Tag Archives: 90s

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0057: Skin

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

SKIN

GENERATION X (TOY BIZ)

Hey, we made it to another Friday!  Good for us!  Go team!  We did it!  Well, to celebrate the occasion, let’s have another Flashback Friday Figure addendum, shall we?  This time we’re taking a second look at Skin.  Just Skin.

“Angela Espinosa’s body has six extra feet of skin – this is his mutant ‘gift’???. Even he doesn’t quite understand how it works and although he would never admit it, that scares him. He’s come to Xavier’s School form the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles to learn to control his skin, at least enough for him to appear as he did before his powers developed – normal.”

In the ‘90s, the X-Men were Marvel’s hottest property by far. To cash-in on this success, they turned around and launched like a million spin-offs. The more teen-oriented team of hip, fliggity-fly youngsters was Generation X, which was super, super ‘90s. It had a pretty decent following back in the day, and since Toy Biz was giving a toyline to just about everything under the son, it also had one of those. Today, I’ll be taking a look at one of the team’s central members, Skin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Skin was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s Generation X line of figures. He appears to be patterned after the character’s earlier appearances in the book, before he got all scruffy. The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. For some reason, the Generation X figures were less articulated than most of Toy Biz’s Marvel output from the same time. Perhaps it was to minimize potential risk on the financial side of things, should the line fail? I don’t know. Anyway, Skin was an all-new sculpt. It seems to take the Kenner route, offering a more preposed figure with less movement. It looks pretty solid; I like all the little minor details, like the folds in his skin. In makes for quite a unique looking figure. I also appreciate that his costume isn’t simply depicted as painted on, but actually has some dimension to it. Now, if you want to get picky, the hands and feet shouldn’t be done the way they are here, since the skeletal structure is clearly elongated here, and his abilities only actually had to do with his skin. That being said, most artists tended to ignore this rule, so the figure’s hardly inaccurate. The paint work on the figure is okay, but there are a few issues. The base work is overall okay, but the magenta on the arms and legs doesn’t quite match the torso. It’s not as bad in person as it is in the photos, but it’s still noticeable. The yellow paint is also a bit prone to chipping, which is a little annoying, but otherwise he’s pretty decent. The figure has a “Growing Fingers” action feature on his left hand. There’s a little latch on the forearm, and when you release it, the fingers shoot forward a half-inch or so. It’s pretty much the same mechanic that was used on several of TB’s Wolverine figures, and it works pretty well, without disrupting the overall look of the figure too much. Skin was packed with a back pack that can be clipped on his back. It originally had a little headset attachment, but I’ve lost mine.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed out on most of the Generation X figures when they were new. Around 2000 or so, I got some still-packaged mid-90s figures, and the whole first series of Gen X figures was pictured on the back, leading me to attempt to track down Skin and his team-mate Chamber. It wasn’t easy (we had eBay, but the ‘90s action figures market wasn’t really there yet), but I eventually found both figures at a nearby comic book store for a pretty decent price. Despite never being super huge into Generation X, I’ve always really liked this figure, and he holds up pretty well. 

Generally, that’s not a bad review.  Good for me.  It’s from 2017, and I was really into the swing of things by that point.  This one was more than likely written on the road, as we took a cross country from Seattle to North Carolina in June of that year, and I did a lot of writing during it.  Skin would have actually made the trip with me, because I was trying actually have things on hand for reviewing.  While I had his backpack at the time, it was missing the headset attachment, and I also didn’t show off his stand.  I managed to snag a complete one over the summer, and used that to recomplete my original, as seen here.

#3976: Dagobah with Yoda

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

DAGOBAH with YODA

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The boggy, swamp planet Dagobah is the principal planet in the star system of the same name. Although explored, Dagobah remains sparsely populated because of its inhospitable climate and generally unpleasant surroundings. Constantly shrouded in mist and strangled by dense vegetation, the planet is the home to numerous animal life, including dangerous flying predators. The Jedi Master Yoda also makes his home and hideout there and is the only resident of notoriety.  When the evil Emperor Palpatine ordered the Jedi Knights erased from the galaxy, Yoda went into deep hiding there, using its natural defenses and the power of the Force to discourage visitors. It was not until near the end of his days, at the arrival of Luke Skywalker, that the 800 year old Yoda would have a purposeful visitor. 

