#3952: Ronto with Jawa

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

RONTO with JAWA

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Given it was the line running when the movies were released, Kenner’s Power of the Force II makes up most of the admittedly pretty small selection of toys based on the Star Wars Special Editions.  Mostly, the focus was on the new CGI creations, with a specific focus on the new creatures the movies had to offer.  Some of the creatures were new just replacing pre-existing models, and could serve as updates to older figures in a pinch, but there were also completely new ones, which includes today’s focus, the Ronto!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Ronto was released in 1997 as a later addition to the first year of Star Wars: Power of the Force II’s Creature sets.  As with the other two sets from that year, the set’s based on A New Hope’s Special Edition, pairing off one of the new CGI creations with a standard figure, in this case a Jawa.

The Ronto was, as noted in the intro, completely crafted for the Special Editions, added to the background of the Mos Eisely Spaceport scene.  It was modeled on one of ILM’s Brachiosaurus models from Jurassic Park, and was nicknamed “Bronto” during production.  George Lucas, in one of his most Lucas-y moments, just dropped the “B” off the name for the official name.  The figure stands about 9 inches tall and has moving legs.  The neck joint is connected to the rear leg, so you can make it “move” that way.  You can also move the ears and horns, for a little bit of variety.  The sculpt is…well, it’s a dinosaur with a different head, which is appropriate to the source material, so good for them.  The sculpt has a nice selection of texturing on the skin, which gives it a realistic vibe.  The color work on the figure has a fair bit of accenting, which helps to showcase the strengths of the sculpt.

Included with the Ronto is a Jawa.  This was the third of four Jawas released in this line.  He’s very similar to the carded Jawas from the main line, with the single hip joint and the light piping.  Scaling wise, he’s right between the two of them, and his sculpt also sort of feels like an averaging of the two sculpts.  It’s a little lighter on the texturing than those two, but still gets a lot of respectable work, especially given the smaller scale of the figure.  The coloring of the figure is a little more on the washed out side, landing closest to the smaller of the two standard Jawas.  It also means we get two of each shade, if you’ve got all four, which is cool.  The Jawa is packed with a small blaster pistol, which was missing from mine, a fact I can definitively confirm because I opened it just prior to taking the pictures for this review.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t buy this set new, because I honestly don’t remember it existing when it was new. It wasn’t until going back to look more into the line as an adult that it even really came across my radar.  I ended up snagging it during a Star Wars Day sale at Cosmic Comix about 5 years or so back.  As you may have figured out from the main body of the review, it’s been sitting on the shelf unopened for all of that time, as I only just opened it the night before writing this review.  The Ronto’s a cool, big creature thing, which is nifty, and the Jawa is different, but still a very fun additional Jawa for the line-up.

#3951: Spider-Man, Green Goblin, The Lizard, & Electro

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SPIDER-MAN, GREEN GOBLIN, THE LIZARD, & ELECTRO

WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES (MEGO)

After a few sort of false starts in the ‘00s and early ‘10s, Mego seems to have well and truly made a return in recent years.  Perhaps their biggest boon for the main line was successfully landing the DC license, which has become a backbone of their offerings.  Of course, back in the ‘70s, Mego was home to both DC *and* Marvel, so you gotta have both for the full success, right?  Marvel being a much bigger license than it used to be, and also being tied-up in Hasbro’s master license means that it’s not as simple a score.  However, Mego was able to partner with Disney Parks, allowing for at least a little bit of Marvel to go with all that DC.  Yay!  Anyway, the first set was Spider-Man themed, and I’m looking at it today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Lizard, and Electro were the first offering in the Marvel off-shoot of World’s Greatest Super Heroes line.  They went up for order through Disney’s online store at the end of last year in limited quantities, and have been showing up at the parks locations intermittently since then.  The set includes the four figures, each with their own replica box, as well as a coin, based on the Spider-Man Medallion coins offered in Marvel house-ads in the ‘70s.

SPIDER-MAN

Star of the show and one of the most distinctive of the original Megos, it’s Spider-Man.  Spidey was one of the few figures to get re-released during the previous attempt at relaunching Marvel Megos under Diamond, so we’ve gotten the replica with the box once before.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  He moves over to the updated bandless body that the main line’s been using for a while now, meaning he’s less prone to breakage and also more posable.  He’s still using (a replica of) his original head sculpt, which remains a very strong take on the character.  As with prior versions of the character, his outfit is a single, silkscreened jumpsuit.  The DST version went with the earlier circle-logo version of the costume, but this release goes for the more standard issue, from the wider run of the line.  The finish on the costume is also closer to the original, rather than the shinier finish of the last replica.  The print is generally pretty good, but the belt seems to go a little lower than it should, especially the dip at the front.

