#1570: Bodhi Rook

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

BODHI ROOK

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

“A former Imperial Pilot, Bodhi has strong piloting and technical skills that he will put to use for the Rebellion.  Ever practical, but highly anxious, Bodhi must gather his courage to bring the battle to the Empire.”

More than Cassian, if there’s a Rogue One character who drew the short straw in terms of merchandising, it’s Bodhi Rook.  He was the last of the team to get released in the 3 3/4 inch line (in a rather under-shipped assortment to boot), his Pop! Vinyl figure was an SDCC exclusive, and as of this day, 14 months after his film’s release, there’s been no talk of him getting a Black Series figure.  Seems rather unlucky if you ask me.  What he did get, however, was a die cast figure from Disney, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bodhi was another of the eight figures in the one and only Rogue One themed series of Star Wars: Elite Series.  He was the first Bodhi figure released and remained so for quite a while.  The figure stands just under 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  Height’s kind of more important on this guy than the others, since he had no Black Series counterpart, and I was admittedly hoping to fit him in with them.  While he’s definitely a little on the tall side, I think an argument could be made that he should look alright, provided you put him in the back, hanging out with K-2.  Bodhi is sporting the same style of construction as the other Elite Series figures I’ve looked at, meaning his head, hands, and feet are plastic, and his main body is metal.  He’s also got a plastic vest and backpack.  Like Jyn and Cassian, the vest piece on Bodhi is made from a harder plastic, and doesn’t fit him as well as I’d like.  I’d also like if it were a bit easier to remove the back pack.  I attempted to take it off of mine, but was worried I’d damage the figure.  Beyond those extras, the sculpt of the figure is decent enough.  It’s nothing amazing or anything, but I think it’s respectable, and a little better than Cassian.  They captured the ill-fitting jumpsuit pretty well, and the extra length on the sleeves even hides the hands a bit, thus averting the dreaded inflated glove syndrome.  The head has a respectable likeness of Riz Ahmed; probably better than Hasbro’s version, truth be told.  The goggles are removable this time around, which I do certainly prefer, especially since they stay in place so well.  The paint on this guy is passable.  The colors are probably more accurate here than they were on the Hasbro figure, but I will admit that the duller colors don’t exactly excite me.  I do appreciate the accent work that was put in on his various gear, and the washes and the like certainly help keep him from looking too bland.  His face is a little messy, especially around the beard, but it’s not awful.  I’m not quite sure what’s going on with his lips, but I don’t think the color was particularly well chosen, given his skin color.  It looks worse in the photos than in real life, but it’s still more noticeable than it should be.  While the goggles are removable this time around, they are still totally opaque, which seems like a bit of a missed opportunity.  They look fine, but it does somewhat ruin the realism of the figure to see those stark white goggles on his head.  In addition to the previously mentioned goggles and backpack, Bodhi is also packed with the standard display stand.  No weapons this time around, but that’s not terrible, since he never really uses them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If you’ve read my Jyn and Cassian reviews from the last two days, you can probably guess where this guy came from.  Yep, he’s another clearance purchase.  He was actually the figure that got me to notice the deep discount pricing.  Since there’s no Black Series release in the foreseeable future, and I do really like the character, I thought I might grab this version.  Upon seeing how far down he’d been marked, I decided to get the other two as well.  Bodhi’s not a fantastic figure or anything, and I’m certainly still holding out hope for Hasbro to finally get around to him, but in the mean time, this one will hold me over.

#1569: Captain Cassian Andor

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

CAPTAIN CASSIAN ANDOR

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

“An Alliance Intelligence Officer with combat field experience, Captain Cassian Andor commands respect from his rebel troops with his ability to keep a cool head under fire.”

