Category Archives: Reviews

#3493: The Rocketeer

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

THE ROCKETEER

LONGBOX HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

“The Rocketeer is Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a mysterious jetpack that allows him to fly. His adventures are set in the Los Angeles and New York of 1938 as he battles Nazis and monsters!

Published in 1982 by reknowned writer/artist Dave Stevens, The Rocketeer is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes from the 1930 through the 1950s. Stevens gave it a retro, nostalgic feel influenced by the king of the Rocket Men and Commando Cody movie serials, along with pinup diva Bettie Page as the inspiration for Cliff’s girlfriend, Betty.”

Before being an underrated gem of a movie in 1990, The Rocketeer was an underrated gem of a comic book.  Dave Stevens’ creation began as a back-up feature to Mike Grell’s Starslayer in 1982, eventually growing into its own standalone property, and gaining a lot of critical success.  The troubles of independent comic publishers and Stevens’ own perfectionism meant that it was a slow-rolling and ultimately rather short-lived series, but it nevertheless made an impact on the pop culture landscape.  It was without much in the way of merchandising during its first few decades of existence, but in the last ten years or so, there’s been an upswing.  It’s largely been movie-based, of course, but that changes today, with the first offering from Fresh Monkey Fiction’s Longbox Heroes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Rocketeer is part of the the launch line-up of Longbox Heroes, a Big Bad Toystore-exclusive line of independent comics figures.  Where FMF’s prior Amazing Heroes line was clearly patterned on Secret Wars, Longbox Heroes is inspired by the *other* big ’80s superhero toyline, Super Powers. The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation, gaining an extra swivel point at each knee over his Kenner ancestors. This is partly due to his modular construction, which, much like Amazing Heroes, allows all of the figures in this line to have their parts swapped at the joints. All of the figures in the Longbox Heroes line were sculpted by Jason “Toyotter” Geyer, who has been a major fixture of the online toy news and toy archiving scene since the ’90s, notably running the Super Powers Archive, amongst other things, making him a natural choice for such a project. His sculpt for Cliff is honestly pretty perfect, really. It’s very cleanly detailed, and really captures the Dave Stevens illustrations of the character, getting all of his important design elements, while also very much feeling like it’s a proper vintage Kenner sculpt. The one area where this guy is a little more removed from a Kenner offering us the paint work. He’s entirely painted, which isn’t *quite* the way they would have done it. That said, it’s a pretty solid paint job. There’s a spot of black in the wrong place on his legs, and some of the edges are a little fuzzy, but generally things look alright. Cliff is packed with his pistol (patterned on the Mauser C96, which was also the basis for Han Solo’s gun), and a Longbox Heroes display stand. Given the interchangeability angle, an unmasked head would have been cool, but not really expected given the style.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Super Powers is one of my very favorite toylines, the Rocketeer is one of my favorite comic/movie characters, and I really love Amazing Heroes, so there was pretty much no way that I was missing out on this guy.  As such, I jumped on his pre-order through BBTS pretty quickly.  This guy is a ton of fun, and a fantastic throwback to the Super Powers style.  I can’t wait to get the rest of the figures I’ve got pre-ordered.

#3492: Ronan The Accuser

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

RONAN THE ACCUSER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“As Supreme Public Accuser, Ronan enforces Kree justice with his cosmi-rod, the Universal Weapon, which often brings him into conflict with the space-faring races of the Marvel Universe”

