly loose joints, especially on the legs, which can make it a touch tricky to keep him standing.  The sculpt was a new one, and its a bit of a departure from his prior variants from Toy Biz.  He’s definitely got a style about him, though it’s oddly not really the one from the show.  He’s got some odd proportions and notably a very boxy pair of hands.  He’s also a little pre-posed, with the legs having a sort of a crouch to them.  Like a couple of the earlier TB Surfers, this one’s vac-metalized, so he’s got a fancy chrome finish.  It’s definitely cool, but also a little prone to scratching.  Mine was scratched right out of the box.  He gets some additional paint for the eyes, but that’s really it.  Surfer’s board is worked into the “Power Blasters” gimmick.  It’s hollow and attaches to the included stand, allowing for the launching of a sort of strange light-up disc projectile.  Getting the whole thing to balance isn’t super easy, and the actual launching part is also not super smooth.  And, to top it all off, the pre-installed battery that lights up the disc is very, very corroded on mine, so that one ain’t lighting up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Silver Surfer line, though it ran for multiple years, was still kind of a blip at retail.  None of them really seemed to linger.  I remember the line, but only owned one figure from it growing up, and it wasn’t even a Surfer.  The line’s one I always keep my eye out for when hunting for Toy Biz, but I only see them every so often.  I got this one during my summer vacation this year, courtesy of Yesterday’s Fun.  He’s goofy, but fun, and reminds me that I definitely want more of this line.

#3713: Endor Rebel Soldier

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

ENDOR REBEL SOLDIER

STAR WARS SAGA (HASBRO)

“When Han Solo, Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker land on the forest moon of Endor to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star II, they are accompanied by a squadron of commandos. Loyal and courageous, these soldiers are inteprid fighters for the cause of the Rebellion.”

Wow, a Star Wars Saga review?  I really must be scraping the bottom the barrel for review subjects.  I mean, going to Saga.  Saga, people.  I mean, in the 3712 reviews here on the site, I’ve only reviewed a single Saga figure up to this point.  Which, honestly, pretty good metrics, right?  And even the one review can be chalked up to it being my first year reviewing and me just not knowing any better.  What am I getting at here?  Well, generally, that Star Wars Saga, the line designed to tie-in with Attack of the Clones’ product launch, is…well, it’s not a great line.  It wasn’t great when it was new, and it has’t gotten better with age.  The figures were all sorts of pre-posed, impossible to keep standing, and frequently just sort of weird looking.  But, I guess I’m reviewing one of them, and none of you can stop me because it’s my site and I do what I want.  It’s at least an Endor Rebel Soldier, so I think that makes it better?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Endor Rebel Soldier is figure No. 33 in Hasbro’s Star Wars Saga line-up.  He was part of Collection 2 and was released in 2002.  There were two variants: one bearded and one not.  This one is the not, in case you couldn’t tell.  He was the later of the two releases, and the rarer when the line was new, though it seems like after the fact, they’re pretty evenly balanced.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  The articulation’s not a bad count, but it’s largely unusable thanks to how the sculpt is set-up.  Like the rest of the line, this guy is very pre-posed.  He’s got sort of a lunging-while-pointing-his-blaster look, which, I guess isn’t a terrible choice for the character.  Honestly, the arms aren’t bad (though they’re hit pretty badly by the sculpt interfering with articulation, since the jacket overlay piece covers the shoulders, making those joints essentially worthless), but the legs seem a little odd.  Also, with such a very specific pose, army building feels a little difficult, since you wouldn’t expect a bunch of guys to all be running around in exactly the same rather strange fashion.  Unlike prior Endor Rebels, this one got a removable helmet.  It’s a nice piece, and it sits very well on the head.  Said head is a nice sculpt of its own.  It doesn’t appear to be based on any specific Rebel from the movie, instead going for more of a general purpose thing.  The paint work on this figure is notable for being the first time we really got a proper deco based on what the Rebels are actually wearing in the movie, rather than the straight green up and down.  The camo pattern on the legs is a little odd, and the feet are the wrong color, but it generally isn’t bad, and the application works out pretty well.  He’s packed with his blaster rifle and a backpack.  The rifle’s a bit warped, since he was packed holding it, but it does at least get the cool blast effect piece, which is pretty nifty.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always really dug the Endor Rebels, and the PotF one was one of my favorites from that line.  I wanted the Saga version, specifically the not bearded one, when they hit, but all I could ever find was the bearded one, who I begrudgingly bought, but decided to get rid of later.  I eventually got this one when I sizable run of Saga figures got traded into All Time way back in 2018.  Like last week’s Durge, I took the pictures of this guy pretty much right away, but just never got around to actually writing the review.  So, you know, here we are, I guess.  He’s not bad.  Not great, but given the rest of the line, he could certainly be worse.

