Category Archives: Reviews

#0054: Green Lantern – Emerald Shield

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

GREEN LANTERN – EMERALD SHIELD

GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH (DC DIRECT)

So, I’m a big Green Lantern fan, and as such, I have a whole lot of Green Lantern stuff.  Here’s a piece of that collection.  It’s another DC Direct review, this time from one of their many Green Lantern lines.  This line was done to correspond with Green Lantern: Rebirth, the series that brought the long dead Hal Jordan back from the dead.  I’ll be looking at one of the variants of Hal Jordan from that line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hal was released as a part of DC Direct’s Green Lantern: Rebirth line.  He was a Toyfare exclusive*.  He was a recast of the regular Green Lantern from the line.   He stands a little over 6 inches and has 13 points of articulation.  Like I said, he shares his sculpt with the basic Hal Jordan from the line, but this is the first of the two I’ll be looking at, so I’ll examine it here.  It’s a nice sculpt, with basic smooth lines.  The details of the costume are etched in.  The musculature of the body is handled pretty well, with no odd proportions.  The head is a decent approximation of Hal, looking somewhat cocky.  With the exception of his logo on his chest, GL  has no paint to speak of, because this particular figure’s gimmick is being molded in translucent green plastic to replicate when GL is all powered up.  GL includes a display stand, a piece that hooks onto the stand to allow GL to hover, and a power batter molded in translucent green.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure, along with the regular version, was a birthday gift from my parents.  It’s great because it combines my love of translucent action figures with my love of Green Lantern!  While the idea has been used several times since, this was really the first time that a GL figure was released in clear green, which made him extra cool at the time!

*ToyFare magazine was a pretty fantastic resource for collectors back in the day, providing not only news on upcoming releases, but also augmenting collectors’ collections with a few exclusive items here and there.

#0053: Invincible Minimates

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

INVINCIBLE, ATOM EVE, ALLEN THE ALIEN & OMNI-MAN

INVINCIBLE MINIMATES

It’s another venture into the world of Minimates, and while it’s still superheroes, it’s not your typical superheroes.  These guys are based on Robert Kirkman’s Invincible, a superhero comic released by Image.  It’s the story of a young guy with super-powers that make him…wait for it… Invincible.  Diamond Select Toys got the license to a bunch of Kirkman’s stuff a little while ago, and decided to do some Minimates.  Yay for me!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were all released as part of the first (and currently only) boxed set in the Invincible Minimates line.

INVINCIBLE

First up, it’s our lead character: Mark Grayson, Invincible.  Mark’s had a few looks over the course of the series, but Diamond went with his original look.  It’s a good look with nice bold colors.  Mark is built on the basic Minimate body, so he’s got 14 points of articulation and stands around 2 ½ inches tall.  He has a newly sculpted mask, and boots that may be a new sculpt, but I don’t know for sure.  The pieces are sculpted well, though the mask might be a bit soft, details-wise.   The paint is okay.  The detailing on the body and face is nice and sharp, but there’s some significant misaligned paint on the mask.  Mark is topped off with a flight stand, a clear display stand and a spare hairpiece to display Mark unmasked.

ATOM EVE

Next is Mark’s girlfriend: Atom Eve.  Eve’s only really had the one look, so that’s the look they went with.  Like Mark, Eve is built on the basic Minimate body, so she’s got 14 points of articulation and stands around 2 ½ inches tall.  She has a newly sculpted hairpiece and cape.  Her hairpiece is a bit better here than on Mark, with some really nice fine detail lines.  The paint on Eve is really well done.  The face detailing looks great, almost like it was pulled straight from the comic.  The costume is also well done.  The two shades of pink could’ve gone really badly, but Diamond pulled them off.  Eve also includes a flight stand and a clear display stand.

