Category Archives: Reviews

#0311: Marvel’s Cyclops

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

MARVEL’S CYCLOPS

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Ever since I first got into the marvelous mutants of the X-Men, I’ve been a pretty big fan of Cyclops. Well, the idea of Cyclops, I suppose. His powers are cool, and he’s been graced with some of the cooler costume designs in comics. In the 90s, every X-Man got a figure, and Cyclops even got several. They were of varying quality, but I had just about all of them, and I loved them all. When Marvel figures moved to the 6-inch scale with Marvel Legends, I patiently awaited that awesome figure that would live up to my expectations of good ol’ one-eye. Sadly, while Toybiz did eventually produce a Cyclops, it was far from what I’d hoped. Cyclops made a few more appearances in the Marvel Legends style, but none of them did much for me. I recently picked up my first Cyclops figure in what feels like forever, courtesy of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinite Series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CyclopsNowWilsonThis version of Cyclops was released in the recent X-Men themed series of Marvel Legends Infinite Series. The series is done to loosely tie-in with Days of Future Past, and it is exclusive to Toys R Us. Cyclops stands a little over 6 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation. He’s based on the character’s “Marvel Now!” look. Well, one of them anyway. There are currently two versions of Scott Summers running around the Marvel universe. This one’s the older one. He’s all surly. According to the back of the box, Scott has lost control of his powers. Well, more so than before, I guess. What that means design-wise is that instead of the traditional visor we’ve all grown accustomed to, Scott now has a big red “X” on his face. Yay comics! Cyclops is built on Hasbro’s new standard male buck, used on figures such as Boomerang and Zemo. It’s a pretty decent, medium-build type body that works for a lot of characters, so that’s cool. Scott also has a pair of fists stolen from the recent Nova figure, as well as an all-new head sculpt and belt add-on. The head is actually a very nice sculpt. The X-visor has been etched in place, and Scott’s been given a facial expression that befits his older, surlier self. The belt is a basic belt with pouches, but it’s well sculpted, so that’s cool. It’s generic enough that I could see Hasbro putting it to use elsewhere. The rest of Scott’s details are handled via paint. The figure is CyclopsNow2molded in black, with red, orange, and flesh-tone paint providing the various details. The paint is fairly cleanly applied, but it’s not perfect. The red lines on his costume are pretty good, but his visor’s a bit of a mess. It seems like the paint didn’t want to stay in the lines. In addition, the “x” on Scott’s belt is off center, once again failing to follow the sculpted line work. Still, this isn’t as bad as some Hasbro efforts, and the figure does end up looking better as a whole. Cyclops’s only accessory is the arm to this Series’ Build-A-Figure, Jubilee. I don’t know why, but for some reason this BaF figure piece seems more morbid tan previous ones.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In all honesty, I was not a fan of this Cyclops design when it was first revealed. But, as other artists (read: NOT Joe Quesada) started to draw it, I actually kind of warmed up to it a bit. It’s one of those rare modern costumes that doesn’t suffer from being too over-designed. So, when this series of Marvel Legends was announced, I was a little bit interested in the figure, but I wasn’t 100% sold.

The other day, I had a rough day at work, and decided to stop by my local TRU, just to see what they had. I found the remnants of a case of this series. All that was left were two Wolverines and this guy. In person, I was even more impressed with the costume’s design, and so I decided, what the heck, I’ll go for it. To be honest, he’s probably the best Marvel Legends version of Scott produced. Also, now I kinda want to finish Jubilee, but that means I’ll have to buy a Stryfe figure. I’m not sure I’m ready for that…

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#0310: Daredevil – Yellow

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

DAREDEVIL – YELLOW

SPIDER-MAN CLASSICS

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In the 90s, Toybiz was king of the toy aisles with their expansive selection of action figures based on characters from the Marvel Universe. Eventually, opinions and expectations of toys began to change. Toybiz wanted to stay at the top, so they changed with the times. In an effort to tie into the hype of the character’s first foray onto the big screen, Toybiz launched Spider-Man Classics, a line that upped the scale, the detail, and the articulation. The second series of the line introduced not only an outreach to other corners of the Marvel universe with the character Daredevil, but also the very first instance of something that would become a staple of future Toybiz lines: the Variant. A slight change to one of the figures in the series, packed at one to a case. The figure immediately caught collector, and scalper, attention and its price sky-rocketed on the aftermarket. What was this figure everyone had to have? Yellow Daredevil!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

