Category Archives: Reviews

#2297: Hawkgirl

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

HAWKGIRL

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

“During ancient Egypt’s 15th Dynasty, Princess Chay-Ara and her beloved Prince Khufu discovered a downed Thanagarian spacecraft. After their murder, the couple’s exposure to the ship’s anti-gravity Nth Metal has destined them to be reincarnated through the ages and fight alongside the Justice Society of America.”

At the start of this year, the DC comics license officially moved from Mattel (who held it for 17 years) to Spin Master and McFarlane.  Their first products started hitting halfway through last month, but right now I’m taking another look at Mattel’s tenure with the license, specifically when they were at their high point, mid-way through their DC Universe Classics run, when they were still filling out that core cast of characters.  Today, I’m taking a look at Hawkgirl!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hawkgirl was released in the eighth series of DC Universe Classics.  At this point, each assortment was getting one core DC character, and thanks to Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, that was a category Hawkgirl fell into in 2009.  She’s undoubtedly the most marketable character of Series 8 as a whole, due in part to the generally low-profile character selection contained therein.  As a whole this assortment was really our first taste of that deep cut philosophy that would define the line going forward.  Hawkgirl would wind up re-packed alongside fellow Series 8 release Gentleman Ghost in the “Fates Intertwined” two-pack in 2010, after she (and all of Series 8) wound up being very tricky to find at retail (a common tale with this line, unfortunately).  Despite the bio’s detailing of the Golden Age Princess Chay-Ara incarnation of the character, the figure is actually based on the Silver Age Thanagarian police officer Shayera Hol incarnation, who was the one that appeared on the cartoons and is generally better known.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation.  As the line was built on parts re-use, it’s no surprise that Hawkgirl had a fair amount of re-use going on.  The shoulders, upper arms, hands, lower torso, pelvis, and upper legs are shared with Series 4’s Wonder Woman, while the wings were previously used for Shayera’s husband Hawkman in Series 6.  In both cases its pretty sensible re-use (and the wings are just very nice pieces in general), and her new parts fit well with the old.  Due to the nature of her head sculpt and how it works with the articulation, she’s stuck looking a bit downward, but if you have her on a flying stand of some sort, it’s not so bad.  It is a shame they couldn’t get some more range out of that neck joint, though.  Overall, though, this is probably one of the most balanced sculpts the line produced.  The paint’s pretty straight forward too, with clean, bright, bold application.  There’s a bit of slop on the mask, but otherwise it’s a pretty clean look.  In her single-packed release, Hawkgirl included her mace, a short sword, a spear, and a display stand.  For the two-pack release, that was cut back to just the mace and the spear.  Mine’s just got the mace these days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 8 was probably the worst distributed assortment in the whole DC Universe Classics line, and I don’t recall seeing any of the figures at retail, Hawkgirl included.  I ended up getting this one, which is the two-pack release loose towards the end of the line, just so I could finally fill out my JLA line-up.  She’s a pretty nice, fairly reserved figure, and one of the best Hawkgirl figures out there.

#2296: Thor

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

THOR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The Thor abides.  Sorry, was that too goofy?  I couldn’t use my usual “Happy Thor’s Day” gag for this one, so I was trying something else out.  I won’t let it happen again.

