Category Archives: Reviews

#1599: New Frontier Boxed Set

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

SUPERMAN, BATMAN, WONDER WOMAN, & GREEN LANTERN

DC’s NEW FRONTIER (DC DIRECT)

One of my favorite DC stories is Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier.  It’s a great period piece, with amazing artwork, and a great focus on a few of DC’s lesser followed characters.  It was fortunate enough to get a a whole line of figures focused on it back in the day, which remains one of my favorite products from DC Direct to this day.  I’ll be looking at a few of those figures today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four figures were released as a special boxed set to coincide with the release of the Justice League: New Frontier animated film in 2008.  All four figures had originally seen release in DCD’s New Frontier toyline from 2006, before being re-released (with minor tweaks) here.

SUPERMAN

This figure is essentially unchanged from his single-packed release.  Of course, I never got that one, so he’s new to me.  Cooke’s take on Superman is a nice merging of styles.  He’s the character I think best encapsulates the ‘50s feel of the story, and a lot of that comes from his slightly tweaked version of the classic Superman.  He’s got a definite Fleisher flair to him, which I definitely dig.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  Hardly a super-posable figure, but he can get into some decent standing poses.  His sculpt is definitely one of the best in the line.  The details are sharp, and the line work is very clean.  Cooke’s style has been translated very well here, and Clark looks like he’s been lifted right off the page.  The shaping of things like the hair and the cape, and even the wrinkles where his costume has bunched up in a few places, are just perfect matches for the way Cooke drew his take on Superman.  The figure is slightly preposed in nature, but it’s not super awkward or anything.  It is, instead, a slight off-shifted balance of his weight to one side, which provides quite a naturalistic stance.  The paint work on Superman is pretty solid work.  It’s cleanly applied, and the palette nicely matches the more subtle hues of the book’s colors.  The original Superman included a camera and a rather elaborate display stand.  This release only gets a more simple black display stand.

BATMAN

Batman is another figure that was essentially unchanged for this second release.  He is notably distinct from the Designer Series Batman.  That one was based on the ‘40s styled Batman from the first half of the story.  This one goes for the ‘50s styled Batman as he appears in the back half of the book.  I always found this an interesting choice, since a lot of Batman’s role is in that first half, thus making this figure the less prominent design.  The figure is, somewhat frustratingly, taller than Superman.  He’s also a bit bulkier overall, which just looks…strange.  Cooke certainly didn’t draw Batman as the larger of the two, so why DCD went this way is anyone’s guess.  In general, Batman’s sculpt is a bit of a mess.  I mean, there are certainly nice qualities to it.  The head’s pretty strong, and the whole figure still manages to get the style down pretty decently.  The big flaw of this figure is his pre-posed nature.  More specifically, it’s the fact that I’ve never been able to figure out exactly what pose he’s *supposed* to be in.  Absolutely nothing looks natural.  He’s got this sort of a chest-thrust thing going on, but nothing else about him seems to match up with that.  The end result is…less than appealing.  On the plus side, the paint’s pretty decent.  Application is clean, the colors match the comic, and it just generally looks pretty good.  Guess something had to.  As with Superman, Batman’s only accessory is a display stand.

WONDER WOMAN

Darwyn Cooke’s Wonder Woman is my very favorite take on the character, especially in terms of design.  He very deftly merged her classic design with a more battle-ready amazonian look, creating a rather unique design for the character.  All of the important elements remained, of course, and it’s actually a pretty great send-up to the early Wonder Woman illustrations.  This figure marks this set’s first real deviation from the single releases, and it’s perhaps one of the first times that DC Direct ever directly addressed a problem with an initial release.  Wonder Woman gets a new head, which is a slightly more generalized expression, replacing the more intense (and not quite as well implemented) expression of the original figure.  I definitely prefer this one to the original release, though it’s a shame DCD didn’t give another stab at a more intense look.  The rest of the sculpt is straight from the original figure, and it’s actually pretty good.  Like Batman, Wonder Woman goes far more preposed than Superman, but unlike Batman, it doesn’t totally suck.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  The stance is very befitting the battle-happy Wonder Woman of the story.  The details of the sculpt are pretty fantastic, and I especially like the nicks and gashes taken out of her bracelets and shin guards.  Wonder Woman’s paint work is once again pretty decent.  It’s clean, and actually pretty bright, and slightly less subdued than the others in this set, which is appropriate for the character.  The original Wonder Woman release included an extra head, as well as a sword, lasso, and display stand.  This one doesn’t have the extra head, but does still get the sword and lasso, as well as the smaller display stand.

