Tag Archives: 90s

#3365: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“Studying the genetic structure of Scott Summers’ family for many years, Mister Sinister took special care when mutating Cyclops into the one-eyed mutant monster Cyclaw! A bizarre genetic creation, Cyclaw is a one-eyed beast with optic blasts that disintegrate whatever they hit! Completely under the control of Mister Sinister, Cyclaw is Sinister’s chief weapon against the remaining X-Men!”

At the end of the ’90s X-Men toyline from Toy Biz, they got much more experimental with themes.  1997 seemed to hit peak levels of weirdness for that experimentalness, including turning a bunch of the team into monsters.  You know, as you do.  Amongst the X-Men getting all monster-ized was Cyclops.  Big surprise, I have a Cyclops figure to review.  I know.  Crazy.  Anyway, let’s look at the figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is part of the “Monster Armor” series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, which was the line’s 20th assortment.  He was the line’s sixth version of Cyclops.  The standard portion of the figure is sporting Scott’s Jim Lee costume, which made its second appearance in the scale here, after Cyclops II.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.  This assortment’s articulation set-up marked a move towards slightly less posable, and slightly more detailed sculpts, as Toy Biz attempted to emulate some of the McFarlane style that had become so popular towards the end of the decade.  Scott made out alright, though he lost elbow and knee movement.  On the flip side, he got universal joints at the shoulders, and a swivel at the waist.  I’ve actually looked at most of this figure’s sculpt before; it was re-used the next year for the X-Men vs Street Fighter version of the character.  The unique piece between the two was the head sculpt.  This one is a far more intense sculpt, with his head back and his expression screaming.  It’s not exactly an all-purpose sort of sculpt, but I guess it’s unique.  It also fits that whole “I’m transforming into a monster” vibe that the whole set was going for.  The figure’s paint work was more on the basic side.  His colors were very bright; arguably too bright for his design, and that’s something the X-Men vs Street Fighter figure would adjust.  Cyclops, like the rest of the series, was packed with a selection of clip-on Monster armor, which turns him into “Cyclaw,” which is kind of a lackluster name.  There’s a mask, “gloves”, and “boots.”  My figure is missing the feet pieces these days, but beyond that, the remaining pieces are appropriately grotesque and horrifying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Cyclops was, unsurprisingly, the only one of this set that I got when they were new.  Look, I liked Cyclops, okay?  He got some play time as my standard Cyclops, before getting pretty quickly replaced by the Vs version.  Something about the head always seemed a little off to me, but I really liked the monster set-up, so that got a lot of use.  And, honestly, that was kind of the main point, right?

#3364: Rocket Launcher Robot

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

ROCKET LAUNCHER ROBOT

LOST IN SPACE (TRENDMASTERS)

