Tag Archives: 90s

#4093: Ice Terror Mr. Freeze

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

ICE TERROR MR. FREEZE

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

When the first Batman movie came out in 1989, they just had the one villain, but by Returns, they’d decided they needed to up the stakes with two, which was kept for Forever.  By the time of Batman & Robin, it was apparently just not frantic enough, so they upped it to three villains, all of them classically unrelated.  In a movie featuring Bane, a tall, imposing, muscular villain with a notable accent, Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast as Mr Freeze, which is the obvious, undisputed set-up, right?  Arnold as the cryogenics expert?  Well, at least he got to make lots of ice puns.  After “Heart of Ice” revamped the character and gave him a tremendous amount of depth, Batman & Robin definitely did some major back-pedaling.  That said, almost 30 years removed, it’s a pretty amusing Arnold performance.  And, as with everything else about the movie, there were certainly some cool toys.  Let’s look at one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ice Terror Mr. Freeze was one of the two deluxe figures in the initial product drop for Kenner’s Batman & Robin tie-in line.  It’s one of the two Mr. Freezes at launch, neither of them really even approaching movie accurate, but we’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Ice Terror Mr. Freeze was a mostly unique sculpt.  The head’s the same as the Iceblast Mr. Freeze from the standard series, but from the neck down he’s unique.  The first batch of tie-in figures for the movie were especially affected by the rushed production schedule, and I’ve somewhat discussed that with the Batgirl figure, but the early Mr. Freezes were especially inaccurate.  I suppose you could argue that there’s a general silhouette here that’s sort of close to the film, and what’s visible of the face has more than a passing resemblance to Arnold, but beyond that?  It’s totally removed from what we see on the screen.  There’s…well, there’s certainly a lot going on.  He’s got lots of tubes and stuff, which, I guess isn’t a terrible concept for the guy.  He does seem a bit small for an Arnold Mr. Freeze, but that’s more of a line-wide issue, I feel.  The colors aren’t very accurate either, at least in their placement. The actual colors aren’t really too far, and he’s ultimately a bit closer in that regard than Iceblast was.  In general, it’s just a good Mr. Freeze color scheme, so I can’t really knock it.  In order to justify this as a deluxe release, Ice Terror Mr. Freeze gets a rather sizable accessory set-up.  Not in quantity, mind you, just in actual size, as he includes a “Street Chill Dragster” which is a three-wheeled vehicle thing that also transforms? It’s not a terribly involved thing, and the transformation is almost negligible, but I guess it’s not terrible.  Also included is the “Ice Crystal Rocket,” which is a big bazooka thing, which he can either mount on the dragster or hold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The summer of 1997 brought me a whole selection of figures from this line, and this guy was one of the batch I got as birthday presents.  Even before it had totally sunk in with me that maybe it wasn’t a very good movie, I was a bit more critical of Schwarzenegger as Freeze, because I was such a big fan of Michael Ansara’s animated performance.  So, in that regard, this guy wasn’t really ever my default Freeze the way the original Animated figure was.  He did, however, serve as a pretty fantastic basic sort of villain.  I lost his dragster over the years, but recently got a replacement.  He’s really far removed from the movie design, but it’s undeniably a fun figure.

#4092: Marvel Girl

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

MARVEL GIRL

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“Blasting out of the Marvel Universe are its most powerful heroines, the She-Force! Joining together to fight evil are mutants Marvel Girl, Wolfsbane and Dazzler along with Avengers Tigra and Ms. Marvel. Challenging the threat of the Brotherhood of evil Mutants, the She-Force has what it takes to get the job done. Using their combined abilities, the She-Force takes down the Brotherhood in one explosive battle!”