Behold!  The one toyline where Cassian *didn’t* get the short straw!  Yes, despite Hasbro holding the standard brown jacketed Cassian look hostage for all manner of deluxe offerings, Disney was kind enough to put their standard Cassian right up there, alongside all of their other Rogue One stuff.  And I’ll be looking at that figure today.  Let’s get on with it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Like yesterday’s Jyn Erso, Cassian was offered as one of the eight Rogue One figures, part of Disney’s Star Wars: Elite Series.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  His construction is the same as other figures from this line: plastic head, hands, feet, and jacket, with die cast metal for the rest of him.  As with Jyn, his jacket is a harder plastic, which is a bit restricting and sits rather awkwardly.  In general, this figure’s a lot closer to the first Poe when it comes to possibility and construction.  The sculpt on areas such as the pelvis and his shoulders are rather rudimentary, and he’s got the weird inflated glove thing going on with his left hand.  Even the details seem a lot softer on this guy.  Just comparing him to the Jyn figure from yesterday, he feels like a slight step down.  It’s not terrible, though.  The likeness on the head sculpt is actually pretty respectable, and I’d say that Disney delivered a better portrait of Luna than any of Hasbro’s attempts.  They did also try for Luna’s more slight build, which was another thing Hasbro missed on most of their figures.  If the articulation had been worked in better, I think this Cassian’s sculpt might have topped Hasbro’s output.  Paint on Cassian is about what you’d expect from this line.  It’s rather thickly applied,and mostly limited to solid colors, which doesn’t do a whole lot to offset his generally soft sculpt.  On the plus side, his head is once again the strongest bit of work, as Disney was able to do a much better job with Cassian’s facial hair than Hasbro.  That’s much better stubble than we saw before.  Cassian is packed with his small blaster pistol and a display stand.  Since Jyn got her fully assembled rifle configuration, it’s a shame the same wasn’t done for Cassian, especially since his was the one we actually saw in use in the film.  Alas, I’ll just have to be happy with the Hasbro equivalent.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with Jyn, I had passed on Cassian initially, but was swayed into buying him for a deeply discounted price.  Amusingly, when I bought him, I didn’t yet have the Hasbro Black Series version of this look, but, well, you can see from the comparison picture that this changed.  This figure’s the weakest of the three I’ve looked at in this round, but I don’t think he’s awful.  It just seems like Cassian proved a difficult character to pull off well in plastic form.  This one’s just another case of a figure that’s good despite its flaws.

#1568: Sgt Jyn Erso

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

SGT JYN ERSO

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

“A highly skilled soldier in the Rebel Alliance, Jyn Erso is an impetuous, defiant warrior eager to bring the battle to the Empire.  Jyn has little patience for debate within Alliance high command, enough so that she takes matters into her own hands.”

More Elite Series?  Isn’t there supposed to be a several month waiting period in between these reviews?  That’s certainly how it’s been in the past.  Well, sorry hypothetical reader, I’m changing things up on you!  And I’m doing another impromptu week of Star Wars reviews!  So, how about that?  For today (and the next two days after, in fact), I’ll be returning to last year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  I certainly covered a lot of product from this movie, but there’s still plenty I never got around to, which includes today’s focus, which is another figure of main character Jyn Erso.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jyn was one of the eight Rogue One-themed Star Wars: Elite Series figures put out during the 2016 “Rogue Friday” event.  There weren’t any staggered releases, I guess since it wasn’t a saga movie.  Jyn here is seen in the same attire the smaller Black Series figure had, which is what she was wearing during the film’s big climactic final battle.  It’s essentially the same look used on most of Hasbro’s offerings, but it lacks the green jacket.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 16 points of articulation.  She’s of course largely constructed from die cast metal, keeping with the same plastic-to-metal ratio as the last several figures I’ve looked at.  Metal for the main body and plastic for the head, hands, feet, and vest.  While the jacket piece on Poe was a nice softer plastic, Jyn’s vest is made from pretty much the same plastic as the rest of the plastic pieces, so it’s very stiff and a bit restricting, as well as sitting a little oddly on her frame.  Her articulation is a bit restricted overall, which is a setback, but as a figure that predates Poe, I’m not that upset.  Jyn’s sculpt is reasonable enough.  Some parts of it are a little rudimentary, especially around the waist.  Her hands look like hands, though, which is always a plus in this line, and I find her head to be pretty much equivalent to the Hasbro versions in terms of quality.  I’m not getting a really strong Felicity Jones likeness from it, but the same could be said of at least half of Hasbro’s offerings.  Jyn’s paint is generally pretty decent.  The colors are nice, and, while she’s not quite as good as Poe, her paint is certainly less thick than earlier offerings.  Jyn is packed with her standard blaster pistol.  Like the smaller Black Series release, she also has the extended blaster configuration not seen in the movie, though this time around it’s an entirely separate blaster, rather than being clip-on pieces.  Also included is her baton, which, unlike the Hasbro version, is actually extended here, and the same display stand that’s included with all of the Elite Series figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With all of Hasbro’s various offerings, I really thought I had all of the Jyns I would ever need (and perhaps even a few more than that).  And wasn’t I just saying in yesterday’s Poe review how I only tend to buy Elite Series figures of characters I really, really like?  So really, why Jyn?  Simple: she was cheap.  After grabbing the Poe figure, I happened past a large pile of the Rogue One figures.  I didn’t think much about them, but I spotted they’d been marked down to $2.99.  At that price, I bought one of each because I’m a sucker fro a cheap action figure.  Jyn’s actually not bad.  I can’t say I’d have paid full price for her, but she’s better than I was expecting.