YellowDaredevilWilsonDaredevil was released in the second series of Spider-Man Classics. This figure is the variant of the regular Daredevil, dubbed “Yellow Daredevil” because it’s based on Daredevil’s first appearance costume, which was predominantly yellow. The figure is 6 inches tall and sports 30 points of articulation, a point that is proudly boasted on the figure’s packaging. Daredevil’s sculpt makes use of the basic body sculpt of Black Spider-Man from the first series, with a new head, hands, feet, as well as an add-on for his billy-club holster. The sculpt hasn’t aged all that well. The body is long and lanky, and the hands and feet are a bit on the large side. For the time, it was pretty impressive, though. The head sculpt is one piece that still manages to look pretty good. It’s a bit exaggerated, but it works. I will admit I also really like the sculpted tread around the bottom of his feet. It does a lot to make the figure stand out from the Black Spider-Man it was based on. Daredevil’s paint is a bit of a mixed bag. There’s some great detail work, and they’ve done some cool things to make the design pop. I do like the slight occurrences of red on the black areas, which is a nice way of paying tribute to the red highlights he was often seen with. However, the figure shows quite a bit of slop, uneven paint application, and a few very fuzzy lines. These aren’t immediately apparent, but do crop up with a tiny bit of examination. It becomes a bit more forgivable when you remember these figures had a retail of $7. Daredevil includes his billy-club, a wall mountable display stand that looks like a stained glass window, and a copy of Daredevil #241.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Yellow Daredevil figure has for quite some time been one of my personal grails. For whatever reason, I’ve always been fascinated with the design. When word of this figure first broke out, I was eager to get one. In fact, my Dad made it his mission to try and find me one. Sadly, we were never able to find one on the shelves. As the original “variant figure” the figure maintained a hefty value on the aftermarket. More than once I picked one up at a convention, only to be told the price (usually well over $100), which would lead to do the “back away slowly” move. Years passed and I pretty much gave up. Instead, I resigned to just get every other figure of Yellow Daredevil (which incidentally led to my getting into Minimates, but that’s a story for another time). A few weeks ago, my local comicbook store Cosmic Comix posted on their site that they had gotten in a pretty large collection of figures, and they would be selling them for a set price. I got there to pick up my comics and looked over the table of figures. I found one or two, but nothing really jumped out at me. I walked up to the counter and the owner, who knows I’m a big action figure collector, asked if I’d like to look at the more expensive figures before they were officially priced. This is a scary idea for me, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look. I moved one figure from the top of the stack, and there was Yellow Daredevil. As it turns out, he’s actually gone down a bit in price in the last few years. On top of that, the owner agreed to cut me a pretty great deal. So, I got the figure I’ve been trying to find for 13 years, and I got him for a pretty reasonable price. Is he the perfect figure? No. There’s some definite flaws. But, to me, he’s more than just a figure, he’s an accomplishment.  After all that time, I’m just glad to finally have this figure.

And yes, I took him out of the box. Deal.

#0309: Amy Pond

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

AMY POND

DOCTOR WHO

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Continuing the Guardians of the Galaxy theme, I’ll be moving on to a figure of one of the movie’s main baddies, Nebula. What’s that? …I’m being told there’s no Nebula figure. Ummm, well this is awkward. Hmmm. Perhaps I can arrange some sort of replacement! Wouldn’t you know it, Karen Gillan just so happens to have an action figure from another toyline? That sure is convenient!

