#0613: Ripley – Compression Suit

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

RIPLEY –COMPRESSION SUIT

ALIENS (NECA)

RipleySS1

No movie toyline is every truly complete without a bunch of variations of one of the film’s main characters. Sometimes they’re manufactured by the toy makers, resulting in strange neon colored variations, aimed at capturing the attention of small children (which has been known to work…occasionally). However, there’s been an increasing trend towards variations that are accurate to the source material. NECA is pretty big on these, especially when they get ahold of a major actor’s likeness rights. When they managed to get Arnold Schwarzenegger’s likeness from Predator, they released five variants of the character right off the bat. Now that they’ve gotten Sigourney Weaver’s likeness from the Alien films, and it looks like they’re going to be approaching her figures a similar fashion. I looked at the first version of her the other day, and now I’ll be looking at the second version, from the very same series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RipleySS2Ripley was released in Series 4 of NECA’s Aliens line. The series is devoted completely to the 35th Anniversary of Alien, so all of the figures are from that particular movie. The figure stands about 7 ½ inches tall and features 24 points of articulation. The first Ripley figure depicted her in her jumpsuited look, which was her primary look from the movie. This one is based on her look from her final confrontation with the creature, while in the Narcisus. It’s not the look most would associate with her for the movie, but it’s a strong second, being from a rather pivotal scene of the film. As an added bonus, it gives NECA another opportunity to use the compression suit body into which they’ve put so much work. Surprising pretty much nobody, the figure uses the same pressure suit body as Dallas and Kane (she also has the same hands as Dallas). Ripley’s suit was just a slight bit more streamlined in the film, so she doesn’t sport the front piece of armor (not sure what it actually is) and she also doesn’t have the holster strap for the flare gun. The helmet is RipleySS3similarly streamlined, being pretty much the same as Dallas’s, but without the head lamp. Under the helmet is a Ripley sculpt that is completely different from the one on Jumpsuit Ripley. It’s different, but I honestly can’t say if it’s better or worse than the other sculpt. It’s still got a pretty good likeness of Weaver, and the hair has been sculpted to more properly fit within the helmet. This ends up making the figure look a bit more goofy with the helmet off, but she looks great with the helmet on, which is the preferable outcome. Ripley’s paintwork is a little more simplistic than the other two compression-suited figures, but this is once again accurate to the movie, where Ripley’s suit is only used within the confines of the ship. Though it may be more simple, it’s hardly a bad paint job. In fact, it’s probably one of NECA’s best. While the suit is all white, NECA has made sure to include some slight variation in color and finish, providing quite a bit of dimension to the figure. The head also features some incredibly clean work, with no slop or bleed over, and some nice smallerRipleySS6 details. Ripley includes the harpoon gun, which figures prominently into the last moments of the film and has both opened and closed-hook harpoons, as well as another version of the film’s other survivor, Jonesy the cat, this time in a frightened pose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ripley is the last piece of the Series 4 set I ordered from Big Bad Toy Store. While I think the other Ripley is still the standout of this set, this version is incredibly solid. Like Dallas, she makes use of the strong compression-suit sculpt we saw on Kane, but doesn’t suffer from Kane’s drawbacks. Also, and this applies to this whole series, the paint here just seems like a huge leap forward compared to the previous three series of figures. All in all, this a fun figure, and definitely a must for anyone who’s an Alien fan.

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#0612: Dallas – Compression Suit

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

DALLAS – COMPRESSION SUIT

ALIENS (NECA)

