Category Archives: Reviews

#0810: 11 Doctors Boxed Set

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

THE DOCTOR, INCARNATIONS 1-11

DOCTOR WHO

11Doctors1

Welcome to day 9 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews! We’ve gotten quite a ways into these reviews without seeing any entries from a regular fixture in all gift related reviews, Doctor Who! Today, I’ll be fixing that in spades!

One of the key elements of Doctor Who’s lead character is his ability to regenerate into a new body when he is dealt a fatal blow. In the real world, this has allowed the character to be portrayed by thirteen different actors (counting the War Doctor) over the course of fifty years. It’s a marvelous way of keeping the character fresh for all that time, and it doesn’t rely on everyone looking the other way in a similar fashion to, say, James Bond. So far, I’ve looked at figures of four(ish) of the Doctor’s incarnations, but today, I’ll be knocking out the other nine! I’ll be totally honest with you all, I’ve been dreading this review just the slightest bit, because I’ve never actually reviewed this many figures at once. Let’s see how this goes!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These eleven figures were released as part of a special boxed-set following Matt Smith stepping into the role in 2011. It somewhat amusingly proclaims it “Contains All Eleven Incarnations of the Doctor!” That’s no longer as inclusive as it boasts, but it was all of them at the time. It’s not like they’re time travelers or anything….

FIRST DOCTOR

11Doctors2William Hartnell was the one who started it all, bringing the Doctor his first life back in the 60s. He portrayed the character a fair bit different, in a much more reserved, less eccentric way than those who would follow. The figure stands 5 ¼ inches tall and has 18 points of articulation. The articulation is a bit more primitive than some of the more recent Doctors, but that’s acceptable given he’s an earlier release. Hartnell had more or less the same look for his run as the character, with varying add-ons. This figure presents him in his most basic look, without the extras, which was his primary appearance in the show, so it’s a good choice. The sculpt exhibits some pretty sharp work, in keeping with most of the other Doctor Who figures. There isn’t much texture work, but there is some very sharp small details. The head sculpt sports a pretty spot on likeness of Hartnell, giving an ever so slight smile, which feels right for the character. The First Doctor’s paintwork is quite sharp and well detailed. It’s somewhat monochromatic, but there’s a surprising number of levels to the greys, and it looks quite good. The paint on the face is decent, though he does have these odd red rings around his eyes. Maybe he didn’t sleep well last night? The figure includes the Doctor’s signature cane, which he holds quite nicely.

SECOND DOCTOR

11Doctors3Patrick Troughton may not be the guy who originated the role of the Doctor, but he’s still an innovator in the role, being the first to emerge from one of the Doctor’s regeneration sequences. Had his introduction not worked, the very integral concept of the Doctor being played by many actors would have been lost. The figure stands 5 inches tall and has the same articulation scheme as the First Doctor. Troughton’s Doctor was to inject a bit of eccentricity into the character. He was somewhat disheveled, and embraced his goofier side with a bow tie. This figure replicates that look quite nicely. Like Hartnell, the Second Doctor’s sculpt is sharply detailed, but a bit lighter on texturing. The jacket has a ton of detailing, showing the various creases and folds in the coat, which successfully makes it look like the jacket has been rolled up in a ball before being put on. The head sculpt is a fairly spot on likeness of Troughton, right down to his mop top of hair. The paintwork is nice and clean, and it adds a splash more color than the First Doctor. There’s some pretty awesome work on the polka dots on the tie and the plaid of the pants, which gives him a bit of pop. There’s a little bit of slop around his pocket square, as well as the edges of the hair, but the ver all work is pretty sharp. The Second Doctor was the first to use the sonic screwdriver, but it wasn’t yet his main thing, so this figure includes his recorder, which is a well enough handled, but he can’t quite hold it right.

THIRD DOCTOR

11Doctors4After the Second Doctor cleared the idea of replacing the show’s lead actor every so often, actor Jon Pertwee was the next in line, becoming the third actor to bear the role. Troughton’s Doctor was a disheveled genius, with a very goofy strain deeply rooted in him. He was ever so slightly awkward. Pertwee changed things. While he kept his flair for the dramatic, and played up the eccentricities, he was also a suave charmer, of almost Sean Connery levels. The figure stands 5 ½ inches tall (tallest in the set. Pertwee was a big guy) and has the same articulation as the prior two. One of the things about Pertwee’s Doctor, in terms of looks, was that he didn’t really have one specific look, like his predecessors. He had a style, but the specific costume pieces changed from story to story. This figure seems to do a decent job of summing up the “character” of Pertwee’s Doctor. He’s got the smoking jacket, the boots, the ruffled shirt, and the tie, as well as an add-on part for the coat/cape, which can be removed if you so choose. The quality of the sculpt is definitely up there, though like the others, he doesn’t do a whole lot as far as texturing on the clothing. The head does a nice job capturing Pertwee’s likeness, and there’s some really nice work on his crazy hairstyle. One thing I did notice about this figure is he has a little difficulty staying standing, I think due to the shaping of the legs. The Third Doctor’s paint is definitely more colorful than the previous two, but it’s not quite as complex. There’s a lot of just solid patches of color, which looks perfectly fine, but isn’t the most exciting thing. On the plus side, his gerneral design is a bit more visually interesting, so it offsets it well enough. The general application is pretty clean, so that’s good. The Third Doctor is the first to include his sonic screwdriver, which is well sculpted and fits nicely in his hand.