In a nice bit of segue from last week’s Dazzler review, let’s talk about what has thus far been the quiet uniting theme of this month’s Marvel reviews, X-Factor.  X-Factor was, from the start, a plan to re-unite the original five X-Men in a new book, with the notable caveat that one of those five, Jean Grey, was very much dead at the time. The original plan was for Dazzler to join as the group’s fifth member, which actually made it far enough along that her joining a team with Beast was referenced at the end of their shared miniseries.  But, when Kurt Busiek pitched a compelling way to bring back Jean while still preserving the end of the “Dark Phoenix Saga,” plans changed, and Jean returned, briefly going back to her Marvel Girl monicker, albeit with a new costume to match the rest of the team.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Marvel Girl is the last figure from Series 6 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Hall of Fame, a Puzzle Zoo Exclusive line.  She likewise wraps up this assortment’s second go at the “She-Force” banner for the line.  This was the second Jean Grey in the line, both of them under the “She-Force” banner.  I guess they were trying to make up for how generally absent she was from the X-Men line?  She’s seen here in her green and yellow X-Factor costume, specifically the tweaked version of it where she’d switched from the full cowl to just the face mask part (likely a choice dictated by parts available, but it’s ultimately the better look).  Interestingly, this makes her the wrong costume to match the X-Factor Cyclops from X-Men Series 1, since he was in his white and blue from the second batch of costumes. Given she’s also taller than he is, it’s probably not the end of the world, though.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and she has 8 points of articulation.  She’s making use of the Spider-Woman mold, specifically the modified Jessica Drew version, which removed the action feature and added in elbow joints. Honestly, it’s not a bad set-up.  Apart from the lack of neck articulation (which was usually pretty spotty on the long-haired figures anyways), it’s a solid sculpt, with a good, basic set-up for details.  It lacks any extraneous details to throw it off, and it’s just generally a pretty okay match for Jean’s look of the era.  Her paint work is generally not too bad.  The yellow on green is a little bit wobbly around the edges, but the face is quite clean, and the accenting on the hair is quite nice.  Marvel Girl is packed with a rather odd back-pack weapon thing, originally packed with Ninja Psylocke.  It’s…well it’s odd, but that was true of most of the Hall of Fame accessories.  They were mostly just trying to fill up the box to justify the price.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I didn’t personally own this figure as a kid, my dad did, on the basis of it being one of the few easily available Jean figures at the time, so I do remember it being around the house.  I can’t say I have much memory of her beyond that.  I got mine a few years ago, at the same time as the Dazzler figure from last week.  While not top-tier in terms of costumes, it’s not a terrible design at all, and it makes for a solid all around figure.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0083: Iceboard Robin

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

ICEBOARD ROBIN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

G’day and welcome to Friday.  Here at the end of the week, it’s always important to note that the week is, in fact, ending, and we’ve all made it through another one.  Yay us!  Rather than just looking back on the week, of course, I like to be a bit more retrospective than that, and today, I’m returning to Robin!

“Gotham City becomes a very cold place when Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane triple team to plot the icy demise of Batman and Robin. The crimefighters respond immediately by using the Batcomputer deep within the Batcave to develop an array of cutting-edge weapons that can be used in their battle against this multitude of fiendish foes. Discover the Secrets of the Batcave! – secret technology that gives Batman , Robin and Batgirl the ultimate ability to save Gotham City!”

After the box office success of Batman Forever (I know, I’m surprised, too), Warner Brothers decided to fast track its follow-up, Batman & Robin, with its entire production process coming in at under two years, which, when you’re dealing with a block-buster of this caliber, isn’t a lot of time.  The end result was less than stellar.  Batman & Robin holds the lowest earnings of any Batman film to date, and is still regarded as one of the worst comic book films ever made.  With all that said, it did succeed on one front: it was a pretty excellent toy commercial.  The toyline that accompanied the film was easily the best part of the whole thing.  Amazingly, though I dove into the Batman Forever line, I have as of yet not looked at any Batman & Robin figures.  I’ll be changing that today, with Iceboard Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iceboard Robin was released in the first basic series of Kenner’s Batman & Robin line, which hit shelves in 1997, alongside the film.  The first series had two Robins included, with this one being the “standard” movie Robin.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Robin sported an all-new sculpt.  Robin is actually the most fortunate of the film’s main characters, as he was the only one whose design didn’t change during the production process, meaning his was the only standard figure that was actually film accurate.  Additionally, Robin’s design, which was a pretty nifty merging of more classic Robin characteristics with the then current Nightwing costume from the comics, is really one of the nicest of the film’s designs in general, if you can get past the general Chris O’Donnel-ness of the head.  The sculpt does a nice job of capturing the look from the movie, and is generally a lot sturdier and more sharply detailed than the Forever figures were.  Pre-posing on this figure is at a minimum, but he’s a little better than the straight standing poses of prior figures.  There’s a more natural stance here, and it’s actually pretty darn nice.  The cape is a plastic piece, as were most of the capes on this round of figures, and it plugs into his back fairly securely.  Robin’s paintwork is pretty basic, which the majority of stuff being molded plastic.  However, the red detailing of the uniform is pretty cool, and has a slick metallic finish to it.  Iceboard Robin was, stay with me on this, packed with an iceboard, which is really just a big, goofy stand.  He also included a missile launcher, but mine is missing that piece.  Oh no, whatever will I do?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was too young to see Batman Forever in theaters (though I sure got in on those toys), but Batman & Robin hit at the perfect time for me to be all about it.  I was very excited prior to the film’s release (and even after, if I’m honest, because I loved it.  In my defense, I was 5), and this guy was part of the hype.  At the time, Toys R Us was running a promotion where you got reprints of Robin, Batgirl, and Mr. Freeze’s first appearances if you bought one of the toys from the tie-in line, and my mom was awesome enough to take me over one day after work.  Unsurprisingly, given my more recent collecting habits, I opted for Robin to be my qualifying figure purchase.  Quality of the film and of the actor playing Robin aside, this figure holds up well, and is just a genuinely fun offering.

