Tag Archives: All Time Toys

#3029: Q9-0 (Zero)

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

Q9-0 (ZERO)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A bug-eyed protocol droid with modified programming, Q9-0 — or “Zero” to his colleagues — operates with precision timing.”

The Mandalorian‘s first season had a minor running gag of pairing off Din, who was seen by some as just a stand-in for Boba Fett, off with other characters that were in some way stand-ins for the other bounty hunters from the scene aboard the Executor in Empire.  The most straight forward was, of course, IG-11 (who was even meant to just be IG-88 at an early stage of production), but Din also faces down some Trandoshans (the same species as Bossk) in the second episode, and in Chapter 6, one of his companions on the prison heist mission is Q9-0, a bug-eyed protocol droid turned bounty hunter, with some not unlike 4-LOM qualities.  And he’s also voiced by Richard Ayoade, which is a pretty cool thing in and of itself.  Now he’s got a figure, which is admittedly, not voiced by Richard Ayoade in reality, but is voiced by him in my mind.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Q9-0, aka Zero, is the 11th figure in the Mandalorian sub-line of Hasbro’s Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s the first of two Mandalorian figures in the assortment that hit retail last fall, and also the first figure to be based specifically on Chapter 6 of the show.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The movement on his arms is notably a bit restricted, largely due to design, but the legs get a much better range.  Whatever the case, he’s totally capable of getting all the appropriate movement for the character based on the show, as well as a little more movement in the legs, so he does what he needs to.  Zero’s sculpt is an all-new offering, not borrowing from any previous protocol droid sculpts.  It’s a good recreation of Zero’s on-screen design.  There’s quite a lot of detail work going into it, and the articulation is pretty well worked-in aesthetically.  He’s got a separate, albeit nonremovable, shoulder harness with some pouches, as seen in the episode.  It adds a nice touch of character to him, as well as giving him something that looks more worn-in compared to his more machined body, which makes for a cool contrast.  Zero’s paint work errs a bit more on the basic side.  All the standard color work is there, and he gets a little bit of accenting in a few spots, but generally, it’s just the basic.  It does rob the sculpt of some of its punch, just a bit, but because the sculpt is a s strong as it is, the lack of paint doesn’t really ruin the figure, either.  Zero is packed with a single blaster rifle.  He has a little bit of trouble getting it into his hands properly, but it’s otherwise pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Zero was certainly my favorite part of Chapter 6 (I’m a sucker for cool droids), so I was hoping we’d wind up getting him figure form at some point.  I was fairly happy to see him turn up here.  The figure is pretty middle of the road all things considered, but that means he’s still far from a bad offering, and he’s probably my second favorite in this particular assortment.  I’m curious if we’ll see the rest of the crew from this episode, especially in light of Mayfield being based on his Season 2 appearance, but I’m honestly content to just have this guy, really.

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.

#3028: Tech

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

TECH

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Tech is the computer and weapons specialist, the most talkative of the group.  His genetically enhanced brain can puzzle through technical issues at speeds even faster than some droids.”

