Tag Archives: 90s

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0078: Senyaka

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

SENYAKA

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Hey, we’re here, and it’s Friday, and we officially made it, you guys.  Last Friday wasn’t a Flashback day, so I didn’t do my whole end of the week motivation, so here’s me getting back to it.  We did it!  And for getting to the end of the week?  Well, here’s some more Toy Biz Marvel coverage.  Unfortunately, we’re looking back at Senyaka.  It’s the best I can offer.  We’ll try to make the best of it?

“A member of the humanity-hating Acolytes, Senyaka is perhaps the most ruthless soldier in Magneto’s war against mankind! Often leading the other Acolytes into battle, Senyaka uses his psionic whips to course pain into his ensnared foes! Even more deadly, however, is his power to energize his own energies by sapping his victim’s very life forces. Though struck down in battle by Magneto himself, Senyaka has returned to plague humans once again, with each attack more lethal than the last!”

Remember in my last two Toy Biz X-Men reviews, where I was discussing characters who were pretty much only relevant during the ’90s? Yeah, so today’s focus wasn’t even particularly relevant *then.* That bio up there? Probably the most that’s ever been said about Senyaka. I think I actually learned stuff from that bio, which I guess is the point, isn’t it? Well, Senyaka got an action figure, so I guess I should maybe review it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Senyaka was released twice during the Toy Biz X-Men run. Initially, he was offered up as a TRU-exclusive alongside Series 7 in 1994, and then was added to a proper assortment in 1995 as part of the Mutant Genesis Series. He’s the same figure either way, and mostly it just served to make him *incredibly* easy to find. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation. He’s got no movement at his neck or right elbow, due to how the figure is designed, making him a bit on the stiff side. Apparently, Senyaka’s had multiple costumes? Who knew? Well, he’s sporting his Alcolytes costume, which seems reasonable enough. The sculpt is pretty typical for the line. He’s stiff, he’s buff, and he’s got pouches and shoulder pads. There’s not a ton of detailing going on, but it looks like all of the important stuff is there. Senyaka’s paint work is pretty standard. The base color work is all pretty clean, and the colors seem to more or less match what Senyaka was usually sporting. Senyaka had a slightly different accessory selection depending on release. Both included his whip, but the Mutant Genesis release also added a nunchuck-looking thing. Mine has neither, so I guess doesn’t really matter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Senyaka’s another one of those “if I’m getting the rest of the line, I might as well” figures. I’ve got no attachment to the character, but then who really does? I got mine loose, hence the lack of accessories. Perhaps someday I’ll find them. Ultimately, there’s nothing really impressive about this guy, but he’s certainly not the worst thing the line offered, and fills in a line-up of villains alright.

Ah, a June 2020 review.  After the Day of the Wolverines, I was more invested in getting Toy Biz Marvel back on the schedule, and Senyaka wound up as one of those.  I wasn’t exactly enamored to be reviewing him.  I think I’d probably be a touch kinder to him these days, but I can’t say my review was exactly off the mark.  When last I discussed him, the figure was missing his primary accessory from his original release, as well as his secondary accessory from the later release.  Now he’s got both his whip and his nunchuck.  Hooray!  Compete Senyaka!  That’s the best kind of Senyaka…I guess?  Doesn’t make him less stiff, but I guess it’s kinda cool to have the extras, even if he can’t *really* hold the nunchucks.