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.

#3712: Apocalypse

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

APOCALYPSE

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

Hey!  It’s October 17th!  That means today marks the end of the site’s 11th year.  That’s pretty crazy.  Last year was, of course, the end of my first decade, so I did an even more extravagant wrap-up than usual, which I think was a nice send-off to the big wrap-ups, so I’m not gonna do one of those this year.  I will however, still be doing my usual slightly more significant item to review, just to mark the day a bit.  I haven’t reviewed any figures from Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line since we were in the depths of the pandemic and the lockdowns, which feels sort of crazy, because it was at one time such a notable portion of my collection.  I’ve scaled it back a lot, though, especially with Legends having overtaken it on so many fronts.  But, there was a good five year stretch or so where it was one of my main jams.  A character that’s never *really* been one of my main jams, however, is Apocalypse.  Don’t get me wrong, I like some of what he’s been involved in, but something about him’s never fully clicked for me.  That said, I’ve had more than a few good toys of him, and, you know what, here’s one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Apocalypse was released during Marvel Universe‘s third year, in the 13th overall assortment, which was the second of the year.  He’s figure 009, and shipped alongside Jim Lee Cyclops, First Appearance Wolverine, Cable, and Gladiator.  All of the new figures were X-themed, which was a first for the line.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Apocalypse is seen here in his “Messiah Complex” look, which was still pretty current at the time of the figure’s release, and also matched up with the Cable from the same assortment.  He was built on the larger male body introduced with Juggernaut the prior year.  It’s a very solid starting point, coming after Hasbro had finally weeded out their truly abysmal initial base bodies for the line.  This one’s got a surprising range of motion given its build, and is also quite stable on its feet.  He gets a new head, lower arms, hands, shins, and feet, as well as new overlay pieces for the shoulders and belt.  It’s a good selection of parts, and the mesh well with the underlying base body.  The hoses on the arms are a little limiting for poses, not as bad as you might expect, and I particularly l love the gesturing hand; it adds so much character to his poses.  Apocalypse’s paint work isn’t bad.  Hasbro was in a period of doing washes and such for accenting, so he gets a bit of that, which works quite well with the sculpt.  Apocalypse’s only accessory was a display stand with his name and figure number printed on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like I touched on in the intro, I’m not classically much of an Apocalypse fan.  So, why is this guy my significant-year-end-review choice?  In the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college, I was back home and spending a lot of my free time with my younger brother Christian.  A few times over the summer, he needed to go into work with me during the day, so I’d make it up to him by stopping by the Target on the way home, so that he could get something cool at the end of the day.  Target was, at the time, running a buy-one-get-one-free sale on Marvel Universe, so I’d buy one for him and get one for myself as well.  We built up a bit of collection that way, and it eventually got to the point of us actively hunting for the line together.  A good chunk of my MU collection went back with me to college that year, and I promised him we’d keep collecting as I got the chance.  A couple of days after I moved into my dorm, my parents were dropping off some supplies for me, and when I went down to meet them, Christian was also there, and presented me with this guy, who he’d insisted on getting me.  It was tremendously thoughtful.  My small MU collection was one of the things that helped get me through what would ultimately be a kind of rough year at school, and this guy was one of the most significant pieces for me.  I may not be a huge Apocalypse fan, but I’m a huge fan of this figure in particular.

