#0733: Doctor Strange – Marvel Heroes

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

DOCTOR STRANGE – MARVEL HEROES

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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One does not simply review one or two Marvel Legends figures. Oh, no no. If you’re gonna review Legends, you gotta go all in, do a whole series. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. Hey, so, Marvel Legends. Yaaaaay. Today, I’ll be looking at an up and coming player (for the MCU anyway) Doctor Stephen Strange (yes, that’s his real name), the Sorcerer Supreme!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DrStrange2Doctor Strange is another figure from the recent Hulkbuster series of Avenger Marvel Legends Infinite Series figures. He is officially named “Marvel Heroes,” which he share with series-mate Vision. Still feel it’s a bit generic, but whatever. He is presented here in the look he received not too long before Marvel Now!, which was his primary look until the month this figure was released. Well, they tried to be topical, I guess. Honestly, it had a decent enough run in the comics that it feels worthy of a figure, so I can’t complain. The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. Sculpturally, he is head-to-toe identical to the Astral Projection Doctor Strange from this year’s SDCC set. That seems sensible, since he’s the same guy and all. I liked the sculpt a lot there, and I continue to like it here. Rather than being molded in clear plastic, the good doctor is now showcased in full color. He’s…well, he’s alright. The paint is actually pretty clean for a Hasbro figure, so that’s good. The red and black looks pretty sharp as a color scheme, even if I do miss the classic blue look a bit. The only real trouble with the paint is the head, which isn’t bad, just kind of…meh. The eyes are definitely the worst part of it; they look just a bit off. If they were better, I think the figure as a whole would be better. Doctor Strange is packed with a pair of the same spell-casting pieces we saw with both Scarlet Witch and his Astral form, but in a nice, muted green this time. They still remain very cool pieces, though they are a little difficult to get seated properly on his wrists. He also includes the left leg of the Hulkbuster, which continues the trend amongst Hulkbuster pieces of being freaking ginormous.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Doctor Strange is one of the four figures from this series I was able to grab at Walgreens. I’d actually been looking forward to him a little bit, since the Toy Biz version was always one of my favorite Legends figures. That being said, in-hand he was a little bit of a let-down. I think that’s largely due to having already seen the sculpt on the Astral version, which was aided by not having to rely on the Hasbro paint apps. Compared to that figure, this guy just feels like the inferior figure. Which is a shame, because I think he’s actually pretty well done, just not quite as well done as the last figure.

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#0733: Iron Man – Marvel Now!

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

IRON MAN – MARVEL NOW!

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Well, after looking at a totally new to toys, out of left field character with yesterday’s Thundra review, we jump right on over to a guy who’s had sooooooooooooooo many figures. Yep, it’s another Iron Man. Hey, somebody had to sell this series to retailers, right? Let’s look at the increasingly inaccurately named “Marvel Now! Iron Man.”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IMNow2Iron Man is actually figure 1 in the latest set of Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series figures. He’s also one of the three figures in said series to actually get his own name on the box, but that’s not a huge shock. Hasbro was definitely not going to miss out on the chance to get Iron Man’s name on the box. The figure stands 6 ¼ inches tall and has 31 points of articulation, counting the shoulderpad movement. The hips are a little archaic in motion, and the neck is really loose, but the rest of the movement works very smoothly. Iron Man is seen here in the armor he was wearing at the beginning of the Marvel Now! relaunch from a few years ago. Structurally, this guy is 100% the same sculpt as the Iron Man 2 Mark IV figure. Since the Iron Man book’s primary artist Greg Land lifted his interpretation of the armor pretty much wholesale from the movie design (other artists actually stuck to more visually interesting look of the design sheet, but that’s another thing all together), this seems like a pretty reasonable bit of re-use on Hasbro’s part. The sculpt is certainly well-done, so that’s good. One thing I would note is that the shoulder pads have a tendency to pop off from time to time, so definitely be mindful of that. The paint work on this figure is kind of important, it being a repaint and all. Fortunately, the figure actually delivers quite nicely on that front. The gold parts are all nice and clean, and the changes are very sharp, especially for Hasbro. The various red dots don’t line up with the sculpt (except, obviously, the big central one) but they’re accurate to the design. The arc reactor even has a nice gradient bit going on, which is marred only by the small dash of missing paint at the center. Iron Man gets no accessories for him directly, but he does include the leg of the Hulkbuster, which distracts nicely from the lack of anything else. Seriously, it weighs twice as much as him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After finding four of the seven figures necessary to complete the Hulkbuster at Walgreens, I ended up splitting a full set of the series (courtesy of Big Bad Toy Store) with my dad. I wouldn’t have ever bought this figure if not for the Hulkbuster piece, but he’s actually not that bad. At the very least, the black/gold combo is sufficiently different from all the other Iron Men Hasbro’s given us, so he sticks out a little on the shelf.

