#3947: Magne Arthur

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

MAGNE ARTHUR

MICROMAN MAGNE POWER (TAKARA)

In the ‘90s, teams of colorful heroes imbued with weird fantasy powers were all the rage.  Well, Power Rangers was all the rage, and a lot of other people wanted that success for themselves, so other stuff became very Power Rangers-like.  Takara’s Microman, descendant of G.I. Joe and progenitor to Transformers, decided to give the whole thing a try, as well as throwing in a bit of a scale shift.  The result was Microman Magne Power, a brief run on the line at the tail end of the decade.  Today, I’m looking at the central member of this incarnation’s core team, Magne Arthur!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Magne Arthur was figure 001 in Takara’s Microman Magne Power series.  He was the first of the figures that debuted the line at the very end of 1998, and helped to establish the line’s new style.  The figure stands abut 3 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  As with the rest of the figures in this line, Arthur was scaled down from Microman’s usual 3 3/4-inch set-up, with the in-universe explanation being that these guys came from a  different Micro Earth than the original line’s figures, following up on the slightly smaller vintage Micro Hoodmen, who shrank themselves further to conserve resources.  His sculpt is largely the same as the other four core figures from the line, albeit with a unique head.  Arthur’s head was especially unique amongst the launch figures, as he didn’t have a helmet like the other four, instead just getting a set of funky headphones.  It’s ultimately a sculpt that’s a bit more in keeping with the earlier Microman figures in that regard.  From the neck down, he’s the same as the others, with the same kind of dated, bulky and boxy sort of body sculpt.  As the leader guy of a team of chromatically themed heroes in the ‘90s, Arthur was obviously predominantly red, which is done in a nice translucent plastic.  He’s also got white and dark grey accenting, and of course the usual chromed head.  As with all the basic figures, he had no accessories, but did have magnets in his torso, right arm, and feet, so you can stick him to all manner of metal surfaces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After discovering this line’s existence from the Micronauts guy at Mego Meet in 2011, I jumped pretty quickly on finding what I could of the line domestically.  Thankfully, Big Bad Toy Store had a rather nice selection of figures for pretty cheap at the time, so I was able to get the whole core set without much trouble.  Arthur is the most standard of the set, and that makes him the easiest for taking in the whole of what the line meant to be.  It’s not quite the success that Takara was hoping for, but it’s still a fun little set to look back at, and Arthur is a nice central piece.

#3946: Nightwing – Teen Titans

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

NIGHTWING — TEEN TITANS

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

“A youthful version of the Justice League, the Teen Titans featured Robin as leader from the outset. In the 1980s, when the title was relaunched with new characters, Robin grew more independent than ever, living in Titan’s Tower and later changing his codename to Nightwing.”

Remember the last time I reviewed a McFarlane Nightwing here on the site and I discussed George Lucas’s “It’s like poetry; it rhymes” quote?  Well, I feel like it might be appropriate again.  One of my earliest 7-inch McFarlane DC reviews was his first take on Nightwing.  As we wind down on his offerings (….maybe?  Apparently he’s still got some version of the license going into ’26?  It’s all gotten very confusing), I’m looking at another Nightwing, who, much like the Super Powers version before him, is based on the character’s disco-inspired original costume design.  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing — Teen Titans is part of the fifth “Digital” assortment of DC Multiverse, meaning he’s pretty much just a standard figure, but there’s also an extra card that literally no one will ever make any use of.  He’s officially under the “DC Direct” banner, alongside wave-mates Batman and Monarch.  He’s the eighth version of Nightwing under the Multiverse line.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Nightwing is built on the Beetle/Booster body, which has been a favorite starting points for mid-sized characters.  Nightwing himself has used it once before, for his ‘90s costume.  This time around, it actually gets a few adjustments to make it more accurate.  He adds the collar to the torso, as well as finally re-tooling the shins so as to redo the boot-tops, so that he’s not yet another figure saddled with the weird boot tops.  Instead, he’s got the proper, slightly more unique design for this costume.  He’s also got a brand new head sculpt, clearly patterned on Perez’s illustrations of the character in the early years.  It’s a very nice sculpt, with a lot of really sharp and clean work, and, above all, it’s a happy Nightwing, which I always appreciate seeing, especially in this costume.  It’s certainly the nicest of the Nightwing head sculpts we’ve gotten from McFarlane.  The paint work is generally okay, though it does wind up with some slight oddities.  The mask gets a pattern suggesting shading, which I don’t mind, as it’s effective and doesn’t look weird.  That said, it’s the only instance of painted shading on the figure, which is strange.  The rest of the work is more basic stuff.  Application’s clean and sharp, so that’s good.  The only off spot is the shoulders, which are already kind of off due to the way the assembly works, but then also miss the lighter blue on the top section.  You can kind of hide it with posing around the shoulder “cups”, but it’s odd when you can see it.  Nightwing is packed with a batarang, a display stand, a collector’s card, and the card with the info for the “digital” collectible.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t certain I was going to get this one when it was announced.  It seems kind of strange, I suppose, but the Super Powers version was announced around the same time, and I already have the DC Direct one and….yeah, none of it was very solid reasoning, honestly, so when I saw this one in person, I folded pretty quickly.  I’m glad I did, because, apart from some slight oddities to do with the paint, he’s a really nice figure, and definitely McFarlane’s best take on Nightwing, which is actually a pretty noteworthy statement, given how many Nightwing figures he did.

