Tag Archives: 90s

#3881: Darth Vader

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

DARTH VADER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“Darth Vader was known and feared throughout the galaxy as incredibly ruthless and evil, one who used the awesome powers of the dark side of the Force to carry out Emperor Palpatine’s horrific plans. But deep inside Lord Vader lay vestiges of the person he once was: young Anakin Skywalker, discovered on the planet Tatooine by a Jedi Knight who recognized the boy’s special Force talents. Anakin showed much promise and grew to be a great Jedi. Finally, the dark side beckoned him – and Anakin became Darth Vader.”

I’ve circled back a few times with Power Force regarding its initial approach to the characters with minimal changes between the films in the original trilogy.  At the start, they went with the same set-up as the vintage Kenner line, so characters like Vader, Chewbacca, R2, and 3PO each got one sort of averaged out, all encompassing figure.  As the line expanded, however, they clearly realized how limiting that might be, so slightly more diversified, film specific variants made their way in.  1998 kicked off with a rather specifically Return of the Jedi Vader with a fancy removable helmet and the proper inner robe he’d not had before.  At the end of the year, another Vader did something else never done before: a specifically A New Hope Vader.  It held that title for less than a year, but that’s hardly the point.  Let’s jump into to this short span Vader, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darth Vader was released in 1998’s first portion of the “Flashback Photo” Power of the Force II figures.  There was quite an A New Hope focus in this round of figures.  Vader, for his part, with his included lightsaber and slight action pose, was definitely designed to pair off with Obi-Wan from the same set.  The figure is just over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  He sported the same improved articulation as much of the other figures in this particular sub-set.  It does allow him to properly hold his lightsaber with both hands, which is at least pretty nice.  His sculpt was all-new, though it would see re-use a few times down the line later.  It’s…well, it’s something.  After the far improved sculpt we saw on the removable helmet Vader, this one is rather a step back, feeling far more in line with the earlier, puffier Vaders from the line.  The improved mobility is nice, but ultimately limited by how much extra bulk he’s got going on.  There’s at least some rather sharply sculpted texturing, so he’s a general step up from the original Vader in a purely technical sense.  The inner robe, which goes over his shoulder plate, is properly detailed, and even looks like its properly hanging on the armor beneath.  His paint work is also a bit better.  There are some more subtleties, with variations on the finish of the black sections, as well as red lenses on the eyes of the helmet.  Vader is packed with his lightsaber, as well as the Flashback Photo thingy.  It shows Vader proper, and then younger Anakin for the second time.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In a line with a bunch of rather similar Darth Vader figures, this one is notable for the lack of any real distinguishing features.  I guess he’s got some extra articulation?  For me, he falls squarely into “bought it for completion’s sake” territory.  I got him alongside a few of the other Flashback figures because he was there and I was getting the rest.  Luke and Obi-Wan were both figures I regretted waiting so long to actually open, but Vader…Vader’s just sort of meh.  He does nothing to really stand out at all.

Shoutout to 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.

#3880: Astro Megazord

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

ASTRO MEGAZORD

POWER RANGERS IN SPACE (BANDAI)