GREEN GOBLIN

Spidey’s primary antagonist Green Goblin was added to Mego’s run in the second Marvel assortment, and hasn’t been revisited by any sort of follow-up since.  Like his original release, he gets a unique head.  It’s not quite as definitive as Spidey, generally dialing back some of Goblin’s features to something closer to a standard human face, but it still looks enough like the character to read pretty well.  His outfit gets a jumpsuit, assembled from different parts for the torso and limbs, as well as including a sewn on belt piece, and cuffs for his gloves.  The arms and legs have a printed scale pattern, which is fun, and a good match to the vintage equivalent.  It’s all topped off with a pair of plastic boots, which have a tendency to make him topple, unless you get him posed *just* right.  Goblin is also packed with a plastic satchel piece.  Like his vintage counterpart, he lacks his glider.  It’s a bit of a bummer that they couldn’t add it this time around, but it’s not quite within the scope of what they’re going for.

THE LIZARD

Joining the vintage line alongside Green Goblin (and Iron Man and Hulk) was The Lizard.  Though the package also billed him as “Spider-Man’s Arch-Enemy”, that doesn’t quite feel like it fits for Lizard, who’s hardly obscure, but still seems a little more of a deeper cut than Goblin.  Lizard was the most involved of the original Spidey line-up, and that’s replicated with this figure.  In addition to the “new” head sculpt (which was shared with Star Trek’s Gorn during the vintage run), Lizard also got specially sculpted hands and lower legs.  They all sell the reptile angle pretty well.  The head’s pretty goofy and all, but also has that perfect charm for the line.  The left hand’s notable for being in a fist, a unique feature for the original line, and still unique here as well.  Lizard’s outfit is involved like his sculpt, with a lab coat, and a shirt/pants combo that also includes a cloth tail piece.  The tail has the same pattern of scales as Goblin, just in a darker green color.

ELECTRO

Electro is notable in this set because he *wasn’t* in the vintage line, making him the set’s one new addition to the line-up.  He gets a replica package made-up to match the others, so that you can just sort of pretend he always existed.  He gets a totally new head sculpt, which isn’t bad, apart from the one drawback that the way the package tray is set-up, his head is pressed up against it, so the top “bolt” of his mask is folded down.  It’ll need some work to get it properly reset.  He gets a single piece jumpsuit, with a printed pattern matching his classic costume set-up, and additional pieces on the forearms mimicking the bolt attachments from his gloves.  He also gets a standard pair of boots, molded in yellow.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have a few actual proper vintage Marvel Megos, but for the most part, I rely on my dad’s collection for my memories of them.  He actually didn’t have any of the Spidey characters, and Spidey himself was one I got when I was about 9 or 10.  Lizard in particular is a figure I’ve wanted for a good long while, but I’ve never gotten the chance to track one down.  The prospect of re-issues was intriguing, but then they sold out really fast online, and they’ve been getting scalped pretty consistently since.  My dad took a trip to Disney a couple of weekends ago, and was planning to keep an eye out for this set, but before he even got to the park, he got notified that they were back in stock online, and was nice enough to order an extra set so that I could also have one.  I’ve got no shortage of Mego Spideys, but that doesn’t make him any less cool.  Goblin’s a respectable replica of his original figure, Electro is a fun new addition (slight issue with the mask aside), and Lizard just rules.

#3950: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

SUPER FRIENDS (McFARLANE TOYS)

