Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#3176: Clone Trooper Hardcase

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

CLONE TROOPER HARDCASE

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

 

“Clone Troopers train for combat on the planet Kamino. Kamino is not only the place where the clone troopers are engineered, it is also where they are trained in battle tactics, fighting techniques and explosives. Seasoned clone troopers push the cadets hard to turn them into the toughest and most skilled soldiers in the galaxy.”

The success of Star Wars: The Clone Wars comes from how well they humanized the clone forces of the Republic.  Previous, just a sea of identical cannon fodder, the show went out of its way to name them and give them each a unique personality.  It also gave them plenty of stock for all sorts of Clone Trooper figure variants of all those cool named Clones.  Today, I’m looking at one of those clones, who specifically has a penchant for blasting.  Without further ado, let’s look at Hardcase!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Trooper Hardcase was part of the 2012 “Republic Troopers” Movie Heroes boxed set, under the overall Star Wars: The Clone Wars banner.  The other two clones in the set, were Cutup and the Bomb Squad Trooper.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  Hardcase made use of the second major Clone Trooper base body for the line.  This one placed priority on capturing the animation style, rather than full articulation like the earlier base body.  Both bases have the pluses and minuses.  I do quite like how this one looks, but it’s certainly not going to be pulling off the same level of posing as the earlier mold.  Still, there’s plenty of posing to be had with it, more than the early non-Clone figures, even, and it definitely captures the look of the clones in the show very nicely.  Hardcase’s main change-up is the paint scheme.  He’s largely white, but he’s got some nifty blue detailing, matching up with his design in the show.  The application is nicely handled, and there’s even a little bit of simulated weathering to really make it look worn-in.  Hardase is packed with a large blaster rifle, which itself was on its second main sculpt by this time in the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the time this set was released, I was pretty much out of Clone Wars figures in their first run.  But, over the years, I’ve been keeping my eye out for cool Clones as I’ve been able to get ahold of them.  Hardcase wound up getting traded into All Time loose shortly after I started working their full-time, and he wound up being one of my earliest grabs as I was processing the collection.  He’s just the basic clone with some new painted details, but you know what, it’s a good formula, and it made for a lot of really cool figures.

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.

#3174: Parallax

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

PARALLAX

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

“As a Green Lantern, Hal Jordan served the Guardians of the Universe and saved all of existence from great peril countless times. But, when Hal was unable to save him hometown, Coast City, from obliteration because he was off-world, he was shattered. He flew straight to Oa, the Guardian’s home planet, and asked for their help to resurrect Coast City. When the Guardians refused, Hal absorbed the energy of Oa’s Central Power Battery, along with Parallax, a yellow entity made of living fear that was imprisoned within the battery for millennia. Parallax then drove Hal mad and fueled him to decimate the entire Green Lantern Corps!”

