#3386: Spider-Man & New Goblin

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

SPIDER-MAN & NEW GOBLIN

MARVEL MINIMATES

While we’ve gotten a lot of movie-themed Marvel Minimates over the years, they weren’t quite as plentiful in the early days.  Spider-Man 3 marked a turning point, though, getting the full two assortment treatment, covering just about every major character from the movie.  I’m diving back into that set-up today, with a look at the standard movie Spidey, and the vengeful New Goblin!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man and New Goblin were released as a two-pack in Series 17 of Marvel Minimates, notably the first of the two assortments based on the movie.  Both assortments wound up shipping at the same time, in late 2007, as was a common practice for Marvel Minimates assortments during that era.

SPIDER-MAN

Since the two prior Spider-Man films hadn’t gotten any tie-in coverage for Minimates, SM3 our first stab at the standard Spidey look from the Toby McGuire films.  That said, this was the *second* standard issue to hit the line, following the con-exclusive two-pack version that had hit during the summer before these assortments.  While the differences between the two Black Costume Spider-Men were more notable, these two versions of the standard had their differences as well.  The figure is built on the post-C3 minimate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He’s a vanilla ‘mate, so there’s not extra add-ons for this guy.  It’s as it should be, since he doesn’t need to be bulked up or anything, and sculpting the weblines would certainly be overkill for this style.  He gets an impressive selection of paint work.  It’s not quite as good as the preview pack version, but there’s still a lot going on.  He gets all the appropriate webline detailing, as well as texturing on the blue sections of the costume.  The texturing even goes all the way around, which is pretty cool.  He doesn’t get the weblines for his hands and feet the way the preview version did, but it’s still more than the average Spidey got.  The SM3 figures marked a change in styling for Spidey ‘mates, as this was the first time that the belt of his costume was on the actual waist piece.  It changes the proportions a bit, moving him towards the more modern stylings of the line.  Spidey was without any accessories for this release.

NEW GOBLIN

Harry Osborne’s arc was one of the trilogy’s most invested ones, and Spider-Man 3 paid off his journey following in his father’s footsteps…to perhaps mixed results.  Norman’s Goblin design in the first movie wasn’t really met with universal praise, so they went a different direction for Harry’s “New Goblin” design.  Unfortunately, while it may be less overtly hideous, it’s also a lot less distinctive.  He’s kind of just a generic snowboarder looking guy.  I mean, it could be worse, I suppose.  Like Spidey, Harry is based on the standard ‘mate body.  That said, he gets quite a few add-on parts, all of them new to this figure.  He’s got a mask/hair combo, shoulder harness, belt, thigh pouch, bracers, left hand with pumpkin bomb, and boots.  It makes for one rather built-up figure, but not one that’s actually too bulky, which is certainly a plus.  The harness in particular marks DST actually doing just a harness, rather than a whole bulked up torso piece, which was a rarity at this time.  It all honestly works pretty well.  There are the odd quirks, of course, such as the bracers being loose enough to pretty freely spin even with the hands in place, but it’s not so bad.  Since his sculpted parts handle so much of the detailing, the paint’s not quite as detailed.  That said, he gets all the proper base work, and still gets a little extra detailing for the torso, as well as a pretty good likeness of James Franco for the face under the mask.  He’s packed with an alternate hair piece to show off said face, as well as his sword, knife, and glider.  The glider was the first time any of the Goblins got such a piece; unfortunately, due to the way the boots are molded, he doesn’t peg in place quite right on it, so he can’t actually attach to it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite all the nay-saying about it, I was very excited for Spider-Man 3‘s release, loved seeing it in the theatre, and was thrilled to get the tie-in stuff for it, with the Minimates in particular being high on my list.  I got the full standard set of the tie-ins from my parents for Christmas the year that they came out.  The basic Spider-Man’s not a lot too look at on first glance, but the extra detailing is certainly cool.  New Goblin may not be the most thrilling design, but I think he translated well, and he marked a real turning point for how sculpting could interact with the core ‘mate body.