FOURTH DOCTOR

11Doctors5For a large chunk of people, Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor is THE Doctor. He has the longest run of any actor in the role, and held the role during one of the show’s highest points for viewership (he was also the Doctor while one of my personal heroes, Douglas Adams, was the main story editor on the show, which certainly elevates him in my eyes). Unlike most of the others in this set, this was not the Fourth Doctor’s first figure in this line, due to his immense popularity. But, that doesn’t make this figure any less cool. The figure stands 5 ½ inches tall and has the same articulation as the others. He has the most detailed sculpt by far of all the figures in this set. There’s just a ton of fantastic work, especially texture work, that’s just very well carried out. A lot of it’s easy to miss or overlook, just due to the level of detail included. The coat and scarf are both separate pieces, with a nice flow about them. Under those parts, the figure is more inline with the other figures in the set, with a bit less texture, but still plenty of detail. There have been a few figures of the Fourth Doctor, so there have been a few stabs at his likeness, with various differing zany expressions. This one is slightly more reserved, but still somewhat goofy, and it’s a pretty decent likeness of Baker. The paintwork on the figure is rather involved, and there’s some varying quality throughout. The underlying paint is really great, especially the pattern on his vest. The rest of the paint is decent, but the scarf and coat and such show a bit of slop in a few areas. The Fourth Doctor includes his sonic screwdriver, which appears to be the same sculpt as that of the Third Doctor, but with slightly different paint.

FIFTH DOCTOR

11Doctors6Replacing a fan-favorite is no one’s ideal job, but that’s what Peter Davison came into when he became the fifth main actor to take the role of the Doctor. He had the task of replacing Baker’s defining turn in the role, which he approached by taking a more subdued stance on the character. Gone were the absurdly long scarf and the loud colors, replaced with someone who wouldn’t look out of place playing cricket at a prep school. The figure is about 5 ¼ inches tall, with the same 18 points as all of the prior figures. His sculpt falls somewhere between Baker and the others. His sculpt is definitely quite sharp, and there’s a lot of nice detail work. The hair and vest have some very well-handled texture work, but the rest of sculpt is fairly smooth, much like the others in the set. I do like that the vest is a separate piece. His likeness to Davison is definitely there, but not as strongly as some of the others. His paint is reminiscent of the First Doctor’s; it’s a bit monochromatic, but there’s lots of levels to those similar colors, which help to make him a rather impressively painted figure. He includes his sonic screwdriver, which is almost identical to the Fourth Doctor’s.

SIXTH DOCTOR

11Doctors7And now we get to the two figures for which I know the least. This here is the Sixth Doctor, portrayed by Colin Baker, brother of prior Doctor Tom Baker (okay, not really). He took the more refined look of the Fifth Doctor, discarded it, and went for more the “I stole this out of a clown’s closet” sort of look. That’s all I know. The figure stands 5 ¼ inches tall and has the same articulation scheme as the others. Six’s sculpt is reasonable, but not as good as some of the others in this set. A lot of that has to do with the basic build of the figure, which is somewhat off. His chest is a bit flat and rather squared off, his hips seem too far set apart, and he’s perpetually stuck leaning just a bit forward. The actual detail work does fair a bit better. His likeness is pretty spot-on to Colin Baker, and they even managed to capture that wacky head of hair. I’m not really sure what’s going on with his expression, but it works alright, I guess. The paint on this figure is certainly an undertaking. I think that CO managed to pull it off reasonably well, but he does still exhibit a fair amount of slop. The Sixth Doctor is the only figure in the set not to get an accessory, which seems a little unfair.

SEVENTH DOCTOR

11Doctors8And this here is the Seventh Doctor, portrayed by Sylvestor McCoy. He came after Colin Baker, and before Paul McGann. And now I’m out of things to say. He’s the shortest figure in the set, at just under 5 inches tall. His sculpt is reasonable enough, though I feel like the clothing is a little softer in definition than it was on the others. The coat sort of runs together with the scarf, and the tie, vest and shirt also run together a bit. He’s not a bad sculpt, just a sort of “meh” one. The head sort of looks like McCoy, but it’s a weaker likeness than the others. I think that may partly have to do with him lacking the hat that this incarnation of the character seemed to almost always have, which was certainly an interesting way to go. On the plus side the paint is really good here. The colors are nice and vibrant, and the various patterning on his clothing looks really cool. The Seventh Doctor is packed with an umbrella, which is quite a nice piece.

EIGHTH DOCTOR

11Doctors9After the show was cancelled during McCoy’s run, Amblin Entertainment did their best to bring back Doctor Who in the 90s, in a slightly more Americanized form. The venture was…less than successful. But, people generally liked Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor, and the 50th Anniversary build up did a fair bit to give him a good storyline. This figure pre-dates those developments, but I won’t hold it against him. He’s about 5 ¼ inches tall and has the same standard articulation as everyone else. This figure’s sculpt also feels just a bit soft, though not as bad as Seven. There is some more definition between the parts of his clothing, but some of them do still run together a bit. His likeness isn’t too bad; you can definitely see McGann in there. However, I think the extra head included with the War Doctor might be a better example (even if it is from later in McGann’s career). The overall look of the sculpt sums up the Eighth Doctor pretty well, and this one feels like he’s better than the sum of his parts. The paint is a little bit of a step down. It’s much more drab than the others (which is accurate, to be fair), and there’s a couple of pretty obvious instances of bleed over. Eight includes his sonic screwdriver, which appears to be the same one included with Three, Four, and Five, just painted differently.

NINTH DOCTOR

11Doctors10Doctor Who finally made its way back to tv airwaves in 2005, with Christopher Eccleston as the ninth incarnation of the main character. The Ninth Doctor was a back to the basics, no nonsense approach, in both personality and design. He had perhaps the most reserved, average look of any Doctor incarnation, which actually kind of makes him stand out, despite his rather indistinctive look. The figure stands 5 ¼ inches tall. His articulation is similar to the others in the set, but he lacks the thigh swivels. This has to do with him reusing the torso and legs of the regeneration version of Ten. He does get new arms, so he keeps the swivels on the biceps. The overall sculpt is pretty solid, and is in keeping with the better entries in this set. The best work is definitely on the coat, which has some great fine detail work and texturing. His head has a pretty good likeness to Eccleston, and it’s at least good enough that he doesn’t just look like a random guy in a black jacket. The paintwork on Nine is pretty decent overall, but he does have a few missing spots on his hairline, which are a little obvious. The best work is once again on the jacket, which nicely replicates the look of a beaten up leather jacket. Nine includes his sonic screwdriver, which is totally different from the previous one, and does a good job capturing the look.

