Tag Archives: 90s

#4084: Wolfsbane

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

WOLFSBANE

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

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

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#4083: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Naboo

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI — NABOO

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

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

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#4082: Trixie

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

TRIXIE

SPEED RACER (RESAURUS)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#4081: Razor Skate Robin

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

RAZOR SKATE ROBIN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#4080: Krule

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

KRULE

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“A member of the long-lived strain of mutantkind called the Externals, Krule has had literally a millennium to perfect the arts of savagery and torture he enjoys so much. Because of his fiery personality, he finds himself unable to work his evil schemes slowly over centuries in the manner of his fellow Externals. Krule is more likely to act in a moment of passion, counting on his ferocious mutant strength to see him through to victory! Krule’s campaigns have led him into battle against the members of X-Force, particularly Cannonball who, as one of the External High-Lords, he considers to be a blood enemy!”

Hey, remember when I was talking about Cannonball theoretically being one of the “Externals” last week?  And also talking about the whole concept of “Externals” as a whole back in February with the so goofy I have to love him Gideon?  Well, let’s talk about it more, I guess. Here’s Krule, who it’s very important to note has absolutely no similarities to Clancy Brown’s character The Kurgan from Highlander, because that would require you to believe that there were any similarities between the Externals and the immortals in Highlander, and that would be crazy because X-Force definitely wouldn’t just rip-off Highlander like that, right?  And they wouldn’t also change the name of the character from “Krule” to “Crule” to further distance things, right?  Right.  Anyway, let’s look at this figure of a guy who in no way looks like he could be voiced by Clancy Brown.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Krule was released in Series 2 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  He follows Gideon’s lead, in sort of a “one External per set” kind of what that would be totally dropped after this series, because the Externals were also rather quickly dropped themselves.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He’s got no movement on the elbows and knees, and also, for some reason, his waist swivel is only one direction?  And his left arm has sort of a click to it like it’s supposed to do something, but it doesn’t so it’s just…odd.  Also, I’ve not mentioned it before now, but this entire assortment has no peg-holes in their feet, which becomes more of an issue with Krule, whose lack of knee joints makes him a bit less stable.  His sculpt was unique to him and it’s…I mean, it’s accurate, I guess. He’s bulky and bald and wearing very little.  He’s got a separate braid piece that I guess he can kind of use as a weapon?  It wound up re-used for the Fantastic Four Thanos.  It at least makes a little more sense here.  Krule’s color work is fine.  Basic, and super wonky in its shades, for sure.  Who doesn’t love the mix of magenta and orange?  They go so naturally together, right?  My copy has some pretty notable slop around the edges of the orange, especially on the arms and legs.  Krule is packed with a pair of alien skulls (which are most certainly not a Xenomorph and a Predator, because why would they do that?) which…like, he can’t hold them, and the back just tells you to put them on the braid, which you can remove and turn into a “Radical Warrior Bracelet.”  You know, as you do.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Unlike Gideon, who I remember from my childhood, I don’t recall anything about Krule (and in fact frequently confuse him with Killspree).  I got him with a few other sealed X-Force figures (which I believe included the Gideon in my collection currently), and then he just kind of sat for a while before I noticed him.  He’s…fine.  Kind of boring, for the most part, with some strange and not really worked out gimmicks.  Honestly, there’s a part of me that wishes we’d gotten the rest of the Externals in equally phoned in figures to Gideon and Krule, just for the absurdity of it all, but, alas, it was not to be.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0080: Quicksilver

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

QUICKSILVER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s officially Friday!  Oh yeah!  We made it to Friday!  Let’s do a bit of Flashing back, but, you know, not to this week, no rather to the far away land of 2023, with a look back at Quicksilver!

“The speedster known as Quicksilver belongs to a family of strong mutants, his sister is the Scarlet Witch and his father is Magneto! Quicksilver spend the early part of his career as a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, before realizing his powers would best be put to use for the good of all Mankind. Since that time, Quicksilver has been a member of several super-teams, including X-Factor and the Avengers!”

