#0809: First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter

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

FIRST ORDER SPECIAL FORCES TIE FIGHTER (w/ FIRST ORDER TIE FIGHTER PILOT)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

TIEFighterFO1

It’s day 8 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews. I’ll be continuing off of yesterday’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens-themed review, by taking a look at another of the franchise’s thrilling space ships. I can’t very well let the Resistance have all the fun, so let’s have a look at the First Order’s own TIE Fighter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

TIEFighterFO2Since their inception, the TIE fighters have had their own specific branch of Troopers assigned to them, unsurprisingly titled “TIE Fighter Pilots.” Who could have seen that one coming? Pretty much everybody, that’s who. The TIE Pilot is a little on the short side (a common trait for TIE Pilot figures) coming in at a little under 3 ¾ inches tall.  He’s got the standard 5 points of articulation as well, in case you were wondering. The TIE Fighter Pilot appears to have an all-new sculpt, or at least a heavily tweaked version of the single-carded figure’s body sculpt. The TIE Fighter Pilot’s design hasn’t changed drastically since the Original Trilogy, but they appear to be a bit more armored and overall more streamlined than their predecessors. The sculpt is pretty decent overall, with lots of nice small detail work. The figure sports a removable helmet, which is a little bit on the bulky side and is a little soft on details, but is otherwise a pretty well executed piece. Underneath the helmet is a somewhat generic head, which works. Mine has this weird formation running down his forehead, but looking at pictures of other figures online, this appears to just be a malformation of the sculpt. So, I guess my TIE Fighter Pilot’s just got an awesome face scar that no one else’s has! Paint on the TIE Pilot is rather minimal. He’s mostly just molded in black, but he does have a few extra details here and there, such as the First Order insignia on his shoulders. His face also has a bit of paintwork, which actually looks a bit better than some of the other figures in the line. In addition to the removable helmet, the Tie Fighter Pilot also includes a small blaster pistol.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

TIEFighterFO4The main focus here, is, of course, the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter. Which is quite a long name, isn’t it? Like Poe’s X-Wing, the TIE Fighter requires a bit of assembly when removed from the box. The lower cannons need to be popped into place (which is just the slightest bit unnerving), as do the wings. Once put together, the TIE Fighter stands 11 ½ inches tall, 10 inches wide, and is 9 inches deep. It has an opening cockpit hatch, as well as a rotating cannon on the bottom. Over the course of the Original Trilogy, the design of the TIE Fighter slowly evolved. By the time of The Force Awakens, it has gone back to something not too far removed from the design in A New Hope. According to J.J. Abrams, there was originally a far more advanced TIE Fighter design, but it was ultimately decided to go with a slightly more retro look, to make the connection between the two more clear. The sculpt of the TIE Fighter is actually quite impressive, especially when compared to the X-Wing. It’s still a little under-scaled for the 3 ¾ inch figures, but the generally larger size of the cockpit means that getting the pilot in place is a fair bit easier here than it was with the X-Wing. Of course, the TIE Fighter in the film was built for two. This fighter has two seats, but they aren’t quite oriented like they are in the film, in part due to the size of the fighter and also due to the slightly limited articulation of the figures. Getting two figures in place is definitely tricky; Stormtroopers are too large to fit, so you’ll need to actually have one of the single carded TIE Pilots to make it work. The sculpted details on this are quite nicely handled. They’re still a bit simplified compared to the actual movie design, but all the important details are there and the ship as a whole looks pretty sharp. Also, small bonus: the top of the hatch has a spot to stow the pilot’s blaster, which is pretty cool.  The TIE Fighter is, fortunately, not plagued by as many construction issues as the X-Wing, but you will want to keep an eye on the wings. One of mine is TIEFighterFO3just the slightest bit warped. It’s really not noticeable unless you’re looking for it, but it’s annoying nonetheless. Like Poe’s X-Wing, paint is a key piece in why this is a “special forces” TIE Fighter. It’s denoted by the red stripe, on the fighter’s left side. The red is pretty consistent, though there are a few missed spots at some of the connecting points. The rest of the ship is more or less molded in the proper varieties of grey, so very little paint is used. I like this, because it makes for a sharper overall design. The TIE Fighter has two spring loaded feature. The first is a missile launching feature, activated by a button at the bottom, just below the cannon. The two missiles at the front launch, though the mechanism doesn’t appear to be as strong as the one on the X-Wing. The second feature is the wing-launching feature, which replicates what happens to the TIE Fighters when they’re shot in a space battle. There’s a button at the base of each wing, which pops them off. It’s a fair feature, but it does mean the wings will occasionally just pop off on their own.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The TIE Fighter was another Christmas gift from my parents, just like the X-Wing. I really like this one a lot, and it’s better put together than the X-Wing. Of course, it’s not the X-Wing, which is a slight strike against it, but it is still fun. And when I opened this one, my brother may or may not have picked it up and chased me around the house while I played with my X-Wing.