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While Alien may not be quite up to the same level as its sequel Aliens (at least in my mind), it’s still a tremendously well-made film. One of the greatest aspects of the movie was its incredible design work. H.R. Giger’s main creature design tends to get a lot of the focus, but the film also had some awesome work on the human side of things, such as the incredibly memorable space suits, worn by three of the main characters during the exploration of the derelict ship. NECA first brought the suit design into their Aliens line in Series 3, where it was worn by the ill-fated Kane. Now we’ve gotten another of the trio, with the Nostromo’s well-meaning captain, Dallas.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dallas3Dallas was released in Series 4 of NECA’s Aliens line. Like all the others in this series, he’s from Alien, and is meant to somewhat commemorate the film’s 35th anniversary last year. The figure is about 7 ½ inches tall, and he has 24 points of articulation. As noted in the intro, Dallas is presented here in his Compression Suit look. It’s a pretty distinctive design, and a few of the character’s key scenes occur down on the planet, so it was well chosen. Rather unsurprisingly, the majority of Dallas’s sculpt is from Series 3’s Kane figure. Seeing as the suits in the movie are just palate swaps of each other and they’re bulky enough to hide the figure of the wearer, it would be silly for NECA not to use the parts they already had sculpted. The re-used parts are just as good here as they were on Kane. The body features a ton of texture and detail, and the add-ons for the armored parts add a nice bit of dimension. Dallas gets an all-new head, and, though you might miss them at first, a new set of hands. The hands are pretty much the same as the ones on Kane, except the poses are reversed. It’s a nice touch and it allows for a neat bit of variety. The head is a fairly Dallas4decent sculpt; the Tom Skerritt likeness isn’t as spot-on as the Sigourney Weaver was, but it’s passable (though, I can’t help but see Tom Hanks in that face. Not sure why.) In general, the head feels a little less defined than the rest of the sculpt. Fortunately this is fairly hidden by the helmet. Speaking of the helmet, it should be noted that it has the same two piece design as Kane’s. The bottom portion is the same piece (though it sits a little closer to the torso than Kane’s does) while the top is a slightly tweaked piece, showing an undamaged version of the helmet. Paint is where Dallas really gets a leg up on Kane. While things certainly aren’t perfect (especially when it comes to the face) the amount of bleed over is a lot lower, and the detailing and texturing looks superb. And the biggest improvement: he’s not sticky! Yeah, Kane was rather tacky is some areas, which isn’t a good thing, but Dallas suffers from none of that, showing that NECA’s really committed to learning from their mistakes. In addition to the removable helmet, Dallas also includes the same flare gun and flashlight that we saw with Kane.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Dallas was part of the set of Series 4 figures I ordered via Big Bad Toy Store. I can’t say the guy was super high on my want list, but I’m pleased to have him. He takes what was good about the Kane figure and improves what was bad, resulting in an overall very solid addition to the line. I can’t help but feel it’s a little unfortunate that he got placed in this series, as I’m sure a lot of people will end up overlooking him in favor of the two Ripley figures he’s packed with. And that’s too bad, because he’s really one of the best figures the line has offered so far, at least as far as quality is concerned.

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#0611: Mega Man

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

MEGA MAN

SUPER SMASH BROTHERS AMIIBO

MegaMan1

I am not the foremost expert on video games. However, I’ve got a decent knowledge of some of the higher profile stuff, and I do have my personal favorites, both in terms of games and the characters within them. Over the winter, my brother and I got pretty invested in the most recent iteration of Super Smash Brothers. One of the new things that Nintendo has added to the game are Amiibo, which are these little figurines of the characters which can be used in conjunction with the game, allowing you to name and train NPC versions of the characters they represent, as well as unlock a few additional things within Smash and other games. Unfortunately, it seems like Nintendo’s kinda terrible at this whole collectibles thing, so a lot of the characters I’d like to own are ridiculously hard to find. That kind of ruins the whole thing for everybody. Anyway, I actually managed to find one of the characters I wanted, thanks to a rerelease. So, let’s take a look at Mega Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

MegaMan3Mega Man was part of either the second or third round of Super Smash Brothers Amiibo (EDIT: He’s from the third round!). I know he definitely wasn’t amongst the initial assortment of characters. The “figure” is about 3 ½ inches tall, with the base adding about ½ an inch to the height. Amiibo aren’t designed as actual action figures, and as such, Mega Man doesn’t have any articulation. Sort of a bummer, but it’s not like it’s unexpected. Mega Man’s sculpt is pretty great. It’s sufficiently accurate to the design of the character. It’s specifically based on Mega Man’s appearance in the latest Super Smash Brothers game, with a few little details lifted straight from the game. Of course, his design hasn’t changed that much from prior appearances, so this could certainly stand in for an earlier Mega Man if MegaMan2that’s what you want. He’s sculpted in a fairly in-character pose, with his legs in a wide stance and his buster cannon held high. It’s a good pose, though it might be nice if the cannon was a little further away from his face, just so it didn’t block him. Mega Man’s paintwork isn’t the greatest thing of all time, but it’s better than what lots of other companies are putting out there right now. Some areas, especially the shorts, exhibit a little bit of bleed over, but nothing too bad. I really like the decision to use metallic paint for the darker blue portions; it has a really nice sheen to it, and it makes the figure really pop. Mega Man doesn’t include any physical accessories, but he does have the interface with Smash, which works pretty well. Also, when scanned in for the first time, each Amiibo gets you a small portion of a classic game. In Mega Man’s case, it was the first few minutes of Metroid, which was pretty fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed out on Mega Man in his initial release, which bummed me out a bit. However, I ended up coming across one at a Toys R Us while I was out with the rest of my family. He’s my first Amiibo, and overall I like him. He works well with Smash, and I like the basic sculpt and layout of the piece. That being said, if you’re just looking for a Mega Man figure, this one might not be the one for you. It’s really more of a display piece and less of a toy.

