Tag Archives: Civil War

#1019: Giant-Man

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

GIANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

GiantManCW1

Huzzah!  We’ve made it to the final part of Giant-Man Week!  It’s time for the literal big guy himself, Giant-Man.  Giant-Man was probably one of Civil War’s worst kept secrets, thanks to both this figure and the Airport Battle Lego set.  It’s not like it was a huge shock or anything, and the actual moment from the film was hardly diminished by knowing ahead of time.  Anyway, Giant-Man is (pardon the pun) one of the bigger things to come out of Civil War, and as such, he’s found his way into quite a good bit of merchandise.  However, this is the first proper movie Giant-Man action figure, so let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GiantManCW2Giant-Man is the build-a-figure for the Giant-Man Series of Marvel Legends.  I know, who would have seen that coming?  He’s obviously based on his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, specifically the airport scene.  The figure stands 10 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Giant-Man is another all-new sculpt.  It’s pretty decent work, with a slight caveat.  The figure offers a decent approximation of his design from the movie, but, like with the Ant-Man figures from the solo movie, this guy kind of misses the smaller details. Well, not misses, so much. All the details are there, but they’re sort of out of place. It’s not a bad look at all, just slightly inaccurate. But hey, this is what happens when you keep a main character’s look under wraps for so long.  It’s certainly not a bad sculpt, though.  There’s a lot of really great texturing on his suit, and he’s got nice, balanced proportions.  I particularly like the use of a separate piece for the faceplate, which allows for Scott’s eyes to be seen beneath the lenses.  It’s a really cool look.  Giant-Man’s paintwork is pretty solidly done.  The colors are all good matches for the movie, and everything is nice and cleanly applied.  The silver could, maybe, be a little brighter, but it looks fine as is.  As an accessory himself, Giant-Man doesn’t include any extras of his own, though I can’t really think of much you could give him.  Maybe a chunk of plane?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a build-a-figure, Giant-Man is the result of a few weeks of searching for all the figures in this series.  I think he may be one of my favorite B-a-Fs in a a long time.  In general, this whole series was really strong.  The line-up seemed a little odd at first, but almost all of the figures are top-notch work, especially in terms of paint! Which has been one of Hasbro’s problem areas.

GiantManCW4

#1017: Black Panther

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

BLACK PANTHER

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

PantherCW1

We’re now four days into Giant-Man week. Today, we’ll be looking at my favorite figure from the set. Oops. Spoilers? Ah, you’ll get over it.

Anyway, Black Panther was by far the coolest thing to come out of Civil War (which is saying a lot, because Civil War had *a lot* of cool things in it). As of yet, merchandise of him has been a little difficult to find. I’ve looked at Hasbro’s smaller figure and the Minimate, both of which were pretty cool, but still left me wanting just a little bit more. My most anticipated Panther figure was the Marvel Legends version. It’s been a bit of a wait, but he’s finally here! Does he live up to the expectations? Well, duh.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PantherCW2Black Panther is figure 3 in the Giant-Man Series of Marvel Legends. He’s the third of the three Captain America: Civil War-based figures from the series (not counting the build-a-figure, of course). Of course, Panther ended up with one of the most faithful costume translations in all of the Marvel movies, so there’s no reason this guy couldn’t pass for a comic Panther too. The figure stands 6 ¼ inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. Like the Mark 46, Black Panther sports a completely new sculpt, and an impressive one at that. Not only is his musculature nicely proportioned and balanced, but he’s also a pretty much perfect match for Panther’s build from the movie. On top of that, ever bit of this guy is covered in sculpted texture. Panther’s suit looks like it’s made from an actual woven material, which at this scale is immensely impressive. Even the hands are well done, offering a cool claw bearing pose that works really nicely with the figure’s articulation. The sculpt also manages to work in all of the articulation in a way that disrupts the sculpt as little as possible, which is greatly appreciated.  Panther’s paintwork is rather on the minimalistic side, but what’s there is quite sharp, which is good, because imperfections in the paint would be rather obvious due to the highly contrasting natures of the colors. This is one of those times where less is more with the paint, because the lack of superfluous painted details allows the finer parts of the sculpt to really shine. Panther includes an unmasked T’Challa head, which has pretty nice likeness of Chadwick Boseman. Oddly, the head lacks his slight bit of facial hair. The Minimate has this same issue, so it’s possible that he was clean shaven in early shots. Panther also includes the left leg of Giant-Man. I wouldn’t have minded some extra hands as well, but the extra head is certainly a cool extra.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Panther is the figure I’ve been most looking forward to in this set. I’m not alone in this, however, causing him to be the most difficult figure to find by far. Fortunately for me, my local TRU got in a case of this series right before my birthday, when I just so happened to stop by. Panther ended up being bought for me by my boy Tim. This figure not only lives up to my expectations, it actually manages to exceed them. The sculpt is great, the movement is great, and even the paint is pretty great. Hasbro really upped their ante on this guy. Let’s hope they can keep it up!

