Category Archives: Reviews

#0447: Aliens Minimates

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

CARTER BURKE, PVT WIERZBOWSKI, PVT SPUNKMEYER, ALIEN WARRIOR(S), ATTACKING ALIEN WARRIOR(S), & BATTLE DAMAGED ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

ALIENS MINIMATES

Today’s review marks Day Ten of my Christmas Reviews. If you were thinking there hadn’t been enough Aliens stuff, you’re in luck! If you’ve grown tired of Aliens, that’s unfortunate. You may have chosen the wrong action figure review site. Sorry!

It’s my opinion that Aliens is the greatest movie ever made. If I were pressed to pick my favorite toyline, I think Minimates would be the obvious answer. So, how do you make the greatest toys of all time? Well, putting it lightly, Aliens Minimates. There, I was able to get through that all calm. I totally didn’t break into hysterics over the fact THAT THERE ARE TOTALLY ALIENS MINIMATES!!!! THAT’S A REAL THING!!!! HOLY CRAP!!! ….Sorry about that. So, um, yeah. There are Aliens Minimates, and I’ll be taking a look at those today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures make up the first assortment of Aliens Minimates to be offered. Typically, I only review Minimates one set at a time. However, they all kind of make up one “set” of figures, so I’ll be keeping them together. These figures were released as the “Aliens VS Marines Army Dump.” The Army Dump is something that’s been done a few times before with Minimates. Essentially, it’s a case of 12 single-packed Minimates, where there are a few variations of an army builder packed in a few times, with a small number of unique characters, each packed one per case. In this set, there are three styles of alien warriors that take up nine of the slots collectively, and the remaining three slots are filled by Marines Wierzbowski and Spunkmeyer, and Weyland-Yutani employee Carter Burke.

CARTER BURKE

Can you get much sleazier than Carter J Burke? Not much. Dude’s just the worst. But Aliens need victims, so here he is! Burke here is easily the highest profile human character in this set, so he’s got that going for him. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s based on the look Burke sports for the majority of the movie. In a world of the coolest looking set of Space Marines imaginable, Burke’s a guy in a flannel shirt a vest. Real winner this one. It’s definitely the definitive look for the character, so it’s a good choice. Burke is assembled from the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his hair, vest, sleeves, and wrist watch. The hair was previously used on the Ghostbusters Janosz, the sleeves first appeared on The Spirit, and both the vest and the watch are re-used from Knight Rider’s Michael Knight. Seems Burke raided Hasslehoff’s closet! For those of you following at home, you’ll note that Burke has no new pieces. He’s a great example of what you can do with re-used parts, because each piece looks spot on to the character. The figure’s paint fills me with great distress. The general application of the paint is fantastic. The figure’s face is a pretty decent likeness to Paul Reiser’s portrayal of the character, and the work on the flannel shirt is nothing short of astonishing. So, what’s the problem? Well, a combination of things. Seems the plastic on the hip joints is a little on the weak side. Combine that with some sticky paint, and you’ve got a Burke with two broken hip joints, which is what happened to mine. Fortunately, I was able to get a replacement set of legs (shout out to Minimate Multiverse member Bilbofett! Thanks so much!), but it’s a shame that this happened. Burke’s sole accessory (unless you count the ooze coming off his slimey personality) is a clear display stand.

PVT WIERZBOWSKI

Ah, Wierzbowski. The marine that is never actually on screen, but that everyone remembers because of his funny name being shouted several times during the big hive fight. I gotta be honest, the fact that Diamond is leading with Wierzbowski shows a commitment to this line that no other action could. Wierzbowski is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his helmet, chest armor, and boots. The add-ons are new to this figure and they offer the first glimpse at the pieces that will be used on future Marines. Simply put, they’re fantastic. Early images had me worried the armor might be too bulky, but that’s certainly not the case in person. Each piece of armor is a fantastic miniaturization of the movie’s designs. Wierzbowski’s paint work, while very good, does have a few issues that hold it back. The detail work is all nice and sharp (though I can’t speak to the quality of the likeness, not having seen the guy’s face). The fully detailed camo uniform under the armor is definitely a nice touch. However, the camo is only present on the front of the torso, leading to a jarring change when he’s viewed from the side. Also, the green chosen for the armor seems to be a bit too bright, which looks off. Neither of these is really a figure ruining issue. It would be nice if they could fix the camo thing on future marines. I don’t see the shade of green changing, mostly for consistency’s sake. Wierzbowski includes a fantastically sculpted pulse rifle, as well as an alternate hairpiece (originally used on the first Marvel Now! Hulk) and a clear display stand.