#3711: Phoenix

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

PHOENIX

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

You know, I feel every few years, I have to review a Marvel Legends Phoenix. Just, like, some sort of cycle. They keep remaking her, and I keep buying her, and then the reviews come back around, rising from the ashes, like some kind of…phoenix. Ha. Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Wait, sorry, that’s the wrong publisher! This is Marvel, a Disney subsidiary! Maybe we go with this is the song that never ends? Hang on, I think I’m confusing that with “It’s A Small World.” “The Song That Never Ends” is Lambchop. I don’t know who owns that. Well, this intro’s just going swimmingly, then, isn’t it? Let’s just look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Phoenix is a deluxe Marvel Legends release, hitting on her own as a Fall 2024 offering.  We actually got a pretty quick turnaround for release on this one, since she wasn’t shown off all that long before dropping at retail.  She’s decidedly a classic Phoenix, rather than Dark.  It’s only the third time we’ve gotten just a classic Phoenix in Legends.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 32 points of articulation.  She’s got the updated pinless construction arms and legs from Shriek, along with a brand new torso set-up, which works in the more modernized articulation style like we’ve been seeing on the Spider-Men more recently, as well as adding in butterfly shoulders.  The whole thing’s a very solid set-up, and I look forward to seeing it show up elsewhere going forward. Jean’s got a new sash add-on, which sits a lot better than the prior pieces, and two different head sculpts.  One’s more standard Jean, and the other’s all powered up.  It took me a minute to warm up to the new heads; I was really a fan of the powered up head from the Dark Phoenix figure, and I wasn’t sure they’d be able to top it.  That said, these two are far more refined and subtle.  They’re very dynamic with the hair flow, and the face sculpts really capture that ’70s Jean look.  The color work on this release is a marked improvement on earlier versions, especially the prior Hasbro version, which was a touch murky.  This one’s got more pop, and the application’s much cleaner.  Phoenix is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open gesture) and, for the first time since the Toy Biz days, a big, fiery Phoenix bird base, which serves as a major selling point for this release.  It’s a little tricky to assemble, and there’s no guide or anything, but once it’s built it’s very impressive, and even has an articulated neck for further posing options.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I genuinely didn’t think I needed this figure when she was announced.  I was happy with my 2016 figure with the alt head from the two-pack and the Toy Biz base.  Sure, it was hodgepodge, but I liked it well enough.  No need to upgrade, right?  But, I started to waffle as we got closer to release, and when I saw how nice she looked in person, I just couldn’t say no.  She’s so very much nicer than the prior releases, and I’m very glad I caved.  This is the definitive take…until Hasbro manages to somehow outdo themselves again in a few years, I guess…

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.

#3710: April O’Neil

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

APRIL O’NEIL — SORCERESS FROM CHANNEL 6 NEWS

TURTLES OF GRAYSKULL (MATTEL)

You know, I had a pretty good run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reviews last month, but it sort of fell off for October.  It’s kind of the nature of the beast; I don’t actually buy *that* much TMNT stuff.  But, it’s okay, because I’ve got a new TMNT thing!  And it’s not *just* TMNT, either!  It’s also Masters of the Universe, because we’ve got another crossover bit up in here!  ….Sorry, that felt wrong and forced.  I promise not to do it again.  Anyway, I’m jumping back over to Turtles of Grayskull, Mattel’s TMNT/MOTU crossover line.  I looked at the Casey last month, and because I’m a guy that loves my pairings, I’m taking a look at their take on the other human ally (and honestly the more important one) April O’Neil!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

April O’Neil – Sorceress From Channel 6 News is part of the fourth assortment of the Turtles of Grayskull line.  She’s one of the two Turtles-centered characters in the set, the other being a revisit on Leonardo.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  She’s my first direct interaction with the female Origins base body, which is a fair bit different from its male counterpart in build, of course, but not drastically so in terms of articulation set-up.  Honestly, it’s not bad.  While Casey relied more on just the TMNT side of things for his design, April is going more the Donnie route, and getting merged with a specific MOTU concept, in this case the Sorceress, as is detailed pretty well in the included mini-comic.  It’s a solid merging of the two designs, specifically calling on the ’80s incarnations of both in particular, so that it really feels like ’80s April taking on the ’80s Sorceress’s powers.  The sculpt captures the whole set-up pretty decently.  There’s certainly a degree of hokeyness to it, but that’s kind of exactly the aim with this whole bit.  I do find it generally a more refined sculpt than most of her male counterparts, which is cool.  The color work is very bright and generally clean.  The face looks to be printed.  Mine’s got a stray black mark under the eye, but that’s really my only issue.  I quite like the pattern on the tabard; that’s a lot of fun.  She’s packed with a pair of wings, done up in the colors to match the vintage Sorceress, which plug pretty securely into her collar piece.  She’s also got a big hammer-style version of the Sorceress’s scepter, which I really do love.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I knew once I snagged Casey, I wanted to get an April to go with.  So, when Casey arrived, I confidently grabbed the red-headed warrior woman of the assortment to go with him…before realizing I had *actually* grabbed a Teela, and that April was in the next assortment.  Fortunately, it wasn’t really a long wait.  April’s a solid addition to the concept.  She’s got a different approach to the crossover than Casey, but I definitely can dig it.

