Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#3397: Wonder Man

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

WONDER MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Longtime Avenger Simon Williams makes a move out West to join his friends as a founding member of the West-Coast Avengers”

When he was introduced in Avengers #9, Wonder Man was originally intended to only be a one-off character, seeing as he died at the end of his first appearance and all. This was further solidified by DC Comics letting Marvel know that they weren’t really fans of a “Wonder Man” potentially confusing readers of their own “Wonder Woman”. Marvel repurposed much of Wonder Man’s arc with the similarly powered Power Man…and then DC introduced a “Power Girl”, and Marvel decided all bets were off and brought Wonder Man back from the dead. When Simon came back, he held onto his original green outfit for a bit, before getting a George Perez designed update.  That update (dubbed by some fans as one of his worst, though I don’t fall in with them myself) was itself pretty short-lived, and was damaged just a few issues later.  Simon donned what was meant to be civilian garb in the mean time, but the look, which featured a pair of sunglasses and a distinctive red safari jacket, wound up sticking, lasting over seven years.  It’s a rarity on the toy front, but it’s gotten a Minimate, and now, it’s also got a Marvel Legend.  And, would you look at that?  I’ve made it all the way through this intro without totally going crazy about the fact that THEY TOTALLY MADE A SAFARI JACKET WONDER MAN MARVEL LEGEND AND IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED AND ITS BEEN MADE AND NOW IT HAVE IT AND I’M TOTALLY GONNA REVIEW IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

…sorry, I could only hold that in for so long.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wonder Man is figure 4 in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends, which is this year’s first Avengers line-up.  This figure marks Simon’s second Legends figure from Hasbro (the last one was back in the Abomination Series), and his fourth overall (counting the Toy Biz version and his variant).  Thus far, they’ve all been based on different outfits, and not exactly in any particular order at that.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation (though that ab-crunch is largely rendered motionless by the jacket).  Wonder Man makes use of the jumpsuited-base body from Red Skull, along with the arm bands from Genis-Vell, and a new head, jacket, and turtleneck piece.  The new parts are courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding, and the head in particular is really the star piece here.  Harding has his own running project called “Marvel in the 70s”, and this piece is definitely designed to fit right in with those.  He captures that classic Perez feel, without actually being too artist-specific.  I especially love that toothy grin; perfect for the character, especially in this incarnation.  Wonder Man figures so frequently look rather dour, so this one is a very refreshing change of pace.  On my figure, his glasses are ever so slightly askew in their attachment, which appears to be a recurring thing, but it’s honestly minor, and easily fixed if one is so inclined.  The color work on this guy is quite bright and colorful, exactly as you’d hope to see for this design.  It’s largely molded colors, which keeps it pretty clean.  He gets a little bit of painted detailing for the silver on his zipper, as well as printing for the face.  The glasses are transparent, so you can make out the eyes beneath, which is definitely a cool touch.  Wonder Man is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as rocket effects to plug into the sides of his belt, and the left arm of Puff Adder.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been a Wonder Man fan since Busiek and Perez’s Avengers #2 hit in 1998, and I first asked my dad who the heck this Wonder Man guy was.  Once I figured out who he was, I started reading whatever I could of him, and one of my favorites was his 1986 one-shot, which features him in the Safari Jacket get-up, which quickly became my favorite of his looks.  I’ve honestly been waiting for a good figure of it since then, and it’s been a long wait.  Thankfully, this isn’t just a good figure, it’s a great figure.  Such a great figure.

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

#3396: Star-Lord

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

STAR-LORD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Peter Quill must do whatever it takes to save a friend whose life is in danger.”