The Kree, a race of aliens that got at least some degree of focus in last weekend’s The Marvels (I don’t know specifically how much, because I haven’t seen it as of this writing) made their first appearance in the comics, represented via proxy by their Kree Sentry that was destroyed by the Fantastic Four, and then in person by Ronan, their Supreme Accuser sent to learn what happened to their Sentry.  Ronan began as a purely antagonistic force, but has acquired more complex alliances over the years, at times fighting alongside many of the heroes he had previously fought.  But, at the end of the day, he remains loyal to the Kree Empire, and they’re not always the nicest, so he’s often stuck enforcing their not so nice ways.  At least he’s gotten some action figure coverage, though.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ronan the Accurser is an Amazon-exclusive Marvel Legends offering.  He’s at the deluxe price point, and is part of Hasbro’s small run of comics-style “Guardians of the Galaxy” exclusives, which also includes Yondu, Star-Lord, and the Drax and Moondragon two-pack.  This marks the third time Ronan’s been in the Legends line.  Thus far, we’ve had a Build-A-Figure based on a mid-00s appearance and a standalone based on his MCU figure.  This one goes for Ronan’s classic comics attire, which is by far his most prolonging, and just generally his best.  The figure stands shy of 8 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation, plus moving shoulder pads.  Ronan uses the Warlock Series Colossus as a starting point, sharing his arms, legs, and feet with that release.  It actually makes for a pretty solid re-use; it’s not spot-on to every Ronan appearance, but it’s remarkably close, and the build is certainly correct.  The only real drawbacks are the limited elbow articulation and the visible pins, but even those are pretty minor.  He gets a new head, shoulderpads, torso, hands, and skirt piece, courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding.  They fit very nicely with the pre-existing parts, and are a strong recreation of his classic design.  He opts for a more general classic design, rather than going for one particular artist’s rendition.  Overall, it’s just a very clean assembly, which fits very well with the character.  His color work is likewise very clean.  He’s got a lot of greens, as you would expect.  The lightest green is metallic, while the others are flat.  The application’s all pretty cleanly handled, with minimal slop and bleed over.  Ronan’s only got one accessory, but it’s a very good one, because it’s his cosmi-rod, aka his real big hammer.  It’s an all-new sculpt, and it’s quite a sizable piece at that.  The angles are nice and sharp, and there’s some impressive texturing on the head.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always liked Ronan, but he’s always had a shortage of good figures.  I never was able to complete his Build-A-Figure back in the day, which was honestly one of those better in the end type deals, since it wasn’t really the look I wanted anyway.  I’ve made due with the movie version for a while, which is honestly fine, because that one’s pretty good.  But, it doesn’t remove my desire for a good classic one.  I intended to get around to ordering this one eventually, but Amazon made it easier for me by giving him a good chunk of a mark down for Prime Day.  I’m glad I got around to that, because he’s actually a really, really good figure.  Certainly the best version of Ronan out there.

#3491: Wolverine Combat Cave

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

WOLVERINE COMBAT CAVE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“The Combat Cave is Wolverine’s secret training complex in which he works to improve his formidable fighting abilities. A wide array of weapons and traps challenge Wolverine’s slashing skills to the fullest. Only after completing the combat Cave workout can Wolverine be certain that he is ready for the ongoing struggle against the Evil Mutants.”

Last week, I was discussing the presence of vehicles in ’90s action figure lines, and continuing down that path of figure-adjacent items from those lines, let’s follow up with a look into the wild world of playsets!  I’ve delved into them a little bit here on the site, but not in a terribly in-depth sort of fashion, and not for a good long while.  I’m dipping my toes back in today, starting off on the smaller side of things with the Wolverine Combat Cave!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Wolverine Combat Cave was released in 1991 alongside Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  It was one of two small-scale playsets that accompanied the line’s launch, both clearly meant to emulate portions of the Danger Room.  It would be rendered more or less obsolete by the larger X-Men Headquarters playset, which had a more elaborate set-up, but that wasn’t until 1995, so this set had a decent run of its own.  The Combat Cave measures 7 inches tall, 7 inches wide, and 4 1/2 inches deep.  The set required assembly when new, so you needed to pop the three walls into the base, as well as popping in a few other parts.  It’s a pretty small little area, but with a name that features “cave,” you’re not expecting a huge set-up, I suppose.  The sculpting on it’s notably not very cave-like, though.  It’s pretty basic and geometric, without much in the way of actual detailing.  As far as classic Danger Room designs go, it’s alright, I suppose.  The set has a few spots that are designed for more direct figure interaction.  You plug the figure onto the stand (which works with any figure with standard pegs, but is clearly designed to work directly with the Series 1 Wolverine), and there’s a lever to move the stand back and forth, as well as spin the figure on the stand.  All three walls get some sort of feature as well.  There’s an attack thingy mounted on the first wall with a bunch of different weapons, which you can move in and out towards the figure.  The longest wall gets a printed picture of Magneto that’s affixed to a sliding door, which has a circle in the middle that can be punched out.  On the last wall, there’s a “brick” section, which has a spring-loaded release, which flips the top half down.  The vast majority of this set’s coloring is molded plastic, but there are decals for the obligatory X-Men logo at the top, and the Magneto on the sliding door.  There’s also a small touch of paint for the mount for the logo, which I guess is cool.  Other than that, it’s molded red and blue-grey.  It’s an interesting color choice; certainly not my go-to for a Wolverine theme, but I guess it’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I came into the game a little late for these particular sets.  I recall seeing them in the booklet that came with my Sentinel, but that was really it, with the Headquarters being my main X-playset as a kid.  I added this particular one to my collection when I came across a sealed one for a remarkably good price at Player’s Choice, one of the two comic shops near where I lived when I was in South Carolina back in 2016.  It was sort of a comfort purchase, given it was my first real time away from home, and I rather vividly recall sitting down and assembling it in my old living room.  It’s a kind of a goofy little set, but it’s a fun little stepping stone towards the more complex stuff from later.