GREEN LANTERN

Hal Jordan is really the closest New Frontier comes to a main character.  You’ll note I said Hal Jordan, and not Green Lantern, since Hal isn’t really GL until the last chapter of the story.  Of course, the costumed look is a bit easier to sell than just Hal in a flight suit, I’d suspect.  This figure is about 6 1/2 inches tall and has 15 points of articulation, the most of any of the figures in the set.  He has my second favorite sculpt in the set, second only to the Superman figure in that regard.  Once again, the line work is simple and clean, and Cooke’s style is expertly recreated here.  The posing to this figure is very subtle, but adds a lot of life to the figure.  I like the friendlier expression seen here, as it definitely fits with Hal’s depiction in the book.  The paint work on GL is the one notable change from the original figure.  The biggest change is giving him the green on his shoulders, meaning this is actually a Hal from later on in his career, presumably sometime after the story.  Technically, this change doesn’t quite match the sculpt, but it’s subtle enough not to really matter too much.  In addition, the green used on this figure has a bit less yellow in it, which makes him look a little cleaner to me.  The original GL figure included an extra unmasked head, as well as his power battery, and the display stand.  This figure only gets a smaller display stand.  It’s a shame his extras got cut.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up a good number of the New Frontier figures when they were originally released, but somehow I managed to miss both Superman and Wonder Woman from the first series.  I remember this set being released, but I passed on it because I already had Batman and GL.  By the time I’d become willing to accept the pair of duplicates, the boxed set and the original releases had both picked up a fairly heft after market value.  As I’ve mentioned a few times in the last few months, Cosmic Comix purchased a rather sizable action figure collection last year.  This set was amongst that purchase, and the guys at CCX were nice enough to sell it to me for quite a markdown from its usual going rate.  I’m happy to finally have Superman and Wonder Woman, and I quite like this variant of GL.  Batman still sucks, but what can you do?

#1598: Spider-Man – Black Costume

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

SPIDER-MAN — BLACK COSTUME

MARVEL LEGENDS — 12-INCH (HASBRO)

Wasn’t I just talking about wanting to get more of this line?  Have I already run out and done that, just in the last day?  No, dear reader, not quite.  This is just as symptom of the somewhat anachronistic order to how I review my toys.  What does that mean for you guys?  Not a whole lot, really.  It means you get to read my review of a Spider-Man figure.  Woop woooop.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Costume Spider-Man is a summer 2017 release for the larger-scale Marvel Legends line.  He’s the second version of the webhead to grace the line, following the expected standard variant from the first series.  He’s actually the first 12-inch-scale Symbiote Spider-Man to be released under the Legends banner, although Toy Biz did do a pretty fantastic rotocast version back in ’06.  The figure stands 12 inches tall and has 36 points of articulation, matching pretty well with Black Panther in that respect.  For the most part, this figure is a pretty straight repaint on the standard Spidey, which is a rather sensible choice.  The body is effectively and up-scaling of the Pizza Spidey body, but with slightly more nuanced proportions and a bit more range on some of the articulation.  Compared to the last two figures I looked at from this line, he’s rather devoid of texturing and small detail work, but I kind of expect that on a Spider-Man, especially one using this costume.  They still do some nice work with placing a few key wrinkles in the costume here and there, showing that it’s not just painted on his skin.  One small nit I had, however, was the presence of web shooters on the undersides of his wrists.  It’s a remnant from when this sculpt was used for the standard Spidey, but it’s not technically accurate to this particular design.  Very small thing, though.  This version of Spidey gets a new head sculpt, which is quite impressive.  I like that you can clearly make out that there’s a whole face under that mask, not just some amorphous blob.  It’s the nose that really sells it for me.  When it comes to paint, Symbiote Spider-Men can have a tendency to go very simple, or far too detailed.  Very rare is any actual balanced approach.  The question that always arises with this design is “to highlight or not to highlight?”  This figure opts to highlight, a tricky endeavor to be sure.  I’m happy to say it actually paid off pretty well this time around.  The metallic blue they’ve chosen is only subtly different from the black plastic, and it’s thankfully not overused.  Spider-Man is packed with an alternate unmasked head (which is the same as the one included with the standard version, apart from some slight paint variations), as well as three pairs of hands.  It’s a decent selection, but given the standard Spidey came with another head in addition to all of this, it does feel a little light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been eyeing this guy up since he was released, but kept having other things that took precedence over him.  Last month, Target had him marked down to $23.99, which was enough of a discount to get me on-board.  He’s another strong figure, and a definite improvement over the Toy Biz figure I looked at.  He’s not without some slight issues, but I’m overall very happy with him.