With Hasbro’s Lightning Collection ended and Playmates taking the line back to the Mighty Morphin roots again, I don’t do much talking about Power Rangers around here these days.  It’s not for lack of appreciation, but I’ll admit I don’t have *quite* the attachment some people do to it.  I am, however, a hardcore Power Rangers in Space supporter, so I do have my collection of stuff associated with that show, even going back to the original tie-in line for the show.  Something entirely absent from all of my Rangers coverage up to now is the Megazords, which are kind a key piece of all the shows.  I don’t really have many, because of the space commitments, but I still gotta get that In Space coverage somehow, so let’s look at an Astra Megazord.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Astro Megazord was released as part of the first “Action Zords” assortment of Bandai’s Power Rangers in Space tie-in line in the Spring of 1997.  The Action Zords were smaller scale Zords sold in the same blister style packaging as the standard release figures, as a sort of competitor to Micro Machines’ Action Fleet range.  There were two versions of the Astro Megazord, one in robot configuration, the other in ship mode, and the Mega Tank.  This figure here is the robot Astro Megazord, in case you couldn’t tell.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation.  The articulation is rather on the restricted side.  The neck, shoulders, and elbows are all just cut joints, while the hips and ankles are rather simple ball-joints.  None of it has much range, but then again, neither did the show design.  The biggest hang-up, really, is the lack of hinges on the elbows.  Also, for whatever reason, none of the joints really stay in place, so he falls apart a lot, especially at the arms.  There are also opening flaps on the torso and lower legs, allowing for some storage space. The sculpt here actually recreates the show design rather well, and since it’s not sporting any sort of transformation feature, it even winds up being more show accurate than the standard Megazord release. The sculpt is generally pretty sharp in terms of detailing, and there’s not too many concessions made for translating it to toy form. The Astro Megazord’s color work is pretty much just the basics, but it does those well. The colors match okay with the show (the blue could perhaps be a shade lighter, but it’s very minor), and the paint application is overall clean and without notable slop or bleed over. Mine’s got some slight wear, but given how long I’ve had him, he’s really not bad. The Astro Megazord is packed with his sword, shield, and blaster, as well as a miniature Red Ranger and Astro Glider. Andros and the glider are far from proper scaling, but still pretty neat, and show that lean into the Action Fleet stylings most clearly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was one of the handful of In Space toys I had when the show was still on. He was most definitely a purchase by my Grandmother on one of our KB Toys trips when I’d go and stay with her and my Granddad. This one got quite a bit of play, and got lugged back and forth to my post-Kindergarten day care more than a few times. I lost Andros and one of the arms along the way. Well, I lost the whole thing, and even bought myself a replacement a couple of years ago, but then I found most of my original, and used the replacement to restore him. He’s small, but super cool.

#3878: She-Hulk

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

SHE-HULK

MARVEL UNIVERSE (TOY BIZ)

So, here’s the neat thing about the original Secret Wars miniseries: it sucks!  Sorry, is that too harsh?  Well, I stand by it.  There were toys, and it’s big and flashy, and it’s got everyone’s favorites in one place, but it’s genuinely just a mess of a story that really doesn’t work if you put in under even the slightest bit of scrutiny.  There were, however, some good things that came out of it.  Obviously, Spider-Man’s new costume is high on the list, but also, in light of Ben Grimm’s decision to stay on Battle World, we get She-Hulk joining the Fantastic Four.  It’s a fun change of dynamic, and it worked out really well in their main book.  It’s also a great excuse for a She-Hulk variant.  Oh hey, here’s one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

She-Hulk is the seventh mail-away exclusive through ToyFare magazine, specifically offered up as an incentive for purchasing a year’s subscription in 1998.  This was Toy Biz’s second go at She-Hulk, which honestly makes her something of a rarity for the mail-aways, who tended to be new characters.  In fact, she’s also a pretty notable character in general, compared to the other caliber of characters generally offered.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and she has 8 points of articulation.  Her mold originally hailed from the Hulk line, which was made up of a lot of rather large figures.  She-Hulk was no exception.  She’s not incredibly posable, though.  The lack of neck or elbows, and the choice to give her the dreaded v-hips means she’s really only good for standing.  And even that’s a bit iffy, if I’m honest.  The sculpt is…well it is what it is.  It’s kind of soft, except for the hair, which is surprisingly sharp by comparison.  Her arms are rather long and her proportions are weird.  With all of the crazy builds of the characters in the Hulk line, I guess this one just sort of threw them for a bit of a loop.  It’s not awful, but not great.  Her distinguishing feature here is the paint work.  She’s got the FF uniform in place of her purple leotard, as seen in the comics.  It matches the earlier Fantastic Four line’s version of the team, so she can fit right in, even if that does mean that she’s got bright blue on the costume when it *technically* should be black, or at least a very dark blue.  I’ll give them a pass, since correcting it for her would mean she wouldn’t match the other figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember seeing the little pamphlet for this figure when she was offered up, but I didn’t fully comprehend at the time how you were supposed to get her.  My main She-Hulk wound up being the Hall of Fame version, and I just never got around to tracking this one down.  That is until I decided I was tired of all of my Toy Biz Marvel figures being boxed up or unopened, and put a bunch of them up on the shelves, at which point I started actively hunting the ones I didn’t have again.  She-Hulk wound up being the first of the ToyFare exclusives I was missing to wind up in front of me for a good deal, so here she is.  She’s got her issues for sure, but she’s good at what she needs to be, which is a Toy Biz FF She-Hulk.  Admittedly, I might be slightly biased on this one.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0033: Mole Man

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

MOLE MAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

We are back with the Flashback Friday Figure Addendums, and today, we’re continuing last week’s return back to my earliest Fantastic Four reviews here on the site.  This one contains less outright lying to my dear readers, but I won’t say it’s without issue.  So, here’s Mole Man!

