#3850: X-Man

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

X-MAN

MARVEL’S MOST WANTED (TOY BIZ)

“Nate Grey is a stranger in a strange world. He’s a survivor of the Age of Apocalypse – a world like ours, but one where the evil mutant Apocalypse ruled supreme. Now, after that world’s ruin, Nate finds himself on our Earth, struggling to save it from a similar destiny. Genetically engineered to be the most powerful psi-talent ever, Nate’s discovered that the psychic strain may be too much for his body to handle. Nate has also found that he bears a striking resemblance to the future warrior known as X-Man Cable…”

By-and-large, the sweeping changes made by the “Age of Apocalypse” crossover were swept back to other way when the even ended, reverting the main cast of characters back to their mainstream counterparts without much fuss.  But, what of the characters who didn’t have a counterpart?  Well, a small handful of them actually got to stick around, at least for a little bit.  Nate Grey, aka X-Man, was *technically* the equal number to Cable, but with a different backstory and direct lineage, as well as a quite different ultimate outcome in terms of character, he got kept around for a bit past the event’s wrap-up.  That wound up being extra fortunate, because it *also* gave him extra time to get some toy coverage!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

X-Man is the third and final figure in Toy Biz’s 1998 Marvel’s Most Wanted line.  Its an odd line-up for the name it was given.  At the time, Nate was the closest you’d get to a “heavy hitter” since he was headlining his own book (Blink would later headline Exiles, elevating her personal status a bit, at the same time that Nate was on the downswing; Spat pretty much never got time in the spotlight).  In his solo book, Nate was constantly changing out his attire, generally keeping just a general feel of look, so to go with something more directly marketable, this figure goes back to his original AoA look, which, to be fair, he also sported for a bit in the main 616.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He was honestly pretty solid on the movement front, but contains an interesting design oddity.  His shoulder joints consist of a mix of swivel and ball-joint assembly, with the ball joint pegging into a swivel joint on the main torso.  Said swivel is ultimately redundant, since the ball joint can turn just fine on its own.  Why is it like that?  I don’t know.  The sculpt here is one of the more stylized of the Toy Biz run, though that was kind of true in general for this particular set.  He’s a bit pre-posed, with an odd sort of twist to the body, and he ultimately looks quite a bit elongated, especially the head.  It does end up feeling pretty true to the character, though, so I can’t really knock it.  X-Man’s paint work is generally basic; the suit consists of molded blue and painted yellow.  Application’s all pretty clean, so no issues there.  He’s packed with a rather involved display stand, presumably meant to replicate his psychic powers.  It was one Toy Biz liked a lot; it wound up re-used for Astral Doctor Strange and the Marvel Legends Human Torch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

X-Man is the only one of this set I had as a kid.  I was at Toys “R” Us with my dad, and it was either him or Red Skull.  I only *sort of* knew him from a team-up I’d read with Spider-Man, but I’ve always been more a heroes guy than a villains guy, so X-Man it was.  In retrospect, choosing him over the Nazi does feel like the obvious choice, right?  X-Man actually got a bit of service as some non-X-Man characters, serving as the Rick Jones to my Avengers for a while, and also as a stand-in for Kid Action/Action Boy alongside my Toy Biz M. Bison, who was my go-to for Captain Action.  Look, sometimes my figure options didn’t always match up with the stories my mind needed to tell, okay? Ultimately, he’s still my favorite of the three figures, though it’s certainly nice to have him alongside the other two after all of these years.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0027: Apocalypse

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

APOCALYPSE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

After a brief stop over to the world of Star Wars, this week the Flashback Friday Figure Addendums head back over to Marvel territory. Yes, the end is nigh!  …well, okay, not quite, but I *am* looking at Apocalypse.

“Apocalypse is the evil mutant who has used his sinister genius and mutant ability to turn himself into a merciless one man army! Apocalypse is incredibly strong, able to change his size at will, and has created for himself a weapon system designed to destroy the X-Men. Apocalypse is the most frightening evil mutant on Earth when he turns himself into a giant, puts on this deadly arsenal and attacks!”

