Category Archives: Reviews

#3444: Marvel Boy

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

MARVEL BOY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A Kree warrior from an alternate reality, Noh-Varr aka Marvel Boy is the self-appointed protector of Earth and member of the Young Avengers.”

The third Marvel Boy (following Bob Grayson and Vance Astrovik) and the fifth Captain Marvel (following Mar-Vell, Monica, Genis-Vell, and Khn’nr), Noh-Varr does sure like some borrowed names.  Created in 2000 by Grant Morrison and JG Jones, the character’s one of those ones that Marvel likes to really push every so often.  It’s been a little while since the last push, but with the rumor of actor Park Seo-joon playing the character in The Marvels, perhaps we’re due for another?  Well, in the meantime, he’s got a new Marvel Legend, so let’s look at that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Marvel Boy is figure 4 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends, and is the first of the assortment’s four comic-based figures.  Of the four, he’s certainly the one with the best ties to The Marvels, even if he doesn’t show up in the movie.  This marks Noh-Varr’s second Legend, though its his first billed as Marvel Boy (the last one was from his Protector days).  He’s depicted here in his garb from the Gillen/McKelvie run on Young Avengers, which is honestly his best look, and probably the character’s best run.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Noh-Varr is based on the 2099 body, which seems a good enough fit for the character, even if still has the visible pins on the elbows and knees.  He gets a new head, hands, and an add-on for his belt piece.  The head is a pretty solid recreation of McKelvie’s take on Noh-Varr, while still keeping him in line with the Legends house style.  I especially dig that they got the one stray strand of hair that was always present in the book.  His hands get new sculpted detailing on the backs, as well as actually having dual trigger fingers, which is a plus, and the belt is a pretty by the numbers addition.  Beyond that, it’s down to paint work to make it all happen.  It’s generally pretty solid.  The application’s pretty clean, and the colors match up well with the printed appearances.  Noh-Varr is packed with a pair of blasters, which are pretty fun and unique pieces, as well the left arm of the Totally Awesome Hulk Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Noh-Varr is a character I had little attachment to prior to his run with the Young Avengers.  I greatly enjoyed his addition to the team, and his interactions there, but honestly, I haven’t really clicked with him beyond that run.  This figure being pretty explicitly based on that version of the character definitely works for me.  While I can’t say this figure was at the top of my list for this set (in fact, he was probably the one I was least looking forward to, if I’m honest), he’s a strong by the numbers offering.  And, hey, it’s another Young Avenger.  We get those so infrequently, that any of them getting made is a real cause for celebration.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3443: Flint