#1567: Poe Dameron

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

POE DAMERON

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

“It takes defiant courage to stare down the threat of the First Order, and while Captain Poe Dameron is eager to fight, he worries that some of the Resistance leadership don’t have what it takes.”

Disney’s die-cast Star Wars: Elite Series is one of those lines that has a tendency to slip under my radar.  It’s not that it’s a bad line or anything, it’s more that it’s a line that’s exclusively available at Disney Stores, and those aren’t the sort of thing I tend to visit with much regularity.  As it stands, my collection of figures from this line is mostly confined to just my very favorite characters, which includes today’s focus, Poe Dameron!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Poe is part of Disney’s Last Jedi-themed assortment of Star Wars: The Elite Series.  He wasn’t in the initial assortment of figures, but was instead one of the seven figures released solo after the fact.  Poe hit stores on November 7th of last year.  Like most of his other figures from the movie, this Poe is based on his jacketed look from TLJ.  As his most prominent look by far, it makes sense, especially since his pilot look was already covered for TFA.  Poe stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  As with prior Elite Series figures, the vast majority of this guy is made from die cast metal.  His head, hands, feet, and jacket are plastic, but that’s it.  I was impressed to discover that Disney’s made some improvements to how they construct these figures since the last Poe.  This one isn’t nearly as stiff and restricted as the last one when it comes to posablity.  In addition, the overall quality of the sculpt seems to have improved.  The details are much sharper, especially on the plastic parts, but on the metal parts as well.  He’s still slightly less detailed than the average Hasbro figure, but he’s certainly a step-up from the last figure.  It’s the little things, like his hands actually looking like hands, or the assembly screws on his back actually having mostly inconspicuous caps on them.  Then there’s the head.  I’m not 100% sure if the head sculpt on this figure is new or not.  Given how different it looks, I initially assumed it was all-new, but after comparing the two side by side, I’m starting to think this might just be a better pressing of the mold, coupled with some much, much better paint.  Regardless, it’s the best likeness of Oscar Isaac we’ve seen so far, out pacing even the recent Black Series offering, which I thought was pretty good in its own right.  Poe’s paint work also marks a definite step up for this line.  It’s a lot less thickly applied here than on prior figures, and there’s far less slop.  He’s also got some very clean work on his face, and I was certainly happy to get a Poe figure in a larger scale that doesn’t try to slather on a bunch of grayish paint in the hopes of replicating scruff.  Poe includes his blaster pistol and a display stand (same as the other figures).  It’s sad he couldn’t came with something else, especially since the last Poe had the helmet, but I suppose it’s not terrible.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m always looking for an excuse to buy a new Poe figure, and the Elite Series Poe from TFA was actually one of his better figures, so I was definitely on board for picking up this guy.  The only trouble was actually finding him, since none of the stores near me got him when he was first released.  A few weeks ago, I was killing some time at the local mall, and remembered I hadn’t yet found this guy, so I swung by the Disney Store there, and they had finally gotten him in.  Upon purchasing him, I realized he’s actually the first figure from this line I’ve paid full price for.  Of course, he’s by far the nicest figure I’ve gotten from this line as well, so I don’t feel that bad in that regard.  Now I’m tempted to check out some of the other TLJ figures, since Poe seems like such a step up.