ALLEN THE ALIEN

Next is one of Mark’s fighting companions, Allen the Alien.  Like Eve, Allen’s only really got the one look.  Like the others, Allen is built on the basic body, but with a bunch of sculpted parts that bring his height up to a bit taller than the others in the set and 12 points of articulation due to the feet blocking his ankle articulation.  Allen has a sculpted head cover, coat, hands and feet.  That’s quite a few sculpted pieces!  The sculpts are all handled well, and are accurate to the source material.  Even with all those sculpted pieces, Allen still has a fair deal of painted details.  The face detailing is just as good here as it is on Eve.  If I had one complaint, it’d be that Allen’s skin seems a bit too dark.  Allen includes a clear display stand.

OMNI-MAN

Last, it’s Mark’s father: Nolan Grayson, Omni-Man.  Like his son, Nolan’s had a few looks in the series, but this one’s based on his look from early in the series.  Like all the others in the set, he’s on the base body, so he’s got 14 points of articulation and stands around 2 ½ inches tall.  Nolan’s got a sculpted hairpiece and cape.  The hair is new, but the cape is a reuse from Superman, which is fitting given Omni-Man’s place as a riff on Superman.  The hair looks pretty good, and accurate to the source.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a pretty avid reader of Invincible a few years ago, so when I saw this set at my local comic book store I excitedly picked it up.  It’s a pretty rad set, and the designs really translate well to the Minimate aesthetic.

#0052: Leia Organa – Hoth

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

LEIA ORGANA (HOTH)

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (KENNER)

My last bunch of reviews has veered towards things released fairly recently, but today, I’ll be jumping back to 1980, for a look at a figure from Kenner’s The Empire Strikes Back toy line.  The figure is of main character Princess Leia Organa in one of her looks from the film.  Let’s have a look!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Leia was released as part of the initial assortment for Kenner’s Empire Strikes Back line which coincided with the movie in 1980.  There were two Leias released, but I’ll be looking at the one that depicts her in her cold weather look from the ice planet Hoth.   The figure stands just shy of 3 ¾ inches tall, and has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is actually pretty detailed for a figure of this scale and time-period, with all the padding and such being handled quite realistically.  The head doesn’t have much of a Carrie Fisher likeness, but it’s in line with what most of the rest of the line looked like.  The paint was fairly basic, I assume, although, as you can see, mine has seen better days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, for those of you rapidly fumbling with math attempting to piece together my age, no I didn’t get this figure when it was initially released.  I wasn’t alive when it was released!

When I was small, my Dad gave me his collection of vintage Star Wars figures.  They were exclusively from the first film, so this Leia wasn’t among them.  But, I got to really liking them, so over the years, I picked up a few others to expand the set.  The ice planet Hoth (I’m pretty sure you always have to say it like that) look has always been my personal favorite look for Leia, so a while back, I found this figure at an antique store, along with a few others.

#0051: Wolverine & Yukio

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

WOLVERINE (YUKON) & NINJA YUKIO

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today, I’ll be taking a look at yet another set of Minimates.  Like the last Minimates review I did.  These also come from the tie-in line from this year’s The Wolverine.  Once again, it features a variant of the title character, this time packed with his trusty companion Yukio.

THE FIGURE THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the Toys R Us tie-in series for The Wolverine.

WOLVERINE (YUKON)

First up, it’s our hero Wolverine.  He’s depicted in his “Yukon” look, from early in the film.  This is the look that Logan sports for the first half an hour or so of the movie.  It’s a very different look for the character, and is important to the character’s story in the film.  It’s also really unique, which makes it stand out pretty well on the shelf.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has sculpted pieces for his hair, jacket and claws.  The claws are the same as those used on the rest of the Wolverines in the wave.  The hair and jacket are new pieces.  They are sculpted well, and accurately depict his look from this point in the movie.  The paint is well done on the figure.  In spite of it not being a default look, I think that the likeness on this Wolverine may be the best Jackman likeness so far.  The paint on the coat could possibly be a little better, with so noticeable slop on the edges, but nothing too bad.  There’s some great detail work on the pants, with the wrinkles and such all being present.  And underneath the jacket piece, there’s also chest detailing, showing Logan in a brown turtle-neck.  I don’t recall him wearing it in the movie, but I could be wrong.  Regardless, it’s a nice touch.  Yukon Wolvie is rounded out with a pair of spare normal hands and a clear display stand.

