Tag Archives: 90s

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.

SeaQuest Customs

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General and tagged with , ,

On Wednesday, I wrapped up my running sub-feature from the last four months of looking at Playmates ill-fated SeaQuest DSV tie-in toyline.  Much like the show, it certainly showed a lot of promise early on, but despite the quality of the figures being there, the line just couldn’t secure its spot in a crowded ‘90s marketplace, and the show shifting gears and itself struggling to keep is own audience didn’t help matters.  The biggest drag to the toyline as it exists is the omissions.  Playmates released seven of the show’s ten regular characters, while also released two of the guest stars.  Plans for continuing the line would have of course included the three missing member, but not helping matters is that two of the three, Westphalen and Krieg, are major fixtures for the show’s first season, and the final of the three, Ortiz, is one of the few cast members to return in the show’s second season.  It just wasn’t right.  So, I decided to fix it, darn it!  I mean, I decided to fix it roughly 13 years ago, when I bough a spare Bridger and a Playmates Lore, with the intent of making a Krieg, because he was my favorite character.  Of course, I ended up getting side-tracked for far too long, but I found those parts while working to get my collecting in better order, and finally put that Krieg together.  And I liked the end result so much that I decided to put together the other two.  So, here they are!

KRIEG

As noted above, Krieg is a Bridger with a heavily modified Lore head from Playmates’ TNG line.  I aimed for closer to his look in the pilot, to keep him in line with the Hitchcock figure.  His head is still pretty easily removed, so maybe one day I’ll do an extra head for Season 3 Krieg!

WESTPHALEN

Of the three not produced, Westphalen is the only one to supposedly have gotten a prototype from Playmates, though no images have ever surfaced.  Mine uses a Hitchcock body, repainted to give it the proper science department blue, with a heavily modified Lwoxana Troi head.  I based her on her appearances early in “Games” when she’s more casual, in part to better pair her off with Zeller, and in part because it made re-using the Hitchcock body an easier alternative to some more heavy modification for her slightly more standard lab coated look.  I’m still not 100% on how the hair looks, but she was definitely a “close enough to call it done” figure.  I may revisit later.

ORTIZ

Ortiz is ultimately a pretty simple figure, using O’Neill’s body, with a head from Wesley Crusher, who doesn’t actually look anything like Will Wheaton, but who does look an okay amount like Marco Sanchez.  Yay!

#4070: The Regulator

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

THE REGULATOR

SEAQUEST DSV (PLAYMATES)

“Name: Dr. Leslie Ferina, aka “The Regulator”

Rank: Renegade Black Market Trader

Last Recorded Location: “Down World,” beneath the sea, south of Madagascar

UEO Case File #: Q8983-S/21-74373

Character Profile: Once thought of as true genius. Illegal trader of marine equipment and weapons. Long suspected a thief. Frightening, ruthless and violent. Paranoid loner. Contemptuous of society’s laws and rules.

Personal History: Showed exceptional scientific aptitude as a child. Received college scholarship at age 14. Ph.D in Marine Geophysics, 1992. Credited with the development of the “Hemosponge” artificial gill system, 1996. Stripped of credentials in 1999 after surgically adapting a miniature Hemosponge on a land based mammal. Listed as suicide and disappeared from public view, 2005. Now operated on black market from secluded underwater location, accompanied only by his companion Verne — the orangutan he once tried to surgically alter to breath underwater.

Mission Specialty: Obsessed with the search for the beginning of land-based evolution. Once kidnapped Darwin, who he believed could speak regular English, to aid in “research” of his spherical evolution theory.”

My very first SeaQuest DSV here on the site wasn’t of any of the members of the show’s regular cast, but was instead Dr. Rubin Zeller, a single episode antagonist, admittedly from one of the show’s best regarded episodes.  In this sense, I suppose it’s fitting that my last SeaQuest DSV review would be of the line’s *other* non-series regular figure, also a single episode antagonist, the eponymous character from “The Regulator.”  Though not as universally praised as “Games” and certainly leaning more into the show’s tendency for camp, “The Regulator” is a pretty solid building up of the world and the backstories of the characters, with Leslie “The Regulator” Ferina serving as an interesting character, whom it’s ultimately disappoint the show never got back to.  Well, at least he got an action figure. 

