Tag Archives: Christmas Reviews

#3983: Wedge Antilles

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

WEDGE ANTILLES

STAR WARS: ACTION COLLECTION (KENNER)

I’ve mentioned more than once around here the strange occurrence of my favorite Star Wars character being Wedge Antilles, a rather minor player from the Original Trilogy, who’s most notable for being named on screen, actually appearing in all three films, and being the only person to participate in both Death Star runs.  He’s got a fair bit going on in the expanded universe, so you might think that’s why I’m attached, but no, I just like him from the short bits he’s in the movies. I know.  Weird.  He’s one of those characters that has a decent number of figures, but not so many so as to make it impossible to own them all, which is always fun as a collector.  So, here’s one I haven’t looked at before!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wedge Antilles was released in 1998 as part of Kenner’s Star Wars: Action Collection, which served as the 12-inch scale component of the Power of the Force run.  He was sold in a two-pack with fellow X-Wing pilot Biggs Darklighter, which was exclusive to FAO Schwarz.  He’s based on his look from A New Hope, hence the inclusion alongside Biggs.  The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation, as well as those kind of pointless ratchet joints on his knees.  He’s got sort of a combination of a couple of the bodies Kenner used for Action Collection.  He has the improved upper torso with the waist and elbow joints, but lacks the proper articulated legs that some of the later single release figures got.  It means he can sort of pose, but not a lot.  He got a new head sculpt, which looks as much like Dennis Lawson as any of the ‘90s 12-inch figures looked like their respective actors, so it’s at least consistent with the other stuff.  You can generally tell who it’s meant to be, even if it is perhaps a bit soft.  His outfit, which was entirely shared with Biggs, consists of a jumpsuit, vest, web gear, boots, and gloves.  The boots, gloves, and web gear are sculpted elements, and generally look alright, though the gloves are quite bulky around the wrists.  The rest of it’s fabric, and it does alright.  It’s very loose and thick, and kind of shapeless, but that’s what these figures looked like.  Mine’s got some light staining on the back.  At one point, he had a helmet, which was another sculpted piece, but mine lacks that.  Paint is minor, and pretty much confined to the head.  His hair’s light for Wedge, but that’s about it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been slowly accumulating Wedges for a while, and this was one I didn’t have, largely because I’ve never wanted to shell out for the whole two-pack, because I don’t need a Biggs.  This one in particular made his way into my stocking this Christmas, with an assist by my wife Rachel, who had been informed it was a Wedge I didn’t own (by me).  These figures are far from the high-end collectibles we’ve come to expect of sixth scale figures, but they have their charm in a way.  I remember the line rather fondly, and I’m happy to have Wedge, because it means I don’t really need to dive back into the line further than just him.  Still, a Wedge I don’t have is always a cool thing to me.

#3982: Fluttering Arthur

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

FLUTTERING ARTHUR

THE TICK (BANDAI)

“Not in the face!  Not in the face!”

