Tag Archives: 90s

#3984: Deadpool

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

DEADPOOL

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Deadpool is a mercenary and one of the world’s most dangerous assassins. What makes Deadpool so dangerous is not his super-silent tracking ability or his assassin’s arsenal of incredible weapons, it’s his ability to paralyze his victims with fear. He enjoys doing that so much that sometimes he lets his victim go. A panic-stricken live victim, he reasons, does wonders for his reputation.”

Can you believe there was a time in the Marvel universe before Deadpool?  That seems crazy, doesn’t it?  Would you also believe that when he *did* finally appear, it was literal years before he was even remotely close to the character that everyone knows him as now? The bio for his very first action figure, shown up top there, really cements that, referring to him as “super-silent” and having the “ability to paralyze his victims with fear.”  Not really the slap-sticky, fourth wall-breaking meme guy we have these days, huh?  Well, let’s just fully commit to this back to the beginning approach for Deadpool and take a look at his very first action figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deadpool was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line, which spun out of their main X-Men line during its second year.  While the book was still relatively new, they had already started to identify its break out characters, hence the early presence of Deadpool, despite him at that time just being a recurring character, not affiliated with the team.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Not a bad set-up in terms of movement.  It’s all basic stuff, but it’s pretty clear in its range, and he’s fairly sturdy on his feet.  He was a unique sculpt, which wound up re-used for a couple of repaints over the years, but only ever for Deadpool.  It’s based on his earliest appearances, although, like Cable, it’s been kind of cleaned up from Liefeld’s usual inconsistencies.  Deadpool was still being shown as very svelte in is early appearances, and this sculpt follows that lead.  He’s generally light on detailing, but gets his pouches and straps, albeit with a slightly softer detailing to them than later offerings.  He’s got a dagger permanently attached to his left hand, which is spring-loaded, so he can more convincingly look like he’s stabbing someone, I guess?  Deadpool’s color work is fairly basic, but generally well in line with his comics look at the time.  Interestingly, while the circles around his eyes are black, the rest of the costume’s accenting is done with a very dark grey, which makes for a neat bit of visual pop.  There was an FAO Schwarz-exclusive variant (pictured at the end) which just made it all black, which is *fine* but feels a bit more lacking, as well as a KB Toys re-release that adds in some silver elements on the pouches.  Whatever the release, Deadpool is packed with a pair of grey swords.  They’re able to be put in the sheaths…in a manner of speaking; they’re actually just going through his shoulders into the hollow portion of the torso, and they still end up being kind of comedically small to make it work.  It does look pretty cool when they’re in place, though.  It’s amusing that they’re both removable, though, since only one of his hands is able to hold one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was not my first Deadpool (that was the unmasked one from later), but I do recall wanting to track one down rather early on in my collecting.  I found a loose on some time in the very early ‘00s, which I assumed was the original, but would only later find out was actually the rarer FAO version, necessitating that I get a proper Series 1 release many years later when it got traded into All Time.  I’m a real sucker for this mold, no matter which paint scheme it’s sporting.  Something about it just really works for my collecting sensibilities, and it’s all I really want out of a Deadpool.  He’s basic, but he really just works.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0058: Spider-Woman

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

SPIDER-WOMAN

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (TOY BIZ)

Hey, look it’s the first Friday of the new year!  No it isn’t, but it is for the purposes of the site, so there!  Did we really miss out on anything from that actual first Friday, anyway?  I don’t think so, and I was there, so trust me.  It’s a new year and a new start, so it’s a perfect time for me to continue to do exactly the same thing I was doing on Fridays at the end of last year, and look back at my old Toy Biz reviews.  Yaaaaaaaay.  Here’s Spider-Woman….again.

“Once an illegal operative, Jessica Drew left the group called Hydra to fight crime as the original Spider-Woman! With the ability to climb walls and emit bio-electric spider-blasts, Spider-Woman put many super-villains behind bars. Eventually giving up her identity as Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew now fights crime as a private investigator!”