I’m looking at a fourth (hey that’s neat!) figure from Toybiz’s 90s Fantastic Four line.  This time it’s a figure of their first foe (Other than those wacky cosmic rays):  Mole Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is Mole Man, released in the first wave of Fantastic Four figures.  He’s got 7 points of articulation and he stands about 5 inches tall.  And that’s an issue.  Mole Man is a character typically depicted as being a short, fat guy in the comics, and while Toybiz got the girth right, the scale of this figure is WAY off.  He’s the same height as just about everyone in the line, but he’s obviously meant to be smaller.  Quite frankly, he looks like he belongs with a marvel Legends set up, were it not for the more simplistic styling of the figure.  He’s also got this weird spinning right hand action feature.  When you press the button at the top of his right arm, his hand quickly spins 360 degrees.  I’m not really sure what it’s purpose is, but there you have it.  Somebody thought that was a good hook for the figure.  This figure is fairly disappointing, because the sculpt isn’t bad, but the scale totally kills it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mole Man, while disappointing, actually represents a pretty neat story.  He was purchased in 2003 from a KB Toys liquidation center.  It was pretty much this giant KB, that was full of deeply discounted toys from about 5-10 years earlier.  Mole Man was purchased along with a large selection of other 90s Marvel figures for an insanely low price, which excited me greatly.

Okay, I’m gonna be real with you guys: I don’t like this review.  That’s a first for me.  I’ve looked back on earlier writing and felt like maybe it didn’t hold up as well, but this is the first time I’ve just actively disliked it.  The “wacky cosmic rays” bit is perhaps the only thing I don’t hate.  I blame my desire to place whit over function earlier on in my writing, which sometimes worked, but sometimes did…this?

I feel like I was exceptionally harsh on the figure, specifically on the scaling front, which is a bit much.  Like, yes, he’s too large to properly fit with the rest of the line, but I don’t know that it’s a total deal breaker the way I make it out to be up above.  In fact, it’s a pretty nice sculpt, all things considered.  And yeah, the spinning wrist isn’t the most thrilling feature, but it works well with his staff, and it’s not as intrusive as, say, Dr. Doom’s launching arm or Reed’s rubber arms.  So, I’m gonna have to break from past Ethan and say I think this figure’s actually pretty okay.  He was missing his staff and little Moloid buddy when I reviewed him, but I’ve since found them, and they do really help make him cooler.

Also, I talk a little about the KB Toys Liquidation Center at the end, and say it’s a great story, but then I don’t really elaborate.  The significance of that story is that my Dad, Grandmother, brother, and I took a day trip out to this spot, and we just absolutely loaded up on stuff, a lot of it being Toy Biz Marvel for me.  And then we got lunch, and just generally had a good time of things.  My Grandmother viewed it as sort of a progression of our weekly trips to the KB in the mall near her house, and always reflected pretty positively on the trip, which was pretty cool.  So, *that’s* the cool story.

#3877: Luke Skywalker

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

LUKE SKYWALKER

STAR WAR: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“Bored with the mundane life of a moisture farmer on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker dreamed of being a great pilot. He targeted womp rats while racing his T-16 skyhopper through the steep and narrow walls of Beggar’s Canyon. Many years earlier, Luke’s father also raced over the surface of Tatooine in his podracer. Anakin eventually turned to the dark side and became Darth Vader but was finally redeemed by his son Luke.”

