#3806: Flash Gordon

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

FLASH GORDON

POWER STARS (BOSS FIGHT STUDIOS)

Well, I got a nice little kick of additional Longbox Heroes the last two weeks to help keep me on that Super Powers-inspired high, but now I’m out of those again, so it’s time to turn to the next best thing: another Super Powers-inspired line!  In fact, this one came first!  Boss Fight, whose HACKS lines I’ve previously reviewed a bit, decided to give the style a try, launching things with an assortment of characters from King Features, which means I get to kick things off with Flash (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Savior of the Universe!) Gordon!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flash Gordon is part of the four figure launch assortment for Power Stars, which hit in the fall of 2022.  There are a lot of Flash looks to choose from, but they’ve gone with a more classic comic version of the character, which fits pretty much perfectly with the style.  The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  There are two tweaks to the articulation to deviate from Super Powers here.  Firstly, there’s the knees, which use the same general assembly as the Longbox Heroes (which is not entirely coincidental; LBH‘s designed Jason “Toy Otter” Geyer noted how impressed he was with the knee joint when still working out the knee assembly on LBH), and secondly, there’s the neck joint, which, instead of being a straight cut joint, is actually a ball-joint.  They both keep the same general look as the vintage articulation, while providing slightly better motion.  Flash’s sculpt is unique to him, and it’s a solid offering.  There’s I think a little more of Boss Fight’s in-house style bleeding through here, so they’re not quite a pitch perfect Kenner style, but also I think it still works very well, and he very much feels like Flash.  His color work is all pretty bright, clean, and bold, which exactly what you’d hope for in such a line.  I have no issues with any sort of slop or bleed over on mine.  Flash get’s an extra head without his headgear, as well as a sword and a gun, which can be placed in the designated spots on his belt.  Storage for weapons isn’t much of a Super Powers thing, but that’s another one of those innovations I don’t mind so much here.  My only real issue with the figure is that the size of the handles being so different between the sword and gun means that you kind of have to pick a hand for each and stick with it, otherwise the gun will fall out of any hand the sword has been in.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember when these were announced, and I was quite excited, and…then I just totally forgot to get around to ordering them.  Admittedly, I had a lot going on in my life, so I’m giving myself a pass.  Flash was the one I wanted the most, because he’s Flash Gordon and he’s just got such a classic design.  I particularly appreciate them just going straight to the classic Flash and not making me get a weird cartoon version I don’t really want as much first…sorry, I’m trying not to be too bitter with NECA.  Anyway, I was able to snag a few of these guys at the same time as the Super Powers and Longbox Heroes from the last few weeks, when they got traded in at All Time.  Unfortunately, Flash here was missing the main head, but it happened to come through on its own a week or so later.  He’s truly a fun little figure, and I’m glad I finally got 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.

#3805: Robin

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

ROBIN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Growing up in Gotham City can be…complicated. Especially when you’re a kid who’s obsessed with Batman and Robin. For Tim Drake, learning everything about his favorite superheroes eventually led him down the path of becoming one himself, after he deduced the identities of Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson.”

My last few McFarlane Super Powers reviews have all been re-hashes of characters that got covered in the original run.  But, the line’s actually got a solid run of new characters.  Today’s focus is *sort of* a mixed bag, since the name was in the vintage line, but it was actually a different guy.  That guy is Tim Drake, the third Robin.  Though his creation’s outside the window of Super Powers‘ vintage run, his first figure was a vaguely Super Powers-esque one, as part of Kenner’s Batman Returns line (which was largely built on re-worked SP molds).  But, now he’s got one (well, technically two) under the actual Super Powers banner, so let’s check that out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin was released in Series 4 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, alongside the updated classic Batman.  Since this assortment wound up being rather under-ordered, he’s gotten a subsequent re-release with a slightly changed up color palette, but the one seen here is the initial release.  The figure stands a little under 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s more or less the same height and build as the vintage Robin, which is a pretty good set-up.  The sculpt is totally unique, and it’s…fine.  The body sculpt is decent enough, matching the style of the line, and also capturing his costume design pretty well.  I’m not super crazy about the head.  It seems a little wide, and the hair is…I don’t really know what’s going on there.  It’s certainly not the worst thing, though, and it does still feel more like authentic Super Powers than the earlier McF stuff.  Robin’s color work is rather on the bright side.  It’s not strictly speaking a match for Tim’s costume (which was usually a little darker), but it works well within the context of the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

