#1269: Marvel’s Cyclops

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

MARVEL’S CYCLOPS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Scott Summers wears a specially designed visor and shoots beams of energy from his eyes as the optically-gifted hero, Cyclops.”

Ooooooohhhhhh yeeeeaaaaaaahhhh!  It’s Cyclops!  And it’s not just any Cyclops.  No, no: it’s THE Cyclops.  This is the one.  From the ‘90s.  ‘90s Cyclops: tell your friends.

Cyclops is no stranger to Marvel Legends.  He’s actually had six prior Legends figures (and that’s *just* the official Legends-branded releases).  The problem?  None of them were quite right.  Both of the Toy Biz attempts were far less than stellar, and while Hasbro’s attempts have been steadily getting better, they all had something off about them.  Be it the simple misfortune of being released while Hasbro was still learning (the first Astonishing Cyclops), poor design choices (the TRU First Appearance Cyclops), or just an incredibly limited release (the Puck and Jubilee Series figures), he just seemed unlucky.  My personal favorite was the Marvel Now version from the Jubilee Series, but in addition to his (and the rest of the series’s) scarce distribution, he was also sporting a far from standard Cyclops design.  The latest series of Marvel Legends has done its best to amend this.  Let’s see if they succeeded.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is figure 5 in the Warlock Series of Marvel Legends.  Scott is one of the assortment’s two “headliners” with the other being Old Man Logan.  He’s based on Scott’s early ‘90s Jim Lee-designed costume, which is considered by a lot of people to be the definitive design for the character, thanks largely to its presence on the ‘90s X-Men cartoon.  It’s rife with ‘90s goofiness, with straps and pouches galore.  Nevertheless, there’s just something about this design that is really commanding.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like the last three Cyclopes from Hasbro, this figure is built on the Bucky Cap body.  Lee’s Cyclops was generally a little bulkier, so I feel like something like the Spider-UK body wouldn’t have been out of place here.  Of course, the last three versions of this guy were all on the same body, so I can definitely see Hasbro’s desire to keep the character consistent, and it’s not like I dislike the Bucky Cap body.  The figure is constructed in much the same way as the Marvel Universe take on this design; all the straps and such are add-on bits.  This is the area where this figure is the weakest.  While the basic sculpts are okay, they don’t sit quite the way they should.  The wrist bits are perfectly fine, and the thigh straps are passable (they pop out of place, but not too often).  The bootstraps fall down a lot, but you can work them up the calf gradually so that they stay a bit better.  The biggest issue is definitely the belt/straps.  They’re too loose and the belt in particular sits at an odd angle.  In Hasbro’s defense, if they made the piece too tight, the torso articulation would be quite limited; apart from a dedicated torso sculpt, their options were limited.  Even with the issues, the right posing and futzing with the pieces gets the figure to the point where he looks pretty darn awesome.  Adding to the awesomeness is the head sculpt; I thought the MU sculpt for this design was pretty on point, and I was also a pretty big fan of Toy Biz’s take, but man does this sculpt blow them out of the water.  It’s clean, and every detail is really sharp.  From the shape of the visor to the flow of his hair, this is a pitch-perfect representation of Scott from the ‘90s.  Easily the strongest head sculpt Hasbro’s put out on a Legends figure.  The paint on Cyclops is really solid.  Not perfect, and he could still use some accent work here and there, but the colors are really vibrant, and this guy just pops.  It’s worth noting that the visor is done in gold, which sometimes annoys me on Cyclops figures, but they’ve matched the shade of the gold to the yellow on the rest of the figure, so it reads as the same basic color, just like it does in the comics.  Cyclops includes no accessories of his own, which is a slight letdown.  Given the prevalence of energy effects with recent Hasbro offerings, I was sort of hoping for an extra head with some sort of optic blast attachment, but alas, no luck.  On the plus side, he’s packed with the other leg of Build-A-Figure Warlock, which is one of the bigger pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oooooh boy, was this guy illusive.  As soon as the news broke that these figures were hitting Target, I started checking for them.  This guy was by far my most wanted of the singles in this set.  Of course, like with last year’s Rogue figure, I was far from alone in that respect.  For several weeks, I arrived just after someone else in the area, seeing every other figure but this guy.  Word broke that these guys were starting to hit Walgreens a little early, so on a whim, I stopped by one while I was out with Super Awesome Girlfriend.  I wasn’t expecting to find him, but before I even made it all the way down the aisle, I saw his colors, and there he was, right at the front of the shelf.  I may or may not have skipped out of the store after paying for him….

