Category Archives: Reviews

#3943: Cyclops & Jean Grey

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

CYCLOPS & JEAN GREY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

As a direct continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, the designs in X-Men ’97 at its launch stick pretty close to the designs from the original, which for most of the characters also means sticking to their Jim Lee-designed looks from X-Men #1.  Before the show launched, we heard that the main cast would be getting some costume changes, which led to a lot of deliberation about which set of post-Lee costumes they’d land on, until the show itself threw things into reverse, reverting most of the cast to their ‘70s and early ‘80s era attire (the explanation in-show being that those are the costumes they had on-hand at the auxiliary base they have to launch their final run on Magneto from).  For me, it’s the best of both worlds, because I love both sets of designs, and it also means that the more frequently overlooked ‘70s designs get an excuse for some toy focus.  Also, there’s a new Cyclops and Jean Grey, and how can I ever complain about that?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cyclops and Jean Grey are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack.  They’re under the X-Men ’97 banner, and were released at the same time as a Storm and Wolverine two-pack with their matching costumes (Jubilee in her alternate attire, which was *not* a ‘70s/‘80s look also hit right around the same time in the main line).

CYCLOPS

This figure makes up kind of the central need for this whole set in the first place.  Though this look served as Scott’s main appearance for just over a decade, it often gets the short end of the stick on toy coverage.  In the case of Legends, the last release was back in 2017, as part of an exceptionally hard to get Toys R Us-exclusive two-pack.  Suffice to say, that figure’s gotten pretty pricey on the aftermarket, and also doesn’t quite fit with newer releases.  This one’s aim is to address all that, and also to maybe fix some issues with prior figures?  I’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As with most recent Cyclops figures, this one is built on the Vulcan body.  For this design in particular, it feels like a pretty natural choice for the character.  He gets a pair of new heads, new shins, and a new belt add-on piece.  The two heads follow the trend of recent Cyclops figures, with one calm, and one more intense.  As with prior instances, the more intense head has a slot in the visor for the attachment of an optic blast effects piece, which is always a fun touch.  When the X-Factor Cyclops was released, I was low-key kind of expecting those heads to get a straight re-use for this costume, despite the inaccuracies involved with such a choice.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the decision to go all-new for both sculpts, meaning that not only does he get the more distinctive visor shape of the Cockrum/Byrne days (complete with the etched in lines running at either side of the visor), he also gets the proper slants of the full mask under the visor; both prior Legends versions of this costume have gone with the later straight lines from the edges of the visor look, and while it’s a minor detail, I’m very glad it didn’t get overlooked here.  Likewise, his new boot pieces are a more accurate version of the boots Scott wore with this costume than the more generic buccaneer boots of earlier releases, making him even more accurate.  The only thing that isn’t quite as cool as Hasbro’s last version is the paint work, which, rather than replicating the shading of the comics for the blue sections, just goes for a flat blue.  They’re going for the animated look, which was a bit flatter, and I know the coloring on the last one was difficult to get consistent, so I understand it, and this one ultimately doesn’t look *bad*, but it’s the one area where he’s not *quite* as impressive.  Cyclops includes two pairs of hands (in fists, and an open/activating visor combo) and the large optic blast effect first used with X-Factor Cyclops.  It’s basic, but covers the important bases.