Though he hasn’t quite made the lasting impressing that his twin sister has in recent years, Quicksilver is still certainly in a better spot than he was back before 2014. Nowadays, he’s almost a household name…well, one of him is, anyway. Not sure which. Probably not the comics one, but that’s the one I’m looking at anyway, so let’s just stick with that. Anyway, here’s a Quicksilver, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quicksilver was released in the infamous “Muntant Armor” series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line. There were two variants of Quicksilver available, one in his classic blue and white costume and one in his his then-current white and grey one. Back in 2015, I looked at the white and grey, so today’s review focusses on the blue and white. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation. As noted in the prior review, Quicksilver was built on the smaller male base body, which Toy Biz got quite a few uses out of around this time. He shares his mostly new head sculpt (retooled from the Battle Brigade Archangel) with his variant, and it’s still a pretty good take on the character. His paint work was obviously the main selling point. It’s a pretty solid recreation of his classic design. For true accuracy, it should have the black shorts, but this isn’t horribly inaccurate or anything. Application is pretty clean for the most part, with minimal slop or bleed over. Both versions of Quicksilver got the same accessories, a weird machine gun thing (missing from both of mine) and a dust cloud running effect stand, which was re-used from Meanstreak, but was now in a fun translucent grey, which was generally just a little more effective for the appearance of a dust cloud.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My dad had this version of Quicksilver, while I had the other one when I was growing up. I was always a fan of this one too, but I liked having my own distinct version. Over the years, though, I’ve been slowly working at getting a full run of the Toy Biz Marvel, and I was able to snag this guy at a toy show, in order to help me towards that goal. It’s intriguing that Toy Biz did Pietro with both costumes, seeing as he’s exactly the sort of character that you don’t really need multiple figures for, but now, well, now I have both, and I guess that’s kinda cool, right? 

This review was almost written back in 2018, when one of my ideas for making up for the “lost days” of reviews from my first year before moving ending my fifth was to review a bunch of Toy Biz variants to figures I’d already reviewed.  When I got all the Vipers for the Day of the Vipers, I scrapped the Toy Biz idea, and this guy got shelved.  The final review is from March of 2023, which was the lead-up to my daughter being born, and I was writing a *lot* of reviews in advance to prep for some reduced time devoted to the site.  As such, I was focusing a lot more heavily on stuff I could pretty much slot anywhere, without worry of references being dated or out of place.  This one was written about six months ahead of publication, which is a heck of a lead time. It’s kind of short and loose, but also I’d already reviewed the other variant, and even done an addendum, so I’d said a lot about the release and the mold.  I have since then added a *second* addendum to the variant review, so even more has been said.  As with the last Quicksilver addendum, the big addition here is that I found the weird machine gun accessory, which makes little sense for Quicksilver or the “Muntant Armor” gimmick of the assortment.  He can’t even hold it all that well.  But, he’s got it, and I guess that’s the most important thing.

#4079: Qui-Gon Jinn

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

QUI-GON JINN

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

Well, with Power of the Force officially done, and my small handful of actually new Star Wars stuff to review actually burned through, I guess it’s time to move on.  Not from Star Wars, of course.  I’m a toy site.  That would be crazy.  No, move onto the thing that followed (or actually kind of ran a bit in tandem with, I guess) Power of the Force: the Episode I tie-ins!  I’ve reviewed all of two figures from the at the time tie-ins, both of them Obi-Wan, so today I’m jumping over to the other rather important Jedi from the film, Qui-Got Jinn!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Qui-Gon Jinn is one of the three deluxe figures from Hasbro’s Star Wars: Episode I tie-in line, released alongside similarly deluxe versions of Obi-Wan and Darth Maul.  Like the other two, he consisted of a rather standard core figure, with an action feature activated by a kind of wonky lightsaber hilt-looking thing.  The figure stands just over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  The deluxe figures lacked the wrist and elbow swivels of the standard figures (Obi-Wan kept one of the elbow swivels, but Qui-Gon wasn’t as lucky), and the shoulder movement was restricted by the action feature.  While Obi-Wan’s sculpt wasn’t really all that different from the standard, Qui-Gon’s is actually quite different.  He’s a lot more pre-posed, in sort of a mid-battle set-up, with his hair swept back and his teeth bared.  While it’s a bit more limiting, it’s also a more dynamic, and I feel slightly more exciting sculpt.  It’s not as crazy as some of the Saga figures got, though, and he’s more stable on his feet.  Qui-Gon’s color work is pretty good.  Nothing crazy for the era, with the body work mostly focusing on base color stuff.  The head’s a bit more involved, with the hair getting some grey streaks in it.  Qui-Gon was packed with his standard lightsaber, as well as the larger “control” saber, which clipped around the figure’s waist and could activate the action feature.  As with Obi-Wan, I lost that one at some point, because I was some sort of silly child.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got a fair bit of Episode I related stuff for my birthday the year the movie came out, and I recall this Qui-Gon was amongst the bunch.  He was specifically my first Qui-Gon figure, and I recall being pretty excited to get him.  I got the standard not to long after (I think he may have just been a slightly delayed birthday present, truth be told), but I always liked this one a little bit more.  He’s not exactly a figure with a lot going on, but over 25 years out, I do still quite like him, and he’s probably still my favorite Qui-on figure.