In the whole of the vintage Kenner run of Star Wars 3 3/4-inch figures, we got Luke’s “farmboy” look exactly once.  When Power of the Force II launched in the ’90s, the look got its second go right away.  And then it showed back up in 1998, and just… Kept. Showing. Up.  Between 1998 and 1999, there were no less than five versions of Farmboy Luke available, which is is a lot.  Today’s figure?  Well, he got a new hat.  No, seriously: he got a new hat.  Let’s look a Luke and his new hat.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker was released in the initial 1998 “Flashback Photo” assortment of Power of the Force.  The set had a rather “greatest hits” vibe to it, and Luke was right at home with that set-up.  This was the fourth of the five Farmboy Lukes in the ’98-’99 run.  He’s notable for being based on a deleted scene from the original film, which would have introduced Luke earlier than his purchase of the droids.  It’s interesting, because I think this was the first figure of its kind, which is pretty neat.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has a whopping 10 points of articulation.  He starts with the standard 6 and then also gets hinges at the elbows and swivels at the wrists, to say nothing of his neck joint being a ball joint, rather than the standard swivel.  He’s by far the most posable Luke in the line, which is somewhat amusing, given he’s not supposed to be from an action scene.  Though his sculpt looks very similar to the other four Farmboy Lukes, its wholly unique, thanks to how the articulation is implemented.  Honestly, it’s pretty nice.  The proportions aren’t the wacky muscle-bound set-up from earlier in the line, and the head’s an okay likeness.  The articulation’s useful, but also doesn’t ruin the sculpt.  I dig it.  The paint is pretty much what we expect on this sort of figure.  It’s clean, and there’s a little bit of accenting on the boots and bands, which helps the sculpt.  Luke was packed with three scene specific accessories.  He’s got the aforementioned hat, a rifle, and a pair of binoculars.  The hat’s funny, but also unique, and it stays okay on his head.  The rifle gets a surprising amount of painted detailing, and the binoculars can plug onto his belt for storage.  He also gets the Flashback Photo, showing him, and when you pull the tab, a young Anakin.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I owned none of these growing up, but saw them many times.  When I made my first real push to start a complete run, this Luke, along with the Leia from last week, were two of the first figures I snagged….and then I didn’t open them for, like, six years.  Yikes.  Seriously, I opened this figure less than 24 hours before I wrote this review, and that’s honestly ridiculous.  What was I doing?  Other stuff, I guess.  I like this Luke a lot.  He’s very fun.  I wish I’d opened him earlier, but I have now, and that’s pretty cool.

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.

#3874: Silver Surfer

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

SILVER SURFER

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

On Friday, I admitted to the great lie I perpetrated back during the first month of reviews here on the site. That I hadn’t *actually* reviewed the Toy Biz Fantastic Four Silver Surfer. So, to make up for this horrible thing I’ve done, today I do what I claimed to do 12 years ago, and review that Toy Biz Fantastic Four Silver Surfer. Let’s do this.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silver Surfer was released in the first series of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line. He was ostensibly meant to tie-in with the show, but also it’s kind of a general purpose Surfer design, so it easily goes either way. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation. His mold is the same one I looked at before, though it originated here (and was shared with the hastily added Human Torch from the same series). It’s good, but does feel perhaps a little small. For the original release, he was done up in a bright, very shiny chrome, which feels more in line which the character’s usual depictions. It holds up pretty well, and also manages to not totally remove all of the sculpted detailing, which marked an improvement on the Marvel Super Heroes version. He was packed with his board, which again matches his finish, and again has the slipper looking spots for his feet. He also gets the ring attachment for the bottom.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I had the CD-ROM figure and the 10-inch figure, but never this guy. I honestly never felt the need, since my bases were covered by the others. But, as I delve further into a proper complete run of these, I realize my bases were in fact *not* covered. Thankfully, a proper Series 1 figure came into All Time a little while back, allowing proper coverage of the bases once more!

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.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0032: Silver Surfer

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

SILVER SURFER

FANTASTIC FOUR THE SILVER SURFER (TOY BIZ)

People are fallible. Even the best of us can let you down sometimes. Dear reader, please remember this and be kind as we delve into today’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum, my oldest Silver Surfer review.

Time for another Fantastic Four review it seems.  Today we’re looking at a sometimes foe, but usually friend of the team, Silver Surfer.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure in question is the first herald of Galactus, Norin Radd, aka the Silver Surfer.  Good old Nor here has 11 points of articulation and stands 5 inches tall.  At one point in time, he was a bit shinier, but my figure has long since dulled.  The figure’s sculpt is solid.  I think it would be difficult to mess up a bald, naked guy, but I’d probably be wrong.  He’s got a nice assortment of articulation, though I’m not really sure what’s going on with his right arm.  Is he supposed to be doing something specific ?  Because all I see is some kind of record scratching move.  Maybe this is actually a figure of often forgotten 90s sensation DJ Sizzle Surfer-izzle and I just wasn’t aware…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a moderate silver surfer fan as a kid, but I actually rarely used this figure as the Surfer.  He was a nice, generic figure, good for a million things.  His joints are practically worn out from all the play time this guy got!