While the main offerings from McFarlane’s DC line are all in the 7-inch range, the Batman: Classic TV Series line notably broke from the pack in its decision to go with 6-inch, thereby allowing it to *sort of* serve as a continuation of Mattel’s run with the line.  They had a good, solid run with the line, but there’s only so many characters to do, even calling in the continuation comics.  So, to keep the style running, McFarlane moved into another notable feature in the mainstream TV coverage of the DC Universe, Super Friends.  It’s a solid way to get a bunch of heavy hitters in one cohesive style, so I guess that’s not so bad.  Today, I’m taking a look at the line’s take on the Man of Steel, Superman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman was released in Series 2 of McFarlane’s Super Friends line.  Thus far, they’ve stuck to a two heroes paired off with two matching villains, so Superman is paired off with his counterpart Lex Luthor, which is pretty sensible.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  In addition to sharing a scale, the Super Friends and Batman: Classic TV Series lines also share a number of parts.  Superman, unsurprisingly, has some parts in common with his Classic TV Series release.  With its sculpted wrinkles in the suit and generally more realistic build, it’s a bit of a departure in style, from the show.  It’s especially notable with Supes, who ends up looking a touch skinny.  That said, it fits with what they’re trying to do with the line, so I get it.  It’s definitely not a badly sculpted set-up, though the articulation’s a little awkward at times.  There are a number of new parts, though, most notably the head.  It’s not a pitch perfect match for Toth’s take on Supes, but it gets the idea across, and is certainly closer to the animated Superman depiction than the Classic TV figure was to George Reeves.  I feel like, if nothing else, the expression feels very much in character with the show version of Superman.  Like the Classic TV figures, the cape on this guy is cloth; it’s kind of flat and looks a bit odd at the collar, but it’s also the same general set-up used in the Batman line, so it’s not like it’s any sort of crazy upset.    Superman’s color work is decently handled.  It matches okay with the show scheme, and while the insignia didn’t always have the extra line around the edge, but it’s a more unique look, so I appreciate the choice.  Superman is packed with a JLA communicator and the Kryptonite ball-and-chain from the Challenge of the Super Friends episode “Monolith of Evil.”  I especially dig the ball-and-chain, because it’s such a nice signature scene from the show.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This whole line kind of snuck in without a ton of fanfare.  I wanted the GL from Series 1, but he sold out really quickly, and I haven’t gone to the trouble of finding one, so I wasn’t really sure I’d be jumping in any further.  But, I was in NYC a little over a month ago, and found myself with time to kill while Rachel and her siblings were in a show, so I spent a chunk of it wandering through Midtown Comics.  I felt obliged to buy something, and they had this guy, and he just sort of spoke to me.  He’s got his quirks, but he’s fun.

#3949: The Thing II

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THE THING II

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Bombarded by cosmic rays during an exploration in deep space, Ben Grimm’s body underwent an extraordinary transformation. His strength, endurance and durability were boosted to super-human levels and his skin became an orange colored, rock-like armor. As a member of the Fantastic Four, The Thing is a sworn protector against villainy and threats of conquest, but his monsterish appearance has always remained his greatest enemy. Often feeling the need to disguise himself when entering public, Grimm’s crude camouflage poorly covers the heart and soul of a true, blue-eyed hero.”

While the team has always shared equal footing within the confines of the book, and have always been equally billed, there’s no denying that there’s an unprecedented break-out character from the quartet that is the Fantastic Four, and that’s Benjamin J. Grimm, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing.  Curiously, when Toy Biz put together their line based on the team, Ben was, through odd circumstances, *not* the first to double up on figures, as both of the Storm siblings beat him to the punch.  But, he was the first to get a properly planned variant, and also one that made a good degree of sense.  Since Ben’s rocky-form can’t turn on and off like the others (most of the time, anyway), he frequently had to hide himself away under a baseball cap, a colored hoody, and a pair of Aviators a trench coat, glasses, and hat.  It’s a signature look that’s been adapted a number of times, including as part of the very first Toy Biz line, which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Thing II was released in Series 3 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  He was the only member of the team present in this particular line-up, which was otherwise a much wackier collection of characters.  The figure is just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  His bulky stature means even with the standard articulation, he’s not exactly agile, but you can get some subtle variations of his standing around pose.  While it would seem like a great time to re-use parts from the first version, this figure sported an entirely new sculpt.  The line was generally a loose tie-in to the show running at the time, but Ben marks a departure from “loose,” being a pretty spot-on recreation of his animation model from the show.  Of course, it’s his Season 1 model, which was far more cartoony and goofy, and stands out more from the rest of the line, and which was phased out of the show in the same year this figure was released.  It does okay by the design, though, and certainly captures its more bold line-work and cleaner rock structures.  It’s certainly a more huggable Thing.  The figure comes out of the box wrapped in a cloth coat.  It’s a very thin material, and also not *technically* designed for removal, since it’s tied shut with a very tight knot.  You can remove it, though that certainly makes it more prone to damage.  The figure’s paint work is fairly light, with just the eyes and shorts, which appear to be the same two colors.  It’s perfectly fine it its application.  The shade of orange plastic used for the bulk of the body does seem a touch pale, but it’s at least a bit better than the Marvel Super Heroes version.  Ben is packed with his hat and sunglasses, which are specially molded to fit over his head.  They do okay, and round out his disguised look nicely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I came into the line a little bit after launch, this was my first figure of the Thing.  Mine, of course, immediately had the coat torn off and thrown aside, since I really just wanted the basic figure.  When my Grandmother took me to the KB Toys Liquidation Center in Delaware about a decade later, they still had a pile of this guy, so I got myself a second one, who has kept his jacket on the whole time, so it’s a little nicer.  He’s a very specific take on the character, and it’s interesting to have such a cartoon-specific version of the character, given there aren’t matching figures of the rest of the team.  He’s not incredibly playable, all things told, but he does make a neat enough display piece.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0050: Cantina at Mos Eisley

