Tag Archives: Disney Store Exclusive

#3955: Fantastic Four

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

MISTER FANTASTIC, INVISIBLE WOMAN, THE THING, & HUMAN TORCH

WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES (MEGO)

Hey, remember last week when I was talking about Mego, specifically how they finally got a chance to bring back Marvel?  Cool, well, there’s more of that going on today.  Yaaaaaaaaay.  In light of the insanity that was the drop for the Spider-Man-themed set, Mego partnered again with Disney for a follow-up, this time based on Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four, in a lead up to their 2025 film release over the summer.  Sure, I didn’t have them before the movie’s theatrical run, but I have a nice tie-in with it dropping on Disney+, so how ‘bout that synergy?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, and Human Torch are the second set in the Marvel sub-set of the revived World’s Greatest Super Heroes.  As with the first set, they went up for pre-order through Disney’s online store, and then started showing up intermittently at the actual parks locations after that.  The set includes the four, each in their own replica box, as well as a coin, much like the Spidey one, based on the ones available in the Marvel in-house ads in the ‘70s, this time showing off the whole team.  Notably, unlike the last set, this set is all reproductions, with no new characters.

MISTER FANTASTIC

Leader of the team and best signifier of the “standard” uniform, it’s Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic.  Or, Mr. Fantastic if you’re more for brevity.  I’m not often for brevity, but this is apparently one of the places I am, so there’s that.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  As with all of the more recent figures, he’s using the revamped bandless body, which is a generally good piece, apart from some slightly reduced range on the elbows and knees.  It does mean you can’t “stretch” him like the old one, but you really shouldn’t have been doing that in the first place, right?  He gets a recreation of the original Mego Reed head, which is honestly one of their nicest standard person heads.  It’s very dignified and scientistly, as a Reed Richards head should be.  His outfit is a multi-piece assembly, with a jumpsuit that has an attached collar and belt, and plastic boots and gloves.  These guys were notable in their use of plastic gloves, rather than the vinyl mittens of the earlier figures.  They look better, but also mean the hands can’t be used practically.  The jumpsuit has a sort of rubberized logo on the front, which looks really nice and also holds up well, and just generally has a pretty nice presence. 

INVISIBLE WOMAN

Also doing the whole standard uniform thing is Sue Storm/Richards, the Invisible Girl/Woman.  At the time of the original figure’s release, she was already Sue Richards, but was still operating as Invisible Girl, which her original packaging reflected.  She changed it to Invisible Woman during Byrne’s run on the book a decade after the original figure’s release, and that’s a change that’s stuck, so for the purposes of some synergy, her box has been adjusted with the appropriate name.  She stands 8 inches tall and she has 16 points of articulation.  Unlike the men, who get the new and improved bandless body, Sue’s still on an older version of the female body.  This one’s slightly modified from the original, in that the neck is attached to the torso.  Also, like every replica of the original female body, the hips are really square and wide, which looks kinda odd.  She’s got her original head, complete with its rooted hair, which manages to not look too crazy or weird.  Her outfit is a close mirror of the one on Reed, albeit tailored to the different body.

THE THING

Hey, it’s the guy what knows when it’s time to clobber stuff!  Our first deviation from the standard get-up is Benjamin J Grimm in his little blue shorts.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  As with his original release, Ben is the shortest of the four, by virtue of the “bulked up” body he was using (which the original shared with the Hulk).  This one’s upgraded to the bandless construction, which means that, where the original lost a fair bit of the articulation on the standard male body, this one actually keeps the same general set-up as the regular.  The only change-up is the elbows, which, due to the flipped nature of the construction, don’t actually get the side to side movement.  He gets his original head sculpt.  It gets kind of a bad rap, I think, with all the “it’s napping time” comments and the like, but I’ve personally always loved it, in all its hokey glory.  He also gets unique hands and forearms, which feature the rocky detailing, much like the original, but now with wrist articulation.  Ben’s outfit is just a jumpsuit, which gets the attached belt to match the other two.  Most of it is depicting his rocky texture, which us silk screened onto the suit.  It’s a surprisingly effective pattern, very evocative Kirby’s illustrations of the character.