#3945: Gorgon

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

GORGON

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“A member of the mysterious race known only as the Inhumans, Gorgon is one of the staunchest defenders of their hidden city of Attilan. Possessing the ability to cause staggering shockwaves with a stamp of his hoof-like feet, as well as superhuman strength and stamina, Gorgon is a foe to be reckoned with…as those who would exploit or harass his people have discovered, to their regret!”

Apart from a brief stretch of time where Marvel was *really* trying to push them as X-Men replacements, the Inhumans have kind of been a back burner for Marvel.  As supporting players, they’re neat enough, but as the main feature, it’s hard for people to connect.  They’ve struggled pretty fiercely with proper toy coverage, and it’s been a running gag that in 30 years of them getting toys, the royal family’s never been done collectively in one cohesive style.  Hasbro’s finally doing it this year, but in the mean time, I’m running back to near the beginning, with Toy Biz’s second entry in their ultimately incomplete line-up, Gorgon!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gorgon is the final figure in the Series 2 line-up of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  He predates the character’s Season 2 debut on the show they were tying into, but uses a design that’s pretty typical classic Gorgon, in line with what the show eventually used.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points or articulation.  While the arm movement’s perfectly fine, the legs are quite stiff.  The right hip is tied into a kicking (or in this case, I guess stomping) feature, same as the first Gambit, so it’s not really for posing, so much as it is either locked down or extended upward.  The non action feature-y left hip doesn’t have much more motion, though, and his knees are also kind of limited.  That said, he can stand there all menacing like, which is most of Gorgon’s thing anyway.  The sculpt is generally pretty good.  It gets all the major points, and certainly looks the part for the character.  He does feel maybe a little small, especially by more modern standards, but it’s not an unreasonable size.  The sculpt’s also a tad soft on a lot of the details.  I do, however, like the detail work on the head, especially his somewhat unkempt hair.  Color work on this figure is decent overall.  The colors match well with his usual depictions, and application on the paint mostly looks good.  He does have a bit of missing paint on his chin, but other than that, the coverage is pretty consistent.  Gorgon is packed with a pair sci-fi rifles, re-purposed from the X-Men line’s Bishop.  Not really Gorgon’s speed, but I guess there was extra space in the package and they wanted to fill it? 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a Gorgon figure as a kid.  I wasn’t as personally drawn to the Inhumans, so I just stuck with Black Bolt.  My dad had one, which he got during one of our many trips to Ageless Heroes when it was closing down.  I remember messing with it a few times, but not much beyond that.  Ultimately, he wound up third to last on the list for this line, snagged early this year when Rachel and I took a trip down to Factory Antiques Mall.  He was there, he was affordable, and I didn’t have him, so it all worked out.  He’s not without his drawbacks, but he’s also kind of neat in his own right.  

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0049: Quicksilver

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

QUICKSILVER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s Friday!  Finally!  Oh boy, the week’s over…almost.  Well, here’s a double blast from the past, because today’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum is another one of those doubling down on an addendum entries.  So, let’s look at Quicksilver again…again!

Countdown to Avengers: Age of Ultron: 7 days remaining.

Alright, we just took a look at Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye, two of the most important Avengers in my books. They both joined the team back in Avengers #16, along with the subject of today’s review, Quicksilver. They were led by Captain America and dubbed “Cap’s Kooky Quartet.” Yeah, it was the 60s. Anyway, Quicksilver is an Avenger of moderate importance, though he’s not quite on the same level as the other two. Still, he’s an important guy, and seeing as he’s Scarlet Witch’s twin brother, it’s a little difficult to have one without the other. Plus he had that fantastic scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past, so he’s going places. Let’s look at one of his action figures!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quicksilver was released in ToyBiz’s 90s X-Men line as part of their infamous “Muntant Armor” series. The figure was available in two possible decos: his classic blue and white and his current (at the time) white and grey. This one, in case you hadn’t already noted, is the white and grey, which, for those interested, was designed by legendary artist George Perez when he helped re-launch The Avengers in the 90s. The figure is 5 inches tall and has 11 points of articulation. Quicksilver was built on one of ToyBiz’s recurring male bodies of their 5 inch lines, which first popped up in the sixth series of ToyBiz’s Spider-Man line. It’s a pretty decent sculpt, with a nice, lean look, and a decent amount of movement. The only real downside is the left hand, which was hastily retooled from a web-shooting pose, resulting in a rather strange looking fist. In addition to the base body, Quicksilver features a head that is sort of new. The facial structure is the same as that of the “Battle Brigade” series Archangel, but the hair is completely new, giving us Pietro’s signature ‘do. The face is actually a lot better for Quicksilver than it was for Archangel, and the hair is very nicely handled, so it works very well. The figure’s paintwork is generally pretty well-done, though mine has taken its fair share of wear and tear. The lines are a bit fuzzy in some places, but overall the figure is pretty decent. The semi-metallic sheen on the dark grey parts is actually pretty cool, so there’s that. Quicksilver was packed with a stands shaped like a dust cloud and some sort of strange machine gun thing. Most intriguing about this is that he doesn’t actually have any armor, not even of the “Muntant” variety.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Quicksilver at a local toyshow, which my dad took me to, probably about 15 years ago. I remember that I was never able to find either of the Quicksilver figures when they were at retail. My dad had the blue and white version, but my collection was sadly Quicksilver-less. So, when I found this guy, I was pretty excited. I didn’t have a choice in deco, but I actually like this one, so it worked out. This figure’s still a pretty strong figure, even after almost 20 years. I’m certainly glad I found one!

