Category Archives: Reviews

#3966: Red Tornado

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

RED TORNADO

JLA (HASBRO)

“Although the robotic being known as the Red Tornado was originally created by the Justice League of America’s foe T.O. Morrow, his heroism has never been questioned. Red Tornado’s capable of generating and maintaining winds of tornado velocity – and even greater.”

For as much a presence as it had on my formative years of toy collection, I haven’t talked a ton about Hasbro’s JLA line here on the site.  Launched at the end of the ’90s, the line served as a continuation to Kenner’s earlier Total Justice line, with a focus on filling out the roster, in most cases with as few new parts as possible.  It had a few boxed sets, and four assortment run of single-carded figures, and did its job of filling out the roster for sure.  The aim of the line was for modern takes on the team, but a few classic characters found their way, albeit often with a modern flair, like today’s offering, Red Tornado!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Red Tornado was released in Series 4 of Hasbro’s JLA line, which wound up being the last assortment.  Diamond did boxed sets that repacked the “new” figures from each assortment with a couple of exclusive figures, but they dropped off by this line-up, so everyone just got a single release.  Tornado was seen here in his then current look, which had returned him to a more robotic design, like his original look.  It was notably the look he was sporting in Young Justice at the time, and given the three leads from that book had been added in the prior assortment, it made a lot of sense.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As I noted in the intro, this line tried to work in as much re-use as possible, and Tornado was pretty high on that list.  He re-used the arms from Superman, along with the re-tooled torso that removed all the costume specific details, and also had the legs from the Blue Beetle figure.  The combination means he’s not *super* pre-posed, but he does wind up with one leg just sort of jutting to the side, which is a touch silly looking.  He did get a new head and cape, though, and both of those were solid pieces.  The cape has a decent hang, and I like the sculpted piping on the edges.  The head’s a nice recreation of his “modern” faceplate design, and though it’s a bit tiny, it sits well on the body.  His paint’s very simple.  The bulk of the coloring is molded, and I do quite like the slightly metallic red of the body.  Most of the paint is just the yellow elements, which are generally pretty clean, though the head arrow has a bit of wear on mine.  Red Tornado included a “JLA” display stand in yellow of all colors, for some reason.  It does at least keep him standing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was quite excited for the assortment this guy was from, because it had some decent deep cut characters you couldn’t get elsewhere at the time.  Tornado was found on a trip to Toys R Us with my dad, during some downtime at his job for “Take Your Kid To Work Day.”  I got this guy and the X-Men Movie Storm and Sabretooth.  I’ve always really liked this figure, and by extension I have a real soft spot for this design for Tornado.  The figure’s not terribly impressive technically, I suppose, but he’s a nice, rather clean take on the character.

#3965: Namor the Submariner

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

NAMOR THE SUBMARINER

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Born from the depths of the ocean, Namor, the avenging son, is Prince of the noble underwater city of Atlantis. The hybrid offspring of a human and an Atlantean, Namor’s quest for adventure brought him into contact with the surface world and its inhabitants. Although sometimes at odds with the actions and agendas of the land dwellers, the Sub-Mariner often lent his incredible strength and exalted heroism towards the fight for justice and humanity.”

You just gotta space out your Namor reviews, guys.  It’s the only way to do it.  That’s why I haven’t reviewed a Namor figure since 2023.  Also, because I don’t have a *ton* of Namor figures, and I actually haven’t bought any in the mean time.  That might contribute to it as well.  Today’s Namor isn’t even a new Namor.  It’s not even new to me, even.  It’s actually the oldest a Namor figure can be, because it’s the first one he got.  Have I said Namor enough?  Clearly not.  Onto the review proper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Namor the Submariner was released in the third series of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  The show had moved onto its second season by this point, which houses neither of Namor’s two appearances, but they didn’t let that hold them back from releasing him.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation…sort of.  The shoulder and elbow on his right arm are both tied into his action feature, so they don’t move particularly well on their own.  On the flip side, he does get an additional wrist swivel on that side, so there’s some extra movement there.  Namor got an all-new sculpt for this release (which would later be re-tooled into Ryu for the X-Men vs Street Fighter line), based on his design from the show, which was itself based on his ‘90s comics design.  It generally sticks to his classic green speedo look, with one notable change-up: a pretty rad ponytail!  Yeah, Imperius Rex needed to show off that he was hip, and cool, and down with it, so he got a pony tail.  The thing that’s always struck me about this mold is that he just sort of feels wide.  Or squat.  Or something.  The proportions seem off.  I do like the scale texturing on the shorts, though, and the little ankle wings work surprisingly well.  There’s a button on his back that, when pushed, extends his right arm forward, for something of a lunging attack if he’s hold his trident.  The figure’s color work is fine.  Generally basic, but it does what it needs to.  Mine’s taken a slight beating over the years, but it’s not awful.  Namor is packed with his trident and a shield, which can both be easily held in his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Namor is one of my earliest figures from this line.  Series 3 had just hit when I was getting into action figures, so he and the Thing were probably my first two FF figures, I’d imagine?  I actually already knew Namor pretty well at the time, because I had a bunch of VHS tapes with his Ruby-Spears cartoon on them, which gave him a decent amount of focus from me.  He was my only Namor until the Legends figure came out, and he definitely got a lot of play time.  He’s easily one of the most dated figures in the line, but he works in his own sort of quirky way.