Hey, did you guys like seeing me tear into McFarlane for a bit yesterday?  Well, I guess I’m gonna do it again.  I swear, I keep meaning to be done with McFarlane DC, but, you know, then I keep not being…done…with..McFarlane DC.  Look, I just get weak sometimes.  Anyway, recently, McFarlane has been slightly breaking away from the heavy Batman-focus, and there’s been some Green Lantern stuff coming through, which certainly appeals to me.  Amongst those GL-related releases is today’s focus, Parallax, a character of whom my opinions are almost as conflicted as those of McFarlane’s handling of the DC license.  Let’s see how this goes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Parallax is another “Platinum Edition” figure in McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line.  As I noted yesterday, exactly what “Platinum Edition” means varies from figure to figure, but in the case of Parallax, it means that he’s a Walmart-exclusive, alongside fellow ’90s-themed “Platinum Edition” release Azrael Batman.  This is Parallax’s first figure under McFarlane, and in fact the first Hal Jordan Parallax figure we’ve gotten since DCD’s old Rebirth release.  That’s quite a gap in figures there.  Sure is fun that it’s a Walmart exclusive.  That certainly won’t be a frustrating turn of events for most people.  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  On the topic of sizing, McFarlane’s difficulties with consistent scaling across their figures kicks in here, as Hal stands 1/4 inch taller than yesterday’s Martian Manhunter, which is definitely off, as J’onn has consistently been depicted as one of the tallest DC heroes, and Hal is usually middle of the pack.  The sculpt for Parallax is an all-new one, and…well, it’s got its ups and its downs.  First and foremost, the box specifically cites this figure as being from “Emerald Twilight,” and it’s just not.  Heck, not even the illustration on the back of the box is from “Emerald Twilight.”  It’s actually from the Convergence crossover series, some two decades later.  The figure proper is a decent enough sculpt from a technical stand point, aside from some slight oddities this the back of the head having a slightly odd shape.  Beyond that, the issues largely stem from a multitude of inaccuracies.  The hair’s short and spiky, rather than the more classically parted hair that Hal usually has.  The arms don’t have the stripes running down the sides, instead having the shoulders come to a point, the way they do on Hal’s classic costume.  The torso, specifically the circle on the chest, is three dimensional, and the surrounding elements are totally different in their shaping than what’s shown on the page.  The tops of the boots are also totally different in their shaping, and there are a ton of extra details on the boots that aren’t there either.  Why all the differences?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Todd’s gotta Todd, maybe?  It’s been a recurring issue with the DC line, but on this one in particular, it sticks out because he’s specifically called out as being based on a specific story.  Parallax’s color work is also notably off.  The most glaring issue is the total lack of the white steaks on his temples, but his hair is also generally too dark, with almost no brown at all.  There’s a slight hint of grey, but it’s far too subtle, and also almost entirely at the back of the head.  The greens are also rather drab, and generally too light.  Beyond that, the application is at least clean, and I do quite like how the clear green hands look.  Parallax is packed with a collector card, two energy effects for the hands, a power battery, and a display stand.  The accessories are at least pretty cool, so he’s got that going for him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I’ve always had my issues with the story that spawned him, I also have this odd soft spot for Parallax, going back to the Total Justice figure being my only way to get a Hal Jordan figure back when I was a kid.  I loved that figure, and it’s resulted in me really growing to like the Parallax design.  I had the DCD figure back when it was new, but it was always a rather fragile figure, which isn’t very fun.  I had hoped Mattel might get to him during DC Universe Classics, but they never did.  Then the pictures of this guy surfaced, and I realized he was really my best bet at getting a halfway decent Parallax.  I wasn’t looking forward to the difficulties of getting a Walmart-exclusive, but as luck would have it, someone traded one into All Time, making getting one super easy.  Ultimately, my feelings on this figure, much like the actual character, and the overall toyline he’s part of, are very conflicted.  He’s not a bad figure from a technical standpoint, but there’s a lot of issues in terms of accuracy, with lots of changes seemingly being made purely for the sake of change.  It’s an issue I’ve run into before with the line, and I’m sure it’ll crop up again, but you just keep getting this sense that Todd thinks his designs are just better, and, well, he’s wrong, and it gets in the way of figures being as good as they could be, which is a real shame.

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.

Matty’s Corner #0002: Red Ecliptor

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Matty's Corner and tagged with , , , , ,

RED ECLIPTOR

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hi, Ethan here!  Welcome to Matthew’s Corner, where I’m collecting the mad ramblings of my 6 year old Matthew, who also likes to talk about action figures.  What can I say, I’m sympathetic to his need to ramble about action figures.  So, I’m just gonna let him take it away…though, for what it’s worth, I’m still transcribing for him.

Hello, this is Matthew again.  It has been a while since I have written.  If you were not happy, you can just say so in the comments section.  I understand.  But I have been catching up with all my stuff on my weeks. So, today, I’m talking about Red Ecliptor!  He’s from Power Rangers.  Space Power Rangers [that’s the best Power Rangers –E].  I’m gonna get to the figure now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The toyline of Red Ecliptor is Lightning Collection.  The Lightning Collection is a whole toyline of Power Rangers.  Red Ecliptor is a Power Ranger enemy.  He was released by himself.  Red Ecliptor has 33 joints.  He is 6 3/4 inches tall.  He is re-using parts from the normal Ecliptor [who I reviewed here–E].  I like everything about the sculpt.  All of the parts stand out.  I love them all.  He has lines that are kind of criss-cross and swirly.  I like that because it makes him stand out, like that’s the main part of his body.  He looks strong.  And just so that you know, Ecliptor’s sword and stuff are all part of him, because that’s how it is in Space Power Rangers.  The main figure is mostly red and grey.  The eyes are green.  It looks really good with all of those colors.  I like how all the grey looks.  It looks like it’s kind of burned.  He comes with a sword and four hands.  One hand had lightning.  Another is out like he’s touching something.  The other ones look like he’s punching.  I really like the sword. The sword’s colors are red and grey and blue and yellow and brown.  One of the hands is red with blue lightning.  The other hands are just red with gold rings on them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Red Ecliptor because I was thinking of getting a collection of Space Power Rangers.  Ethan, the one that owns this website, had an Ecliptor and that made me want to get one.  So, Ethan got the figure for me and now I have a Red Ecliptor.  I really like Red Ecliptor.  He’s a really special thing to me because Ethan got it for me.  I am all done writing.  I will see you back here for my next review of Shadow!

