#0298: Deathlok

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

DEATHLOK

AVENGERS INFINITE

Deathlock

Ah, Deathlok. There’s a character I’m sure no one was expecting to see turn up as a recurring character on a prime-time show on ABC. I know some people were a bit disappointed by how he turned out in the show, but I enjoyed J August Richards’s performance as the character. As an added plus, it’s brought the character some more notoriety, which has translated to an action figure. And, umm, well, I like action figures…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DeathlockWilsonDeathlok is part of the third series of Hasbro’s Avengers Infinite line, which serves as the replacement for Hasbro’s previous Marvel Universe line. He stands about 4 inches tall and features 26 points of articulation. He’s based on the classic Deathlok look, which was sported by the first two Deathloks. It’s built using one of the larger male bucks as a base, with a metal right arm and metal legs. It’s possible these pieces were used elsewhere, but I don’t know off-hand. The head is definitely new, and it’s a pretty great representation of everyone’s favorite half killing machine/half pacifist government controlled warrior. It’s perhaps a bit on the smooth side, but I’m willing to be slightly more forgiving at this scale. Deathlok also features sculpted add-ons for his belt (with holster) and his back pack, both of which do a pretty good job interpreting the design. The back pack is easily removable, but the belt and holster would take some creative thinking to remove. Deathlok is mostly molded in the appropriate colors. The torso and left arm are red plastic, the legs and right arm are silver, and the head is a brownish-orange. The rest is paint, and it all looks pretty good. All of the line work is sharp and clean, and there’s no real occurrence of bleed over or slop. Deathlok includes two guns: one smaller, one larger. As far as I can tell, both are new pieces. They both fit nicely in Deathlok’s hands, and the smaller gun can also be placed in his belt holster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Deathlok from my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix, along with a few other figures from the Avengers Infinite line. I had planned on getting a few of the figures in the series when they were initially announced, but they had actually slipped my mind. So, I was actually caught a bit by surprise. Deathlok is a character I might have passed over in previous years (I only have the Marvel Legends version because he included a piece of Galactus), but the character’s recent turn on Agents of SHIELD has sparked my interest enough to pick up this guy. He’s a pretty decent figure, and one I’m sure fans of the character will be happy with.

#0297: Groot, Rocket Raccoon & Nova Corps Officer

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

GROOT, ROCKET RACCOON & NOVA CORPS OFFICER

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

GrootRocket&Nova1

Guardians of the Galaxy was a truly awesome movie. I haven’t had a chance to mention that here, so there it is. If you haven’t seen Guardians do yourself a favor and do so as soon as possible. It’s one of those rare films that truly has something for everyone. Captain America may still be my favorite movie of the year, but Guardians is the most fun.

Hasbro’s offering the film’s cast in a few different scales. I’ve already taken a look at the 6 inch scale figures, which offer the most detailed takes on the characters. Sadly, that line is just the main Guardians. If you want to get a larger selection, you need to turn to the 2 ½ inch line. I made my first venture into the line with Groot, Rocket, and a Nova Corps Officer. Let’s see how they turned out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This trio was released as part of the first, and so far only, series of 2 ½ inch figures. Most of the sets are two packs, but this one is a three-pack due to Rocket’s smaller stature.

GROOT

GrootRocket&NovaWilson1He is Groot. Oh boy is he. Groot is the tallest of the set, at almost 3 inches in height. He also sports 5 points of articulation, which is basic, though not surprising at this scale. There are actually two Groots in this line, with the difference being paint. I think this one’s the less “default” one, for reasons I’ll get to shortly. The sculpt of the figure is pretty good. It’s certainly not as detailed as the larger Marvel Legends Groot, but it does an admirable job with the scale. Groot’s design, being a bit more alien probably lends itself a bit more to the smaller scale. The paint work on Groot is my only real issue with the figure. For the most part, there isn’t much paint. He’s molded in the appropriate brown, with some paint for his eyes. My issue is the thing that makes him a less than standard Groot. For some reason, they’ve thrown some green paint on his right arm, the upper right section of his torso, and the right half of his face. I think it’s meant to represent when he gets a bit more plant-like at certain pints of the movie, but it ends up just looking like lots of green paint.