I’ve talked exactly once before here on the site about the 1998 Lost in Space movie.  It’s got quite a reputation of being quite bad.  It’s a well-earned reputation, I’ll tell you that.  There’s a very short list of things about the movie that don’t totally suck.  Amongst them is the handling of the Robinson family’s companion the Robot. Voiced once more by his original series voice actor Dick Tufeld, the Robot got a radical redesign for the film, but one that was still pretty solid.  He also stuck pretty closely to his original characterization.  Unsurprisingly for any adaptation of Lost in Space, the Robot was also the most heavily merchandised member of the cast, forming the backbone of Trendmasters’ tie-in toyline for the movie.  He was available in all manner of styles and sizes, and I’m looking at one of the smaller ones today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Rocket Launcher Robot was one of two smaller-scale Robots released in 1998 to go with the main 5-inch scale Lost in Space line of tie-in figures.  This was the more standard of the two Robots at this scale, meant to serve as the Robot in his basic configuration from the first half of the movie.  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation, as well as the same spring-loaded pop-up legs feature and rolling wheels seen on the Battle Ravaged version of this guy.  He’s also got a grabbing feature for the pincers on his hands, and his head extends outward on his “neck.”  The Robot’s sculpt is one of the best offerings Trendmasters had from its output for the movie.  It’s got a couple of parts in common with the Battle Ravaged release, though not as many as you might expect.  Obviously, the most of the upper half is unique, since the design is different, and all.  All of the arms are shared with the other release (though, the other figure only used one of the larger ones), as are the legs and outer treads.  The inner portion of the treads is different, so as to allow for rocket storage.  Everything makes for a solid recreation of the Robot’s updated design from the movie.  Some of the technical details are a little bit on the soft side, but it’s not out of line given the era, the price point, and the general style.  Since the figure gets “Rocket Launcher” as his descriptor, he understandably works in the shoulder launcher he has in the movie.  It’s a more complex mechanism in the movie, actually folding out and all.  While the larger Robot from Trendmasters did it more like the movie, this one goes more rudimentary.  The launcher is held to the back with a single peg.  You pull it out and re-orient it and boom: rocket launcher.  The paint work on this figure is generally pretty solid.  He’s more basic in his color work, but that’s more appropriate for this particular design.  He still gets all of the proper details he needs to.  Some of the application is a little sloppy around the edges, but it’s overall pretty good.  The Robot is packed with two rockets for his rocket launcher, which he can store in his treads.  He also got a sound feature.  When the button on his base is pressed, he alternates between “Weapons systems armed!” and a blasting sound effect.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m quite nostalgic for this movie, regardless of its quality.  I saw it in the theatre when I was 6, and I had a bunch of the toys.  This was the one main Robot release from this movie that I never had as a kid, and one I’ve been low-key keeping an eye out for in recent years.  Cosmic Comix got a run of Trendmasters Lost in Space figures in a little while back, and this guy was there for $5, and at that price, he was an easy grab.  He’s a fun figure.  Nothing fancy.  Just fun.

#3360: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA VS MORRIGAN

MARVEL VS CAPCOM (TOY BIZ)

“When Steve Rogers volunteered to serve his country by undergoing the experimental super-soldier augmentation process, Captain America was born. Captain America is the defender of truth and justice, and is the living embodiment of freedom. He has sworn an oath to protect the weak and shepherd the innocent. Armed only with an unbreakable shield, Captain America guards the freedoms held most dear.”

Remember when you had go out to a place to play a video game?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.  Okay, it’s a little more than that, right?  In the ’90s, fighting games were a big craze in the arcade world, and comics, specifically Marvel comics, were big in other parts of the world, and some genius had the idea to smash those two things together.  First, we got X-Men vs Steet Fighter in 1996, followed but Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter in 1997, and then Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes in 1998.  With the games themselves a success, Toy Biz licensed the Capcom half of the characters, for the purpose of doing some two-packs interacting with their Marvel line.  Like the actual games, they started with X-Men, but they eventually expanded to the rest of the Marvel and Capcom universes for a short-lived line in 1999.  And all of this is a very long lead in for me saying “hey, look at the Captain America figure I’ve got.”  Oh, and I guess there’s another figure as well.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America and Morrigan are one of the four two-packs that made up Toy Biz’s one-series Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes line, which fell under their larger Video Game Super Stars branding.  They hit retail in 1999.

There was a surprisingly small number of standard Cap figures in the ’90s, and this one was on that rather short list.  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He was on the larger side for Cap, at least in terms of height, though was not quite as crazy on the width as some of the other Toy Biz Caps.  His articulation scheme is amongst the best that this era had to offer, which was certainly a plus.  His sculpt was all-new at the time, though it was quickly re-used for the Silver Age line’s take on Cap, and the head got a subsequent re-use for the Greatest Moments Bullseye, all in the same year.*  It’s honestly a pretty respectable offering.  The head sculpt goes for a slightly more anime-styled look, which fits with the overall style of the game he’s meant to be based on.  It still captures his usual features, and keeps him from looking too angry or intense, like some other Caps ended up being.  The body sculpt is nicely balanced in its proportions, being bulked up, but not ridiculously so.  He’s still a little wonky in some spots, but for this era of the line, it was actually quite tame.  Cap’s paint work is generally pretty nicely handled; the base colors a touch more muted than usual, but not incredibly so.  There’s a little bit of accenting on the blue and white sections of the costume, which generally works pretty well.  The eyes get quite a bit of detailing, adding a lot of depth and life to his overall look.  Cap was packed with his usual shield; it was a unique piece, and, like oh so many Cap shields, the clasp on the back is quite prone to breaking.