#4065: Battle Gear Bruce Wayne

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

BATTLE GEAR BRUCE WAYNE

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

After a quick look back at prior reviews, it seems my only reviews for Batman & Robin are from 2020, when I was focussed on pulling some more items out of the back catalogue during the shutdown.  At that point, I looked at both Ice Board Robin and the standard Batgirl.  And then a whole lot of nothing.  Notably, not a single Batman.  So, I guess I’ll sort of address that here.  Kind of.  It’s not *technically* Batman, it’s Bruce Wayne, but I’ve got it on pretty good authority they *might* be the same guy.  I mean, have you ever seen them both in my collection at the same time?  Well, yes, but still!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Battle Gear Bruce Wayne is part of the initial assortment of Kenner’s tie-in line for Batman & Robin.  He’s one of the three Batman variants in the initial drop, though he’s not officially labeled as such.  Interestingly, there are quick change secret identity variants of both Batman and Robin in this first assortment, but while Dick is labeled “Robin,” Bruce uses his real name.  Why?  Who knows.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  In his core look, he’s a George Clooney Bruce Wayne…sort of.  I mean, he looks more or less like Clooney, but not especially like Clooney from Batman & Robin, and he’s not really wearing anything much like what Bruce wears in the movie.  But, it’s certainly far from the worst look we’ve gotten on one of these Bruce-to-Batman figures.  The coloring is fine; honestly, it’s surprisingly subdued given the source material’s neon color scheme.  To facilitate the transformation to Batman, Bruce includes five clip-on armor pieces.  The chest plate has a head and cape on it, which slip over the main figure, who, much like the Val Kilmer Bruce from the prior movie line, has a spring-loaded head, which depresses so that the Batman head can take its place.  The final appearance is…well, it’s a Batman, I guess.  Not really a standard Batman, or anything close to the look seen in the movie but, I guess it’s…fine?  I do rather like the inclusion of the skates on the bottoms of the leg pieces.  That’s fun.  He’s also got this odd sort of claw-missile thing that goes into one of the armor pieces, and it gives our one bit of neon for the figure, which feels appropriate.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My whole Batman & Robin collection is made up of figures I actually got back when they were new, and the vast majority of them were gifts, mostly for my birthday the year the movie came out.  This guy’s from that latter category…or at least he was.  I got one for my birthday (with the corresponding Robin), but, while I kept all the armor, I lost the actual Bruce figure (which also happened with my Val Kilmer Bruce, for that matter).  I found a replacement Bruce later, and boom, here we are.  He’s goofy and silly, and not movie accurate, but for a toy from a toy commercial movie, he’s pretty fun.

#4064: Cable – 2nd Edition

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

CABLE — 2ND EDITION

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“The mysterious warrior called Cable stands ready to battle evil wherever it appears-even in the cold void of space! Armed with a high-tech suit of space armor and weapons that won’t be invented for hundreds of years, Cable seeks out the extraterrestrial enemies of mankind-and exterminates them with extreme prejudice.”

Back at the beginning of the year, a whole six months ago, I reviewed my first Toy Biz Cable figure, which I noted was weird, given how many variations were produced of him during the run.  So, you know, I guess it’s time to go back to that well, with a specific focus on environment-specific variants.  Oh yeah, let’s go ahead and take this guy out into deep space!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cable — 2nd Edition was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  He’s the second Cable, and the first of two included in the assortment.  This one was specifically sporting his “Deep Space Armor,” which, as far as I can tell, isn’t actually based on a specific comics design.  But I’m getting ahead of myself there.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt was totally unique to him, and, as noted above, sees to be a wholesale Toy Biz creation.  While the first series of X-Force followed the same style as the early X-Men figures, the second series started introducing more updated sculpts, and this Cable is included in that batch.  You can hardly tell he’s supposed to be the same person as the first Cable figure.  In general, I think it’s mostly an improvement, in terms of build and detailing, but I’ll admit the head is a bit less on the mark for specifically Liefeld’s version of Cable.  All that being said, it’s certainly not a bad sculpt at all. There’s a lot of neat detail work, and it feels pretty accurate to the character.  The head dome part is removable, albeit after a fashion, allowing a better view of the head sculpt.  The head’s a separate piece, but the neck doesn’t budge on my figure, and I know better than to force it on these guys.  His paint work is pretty nice.  The orange and blue feels rather unique.  The first release of this has a fair bit of detailing, which they’d incrementally strip from him on later releases.  Cable is packed with a rather large gun, to the great surprise of everyone, I’m sure.  Parts of it slide, I suppose to simulate some sort of firing?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I avoided most of the Cables as a kid, because I just didn’t feel the need to have more than one.  I do recall seeing them all on the back of the various boxes, and this one always kind of caught my eye as a counterpart to the Space Suit Wolverine.  Though certainly a departure from the first figure, he sets the standard for the rest of the line’s Cables going forward, and it’s not really a bad standard to set.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

An Ode To Power of the Force

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

Yesterday, May 28, 2026, I published my very last Power of the Force review.  It was a big moment for me, and in honor of it, I’d like to take a moment today to discuss my journey to this point, both on the site, and somewhat behind the scenes.

