Author Archives: Ethan Wilson

#3460: Civil War Captain America

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

CIVIL WAR CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL MINIMATES

“Steve Rogers has fallen into a clash with both his government and his friends over the Super Human Registration Act – a battle that will end with his surrender, arrest and ultimately, his assassination.”

Wow, spoilers much?  I mean, yeah, okay, the story is, like, 16 years old and all, but it wasn’t 16 years old then!  …Okay, yeah, Cap’s death was reported by every major news organization the day it happened.  But still!  While it was touted as a big deal in the comics at the time, there was very little in the way of toy coverage for Civil War when it hit, or even very soon after.  The first true tie-in was a Minimates set, which hit more than a year later, in April of 2008.  Marvel was just about to be on the upswing again, and DST was aiming to capitalize on that.  The set covered some of the story’s major players, including the leaders of the two respective sides.  And you know that means a Captain America for your boy Ethan.  Let’s check that one out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Civil War Captain America is one-quarter of the Marvel Minimates Civil War boxed set, which was released April 21, 2008, as an Action Figure Xpress-exclusive offering.  This was Cap’s sixth time as a Minimate, and his second time getting some variation on “Battle-Damaged”.  The figure is built on the post-C3 ‘mate body, and stands about 2 1/4 inches tall, with 12 points of articulation, thanks to the boot pieces.  Cap got add-on pieces for his mask, belt, gloves, and boots, a noted upgrade from the just mask and gloves set-up of the prior versions.  The gloves are the same flared pieces used on the prior Caps, but everything else was all new.  The mask piece is unique to this one, and depicts Cap’s torn up mask from the end of Civil War‘s final battle.  It’s a really nice offering, with a surprising amount of detailing.  His belt and boots were new here, but would be quickly put into service as standard parts for the character going forward.  The boots, in fact, would become the standard Marvel Minimates flared boot pieces.  I never liked them quite as much as the DC Minimates equivalent piece, but they still got the job done.  Cap’s paint work is quite impressive.  He gets the full scale-mail detailing on the torso, plus plenty of damage detailing all around.  There’s quite a lot going on.  This set was one of the first for Marvel to really dive into alternate parts for different looks, so Cap was quite well accessorized.  He got his shield, a pair of handcuffs, two alternate flesh-tone hands, and an alternate hair piece (repurposed from Biff Tannen).  The shield gets quite a bit of very impressive detailing on the front, and is hampered only slightly by the fact that it’s one of the very few times they used the modified shield mount that has to stay at the base of the wrist and can’t move up the arm.  He can at least swap out for one of the ungloved hands to make the whole thing work better, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m *not* a fan of Civil War, so I wasn’t actively hunting down any of the merch from it at the time, but I’ve always liked the look of this Cap in particular.  I just didn’t really want a whole boxed set just for him.  Thankfully, I was able to snag a loose one as part of the very large collection of Minimates that came into All Time back in 2019.  He’s a pretty darn cool ‘mate, even removed from the source material.

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.

#3459: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

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

SPIDER-MAN, ICEMAN, & FIRESTAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Using their fantastic powers, Spider-Man teams up with fellow heroes and former X-Men Iceman and Marvel’s Firestar to battle the world’s most dastardly villains from their secret crime-fighting lab.”

Going back to the ‘60s, Spider-Man has never been a stranger to animation.  He typically brings with him his own cast of characters, centered around just him.  Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, however, took a different approach, partnering him off with two other heroes, Ice Man and the show-original-creation Firestar (who was created when Human Torch was unavailable due to the same licensing issues that led to the creation of H.E.R.B.I.E.), which not only gave the an additional spotlight, but also opened the door for the wider Marvel universe as a whole, providing one of the deepest mainstream cuts of Marvel characters for a good couple of decades at least.  The show was without merchandising at the time of its release, but has found its way into wider Marvel toy lines a few times in recent years.  Hasbro gave us the first fully cartoon-based set back during their Marvel Universe line, and they’ve followed that up with a proper update to their current Legends scale.  So, let’s check that one out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar are a Marvel Legends three-pack, originally released at the beginning of the year. Like Tuesday’s Iron Man, this set was initially a Pulse-exclusive, but it has since moved over to a wider Fan Channel release, going to other retailers at the end of the summer.

SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man is, of course, no stranger to Legends treatment, but the last year in particular has seen a lot of reinventing of the standard Spidey, thanks to the 60th Anniversary stuff.  This one is another take on that.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation.  He’s a re-use of the Amazing Fantasy figure from the Anniversary line-up.  I was a really big fan of that one, and I’m still a big fan a year later.  It’s got such an amazing range of motion, and really balances it well with the proportions.  The big change-up here comes down to coloring; the first release was in his first appearance colors, where as this one does him in his classic red and blue.  It’s largely just a straight palette swap, but he does change-over to the proper updated spider-emblems as well.  I had no issues of slop on this one, but he’s still got the slightest bit of mismatching on the reds.  AF Spidey was pretty jam packed when it came to accessories; this guy gets a bit of a down grade on that.  He still gets the three of the four sets of hands (thwipping, fists, and open gesture; gripping gets dropped), but he loses the webline and the two sets of web-wings.  The web-wings he didn’t have in the show, so I get that.  The spots are still there to plug them in, if you’re still wanting a classic Spidey with the wings, though.

ICEMAN

Though not a total stranger to the line, Iceman is certainly less frequent a release than Spidey.  Our last one was back in 2021, and that one was an AoA variant, so he’s *technically* not even the same guy.  For classic, we’re going all the way back to 2019.  So, maybe another one’s not such a bad thing.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Pizza Spidey body, calling back to his Juggernaut Series release.  I honestly rather like the sizing of it for Bobby, especially for his Amazing Friends incarnation.  Its only downside is the visible pins, but even that’s pretty minor.  He gets the head from the retro carded version from 2019, which is a solid choice for a classic Iceman, and it sits pretty well on the changed out body.  The last few Iceman figures have all gone transparent in some way, but this one goes for an opaque look, which better fits the animation.  He’s got a little bit of cel-shading going on.  It’s a little odd from some angles, but it’s largely pretty versatile.  The only thing I don’t like is the white eyes.  In the show, they were yellow (or possibly green, depending on how you view the exact shade), so as to further differentiate them from the rest of his face, and they should really be that way here, but they’re not.  It’s an odd choice.  Icemen is packed with two sets of hands, open and in fists, as well as the small ice-sled piece from the retro card release.

FIRESTAR

Firestar’s run with Legends is a very recent thing; she just got her first figure back in 2021, covering her classic look, with both comics and animation looks covered.  What new ground does this one cover?  Well…umm…elbows and knees?  See, the last one had disc and pin elbows, and visible pin knees.  This one has double elbows and knees, which are both pinless, by virtue of her re-using the arms and legs from Shriek, in conjunction with the all the other parts from the last Firestar.  And I do mean *all* the other parts, including the extra head and hands, the effect pieces, and even Ms. Lion.  The only change-up is that Ms. Lion is now in her cartoon colors, as opposed to the comics colors of the single release, which is actually a pretty nice touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this set was an exclusive, it was an easy pass for me, because there was nothing here I *needed*.  I’ve got close enough versions of all three, so why bother going to the extra effort?  Once it got the wider release, it really *wasn’t* any extra effort, so I figured why not?  It’s an interesting set-up, because nothing here is new or ground breaking.  Every figure here is just a slightly better figure of something else out there.  I do like having the better versions, of course, and I’m sure I’d be singing a different tune if I hadn’t snagged the other versions previously, but it does beg the question who this set was for, especially when it comes to the Firestar figure, who was a Fan Channel exclusive on her own not that terribly long ago.  Still, I do like the set.  Firestar’s just a little better, Spidey’s classic colors on my favorite Spidey body, and Iceman feels like a more complete package than the other versions.  So, it’s an overall win.

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.

Mutant X Re-Read #11: Behold–Magneto and His X-Men!

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

THE X-MEN COMETH!

MUTANT X #10 (MARVEL COMICS)

“In another place–in another life–Alex Summers led a team of mutants in a battle against oppression. His methods were extreme, his tactics questionable, but–in his soul–he knew that he was fighting for the greater good.

Now that soul has been transferred to another world, and Summers, also known as Havok, has found himself living a lie, allied with a team of mutants who are sinister, parallel versions of his friends and family. It is to this dark, new place that Havok has come, where he stands as a man alone… a mutant alone. Alex Summers is Mutant X.