#1597: Poncho & Cloaked Unmasked Predator

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PONCHO & CLOAKED UNMASKED PREDATOR

PREDATOR MINIMATES

One of the best things about the original Predator was Arnold “Dutch” Schwarzenegger’s mercenary team.  They’re sort of like the uber macho man equivalent to the Colonial Marines from Aliens, a memorable pack of characters whose sole purpose is to make the alien look scary and tough when it kills them all.  Unfortunately, since Predator’s still mostly a Schwarzenegger vehicle, most of the merchandise tends to focus on him.  Thankfully, we have Minimates to swoop in and save the day, though, and it’s through that channel that we’ve been able to almost complete the team.  Today, I’m looking at my personal favorite member of the squad, Poncho, as well as another Predator variant.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Poncho and the Cloaked Unmasked Predator were released as part of the specialty assortment of Series 4 of Predator Minimates.  The Cloaked Unmasked Predator was packed with both Poncho and Anna, Poncho being the 3-per-case heavy packed figure, and Anna being the 1-per-case chase.

PONCHO

“Jorge ‘Poncho’ Ramirez was a member of Dutch Shaefer’s rescue team, and was able to speak fluent Spanish with prisoner Anna.”

Poncho is kind of a big deal, because he’s the last main member of Dutch’s squad to make into ‘mate format.  It’s fitting, really, since he’s <SPOILERS!> also the last member of his squad to get picked off in the movie.  Though not as bombastic as some of his squad-mates, Poncho’s always been my favorite because of his dry wit and slightly reserved nature.  The figure stands about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He’s built on the basic ‘mate body, with add-ons for his hat/hair, tactical vest, belt, holster, and sheath.  Poncho’s add-on pieces are completely re-used parts, with the hat coming from Series 1’s Dillon, the belt being shared with his fellow mercs, the vast coming from Marvel Series 55’s Batroc, and his holster and sheath being standard parts.  Apart from his hair texture not quite matching with the movie (a very minor flaw, mind you), the re-used parts work very well, and do a solid job of replicating his design from the film.  Poncho’s paintwork is pretty solid as well.  The likeness of Richard Chaves is definitely there on the face, and the general work is all quite clean and sharp.  Poncho is packed with his HK94A3, Desert Eagle, knife, and a clear display stand.  It’s a little sad that the “explosives expert” doesn’t actually come with any explosives, but it’s a decent selection nonetheless.

CLOAKED UNMASKED PREDATOR

“A standard piece of equipment for any Yautja hunter is a full-body cloaking device, which renders the Predator all but invisible to human eyes.”

Remember when I reviewed the standard Jungle Hunter?  And his battle-damaged counterpart?  Well, this guy is the same as those two, just molded in clear plastic.  Woo.  In all honesty, he’s really not a bad ‘mate.  They actually printed all of his detail lines in white, which is certainly a nice touch.  As with the other Jungle Predators, his only accessory is a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these two up during Luke’s Toy Store’s Black Friday sale.  I kept meaning to pick this one up, what with Poncho being my favorite and all.  He’s pretty cool, no doubt about that.  I can’t say I’m super thrilled about the Predator variant I had to purchase to get him, but at least I didn’t have to contend with the blind bags.  Now I kind of want the rest of the team.