#3169: Cobra Officer

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

COBRA OFFICER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Sometimes, you need a good army, made up of good army builders. But you can’t only have the base-level grunts. No, you’ve got to have some internal structure of ranks. Otherwise, it all just falls apart. It’s a false economy, I tell ya! But it’s okay, because Cobra, having a background in being a pyramid scheme started by a used car salesman, has plenty of levels. So, you don’t just have the Cobra Infantry, you also have the Cobra Officers!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Officer is figure 37 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up. He’s the last of the three figures in the second 2022 assortment for the line.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Like Spirit, the Cobra Officer is a mix of old and new parts.  Unsurprisingly, he’s using a number of pieces from the Cobra Trooper/Cobra Infantry mold, though it’s perhaps not as much as you might expect at first glance.  The pelvis, upper arms and upper legs are the same, but he gets new pieces for just about everything else.  The general gist of the sculpt is to keep things overall visually consistent with the prior mold, but making adjustments to make him ever so slightly more vintage in how things are set-up.  The gloves and boots are now more standard pieces, rather than the more  sci-fi looking ones of the prior sculpt, the torso armor is a little cleaner and sleeker, looking more like the tunic sported like the original figure.  The new head still keeps the full mask under the helmet, but the face mask portion is now a more standard cloth piece, again keeping him a little more in-line with the original figures, especially when the helmet is in place.  He also gets a slightly more streamlined version of the webgear from the last figure, a new helmet (also a bit more streamlined) now with rank at the front, and he also gets the arm band piece from the Cobra Island Trooper, just to more fully sell that extra bit of rank.  I like that it all assembles to something that’s still consistent with what they’ve already released, while still going for something just a little more classically inspired, keeping with that slow trend of the line as it moves forward.  The figure’s color work sticks pretty close to the standard Infantry release, with the expected changes for the new sculpt elements.  All of the application is pretty sharp and clean, and the eyes get the printed set-up, which continues to really work for these figures.  The Officer is packed with a small pistol, a short rifle (with removable magazine), a long rifle (with removable magazine and scope), a knife, and a holster that goes on his back to hold the long rifle.  All of the weapons are all new, and the long rifle even gets some additional paint work.

 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve enjoyed seeing the incremental changes that Hasbro’s been making to the Cobra Trooper look over the course of these figures.  I didn’t think much of the Officer when he was first announced, but after seeing all of the changes they made to go more classic, I was certainly interested.  He’s a figure that’s definitely going to get overshadowed by his wave-mates, but that doesn’t make him a bad figure at all, and I honestly think he’s an improvement even on the basic Infantyman.  And hey, it’s always nice to diversify your army a bit, right?

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.