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

#3709: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

X-MEN: MOVIE SERIES (TOY BIZ)

“Scott Summers, Professor X’s first student and the X-Men’s field leader, possesses the uncanny mutant ability to fire beams of devastating energy from his eyes. He must wear a special visor made of ruby quartz to control these powerful otpic blasts or he would destroy everyone and everything around him with just a glance. The disciplined, serious minded student code-named Cyclops is often at odds with Logan because of his maverick attitude and their mutual attraction to Jean Grey.”

It’s been almost 25 years since the release of the first X-Men movie. It was a pretty big deal for comic book movies, being the first time we ever truly got to see the scope they could achieve, even if there were some growing pains along the way. It was, of course, Hugh Jackman’s first turn as Wolverine, a role he’s so defined in the two and a half decades since. Jackman got the opportunity to reprise his role earlier this year, in Deadpool & Wolverine, but the other main cast members weren’t quite as lucky. As much as I loved the film, I myself was a little bummed we didn’t get to see more of James Marsden’s Cyclops, especially since I’ve always felt that Marsden was woefully underserved by the writing for his character in the first three movies. I guess he’ll just have to make his grand return…in my mind! Or, you know, in a review of an old figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops was released in the first series of Toy Biz’s X-Men: The Movie tie-in line from 2000 (which, I always like to point out, was released simultaneously with series 2, so that the whole main cast could be on shelves at the same time).  The figure is about 6 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  The X-Men: Movie line wasn’t Toy Biz’s first jump to the 6-inch scale for Marvel figures, but it was the first major move towards making it their standard scale.  It’s closer to a proper 1/12 scale than where they would go with Legends, for what it’s worth.  He’s still closer to the 5-inchers in terms of posing, and is in fact a little stiffer than some of the smaller guys.  He’s in sort of s mid-step kind of pose, which does result in some of the articulation being a little on the ineffective side, especially on the legs.  The ankles in particular are kind of pointless.  It is worth noting, however, that this was the first Cyclops to have both a light-up feature *and* neck articulation.  It doesn’t get a full rotation, but it’s still cool.  The actual sculpt proper’s actually pretty nice.  The larger size allows for more depth of detailing, which works especially well for the suit design, and its variety of textures.  His head’s got pretty passable likeness of Marsden as Cyclops.  The visor is designed to be removable, which is a cool feature, but makes the visor itself really fragile, and very prone to breaking.  But, it does look really cool when its properly in place, and it stays there pretty well.  Cyclops’s paint work is decent enough.  It’s pretty cleanly handled, and the color scheme is a solid match for the film.  The skin tone’s a little pasty, and perhaps a little thick, but it works reasonably well.  There were a few different takes on the exact details of the suit and its different piping, which got brighter and more obvious applications as the different production runs hit.  Cyclops was packed with both his visor and an alternate pair of sunglasses (which are even *more* fragile than the standard visor), as well as a figurine of Jean, clearly meant to be based on the scene in the movie where she gets hit by Toad’s slime and Scott has to blast it off her.  Of course, she’s not completely encased by the slime the way she is here; it’s actually just on her face in the movie, which is, amusingly, the one piece that mine’s missing.  She’s also based on the first Jean mold, so she’s got the wrong hair style, but beyond that, I guess it’s an okay extra, weird though it may be.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Cyclops was, unsurprisingly, the first of the X-Men: Movie figures that I got.  I got him as soon as they were released, before the film even came out.  I was very excited for the movie, and Cyclops was my favorite of the characters, so it was kind of a natural move for me.  He went everywhere with me for probably about 6 months or so, and his visor snapped in half probably about a month in, which was always a bummer.  I’ve been looking for a replacement for a little while and finally snagged one while on vacation two summers ago, which very much exited me.  The figure’s not perfect, but I really do love him, and still have very fond memories associated with him, which, honestly, is not unlike my feelings about the movie proper.

