#1964: Nick Fury

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

NICK FURY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“In the years following the Cold War, Nick Fury wrestles with his sense of purpose within SHIELD.  When Nick crosses paths with Captain Marvel, they become Earth’s only hope of stopping a Skull invasion.”

Digital de-aging for movies sure has come a long way in the last few years.  It feels like just yesterday that it turned out really odd and rubbery versions of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen for the opening scene of the equally odd and rubbery X-Men 3, but now it’s advanced enough that we can have a major character de-aged for the whole runtime of a film, as is the case for Samuel L Jackson in the upcoming Captain Marvel.  And he doesn’t even look half bad!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nick Fury is first officially numbered figure in the Kree Sentry Series of Marvel Legends (since the basic Captain Marvel didn’t include a BaF piece), and is based upon his ’90s-era appearance from the film.  It would appear that SHIELD’s standard of dress hasn’t changed all that much since the ’90s, as he’s wearing the same Men in Black get-up we’ve been seeing since Iron Man.  Of course, that’s kind of a new look for Fury, who tends to aim more for the trench coats and the like.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. Despite how things may look at first glance, Fury is *not* just a new head on the Coulson body.  He makes use of some parts from it, to be sure, but the torso and legs are definitely new.  Similar to the originals, but new nevertheless.  They actually work a lot better with the pre-existing parts, and result in a figure with much better overall proportions.  Were it not for the loosened tie, I’d say I’d expect this body to be the new standard, though pulling back the jacket also reveals a shoulder holster that would make that a little difficult as well.  The holster’s definitely a fun touch, though, and even makes me a little sad that there isn’t a spare set of arms without the jacket sleeves.  Still, it’s cool that they through that little touch in there.  There’s also a new head, which sports the best Jackson likeness we’ve gotten from Hasbro’s Fury figures, which is kind of funny given it’s non-standard nature.  The paintwork on Fury is okay, apart from one notable exception, that being the collar-line of his shirt.  The paint mask is way too high, so the white bleeds onto his actual neck, which looks weird.  Other than that, he’s okay, I guess, though not terribly exciting perhaps.  Fury is packed with a fairly standard handgun, as well as Carol’s cat Goose in a possibly spoilerific-state, and the right arm of the Kree Sentry.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, this is a figure I was a little bit dreading when it was first shown off, since it looked like he was just going to be on that same suited body we keep getting.  Upon getting him in hand and realizing he was mostly new, I was a lot happier with this guy.  The weird paint mask thing is still a little annoying, and it’s a shame he couldn’t have come with a ’90s Coulson head to go on the old boxed set figure, but I ended up liking this guy quite a bit.

Nick was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys, and he’s still available here.  And, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1963: Captain Marvel

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

CAPTAIN MARVEL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes, Captain Marvel, when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.”

Hey, did you guys know there’s going to be a Captain Marvel movie released at the end of this week?  It kicks off our Marvel movie season for the year, and is notable for being Marvel’s first female-led solo film.  Pretty cool, huh?  Yep.  That’s all I got to say about that.

As with all the MCU films as of late, we’re getting a whole assortment of Marvel Legends to go alongside it, which I’ll be reviewing this week.  I’m starting with the title character, Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel herself!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Marvel is part of the Kree Sentry Series of Marvel Legends, and is one of two Captain Marvels in the line-up (well, three if you count Genis).  This one is the more standard take on the character, based on Carol’s updated costume from when she took over the Captain-ship back in 2012.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  She’s sporting an all-new sculpt, based on her design from the movie.  The general sculpt is decent enough; the detail work is pretty sharp and features some solid recreation of the costume from the movie.  The build on the body is a little thinner than Larson, but it’s not terribly far off; certainly closer than some sculpts we’ve seen.  Captain Marvel has two heads included.  The one she’s wearing in the packaging is the helmeted version.  It’s a decent recreation of what we’ve seen from the trailers so far, though it’s hard to tell how much she’ll be wearing it in the movie.  If it’s anything like the comics, probably not much.  She’s not going to be wearing it much on my shelf either, since, like the comics, it’s not a design I’m all that into.  But, it’s nice that it was included.  There’s also the unmasked head, which is an okay piece, but I don’t think it’s got a spot-on Larson likeness.  I think the hair lies a little close to the face, and makes it look a little wider than it should.  She also got a rather bland expression, though this can be hidden a little by changing up the pose.  The paint work on Captain Marvel is pretty decent.  I dig the metallic colors on the uniform, and the printed face works okay despite the issues with the sculpt.  In addition to the two heads, Captain Marvel includes two sets of hands in fists and flat-handed poses.  The flat hands seem almost comically flattened, but they’re workable, and it’s certainly better than not having the options at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been keeping up with the MCU Legends pretty much as they’ve been hitting, so I wasn’t planning to skip Carol, obviously.  Honestly, this figure’s a “I’m getting the rest of the set anyway” sort of purchase.  She’s not a perfect figure, and I think she may be the weak point of this particular set.  That being said, she’s still a pretty decent offering, and if you just want a basic Captain Marvel, you could do a lot worse.

