Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#2301: Cara Dune

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

CARA DUNE

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A veteran of the Galactic Civil War who fought under the banner of the Rebellion, Cara Dune is a seasoned warrior.”

The first round of Black Series figures for this past Force Friday gave us two Mandalorian-themed figures, and the two Best Buy exclusive offerings have added two more, but there was one fairly prominent character who had as of yet not seen any coverage. Well, one fairly prominent character whose presence in a toy line wouldn’t have spoiled the show’s big reveal at the end of the first episode, anyway.  Introduced in Chapter 4, Cara Dune is fairly quickly established as a well-crafted foil to the Mando, and though she wouldn’t end up quite as prominent in the show’s first season as early promotional material might have suggested, she still has quite a role.  And now let’s look at the action figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cara Dune is figure 101 in the Black Series line-up.  She’s the only Mandalorian-based figure in this particular five figure assortment.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  In terms of motion, Cara is on par with the rest of her assortment, being a nice half-way point of mobility and sanctity of sculpt.  There are definitely spots on this figure that I assumed would be restricted (namely the shoulders and the neck), which ended up a lot less restricted than I’d expected, and that’s a definite plus.  As it stands, she can comfortably wield her rifle with both arms, and even manage some pretty decent action poses.  She also doesn’t have too much trouble remaining standing, at least with my figure.  The sculpt here is definitely a nice one, and possibly the nicest of this current assortment.  The face is undeniably Gina Carano, and is easily one of the best likenesses we’ve gotten from a Black Series figure, right up there with Tarkin and Dryden in terms of accuracy.  I definitely dig it.  The body sculpt’s proportions are a good match for Carano’s build, and her outfit is quite nicely recreated at the smaller scale.  The multi-tiered construction of the armor adds a nice bit of depth to the figure, and makes the whole thing look nicely put together.  Cara’s paint work is definitely the most impressive affair from this assortment.  On its surface, it’s a little monochromatic, as is true to the show.  However, there’s actually quite a bit going on.  The face is again using the printed styling, which looks incredibly lifelike here.  It also includes her very small little Rebel tattoo on her cheek bone, which is quite an impressive touch.  Her shocktrooper stripes on her arm are also impressive, as are the wear and tear marks on her armor, which give it a suitably lived-in feel.  Much like Jannah, Cara is a quite well-accessorized figure, including her large blaster rifle, a pistol, and a knife.  The rifle includes a removable sling, and the pistol and knife both have spots on Cara’s person, allowing for everything to be stowed somewhere on the figure, which is always cool to see.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Cara’s figure had good timing, first arriving at retail right on top of her appearance on the show, which made her a pretty easy purchase for me.  Though, continuing the overall trend of this assortment, I wasn’t expecting to like her quite as much as I do.  There’s a lot of cool stuff going on with this figure, and it results in one of the most solid standard Black Series releases I’ve messed with in a while.  Now, here’s to getting a Mando that actually matches this figure.

Cara was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Star Wars, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2300: Luke Skywalkwer – Yavin Ceremony

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

LUKE SKWALKER — YAVIN CEREMONY

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“On Yavin 4, the Rebels hold a ceremony to award the heroes who bravely fought to destroy the Death Star.  Luke Skywalker receives his medal for bravery from Princess Leia.”