Behold, a shutdown review!  Yep, this was from the middle of April in 2020, as I was starting to worry about how to keep the daily reviews going without a consistent source of new stuff.  Which is, honestly, kind of funny in my current spot, when I’m working from a lot more back catalog offerings than I really ever have been before.  If anything, it’s reviews like this one that got me more comfortable with going back to the stuff already in my collection more frequently.  While my figure had his iceboard at the time of his review, he was missing all his weaponry.  I actually found his missile launcher while going through boxes of parts, and got a second figure for the staff, so he’s all complete again.  I actually quite like the staff; it’s silly, but i like it.

#4089: First Mate Robin

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

FIRST MATE ROBIN

LEGENDS OF BATMAN (KENNER)

“An orphaned street urchin rescued years before by Buccaneer Batman, First Mate Robin now stands shoulder to shoulder with his captain the put down the terrifying pirate threat.  Facing down entire pirate bands with his customized blasting cannon, swift cutlass sword and unbridled temper, First Mate Robin is relentless in his desire to wipe out the ruthless evildoers he holds responsible for sending his parents to their watery graves.”

While it’s only been since 2024 that I discussed Legends of Batman, Kenner’s Elseworlds-inspired Batman comics line from the ‘90s, I haven’t talked about my personal favorite subset of the line since way back in 2017.  Remember when the cast were all just sort of pirates?  Well, we’re back with the pirates, with the sidekick to….well, one of the Batmen.  Not Pirate Batman, but specifically Buccaneer Batman, who is specifically called out in the bio and was released in the same series.  Let’s take a look at First Mate Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

First Mate Robin was released in the third series of Legends of Batman, which also included the pirate versions of Batman and Joker, for a nice little subset.  This was the second of the two Robins in the line, neither of them standard.  Like Crusader Robin, he was later recolored for a WB Store exclusive, but the one seen here is the original release.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s got a bit of pre-posing going on, with sort of a mid-run kind of thing.  That said, he’s far more stable on his feet than most of the line, so I can’t really knock it.  His sculpt was totally unique, and like the other pirate figures, not based directly on any comics design that I know of.  Like Buccaneer Batman, he takes the broad-strokes of Robin’s classic design, and sort of rebuilds them as a Pirate design.  It’s got a lot of neat elements in place, and is a bit more “plain clothes” than the Batman design, which I think works a bit better for Robin.  Like Batman, he gets a belt running across his chest, bearing his logo.  In his case, it’s not as off-placed as Batman, so it feels less like it was afflicted by marketing.  His cape is a separate removable piece, with a rather notable split at the collar than has trouble staying in place.  Robin’s color work leaves some spots of his rather detailed sculpt notably unpainted, opting for more of the prominent details.  Things like buckles and bandanas get left unpainted.  Also, I’m pretty sure his torso is supposed to show part of his chest exposed (if the art on his card is anything to go by), but it’s painted white like his undershirt instead.  As with Crusader Robin, First Mate Robin’s hair is a lighter brown, rather than black, presumably a vestigial element of Chris O’Donnell’s casting in the role.  First Mate Robin is packed with the blasting cannon and cutlass mentioned in his bio, as well as a Skybox trading card.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While my memory of specific marketing for a lot of the figures I own is rather vague, the Pirate figures are not one of those cases, as I vividly remember the TV commercial for them, and the corresponding excitement I had for getting them.  Robin was a gift for my fourth birthday, alongside the corresponding Batman, and the two of them spent a lot of time sailing around in my Fisher Price pirate ship.  While both Batmen from this theme have action features to contend with, First Mate Robin is just a pretty solid basic figure, with a fun design and a rather impressive sculpt.  He could perhaps stand to have a slightly better paint job, but for the era, it’s not terrible.

