Tag Archives: 90s

#0966: Buccaneer Batman

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

BATMAN – BUCCANEER

LEGENDS OF BATMAN (KENNER)

In Super Hero toylines, it’s rarely a shock to see wacky, non-cannon variants of the main heroes . After releasing a basic version of the heroes, variants are the easiest way to get them into every assortment. They’re kind of one of those necessary evils (and honestly, they aren’t even that evil). Oddly enough, in the mid-90s, Kenner released the Legends of Batman line, which was a line of figures pretty much exclusively devoted to weird variants of Batman and his supporting cast. Today, I’ll be looking at one of those Batmen, specifically Buccaneer Batman, because who doesn’t love pirates?

THE FIGURE ITSELF
Buccaneer Batman was released in the third series of Legends of Batman. He was part of the “Pirate” sub-line that Series 3 introduced, alongside First Mate Robin, Laughing Man Joker, and … Pirate Two-Face. Yeah, they kind of gave up on the names after “Buccaneer Batman.” The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and has the standard 5 points of articulation for a figure of the time. There’s a slight bit of limited motion on the right shoulder, thanks to his “Slamming Mace Action,” which would swing his arm downward when the button the figure’s back was pressed. As far as I know, this figure (and all the other Pirate figures) is not based on any particular comicbook appearance of Batman, but rather comes from the minds of Kenner. The design takes the classic Batman design, and makes a few tweaks here and there, to play up the whole pirate angle. His mask is no longer a cowl, but is instead a bandana tied into shape (though, how he got it to duplicate the bat ears is anyone’s guess). Gone is the utility belt, replaced by a simple sash, albeit one where he can still stow a batarang. He’s also got a belt running along his chest, which has a bat-logo affixed to it, just in case you didn’t know who this was. What’s slightly odd about the logo, though, is that it’s oriented parallel to the belt on his waist, despite the belt it’s attached to being diagonal. It almost feels like the logo was meant to be diagonal too, but then someone in DC’s merchandising insisted it be oriented flat, so as to not cause any brand confusion or something. Anyway, the design’s interesting enough. The actual sculpt isn’t bad, but it definitely has some oddities. For one thing, Batman’s really beefy, more so than he usually is depicted. Despite the fact that the costume is clearly meant to be loose and flowing, his muscles are still bulging through in every spot that they can. Also, he’s in a very strange pose, with one of the widest stances I’ve ever seen on an action figure. It’s not that this sculpt is bad, but rather that it seems uncertain of what it’s trying to do. Also, he did have a cape at one point, but I seem to have lost mine. Batman’s paint is fairly standard, but still pretty cool. He predominately uses the basic Batman colors, but they’ve given him red in place of the usual yellow. It makes it so this is clearly Batman, but he’s just different enough that you’re given pause. Plus, red seems more pirate-y anyway. Batman included a sword and a mace, both of which had been given slight bat-makeovers. He could only hold one at a time, and, if I’m honest, the sword was a lot cooler.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I received Batman (and his corresponding Robin) for my fourth birthday. I definitely recall seeing the commercials for this particular set of figures and being rather excited to get them. Which is odd, since I’ve never been much of a pirates guy, but whatever. The figure took quite a beating over the years, and as goofy as he is, I still have something of a soft spot for him. This figure, like the rest of the Legends of Batman line, goes to show that wacky variants aren’t inherently a bad thing, provided you’re having fun with them.

BuccaneerBatman3

#0962: Gambit

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

GAMBIT

X-MEN: CLASSIC (TOY BIZ)