Okay, so it’s actually just dumb luck that Amy was the next on my list of figures to review. I totally hadn’t realized until I sat down to write the intro that Karen Gillan was also in Guardians. That amused me. If nothing else, this site is here to amuse me. So, yes, today I’ll be looking at a figure of Amy Pond, the first companion of the 11th Doctor!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AmyPondWilsonAmy was released as part of the first series of 11th Doctor-themed figures in Underground Toys’ Doctor Who line. The figure stands roughly 5 inches tall and features 18 points of articulation. Amy had a few different appearances on the show, but the figure seems to be based on what she wore right after she started travelling with the Doctor. I don’t know specifically when she wore this, but it seems to properly capture the essence of Amy. Amy features an all-new sculpt, and it’s a pretty good one. The proportions on the body look pretty good, nothing being too exaggerated. The likeness of the sculpt seems to be pretty spot on to Karen Gillan, but it is a bit difficult to tell, thanks to the paint. Ah, the paint. If I had one real complaint about the figure, it would be the paint. It’s not bad, mind you. No, it stays in the lines, and offer some pretty good detail work. The biggest issue is that her skin tone just seems off. It’s got a sort of a greenish hue to it, which makes her seem unnatural. It doesn’t ruin the figure, but it makes her seem…off. Amy included no accessories, though given my experience with Doctor Who figures, this is no surprise.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, in addition to what was brought up in the intro, there’s another connection between this figure and the Guardians figures. This figure also was given to me by Super Awesome Girlfriend! She’s the one that gets me all my Doctor Who stuff, and this was no exception. Although the 10th Doctor is my favorite version of the Doctor, Amy and Rory are my favorite companions. Sadly, Amy carries quite the hefty price tag on the aftermarket, which meant I didn’t think I’d be getting one anytime soon. While walking through the dealer’s room at Shoreleave, my girlfriend pointed out the figure for a reasonable price and seemed dead-set on me getting it. Eventually she gave up trying to convince me to buy it and just bought it for me. Because she’s awesome.

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#0308: Star-Lord & Ronan

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

STAR-LORD & RONAN

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

StarLord&Ronan

Okay, just one more Guardians of the Galaxy review you guys. Well, until the Minimates are released. And there’s rumors of a second series of the two lines Hasbro’s got. Okay, so one more for the time being. Anyway, the 2 ½ inch line from Hasbro has been an unexpected treat, I must say. I didn’t have super high expectations, but I was drawn in by the broader character selection. While the main Guardians may not be the most exciting figures, the line is really investing in those side characters! Today, I’ll be looking at Star-Lord and Ronan, the movie’s main hero and main antagonist, respectively.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This duo was part of the first, and currently the only, series of the 2 ½ inch Guardians of the Galaxy line. It’s currently the only way to get Ronan in non-Minimate form.

STAR-LORD

StarLord&RonanWilson1Wait a second, didn’t I just review this guy yesterday? Oh, a different version, you say? Yep, this is the long coated version of Star-Lord, which is the version that’s been seeing all the marketing. Surprisingly, it’s only in the first few minutes of the movie, which means it doesn’t actually fit with the rest of the characters (except for Korath). Still, it’s the look everyone’s associating with the character. The figure stands right at 2 ½ inches tall and features 5 points of articulation. The figure shares his arms and legs with the previous version of Star-Lord, which isn’t really that surprising. He gets a new torso, with his backpack sculpted on, plus a helmeted head, and an add-on piece to represent the bottom of his coat. These pieces all look pretty great, and seem accurate to the movie design. The helmeted head is definitely a step up from the unmasked one of the previous Star-Lord. Fortunately, the figures pop apart at each joint, so swapping the heads is no issue, should you so desire. The paint work on Star-Lord is a real improvement too. He’s got a fair number of details, and I’d say the paint on this mask is cleaner than the 6-inch version.

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RONAN

StarLord&RonanWilson2Ronan seemed like a pretty big omission from the 6-inch line, but he did find his way into this line. He’s right at the 2 ½ inch mark and he has, wait for it, 5 points of articulation. How about that? Ronan only had the one look (other than at the beginning when he was naked, but I don’t see that going onto a Target shelf…), so that’s the look they went with. He’s got an all new sculpt, and it’s a pretty good one. He has some nice heft to him, which fits the character, and his armor is all nice and detailed. The head is pretty good. It doesn’t scream Lee Pace, but it’s not bad given the scale. He’s got a few add-on pieces for his skirt-piece and his “cape”, both of which do their job nicely. The paint work on Ronan is actually quite detailed and it’s mostly free of any instance of bleed over or slop. He’s even got the properly painted hands that Gamora was so sadly lacking!