Oh, man, what are we looking at today?  Is it more Marvel Legends?  Of course it is, silly.  Why would it be anything else?  There’s, like, five assortments that hit all at once.  I gotta get through them somehow.  When the first Guardians of the Galaxy was released, Star-Lord was a very minor Marvel character, played by a guy whose main claim to fame was as a supporting player on an NBC sit-com.  Three films and just shy of a decade later, Star-Lord’s a household name, played by a movie star who’s in literally everything.  Seriously, they just announced a film adaptation of the Figure in Question, and Chris Pratt’s playing the Question Mark Guy.  Who does this guy know?  Well, let’s just jump into the review before I too am replaced by Chris Pratt.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Star-Lord is the un-numbered double pack figure for the Cosmo Series of Marvel Legends, which serves as the tie-in assortment for Guardians Vol 3.  Remember the days when they had to rely on Iron Man as the assortment’s heavy hitter?  After several figures detailing various variations on his Ravager look, this time around Star-Lord’s sporting his new, more comics-inspired team suit.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  This Star-Lord makes use of a lot of parts from his Vol. 2 sculpt.  It’s not a perfect match for his look in the movie, but it’s close enough to fudge it.  He gets a new head and torso to sell it.  The new head is Hasbro’s best Pratt likeness to date, which is saying something, because the Vol. 2 head was honestly pretty good itself.  But, this one just showcases the subtle improvement’s Hasbro’s made in the six years since the last one, and it really works in his favor.  The coloring on Star-Lord is a bit different, since he’s got the new color scheme for the uniform.  The head gets the printing, which is nice and lifelike, and one of the big improvements over the last one.  The uniform is generally pretty solid in its paint, though they did go a bit more basic on the smaller details.  That said, the major elements are all there, which sells the main look well.  Peter’s a little light on the accessories front, getting only a pair of blasters.  They aren’t his usual blasters, and are instead modified to only feature the top blaster element.  It’s noteworthy that he actually uses his classic blasters with this look, and uses the modified ones while incognito during the film’s heist sequence.  That said, I don’t mind the new pieces as an option, especially since we’ve gotten the other ones so many times before.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I kind of thought I was done needing new Star-Lord figures after Vol. 2, and I’d even skipped the Love and Thunder version to illustrate that point.  That said, I hadn’t anticipated the proper team suits, and at that point, they got me back in.  How dare they?  He’s not a perfect figure, and he’s definitely light on the accessories, but I enjoy 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.

#3395: Banshee, Gambit, & Psylocke

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

BANSHEE, GAMBIT, & PSYLOCKE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Intrigue over the throne of the Shi’ar Empire has drawn Banshee and his sonic scream to space fighting alongside fellow X-Men…or possibly against them. New recruit Gambit leaps and blasts his way through the Starjammers and Imperial Guard with his kinetically-charged deck of cards and bo staff. Telepath Betsy Braddock cuts through secret plots that lurk on Shi’ar homeworld Chandilar with her psychic blades.”

At the tail end of the ’80s going into the ’90s, eventual superstar artist Jim Lee became Uncanny X-Men‘s regular penciller.  He would eventually pay a major role in a revamp the entire line, but before that, he did some slightly more minor re-working in Uncanny.  Since the founding five were still over in X-Factor, and Nightcrawler and Kitty had moved over to Excalibur, Uncanny placed its focus on some of the more minor characters, who were at that point still bouncing around Muir Island.  This more eclectic (at the time) cast of characters were given an updated version of the original matching X-uniforms and rebranded as the “Strike Force Team.”  While the looks were generally short-lived, they serve as a great excuse for a toy companies to put out a whole set of popular X-Men with one consistent look, utilizing very similar tooling for the figures.  As part of the 60th Anniversary of the X-Men, Hasbro’s decided to jump on that particular band-wagon, putting out the whole team at once.  Today, I’m looking at three of those figures.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Banshee, Gambit, and Psylocke are one of the pair of Marvel Legends three-packs (the other one featuring Storm, Forge, and Jubilee) that, in conjunction with the single-release Wolverine from the last retro card assortment, give us the whole seven-member line-up of the Strike Force.  All of them are based on their designs from Uncanny X-Men #275, where the team debuted.

BANSHEE

Okay, let’s all be clear on the real selling point of this set: it’s Banshee.  Banshee was one of the very first Marvel Legends from Hasbro….and it wasn’t exactly a high point for the line.  It was also 16 years ago, and sporting his classic green and yellow, rather than the blue and gold.  Banshee was one of two characters to keep the Strike Force uniform as his main look into the larger ’90s relaunch, which gives this one a little extra range, adding to the hook of him selling the set.  Gotta have him for that X-Men #1 line-up.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Banshee is built on the Vulcan base body, with the Lee-strap-bearing legs from Morph, as well as a new set of forearms, a modified upper torso with a collar, and two new head sculpts, all supplied by sculptor Paul Harding. The last Banshee was built on the Bullseye body, which was still new at the time. The Vulcan is a replacement for the Bucky Cap, which was itself the effective replacement for the Bullseye, which makes this a solid choice for Banshee. The new pieces are definitely fun. The two heads give us options for screaming or not, as well as offering up two different hair styles. The calm head gets his muttonchops and is decidedly very ’70s, so it’s definitely my favorite of the two. I’m sure it’s also already tapped for reuse on the inevitable green Banshee. Banshee’s wings are cloth pieces, which is pretty standard. I’m not super keen on the big tabs sticking off of the body to attach them, but at least they don’t constantly fall off the way the original did. Like Syrin, they’re only printed on one side, but at least the way they hang, you won’t really see that. Banshee’s color work is nice and bold. A lot of it’s molded colors, which keeps it very clean. The faces get the printing, which looks lifelike, and what paint is there is cleanly applied. Banshee gets two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.

