Category Archives: Reviews

#3928: Captain America vs Venom

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA VS VENOM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In the ‘90s, Capcom’s arcade fighting games were a pretty notable thing, and also Marvel Comics was a pretty notable thing.  So, Marvel and Capcom opted to do that whole “two great tastes that taste great together” thing, and teamed up for some crossover action.  First starting more focused with X-Men vs Street Fighter, they eventually added the larger rosters of both Marvel and Capcom to the mix, and even got some toys along the way.  There’s remasters and all sorts of nostalgia going on right now, which always leads to an interest in some merchandising.  Jada has been running a really strong showing with a number of the Capcom properties, and, in a bit of an informal crossover, Hasbro’s doing their own line of just the Marvel half of the games.  Would you believe I bought the Captain America?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America vs Venom is a two-pack release from Hasbro’s Marvel Legends.  They’re part of the first big push of the “VS” set under the “Gamerverse” banner.  Though the packaging uses sprites and design elements from Marvel vs Capcom, there’s no actual mention of the game on the package, again keeping the informal crossover bit going.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag you’re buying the same thing over and over again?  I mean, I frequently am doing *exactly* that, but, like in a more metaphorical sense?  That’s where I’m at with this Captain America.  He’s the next progression of the journey to a classic Cap that we started back in 2016, with the Cap Wolf Cap, who debuted Cap on the “new” Reaper mold.  Wow, I said “Cap” a lot of times in that sentence.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Remember my “Ship of Theseus” comment in the Secret Wars Cap review?  Well, this guy just sort of furthers that.  All that remains of the original Reaper body use at this point is, in fact, his belt piece.  He gets the lower torso first used for the 80th Cap, and the standard calm masked head included with the 20th Anniversary Cap.   His lower arms, pelvis, and legs to the top of the shin are all the modified pieces used on the Secret Wars Cap last year.  That leaves a new upper torso, upper arms, and boots for this specific release.  Cap’s game design notably omitted the usual scale-mail that his upper torso spots, so this figure does that as well,  but it still grants him a lot of sculpted elements, rather than simply painting them all on, like the Cap Wolf figure did.  Most notably, the new upper torso gives Cap butterfly joints on his shoulders, something he hasn’t had since the Toy Biz days.  They’re quite handy when it comes to fighting poses, which is ideal for a figure that’s specifically for a fighting game.  Cap also gets a new alternate head, with another expression.  This one takes the teeth-gritting expression of the Secret Wars release and dials it up to 11, for a full on scream.  It’s not your typical Cap expression, but it feels exceptionally true to the sprite models from the game.  Cap’s color work is perfectly fine, if not above average in terms of paint work application and quality.  But, once again, we’ve gotten *another* shade of blue, meaning that you can’t swap the heads on this guy with either the 20th or Secret Wars figures, which continues to feel like a missed opportunity.  Presumably, Hasbro’s waiting to unveil a Maximum Cap that has all the heads and retools this torso into one with the scale mail.  Cap is packed with two pair of hands (fists and thumbs up), his shield, and a bash effect piece for the shield.  The thumbs up hands are really cool, and offer a lot of fun posing options.  I wasn’t thrilled about the move back to the smaller shield, but I think it does work a bit better for the game look.  It’s amusing that this shield is smaller than the one included with the original TB MvC Cap figure, though.

VENOM

Venom.  Yay.  Venom.  I totally bought this set for both figures, and not just the one.  Of course.  I totally know all of the facts about the different Venoms, too.  Like, this one’s…blue?  Cuz of the sprite.  That’s why.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like Cap, the classic Eddie Brock Venom’s gone through a lot of different mold variations.  This appears to be the same mold used for the Amazon three-pack Eddie that came with Riot and Agony, which itself was based on the Omega Red molds.  It means he’s still got visible pins on the knees, but otherwise modern articulation.  It’s not a bad sculpt by any means.  It feels very true to the character, and the heads both feel very much in line with his game design.  I especially like the partially unmasked head, because it reminds me of the old Spider-Man Classics figure.  In terms of coloring, he is, as noted above, blue.  It’s honestly a pretty good way of getting him to stand out from the others.  Generally, the paint’s pretty basic.  I do really love the green saliva on the tongue, though.  Venom is packed with the alternate unmasked head, and two pairs of hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m cursed to keep buying every Captain America from Hasbro as they continue to make them incrementally better every time.  I’ve just accepted that.  This time, they also made me buy a Venom.  Wasn’t thrilled about that, but I really wanted the Cap, so I did it.  I’m glad I did, because I do really, really like this Cap.  The changes feel worth it, and he feels more like a new figure and not just a retread of the ones from before.  I think Secret Wars may still be more of a definitive Cap for me, but this one’s exceptionally fun, and I especially love all the fun stuff you can do with that screaming head.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased these figures for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3927: Animal Man