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#0732: Thundra – Fearless Defenders

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

THUNDRA – FEARLESS DEFENDERS

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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While Marvel’s various licensors have been “politely discouraged” from releasing any Fantastic Four-related characters, there comes a point where the character is left-field enough that, despite their relation to the team, it doesn’t really give Fant4stic any real publicity. So, let’s talk about Thundra, member of the future-based Femizons (just go with it). Seriously, how many people would look at Thundra here and go: “Better go see that Fantastic Four movie.” No one. Because people who like Thundra have taste and people that actively wanted to see Fant4stic don’t. There’s next to no overlap, though that’s probably because no one seemed to actually *like* Fant4stic. I’m getting off-topic. Sorry, let’s just look at this here Thundra figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Thundra2Thundra is part of the third series of Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series, which is officially dubbed the “Hulkbuster Series.” On the packaging, she is referred to as “Fearless Defenders,” a name she shares with series-mate Valkyrie. Given the two characters sharing the name, I feel like “Lady Liberators” may have been more comic appropriate, but I guess Fearless Defenders is a bit more gender neutral. The figure is a little over 7 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation. Thundra is based on the Red She-Hulk body (which we last saw on the SDCC exclusive Hela). It’s a decent sculpt overall, though the hip joints are still out of date. The body does feel just a touch on the skinny side for Thundra, especially on the legs, but it’s a close enough fit that it’s not a huge issue. She gets an all-new head/hair and hands (though, the hands are shared with Valkyrie). I had initially thought she might share some pieces with the un-released She-Hulk Lyra figure, but a quick look at that figure’s prototype shows that isn’t the case. The head is a pretty good sculpt; it’s nice to see a female facial expression that isn’t just vacant, but I wouldn’t have minded them taking her a bit angrier. The hair is certainly well sculpted and accurate to the source material, but it does render her neck movement essentially inert. In addition to the head and hands, Thundra also gets a new belt piece; it’s a fairly standard piece, which was certainly designed with re-use in mind, but it’s nicely sculpted and it sits well on the figure. Technically, to be properly accurate, Thundra should also get a set of cuffed boots, but a whole new set of shins presumably didn’t cost out for a low-tier character like Thundra. It’s honestly not that distracting in person, and some art for the character shows her this way, so it’s not totally inaccurate. Thundra’s paint work is passable. Most of it is pretty cleanly handled, and the colors are nice and vibrant. The gold lightning bolts on the sides of her legs are surprisingly sharp, which is cool, but they don’t match up with the boots, which is less cool. The “collar” of her shirt would probably look better if it were sculpted instead of painted, but it’s handled well enough, so I really can’t complain. One somewhat perplexing issue with the paint: for some reason, she’s got a bunch of red, right around her left elbow joint. No clue how that got there, but it’s kind of annoying. Thundra was packed with her signature “ball and chain” weapon thingy, which is a little awkward for her to hold, but looks pretty good in the right pose. She also has the Hulkbuster’s left arm, which is almost as big as she is!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Vision, I came across Thundra here while at a nearby Walgreens. That was certainly a bit of a surprise. I’ve always liked Thundra in the comics, so I was pleased to see she was getting a figure. Sure, she’s not perfect, but it’s literally the only figure of Thundra ever produced, so I’m more willing to cut them some slack.

