Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#2030: Autobot Sixgun

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

AUTOBOT SIXGUN

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: SIEGE (HASBRO)

While the Transformers brand as a whole is, admittedly, based on a gimmick from the start, Hasbro likes to introduce additional gimmicks as the line continues.  Each entry in the Prime Wars Trilogy had a gimmick, be it Combiners, Titan Masters, or Prime Cores.  This new War For Cybertron trilogy is starting up with a slightly more relaxed gimmick of accross the board compatibility of parts.  While a lot of this is tied in with effects parts and more accessories, there is also a subset of figures, dubbed “Weaponizers,” designed with interchangeability and cross compatibility in mind.  I’m looking at my first of those, Sixgun, today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Autobot Sixgun is the last figure in the second deluxe wave of the War for Cybertron: Siege line.  He’s the second Weaponizer in the line, following Autobot Cog from the first assortment.  Like Cog, Sixgun also began his life as an accessory to a large-scale Transformer, in this case Metroplex.  In his robot mode, the figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and has 20 points of articulation.  Sixgun’s original figure was rather rudimentary in his bot-mode, so this one starts with that and builds it into something a little more worthy of a proper figure release.  For instance, now he has actual hands! Sixgun’s design is notably more robotic than his assortment-mates, and generally feels a little more inhuman than we tend to see with an Autobot, but it’s a cool design nonetheless.  He’s also got a sturdy build, and lacks any real hollowness like we saw on some of the others in this set. Sixgun’s alt-mode is listed as a tank, but looks a bit more like an aircraft of some sort.  It’s a rather different design than the other alt-modes I’ve looked at, partly because you arrive at it in a rather different fashion.  Instead of a solid transition from one form to the other, Sixgun’s transformation is reliant on actually breaking him down into a number of smaller parts, and then re-assembling them in his vehicle mode.   It’s more akin to building a Lego set than to actually transforming.  It does mean that there’s a lot less guessing and skill to transforming him than the average Transformer, but on the flip side, it means he’s not one that you’ll want to swap back and forth so much, since every transformation is another chance to potentially lose pieces.  As a weaponizer, Sixgun’s sculpt is also pulling triple duty, since he’s not just a robot that transforms into a vehicle, he’s also meant to accent and augment the other figures in the line.  Via the same disassembly process that comes into play for his main transformation, Sixgun can be reconfigured into assorted armor set-ups for his fellow Autobots.  By far, my favorite set-up is the one that results in a giant fighting fist, but hey, I’m easy to please like that.  And, while the colors aren’t exact matches for each other I personally found Sixgun to pair best with his assortment-mate Ironhide.  He actually transitions well to an assortment of accessories for something that works as well as he does as a figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I didn’t quite get pulled in by Cog, something about Sixgun just really spoke to me, especially when I found out about that giant hand configuration (from Max, so this one’s his fault again). He’s definitely a different style of figure than the rest of the assortment, but he’s still very fun.  Now I just have to decide if I want to keep him as a robot or as an accessory.

I picked up Sixgun from All Time Toys, where he is still currently in stock, here.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2029: Prowl

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

PROWL

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: SIEGE (HASBRO)