Following Magneto’s turn to the side of good in the ’80s, the X-Men spent quite a bit of time in search of a new over-arching big bad. They found a number of potential offerings, none of whom quite hit that same spot, but perhaps the most successful of them was En Sabah Nur, aka Apocalypse. He was a consistent foe in the back half of the ’80s, up into the ’90s, so his place early into Toy Biz’s run was certainly sensible.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Apocalypse was one of the three villains released alongside our heroes in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line. He served as a rather sensible counterpart to the same series’ Archangel figure. The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he had 11 points of articulation (though two of those points can be somewhat debated, since they’re tied into his “action-feature”). Apocalypse’s sculpt, like many others in this assortment, is definitely showing its age. What’s interesting is that it’s due to slightly different factors than some of the others. It’s not that he doesn’t quite live up to his comics appearance the way Archangel or Storm or Cyclops do, it’s actually that he’s too faithful to an Apocalypse design that itself has fallen out of fashion. He depicts Apocalypse as he is seen in his earlier X-Factor appearances, when he was still rather lean, and still rather square and stiff. It’s a very different take on the character, and his beefier revamp design from just a few years later would end up being the prevailing design and informing how the character was depicted for the three decades since his creation. As such, this guy definitely looks out of place amongst the others, but paired with the Cyclops and Archangel from this assortment, he starts to fit in a bit better. Ultimately, the actual sculpt is one of the more competent ones from this first set. I think I’d place him in the number three slot, after Nightcrawler and Magneto. His proportions are certainly believable for this incarnation of the character, and his construction is quite sturdy. Apocalypse’s paintwork is fairly standard stuff. It’s rather limited, and the application is messy in some spots, especially the belt. Apocalypse included a staff, which is supposed to have a “gem” at the top of it. Mine’s gone missing, so my Apocalypse just looks like he’s holding a broken ball-point pen. He also has an “Extending Body” feature, where his torso and legs extend outward, in sort of a stretching sort of fashion. It’s rather goofy, and not really worth much extra, but it’s not like it impedes the figure overall.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m not 100% sure how I got Apocalypse. He was an earlier addition to the collection, I know that much, most likely gotten during my parents early efforts to expand my collection. I was watching the cartoon by that point, so I knew the character. Regardless of how I got the figure, he’s stuck with me for quite some time, despite my not being super into Apocalypse. As I noted in the review, he’s a somewhat dated figure, based on an outdated design, but he’s actually one of the stronger figures in the first assortment, and he depicts a version of the character we don’t often see.

This review is from 2018, so…well, okay, I guess it’s not *super* recent, but in my mind I consider it recent.  It’s got all the trappings of a modern review.  And, you know what, I was actually pretty kind to this figure, given it’s Apocalypse and he’s not usually one of my favorites.  It helps that this is just a figure that I find really fun, even now.  When I reviewed him, my Apocalypse was missing the “Jewel” from his staff, which I have now found.  Yay!  It’s just a solid blue spike-y thing, not particularly jewel-y, and I don’t think it really disarms the “ballpoint pen” vibe the staff already had, but at least it’s complete.  Of course, he’s still missing the cables that go from the torso to the arms, but that’s a whole other thing.

#3849: Kabe & Muftak

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

KABE & MUFTAK

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE (KENNER)

The ’90s run of Power of the Force has a pretty impressive depth to it, making it the first really notable example of getting a bunch of figures based on all the blin-and-you’ll-miss-them aliens that appear in the original trilogy.  Obviously, it was just sort of the tip of the iceberg in terms of what Hasbro would do as the line expanded, but there are still a number of characters who got their first figures under PotF and haven’t yet gotten a follow-up.  Today’s entry, which focuses on two patrons of the Mos Eisley cantina, is kind of in line with that.  So, let’s look at Kabe and Muftak.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Kabe and Muftak were an online-exclusive Star Wars: Power of the Force release, made available on Hasbro’s direct shop in 1998.