#3490: ARC Trooper Fives

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

ARC TROOPER FIVES

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Fives trained with Domino Squad on Kamino before being stationed at the Rishi Moon outpost. While on Kamino for medical testing, he discovered a terrifying secret about the clones’ origins.”

There are a number of recurring Clones over the course of The Clone Wars, but there are few that have quite as intricate a story as Domino Squad.  Introduced during the first season episode “Rookies,” the squad’s members are noted for their tendency to, much like the game pieces they are named after, fall.  By the end of their first episode, only two remained, Fives and Echo, who would go on to go from Rookies to ARC Troopers during their run on the show.  Fives initially had the longest run of the squad, surviving until the end of the Clone Conspiracy arc, where he discovers the truth about Order 66.  He’s subsequently had his thunder stolen a little bit with the reveal that Echo actually survived his presumed death at the Citadel, but that doesn’t make Fives any less important.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ARC Trooper Fives is number 16 in the Clone Wars sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series’ Phase IV run.  Like Jesse from last week, he’s a Walmart-exclusive, which continues to be a bit of a bummer.  Honestly, even more of a bummer, really, given how major a character Fives is within the context of Clone Wars.  Like Echo and Jesse, Fives is presented here in his ARC Trooper loadout.  It makes the most sense by far for him, since he spends so much time in this particular gear.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  If you’ve read my reviews of Echo and Jesse, then you pretty much know the ins and outs of this sculpt, because he’s virtually identical to those two.  Fives shares the upper pouch placement with Jesse, which is accurate to the source material.  He also gets a new head sculpt under the helmet, which is fairly similar to Echo’s, but sports the appropriate facial hair.  I kind of expected the beard to just be painted on, but it’s actually sculpted, which was certainly a plus.  Fives’ color scheme is accurate to the cartoon, so it’s got a similar vibe to the other two, but some of the patterns are shifted around in order to make him more clearly unique from the other two.  Application is generally pretty clean, but on mine, the blue on the helmet fin is a little off-set, so it’s not quite centered the way it should be.  Like Jesse, Fives is only packed with a pair of blaster pistols.  It’s again pretty frustrating, given that he *still* doesn’t have trigger fingers on both hands, but he was at least more frequently seen with just the pistols.  Still, I’d like to at least have the option, given how much re-use he’s sporting.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m honestly shocked it took as long as it did for Fives to get added to Black Series.  I kind of expected him to be the one that debuted this mold, so Echo and Jesse both beating him to market was definitely odd.  I was definitely not thrilled to find out he was an exclusive, either, but thankfully, I had Max looking out for me, and he managed to snag me one without much issue.  He feels a touch anticlimactic, I suppose, having already gotten the others and all, but I’m glad I at least have him finally.

#3489: Black Knight & Sersi

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

BLACK KNIGHT & SERSI

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Fearful that Sersi is going mad because of her immortality, the Eternals bond her with her fellow Avenger Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, forging a mental union to make them soulmates”

In the ’90s, it was an unwritten rule in comics that everything was cooler with leather jackets.  Honestly, you can drop “in comics” from that sentence.  Leather jackets were really just everywhere.  Jim Lee notably gave a few of the X-Men leather jackets to wear over their spandex suits (which was honestly following up on Animal Man wearing a jacket during Grant Morrison’s run on that book, but that was actually a *denim* jacket, so it’s not quite the same), and it caught like wildfire.  Soon, all the Marvel teams had them, and that included the Avengers.  It’s not a time that’s jumped back to too much in toy form, but, you know what?  Here it is.  Let’s look at Black Knight and Sersi, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Black Knight and Sersi are an Amazon-exclusive Marvel Legends, released under the wider “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” banner that’s celebrating the Avengers 60th anniversary this year.  Both figures in this set are based on their time with the Avengers in the early ’90s.

