#0848: Master Chief

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

MASTER CHIEF

HALO 5: GUARDIANS (MCFARLANE)

MasterChief1

If you’ve been following the coverage from Toy Fair, one of the big things announced was Mattel’s acquisition of the full Halo license. Previously, Mattel had the building blocks license, due to their purchase of Mega Blocks. Now they’ll be handling the figures proper as well, taking the license from current holders McFarlane, who have been doing the figures since Halo 3. That also means another scale change (to 6 inches), which is a bit of a frustrating point. Anyway, I actually do have a couple more McFarlane figures on the schedule to be reviewed, which includes the franchise’s main character, Master Chief.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

MasterChief2Master Chief was part of the first series of Halo 5: Guardians figures from McFarlane Toys. He’s one of the main release figures, and is available in all the major places. The figure stands roughly 5 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. I’m still not sold on the hip joints on these later figures, but Chief manages to have some decent enough movement. Structurally, this figure looks to share most of its parts with the Halo 4 versions of the character. That’s reasonable, since his armor doesn’t appear to have changed all that much between the games. He has a slightly different head, which reflects some damage he has taken to his visor in the meantime. Generally speaking, the quality of the sculpt is downright superb. The detailing is incredibly intensive, which gives the figure a ton of great texture work. About the only complaint I can really think of is the arms, which, like Spartan Fred, seem almost as if they haven’t quite been put all the way together. It’s fine when he’s holding a rifle, but can look odd in a basic standing pose. In addition, there’s the usual complaint about the lack of trigger fingers, but at this point I barely even notice that. Chief’s paint is as much a work of art as the sculpt of the figure. He captures the basic colors of the Chief pretty well, but what really sells the figure is the addition of dry-brushed silver on many of the armored surfaces, which helps to sell Chief’s armor as being sufficiently worn-in. Master Chief includes an assault rifle (with a cool customized deco) and a magnum, both of which can be stowed, either on his thigh or his back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Well, I had a pretty sizeable Halo collection, and absolutely no Master Chief figures in it. That seemed wrong somehow. I ended up finding him at a Target I stopped by while on a shopping trip with Super Awesome Girlfriend and her best friend. I’m actually really happy with this figure, and I admire the level of detail included. It’s a shame McFarlane won’t be getting to do a full selection of Halo 5 figures.

#0847: Rey’s Speeder

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

REY’S SPEEDER (w/ REY)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

ReySpeeder1

Remember a few days ago when I was talking about how I was still making my way through all the Star Wars stuff I bought over the holidays? Well, how about a little more of that? Before seeing The Force Awakens, I mostly stuck with the relatively inexpensive small-scale figures, on the off chance the movie wasn’t as awesome as I’d hoped. Once I had seen the film and knew just how cool it was, I went back and got a few of the larger items, specifically the vehicles. One of the cooler new vehicle designs was Rey’s speeder, seen during her opening scenes on Jakku. Hasbro put out a version of the vehicle in their 3 ¾ inch line, packed alongside its owner, Rey.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ReySpeeder2The included Rey figure is based on her appearance while riding around on her speeder, when she has her head covered up (presumably to protect her face from the sand being flung at it at high speeds). The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and (technically) has 5 points of articulation. I say technically because, while there’s definitely a neck joint under that head gear, there’s no way it’s getting any sort of motion. Also, the lack of any sort of knee joints (such as the ones sported by the Elite Speeder Bike’s Trooper figure) really hurts this figure’s ability to sit properly on her speeder. Structurally, you might think that this figure shared parts with the single release figure, however, there are no shared parts between the two. A few pieces (especially the legs) are quite close, but all of them are just slightly different. It’s odd, because a bit of re-use would seem perfectly excusable here. The new sculpt is decent enough. The arms seem a bit skinny and noodle-like, but ReySpeeder4aside from that, the proportions feel pretty balanced and she looks about right. The head/wrap looks really nice; it appears to be the same piece that was included with the small-scale The Black Series Rey. Regardless, it’s a really nice sculpt, with lots of cool texture work. The paintwork here is pretty standard for the rest of the basic figures; it’s not perfect, but it’s serviceable. Rey is packed with her staff, which is the same as the one included with the regular figure (albeit a bit more warped).