Remember all the way back in April, when I took a look at the first two members of the titular team of clones from The Bad Batch?  Well, hey, like 10 months later, I finally have another one of them to talk about!  Shway!  In my review of the team’s second member, Crosshair, I discussed how the team members all really fall back on classic action movie team archetypes.  Hunter is the fearless leader, Crosshair is the cold marksman, and today’s focus, Tech, is the resident smart guy.  Go smart guy, go!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tech is figure 04 in the Bad Batch sub-line of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series‘s Phase IV incarnation.  He’s the third member of the actual team in this set, and the second to last of the initial line-up for the crew.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  While the other two members of the team shared a good number of parts with each other, Tech’s more removed, more Scout Trooper-inspired design means that he actually gets an entirely new sculpt.  Thus far, it’s my favorite of the three team sculpts I’ve looked at.  While Hunter and Crosshair stuck a little closer to the actual animation design, Tech does a better job of sort of hybridizing things, meaning he retains all of his distinctive elements from the show, while still really fitting right in with the rest of the standard-release figures.  The only part I’m not crazy about is how they’ve worked the knee joints into the sculpt; I feel like they’re too low on the leg when he’s posed.  Beyond that, it’s all really strong.  There’s a ton of detail work going into his costume elements, and whole bunch of depth to the sculpt.  A number of the armored pieces are separate overlays, adding to this depth quite nicely.  As with the others, Tech features a removable helmet.  It follows the show design quite well, and even includes a posable visor, which is fun.  Under the helmet, there’s a head that looks remarkably like Phil Collins, if I’m honest.  He’s not sporting his signature glasses from the show, but that’s honestly one of those in-show cheats, since he wouldn’t be able to have them under the helmet anyway.  Tech’s paint work is a pretty decent set-up, improving on the other two a bit.  There’s just a lot more going on with the layout of the color work here, and it gives him a lot more to work with.  The underlying head gets the printed technique, which looks good on the sculpt.  Tech is packed with a small blaster, three different tools, and a back pack.  The blaster’s standard issue, and doesn’t actually have a spot for storage, but I’d rather have it than not.  The tools can all be stashed on his belt, where they stay nice and secure.  The back pack is a little loose when plugged into the back, but otherwise it’s a cool piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Of the core Bad Batch team, Tech was definitely the one I was looking forward to the most.  I just really like his design, and I was looking forward to seeing it in toy form.  It was a long wait to get him, but I’m really happy with the end result.  Definitely my favorite of the team so far, and just generally one of the best Black Series figures of the more recent offerings.

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.

#3027: Aurra Sing

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

AURRA SING

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A feared bounty hunter known for her chalk-white skin and built-in comlink antenna, Aurra Sing was an expert sniper and trained assassin who would work for anyone who paid her.”

In prep for this review, I realized that I haven’t actually reviewed any Black Series figures in a rather astounding seven months.  No, really, the last one I looked at was the Luke from Heir to the Empire.  Not really a high note to go out on, either, unfortunately.  Well, after quite a delay, I’ve finally got some more of these figures to look at.  I’m kicking things off with the first post-Boba Fett attempt at creating another Boba Fett, Aurra Sing.  Designed as a background fill-in character for the podracer sequence from Phantom Menace, before getting a more proper name, Aurra was simply referred to as “Babe Fett” by her designer Doug Chiang, so the intent behind her was pretty transparent.  Not that it was overly successful, of course.  She got a little bit to do in the old Expanded Universe, but was largely out of the spotlight until being tapped to be a recurring bounty hunter in The Clone Wars.  There she was finally fleshed out a little bit, and would have even had her arc wrapped up completely, had the show not been cancelled.  As it stands, the “resolution” to her arc became an off-hand reference to Tobias Beckett killing her offscreen some time before Solo.  Which, honestly?  About on par with everything else going on with the character.  Well, she’s got a Black Series figure now, so I guess I’ll take a look at that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Aurra Sing is figure 8 in the Clone Wars-sub-set of The Black Series Phase 4.  She’s the first figure in the final 2021 assortment of the line, and the only one to be Clone Wars-based.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Her articulation scheme is slightly on the more restricted side, kind of in line with what we saw on Asajj Ventress, the last figure in the Clone Wars set numerically.  You almost have to wonder if some of these similarly themed figures were being designed in batches.  Aurra does get slightly more movement on her joints, especially the arm joints, which are great for properly holding her long rifle, as well as getting some fun poses with the pistols.  Aurra’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s generally pretty decent.  It’s an interesting experiment, seeing as she’s based more on her Clone Wars appearance than her brief live-action one, but she’s still realistically detailed.  It’s an astoundingly subtle difference from just a straight Phantom Menace figure, but there it is.  It works out pretty well, and they’ve made the articulation work nicely within the sculpt’s aesthetics.  Aurra’s paint work is overall an okay set-up.  The printing works well for detailing the eyes and mouth, and the base work on the body is decent.  She does lose out on some of the base details on the back, which is a bummer, but otherwise things look pretty decent.  Aurra is packed with her long rifle (with removable sling), and two twin blaster pistols.  The sling on the rifle isn’t quite as secure as I’d like, but the pistols can be stashed securely in the holsters on her hips.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m by no means an Aurra Sing fan.  There was a lot of build up that went really no where, and she’s just never clicked with me.  She does alright in her Clone Wars appearances, though, so I guess that makes her a little better as a character.  This figure at least looked pretty cool, and ultimately, she turned out pretty nicely.  Still not my favorite or anything, but she’s fun.