BLACK KNIGHT

We got a classic comics Black Knight not too terribly long ago, back in the Cull Obsidian Series in 2018, but I’m never one to shy away from another.  This one’s like that one, but with a leather jacket.  And how could you not love that?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like the last Black Knight, this one’s construction is largely Bucky Cap-adjacent.  He uses the pelvis piece, and a bunch of other parts used in conjunction with other Bucky Cap parts elsewhere.  Specifically, he’s got the more modern head from the last Black Knight, the arms from Cannonball, the torso from Doctor Strange, the belt from Daredevil, the legs from Hobgoblin, and a new jacket and boots.  The mix of parts is a pretty pitch-perfect recreation of his look from the comics, with the new parts in particular really selling the whole thing.  There’s some slight quirks to some of the older parts, with the legs in particular showing a degree of warping.  Black Knight’s color work is similar to his last release, but has a degree more polish to it.  The face is now printed, which adds an extra lifelike quality, as well as giving him his ’90s era stubble, and the rest of the line-work is just overall a bit cleaner.  Black Knight is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), and his Neural sword, which replaced the Ebony Blade during this era of the comics.

SERSI

While Sersi’s gotten the Legends treatment before, it was only her MCU incarnation.  This marks the first time for her comics counterpart, and indeed the first comics Eternal in general.  It’s really not that surprising, what with Sersi always being their most notable member.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Sersi uses a mix of prior figure parts, with the torso and pelvis from Shriek, the coat and upper arms from Rogue, and the lower arms and the legs of Phoenix.  She also gets a new head, belt, and kneepad pieces specifically for this release.  They’re not bad.  The head is giving me Courtney Cox vibes, which I suppose isn’t terrible for a ’90s-based figure.  Her color work is appropriate for the era, placing her in her red and black number.  The jacket is, interestingly, a different shade of brown than Dane’s jacket, and she also lacks the Avengers logo.  Consulting the source material shows that this is actually proper for this look, so, there it is, I guess.  Sersi is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open gesture) and two effects pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I definitely dig Black Knight, and I don’t want to say no to a comics Sersi, but I wasn’t initially vibing on another Amazon exclusive, so I opted to hold out on these two.  However, the Prime Day sale has struck again.  The price made it hard to pass on them, so I didn’t.  They’re on the older side in terms of parts use, but they do what they need to, and they look pretty sweet with that ’90s Black Widow figure they put out back in 2020.

#3488: Clamp Champ

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

CLAMP CHAMP

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

When Clamp Champ was introduced into the Masters of the Universe toyline in 1987, the brand was winding down.  ’87 was the last year of the vintage run, and the cartoon had wrapped up, leaving poor Clamp Champ with only a few comic appearances, and a rather rare vintage figure.  He was set to join the cast of the 200x show, but it was also cancelled before his inclusion, and in that case he didn’t even get a proper figure, just a “staction” from NECA.  So, it was certainly exciting when good ol’ Raenius finally made his animated debut in Revelation.  It wasn’t a huge role, or anything, but he got to be cool for a bit, and he also managed to net another figure out of the whole deal.  Dope!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clamp Champ was released in Series 10 of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Masterverse line.  He’s officially under the Revelation banner, but his design on the show means that he can also double as a classic Clamp Champ update.  The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Clamp Champ is based on the standard male body, which is pretty much expected for the character.  This far into the line, it’s pretty by the numbers.  The hips seem to have lost the weird sticking they had early on, and everything else works pretty well.  Clamp Champ gets an all-new head sculpt, which matches up pretty nicely to his Revelation animation model.  He’s not quite as battle-hardened as his Classics counterpart, but looks a bit less green than his vintage and Origins releases.  I didn’t care for it in the prototype shots, but in-hand, it turned out very well.  While Clamp Champ typically shares his chest armor with Fisto, that’s not the case this time around; though the two certainly have similar design elements, Champ’s armor is a touch more fitted and ornate, giving him a slightly more unique feel.  Clamp Champ’s color work is pretty solid.  He keeps his classic colors, but gets a little bit of a modernized edge, with his armor all getting a metallic finish.  There’s also some pretty solid accent work on the face, the loincloth, and the boots, which adds some more depth and dimension.  Clamp Champ is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), as well as his signature Techno Clamp.  The clamp is a bit changed up from prior releases; now it’s a two piece assembly, which surrounds the whole forearm, in contrast to the usual hand-held affair.  The actual styling of the clamps is a little different as well.  It doesn’t do the spring forward capture gimmick, instead just being a more conventional springy clamp.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had a soft spot for Clamp Champ for a while, despite not actually owning any of his figures until the Origins release.  Since I *had* the Origins figure, I didn’t necessarily think I needed to grab this one.  Then I saw him in person, and I had a very hard time passing him up.  I really like how this one turned out. Even after getting the Origins figure, I still felt like I was missing out on the Classics figure I never got, but this guy makes me feel like I don’t even need that one at all.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3487: West Coast Avengers