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

FLINT

G.I. JOE: ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

Hey, remember last week, when I was talking about Super 7’s G.I. Joe: Ultimates line?  Well, I’m gonna talk about it again.  Because, you know, there’s another one of them to talk about.  Last week, I looked at the line’s take on the Lady Jaye; today, I’m looking at a character almost always paired off with her, Daniel “Flint” Fairborne!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flint is the second figure in the second series of Super 7’s G.I. Joe Ultimates line, where he’s the second of the two Joes.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Flint’s articulation scheme is, much like Lady Jaye, a bit of an improvement over the Series 1 figures, who were themselves an improvement on other Super 7 Ultimates offerings.  Of note, he can get his elbows deeper than 90 degrees, which is a plus, and unlike Lady Jaye, he’s got a pretty great range of motion on his neck.  I definitely dig that.  In contrast to the trend of Flints post-vintage, this release doesn’t share any of his parts with the line’s standard Duke release, instead opting for an all-new sculpt.  Like the rest of the line’s figures, he’s specifically patterned on his Sunbow animation model.  While Lady Jaye, who like Flint appeared in the cartoon the year prior to her introduction in the toyline, had a notably different design for the show, Flint’s show design actually wound up pretty close to his final toy design, so this figure sticks to a more classically Flint look.  The sculpt does a pretty respectable job of capturing Flint’s animated likeness.  Like Lady Jaye and Duke before him, Flint has 3 different head sculpts.  The one he comes wearing has his beret sculpted to the head, and is a pretty basic sculpt.  There’s a second with the beret attached, which also adds a headset, to match the other two Joes.  The third is sans hat, and is a little more detailed, more in-line with the miniseries or movie animation than the run of the mill episodes.  This head also gets an extra removable beret, and it’s overall my favorite of the three; I wasn’t expecting the removeable beret to look as good as it does.  Flint’s body is pretty solid work, too, with detailing that’s generally just a little sharper than Series 1’s Duke; I especially like the raised collar piece, as it adds a fair bit of depth.  Flint’s color work is decent enough.  He’s got the proper animation colors, so his shirt’s the same olive green as the pants, offset by brown for the camo pattern and his accent pieces.  While the first series gave painted skin to Duke, Flint and Lady Jaye both get molded plastic skin, which has its pluses and minuses.  The paint’s definitely the best on the head with the removable beret; something about the eyebrows on the other two seems off.  Also, the one with the headset has a big spot of red paint on the back of his beret on my copy, which is rather annoying.  Flint is packed with 8 hands (a pair of fists, a pair of loose grip, a pair of tight grip, and pointing and closed grip for the left hand), binoculars, a radio, a flashlight, a shovel, a newspaper, a back pack, a standard laser rifle, a pistol, and Flint’s usual shotgun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve said before here, I’m a big fan of having Flint and Lady Jaye together, so if I get one of them in a given style, I definitely want the other.  Thankfully, the trend has been releasing them together, and Super7 kept that trend going.  Hooray!  After being really impressed by Lady Jaye, I was worried that Flint wouldn’t wow me quite as much, but he’s a pretty solid contender in his own right.  Like Jaye, I expected to like this figure, but I didn’t expect to like him as much as I do.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’d like to see a video of this figure in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  And, if you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3442: Ms. Marvel

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

MS. MARVEL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Kamala Khan has encountered much in her Ms. Marvel adventures, but nothing could prepare her for a cosmic adventure alongside her idol Captain Marvel!”

Following up on her solo Disney+ series from last year, Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan makes the jump to the big screen this November in The Marvels, where she’ll get to interact with both Carol Danvers and Monica Rambeau.  Vellani’s performance as Kamala is one of the MCU’s best page-to-screen portrayals, so there’s a lot riding on getting to see her interact with the wider MCU cast.  Like the other two members of the titular group, she’s gotten a brand new look for the movie, and, by extension, that leads to a brand new figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ms. Marvel is figure 3 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the last of the movie-based figures in the set.  This marks the fourth Kamala Khan Legend, and the second time her MCU incarnation’s gotten a figure.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Compared to her last figure, this one’s definitely a step-up on the articulation front.  Not a tremendous one, mind you, since she’s still rather restricted at the neck and hips, and the shoulders are also rather tight.  The arms are double jointed, though, which is pretty cool, and, though it may still be restricted, the neck is still more mobile than the prior figure.  Ms. Marvel’s sculpt is almost entirely an all-new one.  The scarf is shared with her prior figure, but everything else is new.  Like the articulation, it’s an improvement over her last figure.  The head sports a much better likeness of Iman Vellani; still not 100% spot-on, but it at least actually looks like her this time.  The hair is also a lot less flat, and her body sculpt isn’t nearly as skinny.  In general, it’s just a better sculpt, start to finish.  The paint work continues the trend.  The colors wind up a lot less muddied this time around, just by swapping the blue out for a darker shade.  It gives the whole look a lot of pop, and just makes everything feel really sharp.  The application is pretty clean for the most part, apart from some slight bleed over on some of the gold.  Ms. Marvel is packed with two sets of hands, in open gesture and fist/gripping combo, as well as a Flerken (who doesn’t appear to be Goose, given its coloring), and the torso of Totally Awesome Hulk.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The show Ms. Marvel figure was a pretty big let-down for me.  She really didn’t look the part, and wound up as more a phoned-in comic figure than a proper live action version of the character.  I really dig the new design for her in the movie, and the new figure winds up being a lot better than the last one.  I’m a lot happier with this one, and she feels a lot more unique than the first, which is a definite plus.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  And,if you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3441: American Dream