JEAN GREY

Jean’s return to her green miniskirt costume in the last pair of ’97 episodes is a return in more ways than one, since she’d also worn it during the original show’s adaptation of the “Dark Phoenix Saga.”  She’d also recently returned to it during the Krakoan-Era in the comics, which was how it got its last Legends figure.  That one wasn’t all that long ago, nor was it super hard to find, so this one was a *little* surprising, but given the two-pack angle, not incredibly so.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Going in, I was expecting a lot of re-has from the HoX release of this costume, but that’s really not the case.  The only piece actually shared between the two is the torso.  The arms and legs are newer, updated pieces that sport the pinless construction on the elbows and knees.  The feet are now proper closed boots with heels, instead of the re-purposed shoe-d feet from Peggy Carter, and the gloves are now cleaner slip-over pieces, rather than the wrinkled ones from the last one.  She’s also got two new heads, and a newly sculpted skirt piece, which is more dynamic than the last one, and therefore more practical for posing the legs.  In general, she’s a much easier figure to pose, and by extension more easy to balance.  Much less falling over with this one.  The two heads mimic Cyclops, with one calmer, and the other more intense.  They’re both clearly patterned on her animation model from the show, but can also work easily as a stand-in for her comics look.  Jean’s color work is a slightly different approach than the HoX version, which went for flatter shades.  This one goes a bit more off-kilter, making the yellows gold and the green a sort of duller shade.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but in hand it actually really works, and gives this design a more unique feel, while also calling forth her Phoenix design.  Jean is packed with two pairs of hands (in fists and open gesture), as well as two energy effects pieces in blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned many times how the late ‘70s X-Men is really what I consider my X-Men.  So, I’ve got this real attachment to that classic Cyclops look.  The Toy Biz version’s not worth mentioning, and much as I love the TRU Cyclops (because he’s a half-way decent Cyclops), he’s got some issues that hold him back.  When this look reappeared in ’97 I was very hopeful it would turn up in toy form again.  It took a while, but here it is.  I jumped on the pre-order for these as soon as possible, because I was not missing this Cyclops.  He’s sooooooooooo nice.  Very much the best version of this costume, and I love so much about him, but especially the actual accuracy to the costume’s intended design, which is always overlooked.  Jean I had very little actual expectations about.  I had the HoX release, and it was fine but not overly impressive.  I expected mostly re-hash here, and just saw her as a glorified accessory for the Cyclops figure.  While she doesn’t supplant Cyclops as the star for me, she’s a lot better than I expected, and an unquestionable improvement over the last release, and I’m very happy about that.

#3942: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Okay, what did I say in last week’s  intro?  Hang on….checking…ah, right, Arkham games were a big splash for DC in the ‘10s.  Very good.  Solid intro. Right, so we’re doing a bit more with that this week.  No need to get too far outside your comfort zones, though, because I’m sticking with Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, as seen in 2015’s Arkham Knight.  Because that’s just how I roll.  Let’s check out Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released as part of the second series of DC Collectibles’ Batman: Arkham Knight tie-in line.  He was figure 05, making him numerically the first figure in the series.  While there were a number of different options for Nightwing’s City look in figure form, this was his only figure from Knight.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  By the time of this line’s release, DCC hadn’t gotten a bit more invested in trying out improved articulation schemes.  They were still using a lot more fragile plastic than they should have been, so he’s a bit tricky to pose without worry of breakage, but generally the design and implementation of the joints gives him a decent range.  This is honestly one of the better posing Arkham figures I’ve handled from the DCD/DCC run, so that’s actually quite nice.  Nightwing had an all-new sculpt, based on his updated game design.  City added a tactical flair to the comics designs, but Knight heavily re-worked everyone into far more teched-out and armored appearances.  Nightwing follows suit, and ends up with something that quite a departure from how he tends to look in the comics. The armor seems like it would bee pretty restricting to an acrobat, but I don’t hate the overall silhouette of the suit.  I’m not *crazy* about the mask, which goes from his usual domino-style piece to a whole cowl-style thing that connects to his suit.  Ultimately, though it did sort of grow on me.  I still don’t like it, but I can stand it.  The sculpt does a generally good job of capturing the model in plastic form.  The suit is very sharply defined, and the face feels a little less weird than the last one (though he still feels a little bit “dead”).  His paint work is generally not bad.  The colors match the game assets (still not crazy about how dark the blues are, but whatever), and none of the suit’s smaller details are missed.  My figure has a weird spot of pink on the hair, and I don’t know how well the attempt at stubble on his face works out.  Otherwise, though, he’s fine.  Nightwing is packed with his batons in both extended and collapsed form.  They’re a bit tricky to get into his hands, and it’s a shame there’s no storage for them on this release, but at least they’re present.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t play any of the Arkham games, but I did pretty closely follow a lot of goings on with Knight when it was released.  I was less than enthused with Nightwing’s design at the time, so I didn’t jump on the figure.  A decade removed, I’ve softened on it a bit.  I had the chance to get this one at the same time as the City version at the beginning of the year, and opted to snag him.  While I still have some issues with how the design works relative to the character it’s meant for, I do have to admit that this makes for a cool figure, and it’s definitely a superior offering to the City release.  I actually had a lot of fun messing with this guy.