One of the things I’ve been looking for in my Super Powers collecting is characters that feel authentic for a continuation of the original line.  It’s what kept me off the earlier stuff, but I’m willing to make something of an exception for Tim.  Of course, neither of his releases was *super* easy to find, so I kind of had to wait.  Thankfully, I was able to snag this one when he got traded in at All Time.  He’s not one of the stronger entries in the line, but he’s a respectable enough entry.

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.

#3804: Captain America – Ultimate

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CAPTAIN AMERICA — ULTIMATE

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

“In 1940, as America prepared for war, young and frail Steve Rogers volunteered for an experiment that transformed him into the ultimate physical specimen: Captain America. Enhanced by the Super-Soldier Serum, Captain America’s agility, strength, endurance and reaction time were superior to those of an Olympic-level athlete. Cap also mastered a number of fighting forms, including American-style boxing and judo. These abilities, combined with his indestructible shield, made him one of the finest human combatants Earth had ever known. Steve Rogers battled the Nazis until a mishap placed him in suspended animation deep within the Himalayan Mountains. Decades later he was discovered by Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. and became a cornerstone of the Ultimates.”

It’s a new month, but I’m still keeping that Toy Biz Marvel train rolling, albeit in a slightly different fashion.  Last month it was all 5-inch figures, but this month, I’m taking it up a notch…and I mean that literally, because the figures are actually gonna be taller, because we’re jumping ahead into the Marvel Legends era for a bit.  Yeah, it’s classic Marvel Legends!  And, I’m still sort of staying in a comfort zone, with a look at one of the line’s Captain Americas…well, two of them, I guess.  And, sure, it’s Ultimate Cap, but I’ll take what I can get.  At least he always makes for a pretty decent toy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultimate Captain America was released in Series 8 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends, which was the last series before the introduction of Build-A-Figures, which also led to Toy Biz abandoning the actual numbering for the line.  He was one of the three figures in the line-up to get a variant, which I’ll touch on later in the review.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 46 points of articulation.  His articulation’s pretty typical of this era of Toy Biz’s run.  It’s not bad, but it’s definitely a little over complicated relative to the range of motion he gets.  It’s also prone to getting a bit loose over time, especially on the hips.  The sculpt was all-new, and it was…well, it was certainly something.  The articulation definitely took the precedent on this one, so the flow of the sculpt is a little bit odd and disjointed.  His proportions are sort of odd, with the head being a bit small, and the hands and feet being a bit large.  He’s also got a little bit of a hunch.  That said, the work on outfit, especially the texturing, is really good, and conveys the modernized take on his design well.  The variant figure gets a unique head sculpt, which adds the classic head wings.  It’s also just totally different from the standard, with a slightly friendlier expression, which makes more sense for the 616 version of the character.  He’s more modernized to match the body sculpt, so there’s extra stitching, as well as straps on the sides.  It’s an interesting approach, but perhaps not the most truly classic version.  It serves more as a prototype for the more proper classic Cap they built out of this mold the following year.  The paint work on the figure is pretty decent.  There’s a lot of accenting to bring out the sculpted elements, and it works pretty well.  The standard version gets additional grey detailing, as is proper to the Ultimate design, while the standard is straight blue.  However, early versions of the two figures had the details reversed, giving Ultimate Cap the full blue look, and Classic Cap the grey, meaning there are actually a total of four different versions of this figure.  Regardless of the version, Cap is packed with his shield (the same one used with the Series 1 figure), a display stand, and a poster booklet (in place of the usual comic book).  The poster book, interestingly, is actually more classic Cap images than Ultimate, but I’m hardly complaining.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m really not a fan of Ultimate Captain America as a character, so I wasn’t much for this one at the time of his release.  I also had the Series 1 version, and he was pretty much perfect to me.  That said, I’ve gotten more comfortable with having a lot of Captain America figures these days, so I ended up snagging the standard release sealed a couple of years ago, and then the variant loose just last year.  And now I have them both.  They’re kind of a mixed bag, but an intriguing part of the Cap Legends genealogy.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3803: Dewback & Sandtrooper