#4088: Dazzler

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

DAZZLER

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“Blasting out of the Marvel Universe are its most powerful heroines, the She-Force! Joining together to fight evil are mutants Marvel Girl, Wolfsbane and Dazzler along with Avengers Tigra and Ms. Marvel. Challenging the threat of the Brotherhood of evil Mutants, the She-Force has what it takes to get the job done. Using their combined abilities, the She-Force takes down the Brotherhood in one explosive battle!”

Alison Blair, aka the Dazzler, was originally dreamed up as a collaboration between Marvel Comics and Casablanca Records, first as “Disco Queen,” then “Disco Dazzler,” then simply “Dazzler,” as an attempt at a multimedia character, existing not just in the comics, but also as a “real” performer, much like the Archies, with albums, animated appearances, and possibly even real life performances as well.  The multimedia element proved difficult to make work on a reasonable schedule, and ideas kept shifting, and ultimately Marvel opted to just make her a proper Marvel character, introducing her in the pages of X-Men, before allowing her to move out into the wider universe.  Though never exactly A-list, she’s gotten quite a following over the years.  Despite debuting in 1980, she would get her first action figure until well into the ‘90s, with a figure I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dazzler was released in Series 6 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Hall of Fame line, a Puzzle Zoo-exclusive line of repaints and re-issues.  Series 6 was the second batch of “She-Force” figures for the line.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  As with the rest of the line, Dazzler is a total parts re-use.  In her case, it’s Black Cat’s head on Invisible Woman’s body.  Interestingly, this exact same combo was used for Jean Grey in the Famous Couples two-pack.  Honestly, it might work a bit better for Dazzler, since the hair in particular feels like a pretty good match for her disco-era look.  The body is decent enough, though it’s a more conventional super her suit than Dazzler’s bell-bottomed disco jumpsuit.  There are some adjustments to her overall look, so as to better match up with the sculpted costume elements of the body, which is a little surprising, since Toy Biz tended to just ignore such things outright.  The paint work does an okay job of capturing her look.  It’s largely basic, but the eye details are pretty sharp, and the hair gets some nice accent work.  The paint on the hair is a little tacky, though, and prone to catching a lot of dust.  Dazzler is packed with a recolored pair of Jubilee’s roller blades, as well as her effect piece.  While the skates aren’t quite the right vintage for Dazzler’s, it’s an inspired re-use to say the least, and the effect piece is also nice, even if it’s a little awkward in her hand.  Also included is a Fleer trading card, which for my figure was a Cyclops.  That’s pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember seeing this figure when she was relatively new. However, my only exposure to the character at the time was “Pryde of the X-Men” and her brief appearance in X-Men: The Animated Series, both of which use her ‘80s flashdance look, so I didn’t really connect with this design.  In more recent years, I’ve gained a better appreciation for the older look (though I do still sort of prefer the later design), so I finally tracked her down, when she was part of a collection that Cosmic Comix bought about five years or so ago.  She’s a good example of the parts re-use approach being a solid way to expand the line-up when used well.  There are some minor oddities, but mostly she’s a good approximation of the character, and it’s clear who she’s supposed to be when on the shelf.

#4087: Qui-Gon Jinn — Jedi Duel

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

QUI-GON JINN — JEDI DUEL

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

“A wise and powerful Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn discovers young Anakin Skywalker, proving to be a pivotal event to the future of the Jedi and to the entire galaxy for generations to come.”

