Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#3538: Mindless One Series Wrap-Up

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

IRON MAN, LADY BULLSEYE, FIST NINJA, & MINDLESS ONE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0017:  The “Marvel Knights” branding exists because of Marvel’s bankruptcy in the late ’90s, which caused them to hand over the publishing rights for a handful of lower tier characters to Event Comics.  The line proved a success, allowing the characters and attitudes of the stories to be folded back into the mainstream Marvel Universe in the mid ’00s.

As someone who’s been following Marvel Legends for pretty much the entirety of its over 20 year run, I’ve encountered an issue more recently where I don’t really feel the need to own *everything* Hasbro puts out for the line.  But, I do still have access to review most of it, so, I’m embracing my new format I launched last summer, and folding it into my tweaked format I launched at the beginning of the year, and here we are with another series wrap-up, where I throw all the figures I opted not to keep into a blender single wrap-up review.  So, let’s jump into another one of these!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Iron Man, Lady Bullseye, and the Fist Ninja are figures 1, 3, and 5, respectively, from the Mindless One Series of Marvel Legends.  There are the last three figures that contribute to the Mindless One Build-A-Figure, which is built by collecting parts from 6 of the 7 figures in the series.

IRON MAN

2022 saw the release of Marvel’s Midnight Suns, a tactical RPG which is *sort of* related to the Marvel comics “Midnight Sons” but only passingly so.  They share some of the same characters and a vaguely supernatural flair, so there’s that.  Since they wanted heavy hitters that the Midnight “Sons” line-up couldn’t provide, the game added some typically less supernatural characters who are nevertheless bigger names.  That included this dude, because you gotta have an Iron Man.  Despite being a kind of forced addition, Iron Man has turned around and also been most of the merchandising for the game (Ghost Rider got a limited release Pop!, but even then, Iron Man got 2 of those, so he still comes out ahead).  And Legends is just another piece in that arsenal.  The figure stands just over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  He’s a largely parts re-use figure, making use of most of the first  Gamerverse Iron Man body.  It’s a kind of stiff body in terms of articulation; it felt out of date when it was new, and it’s only gotten more so in the years since.  The details also don’t quite match up with the game model, but they’re close enough to fudge it, I suppose.  He does at least get a new head, torso, and shoulder pads, courtesy of sculptor Dennis Chan, to move his design a little closer to the game look.  I generally like them more than the prior pieces, but it feels like there’s something off about the way the neck works, so his head sits up too high.  You can pose it to look a little better, but it remains somewhat awkward to work with.  His color work follows the game aesthetic, making him black and gold.  It’s similar to his Marvel Now! design from the comics, and doesn’t look terrible here.  It’s at least somewhat unique.  The application of the paint is pretty cleanly handled, and isn’t missing any major details, which is a plus.  Iron Man is packed with two sets of hands (in open and fists), as well as two blast effects in red, and the right leg of the Mindless One Build-A-Figure.

LADY BULLSEYE

Hey, you know Bullseye?  Well, make him a woman, and you’ve got Lady Bullseye.  Okay, it’s a touch more involved than that…but not as much as you might think.  Lady Bullseye was introduced during Ed Brubaker’s Daredevil run and hasn’t ever really had anything of note done with her; mostly, she just gets used to stand-in for Bullseye proper when he’s not around.  At the very least, she gets a pretty cool and unique design, rather than just being stuck with some derivation of Bullseye proper’s costume.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Lady Bullseye’s base is the same combination of existing body parts that Spinneret used.  It’s not a terrible set-up, since it’s got a good articulation scheme and fairly balanced proportions.  It’s only rather frustrating point is how many holes there are on the back of the torso, just from all of its prior uses.  The WCA Spider-Woman had used the Dagger torso to avoid this issue, and it honestly worked pretty well, so it’s a shame they aren’t doing that more.  Lady Bullseye gets a new head sculpt, which is a pretty nice piece.  It matches well with her usual comics depiction, and manages to give her an expression that doesn’t look totally devoid of emotion, which is always a plus, especially for female characters.  Her paint work does a pretty solid job of capturing her distinctive design, and doing it cleanly.  Lady Bullseye is actually pretty well accessorized, with two sets of hands (in fists and gripping), a katanna, two sais, and two fans, as well as the torso piece for the Mindless One Build-A-Figure.