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.

#3026: IG-11

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

IG-11

STAR WARS: THE VINTAGE COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Alright, after quite a length of nothing but Marvel Legends reviews, I finally got a week last week of some more random goodness, and now I’m feeling a little more refreshed for some more theme-week-ing.  Not quite Marvel yet, because oh boy do I need to build back up to that one, but how about another toy powerhouse that I haven’t looked at since the beginning of the year, Star Wars!  I’ve got a whole stack of Black Series figures to look at, but before I get to those, I’m going to take today to be slightly different, with a rare Vintage Collection review.  It’s an IG-11, so not *that* different, but still different.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG-11 is figure VC206 in the Star Wars: The Vintage Collection line-up.  He hit hit retail last fall, in an assortment that was otherwise Original Trilogy-centered.  I suppose he’s not entirely out of place there, but he’s still the only Mandalorian-based figure in the set.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Amusingly enough, he’s actually quite a bit more posable than his 6-inch counterpart, by virtue of this one actually being an all-new sculpt, as opposed to just re-using a prior IG mold.  This means he gets properly jointed hips, as well as the a fully jointed head with all of the proper moving parts, which you don’t tend to see.  He’s also much larger in scale relative to the standard-sized figures he’s meant to go with, of course, but that’s really just about him having actual proper scaling, instead of the usual “just noticeably taller than the other figures” scaling that IG molds tend to get.  In general, his sculpt is quite an impressive one, and it works well around the articulation, which means it avoids my usual issue with TVC figures.  Most notably, on the sculpt front, he’s got the correct modified hands for IG-11, which have thus far only been correct on the Mission Fleet release.  That one’s still first in my heart and all, but it’s nice to have a correct set of hands on a more correctly styled figure.  IG’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  The base work covers all the slight variations in the finish of the metal that he’s made up of, and there’s a little bit of wear and tear that’s handled with some slight accent work.  It’s pretty nice in a general sense, and seems just about as good as the larger scale figure.  IG-11 is packed with the usual pairing of large and small blasters, which he holds pretty well.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in my K2 review, I’ve more or less given up on collecting TVC, but I do have my exceptions to that.  K2 was one, and IG-11 is another. I was actually looking forward to this one quite a bit, and I was pretty excited to mess with him.  He turned out really nicely, especially for this line.  It’s not really enough for me to jump into the line any further, but I sure would love to see Hasbro do an updated Black Series version that’s a bit closer to this one in quality.

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.

#3025: Bride of Frankenstein

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

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS (JADA TOYS)