#4076: Cannonball

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

CANNONBALL

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Sam Guthrie lived an uneventful life in a small Kentucky town, until a mining accident triggered his latent mutant powers! He found that he could propel himself through the air at fantastic speeds, and, while doing so, his “blast field” rendered him impervious to harm. Sam realized that he had to use his powers to help bring about a better world, a task he strives to accomplish in the company of X-Force as Cannonball!”

Though the original cast of New Mutants are really none of them slouches in terms of long-term viability, perhaps the breakaway hit of the bunch is Sam Guthrie, Cannonball, who stuck with the team through its whole run as the New Mutants, and then stuck around for a good amount of time when the rebranded as “X-Force” and even got moved up to the main X-Men team for a while in the ‘90s.  But, before his main team stint, he remained a major focal point of X-Force, which delved into not only his hero’s journey, but also had a whole sub-plot where he was supposedly one of the Externals, which just kind of got dropped because it was vague and confusing?  Anyway, his only figure during Toy Biz’s run came from the early X-Force days, and I’m looking at that today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cannonball was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  There were two color variants on the Series 2 release, as well as a third variation released as part of KB Toys’ exclusive X-Men reissue line in 1998, and I’ll discuss the specifics on those in the paint section.  He’s based on his initial X-Force look, which was still current when the figure hit shelves.  It’s certainly one of Sam’s most distinctive and signature designs, so that’s a plus.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Size-wise, he feels more in line with the first series, rather than the scaled up second series, but in terms of quality of sculpt, he’s definitely more like the rest of Series 2.  There’s a lot of detailing, and especially a lot of character going into his face.  It does kind of make him look a lot older than he should be, but that’s not all that out of place for Sam’s usual depictions, so it kind of works.  Sam’s original release aimed to capture the sort of lavender/lilac hue of his costume in the comics, but ended up a lot more pink than intended.  There was a running change during the X-Force run to a much darker purple shade, which is closer to, like, his colors on the covers I suppose.  The paint masking on the two is the same, and while I think the contrast is a little better on the second one, the general coloring on the first one ultimately feels a bit more true to the character for me.  Clearly that was a prevailing feeling, since his 1998 re-release brought the pink back, this time with a vengeance.  The general application was a bit more punched up for this release as well, with a better layout of colors on the face, as well as a few extra smaller details, and making the accenting silver.  The one weird quirk of this release, however, is that the back of his head, rather than being the proper brown of his aviator cap, is just flesh tone, which is…odd.  All three figures included a silver launching pad, which is a sort of gimmicky way of showing off his powers, but is also fun in the goofiest and best sort of way.  Also, you can put it on his back, if you want?  Why?  I don’t know, but it’s an option.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My main knowledge of Cannonball growing up was from his time in the X-Men in the ‘90s.  As such, I’m rather partial to that look for him, which doesn’t much look like this look.  I did end up getting one of these, some time in the mid ‘00s, from an older couple selling off their son’s collection at the Farpoint dealer’s room.  That was the original pink one, and I was always fine with that, but I’ve managed to pull the other two over the years as well, which feels all nice and complete.  I still like the original the best, and would certainly not say no to his X-Men look, but they’re all kind of nifty in their own way.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0079: Corsair

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

CORSAIR

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

And here we are, at the end of the week.  It’s been a hell of a week, but it’s over.  Let’s just celebrate that simple fact.  Last week, I didn’t have a post of the flashback variety, but it’s okay, because I’m bringing it back around this week.  Just in time for Father’s Day, it’s the Summers dad, Corsair!

“Snatched from the Earth by a passing Shi’ar spacecraft, Christopher Summers was pressed into service as a slave of that galactic empire. But Summers burst the bonds of his captivity, and now in the company of his fellow Starjammers, he roams the cosmos as the free booting space pirate known as Corsair!”