#0610: Ripley

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

RIPLEY – JUMPSUIT

ALIENS (NECA)

RipleyJS1

As faithful readers of the site know, it’s no secret that my favorite movie of all time is Aliens. So, it’s probably not a huge shock to find out that I’m rather fond of Alien, the film Aliens sequel-izes, as well. Granted, I don’t view it with nearly as much reverence as its sequel, but I appreciate it for what it spawned, and I think it’s a tremendously well assembled film. When NECA made their announcement that they had managed to acquire Sigourney Weaver’s likeness rights, they quickly followed up by confirming that the first Ripley figure in their Aliens line would be based on her debut appearance in Alien. Now, that figure is finally here, and I’m really excited to see how it turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RipleyJS2Ripley was released as part of Series 4 of NECA’s Aliens line. Series 4 is the first series in the line not to feature any figures from Aliens, as well as the first series not to feature any of the titular creatures. There’s no need to fret, though, because a) Series 5 will be making up for both of those things, and b) Series 4 suffers in no way for the lack of either of these things. NECA has taken advantage of Alien’s 35th anniversary, and has offered three figures based on that film’s designs. This particular Ripley represents her in her main jumpsuited look, which she sports for most of her screen time. The figure stands just shy of 7 ½ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. It’s refreshing to see a female figure that isn’t dwarfed by her male counterparts (in fact, she’s taller than Bishop, and the same height as Hicks), and it makes this an accurate depiction of Ripley as portrayed by the 6 foot tall Sigourney Weaver. Ripley has a brand-new sculpt (in fact, she’s the only figure in this series to get one) and, simply put, it’s phenomenal. She has great proportions, tons of detail, and the articulation is very nicely worked into the sculpt. When NECA did Bishop in the last series, I had a few issues with overlay piece used for the torso part of the jumpsuit. I was somewhat concerned about those issues cropping up here. Fortunately, NECA has made sure they didn’t, and have tweaked the overlay part to be two pieces, allowing for a more form fitting look and avoiding the slight diaper-like appearance of Bishop’s waist. The overlay allows for a bit more dimension, and they’ve done a wonderful job of sculpting the collar of her uniform shirt so that it just barely shows RipleyJS4under the jumpsuit. Now, we all know that NECA can do an awesome job on the body, but the real pull here is that, for the first time ever, we got a Ripley that’s actually allowed to look like Sigourney Weaver! So, how’d they do? If I’m totally honest, when I first saw the sculpt, I was a little underwhelmed. Sure, it bore a resemblance to Weaver, but it seemed off. After taking the figure out and viewing the sculpt in three dimensions, my opinion’s changed greatly. This is definitely Sigourney Weaver. At least the face is, anyway. The hair, I’m not 100% sold on, though I’d chalk that up to the impossibility of perfectly replicating something so fluid in a solid medium. Also, this may seem like a weird thing to comment on, but I’m really impressed by the hands. Like, I looked at them and immediately thought “wow, those are Sigourney Weaver’s hands.” It’s something that’s really minor and easy to overlook, but it really adds a lot to the figure. Ripley’s paintwork is, while not flawless, pretty darn good. Application is nice and clean, and there’s some great detail work on the patches on her jumpsuit. The face is pretty decent for the scale and the price point, but the edges on the eyes are just a little off, and there’s a little scratch on her nose. Nothing too major, though. She does seem a little on the clean side, but it’s fair to say she’s supposed to be from earlier in the film, and would therefore be a little less messy. Ripley includes two accessories: a flamethrower and Jonesy the cat. Both pieces are excellent additions to the figure. The flamethrower is superbly sculpted and painted and fits quite nicely in her hands. Jonesy is pretty decently sculpted and features ball joints at the neck and tail, allowing for some decent movement.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been patiently waiting for this figure’s release ever since it was announced. I picked her up, along with the other two figures in the series, from Big Bad Toy Store, as soon as they got her in stock. This figure is fantastic. It does a wonderful job of translating the character from the film to three dimensions and gives us our first shot at a character that the line couldn’t be complete without. Sure, it’s not the version from Aliens that I’ve been oh so anxiously waiting for, but it’s more than enough to hold me over until that figure comes along. NECA has done a tremendous job with this figure, and they’ve set the bar pretty high for the Aliens version in Series 5. Here’s hoping that one’s just as good!