GAMBIT

The Strike Force set-up was an important one for Gambit, who wasn’t yet a proper member of the team prior to that sequence of events, but wound up a series regular for quite a while afterwards. He’s had a couple of figures with this look in the past, though no Legends. He was actually amongst the possible candidates for the Fan Poll figure in 2007, but lost out to AoA Sunfire, who actually managed to get two whole figures before this guy got one. The 2007 figure would have gotten a sculpted jacket, though, while this one goes sans-jacket instead. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation. His construction is a lot of the same parts used for Banshee, but without the wings, and with a different collar piece. He gets a brand new sculpt, also from Paul Harding. I think that the Retro card release still has my favorite sculpt for the character, but this one’s absolutely no slouch, and certainly a close second. His color work is similar to Banshee, as expected. It’s bold and clean. The face is printed, which does the sculpt a lot of favors. The headgear on mine has a couple of noticeable paint chips, which aren’t awful, but are a little annoying. Gambit is packed with standard gripping hands for both sides, as well as two alternate lefts, one for holding a single card, the other throwing three of them. He also gets his single charged card, his staff, and a satchel (re-used from Green Goblin).

PSYLOCKE

Is it really an X-Men three-pack without a Psylocke?  I mean, okay, sure, it is sometimes, but also there’s been three separate instances where she’s been part of one, so, like, that’s kind of crazy, right?  I mean, seriously, we’ve had four Psylocke Legends under Hasbro, and three of them were in three-packs.  It’s an interesting metric.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation.  Psylocke is sporting the body that’s been designed to be the female equivalent of the base body Banshee and Gambit are sporting, and it’s also shared with Storm from the other pack.  It seems maybe a touch squat and short for Betsy at this period in the comics, but overall it works reasonably well-enough.  She gets an all-new head sculpt, which gives us Psylocke with a ponytail, which is at least a more unique set-up.  Her color work matches up with what we saw on the other two in the set; it’s bright and colorful, and the application on the paint is fairly crisp and clean.  Psylocke is packed with two sets of hands, one set in gripping, one in a flat/fist combo, as well as her assortment of psychic weapons (the psychic knife, katana, and effect piece) from the last two releases.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been waiting for an update to Banshee since…well, shortly after the release of the last Banshee, really.  With Black Tom and Siryn getting updates, the lack of an updated Sean was getting really notable.  This one isn’t the look I wanted the most, but it’s still a good one, and it’s a key look for the Lee X-Men line-up.  He’s also a pretty strong figure in general, and definitely feels worth the wait.  Oh, and there’s the other two figures, too.  They’re fine, I guess.  They’re not Banshee, though.  So.  You know.

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.

#3394: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With the loss of Jean Grey still weighing on the team, Cyclops must rally the X-Men to face unprecedented new threats.”