Kabe here is the smaller of the two included figures, putting her somewhere in the area of Jawa sizing in terms of scale. She’s technically the more fortunate of the two figures, having gotten a second figure after this one (though that one was really just a minor repaint of this one).  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and she has 4 points of articulation.  Since she’s got that long robe over the legs, she get no movement there, with movement ending at the waist.  It does at least make her a rather stable figure.  Her sculpt is fine.  It’s a little rough, for sure.  A lot of the Power of the Force figures are somewhat dated looking, but still look finalized, but Kabe is…well, she feels a little bit unfinished.  I think it may be partly to do with the available reference material, or rather the lack of it, since she’s not exactly a highly visible character.  But, it’s at leas rather unique, so I guess there’s that.  The vest is a separate piece, so you can remove it for a bit more customizability, and perhaps give it to another smaller creature?  I do rather like her paint work, which adds quite a bit of accenting, and really helps to offset the more unfinished nature of the sculpt.  Kabe is packed with a sci-fi knife thingy.

Muftak is the one-and-done of the set (though the sculpt was re-used in the Saga Collection line for Foul Moudama, from Clone Wars), so there’s more riding on this one?  Also he’s a lot larger.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  He’s very tall, but not very posable.  But, he’s also a bit pre-posed.  So there’s that.  I do like that one elbow swivel he’s got.  He’s sporting an at the time unique sculpt.  It’s actually quite a nice sculpt.  The fur detailing is solid, showing a better flow than most of the Chewbaccas from the line, and his generally unique look is sold rather well.  He’s also just nice and solid-feeling, and stands really well on his own.  Just a lot of wins there.  The paint’s not bad.  There’s same accenting and shading on the fur, which is perhaps a touch heavy in some spots, but overall works quite well.  Muftak is packed with a larger blaster pistol, which he can rather awkwardly hold in his left hand, if you’re so inclined.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m firmly in the group of people that would probably have no clue these characters even existed were it not for the figures.  And, also the decision to go completist on this line.  The web exclusives can be a bit spotty on ease of access, mostly because so many people ignored them for so long.  They’re not expensive, but they’re rarer to show up.  I snagged these two, loose, from a sizable Star Wars collection traded into All Time a couple of years ago.  Kabe’s nothing much to write home about, but Muftak’s honestly pretty cool.

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.

#3848: Newt

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

NEWT

ALIENS: REACTION (SUPER 7)

Even though Aliens may be my favorite movie, I find myself running out of things to get from the movie in terms of merchandise because, well, how much can you buy, right?  So, I missed last year’s Alien Day.  This year, though I totally had stuff to review! …Too bad it fell on a Saturday, and I’m not doing Saturday reviews anymore.  Guess that stuff’s getting reviewed on a not Alien Day day.  Which, it just so happens, is today!  I’m picking up on a thread I started back in 2022, when I started looking at Super 7’s Aliens ReAction figures.  Thus far, I’ve looked at Hicks, Bishop, and Ripley.  Now, I’m looking at the last piece of the film’s survivor part, Rebecca “Newt” Jorden!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Newt is part of the one and only series of Super 7’s Aliens: ReAction line.  The figure stands 3 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  In terms of looks in the movie, Newt’s got the two: pre-disheveled and post disheveled.  This one’s aim seems to be the second, but it winds up splitting the difference a bit.  It’s partially a stylistic thing, I think, since the retro figure look is usually a bit cleaned up.  She’s got the torn knees on the pants legs, but also still has both straps connected on the overalls, which she doesn’t in the movie.  Her hair also more nicely parted than the later film look.  But, generally speaking, it does a good job of dialing into her defining look, so you can tell who she’s meant to be, even without the context of the other characters.  Her color work is more basic and pitched to a more saturated level then seen in the movie, which means she matches up well with the other figures in the set.  Newt is packed with the most sensible accessory possible for her: the head of her doll, Cassie.  It’s got a little tuft of hair sticking out, so she can hold it in her hand, which she does pretty securely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set is one of those ones that I wanted to finish, but also I have put virtually no actual effort into finishing.  That hasn’t changed, for what it’s worth.  The first two landed in front of me, and the Ripley a couple of months later.  It’s been a longer stretch of time, but a full loose set got traded into All Time a couple of months ago, meaning I had the chance to snag the ones I didn’t already have.  Newt was at the top of the list for me, so I was definitely glad she was in there.  Now I’ve got my little pseudo family all complete, and that’s honestly pretty cool.