TENTH DOCTOR

11Doctors11After Eccleston’s rather short run as the character, David Tennant took over, and gave a turn as the Doctor that rivaled Tom Baker’s in terms of popularity. His Doctor was a bit more out there than Eccleston’s, but one of his signature characteristics was his ability to jump back and forth between comedic and serious in quick succession. He’s also one of the two Doctors in this set I’ve already reviewed. He’s roughly 5 ¼ inches tall, but he loses four points of of movement, two in his biceps and two in his thighs. This is mostly to do with being pretty much entirely a re-used figure. The torso, legs, and head (but not the glasses) are the same as the Doctor from the previously reviewed Doomsday set. Those pieces were good there and they’re still good here. As a positive, the addition of Ten’s longcoat does a good job of masking the slight bulkiness of the jacket. I also like the glasses, which aren’t as bulky and ill-fitting as most examples in smaller scales. One of the best parts of the Doomsday Doctor was his fantastic paint. This figure lives up to that, which I was definitely happy about. Ten includes his sonic screwdriver, which is the same piece as the one included with Nine.

ELEVENTH DOCTOR

11Doctors12Like Davison, Matt Smith had some big shoes to fill in taking over for fan-favorite David Tennant. However, unlike Davison, Matt Smith didn’t shy away from the more eccentric side of the character, and successfully earned a pretty size able fan base of his own, which was almost enough to rival Baker and Tennant. His figure stands 5 ¼ inches tall and has the same articulation as all the others barring Ten and Nine. The figure’s sculpt is definitely well done. He definitely captures Smith’s unique build, which sells who he is pretty well. There’s also some pretty nice texturing on his tweed jacket, and the basic details of his clothing are pretty sharp. The head sports a pretty good likeness of Smith; close enough that you can tell easily who it’s supposed to be. The bangs on his hair are a separate piece, and you can clearly see the seam where it joins the head, which is kind of annoying. Fortunately, that’s the only real issue with the sculpt. The paintwork on Eleven is pretty solid; the base work is all pretty clean, and the jacket has a nice wash which helps accent the sculpt really nicely. Eleven is packed with his unique sonic screwdriver, which is quite nicely sculpted.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was given to me this Christmas by my Super Awesome Girlfriend and her parents, who seem to have also gotten into the swing of supporting this insane habit of mine. This set is a massive set. Really. But, it’s also a fantastic set of figures. Just all around a lot of fun.

Look at that, I just wrote a 3000 word review! I’m gonna go fall down now…

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#0809: First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter

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

FIRST ORDER SPECIAL FORCES TIE FIGHTER (w/ FIRST ORDER TIE FIGHTER PILOT)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

TIEFighterFO1

It’s day 8 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews. I’ll be continuing off of yesterday’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens-themed review, by taking a look at another of the franchise’s thrilling space ships. I can’t very well let the Resistance have all the fun, so let’s have a look at the First Order’s own TIE Fighter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

TIEFighterFO2Since their inception, the TIE fighters have had their own specific branch of Troopers assigned to them, unsurprisingly titled “TIE Fighter Pilots.” Who could have seen that one coming? Pretty much everybody, that’s who. The TIE Pilot is a little on the short side (a common trait for TIE Pilot figures) coming in at a little under 3 ¾ inches tall.  He’s got the standard 5 points of articulation as well, in case you were wondering. The TIE Fighter Pilot appears to have an all-new sculpt, or at least a heavily tweaked version of the single-carded figure’s body sculpt. The TIE Fighter Pilot’s design hasn’t changed drastically since the Original Trilogy, but they appear to be a bit more armored and overall more streamlined than their predecessors. The sculpt is pretty decent overall, with lots of nice small detail work. The figure sports a removable helmet, which is a little bit on the bulky side and is a little soft on details, but is otherwise a pretty well executed piece. Underneath the helmet is a somewhat generic head, which works. Mine has this weird formation running down his forehead, but looking at pictures of other figures online, this appears to just be a malformation of the sculpt. So, I guess my TIE Fighter Pilot’s just got an awesome face scar that no one else’s has! Paint on the TIE Pilot is rather minimal. He’s mostly just molded in black, but he does have a few extra details here and there, such as the First Order insignia on his shoulders. His face also has a bit of paintwork, which actually looks a bit better than some of the other figures in the line. In addition to the removable helmet, the Tie Fighter Pilot also includes a small blaster pistol.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