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.

#3941: Dragon Man

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

DRAGON MAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Created by Professor Gilbert, once an instructor of Reed Richards’, and granted a sort of pseudo-life by the mad alchemist Diablo, the android Dragon Man is an unstoppable juggernaut of rage and fury! His great wings enable him to fly, his powerful tail strikes with the strength of a dozen bulldozers, and his fiery breath is as hot as a raging inferno! The only thing that distracts this simple man-brute from the rampage of destruction is his fascination with Sue Richards, the Invisible Woman!”

Dragon Man follows the wonderful early Marvel tradition of having a name that’s a simple mash-up of two things, which is attached to a character that is not actually those things…usually an android.  That’s certainly the case here.  He’s not actually a dragon or a man, but just an android.  His earliest appearances aren’t too involved, with him typically just acting as a tool for other antagonists, but over the years, he’s grown into his own fully-fledged character, eventually reforming, and ultimately serving in a mentor sort of role for Bentley-23, a clone of the Wizard.  He’s gotten a surprising number of figures for how infrequently he’s been used outside of the comics.  Today, I’m looking at the first of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dragon Man was released in Series 2 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  While the line generally served as a tie-in for the cartoon running at the same time, Dragon Man is one of two figures in the second set not to appear in the show.  A variation of this figure was also adapted to Toy Biz’s smaller-scale die cast line.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation.  It’s notably rather restricted for this scale, but a lot of that’s to do with how the design works.  The sculpt is decently handled.  It takes Kirby’s base design for the character, and makes it work within the context of the animated style if the rest of the line.  The build and texturing is a good match for the character, and he’s just got a nice, satisfying heft to him. He has a “fire breathing” action feature, activated by squeezing his legs.  It’s the same gimmick as the Marvel Super Heroes Venom’s tongue gimmick, which is goofy, but fun.  The color work on this one is mostly molded color, but there’s enough paint to sell the rest of it, and it’s all cleanly applied.  Dragon Man is packed with a fireball piece which is…well, I’m not sure exactly what it’s meant for.  It’s not really something he can hold, or anything, so it’s just sort of an extra bit that floats around.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Dragon Man’s not a character I’ve had a *ton* of interaction with, especially not as a kid, since he wasn’t featured in the cartoon or any of the comics I read.  I had the die cast figure, thanks to a boxed set I’d bought for other characters, but never the proper figure.  In fact, this wound up as the *last* Fantastic Four figure I needed to finish the set, so I finally made it a point to track him down in the last month.  He’s simple, but there’s a definite presence to the figure, and he fills out the shelf nicely.

If you want to see this figure in motion, I did a quick video with him over on the Figure in Question YouTube channel, so check that out here!

#3940: Max Rebo & Doda Bodonawieedo

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

MAX REBO & DODA BODONAWIEEDO

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Thus far this month, I’ve dedicated my weekly Star Wars reviews to looking into members of the Max Rebo Band, so it can’t come as a terrible shock that I’m continuing that today, especially given the as to now lack of, you know, the guy what the band’s named after.  He’s kind of important, right?  Good ol’ Max?  Funky blue elephant looking guy? Guy who, per the Robot Chicken sketch, has a gig tonight? That’s the guy.  And he’s even here with a not-Greedo-playing-a-clarinet guy.  So, let’s wrap up the band and take a look at these two today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Max Rebo and Doda Bodonawieedo are the third and final of the three “Max Rebo Band Pairs” two-packs released as a Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: Power of the Force II offering in 1998.  Once more it pairs an original band member with one of the additional embers from the special edition.

