Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#3860: Van Helsing

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

VAN HELSING

HORROR OF DRACULA (NECA)

In horror films, it can be awfully difficult for the hero of the piece to cement themselves as an iconic fixture in the same way that the monsters and villains can. It’s remarkable, though, that for as much as Dracula’s popularity has remained, Van Helsing, the hunter responsible for the evil count’s defeat, has managed to stick around pretty well himself. It helps that Van Helsing has gotten his own share of very talented actors in the role. In particular, the Hammer Horror films had Peter Cushing (an actor very frequently associated with villainous roles, despite his own kind and gentle nature) play the part five times, cementing him as one of the character’s most defining actors. His action figure coverage for the part has been relatively sparse, but improving more recently.  There was a Mego release in 2021, and new NECA’s officially in on the Hammer game, following up their Christopher Lee Dracula from last year with a Cushing Van Helsing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Van Helsing is an Ultimate release from NECA, the second in their Hammer Horror Horror of Dracula set, following the Christopher Lee Dracula figure released last November.  He started hitting about a month or so ago, so, you know, quite a while after the Lee Dracula had completely dried up at retail.  I’m sure that won’t affect his sell-through at all, right?  Like the Count, he’s based on his look from Hammer’s first Dracula film, which makes a lot of sense, it being the most distinctive and all.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty standard for NECA at this point.  It has its ups and its downs.  There’s certainly some spots where he’s very restricted, but he can generally get into all the poses you might need him to.  Van Helsing’s sculpt is all-new, and handled by NECA sculptors Kyle Windrix and Trevor Grove.  It feels pretty in-line with modern NECA horror offerings.  In his default configuration out of the box, he’s got his overcoat, scarf, and hat.  The hat is attached to the head, and that particular head probably has the weakest of the Cushing likenesses here.  There’s a more standard head, sans hat, which has a more neutral expression, and is generally pretty well-kempt, and it’s probably the best of the Cushing likenesses. Lastly, there’s a more disheveled sculpt, with a more intense expression, clearly patterned on his look during the final battle.  While I don’t think the likeness itself is quite as strong as the neutral one, it’s the sculpt that I feel best captures the character, and by far my favorite.  The overcoat-ed look is more on the restricting side in terms of movement, but is of course a signature look, so it’s the one that I see getting the most play.  That said, this figure comes with a whole extra torso you can swap out, which has him in a vest and tie with his sleeves rolled up.  It’s not a signature a look, but it’s got some better movement.  The figure’s paint work is all pretty good.  It’s a little thick on the skintones, but generally everything looks pretty clean, and he’s reasonably life-like.  In addition to the three heads and two torsos I discussed above, Van Helsing is packed with five pairs of hands (tight grip, loose grip, and relaxed for gloved, and tight grip and relaxed for ungloved), a hammer, a single stake, a bundle of stakes, a crucifix, and the two candlestick holders he uses to make his makeshift crucifix in the finale.  It’s all cool and good, but genuinely the candlestick holders are the only thing that truly matter to me, since they’re such a signature thing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I discussed a little in my review of the Mego Van Helsing, since Jess’s passing in 2021, I’ve read up a lot on Peter Cushing and his life, especially in regards to his relationship with his wife and his reaction to her passing.  In many ways, I find quite a kindred spirit in him, and I like the idea of focusing more on his heroic roles than just the villainous ones.  His Van Helsing has always stuck with me, so I was glad to see another version of it in figure form.  This one’s a pretty solid one, for sure.  In general, he’s really your standard NECA faire these days, but I think he works well with their style, and, most importantly, he can do that one cool pose I really wanted.

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.