TIEFighterFO4The main focus here, is, of course, the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter. Which is quite a long name, isn’t it? Like Poe’s X-Wing, the TIE Fighter requires a bit of assembly when removed from the box. The lower cannons need to be popped into place (which is just the slightest bit unnerving), as do the wings. Once put together, the TIE Fighter stands 11 ½ inches tall, 10 inches wide, and is 9 inches deep. It has an opening cockpit hatch, as well as a rotating cannon on the bottom. Over the course of the Original Trilogy, the design of the TIE Fighter slowly evolved. By the time of The Force Awakens, it has gone back to something not too far removed from the design in A New Hope. According to J.J. Abrams, there was originally a far more advanced TIE Fighter design, but it was ultimately decided to go with a slightly more retro look, to make the connection between the two more clear. The sculpt of the TIE Fighter is actually quite impressive, especially when compared to the X-Wing. It’s still a little under-scaled for the 3 ¾ inch figures, but the generally larger size of the cockpit means that getting the pilot in place is a fair bit easier here than it was with the X-Wing. Of course, the TIE Fighter in the film was built for two. This fighter has two seats, but they aren’t quite oriented like they are in the film, in part due to the size of the fighter and also due to the slightly limited articulation of the figures. Getting two figures in place is definitely tricky; Stormtroopers are too large to fit, so you’ll need to actually have one of the single carded TIE Pilots to make it work. The sculpted details on this are quite nicely handled. They’re still a bit simplified compared to the actual movie design, but all the important details are there and the ship as a whole looks pretty sharp. Also, small bonus: the top of the hatch has a spot to stow the pilot’s blaster, which is pretty cool.  The TIE Fighter is, fortunately, not plagued by as many construction issues as the X-Wing, but you will want to keep an eye on the wings. One of mine is TIEFighterFO3just the slightest bit warped. It’s really not noticeable unless you’re looking for it, but it’s annoying nonetheless. Like Poe’s X-Wing, paint is a key piece in why this is a “special forces” TIE Fighter. It’s denoted by the red stripe, on the fighter’s left side. The red is pretty consistent, though there are a few missed spots at some of the connecting points. The rest of the ship is more or less molded in the proper varieties of grey, so very little paint is used. I like this, because it makes for a sharper overall design. The TIE Fighter has two spring loaded feature. The first is a missile launching feature, activated by a button at the bottom, just below the cannon. The two missiles at the front launch, though the mechanism doesn’t appear to be as strong as the one on the X-Wing. The second feature is the wing-launching feature, which replicates what happens to the TIE Fighters when they’re shot in a space battle. There’s a button at the base of each wing, which pops them off. It’s a fair feature, but it does mean the wings will occasionally just pop off on their own.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The TIE Fighter was another Christmas gift from my parents, just like the X-Wing. I really like this one a lot, and it’s better put together than the X-Wing. Of course, it’s not the X-Wing, which is a slight strike against it, but it is still fun. And when I opened this one, my brother may or may not have picked it up and chased me around the house while I played with my X-Wing.

TIEFighterFO5

#0808: Poe’s X-Wing Fighter

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

POE’S X-WING FIGHTER (w/ POE DAMERON)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

PoeXwing1

For day 7 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews, I’ll be venturing back into that galaxy far, far away. However, this time I’ll actually be looking at something from the new movie.

Back when Kenner had just gotten the Star Wars license, and they were deciding on scale, George Lucas was adamant that the figures be small enough that in-scale ships were still a possibility, which led to the decision to use the 3 ¾ inch scale, and ultimately had an undying impact on the action figure industry as a whole. See, the ships were a key piece of the story, since you can’t very have those titular “Star Wars” without them. One of the more distinctive ships was the X-Wing fighter, the main ship of all our favorite Rebel pilots. The X-Wings have made a triumphant return in The Force Awakens, and a triumphant return to the toy aisles with today’s focus, Poe’s X-Wing Fighter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PoeXwing2Seeing as the name of this set is “Poe’s X-Wing Fighter,” it’s not really a huge shock that the included pilot is Poe Dameron. The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and has the same 5 points of articulation as all the other 3 ¾ inch Force Awakens figures. Poe’s body looks to be the same one that was used on the single release Poe, though I don’t actually have one to compare. It’s a decent enough sculpt. The jumpsuit has a reasonable amount of texturing and there’s some nice layering to the sculpt. The vest seems a little soft in some areas, but not terribly so. The head sculpt is shared with the “Armor Up” version of the character. I liked it well enough when I reviewed that figure, and I like it well enough here. It’s not a perfect match for Oscar Isaac, but it isn’t terrible either. At the very least, it’s got a slightly better paint job (though the skin tone is definitely too pale). The rest of the paint is passable, but nothing tremendous. There’s a fair bit of bleed over in several areas, and the edges of the vest are fairly fuzzy. Poe includes a helmet and a small blaster. The helmet is actually really cool, if perhaps slightly oversized, and the gun looks to be the same piece included with Goss Toowers.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

Let’s be honest here, nobody was really buying this set for the figure, were they? No, the selling point is the awesome X-Wing fighter he’s meant to fly! Out of the box, there’s a tiny bit of required assembly. The cannons and the nose of the fighter are packed separately from the main vehicle, so they have to be attached, and there are also a few small decals to be placed inside the cockpit. Once assembled, the main body of the vehicle is 15 ½ inches  in length and it has a 13 inch wingspan. The X-Wing has 2 points of “articulation” for the cockpit and the landing gear. The cockpit could stand to open just a bit more, but other than that, the basic movement is pretty smooth. The X-Wing fighters in The Force Awakens got an all-new design (officially dubbed the T-70), inspired by Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept drawings from the first movie. It’s a slightly more svelte, less cobbled together look than the prior T-65. The toy gets a new sculpt designed to replicate the design from the film. Some changes have definitely been made for the sake of a slightly easier to produce toy. Chief among them is the decision to scale the whole thing down just a bit. It’s really not that evident, except for poor Poe having to do some serious slouching to fit in the cockpit with the top shut. In addition, some of the more intricate details of the craft have been made less intricate, which gives the whole thing a slightly more simplified look. Given that this ship is designed to go with the 5 POA 3 ¾ inch figures, these changes are reasonable, and make it so the ship fits in with the rest of those offerings.