Dagobah is totally without spaceports nor any other modern technological convenience. It has been considered a haunted planet due to its history with the dark side of the Force and an evil group of Dark Jedi that terrorized it and the neighboring Sluis sector during the Clone Wars.”

Hey remember that sub-set of Star Wars figures I’ve been looking at for two weeks? Well, I’m not done with them.  So, you know, there’s more.  Yay?  Well, maybe let’s not get too excited.  Bring it down a notch.  Can’t say I’ve got much else to get at here, so away we go!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

Dagobah with Yoda is the third of the four “Complete Galaxy” sets added to Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II line in 1998.  This was the only set specifically based on Empire….although given that Yoda and Dagobah also show up in Jedi, I guess it could work for the third movie as well.  There was at least one more Empire set planned, as the single-carded Hoth Leia was originally meant to be included in a rebel base-inspired set before the whole sub-line got scrapped.  Like the Death Star set, Dagobah is a bit more solid on its base than Endor, which is nice in a sense of “it doesn’t always fall right off.”  We get the usual globe set-up on the exterior, showing Dagobah’s swampy nature, with a few important spots labeled.  Inside, there’s a recreation of Yoda’s Hut and some of its exterior on the bottom, as well as one of the “dangerous flying predators” from the bio mounted up top.  Said flying predator is not designed to be removed from the rather obvious post its attached to, and if it breaks, it’s no small chore to get it to stay in place again.  I speak from experience on that one.  There’s a small little spot at the front where you can stand Yoda, and spin him, in case you feel a need for spinning your Yoda figure, I guess?

Speaking of spinning Yodas, the Yoda what gets spun is the included figure here and he’s…different?  Ish?  A little.  Like, honestly, this one’s almost virtually identical to the standard release Yoda figure, which was hardly a rare figure.  He’s got the same general sculpting, right down to the same pose, and the same lack of hair.  I guess maybe the sculpt is a little sharper?  And they did change the date stamp, so, you know, you gotta have that.  Spin that guy around and check out that sweet new date stamp, am I right?  His paint work’s a touch darker than the standard, but again not by much, so it’s hard to note the difference without having them both in front of you.  He has a cane, which looks suspiciously like the cane from the standard figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up, still sealed but in a pretty banged up package, as part of a larger lot of Power of the Force figures I snagged about a year or two ago.  It was the most recent big push to fill the holes in my PotF collection.  This got picked up purely because I didn’t already own it, and was by far the least exciting part of the stuff I picked up, which is probably why it’s the last one I got to reviewing by a fair bit.  It’s…not great.  The Yoda offers nothing new, and I think the set proper is kind of bland and uninspired.  It could be worse, I guess, but it also could have been a lot better.

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.

#3974: Martian Manhunter

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

MARTIAN MANHUNTER

JLA (HASBRO)

“As is common among telepaths, the Martian Manhunter is an intensely silent figure. Even in his darkest moments, his mood is often reflected only the expression in his eyes. When he speaks, others listen. His accent is deep and indescribable. Possibly the most highly regarded by his JLA peers, he is a founding member of every incarnation of the team, an alien whose loyalty to his adopted world is beyond words. J’onn prefers to use his shape-changing powers to maintain several identities so he can move among the humans he admires so much. J’onn is the only Leaguer to whom Batman defers. Green Lantern is his favorite of the group.”

Before I jump into today’s review proper, I feel it’s important to note the date, which also informs a bit of my headspace.  December 16 is my late wife’s birthday, and this one would have been her 30th, a pretty significant one.  It’s also the fifth one I’ve spent without her, another bit of significance.  As I’ve discussed many times before here on the site, Jess was an incredible influence on the site and an immense support of my hobby and me in general.  I reviewed a great many things she got for me during the site’s run. Almost five years after losing her, of course, there’s not much she bought me that I haven’t yet reviewed, so I instead am going with something I hope might have amused her.

