Tag Archives: 90s

#3595: ShadowHawk

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

SHADOWHAWK

SPAWN (MCFARLANE TOYS)

Fun FiQ Fact #0074: Today’s review increases my Spawn line reviews by 50%!

Hey, remember back in 2017, when I reviewed a ShadowHawk figure?  Well, this review is gonna be very similar because, um, the figures are also very similar?  Because, if there’s one thing McFarlane has always enjoyed, it’s very easy variants.  And early on, he made up a lot of very easy variants, exclusively for the purpose of having very easy variants.  Here’s one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ShadowHawk was released in Series 4 of McFarlane’s Spawn line.  I’ve already reviewed the standard black and silver edition, but this is the bronze variant.  He was bronze, instead of black, for, um, reasons?  It doesn’t correspond to a specific comics thing as far as I know, much like the weird gold DC variants more recently don’t correspond to anything specific either.  Like the other figure, he stands about 6 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, he’s identical to the standard version, which is a fun enough toy, even if it’s not *super* accurate to Jim Valentino’s design for the character.  It’s still got the whole “can’t remove the weapons” bit going on, which is odd to say the least, but it is what it is.  The change-up here is the paint work.  It’s about the same quality as the standard, but with bronze in place of the black, and a slightly duller version of the silver, which is molded, rather than painted like on the standard.  It’s nowhere near as striking as the main scheme; he kind of looks like a dirty penny.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I bought the standard ShadowHawk figure on a whim seven years ago, and I honestly really dug him.  I wasn’t going to go hunting for this one, but All Time got a huge ’90s Spawn collection, and there he was, and I caved (and, in fact, there were two of him, so Max and I both caved separately for the same figure).  He’s different.  Not better different.  But, different different.  Also, seven years later, I realize I haven’t yet read any ShadowHawk despite saying  should at the end of the *last* review.  I should get on that.

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.

#3586: The History of Superman

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

SUPERMAN (GOLDEN AGE, SILVER AGE, & MODERN AGE)

THE HISTORY OF SUPERMAN COLLECTION (KENNER)

Fun FiQ Fact #0065:  On April 1st, 2016, Superman was the subject of my third April Fools Day gag.  Neat, huh?  Anyway…

I don’t talk a *ton* about 1/6 scale figures here.  I mean, sure, I’ve looked at a lot of higher end figures, but for base level 1/6, it’s not really hip and happening.  That’s not to say that I don’t own any of them.  Back in the day, I had a whole bin of 12-inch G.I. Joes, and a handful of other characters as well.  Even some DC stuff.  Today’s figures *weren’t* actually in my collection as a kid, but they did exist, so I suppose they could have been…theoretically.  Isn’t that wild and crazy?  No, not really.  More just a factoid.  Anyway…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

“The History of Superman Collection” was released by Kenner exclusively through FAO Schwarz in 1996.  There was also a similarly-themed “History of Batman Collection” also released via FAO Schwarz that same year.  The set included three versions of Superman, as well as four trading cards produced by Fleer/Skybox.  Three of the four cards each give a cover that lines up with one of the figures, and the last one’s a holographic, chrome thing.  Weird, but fun, I guess.

GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN

The purpose of this set was to cover the major bases for Superman’s looks over the years, so they start, as you might expect, with some of his earlier appearances.  Not his *earliest* appearances, as he had a slightly more drastically different look at the beginning, but more after his look had refined just a touch.  This figure is clearly a ’40s Superman, which is really the heart of the Golden Age, so it’s sensible.  The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  The construction here is…well, it’s very much a product of its time.  The head sculpt is undoubtedly the strongest part here, doing a pretty strong job of capturing the essence of the early appearances of Superman, without getting too artist-specific.  Obviously, this isn’t meant to be anything even close to Hot Toys quality, and it’s definitely on the softer side, but it works.  His base body is definitely the most dated part of the whole thing; the articulation is a bit stiff and restricted, and those hands are just humungous.  It does mean he fits right in with Hasbro’s very short-lived JLA line in the same scale, though, so that’s all pretty cool.  The outfit is permanently attached to the figure, with a jumpsuit and cape, as well as a sculpted pair of boots/feet.  He’s got an embroidered logo, which is the proper Golden Age one, and there’s a matching one on his cape.