#1566: Colonel James Rhodes & Air Assault Drone

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

COLONEL JAMES RHODES & AIR ASSAULT DRONE

MARVEL MINIMATES

Since Minimates do make up a rather sizable portion of my collection, they sort of are a regular fixture around these parts.  Some sets are awesome.  Some are less so.  Today, I look at one of the latter category.  That seems a bit harsh now that I’ve typed it out, but, well, you’ll see.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Colonel Rhodes and the Air Assault Drone were from the second TRU-exclusive series of Iron Man 2-based Marvel Minimates.  Rhodey is unique to this set, while the Air Assault Drone was re-packed from the single-packed army builder assortment.

COLONEL JAMES RHODES

“A dedicated Lt. Colonel and patriotic member of the US military, James Rhodes’s testimony before Senator Stern’s committee forces Tony Stark to call his friend’s true loyalties into question.”

Iron Man 2 was pretty good for our pal Rhodey here.  Prior to the movie, he’d made two appearances as a Minimate, but IM2 gave us four new ones.  This one’s…probably the least exciting when you get right down to it.  Still, Rhodey spends a decent enough chunk of the movie in this uniform, so it’s not the worst inclusion, I suppose.  The figure stands 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He’s built on the usual body, with an add-on for his jacket, borrowed from Series 22’s General Ross.  It’s a reasonable piece.  It’s not a perfect match for Rhodey’s uniform from the movie, but it’s close enough to warrant the re-use.  The paint work on Rhodey is respectable.  It’s all pretty cleanly applied, and the blue is fairly bright. The head is a match for the one that was under the War Machine ‘mate’s helmet.  While it’s not particularly strong Cheadle likeness, at least they went for some consistency.  Rhodey included no accessories, which is a bit of a bummer.  Not even a file folder or a clipboard or something?

AIR ASSAULT DRONE

“Specifically designed for aerial maneuvering and atmospheric combat conditions, a handful of these advanced Black Drones are capable of destroying entire squadrons of traditional fighter jets.”

After the slight mis-lead of the Series 35 Hammer Drone, we finally get one of the proper ones.  Woo!  This one’s dubbed the “Air Assault Drone” on all of the merchandising, because due to licensing things, it couldn’t be called the Air Force Drone.  This particular ‘mate makes use of a lot of the same pieces from the first Hammer Drone, but with a new head, hands, and a backpack glued onto the chest piece.  The ew pieces fit in well with the previously existing ones, and he makes for a pretty faithful recreation of the Drones from the movie.  The paint’s not super thrilling or anything, being mostly dark grey with just a small bit of white accenting.  But, I suppose it matches the movie.  Once again, no accessories for the Drone, but it’s slightly more forgivable given all of the sculpted add-ons.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up new from Toys R Us.  I didn’t go out searching for them or anything, I just came across them one day and I guess I had a moment of weakness.  If I recall correctly, I even put of opening them for a good several months, just due to a general lack of excitement.  Neither ‘mate in this set is bad.  They both check all of the boxes, and there are no glaring issues (well, except perhaps for the lack of any extras), but neither is really anything to write home about.  This pair really feels like DST just needed two fill two slots as easily as possible.  I suppose it’s fitting that a set of mediocre Minimates were based on Iron Man 2.