This is my favorite Legends figure to date, which is no small feat.  He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s everything I wanted from a Cyclops Legends figure.  This is the Cyclops I’ve been waiting for since 2002, and I couldn’t be more happy to have him.

Guest Review #0040: Vic Viper

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

VIC VIPER

ZONE OF THE ENDERS (REVOLTECH YAMAGUCHI)

I love robots and space ships. Thankfully, today’s figure gives me both of these. Now, if you saw the title of this post and got exited for a review of the ship from the 1985 Konami arcade game Gradius, you might be thinking, “Where does the robot part come in? It’s just a ship.” That is because this Vic Viper (while hinted to be the same ship from Gradius) comes from the 2003 Konami game Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner as a supporting LEV to the leading orbital frame Jehuty. But we’re not here to talk about Jehuty this time, transforming into review mode.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As mentioned before, this Vic Viper is based on its appearance in Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. The figure is about 5 1/2 inches tall, plus a little extra height from the stand. Vic sports an impressive 65 points of articulation thanks to the extensive use of the standard revolver joints found in Revoltech figures. This makes Vic extremely poseable (almost frustratingly so), but it does disrupt the sculpt ever so slightly in places like the arms and wings. The sculpt work is entirely original to this figure and does a pretty good job capturing all the necessary dimensions and details. Everything is where it should be, although there are a few very minor instances where the mold seams interrupt some of the sculpted details. Vic’s paint is pretty great, barring one or two little spots of bleed, with a lot of really crisp detail work on the barcodes and 74 on his arms, wings, and shoulders. All of the colors match up to the game pretty closely, but what stands out is the slightly pearlescent finish to the white paint which really adds some depth to what could easily have been left a simple flat white. Contrasting that with the purple, dark grey, and metallic gold detailing really makes the figure pop. Vic comes packaged with with a spare set of arms with the hands deployed, 2 slashing effect pieces, a stand, and an extension piece that lets you transform him into ship mode if you want, though it’s a little bit of a hassle getting him there. Vic isn’t without his issues, but all in all, he’s a well made figure with a lot of potential for very dynamic poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Vic Viper a few months after I received the HD remaster of Zone of the Enders for Christmas. Oddly enough, I already had a figure of Jehuty prior to that point, so playing the game only confirmed that I would expand upon this. It took me a little time just getting used to posing him since Vic has joints all over the place, but once I got the hang of it, he turned out to be a bunch of fun.

#1268: Marvel’s Polaris

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

MARVEL’S POLARIS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Magnetic, electric, and gravitic fields are no match for Polaris, a super being with the ability to control and manipulate magnetism.”

Remember how much of a “finally” figure Sunfire was?  Yeah, he’s about to be topped.  Today’s focus is Lorna Dane, aka Polaris, who may or may not be the daughter of Magneto (they’ve gone back and forth on that a few times).  She’s had only three figures in the past and two of those three were nothing more than Rogue repaints.  And, on top of that, she’s never had a Marvel Legends figure, which has been rather frustrating to me, since she and Havok are two of my favorite X-Men.  But here she is!  Let’s get this figure reviewed!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Polaris—sorry, *Marvel’s* Polaris—is figure 4 in the Warlock Series of Marvel Legends.  Polaris has had a number of rather different looks over the years.  Like Dazzler, there are some dueling opinions about which look deserved to get a figure first.  Hasbro’s opted to go with a more classic incarnation of the character, specifically the more modern take on her original design, from the period when she and Havok were galavanting around in space with the Star Jammers.  It’s a decent choice, since it can work in both modern and classic set-ups pretty well.  I do wish we had a Havok that matched up with her (I’ve become increasingly bummed that the Juggernaut Series Havok didn’t at least include an extra headband-wearing head), but she doesn’t look horribly out of place with the last one.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Polaris is built on the Phoenix body (albeit with a slightly modified upper torso to add a peg hole for the cape), which is a pretty good starting point.  She’s got a brand new head…I think.  A few people have claimed she shares her face with Scarlet Witch.  The facial structure on the two is certainly similar, but I’m not sure it’s identical.  At the very least, the head would have needed some sizable retooling, as the two hairpieces affix differently.  Regardless, the head sculpt is pretty decently handled.  It’s not my go-to look for Polaris, but she matches up pretty well with the depictions of her when she had this costume.  Lorna also gets add-on pieces for her cape and wrist bands.  The cape looks to be new.  I’m not super crazy about how it sits on the shoulders, but it’s a decent piece overall. Certainly one of Hasbro’s better capes. The bands are taken from the ‘90s Jean Grey from the Rocket Raccoon Series, and while they aren’t a 100% match for the comics design, they’re close enough to work.  As far as paint goes, Polaris is about what we’ve come to expect from the recent Legends figures.  The work is all nice and clean, and the colors are pretty vibrant.  my figure’s got a small spot of green in the middle of her left hand, which is slightly annoying, but the placement is such that it’s not super noticeable.  On the plus side, the face in particular is a lot cleaner than some of the prior Legends, and I like the accent work on the hair.  I do wish the hair was a bit brighter, just to stand out a bit more, but the shade of Lorna’s hair has shifted a lot in the comics, and this one is certainly still an accurate choice.  Polaris is packed with a pair of energy effects pieces.  These are the same ones used for both Havok and Wonder Man, and they’re starting to get a little worn, if I’m honest.  I mean, they work alright for Lorna’s power set, and the green is cool, but they feel slightly redundant here.  Maybe if the same pieces weren’t used for Havok, a character she’s pretty much guaranteed to spend all of her time with on the shelf, I’d be slightly more forgiving.  Isolated from the re-use, they’re still pretty cool, so I guess it’s fair.  Lorna also includes the right leg of the Build-A-Figure Warlock.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Technically, this is the second of this figure that I got.  When the Warlock Series first started hitting stores, I enlisted the help of my parents to try and track them down.  They ended up finding Polaris and Colossus for me at a Target nearer to them.  Of course, they live about 10 hours away, which means any figure they get for me has to be shipped down, so there was a bit of a wait involved.  In the mean time, I was looking for the other figures and came across a second Polaris, and since she was the one figure in the set that my Dad also wanted, I picked up the second and let him keep the one he grabbed for me.  Yay?  Anyway, I’m glad to have this figure.  I like Lorna a lot, and getting a Legends version of her, especially in essentially her classic costume, is really great.  Of course, I wouldn’t say no to X-Factor versions of her and Havok, if Hasbro’s feeling generous…