CREW CHIEF PVT SPUNKMEYER

Spunkmeyer is probably more notable than Wierzbowski, though not much. He’s totally absent from the definitive hive battle, and he’s nowhere near as memorable as his co-pilot Ferro. Like Wiezbowski, he’s mostly remembered for his odd name. In fact, when I first saw the pictures of these figures, I kinda though he was Lt. Gorman. Spunkmeyer is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. Structurally, Spunkmeyer uses the standard Minimate body, with a sculpted helmet piece. It’s not bad, though it seems a touch too large. We don’t see him wearing it very much, so that might be throwing me off. The rest of Spunkmeyer’s look is done via paint. The detail lines are nice and sharp and he has a passing resemblance to the actor who plays him. The base paint isn’t quite as good. There’s more than a few wavy or fuzzy lines. That said, they got the colors right on this one, which is nice. Under his helmet, Spunkmeyer has a fully detailed shaved head, stubble and all. I wish that he didn’t have a peg hole in his head, but that seems to have been a necessity of the helmet. Spunkmeyer includes a handgun and a clear display stand.

ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

As I said in the into, this set offers three different varieties of the titular creatures. The first one is the basic Alien Warrior. There are four of this particular Alien in the set. The figure is about 2 ¾ inches tall and features 16 points of articulation (the additional two points are courtesy of the tail). Obviously, the Alien Warrior is based on the appearance of the creature in the second film of the franchise. The figure uses the basic Minimate body as a starting point, with all-new sculpted pieces for the torso, head, hands, tail, and feet. All of these pieces are exquisitely sculpted, with tons of small detail work. This version of the Alien has a closed mouth, which looks almost like an evil grin here, due to the stylizing of the character. What’s truly amazing about the sculpt is how it stays true to both the original design and the Minimate aesthetic. It’s very clearly the Alien, but it’s also very definitely a Minimate. That takes effort. The figure’s paint is on par with the sculpt. Diamond could have easily just relied on their sculpt for the creature’s details and left the paint a basic black, but they didn’t. Every flat surface has a plethora of texturing and detailing that perfectly captures the design in two dimensions. The figure also features some silver detailing to bring out the claws, toenails and teeth of the creature. The Alien Warrior includes a clear display stand.

ATTACKING ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

The second variation of the Alien Warrior is the “Attacking” version. There are three Attacking Aliens in the set. Like the regular Alien Warrior, this figure is about 2 ¾ inches in height and it has 16 points of articulation. From the neck down, all of the sculpted pieces on this figure are the same as those on the regular Warrior. The key difference is the head. While the regular version had a closed mouth, the Attacking Alien has its mouth open and its inner mouth sticking out. This depicts the Alien in one of its most distinctive looks, which is definitely cool. For the most part, the paint on this figure is the same quality as the first alien. The only difference is the addition of gray for the inner mouth. It might have been nice to get something other than a flat gray, but it’s not too bad. The Attacking Alien Warrior includes a clear display stand.

BATTLE DAMAGED ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

The last version of the Alien Warrior is the Battle Damaged version. There are two Battle Damaged Aliens in the set. The Aliens have a tendency to take some damage, so it’s a reasonable variant. The figure has the same height and articulation as the previous Aliens. Sculpturally, this one’s a little different. The hands, feet, and tail are the same as the other two Aliens. The head is that of the Attacking Alien, with the inner mouth removed, and the torso is the same as the previous two aliens, but with the back tubes shortened, as if they’ve broken off. The other key difference on this figure is the paint. The starting point is pretty much the same as the other two, but they’ve added splashes of bright green all over the figure, depicting the creature’s acidic blood. It’s a cool effect on one figure, but I’m not sure it’s very practical for an army builder. The Battle Damaged Alien Warrior includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These figures were another Christmas gift from my always awesome parents. I’m over joyed to have these figures in my possession. About 5 years ago, I was really into customizing Minimates, and I made my own set of Aliens ‘mates, which I was quite proud of. I’m thrilled to say that these blow those out of the water. My personal favorite of the set is Wierzbowski, just for the preview he gives of the other marines, but the Alien Warrior is very definitely a thing of beauty. I can’t wait to get more of these!

#0446: The Doctor & Clara “Oswin” Oswald

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THE DOCTOR & CLARA “OSWIN” OSWALD

DOCTOR WHO

It’s Day Nine of the Christmas Reviews, and we’re back with that funky British Sci-Fi show Doctor Who. If you’ve been closely following the reviews up to this point, you’ll probably notice that, while I have a fair assortment of Eleventh Doctor-related characters, I don’t actually have an Eleventh Doctor. That changes today! Also of note, I’ll be rounding out the main companions of the Eleventh Doctor (well, sort of). So, let’s have a look at The Doctor and Clara “Oswin” Oswald.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two figures were released in a two pack dubbed “The Impossible Set,” which is a clever name for a couple of reasons. From a show perspective, Clara, who makes up half of this is set, was dubbed “The Impossible Girl.” But, in addition to that, what’s also somewhat impossible about this set is the scale! See, right before Clara joined the cast of the show, Character Options, who make the Who toys, decided to change the scale of the line from 5-inch to 3 ¾-inch. This meant that the first Clara figure was not compatible with all the other Who companions, which was definitely a bummer. Fortunately, it didn’t last too long, and now we have a Clara in 5-inch scale (well, sort of… I’ll get to that.)