#3385: Atom Smasher

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ATOM SMASHER

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

When the titular team of Justice League expanded its roster for the follow-up Justice League Unlimited, they had to reach beyond just canon Leagers from the comics, including a number of other unaffiliated heroes, and, of course, rolling in some competing teams’ rosters as well.  Since the JLA’s predecessors the Justice Society had not been adapted into the earlier show (apart from their role in the comics being referenced by stand-ins the Justice Guild in “Legends”), a mix of their classic and modern rosters were added to the League.  From the modern side, there was Albert Rothstien, aka Atom Smasher.  Atom Smasher was never really more than a cameo role, with a few focuses during some of the more involved fight scenes, but never a speaking role.  Still, he did get included in the toyline, so he had that going for him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Atom Smasher was first added to Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited tie-in line in the third assortment of three-packs, released in early 2005.  He was packed alongside re-packs of the more articulated Green Lantern and Flash figures.  He was re-released later that same year as a single release.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Atom Smasher is based on the larger male base body, based on tooling that originally belonged to the first Superman figure.  It’s the largest available base body, and one that matches respectably well with how Atom Smasher is depicted on the show, at least in terms of build.  He was, however, almost always shown as above average size, so he’s woefully short for Atom Smasher.  But, without the re-use, it’s not like he was going to get made.  His only new part is a head sculpt.  It’s a little on the small side, but that seems to match with his internal proportions alright.  It’s fully masked, so there’s not a ton of detailing, but it gets what it needs to.  The rest of the detailing is carried via paintwork, which is handled alright.  Not amazing, or anything.  Of note, the sections that should be blue are more of a purple.  That, coupled with the slightly darker shade of the gold for his belt, kind of muddies the overall look of his design.  At the very least, a little bit more actual line work may have helped to differentiate the costume elements just a bit more.  As it stands, it’s okay, but just sort of “meh.”  The three-pack version of Atom Smasher didn’t include any extras, which was honestly okay, since he doesn’t use much.  For the single release, he got an extra large hand clip-on piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This Atom Smasher didn’t start out as mine.  Back when the JLU line was running, there was a Walmart on the way home from where my family vacationed, which was out of the way enough to be the perfect spot to find new JLU figures.  On the trip that got me my Hawk and Dove figures, my brother got the set that included this guy.  He got out of action figure collecting for the most part a few years ago, and this figure was one of the ones I inherited when he purged a lot of his collection.  He’s not the line’s strongest offering, that’s for sure, but he does alright, given the confines of how these guys were made.

#3384: Spider-Punk

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SPIDER-PUNK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Hobie Brown is the British punk Spider-Man better known as Spider-Punk.”

One of the more dynamic creations to come out of the original “Spider-Verse” story was Spider-Punk.  He began as a rejected design done by Oliver Copiel for the character that became Spider-UK, but writer Dan Slott liked it enough to spin it into its own full fledged character.  Though he started as a relatively minor player in the original storyline, he’s subsequently become one of the more enduring alternate Spider-Men, which has unsurprisingly translated to inclusion in Across the Spider-Verse, and subsequently led to a little bit more toy coverage than just the one single Legends release he had previously.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Punk is the final figure in the seven figure Across the Spider-Verse tie-in series of Marvel Legends.   This marks Spider-Punk’s second time gracing Legends, though he of course gets his updated film design this time around.  While the original Spider-Punk design stuck pretty closely to the classic Spidey design, and just added a few extra elements atop that, Spider-Punk’s look from Across is much more of a ground-up rework.  He keeps the comics version’s spiked mohawk and vest, but puts them over a design that even more thoroughly embraces “punk”….which in this case seems to mean he borrows more elements from Scarlet Spider than he does Spider-Man.  I’m not gonna knock it.  I dug the original design, and I also dig this one.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Spider-Punk’s articulation scheme is interesting, as it’s technically a bit outdated in its layout and methods, but ultimately it ends up working out very well with the design and layout of the sculpt, making it feel like it’s still very much on par with the other  more recent offerings.   Spider-Punk gets an all-new sculpt, courtesy of Arlen Pelletier, and…it’s just really good, you guys.  There’s just so much personality and style running through this sculpt.  I love the uneven lacing on the boots, and all the varieties of studs and spikes littered throughout his clothing.  And it’s all just got this very dynamic flow to it that just really feels true to the character.  Likewise, the paint work on Spider-Punk is some of the most involved in the whole assortment.  There’s just a lot of detailing, not just base work like we saw on the others.  He’s got the little spots of sporadic webbing, the running paint on the eyes, and all of the smaller buttons on details on his vest, which makes for a very rich look.  In terms of accessories, Spider-Punk gets his guitar (the same mold as the original), as well as an extra left hand with a thwipping pose.  While he’s still only got the two extras, the guitar is at least a more sizable accessory, and, as with the main figure, the painted detailing on it is really impressive.  The only thing I’d have liked to see here is maybe an extra right hand without the guitar pick in it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited for the comics Spider-Punk when he was released, and I was likewise quite enthusiastic about the character’s inclusion in the movie.  My expectations were pretty high for this figure, and still he blew them totally away.  This guy just oozes fun, and he’s far and away my favorite figure in this line-up.  Like, it’s not even close.  And he was up against that Spot figure, which I also really loved.  So, you know, that’s really saying something.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3383: Ultra Magnus