#3708: Durge

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

DURGE

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars is something I don’t talk about with any real frequency, but that’s not for lack of love, I assure you.  It’s easily the best thing from the prequel era released during the run of the three films, and even when you expand past that, it’s really only rivaled by the 3D Clone Wars, and that one needed a much longer run to achieve the rivalry.  While the show worked with a lot of pre-existing characters, it had a few originals, which included Separatist Bounty Hunter Durge, who serves as one of the notable antagonists.  Durge is surprisingly sparse on action figure coverage, but was at the very least part of the short tie-in line for the show.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Durge was released as a single figure in the second assortment of animated Star Wars: Clone Wars figures, released in 2003.  He was also subsequently re-released in 2005 as part of the “Sith Attack Pack” entry in the Commemorative DVD Collection, alongside Asajj Ventress and General Grievous.  Mine is the single release, though the two are more or less identical.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As with all of the 2D animated figures, this one prioritizes form over function.  His articulation his limited to the neck, the shoulders, and wrists, with no movement below the torso at all.  The movement he *does* have is largely for minor tweaks to the one predetermined pose he’s got.  Ultimately, with Tartakovsky’s style, the glorified statue approach is the best way to handle things.  It translates very well to this set-up, and they’ve made him work pretty well from most angles.  He’s clean and he’s very stylized, and it’s very clear who it’s supposed to be.  His color work is flat colors, capturing the cel animation’s coloring set-up.  The application’s all fairly clean, and there’s no notable missing details.  He’s packed with his jousting-lance-thingy from the show, as well as one of the stands that was packed with all of the figures.  It’s not much, but none of these figures were very accessory heavy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As much as I loved the show, I had very few of the figures from it at the time of their release.  The line was just generally hard to find.  Durge in particular was one I wanted but never could get.  I wound up getting him from Cosmic Comix back in late 2017, I believe?  I even took the photos that accompany this review back when I got him, but I just kept putting off writing the actual review until this very moment.  That’s just how I roll sometimes.  He’s pretty par for the course on this line.  They’re not astoundingly fun to mess with, I suppose, but they sure do look really cool.

#3707: Marcus Brody

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

MARCUS BRODY

INDIANA JONES: ADVENTURE SERIES (HASBRO)

In the more than a decade that I’ve been running the site, I’ve mentioned Indiana Jones only in passing, and only, like, three times at that.  I guess it’s just one of those franchises I’ve never had a major connection to.  Like, I’ve seen all the movies, and they certainly have their moments.  Last Crusade is genuinely just a good movie, which I do really enjoy, but outside of that one, they’re all just fine enough, I guess.  I’ve tried on the toys a few times in the past, and I just always wind up falling right back out of it.  I ended up passing on Adventure Series, Hasbro’s 6-inch line from 2023, pretty much as a whole because I couldn’t ultimately see myself sticking with it.  That being said, in all of the toy coverage over the years, we’ve never gotten a figure of my favorite character from the films, Marcus Brody, played by Denholm Elliot, whose other roles weren’t really keen for action figure coverage either.  There’s a sincere lack of Trading Places action figures is all I’m saying.  Hasbro did actually offer Marcus up for Adventure Series, though, and I got one, so I’m looking at British-guy-in-a-suit Denholm Elliot today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Marcus Brody was released in a Fan Channel-exclusive Indiana Jones: Adventure Series two-pack, alongside a variant of Rene Belloq.  It’s a multi-pack of guys in suits.  Odd choice, especially since the two don’t share any scenes in Raiders.  I think they interacted a bit in the expanded universe, so maybe that’s what we’re going with?  Look, it got us a Marcus figure, so I’m not gonna stress about it too much.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His articulation, which is pretty typical for the line as a whole, is a lot like the modern Black Series set-up, which works pretty well, and also makes a fair bit of sense.  It’s not, like, super great for crazy posing or anything, but it works fine for the type of character Marcus is supposed to be.  Marcus’ sculpt is a pretty respectable one.  It’s again got a Black Series vibe to it, which works fine by me.  The head’s got a pretty respectable likeness of Denholm Elliot, which is the most important part.  The suit sculpt is a little softer, but it does alright.  The multi-layered construction definitely works well.  The color work is generally basic.  The most in depth work’s on the face, which is using the printing.  Most of the rest of it’s molded plastic.  It’s generally clean.  There’s not a ton going on, but it’s accurate.  Marcus is packed with an apple (our second one of those in this scale from Hasbro, though its a different mold than the one packed with He-Who-Remains) and his large book, which opens up to a fully detailed interior page.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Marcus is my favorite part of the franchise largely because of Denholm Elliot in the role.  I’m a big fan of Elliot’s other roles, especially Trading Places and Noises Off, so the prospect of owning a figure of him was definitely a cool one.  I wanted to snag this figure, but the two-pack set-up was tricky, especially because I didn’t really want Belloq.  Matty wanted to go into a Gamestop a couple of months ago, though, and they happened to have the set on clearance, which made the whole thing easier to justify.  I offloaded the Belloq, and now I’ve just got a Denholm Elliot figure, which is pretty nifty.  Now, if I could just manage to find 1/12 scale figures of Eddie Murphy and Jaime Lee Curtis, I’d be all set for my own Trading Places set-up.