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

IRON MAN, MOCKINGBIRD, TIGRA, SPIDER-WOMAN, & HANK PYM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 1984, Marvel decided they had too many Avengers for just one team, and split them off into two separate entities.  The original team remained in New York, while the spin-off team, the West Coast Avengers, moved out to California.  Originally launching as a 4-issue mini-series, with the original plan being to alternate issues of the main book between the main team, West Coast Avengers was a breakaway hit, and got its own standalone series, which lasted 102 issues, and frequently outshined the original book.  Despite the impact of the team, the direct acknowledgement of them in toy form has been rare.  Thus far, we’ve had a single three-pack in Marvel Universe.  But, Legends is in for some more recognition, so now we’ve got a boxed set on that side, too.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Man, Mockingbird, Tigra, Spider-Woman, and Hank Pym make up The West Coast Avengers box set, which is an Amazon-exclusive Marvel Legends offering.  The set is also branded under the “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” banner, which serves as the celebration of the main team’s 60th anniversary.  Iron Man, Tigra, and Spider-Woman are all tweaks on existing figures, with Mockingbird and Hank being all-new offerings.

IRON MAN

When the WCA first got together, it was during Rhodey’s time in the classic Iron Man armor, following the fall-out of “Demon in a Bottle.”  By the time of the ongoing series, however, Tony had reclaimed the title, and was sporting his Silver Centurion armor, which is proudly showcased on the cover of the first issue.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  This guy is using the exact same mold as the Walgreens-exclusive version, which makes sense, since it’s the same armor and all.  It’s still got the visible pins on the elbows and knees, but that’s honestly pretty minor.  The notable change-up to this guy comes down to the color work.  While the Walgreens version made use of metallic silver for the silver parts of the armor, this one goes for a slightly pearlescent white.  On paper, I wasn’t so sure about it, but in person, I actually really like how it turned out.  Iron Man is packed with the same two sets of hands as his single release, as well as the smaller blast effects, in blue this time.

MOCKINGBIRD

Oh, look, it’s Mockingbird, aka the whole reason I wanted the set.  I’ve certainly never had this exact thing happen before with a West Coast Avengers boxed set…Where was I?  Oh, yeah, buying a whole boxed set for a Mockingbird figure.  As you do.  This is Mockingbird’s second time as a Marvel Legend, but the first one was decidedly more modern than what she wore during her time with the WCA.  It’s not her *first* outfit she wore with the WCA, since that version had legs on the body suit, but it’s the one she wore for the longest stretch of time with the team.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Mockingbird is using the frankensteined torso that once belonged to Phoenix, as well as the lower legs from Captain Marvel, and what might be a new set of upper legs between them?  They’re skinnier than the pinless ones that have been used in conjunction with the Phoenix body recently, but they are still pinless, so they’re not anything from before that.  It looks like they might be shared with the Moondragon figure, but I don’t have her to compare.  She definitely gets new parts for the head and arms, though.  I really like how the head in particular turned out; the separate piece for the mask works very well.  Mine has a spot of glue on the face, which I’m not a fan of, but it otherwise is a very strong sculpt.  The arms are a little odd; they kind of are bound to be, given the actual design of her sleeves in the comics was usually cheated for the page, so I think they’ve done their best with the situation.  Her paint work is pretty strong; there’s a little bit of fuzziness on the edges of the shirt, but the detailing on the face in particular is great, and I love the accenting on the hair.  Mockingbird is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and a fist/flat combo), as well as Gambit’s staff, and Netflix Daredevil’s billyclub.  It makes for a good approximation of her battle staves, and is certainly a closer representation than what we got with the last one.