*Want a Polaris figure of your own?  She’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check her out!

#1267: Shatterstar

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

SHATTERSTAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Armed with superhuman physical and mental abilities, Shatterstar conquers his enemies with strength and certainty.”

Can you get more ‘90s than Shatterstar?  Created by Rob Liefeld?  Check.  Name made up of two unrelated “kewl” words?  Check.  Weird head gear?  Check.  A single eye tattoo?  Check.  A hairstyle that no human who ever lived has had?  Check.  Shoulder pads and pouches?  Check and check.  All this dude needs is a leather jacket, a giant gun, and a can of Surge, and he’ll check off the whole list.  As a paragon of all things ‘90s, he was a pretty popular guy back in the day, and got a whole three action figures from Toy Biz’s ‘90s X-Force line.  However, since then, he’s sort of fallen down (well, aside from a pair of Minimates).  With that being said, there’s been a slight resurgence of some of the ‘90s stuff, leading to Shatterstar being fortunate enough to get a figure courtesy of Hasbro’s latest set of Marvel Legends.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shatterstar is figure 2 in the Warlock Series of Marvel Legends, taking the X-Force slot established by Stryfe and Cable in the last two series.  This is the first time he’s had a Legends figure, which actually seems a little surprising, given his popularity in the ‘90s.  In terms of design, he more or less goes back to the original Liefeld look.  I know there was a contingent that was hoping for his more recent X-Factor look (I myself was sort of pulling for that look), but if Shatterstar’s only going to get one Marvel Legend (which seems rather likely), you kind of *have* to do the ridiculous ‘90s monstrosity.  On the plus side, they really did make it suck a lot less than it could have.  I think that’s partly to do with them actually drawing the main influence from the Marvel: Avengers Alliance design for him, which is a nice, cleaned up version of his original design.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Bucky Cap body, specifically the Doctor Strange variation of it, which works nicely to replicate his poofy shirt.  Also aiding in the poofy shirt bit are the new arms, which are built similarly to the normal ones, but with lots of wrinkles.  I do wish his arms could sit a bit closer to the arms, but that’s a minor complaint.  He’s also got the flared glove pieces, which are bulkier than the ones seen on Zemo and Boomerang.  The lower half is mostly the basic pieces, with add-ons for the belt and thigh pouches (which are kind of a necessity), and a pair of brand new boots (which Super Awesome Girlfriend has classified as “fabulous”).  He’s topped off with an all-new head and an add-on for his scarf/halfcape/shoulderpad.  The single shoulder pad has always perplexed me.  It would make sense if he favored one arm over the other in sword fighting, but he’s pretty much always dual wielded, so, what’s the deal?  To Hasbro’s credit, the shoulder pad sports some pretty sweet detailing, so good on them for that.  The head sculpt is commendable in its ability to faithful recreate Shatterstar’s goof hair and headgear without getting too laughably bad.  They’ve gone for a calmer facial expression than Liefeld would have given him, but it’s actually one that better fits the persona Shatterstar took on after Liefeld left the book.  Shatterstar’s paint work is really solid.  The basic color work is ask nice and clean, with only minor coverage issues on the legs.  The brown bits have all been given a bit of a wash to accent the details, which once again shows how nice a Hasbro sculpt can look with the tiniest bit of extra accent work.  It’s worth noting that Hasbro did tweak Shatterstar’s colors a little bit, making the gloves and scarf a light grey instead of the straight white they were in the comics.  It’s only a minor change, and honestly, it helps to break up the colors a bit more than they otherwise would be.  Shatterstar was packed with a pair of swords; since Liefeld could never make up his mind about whether Shatterstar’s swords were two bladed or just one single blade, Hasbro’s been nice enough to give us one of each.  Aside from possibly benefiting from a little bit of paint, the swords are pretty cool, and Shatterstar has an easy time holding them.  The figure also includes the right arm of Warlock, who is shaping up to be pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I know I’m hyper-critical of the ‘90s, but I do have an appreciation for Shatterstar as a character.  When he was announced, I was actually pretty excited, especially after how well the Juggernaut Series Cable turned out.  Shatterstar was nearer the end of my discoveries of this set; I found him at the slightly further away Target near me, which had just put out a case, albeit one that was already missing Cyclops.  While I’d still like to see the X-Factor version at some point, this guy, like Cable before him, is a lot better than I’d expected.  Once again, the Rob Liefeld character is one of the stronger figures in the series.  How do they keep doing that?