Do you ever have that moment where you have something really monumental and important in front of you, and you think to yourself really hard about how this is the absolute worst time to screw up, and you focus so hard on that only to inadvertently screw up terribly on something that you’ve managed to do correctly hundreds of times previously, to the point where it should be second nature to you?  Because we know Hasbro had that moment.  And today we’re looking at that moment.  Behold, Luke Skywalkwer—crap, I mean Skwalker!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalkwer – Yavin Ceremony is figure 100 in the Black Series line-up.  Of course, thanks to re-numberings and exclusives, there are far more than 100 figures in the line, but getting to the number is a momentous occasion nevertheless.  And before we get any further, yes, you read all those instances of Luke’s surname above correctly; on the packaging for the momentous number 100 figure, Hasbro somehow managed to misspell poor Luke’s last name, the name of a whole saga, three times in two different ways.  As someone who’s worked in publication design, my heart goes out to the poor designer who let that slip through.  They’re probably never going to live it down.  The truth is, if this had been any other numbered release, I don’t know that it would have caught quite as much flack, but unfortunately it’s the big 100, the one that people who very well may have never bought another Black Series will hold onto, and the one that people are far more likely to keep in package.  Heck, I’m a loose collector, and even I’m hanging onto the box for this one.  Admittedly, in my case it’s purely for the typos, but the point still stands.  This one’s probably going to be well-remembered.  Well, enough about the box, let’s talk about the actual Luke Skwalker figure inside!  As the properly written section of his name denotes, he’s wearing his slightly more uniform-esque get-up from the ceremony on Yavin IV that ends the first film.  Though only seen in one scene in the main films, the look served as Luke’s primary attire for his portion of the Holiday Special (I know) and recently saw a resurgence when it was used prominently in Marvel’s Star Wars comics.  This figure was actually released a little earlier last year as a con-exclusive with several additional accessories and a Marvel-inspired box.  As has become the trend with such exclusives and their inevitable re-releases, the core figures in the two packages are essentially identical.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Apart from being shared with the exclusive release, this Luke has a unique sculpt.  It’s our first truly new OT Luke since figure 21, and the line’s come a long way since then.  The result is definitely the most technically impressive Luke we’ve gotten in The Black Series.  The articulation is definitely one area of notable improvement for the most part, although the hip joints on this guy have a weird set up which places a definite learning curve on using them.  I’m not much of a fan.  Like the Jabba’s Palace figure, this Luke uses the new style of head construction with separate pieces for the hair and face, which makes for slightly more depth in the sculpt.  On my figure the hair and head don’t line up 100% perfectly, but it’s close enough to work.  It’s honestly Hasbro’s best Hamill, displacing the Jabba’s Palace figure’s very brief moment with that title.  The body construction is in a lot of ways very similar to Bespin Han, which is fine by me, because that was a good lay out for a figure, and the designs of the two costumes are also pretty similar.  His paintwork is fairly standard for the line at this point.  The base color is all pretty clean, and he’s got the printed face which looks plenty realistic.  The con-exclusive release had a lot of extras, where as this one is comparatively pretty light.  Both figures include the blaster, and this figure also includes the medal, making him specific to the ceremony.  That’s all he gets, which leaves the rather glaring omission of a lightsaber.  He doesn’t have it during the scene in the movie, so I guess there’s that reasoning, but that didn’t stop them from including both a saber and a helmet with the pilot Luke.  It’s also not a new piece, so it feels like it should have been an easy inclusion.  I’ve got a few of my own, so I can loan him one, but it’s a little annoying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, Cermony Luke wound up as my default Luke for a good while, and as such I’ve always had something of a soft spot for this particular look.  I like that the comics brought the design back, and I was very happy to see this figure unveiled.  He’s a proper choice for the big 100 number, and even with the goofiness surrounding the packaging and its many errors, this is a really nifty figure, and probably the best Black Series Luke.

I picked up this guy from my friends All Time Toys, and he’s still available here.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2299: First Order Jet Trooper

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

JET TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Specialized Stormtroopers of the First Order, Jet Troopers soar into battle equipped with agile rocket packs”