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

ANIMAL MAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Able to connect with The Red, the morphogenic field that connects all animal life, Buddy Baker juggles his duties as a husband and father, and the superhero who can mimic the abilities of any animal, Animal Man!”

Much like Hank Pym’s introduction in 1962’s “Man in the Anthill,” a sci-fi story that proved successful enough for its lead character to return later that same year, now as the costumed hero Ant-Man, Buddy Baker’s first turn in Strange Adventures’ “I Was the Man with Animal Powers,” a sci-fi story where a man is encounters an alien spacecraft, giving him his titular abilities, was followed up with Buddy’s return ten issues later as a costumed hero, first “A-Man”, later Animal Man.  Though he remained obscure for most of his original run, post-Crisis, the character was given his own title under the helm of Grant Morrison, who re-vamped him to fit better into the post-Crisis world, expanding on his life outside of being a super hero, playing up the aspects of his role as a family man, as well as his crusades for animal rights.  The series also had a substantial metatextual element, as it examined directly the changes being made to the character’s backstory, as well as the toll that “shock” storytelling elements were having on him, culminating in a direct confrontation between Buddy and “The Writer,” who was directly modeled on Morrison.  Morrison’s run ended with Buddy’s life being restored to a more status quo place, allowing him to be better worked into the main DCU, but the influence of the run has still informed a lot of the character’s later appearances, and also serves as a nice little focus for an otherwise still somewhat obscure character.  His presence as a fan-favorite has made him fortunate enough to get several figures over the years, the latest as part of McFarlane’s Super Powers revival.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Animal Man is part of what is, near as anyone can tell, the final assortment of McFarlane’s Super Powers.  He and the other three figures are all exclusive Gold Label releases, available only through McFarlane’s online store.  Buddy’s an interesting choice for the line-up; he existed when the vintage line was in swing, of course, but wouldn’t be revived truly until 1988.  He’s also always remained somewhat on the fringe, and none of the characters he tends to be paired off with were part of either version of the line.  But, at the same time, Kenner was prone to throwing in the occasional odd-ball, so who can say for sure.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  For whatever reason, Buddy is back on one of the older base bodies, specifically the one used for John Stewart, so he’s bulkier and a little larger than the others in the assortment, and not quite the right scale.  Honestly, I’d have expected him to just be another use of the Flash-style body, but perhaps they felt that was getting over played?  The GL sculpt is too bulky, and sort of puffy, and not one of my favorites, but…I don’t hate it here?  Maybe I’m getting nostalgic as we get closer to the end.  It does still feel a touch too large for Buddy, and I get a chuckle out of the fact that he’s still got the ring on his right hand.  But, the new head sculpt is quite nice, and, goofy though it may be, the cloth jacket piece is pretty fun.  Animal Man’s color work is pretty solid.  I love the crisp work on the “A”, as well as the full detailing under the jacket, if you’re more interested in a classic Buddy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always dug Animal Man, as sort of a quirky side character.  That said, it was far too long before I actually sat down and read the Morrison run (I picked up the trades from Cosmic Comix, rather appropriately I suppose, shortly after Jess died, and read through them during a period of having far too much time on my hands), and when I did, it elevated Buddy from a character I already very thoroughly enjoyed to a character that is genuinely one of my favorites.  While I can think of lots of other characters I might have liked to see crop up in this final line-up, I am nevertheless very happy to see Buddy join the line, and I like how the final figure turned out.

#3926: Cloak & Dagger

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

CLOAK & DAGGER

CLOAK & DAGGER (TOY BIZ)

“Teenagers possessing the powers of light and darkness, Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen are Cloak and Dagger! Drawing opponents into himself, Cloak later releases them weakened and unable to fight and longer. His costume conceals his shadowy power, a place of darkness that feeds on its victims. Wielding her power in the form of blades of pure light, Dagger is able to drain her enemies of their vitality; she can also use her power to alleviate Cloak’s hunger for light. Brought together by destiny, Cloak and Dagger remain a duo committed to ridding the streets of the criminals who would destroy it.”