ROCKET RACCOON

GrootRocket&NovaWilson2Rocket’s kind of an accessory to Groot, I think. He’s the shortest figure (though not quite as short as he should be) at a little over 2 inches and he features no articulation.  Like Groot, there are actually two versions of Rocket in the line. However, the two Rocket figures provide two unique sculpts. This Rocket is the “relaxed” Rocket sculpt. He’s in a neutral standing position, and he features no weapon. He does have an open hand, so I guess he could hold one if you so desired. His sculpt is pretty good for a solid chunk of plastic. He’s got a fair bit of character too him, and he looks overall accurate to the source material. The paint work on Rocket is more intricate than that of Groot. They’ve also avoided taking any strange liberties with the paint, so that’s good, I suppose.

NOVA CORPS OFFICER

GrootRocket&NovaWilson3The army builder of the set is the Nova Corps Officer here. He’s also the first of the figures I’ve looked at so far to be unique to the smaller scale line, and hence, the reason I picked up the set. He’s average height at roughly 2 ½ inches and he features 5 points f articulation. His waist is a separate piece from his torso, but there’s no movement there. NCO (his full name’s hard to type) features an all new sculpt, which is actually quite detailed for the scale. The small area of face that’s visible seems a bit blank, but aside from that, he’s got some amazing sculpted work. NCO is molded in a basic blue, with paint for all the other colors. The torso has some nice work, and the arms aren’t too bad. Sadly, the head has some pretty obvious bleed over around the exposed area of skin, which is a bit distracting. Still, given the scale, it’s forgivable. One thing that is less forgivable is the total lack of any sort of paint on the legs. He clearly has sculpted parts meant to be painted a different color, but they’ve just been left the basic blue.

I should point out that this set included a giant missile launcher (hey, it’s Hasbro’s trademark. They can’t leave it out.) and an accessory-tree of random parts. I’m pretty sure these are all meant to go with NCO, but I can’t tell for sure. Heck, I can’t even totally identify what some of them are…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While walking through Toys R Us on my birthday, I came across a rather large Guardians display, and the 2 ½ inch figures were among them. I did NOT buy this set there, because TRU is charging a full $4 more per set than everyone else. Instead, I went to the Target across the street. They only had this one set, but it was actually the one I wanted the most anyway. I like Rocket and Groot, and I definitely wanted a Nova guy, who is so far only available in this line (the minimate is out sometime next month). This set was definitely a trial set for the line, and I must say I’m impressed. For $6 you get three pretty nifty figures in a fun little scale. If you’re willing to splurge a bit, you can even get a few of the vehicles, which seem to be the line’s main purpose.

GrootRocket&Nova2

#0296: Lava Strike Force

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with ,

LAVA STRIKE FORCE

WEAPONEERS OF MONKAA

LavaStrikeForce1

I love Weaponeers of Monkaa. There, I got that out of the way. I’ve said that in pretty much every review I’ve done of the line so far, I’ll continue to say it in all future reviews. Hopefully, it’ll remain true. There’s only so many ways to say it, so I figured I’d just cut to the chase this time. Spy Monkey Creations, aka the people responsible for this line that I love, just put out their fifth assortment of figures. Being that I love the line, I picked up all of the figures, aside from the re-release of the Magma Gohlem. I’ve looked at the two star attractions of this assortment, Fyreball and Ehmber, now I’ll look at the one who allegedly started the theme that led to their creation, Lava Strike Force.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LavaStrikeWilsonThe Lava Strike Force was released as part of the fifth assortment of Weaponeers of Monkaa, which is also titled Lava Strike Force. According to Spy Monkey, this figure was supposed to be a limited release figure, done to be released with a batch of extra Magma Gohlems they found. However, they decided to bump it up to a full release day by adding Fyreball and Ehmber, and in honor of the originating figure, the whole set has been branded “Lava Strike Force.” Like every other figure in the line, Lava Strike Force is made from the same basic set of pieces. Their totally modular, so you can configure him just about any way you’d like, which adds an extra level of fun to the figures. In the default set-up, Lava Strike Force is 4 inches tall and features 17 points of articulation. The pieces maintain the same sleek look, and they’re very well designed and sculpted. The default head is the Gohlem head, though I don’t think Lava Strike Force is meant to be one of the Gohlems. It’s a nice, basic robot-looking head, so it’s got a fair bit of versatility. Lava Strike Force is molded in all black, with orange detail lines outlining many of the sculpted elements, plus some white details on the heads. Lava Strike Force includes an assortment of weapons painted to match, including two hilts, two straight blades, two bent blades, two serrated blades, two blasters and two sickles, as well as all of the possible heads, to allow for the alternate looks.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like Ehmber and Fyreball, I picked up Lava Strike Force as soon as Spy Monkey put the figure up for sale. Apparently I was one of the lucky ones, as I understand that this particular figure sold out rather quickly. It’s a figure that’s up to par with the rest of the Weaponeers, though I don’t know that I would have gone searching for it had I missed out. It’s not much different from the previously released Flaw figure, plus you can essentially build it out of parts from Fyreball and Ehmber. That being said, it’s still a WoM figure, so it’s still super cool!