NINJA YUKIO

Next up is Yukio, who fills a role that would conventionally be referred to as the “sidekick”,   but that doesn’t seem quite right for Yukio.  Were it not for the fact that the title of the film was “The Wolverine”  I feel like she’d fall more into the hero role.  Anyway, she’s depicted here in her “ninja” look, at least according to the package.  I’d personally describe it more as a formal look, since it’s what she wears during the funeral sequence.  It’s one of her two main looks from the movie, so it makes sense to see it here.  Like Wolverine, she’s built on the base Minimate body, and has the standard 2 ½ inces of height and 14 points of articulation.  As far as sculpted pieces, there’s her hair, her forearms, her skirt, and here boots.  The forearms are shared with Mariko from the specialty wave, the hair was previously used on the Amazing Spiderman Gwen Stacy, and the boots have seen numerous previous uses, including the Urban Yukio from the specialty wave.  Near as I can tell, the skirt is a new piece.  The paint is all fairly well done, though there is a bit of slop on the hair.  The likeness is better here than on the Urban Yukio I feel, but still a bit off.  Rila Fukushima, who plays Yukio in the film, has a very uniquely shaped face, which seems to be difficult to translate to the cylindrical Minimate head, so I think Diamond did a pretty good job.  Yukio is accessorized with a sword and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was ordered online via tru.com.  Unlike Wolverine & Harada, I had no real issues acquiring this one, so that’s good.

I really like this set, it has a really unique Wolverine, and a very well done version of Yukio, who is one of the best characters in the movie.  While I don’t think either figure is going to be the definitive version of the character for me, it’s a really fun little set!

#0050: T-800

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

T-800 – BATTLE DAMAGED

TERMINATOR 2 (HOT TOYS)

Look at that!  50 reviews!  That’s pretty nifty!  Since this is review number 50, I thought I’d do something a bit different.  Today, I’ll be doing my first Hot Toys review.

For those of you that don’t know, Hot Toys is a toy company based in Hong Kong who are renowned for their almost life like 1/6 scale figures.  They cater strictly to those with a large amount of money to spend on such things, as each figure costs anywhere from $200 to $300 on average.   While many of their efforts are from more recent films, they’ve had a line of T2 figures running for a while.  I missed out on the initial T-800, but I picked up Sarah and the T-1000, and patiently awaited the release of the inevitable battle damage variant.  And now, here he is!

Given the higher level of detail present in this figure, I’ll be doing a slightly more in-depth review.  Think of it as a “deluxe review”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This is the Battle Damaged version of the T-800 from 1990’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day.  It’s the look that Arnold Schwarzenegger sports for the last third or so of the film.  The figure was released as part of the DX or Deluxe line, which is a subset of HT’s main Movie Masterpiece Series.  The T-800 is designated DX13, noting that he’s the 13th figure in the DX line.  He stands a little over 12 inches tall, and has a whole bunch of articulation.  I don’t have an exact count, because the costume covers most of the joints.

THE HEAD IN QUESTION

T-800CloseUp

I’ll be looking at the less damaged head that he’s wearing in the package here, and the more damage head over in the accessory section.  This head depicts what Arnold looks like towards the beginning of the steel mill sequence.  So he’s not completely unscathed, but most of his face is still there.  The head is made from two distinctly separate pieces, one making up the front of his head, and the other is a large panel that makes up the back of his head, and allows access to the PERS feature.  PERS stands for “Parallel Eye Rolling System,” and it allows the figures eyes to be positioned to look a variety of directions.  It’s an okay feature, but it can be cumbersome, and its access panel leaves a seam where the two pieces of the head join.  The likeness of the sculpt is really good, easily the best Schwarzenegger likeness that HT has produced.  There’s lots of fine detail work that adds to the likeness.  Paint tends to be one of HT’s strongest suits, and this figure falls in line with their other work, looking shockingly lifelike from some angles.