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

ReySpeeder3Rey’s speeder is certainly an intriguing design. It was dubbed the “popsicle speeder” by a number of fans, which I guess I can see, but I don’t mind it. Tim referred to it as an engine with a seat, which I think is quite apt. The speeder is 8 ½ inches long, 2 inches wide, and 3 inches tall. The two flaps on the back are articulated, but aside from that, it’s mostly just a hunk of plastic. Not that there’s a problem with that, though. The general structure of the speeder looks to be a pretty good match for what we saw on film (it’s perhaps a smidge too thin, but that’s really minor). The detail work is generally pretty nice, and everything looks to be about where it should be. The cargo net is a separate piece, however, the actual cargo beneath it is molded to the side of the speeder. Unfortunately, there are four rather obtrusive screws on the right side of the speeder, as well as a somewhat obvious button for the action feature on the left side, poking through the net. The button pops up the top of the speeder, revealing a missile launching cannon. You remember that from the movie, right? No? Okay, yeah, I think Hasbro may have added that. The paint on the speeder is a bit on the basic side; mostly it just uses straight colors. However, there are a few spots that actually look sufficiently worn, which is nice to see. There is, however, a fair bit of slop, especially around the edges of the machinery in the cargo net, which is less nice to see.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After the whole Christmas holiday and seeing The Force Awakens twice in the space of a week, I was really eager to pick up a few more of the toys from the movie. Rey’s speeder ended up being one of the few items I was able to find at the rather picked-through Walmart nearby where I was staying. While this particular Rey has become a little less necessary now that I have the Black Series version, she’s not a terrible figure in her own right, and it’s nice to have a figure purely dedicated to this look. The speeder’s not perfect, but it’s certainly fun enough, and it’s a nice complement to the X-Wing and TIE Fighter.

#0846: Black Lightning

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

BLACK LIGHTNING

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

BlackLightingDCUC1

As much as I loved DC Universe Classics, the problems with the line (which were mainly distribution-based) cropped up pretty early in its run. While the first series received fairly even distribution, series 2 and 3 were fairly spotty in coverage (possibly due to slow sales on Series 1). By the time Series 4 came along, it seemed things had mostly been sorted (apart from the odd instance of several variants being easier to find than their regular counterparts). Then came Series 5. See, Walmart is notoriously difficult to work with, especially if you’re a toy maker. In order to carry a line, they’ll frequently demand an exclusive series. Because of this, they did not carry the first four series of the line. To ensure their support of future series, Series 5 was given to Walmart as an exclusive. Walmart under-ordered and ended up sending no more than a single case of figures to many of its stores, with some receiving none at all. The end result was one of the hardest to find series in the line, with individual figures commanding extraordinarily high prices on the aftermarket. Black Lightning, who was having a bit of a career revival at the time, had the misfortune of being one of the figures in this set.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BlackLightningDCUC2Black Lightning was, as noted in the intro, released in the Walmart-exclusive fifth series of DC Universe Classics. The figure stands 6 ½ inches tall and has 25 points of articulation. Lightning uses his Ed Benes redesign from the relaunch of Justice League of America. It was his current look at the time, and it happens to be far less dated than his original and 90s looks. It also had the added benefit of not requiring much new tooling. He uses the mid-sized male buck, with a unique head sculpt. The buck is a decent match for Black Lightning’s build from the comics and it allows him to fit in seamlessly with the rest of the line. While it was top-notch at the time of its release, it’s starting to show its age a bit, especially at the shoulders. Also, the poor quality of the plastic on this particular series makes Lightning’s body prone to warping, and some tearing at the joints, which is a definite negative. The head sculpt is fairly decent; it does a fairly good job of capturing Lightning. It’s not super distinctive, but neither was Lightning at this point. Unfortunately, it’s got some pretty obvious mold scarring, which is made worse by the fact that he’s bald. He looks like he’s taken some damage. The paint work is okay but not great. The base colors are nice and vibrant, which is good, but some of the lines, particularly the yellow for the belt, are really fuzzy. Also, while the prototype for this figure had clear goggles, allowing his eyes to be seen, their totally opaque on the final figure. Lightning included no accessories of his own, but he did include a piece of the C-n-C for this series, Metallo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had no luck finding any of Series 5 in stores when they were released, so I ended up having to buy this guy second-hand, without his Metallo piece. I was quite enjoying him in Justice League at the time, so I was glad to find him at a semi-reasonable price. The final figure is sadly a bit lacking, mostly due to the lower quality of the materials used for this figure. I’m happy I have him, but his lower quality contributed to me not going out of my way to find any of the others from this series.