WeaponeersGroup

The Figure in Question Shop

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Action Figures For the Questioning, General

In case you were unaware, toy collecting can be a somewhat pricey hobby to take up.  Additionally, starting up a review site for those toys is not a deterrent to making more purchases.  If anything, it just provides an additional excuse to buy more stuff.  “I have to buy this one, it’ll make for a great review!”

What am I getting at here?  Well, I’m a college student who doesn’t have loads and loads of money around.  So, if I intend to keep this crazy collecting thing up, I’m gonna need to find some way to get a little extra financing!

So, The Figure in Question now has official FiQ swag!  Well, there’s t-shirts, anyway.  Over at redbubble.com I’ve set up a Figure in Question shop where my loyal readers (and anyone else who stumbles upon it) can pick up their favorite Action Figures For the Questioning design on their very own t-shirt, tote bag, sticker, poster, or heck, even a throw pillow!

The first three designs up for sale are three of my favorites: The Accessories, The Build-A-Figure, and The Exclusive.  If I can keep up with it, more designs should go up on roughly a monthly basis, so if your favorite isn’t in the first batch don’t worry!

So, please check out the store, and if you’re a fan of the site, please consider making a purchase or two.  I will be eternally grateful!  You can visit the Shop by going here or by clicking on the “Shop” tab at the top of the page.

Okay, that’s the end of the shameless plug of the merchandise.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled program…

#0295: Ehmber

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with ,

EHMBER

WEAPONEERS OF MONKAA

Ehmber1

Weaponeers of Monkaa is one of those rare finds in the modern age. It’s a toyline created solely to be fun. It’s strange to think that’s a rarity, being that they’re TOYS, but everything’s become so marketed nowadays. That makes something like Weaponeers so refreshing to me. Spy Monkey Creations, who make the line, just put out a new assortment of figures, under the heading “Lava Strike Force.” Last time, I looked at Fyreball and today I’m looking at Ehmber.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

EhmberWilsonEhmber is part of the fifth assortment of Weapneers of Monkaa, released just last month. Like Fyreball, Ehmber appears to be an all new character to the series. Also like Fyreball, Ehmber shares some design elements with a previous figure. This time it’s Palidar, Brutok’s more heroic equivalent. As is standard for the line, Ehmber is built from the usual assortment of pieces. In his default layout, Ehmber is about 4 inches tall and features 17 points of articulation. The sculpt is exactly the same as every other figure in the line. That’s not a bad thing, mind you. The pieces are the same modular pieces we’ve seen before, and they’re an impressive set of sculpts. They easily can lock into dozens of possible configurations, and allow for nice, sleek looking figures. Ehmber’s default head is the Palidar head. I’ll be honest, it’s probably my least favorite of the bunch, but it’s certainly not a bad one. Ehmber’s paint is fairly similar to Fyreball’s. Mostly, it’s just reversed, although Fyreball did have a few extra details Ehmber seems to be lacking. It doesn’t hurt the figure at all, though. Ehmber is armed with two hilts, two straight blades, two bent blades, two serrated blades, two blasters and two sickles, all molded in translucent orange, plus three extra heads to allow for alternate looks.