That’s the original review from 2015, and here’s what I had to say when I revisited it two years later:

Oh man, this review was part of my rather lengthy countdown to Age of Ultron’s release. I was very excited for that movie. It’s funny to see my line about him “going places” seeing as the MCU Quicksilver won’t be going much of anywhere. You didn’t see that coming?

My actual review for this guy is pretty solid, I think. It’s worth nothing that, despite this being the fourth figure I reviewed on this body, I do believe it’s the first time I actually reviewed it. I kept referencing the Fallen figure’s review, but I never actually discussed the body there at all. Pro tip, guys: re-read the reviews you reference.

During The Find, I dug up this guy’s little dust cloud base thingy. It was re-used from the X-Men 2099 line’s Mean Streak figure. Quicksilver’s feet slide into the two slots, and he looks like he’s running. I guess. There are also wheels on the bottom, so you can push him around like he’s a parade float or something. Nifty.

I still like this guy a lot. One of these days, I’ll need to track down the other costume.

My first addendum notes it was a pretty good review the first time around, and I’m inclined to agree, even a whole decade removed.  Good for me, having good and consistent reviewing habits.  About a year after the addendum, I finally did get that other costume, so good on me for that one.  When I first revisited the figure, I’d found his dust cloud running base, a repurposed piece from fellow speedster Meanstreak (who I have reviewed in the time between these addendums), but was still missing his goofy arm-mounted machine gun accessory.  I found it!  Yaaaay! I don’t know that it was ever used with any other figures, but it’s an odd piece for Pietro, and also doesn’t really seem to work all that well with this figure’s mold.  I mean, he can hold it, but it’s awkward.  Also, in the time since my last visit to this figure, I’ve done a little bit of restorative work to his paint, so he’s not longer got that weird balding look.

#3944: Millennium Falcon CD-ROM Playset

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

MILLENNIUM FALCON CD-ROM PLAYSET with HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO INTERACTIVE)

“Explore 7 Worlds of the Star Wars galaxy! Battle TIE Fighters, search for the Death Star and destroy the Empire!”

Are you guys ready for things to get weird?  Okay, so, you *are* reading a review on a toy review site that’s nosing in on 4000 entries, so maybe weird’s a bit relative.  Are you ready to jump into some of the weird marketing strangeness of the ‘90s?  Yeah, of course you are!  In the midst of the success of the Power of the Force relaunch in the ‘90s, Kenner got bored with just doing basic toy stuff, and really started just trying a little bit of everything to see what stuck.  The back half of the decade saw household computers become a lot more common, and CD-ROM based media was seen as the thing to get into.  Toy Biz did a whole set of Marvel figures that included CD-ROMs with digital comics, but Kenner/Hasbro needed to do better than that, so they built a whole interactive platform.  Like, literally.  It was a platform that you put over your keyboard and it let the figures “interact” with your computer.  Welp, let’s check this thing out.

THE TOY ITSELF

The Millennium Falcon CD-ROM Playset was added to the Star Wars: Power of the Force II line in 1998 as a standalone piece.  It was released not by Kenner, but rather by the Hasbro Interactive division, because of its more computer-based side.  Included were the actual Falcon playset, an exclusive Han Solo figure, and a Windows 95-compatible CD-ROM with a “game” featuring 7 different locales that you can “guide” the playset through.  I, unfortunately, don’t have a Windows 95 PC these days, so I was unable to try out the game.  I know.  For shame.