When does a spin-off character have nothing to do with the original? When they’re Spider-Woman, of course. The first Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, was introduced in 1977 as little more than a way of preventing Filmation from putting out a cartoon with their own Spider-Woman. She had a similar power set to everyone’s favorite wall-crawler, but there the similarities ended. The two characters wouldn’t even meet for quite a long time after her creation. Which makes the fact that her very first figure came from a Spider-Man toyline all the more amusing.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Woman was released in Series 7 of Toy Biz’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series tie-in toyline. She wasn’t based on a cartoon appearance (likely to avoid viewer confusion; her successor, Julia Carpenter, was a regular on the Iron Man cartoon at the same time). In fact, Series 7 was right about the time that the series stopped focussing on following the cartoon, so Spider-Woman was not the only non-show figure in the series. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and she has 8 points of articulation. Jessica’s sculpt is a reworking of the Julia Carpenter Spider-Woman from Series 1 of the Iron Man line. This would be the first time they’d share a sculpt, but far from the last. Given the similarities in design, it’s a rather practical way of getting an extra use out of the molds, I suppose. She’s been tweaked to add in elbow joints and also to remove Spider-Woman II’s action feature. Sadly, they didn’t go as far as to add back in the neck movement lost due to the action feature, but that would have been a more hefty re-working, I suppose. The sculpt is a pretty decent one overall. The proportions are fairly balanced, and pretty decent for the time. The hair has a pretty nice sculpt, and sits nicely, and the face isn’t too terrible. The one main drag with this sculpt is just how stiff it is. She doesn’t really look natural in any pose. It’s largely to do with the arms, or more specifically, the hands. She’s got this karate chop thing going on, and it just looks rather out of place. The paint is really the key part of this figure, and it’s pretty decent. The colors match well with her comics counterpart, and the work is generally on the clean side. Some of the black lines are a little fuzzy, but it’s not terrible. In terms of accessories, Jessica was about on par with most of the other figures of this time, which means she has a bunch of random stuff that doesn’t amount to much of anything. There was like a shield and a weird gun-thing I think? Mine has neither piece, and that’s just fine.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Spider-Woman wasn’t one of my childhood figures. My dad had one, but I didn’t, largely due to not being overly familiar with Jessica Drew. I’ve since picked up some knowledge and appreciation for the character, so I’ve been on the look out for this figure. I found her at Yesterday’s Fun last week, but ultimately put her (and a few others) back in favor a few other things. My Dad apparently took note of this, and presented me with the whole lot the next day. He’s nice like that. She’s a decent enough figure, I suppose. Nothing amazing, but certainly entertaining. 

That’s a summer 2017 review, so things are pretty much the shape they’ve been for a while in terms of my approach.  I wrote what I wrote, and I think it’s pretty on point.  2017 was, in retrospect, a pretty good year for me in terms of Toy Biz pulls, so that was pretty nice, given it was otherwise a kind of rough one for me.  What I was missing when I wrote the original review *nine* years ago, were Spider-Woman’s accessories, which I did note at the time were “a bunch of random stuff.”  Well, I got the random stuff.  She’s got a big gun and a shield.  Can’t actually hold either of them on account of her karate chop hands, but they, like, slide on them?  They’re very silly, and she’s better without them, but they do at least make me laugh.