When I say “horrific,” you say “death!”  Ah, yes, what better way to start out a Prowl review than by putting all of the potential Prowl fans reading up in arms immediately?  You know, by reminding them of the horrifying, fire out of the eye-sockets, death that befalls him in Transformers: The Movie‘s opening minutes?  Man, didn’t that suck?  It’s okay, I think people may have gotten over it.  They’ve had 33 years.  Well, I mean, I haven’t.  I’ve had a few months, because that’s when I finally saw the movie.  Of course, since the movie is also my only real exposure to Prowl in media, I guess it’s a bit of a wash.  Whatever the case, I’m reviewing a Prowl figure today.  So there.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Prowl is the third figure in the second deluxe wave of War for Cybertron: Siege figures, joining fellow ’84-er Ironhide.  Prowl is another classically inspired design, though he does sport the most signs of Cybertronian design work peeking through.  In robot mode, Prowl stands 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 22 practical points of articulation.  When I initially saw photos of Prowl’s robot mode, I thought it looked a little bit lacking.  Something about it seemed a little slapdash and unfinished, especially those lower legs.  Certainly he seemed like he’d be a step down from his comrades.  Well, hang on there guys, because I was actually quite wrong.  Prowl’s sculpt is definitely one of those that needs to be seen in motion to truly appreciate.  It’s actually  pretty clean, sleek design, that holds together nicely.  Sure, the legs do seem a little hollow, and if you catch the torso at the wrong angle, it’s not going to look so great, but when this guy is posed well, he looks really, really nice. And speaking of posing?  Yeah, for my money, Prowl is rivaled only by the Voyager Optimus in terms of range of motion.  There’s a lot of poses to be had with Prowl, and they only help to further improve the look of his sculpt.  Prowl’s traditional alt-mode is a police car, and this figure experiments with that.  Like Sideswipe, Prow has to somewhat tweak things and get a more sci-fi influenced version of his classic alt-mode, something that maintains the spirit of his original design, but doesn’t feel out of place with the new setting.  I actually really dig the alt-mode here, and I think it’s really one of the ones to best capture the Cybertronian feel. I particularly dig those translucent wheels! Also, this marks the easiest transformation I’ve dealt with on these guys.  I didn’t need to consult the instructions at all, and it feels nice and smooth the whole way.  He’s definitely one I can see myself swapping back and forth pretty frequently.  Prowl is packed with a W-45 Acid Pellet Strikeblaster…which is a gun with the light bar from his alt-mode strapped to it.  It’s goofy as hell, but a fun piece nonetheless.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, Max got off the hook yesterday, but he most certainly does *not* today.  See, I was on the fence with Prowl, because of the slightly odd look in the promo shots.  But then Max got his early, and let me mess around with the figure a for a little bit.  It was really, really nice, and I absolutely couldn’t turn him down when I finally had my chance to get one.  I gotta say, I don’t have a huge attachment to the character, nor was I expecting much out of this figure, but he’s kind of my favorite figure from this assortment.  He’s just so much fun.

Prowl came from All Time Toys, where he is still currently in stock, here.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2028: Chromia

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

CHROMIA

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: SIEGE (HASBRO)

Hey, remember how I’m looking at a bunch of Transformers this week?  Yep, well, let’s do some more with that.  For the first two years of Transformers, it was decidedly a masculine-driven line (not exactly uncommon for the time, and, admittedly, none of the Transformers *technically* had genders, at least initially).  It wasn’t until well into the cartoon’s second season that we got our first decidedly female robots in disguise in the episode “Search for Alpha Trion.”  The very first of the fem-bots to appear on screen was today’s focus, Chromia!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Chromia is the second figure in the second deluxe assortment of War for Cybertron: Siege.  Despite her early appearance in the franchise, Chromia didn’t receive any figures for two decades, and this one is only her fifth figure since her creation.  In robot form, the figure stands 5 1/4 inches tall and has 21 practical points of articulation.  Chromia is heavily influenced by the various members of Elita-One’s crew released during the Power of the Primes line, though she is actually a distinct sculpt, and notably lacks the combiner feature of those figures.  This has been somewhat to the ire of some longer-term collectors, but for a newbie like me, I don’t mind a fresh start so much.  Of all the Siege figures I’ve looked at so far, this is the one with the most compromised robot mode in the effort to facilitate the transformation.  There’s a lot more kibble this time around, there’s no getting around it.  In Hasbro’s defense, Chromia’s smaller, and curvier design means that there are less opportunities afforded for easy places to hide vehicle elements.  I suppose it’s possible they could have streamlined her a little further, but I don’t think the end result looks *too* bad.  Really, if it weren’t for that huge honking backpack, she wouldn’t look all that bad.  In fact, I’m quite impressed by the movement on some of her joints, particularly the neck joint, which allows for quite a bit of expressiveness with the figure.  Chromia’s alt-mode is sort of a Cybertronian sports car/minivan thing.   The transformation is overall pretty simple, though I did have a few slight hangups with mine that made her more difficult to shift back and forth.  I don’t foresee myself swapping her back and forth all that much, due to these difficulties.  Chromia is packed with an RT-5 Anti-thermo Blaster, SR Hushfuze, and 2 EMP-Grenades, which pretty much translates to a blaster and a whole bunch of attachments that can configure into all sorts of differently shaped guns.  Quite frankly, this is probably my favorite part of this whole figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have a tendency in my Transformers reviews to discuss how they are, very frequently, decidedly Max’s fault.  That’s not the case with Chromia.  In fact, Max even attempted to dissuade me from getting Chromia at all, when I announced my plans to grab the set of Wave 2 Deluxes.  I, however, was not to be deterred, mostly because I kinda wanted a fem-bot of some sort, and also because I don’t hate Chromia’s design.  Ultimately, yes, she’s the weakest of these figures, and there’s a good chance she may well be the weakest of the line.  And while I can’t exactly sing her praises, I do still kinda dig her, and I think she goes well with the rest of the set.

