Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#3736: Soundwave – G1 Universe

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

SOUNDWAVE — G1 UNIVERSE

TRANSFORMERS: LEGACY UNITED (HASBRO)

Transformers, a brand with virtually no footprint here on the site for my first five years, is sort of returning to its roots, I guess?  I don’t really talk about it as much any more.  I mean, sure, I looked at one of the Blokees back in October, but the last time I reviewed one that actually transformed was back in May.  It was a Soundwave, which is sensible, since he’s one of my two go-tos.  And, you know what?  I’m gonna go to it again.  Here’s another Soundwave, you guys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

G1 Universe Soundwave is part of the third Leader Class assortment of Transformers Legacy: United, the third year of the Legacy branding.  This marks Soundwave’s third inclusion under Legacy, at a third size-class no less.  We’ve had Core and Voyager, and now Leader, so all that’s left is some form of Deluxe?  Go for the full spread?  Whatever the case, this guy is, as his name denotes, another G1 Soundwave.  In his robot mode, he’s about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 25 practical points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s exactly the same as the Walmart-exclusive War For Cybertron release from 2020, which is a mold with less uses than you might expect for such a solid updating of the G1 Soundwave figure.  Prior to this year, it was only available in its initial run and as Shattered Glass Soundwave in 2022.  Earlier this year, it got another re-use in the Dramatic Capture three-pack, and now it’s been used again here.  Yay!  It’s a re-working of the Siege mold (which was *also* re-released in Legacy), and still holds up as a strong offering four years after the fact.  Since he’s using the WFC mold, that means this guy’s alt-mode is a cassette player again, which is how Soundwave do at his Soundwave best.  As with prior instances, it’s good when viewed from the front, but a bit spottier at the back.  This Soundwave’s color work isn’t drastically different from the Walmart release, but it tweaks things every so slightly still.  It adds back in the missing red details from that release, and also makes the other colors match-up a bit better with each other, so no mixes of yellow and gold, and the greys and silvers are also a little closer in finish this time.  It results in a slightly punchier look.  The real test, of course, is whether this one will face the same discoloring issues as the last one.  Like the last release (and the Siege release as well), he gets his two cannons and folding gun, and to justify the Leader class price point, he also adds in three cassette buddies: Ravage, Buzzsaw, and Frenzy Rumble.  Ravage is once more using the Siege mold, with a deco that matches the WFC pack-in, albeit with black limbs now instead of grey.  Buzzsaw’s actually a big deal because this is the first time he’s been done in the Siege compatible style.  That took a surprisingly long time.  He’s a repaint of the WFC Laserbeak re-tool, which isn’t much of a surprise, I suppose.  Frenzy Rumble is re-using the Studio 86 mold, just now in proper toy colors.  Of course, he’s named “Rumble” on the box, despite “Frenzy” very definitely being the name on the blue cassette guy for the toys, but I won’t split hairs here.  I know what his name is in my heart, and that’s all that truly matters.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As someone who got the Walmart release at retail (which is something an unfortunately high number of collectors can’t say), I didn’t *need* this release.  Of course, it *is* a Soundwave, and it *is* different from the prior offering.  On top of that, the pack-in cassettes do a lot to sell me on it this time around, since I’ve been waiting patiently for Buzzsaw since 2019, and I also won’t say no to a toy-colors update to the 86 mold of Frenzy.  I’m glad I snagged it because, if nothing else, I got to mess with the Walmart mold one more time, and I do always forget just how much I like that particular mold.  This is a nice set if you missed the Walmart version, and honestly the superior offering if you have that one already, so I’m happy with my purchase.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3732: Momaw Nadon

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MOMAW NADON

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“An exile from Ithor, Momaw Nadon was a rebel sympathizer who cultivated a hidden garden in the mountains south of Mos Eisley”