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Regulator is the final figure in Playmates Toys’ SeaQuest DSV tie-in toyline.  He’s one of the two antagonists included, but at least, unlike Zeller, the characters he interacts with the most were all actually included in the line.  Leslie has a number of looks over the course of the episode, but the figure goes for his introductory design, which is honestly his best and most memorable, so it makes a lot of sense.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  He’s missing the waist swivel that the others had, and his neck joint is restricted by the hair, but otherwise, it works like the others.  His sculpt is…fine.  It’s honestly the weakest of the batch.  The body isn’t too bad, but feels a little softer than the others.  There’s at least some pretty sharp detailing on the boots and gloves.  The head’s just really not on the mark.  Despite the likenesses generally being quite strong, there’s pretty much no John Bedford Lloyd in this one.  His face is too wide, his hair too straight, and his expression just odd, and unlike the character.  The glasses are part of the attire, but don’t really translate well, and further hamper the likeness.  Regulator’s paint work is rather on the basic side.  It covers the general set-up, but there’s certainly some overlooked details, especially the hat, and the shirt’s pattern is greatly simplified.  Leslie is packed with his orangutan Verne, a voltage drive, PAL, harpoon gun, and display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Regulator is the not only the last SeaQuest  figure I’m reviewing, he’s also the last one I added to my collection.  I mostly just focused on the crew originally, but once I got Zeller, I figured I might as well just round them out.  I don’t remember exactly when I got Leslie, but I recall finding him at Gidget’s Gadgets during one of my family vacations.  Going by his placement in my database, it looks like December of 2017.  He was sealed at the time, and I only just opened him before doing this review.   He’s not as impressive as the rest of the line.  The choice of design is sensible, but the implementation is wonky.  And, as with Zeller, his presence in place of another member of the crew is rather unfortunate.  But, that’s what it is, and that’s a wrap on the line, which is quite a neat little set of quirky little figures.

#4069: Ambush Attack Batman

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

AMBUSH ATTACK BATMAN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

“The cold front moving through the streets of Gotham City lately is the diabolical plan of Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane plotting to put the Dynamic Duo on ice! Batman and Robin respond immediately by using the Batcomputer deep within the Batcave to develop Covert Strike Cape technology: specially designed assault capes that reveal secret arsenals of cutting edge weaponry to battle against the evil forces threatening Gotham City! Discover the new, secret technology that gives Batman, Robin, and Batgirl the power to bring fiendish foes to justice!”

Remember when I looked at a Batman & Robin figure last week?  Cool, well I guess I’m gonna do that again!  While from the 1989 film on, the live-action Batman movies have had selling merchandise as at least part of their purpose, Batman & Robin took it to new levels, with director Joel Schumacher reportedly reminding actors between takes that they were shooting a “toy commercial.”  And, for all its faults, it did sell some toys.  For as many toyetic concepts existed in the film itself, the toyline expanded them even further, and…well there were certainly some reaches.  Batman and Robin got paraded around with all manner of frivolous outfits and gimmicks, and today we’re looking at one of those, Ambush Attack Batman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ambush Attack Batman was released in the second year of Kenner’s Batman & Robin tie-in line.  The theme for that second round was “Covert Strike Cape” so all of the figures had some sort of cape-related feature.  I’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The  core figure is pretty typical of the Kenner lines at this point.  He’s got the most basic of movement, and the slightest bit of a pre-pose to him, as if he’s sort of mid-step.  The sculpt is new, which was honestly notable in the second year, where there was a decent amount of parts re-using from the Batman Forever line.  It’s…fine?  There’s the standard Clooney Batman head, which looks the part well enough, and the body has a sort of armored look that’s fine enough.  It’s a bit out of step with the more classical armor approaches of the movie’s aesthetic, being a lot more tech heavy and segmented, but perhaps I’m reading a bit too much into the designs here?  It’s a goofy Batman variant, and it does what it needs to.  There’s a spot on his lower back where the cape clips into place, which keeps it nice and secure.  The cape is huge and very wide.  It’s designed to swing forward at his waist, allowing for use of the capture claws mounted on the bottom portion.  It makes him a little hard to stand, but that’s not really surprising, because there’s not much call for properly balancing something like this.  The color scheme on this figure is rather unique, placing Batman in a predominantly green and yellow set-up.  There’s a part of me that’s genuinely curious, given the “Ambush Attack” descriptor and the green and yellow coloring, if there was an Ambush Bug fan at Kenner who was sneaking in a reference with this release.  I have nothing to go on for that, mind you, but I think it would be neat.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have much from the second year of this line, because I’d largely moved on to better things.  I was back to more of a Marvel push, and whatever DC I wanted would have most certainly been related to the animated side.  This guy and one other second year Batman were gifts, most likely for my birthday, from a family friend, who was most certainly operating on “he likes super heroes, so I’ll just buy him a couple of Batman figures.”  They would have most certainly been on some kind of sale by that point.  I can’t say I ever thought much of him.  I recall it even took me a bit to actually open him, a rarity at the time, and the most use he got during play time would have been as a stand-in for some sort of Green Lantern Batman.  He’s fine, but honestly a bit unfocused and unclear on what his gimmick is really supposed to be.  But, he survived a good number of collection purges, so I must not have hated him.  