On March 26, 2014, I published my first review of a figure from Kenner’s ‘90s Power of the Force line (referred to as “Power of the Force II” or “PotF2” by fans, to differentiate from the shorter-lived line of the same name from the ‘80s).  The subject was Luke Skywalker in Dagobah Fatigues, appropriately enough my very first Star Wars action figure, bought brand new off the shelf in 1996.  My site was less then six months old at the time, and was really just a way of filling time between college classes.  I recall this review specifically was written on an iPad I was *supposed* to be using for notes in my Accounting 101 class, which was particularly boring that night.  At the time, I viewed the whole exercise as more about a quick nostalgic look at a toy from my youth, filling space before I got to some cool new thing that excited me.  I only wrote one more PotF review in that first year, a two-for-one of Jawas, also from my old collection.

The presence of the line here on the site was fairly spotty for the next couple of years, until a need for content to keep up with the daily schedule I was so dead-set on keeping led me to make the line a bi-monthly feature in the spring of 2017.  Even then, I viewed it as a way to clear out my backlog of old figures to review, not really as the beginning of anything significant beyond that.  

When I started working at a toy store in the fall of 2018, it gave me an unprecedented level of access to vintage action figures in general, but especially Power of the Force.  I started with a more general “hey it would be cool to get more characters I don’t own” approach, still not fully plunging into completism just yet.  Early in my time at this job, I had the opportunity to buy *most* of the figures I was missing from the Expanded Universe set, my favorite sub-set of the line.  I was left a single figure shy of the run, and I actually resorted to hunting the last one down, marking the first time I’d done more than just wait for a Power of the Force figure to land in front of me pretty much since the line was new.  Suddenly the dam broke; I’d completed the sub-set and now I felt encouraged to go further.

From that point forward, it became a mission.  I had checklists, and notes on how far I was willing to go with variants.  My boss and co-workers gave me first crack at any ‘90s Star Wars collections that came in, and would even give me a heads up on specific pieces.  At first, I didn’t care too much about completing my originals, but the parts became easy enough to find, adding more to the fun of it all.  I could build elaborate schedules of themes for reviews, balancing and tying in with all sorts of outside elements.  Admittedly, I got overwhelmed by the scale of it a few times, leading to periods of time where I’d have stacks of unopened figures for months, sometimes years (there’s a whole other post rattling around in my brain about the fine line between “collecting” and “hoarding” that may yet surface).  As I pulled more and more of the common figures I needed from collections coming into work, I found myself slowing down significantly.  When I departed my toy store job last summer, I was in need of only 15 pieces to complete my run.

In the last 10 months, I’ve slowly worked my way to completing the run, while also cracking open the stuff I’d already bought, and cleaning up and re-completing old figures for some addendums.  It’s been an interesting experience working my way up to this point, especially as things near the end.  There was a bit of a middle-of-the-journey slump, where I got stuck reviewing the less exciting figures, with some I’m sure less exciting reviews.  But, especially as I’ve come closer to the end, I’ve found myself reveling in some of the quirks, and even finding some gems that I honestly didn’t expect to like as much as I did.  The end has brought me the same spark of excitement that I had in the fall of 2018, when I first tapped back into the line as a proper collection.  In the middle, I don’t know that I was really expecting that.  There have been a few times where I came very close to giving up on the goal, but I’ve managed to pull through it, and at the end of it, I can say I’m honestly glad I did.

Is Power of the Force the greatest Star Wars line?  Well, I don’t know exactly how you quantify that, but regardless, the answer is “probably not.”  It’s got one heck of a learning curve on it, and some of the craziest “you had to be there” choices you can imagine.  There’s a definite glut of just kind of middling product, where you can just absolutely see them trying to see what sticks, but at the core of it all, it’s just so frequently unapologetic that it’s supposed to be a toyline for actually playing with, meaning even a “boring” or “middling” entry is still a good offering in terms of just being a good, core action figure.  As some crazy valuable investment or high end collector’s line, it absolutely fails.  But, that’s also not at all what it was meant to be, whether the collectors of the time got that or not.  And as someone who was actually a kid when it started and got to experience it the way lots of fans experienced the original vintage line?  Boy, do I just love it.  What a fantastic 30 years of collecting this has been.

