Tag Archives: Daredevil

#2192: Daredevil & Sin-Eater

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

DAREDEVIL & SIN-EATER

MARVEL MINIMATES

“The Death of Jean DeWolff” is a notable story for a multitude of reasons.  Perhaps most prominently, it created a rather lasting connection between Daredevil and Spider-Man, who are paired off in both their super heroic and civilian lives over the course of the story.  The story is also notable, though perhaps slightly less so, for the introduction of a brand-new villain, DeWolff’s murderer, the Sin-Eater.  The two pair off in today’s set!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Daredevil and Sin-Eater were part of Series 43 of Marvel Minimates, which was a whole assortment based on the “Death of Jean DeWolff.”

DAREDEVIL

Daredevil’s no stranger to Minimates, being the focal point of the very first Series and all.  However, at the time of this ‘mate’s release, we hadn’t gotten a basic red DD in quite some time, and the last one had been part of an exclusive offering.  Given the prominence of his role in “The Death of Jean DeWolff”, he’s a natural fit for the assortment.  This same figure was also offered in TRU Series 13, alongside the Kingpin.  Daredevil is constructed using two add-on pieces, one for his mask, and the other for his billy club holster.  The mask had previously been used on the Shadowland version of DD from Series 38, and has subsequently become the standard piece for him.  While it think the horns might be just a touch too long, it’s otherwise a very nice piece, and a worth replacement for the older Series 1 mask.  The holster was new to this figure (and, like the mask, has become a standard issue piece for the character).  It sits well on the thigh, and holds the clubs securely.  And, most importantly, it doesn’t impede the leg movement or stick out awkwardly like the old piece did.  The paint on this version of DD is rather striking.  The red is very bright, and the contrast of the black shaded details adds quite a bit of pop to his design.  It’s a very artistic interpretation of the character, and matches up with his comics incarnation in a way that would be hard to do in other formats.  The musculature helps to make him a far cry from the old Series 1 version, and I absolutely love how well his face lines up with what’s printed on the mask.  Underneath, there’s a Matt Murdock face, which even includes his sunglasses, allowing for a more proper unmasked appearance.  Daredevil was packed with two batons (which can be stowed in his thigh holster), a grappling cane, and a spare hairpiece (reused from Series 21’s Tony Stark) for his unmasked look.

SIN-EATER

Perpetrator of the titular murder, and central to the story’s big mystery is the Sin-Eater, a villain who made his debut in the pages of this story.  In retrospect, a rather minor character, perhaps, and not one who had a particularly lengthy career, but an impactful character all the same.  Sin-Eater has six add-on pieces in use.  He’s got a generic slip-on mask, glove cuffs, a belt, and a pair of flared boots.  All of his pieces are re-used from prior offerings; the mask has been used countless times, the cuffs are from The Spirit ‘mates, the belt is Batman’s, and the boots hail from the Invaders boxed set.  Fortunately, Sin-Eater’s undoubtedly one of those characters that’s almost tailor-made for re-use, and this assortment of parts suits him well.  Sin-Eater’s paintwork is garish and rather appalling…which is to say it’s quite loyal to the source material.  His costume has to be one of the ugliest ones ever to come out of Marvel Comics.  That doesn’t stop the paint on this figure from being exemplary, though.  The detail work, especially on the “face” of the mask, is quite impressive.  Underneath of the mask is the face of….SPOILERS on a story that’s decades old…Stan Carter.  Stan’s very angry, which is a nice change of pace, and I like how the eyes line-up with those on the mask.  For accessories, Sin-Eater includes his shotgun, which I believe was a new piece.  He also includes an alternate hair piece to display Stan unmasked, as well as an extra head and hair, depicting Sin-Eater red-herring Emil Gregg.  Gregg uses the same eyes as Stan and the main mask, thereby making him just as credible an unmasked identity for the villain, and somewhat preserving the surprise for those buying the set without having read the story.  That’s a nice touch!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Series 43 was an assortment I was very excited for when it hit, so I made a point of picking it up brand new from Cosmic Comix on day of release.  Daredevil was certainly in need of an update to his standard look, and this figure delivered that in spades.  Even all these years later, he’s still one of the best versions out there.  Sin-Eater’s definitely a much more minor character, but it’s always nice to see such characters crop up from time to time.  DST put in the effort to make a good figure of this guy, and it paid off!