At the turn of the millennium, the X-Men were in a rather creatively bankrupt spot, having burned out exactly all of the momentum they had built up at the beginning of the prior decade.  In order to rejuvenate things, as well as bring things more in line with the first live action film, Marvel hired JLA scribe Grant Morrison, who did a hefty re-work on the team.  And, at the end of Morrison’s run, which was admittedly a rather self-contained story, they needed to re-work things again to keep them rolling forward.  So, they brought in another big-name writer, Joss Whedon, and paired him with a big-name artist, John Cassidy, and they launched Astonishing X-Men.  The results were admittedly pretty mixed, and ultimately, the book kind of thrashed around without purpose for another good while.  But Cassidy did at least come up with some pretty cool costume designs for the team, and that included a cool Cyclops who also makes for a cool figure.  Neat.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is the one unnumbered figure in the Ch’od Series of Marvel Legends, which is the second X-Men assortment of the year, and the first to get a Build-A-Figure.  Cyclops himself is the non-Build-A-Figure-piece-bearing double-pack figure for the assortment.  He’s based specifically on Cassidy’s revamped costume for the character, and marks the second time the look has been adapted to Legends, following one waaaaaay back in Hasbro’s first year with the license. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation. His articulation scheme is pretty much the same as the Vulcan body, which is a pretty good set-up for Scott. That being said, his actual sculpt doesn’t appear to be borrowing any parts from the Vulcan body, instead being and all-new offering, courtesy of Rene Aldrete. It matches the build of the Vulcan base, which is a good fit for Scott, but adds all of the specific elements for this particular design, with all of the piping, seams, and buckles being 3D elements. It works quite well. I’m not a fan of how the wrist pieces sit, but beyond that, I do like it. The head in particular is rather fun; the little bit of stray energy trailing from his visor is a unique touch.  Though not advertised anywhere, like, at all, the energy effect can be removed, if you so choose.  It leaves quite an indent on the head, and you can’t swap it for other blast effects, which is a slight bummer, but the options are nice. Cyclops’s color work is pretty solid. Not a ton going on, but what’s there is very clean, and gets the job done. Cyclops is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and a relaxed/visor operating combo. It’s a bit light, given he’s got no Build-A-Figure piece, but he’s also a totally new sculpt, so it’s offset.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Astonishing X-Men was the first X-book I actively read while it was coming out, so I have a bit of a nostalgic kick for it. Admittedly, it doesn’t really hold up in the end, but there’s no denying that Cassidy’s art was its strongest suit. And I’m always a sucker for a new Cyclops. This one is quite nice. Is he VHS Cyclops? No, but he’s still very nice, and it’s clear a lot of care went into 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.

#3393: Ant-Man

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

ANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“While he occasionally dons the Ant-Man suit to promote his new autobiography, Scott Lang has put his super hero days behind him to bond with his daughter, Cassie.”

Remember when people could just, like, enjoy movies for what they are and not have to just tear every little thing apart? Me either. Well, earlier this year, we got our third Ant-Man film, Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. It was officially the worst Marvel movie ever, taking the title fromLove & Thunder, which took the title from Eternals, which took it from Captain Marvel, maybe? I don’t know. Look, guys, I’m gonna level with you all on this one: Quantumania is hardly the worst Marvel movie. It’s not even close. Some of you haven’t seen the 1990 Captain America, and it really shows, okay? I promise, if the MCU puts out a worse product than that, I’ll let you all know.  In the mean time, let’s talk about something that’s *not* the 1990 Captain America, and also doesn’t make me want to blow my brains out:  Quantumania!  Or, more specifically, it’s version of Ant-Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ant-Man is the one non-Build-A-Figure-piece-bearing figure in the Cassie Lang Series of Marvel Legends, which is the tie-in assortment for Quantumania.  Due to schedule shifts for the movie, the tie-in assortment wound up trailing the film release by about 2 1/2 months, hitting retail in that April-May window.  Not exactly striking while the iron was hot, but they at least got out before the movie switched over to streaming.  Scott’s gotten some sort of upgrade to his suit for most of his cinematic appearances, and Quantumania keeps that trend going.  It’s another batch of smaller adjustments adding up to a fairly similar looking design, at least at first glance.  This one’s a little more segmented on the red parts, as well as further downplaying the silver a bit more, and is also just generally a bit more streamlined than his prior looks.  I for one am most excited about him finally getting the black circle on his chest, which has been missing from the previous designs.  Ant-Man needs his black circle chest, you guys.  The figure stands a little shy of 6 1/4 inches tall (making him the shortest of the MCU Ant-Man Legends figures) and he has 29 points of articulation.  The last few MCU Ant-Men have had slightly more stilted movement, but this guy actually gets a pretty solid articulation set-up.  There’s still a little bit of restriction on that mid-torso joint, but it’s not bad.  I particularly like the range on the neck joint.  Ant-Man gets an all-new sculpt, and it’s definitely my favorite MCU Ant-Man sculpt to date.  It’s actually pretty spot-on to the film design, in contrast with the concept work for the first film and Civil War figures, and the scaling relative to other figures feels a bit more on point this time around.  I was also very thrilled to see that Scott finally got transparent lenses on a 6-inch figure.  I was really bummed that the AM&TW figure just got the painted ones, and this one winds up looking really good.  It just adds so much to the figure.  The color work on this guy is pretty decently rendered.  His paint drops a few of the smaller silver details, but really only where they’re outlining something else that’s already painted.  The detailing is all sharply handled, and he gets all of the main design elements, with nothing major getting skipped over this time.  He’s packed with two sets of hands, in fists and a pointing/open gesture combo, as well as an unmasked head.  I like the extra hands.  I’m not much of a fan of the unmasked sculpt.  The renders looked okay, but it seems like something happened to the mold during manufacturing, because the face and hair don’t look like they’ve gone together the right way.  It’s also a little large compared to the helmeted head.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t really think much of this guy when the figures were shown off, and was really only interested in this assortment’s Build-A-Figure.  I had the last Ant-Man, and I figured that was good enough.  However, I got the opportunity to mess with the whole set for review purposes, and discovered that I actually really, really liked this guy.  The unmasked head’s kind of a dud, but all of the unmasked Rudd heads kind of have been.  This guy is by far the best MCU Ant-Man release, though, so I’m opting to upgrade to this one for my main collection.

