#2964: Ajak

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

AJAK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The spiritual leader of the Eternals, Ajak can heal others and is able to communicate with the Celestials.”

Eternals, like a lot of recent MCU stuff, has its main tie-in assortment that’s at mass retail, and then a few off-shoots to that main assortment, with two in particular being store exclusive offerings.  I’m looking at the first of those two today.  Ajak was introduced in Jack Kirby’s second issue of Eternals, with his primary role being that of communicator to the Celestials.  For the purposes of the film, the now female Ajak, played by Selma Hayek, is still the communicator to the Celestials, but also serves as a more direct leader for the Eternals on Earth, given their more cohesive team nature in the film.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ajak is a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends release, who hit at roughly the same time as the main Eternals assortment.  I normally decry characters being made Walmart-exclusive, but Ajak is actually not a bad choice for the exclusive treatment.  Her role in the film is certainly an important one, but it also has her removed from the rest of the group, and therefore the separate releases honestly makes a little bit of sense.  I’d still prefer no exclusives, but it one of them was destined for this role, she’s the right choice.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Her articulation scheme is pretty much the same as the other female figures, though, like Druid, the design of her skirt means that most of her leg articulation is greatly restricted.  She’s an all-new sculpt, based on her design from the movie.  Ajak’s design in the comics keeps some of the broad-strokes elements and silhouette of the comics character’s design, but makes it something a bit more streamlined, as well as more within the general theme of the other movie Eternals designs.  The sculpt does an alright job of translating it.  The head has a decent Selma Hayek likeness, certainly on the higher end of the likenesses in the set.   It does sit a little bit funny on the neck joint, but it’s otherwise not bad.  The paint work on the figure is generally pretty alright.  It’s fairly cleanly applied, and there aren’t any notable misalignments like on some of the other figures, which is certainly a plus.  Ajak is packed with an alternate head without the helmet piece, as well as two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.  The alternate head also has a respectably Hayek likeness, and even sports a slightly friendlier expression than the standard.  She still gets no effects or anything, but at this point it’s not really a surprise or anything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m not in a rush to get anything that’s a Walmart exclusive, because that would require either stepping foot in a Walmart or trusting Walmart’s website, and none of those is a pleasant experience.  So, I was content to play the waiting game with Ajak.  As luck would have it, I didn’t really need to, because just a few short days after getting my standard release set, someone brought a whole set of Eternals, including Ajak, into All Time.  It’s hard to pass on something when it literally just walks through the door for you, so, hey, I got an Ajak, no muss, no fuss.  After seeing the movie, I was certainly glad, because Ajak’s a cool character, and she makes for a pretty cool figure as well.

#2963: Gilgamesh

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

GILGAMESH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The strongest and kindest Eternal, Gilgamesh becomes Thena’s de facto partner when the events of the past exile them from the other Eternals.”

Introduced in Eternals #13, the character that would become Gilgamesh wasn’t actually named at all, being simply dubbed “The Forgotten One,” as he was an Eternal exiled from the rest, who had actually taken many names over the millennia.  Upon meeting back up with the main Eternals, he went by the simple monicker “Hero.”  It wasn’t until he joined the Avengers in the ’80s that he finally took up the name Gilgamesh, with the rationale behind it being shared with the ancient mythological figure was that he *was* the ancient mythological figure.  The movie opts to just name him from the beginning, which is honestly the best call, because, you know, everyone else gets to start with names, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gilgamesh is the Build-A-Figure for the Eternals tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  He’s spread across the six non-Ikaris Eternals in the set.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as all of the other male Eternals.  It’s generally pretty good, but the hips are slightly restricted, and, unfortunately, even though we had that uptick with Druig, we’re back to the more reserved neck mobility.  Alas.  At least the mid-torso movement is a bit better on this one.  Gilgamesh gets an all-new sculpt based on his movie design.  In the comics, Gilgamesh has had several designs, all of them quite different from each other.  Rather than trying to replicate any of them, the movie design instead tries to tie him in more with the rest of the group.  It’s not super distinctive, but it’s also not the worst looking thing either.  And believe you me, Gilgamesh has had his fair share of the worst looking things.  The sculpt is pretty solid.  He’s notably larger than the other figures, which is cool.  The likeness on the head’s not a bad match for actor Don Lee, which I’d also count as a plus.  In general, it’s just a good translation of the movie design into figure form.  His paint work is generally pretty decent.  The face gets the printing, which is solid, and the base application’s not terrible.  There’s just a touch of misalignment on the green in a few spots, but it’s not as bad as some of the others in the set.  Despite being a BaF, Gilgamesh does actually get two sets of hands.  It’s a pair of fists and a pair of gripping.  Not entirely sure why, since he’s got nothing to grip, but I guess it’s nice that he has something at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Gilgamesh is the character I knew the most about barring Sersi going into the film, as I recalled his time with the Avengers.  That was not a point in his favor, mind you, because he’s not a character I’ve ever had any sort of attachment to.  He’s about as interesting as a yawn, in the comics at least.  So I certainly wasn’t poised to like the guy.  Kudos to the movie, because damn if they didn’t actually make me care about Gilgamesh.  Good on yo, movie.  The figure isn’t notably different than the rest of the set that builds him, but he, like the whole assortment, is a pretty solid offering all around, and I’m glad I opted to build him.

