Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0031: Magneto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

MAGNETO

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Okay, you guys, I’m doing it for real this time!  I’m *actually* wrapping up Toy Biz X-Men Series 1….more or less.  I’m focussing on the more, though, because I think that sounds better for me personally.  So, for today’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum, let’s return back to Magneto!

“The evil mutant master of magnetism, Magneto is the arch-enemy of the X-Men. With his magnetic power, Magneto’s magnetic force can pull even the heaviest objects to him, throw them miles away, or cause them to shatter with sudden explosiveness. Magneto plans to enslave mankind and mercilessly rule Earth with the other evil mutants. But first he must destroy the X-Men, the super hero mutants who are mankind’s defenders.”

Magneto’s first action figure came from Mattel’s Secret Wars line. Though sold as a villain, the story was an early adopter of the heroic turn for the character. By the time of his second figure, he’d run the whole gamut of villain to hero and back again. It’s a little odd to see the character referred to simply as an evil mutant, but that’s where he landed when the team came into all of their notoriety, I suppose.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Magneto was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, as one of three villains presented therein. Magneto had gone through a few different costumes by this point, but returned to his classic design just in time for this figure’s release. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. Magneto’s sculpt was an all-new offering, and it remained unique to this figure all throughout Toy Biz’s tenure with the license. Magneto sports perhaps the finest sculpt in the whole first series. His proportions are notably less goofy and his posture far less stilted than other figures from this assortment. He’s not painfully scrawny like Cyclops was, and he can actually manage some decent poses, unlike Storm. His helmet was removable, and while that made it more than a little bit oversized, and just a touch goofy looking, it does mean we were treated to the fully detailed un-helmeted head beneath it, which does a very nice job of capturing Magneto’s usual stern but well-meaning expression. Despite the big emphasis on the whole “evil” bit in the bio, that’s not quite what was presented by the figure here, and he ends up very true to the character in that regard. Though later figures in the line would go the sculpted cape route, this one got a cloth piece, keeping with the vaguely Super Powers-esque aesthetic that these early Toy Biz offerings had. Like the bulkier helmet, it’s a bit dated looking and slightly goofy, but it’s not bad for what it is. Magneto’s paintwork is pretty straight forward stuff. The red parts are all molded plastic, and everything else is painted. Application is mostly pretty clean; there’s some slight slop on the boots and gloves, but it’s very minor. In addition to the removable helmet and cape, this guy came with three pieces of “metal debris,” which, via magnets in his torso and hands, could be attached to the figure, thus simulating his powers.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have two of this guy, and it’s all my dad’s fault. Well, not directly, I suppose. When I was just getting into collecting, my dad and I were doing a lot of tandem buying, where we’d both get something. On one of our trips, he got this figure, and I really liked it, but I never ended up finding another at retail. A few years later, I found this guy (along with Nightcrawler) at a flea market, sans helmet and cape. Despite the missing pieces, that was certainly good enough for me, at least at the time. In recent years, I become slightly more picky about such things, so I ended up tracking down a second one, via my friends at Yesterday’s Fun, and this one had the missing pieces. This remains my favorite Magneto figure, and I’m happy to have a more complete release.

Man, I did cover my bases on “more complete” at the end there.  Good for me.  Well, now he’s *actually* complete.  And then some!  I managed to find those missing “debris” parts for my figure, and, along the way, I also managed to snag the paint variant that I neglected to mention the last time.  For his initial and all subsequent releases, Magneto got the all purple collar, as seen in my original review, but for only the initial run, there was also a variant with a red box in the middle, unpainted.  It gives him an extra bit of flair, but I imagine it was a lot more difficult to keep consistent, hence just filling it in for later runs.  Not crazy different, but nifty.

#3865: Clone Captain Rex

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CLONE CAPTAIN REX

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Rex served the Republic on the front lines during the Clone Wars, taking orders from Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano first as a captain and later a commander.”

