Tag Archives: 90s

Guest Review #0027: Earthworm Jim

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

EARTHWORM JIM

EARTHWORM JIM (PLAYMATES)

EWJ1

Hey guys!  The following is a Guest Review from my awesome brother Christian Wilson!  Take it away Christian…

This figure, like my review of Ash and Pikachu, is from a game I’ve never played. However, that won’t stop me! I now have all the systems (including the 360, since there was an HD Remake on the 360) to play Earthworm Jim, but whatever! I’ll get to it. You don’t own me…….

Let’s get on with the review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

EWJ2Jim was an earthworm from Earth, in case you got lost, and got a suit that gave him the ability to walk around and defeat baddies. Ya know, cuz Aliens™. Also, he could disconnect from the suit briefly to use his head (or the worm body) to whip as a platforming maneuver. That’s just…. Eugh! His backstory may be odd, but once it gets going it’s a pretty typical rescue Princess Whatsername from Evil Queen Slugforabutt (both actual names of the characters. Again, Eugh!) Now, knowing that interesting lore, the figure itself stands at just under 6 inches tall with 6 points of articulation. I have to say that the paint job is pretty spectacular. It really captures the essence of Jim (that sounds like a perfume). I bought him used so there are yellow stains which I can’t explain. Sounds creepy, right? The one I bought only came with his laser gun, which I looked up. The figures I’ve seen in-package had green accessories, but mine’s red. The Battle-Damaged Jim came with red accessories, but mine isn’t the battle-damaged Jim. Nonetheless, I prefer the red gun as it was the color of his original gun. Even though there is not comfortable way to put the gun in its “holster.” In that 90s style, and to keep up with what Jim actually can do in the game (Remember…..Eugh!?), there is a button on Jim’s backpack that makes his head shoot off. Very far. There’s almost no easy way of getting it off without having to go pick it up off of the floor. Otherwise, this is a really well done figure and he has a place on my shelf.

Yes, I too have a shelf. Though it’s smaller than Ethan’s. But then again I don’t have 2800+ action figures, so there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I said, I got this figure used, but I can’t remember where or when. Must’ve been recent, but I don’t know exactly. Even though I didn’t play the game(cause I wasn’t born then), I still love the figure because I love it when I get to have an action figure of a video game character. That just hits the spot. I’ll see you soon guys. DFTBA.

#0435: Data

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

DATA

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (PLAYMATES)

Following its presence at Mego in the late 70s, the Star Trek license struggled to find a home. Most of the movies didn’t get a dedicated toyline (aside from a very strange offering of figures by Ertl, based on Star Trek III). Galoob held the license for two short series based on Next Generation, but a third never materialized. Then, with the release of Generations, Playmates, best known for their definitive work with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, picked up the license, and provided the largest selection of Trek characters that is ever likely to be offered. After having decent success with Generations, they moved on to figures based on the entirety of Next Generation.  Today, I’ll be looking at their second take on Data.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Data was released in the first series of Star Trek: The Next Generation figures. Following the one offered in the Generations line, this is the second figure of the character that Playmates offered. Data is based on his appearance in the middle seasons of the show, after the uniform had evolved a bit. The figure is just shy of 5 inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation.  As far as I can tell, Data’s sculpt is unique to him. It’s possible that he may share one or two parts with some of the other crew members, but I don’t have any to compare. For the time, it’s a pretty good sculpt. It’s simple, but not in a bad way. The Brent Spiner likeness is good. The proportions are a bit off, though; he’s definitely got a case of the monkey arms. The sculpt of his right arm is also disrupted by the addition of the flip up panel to reveal his inner workings, but that’s a cool enough feature that it’s worth it. The figure also featured a bulky phaser holster on his leg, but that could easily be removed, leaving a mostly unnoticeable peg-hole on his leg. Data’s paint is pretty decent, and it’s certainly good by early 90s standards. Everything is clean and well applied. A slightly less shiny finish would have been nice, but that’s another “true to the time” thing. Most of my Data’s accessories have been lost, but I’m pretty sure he had a phaser, a tri-corder, and a stand. The phaser is rather laughable because it had a molded beam that wasn’t removable, meaning the holster was pretty much useless, and he was left with this lightsaber looking thing. To make matters worse, he can’t even hold it properly!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was the third version of Data I ever got. It was a figure I had wanted for a while, mostly because I really liked that flip up panel on his arm (I’m easy to please). I ended up getting him from one of the toy dealers at Shoreleave, for $5, I believe. This figure actually got me into a little bit of trouble, because I went down to the Dealer’s Room without my parents’ permission (I was like 7, and they were very much in the right on being mad. Shoreleave’s Dealer’s Room is no place for a lone 7 year old). Some kid’s sneak out to go to parties, I snuck out to buy action figures. There was no way I was escaping this lifestyle…