Alright, let’s keep this Black Series ball rolling.  Heck, let’s trek down that Rise of Skywalker path again while we’re at it.  Rise added the usual bank of new troopers, as each film tends to do.  While the Sith Troopers got a lot of the marketing focus, the coolest new additions for me were the Jet Trooper.  A Jet-equipped Stormtrooper isn’t a new concept by any means, but it’s a cool one nevertheless, and I was quite a fan of the new design they were sporting.  Lucky for me, that design is one of the earlier Rise of Skywalker designs to get covered by The Black Series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Jet Trooper is figure 99 in the Black Series line-up, the second of the two Rise figures in this second post-Triple Force Friday assortment.  He was also one of the figures to receive a “Carbonized” variant on the Force Friday launch, which is the same mold, but with a different finish.  Also, a little fun fact: aside from Rey, the Jet Trooper is the only design to be available across the three styles Hasbro is producing.  Not even Kylo gets that honor.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation.  The Jet Trooper is probably the most impressed I’ve been with a Trooper’s articulation at this scale, with a respectable range of elbow motion right out of the gate, hips that aren’t terribly restricted, and an amazingly improved range of motion on the neck joints, especially when compared to the Sith Trooper from the last assortment.  He’s not quite as stable on his feet as his GoA counterpart, but he’s better than the Vintage Collection version, and I only had one fall during photos.  Like both of his smaller-scale counterparts, the details on his armor are nice and crisp, and his design means that the sculpt is largely unimpeded by the articulation.  Unlike both smaller Jet Troopers, he’s got a little bit of extra posability on the jet pack itself, which adds movement to the two thrusters.  It’s a nice little touch to be sure.  And, though real-world inspired, this figure maintains a lot of that same sleekness that I enjoyed so much in the GoA figure.  Perhaps the only moderately baffling element to this figure’s sculpt for me is the presence of a holster spot on his right thigh, despite the fact that his included gun doesn’t include a matching tab.  I can only guess this was in order to facilitate a straight re-use of the mold for the upcoming Sith Jet Trooper, who will presumably be including the same armaments as the standard Sith Trooper.  The paint work on this figure more or less matches the GoA figure.  It’s basic, but that’s what you expect from one of these troopers.  He does get a few more black spots, but curiously loses the outlining of his faceplate from the prior figure, despite that outline being present on other versions of the design.  There’s still a sculpted element to it, so it’s not totally gone, but it’s much easier to miss.  The Jet Trooper is on the lighter side for accessories, including only his unique blaster rifle.  The regular troopers don’t have anything else in the movie, but it’s still a little light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I liked the Jet Trooper design as soon as I saw it, but I was admittedly unsure I’d need him in every style, and wasn’t sure what role, if any, he’d play in the final film.  After seeing the movie, and finding the Jet Trooper to actually be the best utilized of the new troopers, I was very happy to have picked him up across the board.  In a similar fashion to Jannah, I opened him up after the movie, already with heightened expectations, only to discover that he was even better than I’d been anticipating.  I’d go so far as to say that the Jet Trooper is the best designed and implemented trooper of the sequel trilogy Black Series offerings, if not possibly the best Black Series trooper as a whole.

The Jet Trooper was picked up from my friends All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2298: Jannah

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

JANNAH

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

“From an oceanic moon, Jannah leads a band of warriors, ready to charge against the forces of the First Order.”

Okay, I’ve got just a ton of stuff piling up for review here at the FiQ offices (aka the spare room in my house where I take all my photos), and I’m trying to make it through the backlog as best I can.  For right now, “as best I can” is gonna translate into a lot of theme weeks.  I just made my way through an entire series of Marvel Legends, and now I’m switching over to a week with Hasbro’s other big collectors line, Star Wars: The Black Series.  While prior movies under the Disney banner have more or less gotten several entire assortments of figures devoted to them, Rise of Skywalker is having to share, meaning that it’s a slightly slower role-out for them on the movie’s new characters and looks.  The second assortment did get us our first new character, former First Order operative Jannah, who I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jannah is figure 98 in the Black Series line-up, the first numerically in the second post-Triple Force Friday assortment, as well as the first of two Rise of Skywalker-based figures in the line-up.  The figure stands right at 6 inches and she has 27 points of articulation.  She’s an all-new sculpt. In terms of the articulation work-in, there are some pluses and minuses.  There’s some really good range on the elbows, which does cause them to look a little off when in extreme poses, but I really don’t mind that. The hips are a bit more restricted, it would seem in an effort to preserve the sculpt.  Again, I don’t mind, but it can be a little limiting.  I had a very hard time getting much posability out of the ankles on my figure, which I’m not sure is an intended design thing; it felt like they were stuck.  Whatever the case, it made keeping my figure standing rather tricky, which got frustrating during the photo session for this review.  The sculpt is based on the only design she gets in the movie.  It’s a fairly decent design, sort of pairing off well against Rey’s initial scavenger look, but with a slightly more almost post-apocalyptic feel, denoting her move to a more backwater life after leaving the First Order.  Plus, it’s got goggles, and goggles are always cool.  The face sports a passable likeness of Naomi Ackie; it’s perhaps not the best the line has produced, but it’s far from the worst, especially when it comes to the sequel characters.  Some of that’s coming from the hair, which is more of a solid chunk than it is in the film.  In their defense, there’s not a lot that can be done about that; the translation to plastic is always going to make such things look a little bit off.  The body is a solid sculpt as well, with a lot of really nice detailing on her various elements of clothing, especially in the wrinkles on the pants.  She’s got a cape piece, which is removable in theory (you’ll need to take the head off to get it off of her), and despite being a little bit floaty when posing, it’s a pretty nice piece. Jannah’s paint work is pretty decent overall.  It tends to be more on the brown side of things (true to her movie design), but there’s enough of a mix of colors to keep her visually interesting.  She’s again got the printed face, which works pretty well for this figure.  There are some spots of slight misalignment on the base paint, especially on the shoes, but it ultimately doesn’t prove too distracting on the final product.  Jannah makes out quite well on the accessories front, especially for a Black Series figure.  She’s got her bow, a single arrow, a bundle of arrows, a quiver, and a small blaster pistol.  I definitely dig the bow, and after how many Hawkeye figures with no arrows, the selection is certainly refreshing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually got Jannah (and the rest of her assortment) just prior to the movie’s release.  I didn’t think much of her at the time (and in fact didn’t open her until after seeing the movie), but after seeing the movie, I don’t mind having her so much.  After opening the figure up and playing around with it a bit, I like it even more than I’d expected to, with the accessories in particular being the real highlight of the figure.  All that said, the figure does seem a little lonely at the moment.