#1596: Black Panther

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

BLACK PANTHER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

With Infinity War pushed up a week, we’re quickly moving past Black Panther, but there’s still a ton of cool toy stuff that I want to look at.  While I looked at all of the standard Marvel Legends offerings, there’s one more Legends offering that’s slightly off the beaten path.  I talk, of course, of the 12-inch scale Black Panther.  I haven’t looked at this line since the first series’ Captain America, but I’m jumping back in for Panther!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Panther is the ninth figure in the larger-scale Marvel Legends line.  He’s noteworthy for actually being the very first figure in the line to be movie-based; others have clearly taken inspiration, but this is the first direct adaptation.  Of course, the line has generally done slight tweaks to the characters’ designs to add a little extra detail here and there, and if you do that to Black Panther, you pretty much just get his movie design.  So, he’ll actually fit in pretty well with the others, is what I’m getting at.  The figure stands 12 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation.  In a lot of ways, this figure’s just a scale-up of the Okoye Series Panther.  Obviously it’s not the same sculpt, since the articulation scheme is slightly different, but it’s certainly similar.  That being said, the additional texturing and slightly more natural proportions make for a figure that I enjoy quite a bit more than his smaller counterpart.  Seriously, the 6-inch figure was fine and all, but oh boy does this figure blow that out of the water.  The layering and the texturing, especially to the levels of his mask, is truly impressive.  I really dig that the eyes are a separate piece; it makes the mask actually look like a mask, which is a rarity on this sort of figure.  Panther’s paintwork is generally fairly straight forward, blacks and silvers.  There are two different finishes to the black, which breaks up the monotony of the color a bit, and the silver is bright and clean.  Panther is packed with an extra unmasked head, three pairs of hands, and a short blade.  The unmasked head is a decent enough likeness of Chadwick Boseman; not perfect, but certainly not terrible.  The paint could be a little cleaner, but the overall appearance is pretty solid.  And, best of all, the head actually sits properly on the body this time, in nice contrast to the smaller figure.  The hands come in fists, claw bearing, and gripping.  They all swap out pretty easily, and make for a nice variety when posing the figure.  The blade is pretty cool, but I don’t actually recall him using it in the film.  Fun piece nonetheless, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was actually pretty impressed by the Captain America figure, but for a multitude of reasons (cost of the figures being high on the list), I never got around to picking up any others.  I saw this guy in the store a number of times and really liked the look of him.  The week after the film’s release, Target was running a 20% off sale on all Black Panther toys, so I took advantage of that to get this guy.  I’m very glad I did because he’s the best Black Panther figure out there right now!

#1595: Mantis

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MANTIS

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

“Mantis is a servant of Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips, the planet of ultimate evil, and his power may rival that of his master.  When Darkseid sent Mantis to Earth to locate the Anti-Life Equation, the means to control all sentient life throughout the universe, Mantis schemed to conquer the planet himself instead.  Cursed with an insatiable lust for power, Mantis would be just as happy to see Darkseid defeated as he would to see Apokolips triumph.”