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

#2962: Druig

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

DRUIG

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Using cosmic energy to control the minds of others, Druig is aloof and powerful, but at times it’s hard to determine whether he is friend or foe.”

Introduced in the same issue of Eternals as Kingo, Druig is somewhat the black sheep of the Eternals family.  This is demonstrated ever so subtly by the fact that he dresses in all black.  You might have missed that if I hadn’t pointed it out to you, right?  In many ways, Druig owes a lot of his portrayal in the comics to common portrayals of Hades, as a sort of dark brooding figure who isn’t inherently the bad guy, but is often at odds with the more heroically inclined gods.  While the comics and the lead up to the movie all hinted at Druig being something of an antagonistic force in the film, the movie proper doesn’t really get into that at all, painting Druig as a generally well-meaning guy whose power set makes it harder for him to be as sociable as the others.  Honestly, going back to the Hades comparison, they crafted a decent parallel to Hades in the actual myths, where he’s generally not a bad guy, he just kind of wants to be left alone with his stuff.  It’s not a take you see get much proper due, so I generally liked it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Druig is figure 6 in the Gilgamesh Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the final non-exclusive standard single release for the line-up.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme is the same as the other male Eternals, but notably the legs are quite restricted because of how long the skirt piece is.  There’s some fine tuning that can be had to keep him standing, but no deep posing with the legs.  They did at least give him full movement, though, so there’s some credit due there.  Additionally, while I wasn’t big on the range of neck movement for Ikaris or Kingo, Druig actually gets a really nice range, which is super useful.  Druig’s sculpt an all-new piece, and it’s honestly one of the nicest in the bunch.  The head sports a pretty spot on likeness of Barry Keoghan, which is honestly the best likeness of the bunch.  It’s incredibly lifelike, and this is one figure where the very neutral expression makes perfect sense for the character.  The body sculpt is pretty good, too.  Again, he’s got a slightly different build than the others, and the detailing on the armor is all pretty sleek.  Druig’s paint work is generally pretty good.  The head gets some really nice printing, which just adds more to the lifelike quality.  The body does alright, but it’s worth noting that the red detailing on his skirt for my figure is misaligned, so it doesn’t match the sculpt.  This is an ongoing issue with the whole set, so it’s far from surprising.  Druig is packed with two sets of hands (which appear to be the same ones included with Ikaris), as well as the head of Gilgamesh.  The lack of an alternate head demonstrating Druig’s pupil-less eyes from when he’s using his powers is really criminal here, since it wouldn’t even require a new sculpt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Again, Druig is a character I knew very little about going into this set.  I wasn’t sure I was going to like him, and I wasn’t sure about this figure.  The figure proved a surprise, and the character even more of one.  Druig wound up as one of my favorites in the movie, and the figure does him a lot of justice.

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.

#2961: Kingo

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

KINGO

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“An Eternal with the power to project cosmic energy projectiles from his hands, Kingo over the centuries became enamored with the idea of fame.”