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

AMERICAN DREAM

MARVEL COMICS 2 1ST APPEARANCES (TOY BIZ)

“When Captain America disappeared, Shannon Carter took over the battle to uphold his fight for truth and justice. Calling herself “American Dream”, she uses her fighting skills, acrobatic abilities and keen strategic mind to help defend the world from the forces of evil as a member of A-Next, the next generation of Avengers. American Dream originally threw miniature discs to knock out her opponents, but now proudly uses the indestructible shield passed down to her by her inspiration, Captain America.”

After the success of Spider-Girl led to the launch of the whole Marvel Comics 2 line, they were in need of some characters to fill things in.  What resulted was a mix of old and new, with a definite theme of lineage and legacy in play.  The Avengers’ legacy was carried forward by “A-Next,” which included amongst its members Shannon Carter, niece to Captain America’s old flame Sharon (who was herself the younger sister niece grand-niece to Cap’s old flame Peggy…), who took up the name “American Dream,” and served as the team’s analogue to Cap.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

American Dream is another figure from the four figure Marvel Comics 2 First Appearances line, released in 1999 as a Previews-exclusive.  She’s one of the two characters in the set who hasn’t gotten any sort of update.  Perhaps one day we might see a Legend, but today is not that day.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and she has 12 points of articulation.  American Dream uses the Vindicator body as her starting point.  It’s honestly not a terrible piece of work; proportions are still a little skewed, but that was the norm for this era.  She got a new head and forearms, as well as tweaked shins and feet, which give her the proper change-ups for her design.  Due to the nature of her hair sculpt, her neck articulation is pretty limited, but beyond that, things all mesh together pretty well.  The arms and legs add the small little discs, which served as her main offensive attack in her earlier appearances, which is definitely cool.  The paint work on the figure is appropriately bright and eye-catching, as you would expect a Cap-inspired patriotic scheme to be.  There’s some sloppiness, especially on the red and white striped section in the middle.  There’s some pretty impressive air brushed accenting on the costume, which actually really gives the sculpt a great deal of pop, and is decently consistent from piece to piece.  American Dream is packed with Cap’s shield, which she eventually added to her arsenal alongside the discs, as well as a trading card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in my Spider-Girl review, I didn’t get any of this set as a kid.  Once I got back into my Toy Biz collecting, this one was the first of them I snagged, partly due to my love of all things Cap, and largely because she was just one of the first two I found in-person.  I don’t know that she’s quite as good as Spider-Girl, but she’s still pretty solid, and certainly a lot of fun.

#3440: Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios

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

GARAZEB “ZEB” ORRELIOS

STAR WARS: REBELS (HASBRO)