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.

#3847: Spectre – Hal Jordan

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

SPECTRE — HAL JORDAN

OTHER WORLDS (DC DIRECT)

As I anxiously await having more Super Powers to review, I’m going to be getting my DC fix by taking a dive into my back catalogue of DC figures from years gone by.  In the late ’90s/early ’00s, DC Direct started making a splash in the DC toy world by offering up figures of the non-Batman and Superman denizens of the DC universe, especially giving focus to the weirder element of things.  In 1999, after a redemptive death as Parallax, Hal Jordan was chosen as the new host for The Spectre, DC’s spirit of vengeance.  For about 6 years, that was Hal’s main bit, and during that period, he managed to get an action figure of him in the role, courtesy of those oddballs over at DC!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spectre — Hal Jordan was released in DC Direct’s Other Worlds line-up, which hit in June of 2001.  A roughly year and a half turnaround time was actually quite quick for such a line, so that was quite a cool bit for Hal.  This was Hal’s second figure under DCD, following up on his Hard Traveling Heroes release from the year prior.  It is, to date, the only figure of Hal from his time as the Spectre.  The figure stands just under 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Hal’s presence in this set owes to two things: firstly, the Jim Corrigan version of Spectre had been released the year prior, so they needed a different one for this spirit-based line-up, and secondly they needed a parts re-use heavy figure to offset costs.  As such, he’s an almost complete re-use of the Hard Traveling Heroes Hal.  Given that Hal’s Spectre design intentionally referenced his GL design, it’s far from the worst choice.  It helps that it’s just a pretty strong sculpt in the first place, and really holds up as one of DCD’s best from their early days.  It’s not terribly posable, I suppose (the v-hips in particular are tricky to work with), but it’s got a good balance to the proportions and there’s a cool Neal Adams vibe to it that’s just always super cool.  The only new sculpted part is the left lower arm, which is now an open gesture, rather than a grip.  What’s interesting is that they chose to replace his left hand, not his right, meaning the figure still has a sculpted right on his right hand, which is kind of funny.  It’s all topped off with a cloth cloak piece, which is a really nice piece, with an inner lining, and a wire on the edge for posing.  Hal’s color work is generally basic, but by far the coolest thing about it is the glow-in-the-dark plastic used for the bulk of it.  I’m a real sucker for glow-in-the-dark stuff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Hasbro 9-inch Hal was my first Hal Jordan figure in general, but this one was my first Hal in a more conventional scale.  My dad had a friend who worked at Diamond, and he would get us DC Direct figures, and my dad made sure he ordered me this one.  Even though he wasn’t a GL, this guy got a ton of play time as my primary Hal Jordan.  The fact that he has a generally green palette allowed me to fudge things a bit as to which identity he was using.  I remember in particular him accompanying me to our attempt to go see the Fourth of July fireworks in 2001, which got rained out, and holding him up to the window as we passed road lights trying to get his glow feature to charge.  He remains one of my favorites to this day.  Looking back on him, I’m still impressed by just how good a sculpt he’s got, and it’s neat that we got this look at all, given how scarce it’s become overall.