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

ULTRA MAGNUS

TRANSFORMERS PRIME: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE (HASBRO)

“If there is any Autobot the Decepticons fear as much as Optimus Prime it is Ultra Magnus. His battle hammer has crushed chassis from one side of the galaxy to the other. No battlefield on which his armored feet have stepped has ever been yielded to the Decepticons.”

Back when Hasbro was having a go at running their own television channel, and they needed a bit more material to fill out the schedule, they launched a few new incarnations of their in-house brands.  Transformers Prime was part of this launch, and was certainly a more successful launch than its G.I. Joe equivalent, Renegades.  It also spawned a rather expansive tie-in toyline.  And, as you can probably gather from my usual Transformers habits, I’m most interested in the Ultra Magnuses.  I’m looking at one of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Magnus was released in the fourth Voyager Class assortment of Hasbro’s Prime: Robots in Disguise line, referred to internally as “Powerizers” to better distinguish them from everything else to use “Robots in Disguise” in its title.  Takara also released him under their Arms Micron banner, which features some differences I’ll touch on later down.  In his robot mode, the figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and he has 18 workable points of articulation.  In contrast to many Magnuses, including most under the Prime heading, this figure sported a sculpt wholly unique to him, and shared no parts with any of the Optimus figures from the line.  As he predated Magnus’s appearance in Season 3 of the show (where he largely re-used Optimus’s Season 1 design model), this figure has a distinctly different design, which, apart from the head (which was transplanted onto the aforementioned Season 1 Optimus), was never actually used in the show.  It’s honestly a pretty good design it its own right, and it translates nicely into toy form.  He keeps with the show’s lean and mean aesthetic, while still holding onto Magnus’s usual boxier build.  His color scheme is far heavier on blue than the final show design, and the Hasbro release makes use of a nice, deep, metallic blue plastic, which I really dig.  The Micron release has a flatter, brighter blue, which is also pretty fun, though it ends up losing a lot of the smaller details present on the Hasbro version.  Of the two, the Hasbro one’s definitely a little stronger.  The Hasbro release is packed with a large hammer, which can turn into a rifle, as well as a single rocket; he should really have two for that classic shoulder set-up, but I suppose you could track down an extra if you’re so inclined.  The Micron release drops those in favor of his “partner,” a small bot that turns into a different version of the hammer.  He’s a pretty fun little guy, and I like the final hammer a bit better on the Micron version.  Magnus’s alt-mode for this release is again unique.  Rather than sharing Optimus’s mode, this one is more of a tow-truck vibe, which is different, but fun.  The transformation is involved, but not too difficult, and the whole thing is honestly pretty satisfying to mess around with.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got the Prime Magnus figures effectively in reverse order, which is a bit of an interesting way of looking at them, since it means they get more unique as you go, rather than becoming more prone to re-use.  I added the Hasbro version of this guy to my collection a little while back, when he came into All Time as part of a trade-in a few years ago.  I got the Takara one quite recently, comparatively, courtesy of a different trade-in.  They both have their strengths, and it’s one of the few cases where I really feel there’s a benefit to both.  In general, I really like the different take on the character that this era granted.  It’s fun to see how the development process works out some times.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with these figures to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3382: Jessica Drew

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

JESSICA DREW

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Jessica Drew is a modern Spider-Woman who fights crime with an arachnid’s ease.”