#3964: Airspeeder with Airspeeder Pilot

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

AIRSPEEDER with AIRSPEEDER PILOT

STAR WARS: EXPANDED UNIVERSE (KENNER)

“A series of publications called The Art of Star Wars unveiled how a group of artists whose talent for intricacies revealed a far-away galaxy that continues to capture the imagination of Star Wars fans everywhere. Several versions of the Incom T-47 airspeeder, also known as the snowspeeder, were created before deciding on the definitive model seen in The Empire Strikes Back. This vehicle was designed and built based on several production sketches by artist Ralph McQuarrie.”

Following up on last week’s exploration of the “Expanded Universe” line’s vehicles, I’m doing…well, more of that.  Just really exactly that.  Yeah.  That’s it.  There were three of them.  I’ve looked at two.  Now, here’s the third.  Pretty cool, right.  Okay, here’s the Airspeeder and its accompanying pilot.

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The Airspeeder with Airspeeder Pilot is the last of the three vehicle sets that accompanied the “Expanded Universe” sub-line of Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II, released in 1998.  This is yet another set based on Ralph McQuarrie’s concept work, and, much like last week’s Cloud Car, the Airspeeder is another Empire concept, the first draft of what would become the Snowspeeder in the final film.  The Snowspeeder isn’t a huge vehicle in the final film, but it *was* a two seater, where as the original design was meant only for a pilot, with no gunner seat.  As such, the ship’s about half the size, making it a tad smaller than the Cloud Car, though it’s a bit boxier and fuller than that design.  There’s actually still a lot of the final design present here, especially as it relates to the general shaping, making it pretty easy to tell what this was meant to be.  Like the Cloud Car, the Airspeeder gets a spring-loaded pop-out feature, where the rear engines go upward to make more distinctive wings, but I prefer it in its standard configuration.  There’s some decals to be applied to the vehicle to give it some of its smaller markings, and it also gets a missile for use with the launcher mounted on the underside of the vehicle.

The Airspeeder Pilot is, I guess, an early take on the updated Rebel pilot garb from Empire, presenting a more distinct deviation than we saw in the final product, ultimately creating something that feels more in line with what was ultimately worn by the ground troops.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He doesn’t feel quite as diminutive as the other two pilots from this line, though he’s still a *little* small.  While the Cloud Car Pilot kept with the illustrations more stylistically, this figure is once more back to the general Power of the Force aesthetic.  That said, I do think it works a bit better here than it did with the smaller speeder pilot, and is just generally a nicer sculpt, with a lot of smaller work, and a surprising amount of character in the face.  The color work is easily lost, since it’s a lot of white, but it works out okay, and I do like the little splash of red and blue on the shoulder.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m pretty sure I picked this set up at the same time as the Cloud Car.  I don’t remember much about getting either of them beyond that, and they’ve both been sitting in my office unopened since then, for at least a couple of years.  Like the Cloud Car, I opened this one for the purposes of writing the review.  I’m once again pleasantly surprised by the final product.  I think the Speeder Bike’s lackluster nature just really soured me on the whole set of these, which is a shame, because the other two vehicles and their matching figures really are just a lot better.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3963: Talosian Keeper

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

TALOSIAN KEEPER

STAR TREK (PLAYMATES)

“After a disastrous mission on Rigel VII, the U.S.S. Enterprise received a distress call from survivors of the S.S. Columbia on Talos IV. The landing party found a group of aging scientists and a young woman named Vina. But it was all an illusion created by the mentally power Talosians. The used Vina to trap Christopher Pike and try to entice him into becoming part of their menagerie.  Their plan—to repopulate the surface destroyed thousands of centuries ago by a terrible war caused by their great illusory powers.