Chromia came from All Time Toys, where she is still currently in stock here.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2027: Ironhide

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

IRONHIDE

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: SIEGE (HASBRO)

If I’m gonna do this whole up and coming Transformers fan thing, I’m gonna need to actually stay on top of all these Transformers I’m buying, don’t I?  Indeed I do, so let’s just go ahead and do a whole freaking week of Transformers, shall we?  Fasten your seatbelts, guys!  …and then verify that the seatbelts that you’ve fastened are in a real car, and not one that’s actually a robot in disguise…because Transformers, right?  Anyway, I’m kicking off this week of Transformers with one of the earliest Autobots, Ironhide!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ironhide kicks off the second Deluxe assortment of the War for Cybertron: Siege line.  He continues the line’s heavy G1 influence, and is in fact one of Ironhide’s most show/comic accurate figures ever (I mean, hey, this one actually has a head, which is more than can be said of his original release).  In robot mode, the figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 22 functioning points of articulation.  As you may have noted on the height, Ironhide stands a half-inch taller than Sideswipe, and by extension, the rest of the Deluxe offerings for the line so far.  Since Ironhide’s typically not depicted as being small, it makes sense, and its an interesting exploration of what can be done within the set “scales.”  Of course, there do have to be some trade-offs to get him up to that larger size, so Ironhide has a few more hollow spots than some of the others.  The legs and forearms are the primary spots of said hollow-ness.  For the legs, he’s got panels that fold into place to hide this, so that works well enough.  The arms have no such coverage, so there’s just a big opening at the back of each forearm.  It’s a little obvious, but careful posing is enough to make it look alright.  The rest of the sculpt is a solid offering.  He’s boxier and more war-torn than the likes of Sideswipe, befitting the nature of the character.  He’s also suitably bulky, which I definitely dig.  On the flip-side, I don’t so much dig the panels that flip down on the outer sides.  They look a bit extraneous, and right out of the box, they actually don’t properly fit in the hinge they’re attached to, which means they stick out even further, and slightly warp the upper leg.  They can easily be removed, though, so it’s really only as much of an issue as you let it be.  Classically, Ironhide turns into a van, and this figure follows suit, more or less.  As with others in the line, his alt-mode is tweaked to have a Cybertronian flair to it.  The transformation for Ironhide is pretty straight-forward and easy, and for my first time I didn’t actually have to consult the instructions, which is pretty good for a novice like me.  The end result is effectively a brick with wheels attached.  It’s not complicated, but I feel it.  Ironhide is packed with the W-35 LR Doomblast Forge Launcher, which is a big gun that also turns into a big hammer.  I can’t stress how much I love this extra.  It’s really, really cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After branching into the Siege line with Optimus and the two Leaders, I started scoping out upcoming releases, and Ironhide quickly found his way to the top of my list.  The final figure has some small flaws, but for the most part, I’m quite happy with the final product.  He’s high on my list of favorites for a line of figures that I’m already thoroughly enjoying.

II picked this guy up from my friends at All Time Toys, where he is still currently in stock here.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2024: Snake Eyes & Scarlett

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

SNAKE EYES & SCARLETT

G.I. JOE: NINJA FORCE (HASBRO)

For its first three decades, G.I. Joe was in a rather frequent state of change, attempting to keep itself matched with the times.  Since hitting a smash success with the A Real American Hero incarnation in the ’80s, there’s been a bit of difficulty updating, since a lasting fanbase has prevented them from completely revamping things the way they may once have done.  In the early ’90s, they made a bid at a more informal re-vamp, by breaking out some of ARAH‘s established characters into smaller sub-series, each following a popular theme of the time.  Mainstays Snake Eyes and Scarlett found themselves at the hoist into the “Ninja Force” brand, a decidedly foreign tone for a line that had “American” in its title.  Given the line’s hiatus just a year after this re-branding took center stage, it was perhaps a little too foreign for the established fanbase.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Snake Eyes and Scarlett were both released in 1993, during Ninja Force‘s second year running.  The comics by this point had interwoven both Snake Eyes and Scarlett with Cobra Ninja Storm Shadow, whose move over to the Joe side had led to him being Ninja Force‘s central character during its debut year, and these two coming along to join him seemed like a rather sensible move, at least from a marketing perspective.