#3983: Wedge Antilles

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

WEDGE ANTILLES

STAR WARS: ACTION COLLECTION (KENNER)

I’ve mentioned more than once around here the strange occurrence of my favorite Star Wars character being Wedge Antilles, a rather minor player from the Original Trilogy, who’s most notable for being named on screen, actually appearing in all three films, and being the only person to participate in both Death Star runs.  He’s got a fair bit going on in the expanded universe, so you might think that’s why I’m attached, but no, I just like him from the short bits he’s in the movies. I know.  Weird.  He’s one of those characters that has a decent number of figures, but not so many so as to make it impossible to own them all, which is always fun as a collector.  So, here’s one I haven’t looked at before!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wedge Antilles was released in 1998 as part of Kenner’s Star Wars: Action Collection, which served as the 12-inch scale component of the Power of the Force run.  He was sold in a two-pack with fellow X-Wing pilot Biggs Darklighter, which was exclusive to FAO Schwarz.  He’s based on his look from A New Hope, hence the inclusion alongside Biggs.  The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation, as well as those kind of pointless ratchet joints on his knees.  He’s got sort of a combination of a couple of the bodies Kenner used for Action Collection.  He has the improved upper torso with the waist and elbow joints, but lacks the proper articulated legs that some of the later single release figures got.  It means he can sort of pose, but not a lot.  He got a new head sculpt, which looks as much like Dennis Lawson as any of the ‘90s 12-inch figures looked like their respective actors, so it’s at least consistent with the other stuff.  You can generally tell who it’s meant to be, even if it is perhaps a bit soft.  His outfit, which was entirely shared with Biggs, consists of a jumpsuit, vest, web gear, boots, and gloves.  The boots, gloves, and web gear are sculpted elements, and generally look alright, though the gloves are quite bulky around the wrists.  The rest of it’s fabric, and it does alright.  It’s very loose and thick, and kind of shapeless, but that’s what these figures looked like.  Mine’s got some light staining on the back.  At one point, he had a helmet, which was another sculpted piece, but mine lacks that.  Paint is minor, and pretty much confined to the head.  His hair’s light for Wedge, but that’s about it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been slowly accumulating Wedges for a while, and this was one I didn’t have, largely because I’ve never wanted to shell out for the whole two-pack, because I don’t need a Biggs.  This one in particular made his way into my stocking this Christmas, with an assist by my wife Rachel, who had been informed it was a Wedge I didn’t own (by me).  These figures are far from the high-end collectibles we’ve come to expect of sixth scale figures, but they have their charm in a way.  I remember the line rather fondly, and I’m happy to have Wedge, because it means I don’t really need to dive back into the line further than just him.  Still, a Wedge I don’t have is always a cool thing to me.

#3982: Fluttering Arthur

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

FLUTTERING ARTHUR

THE TICK (BANDAI)

“Not in the face!  Not in the face!”

A super hero with a solid sidekick is always a great thing.  Obviously, there’s the classic dynamic duo of Batman and Robin, but one of my very favorites has always been the Tick and his sidekick Arthur.  Arthur debuted fairly early in the Tick comics, and is one of the few characters to follow Tick through all of his adaptations, which included every episode of the ‘90s cartoon, which netted him a handful of figures, one of which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Fluttering Arthur was released in Series 1 of Bandai’s The Tick toyline.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As this is Bandai’s American division’s work, scale’s not exactly their main forte.  As such, Arthur’s rather large relative to the Ticks in the same line.  He’s still physically shorter, of course, but not by nearly as much as he should be, and his general scaling is also just a lot larger than it should be.  But, it is what it is, and 30 years after the fact, it’s kind of quaint.  The actual sculpt is honestly not bad.  He’s very preposed, which is a little odd, but otherwise pretty faithful to the show’s animation models for the character.  He’s a slightly more reserved Arthur than we frequently saw in the show, where he was dealing with the Tick’s many antics, but this look is ultimately a bit better for a more general figure look.  In terms of color work, Arthur’s always pretty easy, since he’s just a lot of white.  The figure actually goes mostly for an off-white, which is all molded plastic.  It works out better in the long-run, since he’s not all yellowed now.  It also means his goggles can be an actual proper white, which helps them stand out a bit better, even if they are a little fuzzy around the edges.  He’s also got paint on his face and hands, which likewise has some fuzz on the edges, but is at least pretty clean and consistent in its application.  Arthur gets no accessories, but does get an action feature that draws on the “Fluttering” part of his name.  Pushing the button on his back makes his wings “flap,” which is amusing enough, and also pretty non-intrusive.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The saga of me getting this figure goes back to the early ‘90s, when he was still new.  At the time, Tick was on the air, but I didn’t watch it religiously or anything.  But, it was super hero fare, and I liked that, so I’d seen a few episodes, which was enough to know that I liked Arthur quite a bit.  Shortly before my birthday, my Nana took me to the store to get some ideas for gifts, and I saw this guy, and said I wanted him, specifically him, and not any of the others.  Here’s the thing about my Nana and gifts: she had a tendency to decide to buy me a more extravagant gift than I’d asked for, which was nice and generous, but also meant she got me something that simply wasn’t what I wanted.  So, instead of getting the standard Arthur figure, I unwrapped….the 14-inch deluxe talking Tick figure.  Which was cool, but it wasn’t an Arthur, nor was there an Arthur to go with it (I later made my own Arthur by wrapping a 12-inch Robin figure in masking tape).  So, I was without an Arthur for a while.  And, while these figures aren’t rare by any means, they don’t land in front of me nearly as often as other things, so I never did get one.  That is, until I unwrapped this guy on Christmas morning, courtesy of my son Matthew (with an assist from my wife Rachel).  I saw him at a comic con a few weeks ago, and they circled back around to get him for me, which was very nice.  He’s basic and goofy, but very much my vibe, and I’m happy to finally have one after all these years.  But, I fear I now must track down so many more of these figures…