A super hero with a solid sidekick is always a great thing.  Obviously, there’s the classic dynamic duo of Batman and Robin, but one of my very favorites has always been the Tick and his sidekick Arthur.  Arthur debuted fairly early in the Tick comics, and is one of the few characters to follow Tick through all of his adaptations, which included every episode of the ‘90s cartoon, which netted him a handful of figures, one of which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Fluttering Arthur was released in Series 1 of Bandai’s The Tick toyline.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As this is Bandai’s American division’s work, scale’s not exactly their main forte.  As such, Arthur’s rather large relative to the Ticks in the same line.  He’s still physically shorter, of course, but not by nearly as much as he should be, and his general scaling is also just a lot larger than it should be.  But, it is what it is, and 30 years after the fact, it’s kind of quaint.  The actual sculpt is honestly not bad.  He’s very preposed, which is a little odd, but otherwise pretty faithful to the show’s animation models for the character.  He’s a slightly more reserved Arthur than we frequently saw in the show, where he was dealing with the Tick’s many antics, but this look is ultimately a bit better for a more general figure look.  In terms of color work, Arthur’s always pretty easy, since he’s just a lot of white.  The figure actually goes mostly for an off-white, which is all molded plastic.  It works out better in the long-run, since he’s not all yellowed now.  It also means his goggles can be an actual proper white, which helps them stand out a bit better, even if they are a little fuzzy around the edges.  He’s also got paint on his face and hands, which likewise has some fuzz on the edges, but is at least pretty clean and consistent in its application.  Arthur gets no accessories, but does get an action feature that draws on the “Fluttering” part of his name.  Pushing the button on his back makes his wings “flap,” which is amusing enough, and also pretty non-intrusive.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The saga of me getting this figure goes back to the early ‘90s, when he was still new.  At the time, Tick was on the air, but I didn’t watch it religiously or anything.  But, it was super hero fare, and I liked that, so I’d seen a few episodes, which was enough to know that I liked Arthur quite a bit.  Shortly before my birthday, my Nana took me to the store to get some ideas for gifts, and I saw this guy, and said I wanted him, specifically him, and not any of the others.  Here’s the thing about my Nana and gifts: she had a tendency to decide to buy me a more extravagant gift than I’d asked for, which was nice and generous, but also meant she got me something that simply wasn’t what I wanted.  So, instead of getting the standard Arthur figure, I unwrapped….the 14-inch deluxe talking Tick figure.  Which was cool, but it wasn’t an Arthur, nor was there an Arthur to go with it (I later made my own Arthur by wrapping a 12-inch Robin figure in masking tape).  So, I was without an Arthur for a while.  And, while these figures aren’t rare by any means, they don’t land in front of me nearly as often as other things, so I never did get one.  That is, until I unwrapped this guy on Christmas morning, courtesy of my son Matthew (with an assist from my wife Rachel).  I saw him at a comic con a few weeks ago, and they circled back around to get him for me, which was very nice.  He’s basic and goofy, but very much my vibe, and I’m happy to finally have one after all these years.  But, I fear I now must track down so many more of these figures…

#3981: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

SUPERMAN (SPIN MASTER)

Okay, I kicked off a new year of writing reviews yesterday with a look at something old, but how about something new?  Yeah, let’s do that!  And, in a time honored tradition for my January reviews, I’m jumping into the post-Christmas season with some items I got over the holiday.  My favorite movie from last year was Superman, and that’s something that was no secret to my friends and family.  I’ve been steadily acquiring a lot of versions of David Corenswet in the title role, in all manner of styles.  Today, I move away from the collector stylings, and lean heavier into proper toy coverage.  Let’s have a look at this here Superman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is part of Spin Master’s overarching Superman tie-in product line from 2025.  This one is from the largest of the scales they offered, the 12-inch line, which featured Supes and the three members of the Justice Gang, who appear to have all been sold as singles and in one boxed set together.  This one is the single, but the figures are the same.  The figure stands 12 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  Compared to other lines of this scale and style, the articulation scheme here is actually quite nice.  Hasbro always goes really basic on the Titan Heroes range, but Clark gets knees and elbows, and wrists.  Honestly, the only thing I really think could make a difference is a waist, and even so, he does fine without it, given the price range.  Superman’s sculpt is unique, and it’s pretty decent at that.  The likeness on the head is really strong, looking even more like Corenswet than the McFarlane figure did.  The detailing on the hair is a little on the softer side, but the face is pretty crisp.  The body sculpt is likewise a little soft, but there’s some impressive texture work on the suit.  His cape is a cloth piece, in a similar fashion to their smaller scale figures, but mounted in a better way at the shoulders.  It’s a decent enough fabric, hangs okay, and he’s even got his “S” insignia printed on the back.  Superman’s color work, much like the McFarlane figure, is a little darker than in the final film, which looks to be a concept thing, more than anything.  The paint work is alright.  The eyes and eyebrows are printed, which adds a lifelike quality to the figure.  The more general application is a bit on the sloppy side, with a fair bit of bleed over in several different spots.  None of it’s terrible, and you won’t really notice it with a quick glance.  Superman is without any accessories, which isn’t much of a surprise for this type of figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This Superman was a Christmas gift given to me by my daughter Aubrey.  She’s a huge Superman fan herself, and she’s watched the movie with me a great many times at home since its release.  Her mom took her out, and this was the item she ultimately arrived at, which isn’t too shocking, I suppose.  Obviously, it’s not the sort of figure I’d buy for myself, but that doesn’t make him bad at all.  In fact, I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the quality of Spin Master’s offerings relative to their pricing.  Yes, he’s a “cheap” figure, but he’s better than you might expect, and just a neat basic Superman figure.