#4063: Mace Windu

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

MACE WINDU

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“In the days before Palpatine’s Empire began its reign of terror, the Galactic Republic governed the affairs of the galaxy from the capital of Couruscant. In addition, the city-planet was also the seat of the legendary 12-member Jedi Council. Wisdom and experience were equally as important as abilities in the Force among the Jedi Council members. For this reason, Mace Windu, a senior member of the Jedi Council, was especially honored and revered throughout the Galactic Republic.”

Hey, remember last week, when I discussed the “Sneak Preview” offerings from Power of the Force to give people a taste of the then-upcoming Episode I line?  Well, there were two items offered.  The STAP and Battle Droid were offered up at standard retail, but promoted on the back of the box and available via a mail-away promotion was Samuel L Jackson’s senior Jedi Council member himself, Mace Windu!  Yes, this is from the before movie times when we were all like “this Mace Windu guy is clearly gonna *do stuff* in this movie” rather than “wow, that Mace Windu guy really didn’t *do anything* in that movie.”  Look, whatever the case, let’s look at the novelty that is the very first Mace Windu action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mace Windu was offered up as a mail-away promotion for Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  He required a whopping six proofs of purchase from standard figures, largely because he was really operating as a covert way of clearing excess stock off of retail shelves in preparation of all that hot new Episode I product that was definitely going to be a long-term investment, right?  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Mace was sporting what was an all-new sculpt at the time, though he wound up sharing his head, torso, and legs with the standard Episode I Mace.  This one was unique in offering up Mace just sort of casually wearing his robe, rather than with the hood up, or without the robe entirely, which makes it a nice sort of straight forward figure.  The head has a serviceable likeness of Jackson, given it’s the only one before they started scanning likenesses with the Attack of the Clones figures.  It’s got a nice, neutral expression, which fits Mace pretty well.  The body sculpt gets a surprising amount of texture detailing, which works really well to sell all the different fabrics.  The sculpted outer robe is similar to that of the Flashback Anakin figure, though it’s distinctly different.  His paint work is decent, mostly just base work, but it’s clean.  He does get the tiniest little bit of mud splatter on his boots, which is actually a pretty cool touch.  Mace is packed with a lightsaber.  It’s hard to call it *his* lightsaber, since it’s very much blue, but that was the case for all his Episode I merch, since it was supposed to be that color, before Jackson requested a different color in Attack so that he could more easily find himself in fight scenes.  Since Mace never powers up his saber in Phantom Menace, maybe it was just a different color then?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly don’t recall this promotion at all, which is strange, since I was very much collecting the line at the time.  I vaguely recall the final figure, mostly seen at toy shows and comic shops around the time, always for far more than a seven-year-old would be looking to pay.  For whatever reason, even later, I just never got one, perhaps because he quickly became comically cheap.  As it stands, Mace gets the significance of being the very final Power of the Force figure I needed to round out my full run of all the figures.  Not on purpose or anything, mostly just because he happened to be the last one.  He’s also the last one I’m reviewing here on the site.  He’s a fitting, I suppose, as something of a transitional figure.  And, after almost exactly 30 years, my Power of the Force collection that started with a comedically muscled Dagobah Fatigues Luke is complete. Weird.

#4062: Commander Ford

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

COMMANDER FORD

SEAQUEST DSV (PLAYMATES)

“Name: Jonathan Devin Ford

Rank: Commander

Assignment: Executive Officer, seaQuest DSV 4600

UEO Military ID#: CT366-9917-JG2

Security Access: AIA

Date of Birth: June 10, 1989

Character Profile: Driven and highly disciplined. Cool under pressure. Fiercely loyal. A serious by-the-book sailor. Above average intelligence reinforced by tireless work. Excellent command instincts.