Jannah was purchased from my friends All Time Toys, and is still available here.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2296: Thor

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

THOR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The Thor abides.  Sorry, was that too goofy?  I couldn’t use my usual “Happy Thor’s Day” gag for this one, so I was trying something else out.  I won’t let it happen again.

In a film with a lot of closely guarded secrets and spoilers, Thor’s transformation during Endgame’s five year time jump is arguably a fairly minor one, but it was nevertheless one of the most closely guarded elements of the film, with nary a hint of its existence present anywhere in the marketing.  We were led to believe that Thor would spend the three hour film continuing his Ragnarok look.  This made the depths of his depression and the toll it took on him all the more surprising when it occurred on-screen, in many ways far more properly capturing the feel of what it’s like in real life when someone you care about similarly deals with a serious case of clinical depression.  But, lest we get too serious here, it also let Chris Hemsworth continue to be a bit of a goofball.  It proved a pretty popular incarnation of the character with audiences, and there’s been some sizable demand for him in toy form.  Perfect time a Marvel Legend.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Thor is the Build-A-Figure for the third Endgame-themed assortment of Marvel Legends from last year.  Officially, he’s just titled “Thor”, rather than the more commonly accepted “Bro Thor,” since it appears the second Pop is the first official use of that name.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  He’s sporting a brand-new sculpt, seeing as we haven’t gotten a chubby guy in sweats out of the line previously.  The figure represents Thor at his most Dude-liest, with pajama pants and bathrobe.  Not exactly what you would think of for adventuring garb, but it’s what Thor wears during the film’s big time heist nevertheless.  The sculpt does a solid job of capturing Thor’s dressed down appearance, with some really nice detailing on the various parts of his attire, such as fully detailed crocs, and some very effective layering on his sweats and robe.  He’s also got what’s probably the best Hemsworth likeness we’ve gotten so far; admittedly, there’s more character details to help sell the appearance this time around, with all the hair and the bushy beard.  It’s even further helped on the second included head, which also adds his sunglasses to the mix.  Whatever the case, it’s still my favorite Hemsworth Thor head we’ve gotten so far.  The paintwork on Thor is decently handled; for the most part, it’s just large swathes of color, but he does get the face printing, as well as the plaid pattern on the pants, which keeps things pretty interesting.  Though an accessory himself, Thor makes out alright on the extras front, with the previously mentioned extra head, a second left hand with the time gizmo Tony invented, and an all-new sculpt for Stormbreaker.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

He’s a Build-A-Figure, and I just spent a week reviewing the figures that built him, so where I got this figure seems pretty self-explantory.  When the first round of Endgame product was so Quantum Suit heavy, I was assuming our first LegendsThor would be an inaccurate team suit figure, like in other toy lines.  The complete lack of Thor in the first two assortments did give me hope that we’d see at least a proper final battle Thor.  Getting full-on Bro Thor was a pleasant surprise, and the final figure is the definite highlight of the assortment that builds him.  I’m now hopeful for that final battle look to round things out.