Cloak and Dagger were created in 1982 as a pair of antagonists (but not villains) for Spider-Man, a fact that I used to open my only other Cloak and Dagger review, all the way back in 2018.  What does that mean?  Largely that my connection to the characters in tangental at best.  I’ve probably read a couple of comics where they appeared, but I don’t know that I’ve ever really read any focus stories, and certainly not any of their stand alone stuff.  They have a clever name, though, and a neat visual dynamic, so, that’s cool for toys, right?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cloak and Dagger were released in 1997 as their own stand-alone boxed two-pack under Toy Biz’s larger 5-Inch Marvel banner.  In terms of styling and era of release, they’re a lot like the Famous Couples sets, but they were general release and without marked edition sizes. This was the first figure treatment for both characters, and they would remain the only ones for almost a decade, until Diamond Select released both Select and Minimates versions.  The set included the two figures, as well as a small tin with an illustration on the front.  Maybe you can keep all the weird junk from the other two-packs in it?

CLOAK

Cloak starts us off with a relatively by the numbers re-use based figure.  He stands 5 inches tall and has 11 points of articulation.  Cloak is primarily using the Octo-Spidey base body that Toy Biz was so fond of using.  It’s perfectly fine here, since it’s mostly just an excuse to hold up his cloak.  The head is a re-use of Deadpool II’s unmasked head, which, if nothing else, has the virtue of being a less frequently used part.  In the earlier days, Cloak’s face tended to have a lot of line work, so the texturing of the sculpt works okay to replicate that.  It’s not perfect, but it’s not bad.  The color work does a bit of the lifting on differentiating him from the earlier uses of the parts.  He makes a lot of use of accenting and washes, which works very nicely.  Adorning all of the reused sculpted parts, is a soft goods cloak piece.  It’s thick, and rough in texture, and mostly just hangs there.  The print with the stripes works, though, and it’s got a good presence.

DAGGER

Lest there be any fear of things getting too crazy here, Dagger keeps Cloak’s re-use basis going, also being rather by the numbers.  She’s just shy of 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  Her movement is very limited, due to a combination of the hard plastic hair restricting her neck, and the use of v-hips.  Generally, she’s just for standing.  She does at least get universal shoulders.  She’s constructed entirely out of parts from the “Ninja” series of X-Men, with the head of Psylocke, and the body of Deathbird (albeit with the torso and arms modified to remove the connection points for the wings).  The head’s actually a pretty solid match for Dagger’s usual depictions, and the color shift helps to differentiate in well from the original usage.  The body’s okay, but the sculpted belt-line goes through a spot on her waist that’s supposed to be skin, which does look a little bit odd.  Her coloring is pretty nice; the white sections of her outfit are pearlescent, and I’m always a sucker for that.  Beyond that, it’s fairly basic paint work, which does what it needs to and sells the look generally well.  The only slightly off bit is the amulet on the front of her chest, which looks very fake, but that’s about it.  Dagger gets four “dagger” pieces, which are actually just Marrow’s bone pieces, but cast in clear plastic.  Honestly, apart from being far too large, they work better than expected.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set proved my first introduction to the characters.  Of course, I didn’t know who they were, so I didn’t buy one new, and they weren’t my first *figures* of the two (those would be the Minimates), but it does still sort of cement them as the standard look of the characters in my head.  I finally got a chance to snag the set a few years ago, in a larger collection, with most of the other multipacks. As noted within the review proper, they’re both very by the numbers figures, entirely reliant on re-used parts.  But, it ultimately works okay for them, and I think this winds up as a pretty neat little set.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3925: Princess Leia Organa in Hoth Gear

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA in HOTH GEAR

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Imperial snowtroopers have been spotted inside Hoth’s Rebel base. Little time remains for Princess Leia and Han Solo to make it to the Millennium Falcon and escape with their lives.”