Personal History: Was a positive role model in tough East Chicago neighborhood. Enrolled in academy at age 18. Graduated top of cadet class. Received record scores in diverse subjects. Earned Distinguished Service Citation for relieving Capt. Marilyn Stark of command during Livingston Trench Incident, 2017. Youngest ship’s Executive Officer in the fleet, serving as second in command of seaQuest.

Mission Specialty: Responsible for seaQuest’s 88 member Navy crew operations and all undersea Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Missions.”

At the end of its first season SeaQuest DSV discarded about half of its main cast, which was certainly a disappointing direction for a lot of their stories.  But, perhaps more disappointing was the direction of one of the few characters to remain with the show for its whole run, Don Franklin’s Commander Jonathan Ford.  As the SeaQuest’s Executive Officer, he gets a lot of focus during the first year, as he is naturally grown into the kind of character that could replace Bridger as the commanding officer.  Then, in the second season, they just sort of introduce another guy with the same general role, without getting rid of Ford, meaning that Ford is increasingly side-lined, which was as much a bummer as it was to watch the others depart.  But, there’s no denying that he gets a lot of cool stuff to do in the first season, and he was also lucky enough to get action figure coverage too!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Commander Ford was released in the only series of Playmates’ SeaQuest DSV tie-in line from during the show’s first season.  He’s the last of the crew members included in the line-up, but certainly a very natural one, given his heavy focus, especially in the show’s earlier episodes.  As with Hitchcock, it’s a shame he doesn’t have a Krieg to trade jabs with, but at least he got made at all.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  His construction is very much the same as we’ve seen with all the others up to this point, and it continues to be a solid set-up.  Ford’s uniform is a bit more neat and tidy than the others, which suits his more straight and narrow personality on the show, with Playmates again using variations on details for the standard uniform to inject a little more character into the figures.  The head sculpt is decent; I don’t know that it’s quite as strong a likeness as some of the others in the line, but it’s not to say it looks *unlike* Franklin.  I’d still put it above most of the Trek likenesses.  Ford’s color work is much like the rest of the standard uniformed officers, with mostly basic work, but some quite nice smaller detail work on the insignias and markings.  Ford is packed with a Stun Gun, SeaPoc, Personal Audio Link, Away Team Launcher, display stand, and a small rubber manta ray.  His accessories are a lot less unique than the last few, but that isn’t all that out of place for Ford, and they did at least make sure he had a decent volume of parts.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Ford at the same time as the Hitchcock figure I reviewed two weeks ago.  My parents had gotten me O’Neill and told me there were others, so I went out myself and decided to finish out my crew…to the extent that the line allowed me to, anyway.  There’s not a ton to say about Ford, I suppose, since he leans pretty heavily on what the rest of the line was already doing, but there’s no denying that he’s just as nice a figure as the rest of them, and it’s cool that he got to be an action figure.  It’s okay, Ford, in my mind Brody got left on the island and you’re still the cool one.

#4060: Viper

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

VIPER

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“Bursting onto the scene are the most powerful heroes and villains. Leading the pack against evil is the gamma-powered savage She-Hulk and the she-devil of the Savage Land — Shanna! Keeping to the shadows is the enigmatic ninja, Elektra, while Silver Fox relies on her training as a top secret government operative. But it is the Viper, who uses her powers and abilities for personal gain, no matter what she must destroy to get it.”