#3846: Spat & Grovel

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

SPAT & GROVEL

MARVEL’S MOST WANTED (MANUFACTURER)

Last week, I wrapped up my reviews of the Toy Biz X-Men Savage Land series, looking at Joseph, a very dialed into the moment character at the time of his release.  So, today, let’s dial in even further!  In the 1997 storyline that sent a portion of the X-Men to the Savage Land (which I referenced in my Joseph review), Gambit is set upon by Spat, a bounty hunter who has a past with him.  Spat and her bestial partner Grovel are more or less a footnote in the X-Men’s history, but they have the fun little side-bit of being designed by creators Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira specifically to be too weird to make for a good transition to toy form (something most X-characters where doing at that point).  So, they made them a woman aging in reverse and a weird space lizard.  And, of course, they had their own action figures in less than a year, because of course they did.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spat & Grovel were released in the 1998 Marvel’s Most Wanted series from Toy Biz.  It’s…well, it’s certainly a bold name for a series that included Spat & Grovel…or really any of the figure’s from it.  But, there it was.  These two are certainly the most obscure of the three offerings, hence this also being the only time they’ve shown up as action figures.

Spat’s really the main figure here, with Grovel being kind of an accessory, much in the same way as the Savage Land sets handled their figure and creature set-ups.  The figure is about 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Given her smaller stature, she just moves at the basic five, and even then, the hips are v-hips, so the end result is a figure that really doesn’t move all that much.  She’s really just a stand-er.  The sculpt does an okay job of capturing Madureira’s drawings of the character, with his slightly more cartoonish proportions and stylings all pretty well present.  The head admittedly looks a bit too much like a full-grown woman’s head, on a very small body.  That being said, it’s not a terrible offering.  I do like the flow on the headband, though, as well as the texturing on the fur of her outfit.  Spat’s paint work is pretty solid.  Both the hair and outfit get some accenting work to help sell the sculpted details as well.  Spat is packed with a spear with a chain on the end of it, which she holds nicely in her left hand.

Grovel’s a big space lizard, and that’s what this figure aims to be.  He’s a big, chunky thing, a fair bit larger than Spat.  Exactly *how* much larger than Spat he’s supposed to be varied a bit in the comics, so the figure just goes for demonstrably larger, and makes it work.  He’s got base movement at the top of each leg, and the tail can twist, so there’s some slight variation in play.  He’s also got a mouth opening action feature; pushing down the front-most fins opens the mouth up a fair bit.  He’s got some cool patterning for the paint work, which is pretty fun to look at, and generally sells the whole “giant space lizard” bit rather well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I had literally no clue who Spat and Grovel were, and they were new, so my dad, who was my primary source of information on “who these guys were,” didn’t know either, so I kind of just missed out on them.  As such, they were the last of this particular set I picked up, actually just a few weeks ago.  I’ve been on a real Toy Biz kick, largely because I’m finally trying to actually put them out on display, and I put the other two from this set out and figured it might be a good time to finally finish the set.  They’re a rather goofy pair of characters, and not so much toy-friendly, but at the same time, I don’t think they’re un-toy-friendly either.  And, it’s not like there’s ever going to be another version of this pair, so they’ve got that particular novelty, if nothing else.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0026: Princess Leia Organa as Boushh

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA as BOUSHH

STAR WARS: SHADOWS OF THE EMPIRE (KENNER)

For our second Flashback Friday Figure Addendum that’s actually back on a Friday, I’m following up on a thing from last week, and doing another Star Wars follow-up.  Heck, it’s even another Shadows of the Empire follow-up, because that’s how I roll…you know, right now specifically.  Anyway, let’s revisit Leia as Boushh!

“After Han Solo was captured by Boba Fett, several attempts were made on Luke Skywalker’s life which threatened the future of the Rebellion. Princess Leia Organa and Chewbacca sought to protect the young Jedi, and traveled to Coruscant to follow up leads surrounding these attempts. They hoped to draw from the extreme intelligence gathering network of the Black Sun, a criminal organization whose operations extended to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Because Coruscant is the homeworld of the Empire- a dangerous place for any member of the Rebel Alliance- Leia disguised herself as the renowned Ubesian bounty hunter Boushh. Boushh’s helmet concealed her entire face while a built-in voxscrambler altered her voice to resemble that of an Ubesian; a false I.D. and code taken from Black Sun completed her disguise and provided a safe level of anonymity. Little did she know that Prince Xizor, Underlord of Black Sun, was behind the murder attempts on Skywalker, and had his sights set on Leia as well.”