Fulfilling the proper video game portion of the set, coming straight outta Darkstalkers, it’s Morrigan.  Look at her, over here, all Morrigan-y.  Oh yeah.  Morrigan.  ….Okay, I’m gonna be honest with you all here: I don’t really know much about Morrigan.  Or anybody from Darkstalkers for that matter.  I mostly know them as space fillers when Capcom needs more characters for a cross-over roster, which is probably really reductive, but it’s my site, and that’s where we are.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and she has 11 points of articulation.  Despite having a lot of articulation, the actual range of motion on most of the joints is pretty restricted.  The head can’t really turn because of the hair and wings, the shoulders don’t really go any further down, and there’s always the dreaded v-hips.  It all makes her rather difficult to keep standing as well, which is really frustrating.  She got an all-new sculpt, which has a fair bit of pre-posing, but does honestly look pretty spot-on for the character’s usual look.  Morrigan’s paint work is all pretty basic, but it matches well with her character again.  Everything is pretty clean in application as well, so that’s nice as well.  Morrigan is packed with a small bat creature thing, which clips onto her wrist.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In 1999, I had some sort of half-day at school, and my father had a dentist’s appointment that he was unable to get out of, the location of which meant there would be no time for me to go home and actually get anything that I could entertain myself with.  There was, however, a Toys R Us rather close to the dentist’s office, so my Dad took me in to pick out something to entertain me.  This Cap (and the Morrigan that was packed with him, I guess) was what I picked.  I was always in search of the best possible Cap for my collection, and this guy looked right up that alley.  He’s honestly my favorite of the Caps in this scale, and remained my go-to Cap pretty much from the time I got him onward.  Also, there’s Morrigan.  She’s there too.

*This mold was also the one shown on all of the packaging images for the Avengers: United They Stand line’s take on Cap, though it was replaced with an entirely different mold before they actually arrived at retail.

#3359: Captain Christopher Pike

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

CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER PIKE

STAR TREK (PLAYMATES)

“After a disastrous mission on Rigel VII, Captain Christopher Pike diverted the U.S.S. Enterprise to Talos IV after receiving a distress call from survivors of S.S. Columbia.  On the Talosian surface, the landing party found a group of aging scientists and a young woman named Vina.  But it was all an illusion.

Vina led Pike into a trap set by the Talosians living underground.  Imprisoned in a menagerie, they were to begin repopulation of the surface.  Pike learned to fight the Talosians’ mental power, filling his mind with primitive thoughts they could not block.

After discovering that the humans would rather die than be held captive, the Talosians released Pike and his ship.  Vina, the only true survivor of the Columbia, remained with the Talosians.  The captain recommended to Starfleet that Talos IV be placed off limits.”

Star Trek reviews are certainly a rarity around here.  It’s not that I don’t like the franchise, but I don’t know that I enjoy it as much as a lot of other people.  What I do like from the franchise tends to be rather TOS-centric.  My favorite ship’s captain from the franchise, Captain Christopher Pike, comes from that era, although with some technicalities, I suppose, since he’s not a main captain by the point of the actual show, instead serving as the main character of “The Cage,” the show’s first pilot.  When the network didn’t pick up the show based on that pilot, lead actor Jeffery Hunter backed out, and Pike was replaced as captain of the Enterprise by William Shatner’s Kirk for the series proper.  Much of the footage from “The Cage” was then worked into the series proper as the extended flashback that makes up the bulk of “The Menagerie,” so there’s at least *some* Pike.  That’s better than none.  It also makes him a good pick for merch!  Yeah, the merch!  Let’s look at some of that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Christopher Pike was released in 1996 under Playmates’ combined Star Trek line, which gave a mix of all of the shows up to that point.  He was part of the fifth series of that set-up, and was released, alongside a Spock variant, Vena, and the Talosian Keeper, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The Cage.”  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  Pike has the line’s standard articulation set-up.  Not exactly the best scheme, and I never cared much for those silly v-hips, but it is what it is.  They were at least consistent by this point.  Pike’s structure is pretty similar to the rest of the standard TOS Starfleet officers.  That being said, he’s notably a little skinnier than the others, which I’m not sure is entirely accurate.  Of course, it’s not like any of the proportions were all that accurate on any of these figures, so it’s all kind of a toss up.  The likeness on these figures were rarely spot-on, and Pike’s not an exception.  Playmates did three Pike figures with Hunter’s likeness; this one’s the weakest of those three, but it was, at least, still not a terrible offering.  He’s got at least a hint of who he’s supposed to be.  The head does seem a tad large relative to the rest of the body, but that was common with these figures.  The body sculpt is rather on the basic side; there’s a little bit of detailing on his collar, but he’s otherwise without any real details of note, making him a softer sculpt than even the rest of the line.  Pike’s paint work is likewise basic.  The eyes are the best work, and the lips aren’t bad either.  The hair on mine has seen better days, but that’s not so much Playmates’ fault.  Other than that, he’s very basic and very shiny.  Pike was packed with his “Starfleet Hand Laser”, communicator, shield, and spear, all molded in the same sort of indigo shade, as well as a display stand.  Of all the parts, mine only has the stand these days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure started out as my dad’s.  He got it new, back when I was a kid.  I was always fascinated by “The Menagerie” and Pike in particular, so I would borrow this guy all the time, and he wound up taking a bit of a beating.  That scuff on the hair happened pretty early on, and it was around that time that my dad realized he wasn’t going to shake me off of this one, so he bought himself a replacement and let me keep this one.  Of my meager Trek collection, he was always a favorite of mine.  He’s dated and goofy, but I dig it.