Martian Manhunter, known to some late wives of the Super Awesome variety as “Martin Spartan,” is a founding member of the Justice League, and has, for much of the team’s run, been one of the quintessential members of the line-up.  He had some times away, but when the team was being rebuilt at it most distinctive in the mid-90s, J’onn was placed back in the line-up, as your do.  He *just* missed inclusion in Kenner’s Total Justice, but would find his way back to action figures in Hasbro’s follow-up JLA line, with a figure that I’m looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Martian Manhunter was released in the second series of Hasbro’s JLA line, and also in the third boxed set, which repackaged the Manhunter, Zauriel, and Superman from the assortment with an exclusive Lex Luthor and Joker.  He’s based on his then-current design, which is largely his classic look, with the only real caveat being the inclusion of his red eyes.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Manhunter was actually a lot of new parts, notable in a line that tried to be pretty heavy on re-use.  His arms are shared with Superman, but he’s otherwise unique (or at least unique to Martian Manhunter figures; there was also a hologram re-color of him later) with a sculpt that’s very true to the general styling of this line, as well as the Total Justice ones.  He’s a bit pre-posed, and also feels maybe a bit skinny for J’onn, but generally, it’s not bad, and I love that they’ve sculpted all of his costume details in.  He’s got a removable cape, which fits the figure well, and is quite dynamically rendered.  His color work is generally basic, but hits all the main notes.  The green is a bit on the bright side for a Manhunter of this era, feeling a bit more like his classic incarnation, and also making him feel a bit more at home with the Total Justice figures than the usually more subdued palettes of the JLA line.  Martian Manhunter is packed with one of the standard display stands, this time in blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Martian Manhunter was the first of the single release figures from this line that I got.  In fact, my dad and I bought him together, because of the novelty of a Martian Manhunter, and there was some plan to “share” but he ultimately wound up really just being mine.  He’s quite a nice figure, showing some of the line’s strengths for sure.  

#3973: Human Torch

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

HUMAN TORCH

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“The youngest member of the Fantastic Four, Johnny Storm tends to get a little hot-headed when fighting alongside his teammates as the Human Torch! Able to ‘Flame On’ and engulf himself entirely in fire, Johnny has also developed the ability to ignite only certain parts of his body when necessary. Precise control, coupled with the searing nova heat he can generate, makes Johnny Storm the hot-shot member of this cosmic ray spawned team.”

There are some designs that translate well to toys, and there are some that are really, really tricky.  Three  of the four members of the Fantastic Four made the jump from page to plastic without much trouble.  But one of them?  Not so much.  Johnny Storm’s most distinctive look being his fully flamed-on appearance means that were he really in three dimensions, he’d always sort of be in flux, so nailing that down exactly can be tricky.  There’s been a lot of goes at it, to varying degrees of success.  After three tries at fully flamed on, Toy Biz opted to try a more unique approach, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Human Torch was released in the fourth and ultimately final series of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  It was Johnny’s third figure under the line, and fourth overall from Toy Biz in this scale.  Rather than going for totally flame covered like the prior versions, or even totally normal like the 10-inch figure, this one goes for sort of a half-and-half set-up.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall (he was the tallest Johnny they put out in this style) and he has 9 points of articulation.  This whole assortment was built to be a bit more dynamic than earlier offerings, and as such they were all a bit more pre-posed than earlier offerings.  In Johnny’s case, that translates to some slightly odd posing on the arms, but otherwise nothing too crazy.  The sculpt was new to this release, but would see one more use under Toy Biz, for one of their later two-packs.  Honestly, it’s pretty strong.  Aside from the face maybe feeling a touch on the old side for Johnny, the general layout of the details works, and I do like the sculpted distinction between the parts that are on fire versus what’s not.  The dynamic nature is definitely distinctive, and it especially works well with the hair’s flow.  The pose also sells the whole thing, as if he’s mid-flame-on.  His paint work is generally pretty basic, but does mostly what it needs to.  The only slightly odd thing is that he’s for whatever reason not wearing gloves.  No idea why, but there it is.  I guess it makes it sort of unique.  My figure’s had quite a bit of wear over the years, as you can see, but that’s not on the original application.  Johnny was packed with a rather large and elaborate base.  He can stand on it, and it’s got wheels, and when it moves forward, various parts of it spin.  It’s gimmicky, but honestly not too bad.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got into collecting right in the window between Series 3 and 4 of this line, so this Johnny would up being my first figure of the character, and was my only version for a little bit.  Even after getting other versions, he was my go-to until there was a scale change.  This is a cool approach for the character and has remained my preferred way to handle the power set for figure form.  I think it’s maybe a little dated and stylized here, but I definitely dig it, and he’s my personal favorite of the Toy Biz Johnny figures.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0056: Silver Surfer