Like every other set in the line, this set comes packed with an accessory tree, and a missile launcher. The launcher is shaped like the big gun used by Star-Lord and Drax, so that’s cool. On the tree, is a hammer for Ronan, and some sort of blade for Star-Lord, as well as a missile, and something I can’t quite identify.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the third of the three sets of Guardians figures that were bought for me by Super Awesome Girlfriend. This is definitely the best of the three sets, though I don’t know if it quite tops Groot, Rocket & the Nova guy as my favorite set. This is definitely one of the most essential sets in the line, so I wouldn’t recommend passing it up. All in all, this line is pretty darn great. I don’t have all the figures yet (still need that Sakaar Trooper) but I love the set I have. I really hope Hasbro makes a few more of these, as I’d love to get Yondu, Nebula, and the Collector to round them out!

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#0307: Star-Lord & Gamora

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

STAR-LORD & GAMORA

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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You know what was awesome? Guardians of the Galaxy. You know what’s even better? There are tons of toys based on the movie. I am in toy bliss, I kid you not. I was a pretty big fan of the 6-inch figures and I’m liking what I’ve seen so far of the Minimates. What caught me off guard was how much I’m enjoying Hasbro’s 2 ½ inch line. I’ll be looking at another of those sets today, with Star-Lord and Gamora. This set is the first set not to offer someone unavailable in the 6-inch line, although this is the only way to get this particular version of Star-Lord.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Star-Lord and Gamora are part of the first, and so far only, series of 2 ½ inch Guardians of the Galaxy figures from Hasbro. As the two most prominent characters in the movie, they share a fair bit of screen time, so I suppose this makes sense. Still, I feel like it might have been better served to spilt the two to allow for less popular characters to be paired with them, but what do I know?

STAR-LORD

Gamora&StarLordWilson2Star-Lord clocks in right at 2 ½ inches tall and features 5 points of articulation. The figure is based on Quill’s look from the majority of the film: short coat and no mask. He features a mostly unique sculpt. A few pieces are shared between this figure and the other version of the character in the line, but I’m looking at this one first, so he gets the credit of using them first! The sculpt is pretty decent. Not quite as detailed as some of the sculpts we’ve seen in the line, but I’d say it’s better than Drax. The resemblance to Chris Pratt is passing at best, but it’s no worse than the 6-inch version.  The body is better than the head. It’s got a nice assortment of details, and everything looks pretty spot on to his movie appearance. Star-Lord is molded in three separate colors: dark gray for his lower half, a maroon for his upper half, and flesh-tone for his head and neck. He’s got paint for his hands, shirt, and the details on his head. It’s okay, though not spectacular. The paint for his hair doesn’t quite cover all of the sculpted hair, so he’s got a bit of a receding hairline going on. Everything else is pretty straight forward.

GAMORA

Gamora&StarLordWilsonGamora is a little on the smaller side, coming in a little under 2 ½ inches. She features the standard 5 points of articulation for the line. The figure takes it’s look from Gamora’s design from the first half or so of the movie. It’s the design that all of the merchandise has, so it’s not a surprise to see it here. She gets an all new sculpt. It’s pretty good. I’d say she has one of the better likenesses in the line. The proportions aren’t too bad, aside from those giant man-hands, which is pretty decent at this scale. Unfortunately, the figure is virtually impossible to stand. This is the second figure of this character which features this as a defining trait. Is Hasbro trying to send us a message about Gamora? The paint on Gamora is okay, but nothing outstanding. She’s mostly molded in a dark blue plastic. They’ve applied paint for her skin, hair and boots. The skin is a bit thick and gloppy, and has a few areas of bleed over. Also, they’ve missed painting her fingers, which leaves her hands fully gloved. Also, most of her uniform has been left the blue color of the plastic. Not only is this wrong for the design, it’s also rather boring. On the plus side, they’ve actually done a pretty great job translating her multicolored hair, so it’s not all bad.

Just like the last two sets from this line, these two are packed with a selection of accessories on a “tree.” They’re a bit more descript this time, at least. Star-Lord gets one of his Element Blasters and Gamora gets her sword. In addition there’s a larger gun, a jet-pack looking thing, and a spring-loaded missile launcher for the two to share.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was another set purchased for me by Super Awesome Girlfriend. I think I like this set more in theory than in actuality. I’m glad to have Gamora, as she’s an essential part of the team, and it’s cool that somebody gave us Quill in the shorter coat that he spends the majority of the movie wearing. That being said, this two pack is probably the weakest set in the first series line-up. Still, it’s a pretty essential set, and the figures aren’t bad. If you want the rest of the figures, there’s no reason to skip this one.