Okay, so here we are at Day 12 of the ever growing “Day of the Vipers,” where I look at every version of the—what’s that?  Oh, I’m getting word it’s not one of *those* Vipers.  It’s a totally different, completely unrelated Viper who works for a serpent-themed terrorist organization.  My mistake.  So, let’s look at this here figure of Viper, also known as Madame Hydra, though not for this particular figure.  She’s neat.  Maybe not as neat as a Cobra Viper, but still neat.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Viper is part of the seventh series of the Puzzle Zoo-exclusive Marvel Hall of Fame line, also the third and final to use the “She-Force” branding, as well as the final assortment of the line as a whole.  While the whole of this series is pretty heavy on kind of morally grey characters, Viper is kind of the most emphatically “bad” of the bunch, so I guess she’s the defacto “villain” of the bunch.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  As with the rest of the line, Viper is a total parts re-use figure.  Like Elektra, she’s using Light-Up Psylocke’s body, complete with the now non-functioning battery compartment.  It’s now topped off by the head from White Queen, which is…fine?  It doesn’t at all do Viper’s usual covering the eye look, and seems very short.  But, I guess it’s decently menacing.  The base body is fine, though, as the costume details match up closely enough to work.  She gets a soft-goods belt and…yeah, that part’s not great.  It just kind of looks like someone tied a green ribbon around her waist.  Which, I guess, isn’t inaccurate.  Her color work has a lot of green, which is nice, since it differentiates her pretty well from the other uses of the molds.  Some of the application’s a little sloppy, but it’s not awful for the most part.  Viper includes two black pistols, which are re-used from older molds, and are kind of silly.  She also included a card, which for my figure was Professor X.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember pretty much nothing about this figure.  My interactions with Viper in general have been minimal.  I liked her in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and I *didn’t* like her in The Wolverine, and her comics appearances have never much inspired me.  But, she had this Toy Biz figure, and I do like those.  I think I got her at the same time as Elektra from last week.  She was certainly part of a larger batch of figures, I know that.  She’s fine.  Nothing fancy, but also nothing truly bad.  Well, maybe the belt, but it’s minor.  And, honestly, I don’t even think this is her worst figure (that would be the first Hasbro Legends release).

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0077: Clone Emperor Palpatine

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

CLONE EMPEROR PALPATINE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

*Sigh* …Somehow Palpatine returned…

Hey, so, you guys remember when I reviewed the Millennium Minted Coin Emperor Palpatine and I remarked that reviewing him meant I wouldn’t have to talk about Palpatine again? Well, there’s an addendum.  So…you know…gotta talk about Palpatine again.  Here we go.  Talking about Palpatine again.

“Six years after the destruction of the second Death Star, the galaxy is thrust into turmoil. A reborn evil threatens to enslave the galaxy, and the Republic’s closest friend – Luke Skywalker – may become their greatest enemy. With the power to transfer his consciousness to genetic clones, a younger, stronger Emperor Palpatine is perilously close to gaining total control of the galaxy forever.”

Following the conclusion of the original Star Wars movies, there was no immediate follow up planned. The prequels were still just a concept, and the sequel trilogy wasn’t even a glimmer in Kathleen Kennedy’s eye. The next best thing was the Expanded Universe, which fans latched onto pretty quickly. In the ’90s, in the midst of their re-launched toy line, Kenner created an EU-centered sub-line. Amongst that line were two figures based on the “Dark Empire” story, which included today’s figure, Clone Emperor Palpatine.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Emperor Palpatine was released in Kenner’s one series Star Wars: Expanded Universe line in 1998. As noted in the intro, this figure hails from “Dark Empire,” a story which sees Palpatine brought back in a series of cloned bodies. Without the name on the package to go by, you could be forgiven for not recognizing this as Palpatine, since he’s noticeably less wrinkly than he usually is. The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall (the EU figures were a little smaller) and he has 7 points of articulation. Where’s that extra point coming from you ask? Why, from his left wrist. And why just the left wrist? Because it’s actually just a side effect of making the left hand removable. It was actually pretty common around this period of Kenner’s Star Wars figures, before they realized they could do more with that joint than just detachable limbs. Now, you may have noticed my Emperor has no left hand. I lost it. Silly me. Palpatine’s sculpt was unique to him. It showed Kenner’s trend towards much less exaggerated stylings, and honestly feels more like a vintage figure than a lot of his compatriots. His robe is a separate, removable piece, which goes on and off pretty easily, and is a pretty solid sculpt to boot. The paint work on this guy is about on par with the rest of Kenner’s offerings around the time. It’s all cleanly applied, and the details are fairly sharp. It’s not terribly exciting, but there it is. Palpatine was packed with a light saber–blue, so as to leave everyone all confused and shocked. There was also this cool 3D fold-out playset thing with all of these figures. I really wish I still had that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I can’t tell you exactly why I got this guy. I got him from the Farpoint dealer’s room, back when he was new. He shortly followed my acquisition of Luke from the same series. I think I just wanted someone to go with him.