FIST NINJA

The Hand was lacking in derivatives, apparently, so in addition to the ones we already have, we also got “The Fist.”  You know, it’s like a hand, but more violent!  Do you get it?  Do you?  It’s edgy, right?  All joking aside, the Fist may be a pretty tried concept, but they’re part of Chip Zdarksky’s recently wrapped up DD run, which I did actually enjoy.  Also, it ties in well with the King Daredevil figure from this same assortment, which is cool.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As a derivative of the Hand, the Fist Ninja is, unsurprisingly, using most of the same parts as the standard Hand Ninja.  Honestly, apart from the visible pins, it’s a good set-up of pieces.  The Hand Ninja was a pretty fun figure and, by extension, so is the Fist Ninja.  He gets a new torso, which looks similar to the prior release, but upgrades the articulation scheme, and he also gets a new belt/loincloth piece, which gives him a new spot to stow his sword.  With his sculpt being largely the same, the figure relies on tow things to distinguish him, the first being colors.  He’s not drastically removed from the Hand Ninja, but there’s a fair bit of black accenting the Hand’s predominantly red palette.  I did find the general application of paint to also be sharper on this guy, especially on what we can see of the face. The only thing that slightly annoys me here is the red being ever so slightly different from King Daredevil’s shade.  Why does that annoy me?  I’ll get to that in a moment, when I discuss the other notable change-up from the Hand Ninja: the accessories.  He gets the same sword, as well as one of the two kama from the Hand Ninja, but they’re joined by two sets of hands (in fists and gripping, with the gripping being shared with DD), and an alternate skull head with its own removable hood.  Now, here’s the thing: I’m glad this guy gets the two sets of hands, and it’s cool that the gripping ones are even shared with King DD.  The trouble is that with the shades of red being slightly different between the two, you can’t also use the fists for King DD, which is kind of a bummer.  Ultimately, it’s not really this figure’s fault, though.  In addition to all of his own parts, he also includes the left arm and an extra hand for the Mindless One.

MINDLESS ONE

The Mindless Ones are perhaps one of the more ingenious creations of the early Doctor Strange stories, being a great pre-made army for just about any bad guy to make use of if they so chose.  Despite how tailored they seem to be to unending army building, they’ve never gotten any action figure coverage before this point, which is kind of crazy.  The figure stands just under 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The Mindless One is sporting a brand-new sculpt, which is honestly a touch surprising for a character of this caliber, but certainly welcome.  The sculpt patterned on a more modern incarnation of the Mindless Ones, specifically seeming to be patterned on one of the illustrations from the Marvel: Avengers Alliance game, a frequent source of inspiration for Hasbro’s Legends over the years.  It’s a good sculpt, with plenty of texturing.  He’s big and stocky as well, and the articulation is surprisingly mobile given his size.  His color work is rather on the basic side, since he’s mostly just molded in a dark grey plastic.  He’s got a separate bright red piece for his “eye,” as well as some rather subtle brown accenting on the body.  The Mindless One gets two sets of hands in fists and open gesture, as well as a really cool energy effect piece that plugs into the eye (and is also patterned on the AA illustration).

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This set was an interesting one for me, because I was honestly not very interested at first glance, but it kind of evolved.  My initial plan was to just get DD, Clea, and Power Man.  Then I decided I wanted to keep the Build-A-Figure.  Then, after getting the set in hand, I was invested in Blade enough to keep him as well.  Then I shot the photos, and divvied up the reviews and set up the schedule, and felt really confident about what I was keeping…and then I broke on the Fist Ninja too.  I know, I broke the format!  Ultimately, I like this set a lot more than I’d expected to.  The Mindless One is a ton of fun, as is Clea, and they’re both great debuts for the characters.  Blade and Luke are great versions of the characters, and DD is a solid, fun variant.  And, clearly the Fist Ninja was cool enough to push me to keep him.  Honestly, Lady Bullseye only got cut because I have no real attachment to the character.  Iron Man is the only one that I feel is truly a weak figure, and that’s really just because there’s so many Iron Men to choose from.