The ‘90s were quite good to the X-Men. They several top selling comics, a few video games, and a cartoon. But, most importantly, they had an awesome, hugely expansive line of action figures, courtesy of Toy Biz. Earlier figures in the line were fairly straightforward versions of the X-Men, but as the line continued, Toy Biz started experimenting with a number of different gimmicks to keep things interesting. The very first “gimmick series” gave each figure a light-up feature. Though light-up features weren’t new to the line, these figures were different in that, rather than lighting up themselves, they used a two-part light-up feature that allowed them to light up their accessories. Mostly, the series was just an excuse to release new versions of a few outdated figures. Today, I’ll be looking at Gambit from that series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gambit was released in the X-Men: Classic “Light-Up Weapons Series,” which was the 13th series of figures in Toy Biz’s 5-inch X-Men line. This was Gambit’s second figure in the line, after getting his first back in Series 3. The figure stands about 5 ½ inches tall and has 9 points of articulation. His articulation isn’t terrible, but the light-up feature’s inner workings are in his chest and right arm, which reduces the posablilty of the right shoulder quite a bit and also necessitates removing the usual elbow joints. Though the X-Men line was meant as a tie-in for the cartoon running at the same time, the figures tended to be more directly based on their comics appearances. Gambit actually looks to take a lot of influence from his Capcom game appearances, since he’s rather beefy and stylized. The overall look isn’t too bad, though it does seem like Gambit’s been juicing just a bit, since he’s usually more slender than he’s depicted here. He’s about to burst out of his sleeves for Pete’s sake! Also, his hands are absolutely huge, and if I’m honest the right one barely even looks like a hand at this point. The head exhibits the best sculpted work, and does quite a nice job of capturing Gambit’s smarmy personality. Gambit’s paint is fairly decent, if not fantastic. There’s a bit of slop here and there, especially on the fingers, and the pink lines on the sides of his pants are way more subtle than they should be. The color scheme they picked is once again pretty game-inspired, but it has a nice degree of pop, so no complaints here. Gambit included his usual staff, as well as a piece showing a fan of playing cards being kinetically charged, as if Gambit has just thrown them. The latter piece is the source of the light up feature. When plugged into Gambit’s right hand, the cards would light up at the push of the button on Gambit’s back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another ‘90s X-Men figure that I’ve owned two of. The first was bought for me by my grandparents on my Mom’s side, I believe as a reward for finishing kindergarten. I got him and Juggernaut, but I think I mostly got Gambit because my grandparents felt I needed to get a “good guy” figure to go with the villain. Somewhere along the way, I lost that figure, so I picked up this replacement from a dealer at Balticon this year. He’s not a terrible figure, but he definitely shows his age.

#0955: Bane

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

BANE

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

BaneBTAS1

One of Batman: The Animated Series’ greatest successes was condensing Batman’s rich, 50-year history into one easy to follow, cohesive show. This involved taking characters from all eras of Batman’s history and making them all fit with the show’s art deco style. For the most part, they managed this task pretty well. However, there were a few that slipped through the cracks. At the time of the series’ debut, Bane was a very new addition to the comics, but he was a fairly popular one, so he made his way into the show. Unfortunately, the producers had a bit of trouble working Bane into the show’s style, resulting in a rather goofy interpretation of the character, true to neither the original character nor the show itself. Nevertheless, that version of Bane got a toy in Kenner’s tie-in line, resulting in Bane’s very first action figure, which I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BaneBTAS2Bane was released in Series 5 of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series line. He was one of two new villains in the line, alongside Killer Croc, which is actually kind of appropriate, seeing as Croc featured prominently in Bane’s first appearance. The figure is 5 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Due to his swinging action feature, the shoulders move as one, however, with careful posing, they can be moved independently from each other. This figure is based on Bane’s single B:TAS appearance, in the episode “Bane.” It’s similar to his original comics appearance, but the luchador themes have been played waaaaay up, which severely reduces his intimidation factor. The sculpt does, at the very least, do a nice job of translating the show design into three dimensions. In fact, it’s probably one of the most faithful sculpts that Kenner ever produced. His arms are a bit pre-posed in order to facilitate his throwing feature, so they’re slightly out of whack when he isn’t holding anything. That being said, it’s not awful looking. He just looks a bit like he’s sorry for interrupting somebody’s conversation. His legs also seem a bit on the short side, especially when compared to the arms. However, this was somewhat common for the line, so Bane doesn’t really look super out of place. Bane’s paint is actually pretty solid. The colors are pretty bold, so he really pops, and the application is pretty solid. Bane originally included a bent section of girder, which he could “throw,” but mine doesn’t have his.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bane is a recent addition to my collection. At Balticon last weekend, one of the dealers had a large box full of loose figures. I believe they had purchased someone’s collection. Anyway, they were $2 each, so I ended up fishing out 15 of them to purchase. Bane was the only DC figure in the lot. Since I never got one back in the ‘90s, I was actually pretty happy to find him. Yeah, it’s a goofy design, and yeah, it’s a rather goofy figure. But I still really like this guy. He’s really not bad.