PantherCW3

#1015: Iron Man Mark 46

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

IRON MAN MARK 46

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

IMMk461

Giant-Man week continues! Yesterday was a slightly more obscure character. Today’s review goes the other direction, with a character that everyone and their mother knows. Yes, it’s Iron Man! You can’t go too many series of Marvel Legends without another Iron Man! There might be, like, riots or something. This figure in particular is based on his turn as an antagonist (but NOT a villain, because there’s a difference) in this summer’s Captain America: Civil War. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IMMk462Iron Man Mark 46 is figure 2 in the Giant-Man series of Marvel Legends. He’s the second of the three Civil War-based figures in this set, which is pretty sensible. The figure stands about 6 ½ inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation. Iron Man has an all-new sculpt, which makes this the first Iron Man since the switch-over to Infinite Series to get one. It’s quite nicely handled. All the details seem to match up pretty well to the armor from the movie. What I really like about it is the bulk to it, which makes him pretty convincingly a guy in a suit in armor. That’s nice, because a lot of Iron Man figures don’t quite manage that. The only slight downside to the size is that it makes the already small Captain America look even smaller. But, that’s hardly this figure’s fault. All-in-all a solid sculpt, though. The paintwork on the Mark 46 is actually quite nice. Recently, Hasbro’s Iron Men have been missing some of the painted details on their backs, which is a little frustrating. However, this guy isn’t plagued by this same issue, as he has all of the proper detailing he should. The application could be a little cleaner, but it’s above the usual quality we see from Hasbro. Yay Hasbro! Iron Man was packed with two pairs of hands in both open and closed poses. The open hands also include a pair of removable repulsor blasts (which can also be plugged into the feet, which quite cool) which are a very welcome addition to Hasbro’s Iron Man arsenal. Lastly, he includes the right arm of Giant-Man, which I’ll cover with the rest of figure later this week.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I found this guy twice before actually buying him. The reason for skipping those two was NOT because I didn’t want the figure. Nope, it was because both of those figures had their build-a-figure piece stolen out of the package by some scumbag. Bleh. Fortunately, my Dad came across this guy at the Walmart right outside of the town where my family vacations. Despite having quite a few Iron Men already, I was actually quite looking forward to this guy. The new sculpt and the extra repulsor pieces make him a definite win. He’s easily Hasbro’s best movie Iron Man.

IMMk463

#1014: Red Guardian

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

RED GUARDIAN

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

RedGuardian1

“In Soviet Russia, Shield throws you!”

Oh great, six words into the review, and I’m already stereotyping. This can’t be a good sign. So, today is the first day of “Giant-Man Week”. A few weeks back, I looked at the first figure from this series, Captain America. Today, I’ll be looking at Red Guardian. If my opening quote hadn’t clued you in, Red Guardian is the Soviet equivalent to Captain America. This is the Red Guardian’s second time as an action figure, though it’s his first time as a Marvel Legend. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RedGuardian2Red Guardian is figure 6 in the Giant-Man series of Marvel Legends. He’s based on Alexei Shostakov, the original Red Guardian and he’s one of the three comic-based figures from the series, though, as a Captain America villain who was once married to Black Widow, he’s the comic figure with the closest ties to the Captain America: Civil War theme. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Red Guardian is built on the Grim Reaper body, which is one of Hasbro’s new favorites. The size and musculature are a good fit, so it’s good to see Hasbro’s taking advantage of the new piece. Specifically, he’s a new head on the variation of that body used for the Red Onslaught series’ Classic Cap figure. The re-use is sensible, since Red Guardian is purposefully similar to Cap in design.  Technically, the belt should be circular, but that’s really a minor nit, and with a character like Red Guardian, most people won’t even notice. The new head fits the body well and suitably transitions the look to Red Guardian. I could see an argument that the head’s too big, but I don’t mind. The paintwork on Red Guardian isn’t bad, but I wish they’d fully committed to some of the detailing choices.  He has a nice, subtle shading on his head and upper torso, reminiscent of the creative inking usually seen on Captain America in the ‘60s and ‘70s, which looks really cool. Unfortunately it stops rather abruptly at the shoulders and lower torso, which kind of kills the look. I like what we got, but I wish they’d at least eased in out bit more. The whited out eyes are an interesting choice, seeing as Alexei’s eyes were always visible in the comics. What’s more, the sculpt even has the openings around the eyes for the skin, but it’s just painted black. It’s certainly not a bad look or anything, but it’s a slightly odd choice. Red Guardian was packed with his shield (a repainted version of Cap’s, in keeping with the rest of the figure), and the right leg of Giant-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found Red Guardian at my local Toys R Us. Just walked in, and there he was. That like never happens anymore. Okay, it’s actually happening with increasing frequency, but still. I have only a passing familiarity with Red Guardian, but I’ve always liked the concept and I think he’s got a pretty sweet design. I’m definitely happy to have the figure, and doubly so since I didn’t have to work too hard to get him.