SNAKE EYES

“SNAKE-EYES excelled in Long Range Recon Patrols and high-risk covert missions in Southeast Asia. His success was based on his ability to use everything from trees to fog when making himself virtually “invisible,” even to skilled Cobra Ninjas. He perfected his mystical martial arts techniques with the same ninja clan that trained STORM SHADOW. Snake-Eyes was living a self-disciplined, tranquil life in the High Sierras when HAWK recruited him for the G.I. Joe team. Since then, he has proven himself an invaluable asset to the Ninja Force and one of the fiercest fighting menaces against all Cobra legions.” 

This Snake Eyes marked his fifth time gracing the small-scale line, which made him the most prevalent character in the line (though Duke would catch him by virtue of getting two figures released that same year).  Snake not joining the Ninja Force until its second year may seem a little odd at first glance, but it’s likely that his very recently released V4 figure from ’91 prevented his presence for the sub-brands ’92 launch.  Up to this point, Hasbro hadn’t really done the same character two years running (apart from Cobra Commander, who was granted a new figure every year from ’91-’94), so I guess they wanted to let the Commando Snake do his thing a little longer.  Snake Eyes stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  Snake Eyes’ articulation was a marked change from where the line had been for it’s prior nine years, by virtue of the addition of an action feature.  Squeeze the legs and his arms swing up and down for his “Basami Slice”.  Said feature limits the hip movement to more simple swivels and removes the waist.  Removing movement for a figure that’s part of the “Ninja Force” does seem like an odd choice, but it was the direction things were going at the time, so you can’t really fault Hasbro from leaning into that curve.  This figure’s design took the opposite position to the V4 release, which had almost completely abandoned Snake Eyes’ ninja side, and in contrast plays up the ninja side about as much as is possible.  In fact, you’d be forgiven for not realizing this was Snake Eyes at all at first glance.  He’s got actual, visible eyes, for Pete’s sake!  Where’s the signature eyewear?  Morphed into some sort of full faceplate thing, I guess.  He’s also bulked up substantially from his prior figures, because that’s what the ’90s does to you.  It’s actually not a bad sculpt all around, with solid detail work, showing a definite progression from earlier in the line.  Snake Eyes’ paintwork is actually pretty involved for an Snake Eyes figure.  He’s got TWO colors!  That’s crazy!  Snake Eyes was packed with an impressive selection of accessories.  He included three different swords of varying sizes and styles, plus a small knife, nunchucks, a pair of claws, and a display stand.  Mine is missing the knife and claws, but with that many accessories to start with, he doesn’t feel like he’s missing too much.

SCARLETT

“SCARLETT began her training in the martial arts at age nine and was awarded a black belt at age 15. She was not only physically ahead of her time, but mentally as well. She graduated summa cum laude from two Ivy League universities and went on to excel in training courses at all four branches of the armed forces. Cobra often mistakes her for just a pretty face rather than a member of G.I. Joe’s elite Ninja Force, which makes her perfect for undercover missions. She is great friend to each of the Joes, especially SNAKE-EYES, and a deadly enemy to Cobra.”

Despite being in the line’s first year and being a prominent fixture in both the comics and the cartoon, this was only Scarlett’s second figure, a full decade after the original figure.  She wasn’t previously as linked to the whole ninja-thing as Snake Eyes, but the two have been linked since very early on, so her place here as a companion to Snake Eyes was reasonable.  The figure is just under 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 13 points of articulation.  Like Snake Eyes, she has an action feature that limits the hips and waist.  Her action feature, the “Kato Kick” works a little differently than Snake Eyes, since it’s a kick, and there’s a sort of looser way of activating it.  If Snake Eyes’ design was a departure from his usual design, Scarlett’s is even more so. There’s really nothing left of her original look, apart from her red hair, I guess.  The rest of her look leans really heavily on the ninja thing, enough that this same sculpt was easily re-purposed into Chun-Li the same year.  Scarlett’s headsculpt was actually a notable improvement over the less attractive original Scarlett head, better matching her depictions in other media.  She makes use of soft-goods for both her pony tail and sash.  They sort of lend themselves to being all sorts of curled up and messy, but they were a decent enough idea.  Her paintwork is nice enough.  She’s very green, which was an interesting contrast with the red hair.  Not the most attractive color scheme, but not terrible when compared to some of the other figures from the same period of the line.  Scarlett includes the same accessories as Snake Eyes, but molded in yellow instead of blue.  My Scarlett’s missing even more of the extras, but again, with this many, it isn’t quite as much of a loss.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I first started getting into G.I. Joe, I was always rather perplexed by this subset of the line.  To my younger self, they seemed kind of pointless and goofy, but I’ve kind of gained a new appreciation for them.  I’ve always been a big fan of Snake Eyes and Scarlett, so when this pair showed up in a big ’90s Joe lot at All Time Toys, I fished the two of them out. Are they hokey?  Yes.  Are they the best versions of the characters?  No.  Are they a lot of fun?  Absolutely.