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

#3536: Mr Sinister

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

MR SINISTER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0015: Creator Chris Claremont intended for Mr Sinister to be dark take on the “Shazam” concept, revealed to be the projection of Nate, a fellow orphan from Scott’s childhood.

Every so often here, my solid knowledge of toy-related things fails me. Okay, maybe not fails, but lapses. And then I say something definitively, and it’s totally not definitive because it’s actually wrong. Me? Wrong? Believe it or not, it happens. What’s even crazier is that in this instance, it’s about Toy Biz Marvel, which is especially in my wheelhouse. In my review of Mr. Sinister, I referred to him as the repaint, noting that the only difference between the two releases was that the “repaint” lacked the goatee of the original. Turns out I was lying like some kind of lying person. The one I reviewed was in fact the original release. This one? Repaint. Maybe not *the* repaint, but certainly *a* repaint.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr Sinister was released in the 1993 Repaint Series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line…maybe. Here’s the thing about this guy: he’s got a somewhat confusing history. The prototype shots for the repaint series showed the figure seen here, but when the assortment hit retail, the Sinister that showed up was the same as the standard, but with his goatee added. About three years later, the figure that matched the prototype randomly started showing up mixed in with KB Toys’ close out stock of earlier assessments. Did they just, like, forget to pack the new one in and send him out later? Who knows? Certainly not me. I just review figures and get things wrong. The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation. He’s using the same sculpt as the initial release, which, apart from its stiffness, is a pretty good sculpt.  The main change-up to the figure is the cape, which is now a totally red piece.  Beyond that, it’s minor changes, with the neckline becoming a v-neck, and the blue taking on more of an indigo hue than its original release.  His forehead diamond is also a little larger, and, on mine, there’s a red spot on his chin, which looks a little bit like his smaller soul patch look, even if it’s not supposed to.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Keeping track of all of the Sinister variations is definitely a bit tricky.  I got the first one, and since then I’ve been trying to get the other two variants, because I’m weird like that.  I was honestly not even expecting to get this one when I did; a collection came into All Time, and I just assumed the Sinister would be the one I already had, since it’s the most common by far.  But it wasn’t and now I’ve got 2 out of 3!  Noice!

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.

#3535: Clea

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

CLEA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0014:  Despite how many figures her husband Stephen Strange has received over the years, this marks the very first action figure for Clea.

My comics reading is, at its core, very heavily influenced by my dad.  In part, that’s based on what he would buy me to read as a kid, which frequently included copies of some of his favorite stories from when he was growing up.  However, it’s also due to us effectively sharing a reading pile when I was growing up.  This resulted in some quirkier books that he was following becoming my first real introduction to certain characters.  In the early ’00s, Kurt Busiek had a run on Defenders, which eventually spun into The Order, where the “heavy hitter” Defenders went rogue, and it was up to the second stringers (namely Nighthawk, Hellcat, and Valkyrie) to stop them.  At one point, they assemble a team of distaff counterparts to Dr. Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer, which, amongst others features Clea as the counterpart to her husband.  It marked my first introduction to Clea, and it’s stuck with me since.  It sure has taken a long time for a figure of her to finally show up, but here we are.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clea is figure 6 in the Mindless One Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s the final of the singles, and something of an outlier, being a more mystically-themed figure in a set of otherwise Marvel Knights and street-level heroes.  On the flipside, however, she’s the only one that’s got any real ties to the Mindless One Build-A-Figure, so she’s got that going for her.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  She’s making use of a decent little bank of re-used parts, largely centered around a slightly upgraded Phoenix base body.  She’s got a new head, upper torso, and sash piece, which add up to a solid approximation of Clea’s classic design.  All in all, a nice selection of new parts, though her hair on the head sculpt is perhaps a touch flat.  Still, overall not bad.  Clea’s color work is fun, because it’s a lot of purples, and you don’t see those shades quite as often.  The face get’s some very clean, very lifelike work, and the patterning on the legs is surprisingly well handled.  Clea is packed with two sets of hands and two of the swirly effect pieces in purple, as well as the right arm of the Mindless One Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I don’t know that I’d say Clea’s a character I had an undying need for or anything, but at the same time, it’s kind of surprising that she’s never gotten any sort of figure before.  So, in that regard, this figure is pretty cool, and she also turned out pretty nicely on top of that.  But mostly, she makes me want to put together a full line-up of the distaff counterparts from The Order.  What are the odds we might see a Ardina?  Probably really low, right?