#0392: Professor X

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

PROFESSOR X

MARVEL 10-INCH (TOYBIZ)

Frickin’ Professor X! Dude just keeps showing up on the list of figures to review! I swear I’m not doing this on purpose. Anyway, when Toybiz had the Marvel license in the 90s (when Marvel was at the height of their 90s comic boom), they were milking the license for all they could. They had huge success with their 5-inch figures, and they decided to use the same molds, sized up, to create a line of 10-inch figures. Through use of a number of set parts, they were able to create a lot of characters at a low price. However, this meant some characters had to be tweaked to find their way into the line. Professor X was one such character.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Professor X was part of the KB exclusive line of 10-inch figures. The line never really had any wave or series structure; figures were just sort of stocked wherever they showed up. Professor X is about 10 inches tall, and he features 9 points of articulation, which was pretty much standard for the line. Obviously, due to the constraints of the line, he’s not a typical Professor X. He’s decidedly more toy-etic. The design’s not totally made up, though; it’s similar to the look he had during the 90s “Fatal Atrractions” story, minus the goofy headgear. The figure makes use of an up-scaled version of the body of Tony Stark from the Iron Man line, with a larger version of the same Professor X head used on the regular and astral projection variants of the character. The body is a pretty decent sculpt, even if it is in the goofy “techno underwear.” The head is rotocast (meaning it’s hollow), which ends up doing the sculpt some serious favors. It just looks a lot cleaner and sharper. Professor X’s paint work is pretty good, especially for the time. The body had a few spots where there is some bleed over, but it’s mostly good. The eyes and eyebrows are surprisingly clean, and they look very nice. Professor X included a recolored version of the helmet included with Weapon X Wolverine, presumably as a stand in for Cerebro.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t actually have a whole lot of memories about this one. I think my Dad got it for me, but other than that, it’s kind of a blank. It’s a nice enough figure, and it’s certainly a unique way of handling the limited tooling options available. The 10-Inch line really did a lot to boost Toybiz’s creativity!

#0389: Man-Bat

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

MAN-BAT

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

Batman: The Animated Series started off with quite a bang (quite literally; it’s one of the first things in the opening credits). The first episode, “On Leather Wings,” showed the full potential of the series, and to this day remains one of my two favorite episodes of the series. One of the most interesting things about the episode was the choice of foe. They steered clear of any of the major Bat-Rogues, such as Joker or Penguin, or even Riddler, and instead turned their focus on Man-Bat, a character who to date still remains foreign to all but the most die-hard DC fans. When people do know the character, they tend to remember the animated incarnation. Today, I’ll be taking a look at Kenner’s version of the character from the tie-in toyline of the time.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Man-Bat was released in Series 2 of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series. The figure marks Man-Bat’s very first action figure, though Kenner themselves had planned to release a classic comic version of the character had their DC Super Powers line continued past Series 3. Man-Bat is about 5 ½ inches tall and he features 12 points of articulation, which was stellar for the time. Man-Bat had two appearances on the show, and the look was a little different in each. This one is based on the first version, which is the actual MAN-Bat (Kirk Langstrom’s wife ends up being the creature in the second, resulting in a “Woman-Bat”). Standards for figures have changed over the years, but for the time, this figure was quite good. It’s not a spot on recreation of Man-Bat, mind you. The shape of the head is a little off, the arms are a bit too skinny, and the legs are a bit too small when compared to the rest of the figure. But, as a whole, the figure makes a good approximation of the character from the show. It’s certainly as accurate as, say, Kenner’s Joker figure, so the inconsistencies help the figure blend more with the rest of the line. Man-Bat’s paint work is pretty straight forward. He’s mostly molded in an appropriate brown plastic, with paint for his pants, eyes, and mouth. Everything is pretty cleanly applied, so that’s good. Man-Bat originally included a small length of string and a hook so that the figure could be made to look as if he were flying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed out on the first few series of BTAS figures, due to not quite being into collecting. So, Man-Bat was a figure I didn’t have while growing up. I went through a period immediately after my freshman year of college where I attempted to fill as many holes in my 90s collections as possible. Man-Bat was a rather pricey figure at the time, so I had to hold off on him. As luck would have it, while visiting that year’s Mego Meet, I come across a loose Man-Bat for $2 or $3. Man-Bat was certainly one of the more unique figures in the line, and his presence in the inaugural episode of the show means he holds a special place in the line. Incidentally, DC Collectibles has announced that a more accurate Man-Bat will be released in the second series of their own BTAS line. Until then, this guy’s still pretty important.