Released four years after the original Frankenstein, 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein adapts and expands upon later elements from Mary Shelly’s original novel, both in its attempts to more fully humanize the initial Monster, and in his desire to have a mate, the titular Bride.  Bride is pretty widely agreed to be an improvement upon its predecessor, and is probably the best of the Universal films in general.  Though she only gets a scant few minutes of actual screen time, the Bride’s design is quite distinctive, and she’s become a fixture of the franchise as a whole, especially when it comes to merchandising.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Bride is another piece of the first assortment of Jada Toys’ Universal Monsters line.  With only one film appearance, it’s pretty clear which one she’s based on, so I guess that’s simpler than it was with the Monster.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  She’s once again going by the Hasbro playbook for the articulation scheme, and it again works pretty well.  The joints don’t have quite the same range of motion this time around, but they’re still more than serviceable.  Like the Monster, the Bride is an all-new sculpt, and it’s a pretty good one at that.  The facial likeness of Elsa Lanchester is pretty decently rendered, and they’ve done a respectable job of making the distinctive hair style work in toy form.  The body sculpt has a ton of detailing on the bandages, and the texturing is pretty top notch.  It’s kind of a shame to cover it up with the sheet, especially since it’s the weakest part of the figure.  It’s just a pretty simple cloth piece with a velcro strip in the back to help secure it.  It’s not particularly tailored or fancy, and the edge is a little uneven.  It gets the job done, but I do wonder how it will hold up long term.  The Bride’s paint work is pretty solid, though somewhat of a reverse from the Monster.  The head is kind of basic in how it’s laid out, and ultimately lacks the more lifelike qualities to the face.  The hair also is just a pretty basic black with white streaks, with very little accenting or subtleties to it, which is kind of a shame.  Lanchester’s hair was red, so I like when they can give it that slight tinge of color at the very least.  On the flip side, the work on the bandages on the body is pretty cool, as it really helps to showcase all of the detailing in the sculpt.  I mean, it’s again mostly covered by the sheet, but it’s cool that it’s there.  The Bride is packed with a second head with a hissing expression, as well as two sets of hands in differing gestures, and two of the pieces of equipment used in the experiment that brings her to life.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After deciding to grab the Monster, it was hard to pass on the Bride.  They do make for a good pair and all.  Bride is certainly a favorite of mine, so I do always keep an eye out for good toy coverage.  Thus far, it’s always been iffy.  While this one’s not quite as good as the Monster, she’s still very good.  The only thing that really holds her back for me is the sheet, and even that’s really not bad, if you get it futzed just right.  Overall, she’s a nice companion piece to the Monster.  I hope Jada continues the line, as I think there’s some real potential for success here.

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.

#3024: Frankenstein’s Monster

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

FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS (JADA TOYS)

While the Universal Monsters are not absent from this site by any metric, there’s certainly a tendency for them to pretty much only be reviewed at Halloween time.  I do like my thematic reviewing, I guess.  On top of that, a lot of the Universal stuff is older releases, which don’t tend to need very timely reviews.  Last year marked the 90th anniversary of the brand, though, and in honor of that, the license actually got a fair bit of toy coverage before the year was up.  Perhaps the most surprising came from Jada Toys, a company typically associated with smaller die-cast items, who are making their way into the 6-inch figure game, starting with a batch of four of the monsters.  I’ll be taking a look at their stab at Frankenstein’s Monster today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Frankenstein’s Monster (who is billed only as “Frankenstein” on the package; in Jada’s defense on that one, they seem to be naming the figures after movies, not after individual figures, so I don’t think it’s quite the same as the usual mis-titling of the character) is part of the first four figure assortment of Jada’s Universal Monsters line.  He’s clearly meant to be based on Karloff in the role, and appears to be more specifically patterned on his appearance in Bride of Frankenstein, which does sort of go against the based on a specific movie branding of the package, but also means he’s got what’s arguably the more memorable appearance, and goes with the Bride figure from the same assortment.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme on this figure is pretty much on par with the various Hasbro 6-inch lines.  There is a good range of motion on most of the joints, and the tolerancing seems to be pretty decently handled.  I didn’t have any really issues with things being too tight or too loose, and he’s pretty stable on his feet.  They even seem to be somewhat mimicking Hasbro’s pinless joints, at least for the knees; the elbows still have visible pins.  In general, the styling here is definitely going by the Hasbro playbook, and that continues to the sculpt.  It’s an all-new affair, and it’s honestly really good.  There’s a respectable likeness on the face, so it’s pretty clear which version of the character it is.  Some of the features there are a little soft, but not terribly so.  The body sculpt is pretty solid itself.  The articulation is a little less worked in around the elbows and ankles, but otherwise the aesthetics are pretty well-preserved, and the level of texture detailing is quite impressive.  They had a lot of visual space to work with, and they’ve managed to fill it well.  The paint work isn’t bad. The face is certainly the best work, with printing for the eyes, which gives him the proper (un)lifelike quality.  The body is more basic, but the application is clean, and the palette fits with how the character should look.  The Monster is packed with an alternate head with his teeth exposed (presumably from when he’s learning to speak in the second film), two sets of hands in relaxed and open gesture poses, and two sets of manacles with chains of differing lengths.  It’s a nice selection of extras, and gives him enough options to make things interesting.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical about these when they were announced, mostly due to Jada’s usual products not seeming to line up with this quality of line.  We all saw how the earlu Funko Legacy lines turned out.  That said, I was still cautiously curious.  After seeing them in hand, I was impressed enough to give them a try.  I don’t regret grabbing this guy in the slightest.  He’s surprisingly well-done for a first outing in this style, and is honestly the best you could hope for on a 6-inch scale Monster.  I wholeheartedly recommend trying out the line if you’re looking for good Universal Monsters toys.