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.

#3534: Pre Vizsla

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

PRE VIZSLA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0013:  Despite sharing Jon Favreau as a voice actor and both being Mandalorians, Pre Vizsla and Paz Vizla are actually *not* directly related.

While I was certainly interested in Clone Wars during its first season, it wasn’t until the second season began the first mainstream delve into Mandalorian culture that I really got interested.  It helped that it was a pretty heavily Obi-Wan-led.  Central to the story was Jon Favreau’s *first* Star wars character, Pre Vizsla, who served as a notable antagonist.  I obviously snagged Pre’s first figure, during the show’s tie-in run, but I’ve been hoping to see him crop up in Black Series for a little while.  Hey, would you look at that?  He cropped up in Black Series.  Well, might as well review him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pre Vizsla is figure 17 in the running Clone Wars sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s part of the last assortment from last year, the lone Clone Wars figure in a largely Ahsoka driven set.  While the show tie-in Pre was based on his “Phase I” design, this one (and the VC figure that hit at almost the exact same time) is based on Pre’s later run design, which has previously not gotten toy coverage.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Pre Vizsla is based on the modified Jango Fett body used by the two prior Clone Wars Mandos.  Given that both of them are supposed to be remainders of Pre’s men after Maul and Bo-Katan split them, it does make a degree of sense.  It’s a slightly clunky body, especially in terms of articulation, but something about the QC on this particular release does feel a little slicker than the prior two I’ve gotten.  He gets an new head, helmet, and belt piece, in order to suitably change him up for Pre.  The helmet is a solid recreation of his later design, and gives him a more unique shaping than the others, which I quite like.  The underlying head is okay; it’s not the best work, and winds up looking a little oddly shaped in profile, but from the front it looks pretty good.  I think it’s slightly thrown off by being on the slightly stockier base body, which contrasts with Pre’s rail-thin appearance in the show.  Pre’s color work makes use of a surprising amount of paint.  It’s all pretty cleanly applied, and the armored portions are particularly sleek looking.  The underlying head again gets the short end of the stick, with a particularly wonky hairline.  The work on the scar is pretty cool, though.  Pre is packed with his rocket pack, two blaster pistols, and the Dark Saber.  The rocket is a new piece, with a removable rocket and posable boosters, and it even has a loop on the back to hold the Dark Saber hilt, which is cool.  The Saber is the same mold included with Moff Gideon, but it’s been painted differently.  I think the white outline really works a lot better, and gives the whole thing a nice bit of pop.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I’m not gonna lie, I waffled a little on this guy after his announcement.  I wanted him all that time, and then I saw him, and I just wasn’t sure.  I think it was the re-used body.  But, I saw him in person, and I liked him enough to jump in.  I’m glad I did, because he actually wound up being a bit better than I’d expected.

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.

#3533: Luke Cage – Power Man

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

LUKE CAGE — POWER MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0012: Luke Cage’s first Marvel Legends release was in Toy Biz’s second-to-last series during their run on the line.