#0945: Weapon X

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

WEAPON X – BURNED

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

WeaponXAoA1

The ‘90s had a lot of big comics “events,” especially compared to prior decades, which had virtually none. I think a lot of it had to do with the success of the likes of Crisis and Secret Wars in the ‘80s, prompting the Big Two to do whatever they could to recapture some of that glory. Marvel’s efforts were primarily focused on their cash cow of the time, the X-Men, who found themselves dealing with all sorts of events of epic proportions. At one point, Marvel deemed that it wasn’t enough to make life hell for our own merry mutants, so they showed us how much worse things could have been by launching the alternate reality-based Age of Apocalypse, which examined what the X-Men ‘verse would have been like without Professor Charles Xavier. The storyline took over all of the X-Men-related books, and was generally pretty successful for Marvel. There’s been a smattering of different figures from it all over the years and today I’ll be looking at one of the four Marvel Legends to be based on the event, Weapon X! Apparently, one of the things that changed in the AoA reality was that the title “Wolverine” went to a different character, so poor Logan had to stick with his Weapon X title. Thrilling! Let’s look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

WeaponXAoA2Weapon X was part of the Giant-Man Series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends. It was exclusive to Walmart and was one of the last series to be produced under Toy Biz’s tenure. There were two versions of Weapon X offered: normal and burned. The difference between the two versions is the head and the stump on the left arm. The figure here is the burned version (the only one of the two I still have). Though this figure was technically a variant, he was packed in equal numbers to his regular counterpart and also featured a different Giant-Man piece, which was quite frustrating for a lot of collectors at the time. The figure is about 6 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation. Weapon X made use of a lot of pieces from the Series 6 brown costume Wolverine. It was one of Toy Biz’s best Wolverines, and one of the best parts about it was that they really got down Logan’s short, stocky physique. The re-use here was definitely warranted. He got a new head, lower arms, and lower legs, all of which fit pretty well with the rest of the parts, and make for an overall pretty cohesive looking figure. The head is actually really cool. I’m not sure if it’s based on a specific instance of Logan getting burned, since it happens a few times, but the level of detail is pretty awesome, and it’s a nice, refreshing take on the usual Wolverine look. The other unique piece here is the stump, which has claws on this version. In the story, it was revealed that Logan’s claws had been retracted when he lost his hand, so he could still pop them out of his wrist. That’s cool, I guess. The claws suffer from a bit of warping, but are otherwise pretty cool. Weapon X’s paint isn’t bad, provided you ignore his rather doofy looking outfit. Most of the work is pretty clean, and there’s some rather nice accent work in several places. There’s a few instances of scratches or slop, but that’s relatively minor. Also, the painted on arm hair’s a bit silly in some places, but it’s overall an okay attempt. The best part is once again the head, which looks convincingly burned, while still managing to not look too out of place next to the unburned skin of the neck and arms. The only accessory included with Weapon X was the left hand of Giant-Man. Honestly, it feels like the burned head and clawed stump would have made for decent accessories to the regular Weapon X, rather than being a separate figure, but I guess Toy Biz really wanted to sell that extra Logan.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Weapon X was given to me as a birthday present by my friend Cindy Woods. I was super into Marvel Legends at the time, and this particular series was fairly difficult to get. She was so excited to find this guy for me that she didn’t notice that some jerk had stolen the Giant-Man piece right out of the side of the box (in her defense, the piece was hidden by the figure’s name tag. Also, who steals just the piece? The figures were like $8!). Fortunately, my dad was able to find another Weapon X online with the piece, so it worked out alright. On the face, this feels like an extraneous Wolverine variant that nobody really asked for. However, this guy’s fun and different enough that he ended up being my one of my favorite Legends Wolverines produced. Definitely a winner!