THE DOCTOR

First up, it’s the Doctor, who’s sort of the requisite figure in this set, what with it being his show and all. The figure is about 5 ½ inches tall (counting the hat) and he has 20 points of articulation. The Eleventh Doctor was no stranger to toys, and he ended up with a fair number of them, covering many of his looks. This particular figure is not one of the Doctor’s standard looks. Instead, it’s a specific look from the Series 7 Christmas episode “The Snowmen.” That episode was the first episode following the departure of longtime companions the Ponds, so the Doctor is in a somewhat distraught state, leading to the darker colors and the lack of his signature bow-tie. The episode is set in Victorian-era London, and the Doctor’s dressed to fit in, resulting in a rather unique look for Eleven. The figure is a mostly new sculpt, though he does re-use the hands and legs of the basic version of Eleven. Generally speaking, the sculpt is quite nice. It seems a bit gangly at first, but some re-watching of Smith’s episodes shows that this is pretty accurate. I really like the amount of texture present on the figure. This is something that’s frequently absent from Who figures, but that’s not the case here. I particularly love the hat, which has the perfect well-worn look to it. The figure’s face is a decent approximation of Matt Smith, though I think they’ve made him just a bit too conventionally good looking to be a spot on rendition of Smith. While the sculpt is quite good, and certainly up to par with other Who releases, the paint seems to have taken a slight down turn. It’s not bad, mind you; just not as good as previous Who figures. Overall, the general application and the color scheme are fine. However, there are a few issues with some bleed over, and the paint just seems to be thicker than usual. I’m also not a fan of how the eyebrows look, as if they’ve been drawn on with a pencil. The Doctor’s lone accessory is his Sonic Screwdriver, which seems to be well represented here.

CLARA “OSWIN” OSWALD

So, how is this figure only “sort of” a Clara Oswald figure? Well, it’s like this: this figure is based on Jenna Coleman’s character Oswin the Soufflé Girl, who appeared in Series 7’s “Asylum of the Daleks.” The episode was written, filmed, and shown following Coleman’s casting as the next Companion, but she wasn’t playing the character she would go on to play. However, through a convoluted series of events, the end of Series 7 revealed that Oswin had been a fragment of Clara the whole time, effectively making them the same person. So, this is essentially a Clara figure, more or less. Fortunately, Oswin and Clara had similar styles of dress, so it’s pretty easy to pass this off as either of them. The figure is a little under 5 inches tall, and she has 21 points of articulation (though, I’m not really sure why they even bothered with the neck joint, as the hair renders it useless.) The figure features a unique sculpt. It’s a pretty good one, too, with nice proportions and a good likeness of Jenna Coleman. The majority of the dress is a rubber slip-over piece, allowing for it to go seamlessly across the figure’s waist, while still maintaining a fair bit of the articulation. I’m not sure how well it’ll hold up over time, but it’s good in theory. The figure’s paint is pretty good overall. Everything is evenly applied, and it’s nice and clean. There’s no real issue with slop or bleed over. I’m not sure what’s going on with the eyes, though. They were definitely trying to capture Coleman’s wide-eyed look, but her pupils are a bit low, resulting in an almost frightened look, which, when coupled with the slight smile, looks a bit frightening. Like the Doctor, Oswin includes a single accessory: her soufflé. It’s a fun enough accessory, though she can’t hold it very well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Doctor and Clara/Oswin, like all my Doctor Who figures, were a gift from my Super Awesome Girlfriend Jessica. I’m really happy to have an Eleventh Doctor for my shelf, and I really like this particular look. I’m also happy to have another Companion. While I’m not the biggest fan of Clara, I actually really liked Oswin during her short appearance on the show, so this figure’s even more of a win for me!

#0445: Falcon

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FALCON

MARVEL SELECT

Today, we make our way into the back half of the Christmas Reviews, with Day Eight. This review breaks from the Doctor Who and Aliens theme, instead turning to the Marvel Super Heroes branch of things, which is something of an “old faithful” for me.