Spider-Woman is a title that’s been passed around a lot in the Marvel universe, largely as an effort to avoid imitators of their most popular property, much like the Captain Marvel identity.  The title officially made its main universe debut with Jessica Drew in 1977, crafting a character with surprisingly little to tie her to Peter Parker.  What’s interesting, however, is that Jessica isn’t the first Spider-Woman in Marvel comics history.  Two years before her debut, Valerie the Librarian used a spare Spidey costume to briefly fight crime as Spider-Woman in the pages of Spidey Super Stories, Marvel’s tie-in with PBS’s The Electric Company.  Valerie is notable as not only the first instance of a Spider-Woman, but also Marvel’s first costumed African American heroine.  That’s pretty cool.  For Across the Spider-Verse, the more widely known Jessica Drew has been somewhat amalgamated with Valerie, which is honestly a pretty fun little throw-back.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jessica Drew is the second to last figure in the Across the Spider-Verse tie-in series of Marvel Legends.  Jessica is sporting one of the most drastically different designs of any of the characters, making this figure almost entirely new territory.  She’s definitely using elements of Valerie’s look, in conjunction with her slightly more “real-world” costume design from her post-“Spider-Verse” solo book (including having her be pregnant), and then just a handful of just genuinely new costume elements.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  Jessica joins 2099 as one of the most restricted figures here in terms of posing.  Again, it’s nothing terrible, and at least in her case it’s less about poor implementation of articulation and more about her movie design being a bit more limiting.  Since she’s pregnant in the film, there’s less you can do with the waist, hips, and mid-torso.  And, given the size of the hair, the neck joint is also pretty limited.  There’s *some* posing to be had, but not a ton.  She’s also not incredibly stable on her feet, due to the weight distribution of the sculpt, so what posing you can do is further limited.  The sculpt here is an all-new one, which looks to do a respectable job of capturing the animation design.  The only real issue is with the glasses, which are just plainly the wrong shape for the movie. Otherwise, there’s a nice mix of textures, with quite a bit of detailing going into the hair sculpt, contrasting well with the smoother nature of the costume, especially the sharper lines of the jacket.  One thing I’m not super crazy about is how the hair hangs off the back of the head; there’s a notable section of the base of the head that’s just exposed, which doesn’t quite seem right.  Jessica’s color work is, as per usual at this point, pretty basic.  There’s a lot of molded plastic, with enough paint to sell the needed design elements.  The paint’s all generally pretty clean in application, and she’s using the face printing for the eyes, which works pretty well.  Jessica continues the trend of the figures in this set being light on the accessories, with just two sets of hands in fists and relaxed.  At the very least a few extra poses might have been nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was definitely one of those figures that I was less sure about when the line-up got leaked.  It’s not that I don’t like the idea behind the character, but I just wasn’t quite as sold on the design, and I didn’t feel it was going to make for the most thrilling toy.  That said, I was buying the rest of them, and I didn’t want to only skip the one.  Ultimately, she’s the weakest of the set.  She’s not bad, but that design just doesn’t work as well in three dimensions, and it certainly doesn’t lend itself to a super-posable figure.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3381: Nova Flame Human Torch & Annihilus

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

NOVA FLAME HUMAN TORCH & ANNIHILUS

MARVEL MINIMATES

The Fantastic Four are an essential team to any Marvel line, really.  They took a break from marketing for a little while in the mid 2010s, but prior to that, they would resurface in just about every line every so often.  Minimates added them in 2005, and then updated them five years later in 2010, and then once again in 2013, getting them in just before stuff really started to slow down for the FF.  There was a dedicated assortment in the main line, as well as some corresponding coverage on the TRU front.  Today, I’m looking at part of the TRU side, with Nova Flame Human Torch and Annihilus.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Nova Flame Human Torch and Annihilus were released in the fifteenth TRU assortment of Marvel Minimates, which was 3/4ths FF-tie-in.  They hit within weeks of the 48th specialty assortment, which was the main FF coverage.