 

#0942: Batman

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

BATMAN

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (McDONALD’S)

BatmanMcD1

I’ve looked a number of different types of action figures over the course of my over-900 reviews for this site, but the one type of figure I haven’t looked at so far is the “Happy Meal” figure. More often than not (and increasingly in recent years), toys included with happy meals and the like are kind of lame and in no way compare to anything you might actually buy in a store. However, every so often, there’s one or two of these guys that doesn’t totally suck. Today, I’ll be looking one of the ones that doesn’t suck: Batman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BatmanMcD2Batman was part of a set of 1993 McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, which were used as a promotion for Batman: The Animated Series. There were 8 toys offered; half were proper figures and half were weird car things. The figure is roughly 3 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation. He had a unique sculpt, technically based on the appearance of Batman in the initial seasons of Batman: The Animated Series, though a few liberties have been taken. Mostly, it’s proportional stuff. For instance, his arms are about the same length as his legs, which is, you know, a bit off. His head is also a bit on the large side, and rather oddly shaped. Honestly, he looks more like a weirdly shaped child in a Batman costume than he does the actual Batman. He’s definitely sporting a slightly off build. As far as details go, Batman’s fairly simple, but that’s not far off from the show design, so that’s good, I guess. Also, the cape is a separate piece, and it’s worth noting that it doesn’t have the usual scallops. His paintwork is actually not bad, especially given the source of the figure. The colors are a decent enough match to the show, and all of the appropriate details are there (which is better than can be said of some much more expensive figures). Batman had no accessories, but that’s not hugely surprising, given the figure himself is more or less an accessory for fast food.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually didn’t get this guy from a Happy Meal (well, not one of my own, anyway). My dad brought this guy home with him one day. Presumably, he got one during lunch that day. Anyway, I know he got him for me and I’ve held onto him for all this time. He’s not a super great figure, but he’s also not bad, especially given his origins.

#0941: Space Marine Lt. Ripley

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

SPACE MARINE LT. RIPLEY

ALIENS (NECA)

KenRipley3

A little over three weeks ago, it was Alien Day, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Aliens, the greatest movie of all time. There was lots of awesome stuff going on to celebrate (I even got to see Aliens on the big screen!). NECA, who’ve been making Aliens figures for several years now got in on the fun by offering an exclusive figure in partnership with Toys R Us. So, without further ado, here’s Space Marine Lt. Ripley!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

KenRipley1Ripley is a part of NECA’s ongoing Aliens line. She was a special one-off exclusive, so she’s not officially part of a specific series. However, she falls in between Series 7 and Series 8 as far as the timeline of releases goes. So, we’ve got Ripley from the first movie, Ripley from the second movie, and Ripley from the third movie’s in Series 8; what version of Ripley is this? Well, it’s not Ripley from the fourth movie, that’s for sure. This Ripley isn’t based on a movie incarnation at all: she’s instead based on Kenner’s Lt. Ripley from their ‘90s Aliens line. NECA started using Kenner variants in their Predator line when they started running out of movie designs, so it’s not a huge shock to see them go that route with Aliens too. This Ripley stands 7 ¼ inches tall and she has 26 points of articulation. Since she was meant to be a figure that could be turned around relatively quickly, most of Ripley’s sculpt is the same as the Series 5 version of the character. That was a fantastic sculpt, and is perhaps one of my favorite NECA sculpts to date, so the reuse is far from a bad thing. There are still a few minor nits, but the good outweighs the bad by like a whole lot. In addition, the Kenner Ripley was based on the same basic design as the Series 5 Ripley, so the sculpt really isn’t far off. To help seal the deal, Ripley gets one additional add-on piece for her bandana, which does a suitable job of capturing the Kenner piece, while at the same time fitting right in with the rest of the sculpt. The rest of the changes in design are handled via the paint job, which I must say is quite impressive. The ‘90s were a truly garish time for fashion, and Kenner’s Ripley was not unaffected by this. However, despite not toning down the colors all that much, NECA’s managed to make Ripley not look super ridiculous. To the casual fan, she’s a fairly serviceable normal Ripley, but a toy fan should be able to instantly recognize the reference. The original Kenner Ripley included a huge freaking flamethrower thing. To properly replicated this would have required a whole new tool that wouldn’t have been useful for too much else. So, instead of that, this Ripley gives us our first look at the Smartgun that’ll be included with Series 9’s Vasquez. Ripley has a little trouble holding it, since it’s not what her hands are designed to hold, but it’s an awesomely sculpted piece. Also, as a neat little throwback, the figure also includes a reprint of the comic included with the original Kenner Ripley (These really need to be put out in a collected edition of some sort).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oh boy, was getting this figure an ordeal. I hit up my local TRU on Alien Day with no luck finding this figure. I also had no luck finding at any of the nearby TRUs for the next two weeks. In addition, it sold out of TRU’s online store in a few hours, and then the product page disappeared, so I had no luck there. However, patience persevered, and TRU listed more stock online, allowing me to get the figure. Yay. I’m glad I got this figure. Sure, I have most of it already, but it’s an incredibly fun variant, and a wonderful throwback to my very first Aliens figure.