*Ripley also has the added notoriety of being the 3000th unique figure to be added to my collection!  That’s a big number!

RipleyJS5

#0609: Jarknoid Zain

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

JARKNOID ZAIN

ASSEMBLE BORG (REVOLTECH)

Zain1

“What the hell is a Jarknoid?

 –Tim Marron

When Mego imported Microman as Micronauts, they started off with a selection of figures that were more or less the same as their Japanese counterparts. However, as the line moved forward, Mego decided to add a few of their own touches. The Japanese line had relied on the Acroyear as the foes of the heroic Micromen, and Micronauts had started much the same way. Mego decided that the ‘nauts needed a more diverse selection of foes, and created their own set of unique foes, under the heading “Aliens.” These Aliens became some of the more distinctive Micronauts, and are the primary point of separation of the two lines.

Assemble Borg, is no doubt inspired by Microman. In fact, one of Borg’s main designers originally worked on Microman. What’s interesting to me, though, is that Assemble Borg’s main set of villains, the Jarknoids, actually seem to have more in common with Mego’s line than they do the line it was based on. That kind of makes Assemble Borg the closest thing Micronauts has to a successor. And that’s actually pretty cool. So, let’s take a look at one of those freaky Jarknoids, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zain2Jarknoid Zain is entry 008 in the Assemble Borg line. Numerically, he was the last of the trio of Jarknoid villains, released as a direct follow-up to the original heroic Assemble Borg figures.  Each of the Jarknoid’s was given their own epithet, and Zain’s was “Astro-Killer,” which is simple, but rather effective in establishing the character, I guess. Like Panzer, Zain predates the line’s changeover to the more modular “Nexus” style, meaning he’s a more traditional style of action figure, but the customizability is still a present feature. The figure is about 6 inches in height and has 42 points of articulation.  Zain is built on what was the standard Assemble Borg body. We’ve seen some of this before, as Panzer made use of the same torso, pelvis, and thighs. The sculpt is definitely on the more basic side, but it offers a nice sleekness, which offers a nice contrast to the more intricate character specific pieces. Speaking of character Zain3specific pieces, holy crap is that head a really impressive piece of work. He’s got a mask that just looks like a giant skeletal hand is just grabbing his face, which is a truly disturbing design. The mask can be removed, revealing a smaller chrome head underneath, which is a fairly neat feature, though I can’t see anyone displaying this in favor of the mask. He’s also got a chrome chest piece, which is really pointy and fit’s with the mask pretty well. In addition to the basic body, each of the Jarknoids included a few character specific parts that could be swapped in place of the normal body parts. Zain gets a cool arm piece, which, depending on how you configure it can either be a big gun arm or a big claw thing. Both are pretty cool, and they have a nice bit of silver detailing to bring out the awesome details. In addition to those parts, the figure includes four sets of hands (fists, open palm, trigger finger, and Zain4pointing/splayed), a sword, an axe, a small gun, a slightly larger small gun, a medium gun, a huge gun, an adaptor to attach the weapons to any revolver connector, an assortment of revolver joints, and a coin worth 10 revolchip points.  I really love the weapons, because they all have some really fantastic spikey detailing that looks pretty awesome. Like the other Assemble Borg figures I’ve looked at, paint is relatively minor on Zain, but I do really love the color of the plastic he’s molded in.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I tried to ease into this whole Assemble Borg thing. I really did. I picked up Panzer because he was relatively inexpensive, and I thought he would hold me over. Then I got Nexus for free. I wanted Zain, but I was trying to hold off. Then Tim (who still remains at fault for all of this) showed me the Yeeg figure he’d bought (Yeeg’s another of the Jarknoids) and I found myself really wanting one of the villains. So, I ended up getting this guy off of eBay. Zain is a really, really cool figure, and he’s definitely my favorite of the Jarknoids. He’s properly imposing and just a lot of fun to mess with. Man I love this line.