#3858: Banshee

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

BANSHEE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Last week, I took a detour from my ’90s Marvel reviews for something that was still *kind of* a ’90s Marvel review.  This week, all I can truly promise is the Marvel.  In fact, it’s kind of meant to *replace* a more ’90s-centric piece already in my collection.  That doesn’t seem right, does it?  Well, look, there are layers, okay?  Today we’re talking about Banshee, a surprisingly early addition to the X-Men mythos, first appearing in 1967 during Roy Thomas and Werner Roth’s run on the original team.  He was a reluctant antagonist, and would eventually join the team proper when the “All-New, All-Different” line-up debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1.  Since he and Sunfire were both “returning characters,” they didn’t get to be on the fancy Gil Kane-drawn cover to the issue with the rest of the team, which means they more frequently get left out of figure coverage related to the issue.  Fittingly, Hasbro started their “modern” recreation of the team in Legends form back in 2017 with Sunfire, and are finally closing it out (more or less) eight years later with Banshee.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Banshee is part of the Classic Comic Collection series of Marvel Legends, which just started hitting in the last month or so.  It’s certainly an interesting line-up of characters, and by that I mean they seem to have just sort of drawn names out of a hat.  Banshee is one of two X-Men in the line-up, the other being Dakken, whom I don’t know that he’s ever met.  This is Banshee’s third time in Legends form, all three having been under Hasbro.  He’s based on his classic green and yellow garb, which is the same as his first Legends figure, from Hasbro’s first series of Legends after they got the license in 2007 (which, incidentally, like this figure, was in a hodgepodge assortment that happened to include an Ultimate Iron Man figure).  That one was *not* good, so this one’s been a long-time coming.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As we’ve all been kind of expecting since we got Strike Team Banshee back in 2023, this figure makes liberal use of parts from that one, sharing both heads, the modified upper torso, and the attachments for the glider wings with the earlier figure.  I still love both heads (sculpted by Paul Harding), and the calm one in particular feels more at home on this costume, what with the clearly ’70s muttonchops and all.  It’s still a little odd that he doesn’t have consistent hair between the two heads, but it is what it is.  On the flip side, I’m still not super into the very obvious pegs that attach the glider wings to him.  Sure, they’re secure, but they’re awful to look at.  This guy swaps out the Jim Lee-specific costume elements for the standard Vulcan pieces, making for a slightly cleaner sculpt.  In terms of color work, he changes things up, obviously, to match the new palette.  I’m always partial to the green and yellow, so I do generally like it.  That said, the tops of the boots and gloves being painted rather than molded is a bit jarring.  Otherwise, though, it all looks decent.  Banshee is packed with five different hands: a pair of fists, an open right hand, and two gripping hands.  These hands are unique, as near as I can tell, in that they have stitching on them to indicate gloves.  It’s a small detail, but I actually really like it.  Banshee is also packed with a small replica of Giant-Size X-Men #1, as is the gimmick of this assortment for…reasons?  I don’t know.  It’s nifty enough, even if it’s not *quite* scaled right.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back in 2006, I was *thrilled* by the announcement of Banshee being in Hasbro’s first series of Marvel Legends.  In 2007, I was *not thrilled* by Hasbro’s actual Banshee figure.  I just never much cared for it.  I’ve been waiting for a better one since.  As we made our way through the updated GSXM line-up, I kept hoping the next one would be him, making it especially comedic when we got the Strike Force version first (especially since *exactly* the same thing happened in Minimates).  I made do with that one, but this was the one I was really waiting for.  He’s simple, and it’s not like he’s really doing anything new, but it’s very, very nice to have the GSXM line-up finished, and also, since Banshee was around for a bit, also have all of the subsequent line-up changes before he left the team in ’79.  That’s my favorite era of the book, and it’s really my X-Men, so this is really awesome.

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.