#3764: Golden Pharaoh

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

GOLDEN PHARAOH

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

“British archaeologist Ashley Halberstam was working on a dig in Giza, Egypt, when he was struck by a mystical bolt of energy that emanated from a lab run by the New Gods. This bolt of energy Transformed Halberstam, unleashing the latent energies inherent in his body and turning him into Golden Pharaoh. Golden Pharaoh uses his uncanny pyramid power for the forces of good.”

Something that’s been a fixture of my Christmases for a good long while is Kenner’s Super Powers. Somewhat unique about last year was how many Super Powers figures I got between my two Christmases, thanks to McFarlane actually really stepping up their game with their continuation. But, I’m going back to the proper Kenner stuff for the day. And what a proper Kenner thing it is, since it’s one of the two characters they made up for the line, Golden Pharaoh! Who’s Golden Pharaoh? Well, he got that little bio and…that’s actually really it, since he never made the jump to the comics outside of some tie-ins. He did get a DCUC figure, which I’ve reviewed previously, but now I’m going back to the beginning!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Golden Pharaoh was part of Super Powers‘s third abs final assortment, released in 1986. Obviously, this was his first figure, and like his fellow Kenner creation Cyclotron from the same year, it would be his only figure until DCUC. The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  While the general set-up of his articulation is pretty standard for the line, the positioning of his arms, coupled with the nature of his costume design with the wings and all, limits his range on the shoulders a fair bit.  The neck is also rather stiff on mine, but that might also be linked to the age of the translucent plastic, and I’m certainly not gonna force it.  Pharaoh’s sculpt was unique, based on Jack Kirby’s design work for the character.  It’s certainly a unique look, and while the sculpt proper is a little soft in some spots, it generally works out alright.  He’s got a rather basic color scheme.  It’s certainly an odd of assortment of colors, and notably no actual gold (something that was ultimately addressed by the DCUC figure).  I do dig the translucent purple on the torso, though.  Golden Pharaoh was packed with a staff, which he can hold in his right hand.  He also had a “Power Action Soaring” feature, which pops his arms upward when his legs are squeezed.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Golden Pharaoh was, as has been the trend for the last few years, my “big” Christmas gift from my parents.  He’s certainly one of the line’s more oddball offerings, and one that I don’t know that I really, truly imagined owning at the outset of collecting this line.  He just seemed like one of those far away things.  On his own, he’s perhaps not the most impressive, and could use maybe a bit more flair.  I have to wonder how much cooler he’d have been if he’d maybe been vac metalized gold, but ultimately, he’s not a bad little figure.  And here I am, three figures away from finishing up Super Powers.  Which feels increasingly odd.

#3763: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four are transported to a strange planet, Captain America is chosen to take the lead in fighting the ultimate war!”