*Want a Shatterstar figure of your own?  He’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check him out!

#1266: Sunfire

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

SUNFIRE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A master of solar energy, Sunfire converts solar radiation into powerful plasma outputs, perfect for scorching his enemies.”

Alright!  Sunfire, getting his action figure due!  Seriously, and Minimate and a Marvel Legend, both in less than a year?  That’s not bad for a guy who’s essentially the Pete Best of the All-New, All-Different X-Men. Believe it or not, this actually brings his total action figure count up to seven, which just goes to show that being an X-Man, even briefly, has its perks.  Let’s just look at the figure already!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sunfire is figure 6 in the Warlock Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s definitely one of the “it’s about time” figures in this set (there are quite a few of them this time around).  This is actually his second time getting the Legends treatment; Sunfire one the 2008 fan poll Hasbro ran, and was offered later that year as a Hasbro Toy Shop exclusive.  However, that figure was based on the character’s look from the Age of Apocalypse cross-over.  Not a bad design, but hardly Sunfire’s go-to.  This figure instead offers him in his classic costume, which he’s worn off and on for 47 years.  It’s definitely an eye-catching design, and, in my opinion, the only real Sunfire design.  I’m glad Hasbro agreed.  There have actually been a number of slight variations on the design over the years (the character tends to go a bit of time between appearances, and rarely is drawn by the same artist twice in a row).  This version seems to be most closely modeled on Alan Davis’s rendition of the character from around the mid-90s.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and sports 34 points of articulation.  Sunfire is built on the new base body that was debuted on ANAD Spider-Man 2099…who I haven’t yet reviewed, so I guess it’s new here!  Sizing-wise, it’s between the Pizza Spidey and Bucky Cap bodies, leaning nearer to the Bucky Cap.  He’s a bit leaner overall, but with a more solid core.  It’s actually a pretty solid choice for Sunfire, who tends to be placed on bodies that are far too skinny for him.  This one lives up to the usually stockier depictions we’ve seen of him.  He gets a new head and belt piece.  The belt sits a little funny at times, but the head is one of Hasbro’s stronger sculpts.  They actually managed to make the mask not look completely ridiculous!  Like Nova, his lower face is a separate piece from the rest of the head, which prevents that whole area from getting to be ill-defined, as can often be the case with such designs.  If you want to get really technical, Sunfire should have also gotten new arms and legs to replicate the scaly texture his costume is supposed to have.  That being said, just how present that texture should be is one of those things that changes from artist to artist, and I can see why sculpting all those new parts just for Sunfire would be a bit excessive.  He really doesn’t look that bad with just the basic pieces, so I’m not really going to complain.  As far as the paintwork, Sunfire is largely pretty solid, with one little caveat: the white on the torso.  It looks fine, but the coverage is a little off, and I’ve noticed some chipping on my figure around the joints, which is worrying.  Aside from that, the paint’s all nice and sharp; the gold in particular is a nice shade, which stands out better from the red than a lot of golds would.  Sunfire is packed with a pair of fire effect pieces (the same ones included with the last Iron Fist figure), as well as the torso of Warlock.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After finding Dazzler, I saw none of these figures for another week or so.  The Target nearest me finally got in their case of figures, but by the time I got there, the only ones they had left were this guy and Old Man Logan.  Like Dazzler, I can’t say that Sunfire was at the top of my list for this set.  With that being said, having him in hand he’s a strong contender for my favorite individual figure in the series.  He’s just a nice classic design, executed really well.  I’m very happy to have this guy after all this time waiting, and I’m glad Hasbro really put the effort into making him so cool!