#3845: Commando Droid

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

COMMANDO DROID

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

One of the things Clone Wars did was flesh out the ranks of the two opposing armies a bit more than what we saw in the movies.  Obviously, we got a lot of focus on the individual clones, but the Droids also got some new models not seen elsewhere.  A good number of them were more specialized, but one of the earliest additions to the more standard line-up was the Commando Droid, a more robust take on the standard Battle Droid.  As we finally start to get some more of the droid army in Black Series, we’ve finally made our way to some of those Clone Wars-original designs, meaning we finally get an update to the Commando Droid!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Commando Droid is figure 18 in the Clone Wars sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘ 4th Phase.  The Clone Wars line is really one of the slowest growing of the sub-lines; the Commando Droid is only 1 higher than Pre Vizsla, a figure released at the end of 2023.  It also makes the Commando Droid thus far the only Clone Wars-branded figure in the new standard packaging (though there’s already a Savage Opress in the deluxe equivalent).  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The articulation on this guy hits pretty much all of the notes it needs to, and doesn’t leave really any of his sculpted joints as false ones, which is always nice to see.  I was impressed by how the neck and shoulders worked; the ball joints coupled with the hinges make for an impressive range.  The only part I’m not too keen on is the knees, which don’t go quite as deep as I’d like; they pretty much stop at 90 degrees, which is bare minimum, but not great for lunging and stuff.  Thankfully, the hips and ankles have enough movement to offset.  The sculpt is an all-new one, and it’s a very strong one.  The Commando Droids only exist in the Clone Wars style, but this figure manages to capture the spirit of that design, while also making them feel at home with the rest of the more realistically-styled figures.  The detailing is all very sharp, and the articulation works into the sculpt well.  He’s also quite sturdy, which is an improvement to some of the other droid sculpts.  His paint work is more involved than you might expect.  There’s the base color work, of course, which is good and clean, but he’s also got a fair bit of weathering, which makes him seem a little more battle-hardened, which feels right for such a droid.  The Commando Droid is packed with a standard droid blaster and a vibro-blade.  The blaster fits very nicely in his hands, and the blade can be mounted on his back, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m a big fan of the Commando Droid, and have almost every version from the Clone Wars line.  That’s one of my very favorite molds from that era, so this one was one I was really looking forward to, but ever so slightly worried might not live up to my expectations, especially after being rather letdown by the Magnaguard.  But, I couldn’t bring myself to pass him up, so I snagged him when he hit.  He’s truly a fantastic figure, and a worthy successor to the old Clone Wars mold.  I’m very glad I didn’t skip this one.

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.

#3844: VF-1S Veritech – Roy Fokker

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

VF-1S VERITECH — ROY FOKKER

ROBO DOU (THREE ZERO)

Before today, you could count the Robotech reviews here on the site on one hand.  But now, you can’t!  …you know, because there were five, and this brings it up to six.  Do you get it?  Do you get the joke?  Well, I do, and that’s the most important thing.  As I’ve brought up in, I think, all of my Robotech reviews, I’m rather a late convert to the show, only actually watching it within the last decade.  So, there’s a fair bit of catching up to do, but also I try not to go to crazy and space it out a bit.  Given it’s been three years since my last review, I guess I’m doing alright with that spacing out, huh?  Three Zero has started doing some Robotech stuff in their Robo Dou line, and I do like Three Zero’s work, so I’m checking one of those out today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The VF-1S Veritech — Roy Fokker is part of Three Zero’s Robo Dou line, which handles mechas and robots from a number of different anime properties.  This one follows up on the release of Rick’s Veritech from….2023, I think?  There was a bit of a gap.  Roy’s Veritech just started hitting in the last month or so.  The figure ships in Battloid mode, which is the main look that everyone actually likes.  Well, it’s the main look that *I* actually like, and for the purposes of this site, I’m everyone.  In said mode, the figure is about 8 3/4 inches tall and has 29 workable points of articulation.  It compares well to other Three Zero mech stuff I’ve messed with in terms of articulation and build.  You can get good poses out of him without too much trouble.  The hips can be a little bit finicky, especially the first time you use them.  On my figure, I wound up hitting the folded up wings, and it popped some parts of the torso out of place, which was a bit tricky to get back in order.  But, once I did, everything stayed pretty securely together.  Like the other Three Zero mechs I’ve looked at, this figure is a mix of plastic and die-cast construction.  He’s got quite a bit of heft to him, while also still maintaining a sharp level of detailing.  The color work here is quite impressively handled.  All the base work is very clean, and he’s also got panel lining to really help sell the sharpness of the sculpt.  There’s also a ton of smaller printed details, which show a tremendous attention to detail.  The Veritech is packed with four pairs of hands (weapon holding, flat, open gesture, and fists), a GU11 rifle, and a display stand.  It also includes four sets of missiles, an antenna, and an alternate mount for the base, all meant to work with the figure’s alternate modes.