As much as it’s become something of a rarity these days, since I tend to buy most Marvel Legends for myself, there was a time when Legends invariably made up a large component of what I got for Christmas.  We’re, of course, going largely back to the Toy Biz days, but still.  Thanks to a new set of figures that came in right under the wire on last year’s deliveries, the timing astoundingly lined-up for that to happen again.  2024 marked the 40th anniversary of Secret Wars, an event designed to sell toys, so what better way to mark the occasion than by selling some more toys?  It gives Hasbro a good excuse to re-release some heavy hitters, like, for instance, Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is part of the six-figure “Secret Wars” anniversary assortment of Marvel Legends, which hit right at the end of last year.  He’s joined by the similarly heavy-hitter-y Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Iron Man, as well as the all-new but still very much important to the actual event Beyonder and Titania.  They’re all patterned on the vintage Mattel line, with replica retro card backs, and a few of the gimmicks as well.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, this figure’s the same kind of “Ship of Theseus” set-up as the Renew Your Vows Spider-Man, just for Cap.  His oldest parts are from the Grim Reaper body, who was reworked into Cap Wolf.  Cap Wolf got upgraded to 80th Anniversary Cap, who was also used for the 20th Anniversary Series 1 Cap.  This figure further upgrades the body by adding pinless construction on the arms and legs, as well making the glove cuffs a separate piece, making for a cleaner assembly.  In general, it takes a base body that was already quite strong, and gives it that winning edge, making this the best Cap base body to date.  Cap gets two new head sculpts, both sculpted by Paul Harding, who handled the heads on the 20th Cap.  According to him, all four heads were sculpted at the same time, and these ones were saved for later.  This time around, he’s got one smiling head, and one gritting his teeth.  They’re both quite nice, and just as solid as the prior two.  Personally, I think the smiling one’s my favorite of the bunch, but I like the versatility in general.  There’s only one drawback, and that’s to do with the colors.  This figure is notably NOT the same color palette as the 20th release, which in a vacuum isn’t terrible.  Clearly, they’re trying to emulate the Mattel colors more directly, right down to the reversed stripe pattern on the mid-section.  The blue in particular is a bit warmer, and I do honestly prefer that.  The biggest trouble with it, however, is that it means you can’t swap the different expressions between this guy and the 20th, so there’s no neutral expression for this figure, and you can go more intense with the 20th.  It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a little more limiting than I’d expected.  In terms of actual application, he’s generally alright.  The glove construction in particular clears up the problem with messy edges on the gloves that we saw with the earlier mold.  On my figure, both heads do have some slight issues, with part of the A being scraped off on the happy head, and a weird flecking of flesh tone paint on the angry head.  Neither is a major issue, but it’s frustrating.  Cap is packed with three sets of hands, in fists, gripping, and flat/pointing.  The gripping are an interesting choice, and I assume they’re just there to reference the vintage figure?  I do miss the open gesture hands from the 20th, but I always miss the open gesture hands when they get left out, honestly.  He gets two different shields, and neither of them is standard, continuing the bit of this updated Cap mold not getting standard shields, and also the gag of the vintage Secret Wars Cap not getting a standard one either.  He’s got a throwback vintage shield, complete with the lenticular gimmick, as well as a shattered version of the standard shield, which even includes the broken off pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I love the 20th Cap, but even when he was new, I was aware there would be another on the horizon.  This one didn’t surprise me.  I ended up getting him as a gift from Max, who sniped me purchasing him on the basis that he didn’t know exactly what to get me, and knew I wouldn’t have the new Cap that just came in.  It’s a solid observation.  I’ve gotten something out of every successive iteration of the Caps that led to this version of the mold, and this one is certainly the best thus far.  Sure, the color change is frustrating, and we still don’t have a proper undamaged classic shield for him, so I know there’s another one on the horizon with all the heads and a repainted Ultimate shield.  And, I’ll buy that one too, because I’m weak.  But, until then, I do really, really like this one.

#3762: Space Suit – Light Blue Version

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SPACE SUIT — LIGHT BLUE VERSION

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY MAFEX (MEDICOM TOY)

Welcome back, everybody!  I hope you guys enjoyed…my holiday break?  Well, I did, so there’s that.  We’re officially post-Christmas, so that means I get to kick off the year with some Christmas-gift-related reviews.  I kicked things off last year with a MAFEX review, and I’m duplicating that effort this year.  Not exactly by design, but here we are nonetheless.  It is, however, quite a different direction in terms of branding.  Rather than DC Comics, we are instead turning to 2001…not the year, mind you, but the movie.  I can understand your confusion.  Kubrick films are generally a rarity in merchandising, especially action figures, but we’ve had a few goes at 2001.  Medicom released a small selection of the film’s distinctive space suits in a variety of colors under the MAFEX banner, and I’m looking at one of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Light Blue Space Suit is figure 090 in Medicom’s MAFEX line-up.  It is numerically the last of the four colored suits to be released, hitting in 2019.  The blue suit is a unique oddity amongst the four, as it is the only suit not to be used at all within the film’s run.  The orange and yellow get used by Bowman and Poole respectively, and the helmet and gloves from the green suit are used by Bowman following his space walk.  The blue suit simply hangs next to Bowman and Poole’s suits.  Waiting.  Watching.  Plotting.  Reading lips.  No, wait, that’s HAL.  My mistake.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As these are 1/12 scale figures, the suit is about an inch shorter than the Super 7 Bowman.  Its mold is shared with the other three suits, which is sensible.  The sculpt is crisp and clean, and the figure is easy to pose, and doesn’t feel too fragile.  The helmet is affixed with no movement of its own, which initially surprised me, but is true to the design, so it makes sense.  The color work is pretty solid for the most part.  The blue is a good match for what’s seen on screen, and the smaller detail work on the instruments and patches is quite impressive.  The visor is completely blacked out, as was the case for all of these.  It hides the face, or in the case of this figure the lack of a face, allowing all four to share the same mold more easily, and simplifying the construction somewhat.  The figure is packed with three sets of hands and a display stand.  While the suit just sits there and really just needs the relaxed hands, the additional ones are fun for theoretical posing, and the display stand assists with that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With a lot of the Kubrick stuff, there winds up being something of a back and forth on licensing, and I seem to recall that being the case with these guys, I think?  I don’t know, but I do know that they all wound up going under the radar for me when they hit, so I didn’t snag any of them.  I honestly wasn’t super picky on color, but I did sort of pull for the blue, thanks to its aforementioned uniqueness.  So, it was rather lucky for me that this was the one that ended up coming through work, and even more lucky for me that it wound up being my Christmas gift from the company.  It’s a very nice piece.  Certainly a different breed of figure from the Super 7 stuff, but I still like both offerings for what they are.  Ultimately, this one is quite fun.  Now I just need to resist the urge to own all of the different colors.