Kenner’s Power of the Force II hit its high-points for production in 1997 and 1998, as demand steadily rose through the line’s run.  However, as they started jumping deeper into the weird cuts of characters, and production was not scaled back, things started to become stagnant.  The line was subsequently reined in, and refocused, as they prepared for the incoming push for Episode I.  With a great many of the “Freeze Frame” era figures still lingering at retail, the final four figures for the sub-set were released not at main retail, but rather through a Fan Club-exclusive assortment in 1998.  Of the characters featured, by far the most noteworthy was Princess Leia in her Hoth attire.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Princess Leia Organa in Hoth Gear was released as part of the aforementioned Fan Club assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  She in particular had an interesting journey to release, first intended for release in the “Complete Galaxy” sub-line, which was cancelled, then intended to go with a Hoth 3D display, which was also canceled, before being moved to single release for an assortment that was also almost cancelled.  At least she made it out.  The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and she has 6 points of articulation.  Her sculpt was unique, and not shared with the Cinema Scenes release of the same design, though admittedly, they’re pretty close in terms of styling.  This one gets a stiffer, more generic standing pose, instead of the more scene-specific one from the multi-pack.  Neither is really better than the other, they’re just different enough to be different.  Sculpting is pretty sharp, and the detailing on the outfit is particularly impressive.  Her color work is also a bit different than the other version, but not better or worse.  The hair’s a little darker, and the face is a little sharper.  The weathering on the outfit is also a cooler shade, and more focussed on her legs.  It still seems a little heavy handed, but it’s not awful.  Leia is packed with a blaster, which is a re-use of the Han-style one that they loved so much.  It’s fine.  It’s not remotely accurate, but it’s fine.  She also gets a freeze frame showing a scene from the Hoth evacuation.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had none of the Fan Club figures as a kid because I honestly didn’t know that was a thing the Fan Club did.  Kinda wish I could have gotten in on such a thing.  Seems right up my alley.  Instead, I’ve been slowly tracking them down.  They’re not expensive, mind you, just a lot less likely to show up than the others in the line.  Leia here was found mixed in with a batch of otherwise not noteworthy figures from the earlier run.  She’s perfectly fine.  It’s crazy how many steps there were to getting her release, but she’s a decent figure of one of the character’s main looks.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3924: Digivolving Patamon to Angemon

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

DIGIVOLVING PATAMON TO ANGEMON

DIGIMON: DIGITAL MONSTERS (BANDAI)