Let’s talk about said alternate modes!  As with all transforming Veritechs, you get the main Battloid mode, the Guardian mode, and the Fighter mode.  To get from Battloid to Fighter (robot to jet), you stop in the middle for Guardian, which is…well, it’s kind of silly, and it’s not really so much a mode as it is just stopping midway.  Of course, given how nerve-racking the actual transformation process is, a break at the halfway point isn’t so bad an idea.  Even following the instructions, I was left to throw my hands up a slightly improvise a few times, and I had at least one point where I very seriously considered running this review without photos of the alternate modes.  Thankfully, the rest of the transformation to full Fighter mode isn’t quite as bad, nor is the reverse transformation back to Battloid (apart from the one pin that fell out during the transformation back.  It’s okay, it’s not entirely structural…).  The Fighter mode is actually pretty nice, and I do really like the little teeny, tiny Roy figure in the cockpit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since getting into Robotech, I’ve been looking for solid figure coverage of Roy’s Veritech, since Roy’s my favorite pilot, and his Veritech is particularly cool.  I looked at the rather elaborate transforming one that All Time loaned me back in 2018, and I really liked that one, but its price point was a bit scary, so I backed off.  I’ve messed with a few of the smaller ones since, and they’re cool, but always a bit too spindly for me.  I’ve been impressed with Three Zero’s other work, so once I saw they were doing them, I was onboard for this guy here.  He’s fun, in a sort of don’t really want to mess with him all the time, but he’s still really cool to look at way.  I’m glad I got to experience the transforming, and now he can remain purely in Battloid mode for the rest of the time I own him.

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.

#3836: Ultra Dad

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

ULTRA DAD — ULTRAMAN: RISING

S.H. FIGUARTS (BANDAI)

I feel like every time I review an Ultraman, I remark that I don’t review Ultraman stuff enough.  And, seeing as it’s been seven months since my last review, I suppose it still holds true.  When last I spoke of Ultramen, I talked a bit about Ultraman: Rising, Netflix’s animated Ultraman movie from last summer.  This builds a bit on that.  The central theme of the movie is parenthood, with the main character’s respective relationships with his adoptive “daughter” Emi and his own father playing parallel with each other.  One of the film’s neat surprise twists is the reveal that Ken’s father, the previous holder of the Ultra mantle, can still harness the abilities, granting him a modified version of the classic design, affectionately dubbed “Ultra Dad.”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Dad is a 2025 online-exclusive S.H. Figuarts release, designed to follow-up on the main Ultraman release for the film from last year.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches and he has 38 points of articulation.  Ultra Dad’s articulation scheme is pretty much what you’d expect from a Figuarts release at this point.  The range of motion is all pretty solid, especially given his smaller stature.  Speaking of smaller stature, this guy’s an inch and a half shorter than the main Ultraman, which is a bit surprising when you see it, but also accurate to the depictions of the characters in the movie.  He’s got a new sculpt, and it’s a solid, clean recreation of Hayao’s Ultra Dad design from the movie.  Like Ken, it’s very stylized, and in a way that lines up very well with the Ken figure from last year.  Ultra Dad’s color work is likewise a good match for the prior figure.  The silver is a little on the flat side compared to the film’s very reflective take, but it ultimately works okay.  I do really like the extra shiny finish on the red sections.  The only slight downside is that the ankles, wrists, and knees are more of a flat grey, which doesn’t quite match.  Ultra Dad is packed with three different eye plates, 13 different hands (L and R fists, L and R relaxed, L and R open gesture, L and R open-er gesture, L and R powered up, L and R flat, and a left flat that’s different than the pair?), two different color timers, and an extra effect piece hand meant to go with the prior Ken figure.  Generally, it’s decent spread, covering most of the bases.  The one issue I did run into with this one is that his outer faceplate doesn’t sit as securely as it did on the Ken figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Given how much I enjoyed Rising, I’ve been really on board for all of the figure coverage too.  When this look showed up in the movie, I immediately wanted a figure of it.  I was very happy to see it get announced so quickly after the fact.  He’s certainly a fun figure.  He’s not as much his own standalone piece as he is an accent piece for the main Ultraman release, but that’s what I wanted him to be, so that works out well for me.