#2189: Daredevil – Yellow & Elektra

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

DARDEVIL — YELLOW & ELEKTRA

MARVEL MINIMATES

Babam!  Six years of writing for this here site, boys and girls.  How about that?  So, as I like to do every year on this occasion, I want to take today’s review to look at an item a little nearer and dearer to me and important to my collecting habits as a whole.  Today’s entry focuses on the world of Minimates, which, anyone who’s read the site for a decent amount of time can probably tell you is a world that makes up a considerable chunk of my collection.  For this review, we’re jumping back to the humble beginnings of the line, when they released a series 1 line-up that was surprisingly low-key.  Without further ado, let’s have a look at Daredevil and Elektra!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Daredevil and Elektra were part of the Daredevil/Hulk split first series line-up of Marvel Minimates, which hit alongside Series 2 and 3 in the summer of 2003.  2003 is an important year to note, as it kind of explains the line-up of Series 1, since Daredevil and Hulk were both in theaters that year, and these were sort of a loose tie-in.  This set was the one that got the variant treatment for the first line-up, with two different versions of Elektra available, and the Yellow Daredevil shared between the two sets.

DAREDEVIL — YELLOW

There were two Daredevils available in the first series.  The more standard Red DD was available with Kingpin, while this one recreates Matt’s first appearance attire, which has long been a popular choice for variations of DD.  The figure was built on the original Marvel body, which introduced the smaller 2″ scale for ‘mates.  He stands about 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He’s also got the pre-c3 long feet, just like every other Marvel ‘mate release prior to Series 8.  Construction-wise, he and the red version were the same.  He gets an add-on for his mask and belt.  They were rather simplistic, but the mask in particular really works well, and clings to that ‘mate aesthetic.  The belt would be replaced by a less bulky model as the line went on, but for the time it was pretty solid.  His paintwork is probably one of the most complex of the early releases.  Of course, it also has the most room for error, which is probably why he’s got a lot of fuzzy and un-even lines going on. That being said, given the scale, it’s really not that bad.  He’s got a decent amount of detailing, including a full face under the mask, even though he didn’t have an extra hair piece to show it off yet.  What he did include was  a pair of billy clubs, painted up in yellow match the figure.

ELEKTRA

Given her prominent place in the 2003 movie, and her general place as one of Marvel’s best known female characters in the early ’00s,  Elektra’s inclusion here was kind of no-brainer.  Perhaps the craziest thing was how long it would take for her to get a follow-up.  Like Matt, this figure is built on the older Marvel body, long feet and all.  She has add-ons for her hair and skirt.  While DD’s design allowed for an easier transition to the ‘mate style, especially the more streamlined nature of the earlier releases, Elektra is less fortunate.  The blocky nature doesn’t quite go as well with here, and the hair and skirt would very quickly become some of the line’s most dated pieces.  They’re not awful, but they’re not amazing either.  Elektra’s paint does the best it can with the design, and ultimately captures all of the important elements.  No idea why she’s just got that single glove, though.  The standard Elektra was done up in her classic red, while her one-per-case variant was instead in black.  I’m not sure if the black was a specific comic thing, or if they were just aiming to get her a little closer the the movie version, but whatever the case, it doesn’t look bad.  Both versions of Elektra were packed with a pair of sais.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back during the site’s first year, I acquired and reviewed the Spider-Man Classics Yellow Daredevil, which was something of a long-standing grail for my collection.  That figure was, at the time of his release, really, really hard to get, and would remain that way for a decent chunk of time, leaving him well outside of my price range.  My dad, who had been working very hard to find me one, eventually met a compromise when he discovered Marvel Minimates just a few days before my birthday in 2003, and saw a more attainable way of getting me a Yellow Daredevil.  And so, these guys became my very first Minimates, launching a collection of more than 1000 of these little buggers.  Who would have guessed it would grow so far?

#2068: Daredevil – Vigilante Edition

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

DAREDEVIL — VIGILANTE EDITION

ONE:12 COLLECTIVE (MEZCO)

Of the assortment of Netflix-original Marvel series, there’s always been a clear winner for me: Daredevil.  While I’ll admit there was a slight stumble in the back half of the show’s second season, season three was a very strong finish, resulting in a very solid all-around show, and one that was far more even than everything else from the Marvel-Netflix partnership.  Merchandise was a little sparse for all of the shows, but Daredevil made out the best, with at least one figure from all of the main holders of the Marvel license.  This included Mezco, who actually put together two different variants of the main character.  I’ll be looking at his Season 1 garb today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil — Vigilante Edition was available as a Mezco Store-exclusive, as part of their over-arching One:12 Collective line, and starting heading to collectors in tandem with his main release counterpart at the beginning of the month.  As I touched on in the intro, this figure is based on Matt’s prototype costume from the first season of the show, and is in a roundabout way fairly similar to his Season 3 attire as well (though not a pitch-perfect match).  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has over 30 points of articulation.