TIEFighterFO5

#0808: Poe’s X-Wing Fighter

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

POE’S X-WING FIGHTER (w/ POE DAMERON)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

PoeXwing1

For day 7 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews, I’ll be venturing back into that galaxy far, far away. However, this time I’ll actually be looking at something from the new movie.

Back when Kenner had just gotten the Star Wars license, and they were deciding on scale, George Lucas was adamant that the figures be small enough that in-scale ships were still a possibility, which led to the decision to use the 3 ¾ inch scale, and ultimately had an undying impact on the action figure industry as a whole. See, the ships were a key piece of the story, since you can’t very have those titular “Star Wars” without them. One of the more distinctive ships was the X-Wing fighter, the main ship of all our favorite Rebel pilots. The X-Wings have made a triumphant return in The Force Awakens, and a triumphant return to the toy aisles with today’s focus, Poe’s X-Wing Fighter.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PoeXwing2Seeing as the name of this set is “Poe’s X-Wing Fighter,” it’s not really a huge shock that the included pilot is Poe Dameron. The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and has the same 5 points of articulation as all the other 3 ¾ inch Force Awakens figures. Poe’s body looks to be the same one that was used on the single release Poe, though I don’t actually have one to compare. It’s a decent enough sculpt. The jumpsuit has a reasonable amount of texturing and there’s some nice layering to the sculpt. The vest seems a little soft in some areas, but not terribly so. The head sculpt is shared with the “Armor Up” version of the character. I liked it well enough when I reviewed that figure, and I like it well enough here. It’s not a perfect match for Oscar Isaac, but it isn’t terrible either. At the very least, it’s got a slightly better paint job (though the skin tone is definitely too pale). The rest of the paint is passable, but nothing tremendous. There’s a fair bit of bleed over in several areas, and the edges of the vest are fairly fuzzy. Poe includes a helmet and a small blaster. The helmet is actually really cool, if perhaps slightly oversized, and the gun looks to be the same piece included with Goss Toowers.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

Let’s be honest here, nobody was really buying this set for the figure, were they? No, the selling point is the awesome X-Wing fighter he’s meant to fly! Out of the box, there’s a tiny bit of required assembly. The cannons and the nose of the fighter are packed separately from the main vehicle, so they have to be attached, and there are also a few small decals to be placed inside the cockpit. Once assembled, the main body of the vehicle is 15 ½ inches  in length and it has a 13 inch wingspan. The X-Wing has 2 points of “articulation” for the cockpit and the landing gear. The cockpit could stand to open just a bit more, but other than that, the basic movement is pretty smooth. The X-Wing fighters in The Force Awakens got an all-new design (officially dubbed the T-70), inspired by Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept drawings from the first movie. It’s a slightly more svelte, less cobbled together look than the prior T-65. The toy gets a new sculpt designed to replicate the design from the film. Some changes have definitely been made for the sake of a slightly easier to produce toy. Chief among them is the decision to scale the whole thing down just a bit. It’s really not that evident, except for poor Poe having to do some serious slouching to fit in the cockpit with the top shut. In addition, some of the more intricate details of the craft have been made less intricate, which gives the whole thing a slightly more simplified look. Given that this ship is designed to go with the 5 POA 3 ¾ inch figures, these changes are reasonable, and make it so the ship fits in with the rest of those offerings.