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#0306: Drax & Korath

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

DRAX & KORATH

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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I sure hope you guys liked Guardians of the Galaxy, because the GOTG reviews are just beginning! The cool thing about the merchandise for the movie is that there’s several different options scale and style-wise. Hasbro has two main scales: 6 inch and 2 ½ inch. I’ve already taken a look at all the figures in the 6 inch line, so I’ve moved on to the 2 ½ inch. I already looked at Groot, Rocket, and a Nova Corps Officer, all of which I quite enjoyed. Now I’ll be looking at Drax and Korath. Let’s see if they live up to the first set.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES
These two were part of the first, and right now only, series of Hasbro’s 2 ½ inch Guardians of the Galaxy line. The two don’t have a whole lot of interaction in the movie, but they had that one fight scene, so it’s not a bad pairing.

DRAX

Drax&KorathWilson1This marks the fourth time I’ve reviewed a Drax figure on this site. I don’t think I saw that coming. Drax clocks in at just over 2 ½ inches in height and features 5 points of articulation. Drax’s sculpt isn’t bad, though it’s not quite as good as Groot or the Nova Officer. The details are a lot simpler. For instance, the tattoos are completely painted on this figure. It’s understandable at this scale, but it does make him a bit more generic looking. The legs provide a bit more detailing, which is nice. Curiously, he has a knife sheath on his right leg, but not his left. He has a sheath on both legs in the movie, so it’s odd to see only one present. Drax’s top half is molded in a pale green, and his bottom half is molded in a maroon, with a few paint apps to fill in the missing colors. There seems to be an inconsistency with the shade of Drax’s skin. On the Minimate it seemed to dark, and here it seems too gray. The painted details all seem pretty good. The tattoos are nice and clean, and there doesn’t seem to be any slop or bleed over.

KORATH

Drax&KorathWilson2Poor Korath. He’s a fairly important character, and this is his only action figure throughout all of the Guardians lines. I suppose that’s bound to happen with a cast as large as GOTG’s. He made out better than the Collector or any of the named Nova’s, so he’s got that going for him. Korath is almost 2 ½ inches exact in height, and he features the standard 5 points of articulation. Where Drax has a simple sculpt, Korath’s is a great deal more detailed. All of his armor is properly decorated, and the rest of his uniform has some pretty great texturing too. Korath is molded in three differently colored plastics: flesh tone for his head, silver for the torso and arms, and a dark gray for the legs. The rest of the coloring is painted, and the paint apps seem to be pretty decent. He’s got no real slop or bleed over, nor obviously missing details like the Nova Corps Officer.

Like the previous set, these two included a selection of random accessories. There looks to be a blade, an axe, and the obligatory missile launcher. I think the blade goes with Drax, but other than that I don’t have a clue. At least I could make out what most of them were this time!

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting Groot, Rocket & the Nova guy, I was definitely interested in getting more of this line. While walking through Target with Super Awesome Girlfriend, I came across most of the remaining sets from the line. However, we walked down the next aisle, and I discovered the Star Wars: The Black Series Speeder Bike (Check out the review here). I only had money for one or the other, so I went to put the Guardians figures back. Living up to her name, yet again, Super Awesome Girlfriend informed me that I wouldn’t be putting them back, because she would buy them for me. Yay!

Drax is kinda meh, but I actually really like how Korath turned out. Like the Nova Corps Officer, he’s surprisingly detailed, and makes up for the lack of the character in the 6-inch line. Hasbro really pulled in their A-game on the secondary characters, and it’s what makes this smaller line really work!