KenRipley2

#0940: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

MARVEL ELECTRONIC TALKING SUPER HEROES

CyclopsTalks1

Today is, amongst other things, the day I graduate from college. It’s been a long road, but it looks like I’m finally done with this whole school thing (for now, anyway…). Graduating is kind of an interesting experience: it’s sort of an all new thing, but at the same time it makes me rather nostalgic of all the time I’ve spent in school. So, I’m going to acknowledge my college graduation the way I acknowledge everything else in my life: with action figures.

Fitting the theme of nostalgia, I’m taking a step back to one of the earliest lines I ever collected: Toy Biz’s X-Men line from the ‘90s. The line was no stranger to gimmicks, and one of the more popular gimmicks of the early ‘90s was action figures that talked. For some reason, that was an area lots of toy makers saw a need to fill, Toy Biz included. They put together a line-up of seven of Marvel’s more popular characters, all making use of this particular feature. There were three X-Men characters represented, including today’s focus figure, Cyclops.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CyclopsTalks2Cyclops was released in the first (and only) series of Marvel Electronic Talking Super Heroes and X-Men. Yes, the “and X-Men” is actually on the card. Guess they don’t count as Super Heroes. The assortment was released in 1991, alongside the first series of the X-Men line and Series 1 and 2 of the Marvel Super Heroes line. As such, the talking figures have a fair bit in common with their non-talking variations from those lines. In fact, the prototypes on the packaging are just the regular release figures with the talking boxes attached. Cyclops has a lot in common with the X-Men Series 1 Cyclops, but he actually has a few notable differences. The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. While he loses the elbow movement from the X-Men Cyclops, he also loses the light-up feature, meaning he gets neck articulation. That would be a feature unique to this figure for several years. Aside from the slight changes in articulation, the sculpt is more or less the same. There’s no denying that this is a slightly dated sculpt, but it’s a step up from what Mattel offered 7 years before. Honestly, I think the neck movement does a lot to help make the sculpt look a little less unnatural, since the head looks far less stiff. The paint is, in theory, the same as that of the X-Factor version of the Series 1 Cyclops. In theory. In practice it’s noticeably sloppier. Like, a lot sloppier. From afar, he’s not atrocious, and I don’t think the figure’s ruined, but there’s no denying that this guy isn’t Toy Biz’s finest work. The talking portion of this figure is handled via a giant red backpack, which plugs right into his back (and stays there really securely. I almost thought it wasn’t coming back off). The figure has three different sounds: “Let’s Go, X-Men,” “Optic Blast Fire,” and a laser blast sound effect. The sound quality is a little muffled, but otherwise not bad. In addition to the talking box, he also includes a gun because… reasons? Maybe it’s because he’s the father of Cable? Yeah, I don’t know, but there it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite having grown up in the ‘90s, when these things were all over the place, Cyclops is actually a very recent addition to my collection. Two weekends ago, I was in Rehoboth, and one of my favorite stores, Gidgets Gadgets, had just gotten in a large collection of ‘90s figures. They had just about every figure from this set. I was fairly drawn to this guy, for whatever reason. My dad told me he was buying it for me because “How often is it that I get to buy you a Cyclops action figure anymore?” Yes, the figure’s super goofy. There’s no denying that. But he’s also pretty nifty, and plays into my nostalgia pretty hardcore.