Fear him. Fear for him.”

25 years ago, Marvel Comics launched Mutant X, a Havok led X-spinoff. I recently came into a complete run of the series, and so now I’m going to re-read the series once a week, and you guys get to come along for the ride!

This week, the X-Men’s alternate universe counterparts make their long-awaited debut in “The X-Men Cometh!”

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #10 is cover dated July of 1999 and has story and art by Howard Mackie, Carey Nord, and Andrew Pepoy.

When last we left the displaced Alex Summers, Magneto had just arrived and interrupted a battle between the Resistance and Madelyn’s forces.  Magneto asks for an explanation of what has happened to the Earth while he and the X-Men have been in space, and looks for a solution to set things right.  Madelyn tells Magneto that the only solution is to do what Alex has been incapable of doing: killing her.  She then has her Sentinels attack the Resistance, and it is only with Magento’s assistance that she and her Sentinels are repelled.  Following the battle, Magneto collapses, and it is revealed that his feats of magnetism were an illusion, supplied by a nearby Polaris.  Magneto was wounded in space and has not fully recovered.  Polaris and Havok converse, with Alex internalizing his thoughts of his own Polaris, as this one reacts with bewilderment at his interest.  A short distance away, Madelyn tortures the Five for retreating from the battle, before revealing that Reed Richards has built her an army of upgraded Sentinels.  These Sentinels are sent to attack Havok, Polaris, and Magneto, who are saved by the arrival of Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, Rogue, and Mystique.  With the rest of the X-Men present, Havok, Polaris, and Magneto retreat, as Madelyn plans for conquest.

This issue is touted as the long-awaited arrival of the X-Men, which isn’t inaccurate, but it’s also not *quite* as advertised.  The cover shows the whole line-up, but we spend the bulk of the issue with just Magneto and Polaris.  The other four are really just a cameo appearance at the end.  It’s still pretty cool to get some small hints about what they’ve been up to all this time, though, and the scenes with Alex and Lorna provide some intriguing emotional drama, as he struggles to deal with his feelings towards her.  After Magneto’s arrival last issue, though, I was expecting a bit more momentum than we ultimately got.  This winds up as another vaguely on the run sort of issue.  It’s definitely building to something, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another case of a cover showing promise that the contents don’t *quite* deliver.  Unlike the last issue, however, I don’t feel like what we got was totally lacking in weight; it’s just a different story than expected.  While it’s smaller in focus, I do like the decision to spend more time with Magneto and Lorna, and the bit with her compensating for his lack of power is actually pretty clever.  Overall, not what I was expecting, but I didn’t dislike it.

I snagged this whole run from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.

#3458: Hexanoid Unus

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

HEXANOID UNUS

MEGABOX (52TOYS)

“Unus, the first group of creators to awaken! After traveling to earth and studying the various lifeforms, the observers known as the Unus returned to their home planet and began to create beasts based on the biological information collected on earth!”

“What the hell is a Jarknoid Hexanoid?”

 –Tim Marron (Paraphrased)