Ehmber3 Ehmber2

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Ehmber form Spy Monkey’s store the first day this set was put up for sale, as I have with most of the Weaponeers releases. Like I said in my Fyreball review, I’m not quite as much of a fan of the black and orange color scheme as I was f a few of the earlier color schemes, but this is still a solid set. Ehmber certainly doesn’t disappoint!

Ehmber4

Guest Review #0010: Wheatley and Turret

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

WHEATLEY AND TURRET

PORTAL 2

Wheatley1 Turret

HA! I knew someone was alive in there! Welcome back, everybody, to the final review of action figures in the Portal 2 series. It is a sad day, BUT also a great one! Today, I will be reviewing the small ones in the bunch, the Aperture Science Turret™ and the cuddly Wheatley (Pre-Machiavellian Transformation)!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

TURRET

TerretWilsonUp first is the Aperture Science Turret™ from NECA. These figure reviews have been released in order in which I received them, but since I got Wheatley the day of this review’s inception, Big Brother gave me the OK to do a review of both of them together. And since I got the Turret first (Or at the Same Time as Chell, because they were a joined birthday gift from Big Brother) he is up to be reviewed first!

Like I said before, this Turret is from the great minds at NECA! Many different incarnations of the Turret from Portal 2 have been made by other manufacturers, but this one is the cheapest, but one of the hardest to get. The Turrets were released in two waves (Open Turrets and Closed Turrets) with twelve different styles (The same styles, but, again, OPEN AND CLOSED). Here’s the catch though. You couldn’t buy what you wanted! You could buy either from wave one (closed) or wave Two (open), but they were bought at random for $6. This process of random figure buying is known as blind-boxing. This particular Turret is the plain, white, closed Turret from the 1st Wave of the Blind Box Turrets. This figure has NO articulation, but it doesn’t need any as, in the game, the Turrets can’t move on their own (except for their eyes, but that would be a very unnecessary and difficult articulation point). The paint job is perfect EXCEPT for the eye which has a little red run-off. Overall, for $6, this is a really great addition to my Portal 2 action figures and is really cool to pose and do stuff with.

WHEATLEY

WheatleyWilsonThis handsome son-of-a-gun is actually a KEYCHAIN/FLASHLIGHT. Yep. But he is in scale. So I bought him. DONE. In all seriousness, this is a VERY well-crafted figure. So here it goes.

Wheatley is an “intelligence” core that tries to help Chell escape from Aperture Science Laboratories in the video game Portal 2.  (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!) He later becomes the game’s second main antagonist and takes control of the facility only to be cast out into space. (SPOILERS OVER!!!) This figure was manufactured by ThinkGeek and retails for $8-10, but I snagged him for $6. Something about the number 6 is very relevant in Portal 2 Action FIgures….

This figure has an astounding 2 POINTS OF ARTICULATION and a blue LED Light for an eye. This figure also, like I said, acts as a keychain and a flashlight. Unlike the other characters in the Portal 2 series with LED Lights, Wheatley’s (because it is a flashlight) is VERY bright, as you can see below. The paint job is great and I can’t notice any blemishes. I really like this figure as a figure, but I wish there was an easier way to remove the keychain part.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I received these figures at different times. I got the Turret with Chell as a birthday gift from Big Bro and Wheatley off of ThinkGeek. I’ve wanted figures of both these characters for a long time and it is great to finally have them in my hands, EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE A GOSH DARN KEYCHAIN!!!

Customer Service is key, aka Why I won’t be buying from Store Horsemen again

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General and tagged with , ,

HeadPack1Today’s post is actually my third revision of what I planned to post today. Initially, I had planned for today, and the next few days to be reviews of Adam Power, the Power Soldier, the Elite Power Soldier, and the Variant Head Pack from the Power Lords re-launch. Some events transpired that have led me to decide that reviewing said figures is not in the best interests of me, the figures, or the makers of the figures.  In preparation for the usual review, I took some pictures which now serve no real purpose, so enjoy them here.  If you’d like to read a review of these figures, may I suggest these reviews from the fine folks over at ItsAllTrue.net. They are a reputable site, and one of my personal favorites. While I still don’t feel it’s a good idea for me to write reviews of these figures, I don’t feel my initial post about why I won’t be reviewing them is still appropriate. It was written before the situation was fully solved, and it was rather angry. So, here are my revised remarks about the ordeal.