#3355: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

X-MEN: SECRET WEAPON FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“In an alternate universe very different from the one the X-Men come from, Cyclops acts on his own. Friend or foe, do not get in the way of Cyclops’ powerful optic blasts. With but the blink of an eye, Cyclops can punch a hole through the thickest walls or blast an opponent from the sky. Cyclops’ War Tank Battle Blaster is always at his side ready to unleash its secret weapon on any unsuspecting foes. Cyclops seems to be united against the evil mutant Apocalypse, but has yet to join forces with Wolverine and Jean Grey. Only time will tell if the three heroic X-Men will reunite for one final, ultimate battle.”

By the late ’90s, Toy Biz’s long-running 5-inch Marvel imprint had moved away from purely comics and cartoon adaptations, with their main lines based on Spider-Man and X-Men both getting a more toyetic flair.  In 1998, the X-Men line got the subtitle “Secret Weapon Force,” which meant plenty of wacky variants for the main characters.  The first assortment under this banner placed Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean Grey in a *very* loosely AoA-inspired setting, with Cyclops in particular taking the “loosely” part of that to heart.  But hey, cool Cyclops is cool Cyclops.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops was released in the “Battle Blaster” series of Toy Biz’s X-Men: Secret Weapon Force line.  Where Jean was a straight-forward AoA Jean (with the slight irony of the package backstory saying she was actually the main universe Jean transported), the other three figures in the set differed a bit in their own ways.  Cyclops was perhaps the most different, since his design had little to nothing in common with the AoA look for the character, instead being more closely linked to the standard Cyclops look.  That being said, this figure sports a design that has no direct comics or cartoon source; he’s instead a toy unique look.  It’s honestly not a bad one, and it’s a little surprising that it never got worked in anywhere over the years.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  The entire Battle Blaster assortment was largely based around what Toy Biz could do with minimal new parts.  For Cyclops’ part, it means he’s almost entirely a re-use of the 2099 line’s Meanstreak figure.  The only difference between the two is the presence of a new visor, sculpted over Meanstreak’s face.  It’s a change that works surprisingly well.  It helps that the Meanstreak sculpt is honestly a pretty good one, meaning that he’s just a very playable figure.  The character specific elements are really kept to a minimum, with only the boots and gauntlets feeling very unique; even then, they read more generically ’90s X-Men anyway, so they still work fine for Scott.  His paint scheme goes for a rather different look for Scott.  There’s notably no blue, which is interesting, but also keeps him further from the Meanstreak origins of the mold, so it makes a degree of sense.  My figure’s paint has taken a beating over the years, as you can see, but he still looks pretty good all things considered.  Cyclops, like the rest of the assortment, was packed with his “Secret Weapon Force” weapon, which is dubbed a “War Tank Battle Blaster.”  It’s big and goofy, and curiously not color coordinated with the figure at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a very big Cyclops fan as a kid, and jumped at any chance for a new version of him in toy form, so I made a point of getting this figure early after his release, during a trip to the nearest KB Toys with my Grandmother.  I remember being very excited for him, and he spent a good while as my default version of Scott, even with the non-standard costume.  He’s a fun figure.  Just a good, fun figure.  And still one of my favorite Cyclopses, honestly.