In addition to being very much focused on the odd-ball characters of the DC Universe, DC Universe Classics was also committed to being a recreation of Kenner’s Super Powers line from the ‘80s.  Initially, it was just thematically and somewhat stylistically, but eventually, sub-text became full text, and each assortment was given one direct Super Powers recreation.  Today’s figure is one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mantis was released in Series 9 of DC Universe Classics.  As he was a pre-existing New Gods character who just got a hefty redesign for Super Powers, there were actually two variants of Mantis in this assortment.  The one seen here is, as mentioned above, the Super Powers design, which traded in the somewhat goofy spandex for a cool sci-fi robot thing.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  Despite what you might think, being a variant and all, the only parts shared between this and the classic Mantis are the upper arms, upper torso (albeit completely covered by an overlay), and knees, all of which are just the standard medium body pieces.  Everything else was brand-new to this guy, as it well should be.  It’s definitely one of the most impressive sculpts the line had to offer.   It captures the ‘80s figure’s design very well, but also scales it up, adds some extra details, and just generally modernizes the whole thing.  The only real problem I have is actually the re-use; the shoulders just end up looking a little bit out of place with the rest of the figure.  Still, not at all bad for a Mantis figure.  Paintwork on Mantis is pretty impressive as well.  There’s a lot of very bright, very bold color work, so he’ll definitely jump out on the shelf.  He’s also got a whole ton of accent work, including some slight airbrushing to keep things from getting too bland.  He really does represent the line at its peak.  Mantis was packed with the arm of Chemo, the Collect-N-Connect for this particular series, and nothing else.  Not sure there’s really much else you could have given him, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mantis is another recent addition.  Series 9 suffered from some pretty fierce distribution problems, so I never found a lot of them at retail.  Fortunately, Cosmic Comix recently bought someone’s DCUC collection, so I’ve been able to pick up a lot of the figures I’ve missed.  I actually grabbed this figure back on Small Business Saturday, in an effort to be supportive.  Mantis is definitely a fun figure, and I’m certainly happy to have finally gotten him!

#1594: Boromir & Merry

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BOROMIR & MERRY

LORD OF THE RINGS MINIMATES

“One does not simply review a Boromir Minimate without referencing a Boromir meme”

–Boromir (probably)

After the success of Marvel Minimates, the brand had big dreams.  In conjunction with Play Along Toys, they were able to snag the rights to Marvel’s distinguished competition (well, in a loop-hole-y sort of a way), as well as the rights to one of the hugest hits of the early ’00s, the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Unfortunately, the line didn’t launch until after Return of the King‘s exit from theatres, meaning we only got two series of two packs before the line ultimately failed.  A lot of this had to do with the somewhat baffling decision to double release one half of each series two-pack.  Fortunately, by the second series, we were finally starting to get all-new packs, including today’s focus, Boromir and Merry!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Boromir and Merry were one of the five two-packs in Series 2 of the Lord of the Rings Minimates line.

BOROMIR

You know Sean Bean had to have a good laugh when he got cast as Boromir, the only member of the Fellowship that dies over the course of the story.  I mean, Bean’s sort of the quintessential dead guy of Hollywood, so it’s really perfect casting.  Boromir and Faramir were two of my favorite characters from Lord of the Rings, and since Faramir never got a Minimate, I guess Boromir’s my guy.  As with all of the human sized characters, Boromir was built on LotR‘s new medium-sized base body, meaning he’s closer to the 3-inch mark than the standard ‘mate.  He’s still got the usual 14 points of articulation, albeit somewhat restricted by some of his add-ons.  Speaking of add-ons, Boromir has five of them for his hair, cloak, wrist bracers, and the bottom of his tunic.  All of these were unique to this particular ‘mate.  They display a simpler era of ‘mates, being without the texture work and dynamicism that newer ‘mates tend to have.  It certainly gets all of the important details, though, and Boromir is well-captured.  The paint follows the sculpt’s trend, erring on the side of simplicity.  I don’t know that his face looks all that much like Sean Bean, but it’s not as if it looks unlike him, either.  Boromir is quite well accessorized, including his sword (with scabbard), shield, horn, and a display stand.

MERRY

Its a little weird to be looking at only one half of a duo, especially since it’s a two-pack based line and all, but here we are.  At least they were good enough to put Merry and Pippin both in the same series.  As a Hobbit, Merry was built just on the standard Marvel-style body.  He had add-one for his hair, cloak, and jacket.  His pieces are obviously more in line with Boromir, but the lessened detailing isn’t quite as noticeable at the smaller scale. I quite like how they’ve gotten the proper shaping to his hair; Frodo didn’t really look like the real person, but Merry is definitely closer, albeit in a cartoonish fashion.  The paint on Merry is pretty solid stuff, and I like the likeness on the face a lot, as well as the very slight way they’ve livened up his color scheme.  He definitely pops.  Merry is packed with his own sword (technically a dagger) and a sheath for it, as well as a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 2 of this line was pretty scarce, so I didn’t get any of them new.  I was able to finally secure this set just this past November, via Luke’s Toy Store’s special buy collection.  I’ve really picked up an appreciation for Boromir, and Merry was my favorite hobbit, so this set was a pretty cool find.  It’s reminded me of how much I loved those earlier ‘mates, as well.  Now, I just need to find myself a Pippin!