#1265: Dazzler

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

DAZZLER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Dazzler converts sounds into light and energy, preferring the rhythm of music as her primary source of sonic strength.”

Alright, are you guys ready to get pumped?  No?  Oh, okay.  Ummm, guess I’ll come back.

Ready now?  Good.  So, hey, you remember how I was spending all that time looking for those new X-Men Marvel Legends?  Well, I found them all, I’ve observed the proper trial period with them, and now, without further ado, I present Warlock Week!  We’re kicking off Warlock Week with Dazzler, the figure whose presence at SDCC ’16 first queued us in on the existence of this particular series.  She’s making her Marvel Legends debut here.  Let’s see how it turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dazzler is figure 3 in the third X-Men assortment of Marvel Legends, also known as the Warlock Series.  Dazzler’s an interesting character in that she’s had two main looks over the years.  They’re pretty divergent designs, and people tend to be a fan of one and not the other.  So, when the figure was revealed sporting her ‘70s disco-styled costume, there were more than a few disgruntled X-Men fans who wanted her Flashdance look from the ‘80s instead.  I can see Hasbro’s reasoning, really, since this design’s been getting the push in the last year or so, thanks to Dazzler wearing it during the first volume of A-Force, which sort of brought Allison back into the public eye. I’m one of those weird breed of people who would have been happy with either version of the character, so I’m pleased either way.  This figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall (thanks to the roller-skates) and has 27 points of articulation.  She’s built on the Phoenix body, which I think is probably Hasbro’s best female body they currently have on hand.  She gets an all-new head, upper torso, lower legs, and feet, as well as a cool little disco ball necklace add-on.  The new pieces mesh really well with the stock parts.  I think Dazzler might be the first time a figure has a credible excuse for baggy pants legs that go skintight at the thighs.  The head is a very nice piece; as has been the trend with Hasbro female figures as of late, she’s actually quite attractive.  Technically, the hair’s not quite the right style for Allison, but it’s a similar vintage, so it doesn’t look out of place (and I honestly like her a bit more this way).  It’s actually not far off from what Jean Grey was sporting as Phoenix, and conversely the recent Phoenix figure’s hair isn’t too far off from Dazzler’s classic ‘do, so perhaps a swap is in order.  The hair’s also been carefully sculpted to sit behind the popped collar of the torso, but in such a way that it doesn’t just have odd chunks missing from it or something.  The torso sculpt does a very nice job of adding her collar.  Some figures make the collar too thick, and while it’s obviously a little thicker here than it would be in real life, it’s not horribly off.  The feet give us a first for Legends: roller-skates!  They don’t actually roll (and I’m kind of glad; I can only imagine the nightmare of getting her to stand if that were the case), but they’re a fun addition nonetheless.  I do wish they’d made them removable, seeing as they weren’t always present with this costume, but I’d rather have them permanently attached than not at all.  In terms of paint, Dazzler is overall pretty solid, aside from a few small issues.  Really, I just sort of wish they’d used either silver or pearlescent white for the jumpsuit, since it was usually was drawn as if it were reflective.  The flat white’s not terrible, but I worry it will yellow over time, and it’s already suffering from some of the pieces not completely matching in shade.  Aside from that, her paint is really clean, and very vibrant, which is always appreciated.  Dazzler includes a microphone, an effects piece (the same one used for Scarlet Witch, but multicolored this time), and the left arm of Warlock.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After about a week of hitting up the two local Targets every other day, I ran across Dazzler all by herself, hiding behind the remnants of the Juggernaut Series.  It was a bitter sweet moment; it was cool to find Dazzler and all, but finding just her meant that I’d missed the first case of the rest of the series.  Admittedly, Dazzler wasn’t super high priority from this series (I mean, I was getting her no matter what, since my most anticipated figure in the set was the Build-A-Figure).  With that being said, getting her first, divorced from the rest of the set, allowed me to appreciate her on her own, and I have to say, she’s a really nice figure.  Here’s hoping they follow it up with the Flashdance version later down the line!

*Want a Dazzler figure of your own?  She’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check her out!