MAX REBO

The centerpiece of this whole thing, Maximillian “Max” Rebo (or “Siiruulian Phantele” as was his original name in the pre-Disney days) was portrayed in the original film by puppeteer Simon Williamson, who was originally meant to play a different band member, who didn’t work out for production.  Rebo was of course offered up in the vintage Kenner line, which did its best to interpret him in figure form based on what little we see of him in the film.  As such, he was made a more humanoid character, with legs hiding behind his instrument, as opposed to only having legs, which he uses to play.  This was adapted into other sources, and became the standard for the pre-Disney era depictions of him, which included this figure.  The figure stands about 3 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  His articulation is generally pretty restricted, but he at least does get decent motion on his shoulders, which is good for posing with his instrument.  The sculpt on Max is really great.  It matches his design well, and works in plenty of texturing on his skin, giving him that proper “guy in a rubber suit” feel.  Rebo’s color work is fun, with his bright, vibrant blue implemented well, and the accenting adding a nice pop to the general look of the character.  Max is packed with his red ball organ, a rather extensive and elaborate instrument that he can be slotted into the middle of.  It’s by far the most impressive instrument included here, and honestly one of the line’s most impressive accessories in general.

DODA BODONAWIEEDO

The rather silly name “Doda Bodonawieedo” was first introduced to this Special Edition addition to the band with this very figure, which is pretty nifty, while also still being silly.  Doda is one of two Rodians added to the band in the Special Edition; the Greedo design was one of those distinctive ones, so it makes sense to give it a bit more play.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His movement is the standard stuff for the line, but like Barquin, he’s rather preposed, in order to hold his instrument properly.  The sculpt’s a nice one, capturing the Rodian head design really well, as well as working well with his outfit and posing.  Again, a lot of similarities to Barquin in this area, which I can certainly dig.  His coloring keeps the usual green for the Rodians, contrasting it with reds and oranges, which helps him stand out pretty nicely from the rest of the band.  Doda is packed with his own instrument, which apparently is just a “horn” with no fancy space name or anything. It does gets some pretty neat paint work, so that’s pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I found the other members of the band, the only one *not* present in the collection was Max himself, which was sort of humorous, but also quite annoying.  I’ve been keeping tabs on loose Max Rebos ever since, but wasn’t having much luck.  I ultimately found the most economical choice was just buying the pair sealed, so I wound up with a spare Doda.  Honestly, it was pretty well worth it, because Max is so very, very cool on his own, and the band is just that much cooler with him included.  This is a set I’m really happy to have finally gotten to complete.

#3939: Cobra B.A.T.

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

COBRA B.A.T.

G.I. JOE: SPY TROOPS (HASBRO)