RedGuardian3

#0979: Ant-Man & Winter Soldier

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

ANT-MAN & WINTER SOLDIER

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR – MINIVERSE

AntMan&WS1

Wow, it’s been two whole months since Civil War hit theatres. Consequently, that also means it’s been about a month and a half since I saw Civil War. That doesn’t seem right. I might have to fix that. In the meantime, how about a nice Civil War-themed review? Yeah, that’ll be cool. Today, let’s stick firmly on the #TeamCap side, with Ant-Man and Winter Soldier!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ant-Man and Winter Soldier are one of the two-packs in the second series of Hasbro’s current Captain America: Civil War Miniverse line, which just started hitting stores not too long ago. They’re yet another somewhat odd pairing, since Scott and Bucky don’t really spend much time interacting, but oh well.

ANT-MAN

AntMan&WS2Both Guardians and Age of Ultron got their own 2 ½ inch lines, but poor Ant-Man was not so lucky. Which is kinda weird, since he’s the character who it makes the sense to have available in lots of different scales (especially smaller ones). But it’s okay, because he’s got a 2 ½ inch figure now! This figure stands just over 2 ½ inches tall and he has the same 5 points of articulation as any other figure in this line. Ant-Man is based on his slightly tweaked design from Civil War, which wasn’t a bad look. I can’t really say I like or dislike this look more than his last one, since they’re ultimately pretty similar. His sculpt does a pretty nice job of capturing the design from the movie, and he has quite a lot of very sharp detail work. He’s one of the more pre-posed figures from the line, with a rather wide stance and his arms slightly angled from his side. I’m not sure exactly what look they were going for, but it’s not as odd as some of the pre-posed figures I’ve gotten over the years. The Miniverse line is generally a bit light on the painted details, which can prove a problem for those with more intricate designs, such as Ant-Man’s. That being said, this is one of the few figures in the line not to lose too many painted details. Sure, there’s still a few silver accents here and there missing, but most of the important stuff is there. Of the two figures in this set, Ant-Man is the one that gets the weird armor thing. On the plus side, it seems the armor’s main purpose is to make Ant-Man a bit larger, to simulate his Giant-Man look, making it the first of these armor sets not to be totally useless.

WINTER SOLDIER

AntMan&WS3This is the second Winter Soldier we’ve gotten from this line of figures, but this is the first one to actually be based on his look from Civil War. Like Ant-Man, this guy stands a little over 2 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Surprisingly enough, this figure doesn’t share any parts with his Series 1 counterpart. His sculpt is quite well-handled, with lots of excellent detailing. The likeness isn’t a spot-on Sebastian Stan, but at this scale it’s good enough. Also, as with many of the figures in the line, the feet are a bit large, but the proportions are otherwise pretty good. Bucky has a much more subdued pose than most of the line, which is actually kind of nice to see. The paintwork here is pretty simple, being limited to the head, torso, and left arm, but the application is nice and clean, and he looks about right for the movie design. Winter Soldier has no accessories, but if all he was gonna get was more goofy armor, I’m not really going to complain.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up these two from Target. They were the only new set the store had in stock, which means I missed out on the Scarlet Witch set, but hey, this is a decent consolation. Unlike a lot of the other sets from this line, where there’s one good figure and one iffy figure, this set contains two pretty solid additions to the line. Definitely glad I got them!