As with most One:12 figures, Daredevil is packed with two different heads.  The one he comes wearing is pretty standard, masked and with a fairly neutral expression.  It does a respectable job of capturing Charlie Cox’s likeness for what we can see of the face, and the mask is sculpted with texture to match the real thing (especially important on a figure such as this, where it’s mixed media).  The joint is at the base of the neck, which means its essentially hidden.  It’s a decent choice from an aesthetic standpoint, though I did find it to be slightly limiting on the posing front.  Not terribly so, of course, and there’s still a lot of natural-looking poses you can get him into without issues.  The paintwork on the head is a decent piece of work.  The mask is just a straight black, but there’s some quite subtle, quite lifelike work on the lower half of the face.  The second head is quite similar to the first, still being masked, but this time Matt’s just a little bit worse for wear.  His expression is a little more pained, with his mouth open and his teeth exposed, as if he’s grimacing to hold back some of that paint.  To match the more beaten expression, the paint also adds in a little bit of blood.  While I was a little bummed there was no fully unmasked head featured (or possibly even the mask with the white lining from Season 3), Matt get’s the snot beaten out of him frequently enough in Season 1 that this is a sensible choice of extra.  I just wish there were some way to showcase the battle damage on the rest of the figure.

Speaking about the rest of the figure, let’s talk about that now, shall we?  Daredevil is built on a body that’s smaller than any of the other figure’s I’ve looked at, which makes sense, since Charlie Cox isn’t a huge guy.  It’s definitely a good fit, it’s well-articulated, and it looks suitably realistic under the costume.  Said costume is made up of his shirt and pants (actually a jumpsuit type thing masquerading as two separate garments), a plastic belt, holster for his eskrima sticks, and a pair of sculpted boots.  It’s a good match for his hastily thrown together appearance from Season 1, and I do appreciate that they remembered details like the red piping on his shoulders and the slight bit of extra padding on his lower arms.  The only thing that bugged me a bit was the printed white line on each side of the pants, clearly meant to represent a zippered pocket.  Obviously, a zipper’s virtually impossible to get right at this scale, but I honestly think I’d have preferred they’d just left the detail off entirely.  As it is, it kind of takes me out of the figure a little bit.

Daredevil includes a decent selection of extras, but definitely one that’s scaled back a bit from other offerings.  He has three pairs of hands (relaxed, gripping, and fists), his eskrima sticks, and a display stand with the Daredevil logo on it. It covers the basics, but not much else.  The hands are certainly useful, but I would have liked some more display options, such as the wrapped hands from later in the season, or some parts to turn him into a Season 3 DD.

It’s not often that I touch on the packaging for my figures, but I like DD’s enough to give it a mention.  It’s a little smaller than the average One:12 box, and in place of the usual product images on the back, there’s a rather nice illustration, based on Season 3 of the show.  It makes for a very nice backdrop for the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I love Daredevil, especially the first season, and the prototype costume is definitely a favorite look of mine.  I was a little bummed that both DST and Hasbro passed over it, and I was less than thrilled by their final figures, so I was definitely looking for something else to be my TV Daredevil.  When this figure was show off, I really wanted one, but I missed out on him on the Mezco store.  I jumped on the waitlist, but honestly wasn’t expecting much.  I was quite happy when it coverted, and even happier when he shipped.  I like a lot about this figure, and he’s definitely my favorite version of the show’s take on the character.  I do feel he was a little pricey for what you get, and were he any other character, I’d probably have passed.  Still, he’s a very nice figure, and a very nice addition to my collection.

#1862: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL SELECT (DST)

Did I mention that I liked Daredevil Season 3?  <checks back to my last Daredevil-related review> Yes, yes, I did.  Well, it bears repeating: I really liked Daredevil Season 3.  After being somewhat let-down by all of the post Luke Cage Season 1 offerings from Netflix, I was very happy to see a return to what I’d loved so much about Daredevil‘s first (and the majority of its second) season.  It’s not a huge change for Daredevil to come along and surprise us all with its quality, though, since Season 1 did the same thing back in 2015.  It was such a surprise, that none of Marvel’s usual licensees had actually gotten the licenses for any proper merchandise.  In the case of both Hasbro and DST, their first DD product wouldn’t come until a fair bit after the show’s second season had hit.  I looked at Hasbro’s version of old-horn-head back when he was new and was of mixed opinions, so I decided to finally get around to giving his main competition, the Marvel Select release, a try.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil was released as a standalone offering as part of Marvel Select‘s 2017 line-up of figures, hitting in the fall of last year.  Matt’s sporting his proper Daredevil gear from Season 2 of the show, which is, admittedly, the more distinctive look.  That said, I’m personally still holding out that someone (other than Minimates, that is) will give us Matt’s all-black number.  This figure was originally solicited with his damaged Season 1-style helmet from after his run-in with Punisher, but by the time he hit shelves, he was actually sporting his proper Season 2 mask, thereby making him distinct from his Legends counterpart.  That was actually a pretty smart move on DST’s part.  The figure is on the shorter side of the Select scale, standing 6 1/2 inches tall, and he sports 30 points of articulation.  The height’s sort of a curious thing, because it means he’s not really in-scale with anything else from his own line, but he *is* kind of in-scale with Legends.  It’s not a perfect match, but he’s less than a quarter-inch off from the proper Legends release, so it’s very fudgable.  The sculpt is unique to this figure, and it’s reasonable.  It feels a little bit like the antithesis of the Hasbro figure.  The build is certainly less wonky, and the overall appearance is more balanced and appealing, but he loses the really nice texture and small detail work of that figure, and while the articulation is certainly usable, it’s not very well worked into the sculpt.  The prototype shots and even early test shots with the new head sported a pretty solid likeness of Charlie Cox, but something was lost in the production process, leaving the figure to look a good deal more generic.  He still looks reasonable from the right angle, but head-on’s a real killer.  His paintwork is mostly rather straightforward.  The blacks and reds aren’t the most eye-catching, but they’re a fairly decent match for his show appearance.  The face suffers the same trouble that most figures with that sort of stubbly, “I haven’t shaved in a day or two” look suffer, where the quality varies widely from figure to figure, and it always looks kind of sloppy. My figure looks reasonable enough, but after what Hasbro’s been doing with such things on their recent face-printed figures, he’s a little out there.  Matt is packed with his billy club, which can separate into two (surprisingly differently-sized) pieces, as well as a spare set of gripping hands to hold them.  There’s also a display stand modeled after a warehouse or something, and an articulated stand to assist in more dynamic poses.  The articulated stand is great in theory, but less so in practice, as the joints are too weak to hold Matt up, meaning he’s still got to be more or less balanced to begin with.  Still, it’s better than nothing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

