Category Archives: Guest Reviews

Guest Review #0031: Sirius Black

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

SIRIUS BLACK

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (NECA)

Sirius1

The following is a guest review by Jill Mardesich.  For more from Jill, check out her blog Future Music Educator Rambles on Life.

Hey there! It’s Ethan’s resident book nerd friend, Jill! Ethan got me this figure of Sirius Black from the movie version of J.K. Rowling’s book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for Christmas this year. It’s been a while since Christmas… I’ve been busy. Anyway, Sirius Black, in case you do not know, is the God Father of the main character, Harry Potter. He was best friends with Harry’s father, James, and was framed for the murder of the character Peter Pettigrew, so spent the majority of Harry’s life in the wizard prison, Azkaban.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sirius2Sirius is designed off the look he has in the fifth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He stands approximately 7 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. He comes with one accessory, his wand, which is about 1 inch long and surprisingly detailed for such a small stick. It actually does look like the prop wand that they gave to Gary Oldman in the movie. He also has a black stand, but is fairly well balanced and can stand up without it. His jacket is molded from a very flexible, rubberized plastic, so his movement isn’t restricted by it, which is good because it isn’t removable. His face is quite life like and there don’t appear to be any paint flaws. His hair, which is a solid piece, is well placed to not interfere with the motion of Sirius’ head. My only complaints about Sirius are that his legs are a solid piece beneath the waist, which Ethan tells me is fairly standard for NECA figures at this time, and that his wand is loose in his hand. It’s very easy to lose such a small, dark piece of plastic and it is my greatest fear that the next time I look at him he will no longer have it. He also only has one “good pose” to place him in because his legs are locked and his elbows don’t bend, but at least it’s a cool, “magical fighting,” action pose. I’m not sure if his face is quite a “magical fight” expression, but he is still really cool in this position.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sirius Black was my Christmas present from Ethan this year, and he is the first action figure that I have ever owned. I was so excited about it. Sirius is one of my favorite characters in the Harry Potter books, which will always hold a special place in my heart. I grew up reading them, and even skipped school to see several of the movies growing up. I was touched that Ethan would get me such a perfect figure to begin my collection. I think he looks really cool, and very accurate to the movie look.  I wish his legs were posable, but I like the pose that he sits in, so it’s okay. Overall, I love this figure and hope that future Christmas presents include more from this line! (hint, hint)

Guest Review #0030: Anubis

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ANUBIS

ZONE OF THE ENDERS – KOTOBUKIYA

Anubis1

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check out Timsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

As if out of nowhere, from compression space, enters Orbital Frame Anubis, the twin craft of Jehuty. If you read my review of Jehuty, or were within ear shot of my incessant fawning over the figure, you probably clued into my immense enjoyment of owning it. He was just so lonely being the only Zone of the Enders figure in my collection. That’s where my amazing girlfriend Jill came in to save the day just this past Christmas. Unfortunately Sentinel hasn’t yet made an Anubis figure to match their Jehuty, but I knew there were other Anubises…? Anubi? out there. I ended up receiving the snap-together model kit version made by Kotobukiya. So here he is, the perfect fusion of model kit and action figure. This review is the true will of Metatron!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Anubis3This figure is based on Anubis’ primary appearance in the Zone of the Ender’s franchise, before he is transformed into Aumaan Anubis. The figure itself is roughly 8.5 inches tall, however his distinct lack of feet (much like Jehuty) mean he pretty much has to be on a stand. Taking that into account, plus any extras such as his vector trap “wings,” he stands somewhere closer to 10 inches. Like Jehuty, Anubis has some pretty great articulation, a point which is made all the more impressive when you remember that this is a model that I built and not assembled in a factory by skilled workers. The main figure features 56 points of articulation including a posable wire tail and an additional 24 points when you include the vector traps for a grand total of about 80 points of articulation (I’m assuming I overlooked at least one point because I’m just dumb like that). The sculpt work on Anubis is phenomenal. Every last little detail I would expect to be there and even some I didn’t are all very sharp and really help him feel like an enormous complex machine while still being very sleek and refined. More importantly, he looks just like he did in the games. The head in particular is outstanding, featuring a single tiny piece of transparent red plastic for the eyes. Anubis has no paint to speak of, given that his coloring is largely handled by having the parts cast in the appropriate hue of plastic. All of the important details are well colored and match well to the game source material. My only issue is that some more minor details such as the beige trim on the shoulder plates or the red Metatron lines aren’t there. While it is a little disappointing, I do see why leaving those details out had to happen. Plus, if you really feel like it needs it, the instruction booklet provides exact color palettes for these missing details, which I thought was a nice gesture. As mentioned before, Anubis comes with six vector traps as well as a spear and a stand. The stand even has a secondary arm to hold up the vector traps, which themselves can be positioned around Anubis in a wide variety of poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After I got my Jehuty figure, I spent a long time looking for a suitable Anubis for him to square off against. I settled on one of two options, Revoltech or Kotobukiya, but I could never find enough reason to buy either of them outright. So Anubis stayed on my Amazon wishlist for a good long while. When I actually received him as a gift, Jill and I were visiting Ethan and his family on their holiday trip to the beach. I recruited Jill and Ethan to help me put him together and we all had a great time, although I could have done without explaining that, yes, it is literally a cockpit to everyone who bothered to inquire.