NOVA FLAME HUMAN TORCH

“Believed dead following a battle against Annihilus in the Negative Zone, Johnny Storm was recently revealed to be alive and well, and has resumed his position with the Fantastic Four.”

There was a Human Torch in Series 48, but that one was a half-step partially flamed on version.  This one, on the other hand, is a fully flamed-on version, making him a direct update to the two prior Torches.  He’s built on the standard post-C3 Minimate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He gets an add-on for his flames that slips behind the head and over the shoulders, and also gets a non-standard set of feet with some flame effects (shared with his Series 48 counterpart).  They add flame detailing, while still keeping him very much a core ‘mate, making him more of a proper classic Human Torch.  Aiding in the classic Torch set-up is the paint work, which does the scorch lines look that’s a very early comics look for him.  It’s specifically patterned after the John Byrne version, allowing him to fit in with the similarly Byrne-inspired FF from Series 48.  Some of the details get a little lost on the figure, since he’s transparent and all, but it works well, and it’s certainly the best take on a fully flamed on Johnny the line has gotten.  Human Torch is packed with two flame effects for his hands, as well as a rather elaborate flame stand in the shape of a “4”, and a clear display stand (which debuted as a standard feature in this assortment and in Series 48).

ANNIHILUS

“The ruler of the the Negative Zone, the insectoid tyrant called Annihilus is always seeking to conquer new lands and is endlessly reincarnated through his offspring. He was recently re-elected.”

With Blastaar, another denizen of the Negative Zone, released in Series 48 (packed alongside the other Human Torch, no less), including Annihilus in this set made a lot of sense, especially given that he’d just seen a bit of a resurgence in the comics at the time, and was in fact tied in with Johnny a bit.  He makes use of four add-on pieces for his collar/wings, gloves, and belt.  All of these pieces were new to Annihilus, and they do an alright job of capturing his comics look.  They’re a little restricting, and the collar has some trouble staying in place, but they’re generally not bad.  His paint work is solid.  He’s slightly metallic, which makes him suitably other worldly, and his line work is nice and clean.  Annihilus is packed with a flight stand and a clear display stand, covering all of his standing needs, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 48 was one of my favorite sets of Minimates (I’m a sucker for John Byrne FF), so I got that whole set as soon as possible when it was released.  I put some effort into tracking these down as well, so that I could round everything out.  This set’s not as essential as, say the Thing/Surfer set, since there was already a Johnny, and Annihilus isn’t exactly a core character, but it’s still a pretty respectable offering.

X-Men vs Magneto

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

X-MEN VS MAGNETO

WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED BY ETHAN WILSON (AGE 8)

Hey guys!  What’s this?  Me posting on a Sunday?  What did we do, go back in time two years?  Nah, but I just had something cool to share, and I thought that today being Father’s Day, it might be an appropriate day for such a post.  In the last few months, my son Matty has been getting into creating his own comics and stories with friends at school.  He was mentioning this to my dad, who informed Matty that I had done some similar storytelling when I was younger.  As proof of this, my dad pulled out his copy of my third grade class project, “X-Men vs Magneto”, which he’s been saving for some 22 odd years now.  And, just for the heck of it, I decided to the craziest thing possible:  I updated it.  So, check out the fancy new version (using my verbatim words from the original), as well as the original!