Captain Marvel was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys, and she’s still available here.  And, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1962: Bossk

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

BOSSK

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

When ranking the distinctive Executioner bounty hunters from Empire Strikes Back, the top spot is always, unquestionably going to go to IG-88.  There’s no contest there.  If I’m picking a number two, I think I’d have to go with Bossk, that shoe-less lizard guy in a Doctor Who costume.  Because, hey, lizards are cool!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bossk was released as part of the Power of the Force II collection in 1997.  He was one of three bounty hunters released that year, alongside 4-LOM and Dengar, all of whom were finally making sure the poor Mr. Fett wasn’t quite as lonely as he’d been since 1995.  This was Bossk’s second figure, following his original vintage release.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation, not surprising for this line. The sculpt was all-new to Bossk, and, amazingly, would remain unique to PotF; a couple of the other Bounty Hunters would keep their PotF sculpts in circulation for a little while, but Bossk was one and done.  Despite the willingness on Hasbro’s part to move past this sculpt, it’s really not a bad offering.  As an alien, Bossk benefits from being what this line excelled at.  The details are sharply defined, pre-posing is at a minimum, and he’s just a generally nice looking figure.  Even the paintwork on Bossk is pretty impressive.  Many of the PotF figures were more basic in their paint application, but Bossk has quite a bit going on.  There are one or two un-painted sculpted elements, but for the most part everything is painted up to properly match his on-screen counterpart.  Bossk is packed with a pair of blasters.  He has his rifle seen in the movie, which is decently sculpted, but there is unfortunately no way for him to actually hold it.  There’s a sling molded to it, so it can go over his shoulder, but it’s still a slight let-down.  He also includes a smaller blaster, which looks to have been made up for this figure.  Fortunately, this one can actually be held.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The only Bossk I had growing up was actually the vintage one, not this one.  This one proved a little trickier to track down than the other PotF bounty hunters.  Fortunately, I was able to get one from my friends at All Time Toys when a loose collection came in.  Bossk’s not without issue.  The inability to hold the gun is really frustrating.  Beyond that, though, he’s a really fun little figure.