When I sat down to write today’s review, I thought to myself “should I maybe review the original Toy Biz Legends Luke Cage?”  And then I remembered that I *already* did, way back in the first year of the site.  Look, you write 3000 of these things, and you start to forget some things.  I looked back on that old review and saw that I was actually pretty brief on its “Me Half” segment.  I didn’t even mention where I got it.  The thing about that particular series was that it’s one of the ones that I actually wanted all of the figures from, and it’s also one where I didn’t want the Build-A-Figure at all.  They hit right around Christmas, so I actually got a good chunk of them as gifts.  Luke is one of two I didn’t get, but I used some of my Christmas money to buy him at Cosmic Comix, and I was actually pretty happy to get him at the time.  That figure held up better than some of the others from the set, but he’s still more than 15 years old, so you need some updates from time to time.  And I’m certainly not one to say no to a classic Luke Cage!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Cage Power Man is figure 4 in the Mindless Ones Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s a pretty natural fit for the overall Marvel Knights theme of the set.  This is actually Luke’s first standard release Legends figure since the Toy Biz days, as well as his first proper update to the ’70s look.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Luke’s sculpt is an all-new one, which is a pretty solid offering.  It’s clean and well defined, and definitely gets the outfit down.  The head’s a little bit bland in terms of expression; I don’t mind a Luke that’s slightly less angry than the first Legend, but this one feels like it dials things back maybe a touch too far.  Still, it’s hardly a bad sculpt.  The only other quirk to the sculpt is how the shirt works; the torso portion is a separate piece from his actual chest, which isn’t generally a bad look, but the holes for the arms are cut a little too large, revealing the chest beneath.  It’s looks a little awkward during certain posing.  Luke’s color work is a lot of molded colors, which works well to keep him clean looking.  He gets paint on his face, which is clean and lifelike.  Luke is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as the left leg to the Mindless One Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I’ve not gotten any Legends Luke Cages since the first one, because I just never found one that I liked in the mean time.  I’m not opposed to his more recent designs, but I guess I just hadn’t found the right toy version of any of those looks.  Whatever the case, I’m always going to have a soft spot for this look, so its announcement was definitely cool.  In hand, he’s not perfect, but still solid, which makes him a pretty spot-on successor to the original.  Now, I’d really love a ’70s Iron Fist to go with 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.

#3530: Blade

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

BLADE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0009: Blade’s first Marvel Legends figure was movie based, and it would take until 2017 for him to actually get a comics-based Legend.  At least the follow-up wasn’t *quite* that bad.

My first introduction to Blade was Spider-Man: The Animated Series, a depiction that made me not jive so much with the Wesley Snipes version of the character from the first movie.  In my defense, I was also kind of 5, and an R-rated super hero movie really wasn’t for me.  Whatever the case, it’s kind of created a division between me and the character, so I never really got into him, beyond perhaps the novelty of him and Moon Knight being each other’s equivalent marks in Marvel’s ’70s horror books.  I do really like his ’70s design, hokey as it may be, but that one’s been rather light on the toy coverage.  As it stands, I haven’t actually owned a Blade figure at all…until now.  How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blade is figure 2 in the Mindless One Series of Marvel Legends.  It’s a Marvel Knights themed set, and he definitely vibes with that (enough that he’s been in both of the two Knights assortments).  Despite including a Build-A-Figure piece, Blade’s this assortment’s double pack.  It makes sense, given how popular his prior figures have been, but it definitely feels like it may have been a late call on Hasbro’s part.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Construction wise, he’s using the torso from the last Blade, as well as the arms from ’90s Havok.  Beyond that, he appears to be an all-new set-up.  The sculpt for this guy is pretty solid.  The only real downside I can really find is that his arms can’t really sit flush with his torso, but that’s always been an issue with this mold.  The design here looks to be an amalgamation of a few Blade designs from over the years, settling on something that generally approximates the overall vibe of his early ’00s appearances, post live action movie redesign.  It’s not first appearance Blade, but it’s certainly a very memorable take on him, so I get it.  It’s also very definitely a post-bitten by Morbius Blade, as the headsculpt so clearly shows, with his vampire teeth-baring expression.  It’s certainly a far cry from the last figure’s very pointedly calm expression.  It’s quite dynamic, to be sure.  Blade’s color work is very dark, as expected.  It’s not all strictly black, though.  The jacket and boots are, but the body beneath is a dark grey, and he’s even got a red lining on the coat.  There’s not a ton of paint, with it mostly being limited to the head.  What’s there is very cleanly applied, though.  Blade is packed with a sword, two stakes, two hand-held blade thingies, two pairs of hands (gripping and fists), and the head and energy effect to the Mindless One Build-A-Figure.  That’s actually quite a lot, making Blade one of the few Legends recently to not feel at all light on on extras.  I’d personally have liked an extra head, but I can’t fault them for going with what they did.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I was prepared not to be all that into this figure.  Like I said, my attachment to Blade is minimal.  But, I get *why* this figure got made, and I do like this design more than any of the prior releases.  Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  He’s actually pretty fun.  I’m still holding out hope on that ’70s style Blade sometime soon, but until then, this guy’s a respectable stand-in.