#0731: Vision – Marvel Heroes

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

VISION – MARVEL HEROES

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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With the exception of the AoU boxed set (which only kind of an honorary entry) it’s been a little while since I’ve looked at any Marvel Legends. That’ll change very quickly. Vision’s been making a pretty big splash recently. Something to do with a movie or something. The character’s renewed popularity reminded us all that we hadn’t gotten an ML Vision since very early in Hasbro’s run, and that one also wasn’t very good. So now there’s a new one! Let’s see how this one turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

VisionNow2Vision is a part of the third series of Avengers Marvel Legends Infinite Series figures, referred to by Hasbro as the “Hulkbuster Series” in reference to the Build-A-Figure. On the package, Vision is officially called “Marvel Heroes,” which may just be the most generic shared name to date. I guess they couldn’t think of any other common traits for Vision and Dr. Strange. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. Vision is presented here in his Marvel Now! costume (which, it should be noted, is NOT his current costume) most commonly seen in his Avengers A.I. appearances. It’s not too far removed from his classic look and it also has a few elements in common with his movie design, so I can see the appeal of this design. The figure is built on the Bucky Cap body, which is clearly one of Hasbro’s favorites. It’s a good body, and certainly a good fit for the character, so it works. He also gets a pair of hands from the recent “pizza” Spidey, which certainly make more sense than a pair of fists. The cape is the same one we saw on Grim Reaper and Brother Voodoo, and it’s really not one of my favorites. It’s got a strange flow to it and it sticks out way too far in the back. Plus, it doesn’t work for the seamless continuation from the torso that the comic design sports. I really hope they realize how flawed this piece is before it makes its way onto too many other figures. Vision’s one new piece is his head sculpt. It’s passable, but not fantastic. Above all, it just feels a bit too wide. It could certainly be worse, though. The paintwork on the figure is generally pretty decent. The head has some slop going on around the edge of the cowl, which is kind of annoying. From the neck down, it’s much better, with very little bleed over or slop. I do wish the diamond of the logo were a little bigger, but that’s minor. The metallic greens are definitely a highlight, though. Vision’s only extra is the lower torso of the Hulkbuster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In case you hadn’t gleaned from prior Vision reviews, I’m a pretty big fan of the character. So, I was pretty excited to hear he was getting a new Legends figure, even if it was his Now! costume, of which I am only a moderate fan. Most of my Legends buying has been moved online, but I actually found this guy at a Walgreens, which was cool. He then ended up being part of the big “Unboxening” I did a few weeks ago, which was cool. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the tiniest bit let down by this figure. He’s not bad, but he lacks the excitement of other figures from the line. I will say my opinion of him did improve immensely once I ditched the cape for a spare of the old Toy Biz one.

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#0730: Nightwing – Force Shield

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

NIGHTWING – FORCE SHIELD

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES (KENNER)

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In case you missed it, The Figure in Question has officially made it through two years of reviews. In honor of that, today’s review will a little bit more special. I’ll get to that in a bit.

In the mid-80s, Dick Grayson gave up his Robin identity, going without a costumed identity for a little while before taking on the identity of Nightwing (previously the Kandorian alter-ego of Superman. It’s a long story). To the general populace, Dick remained Robin, mostly due to his presence in the role for Batman: The Animated Series. Nightwing made his way into the public eye in that show’s sequel series, which is how I became familiar with the character. That series’ toyline also provided the character with several of his earliest figures, one of which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

NightwingFS2Force Shield Nightwing was part of Kenner’s The New Batman Adventures line. He was the second version of the character in the line, released not long after the first. The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and has Kenner’s signature 5 points of articulation. It’s a pretty low articulation count, but it’s a standard for the time, and aside from the neck joint, which is limited by the hair, the movement is pretty decent. Nightwing is, obviously, based on his design from the show, sculpturally at least. As a “wacky variant” of Nightwing, a little parts re-use is to be expected. What’s actually a bit surprising is that this Nightwing is NOT a complete reuse. The head, arms, and legs are all the same as the regular Nightwing release, but the torso is a new piece, which removes the weird plug from the original’s back. So this one’s sculpt is actually more accurate than the normal one. Nifty! The sculpt does a pretty spot on job of translating Nightwing’s show design to three dimensions, which is nice to see. The etched in logo is a nice touch, especially since it could have easily just been painted on. The paintwork is what really sets this guy apart from the prior Nightwing. Rather than the usual blue logo, this one keeps the logo black, and paints the surrounding area gold. Certainly a different look, but it’s handled pretty well. The gold, like a lot of gold paint has faded over time, but it still stands out well enough. Nightwing was originally packed with a big grappling hook launcher (Kenner was a Hasbro subsidiary at that point…), as well as his titular force shield. I’ve lost it, but it was shaped like his logo, bright yellow, and the “wings” folded out to reveal pictures of the various Batman allies and rogues. It’s an odd gimmick, but there it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Hey, so, this is actually my first Nightwing figure! Cool!