Anubis2

Guest Review #0029: Kopaka

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

KOPAKA: MASTER OF ICE

BIONICLE

Kopaka2015a

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check out Timsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

Okay, Ethan’s been on my case for not having any guest reviews lately, and that’s fair. Although in my defense I’ve been very busy with very important stuff like Youtube and Amazon. But anyway, Bionicle. Boy do I love Bionicle. Remember way back when I said Beast Wars was my jam? Well forget that, Beast Wars pales in comparison to Bionicle in my books (and I do actually have books). Of the original six Toa, my personal favorite was the arctic badass otherwise known as Kopaka. After the whole Hero Factory debacle, you can imagine my disappointment when it seemed like Bionicle had come to an end. Then, out of nowhere, it was back. Naturally, I texted Ethan the news along with my plan to find these new figures. Thus our adventure began anew.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kopaka2015bKopaka was released as part of the revived Bionicle series earlier this year. He is one of the larger deluxe Toa along with Onua, and I guess Tahu but mehhh… He is the tallest of the lot at about 8 inches tall and features 13 points of articulation (15, counting the big shoulder pads). Each Toa having differing heights and builds was something I was pretty excited about because it makes them seem more like individual characters as opposed to cookie-cutter stamp clones with different colors. His mask this time around is a neat little blend of his original Akaku and his Akaku Nuva masks. Also, it seems the designers felt like forgoing his classic sword and shield combo for a spear and shield: a little disappointing for nostalgia’s sake, but I’m cool with spears so it works out. Kopaka’s set is made up of 97 pieces, mostly molded in clean white and funky transparent blue. He also features a fair amount of gold pieces such as his chest piece and big chunky shoulders. I was initially a little hesitant about Kopaka having gold as such a prominent color but it’s grown on me, plus it makes his gold mask seem less out of place. Kopaka does actually feature some paint on his chest piece which adds some cool detailing to an otherwise flat surface. There is more detailing on his legs as well but for whatever reason, these are handled through the use of stickers. I’m not sure why they couldn’t just paint them the same way they did the chest, but they look fine so it’s not really an issue. In addition to his spear and shield, Kopaka comes with a gold version of his mask and a silver Skull Spider which seems to be the new reimagining of Krana, just minus the whole Bohrok thing.

 THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is all my fault, I’ll admit that. I picked Kopaka up from Target after “convincing” Ethan to “help” me track down these new Bionicle figures, as well as a couple Nerf guns for myself. Having spent an entire day at Ethan’s house with several huge tubs of Lego pieces rebuilding the entire original Bionicle roster, I had a sneaking suspicion he might also be interested in the news of the reboot. As I mentioned before, Hero Factory was a huge disappointing end to the original Bionicle line and after seeing how Lego handled the redesigns, it was just a matter of time before we got them. But it is all my fault, though.