Since The Clone Wars has little cross-over in terms of actors with the live action films it crosses over with, most of its original characters are portrayed through their entire runs by veteran voice actors, rather than the people that might play them in live action.  Some of them have made the jump with the same actor; Katee Sackoff as Bo-Katan is probably the best example.  What’s an interesting quirk of the nature of the Clone Troopers, who make up a solid portion of the show’s cast, is that they’re mostly new characters, but they’re voiced by an actor different than the one who portrayed them in live action.  This means that Captain Rex, easily the most prominent clone in the series, and really the most prominent clone in the wider franchise, spent the first decade and a half of his existence never having once been played by Temuera Morrison, the guy that originated the clones in the first place.  This was finally addressed in 2023, however, when Rex made his live action debut in Ahsoka via some key flashback sequences.  And, hey, Hasbro’s also taken advantage of that appearance to give us another Rex figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Captain Rex is figure 16 in the Ahsoka show subline of Star Wars: The Black Series.  He’s in an assortment that also features the flashback version of Anakin from the same show, and they’re both based on their appearances from the earlier flashbacks, meaning Rex is in his Phase I armor.  Since the first Rex was in his later design, it makes this one a much needed variant.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He’s built on the 2020 Clone Trooper body, rather than using the prior Rex body.  Technically, this does make him more accurate to specifically this armor set, and it’s not too bad a mold.  He gets a new pauldron, and belt with kama, which work about as well as they usually do.  The pauldron seems a bit floaty (I liked the affixed one from the last Rex mold), and the kama is a bit restricting, but those are both rather typical.  One minor but super cool touch is that he’s got a new left hand, which has a trigger finger, meaning he can *finally* hold both blaster pistols properly.  Yay!  His helmet is the standard Phase I style one, with the range finder added on.  Underneath, we get a head that looks to be very similar to the prior Rex, if it’s not actually the same sculpt.  It’s certainly a little sharper, though, and it fits better in the helmet.  His paint work aims for a cleaner look for Rex, which is true to the show, and also fits, this being Rex from earlier in the war.  It’s cleanly applied, and he generally looks pretty good.  Rex is packed with just his two blaster pistols.  It’s again accurate to the show, and I’m glad he can properly hold them, but also that feels really, really light.  I know that the Phase II helmet shouldn’t *technically* go on this body, but it might have been nice to at least get one as an option.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rex’s appearance in Ahsoka was exceedingly exciting for me.  I literally jumped for joy.  And, as soon as I saw that Phase I armor, I was hopeful it might mean getting him in figure form.  It took a little bit longer than I expected, but I think it was worth it.  I like any chance to get another Rex, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the Phase I armor.  The figure winds up being mostly by the numbers, but, as silly as it may sound, that tweaked left hand *really* works for me.

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.

#3864: Roboto

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

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Okay, so it’s worth noting that I *have* reviewed something Masters of the Universe-related this calendar year, but its also been since all the way back in January, which is something of a gap.  It sort of happens with Masters, due to my more selective collecting.  On my short list of characters I pretty much always buy in any given style is today’s focus, Roboto.  He was added to the Masterverse line-up in 2023, while they were still pretty heavily leaning into Revelation style figures, so that was his focus.  Despite that being a generally classic take on him, he’s never the less gotten a revisit, aiming more at specificially updating the original figure, which I’m looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto is part of Series 16 of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Masterverse line.  He’s under the “New Eternia” banner, which serves to update the classic designs more directly, and also offer up some optional “improvements.”  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like most modern Robotos, he lacks mid-torso movement, and this time around the swappable hands are worked into the standard wrist peg system, rather than adding an additional cut joint.  The mouth plate is movable, but not quite to the extent of the Revelation version, so it doesn’t really feel much like practical articulation in that sense.  Despite both being based on the original Roboto design and sharing a number of common design elements, there are not parts shared between the two Masterverse Robotos.  It’s not terribly surprising, given there’s just generally been very little crossover between the two themes.  He does, however, share his legs with the New Eternia Trap Jaw, continuing the trend of that particular re-use.  Though totally new sculpts, they’re using the same general set-up as the Revelation ones, complete with the same slightly odd layout of the kneepads relative to the articulation.  From the mid-section up, he’s an all-new sculpt.  It takes the broad strokes designs of the vintage figure and sort of does its own sort of thing with them.  He’s a bit more rounded, especially on the torso and head designs, and there are more intricate elements worked into things.  The head is more involved than we tend to see, using a three-piece assembly.  He’s got the usual mouth guard, as well as a “helmet” piece, both of which can be removed to reveal a robotic skull underneath.  The torso brings back the gear turning action feature we frequently see with this guy, which is a lot of fun.  The color work on this figure is in keeping with the generally metallic leanings of the more recent New Eternia figures, which I do rather like.  The helmet is totally clear, which makes for an iffy look in the photos, but looks really, really nice in person.  Roboto is packed with an alternate take on his mouth guard, a standard right hand, and axe, blaster, and claw attachments, which pretty much cover all of the basics.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting the Revelation Roboto, I didn’t really feel like I *needed* another version.  But, a Roboto’s a Roboto, so it’s not like I was really going to balk at buying a new one.  The pictures on this one were sort of iffy at first, so I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it, but in person he looked really good, and I have to say, he turned out really nice.  Personally, I think I still lean a bit towards the Revelation figure, but it’s cool to see a different approach to the same general design, and there’s a lot of really fun elements to this figure’s implementation.