TIGRA

Tigra was not only a founding member of the WCA, she also one of the team’s longer lasting members, apart from that part in the middle of the run where she, Mockingbird, and Moon Knight split off on their own.  She also got a figure very recently as part of the Retro line.  This one is…well, very similar to that one, really.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  She’s using almost exactly the same sculpt as the last release.  That was a really, really good sculpt, certainly one of my favorites.  There’s not much better you can do for Tigra, so I guess it makes sense that you would want to keep using it.  The only sculptural change-up is to the calmer of the two heads, which now gets a new hairpiece, which has more volume to it, better matching her ’80s appearances.  She also gets a new color scheme; the first Tigra was far too pale, while the more recent one got complaints of being too orange.  This one meets in the middle, and it works very well.  The patterning on the stripes remains the same, but her bikini is now a very dark blue, and the faces are printed, rather than strictly painted.  The faces in particular are the biggest improvement of the bunch.  Like her single-packed counterpart, Tigra gets two sets of hands, in fists and clawing poses.

SPIDER-WOMAN

Julia Carpenter’s Spider-Woman was a pretty late-stage addition to the team, first assisting them in issue #70, and officially joining in #74.  Julia Carpenter got a Legends release back during the tie-in to Far From Home, making this one seem initially as if it’s just a retread…but it’s actually not?  Yeah, I was a bit shocked by that, myself.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Despite being the same look as the last figure, this Julia Carpenter shares exactly one piece wit her: her lower torso/pelvis, itself borrowed from the Phoenix mold.  The upper torso gave me a heck of a time ID-ing, since it’s really basic, but I eventually worked out that it was from Dagger, and it appears it hasn’t been used since.  I actually like it, since it’s without all of the odd peg holes that the Phoenix torso has picked up over the years, so it looks a lot cleaner.  She re-uses the arms and legs from Shriek, so she’s got the pinless set-up there.  She also gets a new head, with hair that better matches her earlier appearances, and a much sharper face sculpt.  The color work on this figure is very clean.  Digging the stark black and white.  I do miss the accenting on the hair, but it’s ultimately not the end of the world.  I think the current look still works.  Spider-Woman is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.

HANK PYM

Starting with the first issue of the ongoing West Coast book, Hank Pym was a recurring supporting player for the team.  His journey back to the Avengers following his fall from grace served as a background for the rest of the characters’ antics, and slowly built him back up, until he was ready to join the team properly after 20 issues of character growth.  After four different identities, he decided to just stick to being himself, rather than going back to the costumed hero route.  He spent a lot of time in a basic red jumpsuit, which isn’t super toyetic or anything, but it’s gotten a figure just the same.  Said figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He would have 33 is not for the seized waist joint on my copy.  Hank makes use of re-used parts from the Red Skull jumpsuit body.  He gets a new head and torso, sculpted by Paul Harding.  The head is a solid recreation of Hank of the era, and it all fits well with the pre-existing parts.  Unfortunately, that means that the figure is a little too large, just across the board.  Hank’s just an average guy when not using the particles, so he’s about a half an inch too tall.  Hank’s color work is decent enough.  It’s very basic, but that’s expected.  The face gets printing, which is definitely cool.  Hank is includes two sets of hands, a pair in open gesture, and a fist/grip combo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The West Coast Avengers line-up is something I’ve been trying to build in toy form since the 5-inch days, always to limited success.  Legends has been the best spread thus far, but there were definitely some holes in the line-up.  The boxed set seems like a great idea on paper, but I’ll admit to being less than thrilled by the final line-up being 3/5ths re-releases.  So, I wound up holding off, at least until Amazon knocked 30% off of the price for Prime Day.  Mockingbird is exactly the figure I was hoping for, and hands down my favorite release of the three figures the character’s gotten.  Hank has issues with scaling, but I’m generally just glad to have this version of the character at all.  Spider-Woman was actually a pleasant surprise, as she winds up being just an across the board improvement to the older figure.  Tigra and Iron Man are both rather unnecessary, but I do kind of like these versions a little more than the prior ones.  Not so much that I really feel like they justify themselves, but what are you gonna do?