SILVER AGE SUPERMAN

Our next Superman moves to the “Silver Age”, which is generally late ’50s into the ’60s, though for this one, we’re definitely angling more towards the later end of the Silver Age, if not early Bronze Age.  Ultimately, “classic” would probably be a more accurate description for the figure, but that wouldn’t really fit the set’s naming scheme, so I get it.  He’s using the same basic set-up as Golden Age, so he’s the same height and has the same articulation set-up.  He does get a new head, though.  It’s not *drastically* different from the first sculpt, but the eyes are wider and the spit-curl is far more pronounced.  I dig the subtle changes, and they really work to sell the later look.  His outfit remains pretty similar as well, keeping more or less the same coloring.  The cape is a little longer here, and his logos have been updated to the more standard S-logo.

MODERN AGE SUPERMAN

Last up, it’s the most mullet-tastic and least exclusive member of the set, Modern Age Superman….or at least as modern as you got in 1996.  This one would actually get his own single release at mass retail, under Kenner’s Man of Steel banner.  He’s using the same base body again, with another new head sculpt.  This one’s all mullet-y, as it should be.  It’s still got the same general features, though his chin is a little narrower, and he’s got the extra locks.  His outfit adjusts the design even further, giving him an even longer cape than the Silver Age version, and his blue and red have been switched to much deeper hues.  The single release had a silk-screened logo, but this one keeps the properly embroidered one to match the rest of the set.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t step foot into FAO Schwarz until I was a teenager, more than a decade after this set’s release, so I didn’t have one growing up.  I did know of its existence, though, thanks to Raving Toy Maniac’s archives, and it’s one I’ve always been fascinated by.  It’s not something I felt the need to track down, but when one landed in front of me last summer through a trade-in at All Time, it was hard to say no.  So, umm, I didn’t?  It’s hokey and goofy, and I probably didn’t need it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.

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.

….oh, you guys weren’t expecting something April Fools-related, were you?  Well, maybe this year the gag is the lack of a gag.  Yeah, that’s totally it…

#3581: Dr. Doom

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

DR. DOOM

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0060: While the Fantastic Four jumped into the world of action figures during the Mego days, their longtime foe Dr. Doom wasn’t alongside them, and wouldn’t get his own figure treatment until Mattel’s Secret Wars, a line that, ironically, didn’t feature any of the FF.

I sure do like Dr. Doom. He’s the quintessential comic book villain, and he’s just great.  While he’s got his fair share of toys, they do have a tendency to be…hit or miss.  As a kid, I had the Fantastic Four line’s version, which wasn’t bad, and left me without a real need for other versions, prior to the switch to other scales.  Toy Biz themselves seemed pretty happy with that one as well, since they mostly took to just re-releasing that one a bunch.  That one wasn’t their first try, though, so let’s look at his predecessor.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dr. Doom was released as part of the first series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line in 1990.  He was then re-released in Series 4, three years later.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and has 7(ish) points of articulation.  His sculpt was a unique one and…well, it’s kind of…umm…stiff?  Scrawny?  Small?  Not real great?  Yeah, it’s a bit all of those things.  It’s also awkward, so let’s throw that one on the list, too, shall we?  It’s further removed from that Super Powers styling than most of the Series 1 figures, but I’m not sure that’s really a good thing, because he winds up as perhaps the weakest of the bunch.  There’s just not really a part of it that really works.  He’s got a cloth cape, in contrast to later figures, but it’s really short and wide, which again feels odd.  The color work on the figure is pretty basic.  I mean, I guess it’s better than the sculpt, but the green feels really bright for Doom.  Doom featured a rather odd action feature, where turning the wheel on his back spins his right hand.  Not really sure why.  Toy Biz liked to give Doom odd action features on his right hand, I guess, since they did it with the later figure’s spring-loaded hand as well.  This one just feels especially pointless.  He included a gun/drill thing, as well as a wheel/fan thing, which he could hold and spin in his hand.  Yay?

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I don’t really recall this one as a kid.  I had the second, superior, one, so I wasn’t in the market for a Dr. Doom anyway, but this one didn’t seem to really be around as much.  I really only got this one in my move for completion.  Thankfully, I was able to snag a loose one through All Time a while back.  It’s not a good figure.  It’s not even a really fun figure.  But, it’s a Doom I didn’t have, so there’s that.

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.

#3576: Spider-Man

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

SPIDER-MAN — MULTI-JOINTED ACTION POSES

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0055: Prior to Toy Biz taking the license, no Spider-Man figure had ever been more posable than the rest of his corresponding toy line.