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

DEWBACK & SANDTROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Okay, I had a bit of an impromptu break yesterday, because my head just wasn’t in the game and I didn’t have an easy to grab and review item on hand, but have no fear, I’m back at it today, and I’m going back to one of my old faithfuls: Power of the Force!  The line had all manner of price-points and such set-up to cover different things, and one of them was the “Creature” sets, which each paired a standard figure with a larger creature of some sort.  I’ve looked at three of the eight, and today I’m capping things off by arriving thoroughly at the middle, the the Dewback and the Sandtrooper!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Dewback and Sandtrooper were part of the initial round of “Creature” Sets for Power of the Force, hitting retail in 1997.  It was one of the three A New Hope-based Creature sets in the first batch, and one of four overall in this particular sub-line.

The Dewbacks are seen fairly early on in the franchise, and then really not again until The Mandalorian finally brought them back for an episode.  They were the source of a little extra focus from the Special Edition re-release of A New Hope, though, which was a large piece of the push on these initial creature sets.  The figure is about 8 inches long, and has 4 points of articulation, as well as a feature that opens and closes the figure’s mouth.  The sculpt here is entirely new, not re-used from the vintage version.  While the vehicles got re-used, the creatures were not the same situation.  This one is more patterned on the CGI-recreation from the updates, as was the case with Jabba.  That said, I think the Dewback works out a little bit better.  It’s not a bad sculpt; there’s certainly a flair to it, carrying on the general style of the earlier PotF figures.  The proportions are definitely a little over-hyped, but I do rather like the texture work.  The color work is pretty solid; the eyes are quite realistic, and the accenting of the brown on the top is pretty decent.  The Dewback has a lede that fits in its mouth and can be held (albeit somewhat awkwardly) by the included Sandtrooper.

There were three Sandtroopers available in Power of the Force.  This is the third one, at least as far as my reviews go.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He swaps out the waist articulation of the other two for a pair of hinged knees, granting him an easier time sitting on the Dewback.  Beyond that, he feels very much like the other two, right down to the off-model helmet and the slightly odd proportions.  At least he’s consistent.  The paint work saw two variations.  This figure is the first of the two, which has much heavier dirt accenting, making him look rather orange.  It definitely goes overboard (especially since this guy’s part of the mounted division, and wouldn’t actually be walking around on the sand), but at least they tried something different.  He’s packed with his backpack and longrifle (which can be stowed on the backpack), as well as a prod, which is, like, three times as long as him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have any of the creature sets as a kid, but I did have *just* the Sandtrooper from this set, because I got handed one by a dealer while walking through a comic show when I was a kid.  Don’t know quite what happened to that one, if I’m honest.  I ended up getting this one a few years back, when I was able to get a sealed copy for pretty cheap via a trade-in at All Time.  It’s an okay set.  The Dewback is obviously the star here, and the work really shows.  The trooper is pretty run of the mill, but he can at least bend his knees, so he’s got that going for him.