#0960: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

CapCW1

Despite the movie being out for over a month now, the tie-in toys for Captain America: Civil War are still coming out in little dabs and trickles, here and there. There are three assortments of Marvel Legends being released this year to coincide with Civil War, and while the first of those three has been out for a few months, the actual movie-related figures are in the second and third assortments. The second set is starting to hit stores now, and today I’ll be taking a look at the latest version of Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CapCW2Cap is part of the second series of this year’s Captain America-inspired Marvel Legends. The series has officially been dubbed the “Giant-Man Series,” after its Build-A-Figure. The figure is about 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. He’s based on Cap’s appearance in Civil War…sort of. Why “sort of”? Well, if you’re a faithful follower of the site, this guy probably looks familiar. That’s because his sculpt is 100% the same as the one used for the Age of Ultron version of Cap. Which in turn means it’s using everything but the torso from the Winter Soldier STRIKE Suit Cap. That’s not a terrible thing; those are both strong figures, mostly due to the high quality of the sculpt.  And, to be fair, the three designs aren’t that different from each other. However, the AoU figure made some compromises on his design for the sake of re-use from the STRIKE Suit Cap, so this figure inherits those compromises, in addition to having several of his own. The AoU figure at least got the new torso to somewhat make up for it, but this figure doesn’t get anything new. At the very least, a new set of hands without the extra holes in the gloves would have been nice. Also, while the sculpt is still very strong, minor flaws that weren’t a big deal the first time around, such as the slightly small stature of the figure, become much more noticeable with each iteration. This isn’t a bad sculpt at all, and independent from the other two figures to use it, this Cap is still quite good. The paintwork on this figure is a marked improvement over the AoU figure, at least in terms of application, which is all around much sharper and exhibits far less bleed over. The actual palette is much more subdued than the AoU figure, which I think suits the sculpt a bit more than the brighter look of the AoU Cap. For accessories, Cap includes his shield (the same as the ones included with the other two Caps), and the head of Giant-Man. He lacks the unmasked head and extra hands of the last two figures, which coupled with the much smaller B-A-F piece and the totally reused sculpt is a serious step down in terms of value.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Super Awesome Girlfriend and I found this figure at a Walmart on the way back from the beach. She asked if I wanted him and I decided I’d be good and skip him, since I already have the other two. So, she decided she’d buy Cap anyway, for herself. Then, when we walked out of the store, she turned to me and said: “Upon further thought, I don’t have space for this Captain America right now. I think I’ll have to leave it with you. Do you think you can take care of it, like a shared custody thing?” She’s crafty that one.

This figure perplexes me. I’ve gotten more or less the same figure twice before, but this time he’s got a far less impressive accessory complement. Plus, they’re putting almost the exact same figure in a three-pack with Spidey, only that one had the missing accessories. I should be annoyed by this figure. But I’m not. Actually, he’s my favorite of the three Caps, and I don’t feel like he’s a waste at all. It’s weird.

CapCW3

#0953: Captain America & Winter Soldier

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA & WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Cap&WSCW1

As big a movie as it was, one of the best parts of Captain America: Civil War was that it didn’t abandon the plot threads of its predecessor, The Winter Soldier. Cap and Bucky’s friendship was front and center, and their desire to look out for each other forms the emotional core of the film. Neither character is a stranger to toys, but they’ve gotten a few movie specific figures, including some Minimates, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America and Winter Soldier are part of Marvel Minimates Series 66, which is the first of two series based on Captain America: Civil War. Like Panther & Iron Man, these two are one of the sets shared between the specialty and TRU assortments.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Cap&WSCW2Cap’s STRIKE Suit in The Winter Soldier is generally viewed as one of the stronger MCU designs, so it’s not a shock that his subsequent looks have been tweaks on that design. His Civil War design isn’t much different than his AoU design, just with a few minor changes here and there. Because of the similarity in designs, this Cap and the Series 61 Cap are constructed from the same selection of pieces: add-ons for the helmet, harness, belt, and gloves.  These are all pretty great pieces, and they work very nicely capturing Cap’s onscreen design. Cap’s paintwork is also pretty strong. His costume is exquisitely detailed, and the linework is some of the sharpest that I’ve seen on a Minimate in some time. There’s some minor issue with the basic color work, such as the misplaced “A” on the forehead and the slight bleed over from the brown of the gloves onto the “fingers.” However, the overall paint looks pretty solid. Under the mask, there’s a very angry Steve Rogers, which matches up well with the Mark 46’s Tony expression. For accessories, Cap includes his shield, a shield-bearing hand, an extra hairpiece for an unmasked look, and a clear display stand.