It is on one hand a bit surprising to me, and on the other hand not really, that I have made zero mention of Digimon here on the site during its 12 years I’ve been running it.  As a child of the ‘90s and early ‘00s, I was very much in the target demographic of the show when it was brought to the US in 1999.  I religiously watched the first two seasons as they aired, and owned Digimon: The Movie on VHS.  I even downloaded most of the movie’s soundtrack on Napster (I’m past the statute of limitations on that, right?  Also, I was a child…), and, of course, I had a handful of toys.  Not a ton, but a notable amount.  It did ultimately amount to mostly just a fad for me, though, and I didn’t hang onto much of anything from it (still do have that VHS, though), so I can’t really say I’m one of those truly enduring fans of the franchise.  But, I’ve returned back to parts of it over the years, especially as it pertains to my favorite Digimon, Angemon, who’s (part of) the focus of today’s review!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Digivolving Patamon to Angemon (a name that my spellcheck *really* hates) was one of the four initial “Digivolving” figures from Bandai’s Digimon: Digital Monsters tie-in line, released domestically in 2000, during the back-end of the show’s first season run.  The figure was packaged and sold as Patamon, with the Angemon transformation being more of an advertised feature.  That being said, for me, he’s always been Angemon first and foremost, so I’ll be reviewing him as such.  In Angemon form, the figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 18 functioning points of articulation (you could also count the joints on his wings, but they don’t actually move much once he’s fully transformed).  The articulation of the core figure is honestly one of the better selling points of this release, since the standard Angemon from the main assortment was a lot more restricted.  This one’s still not *super* posable, since the joints are in a lot of ways limited in exactly what they can do, but he’s at the very least got double joints on his elbows and knees, and there’s a hinge/swivel combo in the ankles.  The sculpt is very stylized, and the articulation is a bit rudimentary in how it’s worked into everything, but he generally does look the part of Angemon as he was seen in the show…on the core body, at least.  The sculpting is pretty sharp, and there’s a nice variety of textures on display throughout.  The accuracy sort of takes a bit of a dive when you get to the wings, which look passable but not great from the front, and look not at all correct from literally any other angle.  This is, of course, all for the sake of facilitating the transformation into Patamon.  The bulk of Patamon’s design is on the exterior of Angemon’s wings.  You fold him up into a fetal position and fold the wings around him and, boom, incredibly oversized Patamon.  25 years after its release, the plastic is a touch stiff, so the transformation is a bit tricky, but hardly impossible.  Patamon is a lot more on model, with all of the Angemon stuff successfully packed away from view.  The paint work for both forms is pretty nicely handled.  Angemon gets all the base color work he’s supposed to, and Patamon gets a completely painted surface.  Angemon being largely white plastic makes him a little prone to yellowing, and Patamon being flat paint makes him a little prone to scuffing, but overall, they still look good.  The figure includes Angemon’s staff, which can be folded in the middle and stored while he’s in Patamon mode.  It’s got a rather obvious hinge in the middle to facilitate this, but it’s on par with the rest of the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Digimon hit, I was pretty immediately a Patamon fan (largely because he happened to look the most like Pikachu; I was falling for that “let’s steal the Pokemon market” push that Saban was trying for), and I was then really excited when his next form was Angemon, who’s undoubtedly the coolest Digimon.  I wanted figures of both of them, and recall wanting their two separate figures initially, until this one came along and gave me the option of having them both in one.  I recall getting this one on a Toys “R” Us trip on the way home from a weekend with my Aunt Robin.  He got a lot of play, and over the years, I lost pretty much every single part of him.  A few years ago, I found most of his core body, but nothing else, and figured the rest of him was gone.  The last few months, I’ve been doing a deep dive into some of the many boxes of junk from my old room that were still at my parent’s house, largely trying to weed out what’s actually worth doing something with, but also seeing if I can find anything cool I want to keep.  In the process, I incrementally found each of his parts, one by one, being more and more surprised each time.  At the end of it all, I had a whole complete figure, which is nuts, but also makes me very happy, because he’s the one Digimon figure I truly still wanted to own.

#3923: Deadman

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

DEADMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Given an eerie afterlife as the spectral superhero called Deadman, he has the power to possess the living in order to fight for justice… and find his own killer.”

Today’s review poses a very important question: are there enough crazy high collars in the Super Powers line-up?  The answer is probably not, but have no fear, today’s entry helps to bolster those numbers, right under the wire.  There’s certainly an interesting juxtaposition of the final assortment of a line including amongst its members a guy with “dead” in his name.  Is it a bit on the nose?  Perhaps, but if it gets me another Deadman figure, I suppose I can’t complain too much, now can I?  So, without further ado here’s the aforementioned Deadman and his aforementioned collar.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deadman is the second figure in Series 11 of McFarlane’s Super Powers continuation line, which serves as the wrap-up to this line before the rights transfer back to Mattel next year.  As with the rest of the assortment, he was a “Gold Label” figure, available only through McFarlane’s online store.  This is Boston Brand’s first time in this style, but it’s pretty fitting, given he was a well-established character at the time of the vintage line’s run.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Deadman has a fair number of parts in common with the Nightwing figure from this same assortment.  The sculpt was definitely designed for Nightwing first, though, because it’s still got his distinctive glove shape at the back.  He does get a new head, as well as a new collar piece, because you gotta really go all out on that collar.  Boston Brand simply will not be outdone on that collar, certainly not by some other acrobat crime fighter.  So, behold the unbridled glory that is his collar.  Hell yeah.  Honestly, it’s a pretty fun sculpt.  The Deadman specific parts work well, and the base body is pretty neat, apart from the ever so slightly too small feet.  It’s too bad it arrived too late for a little bit more usage.  His paint work is relatively clean, and to the paint.  The dual tone reds work well, and the white makes for a good clean contrast against the other parts.  Deadman has no accessories, but when you really get down to it, aren’t all of the other figures really just his accessories?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Deadman’s a bit of a left field choice.  I was definitely a bit surprised to see him turn up.  That said, I get why, since he’s a pretty easy way to parts share with the Nightwing.  I also won’t complain about getting a Deadman figure, because he’s just pretty cool.  He translates well to this style, and I really do like how he turned out.  He’s a decidedly apt figure for the line to go out on.