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.

#3529: Professor Huyang

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

PROFESSOR HUYANG

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0008: Huyang’s actor David Tennant is one of two actors in Ahsoka to reprise a role they originated.

While I pretty faithfully watched the first two seasons or two of Clone Wars‘ original run, after that my viewing got rather spotty, so I missed a lot of its later additions to the lore.  As such, my first exposure to a lot of its later characters happened during my first proper watch-through, which I did after the whole series got added to Disney+ at launch in 2019.  David Tennant’s Huyang hails from a set of episodes that  otherwise didn’t really care for, but he was certainly a pleasant surprise.  It was a shame that he came into the picture after the tie-in toyline had started to die down.  Thankfully, he was brought back for Ahsoka, giving him another go at this whole action figure thing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Professor Huyang is figure 7 in the Ahsoka sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘ Phase IV run, and is the third and final Ahsoka-themed figure in the last assortment to hit last year.  This is Huyang’s first figure, but he’ll also be getting a Vintage Collection release later down the line.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation on his core body, plus an extra 6 points granted by the arms on his back-pack. Huyang has a generally pretty decently handled articulation scheme, especially for his design. His right shoulder is a little stuck and stubborn on my copy, and the skirt piece restricts the hip movement a touch, but the range is otherwise pretty impressive, and I was surprised by how stable he was on his feet. The sculpt is an all-new one, and it’s a rather good one at that. Huyang’s design from the show is replicated well, especially when it comes to the more intricate details of his robotic plating. The wiring at the midsection is a little soft, but not terribly so. Huyang’s color work relies pretty heavily on molded plastic, and I’m typically not a huge fan of that when it comes to metallic finishes. In Huyang’s case, I find it doesn’t bug me as much. In the show, he’s not really got the same metallic look as other droids, and this plastic’s also not the swirly kind, so it just works out better. There’s still a fair bit of paint, which is cleanly applied, and hits most of the marks it needs to. The only spot that really feels as though it’s missing application is the tool belt, which is untouched, except for the buckle. Huyang is packed with his pack with the extra arms, a data pad, and a…tool? I don’t know what it is, and even the Hasbro photographers have him holding it quizzically in the stock shots, so it appears even they don’t know for sure. Hey, it’s better that nothing, right?

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I like droids and I like David Tennant, so it makes sense that I’d like Huyang. After Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Hera, Huyang was my favorite part of Ahsoka, and his figure is probably the most I’ve truly enjoyed a Black Series figure in a little while.

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.

#3528: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0007:  This is the 20th Daredevil figure I’ve looked at here on the site! Sub-FiQ Fact, I know I just used this for Nightwing last week, but it’s also amusing that the two baton boy acrobats are so close in numbers, right?