#1593: Luke Skywalker – Ceremonial Outfit

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

LUKE SKYWALKER – CEREMONIAL OUTFIT

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“In the main throne room of a Massassi temple, Luke Skywalker receives an honorary medal for his part in the destruction of the Imperial Death Star.”

There’s a lot of potential Luke Skywalker variants out there.  He got one distinct design for each movie, plus his pilot gear, and at least one other major look for each film.  For A New Hope, he actually has four distinct looks.  My personal favorite is one that doesn’t actually appear for all that long; it’s the snazzy dress outfit he wears during the film’s final scene, set during an award ceremony.  It’s had less figures than other looks, but as a variant of Luke Skywalker, it’s still had its fair share.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker in his Ceremonial Outfit was released as part of the 1997 assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II.  He was the seventh of the eleven Lukes in the line, and the second-to-last unique outfit, prior to the line switching over to variations of Farmboy Luke.  It was actually one of two Ceremonial Lukes released in 1997, the other being part of the Princess Leia Collection.  It was a good year for a look that hadn’t yet seen an action figure release.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  This Luke marked the debut of Kenner’s second POTF2 Luke head sculpt.  As noted in the past, it’s not really much closer than the first attempt at a Hamill likeness, but I do tend to prefer this one.  The rest of the sculpt is unique to this particular figure.  As far as this line goes, it was pretty solid.  Sharp detailing, reasonable proportions, and a fairly neutral stance, all of which add up to an above average figure from this particular line.  The paintwork on Luke is pretty standard stuff, which is to say the colors are a good match for the film and the application is all sharp.  There’s no slop to speak of, and everything stays within its appropriate lines.  Luke was packed with a blaster pistol and his medal from the ceremony, which are both missing from my figure, sadly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was a fairly early Luke in my collection, and is probably one of the Power of the Force figures I purchased closest to his initial release.  I got him from KB Toys, during a trip to the mall with my Grandmother.  He was purchased alongside a whole bunch of others, but the others were all meant to stay at her house, with this guy being the one who would be going home with me.  He’s remained a favorite of mine, and served as my go-to Luke for a good chunk of time.

#1592: X-23

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X-23

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A female Wolverine clone, X-23 slashes out uncontrollably when exposed to a deadly ‘trigger scent.’”

I have an extensive enough knowledge of the Marvel universe that these days it’s unlikely for Hasbro to stump me with one of their line-up choices.  That hasn’t always been the case, though, and especially during the Toy Biz days, there were a few times where the announcement of a Marvel Legend was my first introduction to the character depicted.  Perhaps the most extreme case of this was X-23, who joined the line in Toy Biz’s twelfth series, to the chagrin of most of the fanbase, myself included.  She was, at the time, a rather untested character, but Laura’s stuck around over the years and now that she’s gotten her latest Legends release, she seams to be living more up to that Legend-ary status.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