THE COSTUME IN QUESTION

This is a category I don’t have the most experience with, as I’m used to looking at figures with mostly sculpted parts, and that isn’t the case here.  He’s got a handful of sculpted parts, but most of the costume is made from various cloth materials.  As far as sculpted pieces, he’s got his hands, boots, and the exposed portion of his chest, showing the endoskeleton underneath.   These pieces are all sharply sculpted, and topped off the usual HT quality paint.

The rest of the work is tailoring.  Arnold’s got leather pants with a tear in the left knee to show the endo knee, a t-shirt with a tear showing the damaged torso, a belt, and it’s all topped off by Arnold’s trusty leather jacket, shown here with a plethora of tears and bullet holes that he acquires over the course of the film.  The pants and jacket don’t look to be real leather, but real leather can be quite cumbersome at this scale, so I don’t feel it’s an issue.    The shirt is cotton, and has been died to look as though it has bloodstains, which works very well.

THE ACCESSORIES IN QUESTION

The T-800 comes with a large selection of accessories.  They are:

  • Fully damaged Head
  • Alternate left forearm to depict missing left arm
  • Spare Jacket sans lower left arm
  • 6 interchangeable hands
  • Bandoiler
  • Grenade Launcher
  • 13  Grenades (This includes the one in the grenade launcher chamber)
  • Machine Gun
  • Pistol
  • Steel Rod
  • T-1000 statue with interchangeable heads
  • Light-Up Display Stand

First up is the second head sculpt.  It looks to be the same face as on the other head, only with additional damage to depict the T-800 from the end of the film after he’s taken a severe beating at the hands of the T-1000.  Instead of two moving eyes like the other head, this one’s got one moving regular eye, and one light-up robotic eye.  The light is quite bright, and looks pretty good, but I doubt it would be practical for long term display.

The extra head is complimented by the spare left forearm and jacket, which complete the T-800’s final look from the film.  The Jacket is pretty much the same as the regular one, just with the lower portion of the left sleeve removed.  The forearm depicts the T-800’s damaged left arm, after it gets stuck in a gear at the steel mill.  The endo bits are well sculpted, and the paint makes them look appropriately bloody.  The piece swaps out, but it can take a bit of force.

The T-800 comes packaged wearing a pair of relaxed hands, but he also includes 6 additional poses.  The hands include:  Fists (R and L), Thumbs up (R), Gripping (R), and trigger finger (R and L).  The work well with the various accessories, but I really think the thumbs up in particular is cool.  It comes from a key scene, but could have easily been over looked.

The T-800 comes with his bandolier, which features slots for 12 of the 13 grenades (the last one goes in the grenade launcher).  The grenades are well sculpted and look to be proper scale.  The bandolier looks right, and has a nice amount of battle damage to match the rest of the figure.

The T-800 is armed with a grenade launcher, a pistol, a machine gun, and a steel rod.  The grenade launcher is the main attraction here, and it lives up to expectations.  It features a damaged stock, which is accurate to the movie, and can be opened and loaded with a grenade, which is a really nice touch.  The pistol has a sliding stock , a hinged lever, and a removable clip.  The machine gun should have a removable magazine, but mine was missing from the box.  I’m hoping to get a replacement.  The steel rod is … well, a steel rod, only made of plastic.  So, yeah…

The biggest accessory is the statue of the T-1000 in his liquid metal state.  It’s a rather basic sculpt, which fits, and it’s sculpted to be posed holding the T-800’s fist.  It has two different heads, one smooth and mostly featureless, the other depicting the likeness of Robert Patrick.  The Robert Patrick head is an exclusive piece to those that were able to get the exclusive version from the Sideshow website.  The whole thing is vac-metalized* to properly depict the T-1000’s chrome like finish.

Lastly, the T-800 includes a light up display stand.  It’s sculpted to look like grating from the steel mill, and has a nice metal name plate that features the film and figure name.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy was a gift from my parents for my 21st birthday, in July.  He arrived yesterday.  Yeah, not my parents’ fault in the slightest, as Hot Toys is notorious for announcing a release date for an item, and then not releasing said item for 4-5 months after the fact.  But, it doesn’t matter, because this guy’s worth the wait, especially now that my T2 collection is pretty much complete (aside from John Connor, and Kyle Reese, and Miles Dyson and….yeah, I have a problem).