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

#3802: Airboy

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

AIRBOY

LONGBOX HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

Okay, how about just a little bit more on the almost-Super Powers figures? I sure do like that particular style, don’t I?  Last week, I returned to Longbox Heroes with another Tick figure.  Today, I’m keeping the Longbox love going another week, but this time with a rather more obscure character.  Fresh Monkey Fiction’s last comic-based retro line, Amazing Heroes, leaned pretty heavily into the public domain Golden Age heroes, while Longbox was almost entirely populated by proper licensed characters.  Jason “Toyotter” Geyer, who did the sculpts and packaging designs for the line, has shown off that a number of public domain heroes were considered, and mocked up, but ultimately shelved in favor of the line-up we got.  We did, however, get one public domain entry, Airboy.  First appearing in 1942, Airboy was, unsurprisingly, an aviator with a costumed identity.  He never quite took off (heh) the way of others from the era, but has seen a few revivals over the years, and, hey, he got this action figure, too.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Airboy was released as part of the second round of Longbox Heroes Series 1.  He was the bonus figure, offered up to people who ordered the full sets when all of the singles made it to production.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Airboy’s sculpt, like the rest of the line,  is courtesy of Jason “Toyotter” Geyer, and it has a number of parts in common with several of the Rocketeer related figures from the line (something that no doubt helped him getting chosen for inclusion, especially since he’s a bonus figure).  He shares his legs with all of those (hard to go wrong with the aviator pants, right?), and shares his arms with the rocket troopers.  His torso was ultimately shared with the enemy pilot from the boxed set as well.  The head remains unique, and is actually Geyer’s second take on it.  Per his own words, his original looked “a little too much like some cynical biker,” so he revisited it to be a little friendlier and truer to the original appearances.  It’s a fun, “gee-wiz” sort of sculpt that also feels really at home with the general style.  That windswept hair in particular just really hits the mark for me.  Like the Rocketeer figure, Airboy is totally painted, which is ever so slightly un-Super Powers-y, but at the same time, the paint’s handled pretty well, and the colors are nice, so I can’t really complain too much.  Airboy is packed with a display stand and a sword.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, regretfully, didn’t back the whole Series 1 set.  I wanted to.  I really did.  But, monetarily, it just wasn’t in the cards, so I focused in on my favorites.  That meant I missed this guy.  I have no particular attachment to the character, but I dig his general vibe, and after having gotten so many of the Amazing Heroes, he feels like a logical continuation.  Thankfully, I was able to snag a trade-in, and I got an okay deal on him at that.  He’s quite a fun little figure, and I’m definitely glad I got a second chance on 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.

#3801: Batman

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

BATMAN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“As a child, Bruce Wayne watched as his parents were brutally killed in Gotham City’s Crime Alley. Traumatized by their deaths, he devoted his life to becoming the world’s greatest weapon against crime-the Batman!”

The gift that just keeps on giving here is McFarlane’s Super Powers re-launch.  Boy do I love it, to, like, an absurd degree.  Especially given it’s McFarlane.  How much do I love it?  It got me to buy a Batman.  And I pretty much never buy a Batman these days.  Other tangental characters?  Absolutely.  Batman, not so much.  So, um, here’s Batman.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batman was released in Series 4 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, under the DC Direct branding.  Series 4 was noteworthy for being the first not to be a Walmart-exclusive, which wound up being sort of late change-up.  The result?  The assortment was kinda under ordered and under produced, so they’re generally a bit rare.  The figure stands a smidge over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Though he was only the line’s second Batman, he didn’t re-use the initial mold, instead introducing an all-new one (courtesy of sculptor Owen Oertling), this one more closely patterned on the vintage mold.  While the later Superman revision changed things up a little to differentiate, this one’s more a direct imitation.  There’s some minor differences in exact details, of course, but it’s very, very close.  I can’t say it’s bad, because it absolutely isn’t.  And it’s emphatically better than the mold that preceded it (which makes it somewhat baffling how many times the original mold got re-used afterwords; it’s just not very good), so I can’t blame them there.  It does seem a little odd that it’s *such* a close match, and I feel like it’s maybe a missed opportunity to do something unique, like the Superman, but I really can’t actually fault it.  I still don’t love the cape clip shape, but that’s minor.  One thing I *do* love is the color work.  This is where they actually do work to set him apart from the vintage figure.  The blue has just a little more saturation, so it pops a bit more, and he’s also got the black shading at the front of the cowl.  I like the original, but the black is the one major thing missing, so I like taking the opportunity to fix that here.  The application’s also quite clean, and he’s just got a nice, vibrant feel to him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like GL, this was before the line had won me over, and I missed this assortment entirely.  I didn’t *need* another Batman, because the vintage one serves me just fine.  But, having gotten the updated Superman, I did sort of want the revised Batman to match.  Unfortunately, he’s gotten pricey, again like that GL.  Thankfully, the same collection that had the GL also had this guy, so I was able to work out an okay deal on him, meaning I didn’t have to feel *too* silly about what I paid out to get a figure I effectively already own.  I don’t love him quite as much as GL or Supes, but I will admit he’s pretty nice.