Living underground, the Talismans became addicted to their dreams. With a life span many times that of humans, they spend their time reliving their own memories and those of their zoo specimens.

Pike discovered the Talosians’ vulnerability—they couldn’t read primitive thoughts. After discovering that the humans would rather die than be held captive, the Talosians released Pike and his ship. They promised to never again trap humans—although it would probably doom the Talosians to extinction.”

Oh man, *more* Star Trek?  Is that legal?  Ah, who cares about legality these days!  We just do whatever we want, right?  Right.  I’m keeping the specific theming of figures based on the original Trek pilot “The Cage.”  I’ve looked at Pike, Vina, and Spock, but I’ve yet to look at the episode’s lead antagonist, The Talosian Keeper, keeper of all things Talosian.  Or, you know, at the very least all things Pike and Vina, for the purposes of the episode. Anyway, let’’s look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Talosian Keeper was released as part of Playmates’ main Star Trek line in 1996, the last of the four figures released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The Cage.”  While there are multiple Talosians seen in the episode, this figure is specifically based on Meg Wylie’s performance as the lead Talosian, dubbed the Keeper.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Movement’s really wonky and restricted on this figure.  There’s a swivel and hinge on both elbows, and a swivel at the base of each leg, but ultimately, the only ones that actually matter are the neck and shoulders.  Otherwise, he just stands there.  Which, I mean, that’s also all he does in the show (that and get strangled by Pike, but you don’t need articulation for that), so I guess it all works out.  The figure has a unique sculpt, which is generally fine.  It’s got its ups and downs.  It definitely feels a bit to bulky for Wylie as seen in the show, and in an odd turn of events for a Playmates Trek figure, the head actually seems a touch too small.  That said, the texturing on the robe is actually super nifty, even if the robe beneath the texturing does seem to hang a little bit odd.  The color work on this figure is solid.  It matches well with what’s seen on screen, application is nice and clean, and there’s a surprising amount of accenting on the head, which does a really nice job of capturing the make-up work seen on the show.  The Keeper is packed with a nourishment vial, gas sprayer, and view screen, as well as one of the then-standard display stands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve noted in the past, the only of the figures in this set I had personally as a kid was Pike, but I’m a big fan of “The Cage” and its unique cast, so I’ve made an effort to track them all down as an adult.  The Keeper was the third one I tracked down, rather shortly after getting Spock, snagged from an estate sale table at a local convention in the summer of 2018.  It’s noteworthy for being the only figure from this set that came into my possession in its original package, which it remained in until just before I sat down to write this review.  Common theme around here these days, huh? Yeah, well, I’m trying to take better stock of what I own, I guess.  Honestly, the figure looks fine, but it’s rough on play factor even for a Playmates Trek figure.

#3962: Superman – Hush Version

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

SUPERMAN — HUSH VERSION

MAFEX (MEDICOM)