#0932: Masked Rider

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

MASKED RIDER

SABAN’S MASKED RIDER (BANDAI)

MaskedRider1

The success of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was somewhat of a shock to most. Like just about any unexpected success, it spawned a legion of knock-offs, all dedicated to aping the formula and capturing as much of that success as possible. Saban, the producers of Power Rangers, got in on the game themselves. They licensed the popular Japanese series Kamen Rider (specifically Kamen Rider Black RX) and, using pretty much the same formula they’d used with Power Rangers, created the somewhat blandly-named Masked Rider. It was not the breakaway-hit that Power Rangers had been, but it did get one 40-episode season, which isn’t so bad. It also got a line of toys from Bandai America, one of which is the subject of today’s review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

MaskedRider2Masked Rider was released in 1996 as part of Bandai’s Saban’s Masked Rider line (Man, I wish I could get a few more possessives in there…) He was part of the smaller, 5-inch scale line, and is just the basic Masked Rider figure; no fancy gimmick or adjectives for this guy. The figure stands 5 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. While it might look like he’s got a neck joint, he actually doesn’t; the head is forever stuck staring straight-ahead. Now, why they gave his neck what looks like a super obvious joint where there in fact isn’t one is anyone’s guess. My personal guess is that it’s Bandai America, and they’ve never been particularly concerned with making particularly good action figures, but I could be wrong. The rest of the sculpt seems to support my theory there; it’s not that it’s a bad sculpt, but it doesn’t really look all that much like Masked Rider’s on-screen look, especially not in terms of proportions. His head, shoulders, and hands are way oversized, and the rest of his body quite undersized. His torso is also too squat and his legs too long. Overall, he looks like no human being ever should. In addition, none of the joints are particularly well worked-in, meaning the sculpt has a lot of stop and start going on, and he as a whole looks as if he’s been assembled from several different people. At the very least, the figure’s paint isn’t terrible. All the colors match his show-appearance, and everything is mostly pretty clean. There are a few spots with slop, but they’re mostly minor.  Masked Rider’s only accessory was his sword.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was younger, I watched pretty much the entirety of the “Fox Kids” lineup, which included the original run of Masked Rider. I enjoyed the show at the time (since I was rather into Power Rangers as well, and this show wasn’t all that different), so I got this guy while on a mall trip with my Grandmother. Neither the show nor this figure has held up very well. Still, he’s sort of a neat artifact of a time when I was a bit less discerning in my collecting habits, and if nothing else, the figure still amuses me.

#0922: Techno-Punch Terminator

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

TECHNO-PUNCH TERMINATOR

TERMINATOR 2 (KENNER)

TechnoPunch1

Back in the 90s, tie-in toylines were all the rage.  They were so the rage, in fact, that a fair number of movies that weren’t exactly “kid-friendly” ended up getting some very kid-aimed action figures.  One such film was Terminator 2, which got a fairly nifty line of toys courtesy of Kenner Toys.  A good chunk of the line consisted of figures with looks quite divergent from the movie, but a few, such as today’s focus figure the T-800 Endoskeleton, stuck pretty close to the movie designs.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