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#0608: MODOK

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

MODOK

IRON MAN (TOYBIZ)

MODOK1

MODOK! The Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing! That is, unless he’s on a children’s cartoon on Saturday mornings, in which case, he’s the Mental Organism Designed Only for Konquest. You remember how Konquest is spelled with a “K,” right? Hey, it could have been worse; originally he was going to be Mental Organism Designed Only for Kittens. That just doesn’t seem as threatening, does it?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

MODOK2MODOK was released in the second series of ToyBiz’s 90s Iron Man line. The line was released to tie-in with the cartoon of the time, so MODOK is based on his appearance there. Though, to be fair, his look on the show was largely unchanged from his comic appearance, so the figure can easily pull double duty. The figure is about 5 inches tall and he has 6(?) points of articulation. The articulation is a little hard to get an accurate count on; the attachments on the head definitely move, but it’s hard to tell if the arms and legs are actually supposed to move. If they are, they’re quite limited. MODOK has a sculpt that was totally unique to him, and it’s actually pretty great. It captures the character’s design rather nicely, and it has a surprising level of detail for a figure of the time. The face has some nice, deep set wrinkles, making him appropriately grotesque and all of his armored parts have some nice etched in details. While the sculpt may be impressive, the figure’s been saddled with one of the more lackluster paintjobs of the time. It isn’t actually bad, but it’s incredibly basic, with most of the colors just being molded plastic. Plus, the colors are all flat, which doesn’t really showcase the sculpt all that well. A little bit of a metallic finish would go a long way. MODOK included an ID Card with his picture, powers, and a quick little bio (these were included with all the figures in the first two series of the line), as well as a blast piece that works with the figure’s “action feature.” When you press the button on the back of the figure, or squeeze the head, the blast piece gets launched, at least in theory. In reality, the button doesn’t actually work; you can still go with the head squeezing method, though the launch distance is a little…underwhelming.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

MODOK is another one of those figures that I missed out on growing up. I feel like he may have been one of the more difficult figures to find. He ended up being one of the figures I came across in the dealer’s room at this past Balticon. He actually ended up being the most expensive of the figures that I picked up, though he still wasn’t all that pricey. As an adult, I can appreciate this figure, especially for the strength of the sculpt. As a kid, I think I might have found this figure a little bit less exciting. No real articulation and a lackluster action feature don’t do the figure any favors. That said, he’s a decent looking figure and works perfectly fine as a display piece. I guess it really just depends what you look for in a figure.

#0607: Superman – Blue

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

SUPERMAN – BLUE

JLA: CLASSIFIED

SupermanBlue1

The 90s were weird. Like, for everyone. Marvel had their whole shoulder pads and pouches thing going on, which is one of those things we’d all like to forget now. DC was getting in on the weirdness too, and few characters got hit as much as Superman. First he died and got replaced with four “x-treme” takes on the mythos. Then he came back, but he was different and he had a mullet. Then he lost the mullet, but the sun also got blotted out, preventing him access to his solar-based powers. The only logical solution was to convert his powers to electricity. That’s just obvious. Anyway, the result was Superman Blue, a radical departure from the Superman we all knew and loved. He didn’t really stick around for long, but he had a rather distinctive design, which did build up a rather decent fan following, resulting in a few action figures over the years. Let’s take a look at the most recent version!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SupermanBlue2Superman Blue was released as part of the second series of DC Direct’s JLA: Classified line. All of the figures in the series were based on looks from the 90s, so Superman fit in pretty well. The figure stands roughly 6 ½ inches tall and features 13 points of articulation. Due to the nature of the sculpt and how the articulation was implemented, most of the articulation is ultimately pointless, and the figure’s only real pose is a basic standing one. The JLA: Classified line worked as a companion line to the four assortments of Ed McGuinness-styled Superman/Batman figures produced not long before. So, Superman Blue is presented here in Ed McGuinness’s style, though I’m not sure that McGuinness ever actually drew Superman Blue. Admittedly, it’s a style that works pretty well for the design, so I can’t really complain. Most of the McG-styled figures made use of a lot of the same pieces, and Superman Blue is no exception. He gets a brand new head, but from the neck down he’s a straight re-use of the basic McG body first used for Captain Atom. It’s not a terrible body, but it’s not without its flaws either. It’s definitely well-defined, and in keeping with a lot of McG’s illustrations, but the arms are definitely way too stubby. The head is a pretty decent sculpt; it matches up pretty well with the regular McG Superman, but it’s got a slightly more smug expression, which at the very least adds some variety. The character’s spiky electric hair is quite nicely conveyed, and the head-band-thingy is appropriately sharp and clean. The only real issue is that the head is just a tad too big for the body. The paintwork is alright; the blue and white are appropriately bold, and the figure definitely stands out. However, the application of the white areas is a little uneven, and the elements on the arms and legs which should mirror each other end up not doing so. The figure’s one accessory is a small black display stand with the JLA: Classified logo printed in blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Superman Blue was another piece of the large selection of figures I bought on sale from my local comicbook store. He’s not my favorite design of all time, but at $3, I figured he was worth it. The figure is overall pretty decent, and while it’s not perfect, it does add a certain degree of “pop” to the shelf.