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.

#3863: Dr. Fate

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

DR. FATE

MYSTICS, MAGES, & MAGICIANS (DC DIRECT)

In the early of DC Direct, they were steering clear of DC’s heaviest hitters, so as to not compete with what Hasbro was doing.  This led to more obscure character coverage, as well as some older character coverage.  In particular, there was quite a run with the Justice Society of America in those early days.  Sort of bridging the gap from the supernatural themes to the JSA themes was the first proper team member, Dr. Fate, who I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dr. Fate was released in the Mystics, Mages, & Magicians series from DC Direct, which arrived August 16, 2000.  Fate was joined by fellow JSA member Spectre, as well as Zatanna, and John Constantine.  This marked Fate’s second figure, following up on his vintage Super Powers release.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  None of the early DCD figures were tremendously well articulated, but Fate’s definitely got some oddities to him.  The arms are fine enough, but the legs are curiously missing knees, while still having ankles.  It’s good for finding the sweet spot on balancing him, but how close the feet are together does look a little silly.  His sculpt is on the basic side, generally keeping with the early years of DCD.  It’s clean, and bold, and replicates the design of the character pretty well.  He’s got a removable helmet, which reveals a somewhat pin-headed Kent Nelson beneath it, but it’s still a neat idea, at least in theory.  The main helmet is also really nice, and a good replica of the helmet of Nabu from the comics.  Did I say “main helmet”?  Yes I did!  There’s also an alternate helmet, showcasing Fate’s more super-hero-y helmet from the ’60s, which shows off the bottom half of his face.  This is the only time its ever been done in toy form, so it’s certainly nifty!  His color work is generally basic, with flat yellow and blue for the most part.  The helmets and the amulet are all vac metalized, though, which….well, it’s got mixed results, I guess.  It’s certainly a cool idea, but it clashes quite a bit with the flat yellow.  Still, it was nice to see them try something different.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure’s sort of notable for being the earliest instance of me wanting my own copy of a DC Direct figure my dad was already buying.  He had a full set of the series coming from a friend, but I was impatient and wanted to buy my own when they came into Cosmic Comix.  I don’t know why specifically it was Dr. Fate I wanted enough to get my own, but that’s where it landed.  He’s a fun, if perhaps simple figure, and he instilled in me a love for Fate’s rather distinctive design.

#3862: Rom

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

ROM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 1979, Parker Brothers, traditionally a board game company, nominally got into the action figure world with Rom, an early electronic toy that took the traditionally figure guise.  The toy was a pretty colossal failure, and would have likely been completely forgotten were it not for the licensing agreement Parker Brothers made with Marvel for a comic adaptation of the figure.  Despite the toy’s failure, the Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema’s comic adaptation was very successful, running 75 issues and 4 annuals, far outlasting the original toy.  Because of the weirdness surrounding the whole thing, Rom’s always been a rarity on the toy front, and has also been completely absent from anything Marvel related.  But, with the character now owned by Hasbro, and Hasbro being on good terms with Marvel, Marvel’s been able to reprint the original series, and Hasbro’s been able to put out a new figure, under the Marvel Legends banner no less!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Rom was released in the Classic Comic Collection series of Marvel Legends, alongside the Banshee figure I reviewed last week.  He further contributes to the eclectic nature of the assortment, which is just kind of a grab-bag of random characters and looks.  Hey, it got me classic Banshee *and* a Rom, so I shan’t question it.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is a little different than the usual Legends release, but it’s very much workable, and it does well within the confines of his unique design.  His sculpt is completely new.  It’s based on Rom’s slightly refined look as the series progressed and he moved a little further from the toy-inspired elements of his original design.  There’s still plenty of those vintage elements, though, and he’s very clean and sharp.  It’s one of the slickest Legends sculpts of the year, for sure, and it works really well with his articulation scheme.  Rom’s paint work is decently handled.  Notably, all of the silver is painted, rather than molded, which gives it a more even finish, without any of those swirly bits.  He’s also got some slight red detailing, with the eyes in particular working very well to capture that comic design.  Rom is packed with both his Neutralizer and Analyzer, as well as an effect piece for the Neutralizer, and two pairs of hands (in gripping and a fist/flat combo).  He’s also got a small replica of Rom: Space Knight #1, which is using the same mold as the GSXM included with Banshee.  It’s still kind of a weird gimmick, but at least Rom’s actual on the cover of the issue he comes with.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rom’s a thing I mostly know through reputation, and not through much actual direct interaction, since the original toy’s pretty rare, and the comic was out of print for so long.  That said, I’ve always dug his design, and I’m also always down for a good robot toy.  His last figure was really hard to get, so that was a no-go. This one proved easier, so here we are.  Banshee was sort of by the numbers and simple, whereas this guy is rather involved and rather a departure from the standard style.  He’s very much an impressive figure, and hands down the best Rom ever made, as well as the best figure in this particular assortment (even if Banshee is my own personal favorite).