Right, so there were *four* figures based on Dark Empire, past Ethan.  Get your facts straight!  This was a late 2017 review, so I was writing it in the lead-up to Last Jedi.  It’s funny, of course, because I had no idea at the time that they’d actually be using the Clone Emperor angle in Rise, thereby giving some more relevance.  Apart from the issue of how many Dark Empire figures there were, I do have some other notes about my review.  Mainly, though I say I can’t recall *why* I bought Palpatine, I actually can; I’d gotten Luke from the Farpoint dealers room, and was dismayed that he had a red lightsaber, which felt wrong.  Since this guy had a blue one, my Grandmother let me get him to swap the two.  This figure would also mark my only figure of Palpatine until I was an adult, because, as noted, I find the character kind of meh.  When I reviewed the figure, he was missing a hand, his lightsaber, and his fold-out backdrop.  I’ve since managed to replace all three, making him a much nicer all around offering.  There’s just no denying the coolness of those backdrops.  And there.  I did it.  I wrote about Palpatine.  And now I don’t have to do it again.

#4059: STAP & Battle Droid

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

STAP & BATTLE DROID

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The STAP is a small, one-pilot, repulsorlift vehicle outfitted with two laser cannons. It is extremely maneuvarable, making perfect for patrol, reconnaissance and battle. STAPs are operated by battle droids who function as the infantry of the Trade Federation army.”

In 1998, the world anticipated the first film in the long-anticipated Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Kenner (or rather Hasbro, who owned Kenner and were preparing to move operations in house and dissolve the Kenner brand), then quite deep into Power of the Force II, a decidedly OT-based line, was working on a dedicated line of figures for this as of yet unnamed Star Wars: Episode I, but before getting there, they injected a little bit of product into the currently running line.  In what became a standard practice for the Prequel era, a small selection of “Sneak Preview” items were dropped in advance, in order to help drum up interest.  For Episode I, the focus at retail was on a single item, a small vehicle and pack-in figure in the form of the STAP and Battle Droid, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The STAP and Battle Droid were a standalone “Sneak Preview” release from Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II.  The set was dropped with a decent amount of fanfare (including an honest to god TV commercial) in 1998.  It’s a uniquely sized item for the line, not really occupying the same footprint as other small vehicle and rider set-ups from PotF.  It was definitely built more for display in package, which does me zero good, since I totally ripped that sucker open!

The Single Trooper Aerial Platform, or STAP, was a pretty solid choice for the first official prequel offering, since they remained a recurring element pretty much all the way through the end of Clone Wars.  This one was obviously an all-new mold at the time, but would see quite a bit of re-use over the years, again, up through Clone Wars.  It’s not hard to see why; it’s pretty accurate to the source material, fairly sturdy, and even has a pretty cool flight stand.  There’s a feature where the missiles launch when you push up on the foot plate, which is gimmicky, but still pretty fun.  The color work is pretty respectable, matching the movie’s tones pretty closely, and also offering up a nice amount of accenting, wear, and texturing.

Our first trooper from the new movies was the Battle Droid.  We got a whole lot of them over the years, but this one was the first, and he was designed specifically with the STAP in mind.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Since he was specifically designed to pilot, that means he actually gets working knee and elbow joints, which are surprisingly uncommon for small scale Battle Droids, given how easily they work into the design.  That said, he’s really not designed for standing on his own; his ankles are tilted back, and his toes are pointed inward, which makes him a bit precarious.  Also, his shoulder and elbow joints are very loose, in order to not hinder the action features on the STAP, so he just sort of flings them about when he’s not on the vehicle.  It’s kinda goofy.  He’s just a basic Battle Droid, with no command markings.  He’s got some shading, as well as a little bit of “wear,” and looks pretty much like all the other Droids from the movie, which is hardly a bad thing.  As essentially an accessory to the vehicle, he works well to do what he needs to.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t recall *exactly* when I got this one, largely because it’s an exceedingly common piece.  A lot of speculators bought it, and pretty much no one opened it, so it’s everywhere.  It got traded in at work, like, a lot, so I had my pick of offerings.  One of the times it came in, I decided that was specifically the time, and thus, one came home with me.  You know, and then it sat, sealed, on my shelf, for a few years.  Yeah.  Look, I finally got to it, and that’s the most important thing, right?  Right.  I do like this set.  It’s basic and there’s some definite gimmicks, but I think it did a good job of selling hype for the movie, and it’s a pretty nice little piece.  If you want a neat little Battle Droid toy, you can’t really go wrong with this one.  And, thus, for the last time, I feel like I put off opening a Power of the Force figure for longer than I should have, because, at their heart, they really were pretty fun, right?