In a film with a lot of closely guarded secrets and spoilers, Thor’s transformation during Endgame’s five year time jump is arguably a fairly minor one, but it was nevertheless one of the most closely guarded elements of the film, with nary a hint of its existence present anywhere in the marketing.  We were led to believe that Thor would spend the three hour film continuing his Ragnarok look.  This made the depths of his depression and the toll it took on him all the more surprising when it occurred on-screen, in many ways far more properly capturing the feel of what it’s like in real life when someone you care about similarly deals with a serious case of clinical depression.  But, lest we get too serious here, it also let Chris Hemsworth continue to be a bit of a goofball.  It proved a pretty popular incarnation of the character with audiences, and there’s been some sizable demand for him in toy form.  Perfect time a Marvel Legend.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Thor is the Build-A-Figure for the third Endgame-themed assortment of Marvel Legends from last year.  Officially, he’s just titled “Thor”, rather than the more commonly accepted “Bro Thor,” since it appears the second Pop is the first official use of that name.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  He’s sporting a brand-new sculpt, seeing as we haven’t gotten a chubby guy in sweats out of the line previously.  The figure represents Thor at his most Dude-liest, with pajama pants and bathrobe.  Not exactly what you would think of for adventuring garb, but it’s what Thor wears during the film’s big time heist nevertheless.  The sculpt does a solid job of capturing Thor’s dressed down appearance, with some really nice detailing on the various parts of his attire, such as fully detailed crocs, and some very effective layering on his sweats and robe.  He’s also got what’s probably the best Hemsworth likeness we’ve gotten so far; admittedly, there’s more character details to help sell the appearance this time around, with all the hair and the bushy beard.  It’s even further helped on the second included head, which also adds his sunglasses to the mix.  Whatever the case, it’s still my favorite Hemsworth Thor head we’ve gotten so far.  The paintwork on Thor is decently handled; for the most part, it’s just large swathes of color, but he does get the face printing, as well as the plaid pattern on the pants, which keeps things pretty interesting.  Though an accessory himself, Thor makes out alright on the extras front, with the previously mentioned extra head, a second left hand with the time gizmo Tony invented, and an all-new sculpt for Stormbreaker.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

He’s a Build-A-Figure, and I just spent a week reviewing the figures that built him, so where I got this figure seems pretty self-explantory.  When the first round of Endgame product was so Quantum Suit heavy, I was assuming our first LegendsThor would be an inaccurate team suit figure, like in other toy lines.  The complete lack of Thor in the first two assortments did give me hope that we’d see at least a proper final battle Thor.  Getting full-on Bro Thor was a pleasant surprise, and the final figure is the definite highlight of the assortment that builds him.  I’m now hopeful for that final battle look to round things out.

This assortment of Legends was certainly more singularly focused than some from last year, with all of the figures being movie-inspired, rather than our usual mix of figures.  Thor’s the definite star overall, with Iron Man being the standout of the singles.  Heimdall is certainly a welcome addition to the line, and a solid figure to boot, and even Valkyrie and Iron Patriot are valid re-dos of the characters.  Vision doesn’t offer much to people who already have the two-pack, but then not everyone does, so a re-issue is acceptable, if not incredibly exciting.  Cap is unfortunately a slightly out of date figure, and just not really the version of the character that should have been in this assortment.  As a whole, it’s a focused, if not incredibly exciting assortment.

#2295: Iron Patriot

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

IRON PATRIOT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Proud and powerful, the Iron Patriot is heavily armed, high-tech, and ready for battle.”