So, the failing starts right at the beginning, and just goes all the way through, where I just totally and completely LIE about this figure. Because the figure covered both here and in the original review? He’s *not* the one from the Fantastic Four line, nor was he ever any shinier than he is now. No, in fact, he’s actually one of two figures released in 1996, accompanied by a CD-ROM featuring digitized versions of key comic book issues, in the case of this figure, Silver Surfer related ones. I recall that being the one I had, but I guess in my mind he was the same basic figure. He was notably duller than the original release. My initial review, aside from the lying, covered the basics of the figure okay. He was missing his surfboard at the time, but I’ve since scared that one up, so huzzah, he actually gets to be a Surfer again. It’s an okay piece, and matches his finish. The connection is sort of odd, kind of like a slipper that goes over his foot, but it keeps him in place okay. There’s also a loop that attaches to the bottom, so you can put it on your finger? I guess that’s better than just holding the actual board with your hands. What is it, a toy for babies?

#3873: Princess Leia in Ceremonial Dress

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

PRINCESS LEIA in CEREMONIAL DRESS

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“A strong-willed warrior who fought for the Rebel cause with great courage, Princess Leia Organa was a natural born leader of the Rebel Alliance. The princess always carried herself with a regal air, whether she was taking part in the fiercest of battles or participating in state ceremonies of the highest level. Although she was adopted at a young age into the Royal House of Alderaan, Leia was in fact a true princess, as her birth mother was Queen Amidala of Naboo. I her day, Amidala also proved to be an adventurous spirit an d a great heroine to her people when her planet faced its greatest threat.”

After the main characters spend pretty much the whole movie running around in the same basic outfits, at the end of A New Hope, the Rebel’s host a ceremony to give medals to Han and Luke, which serves as a good opportunity for new, cleaned up looks for everybody (well, not Han, I guess, though his shirt is *slightly* different).  The vintage line didn’t tackle any of those looks, but Power of the Force sure did, making sure to give coverage to both Luke and Leia’s unique designs.  Let’s look at Leia today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Princess Leia in Ceremonial Dress was released in the 1998 “Flashback Photo” assortment of Power of the Force.  As I’ve noted before, these figures were released in the lead-up to the proper Episode I tie-in merchandise, and are also the first Star Wars figures to officially be released under the Hasbro banner.  This was Leia’s fourth standard release figure from 1998 alone, making her the most covered main character that year.  Good for her.  That’s a refreshing turn of events.  The figure stands just under 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 6 points of articulation…in technicality.  In practice, the shoulders and waist are alright, but the neck is very restricted, and the hips might as well not be there, thanks to that very thick skirt piece.  Also, because of the skirt and the relative lack of movement it allows on the hips, she has a lot of trouble standing, which is why you’ll see mine making use of a Protech stand in most of the photos.  Her color work is generally pretty solid.  There’s a bit of makeup and color on the face, which feels right for the scene they’re referencing, and the application is all rather clean.  In order to capture the sheer material of her outer robe, it’s molded in a slightly transparent plastic, and that’s a neat touch.  Leia is packed with one of the medals she bestows on the two heroes.  This one is presumably for Han, since Luke already had one packed in with his figure.  There’s also the flashback photo, which shows a picture of Leia from the scene, and then transitions to an image of Padme from Episode I.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I vividly remember seeing every single one of these Flashback Photo figures when they were new.  Or nearly new, at least.  They clung to shelves following the hype of the actual Episode I product, and I was always a little put off by them as a kid.  As an adult, though, they’re neat, at least as figures.  Weird tie-in, though.  This Leia is neat enough, though ultimately felt a bit pointless, since this exact same look was done in The Princess Leia Collection the prior year, and I think ultimately a bit.  I suppose this one’s a closer match to the rest of the line stylistically.  She’s not much of a fun toy, but she looks alright, I guess.

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.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0031: Lt Ripley

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

LT RIPLEY

ALIENS (KENNER)

Taking a bit of a detour from updating my Toy Biz Marvel reviews for just a moment, this week’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum marks the site’s original change of pace, less than one week in, as I made my very first mention of my favorite movie of all time, Aliens, with a look at its main character, Ripley!

So, change of pace.  Moving away from the Batman stuff for a bit.  Today we’re looking at a figure from another Kenner line:  Aliens.  This line is nominally based on 1986’s ALIENS, though it was originally meant to be a tie-in line for Operation: Aliens, a scrapped Saturday-morning cartoon adaptation of the film.