The bulk of what’s included here is the playset.  It’s a sizable chunk of the innards of the Millennium Falcon, largely focusing on the main cockpit, but also including one of the gunner stations, so that you have some options.  It’s a pretty large set-up, which does actually give you some space for fitting in a bunch of the figures.  It’s notable for actually giving us a pretty nicely sized take on the cockpit, which were don’t usually see.  In fact, it’s a bit too large, which isn’t the direction you’re used to seeing.  It’s also somewhat comedic that, for as much space as there is included, they still don’t give you all four seats.  That said, there are the two seats for Han and Chewie, as well as two spots with pegs for additional figures.  In terms of sculpting, it’s all pretty rudimentary stuff.  Not a lot of smaller technical details, and it’s soft even by the standards of the other offerings around it.  It does at least have a neat visual presence.  The whole thing is designed to go over a standard sized (at the time, anyway) QWERTY keyboard, placing the weight on the outside sections.  There’s even a strap meant to hold it in place, lest the children get to vigorous in their playing.  The three seats, the two spots for the standing figures, and three different spots on the central console are all capable of pushing down, and through use of springs, they can correspond to the keys to “interact” with what’s on the computer screen in front of them, which will appear through the set’s widow.

In order to really tie it into the line, there’s an included Han Solo, who’s exclusive to here.  Nowhere else to get him.  Unless, of course, you just opted to get the very similar figure from the gunner stations line from the prior year who was likely still available and retailed for 1/4 of this item.  But this one’s got knees!  This figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation, which, yes, includes the knees.  On the flip side, though, he loses the waist swivel that was standard for the rest of the line.  This is Han with the headset and gloves, seen most prominently during the gunner station sequence when they’re being chased by the TIE Fighters.  It’s a sculpt that’s similar but not identical to the gunner station one.  It’s different for different’s sake.  It’s still on the old Han likeness, so it doesn’t look much like Ford, and he’s still a little bulked up.  Generally, though, it’s not a bad figure, just a bit redundant.  The paint’s more or less the same, which is to say it’s fairly basic and not terribly exciting.  He doesn’t get any accessories of his own, but by this point in the line, everyone had, like, 50 Han Solo blasters, so you can just give him one of those.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I did not own this set as a kid.  I did look at this set *sooooooooooooooooo* many times on the shelves at CompUSA, where it was the only toy that was ever carried.  My dad was in IT and had to make a lot of trips there for work, and there this set would sit.  I thought it was cool, but there was no way I was getting it for its retail price.  Instead, I got it many years later, when I had my own job and my own money, and no one could stop me.  It came in through All Time Toys a number of years back, and it was still very cheap at the time, so boom, I had one.  It’s goofy.  There’s no denying that.  But, it’s also kind of a cool display piece, even removed from the whole CD-ROM thing.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this item for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3943: Cyclops & Jean Grey

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

CYCLOPS & JEAN GREY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

As a direct continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, the designs in X-Men ’97 at its launch stick pretty close to the designs from the original, which for most of the characters also means sticking to their Jim Lee-designed looks from X-Men #1.  Before the show launched, we heard that the main cast would be getting some costume changes, which led to a lot of deliberation about which set of post-Lee costumes they’d land on, until the show itself threw things into reverse, reverting most of the cast to their ‘70s and early ‘80s era attire (the explanation in-show being that those are the costumes they had on-hand at the auxiliary base they have to launch their final run on Magneto from).  For me, it’s the best of both worlds, because I love both sets of designs, and it also means that the more frequently overlooked ‘70s designs get an excuse for some toy focus.  Also, there’s a new Cyclops and Jean Grey, and how can I ever complain about that?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cyclops and Jean Grey are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack.  They’re under the X-Men ’97 banner, and were released at the same time as a Storm and Wolverine two-pack with their matching costumes (Jubilee in her alternate attire, which was *not* a ‘70s/‘80s look also hit right around the same time in the main line).

CYCLOPS

This figure makes up kind of the central need for this whole set in the first place.  Though this look served as Scott’s main appearance for just over a decade, it often gets the short end of the stick on toy coverage.  In the case of Legends, the last release was back in 2017, as part of an exceptionally hard to get Toys R Us-exclusive two-pack.  Suffice to say, that figure’s gotten pretty pricey on the aftermarket, and also doesn’t quite fit with newer releases.  This one’s aim is to address all that, and also to maybe fix some issues with prior figures?  I’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As with most recent Cyclops figures, this one is built on the Vulcan body.  For this design in particular, it feels like a pretty natural choice for the character.  He gets a pair of new heads, new shins, and a new belt add-on piece.  The two heads follow the trend of recent Cyclops figures, with one calm, and one more intense.  As with prior instances, the more intense head has a slot in the visor for the attachment of an optic blast effects piece, which is always a fun touch.  When the X-Factor Cyclops was released, I was low-key kind of expecting those heads to get a straight re-use for this costume, despite the inaccuracies involved with such a choice.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the decision to go all-new for both sculpts, meaning that not only does he get the more distinctive visor shape of the Cockrum/Byrne days (complete with the etched in lines running at either side of the visor), he also gets the proper slants of the full mask under the visor; both prior Legends versions of this costume have gone with the later straight lines from the edges of the visor look, and while it’s a minor detail, I’m very glad it didn’t get overlooked here.  Likewise, his new boot pieces are a more accurate version of the boots Scott wore with this costume than the more generic buccaneer boots of earlier releases, making him even more accurate.  The only thing that isn’t quite as cool as Hasbro’s last version is the paint work, which, rather than replicating the shading of the comics for the blue sections, just goes for a flat blue.  They’re going for the animated look, which was a bit flatter, and I know the coloring on the last one was difficult to get consistent, so I understand it, and this one ultimately doesn’t look *bad*, but it’s the one area where he’s not *quite* as impressive.  Cyclops includes two pairs of hands (in fists, and an open/activating visor combo) and the large optic blast effect first used with X-Factor Cyclops.  It’s basic, but covers the important bases.