I’ve been off and on with Daredevil’s comic runs pretty much since I started reading comics.  Waid and Samnee’s run from a few years back is one of my absolute favorite comics runs ever, and I dropped off the book for a bit after that because, well, how do you follow that up?  I jumped back in with Chip Zdarsky’s run when it started, and while it didn’t hook me quite the same way as the Waid/Samnee run, it was still a strong run in its own right.  It removes Matt from the title role for a while, granting Elektra the spotlight, but when Matt came back, he got a swanky new look, and I’m pretty much always down for a new Daredevil look.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil is the unnumbered figure in the Mindless One Series of Marvel Legends, which is our second Marvel Knights-themed series, following up on the Man-Thing Series from way back in 2017.  Curiously, while DD is the unnumbered figure and is sans-BaF piece, he’s *not* the set’s double pack in the case, which is a bit of a change-up to how things normally are.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His articulation set-up is notably a little stiff, especially for a character like Matt, but its generally comparable to the Bucky Cape base that he’s been on previously, I suppose.  It’s also pinless, so at least it looks pretty smooth.  Matt gets a brand new sculpt, based on his “King Daredevil” look from the comics.  It’s essentially taking the costume Elektra was wearing during her time with the mantle and adapting to Matt, which isn’t a terrible way of handling things.  Since taking up the look was preceded by Matt doing a stint in prison, he grew out a beard, which is probably the biggest real visual change, though he also gains a lot more black, as well as adding wraps on the feet to the handwraps that have become a go-to for modern updates to the DD look. The sculpt generally translates the look into figure form pretty decently, with the only specific nit being that his collar piece is missing the hood section from the comics. It sort of came and went there, though, so it’s possible it was actually meant to be a separate piece. Otherwise, the sculpt conveys the book design well, and there’s plenty of depth of detail mixed in. His color work is pretty basic, largely relying on molded colors. Weirdly, his shoulder joints are molded in red, despite them only being visible in sections of the shoulder that are black, which is annoying. Also, his ears wind up being painted to match his beard, which is just plain incorrect. At least the red/black break up is very clean. DD is packed with his usual two piece billy club set-up, as well as a longer bladed staff. It definitely feels light. At the very least, some extra hands would be appreciated, but a hood piece would also have been nice.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This guy felt pretty inevitable once we got the Elektra version, and it was ultimately his announcement that truly sold me on that figure. I dig a good Matt DD variant. This one isn’t as strong as other recent DD figures, but he’s still a respectably fun figure in his own right.

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.

#3527: Orko

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

ORKO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE REACTION FIGURES (SUPER 7)

Fun FiQ Fact #0006: In both the original ’80s Filmation Masters of the Universe and the 2002 re-boot, Orko and Mekaneck share a voice actor, Filmation founder Lou Scheimer in the ’80s and Gabe Khouth in the ’00s.

I’m not a hardcore Masters of the Universe fan by any means, but I’ve got a shortlist of three characters that I like to have in every possible style.  Number three on that list is He-Man’s plucky comic relief sidekick Orko, who I’ve had a soft spot for since I was rather young.  Yes, kid me saw the appeal of the kid-appeal character.  I was an easy target.  Super 7’s ReAction line is an ill-explored one in my collection, but I did get the Mekaneck back when he first hit, but I passed on Orko at the time, and he sold out.  He has eluded me for a bit, but no figure escapes me forever.  Oh, no.  I’m like a mounty: I always get my man.  Or…you know, action figure.  I’m like an action figure mounty.  Sure, let’s go with that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko was part of Series 2 of the Masters of the Universe ReAction Figures, which is interestingly enough, the same one that had Mekaneck.  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Orko doesn’t tend to get the same articulation as the rest of the characters, but this one actually gets the same set-up as everyone else, giving him some of the best mobility of any Orko figure.  He actually has “legs” to move, which is unique to this particular Orko.  As per usual for the character, Orko gets a unique sculpt.  It captures the style of the line nicely, and also requires less adjustments to his character design than some of the others.  His arms are a little longer, but not by much, and overall, he gets all the important details you need to sell Orko’s look.  Orko’s color work is his usual set-up; the paint work is a little spotty on the ears (a classic issue with Orko figures), but otherwise it’s pretty clean.  Orko is packed with his wand, which for this release is just a simple yellow cylinder, rather than anything more ornate.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Since I missed out on grabbing Orko from All Time back when he was new, I’ve been waiting for one to come through, and one did indeed, just last week, in fact.  I’ve been stepping back my pick-ups recently, but he was worthy enough to bring home.  He’s a fun little version of the character.  Plus, he gave me an excuse to introduce my daughter to Orko, which is always a fun time!

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.