#3922: Gambit & Rogue

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

GAMBIT & ROGUE

MARVEL’S FAMOUS COUPLES (TOY BIZ)

“Even though they’ve only kissed once, Gambit and Rogue are one of the X-Men’s greatest couples. Kept apart by Rogues mutant ability to absorb the memories and powers of whoever she touches, this couple still finds themselves inevitably drawn together. Whether they’re battling the Sentinels or walking side-by-side in the part, Gambit and Rogue know that there is nowhere they’d rather be than together.”

Hey, that’s not a bad bio…for the mainstream Gambit and Rogue…who these aren’t.  Confused?  Allow me to explain.  In 1996, Toy Biz dedicated a single series of their X-Men line to the “Age of Apocalypse” storyline.  It wasn’t really much coverage, but did its best to hit some of the heavy hitters.  It was originally a six figure line-up, but was cut down to five prior to release (something faced by the Iron Man and Fantastic Four lines at the same time, which led to US Agent and Adam Warlock getting cut), with the alternate universe version of Gambit winding up on the chopping block.  Not wanting to let a wholly new sculpt go to waste, Gambit was ultimately salvaged for use in a Famous Couples two-pack, alongside a similarly themed Rogue figure.  All well and good, apart from the two not *actually* being a proper couple in the alternate universe, and certainly not a “famous” one.  Ah, we’ll give them a pass on this one.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gambit and Rogue are another of the three two-packs from the Toys “R” Us-exclusive Marvel’s Famous Couples line.  Each pair was released separately, with this pair hitting in 1997, during the run’s second year.  The set includes the two figures, their relevant accessories, and a metal pin depicting the two of them.  At least it’s got more direct purpose than the weird metal thing from the Cyclops and Jean set.

GAMBIT

Gambit is really the whole reason this set exists in the first place, as a means to release the unused AoA Gambit from the main X-Men line.  The AoA Gambit design is…well, it’s something.  Of all the designs, his feels the most like it delves into different for different, and it ultimately suffers from not being nearly as striking as the mainstream equivalent.  But, it’s certainly *different* so I’ll give it that.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation. The left shoulder is spring-loaded, so he’s got sort of a flinging action.  It also robs him of his elbow movement.  The sculpt is decent enough.  Rather on the pre-posed side, but pretty much on par with the other AoA figures.  He does wind up rather contorted, especially when it comes to the neck, which looks pretty strange in most poses.  He’s also a little tricky to keep standing.  His cape is a separate piece, and it’s kind of floaty and never seems to quite sit right.  His color work does alright.  This design is a bit slapdash in its color choices, kind of like they just picked at random, but they replicate them well here.  The application’s generally okay, though the skin tone on his face is quite thick, obscuring the sculpted details quite a bit.  Gambit is packed with his staff piece, as well as an energy piece for him to throw, which is, for some reason, cast in opaque blue.

ROGUE

Rogue’s a pretty notable character in AoA, and honestly more noteworthy than Gambit, so the fact that she wasn’t even planned at all for the line-up does seem kind of odd.  There are, notably, no women in the AoA series from ’96, so it might have been a retailer thing.  At least she didn’t ultimately have to wait too long.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  Since Rogue didn’t have a pre-existing mold sitting around to use, Toy Biz had to sort of improvise a bit.  They opted to re-use the mold from the Generation X White Queen figure, which isn’t a bad sculpt, but also isn’t exceedingly much like Rogue’s design from the cross-over.  I guess the head’s not too far off, and they decided to just make the rest of it work as best they could?  Honestly, it does work out a bit better than I’d expected, so I’ll give them some credit on their inventiveness there.  There’s a cloth robe/vest piece, which replaces the jacket of the original mold, and largely serves to hide a little bit more of what’s going on, which it’s ultimately okay at.  Otherwise, it’s paint work doing the heavy lifting.  It’s very much takes Toy Biz’s patented “just completely ignore the sculpted elements” approach, which is what it is.  I do like the colors, though, especially with the metallic sheen the whole thing gets.  Rogue gets a stand, which is the Generation X stand, but in gold instead of red.  Since she’s a bit iffy on her feet, the stand is certainly nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back in the early days of collecting for me, it was less immediately clear what figures actually got released.  As such, it was a little while before I learned that there was never *actually* a single release for the AoA Gambit on the back of all the boxes.  I made do at the time with the light-up release, and didn’t know of this one’s release for a few more years.  I ended up getting this one at the same time as last week’s Cyclops and Jean.  It’s nice that they were able to get the Gambit figure out in some way, and also that they found a means to release a Rogue from the story, resulting in a pretty nice selection of the AoA cast in the longer run.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased these figures for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3921: Princess Leia Organa

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Held captive in the Death Star, the princess is interrogated by Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. Leia was ordered to reveal the location of the secret Rebel base or see her home planet of Alderaan destroyed.”