JEAN GREY

Jean’s return to her green miniskirt costume in the last pair of ’97 episodes is a return in more ways than one, since she’d also worn it during the original show’s adaptation of the “Dark Phoenix Saga.”  She’d also recently returned to it during the Krakoan-Era in the comics, which was how it got its last Legends figure.  That one wasn’t all that long ago, nor was it super hard to find, so this one was a *little* surprising, but given the two-pack angle, not incredibly so.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Going in, I was expecting a lot of re-has from the HoX release of this costume, but that’s really not the case.  The only piece actually shared between the two is the torso.  The arms and legs are newer, updated pieces that sport the pinless construction on the elbows and knees.  The feet are now proper closed boots with heels, instead of the re-purposed shoe-d feet from Peggy Carter, and the gloves are now cleaner slip-over pieces, rather than the wrinkled ones from the last one.  She’s also got two new heads, and a newly sculpted skirt piece, which is more dynamic than the last one, and therefore more practical for posing the legs.  In general, she’s a much easier figure to pose, and by extension more easy to balance.  Much less falling over with this one.  The two heads mimic Cyclops, with one calmer, and the other more intense.  They’re both clearly patterned on her animation model from the show, but can also work easily as a stand-in for her comics look.  Jean’s color work is a slightly different approach than the HoX version, which went for flatter shades.  This one goes a bit more off-kilter, making the yellows gold and the green a sort of duller shade.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but in hand it actually really works, and gives this design a more unique feel, while also calling forth her Phoenix design.  Jean is packed with two pairs of hands (in fists and open gesture), as well as two energy effects pieces in blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned many times how the late ‘70s X-Men is really what I consider my X-Men.  So, I’ve got this real attachment to that classic Cyclops look.  The Toy Biz version’s not worth mentioning, and much as I love the TRU Cyclops (because he’s a half-way decent Cyclops), he’s got some issues that hold him back.  When this look reappeared in ’97 I was very hopeful it would turn up in toy form again.  It took a while, but here it is.  I jumped on the pre-order for these as soon as possible, because I was not missing this Cyclops.  He’s sooooooooooo nice.  Very much the best version of this costume, and I love so much about him, but especially the actual accuracy to the costume’s intended design, which is always overlooked.  Jean I had very little actual expectations about.  I had the HoX release, and it was fine but not overly impressive.  I expected mostly re-hash here, and just saw her as a glorified accessory for the Cyclops figure.  While she doesn’t supplant Cyclops as the star for me, she’s a lot better than I expected, and an unquestionable improvement over the last release, and I’m very happy about that.

#3942: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Okay, what did I say in last week’s  intro?  Hang on….checking…ah, right, Arkham games were a big splash for DC in the ‘10s.  Very good.  Solid intro. Right, so we’re doing a bit more with that this week.  No need to get too far outside your comfort zones, though, because I’m sticking with Dick Grayson, aka Nightwing, as seen in 2015’s Arkham Knight.  Because that’s just how I roll.  Let’s check out Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released as part of the second series of DC Collectibles’ Batman: Arkham Knight tie-in line.  He was figure 05, making him numerically the first figure in the series.  While there were a number of different options for Nightwing’s City look in figure form, this was his only figure from Knight.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  By the time of this line’s release, DCC hadn’t gotten a bit more invested in trying out improved articulation schemes.  They were still using a lot more fragile plastic than they should have been, so he’s a bit tricky to pose without worry of breakage, but generally the design and implementation of the joints gives him a decent range.  This is honestly one of the better posing Arkham figures I’ve handled from the DCD/DCC run, so that’s actually quite nice.  Nightwing had an all-new sculpt, based on his updated game design.  City added a tactical flair to the comics designs, but Knight heavily re-worked everyone into far more teched-out and armored appearances.  Nightwing follows suit, and ends up with something that quite a departure from how he tends to look in the comics. The armor seems like it would bee pretty restricting to an acrobat, but I don’t hate the overall silhouette of the suit.  I’m not *crazy* about the mask, which goes from his usual domino-style piece to a whole cowl-style thing that connects to his suit.  Ultimately, though it did sort of grow on me.  I still don’t like it, but I can stand it.  The sculpt does a generally good job of capturing the model in plastic form.  The suit is very sharply defined, and the face feels a little less weird than the last one (though he still feels a little bit “dead”).  His paint work is generally not bad.  The colors match the game assets (still not crazy about how dark the blues are, but whatever), and none of the suit’s smaller details are missed.  My figure has a weird spot of pink on the hair, and I don’t know how well the attempt at stubble on his face works out.  Otherwise, though, he’s fine.  Nightwing is packed with his batons in both extended and collapsed form.  They’re a bit tricky to get into his hands, and it’s a shame there’s no storage for them on this release, but at least they’re present.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t play any of the Arkham games, but I did pretty closely follow a lot of goings on with Knight when it was released.  I was less than enthused with Nightwing’s design at the time, so I didn’t jump on the figure.  A decade removed, I’ve softened on it a bit.  I had the chance to get this one at the same time as the City version at the beginning of the year, and opted to snag him.  While I still have some issues with how the design works relative to the character it’s meant for, I do have to admit that this makes for a cool figure, and it’s definitely a superior offering to the City release.  I actually had a lot of fun messing with this guy.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3941: Dragon Man

