Category Archives: Reviews

#3429: Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews

MIGHTY MORPHIN BLUE RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION REMASTERED (HASBRO)

My last Lightning Collection review opened with a remark that I was pretty sure I was supposed to be done with this line. But, I gave myself the exemption of Blue Rangers, and that one may have been another Billy, but he was at least in a different outfit. This one? Not even in a different outfit. I know. I’m disappointed in myself too. Okay, not really. I’ve got a few compelling reasons for having another one. Let’s check the figure and those compelling reasons out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger is one of the two figures that make up the first assortment of Power Rangers: Lightning Collection Remastered, a sub-line of figures dedicated to redoing the original Rangers, but with a deluxe sort of treatment. The first assortment was Billy and Trini, who will be joined by Red, Pink, and Green later this year, and the Black Ranger…sometime? I don’t know. I really only care about this figure. Said figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation. While you might think there would be a lot of re-used pieces between this and the standard Blue Ranger, there are actually very few parts shared. The upper torso, arms, and legs have all been redone to tweak the articulation schemes, adding more range on the neck, and removing the visible pins on the arms and legs. The arms have also been modified so that they can now sit more flush with the torso, making him less hover-arm-y. The head has also been replaced with a helmet that’s more accurate to the actual on-screen piece, with a far better selection of proportions than the last one. Additionally, the plastic quality on this one seems to be just a touch better, and he just feels a lot less gummy than the last figure did.  While the paint on the standard Billy certainly wasn’t bad, this one still improves upon it, with sharper application across the board, and additional details not present on the last one. It looks a lot nicer. Billy is packed with three pairs of hands (in fists, gripping, and a set for holding his morpher), both configurations of his power lance, all three configurations of the Blade Blaster, his morpher, two effects pieces, and an unmasked head with a pair of removable glasses. It’s quite a lot, and definitely fits with that deluxe set-up that they were going for on these releases.  I appreciate that no trade-offs occurred, so he’s still got everything from the last time around, but just with extra stuff.  It’s great to finally see the Blade Blaster in all its modes, and the Morpher is also a pretty fun little piece.  The new head also improves on the old one, and even manages to do removable glasses that are not only secure in place, but also look better than the permanently affixed ones.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I already had the standard version of this guy, and I also already have the whole MMPR team in Figuarts, so the remasters weren’t something I immediately felt the need to jump on.  That said, I do love Billy, and Blue Rangers in general, so I was mighty tempted.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to have too much debate about it, as I wound up getting this guy from my son Matty for my birthday, which was pretty awesome.  I expected him to be an improvement over the original release, but I didn’t expect him to be this *much* of an improvement.  He’s honestly really, really good.  Way better than I was expecting.  I mean, I’m not gonna go crazy and jump in on the whole team in this style or anything, but I do really appreciate this one.

#3428: Moon Knight

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

MOON KNIGHT

MOON KNIGHT (HOT TOYS)

“We protect the vulnerable, and deliver justice.” – Marc Spector

Another Hot Toy?  This quickly?  I know, I usually do a much better job of spacing them out.  But alas, I can’t.  You know why?  I’ll tell you why:  MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON KNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT.  …Ummm, Moon Knight’s why.  There’s a Hot Toys Moon Knight.  That’s essentially what I was getting at there.  It’s…well, it’s pretty cool.  But I’m biased, I guess.  Oh well, biased or not, I’m jumping into this review, right here, right now.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Moon Knight is part of Hot Toys’ Television Masterpiece Series, where he’s numbered TMS075, which places him squarely between Kate Bishop from Hawkeye, and Commander Appo from Clone Wars.  He’s thus far the only entry in the line from the Moon Knight show.  He’s based on the Marc persona’s Moon Knight garb, which is the most classically Moon Knight look of the two we get, so it makes sense to start here.  He’s also a Hot Toy that’s actually managed to stick pretty close to his original release date, and he hit at the beginning of July stateside.  The figure stands just shy of 11 1/2 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