When you want to promote a toyline based on warfare to children, but you don’t want to think too hard about the moral quandaries of having your heroes gun down actual people, you gotta bring in the robots!  G.I. Joe’s 3 3/4-inch incarnation would first do that in 1986, with the Battle Android Trooper, a concept they’ve revisited a number of times since.  They were notably revisited in the relaunch of the scale in the early ‘00s, becoming a major plot fixture in both the “Sound Attack” and “Spy Troops” themes, and even getting a major role in the Spy Troops animated movie.  As a toyline first and foremost, there were also plenty of toys to be had, and I’m looking at one of those today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This Cobra B.A.T. was released alongside a re-decoed Cobra Commander figure in 2003 as part of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Spy Troops line.  This was the fifth version of the B.A.T. at this scale, and the third under the re-launch.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and has 12 points of articulation.  The figures had returned to the o-ring construction at this point in the line, though the actual builds of the characters remained consistent with how the earlier solid construction figures were built.  They were all notably broader across the shoulders, had smaller heads, and were thinner at the waists, so they didn’t quite slot in with the vintage stuff.  The B.A.T. sculpt seen here was first introduced at the tail end of the G.I. Joe vs Cobra line’s “Sound Attack” imprint, and was presented here with some slight modifications.  It’s presented as a slight update on the original B.A.T. design, and it does that pretty well.  It feels consistent with the original, while also feeling rather modern to the time of the release.  This second version of the mold replaces the standard right hand of the prior version with one designed for swappable attachments, much like the original figure had.  It also features a removable chest plate, so that it can be more armored, or show off some of its inner workings, which are now more of an Iron Man-style arc reactor type set-up.  This figure returns the B.A.T. to a color scheme very similar to its original incarnation, which works very well with this sculpt.  The B.A.T. is packed with three different attachments, a sword, a rifle, and a flamethrower, as well as a backpack to put them on when not in use, and a cloth ghillie suit, which is missing from my figure.  Notably omitted is any sort of standard hand for the right side, so it’s just always going to be battle mode for this guy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In 2003, I was pretty into this line, and it was also really cheap and affordable, which made it pretty perfect for being that sort of “hey, can I grab this two-pack while we’re out buying something else?” kind of purchase.  I was going to a Halloween party at my cousin’s, and my dad and I had to stop and get something, and they had this pack, so I got it.  Never cared much about the Cobra Commander, so he’s long gone at this point, but I’ve had most of this guy for a while.  A couple of months ago, Max was chatting with me about some figures he’d gotten from this era of the line, which got me to sort through what remained of my originals, at which point I found I had a lot more of this guy than I’d realized, which made me quite happy.  He’s a very fun figure, and certainly amongst the best of this era of the line.

#3938: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY (DC COLLECTIBLES)

The Arkham line of games made quite a splash for DC in the ‘10s, which was good, because they found themselves struggling with most of their other media endeavors.  The first game was relatively focused on Batman and his rogues housed at the asylum, and the tie-in figures were likewise more focused.  The sequel expanded things out to a wider Gotham City, allowing for a wider swathe of the Bat-family, and a much larger line in general.  Two of the three Robins were present in City, with Dick Grayson occupying his “Nightwing” role in some of the game’s DLC.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released in Series 4 of the DC Collectibles Batman: Arkham City line.  This was the standard release, and he also figured into a multi-pack, which saw him get a slightly different deco.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  DC Direct/Collectibles was still not really up to par on articulation at this point, but I suppose they were trying.  There are elements here that work (mainly the arms) and elements that really don’t (the neck is especially pointless), which feels very true of their general approach to a lot of things.  His sculpt was all-new to this release.  He’s based on the character’s primary design in game, which is essentially Jim Lee’s “Hush” design filtered through the game universe’s “tactical” aesthetic.  It’s an okay look, and I think one that stays a bit truer to the spirit of Nightwing than some of the other characters’ designs did.  The suit in particular feels like it’s got a good flow to it.  I’ve never been *crazy* about the hair, but I think that’s partly linked to how the model has to work within gameplay, so I can’t be too down on it.  The sculpt captures it all pretty well, following closely with the game models, and also putting a lot of really nice work into the figure’s texturing and suit layout.  Paint work is decent as well.  This is the main color scheme, so it’s a little on the darker side (I personally prefer a brighter blue for Nightwing’s logo), but it does what it’s supposed to, the application is all clean, and all of the elements are properly painted.  There’s a little bit of slop around his hairline, but it’s generally minor.  Nightwing is packed with his two batons, which can either be held or stored on his back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never played the Arkham games myself (though I did watch my brother play through City and Knight), but I’ve jumped in on the figures every now and again.  I’m always down for a Nightwing figure, and I’ve been sort of loosely looking for his figures from the game for a while.  Nearer the beginning of the year, I got the chance to help process an entire run of the Arkham figures, which also gave me the opportunity to snag this guy for myself.  I can’t say he’s a great figure or anything, but he’s certainly nifty, and I do like a nifty Nightwing figure.