Ellen Ripley is the sole survivor of the Nostromo, drafted by the colonial Marines to save a colony that has been attacked by a hive of creatures like the one Ripley faced before.  At least that was what she was in the movie.  I have no idea what her backstory would have been in Operation: Aliens, though if the comics included with each figure are anything to go by,  she was going to be one of the marines.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is a pretty decent representation of Ripley from the movie, though her palate’s been tweaked a bit to make her more colorful.  The figure’s also a bit soft on the details, but that makes sense given it was based on the cartoon design.  The face actually isn’t too bad of a Weaver likeness for the time.  The figure included a pretty cool flamethrower, but I’ve since lost that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though the figure was released in 92, I didn’t get mine until 2003, when I saw ALIEN for the first time.  I know I had this figure and the accompanying Hicks before seeing ALIENS itself because I sat through my first viewing of the film clutching both of them very tightly.

Ah, the brevity of my old reviews.  Also, the general not-applying-to-the-format nature of my old reviews.  The intro’s the longest part, which is honestly kind of crazy.  I do very little reviewing of the figure, so let’s hit you guys with some stats.

The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and she has 6 points of articulation.  Missing from my original review was Ripley’s accessories.  The main one is the flamethrower, which isn’t at all like the one in the movie.  It is, however, really neat.  There’s a lever on the bottom that hooks onto a spot on her leg, and turning the waist pushes out a little flame effect.  She also got a small silver rifle, which she could keep on her back.

I don’t mention in my original review that I got my first Ripley figure from my local comic shop, Cosmic Comix, so shout out to them here.  I actually picked up a second one, after starting the site, also from Cosmic, as luck would have it.  Also, fun little bit of FiQ trivia here: while the wording was removed from the final version of the review, while writing this review, I referred to Ripley as “The Figure in Question” and liked the phrase so much that I decided to use it for the site’s name.

#3869: R2-D2 with Launching Lightsaber

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

R2-D2 with LAUNCHING LIGHTSABER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“Though small and unassuming, the astromech droid R2-D2 has proven to be a pivotal figure throughout the quest for freedom in the galaxy. Whether delivering Princess Leia’s message to Ben Kenobi or accompanying Luke Skywalker in his X-Wing fighter as he delivered the fatal blow to the first Death Star, Artoo’s actions have become legendary within the annals of the Rebel Alliance. But unknown to his compatriots, Artoo already had plenty of time and experience at the center of action. Many decades earlier, he served on board the ship of the young queen from the planet Naboo. Even then, he displayed an unmistakable knack for helping others out of dire circumstances.”

You know, there’s often a lot of contention about the best particular version of a particular character in figure form.  It’s especially true of Star Wars, where all the main characters have dozens of figures at the least.  So, it can be pretty hard to narrow such a thing down.  But that’s best.  What we rarely talk about is worst.  Sure, a lot of that’s subjective, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that today, I’m taking a look at the *worst* R2-D2 action figure ever made.  Well, let’s get to it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R2-D2 with Launching Lightsaber was part of the 1998 “Flashback Photo” assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II, officially released after the Hasbro change-over in anticipation of Episode I’s release.  This was R2’s third standard release figure in Power of the Force, and his second in 1998 alone.  In contrast to the other “movie specific” R2s in the line, which were all based on the first movie, this one is specifically a Return of the Jedi R2, based on the scene where he launches Luke’s lightsaber on Jabba’s barge.  The figure stands 3 inches tall and has a whole two points of articulation, which aren’t really useful, what with the permanently extended third leg.  But I’ll get to that.  The sculpt is all new, and it’s…well, it’s something.  Since the whole point of the figure is to launch the lightsaber, the sculpt is sort of worked around the whole launching mechanism.  The third leg is permanently extended, to give him more length to fit the saber, but it has to be extra wide to fit the mechanism, and even still ends up being little longer than it needs to be too.  He’s also still a bit long, and his other legs get stretched to compensate.  It’s all sorts of wonky, and not remotely close to what R2’s supposed to look like.  He’s just…wrong.  The paint work isn’t bad, I suppose.  He’s the second instance of the flat silver on the head dome, which is more accurate, and the weathering isn’t too bad.  R2 is packed with a missile version of Luke’s saber.  Like R2, it’s been notably modified to fit the new set-up, and it’s…well it’s also weird.  It launches alright, though, so I guess there’s that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The thing about getting the whole run of Power of the Force is that it’s the good and the bad.  So, sure, there’s some cool ones, but then there’s this guy.  He’s not great.  The gimmick’s a soft one at best, and it’s not implemented all that well, and the end result is such a mangled take on R2 that it’s just hard to see why.  But, you know, it does at least make him unique.

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.