AdamPower2As an avid action figure fan, I try to support the little guys. I’ve backed several action figure related kickstarters in the last year, and one of my favorite lines is Spy Monkey’s Weaponeers of Monkaa. I like the idea of new people getting into the toy industry and doing new and unique things. The Four Horsemen were some of the pioneers of small online productions, so I figured I should give them a try. If you’ve read my previous Power Lords reviews, you’ll note that I was quite a fan of the figures. That fact more or less remains true. The figures are still high-quality. My issue lies with the distribution.

The figures are all sold through an online store. This isn’t new or ground breaking in this day and age. Most of my toy purchases are online. It makes life a lot easier. You place an order, get a receipt, you get notified the stuff ships, and you can usually track it all along the way. If anything goes wrong, there’s usually a nice handy customer service section of the website to get things all sorted out. Not on StoreHorsemen.

ElitePowerSoldier2See, on StoreHorsemen, you place the order and you get an e-mail receipt. On the two orders I placed, this was then followed by an extended waiting period, where I received no notifications of any kind. Eventually, just as I was about to contact them, both times, a box would randomly arrive at my doorstep. The first time around, there was no issue. The box was there, and everything was inside. It was a little nerve-wracking, but everything worked out.  I liked the figures I got, so I placed another order. Once again, no contact was made to tell me when the items shipped, but I had gone through that before, so no worries right? The box arrived, I opened it up and… something was missing.

AdamPower3Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve had this happen with an online order. It’s not uncommon for someone to leave something out of the box. So, I did what I always do in this situation: I e-mailed them. They have an “email us” link at the top of the page, so I used that and sent a polite e-mail explaining the situation. Then I waited. After a week, I began to get worried again. A little searching around the web reveals that there are two e-mail addresses and the one I wrote to is for fan comments, not Customer Service. Okay, it’s a bit odd that they would put the fan comment e-mail on the top of the store page instead of the CS one, but at least I know now, right? So, I send an e-mail to the second address, once again politely asking for an update. Another week goes by. So, I post to one of the forums I frequent, asking if anyone knows of a better way to contact them. I get one response from someone who hasn’t received an entire order from them and hasn’t been able to get a hold of them for six weeks.

I send yet another e-mail, this time to both addresses, with a more forceful tone. Finally, after three weeks and a few days of waiting, I got a response. What it boils down to is that the item apparently went out of stock before my order was placed, so they had to cancel that one item. They said they had never actually charged me for it, and, in their defense, a quick glance at my bank account confirmed this for me.

So, aside from me missing out on a figure I wanted, everything is good, I suppose. But I still have a lingering issue. I was left hanging for three weeks thinking I was missing something I was owed. Yes, if I’d looked at my bank account I’d have seen the charge was less than I thought. That’s on me. Still, all it would have taken would be a single e-mail from them explaining the issue to me. That’s what 99% of online stores would do in this situation. It would have taken them a few short minutes and it would have saved me three weeks of worrying. These guys have built a reputation for being “fan-friendly.” They pioneered online action figure sales and smaller toy companies with niche lines. They have a sizeable fan base who think they can do no wrong. And yet, they can’t reply to a single e-mail within a month’s time? If you plan on running a business, you have to actually run it.