A good number of Hot Toys are noted for their incredibly realistic sculpting on the faces.  Moon Knight gets very realistic sculpting on the head…but there’s not actually a face.  We just get the masked version this time around, so we’re left once again without an Oscar Isaac likeness on a Hot Toy, adding further insult to that Poe Dameron never materializing all those years ago.  The masked head is, admittedly, still a very, very nice sculpt, with plenty of sharp detailing and texturing to keep things realistic, as well as interesting.  His hood is also sculpted, and its permanently affixed to the head.  On one hand, it does look better aesthetically, but on the other, I do sort of wish they’d done it as an actual cloth hood, to better match the cloak, and also add a little bit more variety to its posing.  The paint work gives him a good deal of weathering, which matches the show design well.  He’s also got a built-in light-up feature for the eyes.  It’s quite impressive, but also doesn’t require the figure to look odd when the feature is turned off, which I very much appreciate.

Moon Knight has quite an involved costume construction.  There’s an underlying jumpsuit, designed to look like his mummy wrappings.  A combination of stitching and printed patterns helps them to look like the real deal, and even match up surprisingly well with the sculpted wrappings on the head and hands.  He gets cloth add-ons for the cloak and belt/loincloth.  The cloak has four wires running through it, allowing for all sorts of dynamic posing, and is a very impressively tailored piece.  He also gets sculpted add-ons for his chest, shoulder, and wrist armor, two piece boots, and a mixed-media cloth and plastic combo for his knee pads.  The two parts of the boots are so well matched that I almost didn’t realize they weren’t one solid piece at first.  Once I freed them up, his right foot had a tendency to fall off during posing, but it stays in place once posed.

Moon Knight’s underlying body aims for the best possible posablity, and it succeeds on that front.  Even with all the layers and parts tacked on, he’s capable of pulling off some surprisingly deep poses, especially when it comes to the arms.  The legs, especially at the hips, are more restricted, but they still work pretty decently.

Moon Knight gets a decent selection of extras, including:

  • 5 pairs of hands
  • 3 small moonarangs
  • 3 medium moonarangs
  • 2 large moonarangs
  • A display base, with flight stand and large crescent attachments

The hands come in fists, large moonarang crescent gripping, smaller grip, wide gesture, and smaller gesture.  The moonarangs are nice and sharp, both in detailing and in actual sharpness.  The base is a little larger than I’d prefer, honestly, but it gets the job done.  The big crescent is cool looking, but it’s made of higher grade styrofoam, so I do worry a bit about its long term durability.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Have I mentioned that I like Moon Knight?  Because I kinda do.  Legitimately, when the show was announced, one of the first thoughts I had was “I’m gonna get a Hot Toys Moon Knight.”  And get a Hot Toys Moon Knight I did indeed.  After the lengthy wait on my last two HT preorders, this guy came surprisingly fast, but I’m hardly complaining about that.  I wish he’d had an unmasked head, but beyond that, I really dig this guy.  He’s a quality piece, and a fantastic addition to my Moon Knight collection.  And I now begin the wait until the inevitable Mr. Knight figure.

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.

#3427: Baron Zemo

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

BARON ZEMO

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Born into greatness and great darkness, Helmut Zemo is a man of terrific and terrible genius. The 13th Baron Zemo has sworn everlasting vengeance against his family’s nemesis: Captain America!”