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

#3392: Ultimate Captain America

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

ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The Captain America of the Ultimate Universe has served as the Allies’ super-soldier in World War II, the leader of the first Ultimates team”

You know, it’s kind of crazy, but in the ten years I’ve been doing some sort of Captain America reviews in July 4th, I’ve never actually reviewed a new item on the day. I’m just bad at saving that sort of thing up, I guess. Well, I did it this year! So a-ha!

For today’s review, I’d jumping into an area of Captain America stuff that I only very rarely venture into: The Ultimates.  I’ve made it no secret that I’m not much of a fan of the Ultimate Universe’s take on Steve Rogers, at least from a characterization side, but on the flip side, he definitely made out pretty well from the design side of things.  While his altered WW2 uniform is my main jam from that line, his modern day outfits are no slouch either, and they all certainly make for some pretty good toys, including Cap’s most recent Legends treatment.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultimate Captain America is figure 6 in the Puff Adder Series of Marvel Legends, which is 2023’s first Avengers-centric assortment.  It’s a real mix of looks, with Cap representing the “modern” side..or at least as modern as any design from 20 years ago can really be.  Cap is based on his main look from the first Ultimates, which is his most distinctive, so it makes sense.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  Cap’s articulation is really just a set of butterfly shoulders away from being the best the line has to offer, and even then, it’s still very good.  He’s got the pinless construction on his arms and legs, and his mid torso is a ball-joint, in contrast to the ab-crunch we’ve seen the last few times.  It all makes for quite a fluid set-up to the movement, and I very much dig it.  When this figure was first shown off, I had assumed that he’d be making liberal use of parts from the 80th Cap body, since that’s the new standard.  I was rather surprised to get him in hand and discover he’s actually sporting an entirely new sculpt, courtesy of Rene Aldrete.  It maintains a nice bit of internal consistency with how the two Anniversary Caps were handled, but just improves the layout of the articulation, as well as adding a bit more depth to the detailing of his actual suit.  Ultimate Cap may not be my go-to design, but this sculpt certainly takes advantage of the additional elements Hitch’s design added.  Cap’s got two new heads, one calm, the other angry.  They’re both a bit meaner than the 20th Cap heads, which is appropriate for this version of the character, but they still look like the same guy, which is especially impressive given the change of sculptor between the two releases.  Of the two, I do like the calmer look just a touch more, but the teeth-gritting look makes for some fun action poses.  Cap’s color work is a little more in depth than a “classic” Cap, largely because of the little bit of grey and brown added to the design.  His paint work is still more on the basic side, which works well enough.  On mine, the paint on the face and the emblem are prone to rubbing away a little easier than I’d like, so do be careful with those spots.  Cap is packed with two sets of hands (fists, and a gripping/open gesture combo), his shield, and the head of the Puff Adder Build-A-Figure.  The shield is the same base mold as the one included with the 20th Cap, but without the holes for the effects this time.  Unfortunately, the actual painted detailing isn’t the same between the two, so it’s not a clean swap if you’re looking to replace the 20th, but it’s at least a step in the right direction.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Legends has been incrementally giving us better and better Captain America figures as its gone along, and Hasbro set themselves a very high bar with last year’s 20th Cap, which was *so* close to being the perfect Cap figure.  When this one was announced I didn’t pay a ton of attention to it, but figured I’d at least grab it on the basis of it looking like a decent Cap.  It’s sooooooooooooooooooo much better than I was expecting.  He’s not a classic Cap, and for that reason, he’s not dethroning the 20th version, but boy is he just a very, very nicely done figure.  Hasbro has now gotten me to be genuinely excited about two Legends Ultimate Caps.  I don’t like Ultimate Cap.  I swear.

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

#3391: Groot

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

GROOT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Grown into a more mature tree, Groot uses his new body changes and more advanced skills to help build Knowhere and protect his family.”