#3522: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: HUSH MAFEX (MEDICOM TOY)

Welcome back guys!  I’m…well, refreshed isn’t the right word to use for my post-Christmas break state, since I pretty much just spent the week dealing with the flu, but…it’s a week later?  Yep, that’s it.  First things first: I’ve got a bit of updating to be done.  I’ll be honest with you all, after ten years of doing the site, it’s become routine, and out of routine can come monotony.  And monotony doesn’t make for exciting writing or exciting reading.  And, if I’m not having fun here, then I ask you, what’s the damn point?  I might as well pack the whole thing up.  But I don’t wanna do that, so I’m going to tweak my formula a bit.  Namely, since I know from at least some portion of my readership, that the “Me Half of the Equation” is the bit they read first before going back to the rest if they think it’s worth it, and it’s also my favorite part to write, I’m moving it to the top.  Well, some of it, at least.  Overall assessment of the figure and post-review wrap-up will still be at the end, but the more interesting interludes are now starting things off.  Additionally, I’m going to try to give my reviews a little bit of a peppy-fun-type fact of the day, be it tied to the item’s history, or to my own, because I think that sounds fun.  And, because this is my site, I totally reserve the right to reverse the whole thing and go back to the old style.  We’ll see.  Awaaaaaaay we gooooo!

Fun FiQ Fact #0001:  Dick Grayson is not DC’s first character to use the name Nightwing; in the Silver Age, Superman used the identity while fighting crime in the Bottle City of Kandor, and eventually passed it on to his cousin Van-Zee.

A good portion of my modern DC collecting is owed to early ’00s DC Direct, and one of the most formative lines for me was Batman: Hush, based on Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s run on Batman.  In particular, it was the line’s second series, which featured Nightwing, which got me downright addicted.  I had the release date memorized, and I’d check DCD’s shipping schedules every week for it.  I’d ask about it at Cosmic Comix.  I had pictures saved on my desktop.  The figures haunted my dreams.  And Nightwing stood above them all.  So, when they finally *did* show up, and he was the one that was already gone when I got there, it only made the obsession worse.  Thankfully, it wasn’t a long wait for a restock, and I did get one, which I loved to pieces.  No, seriously, to pieces, because it was a ’00s DCD figure and they had the durability of wet toilet paper.  I’ve still got him, but he’s more glue than plastic at this point, I think.  Still, I do love that Jim Lee Nightwing.  And then MAFEX comes along, with they’re updates to the Hush figures, and Nightwing’s there, and there’s *literally* no way I’m missing that one, right?  Not on your life.  It was another long wait, and one that made me very much remember the wait for the original, but that’s honestly pretty appropriate, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is figure 175 in Medicom’s MAFEX line-up, and is the most current of the line’s Hush tie-in figures, though Ivy is close behind. The figure stands right at about 6 inches tall and he has 43 points of articulation. The movement here is very similar to that of Hush, albeit less restricted, since Dick doesn’t have the trench coat to worry about. It’s a very handy articulation set-up for a guy who’s a trained acrobat, so that’s a very definite plus. Nightwing sports a sculpt based on Jim Lee’s illustrations of the character from the book. Lee’s take on the design isn’t drastically different from the design that came before it, but he ditches the padding on the forearms and shins, resulting in a far more streamlined look, and one that’s, quite frankly, Nightwing’s best.  As with the other two MAFEXes I’ve looked at, the Jim Lee stylings are captured very nicely here, and in general, he makes for a very clean transition to toy form. Like the others, Nightwing gets two different heads, one calmer, and one gritting his teeth. They’re both very nice, very sharp sculpts, which really look the part. Nightwing’s color work is pretty much what it needs to be. It’s basic, but clean. The blue is appropriately bright and eye-catching, and they’ve even remembered to make the mask on both heads blue, fixing the error we saw on the Icons figure. Nightwing is packed with six pairs of hands (in fists, gripping, flat, open gesture, relaxed, and stick twirling), two standard eskrima sticks, one pair of sticks with a posable wire running between them, an alternate back piece with stick storage, and a display stand. I love all the options for the sticks, though I did have some difficulty getting the spinning ones to stay on their matching hands.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

My very long wait for this guy was brought to an end courtesy of All Time Toys owner Jason, who gave me this one as a Christmas present (well, this was my more store related gift; I also got a spot cleaner for carpets, which excites me because I’m apparently an old person now). I very much enjoy him. I’ve got a lot of Nightwings, but this one is the best.