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.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0030: Archangel

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

ARCHANGEL

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Hey, did you guys realize there were still some figures from Toy Biz’s first series of X-Men I hadn’t addendummed?  Because there are.  So, here I go, fixing that.  Ooooooooooooooh yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah!  …*ahem*… Sorry about that.  Anyway, here’s Archangel.

“Archangel is the high-flying X-Man with a knock-out secret weapon– wingtip darts filled with paralyzing fluid! Archangel can fire these darts with uncanny accuracy from any height and speed. With his amazing metal wings, Archangel is able to fly faster than the speed of sound and silently attack like a striking eagle. This ability strikes terror in the hearts of evil mutants, for their first warning of Archangel’s attack is usually the impact of one of his darts!”

In the late ’80s/early ’90s, there was a trend in comics, of taking characters with formerly passive powers and either creating a new character with those powers plus an offensive component, or even just reforging the original into something more “kick-ass.”  Founding X-Men member Warren Worthington III, originally known as Angel, found himself on the receiving end of one of these make-overs, become the war-ready Archangel.  It was a lasting look, and one that was at the forefront when it came time for Warren’s first action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Archangel was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  His presence is somewhat interesting, as he’s the only X-Man in the line-up who wasn’t from the “All-New, All-Different” lineup.  Archangel was still wearing his hideous “Death” togs he got from Apocalypse at the time of this figure, so that’s what he’s wearing here.  Boy, was this costume ugly.  I mean, I love it, but it’s ugly.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation (his wings can also move, but it’s tied into his action feature, and they don’t really hold poses or anything).  His sculpt was unique to him.  It’s not terrible, but I do think he’s a fair bit more dated than some of the others in the set.  His head’s kind of large, and his facial expression is sort of goony. I think it’s the eyes; they seem too close together.  The body is rather stiffly posed, and his proportions are definitely a little off.  The arms are probably the worst part; they just look so scrawny when compared to the rest of him.  The wings are okay, though they suffer a bit from the comics’ lack of consistency on the exact shaping of them.  They’re also slightly marred by the “missile launching feature” at the tops.  I use the quotes because there’s no actual spring-loaded feature or anything; you just pushed them out with your thumb.  Kind of disappointing.  The torso is also impacted a bit by the wings.  Toy Biz wasn’t sure how to attach them, so they went for this this big honking block on his back.  Elegant it is not.  Archangel’s paintwork is decent enough; it’s a little brighter than a lot of interpretations of this costume tend to be, but it’s not like it was going to get *less* ugly.  There were two versions of this guy’s colorscheme; the original release had white wings, while the re-release offered both white and grey wings.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Archangel was one of my earlier additions to my collection.  Though the Invasion series had hit right when I started collecting (and given me my first three X-Men figures in the process), the Archangel variant included there wasn’t quite as plentiful, so I ended up getting this guy’s re-release instead.  He’s not aged particularly well, and I definitely prefer other Archangel’s, but he still has a quaint sort of a charm to him.

This review hit in the midst of a run of these reviews I ran in 2018, as I was doing a dive into the first series of the line, following finally getting a complete set of them.  At the time, I didn’t have his two thumb missiles, but I have managed to square up a pair of them to go with mine since.  They’re kind of unimpressive, but at least they’re there?  Wooooooooo.