So, here’s the thing about Endgame, and specifically about its armored characters: the armor we see them wearing on the screen isn’t what the actors are actually wearing during the shoot.  Don Cheadle isn’t wearing the latest War Machine armor, he’s running around the set in a pair of sweats with motion capture markers.  When it comes to making toys of these specific designs, Hasbro has to work from the design sheets of what’s supposed to be on screen.  If things change between those sheets and the final film, you get inaccurate products.  Take, for instance, last summer’s Endgame War Machine.  An awesome figure, held back by only one small thing: it was the wrong colors.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Patriot is the final single-carded figure for the Thor Series of Marvel Legends.  The figure is technically covering the same ground as the Endgame War Machine, but as noted above, that figure was working from early designs.  Though never called Iron Patriot in the film, the figure nevertheless uses the name again; one has to wonder if Rhodey was using the monicker during the time jump to try and re-inspire the public again after Steve Rogers stopped being Cap for a bit. The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  We’ve seen some of this sculpt before when it was War Machine, but not as much of it as you might think.  The two figures share the same head, shoulders, upper arms, hands, waist, and shins; the torso, forearms, and feet are completely new, and the upper legs have been re-worked to accommodate the missile attachments.  The new parts mesh pretty well with the old, and he’s got a pretty similar feel to that figure in terms of build and posability.  I really liked the War Machine figure, so I can’t complain about seeing those parts again.  With the exception of the torso piece and feet, which aim to make the figure a tad more film accurate, the primary purpose of the new pieces are to more fully kit out the armor.  The first War Machine had a few weapons out, but this version’s got pretty much everything deployed.  With the exception of the forearm cannons, everything can be removed, so that he can be a more paired down version of the armor.  The paintwork is more colorful than War Machine, obviously, and requires more apps.  That said, he does end up missing out on a number of spots of colors he should have.  The most evident missing parts are some of the silver elements.  They’re not horribly obvious, and he’s doesn’t look *unfinished*, but I don’t feel he looks quite as clean a figure as the War Machine.  The metallic blue is cool, though.  In addition to all of the weapon attachments, Iron Patriot also includes not one, but two heads for the Build-A-Figure Thor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty happy with the War Machine figure, inaccurate to the source material though it may be, so I didn’t feel like I needed a fixed version.  That said, I certainly wasn’t going to turn it down, since I liked the previous figure quite a bit, and I also liked the first Iron Patriot a lot.  Ultimately, I do like this figure, though I’m not sure I like him quite as much as I expected to.  He’s cool, but I think I’ll stick with the standard War Machine colors.

As with the vast majority of my Legends these days, I picked up Iron Patriot from my friends over at All Time Toys.  If your looking for other Legends or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

 

#2294: Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeellooooo ladies and gents. Tis me, Ethan’s wonderful, beautiful, talented, and absolutely awesome wifu, Jess. Usually, I write my drunk reviews on repainted transformers. BUT MY TIME HAS COME! I can now review figures like this McDiddyDude, slightly see through Vision. I hereby swear that this isn’t serious and that I can’t promise good content.

PS I’m sorry. x)

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So Ethan isn’t reviewing this guy because he already reviewed the first movie Vision, which he’ll maybe link to this one if you want to read a more serious review of the figure (that would be here). Seriously, McDiddyDude (MDD) is just a see through version of serious Vision, who came in some two pack that Ethan hasn’t told me much about. So if you want to actually know about the figure and all the bits and details just read about the first one, the only dif is that the newer one is kinda see through.

McDiddyDude is from the Endgame line, though the character design is from Civil QAR but shhhhhhehehhhshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshhshshshshshsh!

Anyways, this figure is about the size of my hand, which apparently is about 6 inches and some change. He has ten thousand points of articulation. JK I don’t chucking know how many joints he’s got. Go read Ethan’s review of normal Viz to get all the accurate info on this figure. They look pretty identical. in fact, i have to continually hold the two up to the glow of the computer to identify which one I’m reviewing. BT-dubbs, i’m reviewing the one that the light kinda shine through. which is pretty cool cuz you can see a nice outline of the figure pieces and and the bits and bobs really stick out against the light. if you notice how this post is getting worse as it goes it’s because I’m writing this late in a drinking game with White Russian. There’s so many red lines on the screeen and a face at the bottom of my glass, I think it’s Snoke’s face. crap this is a review about an MCU charcter, not Star Wars though Disney does own the souls of both. I’m spiralling again. i haven’t talked about the figure in several lines.