DST’s Daredevil hit at a bad time for me to pick him up, so I didn’t, and I just never had the chance to double back around and get him.  I finally grabbed him a couple of weeks ago during Cosmic Comix‘s “Biggest Sale of the Year!”, because I’m still coming down from that Season 3 high, I guess.  I was hoping for a figure to replace the Legends release, but I’ll be honest, I knew getting into this that that likely wouldn’t be the case.  This figure addresses some of the Legends figure’s flaws, but trades them in for some of his own, resulting in another figure that’s shy of being perfect.  Oh well, maybe Mezco’s got the answer…

#1832: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Martial arts master Matt Murdock suits up in black to fight the villains of Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil.”

Last weekend, Netflix dropped the third season of Daredevil, the unquestionable tentpole of their Marvel shows (especially now that there are two less of them).  Hasbro’s actually pretty good with their timing, and have managed to get us a comic Daredevil Legend timed for each season, with Season 3 being no exception.  We’ve gotten horn-head in his classic red, as well as his first appearance yellow and red.  This time, we get a more modern take on the character.  Let’s see how he turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil is figure 6 in the SP//dr Series of Marvel Legends.  This is the second time DD’s been part of a Spider-themed assortment in the current iteration, though there’s some speculation that he was originally slated for a second Marvel Knights assortment that got dropped.  He’s sporting his latest costume, clearly inspired by the show’s Season 1 (and season 3, I guess) attire.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, most of this figure is the same as the last two figures.  He’s built on the Bucky Cap base, with the standard DD head, belt, and holster.  It was a winning combination when it was introduced on the Hobgoblin Series DD in 2015, and it’s still a winning combination three years later.  But, to keep him from just being a straight re-hash (and to keep him in line with the new design), Matt also gets a new set of wrapped hands, wraps for his forearms, and a pair of combat boots with laces.  The new pieces are a lot of fun, and add some really nifty extra detailing to an otherwise basic figure.  Daredevil’s paintwork is pretty slick and striking.  The all-black bodysuit looks good on this base body, and also works really well with the head.  The hands and boots get some very nice accent work, to help bring out their heightened sculpted details.  In terms of accessories, this new Daredevil makes out pretty well.  At first glance, it looks like he’s got the same billy club as always, but this one’s actually different.  The two halves don’t connect to each other, but rather to a dynamic zipline piece which goes between them, and makes for a nice selection of mid-action poses.  And, if you’re looking for a Devil who’s more into straight-up fisticuffs, this figure also includes a pair of wrapped fists, which match up with the standard hands.  Lastly, he comes with the usual BaF piece, specifically the right arm of SP//dr.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Hobgoblin Daredevil is one of my favorite figures from the modern Legends offerings.  As such, I wasn’t sure I needed him in another color variation.  Then I saw this guy in-hand, and I was immediately impressed, because Hasbro didn’t take the easy way out and do a simple re-hash.  Compared to the House of M Spidey, with his lack of new parts or any real accessories, Daredevil instead gives us not only a new selection of sculpted parts for the figure, but also a nice selection of accessories that are great not only for this figure, but also for prior Daredevils.  As such, this figure is quite possibly my favorite figure in this set.