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

SILVER SURFER

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

Hey-oh, it’s the end of the week once more, which means it’s time for another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Oh yeah!  Flashing back to the far away year of 2016, back when things were oh so 2016-y, here’s a revisit on a Silver Surfer!

Though they were best known for their 15 year run with the Marvel license, Toy Biz’s first work of note was actual doing toys based on Marvel’s Distinguished Competition. Toy Biz’s DC action figures were little more than knock-offs of Kenner’s Super Powers line. When Toy Biz was granted the Marvel license, their initial offerings were rather similar to what they had done for DC. They offered a rather broadly ranging line, covering the major corners of the Marvel Universe (barring the X-Men, who got their own line). Today, I’ll be taking a look at one of that line’s versions of the Silver Surfer!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silver Surfer was released in the third series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation. That’s actually a pretty low articulation count for a Toy Biz figure, and it’s even a bit low for this particular line. This figure is mostly the same sculpt as his Series 1 counterpart. The only difference between the two is the lack of neck articulation. It’s an odd choice, and it definitely limits what can be done with the figure, but I’d guess it had something to do with the vac metalizing. The sculpt isn’t terrible, but it’s not particularly great either. He’s similar in style to the Toy Biz Green Lantern, in that his proportions feel rather off, and the level of detail is very low. Also, his head is just very oddly shaped. It’s definitely too small, and the face (which is very ill-defined) sits too high. In fact, the head in general sits too high on the neck, and the whole construction there just looks weird. As far as paint goes, this particular Surfer doesn’t really have any, he’s just vac metalized. Later Surfer’s would at least get detailing on the eyes, but that’s not the case with this guy. Just the straight up and down silver for him. Silver Surfer originally included his surfboard, done up to match him. Unlike other versions of the board, this one was really thick, and it had wheels on the bottom. So, he’s not actually the Silver Surfer, he’s the Silver Skateboarder. Radical.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Surfer is the eighth of the 15 figures that I picked up from a vendor at this past Balticon. I…I’m not really sure how I feel about him. I mean, the chrome look is certainly cool, but the actual figure’s kind of a bit lame. Toy Biz definitely improved in leaps and bounds over the years, but this guy’s a disappointment even compared to the figures from the same line. I hate to be this down on a figure, but this guy, well, he’s not great.

This figure was another part of a batch of loose Toy Biz figures I snagged for super cheap at a con literally the weekend after I graduated from college.  I was all nostalgic and stuff, and I sort of bled a lot of that into my reviews of the associated figures, I think.  I had the option to get both MSH Surfers at the time, but opted only for the chromed one, because I guess I like shiny things?  My review’s generally not bad, though, not having both figures in my possession, I did kind of go with “they’re the same sculpt” when they’re not.  The chrome version is much more simplified, and the face in particular is a lot more oddly shaped.  Missing from this figure the last time around was his surfboard, which is honestly the one area where he’s truly better than his predecessor.  This one’s more streamlined, lacking the motorized bit on the back, and just generally looking more the part, provided you can get past the rather obvious wheels on the bottom.