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.

#3937: Blastaar

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

BLASTAAR

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Dubbed the Living Bomb-Burst by the subjects he once ruled within the strange dimension called the Negative Zone, the mighty Blastaar has the power to generate staggering explosions from his fingertips. But, despite this power, Blastaar was eventually overthrown, and he was exiled to our positive universe! Now he uses his concussive abilities to try to recreate his lost empire…but the Fantastic Four inevitably foil his schemes for conquest!”

The Negative Zone, an alternate dimension that exists singularly throughout all of the Marvel multiverse and is ever writers favorite way of explaining things they don’t want to explain, first appeared in the pages Fantastic Four, where it was initially an uninhabited space.  A year after it debuted, though, it got its first resident of note, Blastaar, a deposed monarch of the Zone.  He made a brief appearance in the ‘90s FF cartoon, and by extension, got his first action figure via Toy Biz’s tie-in line for the show.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blastaar is part of Series 2 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line, released in 1994.  He’s one of the three villains included in the line-up.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Blastaar’s mobility is really restricted, due both to his design and his action feature.  The neck has a cut joint, but because of the hair, he sort of only moves it at an angle.  He’s also lacking any elbow joints, and his arms are at a very straight angle.  The sculpt is unique to Blastaar, and it’s actually a pretty impressive piece of work.  He’s suitably bulky, as the character should be, and there’s some very nice texturing, especially on the figure’s hair and beard.  He’s got a bit of a Kirby vibe, but also still manages to fit with the rest of the line.  The only real quirk of the sculpt is how the action feature works into it.  He “blasts” missiles out of his hands, meaning they need to run up the entire length of his arms, meaning the arms are totally straight, and he’s got holes on either side of the arms.  There’s also no clip or actual proper launching feature, so they just sort of pop back out.  The paint work on Blastaar is pretty simple for the most part, but hits all the important notes for the character.  He’s packed with the two missiles, for use with his launching feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Blastaar is on the earlier end of additions to my collection; I got him as a gift from a family friend back when he was new.  I knew nothing of the character at the time, and he ultimately got kind of overshadowed by the fact that I got Cyclops II at the same time, and that was clearly where all of my focus went.  Blastaar himself kind of got thrown to the side, and ultimately ended up in my Dad’s collection.  I wound up replacing that one more recently.  He’s a good figure, who very much didn’t get a proper shake when I was a kid.  But…you know, Cyclops.

If you want to see this figure in motion, I did a quick video with him over on the Figure in Question YouTube channel, so check that out here!

#3936: Barquin D’an & Droopy McCool

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

BARQUIN D’AN & DROOPY McCOOL

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

In terms of on-screen musicians, the Star Wars Original Trilogy’s really just got the two main contenders: the cantina band from the first movie (officially named “Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes”) and the band from Jabba’s palace (the Max Rebo Band).  The Nodes are all members of the same species, the Bith, while the Rebo band was more eclectic, with each of its three members being from a separate species.  The special edition surmised that two great tastes might taste great together, so amongst the new members added to the Rebo band was a Bith by the name of Barquin D’an, who got figure treatment alongside original member Droopy McCool.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Barquin D’an and Droopy McCool are the second of three two-packs released as part of the “Max Rebo Band Pairs,” a Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: Power of the Force II offering from 1998.  It continued the theme of one old and one new that split across all of the sets.

BARQUIN D’AN

Though the race was totally absent from the vintage line, Power of the Force II did okay by the Bith, with the mail-away figure that could act as the Modal Nodes if you got enough, and also this guy.  In-universe, Barquin is Figrin’s brother, and may or may not also be present at the cantina, just not playing.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  The Nodes got elbow and wrist joints so that all of the instruments could be used, but Barquin is sculpted specifically for one instrument, so he’s a fair bit more restricted.  His sculpt’s not far removed from the mail-away figure, especially the head, but there’s some subtle differences.  The body’s more notable, with a more svelte build, and Barquin’s more unique attire.  It’s also a bit more accurate to the source, since the source was still very recent and easily accessible at the time.  His color work’s generally minor, but the accenting on the head in particular is very nice.  Barquin is packed with his kloo horn, which is molded in gold and gets a nice rustic sort of finish, which makes it feel very used.