Hey, remember last week when I said my Episode I collection was just Obi-Wans and Qui-Gons?  Well, I wasn’t lying. I wouldn’t do that to you, dear reader.  No, I believe in always telling the truth.  Unless a lie is funnier.  Then I might lie.  But is only having a collection of Obi-Wans and Qui-Gons from Episode I all that funny?  I don’t think so, so it’s probably not worth lying about.  Are you all keeping up with me on this?  If I’m honest, I’m mostly just monologuing a bit here so that I don’t have to come up with anything else to say in this intro.  Here’s Qui-Gon!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Qui-Gon Jinn — Jedi Duel was released in the big initial product launch for Star Wars: Episode I from Hasbro in 1999.  He was the standard Qui-Gon, meant to pair off with the “Jedi Duel” Obi-Wan for the purposes of facing off against the “Jedi Duel” Darth Maul.  It’s all nice and tidy that way.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Like the Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon had additional movement at the elbows and wrists, allowing for better holding of his lightsaber, thereby better fitting the whole “Jedi Duel” thing.  His sculpt was unique, though similar in style to the Obi-Wan figure.  He’s maybe a bit stiff in terms of posing and how the outfit hangs, but it’s not awful.  His head looks like Qui-Gon the character, I guess, but not very much like Liam Neeson the actor; he just seems to lack Neeson’s more unique features, resulting in a far more generic sculpt that seems to rely more on the hair and beard to sell the character.  The hair hangs slightly over the shoulders, which restricts the neck movement a bit, and the lower portion of his tunic likewise restricts the hips, but he’s otherwise decently posable, which is nice for a figure of this era.  His paint work is very similar to the deluxe version I looked at two weeks ago, at least in terms of colors and general layout.  Once more, the hair and beard get a bit of grey accenting, which makes things just the slightest bit more realistic.  Qui-Gon is packed with his lightsaber and a CommTech display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in my last Qui-Gon review, the deluxe was my original Qui-Gon, and this one followed shortly after, but I’d already gotten attached to the first one, and so this one was never as much of an interest for me.  I suppose he’s a better figure from a technical standpoint, but I can’t say he really does much for me that the other one doesn’t, and I still feel like the sculpt on the other one looks more like Qui-Gon.  But, as far as basic figures go, this one checks all the boxes and is far from a bad figure.

#4084: Wolfsbane

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

WOLFSBANE

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“Blasting out of the Marvel Universe are its most powerful heroines, the She-Force! Joining together to fight evil are mutants Marvel Girl, Wolfsbane and Dazzler along with Avengers Tigra and Ms. Marvel. Challenging the threat of the Brotherhood of evil Mutants, the She-Force has what it takes to get the job done. Using their combined abilities, the She-Force takes down the Brotherhood in one explosive battle!”

Last week, X-Men ’97 finally returned with its long-awaited second season, with a whopping three episode drop at the premier.  The season’s structure has the main team split across time, so that gives some space for some of the offshoot teams to shine a bit as well.  Returning following their single episode focus in X-Men: The Animated Series is X-Factor’s ‘90s line-up.  They were one of the few teams that Toy Biz actually managed to finish outright (well, we never got Val Cooper, but she’s not *really* on the team), with figures spread across all sorts of releases.  I’ve actually looked at all but one of them, with the last one, Wolfsbane, serving as today’s focus!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolfsbane was released in Series 6 of Toy Biz’s Puzzle Zoo-exclusive Marvel Hall of Fame line, as part of the second “She-Force” branded assortment.  This was the first of two Wolfsbane figures under Toy Biz, and this one was based on her then current X-Factor attire.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  Wolfsbane is using a modified version of the Deathbird mold.  It’s an odd mold in terms of posing, since it’s got the v-hips, no elbows, and minimal movement on the knees.  It does at least have nice movement in the shoulders.  The body’s been modified to remove the various mounting spots for the wings.  It’s fine on the arms, but the back ends up with this rather odd raised flat spot that’s out of place.  Since the mold has no sculpted fur detailing of any sort, they decided to sort of offset the issue with actual fur (or at least a simulated version of it), glued to the figure’s head, forearms, and shins.  It’s weird, and all over the place.  Honestly, the arms and legs aren’t too bad, but the head is real wonky.  The shaping is just way off, and it’s very hard to get it look right.  Given her hair is already pretty much as it’s supposed to be, I don’t really know why they bothered, but here we are.  The color work on Wolfsbane is fine, I guess.  The uniform is a bit sloppy, and the colors don’t really match the others, but also they weren’t very consistent with those shades anyway.  The brown chosen feels rather on the dark side, given Rahne was usually closer to orange.  She’s also got no pupils, which is a bit odd, and her lips are downright cartoonish.  Wolfsbane’s accessories include five bones, because, umm, she needed five bones I guess?  The Hall of Fame accessories were always kind of weird.  She also included a trading card, in my case a Quasar and Gladiator fight scene.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had the rest of the X-Factor for quite a while, having finished them up back in 2011 or so.  This one missed me.  Or I guess I missed her?  I don’t know.  I knew the figure existed, and I was generally sort of looking for it, but she just never really landed in front of me.  Back at the beginning of June, I took a trip down to South Carolina for memorial service for Jess, which gave me a chance to revisit some of my old regular spots, including our old comic shop, Power Comics.  They supplied with a good many Toy Biz figures during my time in Conway, so I was delighted to find that they still had quite a large selection of older figures, and I ended up snagging quite a few that I still needed.  Wolfsbane’s not the greatest figure from this line, especially with the weird fur, but I have to admire her from the perspective of Toy Biz actually finishing up a team line-up.