#1961: Shockwave

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

SHOCKWAVE

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: SIEGE

You didn’t think I was done with the Transformers reviews, did you?  Of course not, that would be preposterous.  The Transformers are my new life.  They give, they take, and I am merely their humble servant…wait, no that doesn’t quite sound right, does it?  Joking aside, Transformers sure do have a way of forcing themselves into a collection.  They’re a little like potato chips: you can’t have just one (unless you’re me and you don’t actually like potato chips all that much.  I’m weird).  Fortunately, for all of us who feel an undying need for multitudes of Transformers, Hasbro has a tendency to release multiples of them, all at the same time.  Crazy, I know.  I’m mixing things up a bit today and taking a look at a prominent Decpticon fixture, Shockwave!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shockwave is the second of the two figures in the first Leader Class wave of the War For Cybertron: Siege line. The line is very definitely G1-inspired, and so is Shockwave…after a fashion.  I’ll get to that in a moment.  Right out of the box, in his fully-kitted robot mode, Shockwave stands just shy of 7 inches tall from his feet to the top of his head, and he has 30 points of practical articulation.  Shockwave’s out of the box design takes his G1 appearance and sort of amplifies it.  He gets a lot pointier, and of course gets the extra arms as well.  It’s a decent, rather menacing sort of look, and further adds the that inhuman charm of Shockwave.  As we saw with Ultra Magnus, Shockwave is full of a lot of small detail work, which makes him a little more kibbly than the very clean Optimus figure, though it certainly works for Shockwave.  Shockwave may lack the traditional face, but that doesn’t mean Hasbro skimped on the detailing on the head.  It’s chock full of details, and, most impressively, features lightpiping to keep that single eye constantly bright.  So, where does the G1-inspiration hit?  Well, like Magnus, Shockwave is at his core a Voyager-sized figure, with extra attachments meant to bump him up to the Leader size.  While Magnus’ armor transforms him into an almost completely different figure, Shockwave’s extra parts just enhance the base figure.  You can remove the shoulers/extra arms, the backpack, and the “shoes”, and you’re left with a figure that’s a rather spot-on recreation of the original Shockwave.  The resultant figure is a lot more basic, and will slot right in with Voyager-sized figures such as Optimus.  The extra armored parts can then be re-formatted into a goblin glider-looking thing, so they aren’t just sitting in a pile in a corner, like Magnus’ are when he’s stripped down.  Because of this, I find myself most drawn to this configuration for the character.  Of course, the distinction between these two modes is far less drastic than it was on Magnus, meaning switching between them is also a far simpler process.

From his stripped down robot mode, you can transform Shockwave into his next alt-mode.  Like his leader Megatron, Shockwave’s G1 toy transformed into a gun.  With current safety standards, this is less feasible in a modern market, and would result in detrimental changes to the entire figure.  So, Shockwave does *not* turn into a gun, but is rather a Cybertronian battle cruiser of some sort.  In his stripped down form, this cruiser looks vaguely like a submarine, I suppose.  Oh drat, I seem to have left it flipped over for my photo.  Well, would you look at that, it seems to look vaguely gun-shaped when flipped over.  That’s crazy.  Certainly, this is just a coincidence, since Shockwave *doesn’t* turn into a gun.  If, by chance, someone were to try and use this as a gun, I would note that the handle does seem kind of small for the average collector’s hands.  But they definitely wouldn’t be using it as a gun.  Because it’s not.  It’s a submarine–no, sorry, Cybertronian battle cruiser.  For his next mode, you can add the various armor pieces into the mix, which gives the build some wings, thrusters, and more pronounced front end, all of which make for a more distinctly battle cruiser-looking shape.  It’s actually a pretty cool design in its own right, and of the three I’ve looked at so far, this one does seem to have the alt-mode that most fully embraces the Cybertronian vehicle aesthetic.  Shockwave lacks any addition weaponry, but given the ability of the armor to go into the drone/glider configuration, he still feels decently armed.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This one is once again Max’s fault, but I’m willing to give him a little more of a pass.  After I agreed to pick up his Ultra Magnus, he also found Shockwave elsewhere.  In this particular instance, he said he was prepared to take the second Shockwave, but I was, at this point, starting to feel a little more committed to the idea of grabbing a Shockwave of my own.  I don’t have quite the connection to Shockwave that I do to Magnus, and of the two, Magnus is undoubtedly my favorite.  I feel like he warrants the Leader Class treatment a bit more than Shockwave.  Shockwave definitely feels more like a more basic figure with some extras thrown in than a full-fledged higher tier offering.  That being said, there’s still a lot more to this figure than there would be at the Voyager price-point, and I don’t feel like he was overpriced.  He may be my third favorite of the three I have from this line, but that’s not a shot at him in the slightest.