#3526: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

DC MULTIVERSE (MCFARLANE TOYS)

Fun FiQ Fact #0005:  This is my second Nightwing of the week and my 21st Nightwing review in the history of the site!  They can drink now!

In case you haven’t noticed, I do like me some Nightwing figures.  I’m generally not super picky about them, at least as far as quality is concerned, which is why I tend to wind up going back to certain wells for more and more punishment.  One such well is the McFarlane well.  McFarlane has made five Nightwings thus far.  I got the first one, and I was honestly rather letdown.  So letdown that I didn’t even keep him.  I got rid of a Nightwing.  That’s gotta say something, right?  I’ve looked at all of the others as they’ve shown up in front of me, and I’ve just known I’d be disappointed again.  And now I’ve actually gone and gotten one.  Am I gonna be disappointed?  Let’s find out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is part of the Titans series of DC Multiverse, which was a mass-release set of Build-A-Figure part-bearing figures, which hit mid-last year.  They’re kind of a mix of designs, mostly on the modern side.  For his part, Nightwing appears to based on his most current design from his solo book, which is actually a pretty solid look.  It’s very similar to his Hush look, but with a dash of animated thrown in.  The figure stands just over 7 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  It’s the standard McFarlane set-up, which is to say it has its plusses and minuses.  It generally doesn’t break up the sculpt too awkwardly, which is a plus.  The sculpt is generally not a bad one, especially given the source.  The proportions aren’t too odd, and the detailing is mostly just what’s supposed to be there, without a ton of extra detailing that’s not needed.  I like a streamlined Nightwing, so I like this a lot more than the prior sculpts.  The head’s not bad, but it’s definitely a bit more on the cartoony side.  There’s a heck of a chin on this guy, and he’s got wonky different sized eyes.  Also, I’m not entirely sure what’s supposed to be going on with his hair.  It looks fine from certain angles but awkward from others.  Nightwing’s paint is pretty clean.  The blue is bold and eye-catching, which I like.  I don’t like that the shoulder assembly once again breaks up the blue line-work, but Todd’s not letting that particular gimmick go.  Nightwing is packed with a display stand and a card.  It’s kind of crazy that he gets no eskrima sticks, nor hands to hold them, especially with them being on the art for the included card, but that’s McFarlane.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I saw this guy’s initial photos and thought “he doesn’t look so bad.”  It wasn’t enough for me to track him down, mind you, but when one got traded in at All Time, it certainly made me contemplate buying him.  I was gonna wait it out and see where I fell, but my co-worker Mike decided to make it easier on me, and just bought it for me as a Christmas gift.  That certainly took a lot of the thought out of it.  It’s honestly not a bad figure.  I mean, not great, but I didn’t expect that.  But, within the confines of the set-up, he’s okay.

#3524: Shazam!

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

SHAZAM!

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

Fun FiQ Fact #0003:  The character that would eventually become Shazam was originally intended to be called “Captain Thunder” and “Captain Marvelous” before Fawcett Comics landed on “Captain Marvel.”