 

#3380: Kyle Rayner

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

KYLE RAYNER

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

When Green Lantern first appeared in the DC Animated Universe in Superman: The Animated Series, the producers opted to use the then-current holder of the title, Kyle Rayner, as their introductory Lantern.  Kyle gained a good portion of Hal Jordan’s origin, being the first Earth Lantern, having gotten the ring directly from Abin Sur, but he still retained Kyle’s personality and background as an artist.  When *a* Green Lantern reappeared in Justice League, it was not Kyle, but rather John Stewart, who was chosen not only to add a little more diversity to the titular team, but also to give the show a slightly less defined Lantern to work with for some of the show’s character arcs.  Rayner still existed within the narrative however, and was granted a couple of additional cameos, as well as a small speaking role in Justice League Unlimited‘s “The Return.”  It was this appearance that finally got animated Kyle some action figure treatment.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kyle Rayner was initially released in 2006 during the second iteration of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited tie-in line, under the orange packaging style, in a pack that also included fellow GLs Katma Tui and Arkkis Chummuck.  He was then re-released as a single the following year, and once more in a convention-exclusive pack with Evil Star and Goldface.  As noted in the intro, Kyle is based on his design from “The Return,” which was itself an adaptation of Kyle’s Jim Lee-designed costume update from the early ’00s.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s based on the medium-sized male base body.  Rather fittingly, it started as a GL body, and it remains so here.  Kyle’s original build was a bit smaller, but by the time of “The Return,” he’d bulked up a bit, so it makes sense.  Kyle got a new head sculpt for this release, and it’s honestly a pretty good one.  We don’t see a ton of Kyle in the show, but this matches up pretty nicely with what we do see, while still being rather unique.  It’s sharp, clean, and pretty on point for the character.  Kyle’s paint work does most of the heavy lifting, as with most of these figures.  It does it well; his outfit’s detailing is pretty spot on.  The green’s a little prone to chipping, but not as bad as some figures from the line.  The head paint is alright, though a bit washed out; the brown for the hair feels a little light, as does the skin tone.  But, it still works well enough overall.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

“In Brightest Day” is far and away my favorite entry in the DCAU.  I was such a huge GL fan as a kid, and I excited recorded the episode on VHS when it aired back in the day.  The lack of a GL in the tie-in line always bummed me out.  When Kyle was replaced with John in JL, I obviously adjusted, and I was happy to get plenty of cool figures for John.  That said, I still hoped for Kyle.  Admittedly, this wasn’t the look I initially had in mind, and to this day, I still would love to get a STAS version of the character, but I do still really love this guy, too.  He honestly holds up pretty well.

#3379: Spider-Man 2099

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

SPIDER-MAN 2099

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Trying to create a new superhero, Miguel O’Hara accidentally turned himself into the best Spider-Man in the multi-verse.”

Into the Spider-Verse ends with a teaser sequence that introduces Spider-Man 2099, as well as the concept of him pioneering safer cross-dimensional travel.  Across the Spider-Verse builds on that set-up, and installs Miguel as a main character for the film’s story.  Also, he’s Oscar Isaac.  So, that’s pretty cool.  And he’s 2099, which is also pretty cool by default.  We didn’t actually see 2099 in his regular form in Into, so we had to wait until the new movie for toy treatment.  But here we are now, and we’ve got his figure.  Dope.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man 2099 is the fifth figure in the Across the Spider-Verse tie-in series of Marvel Legends.  Much like the Spot, 2099 is a design that’s largely unchanged from his comics counterpart, really just relying more on stylization to change things up.  Given how strong and distinctive 2099’s look, this is hardly a surprise.  The figure stands about 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  2099’s articulation is one of this assortment’s most restricted, which is admittedly odd, since it doesn’t really feel like there’s any clear reason for that.  He just winds up with a slightly more rudimentary articulation layout.  It’s not *bad*, mind you, just a little bit clunky, and therefore a little surprising to see.  He does at least still get a ball-jointed neck, as well as the pinless construction on the arms and legs.  2099 is sporting an all-new sculpt by sculptor Arlen Pelletier, and aside from issues with the articulation breaking it up a bit too much during posing, I really quite like it.  He’s notably bulkier and taller than the other Spiders, which I definitely dig, and which is also in line with his animation model.  The detailing is all nice and sharp, and it’s nice to see Miguel get full sculpted elements for his costume, after being relegated to largely just paint on his last few Legends.  2099’s paint work is overall pretty on the basic side.  He’s blue with red accents, and a lot of that’s molded.  The colors are rather bright, and they’re flat, straying away from his usual metallics.  It makes sense, of course, given the desire to stick with the animation look, which isn’t as shiny looking as the comics.  I feel like there should be some sort of darker accenting on the blue sections, and the sculpted textures on the red get a little lost with nothing to make them pop, but as far as the basics go, he’s alright.  Miguel is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.  It’s too bad we didn’t also get an unmasked head like with the others, but it’s possible that model wasn’t finalized in time.  Still, he feels a tad light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