PoeXwing3

The ship has a non-removable BB-8 built in, much like the R2-D2s built into the X-Wing toys of old. I was happy to see he got a fully detailed sculpt, which matches up pretty well to the single release figure. The construction of the X-Wing isn’t without its issues, though. The most glaring ones are pretty much all related to the parts that were separate in the box. The first, and by far the most minor issue for me, is the softer rubber material used for the nose. This is clearly a safety standards thing, so I can understand why it was done. It really doesn’t look that bad, and my only real concern is how it will hold up over time. The big issue is the level of warping present on the wing cannons. They come like that out of the box, and look a bit on the silly side. Fortunately, there are a few fixes that can be applied, or, if you don’t want to fix them yourself, you can just shoot Hasbro an email and they’ll send you a replacement set for free. Other than that, all the other nits are fairly minor. There are a few exposed screws, but they’re all in fairly out of the way places. The general construction of this ship really isn’t horrible. Paint is something of a key piece on this one, since it’s the color scheme that denotes the fighter as Poe’s. The grey/orange scheme is pretty striking here, and it works nicely with the mold. The actual paint is fairly basic, with just solid color work. There are some areas with some slightly uneven coverage, but the overall look is quite good. BB-8’s head gets some nice work, but his body is left completely unpainted, which is just a tad jarring. The X-Wing has two action features. The main one is the wing feature. When BB-8 is pressed, the wings pop open into the signature X formation. When the button behind him is pushed, they go back to their normal positioning. The mechanism isn’t particularly strong, so the wings won’t stay open if you set the ship down, which is a tiny bit of a letdown (and it also made taking pictures rather hard). The other feature is a more simple missile launching one. Pressing a button on the underside of the fighter launches the included missile. It’s actually surprisingly powerful, so try not to shoot your eye out.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Poe’s X-Wing Fighter was another Christmas gift from my incredibly supportive parents. It’s not a perfect item. I can make a list of the issues, I can say it’s a step back after the more advanced X-Wings we’ve gotten in the past. It’s under-sized, and the cannons are warped, and maybe the paint could be better. But when I opened this thing up and put it together? Pure joy. I think it might just be my favorite item I received for Christmas. Seriously, I was so excited that I may or may not have run through the house with it making flying sounds…

PoeXwing4

Guest Review #0036: Altair Idn-La’Ahad

Posted by hodgeppodge42 in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ALTAIR IBN-LA’AHAD

ASSASSIN’S CREED (MCFARLANE)

Altair1

The following is a guest review by my Super Awesome Girlfriend, Jessica Headlee.  For more from Jess, check out her book review blog, Of Books and Pen.

Altair was the assassin that started the Assassin’s Creed franchise and he is the first ancestor that Desmond Miles relives through an animus. Altair was the main character of only one platform game and one or two mobile games. In a few of the later games he did appear briefly within the story, and a few times the players could play as the original assassin for a time within the main story. Within the games, Altair is credited with being the master behind the Assassin’s Order that Ezio Auditore is introduced to in the second game.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Altair2The Altair figure is part of the 3rd series of McFarlane Toys’ Assassin’s Creed line. He is about 5 inches tall with 24 points of articulation. The outfit this figure is wearing is a good replication of the one from the first game. The figure is well textured, giving the appearance of rough linen, which has been added to by the shadowing done by the paint. The boots, trousers, sleeves, and hood also include natural folds, which adds to realism of the figure. I also enjoy the detailing of the belt, pouches, and arm guards, including the silver coloring on the buckles and the sword’s sheath. The paint of the figure is well enough, the only mistakes that I found were around the red sash, where stray bits of red paint got on the white of the robe.

While playing the game and seeing Altair in later installments I don’t believe I ever saw his face. In the games the hood was always up and shadowed his face so that you couldn’t see more than the lower half. The only time you see most of his face is in the promotional videos and pictures, and possibly in the intro of the first game before you get to the main menu. With this figure you can clearly see the face, which I expected. However, the face bothers me a little. It’s a nicely sculpted face, don’t get me wrong, but it looks too much like Desmond Miles to me. I understand that Altair is Desmond’s ancestor, but I never pictured him to be the spitting image of a descendent several centuries in the future. From the few glimpses of most of his face I never pictured him looking exactly like Desmond. All that aside, the face of the figure is fine, including the faint scar on his lips and the stubble of his facial hair.