I picked up Shockwave from my friends All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1960: Ultra Magnus

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

ULTRA MAGNUS

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: SIEGE

Well, I started this month off with a Transformers review; might as well finish it with one.  I know, another Transformers review, and so soon after the last one.  I’m blowing your minds, aren’t I?  Okay, probably not, because I’m a little bit predictable, and I very clearly spelled out at the end of my Optimus Prime review that I really wanted a bunch more.  Getting a bunch more was kind of inevitable.  At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.  Today, I’m looking at the inevitable counterpart to any Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus.  A prominent fixture of the brand since the G1 days, Magnus has many times been an easy way to get extra milage out of Optimus Prime/Convoy molds (and has, on one occasion, actually been related to Optimus in continuity).  And now, he’s my newest Transformer.  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Magnus is one of the two figures in the first Leader Class wave of War For Cybertron: Siege.  As with the others in this line, he’s very much G1 inspired, at least in his robot mode.  Said robot mode has Magnus standing 7 1/4 inches tall and gives him 20 practical points of articulation.  He may not be quite as mobile as Prime, but he sure is chunkier.  I mean, like a lot chunkier.  Magnus’s gimmick back in the G1 days was that his main look was the result of a bunch of armor pieces that all assembled over the much smaller inner-bot, a gimmick that this figure brings back, for the first time since the original, in fact.  The fully assembled look is what gives Magnus his more distinctive character, and clips in place and holds together like it were just a fixed part of the figure.  It’s also designed to attach in such a way that it doesn’t really hinder the figure’s movement all too much when he’s all kitted out.  Obviously, the sheer bulk causes a slight limiting factor, but he’s still quite posable.  Where Optimus’s main look was made up of lots of clean lines, Magnus is a little more complicated and fractured, which is ultimately pretty true to the two respective characters.  There’s plenty of small detail work going on here, and I particularly dig all of the little intricacies of the armored parts.  The armored-up look results in a very chunky silhouette, especially when viewing Magnus from the side, but this feels pretty true to the character.  It’s at the very least a consistent bulk, so there’s no random bits of his vehicle mode just jutting out of the back.

When it comes to alt-modes, Magnus has not one, not two, but three.  The first one (which you’ll need to transform him into in order get to the other two) strips him of his distinctive Ultra Magnus armor, revealing an almost all-white Optimus Prime-looking figure, with some blue accents, just like Magnus’ original figure.  It’s *not* the a re-use of the Voyager Class Optimus, which is somewhat surprising, and actually kind of cool.  How often does Magnus get to be the original?  The mold has already been tagged for a Leader Class Optimus, set to be released over the summer, but Magnus gets to be unique until then.  It’s a solid sculpt of its own.  I really appreciate the differences between this and the Voyager Optimus.  There are a few oddities I’m iffy about, like the front wheels just sticking off of the back, and there being a few rather obvious screws, but it’s still a pretty well-crafted figure.  Ultimately, I can’t see myself displaying him this way anyway, so it’s not like it’s a big deal.  Switching between armored and unarmored is pretty easy, and even a relative novice like me didn’t have any real trouble.

Ultra Magnus’ next mode is his primary vehicle mode, which, it should be noted, is the one bit of this figure that’s *not* G1-inspired.  He still turns into a truck cab, but this one is very clearly modeled on Magnus’ vehicle design from the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon.  Seeing as that cartoon was my introduction to Magnus, I can definitely dig it.  Magnus’ transformation into truck felt a lot easier to me than Optimus’, though I’d imagine that’s to prep you for what comes next.

After removing his armor and transforming him into a truck, the third alt-mode has you add the armor back on, this time in the form of the truck’s trailer.  This set-up also follows the RiD model, though it keeps the colors of the G1, obviously.  I found this portion of the transformation to be the most difficult, as there are a lot of bits that all need to clip together, and they had a tendency to fight me and not want to go where they were supposed to.  Fortunately, they come back apart without too much trouble.  Magnus is armed with three different styles of weapon.  He’s got his RT-15 Stethoscopic Detector (the rifle), a pair of C-30 Magnetic Inducer Launchers (the smaller guns), and a pair of W-HV-1000 Simulacrum Blasters (the rockets on his shoulders).  They’re all using the 5mm ports, so they can be held or plugged in various places, and they are also compatible with the effects included with the battle masters.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is Max’s fault again.  At first it was less Max’s fault, because how was he to know that I’ve always had a soft spot for Magnus, and specifically a soft spot for RiD Magnus, and that mentioning the RiD-inspired truck would lead me to want this figure.  Then it became more Max’s fault when he decided to buy his Magnus early from another store, and volunteered me to buy the one on order for him from All Time “since I was planning on grabbing one anyway.” I mean, yeah, I was, but is that really the point?  …Okay, yes it is, but, still.  Whatever the circumstances that led to me getting Magnus, I’m very happy to have him in my collection, and I even more look forward to getting more of these guys.