I keep things around here largely within my wheelhouse.  I know a lot about a lot of toys, so that’s not terribly hard.  But, every so often, I step out.  It’s usually the fault of some bad influence in my life.  Looking at you, Tim.  Well, today is one of those days.  Let’s talk about 52toys!  Launched in 2015, they, like any toy company, have a few different areas they cover, but the one they cover a lot is transforming toys.  Specifically, toys that transform into tiny, cute, little boxes, which you can put into other little boxes and then stack on additional boxes.  Boxes!  There’s a whole line of specifically creature-based boxes called Beastbox, but they’ve also expanded into Megabox, which covers not only licensed properties, but also more advanced in-house properties.  Like, for instance, Unus.  Who is, by no means, to be confused with “The Untouchable.”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hexanoid Unus is figure MB-15 in 52Toys’ Megabox line. He’s notable in being just a pretty straightforward guy in his non-box form, which you don’t see super often. I mean, he’s not even super deformed or anything. In his “just a guy” form, Unus stands just shy of 7 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation. The articulation is hampered just a little bit by the nature of what the figure is; he can’t move at all mid-torso, his neck isn’t much more than a cut joint, and the hips and shoulders are a bit limited, and a tad awkward to properly use at times. The knees and elbows work really well, though, so that’s cool. Unus’s sculpt is a bit stiff and robotic. He’s designed to turn into a box, so he’s gonna have to square off somewhere. They certainly lean into those elements from a design perspective, though, so it feels more like that’s how he’s supposed to look, rather than it being just a byproduct of his toy design. There are still some areas, most notably the chest, where he feels flatter than he should, though.  His legs are also a little tubular and not so much leg shaped.  But, I do really like the overall design.  It’s got a fun sci-fi look about it.  As the name of the line might imply, this guy is designed to be transformed into a box; specifically a cube.  It’s a somewhat involved process to get him there, but after the first go-through, it’s pretty intuitive.  And, hey, then he’s a cube!  Fun.  The color scheme on this guy is an interesting one; I especially like the translucent green portions on the faceplate and arms.  Unus is packed with two different sizes of weapon, which can be folded and unfolded into different configurations, as well as a box that you can place him in while he’s in his box form.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember how I said it was Tim’s fault?  Well, it’s Tim’s fault.  It’s not even the first time he’s been at fault for a Megabox thing, as he actually got me a couple of the Aliens ones in the past year.  But this one’s the sort of one that’s extra dangerous, because it branches out to all sorts of new things.  He’s admittedly a pretty gimmicky figure, and if you’re not into the cube bit, he’s not gonna be anything to write home about.  But, the cube thing is pretty cool, so I’m…writing home about it?  I mean, I’m writing about it *at* home, so there’s that.  Eh, I’m exploring the idiom too much.  Can I just go back to wondering what a “Hexanoid” is?

#3458: Iron Man – Plasma Cannon

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

IRON MAN — PLASMA CANNON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark’s Modular Iron Man Armor gives the Armored Avenger access to an evolving range of advanced weaponry, from his repulsors and uni-beam to the devastating plasma cannon!”

Remember, like, two years ago, when I was talking about Iron Man’s Modular Armor?  Cool, well, I’m gonna talk about it some more.  As I touched on previously, the armor was somewhat short-lived in the comics, but it gained a greater cultural impact from outside media.  Since Iron Man: The Animated Series was in development at the time of Modular being introduced into the comics, as was Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes.  Thanks to the cartoon getting a toyline and Marvel Super Heroes having its Iron Man model transferred over to Marvel vs Capcom 2, the design wound outlasting its comics counterpart by a good five years in the public eye, giving it quite a hold.  While the Legends release from back in 2021 gave us a decent, if specifically comics-based take on the armor, we got a follow-up at the beginning of the year, which really honed in on those animation and video game aesthetics.  I’m taking a look at that one today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man is a deluxe-sized Marvel Legends offering, originally released at the beginning of the year.  He was initially a Pulse-exclusive, shown of during and going up for order shortly after last year’s Pulse Con. However, he got moved over to a wider Fan Channel release over the summer. Iron Man is technically a part of the Retro-carded sub-set, though he takes it a step further, and does the retro card for the main figure, and then a 10-inch line-inspired box for his extra accessories. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation. This figure’s sculpt is largely shared with the prior Modular armor release, which makes sense, it being the same armor and all. He gets a new head, as well as a modified upper torso. The head is patterned on the adjusted model from the first season of the cartoon, where they gave the design back the classic armor’s faceplate.  It seems just a touch on the large side, but not terribly so, and the detailing is really well handled.  The upper torso gets one change, which is easily missed; the unibeam is depressed into the chest now, rather than totally raised, allowing it to interact with one of the included effect pieces.  Beyond those changes, he’s pretty much just the same as the prior Modular (and, by extension, the MVC2-style War Machine from earlier this year), which was a pretty great mold in the first place.  The biggest change-up to the figure is the coloring.  The prior release went for metallic red and gold, which Hasbro’s done a few times for the comic-style armors.  It’s okay, but I frequently find it makes the colors too muddied.  This release, in keeping with the cell-animation of the cartoon and the 2D sprites of Marvel Super Heroes and MVC2, is done in flat red and yellow.  Boy, do those colors look so very nice on this mold.  The finish is also very glossy, which I enjoy a lot.  In terms of accessories, Iron Man gets quite a load out.  He’s got three sets of hands (the fists and blasting hands from the prior release, as well as an all-new set of gripping hands), the original comic-style helmeted head (allowing for either Animated Season 2, or Capcom looks), an unmasked head with the truly unmistakable mullet of ’90s Tony, an effect for his hand, an effect for the unibeam, the Proton Cannon from the Capcom games, and an effect and a display stand for that as well.  Now, if you want to get picky, he lacks an unmasked head that matches the Season 1 armor, since that was pre-mullet, but I’ve got plenty of non-mulleted Tony heads laying around, so I’ll give them a pass.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ended my review of the standard Modular Iron Man with “I’d maybe have liked some extra accessories, and I’d also love to see a version with flat colors,” not expecting Hasbro to do exactly that.  I was also not in a spot of chasing down exclusive variants to figures I already owned when this one was released, so I opted to hold out on him as a Pulse exclusive.  When he stopped being a Pulse exclusive, however, all bets were off.  The changes to the core figure aren’t a ton, but they take a figure I already liked a lot, and make him even better.  The extra accessories really just send him over the moon.  I’ve got nothing much else to say beyond wow is this figure awesome.  Really, really awesome.