Hey, look, I was just talking about the slowdown of Black Series reviews around here on Tuesday, and I’m already reviewing another one.  So much for spacing them out, right?  Alright, so the last one was a rather modern entry in the franchise, but today, I’m jumping back to the beginning, with one of the first movie’s many distinctive alien designs, Momaw Nadon.  Momaw appears only in a head shot during A New Hope‘s cantina sequence in Mos Eisley, and was at the time unnamed.  When Kenner entered their second year with the license, they made up their own version of his body and named him “Hammerhead,” with his proper name not being granted to him until 1989, along with an actual backstory, and a full design.  He’s become a recurring fixture of the Star Wars toy lines since, and now he’s the latest cantina alien to join The Black Series!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Momaw Nadon is figure 7 in the A New Hope sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘ Phase IV incarnation.  Thus far, five of the seven ANH figures have been cantina-themed, so he’s in good company.  Like Tuesday’s IG-12, Momaw is at the deluxe price point, which still feels kind like a hazy distinction, but he does a have a little more to him than the average Black Series release.  Momaw is a Fan Channel-exclusive offering, so no big box stores for him.  After the poor performance of the last three cantina aliens that went to mass retail, it’s probably not the worst call.  The figure is about 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Momaw’s sculpt shares a good number of its parts with fellow Ithorian Dok-Ondar, who was a Galaxy’s Edge Disney Parks-exclusive last year.  He gets a new head, forearms, belt/skirt, and scarf, allowing him to be differentiated from Ondar.  It’s a solid sculpt, through and through.  There’s a lot of texturing going on, which looks really great, and the new head’s a good match for what we see on screen.  His articulation scheme’s pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Black Series at this point, so he’s pretty mobile for the most part.  His color work’s not bad.  Notably, the exposed skin gets a wash to help accent the sculpted texturing, which really does help.  In terms of accessories, he does feel a little light.  There’s a blaster rifle, and three different cups.  I don’t know *exactly* what you could give him, but he’s a deluxe, so *something* more would be nice.  Even a recreation of his Power of the Force era big honkin’ gun would be cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’d say this guy was an impulse buy, but he wasn’t quite that.  I mean, I didn’t know if I was gonna buy him ahead of time, but by the time he’d arrived in-store, I was pretty sure.  This is just one of those designs I have a hard time saying no to, because it certainly does look cool.  He’s a pretty nifty figure.  Not a ton to say beyond that, but I’m not really sure there’s a ton that *needs* to be said beyond that.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3731: Roadblock

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

ROADBLOCK

G.I. JOE: ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

I generally stay about a week ahead on my review writing these days, largely so that nothing falls through the cracks and I don’t have mad dashes to get reviews written before a midnight deadline.  In contrast to that particular set-up, I’m writing this review less than 12 hours before it’s going live.  The buffer I had going last week was, well, it was rather consumed by goings on, I suppose, and while I got through the first two posts of this week without too much fuss, today’s has proved a little more tricky.  I know this is just a silly, little toy site, and I very much doubt people are coming here for more serious matters, so I do generally steer clear of them.  I also know it’s important to sometimes have a place to get away from the politics and the spite of the world, so that further drives me to keep things lighter.  But, I’d be lying if I said I weren’t struggling with some things about the current state of the world.  And perhaps writing about “A Real American Hero” isn’t the most ideal way of facing that down, but it’s what I’ve got, so it’s what I’m doing.  And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