The Power of the Force line with major looks for almost all of the major players in the Original Trilogy.  The main trio, in particular, were all presented in their main looks from A New Hope, with figures that were…let’s be diplomatic here and say “very stylized.”  All of those looks would be revisited later in the line, as it evolved, including Princess Leia’s hair-bun-sporting debut look, which I’m taking another look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Princess Leia Organa was released as part of Kenner’s Power of the Force II line in 1998.  With four separate single figures released that year, Leia was the most prominent of the main players.  Like the “Princess Leia Collection” release before it, this one returns to her main look from A New Hope, now bearing an “All New Likeness!” as advertised by a sticker on the front of the box.  The figure stands just under 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 6 points of articulation…in technicality.  The legs are, of course, not much use under the rubber dress piece, so they mostly just offer the ability to do some slight tweaking for keeping her standing.  Her sculpt was all-new, and as far as I know, it remained that way.  It’s not bad.  Certainly an improvement over the original release, especially when it comes to the head sculpt.  The body has a lot of pre-posing to it, as she’s sculpted to hold a blaster rifle.  It does alright, but she’s slightly hard to keep stable.  The details are a little sharper than the “Princess Leia Collection” figure, but I think it’s ultimately not *quite* as nice looking.  Still certainly not a bad sculpt.  The paint’s basic, and pretty much exactly what you’d expect from a figure from this line.  It does what it needs to, and it does it just fine.  She’s packed with a Stormtrooper blaster, her blaster pistol, and a Freeze Frame showing her during the destruction of Alderan.  It’s interesting, because she’s clearly supposed to be a Leia from her rescue, but then they gave her the Alderan destruction Frame.  The rifle is modified so that she can more easily hold it, and it was also designed with giving it to the otherwise unarmed mail-away Han Solo figure from Kellogg’s in mind, if you’re so inclined.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As has been something of a recurring theme with my more recent Power of the Force reviews, Leia is a figure that I bought a few years ago in a batch with a bunch of others from the line, who has been sitting unopened in my office for the entire time I’ve owned her, until about two days before I sat down to write this review.  She kind of gets lost in the sea of Leia figures, I suppose.  She’s not bad, but she doesn’t do a ton to stand out on her own, ultimately.  Still, she’s a marked improvement on the original, and a solid figure in her own right.

#3920: Vega

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

VEGA

ULTRA STREET FIGHTER II (JADA)