#3352: Ruber

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

RUBER

QUEST FOR CAMELOT (HASBRO)

“A fallen knight who had been kicked out of Camelot, Ruber believes his destiny is to become the King of England at any cost. Vicious and mean to the core, Ruber sends his Griffin to steal Excalibur, King Arthur’s enchanted sword. Ruber then uses Black Magic to create an unstoppable army of mutant weapons to invade Camelot and destroy the king.  Before Ruber can carry out his wicked plans, his Griffin loses Excalibur somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. It’s a race for Excalibur and the power to rule the kingdom of Camelot!”

Warner Brothers’ failed attempt at getting in on the Disney animated feature market, 1998’s Quest For Camelot, may not have been a smash success, but it sure did put in the effort.  One of Disney’s biggest selling points for their fantasy genre films was how impressively charismatic and over the top their villains were, and Gary Oldman’s Ruber is certainly well-suited to that group.  He’s just so hammy and fun, and, thanks to Oldman being one of the few cast members to perform both the voice acting and the singing, he’s perhaps the one character in the movie who doesn’t feel like he’s in two different films depending on whether he’s singing or not.  As the film’s main antagonist (as well as its most memorable part), he found himself amongst the modest tie-in toy offerings, with an action figure I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ruber was released in the six-figure assortment that made up the basic figure portion of Hasbro’s Quest For Camelot tie-in line.  Ruber is based on his fully armored appearance from after the film’s time skip, which is his primary look, so that makes a lot of sense.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He lacks the neck joint that Garrett and Arthur both had, and also gets no extra joints at the waist or wrist like they did, making him a rather stiff figure.  It’s more a design thing, though, so it’s not awful.  The sculpt is more faithful to the source material than the other two, keeping his more cartoony proportions and exaggerated features.  That said, he still gets a lot more added texturing, keeping him consistent with the rest of the line’s stylings.  I continue to be impressed by how much detailing Hasbro put into the sculpts, given how streamlined the movie’s animation models were.  Ruber’s paint work is rather basic, as is expected.  All the standard colors are there, but there’s not really much accenting.  They did at least do the shadowing on his eyes, which keeps him truer to his movie look, and the rest of the application is pretty cleanly handled.  Ruber got perhaps the most film accurate selection of extras for his figure, with his helmet, shield, and “Armor Crushing Battle Mace.”  In a perfect world, I’d love to get his cloak, or maybe an alternate right arm with Excalibur affixed to it, but that wasn’t really how things went at the time.  What we got is pretty awesome.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Arthur and Garrett both before the movie, but Ruber I got after seeing it in theaters.  I wasn’t a big villains kid growing up, but I really dug Ruber.  His look was just very imposing, and this figure wound up being my go-to villain for a *lot* of my other heroes.  He’s another rather solidly done figure from a surprisingly good, and unfortunately overlooked toyline.  He’s the last of the three I got as a kid, and I kinda want to actually finish out the set at some point.

#3350: Spider-Woman

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

SPIDER-WOMAN

IRON MAN (TOY BIZ)

“Single mother and Stark Enterprises Vice President, Julia Carpenter conceals a fantastic secret: she possesses the ability to weave psionic webs, and has the strength, speed and agility of a spider! Now, in the guise of Spider-Woman, Julia is determined to turn her astonishing abilities to the downfall of the Mandarin and his sinister schemes of conquest!”