#0845: Batmen

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

BATMEN

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (MATTEL)

DKRBats1

Batman’s had his fair share of wacky variants over the years. Some are actually pretty cool, and some are really far out there. And then some are just super lazy. Today, I’m going to be looking at one of the super lazy ones (alongside a fairly standard one), courtesy of Mattel’s tie-in line for The Dark Knight Rises.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

DKRBats2Batman (and Batman) were part of the “Basic Series” of Mattel’s small-scale The Dark Knight Rises line. These were the cheapest figures available, as they were mostly just recolors of the basic Batman figure. The figures stand 3 ¾ inches tall and have 7 points of articulation. The articulation is kind of odd; the figures lack any sort of elbow movement, which is incredibly limiting. The knees, hips, and shoulders are rather simplistic, but the neck joint is inexplicably a ball joint. Moving past the articulation, the sculpt actually isn’t that bad. It does a pretty good job of capturing the design of the bat-suit from TDK and TDKR, and it actually features a pretty great depth of fine detail work. The head, specifically his exposed mouth, does look a bit weird, like the mask doesn’t fit right, but that’s the only real “down” to the sculpt. The capes are both cloth; they’re just simple scraps of black cloth, cut into vaguely the right shape. Cloth very rarely works well at this scale, and these two show why. The capes are fairly rigid looking, and don’t do anything but hang there awkwardly. The paint is the dividing point for these two. The black one is a fairly standard Batman, looking more or less as he does in the film. He’s not really painted as much as he is molded in the proper colors. The parts that actually use paint are fairly basic, but well applied. The other one has a strange aqua sort of coloring to him, which is, of course, totally made up for the toy. It looks a bit more vibrant than the black one, and it has a few more paint apps, but some areas, such as the face, are a bit sloppier on this one. Neither of these two includes any sort of accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Dark Knight Rises came out well after I’d stopped buying weird Batman re-colors (well…mostly), so I didn’t get either of these figures new. Instead, I actually got these from my girlfriend’s dad, who found them at the super market and thought of me. How kind of him! Can’t say I would have ever gotten them for myself, and one really has to wonder who the heck Mattel was hoping would be buying these, but they actually aren’t that bad.

#0844: Elite Speeder Bike

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

ELITE SPEEDER BIKE (w/ FIRST ORDER STORM TROOPER)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

FOSpeeder1

Geez, it’s February, and I’m still making my way through the stuff I bought over the holidays. It’s in part due to the fact that a sizeable chunk of stuff from that time was all Star Wars-related, and I try my best not to review too much similar stuff at once. Anyway, Star Wars has always valued vehicles of many differing sizes and functions. Some of my personal favorites are the speeder bikes introduced in Return of the Jedi. While they haven’t seen an official First Order update in the movies just yet, Hasbro took their own stab at creating an updated look, dubbed the Elite Speeder Bike.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FOSpeeder2The included figure doesn’t get a name more specific than “First Order Stormtrooper,” but this guy is definitely different from a standard Trooper. He’s not Biker Scout different, but he’s still different. This trooper stands just shy of 4 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation. Yes, you read that right, he has a whole 9(!) points of articulation, thanks to his fully articulated knees. Seems even Hasbro knew that this guy needed to be able to properly sit. Sculpturally, this figure looks to use a slightly modified version of the basic body used for the Stormtrooper Commando included with the Assault Walker, with a new set of legs, of course. It’s just a basic Stormtrooper design, and it’s as good a translation as all the other releases. The paint is the main difference; he’s done up in all black, which is mostly just molded plastic, with one tiny bit of silver and then the red stipes on his upper torso, which call back to the TIE Fighter’s detailing. It’s a cool, unique look, even if it’s not very technically complicated. The Trooper includes a small blaster pistol, which can be stowed on the figure’s right thigh.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