HUMAN TORCH

Also deviating from the standard gear, it’s Johnny Storm, depicted here in all his fully flamed-on glory.  He matches Reed in terms of height and articulation, since he too is built on the basic updated body.  He gets a replica of the original’s head.  The original sculpt does its best to replicate the flamed-on look, which is tricky to get into three dimensions.  Ultimately, the success is, I think, at best, spotty.  But, that’s been the case for almost 50 years, so it is what it is.  Johnny’s outfit is the simplest of the four, just a jumpsuit, not even a belt like the other three.  Like Ben, Johnny’s outfit has a silk screened pattern to try to get his flame effects down, but I don’t think it works as well.  It just sort of looks like shapes, not really fire.  At the very least, the tried something different, which is better than not.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had none of the FF for myself as a kid, but my dad had a full set that got a lot of playtime from me when I’d stay at my grandparents house, usually while watching my *totally legal* VHS copy of the ‘90s Fantastic Four movie.  I tried to get my own equivalent via Toy Biz’s Famous Covers, but they stopped with just Reed and Sue, as Toy Biz loved to do.  I tried to get these when they went live on the site, but they sold out in, like, five minutes, so that was a no.  But, during the Disney trip where my dad was able to order the Spidey set, he was also able to find these in person, so he snagged an extra for me.  My opinions on these pretty much just replicate my feelings on the originals.  Ben’s definitely my favorite, and I love the new base body.  Reed and Sue are both very nice.  Johnny is kind of the weak link, but that’s always been the case, really.

#3951: Spider-Man, Green Goblin, The Lizard, & Electro

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

SPIDER-MAN, GREEN GOBLIN, THE LIZARD, & ELECTRO

WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HEROES (MEGO)

After a few sort of false starts in the ‘00s and early ‘10s, Mego seems to have well and truly made a return in recent years.  Perhaps their biggest boon for the main line was successfully landing the DC license, which has become a backbone of their offerings.  Of course, back in the ‘70s, Mego was home to both DC *and* Marvel, so you gotta have both for the full success, right?  Marvel being a much bigger license than it used to be, and also being tied-up in Hasbro’s master license means that it’s not as simple a score.  However, Mego was able to partner with Disney Parks, allowing for at least a little bit of Marvel to go with all that DC.  Yay!  Anyway, the first set was Spider-Man themed, and I’m looking at it today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Lizard, and Electro were the first offering in the Marvel off-shoot of World’s Greatest Super Heroes line.  They went up for order through Disney’s online store at the end of last year in limited quantities, and have been showing up at the parks locations intermittently since then.  The set includes the four figures, each with their own replica box, as well as a coin, based on the Spider-Man Medallion coins offered in Marvel house-ads in the ‘70s.

SPIDER-MAN

Star of the show and one of the most distinctive of the original Megos, it’s Spider-Man.  Spidey was one of the few figures to get re-released during the previous attempt at relaunching Marvel Megos under Diamond, so we’ve gotten the replica with the box once before.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  He moves over to the updated bandless body that the main line’s been using for a while now, meaning he’s less prone to breakage and also more posable.  He’s still using (a replica of) his original head sculpt, which remains a very strong take on the character.  As with prior versions of the character, his outfit is a single, silkscreened jumpsuit.  The DST version went with the earlier circle-logo version of the costume, but this release goes for the more standard issue, from the wider run of the line.  The finish on the costume is also closer to the original, rather than the shinier finish of the last replica.  The print is generally pretty good, but the belt seems to go a little lower than it should, especially the dip at the front.

GREEN GOBLIN

Spidey’s primary antagonist Green Goblin was added to Mego’s run in the second Marvel assortment, and hasn’t been revisited by any sort of follow-up since.  Like his original release, he gets a unique head.  It’s not quite as definitive as Spidey, generally dialing back some of Goblin’s features to something closer to a standard human face, but it still looks enough like the character to read pretty well.  His outfit gets a jumpsuit, assembled from different parts for the torso and limbs, as well as including a sewn on belt piece, and cuffs for his gloves.  The arms and legs have a printed scale pattern, which is fun, and a good match to the vintage equivalent.  It’s all topped off with a pair of plastic boots, which have a tendency to make him topple, unless you get him posed *just* right.  Goblin is also packed with a plastic satchel piece.  Like his vintage counterpart, he lacks his glider.  It’s a bit of a bummer that they couldn’t add it this time around, but it’s not quite within the scope of what they’re going for.