TechnoPunch2The Endoskeleton was released in the first assortment of Terminator 2 figures from Kenner.  His official name was “Techno-Punch Terminator,” in reference to the figure’s special action feature, which I’ll touch on in a bit.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and has 6 points of articulation.  He also features movement at the waist, but it’s tied into his punching feature: when he is twisted to either side, he snaps back into place, and if the hands are placed right, this simulates a punch…sort of.  Not sure it was worth sacrificing actual articulation, but there it is.  Also, the lack of knee joints is somewhat baffling, seeing as there are joints sculpted there, they just aren’t mobile.  The sculpt on the figure is fairly decent.  Obviously, it’s not on par with NECA or Hot Toys’ takes on the design, but it’s hardly expected to be.  For a figure from the early 90s, it does a respectable job.  The basic details of the Endo are all pretty much there, just a bit more simplistic.  The proportions have also been tweaked a bit, presumably to make the Endo a bit more imposing (provided you overlook the monkey arms).  The overall result is a figure that is clearly meant to be a Terminator, and that’s what counts.    As far as paint goes, this guy’s pretty simple.  He’s straight silver, up and down, with the exception of the eyes, which are molded in clear red plastic and use light-piping to light up a bit.  The figure was originally packed with a blaster and some sort of bent metal thing, but my figure doesn’t have those pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy is a relatively recent acquisition (though he does predate the site by a small margin).  A few years ago, Cosmic Comix picked up a pretty sizeable collection of loose figures, and this guy was amongst them.  The figure shows his age, to be sure, but he’s actually not a bad figure at all, and he’s certainly better than some of his compatriots.

#0904: Major Chip Hazard

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

MAJOR CHIP HAZARD

SMALL SOLDIERS (HASBRO)

ChipHazard1

Small Soldiers does a fair bit of subverting people’s expectations. The title, the marketing, and the casting of the typically heroic Tommy Lee Jones as Major Chip Hazard (countering the usually villainous Frank Langella as Archer) all point to the Commando Elite as the assumed heroes of the piece. Heck, they even brought in Hasbro, who made their name with the “Real American Hero” G.I. Joe, to help design the figures seen in the movie. Their foes, the Gorgonites, are all grotesque monsters, clearly designed to make the Commando Elite look extra heroic by comparison. But the movie wastes no time showing the audience how wrong their perceptions were, and the Commando Elite quickly prove themselves a perfect antithesis to the noble Gorgonites; they’re cold, calculating, and with a desire to win their battle at all costs. Tommy Lee Jones’ Hazard is the worst of the bunch, a perverted, twisted version of the classic heroic soldier archetype.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ChipHazard2Chip Hazard was released in the first assortment of Small Soldiers figures. Hazard would go on to get the most variants of anyone other than Archer, but this one presents him in his actual look from the movie. Well, more or less. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation. Yep, he loses the waist articulation, making him even less articulated than Archer. Wrong direction, guys! I’ve already harped on the articulation issues in my review of Archer, so I won’t get into it again. It should have been better, but that just wasn’t the case. Hazard’s sculpt is a bit more stylized than Archer’s; he still more or less resembles his on-screen counterpart, but his proportions have been made more “90s heroic” (smaller head, larger arms/hands). The likeness on the head is close, but not as close as Archer’s. Hazard still has sculpted, faux joints, but his are a bit less visible than those on Archer, which kind of hurts his representation of the toy in the movie. In addition, there are a few details that are missing or changed from the movie to this figure. He lacks the dog tags sported by his on-screen counterpart, as well as his customized belt buckle, and he has two smaller grenades in place of the single larger grenade he had in the movie.  Lastly, he his left forearm has protrusion (meant to attach to his accessory) which sticks out as being just sort of tacked on. Hazard’s paintwork is generally okay. The colors match up closely enough, which is good. The camo patterns are, understandably, not quite as detailed as the one’s movie Hazard had. The arms and legs make out perfectly alright in this respect, but the vest doesn’t work as well, with the pattern looking more like cheetah’s spots than a standard camo pattern. The grenades end up being the wrong color (they should be roughly the same color as the belt), and his belt buckle remains the same color as the rest of the belt, despite being red and silver in the movie. Hazard included a big missile launcher thing, which attached to his left arm. My figure doesn’t have this piece, but that’s just as well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in my Archer review, I didn’t really have any of the Small Soldiers figures growing up. I think my cousin may have had a Chip Hazard (I know for sure that he had a Brick Bazooka) but I never did. I ended up finding Hazard at 2nd Chance Toyz last October, at the same time I got Archer. Of the two, Hazard’s the weaker figure. He’s less accurate to the source material, has less articulation, and generally just a less entertaining figure. However, being less entertaining than Archer doesn’t mean he’s not entertaining, and having the pair of them does inherently make both a bit more awesome.

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