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.

#3023: Scarlett

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

SCARLETT

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

It’s hard for me to say what I thought the best movie from 2021 was, but it’s not even remotely difficult for me to say what the worst movie was, because, I’ll tell you straight up, it was Snake Eyes.  I discussed the film’s terribleness already back over the summer, when the wound was still fresh, but I’ve decided to re-open it here, I guess.  It’s okay, because I actually get to talk about one of the only things I actually liked in the movie, Samara Weaving’s portrayal of G.I. Joe’s first lady, Scarlett.  I’ve actually been waiting for her Classified Series release, and its finally hitting, well after the iron is cold, but hey, at least she’s the one figure I still felt compelled to buy after actually seeing the movie.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Scarlett is figure 20 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up.  She’s numerically the final of the Snake Eyes movie figures, and also is way lower than the rest of the Joes released around her, due to the whole delaying the movie’s release.  Technically, she was in the second movie assortment, alongside Akiko, but it appears that there was some sort of production snafu or something, because the actual assortment cases don’t seem to have appeared, and Akiko wound up showing up much earlier.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and she has 34 points of articulation.  Scarlett’s articulation scheme pretty much just matches up with what we saw on Baroness, with the updated pinless construction on the knees, while still having the single joints on the elbows.  The elbows at least have a slightly better range than the standard Scarlett, so that’s a definite plus.  Scarlett’s sculpt is an all-new offering, based on her fully-geared up appearance from the film’s climactic battle.  It’s not a bad modernization of Scarlett’s classic look, and it also gets more than 15 seconds of screen time, which gives it a definite leg-up on Snake Eyes, right?  The likeness of Weaving isn’t bad; maybe not spot-on, but it’s fairly clear who it’s meant to be.  The uniform work has some decent detailing, with a nice bit of depth and sharpness.  Scarlett’s paint work is overall alright.  There’s some pretty solid work on the detailing of the torso armor, and the face print works pretty well to keep her lifelike.  She’s missing a handful of the color applications on her armor as seen in the movie, which makes her design a little drabber than it is in the film, but for the most part, it looks pretty decent.  Scarlett is packed with her crossbow, which is a nice piece, but also a rather small one.  That’s all she gets, and, if I’m honest, that feels pretty woefully light compared to the rest of the set.  At least another gun or something would be nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Before even seeing the movie, this was really the only figure in the set that I knew I wanted.  After seeing the movie, she was still the only one I truly wanted, though I had already picked up the first assortment by that point.  The long wait on this one’s release was a bit of a bummer, but I finally got her.  The paint’s missing some details, and I’d really like to see more accessories included, but I generally really like this figure.  It’s a good design, and it’s a reminder of really the only good thing about the movie, so I’m all about that.

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.