The cast of Rebels was designed to be new and unique, while still fulfilling the franchise’s classic archetypes. Since A New Hope, there’s pretty much always been a “big guy,” and for Rebels, that was Garazeb Orrelios, better known as Zeb. While Zeb is more talkative (in English, anyway) than Chewbacca, he shares a bit of common ancestry, being based on Chewy’s original Ralph McQuarrie-drawn concept design.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios was released in the first assortment of the Mission Series two-packs from the Star Wars: Rebels tie-in line in 2013, alongside a standard Stormtrooper from the show. He then received an almost identical re-release in a two-pack with Chopper in 2015, as part of the Force Awakens push. This is one of the two, but I got him loose, so I can’t say for certain which of them. The figure stands about 4 1/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. His height is definitely cool, as it helps to really break up the silhouettes of the team a bit. The articulation is basic, but that’s what’s to be expected, especially with this particular era of the line. Zeb’s sculpt is probably the strongest of the original Ghost crew sculpts. His alien nature translates pretty well, and I think his design just goes really well with the style of the line. He feels a bit less rudimentary than the others, and the general shaping of him is a lot more organic.  Zeb’s paint work is fairly basic stuff.  It matches pretty closely with the color scheme he had on the show.  The application on the paint is a little sloppy, and there’s a little bit of wear on my copy, but it gets the job done for the most part.  Zeb is packed with his Lasan Honor Guard AB-75 Bo-Rifle.  It’s purely a rifle-mode version of the weapon, with no transformation feature like the Black Series.  It’s alright, but he has a little difficulty holding it, and obviously can’t two-hand it, due to the articulation.  It’s a shame they didn’t also give him an alternate version in the other configuration, but they were pretty locked-in on only one accessory per figure at this point.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Longtime readers with an absolute perfect recall of the nitty-gritty details of all of my reviews might recall that when I picked up the Rebels Stormtrooper back in the day, I remarked not caring enough for “Garazeb” (yes, I used the full name, not the derivative; I didn’t know any better) to buy the two-pack.  By the time I actually got into Rebels in 2016, I very much regretted that move, as both versions of Zeb had gotten trickier to acquire, and he didn’t get an update like the others.  This was the second-to-last of the Ghost crew I got in this scale.  I salvaged him from a pretty beaten up bin of loose Star Wars figures that came into All Time back in 2020.  He’s basic, but honestly not bad.

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.

#3439: Photon

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

PHOTON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Monica Rambeau’s life changed forever at Westview, where her exposure to reality-altering energy imbued her with the power to perceive and manipulate all energy along the electromagnetic spectrum.”

Remember when the first Captain Marvel came out, and despite Carol Danvers having held the title for the better part of a decade by that point, people were all mad about a female Captain Marvel?  Wanna know what’s even funnier?  She wasn’t even the first one.  Nope, back in the ‘80s, that honor went to Monica Rambeau, the first person to carry the mantle after Mar-Vell’s death.  I know, a black woman was Captain Marvel.  And she was even the leader of the Avengers for a while, too.  Who could imagine such a thing.  Monica unfortunately got herself wrapped up in some seriously bad writing towards the end of her run with the mantle, but she was fortunately enough of a fan favorite that she didn’t totally disappear when the Genis took the title, and she instead got a new codename.  Okay, actually a couple of new codenames.  They definitely bounced her around a bit.  But, the best of them was definitely Photon, and that’s the one that seems to have stuck the best for marketing purposes, including her MCU counterpart, who’s gotten her first figure for The Marvels. 

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Photon is figure 2 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the middle figure of the three film-tie-in figures for The Marvels.  This marks Monica’s second time as a Legend, following her comics counterpart getting a figure in the A-Force boxed set.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Her articulation is a bit restricted in the middle section of the figure, but the head gets a pretty great range, and she’s got double elbows, which is certainly cool.  Photon is sporting an all-new sculpt, and a pretty good one at that.  In particular, the head’s likeness of Teyonah Parris is certainly the best of the three in this assortment, if not just one of their best MCU likenesses in general.  They even managed to translate the hair pretty decently, which is impressive in its own right.  Her body sculpt sports a very nice, rather realistic set of proportions, matching pretty closely with Parris.  The color work on Photon is pretty solid.  She’s got the usual face printing, which works very well, and there’s some accenting on the hair, that definitely helps to bring out the sculpted details.  Her uniform’s black and white scheme is dynamic and eye-catching, and the application for it is quite clean.  Photon is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as the right leg to Totally Awesome Hulk.  She feels a little bit light, and it might have been cool to possibly get an extra head with her powered up eyes, but not having seen the movie, I don’t know if that’s still a thing she can do.  The hands are at least a bare minimum.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always been a fan of Monica, no matter what name they saddled her with, and I’ve also liked Parris in everything I’ve seen her in, so seeing her turn up as Monica in the MCU was super cool.  I’ve been waiting to see more of her since the end of WandaVision and also waiting to finally get her in action figure form.  She was certainly high on my list for this series, and, slight lack of accessories aside, she didn’t disappoint.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.