#0387: Professor X

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

PROFESSOR X

X-MEN

I feel like I’ve been writing a lot of X-Men reviews recently. In particular, I feel like I’ve been reviewing a lot of figures of their founder, Professor Charles Xavier. I think I own most of the figures of this character, which is a decent number, but he seems to have shown up more than characters like Cyclops and Wolverine, who I have literally dozens of. Perhaps my Xavier figures are influencing me a bit… ALL HAIL THE HYPNOTOAD… wait, sorry, that’s not right. Anyway, today I’ll be looking at Xavier’s very first action figure, which didn’t see release until almost 30 years into his career. Guess there wasn’t a huge market for a bald guy in a wheelchair.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Professor X was released as part of the fourth series of Toybiz’s X-Men line. The figure is about 4 inches in height (due to his seated nature) and he features 8 points of articulation (thanks to the hinged arm-rests on the chair). Xavier is depicted here in his then-current look from the early 90s, which depicts him in his hover chair instead of the traditional wheelchair. It’s admittedly a more toy-etic look, and it was the look he had at the time, so it’s not a bad choice. The figure’s sculpt was previously used for the X-Men Hall of Fame 10-pack, but that was more of a display item, and Xavier was permanently affixed to the stand, making this release a necessity. It’s a pretty good sculpt overall. It’s in keeping with the work of the time, which is good. The right hand is sculpted to hold something, but I’m not sure what it would be, so that’s annoying. Also, the front of his chair has an odd latchkey piece, which I assume was used to affix the original Xavier to the stand. It would have been nice for it to have been removed for this release. Oh well. Xavier’s paint is pretty good for the time. Everything is pretty clean, but some of the details, like the eyes aren’t quite as sharp as they could be. Xavier included no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Xavier was a later addition to my X-Men collection. I got into the line after the figure’s release, and he never saw a re-release like others. I remember my Dad getting one for himself in the early days of ebay, as a part of a lot. I got the other figures and he got Xavier, which honestly didn’t bug me. Professor X wasn’t really in on the action, so I didn’t feel like I needed one. Several years later, I got Xavier along with a bunch of other figures from a friend who was getting rid of his old toys. I was glad to finally have the figure, and he’s been a pretty cool part of my collection since. The figure actually snapped in half at the waist thanks to a fall from the shelf during the minor earthquake we got here on the east coast a few years ago!

#0374: Flying Alien Queen

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

FLYING ALIEN QUEEN

ALIENS (KENNER)