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

DRAGON MAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Created by Professor Gilbert, once an instructor of Reed Richards’, and granted a sort of pseudo-life by the mad alchemist Diablo, the android Dragon Man is an unstoppable juggernaut of rage and fury! His great wings enable him to fly, his powerful tail strikes with the strength of a dozen bulldozers, and his fiery breath is as hot as a raging inferno! The only thing that distracts this simple man-brute from the rampage of destruction is his fascination with Sue Richards, the Invisible Woman!”

Dragon Man follows the wonderful early Marvel tradition of having a name that’s a simple mash-up of two things, which is attached to a character that is not actually those things…usually an android.  That’s certainly the case here.  He’s not actually a dragon or a man, but just an android.  His earliest appearances aren’t too involved, with him typically just acting as a tool for other antagonists, but over the years, he’s grown into his own fully-fledged character, eventually reforming, and ultimately serving in a mentor sort of role for Bentley-23, a clone of the Wizard.  He’s gotten a surprising number of figures for how infrequently he’s been used outside of the comics.  Today, I’m looking at the first of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dragon Man was released in Series 2 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  While the line generally served as a tie-in for the cartoon running at the same time, Dragon Man is one of two figures in the second set not to appear in the show.  A variation of this figure was also adapted to Toy Biz’s smaller-scale die cast line.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation.  It’s notably rather restricted for this scale, but a lot of that’s to do with how the design works.  The sculpt is decently handled.  It takes Kirby’s base design for the character, and makes it work within the context of the animated style if the rest of the line.  The build and texturing is a good match for the character, and he’s just got a nice, satisfying heft to him. He has a “fire breathing” action feature, activated by squeezing his legs.  It’s the same gimmick as the Marvel Super Heroes Venom’s tongue gimmick, which is goofy, but fun.  The color work on this one is mostly molded color, but there’s enough paint to sell the rest of it, and it’s all cleanly applied.  Dragon Man is packed with a fireball piece which is…well, I’m not sure exactly what it’s meant for.  It’s not really something he can hold, or anything, so it’s just sort of an extra bit that floats around.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Dragon Man’s not a character I’ve had a *ton* of interaction with, especially not as a kid, since he wasn’t featured in the cartoon or any of the comics I read.  I had the die cast figure, thanks to a boxed set I’d bought for other characters, but never the proper figure.  In fact, this wound up as the *last* Fantastic Four figure I needed to finish the set, so I finally made it a point to track him down in the last month.  He’s simple, but there’s a definite presence to the figure, and he fills out the shelf nicely.

If you want to see this figure in motion, I did a quick video with him over on the Figure in Question YouTube channel, so check that out here!

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0048: Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow

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

SNAKE EYES & STORM SHADOW

G.I. JOE VS COBRA (HASBRO)

Today’s Friday, but it’s not just *any* Friday!  No no!  Today’s October 17th, meaning it’s officially been 12 years of me running this humble little site.  And, to showcase that humbleness, I’m not even running this in front of a review, but instead an addendum, because that’s just how I roll these days.  I’m making it an ever so slightly more special addendum, though, with a revisit to one of my older year-ending reviews.  So, let’s look back at Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow!

Heyo! As all my faithful FiQ-fans are undoubtedly aware, today marks four years of reviews here at the site. In honor of this momentous day, I wanted to take a look at a pair of figures that are somewhat important in the grand scheme of my collection. I’ll be setting my sites on G.I. Joe, a franchise that I feel I don’t look at quite as often as I should around these parts. I mean, it is the *original* action figure, after all. The line definitely deserves some respect. Today, I’ll be looking at two of my favorite characters from the franchise (as well as two of the most popular characters in general), Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow were released in Series 1 of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe Vs Cobra line. This series served to bring brand-new 3 3/4-inch Joes back to mass retail after a one year absence and a few years of repaints.