Alright, we’re back with the Eternals reviews.  Let’s jump right in, shall we?  Today’s focus is one of the later additions to the group, though, unlike Phastos, Kingo is still a proper Jack Kirby character.  Introduced in Eternals #11, the Kingo of the comics had taken up as a Japanese film star, with an interest in samurais, which was signified by the fact that he looked like a samurai.  For the film, Kingo is portrayed by Kumail Ali Nanjiani, so his backstory is adjusted and he is now a Bollywood star, with the whole Samurai thing removed.  He’s loosely used as the film’s comic relief, but I emphasize loosely, since he’s also decidedly one of the team’s most capable fighters.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kingo is figure 5 in the Gilgamesh Series of Marvel Legends.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as Ikaris’s, apart from the hips being ever so slightly more restricted, due to the longer skirt piece.  It’s generally a good set-up.  The mid-torso is still really restricted, but the neck movement is at least a little bit better on this one.  Kingo’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s similar to the others, while also having a slightly different build, as Kingo is notably a little slimmer than Ikaris and Phastos (though he’s certainly no less jacked, as Nanjiani had one hell of a fitness regiment during filming).  The head’s likeness of Nanjiani isn’t terrible.  It’s a little bit more caricature than some of the others in the set, but it’s at least quickly recognizable, and it certainly has more expressive face than, say, Phastos, which I do appreciate.  The paint work on Kingo is generally pretty solid.  The application is overall pretty clean, and is more on point than Ikaris.  There’s still a little bit of bleed over on a few spots, but it’s nothing too terrible.  The face is again more on the cartoony side in its detailing, with the eyes in particular looking rather goofy.  Again, given the choice between this and the general blandness of Phastos, I’ll take this for sure.  Kingo is packed with two sets of hands, one pair fists, the other in “finger gun” pose, complete with effects pieces.  I do wish the effects were removable from the gun hands, but other than that, it’s nice that at least one of them gets effects.  Kingo is also packed with left arm and hands of Gilgamesh.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kingo is another character I knew very little about going into these figures, but he did look nifty enough.  Ultimately, he was a character that the film did a lot to sway me on, so I was quite happy to have grabbed him after the fact.  The figure is defintiely one of the more cartoony offerings here, but that also means he gets a little bit more character than some of the others, which makes him a good bit more distinctive.  That plays out well for him.

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.

#2960: Starscream

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

STARSCREAM

TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA (HASBRO)

“Starscream uses his speed and maneuverability as a jet to launch aerial attacks on the Autobots. No one can compete with him when it comes to speed and skill in the air. He slices through the sky, chasing the enemy and even endangering any Decpticon that gets in his way. As the second in command, he pretends to be loyal to Megatron, but is always looking for an opportunity to weaken his leader’s rule and take control of the Decepticons.”

Present in the franchise since its beginning, Starscream is a rather inescapable piece of the Transformers lexicon.  Other characters may come and go, but after Optimus and Megatron, the character next most likely to find himself in a given version of the story is Starscream, always Megatron’s lackey, always ready to betray him and take power for himself.  Transformers: Armada actually flipped the script on Starscream a little bit, though.  Rather than being purely motivated by his own self-interests, the Armada Starscream’s inevitable betrayal of Megatron saw him not taking power directly from Megatron, but rather switching to the side of the Autobots.  While still selfishly motivated on the surface, he would eventually find his own more valiant side, and even make a rather heroic sacrifice, something that no other version of Starscream would ever even consider in the slightest.  It was cool change-up, and a fun take on the character.  Helping even more on the fun/cool scale?  A pretty awesome toy, which I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Starscream made up one half of the first Max-Con Class (the line’s equivalent to the modern Voyager Class) assortment of Hasbro’s Transformers: Armada line, released alongside the show’s debut in 2002.  In his robot mode, Starscream stands about 7 inches tall and he has 10 workable points of articulation.  As with most of the other figures in the line, Starscream’s articulation is rather restricted by the nature of his design.  There’s no neck movement, and the shoulders don’t move either.  He’s got some swivels near the shoulders, and some okay leg movement, but there’s not a ton of posing to be had here.  He’s good for one thing, and that’s standing.  The sculpt is a pretty impressive piece.  It matches up well with how he looks in the animation, and it’s got a solid bit of heft to it.  The boxy shapes definitely work well, and his robot mode is well-formed.  There’s a bit of kibble, especially when it comes to the back of the torso, but he generally makes it work.  He’s armed with a folding sword, which is actually his left wing removed and unfolded.  It’s not the most convincing thing, but it works in its own goofy sense.  Also included is his Mini-Con partner, Swindle.  Swindle’s robot mode isn’t quite as strong as Jolt or Blackout’s were.  It’s okay, but not great.  The R&D definitely went to Starscream on this one.  Swindle allows Starscream to unlock the two cannons on Starscream’s shoulders, which each shoot a missile.  The missiles are, sadly, missing from mine.  The cannons also have a tendency to unlatch themselves from time to time, and, if you’re not careful, the latches can wear out, causing them to be permanently be forward.  Fortunately, that’s not the case with mine.