#3022: In Space Blue Ranger Vs Silver Psycho Ranger

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

IN SPACE BLUE RANGER VS SILVER PSYCHO RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Hey, the Power Rangers In Space-themed reviews are getting closer together!  This is something that I can definitely get behind, my guys.  Have I mentioned that I really like that show?  I definitely have, but is it really possible for me to say it too much?  Probably, but it’s my site and I set the rules around here.  So, you know, there it is.  Slowly but surely, we’ve been assembling the main team from the show, as well as a few of the foes they faced.  Thus far, we’ve gotten four of the six team members, as well as all five of the evil Psycho Rangers.  The remaining two main rangers are both slotted for release, quite soon.  So soon, that I’ve in fact already got one.  And also, there’s a sixth Psycho Ranger.  Bet you didn’t see that coming!  Especially because it’s actually the seventh!  I’m bad at counting, you guys.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

In Space Blue Ranger and Silver Psycho Ranger are one half of the third assortment of Power Rangers: Lightning Collection two-packs, with the other half being MMPR Yellow and Scorpina.  This pack specifically calls out being based on the episode “Five of a Kind,” the fourth episode in In Space‘s Psycho Ranger arc. That’s mostly in regards to the presence of Psycho Silver, but the Blue Ranger is also really central to that particular episode as well, making for a pretty natural choice pairing him off with Silver for the set.

IN SPACE BLUE RANGER

TJ Johnson, aka the Blue Space Ranger, is another entry in my list of “Red Rangers being way cooler when they’re not Red Rangers.”  As Turbo Red, I didn’t care, but as Space Blue, I’m quite a fan.  Of course, I guess I’m just a little bit biased towards Blue Rangers.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As expected, TJ shares his construction with Andros, Carlos, and Zhane.  All of the male Rangers have the same approximate build, and have classically shared their parts when it comes to toy form, so this is all fairly sensible.  It helps that it continues to be a rather serviceable sculpt on its own, so there’s not really anything that warrants changing.  The paint work is the same as the others, but, of course, with blue in place of the other main colors.  The application is nice and clean, with no notable slop or bleed over, and they’ve made the appropriate adjustments to the shaping on the edge of the visor, so as to give him that extra bit of uniqueness.  TJ is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and a fist/flat combo), his Astro Axe, Astro Blaster, an effects piece for the axe, and an unmasked head.  The unmasked head has an okay likeness of actor Selwyn Ward, but he does seem a little bit serious and dour for how TJ tended to be portrayed.

PSYCHO SILVER RANGER

Rather amusingly, the Psycho Rangers are one of the two most thoroughly-explored Rangers teams in the line thus far, down to even getting both of their add-on members.  The first was Psycho Green, a later addition from the comics, while the second is today’s other focus, Psycho Silver.  In “Five of a Kind,” as part of a ploy to defeat the Psycho Rangers, the whole team disguises themselves as Space Blue, while Zhane pretends to be an all-new Psycho Ranger, his own evil counterpart of Psycho Silver.  Originally, it seemed that Psycho Silver was going to follow the trend of all of the Psychos barring Yellow, in being released prior to his main team counterpart.  However, regular Space Silver snuck in under the wire, and they wound up showing up at about the same time.  That’s pretty cool, I guess.  The figure is 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s identical to all of the male Psycho Rangers, again as expected.  It’s a good sculpt, probably even a bit better than the main Space sculpt, and all of the costumes on the show were the same, so it makes sense.  The paint is the main change-up, as he gets silver in place of the accent color seen on the others.  Psycho Silver gets the same alternate effects hand as the other Psychos, as well as a new Psycho Silverizer piece, and an unmasked Zhane head.  The unmasked head is unique from the one included with the standard Silver.  The hair is sculpted to the head this time, rather than being a separate piece, and the expression is just generally a more stern one.  While the hair seems a little better on this one, the face’s likeness seems a little too angular for Justin Nimmo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m slowly chipping away at the In Space team here, so there was never any doubt that I was picking up this pairing.  Both figures here are, admittedly, rather by-the-numbers in terms of construction and such, but that’s also exactly what they’re supposed to be, so I can certainly dig it.  They do what they need to, and they do it well, so I’m very happy to have them.  And, hey, I’m only one Ranger away from the whole team!