When Captain America returned to the present day (well, the ’60s, but it was the present day back then), he brought with him a new old foe, Baron Heinrich Zemo.  Heinrich was added retroactively to Cap’s WW2 adventures, and was revealed to be the cause of the incident that killed Bucky and left Cap in suspended animation.  Heinrich rattled around in “modern” times for a bit, before dying in an avalanche caused by himself.  In 1973, his son Helmut appeared (using the alias “Phoenix” three years before Jean Grey would lay claim to it), believing Cap to be his father’s murderer, and swearing vengeance.  Helmut would embrace the Baron Zemo title about a decade later, at which point he went about becoming by far the more memorable of the two Zemos.  And that’s why he gets more of the action figure coverage.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Baron Zemo was originally a Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Legends offering, released as the first in their 2022 Villains theme.  He was offered up for a wider fan channel release at the end of the year, which has been the trend on a good number of the Walgreens-exclusives.  The figure stands just over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The last comic Helmut went for more of a modernized appearance, but this one goes for his classic look from the ’80s.  It’s a bit on the hokey side, but it’s still very much his most distinctive appearance, and I very much dig it.  Structurally, he makes use of Dormammu’s arms and feet, the legs of the Bucky Cap mold, and a new head, torso, belt, and boot cuffs.  The head is distinct from the previous version; there are some similarities, as expected, but this one is a bit crisper and sharper in terms of detailing.  The new torso set-up has a really impressive ball-jointed neck, and even the fancy moving shoulder sections like we’ve seen on some of the Black Series and Classified set-ups.  The color work on this guy is pretty solid stuff.  There’s a lot of molded coloring, as per the usual, but there’s also some decent little accenting on the mask, which works so well in conjunction with the sculpted elements.  Zemo is packed with four different hands, as well as the same sword included with the last one.  The hilt on the sword is prone to chipping, which is a little frustrating.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve honestly been pretty happy with the Mandroid Series Zemo since I got him, so when this one was announced, I didn’t feel like I *needed* him or anything, especially not to the level of tracking down and exclusive.  When he moved to wider release, however, and I got to see him in person, I had a much easier time justifying him.  I’m glad I did, because he’s an immense improvement on the last one, and it’s great to finally have his classic design in this scale.

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.

#3426: Kraglin

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

KRAGLIN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Former first mate of Yondu and Ravager who fought alongside the Avengers against Thanos, Kraglin sets off with the Guardians to protect the galaxy.”

When he appeared in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Kraglin was really just an extended cameo for director James Gunn’s brother Sean.  He had a few memorable lines, and got a spot standing next to Yondu, but that was really it.  By the time of the sequel, he became a full-fledged character on his own, and by Vol. 3 he’s actually worked his way into the team’s family dynamic.  Not so bad for a throwaway character.  Given his ever growing role, he’s also been fortunate to make his way to the world of toys. That’s not so bad either!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kraglin is the final single-release figure from the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, wrapping up the Guardians 3 tie-in stuff.  This is his first proper figure, though he also got a Pop around the same time.  Are we really gonna count that, though?  No, we’re not.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Kraglin is seen here in his full Ravagers gear, which he wears during the film’s climactic battle.  It’s also the same basic thing he wore during the last two films, so he can also work as a mid-credits Kraglin from Vol. 2 if you’re so inclined.  Since he’s wearing Ravagers garb, Hasbro’s taken the opportunity to do a little re-use on this figure.  He’s got the arms and legs of the movie Yondu from the last movie’s tie-ins, coupled with a new head, torso, and hands.  Unfortunately, the Yondu parts were engineered to match up with pieces from the first film’s Star-Lord figure, which was one of the first film’s weakest figures to begin with, and was already a little outdated by Vol. 2, making the parts feel even more out of whack all this time later.  The new head and torso certainly do their best to elevate the general quality of the figure, especially with the fairly respectable likeness of Gunn on the head, he still feels a little bit out of place.  Those limbs are just rather unforgiving.  Kraglin’s paint work isn’t too bad; there’s a decent amount of smaller detailing present, which goes above and beyond what Yondu got.  He also gets the usual face printing, which is as strong here as ever.  He’s packed with Yondu’s arrow piece, a small knife, and a leg for Cosmo.  The arrow piece is still a bit stubborn, and I don’t like that it’s got that permanently attached trail, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose.  I’d have liked to see maybe an extra head, without the fin, so that he could be a Vol 1/Vol 2 Kraglin, but I guess that would have just been too much Sean Gunn for one package.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Thanks to how large just the main cast was on the first two Guardians, I knew there was no way we’d be getting a Kraglin, but I still really liked the character, and was always hopeful.  I was glad to see him get a larger role this time around, and even more glad that it translated into him finally getting a figure.  It’s not a perfect figure.  In fact, it’s a bit rough.  But, on the flipside, it also matches up pretty well with that Yondu figure, so I guess there’s that.  And, quite frankly, it could have been a lot worse.