PoeXwing3

The ship has a non-removable BB-8 built in, much like the R2-D2s built into the X-Wing toys of old. I was happy to see he got a fully detailed sculpt, which matches up pretty well to the single release figure. The construction of the X-Wing isn’t without its issues, though. The most glaring ones are pretty much all related to the parts that were separate in the box. The first, and by far the most minor issue for me, is the softer rubber material used for the nose. This is clearly a safety standards thing, so I can understand why it was done. It really doesn’t look that bad, and my only real concern is how it will hold up over time. The big issue is the level of warping present on the wing cannons. They come like that out of the box, and look a bit on the silly side. Fortunately, there are a few fixes that can be applied, or, if you don’t want to fix them yourself, you can just shoot Hasbro an email and they’ll send you a replacement set for free. Other than that, all the other nits are fairly minor. There are a few exposed screws, but they’re all in fairly out of the way places. The general construction of this ship really isn’t horrible. Paint is something of a key piece on this one, since it’s the color scheme that denotes the fighter as Poe’s. The grey/orange scheme is pretty striking here, and it works nicely with the mold. The actual paint is fairly basic, with just solid color work. There are some areas with some slightly uneven coverage, but the overall look is quite good. BB-8’s head gets some nice work, but his body is left completely unpainted, which is just a tad jarring. The X-Wing has two action features. The main one is the wing feature. When BB-8 is pressed, the wings pop open into the signature X formation. When the button behind him is pushed, they go back to their normal positioning. The mechanism isn’t particularly strong, so the wings won’t stay open if you set the ship down, which is a tiny bit of a letdown (and it also made taking pictures rather hard). The other feature is a more simple missile launching one. Pressing a button on the underside of the fighter launches the included missile. It’s actually surprisingly powerful, so try not to shoot your eye out.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Poe’s X-Wing Fighter was another Christmas gift from my incredibly supportive parents. It’s not a perfect item. I can make a list of the issues, I can say it’s a step back after the more advanced X-Wings we’ve gotten in the past. It’s under-sized, and the cannons are warped, and maybe the paint could be better. But when I opened this thing up and put it together? Pure joy. I think it might just be my favorite item I received for Christmas. Seriously, I was so excited that I may or may not have run through the house with it making flying sounds…

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#0807: Bola Attack Mariner

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

BOLA ATTACK MARINER

WATERWORLD (KENNER)

Mariner1

Alright, it’s day 6 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews. Today, we’re keeping things moving at a steady pace. I mean, so far I’ve looked at figures from Aliens, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars, what amazing piece of science fiction could possibly follow those? Waterworld? Ah. Thought we were going a different direction. Like, maybe a less sucky one. Okay, I have to be totally fair here: I’ve never seen Waterworld, so I can’t really judge it fairly. By the nature of being a sci-fi film with a decent budget in the 90s, Waterworld actually managed to get an entire line of action figures, with vehicles and everything. The figures are kind of the action figure equivalent of head lice. Their unwanted, incredibly hard to get rid of, and they leave you scratching your head. And you get them by sharing hats. Okay, no, not that last one. But the other stuff is true! Anyway, let’s look at one of the many, many, many variants of the Kevin Costner-played lead, the Mariner.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mariner2Bola Attack Mariner was part of the first, and as far as I know, only series of Waterworld figures, produced by Kenner. The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. The Kenner standard 5 and 5! I can’t say for sure whether this guy’s look is movie accurate. Going by what I’ve been able to find online, none of the Mariner figures in the line were exact matches for his looks in the movie, but this one does seem to be closer than some of the others. Sculpt-wise, he shares a lot of parts with other Mariner figures. The upper body sculpt is shared Hydro Stinger Mariner, the legs with Warrior Mariner, and the head and hands with ALL the Mariner figures. The quality of the sculpt actually isn’t bad. The likeness is a pretty decent Costner (certainly better than any of the Prince of Thieves figures) and the body sculpt shows some pretty decent detail work, especially on the clothing. The proportions are a little off (his head and feet are both a tad large), but it’s actually not as bad as a lot of figures from the time. The paint is where things take a bit of a dive (ha!). There’s a fair bit of slop all around, and they can’t seem to decide where exactly his hairline is supposed to start. That said, his color scheme is vaguely interesting, and he does have some neat metallic paint going for him. Bola Attack Mariner a giant bola-missile launcher thing, a weird spear thing, and a purple fish thing, none of which were included with my figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Those of you reading this review are probably wondering why in god’s name I got this figure for Christmas, let me ‘splain. No, it’s too much; let me sum up.  It all started when I was born. No, sorry, it actually started four years after I was born, when I received three Waterworld figures as a birthday present from my cousins Noah and Caryn. Now, as I noted, I’ve never seen Waterworld, so it follows that I also hadn’t seen it when I was four, making this a slightly odd gift. See, for years, extended family members who didn’t quite understand what I liked about action figures would buy me literally the first or cheapest action figure they found as gifts on the major holidays. I always assumed the Waterworld figures were another case of this, and would often cite them as such. They, like all those other odd gifts, just sort of disappeared over time. I might still have them somewhere, but I honestly couldn’t say. In the last year or two, I was discussing the figures in the company of Caryn, who stopped me and told me that, no, they weren’t just a random, cheap gift. Waterworld was, in fact, Noah’s favorite movie, which is why he bought me the action figures. This is the part of the story where I start to feel like a bit of a jerk.

On Christmas Eve this past year, my Dad and I were out doing some last minute shopping in the small beach town where my family spends the holidays. We stopped by Yesterday’s Fun, who happened to have this guy (along with a row of several other Kevin Costner action figures, mostly Robin Hoods). I joked about how I should buy him to make up for the prior figures getting lost, but ultimately passed on him. On Christmas morning, I pulled this guy out of my stocking. Yep, my Dad went back and bought him, apparently to the amusement of the shop owner, who thought he’d never be rid of the head li—I mean Waterworld figure. Honestly, he’s not that bad, and he kind of reminds me that I didn’t totally hate the three figures I had as a kid either. Also, unexpected bonus, now I’ve got a Kevin Costner figure who can shake his head silently at all of my Supermen and then go die in a tornado.  Yay?

#0806: IG-88

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

IG-88

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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It’s day 5 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews, and today I’ll be looking at the first example of one of the themes to my gifts this year: Star Wars.  I can’t possibly imagine why that was the case.  It’s not like there was a new movie or something.  Of course, today’s figure isn’t from The Force Awakens, he’s actually from the original trilogy.