Along with the figure came a collection of accessories that Altair had within the game. The two hidden blades are simple in design, just like in the game, one in the resting position and the other in the fully extended position. The famous Altair sword, one that makes me geek out completely, has a simple look as well, with subtle detailing in the hilt. The sword also fits rather well within the figure’s nicely sculpted sheath. Finally, the figure comes with four small throwing knives shaped like they were in the game with little markings on the hilt. The knives fit well enough in their sheaths on the belt, however, occasionally the knives on the upper part of the belt will pop out of the holders when the figure’s arms move and bump into them. Unfortunately, the figure does not come with the long dagger that Altair could use in battle, which is a little bit of a shame. Overall, the figure is a well-made representation of one of my favorite assassins from the franchise.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Altair was given to me by my super awesome boyfriend, Ethan, for Christmas this year. He’s always so attentive, he was there when I bought a different Assassin’s Creed figure and later asked me about all of my favorite characters. Let’s say a few months later I got a handful of new Assassin’s Creed figures, including Altair. The figure is fantastic and I’m happy to add him to my growing collection of action figures.

#0807: Bola Attack Mariner

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

BOLA ATTACK MARINER

WATERWORLD (KENNER)

Mariner1

Alright, it’s day 6 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews. Today, we’re keeping things moving at a steady pace. I mean, so far I’ve looked at figures from Aliens, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars, what amazing piece of science fiction could possibly follow those? Waterworld? Ah. Thought we were going a different direction. Like, maybe a less sucky one. Okay, I have to be totally fair here: I’ve never seen Waterworld, so I can’t really judge it fairly. By the nature of being a sci-fi film with a decent budget in the 90s, Waterworld actually managed to get an entire line of action figures, with vehicles and everything. The figures are kind of the action figure equivalent of head lice. Their unwanted, incredibly hard to get rid of, and they leave you scratching your head. And you get them by sharing hats. Okay, no, not that last one. But the other stuff is true! Anyway, let’s look at one of the many, many, many variants of the Kevin Costner-played lead, the Mariner.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mariner2Bola Attack Mariner was part of the first, and as far as I know, only series of Waterworld figures, produced by Kenner. The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. The Kenner standard 5 and 5! I can’t say for sure whether this guy’s look is movie accurate. Going by what I’ve been able to find online, none of the Mariner figures in the line were exact matches for his looks in the movie, but this one does seem to be closer than some of the others. Sculpt-wise, he shares a lot of parts with other Mariner figures. The upper body sculpt is shared Hydro Stinger Mariner, the legs with Warrior Mariner, and the head and hands with ALL the Mariner figures. The quality of the sculpt actually isn’t bad. The likeness is a pretty decent Costner (certainly better than any of the Prince of Thieves figures) and the body sculpt shows some pretty decent detail work, especially on the clothing. The proportions are a little off (his head and feet are both a tad large), but it’s actually not as bad as a lot of figures from the time. The paint is where things take a bit of a dive (ha!). There’s a fair bit of slop all around, and they can’t seem to decide where exactly his hairline is supposed to start. That said, his color scheme is vaguely interesting, and he does have some neat metallic paint going for him. Bola Attack Mariner a giant bola-missile launcher thing, a weird spear thing, and a purple fish thing, none of which were included with my figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Those of you reading this review are probably wondering why in god’s name I got this figure for Christmas, let me ‘splain. No, it’s too much; let me sum up.  It all started when I was born. No, sorry, it actually started four years after I was born, when I received three Waterworld figures as a birthday present from my cousins Noah and Caryn. Now, as I noted, I’ve never seen Waterworld, so it follows that I also hadn’t seen it when I was four, making this a slightly odd gift. See, for years, extended family members who didn’t quite understand what I liked about action figures would buy me literally the first or cheapest action figure they found as gifts on the major holidays. I always assumed the Waterworld figures were another case of this, and would often cite them as such. They, like all those other odd gifts, just sort of disappeared over time. I might still have them somewhere, but I honestly couldn’t say. In the last year or two, I was discussing the figures in the company of Caryn, who stopped me and told me that, no, they weren’t just a random, cheap gift. Waterworld was, in fact, Noah’s favorite movie, which is why he bought me the action figures. This is the part of the story where I start to feel like a bit of a jerk.