And we all know there’s nothing more important to Vin Diesel than family…

So, you know how I’ve gotten you guys all accustomed to this lovely sort of curated mix of old and new for my reviews the last few months? Hasn’t that been nice? Isn’t spacing everything out super nice? It sure is. Nobody told that to Hasbro, though, so, umm, I’ve got four serious of Marvel Legends, all at once. I sure hope you like Legends, because that’s what we’re doing for at least the next month and a half. To preserve my own sanity, I’m gonna do things just a little bit differently this time, and rather than looking at each set in a straight shot, I’m gonna do one of each set per week. Does that sound better? It does to me, and I outrank the rest of you.

Back in May, James Gunn closed out his trilogy of Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and he did it with one very strong finish. And they may have been on uncertain ground for their first outing, but there’s no denying the merchandising juggernaut that the Guardians have become at this point. For their Legends component, there’s a full assortment of movie-based figures, as well as a deluxe Groot, which just so happens to be the item I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Groot is a one-off deluxe Marvel Legends release, whose arrival coincides with the main Guardians tie-in assortment. Long gone are the days of making Groot a Build-A-Figure; he’s far too popular a character for that. After keeping the same general Teen Groot look since Vol 2’s post credits scene, the Holiday Special gave us a more aged up Groot, which Vol. 3 continues with. Now he’s no longer the skinny twig he was before. The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation. Despite his bulked up stature, this Groot is probably the most posable version of him we’ve gotten for Legends. In particular, the elbows get a much better range that the Teen Groot body did, and his knees and ankles are better than the elder Groot from the first movie. The shoulders use the moving plate construction that Classified has utilized a few times for armor. It allows for more flexibility when posing, which is nice. Unfortunately, due to a slight mold error, it also means the right arm on my figure tends to pop out of place. Groot’s sculpt is all-new, patterned on that all-new design. It seems a little softer on detailing than the elder Groot, but it’s sharper than Teen or Baby Groot were. In terms of accuracy to the source material, it’s generally pretty good, although the head does seem just a tad more squat and wide than it should be, with features that ever so slightly too human. The general look is still there, of course, and Hasbro was undoubtedly working from in-progress designs for the character. Groot’s color long is largely achieved via molded brown plastic, which is a richer shade than his prior figures. He gets a little bit of green accenting for his “moss,” and printed eyes, which again seem maybe just a bit too human to be fully accurate. Prior Groots have largely been pack-ins of some sort, and therefore pretty light on extras, but this guy gets two sets of hands, wings that can be mounted on his back, and a small baby Rocket figurine. At least I assumed it was Rocket before seeing the movie, but it could also be

[SPOILER]

one of the baby raccoons that Rocket saves at the end of the movie. This one does appear to be unmodified, so perhaps that’s it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I quite like Groot, and it was that like of him that got me to buy the whole set of the first film’s figures, just to build him. I’ve really enjoyed his evolution over the movies, and he was an essential part of Vol 3. Being able to get him on his own now is cool, but of course, now I’m sold in the whole set anyway. This guy’s pretty fun. I don’t know that he was quite what I was expecting, but he’s still fun.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure for review.  If you’d like to see a video of this guy in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3389: SCAR Trooper Mic

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

SCAR TROOPER MIC

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“SCAR Trooper Mic is part of a Special Commando Advanced Recon team called Scar Squadron. Also known as Task Force 99, this tight-knit group is accustomed to operating on its own in the most hostile environments.”

Back in 2021, Hasbro decided to officially launch a comics based subline of Black Seties, as a way of touching on some Expanded Universe stuff, be they Legends or current canon. They’ve kept it to one run of figures per year, each focusing on a different portion of the comics. Last year, they launched a sub-brand within the sub-line, in the form of Imperial Task Force 99, a group of elite troopers that are the Empire’s answer to the Bad Batch. We got the squad’s leader Sgt Kreel last year, and this year we’re getting Mic, the team’s answer to Tech. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SCAR Trooper Mic is the second figure in the third round of the comics-inspired sub-line of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series. I already looked at the Mara Jade, and there’s also a variant on Doctor Aphra. The figure is roughly 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation. Like Kreel, Mic is built on the upgraded 2020 Stormtrooper body. As a deviation on the standard trooper, it makes sense, and it helps that it’s still a very good mold. Where Kreel swapped out the torso for a new one, Mic keeps that piece consistent, instead getting a unique helmet sculpt, which features a modified visor and attached antenna. He also gets the extra wrist add-on piece that we got with Kreel, adding some nice internal continuity. Mic’s color work isn’t far removed from the standard Stormtrooper. He gets a little more color on the helmet, but that’s really it. The application is all pretty clean, and he matches well with other troopers. Mix is packed with a standard trooper blaster and a backpack. The pack is an all new sculpt, with extending thrusters. They’re a little janky to move back and forth, but it’s still a fun feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I only knew of most of the Marvel Star Wars run through indirect stuff, so the Kreel figure was really my first interaction with these guys. I liked him a fair bit, so I was intrigued by the rest of his squad. Mic is perhaps not as impressive a standalone piece as Kreel was, but he’s still a solid figure.