Okay, just one more Kenner Aliens review (well, I still have Bishop and the original Hicks, but they’re a ways off). Yesterday, I looked at Kenner’s first stab at the Alien Queen. That figure was actually pretty faithful to the source material, and the few changes they made actually made it a better toy. Today, I’ll be looking at another version of the Queen, this time with a few more liberties taken. So, do they make for a good toy?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Flying Alien Queen was released in the second series of Kenner’s Aliens line. Like the first Queen, she was a later addition to the assortment. This was Kenner’s second figure of the Alien Queen, and it’s a lot more out there than the first. The figure is about 6 inches tall and it features 7 points of articulation. As you can probably guess from the name, this figure’s shtick is that it’s aerial-based. One has to wonder what differences would have to be present in the host for this to come about. Did the Flying Queen hatch from a really large bird? Maybe an angel or something? I don’t know. What’s most interesting about this figure’s sculpt is the complete lack of overlap with the normal Queen. You’d think something like “flying Queen” would just be an excuse to re-use a bunch of parts from the original, but nope, Kenner went all new. For the Flying Queen, it seems Kenner has thrown out the movie Queen design entirely, and instead gone for something all their own. It’s almost as if the sculptor of the Flying Queen was given one of their other aliens as a reference and told “Make a queen.” So, this figure is much more basic alien inspired. The head has the regular Alien shape, and the tail is a bit shorter in length. It’s not bad, but it’s not quite as impressive as the first Queen. A lot of the details aren’t quite as sharp, and the proportions seem a bit sillier. The wings are decently done, but they honestly seem out of place with the rest of the Alien aesthetic. They feel like they’re from another toyline all-together. The paint on the Flying Queen is certainly unique. The figure is cast in a transparent greyish-purple plastic, with some silver airbrushing to bring out some of the details, and a little bit of red thrown in just for fun. The transparent look is actually pretty fun, but you have to wonder why the flying Queen would be transparent purple, while the regular Queen is an opaque black. Best not to think about it, I suppose. The Flying Queen included no accessories, but he does have a wing-flapping action feature, activated by pushing a button on her back. The claw on her left foot is also on a spring, but there doesn’t seem to be a clear way to activate it. It just goes off sporadically.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Flying Alien Queen is the last piece of the lot of Kenner Aliens figures I won on ebay. Of all the figures in the lot, this is probably the one I was least interested in. My opinion of it hasn’t really changed much, to be honest, but my lackluster feelings towards the Hicks Vs. King Alien set does mean that this one moved up a peg by comparison. It’s not a bad figure, but it’s not one of my favorites. It’s a better figure than something like the King Alien or the Alien Arachnid, but those felt like part of the line, while this one seems sort of out of place. This figure seems to mark when the line really started to move away from the movies, which is where I really start to lose interest. And with that, I am done with my Kenner Aliens stuff for a while. The timing actually worked out quite nicely, as they served as a nice little lead-up to Halloween!

#0373: Alien Queen

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

ALIEN QUEEN

ALIENS (KENNER)

In the movie Aliens, the titular creatures all received a slight re-design from director James Cameron and legendary creature effects wizard Stan Winston. It was the first in a long line of tweaks to the Xenomorph design, and it happens to be my personal favorite, mostly due to the fact that it’s the one used in the Greatest Movie of All TimeTM. In addition to creating a new looks for the “drones,” they also introduced a whole new creature design, the Alien Queen! The Alien Queen takes the role of primary antagonist for the film’s final act, and has become one of the most memorable creature designs of all time, right up there with the original Alien. It’s no surprise that Kenner released an Alien Queen in their Aliens line from the early 90s, but what is a bit of a surprise is how close to the original design they stayed.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien Queen was released in the first series of Kenner Aliens figures. She was actually a slightly later release than the rest of the figures, mostly owing to her larger stature. The figure is about 6 inches in height and she features 10 points of articulation (those extra sets of arms really pull her up here!). There were three versions of the Alien Queen released in this line; this is the first. The final version of the Queen is generally seen as a near-perfect recreation of the Queen’s design, but this one’s not too far off either. They’ve given her an extra set of arms, and the figure is a little bit stockier than the movie version. Her inner mouth is more like that of the standard Xeno as well. None of these things really hurt the figure, so it’s not too bad. The actual sculpt is really very nice. There’s tons of detail work all throughout the figure, with lots and lots of layers and texture. The figure also had a rather large tail that attached to the back of the figure. In theory, I think it’s supposed to be bendable, but I had no such luck with it. The entire figure has been painted with an iridescent black paint, which is a great match for the coloring of the Aliens. She also has proper silver detailing on both sets of teeth, all of which is applied cleanly. The Queen included one accessory: a “Deadly” Chest Hatchling. Obviously, this is meant to be a chestburster, and it’s done rather well, but why exactly is “Deadly” in quotes? Is it not really deadly? Because I feel like John Hurt would like to disagree. Anyway, in addition to that, the Queen also features two action features. The first is an “attacking double jaw” which sends the inner mouth forward. It’s activated by squeezing the back of the Queen’s head. The second is a tail whipping feature, which is activated by pressing a button on the figure’s left leg.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Alien Queen is another piece of the lot of Kenner Aliens figures I won on ebay. I had mostly wanted the lot for the two-packs, but I was more than happy to get this figure as well. In hand, I think this may be my favorite of the Aliens I received. It’s not a perfect recreation of the movie Queen, but this is a pretty neat amalgam of the Queen and the basic drone, almost like a junior Queen or something. I think the thing that shocks me the most is the total lack of re-releases of this particular mold. A Ripley Vs. Queen two-pack feels like it would have been a natural fit for the Aliens Vs. Marine line.