FOSpeeder3The updated speeder bike is the real meat of this set. It’s a basic Class I vehicle, which means it’s among the smallest vehicle selection (in fact, it’s the smallest vehicle currently available). The bike is just shy of 8 inches in length and stands a little over an inch tall. It has posable foot pedals, handlebars and tail flaps, as well as an opening engine compartment. The bike uses the Movie Heroes version of the speeder bike as a starting point, which is as good as any, I suppose. It has a new set of handles, new fins on the back, and a new front half. The general design of the bike has been tweaked to make it a bit more flat and wing-like. The overall design isn’t bad, but I’m not sure I like it as much as the original speeder, and I’m also not sure it necessarily fits with the other First Order vehicles, though it’s hard to say. It’s certainly not a bad design. The color scheme of the bike has been done to match with the TIE Fighter (and, in turn, the included Stormtrooper). The paint application is nice and sharp, and the color scheme adds a lot of fun to the design. The bike has not extras other than the included Trooper. A flight stand would have been much appreciated, especially since the bike still has the spot in the back where said stand would attach.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set from a Walgreens near where my family vacations over the holidays. I had seen the set a few times, and, after a bit of pestering from Super Awesome Girlfriend and my brother, I decided to finally pick it up. It’s hard to say that this set offers the same amount of value as the equally-priced Assault Walker, but it’s still pretty fun, and the included Trooper is definitely one of the cooler ones!

#0843: Chopper Predator

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

CHOPPER PREDATOR

PREDATORS (NECA)

Chopper1

Alien vs. Predator is NOT a good movie. It’s pretty terrible from start to finish. However, it’s failure as a film is more punctuated by the fact that there’s actually a lot decent ideas (or at least the beginnings of decent ideas/concepts) that are completely dropped in favor of making the film as generic and forgettable as possible. One of the most disappointing aspects of the film is it’s handling of the second titular character, the Predator, or more accurately to the film, the Predators. The movie presents us with three unique Predators. They look cool, and their super imposing, and you’re super excited to see what they can do. But, they spend the first half of the film cloaked, and when they finally engage the Aliens, two of the three are taken out in the space of 5 minutes (by the same Xeno, no less!), leaving us with only the least distinctive of the three Predators to carry the rest of the film. Fortunately, NECA’s currently in the process of making super cool toys of just about every Predator ever, so the AvP Preds have gotten new life via action figures. Today, I’ll be looking at my personal favorite of the trio, Chopper Predator.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chopper2Chopper Predator is part of the 14th Series of NECA’s Predators line, which is the first of a handful of series (in both the Predator and Aliens lines) based on AvP. The figure stands almost 9 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. Chopper uses a new base body for the Predators, introduced in this series, and shared with his two series-mates. This new body is much larger than previous Predators, and also offers a much greater range of motion and posability. The body is nicely proportioned, and it has a ton of really great texturing and fine detail work. Seriously, every part of this sculpt is covered in texturing, which makes him look really cool. While a lot of the body is shared with the other two Predators, Chopper does get a unique head, forearms, and plasma caster. The head depicts Chopper’s bio mask very nicely; the texturing on it really makes it look like the real thing. The “hair” is a little bit unruly, but it’s made from Chopper3soft rubber, so it can be managed.  The forearms are the real star here, since the large blades are what he takes his name from. The gauntlets have some fantastically ornate work on them, while still being nice and sturdy, and the left one even has a flip-up display. The actual blades are well-handled, and surprisingly sharp; they’re included in both semi-stowed and fully extended lengths, which is a nice touch. One of Chopper’s more distinctive elements was the pair of skulls mounted on spikes on his back, which this figure replicates as best it can. They’re included as separate pieces; one is slotted into the base of the plasma caster, and the other is supposed to pop into the little clip on Chopper’s back. I say “supposed” because mine included the clip included on Celtic and Scar, rather than the smaller unique clip that Chopper was meant to have. Chopper4Fortunately, a carefully shaped and cut twisty tie was enough to keep it in place! The actual skulls are just as awesomely sculpted as the rest of the figure, and replicate the in-movie look very well. Chopper’s paint work is another pretty great area. There’s some nice variance in the sheens of the various parts of him, with the skin being shinier than the armor and cloth. He’s also got some fantastic accent work on the armor, which gives it a nice worn in look and adds a lot of depth to the figure. There are one or two spots of bleed over, but the overall work is good enough that they don’t jump out at you. In addition to the two Chopper5sets of blades, and the skulls on spikes, Chopper also includes a Combi Stick (in retracted form), a pretty brutal looking knife, and a shuriken looking thing (which he can’t hold, what with having two fists. It’s the thought that counts!). That’s incredibly impressive given that prior Predators were lucky to get more than one accessory!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite not caring for the film, I’ve actually been anxiously awaiting this series’ release ever since they were announced. I was always bummed that Chopper was so under-utilized, and even more bummed when he was the only Predator left out of McFarlane’s tie-in line. I bought Chopper from All Time Toys, after catching their post on their FB page that this series was in stock. I’m so happy to have him, and he’s hands down my favorite Predator to date. NECA did an amazing job on this one!