SNAKE EYES

“SNAKE EYES learned his top combat skills in missions around the globe. A tragic helicopter mission took away his voice and scarred his face. That’s why he communicates with sign language and never removes his mask around others. He studied mystical martial arts with the Arashikage clan, which is also the family of master ninja STORM SHADOW, SNAKE EYES is an expert in all disciplines of martial arts and silent weapons. He can move silenty and without being seen. At one time, he and STORM SHADOW were sword brothers, linked by spirit and tradition. Now that STORM SHADOW is part of the evil COBRA organization, there is no escape from a final battle between two of the world’s greatest martial arts fighters.”

As perhaps the most popular Joe ever, it was no surprise that Snake Eyes turned up here in the first series. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall (he’d be taller without the wide stance) and he has 14 points of articulation. The first series of Vs were distinct in their construction. Hasbro abandoned the more typical O-ring construction, and went for a more solid construction. This results in figures that are a little sturdier than their predecessors, but slightly more limited in their posability at the hips. It wasn’t a perfect solution, and that’s why Hasbro ended up going back to the O-ring build in the next series. This Snake Eyes had a unique design, which made use of elements from all of his prior figures. I may be a little biased, but this has always been a favorite look of mine. His sculpt definitely shows its age….or an age. Given the sheer size of this guy’s muscles, he looks like he should be straight out of the ’90s, not the early ’00s. Guess Hasbro was still shaking off a little of the Extreme days from the ’90s. That being said, whoever worked on this sculpt was certainly having a good time of it. The details in the wrappings, the straps, and the pouches are all really well rendered, and indicate real attention being paid to this figure. The head’s my favorite part of the figure, as it’s probably the least affected by the stylization. I like that you can clearly see the face under the mask, but it’s not quite as ridiculous as the sculpted lips from Rise of Cobra. The paintwork on this figure is a bit more involved than most Snake Eyes figures tended to be. He’s actually molded in a very, very dark green, allowing his visor to be made straight black and still have contrast. The rest of the work is all in the accents, which all go pretty well. He’s got some color without it getting too garish. Snake Eyes was packed with a pair of swords, a backpack to hold them, a knife, and a sub-machine gun. After 15 years, all my figure has left are the swords.

STORM SHADOW

“STORM SHADOW grew up in the Arashikage clan of ninjas. During his training, his sword-brother was SNAKE EYES, the commando and martial arts master of the GI JOE team. The evil COBRA organization recruited Arashikage members. This corruption split the clan in two. After a COBRA agent killed STORM SHADOW’s uncle, he went undercover within COBRA to find the assassin. When the killer was revealed, STORM SHADOW joined the GI JOE team to get revenge. But now, STORM SHADOW is back with COBRA. Are all Arshikage ninjas evil? Or does COBRA COMMANDER hold some special power over STORM SHADOW? Whatever the reason, the anger is clear when he meets SNAKE EYES. The battle between the ninja masters will be legendary.”

Ah, the revolving door that is Storm Shadow’s affiliation. Yes, one of the notable things done by the relaunch was placing Storm Shadow back on the side of Cobra, which was explained in the Devil’s Due comics of the time as the result of brainwashing. The figure has the same height and articulation as Snake Eyes. Thanks to a slightly straighter stance, that actually makes him a little shorter. The sculpt for Storm Shadow as another all-new one, and while Snake Eyes would get another sculpt very quickly, Storm Shadow’s stuck around for several years. It’s not anywhere near as exaggerated as the Snake Eyes sculpt, so I guess it had a slightly longer shelf life. That being said, I can’t help but feel this sculpt is a little less inspired than that of Snake Eyes. The details seem a lot flatter, less organic, and just generally a little less developed. And then there’s that hood; what’s going on with the hood? It’s all stuck to the head, and generally un-hood-like. The Storm Shadow figure just prior to this one clearly showed that sculpting a hood was totally within Hasbro’s grasp, so this just looks…strange. It’s as if they didn’t decide until the last minute whether they wanted the hood or not, so he just has this amorphous could-be-a-hood-could-be-a-mask thing. Storm Shadow’s paint is alright. It’s pretty basic stuff, really. Red, white, gray, and black. It’s relatively clean, and makes for a good contrast with Snake Eyes. The white is all molded plastic, though, so he’s done some serious yellowing over the years. The figure was packed with two swords, a backpack, a knife, and a sub-machine gun. Apart from the backpack and knife, the pieces were actually unique to Storm Shadow, not shared with Snake Eyes. That’s actually pretty cool!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two are my very first small-scale G.I. Joes. I had several of the 12-inch ones, but the smaller line was on the back burner for my earlier collecting years. When the first series was first shown in ToyFare magazine, I was pretty excited, and I knew from the very beginning that Snake Eyes was the first one I wanted. Storm Shadow sort of came along for the ride. My dad bought these for me, as a reward for patiently waiting for flooring with him at Home Depot. They aren’t amazing figures. None of this era of Joes really were. But they were my first, and they were fun. I loved having them, and they got me into the whole franchise. Now I have over a hundred of these little guys. Lots of them are better technically than these two, but these two are still my favorites.