#3972: Endor with Ewok

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

ENDOR with EWOK

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The Endor star system was long thought to be an insignificant, removed cluster with few planets and no major travel routes. For that reason, it was considered the ideal construction site for the second Death Star battle station and in turn became the location of the Galactic Civil War’s final battle. The Battle of Endor resulted in the destruction of the Death Star, the slaying of Emperor Palpatine, and the scattering of the Imperial fleet.

Endor’s moon (Sanctuary Moon) is home to vast forests of giant trees, many predator species and the tribal Ewoks. The tree-dwelling Ewoks are curious creatures; they stand about one meter tall, rely on primitive spears and bows for hunting, and dwell in village clusters built high within the forest’s giant trees. Their understanding of forest survival skills are extremely advanced and came in quite useful during the Battle of Endor where they helped a Rebel strike force destroy the Death Star’s force field generator.”

Last week, I stared into the Kenner “hey exactly how far can we stretch the Star Wars license” abyss, and that abyss, “The Complete Galaxy Collection” stared back.  And in that staring, I found that there were in fact *more* Complete Galaxy sets than just the one I looked at so, hey, I guess this is a running thing here, right?  Cool.  Cool cool cool.  So, let’s take a look at the line’s Endor representation, along with its resident figure, an Ewok!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Endor with Ewok is the second of the four sets that made up the “Complete Galaxy” portion of Kenner’s Power of the Force line.  Like the others, it was released in 1998, at their height of the Kenner Star Wars sprawl.  There were two sets specifically from Return of the Jedi, and this was one of them.  Like the Death Star set, the bulk of it’s this sort of globe thing that’s supposed to be Endor…’s moon?  I think that’s what the text on the box is implying? Anyway, you get a sort of basic approximation of it as seen in the movie, with some spots labeled.  Apparently there was a lot of water that we just didn’t see?  That makes a bit more sense, I suppose.  While the Death Star base is pretty solidly attached when you want it to be, Endor really just rests on top, so it falls off a lot.  Also, the base clearly says “Endor,” despite the words on the back implying otherwise.  No consistency, which makes sense, honestly.  The interior of the set is probably the most ambitious of the ones we got.  You get part of the Battle of Endor, complete with a downed AT-ST, and there’s a glider mounted to the top so that the included figure can make use of it.  The glider has spring-loaded arms, so I think it’s meant to fold-up and pop-out when the set opens, but..it doesn’t really do that.  There’s a lot of points of failure, and it just sort of clunks about.  It certainly tries its best to be cool, though.

The included Ewok figure has the distinction of being the only truly unique figure these sets spawned, since he’s actually a separate character from the other Ewoks released.  He’s about 2 inches tall and has 4 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s very similar to Wicket from the standard line.  Totally unique sculpt, ultimately, but similar.  I do miss the removable headdress, but I can understand its removal.  He’s got a spot on his back where his glider can be mounted, which isn’t too obtrusive when he’s not on it.  The color scheme is distinctly different from the other two, and it looks pretty decent.  There’s some slight bleed over around the edges, but generally it’s minor.  The Ewok includes the…whatever you would call the things they drop on the stormtroopers in the battle.  It’s rocks with rope.  It’s pretty well sculpted and fits nicely in his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION 

As with so many Star Wars items recently, I bought this a little while ago, still sealed, and am only just now getting around to opening it.  This one’s not quite as old as a lot of the others, in a sense that I purchased it within the last year, but it’s still been a tick.  I think this one tries to be more than the Vader set, and I can admire that, but it’s also not a fantastic execution, and there’s more room for error, so the final product is just sort of…fine.  It’s nice to get a unique Ewok out of it, though.

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.

#3971: Dr. McCoy in Dress Uniform

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

DR. McCOY in DRESS UNIFORM

STAR TREK (PLAYMATES)

“The Enterprise is enroute to a neutral planetoid code-named Babel. We’ve been assigned to transport the ambassadors from several Federation planets to a very important council debating a petition from the Coridan planets to enter the Federation.  Coridan is rich in dilithium crystals, which makes it a target for illegal mining operations.