As I noted, I got this pair from All Time Toys, who have been getting a rather steady stream of G.I. Joe collections as of late.  So, if you’re looking for old Joes or if you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2022: Thanos

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

THANOS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“I am inevitable.”

Heads up, there may be some mild spoilers for Avengers: Endgame in today’s review.  If you haven’t seen it, I’m not giving anything major away, but you’ve been warned just the same.

So, how about Endgame?  That was really something.  Captain Marvel gave it a nice lead-in, with all of the money it raked in, but Endgame‘s blowing away…pretty much everything, firmly marching its way to being the biggest movie ever.  But how was the movie, you know, as an actual movie?  Well, if you ask me, it was fantastic.  It was pretty much everything I wanted, and it was a wonderful cap to the previous 21 movies in the MCU.  I was very, very content with this finish.  Thanos is once again a central player in the story, but where Infinity War made Thanos a complex and intriguing figure, Endgame really ramps up his monstrous side.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Thanos is the Build-A-Figure for the first Endgame-themed series of Marvel Legends.  Since he was also the first Build-A-Figure last year, it’s not a huge shock that he got this slot again for the follow-up.  When Thanos’ Infinity War appearance was first revealed, a lot of people were let-down a bit by its very stripped down nature.  While it grew on me after the movie had come and gone, I could definitely understand why some fans were bummed that we didn’t really get the Thanos that we’d been teased with since back in the first Avengers.  Endgame made it a definite point to use a fully armored up appearance, and this figure follows suit.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Apart from a lack of waist joint, and a slightly restricted set of shoulder joints, his articulation is pretty much comparable to his prior figure.  Thanos is sporting a mostly new sculpt with only his left hand and the slip-over for his forearm being reused.  This Thanos is just a little smaller than his unarmored appearance, at least in terms of bulk.  In terms of height, he’s actually a touch taller than the preceding figure.  The size change mostly comes into play with the torso, which is just not quite as broad across the shoulder as the prior figure.  Honestly, I’m not sure he’s really any less accurate than the prior figure, and to my eyes, his proportions actually seem a little more balanced this time, so I don’t mind it so much (it’s also nowhere near as pronounced a difference in person as it is in the photos).  Thanos’ sculpt is quite nicely rendered.  The armor appears to be accurate to what I’ve been able to find in way of reference for his film design, and the detailing is nice and crisp.  Under his helmet, there’s an angry grimace that matches the updated head from the Infinity War three-pack release, which seems to suit his more battle-ready appearance this time around.  The figure even manages to avoid the prior figure’s issue with popping apart easily after assembly, which is perhaps the biggest plus in my book.  Now, I do have one slight bone to pick with this figure when it comes to film accuracy, and that’s what’s going on with the left hand.  He’s sporting the Gauntlet, fully powered up and everything, which is…well, it’s just plain not accurate.  Thanos ditches his armor in Infinity War before gaining all of the stones, and by the time he’s armored up again in Endgame, he doesn’t have the Gauntlet in his possession.  In fact, keeping the Gauntlet away from him is a fairly major plot point.  What’s more, the original Gauntlet isn’t seen at all following the film’s opening minutes, so this isn’t the one he’s trying to get to anyway.  The point is, it’s really not accurate.  That being said, Thanos and the Gauntlet are definitely linked, so I can’t entirely fault Hasbro for wanting to include it.  I suppose perhaps the best case would be including an alternate forearm for him, but perhaps that was out of their price range.  Thanos’ paintwork is pretty good overall.  The skintone matches with the three-pack release (which was the more accurate of the two hues), and his face uses the printing style.  The armor is mostly rendered via molded plastic, but what paint is there is well-applied for the most part.  There’s a little slop on the arms, but it’s not as bad as some of the other figures in the series.  Thanos one-ups his prior figure by actually getting his own accessory.  It’s his double-bladed weapon…or at least an early version.  It’s not strictly screen accurate, but it gets the idea across, and it’s nice that it wasn’t left out entirely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a little disappointed with last year’s Thanos Build-A-Figure, and while the three-pack rerelease did a lot to salvage that sculpt, I was still happy to see him get another shot for Endgame.  The armored appearance is certainly more dynamic, and the resultant figure is generally a more solid release, and one that I’m actually pretty happy I assembled.

