#3885: Emperor Palpatine

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

EMPEROR PALPATINE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

Somehow, Palpatine retuned.  Yep, that’s pretty much what I got.  Here’s the deal, guys: I get that Sheev Palpatine is very important to the Star Wars mythos, and all, and there’s no denying that Ian McDiarmid turns in a good performance in the part, but I just can’t get all that excited or invested in him.  I don’t know, maybe he’s just too realistic of a villain.  He’s also not terribly exciting when it comes to toys, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting *so* many of them.  There were five of them in Power of the Force.  Here’s one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Emperor Palpatine was released in the 1998 portion of the Power of the Force Flashback Photo series.  As with all of the others in the set, he represents the official take over of Hasbro on the branding, meaning this is the first Hasbro Palpatine.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation…in theory.  He’s got joints at the neck, shoulders, waist, and hips (a first for him in this line), but the neck is limited by the hood, and the hips are effectively not even there, since they’re completely encased by the robes.  His sculpt’s not drastically different from the other Palpatines, but he’s notably a little more technically advanced, with slightly sharper detailing, and proper layering to his outfit (which actually includes legs, again a first for him).  He’s rather pre-posed, following the same general lead as the Power F/X figure, but there’s a slightly more natural feel to it.  Unfortunately, perhaps the biggest drawback to this new sculpt is that it doesn’t stay standing all that well, something the previous single-card did very well.  His coloring largely follows the same path as the other figures of him, but there’s a little more variety to the colors on his robes.  Otherwise, we’re dealing with the same rather thick paint on the face, and he’s generally not super eye-catching.  But, they’re doing their best with what they’ve got.  Palpatine is packed with a little sampling of his “UNLIMITED POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, in the form of two force lightning effects pieces, which plug into his sleeves.  They work okay, but they certainly don’t help with his issues of stability.  He also gets the flashback photo thing, which shows Palpatine from both Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace.  Spoilers!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t vividly recall getting this one, honestly.  I’d imagine I got him in a batch of others, because that’s about the only way I buy a Palpatine figure.  Like a bunch of the other Flashback Photo figures, he’s been sitting there unopened for about seven years, only being opened just before I wrote this review.  He’s fine.  Probably the best Palpatine from the line, at least talking technically.  I dislike that he can’t stand on his own, but I can at least provide an extra stand to offset that issue.

Shoutout to 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.

#3884: Corporal Hicks

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

CORPORAL HICKS

ALIENS (KENNER)

I very recently revisited my first discussion of Aliens here on the site, and in that, I realized that I directly reference in that review a figure that I’ve not actually reviewed here.  The crazy thing is that it’s an Aliens figure, and it’s a Hicks figure, so it feels crazy that I’ve somehow managed to miss it up to this point.  Well, it only feels right to finally get around to fixing that issue now.  So, without further ado, let’s finally look at the basic standard Kenner Hicks figure!  

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Corporal Hicks was one of the Colonial Marines released in the original series of Kenner’s Aliens line, originally released under the Operation: Aliens title, before being adjusted back to the film’s original title.    The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  All of the Colonial Marines got a lot of adjusting and changes to their designs for Kenner’s line, but Hicks probably comes out the most unscathed.  There are still certainly a lot of smaller changes to the exact layout of the armor and exactly what makes up most of it, but at the same time, he still passes the squint test of the the “classic” Hicks look, I feel.  The head’s a nice enough piece, and compared to a lot of the other humans in the line, actually looks passably like Michael Biehn, so you can tell who he’s supposed to be.  The bulk of this sculpt got re-used for O’Malley later in the line, and was repainted in its entirely for the 10th Anniversary Hicks figure in ‘’96.  Hick’s paint work is honestly pretty solid.  It’s basic, and again has some change-ups from the movie look, but at the same time, it keeps the general theme pretty much there, and it doesn’t go as radically ‘90s as some of the others in the line.  Hicks is packed with his “Alien-ator” missile launcher with two missiles to go with it, as well as the sort of odd claw-arm attachment, which can also be flipped around for use as a more conventional rifle sort of thing.  He also included a sheet of stickers for the purposes of customizing his armor, much like the Marines in the movie.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first introduction to the Alien franchise was Alien Resurrection, which I caught on TV when I was 10.  That was enough to get 10-year-old me invested, so I went back to watch the others.  In the process, I also wanted toys, because of course I did.  I bought Ripley after seeing Alien, but before Aliens, and then, because he was the other figure that Cosmic Comix had, I went back and got Hicks, before even knowing who he was.  Look, I just had a good feeling about him.  It certainly played out in my favor, though.  This guy was my favorites of the Kenner run, and he kind of still is.  He’s not as showy, but he’s just kind of a nice, solid figure.

