Tag Archives: Firelord

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0051: Firelord

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

FIRELORD

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

I started the week with som Toy Biz Fantastic Four, why not wrap the week with a revisit to the line?  That’s what a good Flashback Friday Figure Addendum is all about!  So, let’s return to a guy who’s probably not cracking top three on Galactus’ Heralds, Firelord!

“Once a herald of the world-devouring Galactus, Firelord was granted absolute control over all flames by his former master. Now freed from servitude, he wanders the spaceways, using his cosmic power to take what he desires! Unprincipled and mercenary, Firelord conceals his true demeanor beneath a facade of nobility and culture, but always displays his blazing abilities for all to marvel at…and fear!”

After Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the concept of Galactus, and in turn his herald Silver Surfer, and then almost immediately dismantling it by having the Surfer removed from the role of herald at the end of that very story, it seemed Galactus was in need of a new herald to keep things running. The first replacement for Surfer was Air-Walker, a Xandarian who’s first appearance was not even the man himself, but a robotic duplicate, created by Galactus after the original died. The next herald after Air-Walker was another Xandarian (who was actually a friend of Air-Walker pre-herald transformation), Firelord. Firelord would follow in the path set by Silver Surfer, eventually asking to be released from his duties as herald, and forging out on his own. He’s remained a minor recurring character on the cosmic side of things at Marvel. As a herald of Galactus, he got himself a spot in Toy Biz’s FF line in the ’90s. I’m taking a look at that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Firelord was released in Series 2 of the Fantastic Four line. Unlike Thanos, who was notably never in the cartoon that the line was tying into, Firelord actually got a brief appearance on the show. Not that it really amounted to much, since it was little more than a cameo, but hey, there it was. Of note, he was actually voiced by Alan Oppenheimer, better known as the voice of Skeletor. Fun times. Until his Minimate release, this was Firelord’s only action figure. The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation. He sports a sculpt that remained unique to this release. It’s a pretty decent one. Nothing overly showy or anything. Generally it just sticks to the basics, but it’s good at that. He’s got some minor detailing for the flame effects, which are a little on the soft side, but get the point across. The strongest portion of the sculpt is definitely the head, which sticks closer to the comics interpretation of the character, with his rather other-worldly cheek bones and all. Firelord’s paint work is alright. It’s not quite as bold and differentiated as some of his colors tended to be in the comics, but the general look again works pretty well, apart from some slight muddying of the colors without any real clear outlines. That said, it’s not terrible. Not terrible at all. Firelord was packed with his flaming staff, dubbed “Cosmic Flame Launcher” on the package. It’s in two parts, and one part launched like a missile out of the other. I’ve only actually got the missile part anymore, which is the half that looks more convincingly like his staff anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned before on the site about Ageless Heroes, a comic store nearby that had a rather huge going out of business sale when I was between six and seven. It served as a pretty sizable boon to my 5 inch Marvel collection as a kid. Firelord here was one of the figures from that boon. He wasn’t actually bought as Firelord, since I didn’t really know the character, but instead got initial use as a Jim Hammond Human Torch. I did eventually learn who Firelord was, courtesy of a copy of his appearance in Uncanny Origins, which I got from Ageless Heroes’ back-issues, in fact. He’s not a perfect figure, or anything, but he’s certainly one I got a lot of use out of as a kid.

That review was from 2022, making it an astoundingly new review for a revisit.  Curiously, it managed to only *just* beat the Legends Firelord’s release, so I still reviewed them chronologically.  We won’t bring up that the Minimate should be between the two of them, though, because it makes me look bad, and I don’t do that around here.  Never.  It hasn’t been enough time for me to really change my opinion on the figure, so I shan’t.  I will, however, show off the newly replaced other half of his staff, because there it is!  It’s real bulky, and pretty much impossible for him to hold and seems needlessly complicated, but there it is.

#3222: Firelord

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

FIRELORD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Galactus transforms Xandarian naval officer Pryreus Kril into his newest Herald, the unwavering Firelord!”