DROOPY McCOOL

Okay, so before I get into the main thing here, I was looking at the Star Wars wiki for info, and in the very short two paragraph entry for Droopy, there’s a specific note that his body releases a “vanilla-like smell.”  That’s such an odd main point, but it’s right there.  I feel like if you’re gonna assign one Star Wars character a smell, you gotta do them all, right?  Well, the figure smells like plastic, so there’s that.  Droopy was included in the vintage line, with a figure based on generally the same look.  This one was…different?  Like, not really majorly so, but different.  The figure stands just under 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  His movement is greatly restricted by his sculpt.  Mostly, it’s just there for minor attunement so that he can stand and hold his instrument.  You aren’t getting much variety out of this one.  The pose is at least a good one, though, so it’s hard to complain too much.  The sculpt’s honestly pretty strong.  His vintage counterpart was very soft, but this one has a lot of texture and creasing, and looks very unique on the shelf with the others.  His color work makes a lot of the sculpt as well, with accenting to bring out the many folds and wrinkles in the skin.  It’s quite dynamic, and makes it much easier to see details that would have otherwise fallen to the wayside.  Droopy is packed with his chindinkalu flute, which fits very nicely in his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like last week’s set, I was able to snag these two loose via a trade-in at All Time Toys a little over a year ago, after being on the lookout for the band for a decent while.  Of the new additions to the band, Barquin’s always been my favorite, largely because I just think the Bith are a cool design, hence my similar love of the Nodes.  He’s a basic, but still neat figure, and I like seeing the different approach to him, versus the Nodes.  I didn’t expect much of Droopy, but he’s very unique, and I think he’s got a fun presence on the shelf.  Of the three sets, I find this one to be the most balanced, and I do really like that.

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.

#3935: Morph

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

MORPH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The character of Morph was created for X-Men: The Animated Series by re-working an obscure X-Men foe “Changeling” essentially for the sole purpose of having a team member to kill off in the pilot, to show the seriousness of the situation.  Morph, however, proved to be a lot more popular than the show runners had expected, so the character’s death was reversed at the end of the first season, and they returned as an antagonist in the second, before eventually turning on Mr. Sinister (who had kept them alive, but brainwashed them), and returning to the team as a reserve member.  For the show’s continuation, X-Men ’97, Morph is once more a full-fledged member of the team, and that’s finally paid off in figure form, too!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morph is part of the third X-Men ’97 tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  Due to delays with the show and a lack of knowledge of the exact demand for product, the third round had a pretty significant delay from the first and second, with over a year’s worth of space between them.  This is the animated Morph’s second time in Legends form, following up on their first release in the VHS line.  Obviously, that one was based on Morph’s original animated design, which was really just Changeling in a standard X-uniform.  Morph’s success in the show led to the character’s reintroduction during “Age of Apocalypse,” which saw a rather radical redesign.  For ’97, Morph is sporting a design that mixes the two notable looks together, with the presumption that this is Morph’s default state, and the more “human” look seen during the original run (which makes a brief re-appearance in the first episode of ’97) is an affected look used to fit in better.  The figure stands just under 6 1/4 inches tall and they have 32 points of articulation.  Morph is sporting an all-new sculpt.  The articulation scheme is a bit stiff and old-fashioned, apart from the pinless construction, but it does what it needs to.  They end up feeling a bit like the What If…? figures in terms of movement.  The actual sculpt is a good match for the animation model.  The last Morph sort of fit them into the more general Legends style, and was likewise a bit more bulked up than their in-show appearance.  This figure sticks much closer to Morph’s more svelte design, giving them a more unique feel, overall.  Morph’s color work is largely molded colors, which is always pretty clean.  There’s a bit of accenting on their face, to keep it from being *too* blank, which works pretty well.  Morph is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open), an alternate original series styled head, and an alternate Gyrich head.  Alternate heads are a classic bit for Morph, and I do generally dig them (especially taking the opportunity to offer Gyrich, since he’s a rather noteworthy character who’s never gotten a figure), but unfortunately the molded color on the neck is a match for the standard head, meaning they’ll always have an off-white neck.  Since the neck’s a separate piece, it’s too bad they couldn’t include an alternate part to swap in.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Morph’s certainly a favorite of mine, especially in regards to the original series, and all of the figures included.  I’ve always had a soft spot for them, and I was thrilled to hear they were being promoted to full-fledged team member for the revival.  I was a bit bummed by no Morph figures at launch, but I’m glad they were amongst the first of the post-show product.  Definitely a fun little figure.