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

#3387: Vincent “Falcon” Falcone

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

VINCENT “FALCON” FALCONE

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

I’ve admittedly slowed down pretty severely around here with reviews of Hasbro’s current go at G.I. Joe, their 6-inch scale Classified Series line.  My last one was Sgt Slaughter, which was all the way back in February.  I’ve got my reasons for that, and they’re gonna become pretty apparent here rather shortly.  But, as I mentioned in my aforementioned Sgt Slaughter review, I do have a soft spot for 1987’s G.I. Joe: The Movie and its focus characters.  And, central to the whole movie is Falcon, Hasbro’s proposed replacement for Duke as the franchise’s face, who perhaps didn’t pan out quite the way they were expecting.  Falcon’s hardly a rarity to toys, but it does tend to take him a minute to show up in any given style shift for the line.  Three years into Classified, here he is.  Let’s look at that, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vincent “Falcon” Falcone, as Falcon has been renamed since 2011 so as to avoid confusion with other “Falcons”, is figure 64 in the Classified Series line-up.  He’s part of the latest assortment for the line (though they’ve officially switched to only solid cases of the figures at this point), and he’s a mass-release figure.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Falcon has the same standard layout for articulation that we’ve seen on most of the line, with the only adjustment being the inclusion of pinless construction on his elbows and knees.  The articulation works for the most part, and keeping consistent articulation schemes across a whole line of figures is a pretty G.I. Joe thing to do.  Falcon is based on his v1 figure, and, as has become the trend for the line in recent waves, that’s a pretty direct, shot for shot update.  Like 25th before, the approach here is if the v1 figure did it, so does this one.  Apart from one small bit of sci-fi detailing replacing his radio on his shoulder, he’s all v1.  Falcon’s sculpt is an all-new one, and one that’s been the source of some contention in the fanbase.  There were some complaints earlier in the line that Joes were all winding up a little too pretty, so Hasbro’s evidently trying to course-correct a bit.  The end result means that Falcon winds up looking somewhere between John Wayne and Rondo Hatton, which on one had isn’t quite what you’d anticipate for the character, but is on the other hand is consistent with Falcon’s tendency to look funk ugly when it comes to toys (his 25th Anniversary figure being a prime example of this).  There’s been a lot of fuss about this head sculpt since the figure was shown off, and while it’s not my favorite, it does at least look a bit better in hand than it did in the prototype shots.  I honestly think it’s the paint on the lips that’s throwing the look off the most; beyond that, he’s just got slightly more defined features than I think he should have.  But, for me personally, the head’s really not the issue.  It’s kind of everything else.  The core body’s not bad, I suppose.  There’s not really a lot that can go with fatigues on a basic body.  It’s really the add-ons that cause issue.  The only non-issue is the beret, which is removable, but actually sits in place alright, and doesn’t look too bulked up.  The belt/suspenders/tails for the shirt are all one piece, which is free floating.  It’s very difficult to get it to sit right during posing, and it’s usually popping up oddly at the shoulders.  There’s a non-function knife in a sheath sculpted on, because the v1 had a a non-functioning knife in a sheath, and we’re recreating that, I guess.  The neckerchief is likewise a free-floating add-on piece, and it…well, it just doesn’t sit in place.  Like, at all.  Always out of place.  Just there to annoy you, really.  It’s all just really fiddly.  The paint work is pretty standard stuff.  He’s designed to emulate the v1, and he does that.  There’s the weird paint on the lips, which I don’t like so much, but he’s otherwise alright.  The accessories are where the issues really ramp up again.  Since we’re just emulating the v1, this Falcon gets a shotgun, backpack, and knife, just like that one.  Since the v1 Falcon’s shotgun had a stock, this one does too, though it’s been designed to fold up…in theory.  In practice, there’s no configuration, fully folded, or fully unfolded, where the thing doesn’t just fall apart.  The knife’s a knife; not a lot to do with that.  It’s too small to be gripped by his hands properly, which is certainly frustrating.  It’s designed to slot into the sheath on his backpack because that’s what the v1 figure did, but the sheath is *also* too loose, so it falls out a lot.  Of course, that’s a minor thing, since the backpack is also almost impossible to keep attached to his back.  Since it’s totally flat, so as to mimic the v1 piece, it doesn’t actually contour to his back at all, so there’s nothing but a very small peg securing it in place.  And that peg has to also contend with the suspenders popping up and knocking it out of place, so it just falls out a lot.  Like the add-ons, it makes the figure very fiddly, and hard to mess with.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was really hyped for Classified when it launched, and it’s first year it was really a highlight of my collecting.  I really dug the updates to the old designs, and that sort of sci-fi, high-tech feel, which kept up the spirit of the older toys, without being strict recreations.  Unfortunately, as we’ve seen multiple times before, Joe fans get pretty nasty when they aren’t getting those strict recreations, so the line has shifted towards that.  I’ve got the vintage figures.  I’ve got the 25th updates of those figures.  I don’t really feel an undying need to buy the, again, but larger.  So, my enthusiasm for the line’s been kind of waning overall.  But, I do like my ’87 movie cast, so I was down for Falcon, even if he was just a strict update.  Unfortunately, he’s…well, he’s just no fun.  The overly fiddly nature of the figure made for one of the most infuriating photo shoot experiences I’ve had in some time, and also served to shatter the glass on the whole line for me, and make me realize I haven’t actually been enjoying it for quite a while.  At this point, I’ll pick up the occasional figure here and there, but I’m definitely scaling way back.