#3168: Spirit Iron-Knife

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

SPIRIT IRON-KNIFE

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

It has decidedly *not* been a while since I reviewed G.I. Joe here, because I just did it yesterday.  So, that joke’s not gonna fly this time.  Instead, I’m just gonna let this fight for freedom keep on rolling, and look at yet another figure from the latest round of Joes from Hasbro.  Yesterday, I looked at Cobra’s top ninja, but today I’m jumping over to the Joe side, with 1984’s resident tracking expert, and perhaps slightly stereotypical Native American addition to the team, Spirit Iron-Knife.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spirit Iron-Knife is figure 36 in the Classified Series line-up, and is the middle figure of the second 2022 assortment.  He’s the only Joe present this time around, and is generally a pretty sensible inclusion alongside a classically-inspired Storm Shadow, given that they not only both debuted the same year in the toy line, but they also served as some-time nemeses in the original cartoon, when it was decided that having the non-verbal Snake Eyes serve as Storm Shadow’s sparring partner would be too difficult to do in animation.  So, you know, it’s not a bad set-up, really.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Spirit’s design is clearly patterned on his V1 design.  I myself have never been a huge fan of this look, given that it really hammers home some of the stereotyped elements of the character, and have always been more partial to the way Sigma 6 handled his look.  That said, it’s the classic look, and it’s not a terrible one, with a bit of tailoring.  This version takes the broad elements of the original, and modernizes and makes them a little more “standard issue”, as well as injecting just a little bit of the sci-fi side of the earlier figures from the line.  It’s a lot more subtle, and it works better because of it.  His construction makes use of a mix of old and new parts.  He’s banking on some of the parts from Duke, who has become a fairly standard starting point for the line.  He’s definitely using the torso, as well as parts of the legs, and I think the hands as well.  What’s actually pretty cool is that he’s *not* using the arms.  Yes, for the first time in the Classified line, we get a set of sleeves rolled up past the elbows!  I’m very excited about that, and eagerly anticipate getting updated versions of Flint and the Viper with their proper sleeve lengths.  Like, legitimately excited.  Yes, that’s what excites me most on this guy.  And it’s not even a knock on the rest of the figure.  The only real downside is that he’s still got the pins at the elbows, suggesting that this was an older sculpt that only just made it to release.  The rest of the sculpt is pretty strong.  His head showcases the appropriate features for Spirit’s background without going too bold or caricature-esque, and the hair is a little more reigned in.  The outfit loses the feather necklace and skirt, which I think are both calls for the best, and he gains a little bit more on the tactical side, with two different knife sheaths, and a holster for a sidearm.  Spirit’s color scheme more or less matches with his original figure, though a little toned down on the brightness front.  The paint work is all pretty clean, and he generally looks pretty solid.  Spirit is packed with a sniper rifle, a pistol, two different knives, a back pack, and his pet eagle Freedom.  Freedom’s definitely the coolest part.  He gets two different sets of wings, for flying or for perching.  He’s also got pegs in his feet, allowing him to peg into either the built-in perch on Spirit’s back pack, or sit on Spirit’s left arm.  Definitely a great touch there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Vintage Spirit never clicked with me, but I recall becoming much more interested in the character when he was redesigned during the Devil’s Due run in the early ’00s, and then I really liked his Sigma 6 look, of course.  While this one doesn’t really replicate any of my preferred looks for the character, I will admit that he turned out pretty nicely on his own merits.  The changes to the design preserve the feel of the original, while also making him feel less out of place in a modern setting, and I really dig how they handled Freedom with this release.  I still look forward to the potential of an update on one of his other designs, but until then, this one will do just fine.

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.

#3167: Storm Shadow

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

STORM SHADOW

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Okay, how long has it been since I reviewed G.I. Joe? Probably a while. I feel like it’s been a while. Has it been a while? It’s probably been a while. I could check. But, I kind of don’t want to. I get lazy like that. Anyway, the point is I’m going to review some more G.I. Joe today. At the beginning of the line, Classified Series kicked off with a deluxe version of G.I.Joe’s main ninja guy Snake Eyes. The first version of his nemesis, Cobra’s equivalent, Storm Shadow, was a was A) a wonky variant and B) an exclusive. The second version was based on the movie and the less said about that, the better. Three years into the line, we’re finally getting a proper version of Storm Shadow. I am looking at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Storm Shadow is figure 35 in the line-up of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He’s numerically the first figure in the second assortment of the line for 2022, and picks up right from the last assortment’s Alley Viper on the numbering.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  The overall set-up of the articulation is the same as the rest of the line, but with the added caveat of adding the pinless construction, which works especially well with the bare-armed look that this figure has.  The sculpt is all-new, and is clearly based on Storm Shadow’s V1 release.  It’s his classic look, and the one we’ve all been waiting for, so it’s logical.  As we’ve been seeing more and more as the line moves forward, Storm Shadow’s new design adheres quite closely to the old.  There are some slight adjustments, and a few modernizations and extra details added for the larger scaling, but he really is just a straight upgrade to the original look, rather than a re-imagining like the earlier figures in the line.  The biggest change to this design is the presence of a hood (something that became a lot more common place for the character after the V1 figure), and even that is completely removable, should you want him to be more spot-on with his reference.  The sculpt is a very nice one.  It’s sleek where it needs to be, functional where it needs to be, and has a lot of texturing and small detail work going on, which really makes it nice and visually interesting.  The proportions are quite nicely balanced, and I really like how naturally his clothing hangs on his body; it actually looks like there’s a person beneath all of that ninja gear.  Storm Shadow’s color work is generally pretty solid.  There’s a lot of molded colors, and not a huge amount of accenting, but what’s there is cleanly applied.  The eyes are printed, which looks really good on this figure.  Storm Shadow is packed with two different versions of his hood (up and down), two swords, a bow (which is different from the Arctic version), an arrow, and a quiver (with sheaths for the swords).  The swords, bow, and the arrows (both the loose one and the ones sculpted into the quiver) all get some paint apps, which is always nice to see.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure’s been pretty much inevitable since the line launched, but he definitely took his sweet time getting to us. The arctic version was a nice way of tiding us over until the real thing, but he was at best just a place holder. Still, with him being as good a figure as he was, there was certainly some worry that this one might not fully measure up. Well, thankfully, he not only measures up, he manages to blow that release out of the water, and showcase how much Hasbro can up their own game even in a short span of time.