So, more Super 7, right?  Crazy, huh?  There’s just, like, a whole bunch of them these days.  Well, more than two, which feels like a bunch in Super 7 terms.  Today, I’m jumping back into their G.I. Joe: Ultimates line, with a look the bestest rhyming Joe there is, Roadblock!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roadblock was released in Series 5 of Super 7’s G.I. Joe: Ultimates line.  The spacing on this line’s been all sorts of wonky, and I feel like there was a gap between releases, but also these ones totally snuck up on me.  It may be more a me problem than a Super 7 one.  Roadblock is definitely the heavy hitter of this particular assortment of figures, with the rest of the line-up being the comparatively less immediately known Cover Girl, Major Bludd, and Crimson Guard.  The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as the others from the line, so it’s generally not bad.  The range on the elbows does continue to be better than other Super 7 lines, but this time around it’s not quite as good as earlier entries.  He’s got an all-new mold, based on his earlier cartoon design, which was patterned after his V1 figure from Hasbro.  It’s generally a pretty good one, capturing the look of his Sunbow animation model pretty well.  Some of the details are a little softer, but the heads, of which there are three, all have a pretty good likeness of the character.  My personal favorite is the smiling one, which just feels truest of how I view the character, but they’re all solid.  In general, I did find the QC on this figure’s construction better than the prior round of figures.  He’s generally cleaner, and doesn’t feel like any of his joints are going to break.  He’s got total coverage in terms of paint, which, while it does rob the sculpt of some of the depth, does still look pretty nice.  It’s consistently applied, and I didn’t have any notable issues of bleed over or slop on my figure.  The colors are very warm, and feel right for the animation as well.  He’s certainly a well accessorized figure, with four different pairs of hands (in fists, gripping, trigger finger, and open), the standard laser rifle, a helmet, backpack, pistol, bayonet, and Browning with tripod.  They’ve stuck more to just recreating toy extras this time around, which is fair, I suppose, but I do miss some of the more episode specific stuff like we were getting on earlier run figures.  In terms of what’s there, the backpack is a little weird, with the bottom piece feeling like it’s supposed to be removable, but also not quite wanting to budge.  The Browning is also notably warped on the barrel, which is rather unfortunate.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was quite excited by this line when it launched, and wanted to see it go far.  I really hoped it might have the legs for it, but given the general state of everything, I don’t really feel like that’s happening.  After this, we’ve only seen the DiC re-colors, which didn’t land, so I can’t help but feel like this assortment is something of a farewell.  I’d love to be wrong on that.  Roadblock himself is an important part of the core team, so I was glad to get him to fill it in.  He’s not a bad figure.  Perhaps not as stand out as, say, Snake Eyes, but still fun.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3730: IG-12 & Grogu

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IG-12 & GROGU

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Clever Anzellan droidsmiths refurbished IG-11’s salvaged parts into a pilotable frame for Grogu, who operates the droid body like a vehicle. Stripped to base motor functions, the droid was renamed IG-12”

Well, it hasn’t been an *exceedingly* long time since my last Black Series review, but they’re definitely getting a little more stretched thin.  I suppose the line’s just not as much of an all-in thing for me anymore, so I’ve been focusing more on punchier stuff.  I don’t believe I’ve discussed Mandalorian‘s third season at all here in the year plus since it aired, but I did actually quite like it, even if others were a bit split.  It offered more coverage of the IG line of droids, which is always something I’m okay with, especially when it also results in more toys.  And result in more toys, it has.  We got an IG-11 to coincide with the first season (albeit a rather inaccurate one), and while he’s not really coinciding with the third season, we did at least get a version of his salvaged frame, IG-12.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG-12 and Grogu are entry 41 in the Mandalorian sub-line of Star Wars: The Black Series’s Phase IV incarnation.  It’s a deluxe-sized release, which is always sort of a hazy kind of a definition with Black Series, but it is what it is.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation, plus an opening torso hatch and moving control sticks.  IG-11’s figure re-used most of IG-88’s mold, which is sensible from a standpoint that the two are the same model of droid, and very similar in design, but less sensible from the standpoint that the 88 mold was rather inaccurate in the first place.  The Vintage Collection actually gave 11 an all-new mold with far improved accuracy, scaling, and articulation, and IG-12’s all-new mold here is taking a page out of the VC book.  He’s about an inch taller, and scaled to match, and also has a much better articulation set-up, most notable at the hips and ankles.  The actual sculpt proper is far more detailed and manages to match up better with what he’s supposed to look like, including the unique hand/manipulators from IG-88.  Also, the covers on the elbow joints are now just part of the sculpt, rather than being rubber sleeves, so I look forward to those not totally disintegrating the way both 88 and 11’s did.  His color work is a little more basic than 11, lacking some of the accenting, but he gets the base coloring down a bit better, and is a little more striking.  IG-12 doesn’t get any weapons (though the manipulators are articulated, so you can easily supply your own, and he’s also all set for future uses of the mold getting weapons), but he does include Grogu (who’s *technically* billed as a separate figure, but we all know the deal), as well as two different members of Babu Frik’s species.  My quick bit of research tells me they’re “Anzellans.”  Cool, he comes with two Anzellans.  All three of the smaller figures fit in the central compartment, and the joysticks can be moved to meet their hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve loved the IG series for a good long while, and I’m a fan of getting it in toy form.  I loved the original Black Series 88 when I got him, even if he was inaccurate, but the mold was dated, and really not right for 11.  When 11 was a quick re-work, I was admittedly a little disappointed.  I’ve been hoping for some form of updated mold, and when 12 surfaced in the show, I was kind of figuring that would be Hasbro’s ticket to get a new one out.  Of the three potential IG-11 variants, this one’s admittedly the one I wanted the least, but that doesn’t mean I *didn’t* want it, and it turned out even better than I’d expected.  I’m eager to get proper updates to 11 and 88 in the future using these molds, and I would honestly kill for a Marshall IG-11.  Okay, maybe not kill, but I’d pay good money for it.  You heard me Hasbro.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3728: Prince Barin