On Christmas Eve this past year, my Dad and I were out doing some last minute shopping in the small beach town where my family spends the holidays. We stopped by Yesterday’s Fun, who happened to have this guy (along with a row of several other Kevin Costner action figures, mostly Robin Hoods). I joked about how I should buy him to make up for the prior figures getting lost, but ultimately passed on him. On Christmas morning, I pulled this guy out of my stocking. Yep, my Dad went back and bought him, apparently to the amusement of the shop owner, who thought he’d never be rid of the head li—I mean Waterworld figure. Honestly, he’s not that bad, and he kind of reminds me that I didn’t totally hate the three figures I had as a kid either. Also, unexpected bonus, now I’ve got a Kevin Costner figure who can shake his head silently at all of my Supermen and then go die in a tornado.  Yay?

#0806: IG-88

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

IG-88

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

IG88a

It’s day 5 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews, and today I’ll be looking at the first example of one of the themes to my gifts this year: Star Wars.  I can’t possibly imagine why that was the case.  It’s not like there was a new movie or something.  Of course, today’s figure isn’t from The Force Awakens, he’s actually from the original trilogy.

Empire Strikes Back is a lot of people’s favorite Star Wars movie (Not mine, but that’s a whole other thing).  There are a number of reasons for that, but one of the most prevalent, especially from a toy-buying perspective, is the bounty hunters.  Moving past the disproportionately popular Boba Fett, the film introduced five rather unique bounty hunters, all of whom do little more than fill the background of a scene on a Star Destroyer.  Still, those unique looks certainly made them all pretty memorable, and it also made them pretty good choices for action figures.  One of my personal favorites has always been IG-88, who is the focus of today’s review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG88bIG-88 is a part of Series 9 of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series line, released alongside Leia as Boushh and Clone Commander Cody.  He was one of the last figures to hit before the switch-over to Force Awakens-branded product.  IG-88 is numbered 15, which places him right before Leia numerically.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and has 21 points of articulation, which is pretty darn impressive for a character of his build.  There are certainly some parts that might benefit from improved movement (seriously, those cut-joint hips are killing me), but he’s overall a lot more mobile than I would have expected.  IG-88’s sculpt is seriously top notch.  It’s pretty much a pitch-perfect recreation of the design from Empire, right down to all the little tacked on bits.  Perhaps the only inaccuracy is the head, which is generally a bit sharper, and has a few more molded lines than the real thing.  However, the end result looks a bit better, so I can’t really complain on that one.  His elbows both have a rubber covering to mask the joints.  It looks cool, and it retains mobility, but I do have to wonder how long those pieces will last.  His bandolier is a separate piece, affixed via a small peg on the figure’s shoulder.  It sits nicely, ans allows for stowage of one of his guns and his bladed item.  The paintwork on this figure is probably the best I’ve seen on a Black Series figure in some time. To be fair, this does seem like a hard paintjob to screw up, but this is Hasbro we’re talking about here.   He actually goes beyond the simple gun metal grey we’ve seen on prior IG-88s and some brasses and browns, to give him that nice old and worn look.  IG-88 is packed with two blaster rifles, one long and one short, which can be attached to his hands through use of the small pegs on his forearms.  He also has a blade/axe thing, which can be placed in its spot on the bandolier.  All of the extras are very nicely sculpted and wonderful additions to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I was fortunate enough to stumble across his series-mate Leia at an out of the way Walgreens, I had no such luck finding IG-88.  Fortunately, my parents seemed to fair a little better, as he was amongst the gifts I received on Christmas morning.  He’s a pretty stellar figure, from start to finish.  The sculpt and the paint really work together on this guy, and he ends up being one of the best figures to date that The Black Series has spawned.

IG88c

Guest Review #0035: Zero Suit Samus

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ZERO SUIT SAMUS

SUPER SMASH BROTHERS AMIIBO

Samus1

The following is a Guest Review from my brother Christian Wilson.  For more from Christian, check out his general randomness over at Throwing Crayons.

“Why does she look like she’s wearing Bayonetta shoes?”, “What the hell is that prosthetic leg attachment thing?” “Why is her hair in two pieces?”