#0372: O’Malley & Queen Face Hugger

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

O’MALLEY & QUEEN FACE HUGGER

ALIENS (KENNER)

Okay, so here’s another Kenner Aliens review. This review plays a bit more into Kenner’s wackier sensibilities with the line, while at the same time not going super overboard. What’s noteworthy about this set is that it’s the only set who’s Alien is not a “Xenomorph.” So, let’s have a look at the last of the 10th Anniversary two-packs, O’Malley vs. The Queen Face Hugger.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

O’Malley and the Queen Face Hugger are the final two-pack from the KB Exclusive Aliens Vs. Marine line. They are both repaints of figures from the previous Aliens line.

O’MALLEY

O’Malley! Hey, remember that guy? They hero of the… The guy who does the… He has the… Okay, okay, yeah, O’Malley is another Marine created by Kenner. He’s not really as goofy as ATAX, but he’s still a bit out there. In case the name and the hair hadn’t clued you in, O’Malley is supposed to be Irish. O’Malley is 5 inches tall and he sports 6 points of articulation. The figure makes use of the sculpt from the O’Malley figure meant to see a wide release in the 3rd Series. This featured a unique head sculpt, which may very well be the best Marine sculpt from the line. For a character that seems so one note and bland on the surface, O’Malley’s head sculpt is full of character. He’s got a smug look of assurance on his face (no way he’s making it out of the movie alive looking like that. Sorry O’Malley, your name might as well be Toast). He’s also got a really nasty scar over his eye. Obviously, he’s had a run in with some nasty beasts before. From the neck down, O’Malley shares his sculpt with Corporal Hicks. Hicks’s body sculpt is probably my favorite of the Marine sculpts, so I’m in favor of the re-use here. It’s a quality sculpt and it matches the head nicely. The paint work on O’Malley is more or less the same as it was on Hicks, with changes for the head and some tweaks to the accents on the torso. Everything is nice and cleanly done. O’Malley included a flamethrower clip-on, similar to Hicks’s claw thing, as well as what has to be one of the goofiest weapons in the Aliens line. It’s some kind of grappling thing on an accordion type arm. It’s kind of a funny weapon, but there it is.

QUEEN FACE HUGGER

Okay, so the name on this one kind of confuses me. So, is this a face hugger that has a queen embryo, or is it like the queen of the face huggers? What’s the deal Kenner? Well, Kenner’s kinda defunct now, so I guess we’ll never know. The Face Hugger is about 3 inches in height, 5 inches wide, and 6 inches long. That, by the way, makes this particular Face Hugger about 20x the size of what the actual Face Huggers should be. So, it’s not really a Face Hugger so much as an everything hugger. The figure doesn’t really have any articulation. There’s some movement, but it’s all tied into the action feature. The sculpt is a re-use of the original Series 3 Face Hugger. It’s a pretty good sculpt, and it’s surprisingly accurate to the Face Hugger design from the movies. There’s quite a bit of texturing, and they’ve added some spiky bits, similar to the changes present on the Scorpion Alien. The Face Hugger has what is probably the most drastic paint scheme change of all of the 10th Anniversary figures. The original figure’s paint scheme was similar to the regular Aliens. For this figure, they went with something more faithful to the actual Face Hugger. It’s an improvement, but it also makes the size of this thing even weirder! The Face Hugger included no accessories, but it does have a few action features. The tail can be pulled and retracted, the legs have a jumping action similar to the Alien Arachnid, and the mouth has a pullback opening feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

O’Malley and the Face Hugger were yet another piece of the large lot of Kenner Aliens figures I won on ebay. Neither one of them was super high on my list of desired figures, but they were part of the lot, so I figured why not. In hand, I was pleasantly surprised by this set. The Face Hugger’s kinda odd, but O’Malley is really quite a nice figure. It’s strange that Kenner put this level of effort into a character that no one cares about, but this really is one of their better figures. All in all, this is a pretty winning set.