Story time: When I was 5, my parents took me down to visit my Dad’s family home in North Carolina. My dad came and got me from school, and one of our stops was, I believe, a Kmart, where I found this guy. I had yet to see any of his appearances on the cartoon, so my dad had to explain to me who he was. I thought he looked super cool, so my dad was nice enough to buy him for me. This guy went on the trip with me, all the way down there and back again, so I formed a bit of a bond with the guy.

Over the years, my collection grew, and this guy fell by the side. Somewhere along the way, I decided to paint him up like Jace from Space Ghost. I have no idea why. Anyway, he just got thrown in a box for a while, until I rescued him just a few years ago, while deep in my whole indexing my collection project. He was still covered in paint, but it was acrylic, so I began the process of returning him back to his original state. I finally got him cleaned up just in time to take him with me on my fifth trip down to NC. Here he is on the mantle place. Doesn’t he look so happy?

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Two Years

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General

Year2

Well, it’s been another year.  How about that?

In my second year of reviews here at The FiQ, I wrote a whopping 254,420 words about 499 unique figures, 3 vehicles, a movie, and one very lovely pink stapler.  The overall number of figures reviewed has dropped from last year’s 528, but the word count took a pretty substantial jump.  Guess I’ve gotten a little bit wordier.

This year brought the site’s total views up past 50,000 (more than doubling those from last year) and got the site another 31 followers (for a total of 84).  We also had another 53 comments, excluding the ones made by myself.

Looking at the contents of individual reviews, Minimates are still the most prevalent line, though they’ve fallen from 82 reviews to 74 reviews.  Not a huge fall, but it’s there.  Marvel Legends are steadily becoming a contender, however, making up 54 of this year’s reviews.  As of today, I have reviewed 32.1% of my collection.  My collection has gone up another 400 from where it was last year, surpassing 3000 unique figures.

Going away from myself for just a moment, this year the site had a total of 19 guest reviews.  They came from four different reviewers (two of whom were new additions this year) and amounted to another 10,782 words on the site.  Thanks guys!

 

I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the figures I reviewed this year by taking a look at my top five favorite items I reviewed this year, listed in order of review:

#0436: COURAGE SERIES – I AM ELEMENTAL

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These are the figures that finally broke me into the whole Kickstarter thing.  They’re a pretty cool idea and the end result was quite a bit of fun.  Add in how wonderfully interactive their creators have been with the toy community (including sending me a very nice thank you email after I reviewed my set) and you’ve got what was probably my most pleasant reviewing experience of the year.

#0438: ALIEN QUEEN – ALIENS (NECA)

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This one was a big want, and I loved how she turned out.  NECA really pulled out all the stops on the Queen, making her the proper center piece of the line.  I loved her so much that I am seriously considering buying the red repaint later this year.

#0548: NEXUS – ASSEMBLE BORG NEXUS

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Wow, this guy sure came out of nowhere.  Tim stumbled upon this line, and I absolutely loved every figure I got out of it.  However, Nexus, with his near infinite interchangeability, took the cake.

#0588: RIPLEY & HICKS – ALIENS MINIMATES

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Moving off of #0438, Aliens is my favorite movie, and Minimates are my favorite toy line.  Putting the two together is just heaven to me.  Plus, DST knocked it out of the park with this pair, making them easily my favorite ‘mates of the last year.

#0685: LT. ELLEN RIPLEY – ALIENS (NECA)

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Yeah, Aliens dominated this list a bit. Sorry guys, it was a big year for Aliens stuff.  This is the figure I’ve wanted since NECA kicked off their Aliens line, and they really put the effort in on this one.

—HONORABLE MENTIONS—

#0415: BATMAN – BATMAN: ANIMATED (DC COLLECTIBLES)

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DC Collectibles’ foray into the animated universe was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but the nostalgic side of me loved having a figure that lived up to the cartoon that spawned this line.

#0542: CAPTAIN AMERICA – MARVEL RETRO FIGURES (DST)

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This figure has to be one of the few times that writing a review has had such a profound effect on my enjoyment of a figure.  I was initially disappointed by this set, but by the end of my review that was no longer the case.

 

Thanks once again to all of my faithful readers who have stuck with me all of my crazy rambling!