Guest Review #0028: Isa – V3

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with ,

ISA v.3

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

IsaV3a

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check outTimsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

Alright, I know you guys are probably tired of these by now so I figured why draw this out any longer. Today I’ll be looking at my sixth and final piece of my Infinity Blade Collectibles set, but I promise, this one is going to be interesting so just bear with me. Here we go, ending on a bang of sorts.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IsaV3eBoring stuff out of the way first. This figure is based on Isa from Infinity Blade 3 dressed up in the Dark Stripe armor, Crystalis helm, Lunith Brace gauntlet, and wielding Norfair. She has no articulation as usual and is in the Horizon pose which actually makes her much shorter than the other figures at only two and a quarter (three including the weapon) inches tall. Now onto the fun part. The first thing I noticed when I opened this figure is that her weapon, Norfair, is too chunky in comparison to the game and not by a small margin. It ends up looking like a pool noodle rather than the sleek, streamlined staff it’s supposed to be. That being said, I can understand why it came out that way because as it is it seems very fragile. Were it any thinner I wouldn’t be surprised if it fell off if someone happened to sneeze a little too hard. But that’s not even the worst of it. In contrast to the other figures in this set, the aforementioned Horizon pose is much more of an action pose. This is where the problems arise, not from the sculpt which is spot on, but from the character model in the game. When you’re playing the game, the characters are moving around doing all sorts of cool moves, but it happens quickly and from very fixed camera angles so you don’t really see everything going on. As she is now, Isa’s spine seems impossibly contorted, her arms look like they’re made out of Play-Doh, and her legs around the hip have these really terrible creases from the 3D mesh folding on itself. I had to go back into the game to look, and sure enough, all these issues were there from the start. The color details are closer to what we’ve seen on the other figures, maybe actually a little brighter than the others but still marred by the lack of varnish. There’s some nice line work on the torso, head and legs, but the arms. She’s supposed to have a few touches of dirt on her arms as one might after a long day of fighting monsters, but they missed the mark and instead made her look like she’s got some nasty bruises.  Isa comes with no accessories.

IsaV3f IsaV3d IsaV3c IsaV3b

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

And that’s it, we’re all done with Infinity Blade Collectibles. I like to save the best for last in a series like this, and depending how you look at it, I’ve either done exactly that or not at all. This figure definitely falls under the category of “So bad, it’s good” with the wonky knees and elbows and the Liefeld-esque lack of spine. It does stick out a bit from the others, but thankfully you can’t really see the problems until it’s actually in your hands, so it still makes for a fine display piece.

Guest Review #0027: Earthworm Jim

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

EARTHWORM JIM

EARTHWORM JIM (PLAYMATES)

EWJ1

Hey guys!  The following is a Guest Review from my awesome brother Christian Wilson!  Take it away Christian…

This figure, like my review of Ash and Pikachu, is from a game I’ve never played. However, that won’t stop me! I now have all the systems (including the 360, since there was an HD Remake on the 360) to play Earthworm Jim, but whatever! I’ll get to it. You don’t own me…….

Let’s get on with the review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

EWJ2Jim was an earthworm from Earth, in case you got lost, and got a suit that gave him the ability to walk around and defeat baddies. Ya know, cuz Aliens™. Also, he could disconnect from the suit briefly to use his head (or the worm body) to whip as a platforming maneuver. That’s just…. Eugh! His backstory may be odd, but once it gets going it’s a pretty typical rescue Princess Whatsername from Evil Queen Slugforabutt (both actual names of the characters. Again, Eugh!) Now, knowing that interesting lore, the figure itself stands at just under 6 inches tall with 6 points of articulation. I have to say that the paint job is pretty spectacular. It really captures the essence of Jim (that sounds like a perfume). I bought him used so there are yellow stains which I can’t explain. Sounds creepy, right? The one I bought only came with his laser gun, which I looked up. The figures I’ve seen in-package had green accessories, but mine’s red. The Battle-Damaged Jim came with red accessories, but mine isn’t the battle-damaged Jim. Nonetheless, I prefer the red gun as it was the color of his original gun. Even though there is not comfortable way to put the gun in its “holster.” In that 90s style, and to keep up with what Jim actually can do in the game (Remember…..Eugh!?), there is a button on Jim’s backpack that makes his head shoot off. Very far. There’s almost no easy way of getting it off without having to go pick it up off of the floor. Otherwise, this is a really well done figure and he has a place on my shelf.

Yes, I too have a shelf. Though it’s smaller than Ethan’s. But then again I don’t have 2800+ action figures, so there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I said, I got this figure used, but I can’t remember where or when. Must’ve been recent, but I don’t know exactly. Even though I didn’t play the game(cause I wasn’t born then), I still love the figure because I love it when I get to have an action figure of a video game character. That just hits the spot. I’ll see you soon guys. DFTBA.