#4068: Kane – 2nd Edition

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

KANE — 2ND EDITION

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“A product of the same Weapon X program that created Wolverine, Garrison Kane’s arms were replaced with a pair of multi-purpose bionic weapons. Now, alongside his mentor Cable, he battles those menaces that would jeopardize the prosperity of the future as a member of the mercenary unit called Six Pack!”

It’s truly amazing to watch a lot of the X-Force cast’s bios evolve as they reappear in the Toy Biz line and have clearly had major developments to their backstories in the comics.  Garrison Kane’s first figure was produced while he was still one of the book’s many mystery characters, but by figure 2 we knew a little more about him, and so his bio actually, you know, talks more about who he is and less about what this figure’s action feature represents.  They even mention Six Pack!  Everybody loves Six Pack!  Alright, let’s take a look at the second Kane figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane (2nd Edition) was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  It’s crazy to think that, of all the characters in the first round to immediately get a second go, it was Kane who showed right back up.  Shatterstar, Deadpool, and Warpath all got second figures too, but they had to wait, whereas Kane was just right back at the head of the line.  I guess it was more a case of getting while the getting was good, because he didn’t get any additional follow-ups.  While the first Kane figure was the subject of a downright obscene number of variants, they had it better under control for his second figure, so he just has one standardized release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Elbow joints had still not become standardized yet, so he lacks them, but he does get a swivel on his right wrist, even if it’s really just tied into his action feature.  He gets two of them, both tied into his hands.  His right hand, which is permanently in propeller mode, has a spinning mode, while his left has a “super punch,” which really just means it means the hand moves back and forth *a little.*  Beyond the action features and articulation, Kane’s sculpt showcases the rather quick evolution of the line’s sculpts.  His first figure was quite rudimentary, but by this assortment, they were a lot more involved, with far sharper detailing and generally bulkier promotions.  It makes for a decent match for Kane’s non-Liefeld appearances, and is generally a rather nice little sculpt.  The permanent propeller hand is really goofy, of course, so he’d probably benefit from an alternate hand or something, but it was what it was.  He had a removable vest piece, which was later re-used for the Fantastic Four Mr. Fantastic, which adds some more variety to his look.  Kane’s paint work is generally basic, and marks a slight departure from his original colors, but he still maintains enough consistency that he generally looks like the same guy.  Kane is packed with a small gun, which he can hold him his left hand, and only his left hand, because his right hand is a propeller.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kane was added to my collection at the same time as last week’s Cable II figure, when they were traded in at work still sealed and were still quite cheap.  I remember the first Kane, but have very little memory of the second one’s existence when I was a kid.  I think I just lumped him in with the original.  It’s not like I had any real frame of reference on the character.  I didn’t know much of what to expect on this figure, but I actually quite enjoy the final product.  Even with his permanent propeller hand.

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.

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.