THE LIZARD

Joining the vintage line alongside Green Goblin (and Iron Man and Hulk) was The Lizard.  Though the package also billed him as “Spider-Man’s Arch-Enemy”, that doesn’t quite feel like it fits for Lizard, who’s hardly obscure, but still seems a little more of a deeper cut than Goblin.  Lizard was the most involved of the original Spidey line-up, and that’s replicated with this figure.  In addition to the “new” head sculpt (which was shared with Star Trek’s Gorn during the vintage run), Lizard also got specially sculpted hands and lower legs.  They all sell the reptile angle pretty well.  The head’s pretty goofy and all, but also has that perfect charm for the line.  The left hand’s notable for being in a fist, a unique feature for the original line, and still unique here as well.  Lizard’s outfit is involved like his sculpt, with a lab coat, and a shirt/pants combo that also includes a cloth tail piece.  The tail has the same pattern of scales as Goblin, just in a darker green color.

ELECTRO

Electro is notable in this set because he *wasn’t* in the vintage line, making him the set’s one new addition to the line-up.  He gets a replica package made-up to match the others, so that you can just sort of pretend he always existed.  He gets a totally new head sculpt, which isn’t bad, apart from the one drawback that the way the package tray is set-up, his head is pressed up against it, so the top “bolt” of his mask is folded down.  It’ll need some work to get it properly reset.  He gets a single piece jumpsuit, with a printed pattern matching his classic costume set-up, and additional pieces on the forearms mimicking the bolt attachments from his gloves.  He also gets a standard pair of boots, molded in yellow.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have a few actual proper vintage Marvel Megos, but for the most part, I rely on my dad’s collection for my memories of them.  He actually didn’t have any of the Spidey characters, and Spidey himself was one I got when I was about 9 or 10.  Lizard in particular is a figure I’ve wanted for a good long while, but I’ve never gotten the chance to track one down.  The prospect of re-issues was intriguing, but then they sold out really fast online, and they’ve been getting scalped pretty consistently since.  My dad took a trip to Disney a couple of weekends ago, and was planning to keep an eye out for this set, but before he even got to the park, he got notified that they were back in stock online, and was nice enough to order an extra set so that I could also have one.  I’ve got no shortage of Mego Spideys, but that doesn’t make him any less cool.  Goblin’s a respectable replica of his original figure, Electro is a fun new addition (slight issue with the mask aside), and Lizard just rules.

#2331: Captain Phasma – Quicksilver Baton

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

CAPTAIN PHASMA — QUICKSILVER BATON

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Captain Phasma and a squad of elite First Order troopers capture Resistance heroes Finn and Rose, who have infiltrated Snoke’s flagship, the Supremacy. Before Phasma can eliminate them, a series of unforeseen events leads to a dramatic battle between Phasma and Finn.”

Poor Captain Phasma.  She had everybody on her side in the hype for the new movies and then it all just sort of fell by the wayside.  She’s not that bad a character, but I guess it’s hard to live up to those lofty fan expectations.  Lessened fan interest in the character, coupled with keeping more or less the same design from one film to the next meant that Phasma’s toy presence for The Last Jedi was seriously reduced.  She got one Black Series offering, offering a more scene specific look, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quicksilver Baton Captain Phasma was originally intended as a Toys R Us-exclusive Black Series offering, set for release in mid-2018.  Guess what happened in mid-2018.  Yeah, there was a distinct lack of TRU to give the exclusive to (in the US at least; Canadian TRUs still carried this figure as their exclusive), so like the Zuckuss figure, Phasma was salvaged by Disney Stores for her US release.  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and she has 24 points of articulation.  Given how her design didn’t actually change between the films, it not a huge surprise that this figure is largely a re-use of the previous figure.  She gets a new head, and swaps out the plastic cape for a cloth one.  I also got a slightly better range of motion out of the hips and shoulders on this figure, but that might be a figure to figure sort of thing.  The new head is designed to replicate the damage Phasma takes to her helmet at the end of her battle with Finn, so we get to see just a little bit of Gwedolyn Christie’s eye peering through.  It’s a pretty cool effect, as is the sculpted damage.  I also really like that they sculpted her head and helmet as separate pieces, further adding to the effect.  The cloth cape doesn’t quite have the same impressive appearance of the sculpted one, but it does make the figure a bit less of a statue.  Phasma’s paint remains similar to the last release, but she of course gets the added detailing on the eye (which is printed), as well as the scorch damage on her helmet and torso.  In addition to the gold blaster rifle included with the last figure, this one also includes the Quicksilver baton in both long and short forms.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I looked at this figure when it was new, but given the choice between Phasma and Zuckuss, there was really no contest, given the scene-specific nature of this particular figure.  I was evidently far from the only fan to make such a choice, and Phasma ended up getting clearanced, at which point she was cheap enough to get me interested.  She’s a nice figure, and honestly a better figure than the standard.  It’s a shame they didn’t do more with the character, but at least we got her from her best sequence.