#3883: Mr. Terrific

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

MR. TERRIFIC — MOVIE

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

“Mr. Terrific wields his trademark T-spheres – small, multi functional metal orbs the size of tennis balls which he controls with complex hand signals.”

The JSA’s coverage in the vintage Kenner Super Powers line consisted of exactly one figure, but McFarlane’s continuation’s done a really good job of getting those numbers up.  Today’s figure is *technically* a continuation of that, in the sense that it’s Mr. Terrific, who *is* a JSA member, but also he’s a movie figure, and a modern JSA member, contrasting the otherwise Golden Age membership up to this point.  Personally, I’m taking what I can get.  I’m hard-pressed to complain about getting any version of Mr. Terrific.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Terrific (Movie) is part of Series 12 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which is a whole assortment based on the Superman movie hitting at the end of the week.  Terrific looks poised to be a notable part of the movie, so he’s a very sensible choice.  He’s also one of two movie figures to not have a comics-equivalent already in the line, but his costume design is close enough that you could certainly use him as a comics stand-in, were you so inclined.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Terrific’s using the smaller Flash-based body, which is a decent enough match for him, at least in terms of just basic build.  It’s not a bad base body, so I can’t really knock it.  He gets a new head, jacket, and belt.  The head, much like the Superman head, has a resemblance to Edi Gathegi, but not really a proper likeness.  It’s a bit on the large side again, and I do wish that there was any sort of texturing on the hair, but it’s generally an okay sculpt.  The jacket and belt are more on the basic side, but both sit well on the body.  In terms of coloring, the figure’s got a fair bit going on.  It’s a bit of a mixed bag in terms of how well things work.  I do like the logos and writing on the torso, jacket, and arms.  An unfortunate downside of this figure’s assembly, namely the visible pins at the knees in contrast to the way Kenner did it, means he winds up with rather obvious black pegs on the inner knees, which isn’t great.  I was initially going to complain about just painting over the boots as if they weren’t there, but that’s accurate to the movie, so good for them on that one, I suppose.  Accessories aren’t standard with these guys, but a T-Ball would have been cool.  As it stands, if you want anything to go with him, you’ll have to buy the T-Ship for him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m a fan of Mr. Terrific in general, regardless of which version.  While I was low-key hoping for a Terry Sloane to go with the other classic JSA-ers, I also don’t mind getting Michael in the slightest.  He was definitely one of my primary interests jumping into this set.  He’s perhaps not the most outwardly showy and impressive figure, but he’s still fun, and he’s a more unique design for the line.

#3882: The Thing

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THE THING

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

“The Thing’s super-strength, rock-hard skin and never-say-die attitude make him an invaluable ally in a fight. And his loyalty, heart-of-gold and great sense of humor make him the best friend anyone could have. Before he became the Thing, Ben Grimm was a top test pilot. Now he flies the Fantastic Four wherever super-trouble erupts.”