I purchased Daredevil from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re interested in buying him or other Legends figures, or are looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1682: Daredevil & Ghost Rider

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

MARVEL NOW! DAREDEVIL & ROBBIE REYES GHOST RIDER

MARVEL MINIMATES

And we’re back with the odd-ball pairings.  I started the week out with the somewhat strange Punisher/Moon Knight combo, and now I’m wrapping it up with another somewhat odd pairing: Daredevil and Ghost Rider.  It’s not actually completely unprecedented in this line.  There was a Target-exclusive pack that included both of them back in the day (though that was a Johnny Blaze figure).  Here they are again.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Daredevil and Ghost Rider were part of Series 75 of Marvel Minimates.  Though Ghost Rider’s tie to the theme is somewhat dubious, Daredevil is part of the newest version of the Defenders, as well as being the central piece of the Netflix shows.

This set also includes the last piece of the Build-A-Figure Quake, her head.  I’ll be reviewing the whole of her tomorrow!

DAREDEVIL

Daredevil’s spot in this Anniversary-themed assortment is actually quite sensible, as Daredevil was included in two of Series 1’s three sets.  This marks his 14th time as a Minimate.  This one’s a slight departure from some of the others, being based on his current design, a mostly black number that is clearly inspired by his Season 1 garb from his show.  It’s actually a pretty sharp look, though I’m of course still partial to the classic red.  The figure is built on the standard ‘mate body, so he stands 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has add-ons for his mask, wrist wraps, and holsters.  The mask and holsters come from the Series 43 version of DD (though that release only had a single holster, not two), and make sense, since the design elements have remained consistent.  The arm wraps are from Street Fighter VS Tekken’s Heihachi (also re-used on the Best Of Iron Fist), and are pretty basic pieces, which certainly work for his comics look.  The paint on DD is quite good.  The color scheme is bold, and the line work is super crisp.  The grey high lights are a very effective way of creating dimension on the torso, legs, and mask, and make the suit look quite dynamic.  The face under the mask is great for action set-ups, with his teeth gritted and his brow furrowed.  The way they’ve done his pupils is unique from other characters, and helps sell that he’s blind.  DD includes a pair of billy clubs (just two, though, leaving one slot in each holster empty), an extra hair piece (re-used from Terminator 2’s young John Connor), and a clear display stand.

GHOST RIDER

Though Ghost Rider’s no stranger to Minimates, this one is actually a debut, since it’s the latest Rider, Robbie Reyes.  Robbie’s been getting the push from Marvel for a little while, and his appearances on Agents of SHIELD mean he fits in decently enough with the assortment’s TV-inspired theme.  The figure gets one add-on piece, which is his flaming, skull-inspired helmet.  It’s a new piece, and it does a respectable job of replicating the design of the helmet from the comics.  The rest of the detailing is done via paint.  Like Daredevil, there’s a nice contrast to this figure’s look.  The black and white looks really sharp, and I like the visual similarities to Johnny Blaze’s original design.  Under the mask is a fully detailed Robbie Reyes face, which seems to be in keeping with his comics likeness.  Robbie is packed with a pair of chains (because he just has to one-up Johnny, apparently), an extra hair piece, and a clear display stand.  He is, of course, missing his ride, but since Robbie drives a car instead of a bike, its absence feels more excusable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the three preceding sets, this pair came from Cosmic Comix.  A new Daredevil wasn’t a necessity, but this one is definitely a fun figure, and there’s a lot of really sharp work going into him.  Robbie isn’t Johnny, so for me he’s not *the* Ghost Rider, but he’s got a cool look, he’s gotten exposure recently, and it’s nice to get a new character.  His ‘mate isn’t the star of this series, but he’s still a solid offering.

#1533: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

LEGENDARY MARVEL SUPER HEROES (DST)

For my second day of post-Christmas reviews, I get to look back on things I’ve forgotten.  Namely, the line today’s figure came from, Legendary Marvel Super Heroes.  The line is Diamond Select Toys’ continuation of the Mego-stylings seen in the World’s Greatest Super Heroes toy line of the 1970s, launched back in 2015.  I looked that the first two figures, Spider-Man and Captain America, back when they were new, and I was quite supportive of the line, and very much looking forward to its future offerings.  And then…I sort of forgot about it.  I feel a bit bad about that.  I blame Hasbro releasing 3 million Marvel Legends that I have to buy every year.  It takes up a lot of my time.  Anyway, today, I’m finally returning to Legendary Marvel Super Heroes, with a look at a character who never got a proper Mego back in the day, Daredevil!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil was the sixth figure in DST’s Legendary Marvel Super Heroes, released in mid-2016, between Deadpool and Punisher.  As with the rest of the figures in this line, he was built on the same standard body, which a slight re-fitting of Mego’s Type II body, with minor adjustments by Paul “Dr. Mego” Clarke.  The figure stands about 8 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  Like the other figures in this line, Daredevil is essentially three figures in one, with only the base body shared between the three.  If you have any standard Mego bodies lying around, or even prior figures from this line, you can display all three looks as separate figures.  For the purposes of my review, I’ve supplied two extras from my own collection.