If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  And, if you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3438: Lady Jaye

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

LADY JAYE

G.I. JOE ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

While I’ve been largely left cold by Hasbro’s in-house G.I. Joe: Classified Series releases in the last year or so, I’ve not managed to kick my Joe habits in their entirety.  Super 7’s had their hands on the license for ReAction purposes for a little while, but earlier this year, they officially launched a line under their Ultimates banner.  The follow-up to that initial four figure assortment has just hit recently, featuring amongst its line-up one of the cartoon’s most featured characters, Lady Jaye.  I’m taking a look at her figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lady Jaye is the first figure in the second series of Super 7’s G.I. Joe Ultimates line.  She’s one of the the two Joes this time around.  The figure stands about 6 3/4 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation.  The first series if the line showcased a pretty solid upgrade on the articulation front, and Series 2 appears to be stepping that up even further.  While the neck is still a bit restricted, her knees and elbows both get deeper than 90 degree bends, which is always a win when it comes to Super 7.  Lady Jaye sports an all-new sculpt. As with the rest of the line, Jaye is based specifically on her Sunbow animation model.  In Lady Jaye’s case, since she showed up in the cartoon prior to the toyline, there were actually some notable differences in terms of design work, making her an even more specifically cartoon-figure than the others.  The sculpt does a very nice job of capturing the model from the show in three-dimensions, as well as fitting in nicely with the rest of the line thus far.  Like Duke, Lady Jaye’s sporting three different head sculpts, and they’re honestly pretty similar in their layout, too.  She comes wearing a fairly standard one, and then there’s one with a headset (my personal favorite), and one that’s nearly identical to the first, only with the mouth slightly open.  The last one’s not quite as cool as the shouting head that came with Duke, but I really like the other two.  Where I felt the body sculpt on Duke wasn’t *quite* on the same level as the heads, on Lady Jaye, I think it all matches up much more closely.  The detailing is just a little sharper, and there’s just a little bit more going on.  Lady Jaye’s color work is pretty solid.  It matches pretty closely to the colors from the show, albeit in a more consistent sense, since they tended to fluctuate a little on-screen.  Things are largely molded colors, including the skin tone on the heads, in contrast with the first series.  It’s a slight change-up, but it looks okay, and it means the sculpted details aren’t at risk of getting lost.  The rouge is a little heavy on the cheeks, and the eyebrows don’t look *quite* right on the two heads without the headset, but that head with the headset still looks really good.  Lady Jaye is packed with the three heads, as well as four sets of hands (in fists, open, tight grip, and loose grip), three different styles of javelin (standard, with deployed hooks, and with removable head), nine different javelin heads, a standard issue blaster rifle (re-used from series 1), a canteen the mounts on her belt, and a small knife for the sheath on her chest strap.  She also gets some toy-based extras, which includes a toy-style javelin launcher and camera.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Due to her prominence on the cartoons, and the fact that they were in such constant re-run into the early ’00s, I have a fondness for Lady Jaye, especially her cartoon-style look.  Until now, however, I haven’t been able to get any of the figures based specifically on that look.  While Series 1 of the line definitely had me excited from the start, it was her confirmation in Series 2 that really, truly sold me on the line.  This figure really turned out nicely.  Her Classified figure being so good set a high bar, but this one still manages to top it, at least for me.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’d like to see a video of this figure in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3437: Captain Marvel

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

CAPTAIN MARVEL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“No amount of problem punching can repair the broken promises Carol Danvers has made. Captain Marvel is a powerful solo act, but now has a real shot at redemption as team member of The Marvels!”