*Vac-Metalizing is short for Vacuum Metalizing and refers to a process commonly used on toys to give them the appearance of being made of shiny metal.  The process is performed in a chamber from which the air is vacuumed out.  Metal vapor, typically made from aluminum is added and bonds which whatever is in the chamber.  And yes, it is much more important for me to know that than it is for me to know stupid math.

#0049: Wolverine & Harada

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

WOLVERINE (PRISONER) & KENUICHIO HARADA

MARVEL MINIMATES

The Wolverine was released this summer.  It was a sequel to X-Men 3, and it was one of those few times that a movie actually manages to make its predecessor better, not by making it look better by comparison, but by retroactively adding some emotion to a lackluster film.  The Wolverine was not a perfect movie, but it wasn’t bad either.

Like most of the recent Marvel movies, Diamond Select Toys did a selection of figures from their Minimates line in order to tie-in with the movie.  Like previous movies, this one was given a comic book store assortment, and a Toys R Us assortment.  I’ll be taking a look at one of the sets from the Toys R Us assortment today.

The characters featured are, of course, Wolverine himself, and somewhat antagonist, Kenuichio Harada.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Like I said above, these guys were released as part of the Toys R Us tie-in series for The Wolverine.

WOLVERINE (PRISONER)

First up is the titular character.  Wolverine is depicted here in his “prisoner” look, which is what he’s wearing during the WWII era flash-backs in the film when he is a POW in Japan.  There’re some important scenes that feature him with this look, so it’s not surprising to see it pop up here.  It’s a bit odd to see it packed with Harada, but it’s not a huge deal.  The figure is once again built on the basic Minimate body, standing about 2 ½ inches tall and featuring 14 points of articulation.  He features sculpted hair and claws and a sculpted belt.  I’m not 100%, but I’m fairly certain that the claws are a reuse from a previous Wolverine.  The other pieces are new, although the hair piece was also used on two of the three other Wolverines in the wave.  Wolvie is mostly molded in the appropriate colors, but the paint still makes up most of the detailing.  It’s well done and fairly intricate.  The face on this version is fairly calm, which is okay, since Wolverine kept pretty calm during the captivity scenes.  The Hugh Jackman likeness is better than some of the one’s we’ve seen in the past, but not quite dead on.  Wolverine includes the sword he was presented by Yashida, a display stand, and three sets of hands:  one regular, one clawed, and one bone clawed.  The Adamantium claws aren’t scene accurate, but I appreciate that they give people the option to choose.

KENUICHIO HARADA

Next is Japanese Hawkeye  Kenuichio Harada, technically an antagonist, but an unwilling one, making him more of an anti-villain.  He’s shown here in his ninja gear from the film, which is what he spends most of his screen time in, so it makes sense.  Like Wolverine, he’s built on the basic Minimate body, meaning he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the standard 14 points of articulation, although his hair restricts the neck joint a bit.  Harada has a sculpted jacket and hair, as well as wrist pieces to simulate the ends of his gloves.  The hair and jacket are new pieces, although the jacket is shared with the Black Clan ninjas also in this wave.  The hair seems a bit off for the character, whose hair was far less bulky in the film.  It looks right in the control art on the box, but something seems to have been lost in translation.  Paint wise, he’s really only got the detailing on his face, which is passable.  The likeness isn’t as good as Wolverine’s, but it isn’t too bad.  Harada is rounded out with his trusty bow, two arrows, an alternate masked head, and a clear display stand.  The Bow and arrows appear to be reused from one of the Haweyes from last year, and the head is identical to the head on the Black Clan ninja.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oh boy.  Hold on tight guys, it’s another tru.com story.  Yeah, so I’m always uncertain as to whether my local TRU will get their exclusive wave, so I tend to order online.  I’ve mentioned before that tru.com has a tendency not to put up pictures or label their sets correctly, making online ordering difficult.  But it’s okay, as long as you have the proper sku code, which allows you to go directly to the corret product page.  And that’s how I ordered this set and the other exclusive set from this wave.  Unfortunately, I seem to be smarter than tru’s online store, as they still sent me Wolverine and Shingen in place of this set.  And that’s not cool because Shingen kinda sucks.  Anyway, I ended up having to drive to my local TRU and exchange it.  Which is what I was trying to avoid.