#0371: Hudson & Scorpion Alien

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

HUDSON & SCORPION ALIEN

ALIENS (KENNER)

The problem with doing large theme weeks and the like is that as you near the end, you really run out of interesting things to say to introduce the figures. Then you have to write these weird meta intros talking about how you have nothing to say in the intro. (BEAT)

So, how ’bout them Aliens figures? Yesterday, I looked at one key Marine missing from Kenner’s first series of Aliens; today, I’ll be looking at the other. That Marine is, of course, Private Hudson, everyone’s favorite over-confidant marine turned whimpering mess! I’ll be taking a look at his proper US release from the Aliens Vs. Marine two-packs, along with the Scorpion Alien.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hudson and the Scorpion Alien were released in a two-pack in the 10th Anniversary Aliens Vs. Marine line. The line was released exclusively at KB Toys, and it was made up of repaints from the previous Kenner Aliens line.

HUDSON

Hudson is easily the selling point of this set. His Series 3 figure never saw a proper US release, leaving a Paxton sized hole in many fans’ Aliens collections. Hudson is about 5 inches tall and he features 6 points of articulation. He sports a new head sculpt, which doesn’t really have much in common with Bill Paxton’s portrayal of the character, but that’s not really news with this line. Hudson has a screaming expression, which fits okay with the character and does make him stand out a bit more from the other, more passive Marines. His sculpted helmet doesn’t match the one on Hicks, which is moderately annoying, but I suppose they wanted each of the Marines to have a unique look. From the neck down, Hudson’s sculpt is the same as Series 1’s Apone figure. Aside from the somewhat odd metal arm thing, it’s a pretty good starting point for a basic Marine, so I guess it works okay. It’s too bad he couldn’t get a unique sculpt like Vasquez, but if only one could get a new sculpt, Kenner made the right choice. Hudson’s paint work is on par with the rest of the Marines; it’s all pretty cleanly applied, and his lower half is molded in the same multi-colored plastic seen on all of the Marines. Hudson has one of the more diverse paint jobs in the series, though it’s not like it’s anything super exciting. Hudson includes a rifle of some sort (not a pulse rifle), and a large backpack thingy with three missiles to launch. Unfortunately, the backpack is a bit on the heavy side, which makes Hudson impossible to stand while wearing it.

SCORPION ALIEN

Believe it or not, against all odds and in spite of the name, the Scorpion Alien is not a Kenner original. It’s actually one of the main line’s closest attempts to capture the standard Xenomorph design. It also happens to be one of the best Aliens in the line, for what it’s worth. The figure is about 5 inches tall and features 5 points of articulation. This figure makes use of the sculpt from the original Scorpion Alien, released in the first series of the original Kenner Aliens line. It’s a decent quality sculpt. There are lots of small details and texture work, and the figure really has some nice dimension. It’s perhaps a tad wider than it should be, but not excessively so. The design of the alien is definitely based on the Xeno’s appearance in Aliens, though there have been a few changes made. The design as a whole is a bit spikier, and a lot of the design has been streamlined, I’d assume to present a more easily animated look. The figure is slightly pre-posed, and it can take a little work to get the figure to stand, but it’s not too difficult to keep the figure vertical. There was definitely a consistent theme to the paint work on the figures in the Aliens Vs. Marine line, and the Scorpion Alien is no exception. He’s molded in semi-metallic black/grey plastic with some silver accents to bring out the details. The silver on this figure is easily the most subtle of this line, which really does this figure some serious favors. The Scorpion Alien included no accessories, but he did feature one of the line’s coolest action features. When the button on the figure’s lower back is pressed, the figure’s upper half pops apart, as if the Scorpion Alien has just been shot by one of the Marines. It’s a fun action feature and it really adds quite a bit of entertainment value to this figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Hudson and the Scorpion Alien are another piece of the large lot of Kenner Aliens figures I won recently on ebay. These are two of the figures I was most eager to get ahold of from the line, so I was definitely glad they were amongst the set. Hudson is an essential Marine and the Scorpion Alien is my personal favorite Kenner take on the standard Xeno design. All in all, I really like this set. Sure, Hudson’s slightly goofy, but he’s not a bad figure, and he’s packed with an outstanding Alien.