Captain James Kirk has ordered me to attend a formal reception for the ambassadors. I don’t know about all this spit and polish. I can’t stand this dress uniform much longer. I feel like my neck’s in a sling! The only thing worse than the uniform was trying to give Ambassador Sarek the Vulcan salute. And now it turns out that Sarek is Spock’s father!

I’m curious why Sarek retired from Federation service at the relatively young age of 102. I think I’ll ask him about it at the reception.”

Remember last week when I ran out of figures from “The Cage” but I decided to keep doing Trek reviews anyway because why not?  Well, I’m not giving up yet.  I’m still keeping up the TOS theme of it all, though, because that’s where I’m at.  Waaaaay back in 2017, I took a look at the dress uniform versions of Kirk and Spock, and that’s all well and good, but the other piece of the big three, Dr. Leonard McCoy, also sported a dress uniform from time to time, and I can’t very well leave him out of such things, right?  Right.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dr. McCoy in Dress Uniform was released under Playmates’ general Star Trek line in 1997, in the same assortment as fellow TOS-ers Harry Mudd, the Mugator, and the Gorn Captain.  He rounded out the Dress Uniforms set started with the boxed set release in 1994.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  It’s the exact same articulation scheme as all the other standard figures, so it’s what you’d expect.  He’s quite similar to Kirk and Spock in his construction, in that he’s re-using the head and legs from his Bridge Crew set release, along with a new torso with his fancier tunic thing.  The torso feels, like, especially small, I feel?  I don’t know, it just seems like his head is really big.  The head’s decent enough; it’s a respectable DeForrest Kelly likeness, and certainly feels closer than the Shatner or Nimoy likenesses.  McCoy’s paint work is basic, but generally decent.  Much like the other two, his face is noticeably ore matte in its finish, which does better for the sculpted details.  I don’t know why this subset in particular got this treatment, but I’m not complaining.  McCoy is packed with his communicator, tricorder, a hypospray, an anabolic protoplaser, and a display stand with the science insignia on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually bought this figure, like, maybe a month after the other two Dress Uniform figures.  Since I’d found them, I was sort of looking for this one, and he happened to be part of an estate sale table in the dealer’s room at a con (the same table that had the Talosian Keeper figure I looked at a couple of weeks ago), so it all sort of fell into place.  Of course, then I left him packaged for eight years, and only *just* got around to opening him.  I gotta stop doing that.  I can’t say he’s anything amazing or anything, but he rounds out the set, and he’s always been my favorite of the main three, so that all works out pretty well.

#3970: The Atom

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

ATOM

JLA (HASBRO)

“A true product of modern science, the Atom was born when physicist Ray Palmer harnessed a fragment of a white dwarf star, giving him unique powers that allow him to radically reduce his size while retaining his full mass – and all with just a thought.”

After spending a stretch of time aged down to a teenager and hanging out with the Teen Titans, by the mid-to-late ‘90s, Ray Palmer had returned to pretty much just being his regular old Atom self.  And, as had been frequent in the years prior, that resulted in his inclusion as a recurring character for the JLA, even as it reformatted into a more core team line-up towards the end of the decade.  Atom was on the shortlist of characters who didn’t quite make the cut for Kenner’s Total Justice line, and would have had at least a “micro” version of himself (albeit in his wonky teen look) had the line continued.  When it came time for Hasbro’s JLA continuation, Atom managed to sneak in for the line’s final assortment, with what was his first proper action figure.  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Atom was released in Series 4 of Hasbro’s JLA line.  He, alongside Red Tornado and Wonder Woman, represented the “new” for the assortment, a fitting send-off for the line, filling in some of the classic roster.  Atom is pretty much as classic as the line got, in fact, because he was just in his original costume, rather than an updated equivalent like most of the line.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As with a lot of these figures, Atom was banking on a lot of parts re-use.  Curiously, his parts weren’t re-used from JLA or its predecessor Total Justice.  Rather, his body from the neck down is the Batman & Robin line’s Dick Grayson figure.  It gives Atom the distinction of being hands down the least pre-posed figure in the whole line, by virtue of his very basic standing pose.  It’s honestly not a bad bit of re-use, though, with its generally basic layout of design elements and the nice raised gloves sculpt.  He gets a new head sculpt, which is pretty respectable, and fits well with the re-used parts.  I like the sculpted insignia in the forehead quite a bit.  The figure’s paint work is generally not bad.  Unlike others in the line, he doesn’t have to ignore any sculpted costume elements, or anything like that, and the colors are generally a good match for how he was being colored in the comics at the time.  Mine’s got a spot of wear on his nose, but that’s hardly the fault of the figure.  Atom was packed with a JLA display stand in bright red, as well as a miniature version of himself, which I unfortunately lost a good many years ago.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was very excited for this figure when he was announced.  I recall seeing him on Raving Toy Maniac, and having my dad print out the picture of him, which I carried around with me a lot while I waited for his release.  My dad made a point of tracking him down for me relatively quickly after they started hitting, and gave him to me for some sort of occasion, although I can’t recall exactly what.  I think the mini Atom made it maybe a week from opening, and then I just had the main one, who did get a heck of a lot of play time from me.  He’s honestly just a pretty clean, solid take on the character, not really held back by the usual weirdness of this line, which is really cool.