So, as you may have guessed, I picked up Magnus from All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1959: Booster Gold

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

BOOSTER GOLD

JUSTICE LEAGUE ACTION (MATTEL)

When Hasbro first launched their Titan Heroes concept, most toy collectors balked.  Cheaply-made, all plastic 12-inch figures?  What kind of a collector market is this meant for?  Well, the answer is: none.  They were purely aimed at being a cheap toy for parents to buy you kids, without having to worry about scolding little Johnny about breaking his $20 Black Series figure.  And, if the masses of Titan Heroes and similarly-themed competitors visible at retail are anything to go by, I’d say it was a pretty successful move.  Mattel tried to get in on that success with a couple of similar lines based on the licenses under their banner.  By far the most successful has been their running DC line, which has most recently been based on Justice League Action.  It’s gotten us an interesting assortment of characters, including today’s focus, Booster Gold!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Booster Gold was released in the larger scale Justice League Action line at the beginning of 2018.  Based on the post-52-inspired costume of the cartoon, the figure stands 12 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  He’s more posable than a Titan Heroes release, but still feels a little bit restricted; the lack of ankles is kind of throwing me.  Still, you can get some decent poses out of him, so there’s that.  The sculpt is decidedly more rudimentary than a lot of figures (though, honestly, not too far removed from Mattel’s higher end product from around the same time), and rather skinny and lanky.  The legs in particular seem rather long for the body.  The same basic body is shared between figures in this line, and while I can see it not being a very good fit for a lot fo characters, it’s not terrible for Booster, especially not Booster from the show.  It’s also largely hollow, meaning it feels very lightweight, and could potentially be prone to breaking, though I myself had no issues with it.  Booster’s head was a new piece, and it’s an alright one.  It’s very stylized, very blocky, and very sparse on the details.  It’s not very accurate, though.  I mean, it’s not *unlike* Booster on the show, but it’s certainly squarer and a little less expressive.  That being said, it’s not a bad piece, and does still read pretty well as Booster Gold, big dumb grin and all.  Booster’s color work isn’t all that much done with paint, but instead relies heavily on molded colors.  For a kid-aimed line, it’s a sensible choice, and it works out alright.  What paint there is is fairly cleanly handled, and the figure is bright, colorful, and eye-catching, which are the most important things.  Booster has no accessories, not even his robot buddy Skeets.  Booster without Skeets seems very odd to me, but that’s the path Mattel chose.  This is why the lost the DC license.  No Skeets.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve not really followed this line at all, apart from seeing the odd figure in various toy aisles.  I stumbled upon Booster while out looking for some last minute Christmas decorations.  I wasn’t really looking for him, but who am I to turn down a Booster Gold action figure?  He’s not amazing or particularly notable or anything, but he’s not awful, and for the discounted price I got him for, I quite enjoy him.  Even if he doesn’t include Skeets.

#1958: Eighth Doctor & Dalek Alpha

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

EIGHTH DOCTOR & DALEK ALPHA

DOCTOR WHO (CHARACTER OPTIONS)

“Passionate about life and the beauty of the world about him, this Doctor’s love of humanity drove him to fight his old foe the Master deep within the heart of his own TARDIS.  It remains unclear when, how, or why exactly he regenerated into his Ninth body, but he had clearly done so shortly before meeting Rose Tyler on Earth.”

Well, that information’s not totally up to date.  We actually know exactly how the Eighth Doctor regenerated, though we also know it wasn’t into the Ninth, but the “Other” Doctor.  Of course, that wasn’t revealed until the very year this figure was released, and they probably didn’t want to go babbling about that on some toy package.