The first of the three included looks is DD’s “vintage” design.  This is the one that’s meant to come as close to a legit Mego figure as possible.  The difference between DD and the last two I looked at is that, as a character with no actual vintage counterpart, DST and crew have had to come up with a figure that mimics the stylings of the old figures, a task at which they’ve very much succeeded.  By far the best part of this look is the head sculpt, which captures the classic DD design perfectly, while also preserving that Mego charm.  By modern standards, he looks a bit dated, but that’s sort of the idea, now isn’t it?  This is a head that will look completely at home next to the likes of Cap and Spidey.  The paint on the head is fairly simple, but it’s bold and the application is very clean, which looks pretty fantastic.  DD has a red bodysuit, which has been tailored to match the classic Mego one piece suits.  It’s got some pleather cuffs for the gloves, which feels appropriately vintage.  My only real complaint here is about the logo, which is very hard to see.  A higher contrast would have looked nicer, I think.  There’s a separate pair of red shorts overtop, which are definitely goofy, but also totally true to the ’70s version of the character.  As far as molded pieces go, he’s got a fairly standard set of red boots, as well as belt with a pleather holder for his billy club.  Said billy club is molded in bright red and can be popped apart at the middle.  He also includes an extra right hand with a more formed grip.  It’s nice to have the option, but it sort of doesn’t feel right to me, since it goes against the vintage Mego look where they all had the same hands.

The second costumed look for both Cap and Spidey was an updated version of the classic costume, but for DD they’ve opted to go for a totally different look, since just another version of the red costume might be a little bit drab.  So, instead, he gets a slightly modernized take on his original yellow costume.  As an unabashed fan of the Yellow Daredevil design, I’m definitely happy this costume made it into the set.  Where both Cap and Spidey got an all-new masked head for their second costume, DD’s is the same head, just painted in the appropriate colors.  The sculpt is strong enough that I don’t mind, and in fact I think it’d just be frustrating if they gave us a different head sculpt here, since the two would then never match.  This costume also gets the same belt and holster as the first one, just in a darker brown this time.  The actual costume is far more involved.  There’s a yellow body suit, which is slightly tighter to the body and also includes more of a collar to better hide the underlying body at the neck.  There’s an additional pleather unitard that goes overtop, which is also tightly tailored to the body, and features a much more obvious insignia.  He gets a set of far more detailed boots, modeled after those worn by a boxer (fitting, given his background) as well as new hands in fists.  He also gets the gripping right hand, as well as a billy club in brown.

The last look in the set is Daredevil’s alter-ego, Matt Murdock.  He gets an unmasked head sculpt, which looks to use the same starting point as the masked heads.  It’s okay, but I’m not sure it works quite as well as just the basic masked head.  It’s got some very clean paintwork, so that’s nice.  Matt’s seen here wearing a suit, which was patterned off the classic Mego suits seen on Clark Kent and the like.  It’s rather baggy and more than a little goofy, but it fits the style and, if nothing else, it’s easy to get on the body.  He also includes a set of sunglasses (which stay on much better than the glasses included in the Spider-Man set), as well as standard flesh tone hands, an extra gripping right hand, his briefcase, and his cane.

Also included in this set is a booklet detailing the process of getting this figure made, as well as giving a detailed account of DD’s history in both toys and comics.  It was certainly an entertaining read, just like the other two I’ve gotten.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Daredevil was given to me by my parents as a Christmas gift this year.  He’s a figure I kept meaning to get, but I just kept getting side-tracked.  When playing with my Dad’s Mego collection as a kid, Daredevil’s absence definitely bugged me, so getting this figure definitely feels nice.  The standard look is definitely my favorite of the three, but I like them all.  Given his uniqueness, I think this set offers a bit more value than the last two I looked at, but I’m still a little bit frustrated that only one body is included, especially since one of my spares broke while I was shooting the photos for this set.  Nevertheless, this is a fun set for sure, and essential for any Mego fan’s collection.

#1428: Bullseye

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

BULLSEYE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Motivated by a personal vendetta against Daredevil, Bullseye becomes an expert assassin, demonstrating an exceptional ability to use nearly any object as a lethal weapon.”

And here we are, back to the Marvel stuff.  What can I say, this is where I’m comfortable.