X-23 is part of the Sasquatch Series of Marvel Legends, which is a series loosely themed around Deadpool.  As with Deathlok yesterday, X-23’s ties to Deadpool are somewhat tenuous.  They were both on the covert-ops incarnation of X-Force, but not actually at the same time.  But, as counterpoints for Wolverine, it’s not like the two have never interacted.  This is only the second time X-23’s gotten a Legends release, following her Toy Biz variant from all the way back in 2006, meaning this is the first Legends X-23 we’ve ever gotten from Hasbro.  That genuinely surprises me, given how many Wolverine and X-Force-themed assortments we’ve gotten over the years.  This X-23 is based on her X-Force costume, which is a decent enough choice.  For one, Hasbro’s released a lot of the other members of the team in their matching costumes, and as her first proper costume, it certainly got a lot of recognition.  I’d say only her Wolverine costume even comes close to this one in terms of definitiveness.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  She’s built on the Spider-Girl body, with a new head, hands, and boots, as well as an add-on belt piece.  The Spider-Girl body is one I’ve always liked; it’s well-proportioned and moves really nicely.  Definitely a good starting point for any figure.  The new pieces are all really top-notch as well.  Her head is definitely the star piece here, sporting a teeth-bared, grimacing visage that much more fits the character than Toy Biz’s expression of boredom form their X-23.  The hair is done in a dynamic fashion, which doesn’t always work (Hasbro’s own Ultimate Spider-Woman figure is a good example of it holding back an otherwise pretty great figure), but I think it looks really good here, especially in conjunction with the expression on the face.  I also appreciate that it’s sculpted in such a way as to impede neck movement as little as possible.  X-23’s new boots are definitely a lot of fun as well; all those buckles make for some intriguing detail work, and there’s just a nice uniqueness that’s added to the figure by these boots.  The hands work in pretty much the same way as the most recent Wolverines, which is to say they continue the trend of being much better than earlier Wolverine claws.  The belt is a decent enough piece, but I definitely wish it were a little less free-floating.  In terms of paint, X-23 is another solid figure.  The application is all very clean and crisp, and the contrast between the black and grey looks quite nice.  While the color scheme is definitely monochromatic, I admire that Hasbro kept her from looking too washed out.  Perhaps the only downside to this figure is the lack of any real accessories.  She comes with the torso of Sasquatch, but that’s it.  No extra hands without the claws, no extra feet *with* claws, and not even an unmasked head.  Surely there was something they could have thrown in there?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t intend to buy X-23.  She’s never been a character I’ve had a ton of interest in, and I don’t have any of the other black and grey X-Force members.  So, why do I have her?  When I found Deathlok, Toys R Us was running a “Buy one, get one 50% off” sale.  The only new Legends they had were the Sasquatch series, and they only had half of them at that.  Ultimately, it came down to either Paladin or X-23 at half price, and X-23 just looked to be the better of the two figures.  She’s a pleasant surprise, to be sure.  I went in expecting nothing, and I got a downright cool figure.  Hasbro definitely put in the effort on this one, and, apart from the slight issue with the lack of accessories, this is a top-notch offering.

#1591: Deathlok

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

DEATHLOK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Reanimated into super-powered dominance, Deathlok is a cyborg hero bent on demolition.”

Hey, how about something new and different?  Like Marvel Legends.  I hardly ever review those, riiiiiiight?  Frequency of reviews of Marvel Legends aside, there’s no denying that this line is a force to be reckoned with at retail.  Hasbro had a whole slew of new Legends for this upcoming year to show off at Toy Fair, and even before that, they have no less than four series of figures showing up at retail this month.  I’ve already completed my Okoye Series, but of course, the next three are just out there waiting for me.  Today, I’ll be looking at Deathlok!  He’s the death-lock-iest cyborg around!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deathlok is figure 6 in the Sasquatch Series of Marvel Legends.  This assortment is supposedly Deadpool-themed (in an effort to tie-in with the movie), but Deathlok is definitely the figure in the set that is the least Deadpool-y.  I mean, they both have that “death” thing going on, and they were both on the X-Force at the same time (I think), but it’s definitely a loose connection.  I’m not really going to complain, though, if it gets me a Deathlok.  This is actually Deathlok’s second time as a Marvel Legend; he first showed up in Series 9 of Toy Biz’s run on the line.  It’s been a good long while since that figure, so I’d say the update was much needed.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  There have been several incarnations of Deathlok over the years, with a few varying looks.  This figure goes with the most classic Deathlok appearance, meaning he’s either Luther Manning (Deathlok I) or Michael Collins (Deathlok III). Given the size of his build, I’m gonna guess it’s Collins, but it could really be either in a pinch.  Deathlok’s sculpt is all-new, which rather surprised me.  Obviously, I expected the cybernetics to be new, but the costumed parts also being unique was certainly unexpected.  I’m definitely not complaining.  Deathlok’s sculpt is definitely top-notch.  His decaying visage is well depicted, and I quite like the slight folds and wrinkles on the torso.  They add a nice bit of character.  In terms of paint, Deathlok is pretty solid.  The base work is all pretty cleanly applied, apart from one or two small areas of slop.  I appreciate the use of drybrushing on the head to bring out some of the details; the smaller Deathlok didn’t get that, and he looked slightly doughy.  This one definitely looks a lot better.  Deathlok is packed with two different guns: a smaller pistol, and a mini gun.  The mini gun is particularly fun, sporting a removable ammo belt and a rotating barrel.  The figure also includes the left arm of the Build-A-Figure Sasquatch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Admittedly, I wasn’t really sure I’d be picking up any of this particular assortment, what with all the other sets that are hitting at the same time and my only moderate interest in things pertaining to Deadpool.  However, I was always pretty sure I wanted a Deathlok.  So, when I came across the series at Toys R Us, this guy was the first one I grabbed.  He’s a cool character with a cool design, and this figure does a really great job of translating him into plastic.