Empire Strikes Back is a lot of people’s favorite Star Wars movie (Not mine, but that’s a whole other thing).  There are a number of reasons for that, but one of the most prevalent, especially from a toy-buying perspective, is the bounty hunters.  Moving past the disproportionately popular Boba Fett, the film introduced five rather unique bounty hunters, all of whom do little more than fill the background of a scene on a Star Destroyer.  Still, those unique looks certainly made them all pretty memorable, and it also made them pretty good choices for action figures.  One of my personal favorites has always been IG-88, who is the focus of today’s review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG88bIG-88 is a part of Series 9 of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series line, released alongside Leia as Boushh and Clone Commander Cody.  He was one of the last figures to hit before the switch-over to Force Awakens-branded product.  IG-88 is numbered 15, which places him right before Leia numerically.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and has 21 points of articulation, which is pretty darn impressive for a character of his build.  There are certainly some parts that might benefit from improved movement (seriously, those cut-joint hips are killing me), but he’s overall a lot more mobile than I would have expected.  IG-88’s sculpt is seriously top notch.  It’s pretty much a pitch-perfect recreation of the design from Empire, right down to all the little tacked on bits.  Perhaps the only inaccuracy is the head, which is generally a bit sharper, and has a few more molded lines than the real thing.  However, the end result looks a bit better, so I can’t really complain on that one.  His elbows both have a rubber covering to mask the joints.  It looks cool, and it retains mobility, but I do have to wonder how long those pieces will last.  His bandolier is a separate piece, affixed via a small peg on the figure’s shoulder.  It sits nicely, ans allows for stowage of one of his guns and his bladed item.  The paintwork on this figure is probably the best I’ve seen on a Black Series figure in some time. To be fair, this does seem like a hard paintjob to screw up, but this is Hasbro we’re talking about here.   He actually goes beyond the simple gun metal grey we’ve seen on prior IG-88s and some brasses and browns, to give him that nice old and worn look.  IG-88 is packed with two blaster rifles, one long and one short, which can be attached to his hands through use of the small pegs on his forearms.  He also has a blade/axe thing, which can be placed in its spot on the bandolier.  All of the extras are very nicely sculpted and wonderful additions to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I was fortunate enough to stumble across his series-mate Leia at an out of the way Walgreens, I had no such luck finding IG-88.  Fortunately, my parents seemed to fair a little better, as he was amongst the gifts I received on Christmas morning.  He’s a pretty stellar figure, from start to finish.  The sculpt and the paint really work together on this guy, and he ends up being one of the best figures to date that The Black Series has spawned.

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#0805: Courage

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

COURAGE

I AM ELEMENTAL

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Welcome to day 4 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews! Today’s entry has just a bit of backstory. A year and a half ago, I supported my very first action figure campaign, titled I Am Elemental. This campaign’s purpose was simple: action figures for girls. The action figure industry has an unfortunate history of not treating that half of the population the greatest, and I Am Elemental’s goal was to fix those in the best way possible: by making some really cool action figures! The initial set of figures arrived last year just before Christmas, and they made my list of favorite reviews for my second year of this site, so I was pretty pumped to see what was next for the line. When they started their project, the trend of figures was definitely towards the 3 ¾ inch scale. In the last year or two, thanks to lines like Marvel Legends and Star Wars: The Black Series, the trend has somewhat shifted to a 6 inch scale. I Am Elemental has followed suit, and their second proper release is in a somewhat larger scale. So, let’s see how they fared on their first venture into this new style!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Courage4Courage is a single release figure, available in late 2015 via the I Am Elemental store, as well as several online retailers. The smaller figures were each based on one emotion, or element, which all added up to the series’ theme of “Courage.” This figure acts as an amalgam of all those separate elements, in kind of a mega-power-up form. One would presume that this is the in-universe reason for the figure being almost twice as tall as those released previously. Courage stands a little over 6 ½ inches tall and has 36 points of articulation. She’s a touch on the large side to fit in with ML or The Black Series (though you can make it work), but she fits pretty nicely with stuff from DCC and NECA, and I think she even looks pretty cool with my Ultra-Act figures. Her articulation is pretty fantastic; she has a ton of mobility, and most of the joints move fairly smoothly. Courage is the first figure in the line to possess a completely unique mold. It’s clearly based on the smaller-scale figures, which makes sense. The basic underlying body armor is all the same, just blown up to a larger scale. She’s got two main add-on parts, a helmet Courage5and chest armor. The helmet is removable, and it’s a very well designed piece. It sits nice and snuggly when in place, but comes off without damaging the figure, and the helmet is not to big, nor is her head too small. The chest piece is actually made up of three separate parts; the shoulder guards are separate, jointed pieces, allowing for unhindered movement of the arms. Near as I can tell, the chest piece isn’t removable, at least not without taking off the head, which doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be removed. That’s fine by me, because the armor’s cool enough that I can’t see myself removing it anyway. Joan of Arc has been a noted inspiration for the figures since day one, and that’s definitely apparent in the design of the armor, and really the figure in general. It’s a classic look, and it certainly won’t look dated in a few years’ time. But, she’s not just inspired by Joan of Arc, she’s also inspired by the seven smaller scale figures. Bravery and Honesty seem to show through the most, butCourage8 elements of each of the Courage series figures show up on this figure, which is very nice to see. For instance, three of the Courage series figures had ponytails, so Courage has three ponytails, each one slightly different. I Am Elemental figures have all exhibited a simple, streamlined style to their sculpts. Courage continues this, but adds just enough extra detail to keep her from being too simple. The overall result is a very pleasing aesthetic. The paint work on Courage is pretty decent. It’s not perfect, but it’s above what we tend to see from larger companies, like Hasbro and Mattel. She borrows a lot of her coloring from the Courage Red version of Honesty, but, as with her sculpt, the figure has a little bit of each Courage series figure’s color scheme worked in. The color choices here are nice and bold, and she’ll definitely stand out on the shelf. In addition to the previously mentioned removable helmet, Courage includes a sword (with cool flamey bits!), a shield, and a character card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Courage was a Christmas gift from my parents. It was no secret how much I loved the figures I got through the Kickstarter, so it should be no surprise that I was eagerly anticipating this figure, after being wowed by it when it was shown at Toy Fair 2015. So, I was thrilled to open the figure on Christmas morning. Out of the box, she’s just a fantastic figure. She takes the already high standard set by the original figures and soars way over it. Like the previous set, she’s an awesome toy first and foremost. I really can’t ask for much more.