Since launching as a solo act in 2019’s Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers has actually been in the role of team player for all of her subsequent roles. She’s back to headlining her own film in this fall’s The Marvels, but now with Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau as her co-stars. New movie means new look, which means new toys. And that? Means new review. Let’s jump on into that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Marvel is figure 1 in the Totally Awesome Hulk series of Marvel Legends, which serves as the tie-in assortment for The Marvels. While she had reversed her colors and gotten a drastically different hair cut when we saw her in Endgame, by the time of her reappearance in Ms Marvel’s teaser scene, she’d gone back to a look more similar to her solo movie design, and that’s what we see here. It’s a bit more dressed down, with a less armored appearance and rolled up sleeves which suggest a more relaxed fit. In a way, it almost feels like Carol’s equivalent look to Steve’s Nomad design from Infinity War.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Her articulation scheme is pretty basic, especially for an MCU figure.  The joints are pinless, and the range is fair.  She’s an improvement to the mold they used for the last few versions of Carol, so that’s a plus.  The sculpt itself is all-new, and I actually quite like it.  It’s a bit cleaner than the last one, and the head seems to have a closer likeness of Larson, especially for her longer haired look; I’m still partial to the Endgame version, but this is very close too.  The build on this body also feels a bit more accurate to Larson; the last one was really skinny, which didn’t seem *quite* right.  In terms of color work, Carol is pretty basic for the most part.  She does get the printed face, which looks pretty nice, as does the slight accenting to the hair.  The body work is decent if not the most exciting.  The painted skintone on the forearms doesn’t quite match with the face and neck, but there’s enough distance between them that it doesn’t become a major issue.  Carol is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and gripping/gesture), two effects pieces, and the left leg to Totally Awesome Hulk.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Endgame Captain Marvel is kind of my end-all version of the character, for a good number of reasons, but I was intrigued by this look when it first cropped up in Ms. Marvel, and I liked the look of the figure.  She turned out pretty well, and I definitely dig this secondary design for her.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.   If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3436: Spider-Girl

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

SPIDER-GIRL

MARVEL COMICS 2 1ST APPEARANCES (TOY BIZ)

“May ‘Mayday’ Parker is the daughter of Peter Parker, the one true Spider-Man. Like her famous father, she has the proportionate strength, speed, agility, and early warning danger sense of a spider and she can crawl up walls. May first became a costumed crime fighter in order to save her parents from an attack by the Green Goblin and now uses her powers to continue her retired father’s battle against the forces of evil, while still trying to maintain a normal life as a teenager.”

During the continuity dumpster fire that was “The Clone Saga,” one of the story elements introduced to give the “real” Peter Parker a reason to pass the role to Ben Reilly involved Peter and Mary Jane having a child. By the end of the story, the child seemingly died, leaving Peter and MJ childless and carefree(ish) once more. The whole angle was rather quickly revisited in the pages of What If…?, and proved popular enough to launch a whole line of alternate universe stories, dubbed “MC2.” Central to the whole thing was Peter and MJ’s daughter, now a teenager, going by Spider-Girl. While the rest of the universe did well enough, Spider-Girl was a break away hit. Her series ran 100 issues, and she’s even made return appearances in crossovers such as “Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Geddon”. She’s had a few figures over the years, including he debut figure during Toy Biz’s 5-inch days, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Girl was part of the four figure Marvel Comics 2 First Appearances line, offered up in 1999 as a Previews-exclusive.  She’s by far the star piece of the set, and is one of two Spider-Girl figures offered that year (and one of three Mayday Parker figures, if you count the Earth X Venom), with the other being the similarly PX-exclusive Famous Covers figure.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and she has 13 points of articulation.  She represents Toy Biz experimenting a bit with articulation, before going totally crazy with Spider-Man Classics and Marvel Legends, so she’s a bit more mobile than the average 5-incher, albeit with the v-hips that I don’t generally dig.  At least everything else distracts from them, I suppose.  Spider-Girl was a mix of old, new, and shared parts.  The beginnings of her sculpt come from the Alpha Flight line’s Snowbird, from whom she borrows her arms and most of her legs.  She gets a tweaked torso piece, which she shared with the Greatest Moments Dark Phoenix figure from the same year.  She also gets her own head and feet, as well as add-ons for the web-shooters.  The head is basic, but different from the Spidey heads, which is cool, and the feet are flat-footed, rather than high-heeled, making her a far more stable figure than the others built from similar parts.  It’s all a pretty solid recreation of her comics design, and a pretty balanced looking figure overall.  Her paint work is actually rather decently handled; the webline detailing is all sharply applied, and the base colors don’t have any notable issues with slop or bleed over.  There’s a little bit of wonkiness on how her spider-emblem is placed, but it generally works.  In terms of coloring, there were two different color set-ups for the Ben Reilly costume at this point, so this figure sort of splits the difference between the two, which is honestly the best of the three choices, really.  Spider-Girl was packed with a large web piece, as well as a trading card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I very much recall when these figures were released, but I didn’t read any of the comics at the time, so I didn’t know any of the characters, and as such I passed on the whole lot.  I’ve come to regret that a bit over the years.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to slowly piece together a full set.  Spider-Girl was the second of them I got, grabbed from a comic store that was doing a clearance on a bunch of 5-inch Marvel figures, in fact.  She’s honestly a pretty great figure, especially for the time.  Also, fun fact: I shot these photos with the assistance of my daughter Aubrey, who was absolutely fascinated with her the whole time!