Apparently, McTiidyDude is green, at least his skin tight suit (wait, does vision have SKIN, like SKIN SKIN?????????) is, though that’s what Ethan and Tim says, but i dob’t believe them. personally, I think he’s a kinda a bluish green with this see though version, but I’m not a artsy fartsy major I got my degree in sea science blaeh. His face, and presumably body, is a pink/magenta color, which is replicated in his gloves and boots, which it’s nice that his accessory matches his skin. His face has silver accents for like a weird head gear thingy, but it’s like the only sliver on the figure which is weird against the gold coloring which is the third prominent color of the figure.  DON’T MIX YOUR METALS, as my freshy roomie used to tell me. I miss you Alex! Anyways, speaking of gold, he has gold detailing on his gloves and boots. This guy even has sliver on his neck! the cape though is like a milky, faded gold that sat too long in the sun with streaks of equally faded pink. THE TEXTURE OF THE FIGURE IS PRETTY NEAT. CRAP i was in caps. the texture of the cape is pretty cool. it looks like a cool metal-digital-halo themed cap. the pattern is up for debate. i personally think it looks like someone jabbed a toothpick into his body frequently and methodically like medieval torture in the inquisition. Ethan argues that it’s hexagonal because that’s what ITS SUPPOSED TO BE. Tim, the only one actually grad of arts and graphic design says it’s more like a brick pattern. who’s right? Anyone’s guess really. anyway, texture is pretty cool. though the coolest is the kinda see thru plastic. i enjoy sticking up to the light and seeing his insides, though not vision’s actual insides like computer/human guts but McTiddyDude’s action figure guts which is joints and thingies. Weird tangent on the boots though. i don’t like his boots. they’re kinda bland and uninspiring. would not rank them high on my list of men’s boots. Oh goat turds, hes got subtle detailing on his face too! that’s pretty dope.

I think that’s everything. Height. Articulation. Paint (ish?). Detailing. nuggets, can’t really think of anything else. not really. i like the see through, but I’m easily amused/entertained/whatever. Vision as a character runs hot and cold with me. don’t really think he got enough in the films, can”t wait for the show though. hwhqehiqrhuifqbfqbjkfqbfrbjfw i don’t really know what else to say. TY[ING TYPIMG TYPIMG. okay your hell is over for the day.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have no real attachment to this figure. Ethan thought it would be entertaining if i reviewed this figure since he reviewed the original movie vision figure like 8 forevers agos. BUT HE’S MISSING OUT BECAUSE THIS IS OBVIOUSLY THE SUPERIOR FIGURE BECAUSE OF IT’S SEE THROUGH CAPACITY. Vision is a cool character, but I got like nothing to say abut him. Cool figure though, at least in my drunken state. anyways, end transmission. your day’s torment is over. hope you enjoyed my interlude, dumpster fire talking of a figure. My face feels funny. CHOOO CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Peace out, I’m done, end transmission.

#2293: Heimdall

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

HEIMDALL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, Heimdall uses his all-seeing eyes to protect Asgard at all costs.”

Since the announcement of his casting caused some waves before 2011’s Thor, Idris Elba’s Heimdall has spent some time in the spotlight.  While his roles in Thor and The Dark World both were admittedly minor, and his parts in two of the three Avengers sequels were just cameos, he nevertheless got his due in Ragnarok, where he was finally promoted to a principle supporting player, and it finally felt like they made appropriate use of Idris Elba in the role…just before killing him off moments into Infinity War.  Hey, at least he finally got a Legends release.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Heimdall is another figure from the “Thor” Series of Marvel Legends.  Though this assortment is officially tying into Endgame, Heimdall is one of two figures in the assortment not to appear in the film (though Heimdall was in an early draft of the script, which would have seen his Dark World-era incarnation facing off against a stealth armored Iron Man who had been sent to retrieve the Aether), so his packaging is emblazoned with the Infinity War logo instead.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  After two films sporting some rather intensive golden armor, Heimdall ditched the armored look while on the run in Ragnarok, and kept that dressed down appearance into Infinity War.  That’s what this figure goes for, a sensible choice given that a) Ragnarok was Heimdall’s largest role, and b) Ragnarok is the Thor movie with the most action figure coverage.  The figure is sporting an all-new sculpt based on the look, and it’s rather impressive one at that.  The likeness on the head is a very solid Elba likeness, definitely one of the best ones in the line.  The hair is again a separate piece, and while it doesn’t mesh perfectly with the head, it looks alright.  The body is largely hidden right out of the box by a rather expansive plastic cape.  The cape’s a cool looking piece, with plenty of texturing, and even a  cleverly hidden spot to store the sword beneath the hood, but it’s a little restrictive when it comes to posing.  His entire right side is pretty much rendered motionless with it on, and his left shoulder is quite restricted as well.  Once it’s removed (which will require popping off the head), you find a very impressively detailed and quite articulated figure.  Unlike last year’s Skurge, he doesn’t appear to have been a held-over sculpt, because he doesn’t have some of the slight proportional oddities of the other Ragnarok figures.  Additionally, he’s got two very small details, a cut on his arm and one on his abdomen, which are specific to the opening scenes of Infinity War.  With the cape on, they’re both easily missed, but it’s a cool tiny little touch, and I really dig it.  Heimdall’s paint work is pretty much all browns.  Not the most exciting color scheme, but it’s accurate.  I wish his eyes were a little brighter, but otherwise the paint’s pretty solid.  He’s packed with his sword, which we’ve bafflingly gotten two times prior despite this being our first 6 inch Heimdall figure.  At least he finally gets to use it.  He also comes with one of the legs of Thor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Heimdall’s one of those characters I’ve always wanted a figure of, even when he was more minor in the films.  Not getting him for Ragnarok was a definite bummer.  I’m glad that Hasbro’s been so committed to going back and filling in old casts, especially for that film.  Heimdall’s a very strong figure, and probably my second favorite in this assortment.