Long bio there.  How do you follow that, amirite?  Um, so, yeah, today’s another Star Wars review. Yaaaay.  This time around I’m taking a look at another Princess Leia figure, specifically the one from that time she pretended to be a bounty hunter.  Everybody loves bounty hunters!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Leia in Boushh disguise was released not as part of the main Power of the Force II line, but instead as part of the basic assortment of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (she would later see a re-release on a standard PotF2 green card, though).  She has the notoriety of being the only movie-based figure in the line-up.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  As with the PotF2 Slave Leia figure, this Leia is a bit on the tall side.  This was a recurring issue early into this line; at least they were consistent, right?  Leia sports a unique sculpt. It’s fairly decent for the time, being only slightly pre-posed and generally pretty decently proportioned.  It captures the look from the movie pretty well, and only makes minor stylistic adjustments.  The thermal detonator in her left hand is permanently attached, which removes a little bit of versatility from the figure, but given how integral that piece is to her intro in Jedi, I’m willing to give them a pass.  The head doesn’t exactly look like Carrie Fisher, but it also doesn’t look like a chimpanzee, which puts it ahead of most of the Leias of the time.  The paintwork on Leia is generally pretty solid.  The colors match well enough with what we see on-screen, and the application is all pretty clean.  Leia was packed with a removable helmet and half-cape to complete her Boushh look, as well as the usual staff, which according to the packaging is actually a blaster rifle.  Who knew?  I certainly didn’t.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This wasn’t my first Leia (that was the monkey-faced ANH version), but this figure has the distinction of being my go-to Leia for most of my childhood.  I actually don’t 100% recall where this figure came from.  She was probably a gift, likely for my birthday, but that’s really just me making an educated guess.  Nevertheless, this was my favorite Leia for a good long while, and is the strongest of the ’90s Leia figures.  This figure is pretty much single-handedly responsible for my love of Leia as Boushh.

This review was actually my very first Shadows figure, tempered a bit, I suppose, by the fact that she’s one of the two that pulled double duty between Shadows and the main line.  I don’t remember specifically where mine came from, but I do recall that purple card, so I know she was the Shadows release.  This review stuck to brevity, but not in a bad way.  I think I was honestly pretty on point here.  When I reviewed her, she was the antithesis of Luke, who had his weapon and half-cape, but no helmet, in that she had the helmet, but not the other things.  Thankfully, I was able to locate the missing parts in the mean time, so she’s all complete again.  The cape likes to pop out of place a lot, but she’s otherwise still a very nice figure, and remains my favorite Leia of this era.