Perhaps the most glaringly obviously missing character from Netflix’s Daredevil show has been longtime foe Bullseye.  He was hinted at during a first season episode, and initially planned for the second season, but has yet to make an appearance (they even gave away one of his more prominent moments in the whole Elektra storyline to Nobu, which was a little disappointing).  Hope springs eternal.  At the very least, he’s recently gotten an action figure.  That’s pretty good, I suppose.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bullseye is part of the “Man-Thing” series of Marvel Legends, which is loosely based around the Netflix Marvel shows.  Obviously, he’s not one of the show-based figures; he joins Blade and Man-Thing as the three comics based figures in the line-up.  I would argue, though, that Bullseye’s the figure out of the three that best fits with the rest of the series, so he’s got that going for him.  This isn’t Bullseye’s first time as a Marvel Legend.  He actually got two figures, a regular release and a variant, in Series 9 of Toy Biz’s run.  That was 12 years ago, so I think an update is very much warranted.  This figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Bullseye is depicted in his classic costume, and it’s a cleaner version than the one seen on the last Legends Bullseye.  This guy’s built on the new 2099 base body, which seems like a reasonable enough choice for him.  It’s almost exactly the same size as the Bullseye base of years past, so I guess it’s a good replacement on that front.  He’s got a new head and belt to finish off the look.  The head is a pretty decent piece in its own right.  It captures his character pretty nicely, and I really dig the sneering grin and missing tooth.  The only slight issue I have with the head is its scale relative to the body; it’s just a bit too large, and ends up looking sort of goofy.  It’s actually the same issue I had with the last Bullseye and after waiting 12 years for a new version, it’s a slight bummer to see the same thing crop up again.  It’s not quite as bad this time, and I think it fits together a bit better.  Maybe Bullseye just has a little bit of big head thing?  The paintwork on this guy is pretty decent overall.  Some of the lines are a little fuzzy, and the shoulders are a little sloppy, but by and large it looks pretty good.  Bullseye is packed with an extra unmasked head, four hands, a knife, and a pistol.  The unmasked head is a solid piece; I dig the carved in bullseye on his forehead, and the intense expression is fun.  Not going to be my go-to head for this figure, or anything, but I like the options.  The standard hands are both trigger finger gripping hands, and there are two extra left hands, one doing a finger gun, and the other with attached throwing knives in mid throw.  I like the posing options they add into the mix!  Bullseye is also packed with the arm of Man-Thing, for them that are interested in such things.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bullseye was grabbed at Toys R Us on the way home from moving my brother into his dorm.  Incidentally, this was the same trip where I found the Force Friday stuff and was unable to buy it.  So, this was sort of my consolation prize, I suppose.  Not a bad one at all.  Sure, this figure has some flaws; I don’t think he’s quite as spot-on as some of Hasbro’s more recent offerings.  That being said, he’s still a very fun figure, and I’m quite happy to have added him to my collection.

#1399: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Blinded as a young boy and imbued with extraordinary senses, Matt Murdock fights injustice by day as a lawyer and by night as the Super Hero ‘Daredevil’”

This past Friday saw the release of The Defenders, Marvel’s big team-up series formed out of their four Netflix TV series.  It’s an event several years in the making, so it’s pretty cool to see it finally hit.  No doubt in an effort to tie-in with the show’s release, Hasbro has just put out their first series of Marvel Legends based around the four shows.  Earlier today, Super Awesome Girlfriend took a look at Punisher from that line, and I’ll be having a look at my personal favorite of the Defenders, Daredevil!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil is figure 1 in the “Man-Thing Series” of Marvel Legends. The series takes its cues from the “Marvel Knights” banner which has served as the basis of the shows so far.  The set’s made up of four show-based figures and two comic-based, with a comic-based Build-A-Figure.  Obviously, DD is one of the four show-based.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s got an all-new sculpt, based on Matt’s costume from the end of Daredevil Season 1/very beginning of Season 2 (the mask is the giveaway; it’s the original, more angular design).  The sculpt is 100% new to this figure, though I wouldn’t be shocked to see a lot of it turn up again in some capacity, should Hasbro decide to do a Season 2 version.  The sculpt is, surprisingly, a little bit of a mixed bag for me.  Given Hasbro’s recent track record, I was expecting them to knock this one out of the park, but they haven’t quite managed that.  As a whole, I’m happy with the work that’s been done.  The surface details are all great. The detail work on the costume is awesome; the texturing is top notch, and the details look to have been lifted right from the on-screen costume.  It’s the proportions of the figure that throw things off.  My biggest issue is with the shoulders, which just seem too far set out from the rest of the body, giving him this odd sort of tortilla chip thing.  They just always seem to be sitting slightly the wrong way.  The torso’s also a little flat, but my other main issue is with the head.  As with the rest of the body, the surface details are great, and he even has a decent resemblance to Charlie Cox…if Charlie Cox were a bit wider than he is in real life.  Not heftier, or fatter; just wider.  It honestly looks like the head got slightly squished.  Which is a shame, because if it were just a little slimmer, it’d be a spot-on sculpt.  As far as the paint work goes, DD is pretty decent overall.  The Netflix figures have the same printed faces seen with Ragnarok Loki.  For Matt, this is really just limited to the lower half of his face.  The printing on mine is actually slightly skewed to the left of his face, which makes him look just a tiny bit off.  It’s not terrible, but I did notice it upon close examination.  On a figure with more proper placement, I’m sure the details look great, though.  The rest of the figure is the traditional paint methods, which are fairly cleanly applied.  They did miss applying the black details to the front of his mask, around his eyes.  It’s not super awful looking (since the design of the cowl means that part of the mask catches shade naturally), but it does make me wonder if they were maybe working from the Season 2 design for the colors?  [EDIT: after looking through some images of the costume, it looks like the front of the mask was left unshaded in Season 1, and the black was added at the start of Season 2, making this figure definitively a Season 1 DD]  Matt is packed with his signature billy clubs (which are finally a new mold; thank you show accuracy!), as well as a pair of fists, and the head of the BAF Man-Thing.  I’m a little surprised by the lack of an extra head, either unmasked or Season 2, but I guess that might have been a bit much for a figure that was 100% new sculpt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been anxiously waiting for this figure pretty much since I finished Daredevil Season 1 back in 2015.  When he was finally announced, I was ecstatic.  While still on the look out for the freaking Homecoming Series (which I finally finished finding just yesterday), I ended up finding this guy and Punisher at Power Comics in Myrtle Beach.  He’s not perfect.  I was a little bummed about that, truth be told.  But, over the course of writing this review, I messed around with him some more, and I’m content with him.  Of course, now I’m tempted by the DST version coming later this year, to see if that one’s better…