My last MAFEX review kept running with my general investment in the DC theme, but broke from the otherwise Batman: Hush-ness of the reviews up to that point, instead jumping over to the Superman side of things.  Today, I present what I can best describe as a happy medium, because it’s a Superman, but he’s from “Hush!’  Ha-hahh!  Bet you didn’t see that coming!  Because, you know, I’m the only one who knows what I buy and when I’m gonna review it, but that’s not really the point here.  What *is* the point, is that I’ve got another Superman figure to review, and I’m gonna go ahead and do that now.  Let’s jump in!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is figure 117 in Medicom’s MAFEX line, where he was the second figure under the “Hush” banner.  The figure stands just over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 43 points of articulation.  While Superboy was rather up-scaled compared to the others in the line, this Superman feels maybe a touch on the small side.  Not terribly so, but just a little.  He keeps the same general articulation scheme as the other MAFEX figures I’ve looked at, which is to say it’s a generally nice range of motion and movement is pretty smooth.  Since this is explicitly a “Hush” figure, this Superman is based on Jim Lee’s illustrations of the character seen in the book.  It’s hardly a bad thing, since Lee’s take on Superman is a pretty solid “classic” Superman, who is generally pretty multi-purpose.  There is sort of a humor to the only two standard costume Superman figures in the MAFEX line both being in Batman-themed packaging, but such is Superman’s lot in life…at least a few years ago.  The sculpt does a respectable job of capturing Lee’s art, and specifically his take on Clark.  The standard head is a nice, generic calm head, but he’s also got an angrier head, meant to emulate Clark while under Ivy’s control.  Like Huntress, he’s got a cloth cape, which has a wire running through it for posing options. Superman’s color work is fine.  The paint work is clean, and all, but he’s also, like, really washed out.  I guess it’s not inaccurate to the look and palette of “Hush,” but on its own it does feel a little bit desaturated, slightly hindering his generic Superman-ness.  Superman is packed with the two heads previously mentioned, as well as five pairs of hands (in two styles of fists, flat, relaxed, and open gesture), neck and arm attachments for Ivy’s possession of him, and a flight display stand.  He also included an alternate hand for the first Batman, which had the Kryptonite ring on it, which I don’t have with my figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t really up on MAFEX when this guy hit, so, despite the original DC Direct line’s Superman being one of my favorite figures from their line for the story, I didn’t get him when he was first released.  As they got further into the line, I kept regretting that more and more, but I also kept missing every re-release, because they kept selling out so very quickly.  I was sort of hoping we might get a more standard Superman from the Return line, but that’s not yet happened.  So, after getting Superboy as a gift over the summer, I finally decided to bite the bullet and just pay what I felt was a fair price on a used version of this guy.  He’s very cool, and I certainly get why he’s so in demand, because he’s just a good basic Superman.  That said, I’d still be game for Jurgens Superman with a slightly more classic color scheme, because I’m a sucker for such things.

#3961: Annihilus

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

ANNIHILUS

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“An experimental spore, released on a planet in the anti-matter universe known as the Negative Zone rapidly grew, and developed into the insectivoid entity called Annihilus. Cosmic power, harnessed through a Control Rod, grants Annihilus super-human strength and extends his life to near immortality. With superior intelligence and a mastery of the alien technology that spawned him, Annihilus has dedicated his existence to conquering any being that threatens his insane quest for power.”

Last month, I was discussing Blastaar, one of the more notable denizens of the Negative Zone, a deposed ruler who faced down with the Fantastic Four on multiple occasions.  The ruler who deposed him, who became an even more persistent thorn in the FF, and many more heroes’ sides, is Annihilus, the bug-like guy to Blastaar’s simian-like guy.  Annihilus has certainly been the more prevalent of the two when it comes to toy coverage, being the FF’s second villain to be released during the Marvel Super Heroes line, and then also getting a follow-up during the proper Fantastic Four line, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Annihilus was released in Series 3 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line, amusing because he was also a Series 3 release for Marvel Super Heroes.  He followed up on Blastaar’s release in Series 2.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  He lacks neck articulation, but gets a hinge on his wings, sans he flapping feature present on the prior version.  While the MSH figure was rather on the scrawny side, this one follows the look he had on the show, where he was a bit more bulked up.  He’s certainly a lot wider.  The sculpt was all-new and all unique, and it’s pretty solid.  The best work is on the head, which gets some clean line-work.  Said head can be removed from the main body, showing a smaller, curled up body, which is presumably the “transforming mutant” feature advertised on the packaging.  The figure’s coloring is the appropriate mix of green and…well, it’s not quite purple, it’s more of a mauve?  It’s the color he usually gets.  Color work is basic, but gets the job done, and the paint’s pretty clean, if perhaps a it uneven on some of the edges.  Annihilus is packed with a pair of spiky removable shoulder pads, for all your spiky removable shoulder pad-related needs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Annihilus here is another addition to my collection from my early 2000s trip to the KB Toys liquidation center.  I didn’t know him much before owning the figure, but getting this guy prompted me to find out more about him.  Ultimately, he’s not a character that’s really stuck with me, but I do think he’s got a killer visual, and I like his older appearances.  I like the MSH figure, but he’s dated.  Of the two, this one’s the stronger figure, and he’s certainly got a neat presence on the shelf.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0053: Captain Christopher Pike

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

CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER PIKE

STAR TREK (PLAYMATES)

It’s a crazy thing going on here, because not only did I write a Star Trek review earlier this week, but now I’m also dedicating a whole Flashback Friday Figure Addendum to the franchise, which is totally a first here!  I’m keeping in theme with the “Cage” based offering from this week’s main review, with a follow-up on my review of Captain Christopher Pike!