This set of figures kind of dropped on us quickly, so I didn’t have the same time to soak up the line-up that I’ve had previously, meaning I didn’t so much go into it with much by expectations.  I knew I wanted this Thanos, and I was right on that front, but, aside from the somewhat weak Living Laser figure, I really enjoyed this assortment as a whole.  Hercules tops off the singles as one of Hasbro’s best single releases, Nighthawk and Citizen V are good formula figures, Ronin and Ebony are strong film-accurate releases, and even Cap, in all his inaccurate glory is still a fun figure in his own right.  If you’re interested in getting a set of your own, all seven of the single figures are still in-stock at All Time Toys’ webstore.  And, as always, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out All Time’s website and their eBay storefront.

#2021: Hercules

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

HERCULES

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“An immortal champion of Olympus, Hercules uses immense strength to battle evil and protect the world.”

Honey, you mean “Hunk-ules!”…wait, sorry, sorry everybody.  Wrong Hercules.  My bad.  Pack it back in, let’s regroup….Although, I do feel the need to point out that both Herculeses in question are owned by Disney, so you can forgive my confusion.  Today’s Hercules is officially of the Marvel branding, introduced by Lee and Kirby during their run on Thor.  He’s been a mainstay of the Marvel Universe since the ’60s, but has actually been a slightly rare occurrence as a toy.  Toy Biz, for all their Marvel stuff they did, never released a single figure of Herc, and even Hasbro’s have been few and far between.  Their first Herc was a Legends release, as part of their very first series, all the way back in 2007, and now their finally replacing him with an update, 12 years later.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hercules is figure 6 in the first series of Endgame-themed Marvel Legends.  He’s the last of the four comics figures, and also the last single-packed figure in the series.  As a full-fledged Avenger for many years, Herc is definitely the most natural choice of the comic-based figures in the line-up.  Herc is based on his most recent appearances, from around the time of Avengers: No Surrender.  It’s really not too far removed from his classic appearance, with the only prominent change being the addition of pants and boots.  I’m not super crazy about the man-bun, but worse things have happened.  The figrue stands 7 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Hercules is an all-new sculpt, which was honestly a little bit of a surprise to me, since I’d kind of been expecting the Hyperion body to be trotted out again.  It’s most certainly a pleasant surprise, because this body is much better.  It still maintains that impressive god-like physique, but avoids a lot of the odd proportion issues and especially that “shelf” issue at the front of the torso.  I wouldn’t mind seeing some of these parts become more regular additions to the bigger guys.  Interestingly, both my favorite and least favorite aspects of the sculpt are on the same piece: the head.  The expression on the face is perfect for Herc, the beard is nicely defined, I dig the intricate nature of the head gear, and the flow of the hair is great too…mostly.  But he’s still got that freaking man-bun.  For whatever reason, it just really bugs me.  Not enough to distract from the rest of the awesome sculpt that it’s attached to, but enough to give me slight pause whenever I first pick him up.  The texturing on his boots and pants is on par with most of the MCU level stuff, and I think his harness is the least float-y harness piece yet in modern Legends, which is definitely a step in the right direction for a line that already takes lots of steps in the right direction.  It’s all topped off with a pretty darn solid paint-job.  Some of the paint for this assortment has been a little iffy, so I had my concerns about Herc, but he turned out quite nicely.  Everything is nice and cleanly applied, and he manages to be colorful and eye-catching without being as garish as some of his incarnations have the potential to be.  Hercules is perhaps the best accessorized figure in the line-up, getting a sword and mace (both of which can be stored on his back), plus two sets of hands for both fists and gripping.  A comic figure getting extra hands is always cause for celebration if you ask me.  And, he’s also packed with the head of the Thanos Build-A-Figure, which is now complete!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As much flack as it may get, I’ve actually always really loved Hasbro’s original Hercules figure.  He was quite good for the time, and I always felt he did a solid job of capturing the spirit of the character.  Sure, he was looking more and more dated with each updated release, but replacing him would still be a daunting task.  Well, maybe not so much.  This figure’s awesome.  Like, really, really awesome.  I didn’t have much of an opinion of him going in, but he quickly became my favorite figure in the set.  Even if he does have that stupid man-bun…

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

#2019: Nighthawk

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

NIGHTHAWK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Originally a member of the Squadron Sinister, the wealthy Kyle Richmond has a change of heart and joins the Defenders.”