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#0305: Yondu & Sakaar Trooper

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

YONDU & SAKAAR TROOPER

MARVEL MINIMATES

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Guardians of the Galaxy was an awesome movie. Minimates are one of the greatest toylines of all time. These are indisputable facts. Sorry if you disagree, but that’s just how it is. So, the combination of these two things can be nothing if not amazing!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates are a subset of Diamond Select Toys’ flagship Marvel Minimates line. Their just starting to hit stores, starting with the Toys R Us assortment. Today, I’ll be looking at Yondu and the Sakaar Trooper.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Yondu and the Sakaar Trooper are the exclusive set from the TRU assortment of Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates. The Sakaar Trooper will also be packed with Nebula in Marvel Minimates Series 57, making Yondu the only true TRU exclusive.

YONDU

Sakaaran&YonduWilson2Yondu holds the honor of being the only of the original Guardians of the Galaxy to appear in the film. He also ended up being the character that had perhaps the most changes made to him. I guess the world just wasn’t ready for a blue-skined 30th century archer who sports a 2 foot red mohawk and spandex. And that’s a shame. The Minimate is of course based on the film version of the character. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He uses the standard Minimate body, with all new pieces for Yondu’s “mohawk” and scavenger jacket. Both pieces are well sculpted and look accurate to the source material. Perhaps the details on the jacket could be a bit sharper, but that feels a bit nit-picky. The painted details on Yondu are top-notch. Even with blue skin and red eyes, that’s definitely Michael Rooker’s face. Yondu’s uniform is also quite impressive. There’s tons of folds, straps, pouches and zippers present, which really helps the figure convey the “scavenger” look. The Mohawk piece is red, which isn’t quite right to the movie, where it was a silver piece that glowed red, but I actually prefer the red. Yondu’s only accessory is a clear display stand. It’s a little disappointing that he didn’t get any of his little console doodads, or at the very least his golden arrow, but I suppose the line has to be drawn somewhere.

SAKAAR TROOPER

Sakaaran&YonduWilson1The Sakaar are yet another alien race elevated to movie-dom thanks to Marvel Studios not having the rights to all the top-notch aliens.  They and the Chitari must just laugh it up every time the Skrulls and the Baddoon stop by! The Sakaar Trooper stands 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. The Sakaar Trooper is built on the base Minimate body, with the addition of a newly sculpted helmet. The helmet is a decent piece. It has the look of a rough sculpt, but that’s pretty accurate to the look of the Sakaar from the movie. The rest of the figure’s details are handled via painted details. They’ve done a pretty great job of boiling down the rather complex Sakaar design into a basic set of painted details. Like Groot, the Sakaar Trooper features some rather extensive texture detailing that wraps around many of the surfaces. The Sakaar Trooper includes a blaster and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I purchased this set at the same time as yesterday’s Drax, Groot & Rocket. This being the exclusive set, it was the one I was actually looking for at TRU. Yondu’s a pretty cool ‘mate of a pretty cool character, so I’m glad to have gotten a hold of him. The Sakaar Trooper isn’t the most exciting Minimate, but he could be worse. Maybe he’ll be cooler when I have two of him…

#0304: Drax, Groot & Rocket Raccoon

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

DRAX, GROOT & ROCKET RACOON

MARVEL MINIMATES

GrootRocketDrax1

Hey, you know how Guardians of the Galaxy was an awesome movie? Were you aware that, being a Marvel movie, it’s guaranteed to get its own assortment of Minimates? Did you know I love Minimates?

Yes, I love Minimates, and I also loved Guardians of the Galaxy. Put those together, and you’ve got a product I just can’t resist. The Minimates for the movie are just starting to hit, and I’ve already begun to pick them up. Today, we’ll be starting off with Drax, Groot & Rocket Raccoon. Wait a second… three minimates? Not two or four? How is this possible? Read and find out…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Drax, Groot & Rocket are one of the overlap sets from Daimond’s two assortments of Guardians of the Galaxy Minimates. They’re included in both the Toys R Us assortment and Marvel Minimates Series 57, which ships to comicbook stores and specialty shops. My set comes from TRU, as the specialty sets haven’t been released just yet.