As I was a child when I started collecting action figures (what can I say, I had no choice in this matter), a lot of my earliest entries in my collection were gifts from family members and the like.  My grandparents had a real tendency to bolster the ranks of the collection, and introduce me to characters I didn’t already have.  Since others were buying the figures for me, I didn’t always have a say in *which* version started things.  So, there are some cases where I perhaps *wanted* one version, but got another instead.  But I’m in charge of it all now, and there’s no one to stop me from going back to get the ones I wanted…so that I can discover that the one already had was honestly just as good.  I’m getting ahead of myself.  Anyway, here’s a Spider-Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man was released in the third series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line in 1992.  There were two Spider-Men in the assortment, and this one was the “Multi-Jointed Action Poses” version, which is to say he was extra posable.  The same figure was re-released in Series 5 of the line, two years later.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 15 points of articulation.  Up to this point in the line, all of the Spider-Men had used a body that was similar in construction to the rest of the line.  It was bulkier and more pre-posed, and looked more like Toy Biz’s Super Powers-inspired DC figures.  This time around, Spidey is far skinnier, and in fact has a much greater level of articulation.  While the mobility isn’t quite to the heights of later Marvel offerings, it was by far the best this specific line had to offer, and would remain some of the best to come out of Toy Biz’s 5-inch line.  The sculpt is still somewhat dated by modern standards, but showed a real jump forward in terms of how Toy Biz handled things.  There aren’t any major details or anything to worry about, but the proportions were generally much more balanced than others, and he certainly looked the part for the character.  Since the sculpting is on the lighter side, the paint does the heavier lifting here.  It does well enough.  The weblines aren’t terrible, though there are some slight inconsistencies in exact placement on some of the extremities.  This design opts for a smaller eyed version of the mask, which is unique, and also kind of fun.  The biggest issue I have with the coloring on the figure is the near universal issue of the figure’s upper legs discoloring over time.  This figure was packed with no accessories, with the extra posablity being his main selling point.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

When I was a kid, my cousin Rusty got Spider-Man before me, and this was the one he got.  I wanted one too, but when our Nana went back to get me one, the closest match was the later Spider-Man Animated super-posable figure.  He was fine, but I always kinda wanted this one.  I had the chance to snag one loose from a collection that came into All Time a couple of years ago.  Ultimately, he’s fun, and a cool sign of Toy Biz’s progression with the brand.  I can’t really say it’s *better* than the Animated one, though, so I spent a lot of time chasing an equivalent, if perhaps not a little worse, figure.  It makes you think, 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.

#3571: Silver Surfer

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

SILVER SURFER

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0050:  Though first introduced all the way back in 1966, the Silver Surfer wouldn’t join the world of action figures until 1990, with the very figure I’m looking at today!

I have a lot of gaps in my knowledge of how *exactly* I encountered a number of classic Marvel characters for the first time, and Silver Surfer is part of that.  I feel like something to do with the FF would be how I knew him, but I don’t recall seeing any of his appearances on the ’90s cartoon until after the fact, which means that, like last week’s Daredevil, I’m leaning more on comics appearances, I guess?  Exactly which ones, I don’t know, but there certainly had to be something.  I mean, obviously, there were figures, too, right?  Right.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silver Surfer was released in the first series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line in 1990.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s rather typical of the earliest figures in the line, in terms of articulation and design.  There’s a slightly tweaked version of this figure from Series 3, which I looked at a few years back.  That one was vac-metalized, a process that also removed the neck joint from the figure.  The vac-metalizing removed a ton of the sculpt’s sharpness (and it’s not an exceptionally sharp sculpt in the first place), so this one does wind up looking a little bit better.  He’s still a little odd looking on the proportions front, and I don’t care for the face, but it’s not *awful*.  In contrast to the chromed finish of the Series 3 release, this one gets a flat silver finish.  It’s not as immediately stunning, but it works fine.  He also gets paint for the eyes on this one, which is a minor change-up, but enough to be somewhat notable.  Surfer is packed with his board, which for this release is really thick and bulky, and also more of a skateboard than a surfboard.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

My first Silver Surfer was actually the 10-inch release, followed closely by the CD-Rom pack-in 5-inch figure.  The Super Heroes ones wouldn’t cross my radar for quite some time.  I got the chrome version back in 2016, when I snagged a bunch of loose Toy Biz figures at a con.  It wasn’t until a few years ago that I was able to track down the standard version, when one came into All Time.  I expected to like the chrome one more, but honestly, the sculpt works better this way.  He’s nothing to write home about, but he’s okay in context of the rest of the line.