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.

#3165: The Modal Nodes

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

FIGRIN D’AN & NALAN CHEEL

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Figrin D’an was the rocking frontman for the all-Bith band ‘The Modal Nodes.’ His deft playing of the Kloo Horn for the band earned him the nickname ‘Fiery’ Figrin

Members of the Modal Nodes, like Nalan Cheel on the Bandfill, played their recognizable tunes in the Mos Eisley cantina.”

There are quite a number of distinctive aliens present in the Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope, but my favorites are definitely the bunch of Bith up on the stage, the Modal Nodes.  Their catchy tune is key to the ambiance of the sequence, and they just look so snazzy in their matching outfits.  They don’t have a ton of action figure coverage, but they were in Power of the Force, and they’ve just been added to The Black Series, so that’s all that really matters to me.  So, I guess that’s all that matters to the site as well.  There are two members of the band available, with the frontman Figrin D’an in the main line, and Nalan Cheel as a deluxe exclusive.  I’m taking a look at both of them in a combo review today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Figrin D’an and Nalan Cheel are figures 4 and 5 in the A New Hope sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series.  Figrin is part of the latest standard assortment of the main line (the largely Obi-Wan Kenobi-based assortment), while Nalan is a shared exclusive between Hasbro Pulse and Shop Disney.  Since all of the Nodes look effectively the same, the two are the same core figure, with the accessories marking the difference between the releases.  The core figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  The sculpt appears to be all-new to these two figures.  The articulation scheme is pretty impressive; the lack of the butterfly shoulders can make things a little tricky when posing with some of the instruments, but it’s generally pretty easy to work with.  As far as the quality of the sculpt proper, the head’s definitely the strongest work, capturing the look of the masks from the movie quite well.  The outfit seems to be the closest Hasbro’s gotten to the actual Modal Nodes attire of all the figures they’ve done.  It looks quite sharp, and I really like that.  The paint work on the core figure is well-handled.  Obviously, the outfit is basic, since it’s just flat black and grey.  The accenting on the head and hands is impressive, and really sells the detailing of the sculpt, and gives him a more lifelike quality.  Accessories mark where these two figures differ.  Figrin is the more basic release, so he gets his Kloo Horn, as well as a Dorenian Beshniquel (the slightly longer oboe-looking thing, played by Doikk Na’ts), and a Double Jocimer (the shortest instrument, played by Ickabel G’ont).  All of the instruments are really nicely sculpted and well-scaled, and the paint work is pretty respectable, and the mouth pieces even slot into the mouth, which is pretty cool.  As the deluxe, Nalan gets the larger set-up.  It’s still three instruments, but they’re literally larger, so, you know, that’s how it is.  He’s got his Bandfill (the organ looking thing), drums and matching drum sticks (played by Sun’il Ei’de), an Ommni Box (played by Tech M’or), and three additional sets of hands to match up with the instruments.  It’s again an impressive set-up, and all of these instruments work a little bit better with the core figure, I feel.  I quite like the drums, but I also dig the seated option of the Ommni Box.  I’m also really down for the extra hands, but I also appreciate that he’s still got the hands from Figrin, so that he can still use the extra instruments included with that release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Cantina Band is one of those very memorable parts of the first movie, and one that I really like.  While I only got the PotF version a few years ago, I really liked him and the gimmick behind him.  When Figrin was announced I knew I was at least grabbing him, and maybe a few duplicates as I got the chance.  I missed out on the pre-orders for Nalan, and honestly wasn’t expecting to find him, but shortly after All Time got their standard assortment with Figrin, a Nalan got traded in, giving me an easy shot at both of them.  I really enjoy the core figure a lot, and all of the instruments are so nicely handled.  I will definitely be trying to snag a few more of the core body for a full band, but in the mean time, I’ve got the miracle of photoshop!