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#1590: Shuri

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

SHURI

BLACK PANTHER (HASBRO)

“The sister of T’Challa, Shuri designs and wears vibranium-powered combat gear.”

You know what was a good movie?  Black Panther.  Really just a solid picture all-around.  I gotta admit, I was a little worried at first that it might not live up to all of the hype surrounding it (especially since I’m apparently one of the few people on the planet who didn’t like Wonder Woman), but it really delivered, and I think it’s one of the MCU’s strongest entries.  T’Challa had already made a pretty solid impression with his appearance in Civil War, and he lived up to that here, but what really made the movie for me was his supporting cast.  I’d picked up the Marvel Legends offerings prior to the movie, and I’m happy to have the figures offered there, but sadly two of my favorite characters from the movie haven’t yet been granted Legends releases.  One of those two was Shuri, who was at least lucky enough to find her way into the movie’s basic figure line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shuri is part of the first (and so far only) series of basic Black Panther figures.  In an assortment of variations on the panther suit, she certainly stands out, and, as the only character included here that’s not in the Legends assortment, she tends to be the first figure to disappear.  The figure stands right at 6 inches tall and she has 11 points of articulation.  She’s a bit shorter than your average Marvel Legend, but given Shuri’s slightly smaller stature, she blends in pretty well.  The articulation is a little disappointing, especially after the Homecoming figures got actual knee joints, but what she’s got is certainly passable.  Shuri’s design is based on her fully geared up look from the film’s final battle sequence.  It’s definitely her coolest look, and it matches up with the version of Nakia they released, so I can certainly get behind it.  The sculpt is all-new to her, and it’s decent, but not without a few glaring issues.  The biggest problem is the hair, which is just inaccurate.  The tight braids she has here almost make it look like there’s an extra piece to her hair that’s missing from the final figure.  She should definitely have more hair than this, and it really ends up throwing off the figure’s whole look.  The face has a rather generic look about it as well, making me think this figure was put together based on design sketches rather than actual footage from the film.  I’m also not a huge fan of how the head connects at the neck; it just looks very unnatural and odd.  Fortunately, below the neck, the sculpt is actually pretty solid.  The proportions are pretty balanced, and there’s a lot of really great texture work on her armor.  Her skirt piece is a free-floating add-on, which helps to maximize posablity, and looks pretty solid to boot.  The paint on Shuri is passable, but definitely a bit rudimentary when compared to something like Marvel Legends.  She could definitely use a little more detailing on the armored parts, but she generally looks pretty good.  Shuri includes her pair of arm gauntlets, which can be slipped over her forearms.  The detail work on them is surprisingly sharp, and the energy effects look pretty awesome.  Definitely better than some gimmicky missile launcher or something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After seeing the movie, I knew I needed at least some version of Shuri in my collection.  Of course, so did everyone else, so she was a little difficult to find.  Fortunately, when I swung by Cosmic Comix to get my comics the next day, they still had a Shuri figure on the rack, and thus I was able to add her to my collection.  She’s not a perfect figure, and I’m still hoping for a proper Legends release down the line, but this one will hold me over until then.