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.

#3800: Whirlwind

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

WHIRLWIND

IRON MAN (TOY BIZ)

“A mutant born with the power to spin at superhuman velocities, Whirlwind delights in using his special talents to terrorize others-first as the neighborhood bully, and now as a powerful costumed Super Villain! Volatile and brutal, Whirlwind doesn’t really care what target the evil Mandarin sends him to destroy-he’ll obliterate it in an instant with maniacal glee!”

We’re back with the Iron Man reviews today, specifically of the Toy Biz variety because that’s what I like to do. I’m keeping things rolling with the antagonists, I suppose. Today’s entry is Whirlwind! It’s worth noting that despite the show’s insistence on sticking purely to Iron Man villains, not filling in with more interesting villains, Whirlwind’s actually not really an Iron Man villain at all, and is instead an Ant-Man and Wasp villain, but I guess Iron Man just sort of takes what he wants. It does seem kind of cruel to steal from Ant-Man, but, you know, that’s just Tony. He’s a bit cruel. This was Whirlwind’s very first action figure, which was pretty cool for him, so let’s take a look at it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Whirlwind was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s Iron Man toy line. He’s based on his animated incarnation, which was in turn based on his classic costume, more specifically his second costume design after he added the chain mail and also added a shirt. Thank you for that, Whirlwind. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. The articulation on this one is kind of interesting because it’s a sort of a mix of unique and kind of basic. He loses the knee joints, which had become fairly standard of this point, but has disc and peg shoulders. The shoulders are rather loose in order to facilitate his action feature. He also has a waist swivel, but again it’s restricted to facilitate his action feature and isn’t really much for posing. His sculpt is pretty much on par with what we expected from the line. He is a little on the bulky side, but also not bad for Whirlwind. The chainmail detailing is actually pretty good. The hands and feet seemed rather large, and conversely the helmet feels a little small, like it might be difficult to fit an actual head underneath. The face plate is also definitely giving like more ironron Man vibes than Whirlwind usually did, but it’s not bad. Whirlwind’s paintwork is pretty decent, and pretty basic. It’s really just the silver applications. His hands are a little bit more prone to chipping, which is a little bit of a bummer, but not the end of the world. Whirlwind is packed with two removable wrist sawblades, which are super easy to lose, but also super cool. as well as an ID card like the other non-armored characters in the series. Whirlwind has a spinning feature; turning his waist a number of times and then pressing the button on his back to release it will cause his upper half to spin. It works okay, but it does cause some issues with posability.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually got Whirlwind back close to the original run. I’ve brought up Ageless Heroes a few times on the site. It was a comic store, not too far from where I grew up, that went out of business in ’99/’000. They had a lot of Toy Biz Marvel figures and had they put them on pretty deep discount. So, I picked up a lot of them at the time. This one in particular was sort of consolation prize. The Avengers: United They Stand figures have just been released and were very hard to find at first. After a failed trip trying to find them, my dad took me to Ageless Heroes where I picked out this guy. He’s not perfect, but he’s pretty cool and I do really like him. And, it’s not like there’s a plethora of Whirlwind figures out there.