Kenner’s Super Powers has a very hard link to Christmas for me.  As a kid, for a good stretch of time, I got one every Christmas, and, in recent years, it’s a trend that’s returned.  I’m actually very close to the end of the line, which also means that I’ve gotten to the point where all of the ones I need are nearer the more expensive side of things, and also all hail from the line’s last year.  That includes today’s focus, a Captain Marvel named Shazam!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shazam was released in 1986, as part of the third and final year of Kenner’s Super Powers line.  While the character wouldn’t actually take on the name “Shazam” in-universe until 2011, since by 1986, the Captain Marvel trademark was firmly in Marvel Comics’ possession, so whether he used the name in the books or not, no toys could use it.  Rather amusingly, Marvel themselves didn’t really do much with it either, with their first figure based on any of *their* Captain Marvels not seeing a release until the late ’90s.  But, I’m getting side-tracked.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has the line’s standard 7 points of articulation.  Shazam sported a unique sculpt, based specifically on his later DC design, which moved him more into the traditional spandex set-up.  His sculpt is a little stiffer than the others, which is especially notable in the straightness on the arms.  His head seems a bit soft compared to others in the line.  They’re clearly trying to capture the character’s more unique facial features, while keeping him in-line with the house style of the rest of the figures.  The end result is sort of middling.  Definitely not the strongest the line had to offer.  His cape was cloth.  On my figure, it’s a repro; the original had a unique plastic clasp piece, as well as some rather nice printed details.  Shazam’s paint work is minimal, but it’s decent enough.  There’s a little wear on mine, but nothing crazy.  Shazam gets no accessories, but he gets the usual action feature.  In his case it’s a “Power Action Thunder Punch;”  squeezing the legs makes the arms swing in opposite directions.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

As has been the trend on the last few of these, Shazam was my main Christmas gift from my parents this year.  While Mister Miracle was one of the line’s finest, and a great send-off from the final year, Shazam is definitely more middle of the road.  He’s okay, and I’m sure glad to finally have him, but he himself isn’t much to write home about.  And now I’ve got four left.  This is getting very exciting!

#3522: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: HUSH MAFEX (MEDICOM TOY)

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

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

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

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

#3266: Green Lantern

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

GREEN LANTERN

WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES (MEGO)

I’m just about done with this year’s batch of post-Christmas reviews, but I’m wrapping up with a look at something that’s not quite as much a holiday fixture for me as Super Powers, but is still pretty high up there: Mego.  2022 marked the 50th anniversary of Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes toyline launching.  At its start, WGSH was exclusively dedicated to DC Comics, something that is true of the modern WGSH line, thanks to Mego picking back up the license for 8-inch figures in 2020.  In celebration of the 50th, Mego is returning the line to its roots, with packaging based on the original boxed look for the line.  While the line-up is mostly recreations of figures from the original line, it also features two additional figures, Green Lantern and Flash, the two most glaring omissions from the original run, in fancy throwback packaging and all.  I’ve got the GL, of course, and I’m taking a look at him today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Lantern is part of Wave 16 of the post-relaunch Mego line, under the World’s Greatest Super Heroes 50th Anniversary banner.  He’s one of the eight retro throwback figures in the set, and one of the two that’s not a re-issue of a vintage Mego counterpart.  This GL is the Hal Jordan version, specifically sporting his classic ’70s appearance, making him through and through the correct look for a proper vintage Mego release, which is pretty cool.  The figure stands just shy of 8 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Hal is built on the brand-new Type-S Mego base body, which takes the vintage Type 2 body aesthetic, and reworks it to remove the band construction, as well as improve the general articulation set-up for the body.  It removes the issues of long-term viability of the band construction, creates a generally more solid feeling base body, and also gives him better posability…for the most part.  The only thing I’m not super crazy about is the knees, which are a bit more restricted on this body than earlier Mego base bodies.  Hal gets a unique head sculpt and hands as well.  They’re quite impressive pieces; the head sculpt in particular is really a star piece.  He’s the spitting image of the quintessential ’70s Hal, which is exactly what I want on this sort of figure.  The paint work on GL is on the head and both hands.  The head’s pretty clean, apart from just a touch of missing paint near the nose of the mask.  The hands are fully painted, with white for the gloves and everything, which gives them a slightly glossier finish, helping them match closer to the costume.  GL’s costume is made up of a jumpsuit and a pair of standard boots.  The jumpsuit is made up of separate cloth pieces stitched together, rather than just being silkscreened, which gives it a little more pop.  GL is packed with his power battery, which, unlike the 14 inch figure, he can actually hold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Friday’s Mister Miracle, GL was a Christmas gift to me from my parents.  Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted a proper Mego GL.  I made my own custom back in the day, which tided me over, and then I had the Mattel one, and even the Figures Toy Company one.  Of course, none of those were official Mego.  There was also the 14 inch version, but he was, you know, really tall and all.  It’s been a road of small steps and improvements, but this one is really, really nice, and he’s a proper, official Mego GL.  Only took us 50 years, but, hey, here we are.  Feels like it was worth it.  Genuinely couldn’t be happier with him.