“After a disastrous mission on Rigel VII, Captain Christopher Pike diverted the U.S.S. Enterprise to Talos IV after receiving a distress call from survivors of S.S. Columbia. On the Talosian surface, the landing party found a group of aging scientists and a young woman named Vina. But it was all an illusion.

Vina led Pike into a trap set by the Talosians living underground. Imprisoned in a menagerie, they were to begin repopulation of the surface. Pike learned to fight the Talosians’ mental power, filling his mind with primitive thoughts they could not block.

After discovering that the humans would rather die than be held captive, the Talosians released Pike and his ship. Vina, the only true survivor of the Columbia, remained with the Talosians. The captain recommended to Starfleet that Talos IV be placed off limits.”

Star Trek reviews are certainly a rarity around here. It’s not that I don’t like the franchise, but I don’t know that I enjoy it as much as a lot of other people. What I do like from the franchise tends to be rather TOS-centric. My favorite ship’s captain from the franchise, Captain Christopher Pike, comes from that era, although with some technicalities, I suppose, since he’s not a main captain by the point of the actual show, instead serving as the main character of “The Cage,” the show’s first pilot. When the network didn’t pick up the show based on that pilot, lead actor Jeffery Hunter backed out, and Pike was replaced as captain of the Enterprise by William Shatner’s Kirk for the series proper. Much of the footage from “The Cage” was then worked into the series proper as the extended flashback that makes up the bulk of “The Menagerie,” so there’s at least *some* Pike. That’s better than none. It also makes him a good pick for merch! Yeah, the merch! Let’s look at some of that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Christopher Pike was released in 1996 under Playmates’ combined Star Trek line, which gave a mix of all of the shows up to that point. He was part of the fifth series of that set-up, and was released, alongside a Spock variant, Vena, and the Talosian Keeper, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The Cage.” The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation. Pike has the line’s standard articulation set-up. Not exactly the best scheme, and I never cared much for those silly v-hips, but it is what it is. They were at least consistent by this point. Pike’s structure is pretty similar to the rest of the standard TOS Starfleet officers. That being said, he’s notably a little skinnier than the others, which I’m not sure is entirely accurate. Of course, it’s not like any of the proportions were all that accurate on any of these figures, so it’s all kind of a toss up. The likeness on these figures were rarely spot-on, and Pike’s not an exception. Playmates did three Pike figures with Hunter’s likeness; this one’s the weakest of those three, but it was, at least, still not a terrible offering. He’s got at least a hint of who he’s supposed to be. The head does seem a tad large relative to the rest of the body, but that was common with these figures. The body sculpt is rather on the basic side; there’s a little bit of detailing on his collar, but he’s otherwise without any real details of note, making him a softer sculpt than even the rest of the line. Pike’s paint work is likewise basic. The eyes are the best work, and the lips aren’t bad either. The hair on mine has seen better days, but that’s not so much Playmates’ fault. Other than that, he’s very basic and very shiny. Pike was packed with his “Starfleet Hand Laser”, communicator, shield, and spear, all molded in the same sort of indigo shade, as well as a display stand. Of all the parts, mine only has the stand these days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure started out as my dad’s. He got it new, back when I was a kid. I was always fascinated by “The Menagerie” and Pike in particular, so I would borrow this guy all the time, and he wound up taking a bit of a beating. That scuff on the hair happened pretty early on, and it was around that time that my dad realized he wasn’t going to shake me off of this one, so he bought himself a replacement and let me keep this one. Of my meager Trek collection, he was always a favorite of mine. He’s dated and goofy, but I dig it.

This review is one of the slew of reviews I prepped in advance of my daughter Aubrey being born, which ran in the month following her birth, while I was getting pretty much no sleep at all.  As opposed to now, where I get *oh so much* of it.  I did a lot of deep dives into older figures, since it meant I could write them whenever and not worry about them sitting on the shelf for too long before running them.  This one was late in the prep, and was ultimately written about three months before it ran.  With all the prep work, I do still think it kind of holds up.