That’s pretty much it…

#0729: Time Traveler

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

TIME TRAVELER

MICRONAUTS (PALISADES)

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Mego’s Micronauts line of the ‘70s was never a super huge hit, and it was definitely overshadowed by the many toys first toylines of the ‘80s, but it does still have something of a cult following. This cult following helped get the line a relaunch in the early 2000s, courtesy of fan-favorite toy company Palisades. Palisades put a lot of effort into bringing Micronauts back. Sadly, the line was cursed with several pretty awful factory issues, causing the final figures to suffer, hurting the sales of what was already a pretty niche line. This came back to bite Palisades pretty hard, leading to the end of their Micronauts line after just two full series, and their eventual bankruptcy. Kind of a bummer. So hey, how ‘bout those figures, though? Let’s have a look at what is perhaps the most iconic of all Micronauts figures, the Time Traveler!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

TimeTraveler2The Time Traveler was part of the first series of Palisades’ Micronauts line. The figure was available in four possible color schemes, two transparent and two opaque. This one is the clear translucent one, which is a pretty direct recreation of one of the original Time Travelers, with just a few minor differences. He’s 3 ¾ inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation, same as his 70s predecessor. Sculpturally, this figure is more or less identical to the original version, but there are a few differences to note. The real differences are on the head, which is a little thinner than the original and features a higher level of detail work. It’s certainly a higher quality sculpt than the original, though I’m not sure I prefer it to the original. It’s in that weird area of being a more modernized sculpt that still possesses many of the style tics of the vintage toy, but without the nostalgic charm. The Time Traveler possesses no actual paint, but his head and all of his chest plates are done in a nice vac-metalized gold. The golden head is actually another change from the vintage figures,
where all of the Time Travelers were silver. While the original Time Traveler figures each only included a single chest plate, chosen at random from the four possible designs, Palisades’ Time Traveler included all TimeTraveler3four of the original plates, as well as two new designs (though, I could only find four of the chest plates when I went to take the pictures!). My personal favorite is the “windows” piece, but they’re all pretty cool. The Time Traveler also included the L-port piece from the original figure, as well as a black display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Palisades’ Micronauts line, amongst other things, was not super easy to find, especially before the introduction of all the online toy buying options we now have. I did end up finding a Time Traveler at an out of the way toy store around the time of release, but it wasn’t this one. Unfortunately, the first series figures were incredibly fragile and he ended up breaking, which was a definite bummer. I ended up getting this guy many years later, courtesy of the Toy Robot Museum, near Allentown, PA. Even with all of the factory issues and the slight changes from the originals, this guy’s a lot of fun, and I’m definitely glad I managed to find one.

#0728: Atom

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

ATOM

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

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Sometimes, there are really, really cool figures of characters you like, that are held back by one tiny but hard to overlook flaw. Today, I’ll be looking at such a figure. I’ll get to the “why” of it in just a bit.

So, in the second season premier for The Flash, Barry fought a guy called Atom Smasher, aka Albert Rothstein. Rothstein comes from Earth 2, which was the home of the original 40s DC Comics characters. He’s also the godson of the original Atom, aka Al Pratt, who is the focus of today’s review. Unlike the later versions of Atom, who possessed the ability to shrink down to sub-atomic size (not unlike Marvel’s Ant-Man), Al was just a kind of short guy who was a good fighter. He was eventually given an assortment of powers after the fact, but those were kind of a retcon. Amongst other things, he served as a prototype for Justice Guild member Tom Turbine, from the Justice League episode “Legends.” And, he got a figure as part of one of the last series of DC Universe Classics. Yay for him!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AtomGADCUC2Atom was released as part of Series 19 of Mattel’s DC Universe Classics, which was a whole series themed around the Justice Society of America, of which ol’ Al here was a member. Atom is presented here in his original costume from the 40s, which is definitely his more definitive of his two main looks. The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and has 23 points of articulation. See that height? Remember when I mentioned he was a short guy? Yeah, Al’s listed height is 5’ 1”, which, in DCUC terms, should make this guy about 5 ½ inches tall. So, he’s about an inch too tall. This is because Atom is built on the larger male body (the same one used on the water-camo Aquaman from Series 7). Proportionally, it’s the best body Mattel had on hand; Al’s a pretty stacked guy; but it’s just too tall. It’s kind of a no-win scenario. A character like Al isn’t really privy to an all-new body sculpt, especially in a buck-based line like DCUC, so Mattel had to make due. Moving away from the size thing, Atom has a brand new head, forearms, abdomen, and shins. These are all nicely sculpted parts, and the buckles on the arms and abdomen are an especially nice touch, since they could have easily been painted on. The shins are a little bit shorter than previous pieces, so Mattel was clearly trying a little, but it’s not really a very noticeable difference. The cape is from Series 12’s Dr. Mid-Nite figure; it’s not a perfect match, but it’s close enough, and it’s a well-sculpted piece, so I can’t complain. For some reason, it sits out a bit from his back, which is a tad frustrating.  The paintwork on Atom is some of the best from this line. Some of the line work is fuzzy, but it’s pretty clean overall. The color work is really nice; everything is bold and vibrant, and he really just pops. The brown parts are meant to be leather, and so they’ve been given a slightly darker brown dry brushing, which is actually really effective in conveying the different texturing. Atom didn’t include any of his own accessories, but he did include the head and pelvis of STRIPE, the Collect-N-Connect figure for this series.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The golden age Atom has long been one of my favorite JSA members. I was always a bit disappointed by DC Direct’s less than stellar attempt at the character, so I was intrigued by the DC Universe Classics version. I ended up finding this guy not long after he was released, while on a run to a nearby Target with my Dad. His size put me off at first, but the realization that this was probably the best version of the character I’d ever see in plastic, I went for it. I’m really happy I decided to get him, because, size issues aside, he’s actually a really nice figure.