Guest Review #0026: Wrex

Posted by hodgeppodge42 in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

WREX

MASS EFFECT MINIMATES

WrexJ1

The following is a guest review from my Super Awesome Girlfriend Jessica.  Take it away Jess!

“Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren’s payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe.” – Urdnot Wrex

Heyyyo! Today on this episode of Ethan’s Super Awesome Girlfriend Reviews Mass Effect Minimates, we will be looking at a member of the Krogan, an alien race full of mercenaries so badass even their women eat nails for breakfast and crap grenades!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

WrexJ2This figure is part of the first series of the Mass Effect Minimates, exclusively released at GameStop. The series includes some of the main characters from the Mass Effect franchise, including a few of Shepard’s alien teammates.

Urdnot Wrex is a Krogan mercenary and the third alien companion that you can pick up at the Citadel in the first Mass Effect. He is the classic hardened warrior, whose view of life has been warped by the battles that he’s been through. In some ways, he can be compared to Canderous Ordo, a playable character from the Knights of the Old Republic game (also made by BioWare). Both characters are jaded warriors working as mercenaries with a darker view on life, but both can be redeemed in some way if you make the right choices. Unfortunately for Wrex, your actions affect him more in the first game than the other. Depending on the actions you make or don’t will decide whether Wrex survives the first game and make an appearance in the others. If he lives, he becomes the leader of the Krogans and helps you in the next two installments of the series, but never as a playable character. That’s right, he’s a part of your squad for only one game, unless you buy the Citadel DLC, but that doesn’t make him any less interesting! In fact, after the first game there are other places where you may have to kill him, depending on how much influence you have over him and how much of a paragon you are.

The figure stands at about 2 ½ inches and has 11 points of articulation. Wrex has a regular Minimate body with a unique head and lower legs, like most of the other aliens in this series, as well as a pair of thigh cover add-ons. The Minimate is based on the character design from the first game, which makes sense since he doesn’t always appear in the later installments. The paint detailing is fair for the outfit, though there’s not much to comment on since the armor is almost completely red. The face, however, is pretty impressive because they were able to capture his scary, angry look that makes his enemies piss in their armor mesh. The figure’s mold is also pretty nice, with great detailing in the armor, such as the ridges and the mesh, and his legs are also extremely detailed as well. The figure also comes with a clear plastic stand and a shot gun. Wrex’s shotgun has the standard shape and design and the molding of it is well detailed.

THE ME PART OF THE EQUATION

Even though Wrex can be a bit of a handful at times, I really enjoyed him as a companion, especially with his darker humor. I am sad to say that I couldn’t save him the first time I played the game, and I was extremely heart broken when I watched the scene unfold, and I’ve tried to save him ever since. But now I have him in my collection, and it makes me so happy because I would feel terrible without him! I got this figure from Ethan as a Christmas gift, but not at the same time as all the others in this series. As you may have heard already, Ethan got a bunch of Talis when he was trying to complete the set, but he didn’t get a Wrex, at all. It wasn’t until after we got back from the beach that he was able to trade a Tali for Wrex with the awesome JediJohnson, one of his fellow Minimate Multiverse members. Now my set is complete and I shall take over the world! Mwhahahahaha! Nah, just kidding! …Or am I? >:D

Guest Review #0025: Siris V3

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with ,

SIRIS v.3

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

SirisV3a

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check outTimsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

The end is in sight. Today we have the penultimate Infinity Blade review. If this was a fight, it would be the Black Knight, however his armor isn’t available to players, so instead it’s just another Siris. So take raise your sword and shield, here comes the final Siris figure and he looks like he means business.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SirisV3eIf you’ve been keeping up with my reviews of the other IB Collectibles, you can probably figure out that this version of Siris hails from Infinity Blade 3 just like all the previous figures. This setup has him wearing the the Hunter Mail armor, Manganese helm, Obsidian sword, and the Maximus shield although it isn’t present in the Stoic pose. He shares most of the same stats with every other of these guys, right about three and a half inches tall with no articulation. The sculpt on this figure as actually pretty impressive given what I’ve seen on the other Sirises and Isas. All of the appropriate edges and textures are there and as sharp as I can conceivably see them being with this type of 3D printing. Likewise the colored texturing is really well done with some nice crisp detail lines on the helmet and torso. I only have two real complaints about this figure, one of those being the overall faded look which makes it look like the whole thing is just grey at a glance. This is especially evident on the sword which is supposed to be a deep purple and the little cloth bits around Siris’ waist which are bright blue. The other main issue I have, which I touched on in the previous review, is how Sandboxr seems to be holding back on the varnish. As a result, the figure feels very rough in the hands and just looks a little dull. Siris comes with no accessories.