Heimdall came from my sponsors at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2292: Valkyrie

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

VALKYRIE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“An honored warrior, Valkyrie uses her strength and skill to defend Asgard.”

I started my first Valkyrie review on this site with a comment that I “sure hoped Valkyrie would get her due” and get to be in the focus…given that her action figure numbers have doubled and she’s been in two major motion pictures, I guess she finally did.  Can I get a resounding “yay”?  In 2017, when she made her first cinematic appearance in Ragnarok, she was fortunate enough to get a Legends release of one of her two looks from the film.  It was a pretty decent figure, but the scaling was a little wonky, and it was only one of the two looks.  When the other look appeared in Endgame, that gave Hasbro some leeway to get around to that other look, and give us a second version of the MCU’s Valkyrie.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Valkyrie is another figure from the “Thor” Series (commonly referred to as the “Bro Thor” Series) of Marvel Legends, which was the third Endgame-themed assortment of 2019.  She’s wearing her proper Valkyrie armor, and that means the figure is pulling double duty, giving us Valkyrie not only as she appears in Endgame‘s final battle, but also Ragnarok‘s.  The figure is about 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  This Valkyrie is a completely new sculpt from the last one, which is sensible.  The two costumes don’t really have much common ground, and that one was a little bit up-scaled (like a few of the Thor figures have been).  Also, while the Tessa Thompson likeness on the first figure was solid, this one is even better.  It’s amazing how much better Hasbro has gotten at capturing a likeness in just two years.  The hair is a separate piece (as has become the new normal), and hangs fairly naturally; the situating of the braids over her shoulder also helps to preserve her neck articulation, which is always a plus.  The rest of the body sculpt is a pretty decent offering; they’ve managed to capture the details of the armor quite nicely, and I certainly appreciate how well they’ve integrated the various overlays in order to keep the depth of the real design.  Her cape has a nice sort of dynamic flair to it, which I prefer to the totally flat cape of the prior release.  My only real complaint is that my figure has a hard time staying standing; I don’t know if that’s going to be an across the board thing or not.  Valkyrie’s paint work is all pretty solid.  The face print is definitely one of the better ones, and the rest of the color scheme has some nice pop to it.  I think she’s technically supposed to have some war paint on her face, but it’s a fairly small detail.  Valkyrie is packed with the same sword and sheath combo as before, though it feels like it scales a bit better this time.  She also includes the leg of the Thor BaF.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I can’t say I had an undying need for this figure.  I was happy with the previous one, at least at the time it was released.  Of course, I wasn’t going to turn this figure down either.  After getting her in hand, now I feel even better about having her, because she’s ultimately a lot nicer than the prior offering, and makes for a strong addition to the growing Endgame ranks.

I picked up Valkyrie from my friends All Time Toys, and she’s still in stock here.  If you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2291: Iron Man

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

IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark gears up in his highly advanced Mark LXXXV armor.”