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#4056: Elektra

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

ELEKTRA

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“Bursting onto the scene are the most powerful heroes and villains. Leading the pack against evil is the gamma-powered savage She-Hulk and the she-devil of the Savage Land — Shanna! Keeping to the shadows is the enigmatic ninja, Elektra, while Silver Fox relies on her training as a top secret government operative. But it is the Viper, who uses her powers and abilities for personal gain, no matter what she must destroy to get it.”

Oh, goody, it’s Elektra.  I sure do love Elektra.  Oh, wait, no, it’s the other thing.  I hate Elektra.  Okay, no, that’s not true either.  In actuality I’m generally indifferent on Elektra.  I think she can at times be *fine*.  I even outright liked her during Chip Zdarsky’s run on Daredevil a few years ago.  But in general, I think she’s just kind of “meh.”  She had quite a force of interest behind her in the ’90s and ‘00s, though, so she wasn’t exactly inescapable.  Toy Biz, who held the license during her high point, made use of that popularity to give her a few different figures.  The first was a rather baffling repaint of Psylocke in an X-Men assortment, but she also got a couple of other…repaints, but at least they weren’t in an X-Men assortment.  Here’s one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Elektra was released in the seventh series of the Puzzle Zoo-exclusive Marvel Hall of Fame line, which was the third to bear the title “She-Force.”  This was the final assortment of the line as a whole, and by extension the final “She-Force” line-up as well.  Elektra’s costume choice is a very focused one that’s really not the norm for her, going with her bald look from around “Fall From Grace.”  It’s a noted departure from her designs up to that point, and she’d *just* abandoned it for something more in-line with earlier designs, but it’s part of the story that brought her back into the Daredevil supporting cast, and it also pairs off with the armored DD that Toy Biz did during their Marvel Super Heroes run…if you don’t mind him being a bit too short.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  The first Elektra was a repaint of the Light-Up series Psylocke.  This one continues with that in, admittedly, an odd way.  The body is once again light-up Psylocke, but the head is retooled from the Ninja Psylocke from later in the line, with the hair removed, a headband added, and a hole in the side for the trail of the headband, which is…just the remainder of the original figure’s sash?  Like, there’s still only one sash piece included, so you need to pick whether it goes in the head or the hip, and just leave a gaping hole wherever it’s not.  Why not just include two?  Budget, I guess.  Now, the weirdness regarding the body is this: Ninja Psylocke is herself a retool of Light-up Psylocke, with the spot where the batteries originally went filled in.  For whatever reason, Elektra is using the original version of the mold, so she’s got an empty battery housing.  Since they were already using the Ninja head, why not also used the modified torso?  Otherwise, I guess it’s fine.  The costume details between Psylocke and Elektra match up decently enough, and the head, while a bit awkward, isn’t terrible.  In terms of paint, she’s got a layout that matches her Light-Up figure, but the outfit is now white, her “resurrection” outfit.  Depending on which production run the figure’s from, she’s either a flat white or a pearlescent one; mine is the latter.  Elektra was packed with a sword, reused from Corsair, and not at all accurate to what she usually uses, but whatever.  She also included a card, which in my figure’s case was Gambit’s ex, Belladonna.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I owned exactly none of the Toy Biz Elektra figures growing up, so obviously not this one.  I sort of remember her existing, but I don’t know if I totally connected that she was the same character as the others.  I ended up adding her to my collection with a couple of other She-Force figures, which I want to say came from an antique mall?  I didn’t really think much about her at the time.  I still don’t, honestly.  She’s got some weird oddities in construction.  But, ultimately, it’s a pretty unique look, and not likely to get another run.