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

PRINCE BARIN

HERO H.A.C.K.S. FLASH GORDON (BOSS FIGHT STUDIOS)

Hey, it’s more Flash!  Aaaahaaaaaah!  …You know, Gordon?  That guy?  Right, well more of that stuff, because why not?  I’m still focusing on the movie, but this time around, let’s talk about the supporting cast, because oh, boy, does the supporting cast just slap in that movie.  One of my personal favorite parts is Timothy Dalton’s Prince Barin, a character that has thus far not been covered by NECA (despite the SDCC Flash being explicitly from a scene that focuses on Barin and all), so we’re going back to the Boss Fight well!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Prince Barin was released alongside the standard Flash in the second wave of Boss Fight’s Hero HACKS Flash Gordon from 2022.  Barin was Boss Fight’s only movie character that wasn’t Flash, which is good for him, I suppose.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  His articulation is largely the same as Flash’s, but his shoulders are a bit restricted by the sculpt and design.  Otherwise, he’s pretty solid on the mobility front.  Barin’s seen here in his “dressed down” attire, which is his more Robin Hood-esque look, and the main look he sports in the movie, and also what he wears during most of his time hanging with Flash.  His sculpt is really sharply detailed.  The outfit is particularly sharply detailed, and I particularly like that the gloves cuffs are separate pieces, so that you can swap in bare hands from other figures, in order to do his gloveless look like in the Hawkmen scenes.  The head sculpt is also really strong, with a solid likeness of Dalton.  The only drawback is that the hair seems maybe a touch short, but that’s minor.  Barin’s color work is generally a little more saturated than it is in the movie, which is in keeping with how they handled Flash as well, and makes him a little more compatible with the comic-based figures from wave 1.  The actual paint application’s minor, but very clean, especially on the face.  Barin is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and open gesture), his sword, a sheath, a whip, a crossbow, and a red display stand.  The stand’s the only overlap with Flash, which is honestly kind of surprising, but not a problem at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The lack of a NECA Barin has definitely been a bummer for me.  When I’m bummed, I buy action figures.  But there was no NECA Barin, which was what caused the being bummed in the first place, so I couldn’t buy that.  So, I had to “settle” for the Boss Fight figure when one came across my desk.  Honestly, I bought Flash because this guy was there.  He’s honestly a fantastic piece, and the real star of the Boss Fight Flash Gordon pieces.  And I have another tiny Timothy Dalton for my collection!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3727: Blue Beetle

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

BLUE BEETLE

DC ICONS (DC COLLECTIBLES)

Oh, man, DC Icons.  It’s been, like, two years since I talked about that one, and even then, it was a one-off, generally retrospective review.  It’s unfortunate that the line was as short-lived as it was, especially given the number of late-run figures that got cancelled before the end.  To this day, the death of the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold set still haunts me.  It’s just out there, waiting.  Watching.  Waiting, but again.  At the very least, on the Blue Beetle front, while we may not have gotten Ted Kord, we did get his successor Jaime Reyes, which isn’t so bad a consolation prize.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blue Beetle was figure 06 in the DC Icons line-up.  He was part of the second round of figures, wedged in between Flash and Black Adam in the numbering. The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  The articulation on the line’s earlier figures was a bit tricky, but by the second round they’d started fixing things up.  Beetle’s set-up was honestly amongst the best, especially when it came to the hip articulation.  The only drawback is the shoulder set-up, which, due to the armor, are a bit stiff, but certainly still workable.  The design for this figure was done by Ivan Reis, as were pretty much all of the line, specifically cued in on his Infinite Crisis design, though it’s worth noting that’s effectively the same general look he’s had since his original appearances.  The sculpt proper was handled by Paul Harding, and it’s truly one of the best for the line.  It’s a very sleek recreation of his armored appearance, not terribly far removed from the DCUC figure, I suppose, but certainly sharper and with more depth to the assembly, thanks to some of the armored pieces being overlayed pieces on the core body.  The color work for Beetle is a little different from other Jaime figures in that it’s not directly metallic.  Rather, it’s a flatter coloring, but with a minor metallic sheen, which reads closer to how he presents on the printed page.  Jaime is packed with his wings, which are pretty much a standard, as well as two different gun attachments, which swap out at the forearms.  It’s a slightly lighter selection compared to others in the line, but it’s not bare minimum.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wanted one of these when they were first released, but as the most desired figure in the second set, he was honestly never super plentiful.  When I got back into the line a little later, he was still no easier to get, so I’ve just been keeping my eye out for a while.  Thankfully, one turned up at All Time, so I got a chance to finally snag one.  He’s a solid, pretty fun figure, and another strong Jaime Reyes figure.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3726: Cortex Commander