WINTER SOLDIER

Cap&WSCW3Though he might seem a little lacking compared to his pack -mate’s eight different MCU-based Minimates, Bucky here has still gotten three MCU-mates of his own. This one is based on Bucky’s look from the back half of the film. It’s admittedly not quite as exciting a look as the one he was sporting in Winter Soldier, but it’s not terrible. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. Bucky has two add-on pieces, both re-used: one for his hair and on for the bottom bit of his jacket. The hair isn’t quite a perfect match (since his hair’s a bit shorter this time than it was last time), but it’s close enough to work. Bucky’s paint isn’t quite as solid as Cap’s. A lot of it’s the design, which just doesn’t allow for as many fun details, but there are also a few instances of slop or smears, most noticeably the red star on his shoulder. In addition, there’s one notable flaw: his left hand. The fingers should be silver, since that’s his robotic side, but the figure gives fleshy fingers to both hands. It’s a rather simple mistake, and not too difficult to correct. The likeness on the face is a bit generic, but there’s some definite resemblance to Sebastian Stan. In terms of accessories, this Winter Soldier is a little lacking compared to the last movie’s version. He includes a pistol, an SMG, two knives, and a clear display stand. That’s an okay assortment, but I feel like a rifle would have been a better fit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was picked up at the same time as Panther and Iron Man. I don’t find this set to be quite as strong as that one, but it’s not bad. Cap’s a pretty strong figure. He’s not super different from the AoU version, but he definitely has a superior paint job. I think that the Series 55 version of Winter Soldier is still my preferred version, but this one’s still a pretty solid ‘mate.

#0952: Black Panther & Iron Man

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

BLACK PANTHER & IRON MAN – MARK 46

MARVEL MINIMATES

PantherIM1

It’s not really news to the regular followers of this site, but I really, really enjoyed Captain America: Civil War. While it was still undeniably Cap’s movie, the supporting players really stood out. One of the best parts of the movie was Black Panther, who was introduced into the MCU with a standout performance from Chadwick Boseman. I can’t wait to see more of this guy! Until his solo Black Panther movie hits, I’ll just have to hold myself over with some of his toys. Though I haven’t yet found his awesome looking Marvel Legends figure, I did manage to snag his Minimate, which I’ll be looking at today, along with his pack-mate Iron Man.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Panther and Iron Man were released in Series 66 of the Marvel Minimates line. The whole series is based on Captain America: Civil War. These two are also one of the shared sets between the specialty and TRU assortments.*

BLACK PANTHER

PantherIM2Amazingly enough, is is only Black Panther’s third appearance as a Minimate. He hasn’t shown up since Series 29! This one is, unsurprisingly, based on his movie appearance. Admittedly, it’s not very far off from his basic comics appearance, so he could really work as either version in a pinch. The figure stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation. Panther’s only add-on is his mask, which is the same piece used by the last two Panther ‘mates. It’s a well-sculpted, simplistic piece, which suits the character very well. It’s too bad he didn’t get a set of clawed hands as well, but that’s a fairly minor nit. The rest of Panther’s detailing is done via paintwork, and it’s some pretty exceptional work at that. There’s a ton of small detail work to make up the unique texturing of Panther’s costume in the movie, and I love how much depth the variations of finish give him. Under the mask, there’s a fully detailed head, with painted on hair and ears. It’s not a perfect likeness of Boseman as T’Challa; for some reason he’s missing his facial hair (which appears to be the case with the Legends figure as well), and his expression is also a bit bland. But, it’s still a nice touch, and adds an extra bit of coolness to the figure. Panther’s only accessory is a clear display stand. It seems a bit light, but I’m not really sure what else they could have given him.