#3969: Attuma

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

ATTUMA

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Believing he is the prophesized conqueror of the undersea world, due to his super-human strength, the depth-dwelling Attuma has dedicated his life trying to overthrow the peaceful empire on the lost continent of Atlantis. Although he has come close on many occasions to realizing his twisted scheme, launching numerous attacks against the city and its prince – Namor, The Sub-Mariner; Attuma has never been able to claim a lasting victory over Atlantis, thanks to Namor and his powerful allies – The Fantastic Four!”

If you were to ask Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa the 1990 classic Kindergarten Cop who his favorite Marvel super villain might be, I don’t know that he’d have an answer for certain, but he’d probably insist that “It’s not Attuma!”

….Did you like that?  Was that good?  No.  Yeah, I didn’t really think so either, but I’ve had it running through my head the whole time I was trying to write this, so now you guys have to live with it too.  Don’t you feel very lucky?  In contrast to the assumed words of former Governor Schwarzenegger, today’s review focus here on the site, in fact, *is* Attuma.  So there.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Attuma was released in Series 3 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  What’s interesting about this guy is that he’s not even shown on the back of the box at all.  The back shows a line-up that included Adam Warlock, who was ultimately dropped, while Attuma, not at all advertised, was included, pairing off with his nemesis Namor, and making him the third and final aquatic-themed figure in this assortment.  Despite the line being based on the show, Attuma was actually not featured in either season of Fantastic Four, though he would make an appearance in 1999’s Avengers: United They Stand, albeit with a rather different design.  So, this figure is based on his classic comics design, which works out more in his favor than his nemesis, truth be told.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has…well, his articulation’s a bit tricky.  He’s got at least 8 points, thanks to more regular joints on both legs, the neck, the waist, and the shoulder and elbow of his left arm.  His right arm has points of movement at the shoulder and elbow, but neither really moves freely, as they’re instead tied into his action figure, which kind of sort of does a sword slashing thing, but not all that well.  It’s an odd choice.  The sculpt on Attuma is unique to him, and it’s generally okay.  It certainly captures Attuma’s look, but seems to struggle a bit with getting some parts of it into three dimensions.  The bit of yellow behind his head seems like a particular point of contention.  Beyond that, some of the proportions do feel a little wonky, and the feet seem especially off, with some of Blizzard’s “two left feet” syndrome seeming to kick in.  Attuma’s color work is reasonable enough.  They’ve gone with his more blue look, which works fine enough, but it’s not how I usually think of him, outside of this particular figure.  Attuma is packed with a three-pronged sword, which his can either hold awkwardly in his right hand or store awkwardly on his back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t get Attuma when he was first released, but instead picked him up when I took my trip to the KB Toys liquidation center in the early ‘00s.  I don’t recall having a particular draw to him beyond “I’m getting others and I don’t have this one.”  This was further supported by me not actually opening him for a good couple of months after the others, which was especially odd for me at the time.  That figure would eventually lose one of his lower legs along the way (because I just was sold on not paying him much mind, by that time; I swear I wasn’t meaning to neglect the poor figure), so I ended up buying a replacement from Cosmic Comix several years back.  That one was *also* sealed, and *also* remained sealed for longer than the others I bought at the same time.  It’s not Attuma’s fault, really.  The figure’s…fine?  He’s weird.  But, he’s also one of the very few Attuma figures, so I guess he’s got that going for him?