The Blaster in Question #0001: Falconfire

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

FALCONFIRE

NERF ACCUSTRIKE SERIES

What’s this? It’s not an action figure? No, today I am kicking off my series of toy blaster reviews. Given my extensive knowledge and collection of Nerf blasters in particular, this seemed like a logical addition to The Figure in Question network. Will it work? Will it be interesting? The answer is a resounding maybe. But enough intro, get into cover and yell “NOT IN THE FACE! NOT IN THE FACE!” because here comes the foam.

Birds. That’s what you think of when talking about accuracy, right? Well the fine folks at Hasbro certainly do, as evidenced by the naming convention used on the Accustrike series of blasters. So let’s kick things off with a look at the smallest blaster in the series thus far, the Falconfire. Caw caw!

THE BLASTER ITSELF

The Falconfire was released right around January 2017 along with its bigger brother, the Alphahawk (caw) as one of the first blasters in the Accustrike series. While neither of these blasters provided much new material in terms of operation, they did usher in the latest in foam dart technology i.e. the Accustrike darts. These darts, in comparison to standard Nerf Elite darts, feature a redesigned tip which is supposed to impart a sort of rifling effect upon the dart as it flies, providing a much more consistent trajectory. Long story short, they work. The inaccuracy of Elite darts beyond maybe 20 feet was a well known gripe in the Nerf community and I have to give props to Hasbro for the solution they came up with. Not only are the new darts a marked improvement over the last generation, but they’re entirely cross compatible with existing Nerf blasters. This point is clearly demonstrated upon inspection of the Falconfire blaster itself. As I mentioned earlier, functionally, the blaster is nothing new. The Falconfire is 13 inches long, 6 inches tall, and 1 1/2 inches wide and is built on the same mechanics as the Sharpfire from the N-Strike line, and the Ionfire from the Modulus line. Admittedly, it’s a little over-complicated of a mechanism for a single shot blaster. Nevertheless, it’s fun to mess with and the breech-loading does lend itself to playing sniper if you’re into that sort of imagination thing. There is also an attachment rail on the underside for accessories. The blaster feels nice and solid in hand. The handle in particular is exceptionally comfortable compared to many other Nerf blasters (I’m looking at you, Modulus). The barrel is largely useless in terms of accuracy but it does fit with the aesthetics of the blaster, and the hole is large enough that it doesn’t detract from the blaster’s performance. I am a fan of Nerf adding sights to their more recent blasters and this holds true for the Falconfire, though they may have gone just a little overboard. I mean, it works, but 3 rear sights and 2 front sights including the great big ring seems a tad much. Maybe that’s just me. Being as simple as it is, jams and malfunctions are extremely rare. Performance is decent but nothing to write home about. It does seem to shoot softer than most of the larger blasters and even some pistols, but for indoor plinking, it serves just fine. The Falconfire comes packed with 6 Accustrike darts and instructions for operation.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up the Falconfire at a Target while I was visiting my boy Ethan. Fun fact, the whole idea for The Blaster in Question has been in the pipeline for quite some time and after some pestering, Ethan convinced me to write up the first review now while I have the blaster in hand. So here we are. Overall, I quite enjoy the Falconfire, despite not being top tier in terms of performance. I especially appreciate the new darts and am excited to see what new releases Nerf will cook up for the series. If they stick with the same naming convention, I’m sure we can all look forward to the Eagleshot, Ospreyblast, Vulture Pew Pew, and BLAM Chickadee.

#1264: Fire Fighters

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

FIRE FIGHTERS

M.A.X. MINIMATES — ELITE HEROES

“Mobile Action Xtreme, the world’s premier action response team!”

A large piece of Minimates success is how closely tied they are to all sorts of pop-culture.  There’s a definite novelty to having all of your favorite characters from numerous media sources in one cohesive style.  With that being said, one of the biggest holes in just about any toy collectors collection isn’t the main, licensed heroes; no, it’s actually the everyday joes who populate the background of all our favorite stories.  The cops, firefighters, soldiers, etc.  In 2010, DST offered Minimates fans the chance to add a few of those average joes to their collections, under the banner of M.A.X. Elite Heroes.  The line was sadly limited to just two series of two-packs, a box-set, and a handful of vehicles, but what was released was pretty darn awesome.  Today, I’ll be taking a look at one of the line’s sets of Fire Fighters!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