All these questions will be answered (actually, probably not) in the next episode of SOAP!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Samus2Samus is your standard Amiibo with a Smash Bros base and the weird leg support thingy majiger. She stands at just over 4 inches tall including the base (3.75 excluding) with, what a shock, zero points of articulation. She has a very sleek blue paint job and her hair is pretty good for a $13 figure. I would say if any part makes the figure look off, it’s most likely either the gun or the boots. Their paint isn’t the most Fant4stic and, unfortunately, detracts from a great figure. Other than physically, she functions like any Amiibo, working in Smash as her character and I noticed that in Mario kart 8 she can be scanned in and be used to receive the regular Samus Mii costume, which since I missed out on the regular Samus Amiibo (when I bought this Amiibo) was pretty neat.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I love collecting Amiibo so I begged my mother to take me to the nearby GameStop. Unbeknown to me that was the day that wave 5 was released. I went in and looked at the wall of Amiibo and… I had all of them. At least until I saw Toad! I picked him up and went to check out when I saw 3 Zero Suit Samus Amiibo on the counter behind the checkout desk. I asked “Are those for sale?” And sure enough they were. I begrudgingly put Toad back and bought her in a heartbeat even though I wasn’t aware she was even released. Though she has her issues, she’s a really nice Amiibo and is definitely not my least favorite.

P.S. I did get a Toad later at the very same GameStop thanks to my brother. Love you bro.

P.S.S. Someone told me I should’ve bought all three Amiibo and sold 2 online. Sorry scalpers, I’m not living that life.

#0805: Courage

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

COURAGE

I AM ELEMENTAL

Courage7

Welcome to day 4 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews! Today’s entry has just a bit of backstory. A year and a half ago, I supported my very first action figure campaign, titled I Am Elemental. This campaign’s purpose was simple: action figures for girls. The action figure industry has an unfortunate history of not treating that half of the population the greatest, and I Am Elemental’s goal was to fix those in the best way possible: by making some really cool action figures! The initial set of figures arrived last year just before Christmas, and they made my list of favorite reviews for my second year of this site, so I was pretty pumped to see what was next for the line. When they started their project, the trend of figures was definitely towards the 3 ¾ inch scale. In the last year or two, thanks to lines like Marvel Legends and Star Wars: The Black Series, the trend has somewhat shifted to a 6 inch scale. I Am Elemental has followed suit, and their second proper release is in a somewhat larger scale. So, let’s see how they fared on their first venture into this new style!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Courage4Courage is a single release figure, available in late 2015 via the I Am Elemental store, as well as several online retailers. The smaller figures were each based on one emotion, or element, which all added up to the series’ theme of “Courage.” This figure acts as an amalgam of all those separate elements, in kind of a mega-power-up form. One would presume that this is the in-universe reason for the figure being almost twice as tall as those released previously. Courage stands a little over 6 ½ inches tall and has 36 points of articulation. She’s a touch on the large side to fit in with ML or The Black Series (though you can make it work), but she fits pretty nicely with stuff from DCC and NECA, and I think she even looks pretty cool with my Ultra-Act figures. Her articulation is pretty fantastic; she has a ton of mobility, and most of the joints move fairly smoothly. Courage is the first figure in the line to possess a completely unique mold. It’s clearly based on the smaller-scale figures, which makes sense. The basic underlying body armor is all the same, just blown up to a larger scale. She’s got two main add-on parts, a helmet Courage5and chest armor. The helmet is removable, and it’s a very well designed piece. It sits nice and snuggly when in place, but comes off without damaging the figure, and the helmet is not to big, nor is her head too small. The chest piece is actually made up of three separate parts; the shoulder guards are separate, jointed pieces, allowing for unhindered movement of the arms. Near as I can tell, the chest piece isn’t removable, at least not without taking off the head, which doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be removed. That’s fine by me, because the armor’s cool enough that I can’t see myself removing it anyway. Joan of Arc has been a noted inspiration for the figures since day one, and that’s definitely apparent in the design of the armor, and really the figure in general. It’s a classic look, and it certainly won’t look dated in a few years’ time. But, she’s not just inspired by Joan of Arc, she’s also inspired by the seven smaller scale figures. Bravery and Honesty seem to show through the most, butCourage8 elements of each of the Courage series figures show up on this figure, which is very nice to see. For instance, three of the Courage series figures had ponytails, so Courage has three ponytails, each one slightly different. I Am Elemental figures have all exhibited a simple, streamlined style to their sculpts. Courage continues this, but adds just enough extra detail to keep her from being too simple. The overall result is a very pleasing aesthetic. The paint work on Courage is pretty decent. It’s not perfect, but it’s above what we tend to see from larger companies, like Hasbro and Mattel. She borrows a lot of her coloring from the Courage Red version of Honesty, but, as with her sculpt, the figure has a little bit of each Courage series figure’s color scheme worked in. The color choices here are nice and bold, and she’ll definitely stand out on the shelf. In addition to the previously mentioned removable helmet, Courage includes a sword (with cool flamey bits!), a shield, and a character card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Courage was a Christmas gift from my parents. It was no secret how much I loved the figures I got through the Kickstarter, so it should be no surprise that I was eagerly anticipating this figure, after being wowed by it when it was shown at Toy Fair 2015. So, I was thrilled to open the figure on Christmas morning. Out of the box, she’s just a fantastic figure. She takes the already high standard set by the original figures and soars way over it. Like the previous set, she’s an awesome toy first and foremost. I really can’t ask for much more.