I don’t plan on buying anything else from them. This whole ordeal has tarnished the toys for me, and that’s just about one of the worst things that a company can do. Anyway, I doubt if this will have much effect. People will still buy from them. They’ll continue to do the same things. And my negative opinion will shortly be drowned out by hundreds of glowing reviews of their products. Life goes on…

HeadPack2

#0294: Fyreball

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with ,

FYREBALL

WEAPONEERS OF MONKAA

Fyreball1

There’s a rare few toylines of which consider myself a “completist.” NECA’s Aliens line springs to mind, but that one’s mostly due to the subject matter being one of my favorite movies of all time. Eventually, I’d like to have a complete collection of Kenner’s DC Super Powers, but that’s probably a ways off. Once again, that’s the subject matter and a bit of nostalgia on my part. Weaponeers of Monkaa is another line that has pulled me in, but it’s done it solely by being a really cool set of toys, plain and simple. Spy Monkey Creations, who make the line, just released their fifth assortment of figures to their online site last month. There were three new figures and a re-release of the Magma Gohlem from the first series. I picked up the three new releases. I’ll be taking a look at the first of those, Fyreball, today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FyreballWilsonFyreball was part of the fifth assortment of Weapneers of Monkaa, entitled “Lava Strike Force.” Fyreball seems to be meant to be a new character to the line, though he does seem to share a fair bit of design elements with previous character Brutok. Fyreball is part of the Lava Strike Force affiliation, which is new to the line, introduced with this series. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews of the line, every figure is made from the same basic assortment of pieces, in slightly varied configurations. The pieces are also completely modular, so you can further customize them however you’d like. In his default set-up, Fyreball is about 4 inches in height and features 17 points of articulation. If you’ve read a previous review of a WoM figure on this site, you’ve read my take on the body. The pieces are all sculpted really well, and work in a myriad of different configurations. When built into the basic set up, it offers a nice, sleek figure design. Fyreball’s default head is the Brutok head, which might just be my favorite of the five possible heads. The paint on the Weaponeers gets better with every release, and Fyreball is no exception. He’s built from a combination of translucent orange and black pieces, with some black and orange detailing on each piece to bridge the differences. Everything looks cleanly applied, with no bleed over or slop to speak of. Fyreball is fairly well accessorized, with two hilts, two straight blades, two bent blades, two serrated blades, two blasters and two sickles, plus three extra heads to allow for alternate looks.

Fyreball4 Fyreball3 Fyreball2

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Fyreball from Spy Monkey’s store on the first day it was available, as I have with the last few Weapneers releases. Personally, I’m not as much of a fan of the black and orange color scheme as I was of the green from the last set, but Fyreball is still a really solid addition to the line.

Fyreball5

#0293: Wonder Woman

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

WONDER WOMAN

JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR (DC COLLECTIBLES)

WonderWomanWar

Justice League: War is far from one of the greatest pieces of animation DC has produced. That being said, it’s also far from the worst (I’m looking at you Flashpoint Paradox…), and I felt it even managed to improve upon the source material a fair bit. The animation proved to be nice a smooth and the design work wasn’t too bad. If they can manage to get some slightly better stories, then perhaps they might get back to where they used to be in animation. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I felt that one of the better aspects of the movie was its handling of Wonder Woman. She’s a character that DC seems to have a lot of trouble getting. War provided a strong and likeable version of the character, which shows that maybe they might have a chance of getting the character the recognition she deserves some day. When I decided to pick up a few of the figures from DC Collectibles’ tie-in toyline for the movie, I knew I wanted Green Lantern right off the bat, but the film’s take on WW convinced me I should get her too. Let’s find out if that was a good move!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