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.

#3164: Sergeant Kreel

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

SERGEANT KREEL

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Sergeant Kreel, formerly undercover Agent 5241, serves as the leader of an elite group of SCAR troopers, Task Force 99, under the direct command of Darth Vader.”

Hey, remember last year when Hasbro was all like “let’s do some comic-based Black Series figures?” Well, this year they were all like “let’s do that again”, so here we are. When Disney purchased Star Wars and moved the comics line over to Marvel, the first thing they did was launch an on-going book, simply titled Star Wars, set between A New Hope and Empire. The book explored a number of concepts, including giving the Imperial side a squad of elite Stormtroopers, who have since been retconned into being the Imperial answer to The Bad Batch. Leading the squad was Sergeant Kreel, a really souped up Trooper that is the subject of today’s review!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sergeant Kreel is one of the four figures that make up the second round of comics-based Star Wars: The Black Series figures. Like the first round, they all ship on their own, though, so they’re not actually all hitting at once. Kreel is the first of this round to turn up at retail, at least around me. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Kreel is largely built out of the updated Stormtrooper mold, with a new upper torso, new add-ons for the pouches on the arm and leg, a modified belt piece, and the shoulder pauldron from the First Order officer.  The updated Stormtrooper is a really strong mold, so it’s a pretty great starting point for a figure.  While Kreel was at times depicted as larger in build, in Issue #60, which is the one this guy is explicitly based one, he’s more standard trooper size, so this one is consistent, and it’s honestly in line with Hasbro’s trend of going a little more real world with the looks for these comics figures.  The new pieces work well with the old, and with the torso giving him a far sleeker look.  The pouches help to differentiate him a little further, and I like the more utilitarian nature behind them.  The figure’s color scheme is largely just the usual black and white, with a splash of color for the arm display and the pauldron.  The application is all pretty cleanly applied, and he looks pretty sharp.  Kreel is packed with the standard Stormtrooper blaster, as well as a lightsaber, which is re-used from one of the ones included with General Grievous, though with the hilt and blade colors changed up.  Kudos to Hasbro for, you know, actually giving this one an extra accessory in addition to the original release of the mold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t follow the Marvel run particularly religiously or anything, so I didn’t actually read any of Kreel’s appearances first-hand.  That said, I really liked this guy’s design, and I like a cool trooper variant, so I was on-board for this guy pretty much from the start.  In hand, he’s a lot of fun.  The original mold is still a really good one, and the changes made here just add to it.  He’s just really cool, and that’s kind of the most important thing to a Star Wars toy, 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.

#3162: Sabretooth

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

SABRETOOTH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With keen senses, a mutant healing factor, and zero moral restraint, Sabretooth is a dark reflection of his archnemesis, the mutant hero Wolverine.”