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.

#3425: Deathstroke

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

DEATHSTROKE

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

Hey, remember a week ago, when I was talking about McFarlane’s Super Powers. Well, I don’t. No, seriously, I don’t. That was a fill in review that I wrote back in March. Hang on, let me refresh myself…

…okay, I’m back. Boy, that was a wild ride, huh? Well, umm, I got another one. It’s Deathstroke this time. So, uhh, let’s look at that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deathstroke is part of the third series of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which wound up being the last assortment to be Walmart-exclusive. Deathstroke was the one truly new character in the assortment (since Dick Grayson was in the vintage line as Robin), and is honestly one of the best choices for a continued line, since he was amongst the figures in the works when the original line ended. More over, he’s actually seen here in the proper attire of the era, which he would have been wearing had the vintage figure been released. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation. Deathstroke is, like the rest of this line, about half an inch too tall to truly fit with the vintage line, which remains a baffling choice. At least with Deathstroke, the height isn’t quite as glaring an issue as it was with Nightwing. Slade has in the past been depicted as a larger guy, so you can just pretend that’s the case here, I guess. Deathstroke has an all-new sculpt, and, I can’t believe I’m gonna say this: it’s actually really good. Most of the issues I had with the Nightwing sculpt are not present here. The legs have the proper stance (making him a more stable figure as well), and his detailing feels far more authentic to the vintage line. The only issue that really still remains is the knee joints, but I guess I just have to let those go.  Deathstroke’s color work is generally pretty well handled, but it winds up with a quirk; the light blue that should be at his mid-section is instead on his shoulders.  It’s a mix-up, but one that sort of works, and feels like the sort of on-brand mix-up for the Kenner line.  Deathstroke is packed with his sword, which he can hold in his right hand.  As with the rest of the line, he’s without an action feature, but it’s not the end of the world.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nightwing and Deathstroke were the only figures from this line I had any interest in.  Nightwing had issues, but he was honestly better than I was expecting, so when I found this guy marked down, he was an easy sell.  I’m still annoyed by the scale issue, perhaps even more so, because other than that, this guy is really, really good.  It just showcases that Todd *could* be making a really strong line, but just doesn’t, which is honestly even more frustrating than when it seemed like he was just bad at toys.

 

#3424: He-Man – Movie

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

HE-MAN — MOVIE

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Masters of the Universe was quite a powerhouse property in the early to mid ’80s, and it’s owners Mattel had seen great success not just with the toys, but also in the realm of comics and TV. With that in mind, they set their sights on a theatrical film, and said film materialized in 1987…to mixed results. By ’87, public interest had started to move past MotU, and the film itself was held back by its changes to the source material, largely the result of its rather small budget. In the years since, it’s gotten quite a cult following, however, and, aided by a resurgence of interest in the franchise as a whole, it’s even managed to get a little bit of toy coverage, too, including a pair of Masterverse figures, the first of which I’m taking a look at today! Let’s take a look at He-Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