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

CORTEX COMMANDER

THE WORST ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

Oh man, more Super 7?  What are the odds?  Well, honestly sort of high right now, because they seem to be shipping a lot of their stuff in big batches, so all of the stuff I had planned on getting over the course of the last, like, two years, is landing at the same time.  Yay?  Today, I’m talking about something that’s just the worst.  No, seriously, that’s not a judgement of the product; the line is called “The Worst.”  The Worst is actually one of Super 7’s in-house properties, and they’ve done a lot of it with their ReAction imprint.  With that being rather successful, they expanded the brand into their larger Ultimates branding, and I’m taking a look at one of those today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cortex Commander is part of the third assortment of The Worst Ultimates.  Due to slower movement on the first wave, this round took a little ways to get out, and appears to have been a rather low production run, if the case numbers I saw are anything to go by.  Each set has two figures in it, and Cortex Commander’s buddy is Killer Bat, the baseball-themed samurai.  Cortex Commander himself is a rather classic brain in a jar set-up, albeit with some military dictator elements to what I have to assume is a robot body.  It’s a pretty nifty classic sci-fi thing, so I do dig that.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  His sculpt is unique to him (though time will tell if Super opts to do repaints of these molds the way they did the small guys), and it’s a solid up-scaling/reworking of the ReAction figure.  There’s no denying that this design lends itself well to a toy, and in general it’s just very polished and sharp.  The sculpt looks the part, and generally manages to make the articulation work pretty decently.  His elbows are still rather restricted, but he otherwise poses well.  His paint work isn’t bad.  Generally, it’s pretty minimal, but what’s there works, and sells the overall design well.  He gets a lot of accessories, including three pairs of hands (fists, gripping, and a trigger finger/cigar holding combo), two head domes (standard and shattered), an alternate tank piece to swap the brain onto, a cane, a pistol, a globe with a nuclear launch button in it, and a pet pigeon with a similar brain jar set-up as the Commander.  It’s a pretty decent selection of extras.  The pistol’s a little loose in the holster, and it’s a little strange that there’s no standard right fist included.  Also, it might be due to spending a lot of my time with an 18 month old, but I find myself with “have you ever seen a brain in a jar, smoking a cigar, down by the bay!” stuck with my head while messing with this figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Worst is one of those things I’ve been aware of for a while, and I’ve been passingly interested in it.  The Ultimates in particular did look pretty cool, and this guy’s design spoke to me.  Initially, I thought I had missed out on my opportunity to get him, but I was able to get him through All Time, and then kind of forgot he was coming until he showed up, so he was a bit of a surprise.  He’s a pretty cool figure.  And, for the fun of it, here’s a picture of him getting punched in the dome by Captain America, as is the customary way of breaking in all my figures of fascist villains!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3725: Moon Knight

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

MOON KNIGHT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“After a near-fatal encounter at an ancient Egyptian temple, mercenary Marc Spector agrees to become the Earthly Avatar for the deity Khonshu”