In the past, I’ve briefly touched on the Squadron Sinister, Roy Thomas’s Justice League pastiches created in 1969 for an unofficial crossing over of the Avengers and the Justice League.  While the Champions of Angor, the Avengers parody that the Justice League fought in their own book shortly after, weren’t particular successful in any fashion, the Squad was successful enough to get not only their own heroic spin-offs (the Squadron Supreme), but also to have a couple of its original members worked into the mainstream universe proper.  The team’s resident Batman expy, Nighthawk, actually did alright for himself, going on a path of redemption and eventually becoming a mainstay of the second-tier superhero team the Defenders!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nighthawk..sorry, *Marvel’s* Nighthawk is figure four in the first series of Endgame-themed Marvel Legends.  He’s the second comics-based figure in the assortment, and I guess if I ragged on Living Laser for his spot being questionable, then I have to rag on Nighthawk too, since he’s really more a Defenders character, despite starting off as an Avengers villain.  Despite all that, I can’t really complain too much, since I doubt there are going to be any dedicated Defenders assortments anytime soon.  Plus, we got three other Defenders back during the tie-ins for Age of Ultron, so I’d say there’s some precedent.  Nighthawk is based on his second costume, following his turn to the heroic, which is definitely sensible, since he spent most of his career in variations of this look.  It also further removes him from his Distinguished Competition counterpart, which I’m sure makes the legal department extra happy.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Nighthawk returns to the tried and true method of building figures on the Bucky Cap body, even re-using that figure’s buccaneer-style boots.  It’s a good fit for Nighthawk’s stature, and still a very good body, though I imagine it’s nearing its retirement.  The figure gets a new head, hands, and forearms, as well as brand new cape add-on.  The newly sculpted parts are nice and clean, and fit well on the body.  The head is a pretty basic piece.  It’s a guy in a cowl, so there’s not a ton of unique work to do there.  It’s a good adaptation, and I do prefer the streamlined mask design they went with. I appreciate that they actually sculpted the ends of his gloves, rather than just painting them on, and I also dig that they made his claws distinctly different from Wolverine.  The cape is big and bulky, but it’s also really dynamic, and certainly the best interpretation we’ve gotten of it in three dimensions.  I was expecting it to be a lot more cumbersome than it ended up being, so I was pleasantly surprised to be sure.  Nighthawk’s paintwork is clean, bright, and bold, which is pretty much everything you’d hope for.  I definitely like the palette here more than the Marvel Universe figure from a few years back, and the application is overall pretty clean.  I did see some slight variance on the coverage of his logo on the few figures I looked at, but for mine it looks pretty solid.  Nighthawk includes no accessories for himself, which, while slightly sad, isn’t a huge shock.  An unmasked head would be cool, as would some non-clawed hands, but they aren’t the sort of thing you expect to see on a character like Nighthawk.  He does include the right arm of Thanos, as well as Thanos’s bladed weapon.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been a fan of Nighthawk ever since Kurt Busiek made him a prominent player in his late ’90s Defenders series, and I’ve wanted him in figure form for pretty much just as long.  He and the rest of the secondary Defenders are some of my favorites, and he’s the last one I needed for a true classic Defenders set-up, so I was pretty stoked for his release.  The final figure lives up to my expectations, and I’m happy to have him.  He’s sort of Living Laser’s counterpart in this assortment, another formulaic lower tier character release who’s actually a pretty solid toy.  The difference between the two is that Nighthawk is actually a character/design I wanted, so he resonates just a little bit better with me.

Nighthawk came 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.

 

#2018: Living Laser

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

LIVING LASER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Driven mad by jealousy, the brilliant research scientist Arthur Parks becomes the villainous Living Laser.”