SirisV3f SirisV3d SirisV3c SirisV3b

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was part two of three from my last Sandboxr purchase. I was pretty excited to get this one because I gave him one of my favorite swords in the game. I was a little disappointed with the brightness of the colors but even with the problems I mentioned earlier, the sculpt and detail quality make this one one of my favorites. I just can’t help but wonder if a coat of clear nail polish could improve the figure a little bit.

Guest Review #0024: Tali

Posted by hodgeppodge42 in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

TALI (as labeled on the packet)

MASS EFFECT MINIMATES

TaliJ1

The following is a guest review from my Super Awesome Girlfriend Jessica.  Take it away Jess!

Heyo! Welcome to the next episode of Ethan’s Super Awesome Girlfriend Reviews of Mass Effect Minimates (long title right?). Last time I reviewed Shepard’s first alien companion, Garrus. Now, I’ll be reviewing Shepard’s next companion, Tali’Zorah vas Normandy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

TaliJ2This figure is part of the first series of Mass Effect Minimates, exclusively released at GameStop. The series includes some of the main characters from the Mass Effect franchise, including several of Shepard’s alien teammates.

When you first meet Tali’Zorah nar Rayya, or Tali, she is a young quarian going on a pilgrimage as a rite of passage. After you help her on the Citadel she can join your team, deciding that helping you save the galaxy is a good enough pilgrimage to aid her people. By the second game, Tali finished her pilgrimage with the information that you gave her in the first game, becoming a mature adult quarian and a respectable member amongst her people, receiving the title of Tali’Zorah vas Neema. Later in Mass Effect 2 Tali joins your crew once again to stop the Collectors and to save the human colonies. During her Loyalty Mission she gains the title Tali’Zorah vas Normandy, which is Commander Shepard’s ship, and decides to keep it after the mission is complete. In Mass Effect 3, Tali helps her people to defeat the Geth, the creatures that the quarians had originally created, and to retake their homeworld. She once again joins Shepard’s team when the Normandy decides to aid them in their fight with the Geth.

So for the actual figure itself…Tali is about 2 ½ inches tall with 12 points of articulation. She has a standard body with new shins, and a skirt-like add-on. Her head is made of clear purple plastic, and is covered with a removable helmet/hood. The figure also comes with a clear plastic stand, a standard pistol, and a clear orange plastic omni-tool that’s not removable[it’s supposed to be!–Ethan]. The Minimate is modeled after the costume design that first appeared in Mass Effect 2, which is personally my favorite. It even includes a knife that’s strapped to her lower leg (which isn’t even used until a possible cut-scene in Mass Effect 3). The paint job on the figure is really nice, especially the chest piece, which has a lot of really small detailing. They also painted her ‘eyes’ on the clear head, which I though was great because it gives the same effect that you saw in the game. She includes a pistol and a clear display stand. The Minimate is a well done representation of the game design, and I think it’s great that they even tried to make her calves extend further away from her body than humans. My only complaint is that she didn’t come with a shotgun. Yes, she does use pistols in the game, but in Mass Effect 2 and 3 she is proficient in shotguns as well, and actually uses them more. I mean really, why can’t a girl have a shotgun? They’re great for killing zombies or, in this case, Husks!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So as you may guess, I got this figure for Christmas from my amazing boyfriend, Ethan. I later found out that she was one of six other Tali figures that he got when he tried collecting all the Mass Effect Minimates for me. Isn’t that just proof of how awesome she is? I think so anyways…

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m a really big fan of Tali. She has a wonderful and classic story that allows you to see her transform from a ‘teenager’ to a respectable adult. She has a strong personality that is full of determination, but unlike classic ‘strong’ women in gaming she isn’t a bitch. As a character, she is one of my favorite female companions (after Shepard) because I think she can be a wonderful role model for anyone. And I absolutely love her and Garrus as a couple, which can happen in Mass Effect 3, so I am thrilled to have them both as Minimates! 😀