#0727: Gambit & Bishop

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

GAMBIT & BISHOP

X-MEN: STEEL MUTANTS

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The 90s were a fantastic time for toy collecting. Admittedly, I’m a little biased, having begun my collection during that decade, but even without the bias, it was a pretty good time to get into things. Star Wars toys came back, virtually every cartoon got at least some sort of tie-in, and super heroes found themselves with a consistent presence on toy shelves. Toy Biz had the Marvel license (it was still just a license then. They hadn’t yet become a sub-division of Marvel), and they were offering the Marvel characters in just about every scale imaginable, with lots of different mediums, presumably to see what stuck. One of their more short-lived experiments were smaller scale, metal figures. They offered figures from several Marvel properties, but the X-Men definitely got the main focus, with their line of Steel Mutants. Now, let’s take a look at Gambit and Bishop, two characters who are very, very 90s.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gambit and Bishop were part of the second series of X-Men: Steel Mutants. While they function fine as figures from the comics of the time, they were definitely meant to be based on the cartoon of the time.

GAMBIT

BishopGambit3Hey! It’s everyone’s favorite sleezy, disreputable mutant, Gambit! Or is it Channing Tatum? Well, turns out they’re kind of the same thing now. Yay. Gambit is presented here in his 80s/90s costume, which is definitely his most Gambit-y costume to date. Also the only one he’d had at the time this figure was made, so not a shock. It’s a totally hideous design, but I love it so much. The figure stands 2 ½ inches tall and has 4-ish points of articulation. I say “ish” because the waist and neck are both fairly limited by the design of the costume. It should be noted that Gambit, like all of the Steel Mutants, is not totally metal. His torso and legs are diecast, but the arms and head are plastic. Metal isn’t the easiest thing to get fine detailing into, especially at a smaller scale, so the torso and legs are a little more simplified in terms of sculpt, really only getting the most basic details. He doesn’t even have the rippling chest muscles that were a signature of all the other X-Men of the time. Guy really needs to get back to his bowflex! Gambit is posed in a mid-step sort of thing (prevalent to this line) which looks like it should make him impossible to stand, but he actually is incredibly well-balanced, so kudos to Toy Biz there. The plastic parts have a bit more detailing, though not so much as to make them look out of place with the metal parts. He’s sculpted holding a charged card, which is permanently affixed to his hand. The paint work on Gambit is thickly applied, in pretty basic colors. There’s a fair bit of bleed over, but that’s more forgivable at this scale. The colors are, at the very least, nice and vibrant, which is a definite plus.