Oh well, I have them now.  Which is good, because Harada was my favorite character in the film and I’d be bummed to have missed out on him.

#0048: Iron Man Mark VI – Hologram

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

IRON MAN MARK VI – HOLOGRAM

IRON MAN 2 (HASBRO)

So, wacky variants.  They tend to be a staple of action figure lines, particularly those that are based on films and such where the main character might only have one or two looks.  And that’s nowhere near enough for toy makers.  They have to make the kids buy them all!  They reached their heyday back in the 90sm most prevalently with Batman, but they still appear from time to time.

Case in point with today’s figure in question: The Holographic version of Iron Man’s Mark VI armor.  He hails from Hasbro’s tie-in line to 2010’s Iron Man 2.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Holographic Mark VI, or HMVI as I’ll be referring to him, was released as part of a K-Mart exclusive three pack of armors.  It featured a War Machine in camo, and an Iron Monger painted to look like the Hulkbuster armor, but I don’t have either of them.  HMVI is not based on a look from the Movie, instead being totally made up so that the toymakers could make another figure out of the same Mark VI mold.  He stands just shy of 4 inches tall and has 18 points of articulation.  The sculpt is exactly the same as that of the basic Mark VI.  The difference is that he was molded in clear blue.  He features some minor paint to give him some kind of a crosshatching detail, which is actually pretty cool.  He features no accessories, which is a bit of a bummer, but since Hasbro has a tendency to just throw in a dumb missile launcher, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I bought this figure for one and only one reason:  it looked really cool.  And it still does.  Sometimes, you just have to buy a toy because of how awesome it looks.  Perhaps the toy companies are on to something…

#0047: Iron Man & The Thing Minimates

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

IRON MAN & THE THING

MARVEL MINIMATES

Look!  It’s more Minimates!  Yes, I’ll be looking at even more Minimates, once again from the Marvel line.  This time I’ll be looking at a set from the “Best Of” sub series.  The idea behind this sub set was keeping the definitive versions of the main Marvel Heroes and villains on the market, while trying to produce the best possible minimates of those looks.  I’ll be taking a look at Iron Man and the Thing from that line.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released as part of the first “Best Of” series of Marvel Minimates.

IRON MAN

First up is Iron Man.  He’s depicted in his classic red and yellow armor he wore for most of the 60s and 70s.  Unlike previous minimates of this particular look, the yellow is actually yellow on this one, instead of Gold.  Iron Man is built on the basic minimate body, so he’s about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He features a sculpted helmet and belt, as well as sculpted boot and glove cuffs.  Paint-wise, the details are all well done, though some of the red paint is a little thin in places, and seems a bit fuzzy on the edges of the boots and gloves.  But since those are meant to be covered by the cuff pieces, it’s not really an issue.  Iron Man also features an extra left hand in a repulsor pose, a flying stand, and a hairpiece to display him sans helmet.  These are all reused pieces, but they work well here.

THE THING

Next is Benjamin J Grimm, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing.  Ben’s look is a bit more difficult to nail down than IM’s.  I think it’s meant to be Ben in his look from the mid 2000s, after he switched back to shorts from pants, but I can’t be certain.  The “4” on the belt buckle is throwing me off.   Anyway, he’s built on the basic minimate body, but with sculpted hands and feet instead of the regular ones.  As such, he stands a bit taller than IM and has 12 points of articulation.  In addition to the sculpted hands and feet, Ben’s other sculpted pieces are: Headpiece, upper arms, torso, waist and upper legs.  These are all slip over pieces, and have been used on previous Thing figures.  With that many sculpted pieces, the paint work on Ben is minimal.  He’s got detailing on his face, and on his belt and that’s about it.  They’re both clean and well done.  Ben also includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t buy this set when it was initially released, as I already had a few classic Iron Men, and my default version of the Thing is the look John Byrne gave him in the 80s.  However, my comic book store was having a sale on minimates, and had these guys for about 40% off, so I decided to pick them up.  While the Thing is still not my go to, I think the Iron Man may very well become my new default Iron Man.