Since Iron Man is a character that’s had a spotty track record with supporting casts over the years, when it came time to give him a cartoon in the ’90s, the show had to sort of make due with the super team he was running around with at the time.  Unfortunately, it was during the brief period of time where that team *wasn’t* the Avengers, and was, instead “Force Works,” a replacement for the Avengers West Coast team, which lasted an astonishingly long 22 issues.  Force Works adopted most of the remaining West Coast line-up, which included Julia Carpenter, the second Spider-Woman, who wound up as one of the members chosen to get the largest focus in the Iron Man cartoon, even remaining in the show when the rest of the team left during the show’s second season.  She got a figure out of the deal, as well, and I’m taking a look at that one today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Woman was released in the first series of Toy Biz’s Iron Man line, as not only this series, but in fact the whole line’s only female figure.  Fellow team member Scarlet Witch was less fortunate (a streak that would continue for United They Stand‘s tie-in line), as was the villainess Hypnotia (who remains without any action figures to this day).   The figure stands 5 inches tall and she has 6 points of articulation.  I’ve looked at Julia’s sculpt previously, once in its slightly modified form as Jessica Drew, and also in its completely repainted form as the Invisible Woman.  Apart from issues with the articulation, it’s actually not a half-bad sculpt, and its only flaw when used for Sue was the lack of eyes, which isn’t a problem here.  Other than that, it’s a rather nice, rather balanced sculpt.  The figure’s paint work is decent enough; to keep with her animation look, there’s a slight purple shade to the “black” sections of her costume, which actually doesn’t look half bad.  The application is a little fuzzy in some spots, but it certainly could be worse.  Julia was packed with her Psionic Webs, which were a big goofy purple thing, as well as an ID badge with her bio on it.  She also got an action feature; there’s a lever on her back, which flips her arms up rather spastically.  It was meant to be a “Psionic Web Hurling Action” according to the package, but it really just looks like she’s flipping over a table or celebrating a touch down or something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Spider-Woman is a figure that I don’t vividly recall getting.  I know she was still new when I got her, and that she was more than likely a gift, probably for either my birthday or Christmas.  I’d guess she came from my parents, since they’re the most likely culprits for purchasing her.  She’s one of those ones that I just recall always being in my collection.  She’s honestly a pretty solid figure, just start to finish.

#3347: King Arthur

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

KING ARTHUR

QUEST FOR CAMELOT (HASBRO)

“Several years before the Quest for Camelot began, an unexpected hero stepped forward to pull the magical sword Excalibur from its stone to become the rightful King of England. That hero was Arthur, who grew into a brave and noble king, commanding the respect and loyalty of the Knights of the Round Table. With the magic of Excalibur and the wisdom of his chief advisor, Merlin, Arthur built Camelot into a peaceful, wealthy kingdom. Now he must give his all to protect his people from the evil of Ruber.”

In 1998, Warner Brothers tried to more directly compete with Disney’s resurgence in popularity of their animated features.  The resulting creation, Quest for Camelot, was something of a mixed product.  Originally beginning as a rather straight forward animated feature based on Arthurian mythology, in order to push the Disney competition a bit further, Warner took the finished film, and decided it needed to be a musical…so they added a bunch of songs to it.  Both parts of the movie are quite well done, but they don’t exactly mesh so well, and the movie didn’t really find an audience during its theatrical run.  It’s gained something of a cult following in the years since its release.  Amongst other things, it’s got a pretty impressive voice cast, which included Pierce Brosnan as an older King Arthur.  Arthur isn’t the main character of the piece, but he’s prominent enough that he got himself a figure in the brief tie-in line that Hasbro put out for the movie, and I’m taking a look at that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

King Arthur is part of the six figure line-up for Hasbro’s Quest for Camelot tie-in toyline.  He’s based on his standard kingly attire from the film, which makes sense, since I do believe it’s all he actually wears (well, ignoring the flashback to him pulling the sword from the stone).  It’s rather unassuming for a king, but that’s kind of Arthur’s beat, I suppose.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  As I discussed when I reviewed Garrett, the height on this line is fairly standard these days, but was curiously large for a ’90s line, since they tended to skew a bit smaller.  He’s decently articulated for the era, though nothing to write home about these days.  Honestly, the only things that are notably absent are elbow joints, and he does at least slightly cheat those with that partial bend that’s sculpted in.  In my review of Garrett, I remarked that the actual Quest animation models were quite streamlined and basic, but that the figures added a lot more detailing, to take advantage of the larger scale.  While Arthur doesn’t go quite as in depth as Garrett, he’s still got a fair bit going on, while still matching up pretty well to the animated design for the character.  His color work is largely fairly basic.  It’s clean, and pretty sharp, and I do quite like the metallic finish for the arms and legs.  Arthur was packed with his sword Excalibur, as well as five different add-on armor pieces.  The armor’s not anything he actually had in the movie, but it’s never the less pretty fun, and has a lot of nifty details.  My figure is missing Excalibur and one of the shin guards, but is otherwise still quite well armored.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