Guest Review #0023: Glasgow

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

GLASGOW

BANDAI ROBOT SPIRITS

RobotA1

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check outTimsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

I’m coming at this review from a slightly different angle. Just about every figure I own, I’m at least somewhat familiar with the source material on which it is based. Ethan kind of kicked this trend off with his review of the Gundam figure Nemo. Neither he nor I know anything about Gundam aside from the base concept of giant fighting robots. Pretty much the same can be said of another Japanese mecha title Code Geass, from which today’s figure comes. So, with with a vague understanding of the show gleaned from the Wiki page, let’s take a look at the Glasgow Knight Mare Frame.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RobotA3After consulting the aforementioned Wiki, I’ve figured out that these Knight Mare Frames replace conventional tanks in the world of Code Geass. This specific model, the Glasgow, is a mass-produced general police/military use vehicle, an army builder of sorts. The figure was released as part of Bandai’s Robot Spirits line of figures and is about five inches tall, featuring 46 points of articulation (plus one on the gun). Going on the images I could find from the show, it looks like the figure is based on the version from the Akito the Exiled story arc which is just slightly different from the original look. The sculpt is pretty impressively well done and does a very good job translating the look from the show into a 3D form. The joints are particularly well handled, being as subtle as you can get on a robot while still allowing for a huge range of motion. As far as I can tell, the sculpt is unique to this figure. The paint isn’t anything to really go crazy over, given most of the figure’s color comes from the various hues of plastic the pieces are molded in. The paint that is there is good, though. Nice crisp lines pretty much throughout and while the pictures I found don’t quite match with the figure, the patterning on the torso, shoulders, and ankles still feels like it fits with the general aesthetic. The Glasgow comes with a machine gun, a pickaxe/hammer thing, a folded up pickaxe/hammer thing, an alternate head, a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of fists, a pair of gripping hands, a pair of trigger hands, and two sets of Slash Harkens (little grappling hook things) to show them either retracted or launched out.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Glasgow was a Christmas gift from my cousin who saw it on my Amazon wish list. I’d been interested in this and a couple other Code Geass figures for a while because they were cool fighting robots and they were made by Bandai Japan, a company I’d been impressed by after checking out Ethan’s array of Ultramen from their Ultra-Act line. Maybe I might appreciate the figure a little more if I was familiar with the source material, but honestly, coming in knowing nothing about it hasn’t detracted from my enjoyment of it. It’s still a very cool, very well made figure and a worthy addition to the mess that I call a display.

RobotA2

Guest Review #0022: Isa V2

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with ,

ISA v.2

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

IsaV2a

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check outTimsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

Aha! You’d forgotten about these, hadn’t you? I can’t blame you, it’s been a while. But yes, Infinity Blade, this time it’s my second version of Siris’s buddy Isa. She’s number four of my six IB figures to date, so we’re just gonna power right on through.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IsaV2eAs with all of these figures, Isa is based on one of her many possible looks in Infinity Blade 3. In this version, I’ve dressed her up in the Shard Plate armor, Wraith helm, and Akkash arm guard, wielding Slicer. She is posed in the Poise pose (which sounds like the start of a tongue twister), standing roughly three and a half inches tall and with the usual zero articulation. The sculpt is mostly pretty well done keeping up with the slightly more modern look of her armor, the helmet in particular has an impressive level and sharpness of detail. As with the previous Isa figure, there’s a little stump of a tree on the stand, but I’m not sure why since this one doesn’t have the same structural concerns. The one pretty glaring issue is the sword. I guess the printing method has trouble forming hard straight edges but the sword is meant to be smooth, not the jagged oversized shiv it looks like she’s holding. I’m sure it’s nothing a careful application of a Dremel couldn’t fix, but I’m not sure exactly how fragile these are and don’t want to risk damaging it further. I just wish it hadn’t come that way in the first place. The colors are reasonably accurate if not a little washed out. Unfortunately, this figure continues the downward trend of needing an extra coat or two of varnish to bring out the colors a bit more and smooth out some of the rough sandpapery texture. Isa comes with no additional accessories as usual.

IsaV2b IsaV2c IsaV2d IsaV2f

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this figure of Isa together with the remaining two Infinity Blade figures in a big sale Sandboxr had, effectively doubling my Infinity Blade figures in a single purchase. Even with the sculptural issues on the sword, I still really enjoy the figure and I think it’s a great addition to my collection.