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.

#3456: Blue Beetle

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

BLUE BEETLE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

“When the Rock of Eternity exploded, the alien scarab encased within it fell to Texas and bonded to Jamie Reyes’ spine, making him the 3rd Blue Beetle. Jaime found that with a mere thought, he could use it to generate armor, tools and weaponry. He also learned the scarab was an advance agent for an expanionist alien species, that had bonded with Jaime. Together they beat back the alien attacks and Jaime’s heroic efforts earned him a spot in the Teen Titans.”

Blue Beetle’s suddenly all topical and relevant, and I honestly really love that.  While it’s too bad that the movie didn’t do great at the box office (that’s what happens when you blow your entire marketing budget for the year on The Flash), but it was certainly well-received by all those that actually saw it, and it was just confirmed by James Gunn that Xolo Maridueña will be one of the actors carried forward in his role by the new DCU.  I consider all of that a plus, and I hope it leads to plenty more awesome Blue Beetle merch.  In the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to entertain myself with the prior awesome Blue Beetle merch.  Somehow, I think I’ll manage.  It’s been a bit since I’ve looked at anything DC Universe Classics, so let’s do that for a change!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blue Beetle was released in the Trigon Series of DC Universe Classics.  It was the 13th series in the line, and is honestly kind of oddball, but in the best possible way.  At this point, Mattel was trying their “All-Stars” initiative, where one figure in each set was sans CnC piece (which Hasbro would later borrow when they relaunched Marvel Legends).  It was typically the set’s heavy hitter, which in the case of this line-up wound up being Jaime.  Good for him.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  At this point in the line, Mattel had begun experimenting with the articulation a touch.  DCUC was okay, but never anything amazing, but they did try to step them up a little bit, with modifications wherever they could fit them in.  Jaime was one of the line’s best articulated figures in its entire run, largely by virtue of needing to be a totally new sculpt, giving Mattel something of a blank canvas to work with on that front.  He gets both double elbows *and* double knees, which weren’t often seen, as well as universal joints at the wrists.  He’s still somewhat plagued by the reduced mobility on the joints that was common to the line, but given what we were usually working with, he’s quite impressive.  As I noted above, Jaime is an all-new sculpt, and it’s really good.  The figure isn’t saddled with the weirdly wide or overly bulky proportions of the line’s other figures.  All of his costume details are also sculpted, rather than anything relying purely on paint, again in contrast to much of the line.  He’s also got an evergreen appearance that fits with the general aesthetic of the line, while also staying true to how he was frequently depicted in his own book.  Heck, even the articulation is worked in pretty well.  Beetle’s paint work is pretty fun; the blue is a metallic sheen, which looks very slick, and the paint application is all quite clean.  The only slight downside is that he doesn’t get pupils on his eyes, but he honestly makes it work.  Jaime was packed with a removable set of wings to plug onto his back (which don’t require removing the horns from the scarab, Todd), as well as a weapon attachment for his arm.  He doesn’t get his arm cannon, which is a slight bummer, but, again, compared to the rest of the line, he was really ahead.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve stated before, I’ve been a fan of Jaime since shortly after his introduction.  I had his first DCD figure as soon as it hit, and for a lot of DCUC figures, I didn’t necessarily look to replace (at first, anyway), but this guy was a definite upgrade, who I very happily added to my collection the minute I found one at retail.  He’s hands down the best figure that DCUC spawned, and he holds up really well, even all these years later. 