NecaSnow1

 

#0842: Patriot

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

PATRIOT

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

Patriot1

The early 2000s were a bit of a dim time for Marvel, at least for me. For almost a decade, they decided to do their very best to make fans looking for more “classic” interpretations of the heroes unwelcome, by giving just about every major series a dark, brooding, paranoid tone. There were a few series that managed to not suck, though, and one of my personal favorites was Alann Heinberg and Jim Cheung’s Young Avengers. The team has, unfortunately, been pretty scarce in the toy world: there was one boxed set at the end of Toy Biz’s run with Marvel Legends, a Vision 2.0 (released as a variant of the original Vision) in Marvel Minimates, and then today’s figure, Eli Bradley, aka Patriot!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Patriot2Patriot was released in Series 17 of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line. It’s actually Patriot’s second figure, which gives him twice as many figures as half the team, and infinitely more figures than the other half of the team. Yay for him, I guess. The figure stands roughly 3 ¾ inches tall and has 23 points of articulation. Eli had two distinct looks in the comics; this figure (like his Marvel Legend) is based on his first costume. He spent far less time in this costume than the other, but it’s a slightly stronger design and it’s got a lot in common with Bucky’s costume, which allows for some part re-use. Part re-use is probably the real reason this figure even exists, since he’s 100% re-used from other figures. His body is (unsurprisingly) from Series 7’s Bucky figure, and his head is from Series 5’s Union Jack (oh no, conflicting patriotism! What will he do?). The tricky thing with these re-used parts is that, while Bucky and Patriot’s designs are similar, they aren’t identical. So, Patriot ends up with a very different collar than his comics counterpart, the front of his jacket has buttons on both sides (as opposed to just the right side), and his boots are cuffed. It’s a bit frustrating that none of these were fixed for this figure, but it is what it is I suppose. At the very least, the overall look of the figure is a close approximation. The paint does do its fair share to try and mask some of these issues as best as possible; the front of the jacket, for instance, only has painted piping on the right side, allowing the other side to sort of “fade in” to the torso. The paint also adds the small stars on his forehead and torso, as well as the striping on the sides of his legs. Unfortunately, the figure lacks the proper white piping on the edges of the gloves. Also, some of the paint, especially the red, is quite sloppily applied, though this is only really noticeable up close. Patriot was packed with Captain America’s original shield, which, like the rest of this figure, is a reuse, though it’s completely excusable here, since it’s supposed to be the exact same shield.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Being an avid Young Avengers fan, I bought Patriot as soon as I found him (which was at my local comic book store). Of the six Young Avengers figures in existence, this is probably the weakest. That being said, he’s not terrible. The parts he re-uses, while perhaps not 100% accurate, are at least good pieces. That makes this figure a good figure, if not an accurate one. Plus, viewed through the lens of “inaccurate or not at all” I’ll happily take inaccurate.