DRAX

GrootRocketDrax2Amazingly, this isn’t the first Drax Minimate I’ve reviewed here. Way back in review #0162, I took a look at the classic comic version of the character released in the Infinity Gauntlet set. It’s safe to say that was a fairly different take on the character. This version of Drax is based on the movie version, which is in turn based on the character’s more recent design. Drax is more specifically meant to represent Drax from the middle point of the film, after they escape from the Kyln, but before they get matching uniforms. Drax stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, and features 4 sculpted add-ons: a bulked up torso, a waist cover, and a pair of big stompy boots. The torso has previously been used on figures such as the Best-Of version of Venom and the waist piece has been used on more figures than I can count. The waist piece works, as Drax is definitely meant to be a thick guy, but I’m not sure about the chest piece. On its own, it’s alright, but coupled with the really skinny arms, it looks very out of place. As far as I can tell, the big stompy boots are new. They’re well sculpted, so that’s good. Drax’s paint work is good from a technical stand point. Everything is clean and there’s no real slop or bleed over. I do wish that his skin were a brighter green and the tattoos were a bit bolder, just so he wasn’t quite so muddled, but it doesn’t look bad, per say, just a bit drab. I guess he’s a Drab Drax… heh heh. Drax comes armed with twin knives and a clear display stand.

GROOT & ROCKET RACCOON

GrootRocketDrax3If there’s one thing everyone can agree on about Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s that these two stole the whole movie. I think Groot in particular surprised a lot of audiences. So, you’re probably thinking “Why are you reviewing both Groot and Rocket at the same time?” Quite simply, it’s because only one of them’s a Minimate. I’ll start with Groot, because he’s actually the figure here. Groot is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 pointes of articulation. Like Drax, he uses the basic Minimate body, with unique pieces for his head, hands, and feet, as well as a torso extender add-on that’s seen use a few times. The new pieces are all pretty great. My only complaint is that the head has two tabs on the back to allow for Rocket to be propped on Groot’s shoulder. It’s an okay idea in theory, but it’s difficult to get Rocket to stay in place, and it leaves Groot with two rather noticeable tabs sticking out of his head. The paintwork on Groot is really great, and superbly detailed. His bark detailing even continues around the sides of his torso, which is certainly impressive. Groot comes with a clear display stand and Rocket. Rocket is about 1 ½ inches tall and is unarticulated. He has been sculpted to appear as though he has the same 14 points as the typical Minimate. He is sculpted holding a gun in one hand, with his arm outstretched. He’s well sculpted, and his paint isn’t too sloppy. It’d be nice if he could move, but I guess it’s good to have him at least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These three were purchased at a TRU not too far from the hotel I was staying at for a local convention. They capped off a pretty awesome night hanging with a few of my friends and Super Awesome Girlfriend. On our drive to dinner, my buddy Tim and I saw the TRU and insisted on going in. I found this set, as well as the exclusive Yondu & Sakaar Trooper and Star Lord & Ronan. I left Star Lord & Ronan there, as it’s a shared set, but I gave in to my impatience on these three. I just had to have Rocket and Groot! All three figures in this set are pretty impressive, even if there are a few small issues. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the main Guardians turn out!

#0303: Scunner

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

SCUNNER

PACIFIC RIM

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There’s been plenty of movies that have come out since Pacific Rim that have delivered on the awesome quotient, but it’s a movie that had its own definitive style, and it left a very lasting impression on me. That impression was mostly: Holy crap those robots fighting those giant monsters were SO AWESOME!