“The Phoenix Saga” opened up a lot of new avenues for the X-Men. I guess going into space will do that for you. In addition to contending with the whole Shi’ar Empire, they also came upon a band of space pirates, the Starjammers. Originally pitched by artist Dave Cockrum as a standalone set of characters, they were reworked into the crew of a displaced Christopher Summers, the man eventually revealed to be the father of X-Men Cyclops and Havok (and Vulcan, too, but I don’t wanna talk about it). As the bio above notes, Christopher took on the name “Corsair” and even managed to get himself an action figure, which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Corsair was released in the 8th Series of Toy Biz’s X-Men series, officially dubbed the “Phoenix Saga” Series, and designed to tie-in with the storyline’s adaptation on the cartoon. Corsair played a large role in that adaptation, so his presence in the tie-in made quite a bit of sense. Interestingly, Corsair was actually the third Starjammer to grace the line, following Ch’od and Raza’s inclusion in Series 7. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. He’s a pretty standard offering for the line in terms of mobility and construction, being hampered by no odd lack of joints or the addition of any weird action features. He’s just a nice, basic sculpt. The details are all pretty cleanly handled, and he’s got a nicely balanced set of proportions. He’s perhaps a touch exaggerated, but certainly no where near as badly as later figures in the line. He does go for Corsair’s slightly updated shoulder pad-bearing design, introduced in the early ’90s (because everyone had to have shoulder pads in the ’90s, of course). It’s the one used on the cartoon, and it really wasn’t much of a change from the original design, so it ended up working out okay. If there was one change I’d like to see on this figure, I wouldn’t have minded if his hair had a little bit more of a dynamic flair to it; it was usually pretty fabulous, and it seems a little tame here. It’s not the end of the world, though; I’ll learn to live, I’m sure. Corsair’s paint work is overall pretty cleanly handled. It’s basic, but it’s also bright and eye-catching, as Corsair should be. Corsair was originally packed with a sword, gun, and grapple. My figure’s only got the sword left, but that’s honestly the best part, so I’m okay with it. Interestingly, Corsair is one of only two figures in the Phoenix Saga Series not to gain extra accessories when the assortment was moved over to the larger-style cards. I guess they felt like he had enough already.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Corsair as gift from my Nana back when he was new. I don’t remember exactly the occasion, but I know it wasn’t a birthday, because my cousin Rusty also got one at the same time. Maybe it was an end of school thing? Or possibly an Easter thing? I don’t know. I do know that Rusty had no clue who Corsair was and definitely didn’t appreciate getting him as much as I did. He’s a pretty solid figure, so I definitely am glad he was one I held onto.

Corsair’s a mid-2020 review, in that bliss that was post-Day of the Wolverines.  I think it hits pretty much all the important notes, in terms of reviewing.  I did erroneously state that there were no additional accessories for the larger-carded release.  In fact, in addition to the original sword and pistol, the second release also added a whole zipline thing to the mix, which feels appropriately pirate-y.  My figure only had the sword before, but now he’s got everything, which is pretty cool.

#4072: Grizzly

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

GRIZZLY

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“The rampaging strongman of Cable’s mercenary outfit the Six-Pack, the massive Grizzly balances unequal physical force with a liberal dose of sardonic humor. But don’t take him too lightly, lest he turns his prodigious mutant strength and massive battle-hammers to the attack. Now reunited with his former Six-Pack Comrades after serving with the SHIELD unit Weapon Prime, Grizzly battles those menaces that pose a threat to a safe and prosperous future for mutant and human alike.”

What, new mutant character from the ‘90s who was part of a paramilitary squad and has a “sardonic humor?”  That’s so very unique and original.  Is he also the best there is at what he does?  Well, “unequal physical force” suggests yes, I guess.  The name, though?  Not very original, since Grizzly is the fourth character to sport that name in the Marvel universe, and is, perhaps, the one with the least rational for using it.  But, he’s the only one who got a figure from Toy Biz, because it was the ’90, and we were all about the X-characters.  Anyway, here’s the figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Grizzly was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line, alongside fellow Six Pack member Kane.  He was the fourth member of the team, though he’s the fifth and final member I’m reviewing.  Yes, there were six members, but it’s Toy Biz, so they couldn’t finish a line-up; that would be out of character for them.  In their defense, the comics also pretty much forgot Hammer existed as well, so the main five are the ones you’d remember anyway.  The figure is about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He lacked any sort of neck movement, and the shoulders were restricted by the action feature, but he does at least get knee joints.  His sculpt was unique to him, and would remain so for Toy Biz’s whole run.  It’s perfectly fine.  Generally, it looks the part.  I think an argument can be made for him being a bit under-scaled, especially given the slight scale up on the Cable and Kane from this same assortment, but given he was a Liefeld character, his scale was rather all over the place in the books.  Otherwise, the detailing matches up pretty well with his depictions in the comics, and there’s a decent assortment of textures.  Grizzly’s color work matches pretty well to the comics.  It’s odd, for sure.  Like, why is he red?  No idea.  He just is.  And he wears a lot of blue and green, which doesn’t really match.  But, also, there it is.  He’s packed with a pair of “Power Hammers” which he can hold in his hands, and swing up and down using his action feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The entirety of my knowledge of Grizzly comes from this figure’s existence.  And, admittedly, that’s not a lot.  I’ve never had much attachment to any of the Six Pack stuff, so I can’t say I really sought it out.  I got Grizzly because I was buying a couple of other Toy Biz figures online and wanted to combine shipping, and he was one I didn’t own.  I can’t say he does much to bring me into being interested, but also, like other X-Force figures, I can’t say he’s a bad figure, either.  And, if you really want that Six Pack line-up, this is the only Grizzly, so, you know, you gotta.