#0370: Vasquez & Night Cougar Alien

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

VASQUEZ & NIGHT COUGAR ALIEN

ALIENS VS MARINE(KENNER)

The initial offering of Marines in Kenner’s Aliens line is interesting. We got pretty decent Ripley and Hicks figures, but we also got Apone and Drake, two characters who are absent from the last two-thirds of the movie entirely, and a nearly unrecognizable version of Bishop. Key players like Vasquez and Hudson were absent, and when we finally got an additional Marine in the second series, it was ATAX, a character invented exclusively for the toyline. When the third series hit, Kenner tried to amend this, offering both Vasquez and Hudson, but it was too little too late. Retailers in the US were having trouble moving the Marines from the first two series, leading to the cases containing the Series 3 Marines to be returned and, ultimately, destroyed. A fair number saw release outside the US, but not in nearly the same numbers, leaving US Aliens fans out in the cold. Fortunately, the 10th Anniversary Aliens Vs. Marine came to the rescue, offering a proper release of all three of the Marines, albeit in altered colors. Today, I’ll be taking a look at the first of those, Vasquez, along with her foe, the Night Cougar Alien.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Vasquez and the Night Cougar Alien were released as a two-pack in the KB Toys Exclusive Aliens Vs. Marine line, which was done as a celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Aliens. Both figures made use of previous sculpts with all-new paint schemes.

VASQUEZ

Vasquez is definitely a key part of what make Aliens so great. She was a really fun character who added a lot to the group of survivors as they battled the Alien hoards (and Paul Reiser). Unfortunately, her role as smartgunner kinda got taken by Drake in the first series (both are smartgunners in the movie, but Kenner seemed set on each Marine having their own gimmick), so she ended up being a little more generic here. Vasquez stands just shy of 5 inches tall and features 5 points of articulation. I don’t know why she didn’t get waist articulation like the others, but it’s not there. Vasquez is a total re-use of the Series 3 Vasquez, who was actually the only of the Series 3 Marines to get her own body sculpt. While she’s not a pitch perfect Vasquez, she’s probably the most film-accurate Marine Kenner put out. Some of the details are a little on the soft side, but she’s definitely Vasquez, and I’m amazed by the lack of 90s-fication that was so present on the other Marines. The paint on Vasquez only furthers her as the most accurate Marine. In the more traditional colors, she’s pretty much spot on to how Vasquez looked in the movie. My one complaint would be that she’s definitely way too pale to be Vasquez. Other than that, her paint is pretty good for the time. She doesn’t really have any slop or bleed over to speak of. Vasquez’s smartgun gimmick was taken, so she doesn’t have one of those, but she does come with what I believe is the only example of a proper pulse rifle from the Kenner line, as well as some large missile launching thing that she has trouble standing with.

NIGHT COUGAR ALIEN

So, the Night Cougar Alien is another Kenner original. That being said, apart from a terrible name, it’s actually one of the better aliens, and it’s got some precedent. Its quadrupedal design is similar to that of Alien3 ’s Dog Alien. I am by no means a fan of the movie, but the design wasn’t bad. The Night Cougar is about 4 inches tall and 6 inches long, and it features 5 points of articulation (there’s a 6th, but it’s tied to the action feature.) The Night Cougar Alien re-uses the sculpt of the original Series 3 version, which was itself a repaint of the Panther Alien. It’s a pretty good sculpt. Some of the details, particularly on the torso are a little soft and basic, but they aren’t too bad, and the figure does offer a fair job of conveying some depth. The figure features a more conventional Alien design than the previous two, which makes this figure work a lot better aesthetically. The original Night Cougar featured some pretty bold red highlights. This figure opts for the more subdued look that all of these two-pack aliens have. While the King was kind of hurt by such a change, I think the Night Cougar really makes it work. It helps that the Night Cougar has the subtlest work with the silver highlights, which really makes the figure look its best. This marks the first Alien to have an accessory; it includes a missile that can be plugged into the figure’s back. When the figures front legs are pushed forward, the head ducks down and the missile fires. As far as action features go, that’s a good one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like Hicks and the King, and Drake and the Arachnid, Vasquez and the Night Cougar Alien were part of a large lot of Kenner Aliens figures I won on ebay. Vasquez is one of my main interests in getting the lot, so there was definitely some pressure for this set to deliver. Fortunately, this set is one of my favorites from this series. Vasquez marks one of Kenner’s best efforts on a Marine, and the Night Cougar Alien is one of their better aliens, which makes this set a real winner!