IRON MAN – MARK 46

PantherIM3Tony Stark really likes tweaking his armor. The Mark 46 serves as his only armor during the course of Civil War (I believe this is the first time he’s only had one). It’s not too far removed from the Mark 45, which he wore at the end of Age of Ultron. However, there are a few minor differences, most of which seem to be there to help bulk Tony up so he doesn’t look too overpowered by Cap. As a Minimate, the Mark 46 is built from the same pieces as the Marks 42 and 43, minus the chest piece. That means he’s got add-ons for his helmet, gloves, pelvis, and boots, as well as a non-standard set of upper arms. It’s not my favorite set of pieces, and the selection isn’t a spot-on recreation of what’s seen in the film (there are way too many join lines), but the end result isn’t too bad. The upper arms are still very limiting in terms of articulation, but the effect is at least somewhat lessened by the omission of the chest plate. The paint does a lot to really sell this figure. The colors of red and gold chosen work pretty nicely together, and the detail lines all do a good job of recreating the on-screen armor. There’s a bit of slop on the arms, but it’s all minor and fairly unnoticeable. Under the helmet, there’s a very angry Tony Stark face. I like the change of expression, though I do wonder why he’s lacking the black eye that Tony was sporting during all of his armored scenes. Iron Man is packed with a spare hair piece, a flying stand, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these two up from Cosmic Comix the week they were released. Amusingly enough, it was actually on the way to take Super Awesome Girlfriend to see the movie. Panther’s definitely the selling point of this set. He’s a new addition to the MCU subset of ‘mates, and the first shot a lot of newer collectors have had at a Black Panther Minimate. He’s also just a pretty solid ‘mate all around. Iron Man’s certainly not a bad addition, but there’s so many Iron Men out there that this one blends in with the crowd a bit. He’s really not bad, and he may well be my favorite MCU Iron Man. He’s just not super thrilling is all. Still, this is definitely a fun set!

*Amusingly enough, in a similar fashion to the Hawkeye/Vision set, the first Black Panther ‘mate was packed with an Iron Man variant.  History repeats!

 

#0929: Falcon & War Machine

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

FALCON & WAR MACHINE

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR MINIVERSE

WMFalcon1

So, Civil War was awesome. Just so everyone knows. And the movie being awesome has had the added effect of making me enjoy those toys I picked up before the movie even more. One of my favorite recent additions to the MCU is the Falcon, who has been criminally absent from the toy world. Fortunately, he’s gotten a few different figures from the first round of Civil War products. For the smaller scale line, he’s packed with Iron Man’s best pal James Rhodes (better known as War Machine), who’s been no stranger to toys.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two are another set from the first series of the Captain America: Civil War Miniverse line. They’re probably one of the most sensible pairings so far, since these two serve as parallels thematically for a lot of the movie.

FALCON

WMFalcon3Falcon is suitably kick ass in this movie, so I’m glad he’s got a figure already. This marks the first time he’s been released in this scale, since he was one of the few characters from AoU not to get a figure from the smaller scale line. The figure is 2 ¾ inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation (thanks to his moving wings). He’s wearing his more streamlined gear from Civil War, which is definitely my favorite look of his so far. His sculpt is quite nicely handled; he translates the design to the smaller scale very nicely, and he’s got lots of great detailing. Like some of the others in the series, he’s sculpted mid-step, which is a little odd, but actually works out well for Falcon, as it helps to offset the weight of his wings. His wings are separate pieces; they’re pretty nicely sculpted, but they do have a tendency to pop out of place from time to time. The paintwork on Falcon is decent, but like a lot of the other figures, he’s missing more than a few details. Of course, Falcon’s additional details aren’t quite as essential as, say, Captain America’s, so he’s far less negatively impacted. Falcon is the figure in this pair who gets the weird armor thingy. Falcon’s is, if I’m honest, my favorite of these weird, absurd things that I’ve gotten so far, because it actually does feel like an extension of Falcon’s normal gear. It’s still weird and all, especially with the shoulder guns that point two different directions, but noticeably less weird than the others.

WAR MACHINE

WMFalcon2War Machine was one of the characters to get a smaller scale figure from AoU (he was one of the very first characters to get one, in fact), so this marks the second time he’s gotten a figure this size. Though Rhodey had the same basic armor (albeit in different colors) for Iron Man 3 and Age of Ultron, Civil War has given him a much bulkier design, more in line with what he had in Iron Man 2. His sculpt does a rather nice job capturing this new look, as well as balancing the overall proportions. He’s also satisfyingly hefty, which is definitely appropriate. In general, this is one of the better sculpts from the line. Perhaps the only disappointing part is that the shoulder cannon doesn’t move, due to it having a rectangular peg. His paint work is decently handled. Technically, he’s still missing some silver detailing, but, like Falcon, it’s not terribly noticeable. War Machine has no accessories, not even the baton he was shown with in so much of the promotional material.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This pair was picked up at the same time as Cap & Crossbones and Panther & Hawkeye. I think they might just be my favorite of those three sets (though Vision & Winter Soldier are still at the top). Neither figure has any major issues, which is a big plus. And, since I have yet to pick up Iron Man & Widow, this is my last Civil War review for the time being.