This assortment of Legends was certainly more singularly focused than some from last year, with all of the figures being movie-inspired, rather than our usual mix of figures.  Thor’s the definite star overall, with Iron Man being the standout of the singles.  Heimdall is certainly a welcome addition to the line, and a solid figure to boot, and even Valkyrie and Iron Patriot are valid re-dos of the characters.  Vision doesn’t offer much to people who already have the two-pack, but then not everyone does, so a re-issue is acceptable, if not incredibly exciting.  Cap is unfortunately a slightly out of date figure, and just not really the version of the character that should have been in this assortment.  As a whole, it’s a focused, if not incredibly exciting assortment.

#2295: Iron Patriot

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

IRON PATRIOT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Proud and powerful, the Iron Patriot is heavily armed, high-tech, and ready for battle.”

So, here’s the thing about Endgame, and specifically about its armored characters: the armor we see them wearing on the screen isn’t what the actors are actually wearing during the shoot.  Don Cheadle isn’t wearing the latest War Machine armor, he’s running around the set in a pair of sweats with motion capture markers.  When it comes to making toys of these specific designs, Hasbro has to work from the design sheets of what’s supposed to be on screen.  If things change between those sheets and the final film, you get inaccurate products.  Take, for instance, last summer’s Endgame War Machine.  An awesome figure, held back by only one small thing: it was the wrong colors.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Patriot is the final single-carded figure for the Thor Series of Marvel Legends.  The figure is technically covering the same ground as the Endgame War Machine, but as noted above, that figure was working from early designs.  Though never called Iron Patriot in the film, the figure nevertheless uses the name again; one has to wonder if Rhodey was using the monicker during the time jump to try and re-inspire the public again after Steve Rogers stopped being Cap for a bit. The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  We’ve seen some of this sculpt before when it was War Machine, but not as much of it as you might think.  The two figures share the same head, shoulders, upper arms, hands, waist, and shins; the torso, forearms, and feet are completely new, and the upper legs have been re-worked to accommodate the missile attachments.  The new parts mesh pretty well with the old, and he’s got a pretty similar feel to that figure in terms of build and posability.  I really liked the War Machine figure, so I can’t complain about seeing those parts again.  With the exception of the torso piece and feet, which aim to make the figure a tad more film accurate, the primary purpose of the new pieces are to more fully kit out the armor.  The first War Machine had a few weapons out, but this version’s got pretty much everything deployed.  With the exception of the forearm cannons, everything can be removed, so that he can be a more paired down version of the armor.  The paintwork is more colorful than War Machine, obviously, and requires more apps.  That said, he does end up missing out on a number of spots of colors he should have.  The most evident missing parts are some of the silver elements.  They’re not horribly obvious, and he’s doesn’t look *unfinished*, but I don’t feel he looks quite as clean a figure as the War Machine.  The metallic blue is cool, though.  In addition to all of the weapon attachments, Iron Patriot also includes not one, but two heads for the Build-A-Figure Thor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty happy with the War Machine figure, inaccurate to the source material though it may be, so I didn’t feel like I needed a fixed version.  That said, I certainly wasn’t going to turn it down, since I liked the previous figure quite a bit, and I also liked the first Iron Patriot a lot.  Ultimately, I do like this figure, though I’m not sure I like him quite as much as I expected to.  He’s cool, but I think I’ll stick with the standard War Machine colors.

As with the vast majority of my Legends these days, I picked up Iron Patriot from my friends over at All Time Toys.  If your looking for other Legends or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

 

#2294: Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeellooooo ladies and gents. Tis me, Ethan’s wonderful, beautiful, talented, and absolutely awesome wifu, Jess. Usually, I write my drunk reviews on repainted transformers. BUT MY TIME HAS COME! I can now review figures like this McDiddyDude, slightly see through Vision. I hereby swear that this isn’t serious and that I can’t promise good content.

PS I’m sorry. x)

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So Ethan isn’t reviewing this guy because he already reviewed the first movie Vision, which he’ll maybe link to this one if you want to read a more serious review of the figure (that would be here). Seriously, McDiddyDude (MDD) is just a see through version of serious Vision, who came in some two pack that Ethan hasn’t told me much about. So if you want to actually know about the figure and all the bits and details just read about the first one, the only dif is that the newer one is kinda see through.

McDiddyDude is from the Endgame line, though the character design is from Civil QAR but shhhhhhehehhhshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshshhshshshshshsh!