One of my favorite movies last year was Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Like any good superhero movie, it had its fair share of toys, offering the movie’s characters in a variety of scales. My personal favorite of the bunch were Hasbro’s Marvel Legends offerings. However, there was one issue; as cool as Hasbro’s versions of Cap, Widow, and the Winter Soldier were, the line did not include a figure of Falcon, one of my favorite additions from the movie. I tried to make do with the smaller scale 3 ¾ inch figure, but he just wasn’t the same quality. Enter Marvel Select.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Falcon was released as part of Diamond Select’s Marvel Select line. Falcon is one of the two figures they released based on CA:TWS (The other was Stealth Suit Cap). The figure is based on the character’s appearance during the final battle sequence of the film, once he’s all decked out in his full uniform. Falcon is a little over 7 inches in height (making him a full inch taller than the Legends Cap) and he features 22 points of articulation. While he’s not as well articulated as the Legends figures, he’s certainly above the standard Select figure. The figure features a brand-new sculpt, just for Falcon. Overall, it’s pretty well done. The proportions are nice, the uniform has some great texturing and layering, and the head sculpt has a decent likeness of Anthony Mackie. It’s not without its faults, though. The head could stand to be a little more textured, and I’m not really sure what’s up with the positioning of his hands. It seems like he’s meant to have something to hold (maybe his guns from the movie?) but nothing is provided, so his hands are just doing this “Kung Fu Grip” sort of thing. The figure’s paint is pretty good, though still just shy of perfect. The work on the uniform is fantastic. It’s nice and clean, and there’s some very nice, small detail work. The paintwork on the head has similar issues to the sculpt; it’s just too smooth and clean. This is especially evident on his facial hair, which almost looks drawn on. That said, the paint really isn’t bad. Falcon included a pair of wings and a display stand made to look like a piece of the Helicarrier. The wings are well sculpted, but I really wish there were a way to pose them or attach them a bit differently. As it is, they each have a square peg on the end that plugs into his back harness, meaning they can only be attached sticking straight out. Something similar to the Minimate (which allowed the wings to either be attached to the harness or held in his hands) would have been much preferred here. The stand is pretty cool, I guess, though I don’t really see myself using it much.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Falcon was another gift from my super cool, super supportive parents. Of all the gifts I received this year, Falcon seems the most “slow burn” (in fact he was the very last of my gifts to actually be taken out of its package, almost a week after Christmas. I kinda felt bad about that,) but he’s a great figure of a great character. Sure, he’s a little too large to fit with my Legends figures, but at least he’s a cool figure in his own right. Scale I can fudge, bad figure less so.

#0444: Rory Williams

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RORY WILLIAMS

DOCTOR WHO

Today marks Day Seven of my Christmas Reviews. We are officially at the mid-point of these reviews, so hang in there.

My gifts this year had a definite split between Aliens stuff and Doctor Who stuff. The last two days were Aliens-related, so it’s only fitting that I jump back to Doctor Who for the day. The last set of Who figures added to my Eleventh Doctor collection; today’s figure does the same. In an effort to make poor Amy even less lonely, today I’ll be looking at her husband Rory, second companion of the Eleventh Doctor.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Rory was released as part of Character Option’s 5-inch scale Doctor Who line. He was a later addition to the line, coming after it had stopped doing regular series releases. As such, Rory was released on his own, although there were three different color variations available. This one is the red/blue combo, which is the most readily available of the three. Rory is roughly 5 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation. While I don’t know specifically what episode he’s based on, he’s definitely a Rory from his first season on the show. The figure features a unique sculpt, though it was shared by all three Rorys. Generally speaking, it’s really not bad. Let’s talk about the sculpt from the neck down first. It’s a nice, sharp sculpt, with lots of nice detail. It’s a bit light on texture, but that’s less of an issue here than it was on, say, the Roman Auton. The figure is generally well proportioned, if perhaps a bit stocky for Rory (though that’s not new for this line).  The head sculpt is, overall, pretty good. It certainly bears more than a passing resemblance to Arthur Darvill, but he seems too full in the face, and the hair is a bit too short for Rory. That said, I’ve seen far worse likenesses. Rory’s paint work is pretty good, if a tad basic. For the body, that’s not too bad. The colors are nice and clean, and everything stays in the appropriate spaces. There’s also some very nice texturing on the figure’s pants, and some decent work on the shoes. The issues begin to arise with the head. It’s clean enough (aside from a spot on his nose), but the eyebrows are a little too clean. There’s also some bleed over along his hairline. None of it’s bad, but it could be a little better. Rory included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rory was yet another gift from my Super Awesome Girlfriend Jessica. Rory was one of my favorite characters on the show, and I’m thrilled to have him in figure form. What’s more, the figure is actually a really good figure. For a normal guy in normal clothes, he’s actually a pretty fun figure!