Courage9

Guest Review #0034: Ultraman

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

ULTRAMAN

ULTRA-ACT/S.H. FIGUARTS

The following is a guest review by my dad, writer Steven H. Wilson!  Check out more from him over at his blog, located at stevenhwilson.com

Bandai’s Ultra-Act line has released dozens of figures based on Tsubaraya Productions’ long-running Ultraman series, which includes of two dozen individual TV series, running from 1967 to the present, and about half that many feature films. Every series stars a new Ultraman character, differentiated from his brethren by a suffix–e.g. “Ultraman Jack,” Ultraman X,” “Ultraman Mebius.”

Sixth in Ultra-Act‘s 2015 lineup is an Ultraman character not from a TV series, but from a 2011 Manga which has recently been collected in trade paperback for the U.S. market. The Manga and its lead character are simply called “Ultraman,” and the hero is the human son of the first Ultraman from way back in 1967.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The packaging is dual-branded with the logos of Ultra-Act and S.H. Figuarts, another Bandai line. The figure is not in scale with the rest of the Ultra-Act line, coming in at 6 3/4 inches, about a half-inch shorter than the typical Ultraman figure. This explains the dual-branding, since it is in scale with S.H. Figuarts‘ popular Power Rangers and other lines. The figure has 30 points of articulation, and comes with three sets of interchangeable gauntlets, three sets of hands–including different pointing gestures, and, of course, fists–an extra chest plate, and the trademark Ultra-beam-blasting effect. I’m not sure what the point of the extra chest plate is. It’s slightly more streamlined than the one that comes packed on the figure, but its jewel is the same color. I would expect the whole point of providing an alternate chest plate for an Ultraman would be to show his warning light blinking red.

It’s a bit disappointing that the mask is not removable, a la early Marvel Legends Iron Man figures, since this Ultraman is not a giant from another world, but a kid in an exo-suit. The figure is very, very posable–almost too posable. He falls down a lot when displayed, and doesn’t come with a stand. On the up side, he tends to fall into some great action poses. An optional flying-stand is recommended for this guy. One other nit-pick, I suppose, that I have with all the Ultraman figures, is that their arms aren’t designed to easily assume (or hold) the cross-elbow beam-blasting stance that’s so commonly seen when an Ultraman fights. Still, the detail is amazing, and the figure brings a 2D character to beautiful 3D life.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The figure was given to me by Ethan, the man behind The Figure in Question, who’s also my son. He feeds me a steady diet of Ultra-Act figures (and Spark Dolls, another Ultraman line) for Christmases and birthdays and the like. He knows I’m devoted to all things Ultra. I grew up watching the original 1967 TV series, and have recently discovered (and developed something of an obsession for) all the spin-off series that were never dubbed into English. He picked up this figure for me for Christmas, and suggested I review it alongside my review of the source material, which is on my blog now. [You can read it here!– E]

#0804: Holiday Dancing Groot

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

HOLIDAY DANCING GROOT

FUNKO POP!

HolidayGroot1

Okay, here we are on Day 3 of the Post-Christmas gift reviews. This time around, I’m actually taking a look at something that’s in keeping with the holiday spirit! That’s a bit of a change, right?