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CANTINA AT MOS EISLEY with SANDTROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

Hey, who’s ready for a thematic tie-in?  I sure am! Yesterday, I looked at one of two cardboard playsets released during Power of the Force II.  The first released of those two actually was a more direct callback to the original Kenner run, a Mos Eisley Cantina, and I’ve looked at that one, albeit tangentially, via the figure it was later released at retail with following a run as a mail-away, who I reviewed back in 2020, making this a Flashback Friday Figure Addendum, following up on the Sandtrooper!

“Their remote location makes the spaceports of Tatooine havens for the varied masses from across the galaxy. At the seedy Mos Eisley spaceport, this variety is more than evident at the main hangout, Chalmun’s Cantina. The most loathsome of Mos Eisley’s population can regularly be found there, including imperial sandtroopers, who are deployed by the Empire to quell outbursts with brutal efficiency. In the days before the Galactic Empire, the spaceport of Mos Espa hosted a similar reputation as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.” From the outdoor markets to the junk shops – overseen by the gambling crimelords, the Hutts – Mos Espa was a place where a nine-year old boy could learn the ways of the universe.”

Hey, remember how I’ve got all these Power of the Force figures I can review? Great, I don’t have to remind you why I’m doing this review, then. I’ve looked at all manner of Stormtrooper variants, many of them from this very line, but today I’m kind of doubling back and looking at a variant of a variant. Oh man, how crazy is that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Sandtrooper was released in 1998, accompanying a 3D display diorama of the Mos Eisley Cantina. He was the actual figure used to sell a bunch of cardboard, wrapped in cardboard. Neat trick, I suppose. We had gotten a standard, run of the mill Sandtrooper in the main line, but this one aimed to be different enough to make collector’s buy. Guess it worked. According to expanded universe materials, this guy actually has a name. He’s Davin Felth, the trooper who says “Look sir, droids!” while they’re searching on Tatooine. And now you know that. Don’t you feel like your life has meaning now? The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. He uses the same head, torso, and pelvis as the single-carded Sandtrooper, but gets a new set of arms and legs. It’s still the super goofy PotF2 trooper build, but by this time things were starting to be a little bit more toned down. Those arms and legs are definitely less bulked up compared to prior troopers. His pose is also a more neutral one, but, in an interesting turn of events, he’s not really able to do anything but hold that one neutral pose. He looks like he’s standing guard (which makes sense for the playset he came with), meaning he’s designed to hold his weapon in a non-battle stance. He can’t actually hold it by the handle, due to the relative posing of his arms. The paint on this guy is also toned down from the prior Sandtrooper. He’s still got a little bit of weathering, but it’s nowhere near as intense. His pauldron has changed colors to mark a change in rank, with it being white instead of orange. For some reason, the black section has also changed to a light grey, which is an odd choice. Moving further down, the figure has also lost the black detailing at the elbows that prior troopers had, which does look a little weird. The Sandtrooper was packed with a blaster rifle and a patrol droid (missing from mine) which plugged into his back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As part of my goal of getting all the figures from the PotF2 line, I’m having to track down some of the more odd-ball releases as well, which includes this guy. I ended up getting ahold of one from a loose collection that was traded into All Time, though he was missing the droid piece. He’s not a bad figure. I actually like him quite a bit, certainly more than I was expecting to.