#3435: Hera Syndulla & Stormtrooper Commander

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

HERA SYNDULLA & STORMTROOPER COMMANDER

STAR WARS: REBELS (HASBRO)

“Hera supports any mission that undermines the authority of the Empire’s Stormtrooper commanders.”

Wow, it’s already September. And, contrary to how I’ve been running things for a bit the last few years, I say this from only about a week ago, rather than way back in the past. Well, with a new month under my belt, I’m going to try at least a little bit to get back into some more back catalog stuff. So, let’s do some Star Wars stuff. Ahsoka launched last week, which has put the Rebels cast back into focus for a bit. Let’s check out some of that, I guess!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hera Syndulla and the Stormtrooper Commander were released in 2015 as part of the Star Wars: Rebels line’s third assortment of Mission Series two-packs.

HERA SYNDULLA

Hera was the final member of the core Ghost crew to get released.  This would mark the first of her two figures from during the show’s run, the other coming packed with an A-Wing during the Rogue One product line.  The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  All of the Rebels figures were at the reduced articulation, so it’s not like it’s a shock or anything.  To Hera’s credit, as a pilot figure, she’s does a great job of sitting, and I mean that in a totally not sarcastic way.  With the 3 3/4 inch line, it can be very easy to overcomplicate figures to the point of them not actually being able to sit in the vehicles they’re meant to go with.  Her sculpt was totally new to this release, though everything below the neck would be re-used for her later figure.  It’s a pretty stiff sculpt in terms of posing, which was pretty common for the early Rebels offerings.  She winds up looking a touch silly, especially next to the updated versions of the other characters.  Still, it’s far from the worst thing the line put out, and she does at least look pretty on-model for the character.  Her paint work is decent enough.  It’s a mix of basic and perhaps just a little bit sloppy around the edges.  Hera was packed with her small blaster pistol, which she can hold in either hand.  She notably can’t use the sculpted ankle holster for it, due to the relative scaling.

STORMTROOPER COMMANDER

There weren’t a *ton* of trooper variants for Rebels, but it’s still a Star Wars tie-in, so it’s not totally avoidable.  This one gets a new pauldron.  Woooooooo.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s largely the same figure as the standard Rebels trooper.  The only difference is the new pauldron, denoting his rank.  It’s non-removable, which is a bit limiting, but not the end of the world.  I still quite like the sculpt.  It’s a good recreation of the animation design, and it’s got a fun and goofy flow to it.  The color work on this figure is pretty similar to the standard.  The exact shades are a little different, and the eyes are closer to the head band, but it looks pretty good for the most part.  The Stormtrooper Commander is packed with his blaster pistol, which, like the standard, he can hold in either hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was unfortunately not on the up-and-up with Rebels during its early run, so I missed out on the earlier toys.   By the time I got into things, Hera had gotten a bit pricier on the after market.  I wound up getting this pair loose, waaaaaaaaaay back in early 2019, when they got traded into All Time.  They’re pretty basic and rudimentary figures, but they fit the style, and I definitely dig that.

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.