Hey, you guys, guess what I’m reviewing today!  That’s right, it’s Moooooooooooooooooooooooooon Kniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!  Gotta do the long, drawn out Moon Knight bit.  It’s one of my signature things.  Of course, it was a more distinctive thing when there weren’t so many fricking Moon Knight figures, but who am I to complain about Moon Knight figures?  Just not the right guy, I tell ya.  And this way, I’m never too far away from another Moon Knight review, and isn’t that just the world we all want to live in?  Well, it’s certainly the world *I* want to live in.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Moon Knight is Figure 1 in the Blackheart Series of Marvel Legends.  As I touched on in my Bloodstorm review, this assortment is Fan Channel, and is themed “Strange Tales.”  Moon Knight’s connection to the theme is still a little loose, but closer than Bloodstorm’s, I feel, and it’s another chance to get a “name” in the set.  We’ve gotten a variety of Moon Knight looks in Legends in the last few years, but this one aims for a different one; he’s based on Moon Knight’s look from the short-lived Fist of Khonshu series from ’85….well, mostly.  I’ll get to that.  It’s only a slight tweak to his classic look, but it’s a design that’s not gotten the Legends treatment yet (though a slight variation of it showed up in Toy Biz’s 10-inch line in the ’90s).  It’s also one of his three skins from Ultimate Alliance (meaning we just need his “Ultimate” costume to wrap that up; your move, Hasbro).  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  He uses the adjusted version of the 2099 body with the pinless elbows and knees, which is a little more sleek and clean.  He’s using the same masked head (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it), and the lower legs from the classic Moon Knight, but gets a new cape, gauntlets, and belt.  The cape’s not drastically different from the original piece, but it sits a little better on the body and no longer drags at the feet, which are both plusses.  The gauntlets and belt are based on the more ornate pieces from the Fist of Khonshu series, and are quite nicely done, and accurate to the source material.  He’s got very minimal paint work, but what’s present really works, and it’s all pretty crisp and clean.  He’s got the traditional moon crescent logo, rather than the Ankh that he initially had with this design, meaning he’s really using the West Coast Avengers variant of the look, which is just fine by me.  Moon Knight is packed with two pairs of hands (the gripping and fists from his 2017 release), a large crescent blade, three smaller ones, Gambit’s staff in white, which are all re-used from prior releases.  He also gets a new Ankh (which is the only of the additional Fist of Khonshu weapons we get), as well as the head to the Blackheart Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It’s a new Moon Knight, so obviously there was no chance of me passing this one up.  Honestly, it’s a look I’m happy to get, since he has it during the his WCA tenure, and that served as my earliest exposure to the character.  It’s a solid figure; it takes what works from prior Moon Knights, and improves and adds the new costume elements, making it a solid update that’s not making the earlier figures redundant.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

Hey, do you wanna own a thing from this review?  Well, if it’s the Moon Knight, that’s too bad, because he’s mine and you can’t take him.  But, if you’re in the market for Blackheart’s head, or perhaps some other items from the official Figure in Question collection (TM), check out my eBay page.  Or, you know, don’t, I guess.  It’s your time.  Who am I to account for it?

#3723: Flash Gordon – King of the Impossible

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

FLASH GORDON — KING OF THE IMPOSSIBLE

HERO H.A.C.K.S. (BOSS FIGHT)

Hey, it’s more FLASH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!  SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!  …Do you see what I’m getting at here?  It’s, uh, it’s Flash.  You know, Gordon?  He’s the savior of some stuff, and some things as well.  Perhaps even the whole universe.  When last I discussed Flash Gordon, it was NECA’s first round of movie figures.  Now I’m looking at more movie figures, but not more NECA ones.  Admittedly, that would require NECA to make more, which they haven’t, so I guess I have to outsource things.  Boss Fight Studios picked up the whole King Features license a few years back, and amongst their stable of offerings was a couple of Flash Gordon movie figures, one of which I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flash Gordon — King of the Impossible is part of the second assortment of Hero HACKS Flash Gordon, which was the one, and sadly only, movie assortment for the line, and was released in 2022.  It was Flash and Barin, released following the “preview” release of the Lunchbox with Football Flash.  The figure stands just under 4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  He’s got the standard HACKS articulation set-up, specifically the slightly more improved range of motion like we saw with the Zorro figure.  His sculpt was largely new, and a pretty solid one at that.  His build is slightly more idealized set-up, but the costume details are nice and sharply defined, and a good match for the movie.  The folds and hang of the outfit are especially nicely rendered.  The head is one of the ones included with the Lunchbox release, and it’s a respectable likeness.  It’s certainly on par with NECA’s work, and it’s at a much smaller scale.  The paint work on the figure is generally alright.  It’s on the basic side, but clean and crisp.  The head’s detailing is a bit low contrast, with the hair being a bright yellow, fairly similar to the skin-tone, so it gets a little lost.  His accessories cover the basics, with two sets of hands (gripping and fists), two different styles of rifle, his sword, and a red Hero HACKS base.  I don’t believe I’ve gotten fists on a Boss Fight figure before, so those are cool.  I also really like that not only can he easily hold the sword with both hands, he can also hold the rifle without the trigger breaking off.  Those are certainly both plusses over the NECA release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall the announcement of the license from Boss Fight for these guys, and fully intended to jump in on the line, but by the time the figures actually materialized, my mind was on other things, and I wound up missing them.  This one wound up getting traded into All Time, which gave me a shot at actually getting one.  He’s quite a nice little figure, and he’s at least as good as, if not a little better than, the NECA figure.  It’s a bummer the line was so short-lived, because Boss Fight certainly put together a solid figure.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3722: Blood Storm