Starscream’s alt-mode is a sci-fi jet.  The transformation is a little more involved than the other two, but he’s a more advanced class, so it makes sense.  It’s still not particularly difficult, and there are also a few spring-loaded components to the transformation.  The end result is a vehicle that’s a little awkward in some spots, but one that also lacks the major under the jet kibble left over from the robot mode, which is something that shows up a lot with the jets.  In his jet mode, there are some sound effects built in; they no longer work on mine, but there are a few jet related sounds.  They’re honestly more annoying than anything, so I can’t say I miss them.  Swindle has his own alt-mode as well; he turns into a racing car, and is honestly more convincing as a car than as a robot.  Now, why a race car robot is packed in with the big jet is anyone’s guess, but I try not to dwell too much.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Of the three Armada figures that my cousin owned for a very brief time and ultimately gave to me, Starscream was definitely his favorite.  When they were in his possession, I didn’t get to play with Starscream the way I did the other two.  So, when he was finally mine, that was a pretty big deal.  Unfortunately, he also wound up being the only one readily available to me to grab when I decided to get rid of a lot of my stuff at around 15 or so.  I wound up selling him off (to All Time Toys, actually, along with a bunch of junk that they honestly gave me more than they should have for), and it’s something I’ve regretted since.  I’ve been keeping my eye out for a replacement ever since.  Fortunately, I was able to snag one from a collection that came into All Time last January.  He was missing Swindle, but Max was nice enough to set me up with a replacement, and boom, here we are.  I really dig this figure.  He’s just a really good, solid toy, and I’m very glad to have him again.

#2959: The Flash

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

THE FLASH

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

You do have to give Mattel a little bit of credit, and I can’t believe I’m saying that, on how they handled the early line planning on DC Universe Classics.  There was some serious effort not to just front load the whole thing with all of the hitters right away, instead using them to anchor assortments of otherwise more minor characters.  Their first year saw them struggling to reach full retail distribution, but going into their second, things were starting to seem a little more solid.  They kicked off the year with an assortment loosely centered on today’s focus, the Flash, specifically of the Barry Allen variety, since he had just returned to life after a lengthy period of deadness just a few months prior.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flash was part of the seventh series of DC Universe Classics, the series that built the Atom Smasher figure I reviewed last year.  This marked Mattel’s first of many assortments where the heavy hitter of the set would be sold sans Collect-N-Connect part, something Hasbro would end up co-opting into their Legends line when it returned a few years later.  Flash was, unsurprisingly, the heavy hitter for this assortment.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  At this point in the line, the rockers are still present on the ankles, for all the good they do.  Okay, that’s a little unfair, because they do wind up being somewhat useful on Flash, at least for some slightly better running poses.  He’s still not gonna balance very well in those poses, but let’s take what we can get.  Flash was built on the medium male body, originally introduced in Series 3 for Nightwing and Green Lantern.  It was the slightest build they had available for an adult male body at the time, and would remain that way for quite a while.  Ultimately, it’s just too bulky for any iteration of the Flash.  Barry can be a little bulkier than the average speedster, but this goes to excess.  I honestly think that it’s really the shoulders that throw things off; the DCUC bucks always had very prominent shoulders, and for a character like Flash, this stands out even more.  Generally speaking, however, it’s not the worst it could be, and in light of a line that was built upon such things across the board, it’s ultimately a minor issue.  Flash got a new head, shins, and feet.  The head is decent, if a bit devoid of personality for Barry.  A slightly warmer expression would go a long way.  The lower legs gave him proper boot sculpts, which are actually quite nice.  The feet even get treads on the bottoms, just like Flash always had.  It’s certainly a nice touch.  His paint work is generally pretty basic, but it’s also generally pretty clean in its application.  He also gets a little bit of accenting on the reds and yellows, just to keep things a little more visually interesting.  It actually works pretty nicely.  Flash was the one figure in the set not to get a CnC piece, but he did get one of Mattel’s patented crappy blue display stands.  They were great for…umm…being not so good at helping the figures stand?  They sure were blue and translucent, though.  They did that part well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the seventh series, the line was starting to get a little easier to get, so it wasn’t quite the nightmare of other sets to get these figures.  That said, I didn’t actually get Flash until after the line was essentially dead.  At the time he hit, I was still mixing these guys in with my DC Directs, and I had a couple of other Barry Allen Flash figures I liked well enough, so I didn’t go after this one.  When the line ended, I realized how close I was to having the Satellite Era League, so I filled in a few gaps, and picked this one up for a decent price loose.  He’s not my favorite figure from the line, but he does an okay job, and he does look cool with the rest of the League.