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.

#3826: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 1986, Marvel decided to reunite the founding five members of the X-Men under a new title, X-Factor.  There was, of course, the slight issue that one of the five was dead at the time, so they had to resurrect her as well.  And, hey, everybody got new costumes as well.  In fact, there were a couple of costume options to choose from, so, you know, extra toy potential, right?  Team leader Cyclops has gotten a fair bit of coverage for his *second* X-Factor costume, but not so much for his first.  But, hey, things change!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is part of the Nemesis Series of Marvel Legends, the latest X-Men assortment of the line.  It’s quite a hodge-podge of looks and eras, with Scott here serving as the “classic” component.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As with the most recent Cyclopes, he’s built on the Vulcan body, which is a respectable choice for Scott.  He mostly keeps it basic, but he does get two new head sculpts, both courtesy of Paul Harding.  We get calm and intense, and they’re both really good.  On one hand, they’re so good that I’d love to see them re-used for a ’70s Scott, but on the other, I’d really like to see them do one with the proper full mask underneath.  But, I’m getting sidetracked.  The point is, these sculpts are great.  The calm has a solid visor lens, while the intense one gets a new optic blast effect piece, which is larger and more involved than prior versions.  The color work is pretty good, and pretty clean, and matches well with the depiction from the comics.  I’m not 100% sold on the blue ears, but I guess they’re going for a strictly cover appearance look.  If nothing else, it’s kind of unique.  Cyclops is packed with two sets of hands, as well as the arm to the Nemesis Build-A Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Every time I think I’m good on Cyclops figures, they make a new one that reminds me I don’t have that one.  This is one of those instances.  The original X-Factor look isn’t a major change-up from his other looks, but it’s different enough to justify it for me.  On top of that, he’s actually quite a lot different from other Cyclopes.  The new heads are fantastic, and I love the new optic blast effect as well.

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.

#3816: Tourist Tick

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

TOURIST TICK

THE TICK (BANDAI)

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!

Look, I’m just legally required to start Tick reviews that way.  It’s in the contract.  What contract?  It’s not important.  I’ve not had a *ton* of Tick reviews here, but I’ve had a few, and they’re happening with increasing frequency at this point.  Thus far, the only “figure” I’ve looked at from the cartoon tie-in line was one of the small figurines, and not even of the Tick himself.  So, here’s me taking a look at an actual Tick figure from the original Tick line!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tourist Tick was released in the “Tick Talkers” series of Bandai’s The Tick tie-in line, which hit during the line’s second year in 1995.  They were designed to augment the standard line of figures with extra Ticks with electronic talking features.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is pretty similar to the rest of the Ticks, which is to say pretty on-model for his design in the show.  He’s got minor pre-posing, but nothing too crazy.  The head’s got his big toothy grin he was prone to doing, which feels very on character.  To sell the touristy thing, he’s got a pair of sunglasses and a pair of swim trunks, which are a minor but fun change-up.  The sculpt works them in pretty well, with the glasses in particular being pretty sharply detailed.  The color work starts with the basic Tick set-up, of course, but he’s also got some fun coloring on the shorts, which make for a nice little pop.  The paint work is cleanly handled for the most part, which is good for this era of figure.  Tick got no accessories, but he did have the talking feature.  The batteries are long dead on mine, but that button’s still there, taunting me.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed most of the Bandai Tick line as a kid.  It was a short run, and I hadn’t quite gotten into the show yet.  I did have the 14-inch talking figure, but that was it.  I later snagged most of a figurine set, but again nothing beyond that.  This particular figure has actually been sitting on my shelf at work for a few years, clutched in the hands of a ’90s Godzilla figure.  We ended up dismantling the employee shelves for more space, so my stuff got boxed up and brought home, and Tick here made the cut on the stuff that actually joined my collection.  He’s a neat little figure, and a reminder that I really should get some more of these guys.