NECA picked up the license to do figures for the movie. The first two series of figures weren’t bad, but they weren’t quite as awesome as the movie. Most notably, the monsters, or Kaiju, were lacking in detail, articulation, and especially size. Beginning with Series Three, NECA set out to fix this, going so far as to split the Kaiju off into their own sub-line so that they could truly be the gargantuan creatures they deserved to be. Today, I’ll be looking at one of the Kaiju from the film’s climactic underwater battle, Scunner!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ScunnerWilsonScunner was actually not part of a series-proper. He ended up being a single release in NECA’s Pacific Rim Kaiju sub-line, hitting just a few months after Series One. The figure is about 8 inches standing tall, and it features 29 points of articulation, plus a bendy tail! That’s certainly an improvement over the original Knifehead’s less than 7 inch height and 15 points of articulation. Scunner makes use of the new and improved Knifehead body from the first series of Kaiju. It’s a sensible re-use, as the creature designs used many of the same elements, and it’s also a key plot-point that the creatures are all manufactured by mixing and matching parts. If you’re going to get extra mileage out of a sculpt, this is definitely a good one to do so with. The sculpt is well-detailed, well-proportioned, and well-articulated to boot. In addition to the Knifehead parts, Scunner gets a brand new head sculpt and a torso overlay to reflect his slightly tweaked design. The pieces match the quality of the body pieces very nicely, and accurately reflect the design of the creature in the movie. Scunner has been molded in a dark gray/brown plastic, with paint to add texturing as well as Scunner’s bioluminescent features. The paintwork is mostly good, and is definitely a step up from previous Kaiju offerings, but there are still a few areas of slop, most noticeably around the edges of the bioluminescent green. Fortunately they aren’t too distracting, but it would be nice if it were a bit cleaner. Scunner includes no accessories, but given the lack of any real accessories to include coupled with the sheer size and mass of the figure, this is forgiveable.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Scunner was picked up from a small toy store called All Time Toys, located near where I live. While Super Awesome Girlfriend was visiting, she and I went out and about to explore the area. We stopped by the store, and I was definitely intrigued by their impressive Pacific Rim display. I resisted the urge to buy anything, and we continued exploring. However, we had to pass the store on our way back to the car, and Super Awesome Girlfriend, living up to her name, encouraged me to go back in for one of the Kaiju. I decided on Scunner, as I felt he offered the most unique look of the possible options. He’s really a fun figure, and it’s nice to finally have a Kaiju that matches the quality of the very impressive Cherno Alpha from the most recent series of Jaegers.

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#0302: Ant-Man

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

ANT-MAN

AVENGERS INFINITE

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Avengers Infinite, which serves as Hasbro’s replacement for Marvel Universe, certainly has an interesting character selection. When it was first announced by Hasbro that MU was going to be rebranded with the Avengers name to make it more marketable, a lot of fans were worried that this would mean other areas of the Marvel universe would be left out. Given that, of the figures I’ve reviewed recently, there’s been one actual Avengers member (and a more recent one at that) and two characters not really related to the Avengers at all (not to mention the assortment also including Cyclops, who at this point is like the only X-Man NOT to be a member of the Avengers), I think it’s safe to say the “Avengers” section of the title is mostly a formality. Still, Hasbro is doing their best to keep the Avengers mainstays coming, as evidenced by today’s figure of founding Avenger Ant-Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AntManWilsonAnt-Man is part of the third series of Avengers Infinite, which is just now starting to hit stores. Ant-Man was long rumored to be part of a two-pack in Marvel Universe before the line’s cancellation, but he never saw release. You guys sensing a common theme with this series of AI, because I sure am. According to the back of the box, he’s the Hank Pym version of the character, but it could just as easily be Scott Lang if you so desire. It’s mostly based on the character’s original design, although the helmet seems to be a bit more Ultimates inspired. The figure stands about 4 inches tall and sports 24 points of articulation. He’s built on the Black Spider-Man body, specifically the incarnation of it from the end of the MU line when they added the thigh cuts. The body is one of the older bodies from the MU line, and while it doesn’t such, it’s not the greatest. In a perfect world, Hasbro would come up with another “skinny” buck, but this one works okay in a pinch. Ant-Man’s only new piece is his head. I’m not a fan of The Ultimates, so I’d prefer a more classically inspired helmet, but this one’s not terrible. It’s well sculpted, and there are a lot of nice details, so that’s cool. There are holes where it looks like they meant to place antennae, but there’s nothing there. I guess they couldn’t get them to work feasibly. For the most part, Ant-Man is molded in red plastic, except for his head, which is skin tone. Everything else is handled via paint. The paint aps are overall pretty clean, though the red to blue transitions are a bit rough. They’ve chosen to give his straight gloves and boots instead of his usual jagged ones. It’s unfortunate, as it robs the figure of a unique design element. Ant-Man includes one accessory: a mini Ant-Man, similar to the mini Wasp included with her figure.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ant-Man is the fourth, and final, of the Avengers Infinite figures I picked up from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix. I’ve always been a pretty big Ant-Man fan, so I’ve been waiting for this figure since he was supposed to be in a two-pack way back in the MU line. I’m glad to finally have the figure, but he’s at best middle of the road. I’m more of a Scott Lang Ant-Man fan, and while this one works perfectly fine as Scott, I would mind seeing him get a figure based on either of his more recent designs.

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