#0443: Ripley – Spacesuit

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RIPLEY – SPACESUIT

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day Six of my Christmas Reviews, and they’re moving along strong. Today’s review is the second half of the ReAction review I started yesterday. When you’re dealing with Alien, the two most important characters are the Alien and the lone survivor, Ripley. Yesterday, I looked at the Alien, today I’ll look at Ripley.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ripley was released in the second series of Alien ReAction Figures. She’s 3 ¾ inches tall and she features 5 points of articulation. Ripley is presented here in the space suit she wears during her final run-in with the creature. From the neck down, Ripley is identical to Series One’s Kane figure. Since the Nostromo’s space suits were all roughly the same design with different colors, it’s a reasonable re-use of parts. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Kane was my personal favorite figure from the first series, mostly due to his superb sculpt. At first, I thought the head might just be a re-use from the first Ripley, but a closer look shows this is definitely not the same piece. It’s not as good as the first Ripley, but I imagine a large part of that is due to the need for it to fit in the helmet properly.  This results in the figure looking much better with the helmet on, which is the better of the two options, I suppose. It might seem the figure has no paint on the body, but that’s not the case. All of the plating and straps have been painted with a slightly different white, allowing for some distinction between the pieces of the suit. It’s really an impressive effect, and something that could have been left out. The figure’s head features mostly straight forward work, which is fine I suppose. Ripley includes her helmet for her suit, which fits very well. True to the movie, the helmet lacks the head light seen on Kane’s suit, which means they tweaked the helmet at least a little bit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the Alien, Ripley was a gift from my amazingly cool parents. While this might not be the most exciting figure that the line has to offer, it does offer Ripley in a fairly key look, and it gives us another figure using the fantastic Space Suit sculpt from Kane. I can’t really fault Funko for wanting to use that body again.

#0442: Alien – Metallic Flesh

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ALIEN – METALLIC FLESH

ALIEN REACTION

Today marks Day Five of my Christmas Reviews. This review also marks the second review to tie in with the “theme” of my gifts this year: Aliens. Last year, I received the first series of Funko’s Alien ReAction line, which finally brought the unreleased Kenner Alien figures to retail. Almost a year later, Funko finally added a second series, which was made of three new figures and one repaint. So, hey, how about starting with that repaint?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien is part of the second series of Alien ReAction Figures. The figure is about 4 inches in height and it has 6 points of articulation. As noted in the intro, the Alien is the one straight repaint in this series. From head to toe, this figure’s sculpt is identical to the Alien from the first series. Fortunately, the Alien featured one of the best sculpts from the first series, so it’s not a bad thing. Like I said in my review of the first release of this sculpt, it’s certainly a product of its time, but it represents the best that late 70s sculpting had to offer. Being a repaint, obviously what sets this figure apart from the previous figure is the paint. The last figure was rather basic, and presented the Alien as it would have looked if it really had been released in 1979. This figure opts for a more detailed paint job, and it’s the better for it. Rather than a flat gray, this figure’s base color is a very dark, metallic gray, which is far more in line with the creature’s film appearance. The figure’s dome has been changed from a smoky, semi-transparent piece to a completely clear piece. Underneath of the dome, the head has been given a more intensive paint job, detailing the underlying skull. While this isn’t strictly accurate to the movie, it is accurate to what the suit created for the movie looked like initially. It offers a nice contrast to the last figure, and the cool thing is that the domes can easily swap out, if one were to want a more accurate Alien. The Alien includes no accessories, but that’s no surprise; it’s a larger figure and the previous one didn’t have accessories either.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Alien was another gift from my always amazing parents. He and the other ReAction figure I got (who I’ll be reviewing tomorrow) were actually purchased as a bit of a “backup gift,” just in case the Queen wasn’t there in time. Fortunately, the Queen did arrive, but hey, extra gift! At first glance, this Alien seemed a bit boring, but having it in hand I actually really love the figure. He offers a wonderful improvement to the original figure, and that was a pretty great figure to start with.

#0441: Doctor Who Pandorica Set

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UNDERHENGE DALEK, ROMAN AUTON, AMY POND, SONTARAN GENERAL, UNDERHENGE ROMAN AUTON, & DALEK DRONE

DOCTOR WHO

Christmas Reviews continue to merrily chug along today, with entry #4. This one is another venture into the world of Doctor Who, which I am still relatively new to, especially when it comes to toys. Prior to this Christmas, the vast majority of my Who collection has been related to David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. The one lone exception was Amy Pond, first companion to the Eleventh Doctor. Well, now Amy should be just a tad bit less lonely. Today’s review covers a few of the villains to show up during Matt Smith’s inaugural season of the show.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These six figures were released as a special “Pandorica Set,” based on the final two episodes of the Eleventh Doctor’s first season. Of the six included, only the Underhenge Dalek is actually new to the set. However, this is the first time I’ve seen most of these figures, so I’ll review them as if they were new.

UNDERHENGE DALEK

The Daleks are one of the Doctor’s most recurring foes, and they undergo just as many “regenerations” as he does, if not more. The Dalek figure is a little over 5 inches in height and it features 4 points of articulation, as well as three functioning wheels at the bottom. Both of the Daleks in this set are based on the slightly changed design that first appeared in “Victory of the Daleks.” It’s not my favorite of the Dalek designs; it just seems a bit clunky. This particular Dalek is based on the “Underhenge” look, where one of the Daleks is turned to stone by the Pandorica. It’s the same sculpt as the regular Dalek in this set. The sculpt is certainly accurate to the design from the show, and it features some very nice, very clean work. All of the parts look properly machined, which is good. The figure has been molded in a very dark blue plastic, and a rocky finish has been applied. The paint has purposefully been done so as to leave clumps and such to make the figure appear as if it really has been turned to stone. It’s a solid effect, and it certainly makes the figure unique. The Underhenge Dalek includes no accessories.