#0606: Wilderness Crawler

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

WILDERNESS CRAWLER

ASSEMBLE BORG (REVOLTECH)

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One of the cool things about Assemble Borg (which is totally my new favorite toyline) is that it goes beyond just offering a basic set of figures. Sure, they’re still there and they’re still important to the overall line, but one of the primary focuses is customization and interchangeablity (is that a real word? Spellcheck says no, but I don’t trust these pesky machines) amongst the figures. There are also a number of vehicle sets, which offer a nice variety of extra parts to help spruce up your basic figures. One such set is the Wilderness Crawler, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

WildCrawler2Wilderness Crawler is set 013 in the Assemble Borg line. The Crawler was part of the “Assault Gear” subset of the line. There were three “vehicles” that each loosely matched up with one of the three “Counter Strike” figures. The Crawler seems to have been designed to accent Ghost Gunner, however, in contrast to the Jackall, these sets are designed to work as standalone pieces in their default setups. The Wilderness Crawler’s descriptor is “All Terrain Assault Tank A.G.A.” What you can probably gather from that (and the WildCrawler5image at the top of this review) is that the Wilderness Crawler’s default setup is that of a tank. In the tank setup, the Crawler is 3 ½ inches long, 2 ½ inches wide, and 2 ¼ inches tall. In this configuration, there is movement at the “neck” and at the turret.  This is essentially what you would expect from a tank, though I will admit to being just a tad disappointed that the treads don’t actually move. The Wilderness Crawler is assembled (heh!) from 18 sculpted parts, in conjunction with an assortment of Revolver joints and connectors. Unlike previous entries from this line, the Wilderness Crawler doesn’t come put together; instead, the pieces are packed disassembled and there is an included instruction sheet showingWildCrawler6 how to configure them into the basic tank setup. Some pieces, such as the main body, the treads, and the head, are clearly sculpted to be specific things, and they convey what they need to pretty well. The “goggle” piece of the head can be removed, which is cool. I do somewhat wish that the main body was made up of a few more parts; it’s just one big chunk as it is, which limits what you can do with it. The rest of the parts are handled in such a wayWildCrawler4 that they can be used for plenty of different applications, allowing the Crawler to have more than a few potential builds. Each piece of the set is sharply detailed, and they all fit together vary nicely from aesthetic standpoint. Color-wise, the Crawler is mostly done in silver and darker metallic greys, but the goggles and “chest piece” both offer a splash of green, which livens the set up quite a bit. In addition to the base pieces used to assemble the tank layout, the Wilderness Crawler also includes a box of Revolver joints, a stand, and a Revolchip worth 10 points.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I continue to maintain that this is Tim’s fault. He ordered himself one of the Jackall sets, prompting me to look into getting one of my own. I ended up finding a seller that had both the Jackall and this set for a fair bit below their usual going rates. I was somewhat intrigued by the “Assault Gear” subset, so I figured I’d give this one a try. The Wilderness Crawler isn’t quite as exciting as the actual figures, and it doesn’t have the direct ties to a particular figure like the Jackall did, so it’s probably the most underwhelming piece I’ve looked at from this line. That said, it’s also the one I paid the least for, which does it some favors, and it’s far from a boring set. Plus, the pieces can easily be configured into a pretty sick robot, which I’m always in support of!