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0055: Shatterstar II

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

SHATTERSTAR II

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

Well, last week was all special cuz it was Black Friday, but this week’s just, like, a regular Friday.  Either way, I’m doing a Flashback Friday Figure Addendum, so I guess it doesn’t matter much to me.  I’m going *way* outside my comfort zone here, with more Toy Biz Marvel, as I take a follow-up look at Shatterstar!

Ah, the 90s. What wondrous creations you gave us. The X-Men were super hyped up, so, obviously, it being the 90s, they needed an edgier, x-ier spin-off team. Enter X-Force, a slightly re-worked version of the New Mutants, with several new, more x-treme members. It had art done by Rob Liefeld, who seemed to set out to make it the most 90s thing imaginable. One of his additions was the character Shatterstar, who was either an alien or a mutant who had the amazing ability to…ummm….have swords? Yeah, I don’t know.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shatterstar here was released as part of Series 3 of ToyBiz’s X-Force, which, like the comic, was a spin-off of the X-Men line. As the name denotes, this is the second figure of Shatterstar that the line offered. Shatterstar stands roughly 5 inches tall and features 9 points of articulation. This figure is actually based on Greg Capullo’s redesign of the character following Liefeld’s departure from the series. It’s…a little better? It’s more symmetrical, that’s for sure. That being said, he’s still got many of the 90s trademarks. He’s got pouches, shoulder pads, pouches, some weird headband thing, pouches, and that funky sunburst tattoo over just the one eye. Though, I guess you need some of that 90s flare to recognize it as Shatterstar, right? It should also be noted that Shatterstar also appears to have been doing a bit of juicing since his first figure. He looks…I don’t want to say puffy… but, yeah. He’s gotta be at least twice the size of the previous Shatterstar figure. Now, to be fair, that figure did seem a little emaciated, but this one seems to have gone a bit too far the other way. It’s not completely off the mark for Capullo’s rendition of the character, but the size feels a little bit laughable. That being said, the figure has a sculpt that is up to the standards of other ToyBiz Marvel stuff of the time. The details are nice and clean (which is certainly better that the comics) and the figure does a pretty good job of translating the comics design to three dimensions. The paintwork on Shatterstar is generally pretty clean. There’s some bleed over here and there, but nothing too noticeable. The colors are nice and bright, which is always a plus. Shatterstar included a pair of his trademark (and oh so silly looking) twin-bladed swords. Sadly, my figure doesn’t have them. He does, however, still have his action feature. His arms can be raised and locked into place, and then released by pressing the button on his pack, resulting in a slashing effect of sorts. So there!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Whilst at Balticon this year, I dug this guy out of a dollar bin of loose figures. I kind of have an addiction to the old 90s ToyBiz stuff, so I obviously had to get him (and several others…). Truth be told, goofy as he is, I kind of like Shatterstar, and this is definitely the best of his 90s figures. Certainly worth the dollar I paid!

Well, I feel like I did alright with that review.  He was from a bulk of figures purchased in the spring of 2015, which was a pretty decent run of purchases for me.  I had a lot of Toy Biz to review around this time, and I remember that was quite a pleasant thing for me.  Since I fished this guy out of a loose bin of figures for a dollar, he was missing his swords.  Thankfully, I’ve tracked down some replacements for him in the mean time, so the guy whose gimmick is “sword” now has his swords.  It’s funny that in tandem with Shatterstar getting much bulkier, his swords got smaller, so they do look pretty puny in his hands.  You can also store them on his back, though, which is pretty cool.