Missing from the original review were most of this guy’s accessories, which I have subsequently replaced.  So, now he’s got his phaser, communicator, shield, and spear, which are all in the same shade of indigo.  I don’t know *why* they’re indigo, but it’s fine.  It’s also a nice little cross-section of items from his one episode, so I can definitely dig it.

#3960: Cloud Car with Cloud Car Pilot

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

CLOUD CAR with CLOUD CAR PILOT

STAR WARS: EXPANDED UNIVERSE (KENNER)

“Cloud cars are atmospheric vessels that employ both repulsorlifts and ion engines, filling the important gap between airspeeders and starfighters. Functional in many ways, twin-cockpit, patrol cars escorted the Millennium Falcon and her crew onto Cloud City during The Empire Strikes Back. It was here that Darth Vader had Han Solo frozen in carbonite while Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO were held prisoners of the Empire. This single cockpit cloud car was designed and built based on production sketches found in The Art of Star Wars; its brainchild was renown Star Wars artist, Ralph McQuarrie.”

Back in early 2021, I wrapped up the last review of the standard “Expanded Universe” figures from Kenner’s Power of the Force run.  I was, however not *truly* done with the “Expanded Universe” sub-line, because in addition to the nine standard figures, there were also three smaller-scale vehicles, each including their own unique figure.  The slight switch up there is that, rather than go proper Expanded Universe, the vehicles were all early concept designs.  Thus far, I’ve reviewed one of those, a fact I almost forgot because I found the set so “meh” that it continues to leave virtually no mark on my memory.  Perhaps today’s offering will fair a bit better?  I sure hope so.  Here’s the Cloud Car and its associated pilot!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The Cloud Car with Cloud Car Pilot was released alongside the rest of the “Expanded Universe” sub-line of Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  As noted in the bio, this set is based on illustrations by Ralph McQuarrie as part of Empire’s pre-production, making it, I believe, the earliest McQuarrie-based item in the toyline.  This was the largest of the three vehicles, though not by a ton.  It’s about 6 inches long and about 4 inches tall.  While the Cloud Cars seen in the final film are a rather odd twin cockpit design, the initial look was a more conventional single-seater.  It’s actually not a bad little design, with a very fun futuristic vibe that’s very clean.  It doesn’t feel like it’s totally out of place with the final design, either, so perhaps it was still there, just elsewhere?  It certainly feels like more of an older, Clone Wars-era design.  The toy does a nice job translating it, and working in a number of fun playable features, so it can be fully collapsed or deploy the wings.  It’s even got a rather clever missile launcher design, which isn’t too obvious or silly.

The Cloud Car’s pilot is a unique figure, and not really at all like the established Cloud Car pilot from the film, largely because he’s not actually based on a pilot design, but rather a more generalized Bespin citizen, presumably an early version of the Bespin Guards.  The figure stands just shy of 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Like the last pilot I looked at from this line, this guy feels a bit small compared to the rest of the line.  Of course, he also feels like he’s from a different line entirely, just in terms of styling.  He’s more angular and cartoonish, again a bit more like a Clone Wars character, or perhaps Rebels.  In contrast to the Rebel Pilot, I feel like this stylization helps him to keep the original charm of the design, making for a generally more entertaining figure.  His paint work is a bit of a departure from the usual Star Wars shades, making it rather eye-catching and different.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t recall much about this set, or really much about getting it.  I know it was part of a larger purchase, and more than likely I grabbed it at the same time as the other vehicle I was missing.  It’s also been sitting unopened for a good while, continuing the theme of all of my recent Power of the Force reviews.  There was more reason this time, because the speeder bike was so underwhelming, and I just wasn’t sure about this one.  I’m happy to say, this one’s a pleasant departure from the earlier set, and I actually found it to be an immensely enjoyable set.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3959: Mister Spock

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

MISTER SPOCK

STAR TREK (PLAYMATES)