#3980: Cable

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

CABLE

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Cable is the touch, no-nonsense leader of X-Force. A half-man, half-machine cyborg, Cable uses his bio-mechanical eye, arm and leg to see and do things impossible for anyone else-including other mutants. When the fighting gets tough, Cable knows from bitter experience, only two things can save X-Force-teamwork, and his own high-tech weaponry!”

Welcome everyone to a brand new year here at The Figure in Question!  I’m back and refreshed from my Christmas break…well, I’m back from my Christmas break, at the very least.

Waaaaaaaaaay back last year (or, you know, like, three weeks ago), a faithful reader brought up to me that, for all my Toy Biz Marvel reviews, somehow I hadn’t reviewed a single Cable figure from their run.  Which is, quite frankly, insane, because they made, like, a lot of  Cable figures.  So, the first thing I’m doing in my return to Toy Biz for the new year is fix this glaring Cable-shaped hole in my Toy Biz reviewing, and take a look at their first go at the guy.  Here he is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cable was released in the very first series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line, which spun out of their X-Men line during its second year.  As the central character in the comics, obviously Cable needed a spot in the debut line-up.  This would also wind up as his very first action figure, and a pretty quick turn around for a guy who’d only shown in the comics two years prior.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is…well, they were sort of working out the basics here, and he hits *fairly* close, but for whatever reason, his left shoulder is a hinge that just goes outward, rather than offering any forward and back.  It’s an odd set-up, but there it is.  He was an all-new sculpt, based on his more solidified look from X-Force proper, albeit as solidified as any of Liefeld’s designs ever really got.  The X-Force line wound up advancing in technical sculpting at a quicker pace than X-Man, but this first round was still definitely more like the Marvel Super Heroes and earlier X-Men than anything Toy Biz did later.  This Cable is definitely a little thinner, stretched out, and softer on the details than later figures would be.  Given Liefeld’s love of crosshatching, he feels downright squeaky clean.  His color work is kind of the same vibe as the sculpt, being quite clean, and broad, and sort of going soft on a lot of the details.  It does what it needs to generally, though.  There were two variations to the paint.  Originally, the boots and leg straps were a lighter grey, and his yellow eye glowed in the dark, but later versions darkened the boots and leg straps, and dropped the gimmick on the eye.  Neither is all that notable on its own, but rather is more evident if you happen to have the both right in front of you.  Both versions included the same very large gun, which can be held in the left hand, and has a rotating barrel that makes a clicking sound when you spin it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the time I got into collecting, this version of Cable was long gone from shelves, so I didn’t have this one as a kid.  The initial release somehow found its way into my collection over the years…twice.  Like, I don’t even know how.  I don’t remember buying him either time, but I wound up with two of them, so, you know, that’s fun, I guess.  I wound up getting the color variant through some good old fashioned bartering.  My granddad hoarded all sorts of old tech in his basement, and a guy wanted to take some of it for cosplay and set building, so he traded me, amongst other things, two Toy Biz figures, which happened to include the Cable variant, which I didn’t already have.  This figure’s goofy for sure.  Definitely not Toy Biz’s strongest take on the guy, which is kind of a shame, since it’s sort of his most distinctive look.  He does have a certain charm to him, so I’ll give him that.