BISHOP

BishopGambit2Bishop. Because the X-Men just weren’t content with only one overly muscled, big gun toting, anti-hero from the future. We totally needed more of those. Bishop is also presented here in his 90s costume. Once again, not a huge surprise. It’s a less hideous design than Gambit’s I suppose, but I have less of a nostalgic tie to it. Bishop is roughly the same height as Gambit and has the same articulation. He’s got a bit more movement in the waist, but the neck is even more limited, due to the hair. The metal to plastic ratio is the same here as well. The metal parts seem a little more detailed here, though, and he definitely makes up for those rippling muscles Gambit lacked. He’s in an even deeper stance than Gambit, with looks a little dopey, but he’s still well-balanced, so I can’t really complain. The details on the head and arms are definitely a lot more involved on this guy, which certainly fits how the character was always portrayed. Paint-wise, he does seem to get better application that Gambit, overall. There’s noticeably less bleed over this time around. The colors are still nice and vibrant, as well. While Gambit had no extras, Bishop actually does get an accessory: a big gun. He’d hardly be complete without it, so it’s a good inclusion. As an added plus, he can even hold in either hand. Yay for ambidextrousness!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set’s actually been on the review docket for a while, just waiting for a good spot. I got it back in May, while at Balticon. I had spotted it at the table of a dealer whom I bought quite a few other things from, but decided to pass at the moment. Super Awesome Girlfriend (who could just as easily be called Super Attentive Girlfriend) took note of this and while I was doing a performance on stage she ran up and bought the set for me to present me with after the show.

Growing up, I only actually had a few of the Toy Biz Metal figures, mostly from the non-X-Men lines. My dad, however, had a nearly complete set of the X-Men ones, which he let me play with. Gambit was always one of my favorites, so I’m happy to have one of my own! Bishop’s not a bad figure, but I’m just not much of a fan of the character. Anyway, these are definitely a weird little item, but they possess a lot of charm.

#0726: Captain Rex

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

CAPTAIN REX

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

CapRex1

If there’s one upside to the Star Wars prequels, it’s the fact that they allowed for the creation of both of the Clone Wars animated series.  They managed to do impossible things like not suck and be something other than the absolute worst, which the prequels never really got down. The second of the two shows had a heavy focus on the Clone Troopers themselves, and changed them from a faceless legion to a collection of actual characters. One of the central clones in the show was Clone Captain Rex, who ended up becoming one of the show’s most popular characters. He got several figures during the actual Clone Wars toylines, and just before the shift to the Force Awakens stuff, he even made his way into the smaller scale The Black Series line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CapRex2Captain Rex was figure #09 in the 2014 series of the 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series figures. He was part of the second assortment of figures released that year (the same assortment that gave us Commander Doom, for those interested). The figure is a little over 3 ¾ inches in height and has 24 points of articulation. Rex is based on his design from towards the end of the show, after several improvements had been made to his armor. Unlike other Clone Troopers from the show, Rex never got a full Phase II style helmet, instead opting to stick with a slightly modified Phase I helmet. It’s kind of one of his more unique features, and it’s showcased here. Like Doom, Rex’s figure takes his design from the show and realizes it a bit, so that it can fit in with the other figures from this line. His sculpt does this translation pretty well, retaining most of his defining traits from his show design, while also brining him in line with the “real-life” Clone Troopers. The figure uses the same basic body as the one we saw on Doom. It’s less articulated than I’d like, but it’s a decent sculpt, so I can’t complain too much. He gets a unique helmet, shoulder piece, and “skirt” piece with holsters. The new parts are nice, sharp sculpts, and the helmet in particular has some fantastic fine detail work. Hasbro’s weak link is and always shall be its paint apps. It’s not to say they aren’t trying, mind you. Rex has some phenomenal work. The weird blue eyebrow things on his helmet are really sharp and the 163 (yes, I counted them all) tally marks placed all around his armor are a really cool touch. So, what’s the problem? It’s the base color work again. The areas around the holsters are definitely the worst offenders, with tons of overspray and slop, but all of the base work is pretty darn sloppy, which kind of ruins all the effort that was put into the finer detail work. Rex is packed with a pair of blaster pistols. They’re a bit hard to get into his holsters, but he holds them well enough. Like Doom, the accessories feel a bit light for a figure in the higher-priced line. It couldn’t be that hard to throw in a large blaster or something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rex here was the second of the two pre-Force Awakens figures I found during my Force Friday travels. I couldn’t pass on Doom, but I didn’t need Rex. Of course, I was with Super Awesome Girlfriend at the time, and she absolutely refuses to let me put a figure back, no matter how many times I say I don’t need it. So, she bought him for me. I can’t say Rex was a figure I was desperately searching for or anything, but I did like the character on the show, and I thought this figure looked pretty cool. I’m glad to have him, because, paint issues aside, he’s actually a pretty great little figure.