Back at the beginning of the year, I had a small string of Star Trek reviews, which was certainly notable, because I don’t do a lot of those.  Did you know that I actually planned to go further but got distracted had other things to drop on the schedule? Of course not, because I literally don’t discuss my review schedules with a single other human being, for they are my burden and my burden alone!  Right, so, umm, where’s my burden taking me? Back….to the beginning.  No, really.  It’s “The Cage,” the first Star Trek pilot, which famously has a mostly different cast than the series proper, and which was re-cut into the series proper with a framing device for “The Menagerie.” There was one very notable crossover character between the two casts, Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, who the network didn’t personally like, but was popular enough with audiences to keep, resulting in one of the franchise’s signature characters!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mister Spock (As Seen in the Pilot Episode “The Cage”!) was released as part of Playmates’ Star Trek line in 1996, as one of four figures based on the show’s pilot episode.  While he’s the least plot relevant of the four, he’s also Spock, so you kind of have to expect it, right?  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  Spock’s articulation scheme is the standard layout for the line, so it’s not great, but it’s also not terrible.  Really, it’s just the hips that aren’t ideal.  Spock wasn’t just an excuse to include a recognizable face, he was also a way to include a total parts re-use as well.  His head is the standard Spock, going all the way back to the first classic figure, and it’s been plopped on the head from the “Where No Man Has Gone Before” Kirk packed in with the Shuttlecraft (which was also re-used for Scotty and Sulu from the same episode).  The head’s not exactly a spot-on likeness of Nimoy, but it works fine.  The body’s notably short and squat for Spock, who was otherwise depicted as a bit more lean than Kirk elsewhere in the line.  The color work here more or less matches the rest of the line.  The shades look right, and application’s not too bad.  It’s probably the cleanest paint this face sculpt ever got, so that’s nice.  Spock is packed with a phaser, a communicator, a toolbox, console, and display stand.  The phaser and communicator are the same ones as the standards, which makes them notably incorrect for what Spock would have had in the pilot.  Given new sculpts were created for Pike, it seems odd they weren’t re-used here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had Pike as a kid, but never had the others from this set, at least for myself.  My dad had all of them, and this Spock was always my favorite version of the character, so he got borrowed a lot.  Spock was the earliest I tracked down after Pike, picked up loose in the summer of 2018.  He was sans accessories at the time, but I tracked them down after the fact, so here he is!  He’s pretty basic, and ultimately I think it’s kind of a shame he’s the only representation Pike’s crew ended up getting.  Not even a Number One?  Ultimately, I’m glad to have only him rather than none at all.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3958: Superman – Golden

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

SUPERMAN — GOLDEN

DC HEROES UNITE (SPIN MASTER)

It’s been *over a year* since I last looked at anything from Spin Master’s DC line, despite them still very much holding the license (at least until the end of the year when Mattel takes over as master license holder again), because, like, I had some stuff going on or whatever?  Honestly, as nifty as the figures are, they’re really little more than that, and I’m personally not really their target audience, so I can’t really fault them for not catering to me.  I do still like messing with a nifty figure every now and then, though, so today I’m looking at a Superman that I’ve been putting off reviewing for far too long.  Here he is.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman was released in the third assortment of Spin Master’s DC Heroes Unite line.  He was one of the “super rare” figures, and initially hit at the end of 2020, but started showing up in greater numbers when Spin Master put out additional runs of the figures in ’21 and ’22.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, he’s the same as the line’s first take on the basic Superman mold.  Technically, that means he, like the other releases, is based on Supes’s second Rebirth costume, but in the case of this release, unless you’re looking *really* close at his belt, it’s a bit harder to tell.  Generally speaking, it’s still a decent sculpt.  A bit bulky and rudimentary, but genuinely a nice offering for the style.  Like the standard, he’s got a cloth cape, which is still really cheap, but it’s not awful.  The change-up to this figure, much like was done with Batman and Wonder Woman before him, is that Clark’s all gold.  In his case, that’s actually a bit more cannon than the other two, since it means he can stand-in for his appearance in the future world of DC One Million, which is extra fun. Largely, the color’s just molded plastic, but he does get a little bit of paint for his logo on his chest.  Superman gets the same blast effect, torso armor, and Kryptonite pieces packed with the other two versions, but they, like the figure, are all gold.  In the case of the Kryptonite, that means we get Gold Kryptonite, meaning you can permanently remove his powers…if you’re feeling especially evil or whatever.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Wonder Woman from this set/style pretty quickly, and had help getting a Batman after the fact, but I really wanted a Superman to finish out the trinity.  I completely missed the first run, but during the re-runs, probably in ’22 I think, I lucked into one, who I bought, and then….kind of forgot about?  He’s been unopened since I got him, and I kept meaning to open him and review him, but I kept forgetting.  Not this time!  He’s not really anything new, but I do like him in all his goofy not-new-ness.