Last week, I discussed the pending release of the first of the two Super Hero movies this month, Superman.  This week, I’m starting my build-up to the *other* movie, hitting at the end of the month, Fantastic Four!  The FF have have rather a storied history in terms of movies (including two movies directed by a guy named Story….), at best rising to “okay,” but never truly living up to the potential of the team as showcased in the comics.  It is my very distinct that this one is the one that breaks the curse.  The actual movie tie-ins haven’t quite hit yet, so I’m gonna just stick to my recent formula with some vintage Toy Biz reviews.  Here’s Benjamin Grimm, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Thing was released in Series 3 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line, which was a whole assortment devoted to the FF and their associated characters.  It was Ben’s first figure under Toy Biz, and only his second figure, following up on the Mego.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s by far TB’s least articulated take on Ben, owing largely to them still not quite having a firm handle on where they were going with articulation.  He gets the basic 5, and even then, one of his shoulders is a but hindered by his action feature.  He’s notably small for Ben, especially a ‘90s Ben, where he was really getting scaled up.  Instead, his stature and build feels a lot more like an early career Ben.  The slight softness of the sculpt kind of adds to that.  To my eye, he looks a lot like the Hannah-Barbera Thing, which, honestly, I don’t hate.  Despite being a departure, he still very much feels like the Thing, and that’s what’s most important.  His color work is generally basic.  The orange is all molded plastic, and it’s admittedly rather on the yellow side of shading.  Certainly more than I’m used to.  There’s no accenting or anything, so the already soft sculpt feels even softer, which is a bit unfortunate.  He’s sporting his Byrne-era colors for the costume, which was still current at the time.  It’s actually a dark blue, rather than the very bright shade they kept going with later, so it feels more authentic than Toy Biz’s other versions.  Ben is packed with a rather neat street sign accessory.  It’s bent and breaks into two pieces, and it even says “Yancy Street” at the top, which s a really neat character touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, my first Ben was the disguised version from Series 3 of the cartoon line, which was the current version when I got into collecting.  He remained my only figure of the character in this scale for my entire childhood.  This figure was actually my brother’s, which he bought from Cosmic Comix some time in the mid-00s.  When he scaled down his collection after high school, I happily absorbed this guy into mine.  He’s a different sort of figure, and not really your conventional take, but I like him a lot.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0034: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

Hey, it’s July 4th.  Well, isn’t that something. Really going great for us as a country here, huh?  Lot to celebrate?  American Dream feeling super realized?  Oh, wait, no, it’s actually none of those things.  Well, gee, that’s a bit of a bummer.  And I’m not even writing a proper review today?  Wow, guys, sorry.  If nothing else, I’ll lean into my own personal coping mechanism for the ugliness surrounding us, which is championing behind a man who’s loyal to the dream and made a career out of punching Nazis, Captain America!

“When Captain America throws his mighty shield! All Foes who chose to oppose his shield must yield!”

-Captain America Theme Song

My first introduction to Captain America was through VHS copies of the ‘60s cartoon. As cheesy as they are, I loved every minute of them. Sadly, in the mid-90s, when I was becoming so fond of Cap as a character, he was more or less absent from toy shelves. I eventually got the Spider-Man: The Animated Series version when it was finally released, but the figure I always wanted was Toy Biz’s first version of the character, which I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line. This Cap stands just under 5 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. This figure predates elbow articulation becoming a standard for Toy Biz’s Marvel stuff, as they were still very much aping the Kenner Super Powers style, and none of those had elbow movement. Really, this whole figure in general feels like a Captain America figure done to fit with Super Powers (well, aside from size, since he’s taller than any figure Kenner put out), which is far from a bad thing. Rather than the more ‘90s-esc proportions of which Toy Biz would later become so fond, Cap is pretty subdued, and looks more or less like a real person. His torso features some awesome detailing for the scale-mail, and I love the way they’ve sculpted the star logo so as to make it pop a bit more. Figures of Captain America have the unfortunate tendency to miss the mark on the good Captain’s face. I guess he’s just one of those characters where it has to be just right. I think this figure’s the closest anyone’s ever gotten to my ideal Captain America, at least from a comic-based perspective. It’s a little round by today’s standards, but I really like the overall style present here.  There’s just a certain sincerity to it that lots of Caps lack. Cap’s paintwork is quite nicely handled, especially for the time. The colors are all nice and bold, and he really sells the whole patriotic super hero thing. His eyes are admittedly a little wonky, and it would have been nice for his belt buckle to be something other than the unpainted blue plastic, but those are relatively minor complaints. Cap was packed with his mighty shield, as well as a weird launching device for it. However, my figure sadly lacks these pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in the intro, this was a figure I really wanted growing up. Unfortunately, he was released before I got into collecting, and wasn’t very easy to find after the fact. So, I had to settle for the US Agent repaint from a few series later. In fact, my dad, as awesome as he was, even bought me an extra US Agent and we painted him up in proper Cap colors, which held me over quite nicely. This particular figure ended up being one of the fifteen figures I picked up at the last Balticon. I’m glad to finally have the official version, and he’s aged a bit better than a lot of Toy Biz’s output from the same time period.