#3486: Wolverine Jeep

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

WOLVERINE JEEP

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“Whether he’s on a top-secret mission with his fellow X-Men or off on his own tacking one of his many adversaries, Wolverine needs a powerful rig to cover any terrain he might encounter! Thus, the creation of this custom-made jeep, designed to operate under the harshest conditions—just about the only conditions Wolverine ever finds himself in!”

In the ’90s, when action figure buying was at a definite high, figures didn’t just function on their own.  Oh, no, they also got stuff to accent.  There were playsets.  There were vehicles.  Oh, how we sang the songs of…something.  Look, it was a different time.  There was a Jeep in every toy line.  Or a Jeep in multiple toy lines, at the very least.  Most importantly (to me, anyway), there was a Jeep in the X-Men line.  And, you know what, I’m gonna look at that today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Wolverine Jeep was added to Toy Biz’s X-Men line in 1995, alongside a similarly scaled Mini-Blackbird vehicle.  For the initial release, it was officially titled “Wolverine Jeep” and sold sans-figure.  It saw three re-releases, all of which changed it to “Wolverine 4×4” (presumably having something to do with Jeep not approving the use of their name), and added a 5-inch Wolverine figure to the mix.  The vehicle measures about 9 inches long by 4 1/2 inches tall by 4 inches wide, and it’s scaled to Toy Biz’s 5-inch line, at least at the earlier end of things.  While Wolverine had driven a number of actual Jeeps in the comics and the cartoon, this particular item wasn’t specifically based on any of them, instead crafting something that is vaguely Jeep like, while also kind of being more toyetic, I suppose.  The later descriptor of 4×4 is honestly a more accurate one, which may have added to the push to re-name it.  The sculpting for this thing was all-new in ’95, but of course it would get the three aforementioned re-releases, and was even repainted for Toy Biz’s Spider-Man line as well.  It’s a pretty decent little set-up.  There’s seating for two standard-sized figures, and even some space for storage in the back, if you wanted to throw some accessories or something back there.  The wheels all can spin just fine, and you can even put the windshield down if you so choose.  In its default configuration, it’s just a pretty sensible car.  But it’s also got an action mode, because it was for a toy line.  All four wheels get adamantium claws that pull out, and pressing the steering wheel pops open the hood of the car, revealing a rotating grinder.  For grinding purposes, I guess?  The box shows Sabretooth getting thrown in there, which feels like it would be pretty messy, but he’s also Sabretooth, so he can probably handle it.  Paint work on this thing is at a minimum; there’s a little bit of base work for the blue and black detailing on the main body, but it’s otherwise just down to decals.  They work pretty well, and I especially like the printing for the headlights.  The Jeep was packed a gripping claw piece that mounts on the back, as well as a missile launcher….which launches a claw missile.  Say, do you suppose they really wanted to theme this thing around claws?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In 1995, I was only just discovering my love of Jeeps, so I didn’t jump on this one the way you might assume.  I was more invested in the Blackbird, I suppose.  It was actually a good long while before I got this one.  I snagged it from a store in my family’s usual vacationing spot, back in the fall of 2019.  It was still sealed, and it was pretty cheap, so it’s kind of hard to pass-up that sort of thing.  It’s a fun, if perhaps gimmicky, little vehicle.  Now, I just have to find all the variants on it, I suppose.

#3485: Clone Commander Jesse

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

CLONE COMMANDER JESSE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Hard-fighting patriot Jesse proudly wears the Galactic Republic’s symbol on his helmet and as a face tattoo. After Order 66, however, his loyalty shifts from the Republic to the Emperor.”