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.

#3934: Human Torch

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

HUMAN TORCH

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Bombarded by cosmic rays while on an experimental space flight, teenager Johnny Storm gained an ability to match his fiery disposition. With but a thought, his body would ignite and burst into flame! Realizing that he must use his powers in the service of mankind, Johnny became the Human Torch, and fights to protect the world as a member of the Fantastic Four!”

I’ve discussed a few times here on the site Toy Biz’s strange fascination with not doing all four members of the Fantastic Four when they did the team in plastic form.  This first cropped up in their Fantastic Four line meant to tie-in with the 1994 cartoon of the same name, where, for reasons that baffled pretty much everyone, they split the main team between the first two series, with Reed and Ben in Series 1 and Sue and Johnny in Series 2.  Retailers, not particularly keen to carry the first series of a line that was only offering half of a team with the number of members in the name of the team, weren’t thrilled, and demanded the missing two members be added to the line-up.  Since the unique molds for Sue and Johnny weren’t yet ready, Toy Biz had to put together two hastily made replacements, using the parts available to them.  And that’s how we got today’s figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Human Torch was a Series 1 release for Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  Sort of.  Kind of.  Not *officially* I suppose, since he’s not actually shown in the Series 1 line-up, but he was on a Series 1 card, and shipped alongside them, just like Sue, making him sort of a Series 1.5 figure, I guess.  This was Johnny’s second figure under Toy Biz, and would of course be quickly followed by another a series later.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  Since Johnny’s cartoon-based sculpt wasn’t ready yet, he was represented here as a repaint of fellow Series 1 figure Silver Surfer.  It’s a pretty bold strategy to re-use a sculpt from the same series for a totally different character, but they sure did it.  I guess it’s not the worst thing, since Surfer’s pretty basic in the first place, so he’s a blank canvas of sorts.  The weird DJ arm is even weirder here, but maybe he’s just waving “hi” to everyone.  What has to sell this figure is the color work, which does its best to be radically different.  He’s very orange, so that helps.  Since the sculpt is just basic and there’s no sculpted flames, this one’s just got them painted on, in glow-in-the-dark paint, no less.  It’s a very hokey look that really doesn’t work, but at the same time, it makes me think of the Mego Torch, and that does amuse me.  Human Torch got Cannonball’s launching stand, modified to remove the “X”, and also with the glow-in-the-dark flames.  It’s goofy and silly, but it does send him launching backwards, which is good for a laugh.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is the second to last figure I needed to complete my Toy Biz FF run.  I never personally had this one as a kid (my dad did, though), coming into the line late enough to get both of the proper Johnnys from the later series.  This one always felt odd and half-formed.  He doesn’t even get to be a sufficiently different repaint like Sue did.  Just the second best flamed on Johnny in the line that only had two flamed on Johnnys.  He’s an interesting quirk of the Toy Biz approach, and at least one that’s got a goofy story behind him if nothing else.

If you want to see this figure in motion, I did a quick video with him over on the Figure in Question YouTube channel, so check that out here!