#2958: Phastos

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

PHASTOS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Over the centuries, Phastos has helped nudge humanity forward technologically while always keeping his brilliance hidden in the shadows.”

While the bulk of the Eternals line-up in the movie are characters introduced in Jack Kirby in his original run on the title, one character who is a notable later addition is Phastos.  An inventor, creator, and pacifist, Phastos was clearly inspired by the likes of Hephaestus in terms of his placement amongst the other god-like characters.  He was introduced by Sal Buscema and Peter Gillis during the book’s second volume, and does feel like a fairly natural part of the group, even if he’s a bit underused in the comics proper.  In the film, he’s a pretty notable player, and perhaps one of the most fully characterized of the cast.  He’s also notable for being the first openly gay character in an MCU film, and accomplishment in itself.  And today, I’m taking a look at his action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Phastos is figure 4 in the Gilgamesh Series of Marvel Legends.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Phastos’s articulation scheme follows the set-up we saw on Ikaris, which generally makes sense.  As with Ikaris, it’s a bit restricted, even a little bit more so, in fact, due to the nature of the design.  The mid-torso joint doesn’t have the same range, and the hips are notably restricted by how the skirt piece works.  Of course, Phastos is a less active character in the film, so it’s not terribly limiting for the character.  His sculpt is another all-new offering, based on his fully geared up look in the movie.  The head sculpt isn’t one of the stronger ones in the set, to be honest.  I mean, it’s not awful, and there are definitely some traits of Brian Tyree Henry in the sculpt, but something about it just generally feels off.  I think a lot of it is to do with expression; he’s kind of devoid of any, which doesn’t really suit Phastos as he’s portrayed in the movie.  Here he kind of looks a bit bored.  It doesn’t help that the head definitely sits too high on the neck, nor does it help that he’s missing his earrings, which are a pretty constant fixture of his design in the movie.  On the flip side, the body sculpt is a bit better.  The detailing on the suit is nice and clean, and the proportions do an alright job of capturing Henry’s less conventionally super-heroic build.  It makes him nicely distinct from Ikaris in terms of build.  Phastos’s paint work is generally alright.  It’s probably the cleanest application so far on the outfit, as well as one of the more intricate paint schemes.  I do like how the purple and gold work together.  Phastos is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, the other in more relaxed posing.  He also has the right leg for Gilgamesh.  I’ve brought up the lack of effects parts on the last two reviews, but it honestly bugs me even more here; I’d have loved to get some of his tech gimmick effects, since they’re pretty prominent to his role in the final act.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I really didn’t know Phastos at all before the movie, since he’s a slightly later in the lore character.  I do like the concept, and Henry’s performance in the movie was definitely one of its most memorable ones.  The figure is ultimately one of the weaker ones in this set.  He’s better than Sprite, but I definitely wish the likeness was a bit better on that head.  Still he’s a decent enough figure, and certainly one with a more unique look.

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.

#2957: Sersi

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

SERSI

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The Eternal with an affinity for humanity, Sersi has the ability to manipulate matter, changing the make-up of any non-sentient material she touches.”