ROMAN AUTON

The Roman Autons are probably the most storyline specific of the characters included in this set. They are created by the Pandorica (with a little help from Amy), and they aren’t seen again after the story wraps up. Mostly, they served as an interesting way to bring back Rory. The figure is about 5 inches in height and it has 18 points of articulation. Sadly, it predates the line’s move to better shoulder articulation, greatly limiting the figure’s posing potential. He doesn’t appear to be based on any specific Auton; instead he seems to amalgamate a few of them. It might have been nice if they had given him a Rory head to make this particular release a bit more unique, but it’s okay as is. The sculpt is a pretty nice piece of work. There are a lot of layers to it, and it sums up to look of the characters pretty well. However, it could definitely benefit from a bit more texturing to help spice it up a bit. The cape is a cool touch, and I guess it’s consistent with the rest of the sculpt. The head looks a tad too much like a portly English actor dressed up like a Roman, which makes it a bit difficult to take it seriously. The paint job is one of the shining points of the figure. There are a few spots of slop and bleed over, but nothing too major or distracting. What’s more, the figure feature some wonderful texture work on the armor pieces, which really makes them look like more than just chunks of plastic. The Auton includes a sword and dagger, both of which can be put away in the provided sheaths.

AMY POND

Amy is the one figure in this set that isn’t new to me. This figure is pretty much identical to the single release, which I reviewed a few months back. The one difference that I noted is that the skin tone on this one seems better than the last, which does a fair bit to improve an already good figure.

SONTARAN GENERAL

The Sontarans are another recurring foe of the Doctor, though they’re nowhere near as prominent as the Daleks, or even the Cybermen. Probably the most memorable thing about them as of late is Strax, the Sontaran who began making recurring appearances as one of the Doctor’s companions about halfway through Eleven’s tenure. While this figure is meant to just be a generic Sontaran, the fact that they’re all clones and therefore should look approximately the same means that this figure will be Strax, as far as my shelf is concerned. The Sontaran figure is about 4 ¾ inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. Most of it’s pretty straight forward, aside from the weird ball joint thing they’ve used for his waist. I’m not sure why they didn’t just use the standard cut joint; the end result both looks and moves very oddly. Aside from that, the figure’s sculpt is really quite nice. The head has a wonderful amount of texture and really looks like one of the Sontarans from the show. The body, while not quite as impressive as the head, features some pretty solid work and has its fair share of little details that stand out. The paintwork is about on par with the sculpt; the best work is on the head, but the body isn’t bad either. The Sontaran includes his blaster-staff-thingy and a helmet. Sadly, neither of them is quite as good as they could be. He has trouble holding the staff, and the helmet simply does not fit within his collar.

UNDERHENGE ROMAN AUTON

Like the Dalek, one of the Roman Autons also found himself turned to stone by the Pandorica. Which, of course, translates to another action figure! Like the regular Roman Auton, this figure is about 5 inches tall and he sports 18 points of articulation. Structurally, he’s the same as the regular Auton, except this figure is missing the cape. It actually looks a bit better that way, if I’m honest. Like the Dalek, the Underhenge Roman Auton is molded in a dark blue plastic and has been painted with a rough tan paint. In the Auton’s case, this serves as an improvement to the figure on a few fronts. Most notably, it alleviates the issues of texture with the sculpt. It also helps to mask the somewhat goofy headsculpt and just works to give the figure a lot more character in general. The Underhenge Auton is packed with the same sword and dagger included with the regular version, with the handles done to match the rest of the figure.

DALEK DRONE

So, after looking at the Underhenge version, let’s wrap things up with a look at the standard Dalek from the set. Like the ‘Henge version, this figure is just over 5 inches tall, has 4 points of articulation, and sports three working wheels on the bottom. The Dalek Drone has the same sculpt as the ‘Henge one, but now we’re free to see it more clearly. It really is a very well handled recreation of the Daleks from the show, and all of the parts look just about right. There are a few issues with mold lines being more obvious on this version, but so not bad that it ruins the figure. That paint on this Dalek is certainly more involved than the ‘Henge Dalek, but it’s not quite as well done. The head and “neck” are both extremely well-handled, but from there down, issues start crop up. The worst problem is with the spheres on the lower half. The paint on them is very sloppily applied, and there is more than a little bleed over. Viewed from a distance, it isn’t terrible, but it’s pretty bad at a normal view. The Dalek Drone includes no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Padorica set was a Christmas gift from my Super Awesome Girlfriend, Jessica (okay, technically from her parents, but she was the one who suggested it, and she’s the one who’s insanely supportive of my hobby, so I’m gonna give her a lot of the credit). I really like this set. The Amy included is a slight improvement on the last, Strax is really cool, and I can’t help but love the Underhenge figures. Seriously, I’d buy an entire line of Who figures done like those two!