 

#3861: Oola & Salacious Crumb

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

OOLA & SALACIOUS CRUMB

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

The denizens of Jabba’s palace are just expansive a collection of colorful characters as those in the Mos Eisley Cantina, which makes covering them all in figure form just as tricky a feat.  In the case of Kenner’s ’90s Power of the Force, both locales got “playsets” leading to a need to release figures to populate them.  Some of them are easy enough to slot into your standard retail assortment, but some of them, less so.  Oola, Jabba’s first dancer seen in the film, is dressed in an outfit that’s deliberately meant to be provocative, making it an odd fit for a line of toys ostensibly aimed at kids.  This has made her something of a rarity in the toy world, as it requires more unique solutions than are typically afforded to an admittedly minor character.  Thus far, she’s gotten two figures, the first of which I’ll be taking a look at today, alongside that weird laughing lizard guy, Salacious Crumb!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Oola and Salacious Crumb were part of Kenner’s Power of the Force II, released in 1998 as a fan club-exclusive pairing. This would mark Oola’s first time as a figure, and Salacious’ second time, following a pack-in with the Jabba the Hutt playset in the vintage line. Oola’s the proper figure here, standing just under 3 3/4 inches tall and sporting 6 points of articulation.  She’s pretty standard for the line in terms of motion and build. Her sculpt was all-new and remained unique. Obviously, there’s some similarities between her and fellow Twi’lek dancer Lyn Me, but Oola is notably a lot less pre-posed, and her sculpt is notably a fair bit sharper in its detailing than Lyn Me’s. In particular, there’s quite a lot of attention paid to the mesh netting of her outfit, and also quite a lot of attention paid to the cleavage below it. Yeah, this was definitely for the fan club. There’s a pair of cloth-goods…I guess they’re leg warmers? It’s hard to imagine any portion of this outfit keeping anyone warm, but whatever. They’re nifty enough, though the change from the sculpted outfit to the cloth parts is a little bit jarring.  Not enough to ruin the figure, or anything, but enough to be jarring. The paint work on Oola is pretty solid, honestly. The meshwork is clean, and not too messy or gloppy, and it sells the look well in tandem with the sculpt. Salacious is billed as the second figure, but he’s really more an accessory than anything. He’s a pre-posed figurine, and honestly a bit large for proper scaling, but he at least looks the part. They re-used this same piece for Power of the Jedi, so clearly they liked it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is a piece you don’t see *quite* as often as others from this line, so it didn’t land in front of me until relatively recently. “Recently” in this case meaning a little over two years ago, but the point still stands. Oola’s an interesting figure, given how rarely she shows up, and this version speaks to my collecting sensibilities. Salacious is more an accessory than anything, but he’s a cool one, and they both look very cool in the Palace display.

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.

#3860: Van Helsing

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

VAN HELSING

HORROR OF DRACULA (NECA)