Well, after being rather disappointed with my own review for last week’s Addendum, this one feels more on the money.  Admittedly, it was a generally better time for my writing.  I’d just graduated from college, and I was writing this in my down time on an RV trip I took with Jess and her aunt and uncle.  It gave me more time to properly appreciate things.  I do still really like this guy.  Since my original review, I did manage to track down a shield and launcher for him.  It’s the same one used with US Agent, of course, but in more proper coloring.  It’s gimmicky, but ultimately not in a really obtrusive way, so I don’t hate it.  All-in-all, Toy Biz kind of hit it pretty strong with their original Cap, and I don’t really know that they ever truly topped it.

#3881: Darth Vader

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

DARTH VADER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“Darth Vader was known and feared throughout the galaxy as incredibly ruthless and evil, one who used the awesome powers of the dark side of the Force to carry out Emperor Palpatine’s horrific plans. But deep inside Lord Vader lay vestiges of the person he once was: young Anakin Skywalker, discovered on the planet Tatooine by a Jedi Knight who recognized the boy’s special Force talents. Anakin showed much promise and grew to be a great Jedi. Finally, the dark side beckoned him – and Anakin became Darth Vader.”

I’ve circled back a few times with Power Force regarding its initial approach to the characters with minimal changes between the films in the original trilogy.  At the start, they went with the same set-up as the vintage Kenner line, so characters like Vader, Chewbacca, R2, and 3PO each got one sort of averaged out, all encompassing figure.  As the line expanded, however, they clearly realized how limiting that might be, so slightly more diversified, film specific variants made their way in.  1998 kicked off with a rather specifically Return of the Jedi Vader with a fancy removable helmet and the proper inner robe he’d not had before.  At the end of the year, another Vader did something else never done before: a specifically A New Hope Vader.  It held that title for less than a year, but that’s hardly the point.  Let’s jump into to this short span Vader, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darth Vader was released in 1998’s first portion of the “Flashback Photo” Power of the Force II figures.  There was quite an A New Hope focus in this round of figures.  Vader, for his part, with his included lightsaber and slight action pose, was definitely designed to pair off with Obi-Wan from the same set.  The figure is just over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  He sported the same improved articulation as much of the other figures in this particular sub-set.  It does allow him to properly hold his lightsaber with both hands, which is at least pretty nice.  His sculpt was all-new, though it would see re-use a few times down the line later.  It’s…well, it’s something.  After the far improved sculpt we saw on the removable helmet Vader, this one is rather a step back, feeling far more in line with the earlier, puffier Vaders from the line.  The improved mobility is nice, but ultimately limited by how much extra bulk he’s got going on.  There’s at least some rather sharply sculpted texturing, so he’s a general step up from the original Vader in a purely technical sense.  The inner robe, which goes over his shoulder plate, is properly detailed, and even looks like its properly hanging on the armor beneath.  His paint work is also a bit better.  There are some more subtleties, with variations on the finish of the black sections, as well as red lenses on the eyes of the helmet.  Vader is packed with his lightsaber, as well as the Flashback Photo thingy.  It shows Vader proper, and then younger Anakin for the second time.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In a line with a bunch of rather similar Darth Vader figures, this one is notable for the lack of any real distinguishing features.  I guess he’s got some extra articulation?  For me, he falls squarely into “bought it for completion’s sake” territory.  I got him alongside a few of the other Flashback figures because he was there and I was getting the rest.  Luke and Obi-Wan were both figures I regretted waiting so long to actually open, but Vader…Vader’s just sort of meh.  He does nothing to really stand out at all.