#3799: Tatooine Skiff (with Luke Skywalker)

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

TATOOINE SKIFF (with LUKE SKYWALKER)

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“Over the arid Western Dune Sea on Tatooine, Jabba the Hutt sentences his victims to be cast into the maw of the mighty Sarlacc, much to the raucous amusement of his palace minions. In the final attempt to escape from the clutches of the vile crime lord, the Rebel heroes launch a surprise attack. And so…the daring confrontation aboard the Tatooine skiff ignites!”

While I’m very much all-in on the figures for Power of the Force II, I don’t much review the vehicles.  This is partially because I don’t go out of my way to buy the vehicles (they take up a *lot* more space than the figures), and partially because I don’t usually enjoy reviewing the vehicles.  But, I do occasionally jump in with a vehicle, especially the ones on the smaller side, and especially if they had a unique figure.  So, here’s a vehicle that’s on the smaller side that had a unique figure!

THE ITEM ITSELF

The Tatooine Skiff was added to the Star War: Power of the Force line in 1999, at that point officially under the Hasbro brand, following Kenner officially being dissolved.  The set was released exclusively at Target, and paired off the skiff seen in the Sarlacc sequence of Return of the Jedi with a Luke Skywalker variant not available elsewhere.  The Skiff measures about 12 inches long.  It doesn’t really have “articulation,” but it has a number of moving parts and features.  There’s landing gear, which is useful for keeping it not falling over, which you can release using the lever at the top.  The rails on the sides breakaway to simulate damage, and there’s also a button to launch one of the floor panels upward, sending a figure flying.  And that’s all without getting into the plank that Luke is made to walk, which has it’s own flip-down feature, should you choose to murder your Luke Skywalker in such a way.  It’s a lot of features, honestly, and a reminder that this mold wasn’t actually developed by Hasbro (whose vehicles tended to be a bit more collector oriented as we went along), but was in fact a re-use of the vintage Kenner molds, like a lot of this line’s vehicles.  It’s not a bad sculpt at all.  It’s a good match for what we see on the screen, it’s well scaled to the figures, and the gimmicks and features don’t mess with the appearance too much.  There are certainly some parts that are a little flimsier, but it’s generally solid.  There were two colors available; green and tan.  Mine’s the tan one, but the differences were ultimately minor.  The paint work’s not bad; there’s plenty of simulated wear and dirt, which feel right for a thing that’s been out in the desert.

The included Luke is another take on Jedi Luke, which is unsurprising.  He was about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  It’s actually not a bad set-up for movement, since he gets proper knees, and a swivel at the waist and on the right wrist.  His parts consisted of a mix of old and new, with the head shared with all of the later-run Jedi Lukes, and the arms shared with the Complete Galaxy Luke.  The torso, pelvis, and legs were new, and the right had was tweaked to feature the damage to the back of it, which Luke gets during the skiff braw.  Not while he’s on *this* skiff, but still.  It’s a very scene specific Luke, but ultimately a pretty serviceable one.  His paint’s minor, but not bad.  Application’s mostly pretty clean, with only some minor slop on the change-over from his left hand to his sleeve.  He’s packed with his lightsaber, which seems like a solid choice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Not being much of vehicles guy, I really only had the basics for this line as a kid.  That didn’t include this one.  I got this, I want to say, sometime in late 2018/early 2019?  It came into All Time, and I was just starting my real push to go completist on the line.  I’d already gotten the skiff guard cinema scene set, so I felt like having the actual skiff might not be the silliest thing.  And it’s not.  It’s fun little piece, though it’s really more display than toy.  And, there’s a neat Luke Skywalker variant too!

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.