2099’s got a pretty sick visual, and getting Oscar Isaac to voice him in the teaser at the end of Into definitely had me hyped for this guy in the sequel.  I was rather looking forward to this figure.  Ultimately, he’s the tiniest bit of a let-down.  He’s not bad.  I can’t stress that enough.  He’s just kind of fine.  And in this assortment, that puts him a bit behind the rest of the pack.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3378: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Introduced to the Heroic Warriors in 1984, during Masters of the Universe‘s third year, Mekaneck was dubbed the “Heroic Human Periscope!”  He was originally titled “Spy Man”, a name that would survive long enough to be listed for the character in Filmation’s series bible for their animated adaption.  This was, presumably, ruled out for being too basic, though in a line where the lead character is “He-Man,” you can only get too clever before you don’t actually fit in anymore.  Mekaneck splits the difference a bit, I suppose.  Though hardly one of the franchise’s heavy hitters, Mekaneck is nevertheless a fairly memorable member of the Heroic Warriors, and a solid second tier character that no line really feels complete without.  Today, I’m jumping back to the very beginning for the character.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck was included in the third main assortment of Heroic Warriors for Mattel’s Masters of the Universe.  The 1984 line-up introduced some pretty prominent figures to the line, including the Battle Armor versions of the two main characters He-Man and Skeletor, as well as the first figures for both Orko and Fisto.  But Mekaneck is today’s focus, and I’m certainly not gonna let the others take away from that.  Mekaneck stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Due to the nature of his action feature, Mekaneck lacked an actual neck joint.  Additionally, his waist only turns one direction, and only about halfway at that.  Mekaneck made use of the standard barbarian arms, pelvis, and legs, as well as a new head/neck, a tweaked torso, and an all-new chest armor piece (which would see re-use the next year for Stinkor).  His sculpting is pretty standard for the line.  He’s got the usual rather goofy proportions, as expected, and minimal levels of detailing over most of the sculpt.  His head is the most distinctive piece, sporting a rather unique helmet and goggles.  The detailing is a touch soft, but not terrible.  I do quite like the mechanical details on the neck.  The color work on this guy is generally basic, and not super sharp or anything, but it gets the job done.  Obviously, this particular figure has seen better days, but he’s not incredibly bad given how old he is.  He’s still got faint traces of the chrome goggles, which are still fun.  Mekaneck was packed with a club-like sort of weapon, which would become a staple for the character.  It was somewhat prone to warping, given how soft the material was, but it’s a decent side-arm for him.  He also featured an action; twisting his toros to his left extends the neck.  It’s only about an inch and a half, since it’s got to fit in the torso, and he has to have his legs off to the side to use it, but it’s still fun.  Basic, but fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When the pilot movie for the 200x tie-in cartoon ran in 2002, I watched it with quite a bit of excitement.  Mekaneck, as minor as he may have been, really stuck out to me.  I knew there was one coming in the 200x line, but he wasn’t out when the cartoon hit.  I made due with just having the basic He-Man to start, but I wanted more.  As luck would have it, we had a power-outage at my parents home that weekend, and, so as to not keep me stuck in a house with no power for a long stretch of time, my dad took me out for the day, which included stopping by a comic book store that had a decent selection of vintage toys, which just so happened to have this guy, meaning I was able to add a Mekaneck to my collection months earlier than the 200x figure’s release.  This one got a lot of use before the update came along, at which point, I believe I retconned this one into being a relative of some sort.  But this one was still the first, and that’s honestly pretty cool.