Shoutout to 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.

#3880: Astro Megazord

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

ASTRO MEGAZORD

POWER RANGERS IN SPACE (BANDAI)

With Hasbro’s Lightning Collection ended and Playmates taking the line back to the Mighty Morphin roots again, I don’t do much talking about Power Rangers around here these days.  It’s not for lack of appreciation, but I’ll admit I don’t have *quite* the attachment some people do to it.  I am, however, a hardcore Power Rangers in Space supporter, so I do have my collection of stuff associated with that show, even going back to the original tie-in line for the show.  Something entirely absent from all of my Rangers coverage up to now is the Megazords, which are kind a key piece of all the shows.  I don’t really have many, because of the space commitments, but I still gotta get that In Space coverage somehow, so let’s look at an Astra Megazord.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Astro Megazord was released as part of the first “Action Zords” assortment of Bandai’s Power Rangers in Space tie-in line in the Spring of 1997.  The Action Zords were smaller scale Zords sold in the same blister style packaging as the standard release figures, as a sort of competitor to Micro Machines’ Action Fleet range.  There were two versions of the Astro Megazord, one in robot configuration, the other in ship mode, and the Mega Tank.  This figure here is the robot Astro Megazord, in case you couldn’t tell.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation.  The articulation is rather on the restricted side.  The neck, shoulders, and elbows are all just cut joints, while the hips and ankles are rather simple ball-joints.  None of it has much range, but then again, neither did the show design.  The biggest hang-up, really, is the lack of hinges on the elbows.  Also, for whatever reason, none of the joints really stay in place, so he falls apart a lot, especially at the arms.  There are also opening flaps on the torso and lower legs, allowing for some storage space. The sculpt here actually recreates the show design rather well, and since it’s not sporting any sort of transformation feature, it even winds up being more show accurate than the standard Megazord release. The sculpt is generally pretty sharp in terms of detailing, and there’s not too many concessions made for translating it to toy form. The Astro Megazord’s color work is pretty much just the basics, but it does those well. The colors match okay with the show (the blue could perhaps be a shade lighter, but it’s very minor), and the paint application is overall clean and without notable slop or bleed over. Mine’s got some slight wear, but given how long I’ve had him, he’s really not bad. The Astro Megazord is packed with his sword, shield, and blaster, as well as a miniature Red Ranger and Astro Glider. Andros and the glider are far from proper scaling, but still pretty neat, and show that lean into the Action Fleet stylings most clearly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was one of the handful of In Space toys I had when the show was still on. He was most definitely a purchase by my Grandmother on one of our KB Toys trips when I’d go and stay with her and my Granddad. This one got quite a bit of play, and got lugged back and forth to my post-Kindergarten day care more than a few times. I lost Andros and one of the arms along the way. Well, I lost the whole thing, and even bought myself a replacement a couple of years ago, but then I found most of my original, and used the replacement to restore him. He’s small, but super cool.