He-Man is a deluxe sized offering from the Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line, the first of the two movie-based deluxe figures (the other being Skeletor). The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation. He’s using the line’s standard male body, which works well enough. Though some of the people at Mattel during the film’s production apparently found Dolph Lundgren, who was a body builder who could snap most normal men in two mind you, too scrawny for the role, the standards of build for He-Man have changed enough that the line’s standard build actually matches up pretty well. He gets two new heads, new upper arms, and shins, as well as overlays for his harness, belt, and wrist guard, and a soft goods cape. The first head is the actual “movie inspired” one, though that largely just amounts to the styling of his hair, as they didn’t actually get Lundgren’s likeness rights. He doesn’t look *unlike* Lundgren, I suppose, but his face does seem a little wide. His alternate head is a more house style He-Man, which looks odd to me, but I guess there’s an appeal to it. The heads are really difficult to swap, though, to the point where I was worried I was going to break the neck peg when going back and forth. The rest of the new parts capture his film look pretty well, and I quite like how the cape gets printed detailing on the outside. He-Man’s color work is decent enough. Definitely the armor and hair get the best work, since there’s some solid accenting in play there. He’s packed with his power sword, two different knives, a pistol, and two sets of hands. I really like that he’s actually got storage for all the weapons, but I’m less enthusiastic about the fact that the paint is already chipping on the sword handle, and also that none of his hands can properly hold the pistol.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was late to the game on the Masters movie, and didn’t actually see it until I was in college about a decade ago. After years of hearing how bad it was, I was pleasantly surprised, and it’s become one I’ve returned to a good number of times. I really wanted to grab Super 7’s Movie He-Man when he hit, but missed out and always regretted it, so I was glad to get another chance with this one. I actually got this one as a Father’s Day gift from my son Matthew, who was committed to keeping last year’s theme of Masterverse going. He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s fun, and I’m very glad to have him.

#3423: Captain America – Sam Wilson

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — SAM WILSON

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER (HOT TOYS)

“Teaming up with Bucky Barnes against the Flag Smashers rebel group, Sam Wilson a.k.a The Falcon suits up again but in a new outfit with his signature wings, reclaims the symbolic shield once wielded by Steve Rogers and the complicated legacy that comes with being the new Captain America in the conclusion of Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series.”

You know what shouldn’t be a controversial thing?  Sam Wilson, the most logical choice for a successor to Steve Rogers for the role of Captain America, being the successor to Steve Rogers in the role of Captain America.  You know what is a controversial thing, apparently?  Sam Wilson, the most logical choice for a successor to Steve Rogers for the role of Captain America, being the successor to Steve Rogers in the role of Captain America.  I know.  I was baffled by it myself.  Like, I saw Endgame.  I saw the shield.  I said to myself “that’s clearly not Steve’s shield.”  I thought “Steve’s gonna give him that shield.”  And then Steve did give him that shield.  And I was all like, hey, that’s pretty cool.  Now Sam is Cap.  But then he wasn’t *quite* Cap, and we got a great six-episode miniseries, where they really got Sam to that place where he personally felt right about being Cap.  And I was like, now Sam is Cap.  But there was apparently dissent from people, who, like, didn’t understand the entire point of the show, or something.  But, the point is:  Sam is Cap.  Here’s a figure of Sam as Cap.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America – Sam Wilson is the second The Falcon and the Winter Soldier inspired figure from Hot Toys’ Television Masterpiece Series, which serves as the small-screen counterpart to the longer-running Movie Masterpiece Series.  He’s figure TMS040, which places him between Bucky and a Stormtrooper Commander from The Mandalorian.  He hit a fair bit of time after both of those figures, towards the beginning of this summer, some 10 months after the Bucky that pairs off with him hit.  Hey, that’s Hot Toys releases, right?  The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he has, just, like, so many points of articulation.  Look, they’re all there, but, like, hiding, so I’m not gonna count them.  Rest assured they’re there.

A lot of the Steve Caps got multiple heads, but Sam just gets the one masked one.  Of course, even masked, there’s still quite a bit of his face to show off, and Hot Toys does very well with that.  The head’s sporting a very strong likeness of Anthony Mackie, and the detailing on his mask and goggles is also definitely up to snuff.  As per the usual HT standards, the head is incredibly lifelike, both in terms of sculpting and paint. There’s a full facial likeness present, with the goggles being a separate piece laid in place, which makes for a very realistic look.