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

BLOOD STORM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A mutant and proficient thief, Ororo Munro was targeted by Dracula and transformed into a vampire known as Bloodstorm.”

Hey!  It’s Halloween!  I swore to myself that I would start this review with some variation of “it’s Halloween, oooooo, scary” over my own dead body.  My own, cold, dead, blood-sucking body.  Speaking of cold, dead, blood-sucking things, you guys remember when I talked about Mutant X?  Man, that sure was a thing.  Well, I finished my read-through of the series back in July, and here in October, we’ve gotten our first Mutant X-themed figure in over 20 years.  Riiiiiiight after I finished my read-through.  Look, I’m not saying it’s all thanks to me, but I’m okay if you guys want to.  So, after that very long wait for another figure, who do we get?  ….It’s Bloodstorm…of course it’s Bloodstorm.  It would be Bloodstorm.  Well, let’s review Bloodstorm.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bloodstorm is figure 2 in the Blackheart Series of Marvel Legends, which is a Fan Channel exclusive set.  The assortment is officially titled “Strange Tales” and generally themed around the supernatural side of Marvel.  Bloodstorm’s certainly an offbeat choice, but not the weirdest, I suppose.  She gets a leg-up by being a Storm variant in a year when everyone wants X-related stuff.  She officially debuts Mutant X as a theme in Legends, and is the second Bloodstorm figure we’ve gotten, the first being Toy Biz’s 5-inch figure from 2001.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  She’s a mix of old and new parts.  She’s using the legs and feet from the mohawk Storm from the Apocalypse Series, and the arms from Jessica Jones.  It’s an okay selection of parts, but certainly ones that are showing their age.  The legs in particular are kind of warping, and the exposed joints are especially obvious.  The arms look fine, but they’re definitely restricted at the elbows.  The rest of the parts are new, sculpted by Paul Harding.  The new parts are definitely very strong additions, and do a lot to carry the older parts when viewed as a whole.  There are two different heads, one calm, and one more dynamic.  The dynamic one is certainly my favorite of the two, and it makes for good posing.  Bloodstorm’s color work is decent enough.  Obviously, very dark and monochromatic, which is the part.  The heads both get some pretty solid accent work on the faces and hair, which really sells the already pretty solid sculpts.  Bloodstorm is packed with two sets of hands, one in open gesture, the other more a claw pose.  No fists is a bit of a bummer, since the two included pairs are rather along the same lines.  She’s also packed with the torso and tail of the Blackheart Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Look, guys, a Mutant X assortment of Legends has been my dream set for a good long while, so *any* Mutant X Legends is a pretty big deal.  But, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t buy this figure out of obligation more than actual desire to own it.  Bloodstorm’s definitely not my favorite part of the book, and after finishing it, I still do not get the hype behind her.  But, I really, really want more Mutant X figures, so I have to buy her.  She’s alright.  I find her a bit hampered by the old parts, but the new ones are at least pretty strong.  Can I please get more Mutant X figures now?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

Would you like to own an official piece of The Figure in Question history…or something like that?  Well, the figure reviewed here isn’t available, but I’m selling the Blackheart Build-A-Figure piece, as well as some other items from the official Figure in Question collection, over on my eBay page, so check it out.  Or don’t.  I have no control over you outside the confines of the review.