#2179: Poe Dameron

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

POE DAMERON

DISNEY TOYBOX

So, hey, you know what Friday was?  Yeah, it was Triple Force Friday!  The third “Force Friday” event since the sequel trilogy launched.  It was uhh…it was…well, it happened.  On a Friday no less.  Despite much promotion, it was easily the most anticlimactic and underwhelming event of the three events so far.  So underwhelming in fact that today’s item isn’t from Triple Force Friday at all!  Instead it hit at the end of this summer.  And yes, it’s a Poe Dameron figure.  Contain your shock, please.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Poe Dameron is figure 11 in the Star Wars branch of the Disney Store-exclusive Disney Toybox line.  This line started back in 2017 as a way for Disney to salvage some of the assets from their failed Disney Infinity game.  Seeing as Poe had a figure in that line, and they already had his render on file, it’s not a majorly huge surprise that he made his way in here. What’s ever so slightly surprising is that he made it into the line before Finn, who tends to get the secondary status of the new trilogy’s trio.  I mean, I’m not complaining about getting a Poe, or anything, so it’s not a big deal.  Poe’s Infinity figure was in his flight suit, and while some of the Toybox figures have changed up the character models a little bit, he did not, so flight suit it is.  Admittedly, not the worst choice, since it gives the figure some overlap appeal between movies.  The figure stands a little under 5 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  Poe makes out quite well on the articulation front, especially if yoyr used to things like the Elite Series, which were pretty limited.  Apart from some slight stiffness on the torso, there’s not much he can’t do.  His sculpt is obviously quite stylized, just like the Infinity figure was.  It’d definitely a bit more on the goofy side, but it does have that sort of classic Disney appearance to it, and it means that all of the figures in the line will look pretty good together.  Despite the cartoony nature, Poe’s head actually sports an alright likeness of Oscar Isaac, albeit in a very cartoony fashion.  There’s some pretty decent detail work throughout the figure, and he looks nice and clean.  The paintwork is all rather basic, but it does its job well, and looks the part.  There’s not real slop or bleed over, which is an area that some of the Disney in-house stuff has had issues with in the past.  Poe includes three accessories.   The first is his helmet, which is honestly the least impressive.  It’s a bit oversized, and it has an opaque visor, meaning it’s not ideal for actually keeping on the figure, versus just having him hold it.  He also includes a small blaster pistol, which is decent.  His last, and by far most impressive extra, is BB-8.  It’s fairly standard fair for BB-8, but cool nevertheless.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My keyboard on my laptop decided to spontaneously stop working, so I had to take it to the mall to get it fixed.  While there, I found out the warranty was going to cover the repair, meaning I didn’t have to drop the couple hundred dollars I thought I would.  To celebrate that, I swung by the Disney Store and found this guy, who I didn’t even know had been released.  I’d not yet given Toybox a try, so this figure seemed like a good starting point.  I can’t really see myself getting super invested in any other offerings, but as another Poe figure, it’s really not bad.

#1881: GNK Power Droid

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

GNK POWER DROID

STAR WARS: ELITE SERIES (DISNEY)

“GNK power droids understand commands and generate power for mobile operations,  They are often called “Gonk” droids in imitation of their simple vocalizations.”