#0046: Greedo

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

GREEDO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Today, I’ll be looking at the final figure from the second series of Star Wars: The Black Series.  Okay, technically, going by the numbering on the figures, he’s the second to last, and Han, who I reviewed yesterday, is the last.  But this is Greedo, and every good Star Wars fan knows, he does NOT get a shot at a review first.  So, yeah, I’ll be looking at Greedo, punching bag of the Star Wars universe.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As I said above, Greedo is part of the second series of Star Wars: The Black Series.  He’s #007, and he’s based on the only possible look to base Greedo on, the jumpsuit/vest combo he wears during his fatal encounter with Solo.  Greedo is the tallest figure in the series, standing just over 6 inches, and he features about 20 points of articulation.  Like everybody else in the wave, he’s got a brand new sculpt.  It looks good, and seems to be accurate to Greedo’s look from the film.  The vest is a separate sculpted piece, with a fairy basic jumpsuit sculpt underneath.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hasbro reuse parts of this figure in future waves.  Greedo’s head and hands are his most distinctive parts, and they’re rendered well.  I don’t know if they’re 100% screen accurate, but they’re certainly close enough for me.  The paint on Greedo is actually a bit better than the rest of the wave.  He’s got a little bit of slop on the yellow stripe on one arm, but other than that everything looks pretty sharp.  I was most impressed by the fact that the yellow detailing continues under the vest, where it’s rendered virtually invisible.  It’s a nice touch that most companies would over look.  Greedo is topped off by a blaster pistol.  This is a bit light when compared to the others in the series, but there are very few things one can give a character who appears for less than five minutes.  Unless the wanted to throw in an alternate torso with a hole in it, but that seems a bit morbid.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Greedo is a surprisingly cool figure.  I wasn’t sure I really wanted him, but I bought a full set in order to get Han and Boba.  Having Greedo in hand, he’s become one of my favorites.  I hope that Hasbro puts this much effort into some of the more important characters.

#0045: Han Solo

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

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

Today marks another Star Wars: The Black Series review.  This is a great line, and it’s steadily becoming one of my favorites.  This time around, I’ll be looking at my personal favorite figure from the line: Han Solo.  Han is of course the last piece of the main trio, and is my favorite character of the three, so there’s a lot riding on this figure.  Does it deliver?  Well, yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Han was released as part of the second series of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series line.  Like the others in the line, he’s got a figure number, #008.  Han is presented in his main look from the first Star Wars movie (The real one).  It’s a good choice because it’s probably the look most people think of when they think of the character.  He stands just about 6 inches tall, and features roughly 25 points of articulation.  Han features a brand new sculpt.  It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn good.  With one or two exceptions, the articulation is integrated well into the sculpt, a great improvement over Leia.  His arms seem a bit too skinny, and I think the neck may be just a smidge too long, but with decent posing, neither of these issues is overly noticeable.  The paint is really the figure’s weakest point.  It’s not bad, but it doesn’t do much to bring out the sculpt.  In particular, I feel like the likeness on the head sculpt would be better with a more complimentary paint job.  As it stands, it looks the slightest bit off.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s obvious who it’s meant to be, but it could be phenomenal  with the proper paint.  On the flip side, the highlight of the figure is his accessories.  Decent accessories tend to be a rarity these days, but Han seems to have lucked out, with his trusty blaster pistol, a spare set of gloved hands, his regular belt, and the belt and blaster he stole from a Stormtrooper on the Death Star.  The accessories are all really great, and allow you to display with just about every look he has over the course of the film.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In my previous two SW:TBS reviews, I’ve used this section to express some conflict between my feelings of the source material and the quality of the figures.  Not this time.  This figure is pretty much everything I wanted from the line when it was announced.  He’s a really great figure all around, and really shows off where this line can shine.  Plus, he’s Han Solo.  How can you not?