King Arthur was the first of the Quest For Camelot figures I got.  I was on a big Arthurian kick at the time, and he was a King Arthur figure, so, you know, it’s hard to not get on board with that.  I believe that I got him while I was out with my Dad, presumably during an errand or something.  He’s fun.  I mean, the whole line is, really.  It’s kind of crazy the effort that went into these figures, given how the movie ultimately panned out, performance wise.  I certainly don’t mind cool figures, though.

#3346: Cadet Data

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

CADET DATA

STAR TREK: WARP FACTOR (PLAYMATES)

So, umm, apparently I haven’t reviewed any Playmates Star Trek here on the site since back in 2017.  Wild.  I mean, I don’t have a ton of them or anything, but that does still feel like further back than I’d expected.  I mean, I guess that’s what happens when you get ruled out on being a fan of the franchise.  Like, I just didn’t like it enough, so I guess I don’t really count?  Yeah, that’s definitely it.  Well, I’m still gonna review some figures occasionally, even if I’m some sort of dirty non-fan.  So, here we are.  When Playmates first started with Star Trek, all of the shows were divided up into their own lines, and there were even a few more on top of that.  The Next Gen line got its own brief spin-off in 1996, Starfleet Academy, which dud figures of that show’s main cast as they might have appeared during their academy days…ignoring the fact that they’re differing ages would mean that most of them, you know, wouldn’t have interacted at all.  But sure.  The initial spin-off ran only one series of four figures, but three additional figures were folded into Playmates’ Warp Factor line, which served as their main Trek line, servicing all parts of the franchise.  Amongst that second round was Data, a character that canonically didn’t actually look any younger in his Cadet days…but he gets a new outfit!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cadet Data was released in Series 3 of the Star Trek: Warp Factor line, in an assortment which also featured the Cadet versions of Troi and Crusher, as Mirror Spock and Edith Keeler.  As with all of the Academy figures that Playmates produced, Data’s design isn’t based on anything actually canon or anything, and instead just sticks Data in this new looking thing.  The first assortment all got cool descriptors for what exactly the purpose of the new suits was supposed to be, but that was dropped for the second round.  Alas, no cool explanation for this one.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  He’s sporting the standard articulation scheme for the line, which always had its pluses and minuses.  The upper half is decent, especially on the arms, but the hips are unfortunately those weird v-hips, which make it virtually impossible for him to do much other than stand or sit in some sort of weird split configuration.  Since Data was unaging, this figure used the same head sculpt as most of the standard Datas for the line; it had an okay likeness of Brent Spiner, and was honestly a pretty respectable piece across the board.  The rest of the figure’s mold was an all-new affair.  He’s wearing some sort of jumpsuit, with some webgear.  It’s all rather basic, and fairly unassuming.  His proportions do have him just a little smaller here than on other figures of the character, but that was true of the line as a whole; the figures kind of slimmed a bit as they moved along.  In terms of coloring, Data is quite monochromatic.  The outfit is a very dark brown, accented by a slightly lighter, but still rather dark brown, with some grey for the gear.  It’s not terribly eye catching, but it does honestly look pretty cool.  Of course, it also has him read a bit more as Lore than as Data, but that’s a minor thing.  Data was packed with a wrist communicator, two styles of phaser thing, a tricorder, and a Starfleet Academy display stand.  Mine has lost everything but the display stand.  Typical of those careless cadets, out there losing all their stuff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember finding the first series of the Academy line somewhere in some bargain bin as a kid, and being frustrated that there was no Data.  This was before the internet was quite as expansive a resource as it is these days, so I didn’t actually know about this figure until seeing him in one of the included booklets with another figure from the line.  And then, you know, I found him at my usual go-to vendor at the local cons, and, well, here we are.