Man, wasn’t it a huge shock when the Avengers defeated Thanos in Endgame, only to all be instantaneously killed by the Living Laser?  That was a dark turn!  Clearly, this figure is the most timely inclusion ever, just because of that.  What’s this?  Spoilers?  No, not even close.  Living Laser’s not in Endgame at all…whoops, spoilers for all those Arthur Parks fans hoping for a surprise cameo.  I guess you’ll just have to make due with this only vaguely connected figure release.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Living Laser is figure 3 in the first Endgame-themed series of Marvel Legends.  As I touched on in the intro, no, Living Laser is not in the movie, but is instead one of the four comics-based figures in this line-up.  His placement is kind of odd, but I guess no more odd than Grey Gargoyle cropping up in the Captain Marvel series.  He *is* and Avengers villain, so that’s sort of related.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation…in theory.  The head/neck combo messes with the mobility of those joints a little bit.  Living Laser’s had a host of rather differing appearances over the years, but this figure goes for his most recent, which, if I’m being totally honest, isn’t something I’m super thrilled about.  For my money, I’d much rather have gotten Laser’s classic design he was sporting from the ’70s on through the ’90s, as hokey as it may be.  This one’s sleek, but I don’t feel it’s quite as gripping.  But, hey, maybe this is the design others want.  I was buying the figure anyway, so my personal preferences certainly haven’t impacted their sales at all.  The figure’s construction is pretty simple.  He’s got a brand new head, thrown on the ANAD 2099 body, funky add-on bits and all.  Aside from the restriction on the neck movement, it’s actually not a bad combo, since the 2099 body’s a pretty solid one.  It doesn’t make for the most thrilling appearance, but it’s an accurate one.  The new Living Laser design has him in a constant state of energy, which the figure replicates by casting him in clear purple plastic.  There’s some airbrushed accenting on it.  It’s fairly decent, though it rather suddenly disappears when you get to the butterfly joints, which is a little bit jarring, but you can make it work with the right pose.  Living Laser is packed with two of the electric effect pieces, this time in an off-white.  It’s a shame he doesn’t have any alternate hands to replace the fists, but at least he’s not entirely un-accessorized. He also includes the torso of the armored Thanos Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I initially heard they were making Living Laser, I was excited, because I wanted to add him to my growing ’90s cartoon Iron Man villains roster.  Then I saw the figure, and he’s the wrong design for that, so my desire to have him quickly dwindled.  It’s not the figure’s fault.  This is his most current appearance, so I can’t really fault Hasbro for choosing it, nor can I say that the figure isn’t an accurate recreation.  He’s honestly not a bad figure, but he’s one I just don’t feel much attachment to.

Living Laser came from 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.

#2017: Scorpion Alien

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

SCORPION ALIEN

ALIENS (NECA)

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Avengers coverage for a look at another “A” franchise.  Yes, it’s April 26th, or 4-26, also known as Alien Day, or at least it has been for the last few years.  And this year, I did actual manage to flag something special to review for the occasion.  Last month, I took a look at the NECA’s Kenner-inspired take on Sgt. Apone.  Today, I’m following that up with my first look at one of NECA’s Kenner-style Aliens, namely the Scorpion Alien, the closest the original line got to a standard-issue Xenomorph variant.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Scorpion Alien is the second of the three figures in the Kenner-inspired Series 13 of NECA’s Aliens line.  As sort of the quintessential alien of the original line, it was a little bit of a surprise that the Scorpion Alien wasn’t in the first Kenner-inspired assortment, but my guess would be that NECA was looking to space him out a little bit from the other more standard Alien variants.  At this point in the line, a more standard Xeno is a little more appreciated.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 39 points of articulation.  The Scorpion Alien uses the general model of the recently released Ultimate Alien Warrior as a starting point, mostly cribbing the internal workings and articulation scheme of that figure.  Most of the exterior is new; I think the pelvis and maybe the lower legs are the only truly un-changed parts.  Everything else gets a new skin.  It’s not *terribly* different from the film design, just a lot spikier, really.  For the sake of mixing things up a bit, and making him a little more unique, NECA’s also changed up the musculature a little bit, making him ever so slightly bulkier in areas such as the shoulders and the thighs.  It matches better with the slightly stouter build of the old figure, making him a more true adaptation of that figure.  The paintwork on this figure also leans pretty heavily on accuracy to the original’s exact coloring, with a heavy bronze accenting.  It’s a good look, though, as always, I’m slightly partial to blue, so I wouldn’t be opposed to a re-paint.  Still, this is a good look for the figure, and I appreciate the heavy bronze to black ratio.  The Scorpion Alien doesn’t have any accessories, but he does include a reprint of the comic included with the original figure.  I was slightly saddened by the lack of a blast apart feature, but I can’t really blame NECA for leaving that one out.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since I was already picking up Apone, the Scorpion Alien was a pretty easy sell for me.  Though not far removed from the original design, he’s always been my favorite Kenner Alien design, so I was happy to see him show up in this line-up.  If you have any of the other Xenos from this line, he may not feel like much new, but I dig the changes they made, and I think he makes for a fun variant.  Hope you didn’t mind the detour.  The Marvel stuff will be back tomorrow!

I picked up this guy from my friends at All Time Toys, who have (or had, at least) the whole series.   If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.