#3879: Superman – Movie

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

SUPERMAN — MOVIE

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

This month is shaping up to a pretty solid one in terms of super hero movie coverage, with offerings from both Marvel and DC hitting in the next four weeks, both aiming to refresh the companies’ respective cinematic universes.  DC is up to bat first, with their latest attempt at bringing Superman to the big screen.  There’s a pretty decent product push for this one, in contrast to the last several DC movie projects, allowing you to get Big Blue and his supporting cast in several different styles.  McFarlane’s got both 7-inch and Super Powers figures, and if you know anything about me, you can probably guess which direction I leaned on that split.  So, without further ado, here’s another Super Powers Superman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman (Movie) is part of the 12th assortment of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which is an entire assortment dedicated to the movie.  While Super Powers has never done direct movie tie-ins previously, there were plans to do some loosely tied-in items for the Reeve movies in the Kenner days, and both Kenner and Toy Biz would use derivatives of the original molds for figures tying into the Keaton Batman movies, so it’s not entirely unprecedented.  Given the aim of the film to be more classically comic-inspired, it also seems to fit with this movie specifically.  The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  At his core, he’s the same as the updated classic Superman, which makes a lot of sense.  I do really like this base body, and there’s no denying that it feels like a good extension of the vintage Kenner stuff.  He gets a new head, belt, and boots in order to help make him more in line with the new movie design.  The head is clearly modeled on Corenswet, but it’s not a direct likeness, instead being kind of merged with a more traditional Superman look, for something more “style guide” appropriate.  It does seem perhaps a touch too large for the body, but not to a ridiculous extent.  The new boots and belt modify the body to bring it more in line with the modified suit design, but still keep things a little more stripped down and clean than the actual on-screen design, which I think works a little better for the line.  He’s also got a cloth cape, which I find myself liking a lot more than previous ones; the neck clasp seems to have been made a slightly less odd shape, so it sits in place better.  His paint work is decent enough.  I like the distinct color palette, as it helps him stand out more from the other Supermen.  There’s a little bit of slop/bleedover, but nothing super noteworthy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

At this point, I really am just kind of buying all of the remaining McFarlane Super Powers, in part because I just keep enjoying them, and in part because I know we’ve only got so long before there are again no more.  I wasn’t sure about movie figures, but at the same time, I knew I wanted figures from the movie, and I also knew that I’d want new Super Powers, so I guess it does sort of work out well.  Since Clark himself sold out almost immediately most places, I resorted to ordering him from GameStop, who have remained my most reliable source for these guys.  He’s neat, and I like him a lot.

#3878: She-Hulk

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

SHE-HULK

MARVEL UNIVERSE (TOY BIZ)

So, here’s the neat thing about the original Secret Wars miniseries: it sucks!  Sorry, is that too harsh?  Well, I stand by it.  There were toys, and it’s big and flashy, and it’s got everyone’s favorites in one place, but it’s genuinely just a mess of a story that really doesn’t work if you put in under even the slightest bit of scrutiny.  There were, however, some good things that came out of it.  Obviously, Spider-Man’s new costume is high on the list, but also, in light of Ben Grimm’s decision to stay on Battle World, we get She-Hulk joining the Fantastic Four.  It’s a fun change of dynamic, and it worked out really well in their main book.  It’s also a great excuse for a She-Hulk variant.  Oh hey, here’s one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

She-Hulk is the seventh mail-away exclusive through ToyFare magazine, specifically offered up as an incentive for purchasing a year’s subscription in 1998.  This was Toy Biz’s second go at She-Hulk, which honestly makes her something of a rarity for the mail-aways, who tended to be new characters.  In fact, she’s also a pretty notable character in general, compared to the other caliber of characters generally offered.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and she has 8 points of articulation.  Her mold originally hailed from the Hulk line, which was made up of a lot of rather large figures.  She-Hulk was no exception.  She’s not incredibly posable, though.  The lack of neck or elbows, and the choice to give her the dreaded v-hips means she’s really only good for standing.  And even that’s a bit iffy, if I’m honest.  The sculpt is…well it is what it is.  It’s kind of soft, except for the hair, which is surprisingly sharp by comparison.  Her arms are rather long and her proportions are weird.  With all of the crazy builds of the characters in the Hulk line, I guess this one just sort of threw them for a bit of a loop.  It’s not awful, but not great.  Her distinguishing feature here is the paint work.  She’s got the FF uniform in place of her purple leotard, as seen in the comics.  It matches the earlier Fantastic Four line’s version of the team, so she can fit right in, even if that does mean that she’s got bright blue on the costume when it *technically* should be black, or at least a very dark blue.  I’ll give them a pass, since correcting it for her would mean she wouldn’t match the other figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember seeing the little pamphlet for this figure when she was offered up, but I didn’t fully comprehend at the time how you were supposed to get her.  My main She-Hulk wound up being the Hall of Fame version, and I just never got around to tracking this one down.  That is until I decided I was tired of all of my Toy Biz Marvel figures being boxed up or unopened, and put a bunch of them up on the shelves, at which point I started actively hunting the ones I didn’t have again.  She-Hulk wound up being the first of the ToyFare exclusives I was missing to wind up in front of me for a good deal, so here she is.  She’s got her issues for sure, but she’s good at what she needs to be, which is a Toy Biz FF She-Hulk.  Admittedly, I might be slightly biased on this one.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0033: Mole Man