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

#3021: Batman Earth -32 & Green Lantern Hal Jordan

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

BATMAN EARTH -32 & GREEN LANTERN HAL JORDAN

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE)

“Hal Jordan’s life was changed twice by crashing aircraft. The first time was when he witnessed the death of his father, pilot Martin Jordan. The second was when, as an adult and trained pilot himself, he was summoned to the crashed wreckage of a spaceship belonging to Abin Sur. Abin explained that he was a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an organization of beings from across the cosmos, armed with power rings fueled by the green energy of all the willpower in the universe. Upon his death, Abin entrusted his ring and duties as the Green Lantern of Earth’s space sector to Hal Jordan.

In DC’s Dark Multiverse, on Earth -32, the green light of will has twisted an angry Bruce Wayne into something very dark and sinister. After the murder of his parents in Crime Alley, young Bruce is gifted with a Green Lantern ring, which allows him to fly and to generate deadly hard-light energy constructs. With no Alfred Pennyworth™ to guide him, he soon swallows his fear and pain and lets the void that remains corrupt him and the ring, unleashing a wave of darkness across his world, and now ours, as The Dawnbreaker.”

Hoo boy, it sure has been a lot of Marvel-centric Hasbro reviews around here lately.  I’m gonna be honest, that’s burning me out ever so slightly, so I’m voting to mix things up just a tad this week.  Don’t get too excited, though, because that doesn’t mean it’s all butterflies and rainbows.  No, in fact, I’m jumping over to the McFarlane side of things.  Oh boy, won’t that be fun and thrilling?  Well, this one’s at least half not-Batman.  So, there’s that, right?  Sure.  Without further ado, here’s some Green Lantern stuff, with a bit of Batman mixed in!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Batman of Earth -32 and Green Lantern Hal Jordan are the second DC Multiverse two-pack of 2021, hitting retail last fall.  They’re based on Dark Knights Metal, and follows up on the Superman vs Devastator and Flash vs Red Death packs previously released from the same cross-over.  Dawnbreaker is identical to his single release from 2020, for better or for worse, while Hal is a new release to this pack.

GREEN LANTERN HAL JORDAN

We’ve gotten one of Earth’s other Green Lanterns from McFarlane already (twice over, in fact, since there were both Comic and Animated versions of John produced), we hadn’t yet gotten Hal Jordan.  Instead, he’s exclusively available in a two-pack with a figure that you inevitably already bought when it was released as a single, over a year before the two-pack was released.  But I’m not bitter about that or anything.  The figure whose release scheme I’m not at all bitter about stands 7 1/4 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  From the neck down, this figure’s sculpt is the same as the John Stewart figure.  I was less than enthused by the sculpt when it was used for John.  I’m still not incredibly enthused by it here.  It’s still over-designed, which is a real bummer when it comes to a GL design.  As I brought up the last time I discussed the mold, it was clearly designed with both uses in mind from the start, so there are elements of both costume designs worked it.  The John costume elements are a bit less of an issue on Hal’s costume, generally, so it works a *little* bit better, but it’s still really cluttered.  The one new piece to the sculpt is the head, which is admittedly a much better offering than the one we got for John.  It’s actually kind of a decent rendition of Hal, and probably one of McFarlane’s best human heads, so that’s certainly an accomplishment.  Hal’s paint work is alright; the colors match those used for John, which is at least consistent, I suppose.  I still think the green is maybe a bit too dark, but at least there’s more of it to sort of offset that this time.  At least the application is pretty clean.  Hal is packed with two construct pieces, a boxing glove and a jetpack, as well as a large construct stand meant for both Hal and Dawnbreaker.  After the kind of uninspired minigun piece from John, it’s actually really refreshing to get the boxing glove construct, which not only actually clips over his whole hand, but also is just appropriately true to the character.  The jetpack isn’t quite as much his speed, but it’s still a little more inventive, as is the larger display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I do like GL-related stuff, and had generally found the early McFarlane stuff lacking in that regard.  The John Stewart really let me down, I won’t lie.  And, while I liked Dawnbreaker decently the first time around, I’m also not super enthused about having to buy him a second time around to get Hal.  I mean, Hal’s a decent figure and all, and certainly a better figure than John, but saddling him with a complete re-pack just generally sucks.  Additionally, as nice as he his, he’s at best a lateral move from the DC Essentials figure, much like Superman and Nightwing were.  Honestly, I kind of wish Hal and John were reversed in terms of quality, because I don’t really *need* another decent Hal figure, but I’m still waiting on an okay John.  Well, at least Hal’s a nice figure.