#1565: Luke Skywalker – Millenium Falcon Gunner Station

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

LUKE SKYWALKER – MILLENIUM FALCON GUNNER STATION

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

In the ‘90s, the toy aisle was ruled by gimmicks.  Whatever your toy was, it needed a cool gimmick.  The trouble for Kenner’s just recently relaunched Star Wars brand was that it’s not super easy to work goofy ‘90s gimmicks into the confines of the established brand.  In ’96, they gave it a go, offering up a Deluxe line, featuring four of the franchise’s heaviest hitters, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, and a Stormtrooper, all packed with some big honking missile launching contraption.  Suffice it to say, the line was not exactly the smash hit Kenner was hoping for, so they went back to the drawing board.  The 1997 Deluxe offerings were all much more sensible, and by 1998, they’d even come up with a decent theme: Gunner Stations.  Remember the gunner stations used by Luke and Han in their escape from the Death Star?  Those were pretty cool, right?  Well, Kenner certainly thought so, and offered up new figures of both Luke and Han, each packed with one of the stations.  I’ll be looking at Luke today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Variations of Farmboy Luke weren’t exactly uncommon in 1998, but this one does give us a slight tweak that’s not been done as a figure since.  Like the Smuggler Han figure I looked at a few months back, this figure depicts Luke with a headset, as well as the belt he took from his Stormtrooper disguise.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Unlike the last version of Farmboy Luke I looked at from this line, this particular figure comes from after the line had largely fixed those wonky proportions, so Luke no longer looks like he’s been juicing hardcore.  I think there’s perhaps an argument to made for him looking a little flat in some places, but he certainly looks a lot better than he did.  He’s also sporting a head based on the second style of standard Luke from this line.  This head was definitely an improvement on the prior one, and while it’s still not a spot-on likeness of Hamill, it’s certainly closer than before.  This particular version has been tweaked to give him the headset, which also means he’s got a full ear showing on one side, which I think was a first as far as Luke Skywalkers go.  The paint on this figure is pretty standard.  The application is all pretty clean, though there’s a bit of slop under his left eye.  Overall, though, a solid effort.

THE GUNNER STATION ITSELF

Luke himself is really more of an accessory to the main selling point of this set, which is the Gunner station.  Once assembled, the station is pretty sizable, standing about 7 inches tall and measuring 6 inches deep.  The seat and turret are one connected piece, attached to the base via a hinge.  The hinge isn’t particularly strong, so the seat ends up just resting on the platform beneath it if there’s a figure in place.  There’s a faux-window piece that clips over the main gun, which does its best to sell this as being one of the Falcon’s two guns.  That being said, aside from the window and the general shape of the gun, the overall layout of the station is a bit different from the one seen in the movie.  I guess it’s more about the spirit, though.  As far as paint goes, it’s confined to the main section of the gun, which has some slight blaster scarring, which looks reasonable enough.  There’s also a decal back on the monitor, which replicates the screen in front of Luke in the movie.  Beyond that, it’s just molded plastic.  There’s also a sort of missile launching feature.  The barrels of the gun can be fired in succession when you turn the gear at the back of the gun.  It’s not spring loaded and the missiles don’t actually click into place or anything. which can be a bit on the annoying side when you’re picking this thing up and moving it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was much younger, every year when school finished up, my Nana would take me and my cousin Rusty out and buy us a few small things as a small treat for finishing out the year.  We were each given a set amount we could spend, and I had gotten one or two other things (what they were, I can’t for the life of me remember), and I still had a little bit left to spend, and I believe this guy was marked down.  He was actually my go-to Luke for a good while, and stayed my stand-by Farmboy Luke until I started collecting as an adult.