#3344: Silverbolt

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

SILVERBOLT

BEAST WARS (KENNER)

“Shadows of mystery cloak this silent and proud warrior. Part wolf, part eagle, Silverbolt possesses all the attributes of a great lone warrior: speed, power, wisdom, intelligence. His uncanny ability to track and then ferociously overcome Predacons by himself, only to suddenly disappear into the backdrop has inspired myths describing a fierce winged warrior who has come to defeat their evil ranks one by one. Preferring to work alone, Silverbolt is a ferociously intelligent fighter: extremely dexterous, he seems to be everywhere at once, striking with fearsome talons and firing hidden point-missiles from his wing tips to ultimately surface victorious.”

After being largely focused on machines that turned into other machines for their first decade and some change, in 1996, the Transformers brand reconfigured into Beast Wars, which gave the robots in disguise a bunch of animal-inspired alt-modes, as well as a prehistoric setting.  After rather quiet reception for Generation 2, Beast Wars rather revitalized the brand, and even brought in a lot of new fans.  It had a rather strong four year run as a toyline, as well as a rather successful tie-in cartoon running at the same time.  Both of those also had a follow-up in the form of Beast Machines, but nobody really likes to talk about those.  The whole “Beast” thing is getting worked into the live action films this year, with a number of the characters playing pivotal roles in Rise of the Beasts.  But we’re not here to talk about that today.  No, today, we’re talking about “Fuzors.”  See, while the early run characters were all just one lame animal (totally objective fact, there, by the way), the Fuzors were *two* animals fused together!  The best of the bunch (again, objective fact) was the Maximal Silverbolt, who I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silverbolt was part of the first Deluxe Class Fuzors wave of Beast Wars, which was released in 1998.  He was one half of the wave, with the Predacon Sky Shadow being the other half.  In his robot mode, Silverbolt stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 11 practical points of articulation.  Due to the nature of his transformation, there are a few spots where he can get a little extra movement from joints that aren’t really meant for articulation, but it’s all pretty minor adjustments.  His movement wasn’t terrible, which was honestly something that was pretty consistent for Beast Wars.  They certainly weren’t as focused on just the transformation as the G1 stuff was.  Compared to more modern stuff, he’s a little stiff, of course, but 25 years removed, it’s not so bad.  The sculpt is a bit rudimentary, but again not bad.  It tracked well with the animation model he got on the show, especially when it came to the head sculpt.  That said, the proportions do look kind of wonky; the torso is particularly blocky, and the limbs are a bit chunky.  He’s also got a fair bit of kibble on the upper half, with his back legs just sort of hanging off the elbows, and the wings not really folding into the main body, instead just sort of sticking straight out from the back.  It’s a little awkward.  There are also a lot of rather obvious joints and hinges in the robot mode, which breaks up the flow a bit.  His color scheme was predominately the grey he was molded in, with a healthy helping of bronze and darker grey accenting.  It was all pretty cleanly applied, and pretty solid for the era, and it’s held up well over time.  Silverbolt was packed with two feather “missiles” that, in robot mode, were meant to sort of be swords.  They looked more like clubs, but that’s neither here nor there, because I don’t have them anyway.  Silverbolt’s alt-mode, the source of his “Fuzor” title, was a wolf and an eagle, making him a pseudo griffin type thing.  It’s a fun mode, and his transformation into it is a pretty well-engineered one.  In the beast mode, a lot of the uglier parts of the sculpt are hidden, and his overall look is a lot more cohesive…which is actually kind of ironic, since he’s supposed to be a merging of two rather different things.  In this mode, the missiles would go at the ends of his wings, and moving the wings inward would fire the missiles.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was not super into Beast Wars as a kid.  I watched the show, but really only because it was between other things I liked to watch, and I didn’t change the channel.  I owned exactly two of the toys as a kid.  One of them was a gift, so I didn’t have much say in it, and the other was this guy.  I actually quite liked Silverbolt; he’s the only character from the series that I have any sort of attachment to, and as a kid I actually made a point of tracking down his toy.  That one took quite a beating over the years, and ultimately wound up a few limbs shy of where he should have been.  The one reviewed here was actually not mine originally, but was instead Max’s.  He was sorting through several large bins of his old Transformers, and this was one of a few figures that he fished out and gifted to me.  He shows his age to be sure, but I do still really love the figure.