#0440: Brainiac

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

BRAINIAC

DC SUPER FRIENDS (IMAGINEXT)

And now for Christmas Reviews Part Three!

In the current, extremely adult collector driven action figure climate, it can be easy for toy companies to overlook kids, their original target audience. As figures have become more detailed, they have also become more fragile. And that’s to say nothing of the virtually impossible task of getting certain figures. Fortunately, toy companies are starting to catch on, at least a little bit. It’s no secret that I have my issues with Mattel, especially their handling of the DC license, but they aren’t always the worst people on the planet (just most of the time). One of the few places they don’t suck is their Fisher Price division, which handles their Imaginext brand. Imaginext offers a variety of different figures, meant to stand up to younger kids. In recent years, they’ve had a rather nice selection of DC heroes and villains, all offered in the line’s streamlined style. Today, I’ll be looking at the line’s take on Superman foe Brainiac.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Imaginext doesn’t use the usual “Series” structure of most toylines; instead they have a variety of figures of differing price points and sizes, and they add a few new figures at a time as the line progresses.  Figures are usually sold either in two-packs with other figures or packed in with vehicles. However, Brainiac breaks from this tradition, being released by himself, as something of a deluxe figure. He was introduced into the line in 2014. The figure stands about 3 inches tall and he sports 8 points of articulation (the legs move as one, so just one point there). Brainiac is clearly inspired by his appearance in the DC Animated Universe shows, with a couple of small tweaks; they’ve given him bare arms and his skin is a much greener color. While I still have a soft spot for the classic short-shorts and white go-go boots combo of the 60s, I can’t argue with the choice of design. The DCAU look is definitely a strong one, and it’s probably the most prominent of the character’s appearances in recent years. I’m no expert on Imaginext figures, but Brainac appears to be an all-new sculpt. The figure offers a nice translation of the animated design, and the sculpt is definitely some solid work. Certain details, such as the figures face (apart from the nose), have been left blank on the sculpt. The paint has then been used to bridge the gaps. There are a few areas of slop, but the paint work is generally clean. The best work is definitely on the face, which is nice and clean, and very nicely depicts Brainiac’s cold, calculating mug. Accessories are a rarity among the Imaginext figures, but as a deluxe figure, Brainiac gets a set of robot tendrils, which can be clipped onto his back. While they seem a bit more Doctor Octopus than Brainiac, the character has sported such attachments before, and I certainly won’t complain about extra accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Brainiac was another gift from my parents, and he shows how much attention they pay to my never-ceasing ramblings about toys. While walking through Target a few months ago, I saw the figure and off-handedly mentioned that he was rather cool, and boom, here he is. He’s not the first Imaginext figure I’ve owned (I have a few of the Green Lantern-related ones), but, for whatever reason, he’s the first of them to interest me enough to actually open him up and play around with him. Brainiac is a really fun little figure, and he’s the kind of toy that there should be more of.

#0439: Donatello

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

DONATELLO

FUNKO POP!

We continue on with the post-Christmas gift reviews today, with #2. While the vast majority of the gifts I received were either Doctor Who or Alien related, there were a few outliers. Today’s review comes from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that cultural phenomenon that I keep missing but still have an oddly placed affection for.

This review is also the first time that I’ll be delving into the Funko Pop! line. Pop! is a line of stylized vinyl figures based on a wide gamut of properties (Funko has the rights to virtually every property in existence). There are well over a hundred figures in the line and there are a few different sub-headings (31 to be exact). Today’s figure, Donatello, hails from the Pop! Television line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello is figure #60 in the Funko Pop! Television line. Numerically, he’s the first of the four turtle brothers. The figure is roughly 3 inches tall and features a whole one point of articulation. The articulation is limited, but it’s par for the line, and vinyl figures in general. Donatello is based on the character’s appearance in the 1987 cartoon, with the usual Pop! style applied. This means he has the solid circle eyes, the squared-off head, and the exaggerated, smaller lower body all native to the Pop! line. The figure features a completely unique sculpt. It’s pretty good for what we’ve come to expect from the line. The proportions are decent, from an internal stand-point, and it has cleanly sculpted details. It isn’t completely without issue, though. The biggest issue is very definitely the Bo Staff, which has been sculpted as part of the body. It seems the hands weren’t quite sculpted in the right positioning for the staff to fit them, and rather than fix them, the sculptor just sorta bent the staff a bit. It’s really obvious and it makes the figure look rather sloppy. Funko may be really good at getting every license under the sun, but they have yet to figure out the secret to a consistent paint job. Donatello’s isn’t horribly off the mark, to be fair. The colors are nice and vibrant, and they really reflect the color palette of the cartoon version of the character well. That said, they seem to be placed only in the general vicinity of where they should be, leading to a lot of bleed over. There is also a lot of fuzzy line work around the edges. Donatello includes no accessories, which is fairly standard for a Pop! figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Donatello here was a Christmas gift from my brother Christian. I’ve mentioned before that my fandom of TMNT is shared with Christian, so this gift has much more meaning coming from him than it would anyone else. Plus, it’s my favorite turtle to boot! Funko Pop! isn’t a line I follow religiously, but the style works pretty well for certain characters. The Turtles definitely fit the style well. Donatello is a fun little figure, even with his small assortment of issues.