Though the film has quite a large cast of characters, all of whom play prominent roles in the whole of the film, Eternals‘ definitive main character is Sersi.  It’s not a huge surprise, given that Sersi has by far been the most successful member of the team over the years, being the only one of them to actually see any real traction in the Marvel universe outside of the main Eternals book.  Heck, she was even an Avenger for a while, to say nothing of her history with Black Knight, who I have it on good authority is a pretty cool dude.  Definitely up and coming.  Boy, wouldn’t it be cool to see him in a movie or something?  No, sorry, I’m getting distracted.  This is a review about Sersi, not Black Knight.  Even though he’s totally the best character in the movie.  But that’s not the point.  What’s the point?  Umm, Sersi, I guess.  Right, Sersi, is the main character of the movie, portrayed in the film by Gemma Chan, who has actually been in the MCU before as Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel.  So, hey, now Gemma’s got two Legends.  Good for her!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sersi is figure 3 in the Gilgamesh Series of Marvel Legends.  Though she may be the most prominent of the Eternals, this is still her first figure, just like the rest of the cast.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Sersi’s articulation scheme is fairly similar to the other two female Eternals I’ve looked at, so it’s generally pretty good in terms of movement.  The hips are definitely a bit more restricted here, though, due to the design of her skirt.  It’s still not as bad as it could be, and ultimately she’s still capable of a great many poses.  Her sculpt is all-new, and is based on her design from the film.  Sersi’s classic comics design isn’t the most involved thing; it’s pretty much just a green bathing suit.  This takes the general vibe of her earlier designs, and also cements it into something that’s more in line with the overall cohesive aesthetic of the Eternals in the film.  I generally do rather like it.  The sculpt does a nice job of translating it into toy form.  The head sports a pretty spot-on likeness of Gemma Chan, certainly more on point than her Captain Marvel figure, and rivaled only by Makkari for the figures I’ve looked at so far from this set.  I do also like the slightly dynamic blowing of her hair, although it’s slightly amusing that the skirt piece isn’t really sculpted with any similar movement.  Sersi’s paint work is pretty solid for what it is.  The costume is basic, but it’s at least cleaner in application than Ikaris, and the printing for the face is actually really good on this figure.  Probably the best of the set, really.  Sersi is packed with two sets of hands, one set relaxed gesture, and the other a fist/two finger point combo.  She also gets the left leg to Gilgamesh.  I again feel like some effects pieces would have been cool, but I guess they might be a little trickier with her power set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sersi is the only of the Eternals I had any attachment to going in, almost entirely because of the Black Knight connection.  I sure do love me some Black Knight.  Sersi herself isn’t a bad character, and I was glad that she was well and truly the central character of the story, because I think she worked well in that role.  She’s perhaps not as flashy as some of the others, but I liked her story, and I liked her.  And, I also do quite like this figure.  Now, can I please get an MCU Dane Whitman of some sort?

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.

#2956: Sprite

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

SPRITE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Sprite has the ability to cast lifelike illusions and is an Eternal much stronger and cleverer than she appears.”

Ah, yes, Sprite.  That refreshing lemon lime taste.  You know, for when they don’t have, like any of the drinks that you actually wanted.  Or maybe they didn’t have Sprite either.  Is Sierra Mist okay?  …Did you guys like that?  Did you like my beverage-related joke?  You see, it’s funny, because….ahem…her…uhh…her name is the same as a, uh, beverage.  I am the peak of humor and whit.  Laugh at me, damn you.  Or, with me, rather.  Not at me.  That would be cruel.  Maybe instead of laughing at me, you could just read my review.  That would work alright for me.  Is Sprite okay?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sprite is figure 2 in the Gilgamesh Series of Marvel Legends.  The figure stands just shy of 5 1/2 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Sprite’s definitely the smallest figure in the bunch, not surprising, what with her childlike appearance and all.  That said, at 5 1/2 inches tall, she’s about a 1/2 inch too tall to be properly in scale with the rest of the set.  This will come up a bit more as we get into the actual sculpt proper.  Sprite’s articulation is rather standard for a female Legend, but like with Makkari, there’s a slightly better range of motion here.  Not quite to the same level as Makkari, but still better than some of Hasbro’s earlier offerings.  Her sculpt is all-new, and it’s…well, it’s not terrible, but it’s also not the strongest.  It’s certainly the weakest of the Eternals sculpts as a whole. The head’s likeness of actress Lia McHugh is far more caricaturized than others.  There are some elements that match up okay, and the general picture isn’t terrible, but it’s also not particularly realistic looking.  The facial expression is definitely going for some sort of a smirk, but it doesn’t quite land it, so she kind of looks a little gassy.  She’s also got one heck of a lantern jaw, which is weird looking at this scale.  Additionally, the fact that she’s too large translates to an issue here, because her head is just…big.  Too big.  It looks almost alien when compared to the others.  The body sculpt is at least a pretty decent piece.  It recreates her costume from the movie pretty well, and there’s even a nice dynamic flow to her cape and skirt pieces.  It’s still a bit too large scale-wise, but it’s less an issue here than with the head.  Sprite’s paint work is alright overall.  The outfit is cleaner than Ikaris’s, which is a plus, and the face is at least rather lifelike.  Sure, the underlying sculpt is still a little wonky, but the paint does its best to make it work.  Sprite is packed with two sets of hands, in open gesture and in fists, as well as the torso for the Gilgamesh Build-A-Figure.  She could definitely use some effects pieces of some sort, but she does at least get the largest piece of the BaF.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I knew only a little more about Sprite than I did Makkari going into the film, and it was mostly that he was generally a rather annoying impish sort of character.  I didn’t really know how much I was going to like the character in the movie when I bought the figure, but I was already in for the whole set.  Ultimately, Sprite’s not my favorite character in the movie, but I can kind of see what they were trying with the character.  The figure….less so.  She’s definitely the weakest of this bunch.  She’s not *awful* but she’s not great either.  I guess it kind of fits with the character.