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#0804: Holiday Dancing Groot

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

HOLIDAY DANCING GROOT

FUNKO POP!

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Okay, here we are on Day 3 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews. This time around, I’m actually taking a look at something that’s in keeping with the holiday spirit! That’s a bit of a change, right?

Truth be told, the actual subject of the review is not so much a change as it is something of a repeat. See, last year, Funko released a Pop! figure of Groot from the mid-credits scene from Guardians of the Galaxy. I, as someone who loved Groot, the movie, and that particular scene, bought said Pop! figure. And it was pretty awesome! Why am I reviewing it again? Well, I’m not! This year, in honor of the holiday season, Funko released a variant of that figure, only this time in holiday colors, which is what I’ll be reviewing today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HolidayGroot2Holiday Dancing Groot is figure #101 in the Pop! Marvel line, and he was released as an exclusive to Hot Topic. What’s interesting is that, unlike most variant Pop!s, he doesn’t share his number with his regular release; he gets his own. The figure is about 3 ½ inches tall and, due to contractual issues, has no actual articulation. He does have a bobble head, so you can get some movement out of the neck if you want, but he is legally NOT an action figure. This figure is like 90% re-use from the previous Dancing Groot. That’s fine, since that’s the idea, and that sculpt was pretty good to begin with. The one difference in the sculpt is the pot, which now sports a fancy holiday bow. It’s a nicely sculpted piece, and it actually adds a nice bit of flair to the otherwise completely detail-less pot. The paint on this figure is also a bit different from the previous figure. The basic work on the main Groot is pretty much the same, but he’s now been given a slight misting of snow on his head, hands, and the base of his body. It looks pretty good, though I would assume there’s some variance from figure to figure. The pot has also changed from white to green, and the bow is a nice bright red. There’s just a bit of bleed over on the edge of the bow’s ribbon, but it’s nothing super noticeable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This version of Groot was given to me by my friend Jill. She has wanted to get into the whole “buying Ethan action figures” bit before, but was a bit nervous about what to get me. I actually didn’t know about this figure’s existence until she gave it to me, so kudos to her! He’s not wildly different from the prior Groot, but I actually really like this figure a lot, and the extra bits give him a nice bit of pop (heh!), which make him just as exciting as the original!

#0803: Alien Warrior

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

ALIEN WARRIOR

SCI-FI REVOLTECH

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We move onto day 2 of the post-Christmas gift reviews. Continuing from the theme started yesterday, how about some more Aliens? I mean, let’s be honest here, the Queen isn’t any good all by her lonesome, right? No, she’s got to have someone to do her bidding! Well, as luck would have it, Revoltech had one more Aliens figure in their line-up, based on one of the basic Alien Warriors from the second film. Let’s see how this one fares!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

XenoRevol2The Alien Warrior was figure #016 in the Sci-Fi Revoltech line, placing him two figures ahead of the Queen numerically. The figure between them isn’t Aliens-related at all; it’s Santa Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, which isn’t a sci-fi movie, but whatever. Like the Alien Queen, the Warrior is also based on the Stan Winston-designed look from Aliens, which happens to be my personal favorite. The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall (meaning he’s nowhere near being in scale with the Queen) and he has 52 points of articulation, plus a bendable tail. The design of this figure may take its cues from Aliens, but this definitely feels much more like a “concept” take on the look than it does an actual proper translation of what is seen in the film. A lot of that has to do with proportions. This figure foregoes trying to look like a man in a suit, and is instead very spindly and bug-like. It makes the figure a bit more unearthly, but I’m not sure it’s as frightening as the film design. A lot of this has to do with the head being more or less unchanged, and thereby much larger compared to the body. He doesn’t look goofy or anything, but there’s a touch less menace. The figure is still fantastically detailed, though, and all of the signature XenoRevol3Xeno details are impeccably captured. The overall look of this figure is definitely a creepy one. The Warrior’s paint is rather similar to the Queen’s; the base plastic is a smokey clear color, with a semi-metallic blue painted over it, and then a few smaller silver details. I think the overall result is better here, though, and this figure doesn’t suffer from the same tackiness as the Queen. The Warrior includes a pretty nice assortment of extras, including a spare set of forearms without the big fin pieces, a pair of more splayed hands, an egg, a name plate, a display stand made to look like part of the colony’s floor, and a standard Revoltech box.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy was the other half of my gift from my boy Tim. I liked the Queen well enough, but the Alien Warrior really does step it up to the next level. He’s oh so posable, and he’s got the interchangeability thing going on, and he’s a whole lot sturdier. All that adds up to a pretty fantastic little figure. Is he perfect? No, but what figure is? That said, he’s just oodles of fun!