#3812: Spider-Man Unlimited

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

SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

At the end of the ’90s, after wrapping up quite successful runs with X-Men and Spider-Man, Marvel’s animation side struggled to follow up.  1998 saw the ill-fated one season run of Silver Surfer, and the following year saw the release of not one, but two new cartoons, Avengers: United They Stand and Spider-Man Unlimited.  Unlimited‘s main aim was to serve as a direct replacement for Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which…well, it really didn’t do.  One of the craziest things about the whole thing is that, while United The Stand got a solid run of toys, Unlimited got no direct tie-ins at all.  There have been some loose reference figures over the year, but the first proper figure from the show has finally hit, 25 years after the fact!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man Unlimited is part of the latest round of Spider-Man Retro-carded Marvel Legends.  He’s the assortment’s resident Peter Parker.  He’s on a ’90s throw back card, which is sort of the right vintage, I suppose, even if he doesn’t have a direct vintage counterpart.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Like Spider-Boy, he’s got kind of an older articulation scheme, very similar to the ANAD 2099 body, despite him not actually re-using those parts.  It’s a touch restricted, so I’m not sure exactly why they went this way, but I suppose it’s workable enough.  He’s got a small bit of re-use, making use of the upgraded pinless versions of the 2099 arms and legs, but is predominately new.  It’s a little surprising, but not upsetting.  It’s honestly pretty cool to see how they’ve gone three dimensional on the spider elements of the costume.  To my eyes, the head seems maybe a bit wide, but it’s minor, and I do like the general look of it.  The figure’s paint work is okay.  Kind of on the basic side, though nothing important got missed.  It’s weird to see him without the shading, especially on the face, but I’m also not sure they’d want to go the way of cel shading on a regular release figure, so it’s iffy on how best to handle it.  Spider-Man Unlimited gets the full compliment of extra hands, which I’m certainly a fan of, especially when they don’t drop the open gesture hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was *not* a fan of Spider-Man Unlimited when it dropped.  Generally, I kind of found it boring, at least at first glance.  I was, admittedly, not the biggest fan of Spider-Man: The Animated Series in its first run, either, so maybe I just wasn’t the market for it.  I caught the show in re-runs, though, and found myself liking it a lot more than the first time around.  It’s also a really cool suit design, and it’s just been begging for an action figure.  This one’s not without his drawbacks, but he’s generally pretty cool!

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.

#3807: Spider-Boy

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

SPIDER-BOY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Marvel has, classically, avoided teen sidekicks.  Obviously, they had Bucky and Toro in the ’40s, but once they came back in full force in the ’60s, the sidekicks got tossed out.  Explosively so, in Bucky’s case.  Peter Parker, a high schooler, was the right age for such a role, but was firmly independent, as Spider-Man, a mantle all his own.  Dan Slott, who has written a *lot* of Spider-Man, has given Spider-Man *two* sidekicks.  The first was Alpha, who was a very limited, very story-specific set-up that’s more a footnote than an actual attempt to make a change that stuck.  The second and far more recent one is Bailey Briggs, Spider-Boy.  He’s technically a retcon character, and I classically don’t like those, but Slott’s actually done a good job of making it work alright for Bailey.  And, only a year and a half after his debut, he’s gotten the Marvel Legends treatment!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Boy is part of the first Retro Card Spider-Man Marvel Legends assortment of 2025.  Amazingly, he’s not the only new character in the assortment (the other is the Francine Frye Electro), which is honestly pretty cool.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as the 2016 Miles Morales body, which is interesting, because he’s not actually using any of those parts at all, and it’s kind of an old style of articulation set-up.  It’s not *bad* though.  The sculpt is actually pretty solid.  He’s suitably smaller than the Spidey figures, so he looks appropriately built for his age.  The key unique pieces are the head and feet.  The head has a good, solid take on a rather basic design.  I particularly like the profile, and how there’s so clearly a face under there.  The feet give him his proper sneakers, which are certainly fun.  They’re a bit tricky to pose at first, but once they loosen up, the range is pretty good.  He’s also got a backpack piece, which plugs in securely, and looks not unlike the collapsed one used with SpOck.  The color work on Spider-Boy is very bright and eye catching, as it should be.  The blue seems maybe a touch darker than he’s usually depicted, but it otherwise looks pretty good.  Spider-Boy is packed with an alternate “monster” head, as well as two pairs of hands, in fists and thwipping poses.  It’s a little frustrating that the open gesture hands are absent again, especially given that Bailey doesn’t actually *have* webshooters.  Guess I’m sticking with the fists for now.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was, admittedly, a little skeptical of Spider-Boy at first, but I’ve really enjoyed what’s been done with him thus far, especially in his solo series.  I was definitely looking forward to some form of figure treatment, and here he is!  He’s not a standout piece or anything, generally being by the numbers, but sometimes, that’s all you need.