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

#3020: Black Widow

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

BLACK WIDOW

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Extensive training in the Red Room made Natasha Romanoff into a warrior with few peers.”

Okay, so, I gotta be honest, putting that specific bio on this specific version of Black Widow is, admittedly, a little bit humorous.  I mean, yeah, she has trouble making friends, and it’s relevant to the movie that was being released around the time of this figure’s release, but, umm, the figure’s sort of in her specifically Avengers-branded attire.  From when she was with the Avengers.  Long enough to have specifically branded attire.  Which would make them…her peers?  I don’t mean to keep throwing wrenches into the Hasbro bios here, but, you know, I’m just throwing that out there.  Okay, enough bio-reviewing, onto the figure reviewing.  Would you guess I’m looking at a Black Widow figure today?  I know, pretty crazy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Widow was a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends release, initially showing up in the summer of 2020 to coincide with the original planned release date for Black Widow.  As with most Walmart-exclusives, it was not super easy to find, and this wasn’t aided by the whole pandemic thing.  Ultimately, she would up being offered up again through Entertainment Earth, and by extension through a good number of Fan Channel locations.  This version of Widow is sporting her grey jumpsuit and Avengers-branded bomber jacket from the early ’90s.  Notably, this same design was also the one used by her very first action figure, back during the Toy Biz 5-inch days, and it also showed up once prior as the variant color scheme for the Widow from the Legends two-packs in 2010.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Her sculpt is a mix of old and new.  The bulk of the body is the Phoenix mold, with the upper arms and jacket overlay from Rogue.  She gets a new head, upper torso (which was subsequently re-used on Firestar), and add-ons for her bracelets and belt.  It’s a good mix of parts, which does a pretty spot-on job of capturing this particular version of Widow.  In particular, I really like how the head sculpt turned out.  The hair really captures the look and feel really well, right down to the one lock in front of her right eye.  It’s honestly one of Hasbro’s nicest female heads, and certainly my favorite of the Widow sculpts they’ve done.  The paint work on this figure is pretty decent.  The bulk of the color work is via molded plastic colors, but the work on the two spiders is sharp, and the face and hair are particularly dynamic and lively looking.  She’s even got the Avengers insignia on both shoulders of the jacket, which is super cool.  Black Widow is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture), three different sets of bracelets (standard, blast effect, and smoke), a jetpack piece, and two rocket effects for the jetpack.  It’s a really great selection of extras.  About the only other thing I could think of to really seal the deal might be an alternate set of unjacketed arms, but that’s really a minor complaint, given the other awesome stuff included.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got a nostalgic spot for this design, what with the old Toy Biz figure and all, so I was very excited when this figure was shown off, and immediately less so when it was confirmed as a Walmart exclusive.  I then had no luck locating one at retail, and kind of figured that was it.  Thankfully she got the second release, and I got a second chance at getting her.  I’m glad I did, because she’s a fantastic figure, and honestly my favorite Widow figure from Hasbro.  Just a really strong release all around, and I’m glad it’s getting a wider distribution.

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.