Sam’s outfit is at its base level a single jumpsuit set-up. It’s a rather complex piece, with a lot of different materials and patterns stitched together, as well as some harder material armor plating glued in place over top. The tailoring is pretty well handled. It sits well on the body, and is overall quite accurate to the suit as seen on screen. It’s accented by sculpted arm and shin guards, custom sculpted feet, and a compact version of his wing pack mounted on the back. The pack pops apart, and you can swap out the two side pieces for a single piece with ball joints on either side, allowing you to actually mount his properly scaled, fully articulated wings. When fully extended, the wings boast an over 30 inch wingspan, and they can also be folded inwards for all sorts of cool flying poses. They’re a little unnerving to pose, especially at first, and you have to be careful not to let the section overlap incorrectly, but they hold up well and he’s surprisingly stable with them in place.

The underlying body is pretty much the norm for more recent HT Caps. It’s definitely designed more for posability, since it’s totally covered, but the outfit still winds up being pretty restrictive. The shoulders in particular don’t have a lot of give. He does, however, do better on leg movement than the typical Steve figure, so that’s a plus.

Sam is already pretty well stacked for value just with the core figure and the wings, but he also gets a selection of other extras, including:

  • 4 sets of hands
  • His shield
  • A piece for mounting his shield on his back
  • Redwing
  • A display stand branded with the show logo

The hands come in fists, gripping, open gesture, and flat. There’s an extra set of wrist pegs to go with them, and they swap out about as easily as any other HT hands. The shield is very similar to Steve’s, but with the expected changes to the front. The straps are a touch more fragile, at least on mine, as I popped one of the glue seals while taking the photos for this review. The mount for the shield is a little troublesome to work out, but it’s not too bad once you get it on there. Redwing is based on his upgraded design from the finale, and is very nicely detailed. The stand is a flexible flight stand, with spots for both Sam and Redwing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been impressed by Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson since Winter Soldier, and I came *very* close to ordering his first HT figure before breaking my habit. After Endgame Cap got me back in again, I decided I’d just stick to my Cap chronology. Hey, look, Sam was Cap. That was certainly convenient. It’s been a lengthy wait, but he’s a very impressive piece to be sure.

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 guy 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.

#3422: The Lizard

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

THE LIZARD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Desperate to be whole again, geneticist Curt Connors injects himself with a regenerative serum derived from reptile DNA, only to find himself transformed into the monstrous Lizard!”