Anyways, this figure is about the size of my hand, which apparently is about 6 inches and some change. He has ten thousand points of articulation. JK I don’t chucking know how many joints he’s got. Go read Ethan’s review of normal Viz to get all the accurate info on this figure. They look pretty identical. in fact, i have to continually hold the two up to the glow of the computer to identify which one I’m reviewing. BT-dubbs, i’m reviewing the one that the light kinda shine through. which is pretty cool cuz you can see a nice outline of the figure pieces and and the bits and bobs really stick out against the light. if you notice how this post is getting worse as it goes it’s because I’m writing this late in a drinking game with White Russian. There’s so many red lines on the screeen and a face at the bottom of my glass, I think it’s Snoke’s face. crap this is a review about an MCU charcter, not Star Wars though Disney does own the souls of both. I’m spiralling again. i haven’t talked about the figure in several lines.

Apparently, McTiidyDude is green, at least his skin tight suit (wait, does vision have SKIN, like SKIN SKIN?????????) is, though that’s what Ethan and Tim says, but i dob’t believe them. personally, I think he’s a kinda a bluish green with this see though version, but I’m not a artsy fartsy major I got my degree in sea science blaeh. His face, and presumably body, is a pink/magenta color, which is replicated in his gloves and boots, which it’s nice that his accessory matches his skin. His face has silver accents for like a weird head gear thingy, but it’s like the only sliver on the figure which is weird against the gold coloring which is the third prominent color of the figure.  DON’T MIX YOUR METALS, as my freshy roomie used to tell me. I miss you Alex! Anyways, speaking of gold, he has gold detailing on his gloves and boots. This guy even has sliver on his neck! the cape though is like a milky, faded gold that sat too long in the sun with streaks of equally faded pink. THE TEXTURE OF THE FIGURE IS PRETTY NEAT. CRAP i was in caps. the texture of the cape is pretty cool. it looks like a cool metal-digital-halo themed cap. the pattern is up for debate. i personally think it looks like someone jabbed a toothpick into his body frequently and methodically like medieval torture in the inquisition. Ethan argues that it’s hexagonal because that’s what ITS SUPPOSED TO BE. Tim, the only one actually grad of arts and graphic design says it’s more like a brick pattern. who’s right? Anyone’s guess really. anyway, texture is pretty cool. though the coolest is the kinda see thru plastic. i enjoy sticking up to the light and seeing his insides, though not vision’s actual insides like computer/human guts but McTiddyDude’s action figure guts which is joints and thingies. Weird tangent on the boots though. i don’t like his boots. they’re kinda bland and uninspiring. would not rank them high on my list of men’s boots. Oh goat turds, hes got subtle detailing on his face too! that’s pretty dope.

I think that’s everything. Height. Articulation. Paint (ish?). Detailing. nuggets, can’t really think of anything else. not really. i like the see through, but I’m easily amused/entertained/whatever. Vision as a character runs hot and cold with me. don’t really think he got enough in the films, can”t wait for the show though. hwhqehiqrhuifqbfqbjkfqbfrbjfw i don’t really know what else to say. TY[ING TYPIMG TYPIMG. okay your hell is over for the day.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have no real attachment to this figure. Ethan thought it would be entertaining if i reviewed this figure since he reviewed the original movie vision figure like 8 forevers agos. BUT HE’S MISSING OUT BECAUSE THIS IS OBVIOUSLY THE SUPERIOR FIGURE BECAUSE OF IT’S SEE THROUGH CAPACITY. Vision is a cool character, but I got like nothing to say abut him. Cool figure though, at least in my drunken state. anyways, end transmission. your day’s torment is over. hope you enjoyed my interlude, dumpster fire talking of a figure. My face feels funny. CHOOO CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Peace out, I’m done, end transmission.

#2293: Heimdall

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

HEIMDALL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, Heimdall uses his all-seeing eyes to protect Asgard at all costs.”