Guest Review #0042: The Punisher

Posted by hodgeppodge42 in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

THE PUNISHER

MARVEL LEGENDS

Heyo! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Last time, I was trying to review Mass Effect minimates (which I still need to finish, oops…) but I’m going to completely switch gears this time. Today, I’m going to introduce you guys to my gun-toting cinnamon roll Frankie (aka The Punisher)! Warning, throughout this review I will mostly call him Frankie, I know unprofessional –sue me .

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This figure is specifically designed after the character portrayed in the second season of Daredevil on Netflix. He comes in the same series of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the build-a-figure Man Thing (who came up with that name???).

Frankie, here, stands at about 6 ½ inches tall with 30 points of articulation. According to Ethan, Frankie’s body is not reused from another figure; in fact, he is completely his own with all new pieces. What’s cool about this figure, and a lot of the newer Marvel Legends, is that some of his features are printed on. In this case, Frankie’s face and the skull on his chest have been printed, not painted, on. This allows for more precise detailing to be made on the figures, for Frankie it means that you can see a nice five-o-clock shadow going on there and a couple of small scars on his nose. I actually really like how Frankie’s face turned out, the detailing is fantastic and they were able to capture his serious, broody, and adorable face really well.  The detailing on his chest is pretty cool as well. You can see all the straps and buckles on his bullet-proof vest, they’re not painted on but are part of the chest’s sculpt. The print job on the vest is well done as well; it really does look like paint on a vest, and even includes implied rough texture of the vest’s material and a few drips of running paint. Frankie’s legs have a lot of subtle detail, with wrinkles, pockets, and rough texturing for the pants. I find his boots to be really interesting, while just normal plain combat boots, they were able to make it look like his pants were stuffed into his boots and not look like all one entity. His jacket appears to be removable, but suggest leaving it on because he would look weird without it, especially since his arms are sculpted to be wrinkly like coat sleeves. I also have to say a quick thing about his hands; if you look closely you can see the suggestions of veins and tendons, which is a neat little detailing. The paint on the figure is okay, it’s just black and skin tones. There are a few spots where his hair (mostly at the edge of his bangs is peach instead of black, and at the corners of his jaw his five-o-clock shadow doesn’t completely cover it.

For accessories, Frankie comes with two guns. The first is just your average pistol, painted silver with a textured handle and other small detailing related to that style of gun. The second is some kind of rifle…I’m not gonna lie, I don’t know guns and our gun guy isn’t here to tell me all the cool things about the larger of Frankie’s guns, including what the hell to call it. It’s a cool looking gun that I’m sure is supposed to fire rather rapidly, with a scope, a long, slightly curved magazine clip, and other gun do-hickeys. I’m sorry, I don’t know guns, you’ll have to forgive me or wait for this to be updated later with more (accurate) details on the gun. All I know is that Frankie’s larger gun is black and pretty badass looking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Frankie came to me while we were packing up our apartment to move elsewhere. I was having a pretty stressful time, and my super sweet boyfriend decided to get me this figure when he saw it to try to help me out some. I fell in love with my gun-toting cinnamon roll after watching his part in Daredevil season two. My (over) enthusiastic love for the Punisher surprised Ethan a lot, especially since I normally don’t care for morally gray characters, but Frankie was just different and stole my heart with his sad brooding and love for lots of bullets. So when Ethan saw that they were making this figure he showed me and I’m sure our neighbors could hear my fangirl-screaming three-floors up, and I wanted one ever since. I love this design of the Punisher and I’m so happy he’s a part of my growing collection of figures! I’m also super excited for his Netflix show, and you can bet your bum I’m gonna watch it with this figure in hand!