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#0605: The Brood

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

THE BROOD

X-MEN (TOYBIZ)

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For the X-Men, simple terrestrial foes just weren’t enough. No, they had to kick off the extraterrestrial bit, starting fairly early in the series, before the original team had even left, when they faced off against the dastardly Lucifer! The aliens continued to show up with a fair bit of regularity, and in the mid-80s, we were introduced to the Brood. They were a bug-like race of creatures that gestated inside other beings and when they hatched, they would take on certain characteristics of the hosts. Sound familiar? Yeah, they weren’t too far removed from the Xenomorphs seen in Alien and Aliens. Not that it was a bad thing! The Brood have made their way into a few X-themed toylines over the years, with their first plastic appearance being in ToyBiz’s massive X-Men line from the 90s.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Brood2The Brood was released in the fifth series of the X-Men line. The figure is about 3 ½ inches tall and 4 inches in length. It features 8 points of articulation, as well as an action feature that flaps the wings and opens the jaw when you press the button on the figure’s back. The Brood are all fairly similar in design, and this figure was meant to be just a generic Brood. That said, if I recall correctly, the presence of wings denotes this as a Brood Queen. But, I could be wrong on that (EDIT: nevermind. I double checked and it looks like some of the drones were winged too). Given the non-human nature of the character, it’s not much of a surprise that the Brood had an all-new sculpt. Overall, it’s a pretty decent translation of the comic design, or at least their appearances in the 80s. It’s not quite as “buggy” as later figures would be, and it’s somewhat on the simpler side when it comes to texture, but it’s not bad, and it certainly fits in with the rest of the line. The muscles at the top of the front arms seem weirdly over-defined, but hey, it was the 90s. Everything had muscles then! I’m surprised the figure didn’t have shoulder pads and pouches. The Brood’s paint is pretty decently handled. The colors are on the drab side, but that’s accurate to the comics, and everything is pretty cleanly defined, if a little on the basic side. The Brood included no accessories, but what the heck would it even come with?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Brood is another Balticon acquisition. It came from the same dealer as Shatterstar and Magneto, though, this one was actually dug out of bin of $5 loose figures. So, a little more expensive, but honestly it feels worth it. The figure is a pretty solid piece and it holds up rather well even twenty years later.

#0604: Medusa

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

MEDUSA

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOYBIZ)

Medusa1

The Inhumans. They seem to be Marvel’s new pet project. They served as major players in Agents of SHIELD’s second season, they’ve had a couple of recent events that centered on them, and they’re slated to get their own movie. Rumor has it that Marvel’s hoping to elevate them to a near X-Men-like status. Best of luck to them on that. The Inhumans have been rather obscure for a while, but they’ve shown up a few times in toy form over the years. Let’s have a look at the very first figure of the hair-controlling Medusa, member of the royal family.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Medusa2Medusa was released as part of the fourth series of ToyBiz’s 90s Fantastic Four line. This series was based on the cartoon of the same name, and it was the first (and only) series to be based specifically on the show’s second season. Medusa was a recurring character throughout the season, so her inclusion here is quite sensible. The figure is roughly 5 inches tall and features 10 points of articulation. The articulation is…odd. She has some very nice shoulder movement, but she’s got the v-style hip joints that plagued most of the female figures of the 90s, and she has no neck movement at all. Posing her isn’t the easiest thing. Medusa had a sculpt that was new to her (though it would end up being re-used a few times), and, truth be told, it’s not great. The proportions are all pretty off; the hands and feet are rather large, and the torso feels way too small, especially by comparison. Also, for a character whose whole shtick is hair, hers seems rather lacking in volume. Then there are her legs, which are a) at a weird angle, and b) two different lengths, resulting in a figure that’s rather difficult to stand. At the very least, the figure’s face isn’t terrible, which is a good thing for the time. Paint on the figure, sadly, doesn’t do much to salvage the sculpt. It’s not terrible, but there’s more than one instance of bleed over, the face is kind of sloppy, and the purple paint on the lower arms and legs doesn’t match the molded color of the rest of the body. This particular series’ main gimmick was that each figure included a stand with an action feature of some sort. Medusa included a stand sculpted to resemble her hair. It has a set of wheels on the bottom, and when it’s pushed forward, the “pinwheel” at the top spins. Yay?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Medusa was another Balticon purchase. She was actually packaged when I got her, but still pretty low priced. She’s a figure I’ve seen lots of times before, but never actually gotten around to buying. She’s not exactly the most thrilling figure, which is kind of a shame, since was her only figure for over ten years. Oh well.