While the premiere Star Wars line these days is undoubtedly Hasbro’s The Black Series, my nomination for the line that is consistently the most unexpected and surprising line is Disney’s in-house Elite Series, a line of 7-inch die cast metal figures.  For the most part, the line’s scale makes it incompatible with The Black Series, but every so often, you get those designs where scale’s less of an issue.  Such is the case with today’s focus, the GNK Power Droid, better known as the “Gonk.”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Gonk is part of the newest assortment of Elite Series figures, which started hitting right around the same time as the three Disney Store-exclusive Black Series figures.  This assortment is all about the droids, featuring a number of the lesser droids from throughout the franchise (and an R2 variant for good measure).  The Gonk is based on his appearance in A New Hope, which is really the go-to, so it works.  The figure stands 4 inches tall and has 2…ish points of articulation.  There are technically joints at the top of each leg but, admittedly, there’s not much mobility to be had there.  The Gonk is primarily constructed from die cat metal, which makes up the main body and the feet.  This makes the Gonk one of the densest figures in the line, and certainly the densest figure I own.  It’s really just a brick of metal when you get right down to it.  Disney has once again stepped up their game on the sculpt front, with the Gonk being one of the most detailed sculpts to date in the line.  It’s a very good match for the Gonk’s design from the movie, and areas like the leg covers in particular are really sharply defined.  Even the paint work is more defined than what we’ve seen before.  Prior Elite Series figures have been more on the clean side, but the Gonk actually gets some sizable wear and tear detailing, helping him achieve that proper worn-in appearance that the Gonk just wouldn’t look right without.  The Gonk is packed with one accessory: a display stand.  It’s the same stand that’s been packed with all of the prior figures, and he doesn’t really need it to keep standing, but it’s always nice to have it, I guess.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Gonk is rather a sentimental character to me, due largely to its presence as a playable character in Lego Star Wars, where it was my brother’s favorite character.  When we unlocked the “Super Gonk” feature, he would run all around the levels shouting “Super Gonk!” Ever since then, whenever either of us sees the Gonk anywhere, we always shout “Super Gonk!” to the other.  So, when I spotted this guy at the Disney Store while grabbing the Black Series Zuckuss, there was no way I was turning him down.  As of right now, the odds of a Black Series Gonk are somewhat slim, and this one definitely makes for a good stand-in.

#1875: Zuckuss

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

ZUCKUSS

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A Gand bounty hunter, Zuckuss heeded the Empire’s call for mercenaries to locate the Millennium Falcon and bring her fugitive crew to justice, receiving his orders on the bridge of Darth Vader’s Super Star Destroyer.”

I’ve established a loose ranking of Empire Strikes Back’s bounty hunters throughout my various Black Series reviews of them, and if you’ve been following those, you’ll know that my top three slots (IG-88, Bossk, and 4-LOM) have already been covered.  So, where does that leave today’s entry, Zuckus?  I’d probably stick him in the number 4 slot, though it’s largely due to his pairing with 4-LOM.  It just feels odd to break those two up.  And, it would seem that Hasbro agrees, since they always release them in close proximity to each other.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zuckuss is a Disney Store-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series offering, who started showing up within the last month.  He is one of three exclusives for the line that all hit at the same time, and he’s another displaced TRU-exclusive, though there was evidently enough time to at least remove the sticker from him.  The figure is 5 1/2 inches tall (Zuckuss was the shortest of the Bounty Hunters) and he has 26 points of articulation.  Zuckuss is a brand-new sculpt, and he falls back a bit more on the earlier Black Series tendency for mixed media affairs.  He’s got an underlying sculpt, with a cloth robe over top, and an overlay piece holding it all together.  It’s all *technically* removable, but it’s gonna be a pain to get it off and back on, and he underlying body isn’t really designed to be seen, so I elected to leave mine in place.  while some of the earlier mixed-media offerings from this line were a bit iffy in execution, I think it works out a lot better with this figure.  The cloth sections are definitely better tailored on this figure than prior figures, and the additional overlay piece helps to keep everything more properly shaped.  As far as visible sculpted pieces, the head and hands definitely show some very strong work; the texturing on the gloves is quite realistic, and the head matches nicely not only with his on-screen appearance, but also pairs well with the prior 4-LOM figure.  The bulk of the paintwork on Zuckuss is on the head, which has a dark wash to help bring out its details.  After so many figures without any such detailing, it’s nice to see Hasbro returning to it.  Zuckuss’s only accessory is his distinctive blaster, which fits nicely in his hand.  It’s a little bit on the smaller side, but given all of the other work that’s been put into this figure, it’s acceptable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since picking up 4-LOM, I’ve been anxiously awaiting Zuckuss’s release.  After a particularly bad day at work, Super Awesome Fiancee was looking to cheer me up, so she took me to the closest Disney Store, where I had no trouble finding him.  He’s a fun figure, and he brings us one step closer to a complete line-up of the Executor Bounty Hunters!