There were actually five varieties of Fire Fighters available in the M.A.X. Minimates — Elite Heroes line.  This represent the most basic of the group (the others were Smoke Jumpers and Chiefs).  This set was offered in both Series 1 and 2 of the line, with one slight tweak;  mine is the Series 2 version.  Included in this set are effectively two versions of the same figure, albeit with brown hair for one and black hair for the other.  Both figures stand about 2 1/4 inches tall and have the usual 14 points of articulation.  They use the basic ‘mate body as a starting point.  Both figures include standard Fire Fighter garb, which includes a helmet, a jacket, sleeves for the wrists, and a unique set of feet with bulky pant cuffs attached.    The pieces all sit well on the body, and look like the gear gear that the real guys use.  The details are nice and clean, and fit well with the slightly simplistic stylings of ‘mates.  The second guy includes an extra set of arms, hands, and feet, as well as a belt piece and hair, allowing for a dressed-down appearance.  There’s also a clear torso piece to allow for storage of his jacket and arms when he’s not using them. The paint on the two figures is virtually identical, apart from the previously mentioned hair colors.  This means both guys have the same face.  Most of the M.A.X guys were really generic facially, but these two were less so.  They’re still generic enough to work, but they look a bit like twins.  Fortunately, the nature of Minimates makes it pretty easy to swap the heads out if you want to.  The rest of the paint is all pretty solid; there’s some slight bleed over here and there, but nothing beyond reason.  The set was quite heavy on the accessories.  In addition to the already mentioned extra body pieces, there was a hair piece for each figure, a helmet with a mask attached, an oxygen tank, a polearm, a flashlight, the jaws of life, and a fire extinguisher, and two axes.  That’s a fun selection of extras, and allows you to build your Fire Fighters pretty much how ever you want to.  There’s a reason these sets all ended up being rather hard to find.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I completely missed the first series of M.A.X.  Literally never saw a single one in stores.  They were pretty popular, and hit at a time when I wasn’t able to just swing by Toys R Us every few days to check.  I almost missed these guys too.  One of my local TRUs was going out of business and had a good chunk of products marked down pretty far.  I ended up grabbing pretty much all of the Minimates they had in stock, which included most of the second series of M.A.X. (I never did get those Police Officers, though).  This is probably my least favorite from the set, but that’s kind of a hollow qualifier, since they were all really awesome.  It’s a shame we didn’t get more of these guys, but I’m happy I got the ones I did.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0010: Green Goblin

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

Oh yeah, it’s Friday!  You know what that means: it’s time for another installment of Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Today, we flip back over to the Marvel side of things, with long-time Spidey foe Green Goblin, from back when he was Willem Dafoe!

The first Spider-Man movie may have been surpassed by other superhero movies in recent years, but when it was released it was my favorite superhero movie, and remained in that spot until it was dislodged by its sequel. The movie was also one of the earliest comicbook based movies to get a decent tie-in toyline, on par with, and perhaps even better than the comic stuff at the time. I’m certain it surprises no one that I owned a few of the figures from that toyline, and today I’ll be looking at one of the figures of the film’s big bad, the Green Goblin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Goblin was part of the first series of Spider-Man movie figures. The figure stands 6 inches tall and features 38 points of articulation. He has an all new sculpt based on Willem Dafoe’s performance as the character in the film. It’s a pretty good sculpt and, whether you like the suit or not, it’s a good representation of the suit’s design. Under the figure’s removable mask is an unmasked Norman Osborn head, which bares more than a passing resemblance to Dafoe. The resemblance might be a bit closer were it not for the slick back hair style, but it was necessary in order to facilitate the removable mask feature. The mask is a well done piece and is essentially a scaled down version of the real thing, though it is missing the backing it had in the movie. This is once again to aid the removability. The paintwork is cleanly applied, with no real issues with slop or bleed over. His skin tone is a tad too yellow for my tastes, but only a tad. The figure came packaged with his goblin glider and a flight stand, but both of mine have been lost. Sorry!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Green Goblin from the KB Toys in my local mall shortly after the first series was released. That would have been a few months before the release of the movie. For some reason, I wanted Green Goblin, but none of the other figures in the series. So, I only had the Goblin for a while. He’s a quality figure for sure, but that goblin costume looks worse every time I see it.

Okay, so first of all, I feel the need to apologize for the complete lack of a shot of his unmasked face in the original review.  I’m not sure how that got completely left out.  It’s now been added as part of his Wilson photo.

This was another short review, though it does hit on most of the major points.  Perhaps I should try for brevity more often? Nah, that’s silly!  Anyway, as nice as the actual details on the costume are, the actual body they’ve been placed on is rather oddly proportioned, and suffers from a lack of any useful articulation on the torso.  Still, he’s on par with most of the early Marvel Legends and Spider-Man Classics, so he’s not awful.  Missing from my original review was his Goblin Glider, which I discovered during The Find.  It was actually split between several different boxes, so finding the whole thing was quite an accomplishment.  It’s honestly one of the best parts of this figure.  There’s a ton of detail and it’s not undersized like so many of the gliders end up being.  There’s even some slight articulation, so you can get him posed on it just right.