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.

#3384: Spider-Punk

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

SPIDER-PUNK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Hobie Brown is the British punk Spider-Man better known as Spider-Punk.”

One of the more dynamic creations to come out of the original “Spider-Verse” story was Spider-Punk.  He began as a rejected design done by Oliver Copiel for the character that became Spider-UK, but writer Dan Slott liked it enough to spin it into its own full fledged character.  Though he started as a relatively minor player in the original storyline, he’s subsequently become one of the more enduring alternate Spider-Men, which has unsurprisingly translated to inclusion in Across the Spider-Verse, and subsequently led to a little bit more toy coverage than just the one single Legends release he had previously.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Punk is the final figure in the seven figure Across the Spider-Verse tie-in series of Marvel Legends.   This marks Spider-Punk’s second time gracing Legends, though he of course gets his updated film design this time around.  While the original Spider-Punk design stuck pretty closely to the classic Spidey design, and just added a few extra elements atop that, Spider-Punk’s look from Across is much more of a ground-up rework.  He keeps the comics version’s spiked mohawk and vest, but puts them over a design that even more thoroughly embraces “punk”….which in this case seems to mean he borrows more elements from Scarlet Spider than he does Spider-Man.  I’m not gonna knock it.  I dug the original design, and I also dig this one.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Spider-Punk’s articulation scheme is interesting, as it’s technically a bit outdated in its layout and methods, but ultimately it ends up working out very well with the design and layout of the sculpt, making it feel like it’s still very much on par with the other  more recent offerings.   Spider-Punk gets an all-new sculpt, courtesy of Arlen Pelletier, and…it’s just really good, you guys.  There’s just so much personality and style running through this sculpt.  I love the uneven lacing on the boots, and all the varieties of studs and spikes littered throughout his clothing.  And it’s all just got this very dynamic flow to it that just really feels true to the character.  Likewise, the paint work on Spider-Punk is some of the most involved in the whole assortment.  There’s just a lot of detailing, not just base work like we saw on the others.  He’s got the little spots of sporadic webbing, the running paint on the eyes, and all of the smaller buttons on details on his vest, which makes for a very rich look.  In terms of accessories, Spider-Punk gets his guitar (the same mold as the original), as well as an extra left hand with a thwipping pose.  While he’s still only got the two extras, the guitar is at least a more sizable accessory, and, as with the main figure, the painted detailing on it is really impressive.  The only thing I’d have liked to see here is maybe an extra right hand without the guitar pick in it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited for the comics Spider-Punk when he was released, and I was likewise quite enthusiastic about the character’s inclusion in the movie.  My expectations were pretty high for this figure, and still he blew them totally away.  This guy just oozes fun, and he’s far and away my favorite figure in this line-up.  Like, it’s not even close.  And he was up against that Spot figure, which I also really loved.  So, you know, that’s really saying something.

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.