#3798: Robot ro-K

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

ROBOT RO-K

CUBOYDS (STIKFAS)

Back at the turn of the millennium, action figures were getting a bit experimental again.  The concept of building your own figure was definitely one of those experiments, undertaken by a number of different companies, for a number of different products.  Stikfas, a line of 3 1/4-inch figure kits each put together around a general theme or idea, took the collecting world by storm for a couple of years, eventually even getting the attention of Hasbro, who licensed the brand and even used a lot of its elements for their own in-house brand Xevoz, which I looked at late last year.  Stickfas themselves were sold completely unassembled, in straight molded colors, relying on stickers for detailing, but as the line became more successful, the company dabbled in some pre-assembled and pre-painted figures.  One such creation was Cuboyds, which used the same general assembly, but were, as expected, more squared off in nature.  Here’s one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robot ro-K was released in the third series of Cuboyds, which was a whole series of robots.  That sure is fun!  Cuboyds were a little smaller than Stikfas, so this guy’s about 2 1/2 inches tall, and he’s got 14 points of articulation.  Like Stikfas and Xevoz, Cuboyds were built entirely on ball joints, which makes this guy quite poseable, and capable of all sorts of goofy robot poses.  His body is very blocky and boxy, as was the intended design.  It’s the exact same mold that all of the Cuboyds used, with no deviations or frills.  It’s got its limitations, especially if you catch one of the hard angles up against one of the joints, but I do dig it’s quirky and simple assembly.  The first two series of Cuboyds followed in Stikfas footsteps, providing a set of stickers to put on a blank body.  This series marked a change, with all four figures getting actual, proper painted details.  ro-K is primarily black, with red feet, and his actual detailing is patterned on a classic wind-up robot.  Of the four offered, ro-K’s always felt like the most refined of the details, and there’s actually quite a lot going on.  It works very well with his boxy sculpt, and the application was all pretty solid.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I somehow managed to miss Stickfas in their earliest run.  I was ultimately introduced to them after they’d left Hasbro.  They routinely set-up a table at Baltimore Comic Con, and that was how I got hooked on my first proper set.  I loved that, and, the next year, I wound up going back with a list.  This guy wasn’t on that list, but he was sitting on the table, and I couldn’t say no.  He just really speaks to me, even now, which is probably why, all these years later, he’s the only one of them still in any condition to be reviewed.

#3797: The Tick

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

THE TICK

LONGBOX HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!

Yesterday, I took a look at a direct continuation of Kenner’s Super Powers, but today I’m returning to a more indirect continuation.  Early last year, I looked at a few figures from Fresh Monkey Fiction’s Longbox Heroes, a line of independent comic book characters done in the Super Powers style.  While a follow-up to that set is still forthcoming, I only ended up getting a few of the figures from the first one, so there are still plenty for me to potentially pick-up.  There were three Tick figures in the first set, and I had two of them.  The one I didn’t have was the basic Tick, so here he is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Tick is figure 7 in the first series of Longbox Heroes.  Like all of the non-Rocketeer figures, he was released in March of last year.  There are two Ticks in the line-up; this one is more patterned on the character’s earlier appearances, and is a bit more basic in his approach.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Like the rest of the line, he’s got a sculpt courtesy of Jason “Toy Otter” Geyer.  From the neck down, it’s the same as the other Tick, which is a solid, clean sculpt that captures both the Tick’s usual depictions and the Super Powers aesthetic.  The head is unique, and sports an expression that’s a little more reserved than the big toothy grin from the other release.  It still very much feels like the same character, though, and while it’s not my preferred take on the character, it still works well.  In terms of coloring, this Tick is darker than the other version; it’s more comic than animation, and definitely works a bit better with the more resigned expression.  Tick is on the lighter side, getting only a display stand as his accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I sure do love me some Super Powers and I sure do love me some Tick.  I also sure did love me the figures I already got from this line.  So, that’s a great recipe for me being invested in this figure.  That said, when the preorder period was running for these, I opted to go with Disguised Tick, because I liked the general set-up of that one a little more.  That said, I still kinda wanted one after the fact, so when a loose one landed in front of me a few weeks ago, I took that rare opportunity to own another Tick figure.  I think I still prefer the Disguised overall, but more Tick is always a good thing.

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.