This guy feels a lot more complete now.  His design’s still really, really goofy, but this was a pretty fun figure for its time, and it was honestly the best Goblin Toy Biz put out until the Series 13 Legends release.

#1263: Yondu

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

YONDU

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A captain of a Ravager faction, Yondu is a powerful warrior shrouded in mystery.”

Okay, I can get behind the first half of this bio, but the second half is sort of losing me.  Is Yondu’s mysterious past going to be a key piece of GotG Vol 2 or something?  Because he honestly doesn’t seem that much more mysterious than the rest of the cast from the first film.  Here I am critiquing bios again.  I gotta stop with that.  So, if you hadn’t already gathered, today’s focus is Yondu, who, after being left out of Hasbro’s offerings for the first film, has found his way into Legends form for the sequel!  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Yondu is figure 2 in the Titus Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the last of the three movie-based figures in this particular series.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation.  Yondu’s appearance in Vol 2 is largely the same as his Vol 1 appearance, with the only real change being his “mohawk,” which us now an actual head-fin thing, closer to his comics design.  Yondu’s Ravager garb makes him somewhat similar to the first Star-Lord figure in design, so Hasbro’s opted to re-use a number of that figure’s pieces here.  He’s got the same pelvis and upper legs for sure, and he might have the same arms.  I say might because Yondu’s arms definitely have a texture to them that isn’t present on the first Star-Lord.  It’s possible that the first Star-Lord was *supposed* to have the texture and it was just lost in the production process, and Yondu is Hasbro learning from their mistakes.  It’s also possible they slightly tweaked the mold to help Yondu fit in better with the newer figures.  It also appears that Yondu’s torso was built on the Star-Lord torso, given that they share the same neck and basic shaping, but the differences are enough that it’s effectively a new sculpt.  There are still some slight oddities with the proportions of the Star-Lord pieces, especially the gangliness of the arms and the odd flatness of the pelvis.  Thankfully there’s the all-new long coat piece to hide some of that.  The coat is very nicely crafted, and feels a bit sharper than the Star-Lord coat it replaced.  It’s also totally removable, if you so choose; it appears that the long coat section is more of a vest thing, which goes over the base Ravager uniform.  I’d honestly not noticed that before, but it kind of explains the varying length of Quill’s jacket in the first installment.  Yondu’s torso is full detailed, front and back, and does match up with the arms, so you can display him sans coat, in theory anyway.  In practice, I find he looks rather goofy.  He also gets new hands and boots, as well as a pair of heads.  Yes, like Black Widow before him, this Yondu figure is pulling double duty, acting as Yondu from both the first and second films.  He’s packed wearing the head from the first film, which has the shorter mohawk and a spot-on Rooker grin.  The second head is sporting the sequel’s taller head-fin style mohawk, as well as whistling expression meant to go with his arrow accessory.  I generally prefer the taller mohawk, but I do wish there were a way to swap the mohawk length between the two expressions, since my ideal look would really be the tall mohawk with the grin.  Nevertheless, both head’s are really solid sculpts, and both have a pretty dead-on Rooker likeness.  Yondu’s paintwork is fairly solidly done.  I might have liked some more variety in the large sections of red, but Hasbro tends to be of the opinion of “let the sculpt speak for itself” so here it is.  It’s still worth nothing that what paint is there is in line with the much cleaner work we’ve been seeing on this line as of late (it seems that Vance was the single exception to that).  In addition to the two interchangeable heads, Yondu also includes his golden arrow; it’s sculpted with a little trail on it, as seen in the movie.  When used in conjunction with the whistling head, it makes it look like he’s controlling it, which is pretty cool.  I wish we’d also  gotten one sans trail to put in the holster; as it stands, I just have him hover his hand over the empty holster when posing him “relaxed.”  Yondu also includes the right arm of the Build-A-Figure Titus.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yondu seems to be one of the more popular figures in this series at the moment, so I didn’t see him the first several times I found the series at retail.  Fortunately, my parents were nice enough to keep an eye out for him, and my dad ended up picking him up from a Walgreens, where he was apparently the only GotG figure in stock (this isn’t a unique phenomenon, either.  About a week late, I saw the same thing at a Walgreens near me).  He was nearer the top of the list of the figures I wanted from this set.  I definitely like him, though I feel there are some minor issues that keep him from being quite on par with the some of the others I’ve looked at.  Still, he’s worth it for those head sculpts alone.  Those are definitely top-notch work.