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

MOLE MAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

We are back with the Flashback Friday Figure Addendums, and today, we’re continuing last week’s return back to my earliest Fantastic Four reviews here on the site.  This one contains less outright lying to my dear readers, but I won’t say it’s without issue.  So, here’s Mole Man!

I’m looking at a fourth (hey that’s neat!) figure from Toybiz’s 90s Fantastic Four line.  This time it’s a figure of their first foe (Other than those wacky cosmic rays):  Mole Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is Mole Man, released in the first wave of Fantastic Four figures.  He’s got 7 points of articulation and he stands about 5 inches tall.  And that’s an issue.  Mole Man is a character typically depicted as being a short, fat guy in the comics, and while Toybiz got the girth right, the scale of this figure is WAY off.  He’s the same height as just about everyone in the line, but he’s obviously meant to be smaller.  Quite frankly, he looks like he belongs with a marvel Legends set up, were it not for the more simplistic styling of the figure.  He’s also got this weird spinning right hand action feature.  When you press the button at the top of his right arm, his hand quickly spins 360 degrees.  I’m not really sure what it’s purpose is, but there you have it.  Somebody thought that was a good hook for the figure.  This figure is fairly disappointing, because the sculpt isn’t bad, but the scale totally kills it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mole Man, while disappointing, actually represents a pretty neat story.  He was purchased in 2003 from a KB Toys liquidation center.  It was pretty much this giant KB, that was full of deeply discounted toys from about 5-10 years earlier.  Mole Man was purchased along with a large selection of other 90s Marvel figures for an insanely low price, which excited me greatly.

Okay, I’m gonna be real with you guys: I don’t like this review.  That’s a first for me.  I’ve looked back on earlier writing and felt like maybe it didn’t hold up as well, but this is the first time I’ve just actively disliked it.  The “wacky cosmic rays” bit is perhaps the only thing I don’t hate.  I blame my desire to place whit over function earlier on in my writing, which sometimes worked, but sometimes did…this?

I feel like I was exceptionally harsh on the figure, specifically on the scaling front, which is a bit much.  Like, yes, he’s too large to properly fit with the rest of the line, but I don’t know that it’s a total deal breaker the way I make it out to be up above.  In fact, it’s a pretty nice sculpt, all things considered.  And yeah, the spinning wrist isn’t the most thrilling feature, but it works well with his staff, and it’s not as intrusive as, say, Dr. Doom’s launching arm or Reed’s rubber arms.  So, I’m gonna have to break from past Ethan and say I think this figure’s actually pretty okay.  He was missing his staff and little Moloid buddy when I reviewed him, but I’ve since found them, and they do really help make him cooler.

Also, I talk a little about the KB Toys Liquidation Center at the end, and say it’s a great story, but then I don’t really elaborate.  The significance of that story is that my Dad, Grandmother, brother, and I took a day trip out to this spot, and we just absolutely loaded up on stuff, a lot of it being Toy Biz Marvel for me.  And then we got lunch, and just generally had a good time of things.  My Grandmother viewed it as sort of a progression of our weekly trips to the KB in the mall near her house, and always reflected pretty positively on the trip, which was pretty cool.  So, *that’s* the cool story.