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.

#2955: Makkari

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

MAKKARI

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Makkari uses her cosmically powered super-speed to scout planets, and as the only deaf Eternal, she is not affected by the sonic boom that accompanies her cosmic running.”

The Eternals as created by Jack Kirby are not the most inherently complex selection of characters.  Not that they really needed to be, of course, but it does leave them a little more room for growth and change, a direction that the film version of the characters took.  The comics version of Makkari, patterned on the Roman god Mercury, is a male speedster.  In the film, Makkari played by actress Lauren Ridloff, and gains a gender swap as result.  The character also became deaf, much like Ridloff, adding another slightly more unique trait to the character.  It took a character that could have honestly wound up as little more than just a Flash pastiche, and granted her a far more memorable selection of interactions with the other characters around her.  In general, she was just a very likable and nicely rounded character, and certainly one of my favorites from the film.  In honor of that, how about a look at her action figure?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Makkari is figure 1 in the Gilgamesh Series of Marvel Legends.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Makkari’s articulation scheme is generally pretty standard for female Legends, at least in terms of layout.  It’s worth noting that the actual range of motion on the joints is a little bit better than average.  She’s capable of a good assortment of deeper running poses.  Only the neck is sort of restricted, and even then, it’s not as bad as you might expect with the hair as it is.  The joints also nicely worked into the sculpt, with pinless construction on the knees, as well as joints that don’t require the sculpt to look wonky and broken up when posed.  Makkari’s sculpt is all-new to her, and it’s a pretty solid one at that.  The build is nicely balanced and a good match for how she looks in the film, and the Ridloff likeness is probably one of the best in this assortment.  Unlike Ikaris, it’s clear who she’s supposed to be even without outside context.  That being said, while she does look spot on to Ridloff, the hair style isn’t quite right for Makkari’s in the final film; her pony tail had a much tighter braid in the movie than what we see here.  Presumably, this is based on earlier design work than the finished film.  It’s not largely different, though, and ultimately it still works okay for the character.  Makkari’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  The printing on the face works well, and the application on the suit is across the board better than how it was on Ikaris.  Makkari is packed with two sets of hands, on pair in fists, the other with an open gesture left hand, and a right hand making the “I love you” sign, which is a cool touch.  Yeah, it’s really just a Spider-Gwen hand, but it’s a good repurposing, and I like that they made sure to include at least one signing hand to showcase that side of the character.  Also included is the right arm and hands for the Gilgamesh Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Makkari is a character I only sort of knew going in, and I didn’t really have a particularly large attachment to the character.  Going into the movie, I had no real expectations, but I was buying the whole set, because why not?  Ultimately, I really liked her a lot in the film, and I’m glad I have the figure.  It helps that she’s just generally a very nice figure, especially given how well the articulation scheme works on this particular release.

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.