#1564: Okoye

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

OKOYE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Remember on Wednesday, when I reviewed Nakia?  And I mentioned not knowing a whole lot about the character?  Well, that goes double for today’s subject, Okoye.  I know she’s played by Danai Gurira from The Walking Dead….and that’s really about it.  And, of course, as the Build-A-Figure, there’s no packaging bio for me to fall back on.  A quick glance at her very short Marvel Wiki entry tells me she’s another of T’Challa’s body guards, so there’s that.  Now she’s got a figure, and I’m reviewing it here today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Okoye (not “Okay” as my spellcheck keeps insisting) is, as noted above, the Build-A-Figure for the recent Black Panther-themed series of Marvel Legends.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  Construction-wise, this figure is very similar to the Nakia figure, which is sensible given their similar employment.  It’s worth noting, though, that she has a completely unique sculpt, which I will admit was rather a surprise to me.  I had really expected some shared parts here, but I’m glad Hasbro went for screen accurate over economical.  I was a little disappointed to find that Okoye’s articulation was a bit more restricted than Nakia, especially at the elbows.  That said, she’s still very posable.  It just makes getting her spear in both hands a little more difficult.  Fortunately, her sculpt is just as strong as Nakia’s, delivering a very detail-filled sculpt that really looks like what we’ve seen of Okoye from the promos.  Her head has a pretty solid likeness of Gurira, which I think is a lot stronger than any of McFarlane’s attempts with their Michonne figures.  You can really tell who this is supposed to be.  I also like that they’ve given her a stern and serious expression that still manages to avoid having her look too much like a mannequin.  I think the paint plays a big part in that too.  Okoye has the face printing again, and she’s by far the best example I’ve seen.  There’s also some really sharp work on her head tattoos.  The rest of the body is also pretty decent, though I do wish there were some sort of accent work on her wrist bracers; they look a little goofy with just the straight gold plastic.  Build-A-Figures being accessories themselves, they don’t tend to be too heavy on extras.  Okoye does include her spear, though, which is certainly a plus, and essentially puts her on par with the rest of the assortment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I don’t really know Okoye, I wasn’t initially sure I was going to complete this Build-A-Figure.  Of course, before I knew it, I’d ended up with all but two of her pieces.  Tim offered me his Killmonger piece, and I found Panther in fairly short order, so there we go.  As with Nakia, it’s a figure I wasn’t really expecting anything from, but one I’m actually rather happy with.  And, for those of you keeping track at home, this is the second Build-A-Figure of a character I don’t know that Hasbro has managed to get me to complete.  I think I’m just too easy a target at this point.

#1563: Invincible Iron Man

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

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Technological upgrades and weapons help Iron Man bring order to any battle.”

Since Tim took the last Build-A-Figure contributing figure in the latest series of Marvel Legends, I suppose I’ll just round the main series out by looking at the only figure in the set *not* to come with a piece of Okoye.  It’s an Iron Man.  I know, that’s very different and unusual.  No, wait, it’s the other thing.  Predictable and highly expected.  Yeah, that’s it.  Iron Man’s been a fixture of Marvel Legends since its start, so there’s precedent, I suppose.  Plus, with his near limitless armor variations, there are plenty of good excuses for new figures.  Let’s go with that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Invincible Iron Man is ostensibly part of the Okoye Series of Marvel Legends.  Like Namor and Black Bolt before him, he doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with Panther, but I guess Hasbro just really wanted a known quantity in this assortment, sort of like when they did the same exact thing for the first Guardians assortment back in 2014.  Maybe it’ll actually work out for this time and stores won’t still be trying to unload this Iron Man four years from now like what happened with the Space Armor.  Believe it or not, this is actually the first main-series-released Iron Man since the Civil War-based Mark 46 from 2016, and the first comic-based Tony since 2015.  That seems kind of crazy to me. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  This Iron Man is based his armor from Marvel’s 2015 “All-New, All-Different” relaunch.  I’m actually quite a fan of this design, so I’m happy to see it chosen for this spot.  What makes me even happier is that it got a dedicated original sculpt.  It does a very nice job of translating the armor’s sleek design into plastic form, and also does a pretty solid job of keeping all of the posability up to what it should be.  From a structural standpoint, this figure feels rather similar to the Mk 46, just a bit skinnier.  I really liked the 46, so I’m definitely on board with this figure taking after it.  I only have one complaint about the sculpt, and it’s something totally confined to my figure.  He’s got a divot on the right side of his helmeted head, which makes it look like he’s taken some serious damage on that side.  It’s fortunately not visible from every angle, but once you see it, it’s hard to un-see it.  Still, that’s a one-off fluke, and it can’t be held against the figure as a whole.  I’m not even that bugged by it, since this figure also includes an unmasked Tony Stark head, which I absolutely love, and will probably end up displaying on the figure most of the time.  It’s just such a sharp and character-filled sculpt, and it looks really good on the body.  The paint on this figure is about on par with other Iron Men from the line.  Lots of red and gold.  The application is clean, and I like the warm-toned colors they’ve chosen.  The unmasked head gets the best work really, with a paint job that accentuates the character of the sculpt very nicely.  In addition to the extra head, Iron Man is packed with a pair of hands open for blasting, two blast effect pieces (re-used from the Mk 46), and a clip-on cannon piece.  The open hands look nice, but I was sad to discover they didn’t have wrist hinges like the main hands.  I’m delighted to see the repulser blasts crop up again, and they continue to add to the posing options for compatible Iron Men.  The cannon seems a bit extraneous to me, but it’s not without merit, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Heavy hitters tend to be the thorn in any collectors side, but this was an Iron Man I was actually quite looking forward to.  As I noted above, I like the design, and he was the only character missing from the ANAD Avengers line-up.  Super Awesome Girlfirend ended up getting me this figure at the same time as Nakia.  I gotta say, I really like this one.  It’s clear that Hasbro put in the effort to just make a good figure all-around, and this guy’s possibly the best Legends Iron Man they’ve released.  Small QC issues aside, he’s pretty awesome.