#4083: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Naboo

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OBI-WAN KENOBI — NABOO

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

“The young Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his mentor, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, help Queen Amidala and her forces in their attempt to liberate the planet Naboo from the overwhelming onslaught of the Trade Federation.”

On we march with this Phantom Menace—oh, sorry, Episode I thing, apparently.  It does sort of feel like the next natural point after Power of the Force wrapped up, I suppose.  I’ll admit, it’s a bit more of a limited selection as far as my personal collection goes.  Pretty much, it’s Obi-Wans and Qui-Gons.  I knew what I liked as a kid, and it was really those two.  I’ve looked at *most* of my Obi-Wans, but not all of them, so, here’s another one of those.  This time he’s got a robe!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi — Naboo was part of the second push of product from Hasbro’s Star Wars: Episode I line, hitting after the movie’s release in 1999.  He was the line’s second main Obi-Wan, following up the Jedi Duel release.  The main difference, as noted above, is robe.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  The Jedi Duel release added elbow and wrist swivels to the articulation set-up, and this one keeps them…on the right arm.  The left is back to just the shoulder.  His sculpt was totally and unique, but certainly had a lot in common with the earlier Obi-Wan.  The heads in particular look like they’re the same general depiction of the same guy, with only minor tweaks in posing.  It’s not a spitting image of Ewan McGregor, but it’s not awful for the scale and the era.  The detailing on the clothing is a bit sharper and refined than the Jedi Duel version, and tops everything off with a rubber robe piece, very similar to that of the mail-away Mace Windu.  It’s got a good flow and hang to it, and while it’s not ideal for posing, it’s not terrible for it either.  His color work is basic, but generally does what it needs to.  Like all of the earlier prequel Obi-Wans, the hair’s a bit darker than it should really be, but otherwise things work out alright.  He’s packed with a lightsaber that’s ignited, a non-ignited hilt, and a CommTech stand.  The non-ignited hilt was a cool extra, since it hadn’t really been done before, and it can even be plugged into his belt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I, of course, had the first Obi-Wan as soon as possible after seeing the movie, because I just had to.  I was actually so fixated on him having his robe that my mom bought me the Naboo accessory set so that I’d have the robe from that one.  And then, weeks after getting that, I found this guy at the store, and really wanted him, even though I already had a robe for the other one.  Having a Qui-Gon who also needed a robe did at least help me plead my case.  Also, the fact that my basic Obi-Wan’s hair braids at all broke off, so this could be my “standard” Obi-Wan, which he was for quite a stretch of time.  I think he holds up pretty darn well, honestly.

#4082: Trixie

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

TRIXIE

SPEED RACER (RESAURUS)