In horror films, it can be awfully difficult for the hero of the piece to cement themselves as an iconic fixture in the same way that the monsters and villains can. It’s remarkable, though, that for as much as Dracula’s popularity has remained, Van Helsing, the hunter responsible for the evil count’s defeat, has managed to stick around pretty well himself. It helps that Van Helsing has gotten his own share of very talented actors in the role. In particular, the Hammer Horror films had Peter Cushing (an actor very frequently associated with villainous roles, despite his own kind and gentle nature) play the part five times, cementing him as one of the character’s most defining actors. His action figure coverage for the part has been relatively sparse, but improving more recently.  There was a Mego release in 2021, and new NECA’s officially in on the Hammer game, following up their Christopher Lee Dracula from last year with a Cushing Van Helsing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Van Helsing is an Ultimate release from NECA, the second in their Hammer Horror Horror of Dracula set, following the Christopher Lee Dracula figure released last November.  He started hitting about a month or so ago, so, you know, quite a while after the Lee Dracula had completely dried up at retail.  I’m sure that won’t affect his sell-through at all, right?  Like the Count, he’s based on his look from Hammer’s first Dracula film, which makes a lot of sense, it being the most distinctive and all.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty standard for NECA at this point.  It has its ups and its downs.  There’s certainly some spots where he’s very restricted, but he can generally get into all the poses you might need him to.  Van Helsing’s sculpt is all-new, and handled by NECA sculptors Kyle Windrix and Trevor Grove.  It feels pretty in-line with modern NECA horror offerings.  In his default configuration out of the box, he’s got his overcoat, scarf, and hat.  The hat is attached to the head, and that particular head probably has the weakest of the Cushing likenesses here.  There’s a more standard head, sans hat, which has a more neutral expression, and is generally pretty well-kempt, and it’s probably the best of the Cushing likenesses. Lastly, there’s a more disheveled sculpt, with a more intense expression, clearly patterned on his look during the final battle.  While I don’t think the likeness itself is quite as strong as the neutral one, it’s the sculpt that I feel best captures the character, and by far my favorite.  The overcoat-ed look is more on the restricting side in terms of movement, but is of course a signature look, so it’s the one that I see getting the most play.  That said, this figure comes with a whole extra torso you can swap out, which has him in a vest and tie with his sleeves rolled up.  It’s not a signature a look, but it’s got some better movement.  The figure’s paint work is all pretty good.  It’s a little thick on the skintones, but generally everything looks pretty clean, and he’s reasonably life-like.  In addition to the three heads and two torsos I discussed above, Van Helsing is packed with five pairs of hands (tight grip, loose grip, and relaxed for gloved, and tight grip and relaxed for ungloved), a hammer, a single stake, a bundle of stakes, a crucifix, and the two candlestick holders he uses to make his makeshift crucifix in the finale.  It’s all cool and good, but genuinely the candlestick holders are the only thing that truly matter to me, since they’re such a signature thing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I discussed a little in my review of the Mego Van Helsing, since Jess’s passing in 2021, I’ve read up a lot on Peter Cushing and his life, especially in regards to his relationship with his wife and his reaction to her passing.  In many ways, I find quite a kindred spirit in him, and I like the idea of focusing more on his heroic roles than just the villainous ones.  His Van Helsing has always stuck with me, so I was glad to see another version of it in figure form.  This one’s a pretty solid one, for sure.  In general, he’s really your standard NECA faire these days, but I think he works well with their style, and, most importantly, he can do that one cool pose I really wanted.

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.

#3859: Superman – The Silver Age

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

SUPERMAN — THE SILVER AGE

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

As we head into a year that will headline the latest Superman movie, we’re really seeing a turnaround on Superman related product.  After several years of some lackluster offerings, it’s kind of nice to see the new direction.  McFarlane’s run with the DC license started off with a heavy bat-focus, but in its final year, the company is really taking some steps to do some more interesting and exciting things for people who like the non-Bat side of the DC Universe.  We’ve been slowly getting some proper classic variants on the heavy hitters, and really the last hold out on that was the Man of Steel himself!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman — The Silver Age is part of the fourth “Digital” assortment of DC Multiverse figures, alongside Dr. Fate and Two-Face.  Officially, these are all under the “DC Direct” branding, but they’re clearly the same line as what’s coming directly from McFarlane.  So, one thing of note, if I can be a little pedantic for a moment: this figure is billed “The Silver Age,” when in fact he’s clearly meant to based on the artwork of Jose Garcia-Lopez.  That would *actually* make him a Bronze Age Superman, not Silver Age.  I won’t complain about getting a solid classic Superman either way, and in fact I *prefer* a Bronze Age Superman, but you know, call it what it is, right?  Okay, moving on.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  This Superman is another use of the Earth 2 Superman mold from the Crisis set, which has become McFarlane’s new standard for the Man of Steel.  It’s not hard to understand why; it’s a really solid, balanced, and clean Superman mold, and it’s by far the best version they’ve offered up during their run with the license.  This figure sports a new head sculpt, directly based on Garcia-Lopez’s drawings of the character.  It’s quite a strong sculpt.  Previous sculpts based on specific artists have struggled to really capture the feel, instead kind of forcing a bit of a “Todd” style on them, but this one is just pretty straight Garcia-Lopez, and it works really well, and also fits well on the base body.  The color work is quite bright, as it should be, and the paint work, which is mostly confined to the head and torso, is pretty sharp.  I especially like the slight accenting on the hair; it feels very true to this particular take on the character.  Superman is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and flat (same as the others on this base body), and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Look, this many McFarlane Superman reviews in, you guys have to get the general gist of where this one is going, right?  When McFarlane started with the license, and they put out that first Action Comics #1000 Superman, and it was just mediocre at best, I sort of wrote it off that we weren’t going to get a good Superman, and that was true for a bit.  But then, all of the sudden, they just kept getting better.  And now I own four of them, and they’re all great.  This one in particular does feel really definitive, though.  Like, I just look at it and think “yeah, that’s just Superman, as he’s meant to be.”  Which is one heck of a recovery from a company that started with the Superman that McFarlane did.  Crazy to see them get it so together *right* before they lose the license, but if nothing else, they gave us this genuinely fantastic Superman figure.