WonderWomanWarWilsonWonder Woman is part of the first series of Justice League: War by DC Collectibles. She’s based on the character’s design from the movie of the same name. The design draws some interpretation from Wonder Woman’s current costume in the comics, but they’ve taken more liberties on her than they did on Green Lantern. The costume features higher sitting boots, pseudo-sleeves, and actual covering on the collar area. The figure stands about 6 ½ inches tall and features 13 points of articulation. They’ve removed the bicep swivels that were present on GL, which limits the movement, but does look better from an aesthetic standpoint. Wonder Woman’s sculpt is completely unique to her. This is most likely due to her being the only female in the line. Still, I’d be curious to see if DCC would re-use the body for any later females, given her Amazonian stature. The sculpt is pretty good, and does a fair job of translating the movie’s design into three dimensions. The figure is about two-thirds legs, which seems a bit more stylized than she was in the movie. She almost looks as if her legs and the rest of her go to two different figures. Still, she’s better than a lot of female figures, and a lot of it can be written off as keeping with the movie’s style. WonderWomanWar2The paint on Wonder Woman is pretty good. Her paint job is a bit more intricate than GL, so there’s a bit more room for error. She suffers from some fuzzy lines on the edges of her boots and sleeves, but they aren’t too noticeable, and they’re certainly better than Hal. Her eyes have been given a red-ish hue, which almost makes it look like she’s been crying. Not sure what they were going for there, but it doesn’t seem to have worked. Also, her skin tone seems to be a bit light compared to what she had in the movie, which is a shame, because it added some nice diversity to the group. I suspect this was done so that they could use the same skin-tone plastic on all of the figures. Wonder Woman includes her lasso of truth, which is glued to her waist, and a sword, which seems oddly short.

 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Wonder Woman and GL from Amazon a few weeks ago. My review probably seems a little down on the figure, but in actuality I quite like her, perhaps even more than Green Lantern. I’m a huge Green Lantern fan, so that’s saying something. Justice League: War presented perhaps one of my favorite Wonder Woman designs, so getting a figure of it is a plus. This figure has a few issues, but as a whole, I think it turned out pretty well. If you’re a Wonder Woman fan, I’d certainly recommend it. Heck, I’m only a moderate Wonder Woman fan and I think it’s pretty darn cool!

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#0292: Green Lantern

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

GREEN LANTERN

JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR (DC COLLECTIBLES)

GreenLanternWar

Every so often, I have to go back to the basics. In my case, the basics tend to be either DC or Marvel figures. Bonus points if they’re animation related!

As a kid, most of my DC action figures were based on the cartoons of the time, Batman: The Animated Series being chief among them. DC Collectibles (formerly DC Direct) has recently announced that they plan to do a rather extensive line of figures based on B:TAS, which excites me greatly. I’ve been away from DCD/DCC collecting for a while, so I thought I’d see what to expect from the new line by taking a look at a few figures from their line done to tie in with the recent Justice League: War animated feature. Being me, I started with Green Lantern. Just go with it!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GreenLanternWarWilsonGreen Lantern was released in the first series of DC Collectible’s Justice League: War line. He’s based on the character’s design in the film of the same name, which is in turn inspired by the character’s current look in the comics. The most distinctive piece of the GL figure is the streamlined nature of the design. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and features 13 points of articulation. The articulation is fine overall, but he could really use some ankle and wrist articulation, the lack of which is becoming a disturbing trend in the action figure industry. Still, the lack of these points isn’t quite as detrimental here as it was on, say, Mattel’s recent General Zod. He’s certainly less stiff looking. A lot of this has to do with the sculpt, which, while it isn’t perfect, does have a decent fluidity to it. The sculpt, aside from a new head, is shared with series-mate Flash. It’s a pretty good starting point. The physique looks to be accurate to the design from the movie, and is basic enough to work for a few different characters. The head is a pretty great likeness to GL’s design in the movie, and has a nice amount of character. The figure mostly relies on paint to depict his costume details. It’s mostly straight forward work, and it’s decent but not perfect. He’s got quite a few fuzzy lines, especially on the edge of his neck. The painted on ring is also a bit sloppy, almost like it hasn’t been completely painted. Piece by piece, GL is sloppy, but he actually looks pretty darn good as a whole. The figure includes no accessories, which seems like a missed opportunity.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure is something of an experimental purchase for me. I had a slight interest in it when it was announced, mostly due to the whole Green Lantern thing. Once the first series was released, I just kind of forgot about it and moved on. A few weeks ago, I was house sitting for a friend. He had told me I was welcome to watch any of the movies on his shelf, and I noticed he had a pretty much complete set of the DC Animated Movies. I’d fallen a bit behind on them, so I decided to catch up. JL: War wasn’t my favorite movie ever, but it was entertaining enough for me to decide to go ahead and pick up a few of the figures. I’m glad I did. Even if GL isn’t perfect, he’s a nice enough figure that I’m happy to add him to my collection.