I don’t do a ton of video game-related reviews around here, but the ones I do tend to follow some pretty set themes.  The earliest video game-related figures I owned, long before I’d ever played any of the associated games, were Street Fighter characters, mostly because they came packed with the best X-Men figures available at the time.  Okay, the best Cyclops figure available at the time.  Look, a man’s gotta have his priorities, okay?  But, it did lead me to finding out who the heck these other guys were, and ultimately gaining my own personal appreciation of the characters later.  One of the stand out toy companies these days is Jada, who launched a line of Street Fighter figures last year.  I’m not jumping in as a completist, but I’m picking up some of my favorites, and that includes today’s offering, Balrog Vega!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vega was released in the fourth round of Jada’s Ultra Street Fighter II line, and hit retail around mid-August.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  He’s sporting an all-new sculpt, as is pretty typical for character debuts in this line.  Most of the Street Fighter cast has gotten a number of changes over the years to their designs as they’ve moved through various iterations of the game.  In Vega’s case, they’ve never been all that drastic, but there are a number of shifts that have occurred to the actual specifics.  Other figures in this line have gone more towards the revamped sprites of various remasters of the game, but Vega seems to lean more into his earliest designs, which honestly isn’t the worst thing, since most of his designs seem to forget he’s supposed to be from Brazil Spain [EDIT: Yeah, I don’t know where I was going with that one, apart from that I was writing this after midnight…].  What’s most notable is that he’s working from a different approach than his old SOTA figure, with the most notable shift being his claw being on his right side, rather than his left.  Most art depicts it on the left, but his sprite always places it on whichever side is facing outwards, so if you’re Player 1 (as this figure’s coloring suggests), he would be a righty.  So, that’s what this one goes with.  The sculpt is a decent one.  He’s got a slightly bulkier build than the earlier Vega, but that’s consistent with the game.  He’s got two different heads, with and without his mask.  Much like Cammy, the ponytail on the masked head is articulated, so that you can make it slightly more dynamic.  The unmasked head is not, though, presumably because it’s less intended for action poses.  Of the two sculpts, I prefer the masked one, since it’s the default look and all, but they’re both pretty solid.  In addition to the sculpted elements, Vega’s also got a cloth sash piece, which has a wire running through it for posing.  I definitely dig it.  Vega’s color work is alright.  Generally basic, but there’s some more involved work for the tattoo on his chest and arm.  Vega is packed with two pairs of hands (fists, and open gesture), a claw piece, a slashing effect, and a loose mask piece.  The claw is designed for the open right hand, as the fist has a claw piece of its own permanently attached.  The effect piece easily slots over either set of claws, and adds a nice little bit of pop to his posing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My interest in Street Fighter as a kid came to its head when SOTA’s line hit.  I was super interested in most of the line, but ultimately, I was only ever able to get a single figure.  That figure was Vega, who I’ve held onto since.  I do really love that figure, so I wasn’t sure I *needed* a new one, even given how good the Jada figures have been.  But, it’s Vega, and I do like the design, and I’ve liked all the Jada figures I’ve gotten thus far, so once he was shown off, I knew I was snagging him.  I appreciate that he takes a different approach, and he’s ultimately a better figure, even if I’ve still got some serious nostalgia for the old one.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3919: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

George Lucas once said of his telling of the Star Wars story that “it’s like poetry; it rhymes.”  I’m gonna be just as sanctimonious as he was for just a moment here and apply that to a set of my own reviews here at the site.  Back in 2023, I reviewed my first McFarlane Super Powers figure, which was the Series 3 Nightwing.  Last year, in the full swing of the line’s run, I reviewed the second Nightwing.  And now, in 2025, I’m kicking off my reviews of the final series of McFarlane’s Super Powers with a look at, you guessed it, Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is, as noted above, the first figure in the final series of Super Powers from McFarlane.  Interestingly, however, though they are the last set released, they are numerically Series 11, as billed by McFarlane themselves, putting them ahead of the Superman movie figures.  Whatever the case, they are indeed the last set, and they are all of them “Gold Label” figures, exclusive to McFarlane’s online shop.  This is Nightwing’s third go at a figure in this line, which is quite an accomplishment, especially given that Dick already had a figure in the vintage line, albeit as Robin.  We’ve been getting progressively further and further back on the costume designs, so this one finally puts him in his original Perez attire, which is the costume he actually had during the original line’s run.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  The last two Nightwings both used the same mold, but this one is all-new, and far more accurate to the aesthetic of the vintage line.  I do generally like it.  The head in particular feels pretty on the mark, in terms of looking like Dick as Nightwing, and also feeling at home with the original run.  The neck does end up with some odd flashing at the spot where it joints the toros, which I don’t love, and I also feel like the feel seem a little too small for the rest of the body.  That said, the stance is spot-on for Kenner styling, and I like the slightly sculpted elements of this costume.  His paint work is rather basic, but it works well enough for the most part.  The changeovers on the outfit in particular are pretty cleanly handled.  Nightwing is without accessories, but given the amount of new parts, and the lack of any real obvious extras to include, it’s not too big a deal.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I love Nigthwing.  I love Super Powers.  A Nightwing Super Powers figure is something that should bring me joy.  The last two weren’t *bad*, but the costume choices and general design aesthetic really bugged me, and made it difficult to really enjoy either of them.  I also felt like it was increasingly unlikely that we’d get a Nightwing that was actually supposed to go with the rest of the line.  Needless to say, I was very happy to be proven wrong when this figure popped up.  He’s not perfect, but he’s what I wanted from the start.  If the line’s going to end, I’m happy to have finally gotten this guy for the line-up.