When Iron Man first appeared on the big screen in 2008, he did so in a suit of armor that was a respectable recreation of his then current armor in the comics.  It was sensible from a marketing standpoint of course; having your character in the same basic costume across different forms of media is typically a good idea; but it was also sensible from the angle of making him work in a real world setting.  As cool as Tony’s classic armor may be, it’s hard to sell an audience on the classic skin-tight-looking design existing in the real world….or is it?  After 10 years with various modern reinterpretations, Endgame‘s Mark 85 armor, much like Cap’s new and improved uniform, finally got us something much closer to that classic Iron Man design.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man is part of the “Thor” Series of Marvel Legends, the third Endgame-based assortment of 2019.  As noted in the intro, he’s sporting the Mark 85 armor, which made its debut in Endgame and is heavily inspired by Tony’s 60s/70s armor from the comics.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  The Mark 85 is an all-new sculpt, unsurprising given that this particular armor design is the most divergent standard armor from a design standpoint.  That said, its heavily rumored we’ll be seeing a lot of the sculpt turn up again for some sort of final battle release in some sort of exclusive or boxed set form.  Joint layout and integration on this figure is pretty similar to the Mark 50, but the actual construction of the figure feels a lot more solid, and the joints get a bit more range.  The all-new sculpt does a pretty respectable job of capturing the design of the armor from the movie in plastic form.  The decision to push him back to the third assortment was a solid one, since it allows for the figure to be more accurate to the final film design than other film Iron Men.  It’s still not perfect; like the Mark 50, it’s still not quite as sleek as the final film design, but it does still manage to land a bit closer.  The detail work is all pretty sharp, though, and the figure is as a whole a very cohesive sculpt.  He’s one of the most solidly assembled MCU Iron Men, really rivaled only by the Mark VII figure from 2018.  The paint work on Iron Man isn’t too complicated, but it gets all of the important details and, unlike the 50, it manages to actually stick to the movie’s color scheme.  I appreciate sticking with the painted gold as well; it ends up making for a nicer looking final product.  One of the biggest flaws with the Mark 50 was his lack of extras, and in that regard, the 85 definitely does a little better.  He gets a spare set of repuslor hands (which finally have actual universal joints on the wrists again, after far too many figures with simple cut joints on the extra hands), plus four repulsor effects, meaning you no longer have to choose between using them for the hands or feet.  That’s just what he gets for himself; he’s also got some extras for other figures.  The first is the other arm of the Thor figure (complete with a spare hand with the time travel device), and the second is an alternate nano-tech gauntlet for last series’ Hulk BaF.  It’s a little weird that he gets the gauntlet for another figure and not for himself, but that sort of adds fuel to those rumors of a second version of this armor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wanted two things when I walked out of the theater after seeing Endgame the first time.  The first was Cap’s new costume.  The second was this guy.  As much as I like Iron Man, and as much as I can appreciate the various MCU armors purely aesthetically, by around Iron Man 3, I was really longing for a proper classic Iron Man, which resulted in each successive MCU figure not quite hitting the way I wanted.  Once this design was unveiled, I knew I wanted it, and I was definitely happy when he was shown off with this assortment.  He’s a really nice figure, and a great basic, clean Iron Man figure, easily rivaling the Mark VII in terms of being the best MCU Iron Man figure.  Definitely this assortment’s star piece.

Iron Man was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys, and he’s currently in-stock at their store, here. And, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2290: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The all-American hero Captain America charges into battle for justice.”