#3455: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Jabiim

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI — JABIIM

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Obi-Wan Kenobi is set years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced the corruption of his friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord Darth Vader.”

No matter your stance on the Star Wars prequels, it’s hard to deny that Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the very best things about them.  It was always kind of a shame that his storylines within the three movies never felt like the fully utilized him.  Thankfully, last year he got his own focus series, titled, rather unsurprisingly, Obi-Wan Kenobi, which really gave him time to shine.  There’s been plenty of action figure coverage from the show, especially of Obi-Wan himself.  I looked at the Retro Collection figure, but I haven’t yet looked at anything Black Series, so let’s change that up!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi — Jabiim is figure 11 in the Obi-Wan Kenobi sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘s fourth phase.  He was part of an assortment that hit towards the end of this summer, which also featured Tala and the Fourth Sister from the same show, as well as Darth Malak and Bastilla Shan from Knights of the Old Republic, and Vel Sarhta from Andor.  This is the third Black Series Obi-Wan based on the show, and is specifically based on his attire from the back half of the show, which is, amongst other things, the one he’s wearing during his big showdown with Vader.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  While Black Series has made some incredible strides in mobility on their figures more recently, Obi-Wan is a bit of a mixed bag.  A lot of it’s definitely more design than anything, but his arms are very restricted.  His shoulders have butterfly joints, but their range is very limited by the tunic, and while the elbows can get past 90, they’re limited in what they can do by how far the shoulders can go.  Additionally, the wrist joints are mostly rendered inert by the way the sleeves wrap around the hands, which is a definite bummer.  The neck, waist, and everything on the legs apart from the hips, are at least decent on their movement, which is a plus.  The sculpt makes use of the hands and lower half from the Wandering Jedi release, which makes sense, since he’s wearing a lot of the same stuff.  Interestingly, the head is *not* a re-use, despite the last two Obi-Wans from the show using the same one.  I can’t say I’m upset about it, though, because the end result is hands down the best Ewan McGregor likeness that Hasbro’s ever given us.  I mean, this thing is just absolutely spot-on.  It makes all the other Obi-Wans look like Obi-Twos.  The figure also gets a new torso and arms, as well.  They’ve got the aforementioned issues with mobility, but they do at least look the part of the garment he was wearing in the show.  It’s all topped off with a soft goods robe piece, which is okay.  It’s not great right out of the box, but I’d imagine there’s some tricks to shaping it, which would help it look a lot better.  Obi-Wan gets a pretty good mix of paint and molded plastic for his coloring; the face printing on the head is particularly strong on this release, and the base color work on the body is all rather cleanly applied.  Obi-Wan is packed with his lightsaber (with removable blade) and a blaster pistol, both of which are repurposed from the other two show-based Obi-Wans.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since The Phantom Menace, McGregor’s Obi-Wan has been a favorite of mine, and its an opinion that’s only grown stronger over time.  While I immensely enjoyed Kenobi, the Wandering Jedi release for Black Series didn’t really speak to me.  This look, however, was one I really liked in the show, especially for the scenes between him and Vader.  That said, I was beginning to waffle a little bit on whether I was really going to grab this one, but once in-hand shots of him started surfacing, I knew there was no way I could avoid grabbing a figure with that good of a likeness.  Ultimately, the figure’s a bit of a mixed bag.  That head sculpt is absolutely fantastic, but the articulation definitely leaves something to be desired.  Still, he’s a very nice offering, and I’m glad I added him to my collection.

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.