#3978: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

JLA (HASBRO)

“Though genetically an alien conceived on the planet Krypton, Superman is an American by birth, born in a Kansas cornfield. Through his deeds, Superman has become earth’s preeminent super hero. Time and again, he has proven himself a true hero, capable of whatever bravery and self-sacrifice is necessary to right a wrong or save a life. The guiding force behind the Justice League and the example of metahumans across the globe, Superman’s existence has changed the world forever.”

It shouldn’t seem odd to read a Superman bio, but this one’s notable for directly referencing the ship actually “birthing” Clark on Earth, which was introduced during John Byrne’s Man of Steel reboot.  Like a great many things introduced during that reboot, it’s the sort of thing that got quietly dropped, but it was still the official cannon when this figure was released.  Even a regular, normal, classic Superman still gets a little bit of weirdness in the ‘90s, huh?  Well, let’s jump into another JLA review!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman was released in the second series of Hasbro’s JLA line, which, if I’m recalling correctly, is the first one actually branded from Hasbro, rather than Kenner.  He was also in the line’s third boxed set.  This was the fourth Superman in the line, making him the most numerous character in the line at that point (Batman would catch up with him by the end of it).  It’s also the first “normal” comic Superman, in, like, a decade, since Man of Steel and Total Justice were both while he was still sporting the mullet, and JLA launched while he was still in the midst of the the Blue/Red storyline.  It was a big deal, for sure.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Like the last three Supermen from this line, this figure was re-using the body of his Total Justice counterpart.  Unlike the last three, however, he also re-uses that figure’s cape.  His head is…well, it’s hard to tell if its new here, or elsewhere.  It was used both here and on the battle-damaged version of the character released alongside Metallo in a Hasbro Toy Shop-exclusive two-pack under the DC Super Heroes banner, in rather close proximity.  It would also be used on the armored Superman from this line’s last assortment.  In all three cases, it replaced a mulleted Superman head.  It’s not a bad sculpt, but ultimately feels a little bit off model for Superman as he was typically depicted at the time.  The shaping of the face seems a bit more rounded, and the hair lacks the typical s-curl, favoring a more general swoop in the front.  I remember it was used by a number of customizers at the time as an Elongated Man head, and I can very definitely see that.  Superman’s color work is pretty basic, modern era classic Superman coloring stuff.  The blue is on the darker side, which isn’t my preferred, but is accurate to how he was depicted at the time.  The paint on all of the JLA figures felt really prone to damage, but Superman was especially so.  The paint tends to chip, and the flesh tones are almost gummy, to the point that his cape is actually fused at the neck on my figure.  Superman included a JLA display stand in blue, same as Martian Manhunter from the same assortment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was a big deal back in the day, because it really had been forever since we’d gotten a short-haired comic Superman, and it was certainly never in this style.  I recall him not being especially easy to find for this very reason.  I ended up getting him, probably in ’99 or ’00, from the Balticon dealer’s room, which typically had *nothing* in the way of toys, but that particular year had Superman and a Toy Biz Robin on a dealer’s table, both of which came home with me.  I liked this one a lot, and he got a lot of playtime, which only contributed to the wear and tear to his paint (which I’ve since done a little bit of restoring to).  In retrospect, that head doesn’t feel very Superman-y, but I was just so happy to have a classic Superman at all, that it didn’t bug me all that much.