#3858: Banshee

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

BANSHEE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Last week, I took a detour from my ’90s Marvel reviews for something that was still *kind of* a ’90s Marvel review.  This week, all I can truly promise is the Marvel.  In fact, it’s kind of meant to *replace* a more ’90s-centric piece already in my collection.  That doesn’t seem right, does it?  Well, look, there are layers, okay?  Today we’re talking about Banshee, a surprisingly early addition to the X-Men mythos, first appearing in 1967 during Roy Thomas and Werner Roth’s run on the original team.  He was a reluctant antagonist, and would eventually join the team proper when the “All-New, All-Different” line-up debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1.  Since he and Sunfire were both “returning characters,” they didn’t get to be on the fancy Gil Kane-drawn cover to the issue with the rest of the team, which means they more frequently get left out of figure coverage related to the issue.  Fittingly, Hasbro started their “modern” recreation of the team in Legends form back in 2017 with Sunfire, and are finally closing it out (more or less) eight years later with Banshee.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Banshee is part of the Classic Comic Collection series of Marvel Legends, which just started hitting in the last month or so.  It’s certainly an interesting line-up of characters, and by that I mean they seem to have just sort of drawn names out of a hat.  Banshee is one of two X-Men in the line-up, the other being Dakken, whom I don’t know that he’s ever met.  This is Banshee’s third time in Legends form, all three having been under Hasbro.  He’s based on his classic green and yellow garb, which is the same as his first Legends figure, from Hasbro’s first series of Legends after they got the license in 2007 (which, incidentally, like this figure, was in a hodgepodge assortment that happened to include an Ultimate Iron Man figure).  That one was *not* good, so this one’s been a long-time coming.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As we’ve all been kind of expecting since we got Strike Team Banshee back in 2023, this figure makes liberal use of parts from that one, sharing both heads, the modified upper torso, and the attachments for the glider wings with the earlier figure.  I still love both heads (sculpted by Paul Harding), and the calm one in particular feels more at home on this costume, what with the clearly ’70s muttonchops and all.  It’s still a little odd that he doesn’t have consistent hair between the two heads, but it is what it is.  On the flip side, I’m still not super into the very obvious pegs that attach the glider wings to him.  Sure, they’re secure, but they’re awful to look at.  This guy swaps out the Jim Lee-specific costume elements for the standard Vulcan pieces, making for a slightly cleaner sculpt.  In terms of color work, he changes things up, obviously, to match the new palette.  I’m always partial to the green and yellow, so I do generally like it.  That said, the tops of the boots and gloves being painted rather than molded is a bit jarring.  Otherwise, though, it all looks decent.  Banshee is packed with five different hands: a pair of fists, an open right hand, and two gripping hands.  These hands are unique, as near as I can tell, in that they have stitching on them to indicate gloves.  It’s a small detail, but I actually really like it.  Banshee is also packed with a small replica of Giant-Size X-Men #1, as is the gimmick of this assortment for…reasons?  I don’t know.  It’s nifty enough, even if it’s not *quite* scaled right.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back in 2006, I was *thrilled* by the announcement of Banshee being in Hasbro’s first series of Marvel Legends.  In 2007, I was *not thrilled* by Hasbro’s actual Banshee figure.  I just never much cared for it.  I’ve been waiting for a better one since.  As we made our way through the updated GSXM line-up, I kept hoping the next one would be him, making it especially comedic when we got the Strike Force version first (especially since *exactly* the same thing happened in Minimates).  I made do with that one, but this was the one I was really waiting for.  He’s simple, and it’s not like he’s really doing anything new, but it’s very, very nice to have the GSXM line-up finished, and also, since Banshee was around for a bit, also have all of the subsequent line-up changes before he left the team in ’79.  That’s my favorite era of the book, and it’s really my X-Men, so this is really awesome.

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.