Guest Review #0049: Erik Killmonger

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

ERIK KILLMONGER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Aha! I bet you didn’t expect to see me reviewing figures again? Well as it turns out, I just so happen to fill in a very specific void in Ethan’s action figure collection. That void’s name is Erik. Isn’t that a name that just inspires terror? Erik. That definitely ranks near the top of the list for imposing comic book character names: Bloodwulf, Violator, Slayback, and now Erik. What’s that? I mean, yeah, he’s got a last name too, but “Killmonger” isn’t in the least bit scary and makes him sound like an office temp, so let’s stick with Erik. Now, is Erik’s figure any good? Let’s have a look.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Erik is part of the 2018 Black Panther wave of Marvel Legends, just in time for the movie in February. Now, full honesty, I have next to no idea who Erik is in the context of the comics aside from an antagonist to T’challa, but what I do know is that I’m digging the leopard print in his suited-up look from the trailers. Rather disappointingly, this pattern doesn’t show up all that well on the figure. It’s definitely there, or at least an attempt at it, but it’s just too dark, especially on the helmet. Based on the trailers, it also seems like the patterns on his legs should be gold but they are purely sculptural with no paint. Overall, I feel like the gold in his costume is just too sparse and where it is is too dark. His helmet gets the worst of it as it kind of looks like they gave it one or two passes with a dry brush and left it at that. The gold bits on his hips also suffer from a little bit of bleed. The collar is actually a separate piece of plastic laid into the torso. It’s not detachable or loose, but it’s worth noting that is isn’t paint and therefore has a bit of a different look to the rest of the gold on Erik. There’s a lot of sculpted detail all over the figure, the extent of which makes me think he is completely new tooling but if I’m wrong I’m sure Ethan will chime in with a parenthetical. The quality of the sculpt definitely helps mitigate some of the shortcomings of the paint but doesn’t fully make up for them. The tribal-looking dotted line pattern reaches every single major piece of the figure and even some minor ones like the backs of the knees and hunching shoulders, so that’s pretty impressive. Going in the opposite direction as the paint, the head has by far the most sculpted detail. I can’t tell if the symbols on the sides of his head are meant to mean something but it does look a little like someone face-rolled an emoji keyboard and wound up with diamond ring, airplane, Notre Dame cathedral, and the Eiffel Tower. Maybe Erik has a special friend back in Paris? Why not? I’m not above baseless speculation. What’s even better about the sculpt is that it works very well in conjunction with the articulation, all 32 points of it. For a character like Erik, who, let’s face it, is functionally identical to Black Panther, poseability is pretty important and the figure delivers on that. In particular, I appreciate the inclusion of the hunching shoulders which are often reserved for Spider-Man figures. They allow for more dramatic poses, most notably any kind of leaping or lunging poses to which the figure is very well suited. In addition, thanks to Erik’s included accessories, those lunging leaping attacks can be made with either clawing hands or grasping hands so he can equip some slightly more traditional weapons. From what I can see in promo material, the short spear thing looks spot on, aside from mine being a little warped in the package. The sword is close but the one in the trailers and posters has more of a pointed tip rather than being rounded. There’s also some blade detail that’s missing from the toy, but it’s possible, and in fact quite likely that Hasbro had to come up with the tooling based on early pre-production images that don’t quite match the final cut, so I’m not mad about it. Erik also comes with the left leg to the Build-A-Figure, Okoye, but I guess there’s nothing saying he couldn’t just swing it around like some sort of weird club if you really wanted.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been kind of weirdly hyped about the Black Panther movie coming out. The titular character was easily one of my favorite parts of Captain America: Civil War, so getting a whole movie about him is just fine by me. Now, why didn’t I get a Panther figure? I actually wasn’t as big a fan of the design of the panther costume from the new figures as I was with the Civil War look. The “golden leopard” look, however, I found quite striking in both the trailer and the figure. Interestingly enough, Erik is my first and, currently, only Marvel Legends figure in my collection but I’d say he’s definitely a good one to start with, disappointing paint aside. Maybe if I’m feeling crafty I’ll see about gilding him up myself one day.