As an interquel, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was slightly limited in what it could do to show real change and growth for its characters, especially the central characters whose fates we’ve already seen unfold. In order to keep some of that intrigue going, the show relied on the clones to really carry forward growth and development.  Clone Trooper Jesse began his run in the show as a rank and file member of the 501st, eventually graduating up to ARC Trooper, and even replacing Rex as commander of the 332nd company during the events of Order 66, in effect becoming the face of the troopers that fall that day.  That’s really not so bad a run.  And, hey, he’s also got a Black Series figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Commander Jesse is figure 12 in the Clone Wars sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series’ Phase IV incarnation.  He’s a Walmart exclusive, which is less than ideal, but also not incredibly surprising, given just how much of the Clone Wars stuff has wound up with them.  Jesse is clearly based on his post-ARC Trooper promotion design, with his name signifying that he’s specifically based on the show’s finale.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  For the most part, Jesse is using the ARC Trooper tooling introduced by Echo back in 2021.  It’s a sensible re-use, what with them all having the same basic set-up to start with.  Apart from its restriction at the hips, it’s also a pretty solid sculpt as well, making its re-use totally acceptable.  He does get a new head under the helmet, showcasing Jesse’s fully shaved head, as well as a slight tweak to the body, with his ammo pouch moving from the left shoulder to the right.  The head is consistent with Echo’s in terms of styling and likeness, so they look like the same guy, but that guy isn’t necessarily Temuera Morrison.  One slight mix-up on the design is that Jesse keeps the exact same helmet mold as Echo, who had a range finder, while Jesse never did.  It’s on a peg, so you can pop it out if you’re so inclined, but it does leave a hole on that one side.  Beyond the sculpt change-ups, it’s paint work that really differentiates him.  He keeps the same basic color scheme, while changing up enough of what goes where to make him clearly a different guy.  In particular, I love how the Republic cog graffiti on the helmet and matching tattoo on the underlying head turned out.  Jesse is packed with a pair of blaster pistols…and that’s it.  Given his tendency to use larger style blasters in the show, it’s a bummer that he didn’t at least get the mid-sized blaster as well, especially with the price.  Also, he still doesn’t have a trigger finger on the left hand, so he can’t properly dual-wield the two blasters he has.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With all the love Vintage Collection has been getting on the Clones, I was beginning to worry Black Series was going to miss out on the named guys like Jesse.  I was less than thrilled by him being an exclusive, given the VC got to be a regular release, but I was thankfully able to get some assistance getting one from someone that wound up with an extra he didn’t need.  He’s cool.  He’s definitely light on accessories, and I’m still not a fan of this whole exclusive game, but I’m glad to have him.

#3484: Chasm

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

CHASM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A near-fatal battle between Peter Parker and his clone, Ben Reilly, leaves Ben rising from the quantum goo as the villainous Chasm”

Poor Ben Reilly just really can’t catch a break, can he?  He keeps dying or being evil.  He seemed to get a bit of an upswing when they made him the main Spidey again in 2022, but…then he seemingly died and then went rogue.  I mean, it’s not *exactly* evil, but he’s certainly on the edge.  It’s kind of humorous, because Ben’s not even supposed to *be* the edgy clone!  That was Kane’s whole gimmick.  Ben’s the light-hearted and carefree guy…right?  Well, maybe he’ll get there again.  He *is* currently living in paradise.  In the mean time, he’s a figure of him during his emo phase.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chasm is part of the latest Spider-Man retro card series of Marvel Legends.  He’s another very modern figure from a largely very modern line-up.  He’s also one of two different Ben Reilly figures in this particular line-up, which is an interesting switch up.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Chasm is based on the ANAD 2099 body, which is a decent enough set-up, but is slightly hampered by being the inferior version of two different Spidey base bodies.  I imagine this one in particular is a little cheaper to produce, which makes more sense for a more one-off design like Chasm.  It does kind of suck that it means he’s still got the visible pins, though.  He’s got a new head and add-ons for his wrist cartridges, which are generally pretty basic, but well implemented pieces.  The rest of the design is carried by the paint work.  Chasm, to showcase his turn to a more villainous side, gets to be purple and green, the classic bad guy colors in comics.  They’re a particularly nice shade here, which I definitely dig.  Application is generally pretty good, apart from the right elbow on my copy completely missing the purple paint app.  Chasm is packed with a pair of effects piece, borrowed from Scarlet Witch, but in green this time.  That feels exceptionally light, given how few new parts this guy has.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I like Ben Reilly.  I really do.  I like him enough that I read his whole “Beyond” run in the comics.  It wasn’t awful, and the Chasm angle isn’t the *worst* thing ever, but it’s also a little frustrating to see this character caught in this sort of loop of characterization.  But, a good figure is a good figure, and I’m a sucker for a good Ben Reilly figure.  Chasm’s okay.  He’s pretty by the numbers, but if nothing else he’s got a fun color scheme.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.