#0438: The Alien Queen

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

ALIEN QUEEN

ALIENS (NECA)

After a bit of a pseudo start yesterday, the Christmas Reviews officially begin today! There was something of a theme to a lot of my Christmas gifts this year, and that them was Aliens. Let’s be honest, though, what better theme could there be? Aliens is, after all, the greatest movie ever made. Today, I’ll be looking at the center piece to all the wonderful Aliens stuff I got this year, the Alien Queen.

The Alien Queen is probably the most distinctive thing from Aliens. Ripley’s Power Loader-aided battle with the beast is one of the best parts of the film, and it’s the kind of thing that a toy collector like me might want to immortalize in plastic. However, the Queen hasn’t been the easiest thing to toy-ify. She’s a pretty massive creature, and she has lots of intricate little details. She’s had a few figures over the years that didn’t totally suck (I even reviewed one of them recently), but none of them quite lived up to the creature seen in the movie. Enter NECA.

NECA has already been killing it with their regular Aliens series based on the normal sized people and creatures from the movie. But if there’s one thing that NECA does well, it’s large scale figures. So, it’s not exactly a shock to see this figure pop up. Still, it took some time. You don’t just start with the Queen; you work your way there. After some waiting, the Queen is finally here! Let’s see how she turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien Queen was released as a supplement to NECA’s main Aliens line. She found herself bridging the rather lengthy gap between Series 2 and 3 of the line (Although, as chance would have it, Series 3 is right behind her). Officially, the Queen is billed as a “Deluxe Set,” which is not surprising, given the size. Speaking of size, this sucker is big. She’s roughly 12 inches tall and a whopping 27 inches long (though about 15 inches of that is tail). The figure truly towers over the rest of the line, as she well should. The Queen has the sort of design that can be difficult to articulate, but NECA’s done a pretty amazing job. The figure has 57 points of articulation, as well as a wire armature tail that can bend all along its length. There’s quite a lot of posability, though most of the joints require some very particular positioning if you want the figure to have any sort of balance. The Alien Queen has appeared in three films, all of them based on the same basic design, but this one is very definitely based on the original Aliens design. The figure features an all new sculpt to replicate the design. It’s a little hard to tell, because the creature was generally shot in the shadows, but the sculpt appears to be incredibly faithful to the movie. All of the basics are definitely there, and the figure is definitely the Queen. In addition, the sculpt is loaded with lots of fine details and texturing, all done in a way that perfectly conveys the creature’s meld of biology and mechanics. The details continue on every side of the figure. I was particularly impressed by the volume of detail on the underside of the figure’s head, an area that could have easily been overlooked. Perhaps the only downside to the sculpt (which isn’t so much an issue with the sculpt as it is an issue with implementation) is that the Queen’s back spikes are separate pieces that have to be attached when the figure is taken out of the package. It’s a bit difficult to get them in place, and they have a tendency to pop out of place while the figure is being posed. That said, they’re just as well sculpted as the rest of the figure, and the match nicely when in place. Just like it’s difficult to get a 100% accurate view of the figure’s sculpt due to the film’s lighting, it’s also hard to get an accurate comparison of the paint. At first glance it seems like the figure may be too bright, but upon reviewing the film, it seems accurate to what she looks like when we see her properly lit in the airlock. Generally speaking, the paint is very well handled. The figure was originally black, with a fair share of blue highlights added. There are also a few touches of bronze, so that this figure should match okay with both colored varieties of Xeno Warriors. Perhaps my favorite touch, coloring-wise, is the transparent teeth, which are just plain cool! The Queen is a pretty massive figure, so little to no accessories is fairly acceptable. That said, the figure includes a few items. Since the design doesn’t allow for the sliding version of the inner mouth seen on the Warriors, the Queen includes two of them, of differing lengths, which can be swapped out for the desired look. They’re both very nicely sculpted, and help spruce up the figure well. The figure also includes a much needed display stand. It’s done in three parts, and the actually support piece comes in both short and long varieties, which allows for a nice selection of poses.

   

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Queen was my main Christmas present from my truly amazing parents, given to me this past year. I have anxiously been waiting for this figure for quite some time. I was absolutely thrilled to open her on Christmas morning. This is a figure that could have turned out badly if it weren’t well handled, but I’m happy to say NECA truly hit it out of the park on this one. It makes for a wonderful centerpiece to my collection. Now I just need to figure out where to put it….