#0802: Alien Queen

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

ALIEN QUEEN

SCI-FI REVOLTECH

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Alright, let’s get this party started! Christmas reviews officially kick off today! And it’s hardly a proper Christmas without some Aliens. It is, after all, the greatest film of all time (and required Christmas viewing in The FiQ household. No joke). As a fan of Aliens, I like to get as many of the figures as I can, and there have been more than a few different styles released over the years. Not too long ago, toy makers Revoltech had the license to the film. They released two figures from the movie, the second of which was the Alien Queen, which I’ll be reviewing today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

QueenRevol2The Alien Queen was released as figure #018 in the Sci-Fi Revoltech line. She’s based on her appearance in the second movie, which is the correct appearance to base a figure on. The figure stands approximately 7 inches tall when fully extended and has 86 points of articulation, plus a bendable tail. The vast majority of these joints are Revoltech’s signature revolver-style joints, which are some of the best designed joints in the industry. There are a few non revolver joints, used on the wrists and ankles. The ankle joints are fine, and they hold up pretty well, but the wrists, particularly the ones on the larger arms, are quite fragile. In fact, both of the larger wrists on my figure broke and had to be repaired, more than once, resulting in loss of movement on those joints. That’s quite a bit of a bummer, and really knocks this figure down in playablity. Regardless of stability, the sculpt of this figure is pretty darn impressive. The design has been made a bit more stylized, to better fit the rest of Revoltech’s stuff, but it’s a pretty good translation of the film design. The sculpt does a pretty great job of working in the joints, for the most part, anyway. Some, such as the hips, are a little more obvious, but not terribly so. The level of detail and texturing on the individual parts is pretty awesome, and there’s even detailing on the underside of the head! As an added bonus, the figure’s construction makes her compatible with prior Revoltech figures, such as their Assemble Borg line, which adds a pretty fun bit of customizability. The paint on the Queen is actually pretty cool, at least in theory. She’s molded in smokey-clear plastic, with a dark blue, semi-translucent paint over it. It gives her this really cool, otherworldly look. The paint is also somewhat metallic, which adds a nice polish, and there’s some pretty cool lighter highlight work to it. So, why “in theory”? Well, I got this figure a little while after its release, and upon opening, I discovered that the figure was quite tacky, which doesn’t make the figure super fun to play with long term. The Queen is a pretty intensive figure in her own right, so she isn’t jam-packed with accessories. However, she does get a few things, including a display stand that looks like the floor of the Sulaco, a name plate, and a standard Revoltech box.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Queen was given to me by my boy Tim, who’s well aware just how much I love Aliens, and fairly consistently quizzes me on just which versions of the creatures I own. After introducing me to Revoltech earlier this year and getting me hooked on their Assemble Borg line, he decided that the Revoltech Aliens were the next appropriate step. The Queen is not without her flaws, and she doesn’t quite stand up to the majesty that is the NECA version. That said, this figure did come first, so I can cut it some slack, and truth be told, she’s really not bad. As long as you’re careful, this can be a pretty awesome figure. Oh, and did I mention the fighting fists?

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#0801: The Curator

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

THE CURATOR

DOCTOR WHO

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Okay, well, it was. Provided, of course you view Christmas as the “most wonderful time of the year.” Which not everyone does. I’m getting sidetracked. Sorry! Point is, Christmas has just passed, and that means another round of Christmas reviews. However, before I can get to the Christmas reviews, I have to first do the anniversary gift, which is sort of kind of Christmas Review #0.

One year ago, I looked at the War Doctor, from the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special (the surrounding promotion of which was my primary reason for getting into Doctor Who in the first place). Today, I’ll be going back to the 50th Anniversary another time, to look at another figure from that special. Yes, it’s the Curator, played by legendary Doctor Who actor Tom Baker, who may or may not be a future incarnation of the Doctor!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Curator2The Curator is a deluxe release from the Doctor Who line from Character Options. Despite the line’s supposed move to 3 ¾ inch scale, there seems to be a continuous stream of new product at the larger scale. I’m not complaining, though. The figure stands about 5 ½ inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. He’s certainly taller than lots of previous figures from the line, but seeing as Tom Baker is 6’3”, that seems about right scale-wise. The Curator is based on Tom Baker’s cameo appearance from the very end of “The Day of the Doctor.” His sculpt appears to be all-new to him, though I’m not familiar enough with the Doctor Who molds to know for sure. The sculpt is, overall, not a bad piece, but he does feel like a slight step back in quality after the fantastic work seen on the “Time of the Doctor” version of Eleven. The best work is definitely the head, which has some fantastic detail work, and sports a wonderful likeness of an older Tom Baker. The rest of the sculpt is alright, if not amazing. He’s better than the vast majority of the line, for what it’s worth. His proportions are a little exaggerated, but they aren’t terrible. The thing that holds the sculpt back the most is the lack of any real texturing on the clothing. It’s in keeping with most of the line, so I’d give it a pass, except that was one area that the recent version of Eleven really excelled in. Still, the basic sculpt is pretty decent, and it’s a pretty good translation of the look of the character from the episode.  The paintwork on this figure is generally pretty good, but there are some issues that hold him back a bit. The biggest is the substantial amount of paint slop on his right ear, but there are also a few other places with some missed lines and slightly iffy application. That being said, it isn’t the worst I’ve seen from this line, and he looks pretty good overall, as a whole. The Curator includes a cane, which he carries for the entirety of his appearance. It’s a fairly basic piece, and he holds it pretty well. The other accessory is what makes this a deluxe item. It’s the “Galifrey Falls” painting, which has been done as a lenticular image, so that it can change to “Galifrey Falls No More” as it does in the episode.  It’s a neat addition, and the frame is very well sculpted, but the lenticular image makes it hard to really clearly see a fully formed painting. Still a cool piece, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Curator was an anniversary gift from Super Awesome Girlfriend. Isn’t it clever how she got me another anniversary special figure for our anniversary? And, since our anniversary is on the 24th, he’s also a pseudo-Christmas gift! So, the Curator’s not as cool as Eleven or the War Doctor, but he’s still a pretty neat little figure, and certainly a cool novelty item. Not a bad addition to the collection!

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