Since Spider-Man was a animal-themed character who got his powers through a science experiment gone awry, it made for a nice narrative parallel that most of his early antagonists were, likewise, animal-themed and gained their powers through science experiments gone awry.  Four of his first six villains were animal themed, including The Lizard, who first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #6, published in 1963, almost a whole 60 years ago.  That’s a good run for a guy with a name as indistinct as “The Lizard.”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Lizard is a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends release, which hit in the fall of 2022.  He’s sort of an odd release, honestly.  He’s a retro-carded figure, but those have generally been wider release, except for a few Spidey variants.  Also, he was released alongside a cel-shaded Spider-Man from the cartoon, but he himself has no such shading, nor is he at all cartoon-inspired.  Thematically, he seems like he would make more sense as part of the “60 Amazing Years” sub-line, and not retro-carded at all, and he’s also a weird choice for an exclusive…but, who knows exactly what’s going on there?  I certainly won’t pretend to have that knowledge.  The figure is about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Compared to the last figure, he’s definitely got more of a range to his articulation.  He’s not stuck in any sort of permanent hunch (which is good, because he didn’t really have that much of one in the early days), and he gets a better selection of deeper poses.  His tail is no longer segmented like the last one, instead being soft plastic with a wire running through it.  While I’m always iffy on that sort of set-up, it’s a better look than the segmented, especially if you don’t have the budget to do more than three segments.  At least this way, the tail doesn’t have any hard angles.  This guy also gets the pinless construction for his elbows and knees, as well as using the newer torso set-up we’ve seen on some of the Spideys.  And, since he’s no longer a Build-A-Figure, he doesn’t fall apart during posing, which is a definite plus.  Lizard’s sculpt is an all-new one (courtesy of sculptor Rene Aldrete), and I’m quite a fan.  Over the course of his 60 year career, The Lizard has been on something of a sliding scale of humanoid vs monstrous.  The last Legends release was more on the monstrous side, while this one goes back to his earliest days, when he was far more humanoid. He’s not *quite* a Steve Ditko Lizard, instead arriving more at something resembling John Romita, Sr.’s slightly more refined depiction from around issue 44-45 of the original book.  It’s a version of the character we don’t see often in toy form, but it’s made the jump quite nicely here.  The main head is definitely that earlier version of the character, with his goofy facial expression and all.  You know, the best version of the Lizard.  If you’re not a huge fan of that, though, there’s a slightly later run version to swap out, which has the more distinctive serpent-style face, as well as the ever present tongue.  The body sculpt showcases his far less beastial build in the earlier days, being closer to an average build, and without the insane amounts of tattering to the clothes.  This one keeps it pretty low key on the tearing, with just a little on the edges of the sleeves and the legs of the pants.  It works well, and means that there’s a good chance some of these parts might see a bit of re-use.  The color work on this guy is generally pretty basic.  The best of it’s definitely on the lizard skin, which gets a wash to help bring out all of the scaly detailing.  The rest of it’s just base coloring, and the application is all generally pretty cleanly handled.  The Lizard includes the previously mentioned alternate head, two sets of hands (open gesture, and a fist/grip combo), and a pair of beakers.  The beakers are the same molds included with the Retro card Beast figure, but now in different colors.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve reached the point where I don’t hunt down Walmart exclusives because I just don’t need that kind of stress in my life.  So, when this guy was announced, I wrote him off as something I wasn’t going to get and decided I’d be content with my Build-A-Figure.  But, my decision to not hunt keeps paying off, because we got a loose one traded in at All Time, and boom, that means I got one.  I’m glad I did, because he’s exactly what I wanted out of a Lizard figure.  The monstrous ones never quite spoke to me, and this one just hits right where he needs to.

#3421: Adam Warlock

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

ADAM WARLOCK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With his cosmic powers and super-human strength, Adam Warlock is sent by the Sovereign to seek revenge on the Guardians of the Galaxy who have humiliated them.”

First teased in one of the many stingers that dropped during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2‘s credits, Adam Warlock is one of the very first characters we see during Vol 3, already in the midst of his mission to take the Guardians down.  With Nebula firmly on the side of the heroes this time around, it’s Adam who begins this story as an antagonistic force, as he stumbles his way into being a better person.  And, it’s honestly a pretty good take on the character.  And hey, he gets a new Marvel Legend out of it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Adam Warlock is figure 5 in the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, which serves as the tie-in assortment for Guardians Vol 3.  While Adam has had the Legends treatment two times prior (including one figure in the second tie-in assortment for the *last* Guardians film), this is his first MCU figure. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. His articulation scheme is a pretty basic set-up for the line at this point. It’s not bad, bust it doesn’t really push the envelope or anything.  Adam is sporting an all-new sculpt, based on his look early-on in the film, prior to losing the cape.  It’s admittedly when he’s at his most Adam-Warlock-y in terms of look, so I get the choice.  The sculpt’s certainly got the height for the character, but he does seem a touch scrawny for the character as portrayed in the movie.  Like, not terribly far off, but just kinda small feeling, especially when placed next to the likes of Star-Lord and Drax.  His head has an okay likeness of Will Poulter, hindered only ever so slightly by the hair, which is a bit short and too composed for how Adam looked in the movie.  He’s definitely based more on the concept art for the character than the actual film look, though admittedly, it’s much closer to the final product than most concept work, so that’s a definite plus.  The one major downside to the sculpt is that the cape is totally non-removable, which does somewhat limit his applicability to the other figures, since he spends so much of the movie without the cape.  But, honestly, it’s not the end of the world.  The color work on this guy is generally pretty basic.  Lot of molded colors.  The distinction between the armor and skin tone could maybe be a touch more pronounced, but it’s also pretty minor in the movie.  Adam doesn’t get any accessories of his own, but does include the helmet and tail to the Cosmo Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have a soft spot for Adam Warlock, so I’ve been looking forward to his official introduction into the MCU since he was teased in Vol. 2.  Will Poulter was definitely an out of left field casting choice, but he turned in a really solid performance, and I was glad to get him in figure form.  The figure’s not without its issues, but I still dig the overall vibe of it.  And, I’m sure we’ll see more of him down the line.