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.

#3792: U.S. Airman

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

U.S. AIRMAN

WAR HEROES – WORLD WAR II (*NOT* LION ROCK)

Okay, let’s have a history lesson.  But, like, not the sort of history lesson you might expect from a review with “WWII” in its title.  I mean, yeah, sure, that’s very important history and all.  Especially now.  But, it’s, like, not my expertise?  And it’s very scary.  So, I’m focusing on a less scary sort of history that I know about.  And that’s toys.  Right, so in 1964, Hasbro invented the action figure with G.I. Joe.  It was a smash success, which of course meant there were lots of imitators.  One of those imitators was the “Fighting Yank”, produced by Mego Corp, who had, in fact, copied Hasbro’s molds, and shut down production when Hasbro threatened legal action.  Mego reformatted into their smaller scale offerings, finding success with their 8-inch licensed offerings.  At the same time, they were brought a concept for a line of military-based figures, using the smaller-scale 7-inch body developed for the Teen Titans figures.  Not wanting to incur Hasbro’s wrath again, this line was released without any reference to Mego.  Primary distribution was handled by Mego’s overseas distributors Lion Rock, whose name was also stamped on all of the figures.  The line was, confusingly, named a different name in most countries, so that’s all fun and good and super easy to track.  Is that what I’m reviewing today?  Not in the slightest.  Confused?  You won’t be, after the next episode of Soap! review on the Figure in Question!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The U.S. Airman is part of the War Heroes All Battle Equipped in World War II line, a manufacturer-less line of Lion Rock-duplicates produced in the ’80s, seemingly exclusively for Woolworth’s.  How manufacturer-less are they?  The back of the neck, where the copyright information was located on the originals, literally looks like a rasp was taken to it.  Fancy.  These figures were, more or less, direct counterparts for official Lion Rock offerings.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  He’s built on a copy of the Teen Titans base body, which is itself just a slightly miniaturized Mego Type II body.  It’s okay, but the hands are a bit more brittle on this copy, so there’s a crack on one of his thumbs.  The head is scaled to it as though it were an adult, and it’s honestly a pretty nice generic sort of ’40s soldier type.  He’s got an outfit that consists of a bomber jacket, khaki pants, and a pair of plastic boots.  They’re fairly consistent between the official figure and the knock-off, with the one notable change being the use of velcro on the jacket, rather than snaps.  It means things don’t stay closed as well, especially given the scale.  Otherwise, though, the tailoring isn’t too bad.  He also gets an aviation cap and a uniform cap, which both fit nicely on the head, as well as a belt, goggles, a breathing mask, a knife, and a pistol.  I believe he’s also supposed to have a clip board, but mine appears to be missing that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I spent a lot of my time in the ’90s on the internet pouring over the same handful of toy sites, one of them being Mego Museum, which is how I learned about the existence of any of these figures in the first place.  I never really imagined I’d get one.  And, I suppose I haven’t, now have I.  Anyway, I kept that information locked away in my brain, until the day it was called upon, which was, in fact, the day a bunch of them got traded in at work and I was the guy who knew what the heck they were.  This guy was in the batch.  Since he’s a knock-off, he was cheaper, so it was even harder to pass on the opportunity to get one.  My grandfather was in the Air Force in WWII (or what became the Air Force, at least), so I have an attachment of these sorts of things, and I like that this figure even looks a little bit like he did during the war.  It’s also just kind of a nifty piece of action figure history, and I sure do love that sort of thing.

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.