So, as noted within the review, this was the review that capped off my fourth year on the site, way back in 2017.  This was the very first review to be published on “thefigureinquestion.com” rather than “thefigureinquestion.wordpress.com” which was a really big deal for me at the time.  It’s crazy to think how long its been since the true free blog days of the site, but that’s the notable shift.  After a year of bouncing around, I had finally found myself settled back in at home, and was working a regular office job that would last me until the pandemic.  It marks probably one of the few periods of stability for me since starting the site, so I guess that was pretty nice.  

But what of the actual toys?  Well, I still pretty much stand by my assessments of the figures from the time.  I think they’re a bit dated and their own sort of thing, but still very much fun, and the kind of figures I really do dig.  When I reviewed them, I mentioned that I’d lost a lot of their parts.  As I mentioned in my B.A.T. review earlier this week, I had call to do some digging through all of my Joe parts from this era, and in the process, I actually wound up finding all of the pieces that went to these two, which is super cool.  Snake Eyes now has both swords, his sheaths, his uzi, and his dagger, while Storm Shadow gets…well, pretty much the same, but slightly different.  Yay!  Enjoy the new pictures of them in all their proper and complete glory!

#3940: Max Rebo & Doda Bodonawieedo

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

MAX REBO & DODA BODONAWIEEDO

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Thus far this month, I’ve dedicated my weekly Star Wars reviews to looking into members of the Max Rebo Band, so it can’t come as a terrible shock that I’m continuing that today, especially given the as to now lack of, you know, the guy what the band’s named after.  He’s kind of important, right?  Good ol’ Max?  Funky blue elephant looking guy? Guy who, per the Robot Chicken sketch, has a gig tonight? That’s the guy.  And he’s even here with a not-Greedo-playing-a-clarinet guy.  So, let’s wrap up the band and take a look at these two today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Max Rebo and Doda Bodonawieedo are the third and final of the three “Max Rebo Band Pairs” two-packs released as a Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: Power of the Force II offering in 1998.  Once more it pairs an original band member with one of the additional embers from the special edition.

MAX REBO

The centerpiece of this whole thing, Maximillian “Max” Rebo (or “Siiruulian Phantele” as was his original name in the pre-Disney days) was portrayed in the original film by puppeteer Simon Williamson, who was originally meant to play a different band member, who didn’t work out for production.  Rebo was of course offered up in the vintage Kenner line, which did its best to interpret him in figure form based on what little we see of him in the film.  As such, he was made a more humanoid character, with legs hiding behind his instrument, as opposed to only having legs, which he uses to play.  This was adapted into other sources, and became the standard for the pre-Disney era depictions of him, which included this figure.  The figure stands about 3 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  His articulation is generally pretty restricted, but he at least does get decent motion on his shoulders, which is good for posing with his instrument.  The sculpt on Max is really great.  It matches his design well, and works in plenty of texturing on his skin, giving him that proper “guy in a rubber suit” feel.  Rebo’s color work is fun, with his bright, vibrant blue implemented well, and the accenting adding a nice pop to the general look of the character.  Max is packed with his red ball organ, a rather extensive and elaborate instrument that he can be slotted into the middle of.  It’s by far the most impressive instrument included here, and honestly one of the line’s most impressive accessories in general.

DODA BODONAWIEEDO

The rather silly name “Doda Bodonawieedo” was first introduced to this Special Edition addition to the band with this very figure, which is pretty nifty, while also still being silly.  Doda is one of two Rodians added to the band in the Special Edition; the Greedo design was one of those distinctive ones, so it makes sense to give it a bit more play.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His movement is the standard stuff for the line, but like Barquin, he’s rather preposed, in order to hold his instrument properly.  The sculpt’s a nice one, capturing the Rodian head design really well, as well as working well with his outfit and posing.  Again, a lot of similarities to Barquin in this area, which I can certainly dig.  His coloring keeps the usual green for the Rodians, contrasting it with reds and oranges, which helps him stand out pretty nicely from the rest of the band.  Doda is packed with his own instrument, which apparently is just a “horn” with no fancy space name or anything. It does gets some pretty neat paint work, so that’s pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I found the other members of the band, the only one *not* present in the collection was Max himself, which was sort of humorous, but also quite annoying.  I’ve been keeping tabs on loose Max Rebos ever since, but wasn’t having much luck.  I ultimately found the most economical choice was just buying the pair sealed, so I wound up with a spare Doda.  Honestly, it was pretty well worth it, because Max is so very, very cool on his own, and the band is just that much cooler with him included.  This is a set I’m really happy to have finally gotten to complete.