I fully intended to begin today’s review of a Sabretooth figure by bringing up the fact that he didn’t actually start out as an X-Men or Wolverine antagonist, and was instead an Iron Fist villain, but in doing some back-reading of old reviews in preparation, I have discovered that I’ve actually mentioned that fact in almost all of my Sabretooth reviews here on the site.  I…I should probably double check old intros a little more often, shouldn’t I?  Eh, I probably won’t.  Look forward to hearing about the Iron Fist thing in my next Sabretooth review, after I’ve completely forgotten the lesson I learned in this one’s intro.  Just try to pretend its new and exciting information when you hear it then.  And give me a break, because I’ll be older and more tired by that point.  Just keep me comfortable, is what I’m getting at here.  Man, this intro’s getting really meta and really bleak, really fast.  Well, onto the toy, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sabretooth is figure 6 in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends, and is the final figure needed to assemble the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure.  There’s also a Wolverine variant, but I’ve honestly got enough Wolverine variants, so I passed on that one.  This Sabretooth is based on his first appearance costume…more or less.  It marks the first time Hasbro’s done the design, and its second time in Legends form, following the Toy Biz Face Off release.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  While the last two standard universe Sabretooths have been based on the Hyperion body, this one is on the slightly slimmer Reaper body.  It makes sense, since the earlier Sabretooth design was always depicted as being a little slimmer anyway.  It’s also a body that’s not super over-used, so that’s a plus.  The figure gets a new head, forearms, shins, hands, and feet, as well as an add-on for his fur collar.  The new parts mesh well with the old, and the whole thing’s a rather cohesive looking take on the original design.  The head in particular is quite nice; rather than the more frequent screaming expression, he’s got Creed’s evil grin, which is frequently overlooked for such figures.  The figure’s paint work is generally pretty decently handled.  He does have a bit of a departure from the proper 1st Appearance look, with fingerless gloves and…toe-less boots?  They don’t appear to be based on any particular version of the costume, but I do kinda dig how they look.  Sabretooth has no accessories of his own, but he includes three separate pieces for Bonebreaker, all meant to connect to the lower tank-portion of the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was very happy with the Jim Lee style Sabretooth from the Apocalypse Series, so I didn’t need another.  That said, I get the desire to update this look, since it’s been a while since it got toy coverage.  This one turned out pretty well.  He’s not going to be my go-to Sabretooth or anything, but he’s certainly a cool figure.

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

#3161: Darwin

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

DARWIN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“True to his name, Darwin has the power to adapt against any threat, be it searing volcanic heat or the cold vacuum of space!”

Hey, remember when I was talking about retcons?  And, more specifically, the retcon that introduced Vulcan, the third Summers brother?  And, how terribly handled it was?  Well, for the sake of argument, how about a retcon character that I actually don’t hate, who is in fact from that exact same story?  Yes, today, I’m talking about Armando Munoz, aka Darwin, one of the other three members of Vulcan’s ill-fated team, and the only other one to survive to the present day.  Darwin has the ability to adapt to the threats around him, and has generally been a pretty low-key sort of character, whose unique (and actually decently defined) abilities and lack of connection to pre-existing characters make for a far less obtrusive inclusion within X-history, even if it was added after the fact.  And, he’s even gotten to be in a movie, which was pretty cool.  And now, he’s got a Marvel Legend.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darwin is figure 5 in the Bonebreaker Series of Marvel Legends.  He fits well with the overall oddball-theme of the assortment, as well as having the added benefit of being in the same assortment as his former teammate Vulcan, which I suppose is a pretty nice little tie.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Darwin is built on the Pizza Spidey body, which is a reasonable choice for the character, who is usually portrayed as being more on the slender side.   He gets a new head, belt, and hands, which capture his look respectably well.  The new head is suitably alien in its appearance, matching the character’s earlier appearances, as well as the costume choice that they’ve gone with, which is his original “Deadly Genesis” design.  He winds up looking a little bit like John Lithgow, if I’m honest, which I don’t really hate.  The paint work on Darwin matches up with his comics design; I really dig the purple, and the skin tone is appropriately pale and washed out.  I like the slight accenting on the head, in order to bring out more of the sculpted details.  Darwin is packed with two sets of hands (open gesture and fists), as well as half of the tank treads for the Bonebreaker Build-A-Figure.  It might have been nice to get a few parts showing off his adaptive skills, but this figure is pretty clearly the assortment’s low-cost figure, so I get why they stuck with what we got.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My first exposure to Darwin was actually in X-Men: First Class, where I quite liked him, despite his relatively small role.  I haven’t been actively following him in the comics, but I’ve always enjoyed the stories I’ve read with him, and, like I mentioned in the intro, I find his retcon status to be far less frustrating than Vulcan’s, so I just generally like him more.  While I didn’t *need* a figure of him, it’s one I can appreciate, and, for as basic as this one is, he’s honestly pretty fun.

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