Since the announcement of his casting caused some waves before 2011’s Thor, Idris Elba’s Heimdall has spent some time in the spotlight.  While his roles in Thor and The Dark World both were admittedly minor, and his parts in two of the three Avengers sequels were just cameos, he nevertheless got his due in Ragnarok, where he was finally promoted to a principle supporting player, and it finally felt like they made appropriate use of Idris Elba in the role…just before killing him off moments into Infinity War.  Hey, at least he finally got a Legends release.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Heimdall is another figure from the “Thor” Series of Marvel Legends.  Though this assortment is officially tying into Endgame, Heimdall is one of two figures in the assortment not to appear in the film (though Heimdall was in an early draft of the script, which would have seen his Dark World-era incarnation facing off against a stealth armored Iron Man who had been sent to retrieve the Aether), so his packaging is emblazoned with the Infinity War logo instead.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  After two films sporting some rather intensive golden armor, Heimdall ditched the armored look while on the run in Ragnarok, and kept that dressed down appearance into Infinity War.  That’s what this figure goes for, a sensible choice given that a) Ragnarok was Heimdall’s largest role, and b) Ragnarok is the Thor movie with the most action figure coverage.  The figure is sporting an all-new sculpt based on the look, and it’s rather impressive one at that.  The likeness on the head is a very solid Elba likeness, definitely one of the best ones in the line.  The hair is again a separate piece, and while it doesn’t mesh perfectly with the head, it looks alright.  The body is largely hidden right out of the box by a rather expansive plastic cape.  The cape’s a cool looking piece, with plenty of texturing, and even a  cleverly hidden spot to store the sword beneath the hood, but it’s a little restrictive when it comes to posing.  His entire right side is pretty much rendered motionless with it on, and his left shoulder is quite restricted as well.  Once it’s removed (which will require popping off the head), you find a very impressively detailed and quite articulated figure.  Unlike last year’s Skurge, he doesn’t appear to have been a held-over sculpt, because he doesn’t have some of the slight proportional oddities of the other Ragnarok figures.  Additionally, he’s got two very small details, a cut on his arm and one on his abdomen, which are specific to the opening scenes of Infinity War.  With the cape on, they’re both easily missed, but it’s a cool tiny little touch, and I really dig it.  Heimdall’s paint work is pretty much all browns.  Not the most exciting color scheme, but it’s accurate.  I wish his eyes were a little brighter, but otherwise the paint’s pretty solid.  He’s packed with his sword, which we’ve bafflingly gotten two times prior despite this being our first 6 inch Heimdall figure.  At least he finally gets to use it.  He also comes with one of the legs of Thor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Heimdall’s one of those characters I’ve always wanted a figure of, even when he was more minor in the films.  Not getting him for Ragnarok was a definite bummer.  I’m glad that Hasbro’s been so committed to going back and filling in old casts, especially for that film.  Heimdall’s a very strong figure, and probably my second favorite in this assortment.

Heimdall came from my sponsors at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2292: Valkyrie

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

VALKYRIE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“An honored warrior, Valkyrie uses her strength and skill to defend Asgard.”

I started my first Valkyrie review on this site with a comment that I “sure hoped Valkyrie would get her due” and get to be in the focus…given that her action figure numbers have doubled and she’s been in two major motion pictures, I guess she finally did.  Can I get a resounding “yay”?  In 2017, when she made her first cinematic appearance in Ragnarok, she was fortunate enough to get a Legends release of one of her two looks from the film.  It was a pretty decent figure, but the scaling was a little wonky, and it was only one of the two looks.  When the other look appeared in Endgame, that gave Hasbro some leeway to get around to that other look, and give us a second version of the MCU’s Valkyrie.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Valkyrie is another figure from the “Thor” Series (commonly referred to as the “Bro Thor” Series) of Marvel Legends, which was the third Endgame-themed assortment of 2019.  She’s wearing her proper Valkyrie armor, and that means the figure is pulling double duty, giving us Valkyrie not only as she appears in Endgame‘s final battle, but also Ragnarok‘s.  The figure is about 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  This Valkyrie is a completely new sculpt from the last one, which is sensible.  The two costumes don’t really have much common ground, and that one was a little bit up-scaled (like a few of the Thor figures have been).  Also, while the Tessa Thompson likeness on the first figure was solid, this one is even better.  It’s amazing how much better Hasbro has gotten at capturing a likeness in just two years.  The hair is a separate piece (as has become the new normal), and hangs fairly naturally; the situating of the braids over her shoulder also helps to preserve her neck articulation, which is always a plus.  The rest of the body sculpt is a pretty decent offering; they’ve managed to capture the details of the armor quite nicely, and I certainly appreciate how well they’ve integrated the various overlays in order to keep the depth of the real design.  Her cape has a nice sort of dynamic flair to it, which I prefer to the totally flat cape of the prior release.  My only real complaint is that my figure has a hard time staying standing; I don’t know if that’s going to be an across the board thing or not.  Valkyrie’s paint work is all pretty solid.  The face print is definitely one of the better ones, and the rest of the color scheme has some nice pop to it.  I think she’s technically supposed to have some war paint on her face, but it’s a fairly small detail.  Valkyrie is packed with the same sword and sheath combo as before, though it feels like it scales a bit better this time.  She also includes the leg of the Thor BaF.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I can’t say I had an undying need for this figure.  I was happy with the previous one, at least at the time it was released.  Of course, I wasn’t going to turn this figure down either.  After getting her in hand, now I feel even better about having her, because she’s ultimately a lot nicer than the prior offering, and makes for a strong addition to the growing Endgame ranks.