That’s a May 2020 review up there, meaning I wrote this review in the midst of the pandemic shutdown, when I had a *lot* of reviewing time on my hands.  My notable backlog of Power of the Force figures was certainly an asset during that stretch of time.  I definitely got a little more quippy during that period, for sure.  Hey, comedy gets you through it, I guess.  The review of the figure holds up fine, so no issues there.  Pandemic Ethan knew what he was talking about.  The figure proper was missing his Scanning Droid, which I have subsequently tracked down.  It’s a pretty fun piece, and it plugs into the spot originally meant for his survival pack, which is a clever re-use of the spot.

The main omission, of course, was the actual playset.  It’s similar in concept to the Jabba’s Palace, and has a similar footprint.  The exact layout’s a bit different, though, with walls that fully enclose it, and a lack of raised platforms, instead placing the emphasis on the central bar, as well as the two included booths with tables.  I think it ends up working a bit better in terms of potential use with the figures, and there’s a general feeling of better stability to the whole thing, which I do really like.

#3948: Jabba’s Palace

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JABBA’S PALACE with HAN SOLO in CARBONITE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“As one of a species known to live for at least one thousand years, Jabba the Hutt had plenty of time to build up his ill-gotten empire. No other crime lord lived in such luxurious, palatial surroundings, where his every need was immediately attended to by members of his court and a large collection of slaves. The repulsive, slug-like Hutt had his fingers in just about every unseemly activity known, from elaborate smuggling operations to his early days on Tatooine when gambling on Podraces was as big as the sport itself.”

When the original Star Wars line launched under Kenner, they had one proper playset, based on the Death Star, but in order to further expand the line at a smaller budget, they also partnered with Sears to offer another playset, based on the Mos Eisley Cantina, which, to save on tooling costs, was made out of card stock.  This was repeated for Empire, which saw a similarly card stock Cloud City playset.  By the time of Jedi, they didn’t need to concern themselves with tooling costs as much, so no card stock sets were crafted for that one.  When bringing the line back in the ‘90s, Kenner/Hasbro went back to that particular well, though, and we got a couple of new ones, including a Jedi-based one, Jabba’s Palace.

THE SET ITSELF

Jabba’s Palace was released as part of the “3-D Display Diorama” sub-line of Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998, officially under the Hasbro brand, not the Kenner one.  Included in the set was the fold-out Palace playset, an exclusive Han Solo figure, and some associated accessories.

The main set is, as noted, made from card board.  It’s based on the throne room of Jabba’s Palace as seen in the movie’s opening sequences.  Or, at least an approximation of it, which lets you get all of the main story focus spots into one main area.  The set has a footprint that’s about 25 inches long, and includes Jabba’s throne, the grate in front of it that leads to the Rancor’s pit, the entryway with the stairs, and the trophy wall that held Han in his carbonite slab.  The whole thing folds out without too much trouble, and tabs together without much issue.  The printing is generally pretty nice, and there’s a respectable amount of simulated texturing.  The only real downside is that some of the raised elements don’t hold weight especially well.  They do overall better than expected, especially Jabba’s throne, but the spot where the carbonite slab should go isn’t very good at supporting that weight.  Still, there’s plenty of space for spreading out the many denizens of the palace released over the course of the line.

The included exclusive Han Solo marks the second time the line did Han in Carbonite, following up on a solo release in ’96.  This one was based more specifically on his look immediately after being unfrozen, when he’s all…damp.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  He uses the same legs as the last version, but is otherwise a unique sculpt.  It’s certainly different.  Is it better?  In some ways.  They did at least actually get his shirt right this time around, and the added movement on the elbows is very handy.  The head’s not really any more Ford resemblant than the early release figures, but he’s got the wet and sweaty slicked back hair, which is accurate to the scene and also hides the likeness a touch.  I’m not sure exactly what’s going on with his facial expression, but it’s at least different from the other Han figures.  The paint only exaggerates the oddness of the face, with those strange eyebrows.  The rest of the paint is decent enough.  Han is packed with a pair of manacles, as well as a version of the carbonite block that has a spot where Han was thawed out.  The figure fits well in the spot, but there’s no real way for it to stay upright with him in it, which is annoying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is one of those sets I remember seeing a few times as a kid.  I don’t know that I fully understood what it was, and I mostly just remember the Han with carbonite.  Since I already had the standard one, I didn’t see much need for this one at the time.  Obviously, my opinion on that shifted, since I, you know, own one and all.  The Palace is a pretty simple thing, but I think it really works well as a backdrop for the figures.  Han’s fine, but definitely goofy.  Still, not a bad set, all things considered.

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.

#3947: Magne Arthur

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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

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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.