#3977: Psycho-Man

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

PSYCHO-MAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“The mysterious Psycho-Man appeared seemingly out of nowhere with the evil intent of overthrowing the Earth, allowing the denizens of his own sub-atomic world to colonize the conquered planet! Armed with his emotion-stimulator, the Psycho-Man could instantly throw the world into the throes of fear, doubt, and hate. But this would-be dictator didn’t count on two things: the arrival of the Fantastic Four, and his own weapon being turned against him!”

Psycho-Man is a character I’ve reviewed once before here on the site, and, well, I didn’t have a ton to say about him in that intro, so the second time around, I can’t say I’m much better off.  He himself isn’t really much of a major player, but he’s figured into some other notable events in comics, most notably as part of the FF storyline where they finally acknowledged that Sue was actually the most powerful member of the team, and maybe a woman in at least her late 20s, if not 30s, shouldn’t be going by “Invisible Girl.”  But that’s not much about him.  The Fantastic Four cartoon in the ‘90s adapted this story, which served as its main focus on Psycho-Man, resulting in his first figure treatment in the accompanying toyline.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Psycho-Man was released in the fourth and final series of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line (he also cropped up as a re-release in the Marvel Universe line; the two figures are functionally identical.  Mine is the re-release).  This set was pretty well tied into the show’s second season, with its three antagonist figures all from early episodes in the run, Psycho-Man included.  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Psycho-Man gets hit by some real weirdness on the articulation front.  He’s got no neck or knee articulation, but gets a waist swivel, which weren’t a regular fixture for the line.  For some reason, his legs are also sculpted in this weird sort of lunging pose, like he’s running or something.  Psycho-Man was usually the sort to stand around and do his business from a far, so the action pose does seem a bit odd for him.  His sculpt’s unique to him and…well, it’s certainly unique.  Psycho-Man’s inspiration here seems to be more from his Kirby design, and less from later interpretations, so he’s a bit larger and chunkier and his face is a lot more expressive.  Again, unique is the word I use.  I don’t know about “good” but also I wouldn’t say “bad.”  It’s certainly memorable.  His color work is quite simple, but does what it needs to.  There’s a but of slop and fuzziness around the edges, and its very glossy in its finish, but it’s generally okay.  Psycho-Man is packed with a big action-feature-ridden stand, as was the gimmick for this whole set.  In his case, it’s loosely based on his Control Box, and there’s a lever on the side that you can pull to have it randomly stop on one of five different “emotions.”  It’s super gimmicky and silly, but also so very much fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Psycho-Man’s a later run acquisition for me, but still came into my collection during the ‘90s, albeit probably *right* at the tail end.  He was a Christmas present from a family friend, and I want to say he probably was given to me in ’99.  I knew a little about him, thanks to the cartoon, but he more just got used as a general villain, because he’s got that very unique look.

And with that, I’ve wrapped up the last Series 4 review for Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four, and by extension, the last standard release figure for the line.  Both Series 3 and 4 had one extra figure that got dropped during production.  Adam Warlock was the Series 3, and he would eventually resurface in the Overpower line.  Series 4 was supposed to get a Trapster figure, who would have rounded out the Frightful Four, but he was cut and never found another spot.  The show wrapped up at the end of its second season, and so there was no more retailer demand for the toys, and that was all she wrote.  The line gave debut figures to a lot of classic Marvel characters, and started both the Inhumans and the Frightful Four.  Of course, it didn’t finish either of those two teams (in fact, The Inhumans *just* got a full line-up courtesy of Hasbro, about a month ago, 20 years after making their way to toy form), but that’s Toy Biz in a nutshell.

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.