Though Speed Racer may be named just after the guy that drives the main race car, the series is actually quite an ensemble piece, with his whole cast of supporting characters getting in on the crazy hijinx.  His girlfriend Trixie is a trained pilot who serves as Speed’s spotter during his races, meaning she’s frequently right there for all the crazy stuff when it goes down.  Also, in quite a subversion of events for a show from the ‘60s, she’s not really a damsel in distress, always shown as being just as capable in a fight as Speed, and always given the villains a piece of her mind on the rare occasion she *does* get captured.  What am I getting at here?  Well, she’s really cool, is the main thing.  And cool characters?  They should have cool action figures.  Hey, here’s a cool action figure of Trixie!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Trixie was released in the first series of ReSaurus’s Speed Racer toyline from the ‘90s, alongside the standard Speed, Pops, and Captain Terror.  Trixie had a few different recurring looks in the original show, giving her more options than the rest of the cast, but ReSaurus wisely went with her “action” outfit, the jumpsuit and hatted look she always sported when spotting for Speed during races.  The figure stands just under 4 3/4 inches tall and she has 8 points of articulation.  Her articulation scheme is similar to the rest of the line, with basic 5, plus waist and wrist swivels.  She’s got something approaching v-hips, but not quite to the same level as other female figures of the time, which makes them slightly more practical for posing purposes.  As with the rest of the line, her sculpt takes the important elements of the show design, and then injects a lot more detailing, with pockets, wrinkles, and stitching on her outfit.  She’s more on the pre-posed side, as a Series 1 figure, but it’s not too crazy, rather just a bit of flavor to her stance.  It makes it a bit trickier to get her just right for standing, so the stand is a bit more essential here than on the others.  The paint work is okay, but sort of spotting in some spots.  The actual coloring isn’t too bad, nor is the sharper detailing on the face, but there’s some definite slop on the arms and legs.  Trixie is packed with her hat (which sits very securely on the head and avoids looking too crazy over-sized), a pair of flags, a backpack, a map (which can be folded up to go in the map), and a display stand.  The backpack’s soft rubber construction means the straps can tear if you’re not careful, which is what happened to one of the straps on mine.  Otherwise, they’re a pretty neat assortment of extras, really going above and beyond what she really needs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I only actually had Racer X during the original run, so all the others were later additions.  The summer the movie came out, there was a dealer at one of the local cons who had both Speed and Trixie on his table, and offered me a deal if I bought them both, so I did.  It was honestly the Trixie that really sold me.    Female figures in the ‘90s were rare and also so often just plain bad, so the fact that she’s such a nice offering has always been super cool.  The whole line is an instance where each figure is kind of its own masterpiece, and Trixie is no exception to that.  She’s probably my favorite offering from the line, even 18 years after I got her.

#4081: Razor Skate Robin

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

RAZOR SKATE ROBIN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

Okay, I took a couple of weeks off from the retro DC reviews so that I could look at new stuff, but lets go back to the retro stuff for a moment.  I started the month off with a civilian/quick change version of Bruce Wayne from Batman & Robin, so why not cap off this month’s DC reviews with the equivalent version of Robin, who in contrast to the Batman, is called “Robin” not “Dick Grayson.”  So, you know, I guess that’s just how it is.  Anyway, here’s Razor Skate Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Razor Skate Robin was released in the initial assortment for Kenner’s Batman & Robin tie-in line.  There were two Robins in the standard assortment; this one and the Iceboard Robin that served as the line’s standard Robin.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The core figure is Chris O’Donell in an outfit kind of similar to what the Bruce Wayne was wearing.  Like, it’s maybe a sweater and some sweat pants?  Honestly, the oddest part’s definitely the full-on gloves, but they aren’t terrible.  His head not only looks like Chris O’Donell, but also looks like him *in* the movie, which is a step up from the Clooney offering.  A good chunk of this mold would later be re-used for the JLA Atom figure.  The head sculpt was consistent with the Iceboard figure, but without the sculpted mask.  In general, the sculpt’s decent quality, with pretty sharp detailing and a not crazy pose or proportions.  The color work is fine; it’s not anything crazy, which is interesting for a figure from this era.  He’s mostly white and blue, and the application’s not too bad.  His transformation is facilitated with a bunch of add-on armor pieces, which includes a headset, cape/chest armor, and a pair of clip-on boots.  While still not a standard Robin, it generally feels a bit more organically connected to his movie design than the matching Batman look.  The most out there part of the whole thing is the goggles/headset in place of the usual mask.  Not a bad solution, ultimately though, and less problematic than the color changing mask from the transforming Robin from Forever.  As with the Batman, the boots include skates on the bottom (as called out by the name), which is a fun bit.  He’s also packed with like a pincer sort of thing?  It’s weird, but about what you’d expect from this line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As noted in my Bruce review, this figure was part of the pair, which I got on my birthday the year the movie came out.  While the Bruce was whatever, this figure was one that definitely stuck with me for a while.  He got a lot of use, both as Robin and as a number of other generic civilians (he was almost certainly a Rick Jones for my Avengers at some point).  I actually held onto almost all of him over the years, which is quite an accomplishment, but did lose the headgear, so I had to replace that one piece (which is why this review is running today, rather than three weeks ago when I actually wanted to run it).  He’s a clear variant and all, but I think he works a lot better than the typical quick-change figure.