#3567: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0046: Daredevil’s first action figure was in Mattel’s Secret Wars line, despite the character’s absence from the comic event the series was tying into.

I can’t tell you exactly where my love of Daredevil came from. It had to be comics related, because his cartoon presence in the ’90s was pretty scarce and I don’t recall seeing any of his appearances in first run. I certainly recall one of his early team-ups with Spider-Man from the first essential collection, and I think I had a small stash of Daredevil back issues. Whatever the case, I was invested from a pretty early age. Obviously, my first figure was from ToyBiz, but, curiously, it was neither of the two figures I’m looking at today. Weird, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil was released in the first series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes in 1990. He then received a repainted release in 1994’s Series 5. The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation. At this point, Toy Biz was very much working through the left over stylings of their DC line, which had aped a lot of Kenner’s Super Powers, albeit in a more rudimentary fashion. The sculpts on the first Marvel Super Heroes have a lot in common with Toy Biz’s in-house sculpts from the second series of their DC line. They’re up-scaled about half an inch, but they keep the articulation scheme and ever so slight preposing. DD’s sculpt was technically unique, but it was also very similar to other Series 1 figures, just with some DD-specific elements added. The head’s the main selling point, of course. It’s a little on the soft side, and the horns in particular are rather nubby. But, given the era, it’s not terrible. The body features sculpted elements for his belt, holster, gloves, and boots, which is more than a lot of DD sculpts have offered. The Series 1 release is in his classic all red, which is largely just molded plastic, with minor paint work for his face and logo. The Series 5 release upgrades him to his then-current armored look, which changes up his paint tremendously. It also means that the paint doesn’t remotely line up with the sculpted costume elements, but, honestly, given the softness of the sculpted details, it’s not the end of the world. The plant is particularly fuzzy on the second release, and it doesn’t hold up particularly well to wear on either one. Both releases included an “exploding grapple hook”, which is a missile launcher. It’s black on the Series 1 release and silver on the Series 5.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

My original Daredevil figure was from the Spider-Man Animated line, but the repaint of this guy came pretty quickly after. I recall that it was featured in a story in a Spider-Man magazine I had growing up, and this guy was at Cosmic Comix, so my dad bought him for me. His sculpted details jumped out as wrong, and that’s when I learned about the magical world of repaints! I only added the original release to my collection a few years ago, when one got traded into All Time. They’re both definitely dated, but I still dig them.

#3541: Mr Sinister

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

MR SINISTER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0020:  Toy Biz’s original Mr Sinister mold had three different color variations, as they desperately attempted to keep up with the character’s comic design changes.

Remember when I was talking about how I screwed up on my ID-ing of the Mr Sinister figures from Toy Biz?  It was a week ago, so it shouldn’t be too distant in your memories.  Well, there’s the three color variants, and I’ve looked at the original, and the late run repaint, but there’s one more, right in the middle, and I haven’t looked at him.  I don’t like the dangling anticipation, so check it out!  The last one!  Now with beard!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr Sinister was released in the 1993 repaint series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  Last week’s Sinister was the way the repaint was shown off on the card back, but was actually released later, while this figure wasn’t pictured at all, yet was still the figure that shipped with the rest of the repaint series.  Like the other two Sinister figures, this one is 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  It’s exactly the same sculpt as before.  He’s still stiff, but he still works for the character.  The color differences between this guy and the very first release are exceedingly minimal.  In fact, the two are identical apart from the outlined lips and the presence of the beard.  That’s it.  That’s the whole change-up.  Not even a minor palette swap.  I mean, I guess it could be worse?  It was enough to get me to buy it, so somebody won.  I don’t know who.  I mean, Toy Biz went out of business years ago, and I bought all of my Sinisters second hand, so not them.  Was it me?  Did I win?

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

It’s crazy that I didn’t have this guy on hand to do both repaints in one review last week, right?  Like, what are the odds that I’d find this repaint right after reviewing the other one?  Well, pretty low, because this one has been sitting in the backroom at All Time Toys since I got the other one.  They came in at the same time, and I got so distracted by the more obvious repaint, that I missed that I didn’t have this one.  Look, I try, you guys, but the Sinisters just confuse me.  They’re my Toy Biz blindspot!  Well, now I have all three, so no one can stop me now!

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.