I picked up Valkyrie from my friends All Time Toys, and she’s still in stock here.  If you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2291: Iron Man

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

IRON MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark gears up in his highly advanced Mark LXXXV armor.”

When Iron Man first appeared on the big screen in 2008, he did so in a suit of armor that was a respectable recreation of his then current armor in the comics.  It was sensible from a marketing standpoint of course; having your character in the same basic costume across different forms of media is typically a good idea; but it was also sensible from the angle of making him work in a real world setting.  As cool as Tony’s classic armor may be, it’s hard to sell an audience on the classic skin-tight-looking design existing in the real world….or is it?  After 10 years with various modern reinterpretations, Endgame‘s Mark 85 armor, much like Cap’s new and improved uniform, finally got us something much closer to that classic Iron Man design.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man is part of the “Thor” Series of Marvel Legends, the third Endgame-based assortment of 2019.  As noted in the intro, he’s sporting the Mark 85 armor, which made its debut in Endgame and is heavily inspired by Tony’s 60s/70s armor from the comics.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  The Mark 85 is an all-new sculpt, unsurprising given that this particular armor design is the most divergent standard armor from a design standpoint.  That said, its heavily rumored we’ll be seeing a lot of the sculpt turn up again for some sort of final battle release in some sort of exclusive or boxed set form.  Joint layout and integration on this figure is pretty similar to the Mark 50, but the actual construction of the figure feels a lot more solid, and the joints get a bit more range.  The all-new sculpt does a pretty respectable job of capturing the design of the armor from the movie in plastic form.  The decision to push him back to the third assortment was a solid one, since it allows for the figure to be more accurate to the final film design than other film Iron Men.  It’s still not perfect; like the Mark 50, it’s still not quite as sleek as the final film design, but it does still manage to land a bit closer.  The detail work is all pretty sharp, though, and the figure is as a whole a very cohesive sculpt.  He’s one of the most solidly assembled MCU Iron Men, really rivaled only by the Mark VII figure from 2018.  The paint work on Iron Man isn’t too complicated, but it gets all of the important details and, unlike the 50, it manages to actually stick to the movie’s color scheme.  I appreciate sticking with the painted gold as well; it ends up making for a nicer looking final product.  One of the biggest flaws with the Mark 50 was his lack of extras, and in that regard, the 85 definitely does a little better.  He gets a spare set of repuslor hands (which finally have actual universal joints on the wrists again, after far too many figures with simple cut joints on the extra hands), plus four repulsor effects, meaning you no longer have to choose between using them for the hands or feet.  That’s just what he gets for himself; he’s also got some extras for other figures.  The first is the other arm of the Thor figure (complete with a spare hand with the time travel device), and the second is an alternate nano-tech gauntlet for last series’ Hulk BaF.  It’s a little weird that he gets the gauntlet for another figure and not for himself, but that sort of adds fuel to those rumors of a second version of this armor.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wanted two things when I walked out of the theater after seeing Endgame the first time.  The first was Cap’s new costume.  The second was this guy.  As much as I like Iron Man, and as much as I can appreciate the various MCU armors purely aesthetically, by around Iron Man 3, I was really longing for a proper classic Iron Man, which resulted in each successive MCU figure not quite hitting the way I wanted.  Once this design was unveiled, I knew I wanted it, and I was definitely happy when he was shown off with this assortment.  He’s a really nice figure, and a great basic, clean Iron Man figure, easily rivaling the Mark VII in terms of being the best MCU Iron Man figure.  Definitely this assortment’s star piece.

Iron Man was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys, and he’s currently in-stock at their store, here. And, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.