#3845: Commando Droid

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

COMMANDO DROID

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

One of the things Clone Wars did was flesh out the ranks of the two opposing armies a bit more than what we saw in the movies.  Obviously, we got a lot of focus on the individual clones, but the Droids also got some new models not seen elsewhere.  A good number of them were more specialized, but one of the earliest additions to the more standard line-up was the Commando Droid, a more robust take on the standard Battle Droid.  As we finally start to get some more of the droid army in Black Series, we’ve finally made our way to some of those Clone Wars-original designs, meaning we finally get an update to the Commando Droid!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Commando Droid is figure 18 in the Clone Wars sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘ 4th Phase.  The Clone Wars line is really one of the slowest growing of the sub-lines; the Commando Droid is only 1 higher than Pre Vizsla, a figure released at the end of 2023.  It also makes the Commando Droid thus far the only Clone Wars-branded figure in the new standard packaging (though there’s already a Savage Opress in the deluxe equivalent).  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The articulation on this guy hits pretty much all of the notes it needs to, and doesn’t leave really any of his sculpted joints as false ones, which is always nice to see.  I was impressed by how the neck and shoulders worked; the ball joints coupled with the hinges make for an impressive range.  The only part I’m not too keen on is the knees, which don’t go quite as deep as I’d like; they pretty much stop at 90 degrees, which is bare minimum, but not great for lunging and stuff.  Thankfully, the hips and ankles have enough movement to offset.  The sculpt is an all-new one, and it’s a very strong one.  The Commando Droids only exist in the Clone Wars style, but this figure manages to capture the spirit of that design, while also making them feel at home with the rest of the more realistically-styled figures.  The detailing is all very sharp, and the articulation works into the sculpt well.  He’s also quite sturdy, which is an improvement to some of the other droid sculpts.  His paint work is more involved than you might expect.  There’s the base color work, of course, which is good and clean, but he’s also got a fair bit of weathering, which makes him seem a little more battle-hardened, which feels right for such a droid.  The Commando Droid is packed with a standard droid blaster and a vibro-blade.  The blaster fits very nicely in his hands, and the blade can be mounted on his back, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m a big fan of the Commando Droid, and have almost every version from the Clone Wars line.  That’s one of my very favorite molds from that era, so this one was one I was really looking forward to, but ever so slightly worried might not live up to my expectations, especially after being rather letdown by the Magnaguard.  But, I couldn’t bring myself to pass him up, so I snagged him when he hit.  He’s truly a fantastic figure, and a worthy successor to the old Clone Wars mold.  I’m very glad I didn’t skip this one.

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.

#3844: VF-1S Veritech – Roy Fokker

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

VF-1S VERITECH — ROY FOKKER

ROBO DOU (THREE ZERO)

Before today, you could count the Robotech reviews here on the site on one hand.  But now, you can’t!  …you know, because there were five, and this brings it up to six.  Do you get it?  Do you get the joke?  Well, I do, and that’s the most important thing.  As I’ve brought up in, I think, all of my Robotech reviews, I’m rather a late convert to the show, only actually watching it within the last decade.  So, there’s a fair bit of catching up to do, but also I try not to go to crazy and space it out a bit.  Given it’s been three years since my last review, I guess I’m doing alright with that spacing out, huh?  Three Zero has started doing some Robotech stuff in their Robo Dou line, and I do like Three Zero’s work, so I’m checking one of those out today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The VF-1S Veritech — Roy Fokker is part of Three Zero’s Robo Dou line, which handles mechas and robots from a number of different anime properties.  This one follows up on the release of Rick’s Veritech from….2023, I think?  There was a bit of a gap.  Roy’s Veritech just started hitting in the last month or so.  The figure ships in Battloid mode, which is the main look that everyone actually likes.  Well, it’s the main look that *I* actually like, and for the purposes of this site, I’m everyone.  In said mode, the figure is about 8 3/4 inches tall and has 29 workable points of articulation.  It compares well to other Three Zero mech stuff I’ve messed with in terms of articulation and build.  You can get good poses out of him without too much trouble.  The hips can be a little bit finicky, especially the first time you use them.  On my figure, I wound up hitting the folded up wings, and it popped some parts of the torso out of place, which was a bit tricky to get back in order.  But, once I did, everything stayed pretty securely together.  Like the other Three Zero mechs I’ve looked at, this figure is a mix of plastic and die-cast construction.  He’s got quite a bit of heft to him, while also still maintaining a sharp level of detailing.  The color work here is quite impressively handled.  All the base work is very clean, and he’s also got panel lining to really help sell the sharpness of the sculpt.  There’s also a ton of smaller printed details, which show a tremendous attention to detail.  The Veritech is packed with four pairs of hands (weapon holding, flat, open gesture, and fists), a GU11 rifle, and a display stand.  It also includes four sets of missiles, an antenna, and an alternate mount for the base, all meant to work with the figure’s alternate modes.