#3536: Mr Sinister

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

MR SINISTER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0015: Creator Chris Claremont intended for Mr Sinister to be dark take on the “Shazam” concept, revealed to be the projection of Nate, a fellow orphan from Scott’s childhood.

Every so often here, my solid knowledge of toy-related things fails me. Okay, maybe not fails, but lapses. And then I say something definitively, and it’s totally not definitive because it’s actually wrong. Me? Wrong? Believe it or not, it happens. What’s even crazier is that in this instance, it’s about Toy Biz Marvel, which is especially in my wheelhouse. In my review of Mr. Sinister, I referred to him as the repaint, noting that the only difference between the two releases was that the “repaint” lacked the goatee of the original. Turns out I was lying like some kind of lying person. The one I reviewed was in fact the original release. This one? Repaint. Maybe not *the* repaint, but certainly *a* repaint.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr Sinister was released in the 1993 Repaint Series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line…maybe. Here’s the thing about this guy: he’s got a somewhat confusing history. The prototype shots for the repaint series showed the figure seen here, but when the assortment hit retail, the Sinister that showed up was the same as the standard, but with his goatee added. About three years later, the figure that matched the prototype randomly started showing up mixed in with KB Toys’ close out stock of earlier assessments. Did they just, like, forget to pack the new one in and send him out later? Who knows? Certainly not me. I just review figures and get things wrong. The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation. He’s using the same sculpt as the initial release, which, apart from its stiffness, is a pretty good sculpt.  The main change-up to the figure is the cape, which is now a totally red piece.  Beyond that, it’s minor changes, with the neckline becoming a v-neck, and the blue taking on more of an indigo hue than its original release.  His forehead diamond is also a little larger, and, on mine, there’s a red spot on his chin, which looks a little bit like his smaller soul patch look, even if it’s not supposed to.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Keeping track of all of the Sinister variations is definitely a bit tricky.  I got the first one, and since then I’ve been trying to get the other two variants, because I’m weird like that.  I was honestly not even expecting to get this one when I did; a collection came into All Time, and I just assumed the Sinister would be the one I already had, since it’s the most common by far.  But it wasn’t and now I’ve got 2 out of 3!  Noice!

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.

#3531: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

X-MEN CLASSICS (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0010: Jean Grey’s Jim Lee costume has received 11 action figures since its debut.

As a kid, my introduction to the X-Men was the animated series, which drove my desire for the whole cast of characters in action figure form.  The toyline running concurrently with the show was actually comics-based, but still generally managed to get a lot of looks that were close enough to work.  There were, however, some omissions, as well as some…odd ways of doing figures.  Despite being a main character on the show, Jean’s only figure in the line proper for most of its run was a single Phoenix figure, which wasn’t her main get-up on the series.  That look got some action figure love, sure, but Toy Biz’s takes always felt a bit monkey’s paw-like; you’d get her, but at some sort of trade off.  My search for a good one ran for a good number of years.  The closest I got was in 2000, and it was a figure that I was honestly pretty thrilled to get, even though she’s maybe not the most thrilling figure at the end of it all.  Still, here she is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean Grey is part of Toy Biz’s X-Men Classics line, which they launched in 2000 to run some old molds in new packaging between the toys for X-Men: The Movie and X-Men: Evolution.  While most of the figures were minor tweaks to existing releases, the Battle Blasters figures all got more substantial tweaks, in order to make them less Age of Apocalypse-inspired and more standard.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Her mold is almost identical to the original “Secret Weapon Force” release, which was just the Jean mold that Toy Biz had on hand at the time, I guess.  It does at the very least fill in the etched lines for the boots and gloves from the mold’s original use as Mystique.  For all of the re-uses the body saw during Toy Biz’s run, I do believe this is the only time they got rid of those.  It definitely helps with the overall look.  The mold’s not bad; the body is basic, and the head, while definitely more dialed into the AoA version of the character, isn’t horrible.  The main change-up, obviously, is the paint, which now puts her in her Jim Lee costume…or at least something close to it.  There are some sculpted details that don’t line up; the hair’s too short, and she lacks the shoulder pads and leg pouches.  That’s kind of expected, and it’s certainly closer than the other repaint they did for this costume.  The only thing that really stands out to me as “off” is the hands being yellow, but even that was a back and forth thing, with it only more recently being decided that she didn’t wear gloves with the costume.  This Jean release got the exact same accessory as her original “Secret Weapon” release: the Catapult Tank Blaster.  It’s a big green and black thing, and it’s hella goofy.  But, hey, at least I got two of them, right?