Of the many incarnations of the Doctor and all the merch there is fore them, there isn’t a whole lot for the Eighth Doctor.  To be fair, it’s largely because his on-screen appearances are limited to an unsuccessful TV movie and a prelude short for “Day of the Doctor,” meaning there’s substantially less to work with.  However, the Eighth Doctor actually had a rather extensive career of adventures that ran through the Doctor Who magazine, and one of those very adventures was source for a third of the Eighth Doctor sets out there…which is to say, you know, just this one.  But a third sounds more impressive, right?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Like the Fourth Doctor and the Genesis Dalek, this pair was one of the 11 “Doctor & Dalek” two-packs released in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the series.  They were originally exclusive to the UK-branch of Toys R Us, before finding their way to the specialty market in the US.  The two figures here are based on the comic story “Children of the Revolution.”

EIGHTH DOCTOR

While he would eventually get a rather altered look, the comics had the Eighth Doctor more or less keeping the same attire he sported in his movie appearance, allowing for Character Options to keep the same mold they’d used in the Eleven Doctors boxed set for this guy.  Oh, boy, the flashbacks.  That was a rough day.  I don’t remember much of it, but I do seem to recall being generally fond of the Eighth Doctor’s sculpt. I’m still fond of it here, and the mold quality seems to have slightly improved, so some of the details aren’t quite as soft.  The head is also a lot easier to pop out on this guy, likely to give collectors an easy body for the Eighth Doctor head included with the War Doctor not too long after.  The main change here is the paint work.  He’s a little simpler than the first Eight figure, since the comics required a slightly easier to print color scheme.  He’s also more bright and colorful, which helps to make him a little more eye-catching than the first release. Application is also a lot cleaner and sharper, so the figure just looks more put together.  Eight included no accessories, not even his sonic screwdriver, which is a little sad, especially if this was your first Eight figure.

DALEK ALPHA

Dalek Alpha was noteworthy for being one of the first examples of an individual Dalek, with a name and everything.  The show would eventually follow suit with the Cult of Skaro, but these guys were there first.  Pretty nifty!  The actual figure is another repaint.  Remember the Genesis Dalek? Great, because this guy’s the exact same sculpt.  It was a solid sculpt the first time I looked at it, and it remains so now.  Of course, now it’s also painted up in that pretty sweet red color scheme, which is super fun, and he’s even got a little alpha on his head to signify his individuality.  Noice!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Upon making my way through as much Doctor Who as I could get my hands on a few years ago, I gathered a very serious appreciation for the Eighth incarnation.  At this point, he’s my favorite.  And, as with all my favorites, that translates to a desire to have all the toys possible.  I actually wasn’t sure I needed this one, but a series of unfortunate events led to me having to return a different item to Yesterday’s Fun on my last vacation, and I didn’t want to not buy something from them.  They had this set, and I felt a serious urge to grab it, so I did.  There’s not anything new or super notable, but Dalek Alpha’s a neat concept, and this version of Eight is a better figure than the one from the big boxed set, so I ultimately was pretty happy with my purchase.  And now I have all of the Eighth Doctor figures!

#1957: Han Solo

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

HAN SOLO — THE SCOUNDREL

STAR WARS: GALAXY OF ADVENTURES (HASBRO)

“A smuggler and a scoundrel, Han Solo proves that he can also be a hero when he rescues his friends and helps in the Rebellion against the Galactic Empire.”