#1562: Nakia

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

NAKIA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A member of the Dora Milage, Nakia protects the reigning Black Panther with strength and poise.”

I will admit, my knowledge of Black Panther’s supporting cast, especially in recent years, is not the most extensive.  So, for most of the movie-based product, I’m just sort of going along with the flow.  Today’s focus, Nakia, is one of those characters I don’t know so well (apart from knowing she became a villain in the comics, a turn that she will supposedly not be making in the film).  But, hey, the MCU hasn’t really failed me yet, right?  Plus, she’s played by Lupita Nyong’o, who already impressed me with her turn as Maz Kanata in the last two Star Wars movies, so I have high hopes.  Onto the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nakia is the second film-based figure in the Okoye Series of Marvel Legends.  It’s actually somewhat surprising to see her turn up here, since Hasbro has a tendency to leave out supporting heroes from the solo-movie tie-ins.  Sure, the Ragnarok assortment had Loki, but he’s, you know, Loki.  But, in what appears to be the running theme for this series, I don’t really mind what the logic was if it got me this figure.  Nakia stands a little over 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  While the actual articulation count isn’t really any higher than the average Legend (in fact, it’s a little lower), the range of motion on Nakia’s joints is truly an impressive feat of engineering.  Hasbro’s designed a figure that can get into all manner of deep poses, and the best part is it doesn’t really impact the quality of the sculpt at all.  Speaking of that sculpt, it’s worth noting that Nakia’s sculpt is totally unique to her.  It’s also pretty awesome as well.  There’s a ton of texture work all throughout, and a great set of realistic proportions.  The head also has a pretty spot-on likeness of Nyong’o, which certainly outpaces the T’Challa head from the Black Panther figure.  Nakia’s paint work is pretty solid.  I particularly like the brightness of the colors, especially on her tunic.  Nakia is also sporting the printed face we’ve seen a few times before, but I think it looks better here than it has on the last few figures I’ve seen it on.  Th figure is packed with a pair of weapons which are…big hoop things?  I don’t know what they are, but they certainly look cool.  She’s also got a small bladed weapon, as well as the torso of Okoye.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nakia was grabbed for me by Super Awesome Girlfriend.  Nakia was one of the two figures that her Gamestop got in from this series, and she thought I might want her.  Like I said in the intro, I don’t know the character all that well, but I definitely like this figure.  I’m happy I got one, and I’m excited to see the character in action.