Back in 2012, Marvel Legends was kind of in hibernation, meaning the main line of Avengers figures were in the smaller 3 3/4-inch scale.  Walmart, however, carried an exclusive line of Legends-styled figures for the movie, to at least give us (most) of the main cast.  These figures were still a little rarer than the usual release, however, and over the course of the last eight years, Hasbro have done what they can to get some of those figures (or at least those looks) back to market.  A lengthy flashback sequence (plus an involved fight scene) in Endgame proved a fairly good excuse to put back out the first movie’s take on Cap.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America (affectionately referred to as “America’s Ass” Cap by the fanbase, due to the movie’s commentary on the costume’s…benefits to Cap’s physique) is part of the third Endgame-themed series of Marvel Legends.  While the assortment was officially a fall 2019 release, there was a definite split in distribution, which caused a lot of the figures to be pretty scarce until around the first week of 2020.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  As far as the sculpt is concerned, this figure’s completely re-use, though not all from the same source.  The majority of the figure is the old Walmart release, with the head of the Quantum Suit Cap (which I had pegged for re-use when it debuted).  The head was the most inaccurate part of the original figure, so the replacement is certainly an improvement.  Unfortunately, while the head may work in modern times, the body, though good in 2012, is really out of date eight years later.  The articulation on the hips his definitely the weakest bit, but the lack of proper wrists also holds him back, as does his limited range of the shoulders.  The head also sits a little high on the neck, and takes some pretty careful posing to not look super goony.  Also, despite the whole “America’s Ass” commentary from the movie, the old sculpt definitely doesn’t do that aspect of the costume any favors.  Obviously, Hasbro was looking for a figure to save some tooling costs on, but ultimately, this is a figure that should have warranted an all-new body sculpt; the old one just doesn’t quite pass muster anymore.  The paintwork on this figure changes things up a bit from the original release; the brighter colors of the Walmart figure have been toned down a fair bit, resulting in a more film-accurate color scheme.  Additionally, he’s got the face printing on the head, making the figure look a little more lifelike.  Cap gets the upgraded shield from the 10th Anniversary line in place of the old one, as well as one of the arms for the Thor Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This Cap figure fills me with mixed emotions…which seems to have been a running theme for Cap Legends in 2019, honestly.  I never hated the 2012 costume the way others did, so I’m not put off by the prospect of an update, especially given it’s prominence in Endgame.  The 2012 figure certainly wasn’t bad for his time, and I reviewed him quite favorably when I looked at him back in 2018. Unfortunately, the rehash feels kind of hollow, especially when compared to some of the other work Hasbro put out last year, and it’s also hard not to view this figure as taking the regular retail slot from the standard Endgame Cap, who would have made far more sense in one of the standard assortments, and who still proves particularly hard to acquire for a lot of fans.  Obviously, there are things behind the scenes at Hasbro that I’m not privy to, so I can’t know exactly why they chose to do things this way, but it doesn’t stop this Cap figure from feeling somewhat lackluster, and not quite what I wanted.

Cap was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys, and he’s currently in-stock at their store, here. And, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2289: Death Star Trooper

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

DEATH STAR TROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Grand Moff Tarkin created this select force of soldiers to defend the galaxy’s ultimate weapon, the Death Star. These elite troopers manned the gun towers during the Battle of Yavin, a conflict that resulted in the Death Star’s destruction.”

The original 12 Kenner Star Wars figures were largely populated by the film’s most distinctive characters, or even a few stand out designs, such as the Tusken Raiders and Jawas.  The slight odd-man out to this line-up was the Death Squad Commander, later renamed the Star Destroyer Commander, a uniformed and helmeted Imperial trooper based on a character that really didn’t get much action in the film proper.  When the line was brought back in the ’90s with an even deeper reach of characters, it would still take most of the run to finally get a follow-up to that original character, this time named the Death Star Trooper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Death Star Trooper was released in the Power of the Force II line in 1998.  He and Ree-Yees were the only two knew figures in 1998’s final main assortment, resulting in both of them being quite difficult to get at their time of release.  General lowered interest in Power of the Force as well as a reissue of this figure brought his price way down, to the point that he’s pretty much just as easily found as any other figure from the line.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He was an all-new sculpt at the time and….well, it’s certainly an interesting one.  By ’98, the buffed-up, pre-posed look had been pretty much weeded out of the line.  This guy definitely wasn’t buffed up, but somehow he manages to be one of the most pre-posed the line ever produced.  And exactly the purpose of that pose?  Who knows?  He looks like he’s going for a jog or something.  I mean, the Death Star is a pretty big place.  They gotta get around somehow.  Aside from the posing, the sculpt is honestly pretty good, with a solid recreation of the uniform, and even a removable helmet to boot!  Sure, he’s got some wonky headgear going on beneath it for some reason, but it’s still pretty nifty.  His paintwork is fairly basic, but does what it’s supposed to do, and looks pretty decent.  The trooper was not seen armed in the film, but for this figure was armed with a ridiculously large blaster rifle, which despite the pre-posing, he still can’t hold very convincingly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got the original Death Squad Commander, which has given me a soft spot for the general concept of this figure, but I didn’t own this one growing up, largely due to how rare he was at the time.  I ended up getting him during one of my big Power of the Force splurges at All Time.  He’s not anything amazing or special, but he’s at the very least not as boring as some of the other Imperial guys.