Accessibility is always a major concern with long-running brands, and Star Wars has always wrestled with the best way to keep their most prominent players consistently represented and available to an all-new audience.  Pretty much in tandem with that, Disney is working to keep the Star Wars universe fresh and on-going while still giving new fans a chance to get up to speed.  Put them together and you have Galaxy of Adventures, animated re-tellings of old-school Star Wars stories, with a toyline of heavy hitters to match.  Today, I’m diving into the line with a look at “The Scoundrel”, Han Solo!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Han was released as part of the second round of Galaxy of Adventures figures, which started hitting stores just after the new year.  All of the figures in this line are reissues of prior offerings, most of them pretty recent.  Han mixes things up ever so slightly, not by being a new figure, but by being a slightly older one than most of his pack-mates.  Rather than the post-Force Awakens product of most of the line’s sculpts, this one is a Saga Legends release from 2015.  Somewhat surprising, since we got a Bespin Han figure from the Last Jedi line, but that one wasn’t a great sculpt, and this one was always a little difficult to find so yay, I guess.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  His sculpt predates the move to ball-jointed necks for the heads, so just a cut-joint on this guy.  It hurts his posability a little bit, but on this style of figure, it’s not a huge impact. The sculpt is actually a pretty nice one.  Of the lowered-articulation figures, this is definitely the best younger Han Solo.  The likeness on the head isn’t a spot-on Ford likeness, but it’s still one of Hasbro’s better attempts.  The figure also has a very easy time staying on his feet, which is always a definite plus for a Star Wars figures.  On a whole, despite being a slightly older sculpt, it’s a much better offering than the TLJ Bespin Han sculpt.  The paint work on this figure is pretty basic, but pretty decently applied, and a good match for his colors from the film.  Han is packed with his signature blaster, which can be held in his hand or stowed in his holster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t collecting Star Wars figures regularly when the Saga Legends version of this guy hit, and he was kind of rare, so I never saw one.  I did my best to make due with the Last Jedi release, but it wasn’t as good a figure as I’d hoped.  While the Galaxy of Adventures stuff hasn’t largely been up my alley, I was definitely happy to see this guy crop back up.  He’s a nice figure, and will definitely be my default Han on the shelf for the time being.

The Blaster In Question #0077: Scout Mk. II

Posted by Tim Marron in Nerf Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

BlasterInQuestion1

SCOUT MK.II

N-STRIKE ELITE

scout1You know how sometimes in the design process, if something has a series of iterative improvements, those iterations are labeled “Mark [number]?”  I’m not entirely sure Hasbro really gets that concept. We’ve seen the Recon Mk.II which was certainly an iteration of the Recon platform, but I don’t think many would say it really fixed any problems. Now we have the Scout Mk.II, daughter of Atticus Mk.II. So is this an improvement over the last model? I mean, I guess kinda, that is to say, it would be if it was in any way related to the prior Scout. But let’s not discuss that here, onto the review. 

THE BLASTER ITSELF

scout2The Scout Mk.II was released in 2019 as part of the N-Strike Elite series. It features a 4-round revolving cylinder and a prime bar sticking out the back. Actually, it’s mechanically identical to the Quadrant from the Accustrike line, just in a more triangular shell. I’m hesitant to call it “sleeker” because, while the lines do flow a little better than on the Quadrant, it adds a big section as a sort of angled fore-grip, if that made any kind of sense on a pistol. This, paired with the enclosed finger guard means that going for a tactical two-hand grip pretty much forces you to use the angled front section which again, just feels weird on a pistol. I suppose all of this isn’t a problem if you’re shooting one-handed like a true gentleman and officer, but that kind of scout3went out of style after Crimea. The shell of the blaster does have an attachment rail, and a front sight sort of, but not really any rear sight. You know what they say, foresight is a blessing, but hindsight is just straight-up missing.  The performance is ok, but it’s a pretty small blaster so you’re not gonna get a giant air chamber or a hard spring. It shoots fine, just don’t expect to kill any mockingbirds with it. What you absolutely can do is take shots at your younger siblings from across the room, and because it’s the same mechanically as the Quadrant, you can use the loud clack from priming the blaster as sort of psychological warfare. And as long as they’re an armed combatant, the Geneva Convention has nothing to say about it, so you’re good to go. The Scout Mk.II comes packaged with 4 Elite darts. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION 

I’ve fooled you. All of you. You thought I was just idly referencing the classic of American literature, To Kill A Mockingbird, but I’ve never actually read it, so ha. Joke’s on you? Anyway, books and international treaties aside, the Scout Mk.II is another entry into the ever-growing “it’s fine, if you want it, get it but you’re not really missing anything if you don’t” group or blasters. Who knows, maybe you like weird angled fore-grips on small pistols, in which case go right ahead and hold it that way while spewing hatred for the Deploy or whatever else people who are weird and wrong do these days. 