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.

#3420: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE TOYS)

Kenner’s Super Powers line is perhaps *the* defining DC toy line, but at three series totaling 34 figures, it’s also a relatively short-lived one.  So, it’s rather surprising that it took so long for anyone to really look at revisiting the line, to fill-out the roster a bit.  For better or for worse, McFarlane has stepped up to bat on that one, producing something that’s supposedly a direct follow-up, but with…mixed results.  I’ve finally gotten around to snagging one of  them for a review, so let’s have a look at Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is part of Series 3 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, a line that has up to this point been a Walmart-exclusive.  The Series 3 line-up also includes Deathstroke and Wonder Woman.  Nightwing is an interesting case of “new,” since Dick Grayson was in the original Kenner run, but as Robin, rather than Nightwing.  Nightwing is seen here in a modern take on his costume, which is a bit of a bummer for a character that existed during the original line’s run, and therefore has more vintage-appropriate options.  I don’t dislike the design chosen, but it just doesn’t fit the vibe, and feels like a missed opportunity to break out the disco suit.  I suppose that’s not edgy enough for Todd.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  First and foremost, he’s too tall by about a half an inch.  It’s a line-wide problem; for some reason, McFarlane went for a hard 5-inch scale instead of the 4 1/2 inch scale that the vintage line maintained.  It’s not an immense jump, but it’s enough to throw everything off just enough for it to be noticeable, and, in the case of Nightwing, it makes him taller than the vintage Batman.  It hinders the ability to mix this stuff with the old line, which sort of defeats this line’s whole point.  The sculpt looks to be all-new, and it’s honestly better than I expected.  It foregoes a lot of the weird McFarlane-isms, in favor of something cleaner and more like Kenner.  He technically gets more details than he should, since he’s got sculpted lines for his gloves, boots, and trunks, but those actually feel like details Kenner might have added, rather than McFarlane’s propensity for over complicating things.  It’s not perfect; the legs should really have a wider stance (which would also aid him in standing better than the figure actually does), and the knees having visible pins gives him more of a Toy Biz vibe than a proper Kenner one.  I don’t dislike the head, but there’s something about it that feels just a bit too modern.  All of the vintage figures were based on Jose Garcia-Lopez’s style guide, and this doesn’t feel like something he’d draw.  But, it still looks a lot better than McFarlane’s prior Nightwing head sculpts.  The figure’s paint work is basic and clean, which works fine by me.  There’s a little bit of fuzz on some of the edges, but nothing too terrible.  He’s backed with his eskrima sticks, which are just basic cylinders, as they should be; no weird clubs this time around.  As with the rest of the line, Nightwing doesn’t get an action feature.  It would be fun, but it’s the change for which I feel they get the easiest pass.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a very big fan of the vintage line, any form of continuation of Super Powers is something I’ve been hoping to see for a long time.  McFarlane rarely gives me much confidence on really any venture.  So, them being the ones to handle the relaunch didn’t exactly thrill me.  The first two series did nothing for me, but Series 3 showed a bit more promise.  I wound up in a Walmart for other reasons, and they had this guy, so I opted to give him a try.  In fairness to McFarlane, the figure’s better than I expected.  Of course, my expectations were really low, so that’s not saying a ton.  There’s definitely some major issues at play, and I can’t see this line finding its market in its current state.  At least he was decent enough that I don’t feel like I wasted the money I spent on him.