#3454: Totally Awesome Hulk

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

TOTALLY AWESOME HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 2005, Marvel relaunched Amazing Fantasy, the anthology from the ’60s that had spawned Spider-Man, with a similar purpose: creating new characters.  Fittingly, the series’ most successful character would come out of its 15th issue (much like the original), when they introduced Amadeus Cho.  Amadeus would become a recurring supporting player, typically revolving around the Hulk side of things.  In 2015, following the Secret Wars event, Amadeus got to take over the title of Hulk himself, albeit in a different, decidedly more Totally Awesome way.  And it’s led to him getting a totally awesome figure.  Totally awesome!  Let’s check that out now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Totally Awesome Hulk is the Build-A-Figure for the self-titled series of Marvel Legends.  Amadeus’s ties to the overall Marvels-theming of the set are loose at best; he was on the Champions with Ms Marvel for a while in the comics, so I suppose that’s something?  Sure, let’s go with that.  Look, it got me an Amadeus Cho figure; I’m not gonna question it.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Amadeus is using the Endgame Hulk body as a starting point, which isn’t a terrible option; it keeps him a little more svelte than the typical comic Hulk, in keeping with Amadeus’s smaller stature, but keeps him noticeably larger than the standard-sized figure.  He gets a new head, pelvis, legs, and an add-on for his wrist band.  The head sculpt is a nice piece; it’s definitely leaning into Frank Cho’s version of Amadeus, which is a solid choice.  It also helps to keep him in line with the overall style of the line, and makes it clear that he’s a different character than Bruce.  The new legs mean he’s got pinless knees; still not pinless on the elbows, but it’s better than nothing.  Totally Awesome Hulk’s color work is largely handled through molded colors on the plastic.  The colors are nice and bright, and he’s very eye-catching.  He’s got a little bit of paint, mostly on his face, which gets some solid accent work.  Amadeus is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, and the other in open gesture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been an Amadeus fan since his “World War Hulk” appearances, and I’ve followed him since.  I’ve always wanted a figure of him in some form, but most of the time he’s just an average looking guy, so he’s not super toyetic.  Once he got Hulkified, I hoped that might speed up the process, but it’s still been a heck of a wait.  At this point, I’m just glad that I got some version of Amadeus, but on top of it all, he’s actually a pretty darn cool 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.

Mutant X Re-Read #10: The Uncanny!

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Mutant X Re-Read

THE UNCANNY

MUTANT X #9 (MARVEL COMICS)

“In another place–in another life–Alex Summers led a team of mutants in a battle against oppression. His methods were extreme, his tactics questionable, but–in his soul–he knew that he was fighting for the greater good.

Now that soul has been transferred to another world, and Summers, also known as Havok, has found himself living a lie, allied with a team of mutants who are sinister, parallel versions of his friends and family. It is to this dark, new place that Havok has come, where he stands as a man alone… a mutant alone. Alex Summers is Mutant X.

Fear him. Fear for him.”

25 years ago, Marvel Comics launched Mutant X, a Havok led X-spinoff. I recently came into a complete run of the series, and so now I’m going to re-read the series once a week, and you guys get to come along for the ride!

Hot on the tail of the first annual, Havok goes underground!

THE ISSUE ITSELF

Mutant X #9 is cover dated June of 1999, and has Howard Mackie as writer, Mike Miller on pencils, and Andrew Pepoy on inks.

In light of the annual’s events, Havok is on the run.  He calls Elektra (still at the X-Mansion with Scotty) and lets her know that he was unable to take down Madelyn.  Elektra and Scotty are attacked by Sentinels at the mansion, at the same time that Havok is chased down by Sentinels in New York.  Havok flees, falling underground, where he’s greeted by Ben Grimm, Mole Man, Callisto, and the Morlocks.  Ben tells Havok of the Morlocks’ plan to launch a resistance, and asks Alex to join in.  Alex declines, citing his need to rescue Scotty.  Ben accompanies him to the surface, but they are attacked by the Five and a squadron of Sentinels.  Callisto reveals herself to be a traitor, having sold out the Morlocks’ location to Madelyn.  As the battle escalates, both sides are interrupted by the arrival of a new player: Magneto!