#2288: Spirit Iron-Knife

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

SPIRIT IRON-KNIFE

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6 (HASBRO)

“Spirit Iron-Knife started in field operations and was selected for the most difficult missions because of his outstanding ability to spot overlooked clues.  He became a lead investigator at special ops and solved complex cases with his ability to track suspects using shreds of information.  He was soon promoted to covert ops and used his tracking skills to to uncover criminals skilled at concealing their existence.  He is also an expert at creating small, precisely targeted explosions that disable mechanical or electronic systems without destroying the entire structure.  He is a highly skilled marksman with his bow, using technologically advanced arrows that deliver powerful explosions.”

In the last several months, I’ve taken some time to really look at the G.I. Joe franchise, with a real focus on its ’80s A Real American Hero incarnation, which was by far the franchises most popular and successful incarnation.  Now I’m taking a jump ahead to the incarnation that followed, Sigma 6.  Launched in the mid-00s, it tried to modernize things and tap into what was popular at the time, and it was honestly a pretty decent success. Well, purely commercially, anyway.  With the pre-existing fans?  Let’s just say they don’t deal well with change.  So, after a solid three year run, it was put to bed and replaced with a return to the old.  But, let’s not focus on the end, let’s focus on the beginning, with one of the line’s launch figures, a re-imagined Spirit Iron-Knife.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spirit Iron-Knife was one of the five figures released in the first Commando assortment of the Sigma 6 line, which launched the line in 2005.  Compared to the others in the assortment, Spirit was something of an oddball choice, not being amongst what people would typically consider the “core” Joes.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  His sculpt was all-new at launch (and would later be re-used for a second version of Spirit), though it certainly had some similarities to his team-mates, given the line’s general style and the uniformed nature of the Joes.  Spirit’s design is shared with his cartoon counterpart, and marked something of a departure from his original ’84 design (which was a little bit stereotypical for a Native American tracker).  He had received quite a redesign in the comics that accompanied the 2002 relaunch of ARAH, and his S6 design seemed to take a few elements from that, as well as being the first version of the character to tap into Billy from Predator as a design inspiration.  The final result is honestly the most unique of the five initial figures, not just when compared to the other four in the same set, but also compared to prior versions of Spirit himself.  The figure’s sculpt is definitely the coolest of the initial assortment, showing some neat deviations from the standard uniform, and giving us a head with a lot of character behind it.  As one of the more deluxe “Commando” releases, he also got to be a slightly mixed media affair.  Not only is his head band cloth, but he’s also got a pair of actual pants to wear over his Sigma suit, as well as the usual set of dogtags.  The figure was then armed with a bow, four arrows, a quiver, a knife, a sheath, a pair of axes, and his pet eagle.  As is the nature of the Sigma 6 beast, mine is incomplete, with only the bow and the knife sheath.  I know, for shame.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve discussed before, Sigma 6 was a concept I very much enjoyed, but unfortunately not a line I was able to get much of when it was new.  Spirit was a figure I always wanted, but was just never able to get.  I was eventually able to track one down back in November of 2018.  It took a while to get him and he’s not complete, but it’s still very nice to have even just the core figure, because he’s quite a cool offering.