Let’s talk about said alternate modes!  As with all transforming Veritechs, you get the main Battloid mode, the Guardian mode, and the Fighter mode.  To get from Battloid to Fighter (robot to jet), you stop in the middle for Guardian, which is…well, it’s kind of silly, and it’s not really so much a mode as it is just stopping midway.  Of course, given how nerve-racking the actual transformation process is, a break at the halfway point isn’t so bad an idea.  Even following the instructions, I was left to throw my hands up a slightly improvise a few times, and I had at least one point where I very seriously considered running this review without photos of the alternate modes.  Thankfully, the rest of the transformation to full Fighter mode isn’t quite as bad, nor is the reverse transformation back to Battloid (apart from the one pin that fell out during the transformation back.  It’s okay, it’s not entirely structural…).  The Fighter mode is actually pretty nice, and I do really like the little teeny, tiny Roy figure in the cockpit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since getting into Robotech, I’ve been looking for solid figure coverage of Roy’s Veritech, since Roy’s my favorite pilot, and his Veritech is particularly cool.  I looked at the rather elaborate transforming one that All Time loaned me back in 2018, and I really liked that one, but its price point was a bit scary, so I backed off.  I’ve messed with a few of the smaller ones since, and they’re cool, but always a bit too spindly for me.  I’ve been impressed with Three Zero’s other work, so once I saw they were doing them, I was onboard for this guy here.  He’s fun, in a sort of don’t really want to mess with him all the time, but he’s still really cool to look at way.  I’m glad I got to experience the transforming, and now he can remain purely in Battloid mode for the rest of the time I own 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 and their eBay storefront.

#3843: Green Lantern

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

GREEN LANTERN

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

For the first time since the middle of February, I don’t have a Super Powers figure set for review today.  I know, I’m sad too.  Alas.  Back in January, I had a pretty solid run of DC Universe Classics reviews, with a pretty good focus in particular on the many Hal Jordan Green Lantern variants Mattel did during the line’s run.  I had one that was *not* featured in January, for rather a good reason: I didn’t own in.  But, well, as the photo above this intro may have clued you in, that’s changed in the months since then.  It was inevitable, I feel.  Anyway, here’s another Hal Jordan Green Lantern.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern was added to Mattel’s DC Universe Classics line in 2010, as part of a larger Toys R Us-exclusive line of repaints.  He was the second of four figures offered quarterly throughout the year, following Batman, and preceding Flash and Nightwing.  This figure was also functionally re-released the following year as part of a DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe Classics two-pack with Zodac, with only the included accessory changing.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He uses the same assembly as all the other GL Hals from the line, so medium body, standard Hal head sculpt, and the right hand with the ring on it.  It’s a sculpt I continue to like, but I will say that, as nice as the head is, it’s maybe not quite on the mark for a more modern Hal, which is what this one’s aiming for.  Still, it’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination.  That said, there’s some issues with some of the green plastics from around this time getting brittle, and that happened with mine, resulting in a small chunk of his neck breaking off.  The joint still works and it’s not super visible, but it’s annoying.  Hal’s paint work is the main change-up.  He’s using a similar approach to the one from the 2-pack, with a glossy, metallic finish for his suit.  However, instead of a Super Friends inspiration, Hal’s using his post-Rebirth costume.  So, he loses the “trunks” element of the costume, as well as the other figure’s visible pupils.  I still really like the overall look of the color scheme, but I’d be lying if I said the classic design didn’t still land a bit better for me.  But, at least this one gives other people who didn’t like the last one’s “creepy eyes” a version of the head without them.  Hal’s single-packed release included a power battery, while the two-pack release got a recolor of John Stewart’s gun construct.  Because we certainly wouldn’t want Hal to have the fist construct.  That would be wrong.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember this figure being released, but, as much as I love Hal, I was getting a bit worn thin on him in 2010.  So, I didn’t track this one down when it was new.  But, as I’ve gotten more of the others I missed, I felt the need to go back and get him.  Thankfully, in my line of work, these sorts of things tend to just land in front of me, which is exactly what happened with this guy.  He’s cool.  Kind of a lot of the same stuff as others, and it’s a bummer mine’s got a slight break, but that’s the cost of DC Universe Classics.

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.