#1956: Firefly

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

FIREFLY

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6

“FIREFLY is an expert in the art of sabotage and specializes in explosive devices that disable electronic systems. He worked in covert ops on missions involving computer espionage and was brought onto the SIGMA 6 Team to destroy a sophisticated computer virus created by COBRA to destabilize the world economy. He infiltrated the evil organization and blew up the base’s central electronics core, stopping the virus from being transmitted and ending all computerized COBRA activity for over a year. He became a permanent member of the SIGMA 6 Team to provide his expertise in fighting the COBRA B.A.T. troops. His Innovative Devices have provided the team with powerful weapons to deplete the ranks of these dangerous robots.”

G.I. Joe is a franchise of change.  Well, it was, anyway.  Beginning in the late ’60s, when it became unfashionable to be selling war toys, and the line had to be rebranded as “Adventure Team,” the brand became rather comfortable with re-formatting itself to suit the times.  In the early ’00s, after a decent run with a relaunch of the ARAH line, it was time to re-brand again.  In an effort to fit in more with the anime-influenced, sci-fi-heavy market of the time, Hasbro created Sigma 6, perhaps one of the most divisive incarnations of the brand in existence.  Either you love it, or you despise it, with very little room between.  Some of the changes to beloved characters drew this divisiveness out even more, and today’s focus, Firefly, was at the center of some of that conflict.  Rather than the clear cut Cobra saboteur of the ’80s, he was a member of the Joe team, with a character arc that amounted to more than the line “Cobra saboteur.”  How could this be?  They were killing the line!… You know, apart from the whole running for another year and a half after this figure’s release, and giving Hasbro the liquidity to launch the 25th Anniversary line and get the movie financed.  But yeah, it killed the line.  Let’s look at this awful thing that killed the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Firefly was released in the second Soldier Wave for the 2006 line-up of Sigma 6 figures, as the assortment’s one debut character.  Like most of the line, he’s based on the character’s appearance in the corresponding cartoon, albeit filtered through a slightly different stylization.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  Firefly’s sculpt was all-new to him, though it definitely shared more than a few stylistic elements with the various other Sigma Suit-sporting characters from the line.  Stylized as he may be, there are still a lot of really fun sculpted elements mixed in throughout this guy’s sculpt.  I love the differing textures on the various parts of the suit, as well as the fact that Firefly’s been given a distinct build when compared to the rest of the team.  I’m also still a fan of the cool little flip-up communicator that every team member had built-in; it was such a fun little touch.  Firefly also has one of my favorite headsculpts from this whole line; that evil smirk of his just exudes so much character, and is just so on point for him.  The modular nature of Sigma 6 was a pretty big selling point for the line, and most of the early figures have pretty involved costume pieces.  As a Soldier release (meaning he was at a lower price-point), Firefly had less pieces than some, but he was still pretty jam-packed.  He had a mask, web-gear (missing from my figure), belt, elbow and knee pads, and a set of dog tags, all of which add-up to a very unique looking figure.  By far, my favorite part is the mask, which has a very distinct flair to it, and sits so perfectly on his head.  In addition to the accents to his uniform, Firefly was armed with a nifty looking sub-machine gun (with a removable magazine and everything), plus two lightsaber-inspired torches, and a land-mine/trap gizmo.  The trap is kind of goofy and hard to use, but the gun is awesome, and the torches can be inter-locked with it for a different configuration, or the flame effects can also be removed and attached to the gun’s barrel.  There are a lot of play options here, to say the least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sigma 6 was a concept I loved so much, but one I never was able to actively collect when it was new.  Firefly is a figure I admired from a far for quite some time before finally being able to add a mostly complete sample to my collection late last year, courtesy of House of Fun.  There’s so much I love about this figure, and he perfectly encapsulates everything that was so great about this line.  He’s a fun re-vamp, a fun design, and just a generally fun toy.  And he most decidedly did *not* kill the brand.  That came later.  Whatever the case, I’m glad to finally have one of my own, and he really is pushing me to get more of these figures.