#0928: Black Panther & Hawkeye

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

BLACK PANTHER & HAWKEYE

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR MINIVERSE

PantherHawkeye1

Civil War was released yesterday, so now I get to write review all the associated merchandise in light of actually knowing what happened in the movie (which was seriously awesome, by the way). I’ve been steadily making my way through Hasbro’s small-scale line of figures; of the four characters I’ve looked at, three have pretty sizable parts. The two characters I’m looking at today, MCU-mainstay Hawkeye and newcomer Black Panther, both get decently sized roles, though one of them is definitely more pivotal to the plot than the other.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two are part of the first series of the Captain America: Civil War Miniverse line. Their pairing together isn’t the weirdest pairing the series has given us (that’s definitely Winter Soldier and Vision, who I don’t believe so much as glanced at each other in the final film), since the two have a brief bit of interaction. Still, Bucky would kinda seem like the more natural partner for Panther. But hey, I’m gonna wind up with the whole set anyway, so does it really matter?

BLACK PANTHER

PantherHawkeye3Early reviews of the movie were all very complimentary of Chadwick Boseman’s performance as the Black Panther, and man, they weren’t kidding. Guy just about steals the show! His figure stands 2 ¾ inches tall and he has the same 5 points of articulation as the rest of the line. The overall quality of the Panther’s sculpt is pretty good, but he seems to be suffering from a phenomenon similar to Crossbones, where the upper half of the sculpt is quite good and the lower half is less so. It’s not quite as pronounced on Panther, though, so it’s not too bad. He exhibits some tremendous texture work, replicating his rather distinctively patterned suit from the movie very nicely. I do wish his legs were a little less weirdly posed, as they make it very hard to keep him standing, but that’s really it. Paint is quite minimal on Panther, with detailing only on the eyes and collar. However, that’s appropriate to the movie, and the texture on the sculpt does the heavy lifting here. Panther is the figure in this pairing who gets the weird armor pieces. T’Challa’s is a little cooler than the others, since it at least fits well with him thematically. Still goofy as heck, but it is what it is.

HAWKEYE

PantherHawkeye2Hawkeye’s Civil War appearance is, to me, the closest he’s come to that super awesome comics version of Hawkeye that I always loved.  And that makes me very happy. You know what doesn’t make me very happy? This figure. That sounds harsh; I don’t hate him, but he’s far from what I wanted. He’s supposed to be based on Hawkeye’s new look from Civil War, but, um, that’s not what he’s wearing. He lacks the asymmetrical sleeves, and has two gloves instead of one. That’s not the biggest issue though. See, Hawkeye’s gun is holstered on his right leg, which isn’t correct, since Movie Hawkeye’s a lefty. A closer look shows that, not only is the holster on the wrong side, but his whole quiver set-up is totally reversed. Now, a quick Google search shows that the promo shots of Hawkeye had a tendency to get mirrored, so maybe that’s where the confusion came from. He’s still sculpted to hold his bow in his right hand, though, which would make the placement of his quiver on his right shoulder more than a little impractical. It seems to me that this should have dawned on at least one person during the development process. His paint’s not much better. In the movie, his costume has a number of different purples, but none of them are the garish shade that is used for the majority of this figure. Also, whatever you do, don’t look directly into those soulless black holes that have taken the place of his eyes. That’s the stuff of nightmares. Cap got actual eyes, so I’m not sure what happened to Hawkeye. Hawkeye is packed with one accessory: his bow. It’s got no drawstring, but at this scale, that’s a minor issue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this set at the same time as Cap and Crossbones. I was a bit more interested in Hawkeye when I bought it, though I certainly didn’t mind getting Panther. After opening it up, neither figure is perfect. That said, Panther’s the real winner here, even with the leg issues. Hawkeye’s a little disappointing, because he’s just not the figure I was expecting.