Truth be told, the actual subject of the review is not so much a change as it is something of a repeat. See, last year, Funko released a Pop! figure of Groot from the mid-credits scene from Guardians of the Galaxy. I, as someone who loved Groot, the movie, and that particular scene, bought said Pop! figure. And it was pretty awesome! Why am I reviewing it again? Well, I’m not! This year, in honor of the holiday season, Funko released a variant of that figure, only this time in holiday colors, which is what I’ll be reviewing today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HolidayGroot2Holiday Dancing Groot is figure #101 in the Pop! Marvel line, and he was released as an exclusive to Hot Topic. What’s interesting is that, unlike most variant Pop!s, he doesn’t share his number with his regular release; he gets his own. The figure is about 3 ½ inches tall and, due to contractual issues, has no actual articulation. He does have a bobble head, so you can get some movement out of the neck if you want, but he is legally NOT an action figure. This figure is like 90% re-use from the previous Dancing Groot. That’s fine, since that’s the idea, and that sculpt was pretty good to begin with. The one difference in the sculpt is the pot, which now sports a fancy holiday bow. It’s a nicely sculpted piece, and it actually adds a nice bit of flair to the otherwise completely detail-less pot. The paint on this figure is also a bit different from the previous figure. The basic work on the main Groot is pretty much the same, but he’s now been given a slight misting of snow on his head, hands, and the base of his body. It looks pretty good, though I would assume there’s some variance from figure to figure. The pot has also changed from white to green, and the bow is a nice bright red. There’s just a bit of bleed over on the edge of the bow’s ribbon, but it’s nothing super noticeable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This version of Groot was given to me by my friend Jill. She has wanted to get into the whole “buying Ethan action figures” bit before, but was a bit nervous about what to get me. I actually didn’t know about this figure’s existence until she gave it to me, so kudos to her! He’s not wildly different from the prior Groot, but I actually really like this figure a lot, and the extra bits give him a nice bit of pop (heh!), which make him just as exciting as the original!

#0803: Alien Warrior

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

ALIEN WARRIOR

SCI-FI REVOLTECH

XenoRevol1

We move onto day 2 of the post-Christmas gift reviews. Continuing from the theme started yesterday, how about some more Aliens? I mean, let’s be honest here, the Queen isn’t any good all by her lonesome, right? No, she’s got to have someone to do her bidding! Well, as luck would have it, Revoltech had one more Aliens figure in their line-up, based on one of the basic Alien Warriors from the second film. Let’s see how this one fares!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

XenoRevol2The Alien Warrior was figure #016 in the Sci-Fi Revoltech line, placing him two figures ahead of the Queen numerically. The figure between them isn’t Aliens-related at all; it’s Santa Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, which isn’t a sci-fi movie, but whatever. Like the Alien Queen, the Warrior is also based on the Stan Winston-designed look from Aliens, which happens to be my personal favorite. The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall (meaning he’s nowhere near being in scale with the Queen) and he has 52 points of articulation, plus a bendable tail. The design of this figure may take its cues from Aliens, but this definitely feels much more like a “concept” take on the look than it does an actual proper translation of what is seen in the film. A lot of that has to do with proportions. This figure foregoes trying to look like a man in a suit, and is instead very spindly and bug-like. It makes the figure a bit more unearthly, but I’m not sure it’s as frightening as the film design. A lot of this has to do with the head being more or less unchanged, and thereby much larger compared to the body. He doesn’t look goofy or anything, but there’s a touch less menace. The figure is still fantastically detailed, though, and all of the signature XenoRevol3Xeno details are impeccably captured. The overall look of this figure is definitely a creepy one. The Warrior’s paint is rather similar to the Queen’s; the base plastic is a smokey clear color, with a semi-metallic blue painted over it, and then a few smaller silver details. I think the overall result is better here, though, and this figure doesn’t suffer from the same tackiness as the Queen. The Warrior includes a pretty nice assortment of extras, including a spare set of forearms without the big fin pieces, a pair of more splayed hands, an egg, a name plate, a display stand made to look like part of the colony’s floor, and a standard Revoltech box.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy was the other half of my gift from my boy Tim. I liked the Queen well enough, but the Alien Warrior really does step it up to the next level. He’s oh so posable, and he’s got the interchangeability thing going on, and he’s a whole lot sturdier. All that adds up to a pretty fantastic little figure. Is he perfect? No, but what figure is? That said, he’s just oodles of fun!