After the last couple of issues, this one kind of feels like filler.  There’s very little actual advancement of the plot, and most of the character direction is just recapping prior story beats.  Though the issue touts guest stars on the cover, most of them are little more than bit players, with only Alex and Ben getting any real focus.  In particular, Mole Man and Callisto seem rather unexplored in this universe, and their underground movement has a lot of untapped potential.  The mind controlled Six are also not given much to do this time around, mostly just acting as Maddie’s muscle.  At the end of the issue, not much ground has been gained by either side, but the arrival of Magneto does at least give the story some momentum.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I liked the last largely filler issue, this one didn’t do much for me.  The cover showed a lot of promise; I’m a sucker for a cool Giganto shot.  But the actual events in the issue are kind of without any weight.  Havok fighting the rest of the Six has become a little bit repetitive at this point.  Thankfully, the arrival of Magneto and the rest of the X-Men should give the story some cool new cameos at the very least.

I snagged this whole run from my usual comics stop, Cosmic Comix, so I want to give them a shout out here, because it was a pretty great find.

#3453: The Challenger

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

THE CHALLENGER

BRUCE LEE ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

I haven’t really talked a ton about Bruce Lee here on the site.  I’ve got two prior reviews, and one’s here because there was a Kato involved, while the other’s a Minimate.  He’s someone whose work isn’t a main focus of mine, but whose impact on pop culture I can very much appreciate.  He’s gotten all sorts of toy coverage over the years, and the latest is coming out of Super 7’s Ultimates umbrella.  They have a couple of versions of Lee, and today I’m taking a look at “The Challenger,” which is based on Lee’s character Hai Tien from his unfinished film, Game of Death.  Look, it’s Bruce Lee in the yellow jumpsuit with the stripes; it’s hard to go wrong with that one.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Challenger makes up one half of the first wave of Super 7’s Bruce Lee Ultimates, with the other being “The Warrior,” who is based on his appearance in The Way of the Dragon.  The two of them started hitting back in July.  The figure stands a little over 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Compared to the improved articulation of the second round of G.I. Joe Ultimates, Lee’s articulation is a bit of a step back.  It’s not awful, but you’re not getting more than 90 degrees on the elbows or knees, which can prove limiting when it comes to fighting poses.  There’s enough give on some of the other joints to work around it to some degree, but articulation definitely remains an area where Super 7 struggles on these releases.  At the very least, this guy isn’t plagued by loose joints, so he’ll hold the poses you put him into.  The Challenger sports an all-new sculpt.  This another area where Super 7 sometimes struggles, especially when it comes to likenesses of real people.  The Challenger gets three different head sculpts, and they all sport a surprisingly strong likeness of Lee.  Like, really good, actually.  Of the three, the one with the pursed lips is definitely the strongest, but the other two aren’t bad either.  The level of detailing is also really sharp, which I was happy to see.  The detailing on the body is a lot more basic.  Obviously, it’s just a jumpsuit, so there’s not a ton to be done there, but he doesn’t even really get folds or texture, so it’s a touch bland.  It is at the very least a pretty good match for Lee’s build in the film, so it keeps the likeness going from what the head sculpts started.  The bracelet on his right wrist is a separate piece, so take care when swapping the hands so as to not lose it.  The Challenger’s paint work is really strong on the heads; it’s not quite Hasbro’s face printing, but it’s still quite lifelike, again aiding with the likeness.  The body is again far more basic.  It’s largely just molded in the one color, but it gets painted details for the stripes and the shoes.  The stripes are sharp and cleanly defined, so they at least do what little painting is needed well.  The Challenger gets a solid selection of accessories, with 14 different hands, 4 different styles of nunchucks, a holster for the nunchucks, and the green pointed stick from the poster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m at best a moderate fan of Bruce Lee, but that’s enough to want at least some toy coverage.  In particular, I’ve always dug the yellow jumpsuit design, which is a very distinctive look.  I’ve wanted a good figure of it for a while, and none of the other versions quite hit the mark for me.  This one looked cool as a proto, but I wasn’t sure how the final product was going to turn out.  He came in during a fairly crowded week of new stuff for me, so I was poised to pass on him…until I took a look at the final product and saw how well those heads turned out.  My dilemma was solved easily enough, as Jason from All Time reminded me that it was my birthday, and passed this one to me for the occasion.  This figure’s not perfect.  The articulation is rather limited, and the body feels a little devoid of detail.  But those head sculpts do a lot of heavy lifting on this one, and I’m ultimately very happy with the final product.

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.