#0841: Farmer Zombie

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

FARMER ZOMBIE

THE WALKING DEAD MINIMATES

FarmerZombie1

I have *a lot* of Minimates. The vast majority of them were purchased because I actually wanted them, or was invested in the character presented. However, some of them I have for no other reason than “they’re Minimates.” Today’s focus, the Farmer Zombie, is one of the latter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FarmerZombie2The Farmer Zombie was released in the third series of The Walking Dead Minimates. He was double-packed, and could be purchased with either Prison Hershel or battle-damaged Tyreese. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. The Farmer Zombie is based on a zombie that appeared in issue 49 of the comic. He uses the basic ‘mate body, along with an add-on piece for his hair/the saw-blade stuck in his shoulder. The add-on piece attaches from the bottom of the head, slipping over the neck peg, rather than plugging into the top of the head like most ‘mates. The piece works reasonably well, though it does greatly limit the posability of the head, since the whole thing’s all one piece. As with most Minimates, paint is this figure’s strongest suit. The base colors are suitably drab, and the detail work is exceptionally well-handled, with some great texturing and depth, which makes the guy actually look pretty darn creepy. The Farmer Zombie’s one accessory was a clear display stand, though my figure was lacking his.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 3 is actually where I stopped really picking up Walking Dead Minimates, so I didn’t get this guy new, nor did I feel any huge need to track him down later. I ended up getting him when I ordered a random loose “Mystery ‘mate” from Luke’s Toy Store, along with a few other items. I wouldn’t have gotten this guy otherwise, but I’m glad I did, because he’s actually a pretty well-put-together ‘mate.

#0840: Bumble Bee & Hot Spot

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

BUMBLE BEE & HOT SPOT

TEEN TITANS (BANDAI)

Bee&HotSpot1

You know, I hate on Mattel a lot, especially in regards to their DC Comics-related output. Believe it or not, there was a time I didn’t consider them the worst company in possession of the DC license, thanks to good ol’ Bandai America. For reasons no one was ever really able to explain, Bandai picked up the license for the Teen Titans cartoon of the early 2000s, and they put out a selection of figures that were….less than stellar. That said, some of their figures remain the only figures to date of certain characters, including both of the characters I’ll be looking at today, Bumble Bee and Hot Spot!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Bumble Bee and Hot Spot were released as a two-pack in the fourth series of Bandai’s Teen Titans line. As far as I know, the pair never interacted on the actual show, so it’s an odd pairing, but Bandai seemed to pick the pairings at random for just about every set in the line.

BUMBLE BEE

Bee&HotSpot2Bumble Bee is probably the more prominent of these two, being the de-facto leader of the Titans’ East Coast branch, and getting a prominent role in several episodes over the show’s run. The figure is a little over 3 ½ inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation, due to Bandai deciding to cut articulation on later series of the line. Because the figures didn’t have enough stacked against them! Bumble Bee had a unique sculpt, which actually isn’t too bad. The proportions are a tad off in some spots (especially the arms), but the figure does a decent job of capturing her design in the show. She’s certainly a lot better than other figures from the line. Bumble Bee’s paint work is actually not terrible. She’s got all the proper colors, and none of her sculpted work has been left unpainted. Her paint has also stood the test of time pretty well, which is a nice change of pace for this line. BB’s prototype showed her holding one of her stinger weapons, but the final figure is sadly lacking them. She does, however, get a set of removable wings. It would have been cool if they’d been articulated, but I guess it’s just good they were actually there.