#3706: Doctor Strange

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

DOCTOR STRANGE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Stephen Strange was a brilliant surgeon before an accident ruined his hands. Now he defends our reality from supernatural threats as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.”

I took a break from Marvel reviews all last month, largely because we’re in a waiting period on new Marvel Legends, which make up a substantial portion of my Marvel reviews.  Of course, that doesn’t stop me from digging into my backlog, I suppose.  I’ve had a number of “new” figures sitting off to the side waiting for a Legends-light period to slot them in, and I’m officially dusting some of them off!  And I do mean that literally…they’ve been sitting for a while you guys.  Anyway, here’s our second ever classic Doctor Strange, released more than a decade after the first!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Doctor Strange is a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends release, hitting in 2022 as a loose tie-in with the release of Multiverse of Madness.  He was only actually available online, rather than in-store, but that wasn’t a widely promoted thing, so it was easy to miss.  As noted in the intro, this was the first classic comic Strange since Toy Biz’s initial release of the character, all the way back in the Galactus Series, since Hasbro’s been sticking more to the modern side of things.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, Strange makes use of the lower half of the ANAD 2099 body, as well as the upper arms from Kang.  Beyond that, he’s all-new, though a number of the parts were re-used for the Spider-Man: Animated and Wong two-pack Strange releases.  Ultimately, it’s a good mix of parts, which does a really good job of conveying the flow and depth of the design.  The cape (which is one piece that is thus far totally unique to this release) is glued in place at the front, so it’s not going anywhere.  On one hand, it’s a little annoying not to be able to display him sans-cloak, but on the other it means it’s not flopping about and falling off, which I do like.  There are two main heads with this release, one “standard” and the other meditating.  What’s interesting is that they aren’t just a simple change of expression, but also have different hair styles.  The meditating one is more ’70s-inspired (and was in fact sculpted by Paul Harding, based on his own “Marvel In the ’70s” Doctor Strange sculpture), while the other is shorter and more modern.  I generally prefer the meditating one, but it’s limited by those closed eyes.  This is definitely one of those “wish I could swap the hair pieces” moments.  Strange’s color work isn’t bad.  It’s certainly bright and colorful.  The yellow paint on his cape is particularly sloppy, and I find the greying temples on both heads to be a little unsubtle in their application, but generally, things look okay.  Doctor Strange is packed with a third, masked head, based on his era of extra super-hero-y-ness in the ’60s.  It’s just a repainted Silver Surfer head, and it doesn’t actually match the body it comes with, but how else am I gonna build my Kurt Busiek’s The Order line-up?  Strange is also packed with two pairs of hands (spell casting and a fist/grip combo), spell effects pieces, the Wand of Watoomb, and the Axe of Angarruumus, which is all pretty fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall this figure being shown off, and I recall him going up on Walmart.com, but I never did get around to ordering him or putting any real effort at all into tracking him down.  It’s not that I didn’t want one, but I did still have the Toy Biz release, which is really, really good, and I just wasn’t in a rush to deal with getting a Walmart exclusive.  One with a broken tape seal showed up a few months after the fact at All Time, and I took that as a good sign that I should get one.  He’s a solid classic Strange, and a good update to the Toy Biz release.  I can’t say there’s much to him beyond that, but does there really have to be?

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