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I vividly recall finding this figure in a Toys R Us, early December, still in post-X-Men: The Movie bliss, and being absolutely thrilled.  Then less so, because it was early December, which was typically a time of no toy purchases, what with the inevitable onslaught of figures I’d be getting as Christmas gifts.  My parents, however, recognized the significance of the figure, and allowed me to break their usual rule, so that I could finally have the Jean Grey I’d been waiting so long for.  She’s not much to write home about; she’s just the Secret Weapon Force Jean with a new deco, and that one wasn’t anything special either.  But, I was always very happy with her, and she’s still pretty nifty, even if there are better Jim Lee style Jeans these days.

#3510: Ultraman – Defender of the Universe

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

ULTRAMAN — DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE w/ JACK SHINDO

ULTRAMAN (DREAMWORKS)

“An evil space virus, Gudis has invaded Earth, producing horrifying giant mutant monsters which threaten to wipe out all life on the planet.

All might be lost if not for ULTRAMAN….Defender of the Universe. Towering 20 stories high, only Ultraman can save the world from the Alien Intruders.

However, earth’s polluted atmosphere is deadly to Ultraman, so to fight on this planet, he must share the molecular structure of a human – Jack Shindo.

Jack is a member of UMA. an international fighting force whose mission is to protect the world from hostile aliens.  But when the battle seems hopeless for UMA. Jack uses his secret Delta Plasma Pendant to transform into Ultraman.

Can Ultraman save the earth against the alien intruders? He must, for he is our only hope.”

Ultraman is a Japanese property, and has almost always been produced in Japan, but there have been a few periods during the franchise’s history where outside groups try to throw their hat in the ring.  In 1990, the South Australian Film Corporation partnered with Tsuburaya Productions to produce Ultraman: Towards the Future, a 13-episode English Ultra series.  Keeping with the series’ move away from usual Ultra production channels, the accompanying toys came not from Bandai, but instead from DreamWorks, who put out a line featuring the main Ultra, Ultraman Great, and the monsters he fought. I’m taking a look at Ultraman today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultraman — Defender of the Universe was released as part of DreamWorks’ 1990 Ultraman toyline. Despite the show getting a subtitle to differentiate it from the others, the line got nothing of the sort, nor did the main character get his full name.  So, it’s all just Ultraman.  The Ultraman figure stands about 8 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  He’s not exactly very mobile, since his construction is largely rotocast, and that limits what can be done with articulation.  He gets very basic movement, but is largely stuck in the pose he’s been sculpted into.  This Ultraman was based on Great’s design from the show, which was itself pretty close to the original Hayata design.  In the show, Great had a spandex suit, a notable shift from the usual rubber suits of the Ultras, but for the figure, his proportions and more sculpted musculature makes him look like he’s back in the same rubber suit as the others.  His proportions are a bit more cartoony, almost in line with the likes of vintage Masters of the Universe.  It’s definitely a departure from the usual Ultra stuff, but it’s certainly got its own vibe.  The paint work isn’t terrible; he’s definitely on the fuzzy side for all of the edges for the silver, but that’s kind of expected for the rotocast set-up.  All of the key details are there, though, and coverage is pretty even.  Though Great has no accessories of his own, he does include his human counterpart, Jack Shindo.  Jack stands about 2 1/2 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  He’s technically *far* too tall for proper scaling with Great or any of the accompanying monsters, but he’s at least enough smaller to sell the idea.  Any smaller and he’d pretty much just be a Micro Machine.  His sculpting is pretty basic, but honestly not so bad for the scale.  He’s got paint on the head and hands, with the rest being molded color.  My figure is the blue suited version, but there’s also a red one.  Jack also got his own accessory, a small gun to hold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In my early days of Ultraman collecting, I recall seeing this guy a few times, always loose, and I kind of wondered what his deal was, but I never actually got one.  Later, I found out what his deal was, but I still didn’t get one, because…well, I’m actually not entirely sure on that one.  This one was quite literally thrown at me, so it’s hard to miss that, right?  Yes, he was traded into All Time as part of a rather sizeable collection and owner Jason “handed” this one over to me because he knows I like Ultraman.  I do like Ultraman, so he’s onto something there.  He’s goofy, but I do really dig him, and it’s cool to get Jack, since alter egos are a rarity for Ultra tie-in lines.

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.