HOT SPOT

Bee&HotSpot3Hot Spot was never much more than a minor character on the show. Of his four appearances on the show, only one of them actually had him do anything of substance. Still, the dude had a pretty cool look, so you couldn’t leave him out of the toyline! He’s right at 3 ½ inches tall, which makes him a little shorter than BB. Since they never interacted on the show, I can’t really say if it’s accurate of not. He seems to be in a slightly different scale going by the size of his head, but it’s hard to say. Like BB, his sculpt is unique, and it’s a pretty good approximation of his look on the show. The bent elbows are kind of an odd touch, since most of the other figures avoided such posing. The slight pre-posing of the legs can also make him a bit difficult to stand. Hot Spot’s paint is a bit of a letdown. The biggest thing is that he’s flat out missing painted details to match up to the sculpted ones on his legs, which is annoying. Also, it’s more of a personal preference thing, but the decision to go with solid yellows and reds on the head and hands robs the figure of a lot of the character’s visual interest. Hot Spot was packed with…ummm… I’m actually not sure what it’s supposed to be. Maybe it’s a flame blast or something? I don’t know, I lost mine. But hey, at least he’s got a permanent gripping pose on his right hand! That’s totally accurate to the character…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this pair up from Target back when they were still new. I was still pretty excited for the line at the time, what with the show still being on the air. These were two of my favorite characters on the show, so I was happy to get them. I have to admit, they aren’t as bad as I had feared, at least based on the others I’ve reviewed from this line. They aren’t the greatest figures of all time, but they’re still pretty fun, and they’ve managed to age pretty alright!

#0839: Rey (Jakku)

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

REY (JAKKU)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

ReyWM1

“Rey is a resilient survivor, a scavenger toughened by a lifetime of dealing with the cutthroats of the harsh desert world of Jakuu.”

There’s one more major character I haven’t looked at in this latest round of The Force Awakens figures. In fact, she’s the lead character! Let’s take a look at Rey!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ReyWM5Rey is part of the third series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures, alongside the previously reviewed Poe and Finn, as well as a re-released Han Solo from Return of the Jedi. The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. I do wish her waist joint offered more movement, but her articulation is generally pretty solid. Rey is noted as being based on her “Jakku” appearance, which isn’t all that different from her look from the rest of the film. That said, this figure does feature Rey wearing gloves, which she only does during the film’s Jakku scenes, and all of her accessories are Jakku specific. Rey’s sculpt is similar to the larger 6-inch figure, but like Finn and Poe, there are enough differences to show that this is an original work. It’s definitely a top-notch sculpt; there are lots of great small details, and the texturing on her cloths is very nicely handled. Her proportions are fairly balanced (perhaps her arms could be just a touch less gangly, but that’s minor), and the head has a passable likeness of Daisy Ridley. The hair’s a little thicker than Ridley’s was in the film, but that’s forgivable, given the small scale. Rey does take a bit of a hit in terms of paint. The general application is not terrible, ReyWM3but she suffers from some rather sloppy spots. In addition, the joints for her ankles are cast in flesh toned plastic, which makes them stand out quite a bit against the brown of her boots. Lastly, she has the same slightly rosy cheeks as her larger scale counterpart, which, while a bit more subtle this time, exhibit a dot-matrix-style patterning (suggesting a printed paint app of sorts), which is a little distracting up close. Still, she fairs a bit better than either of her previously-reviewed figures, which show’s Hasbro’s at least getting a little better. Rey makes out quite well in the accesories department, including her signature staff (now with proper painted details), a back pack, and an alternate head featuring the head wrap and goggles she wears in her introductory scene. While thes parts are all re-used from prior Rey figures, the improved paint apps elavate them to a new level, and the complement the figure very nicely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rey was the last of these figures I got. I ended up having to stop at five different Walmarts to find her, and when I finally did find her, she was the last one the store had, and she’d even been hidden under a Darth Vader figure. Rey was packed into cases in the same quantities as Finn and Poe, but as the lead, she’s proved to be the first figure to get picked up by most collectors (and she’s also become scalper-bait. Yuck!). In addition, she’s hands down the best figure in Walmarts’s exclusive line, and the best Rey figure currently available. Here’s hoping that Hasbro can find a way to get more of this figure out there, because everyone should have this figure.

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