How about a little fire!?!  No?  No on the fire?  Yeah, that’s probably fair.  Hear me out, though: what if it’s not *just* fire?  What if there’s inexplicably a “lord” attached to that?  Does that change things up enough?  I mean, it does for me.  And it’s my site.  So, I make the rules.  And I’m looking at Firelord.  It’s been a shockingly short span of time since my last Firelord review, which was just back in May of this year.  Two Firelords in one year.  I don’t know if that’s, strictly speaking, legal.  But, I’m willing to give it a try.  I actually did a respectable job of giving that character’s background in that review’s intro, allowing me to go all meta on this one, and then just sort of jump right into the review.  Onto the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Firelord is a Fan Channel-exclusive standalone offering for the Retro sub-set of Marvel Legends.  He’s a continuation of the retro FF-style packaging from last year, and also clearly meant to tie-in with the arrival of the Galactus HasLab figure (which I’m hoping to review shortly). This marks Firelord’s third time in figure form, following the original Toy Biz and the Minimate.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Firelord is built on the 2099 body, which seems a pretty suitable base for the character.  It’s the same one that was used for the last Silver Surfer, and while I had my reservations about that choice at the time, I’ve warmed up to it over the years since its release.  With a second Herald on the base, it feels more unifying, and it’s honestly a solid match for how he tends to be portrayed.  He gets a brand-new head sculpt (courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding), which is quite an impressive piece; it’s an impressive update of the stylings of the original Toy Biz figure, while also serving to capture his appearance in the comics.  It’s got an appropriately ’70s vibe, and I’m impressed by the flow of his fiery hair.  The color work on this figure is largely on the basic side, at least as far as the “costume” is concerned.  The head gets some slightly more involved work, with transparent plastic for the hair (so it looks really cool when backlit), as well as just a little bit of printing to give the eyes just a little more life.  Firelord is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and gripping, as well as his flaming staff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The old ’90s figure, coupled with his appearance in Uncanny Origins, which I got not long after, gave me a serious soft-spot for Firelord.  When he wasn’t amongst the Heralds revealed alongside Galactus, I was hopeful that meant he might be getting a standard release.  This guy’s pretty much exactly what I was expecting, and I’m honestly very happy about that!

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

#3100: Firelord

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

FIRELORD

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Once a herald of the world-devouring Galactus, Firelord was granted absolute control over all flames by his former master. Now freed from servitude, he wanders the spaceways, using his cosmic power to take what he desires! Unprincipled and mercenary, Firelord conceals his true demeanor beneath a facade of nobility and culture, but always displays his blazing abilities for all to marvel at…and fear!”

After Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the concept of Galactus, and in turn his herald Silver Surfer, and then almost immediately dismantling it by having the Surfer removed from the role of herald at the end of that very story, it seemed Galactus was in need of a new herald to keep things running.  The first replacement for Surfer was Air-Walker, a Xandarian who’s first appearance was not even the man himself, but a robotic duplicate, created by Galactus after the original died.  The next herald after Air-Walker was another Xandarian (who was actually a friend of Air-Walker pre-herald transformation), Firelord.  Firelord would follow in the path set by Silver Surfer, eventually asking to be released from his duties as herald, and forging out on his own.  He’s remained a minor recurring character on the cosmic side of things at Marvel.  As a herald of Galactus, he got himself a spot in Toy Biz’s FF line in the ’90s.  I’m taking a look at that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Firelord was released in Series 2 of the Fantastic Four line.  Unlike Thanos, who was notably never in the cartoon that the line was tying into, Firelord actually got a brief appearance on the show.  Not that it really amounted to much, since it was little more than a cameo, but hey, there it was.  Of note, he was actually voiced by Alan Oppenheimer, better known as the voice of Skeletor.  Fun times.  Until his Minimate release, this was Firelord’s only action figure.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  He sports a sculpt that remained unique to this release.  It’s a pretty decent one.  Nothing overly showy or anything.  Generally it just sticks to the basics, but it’s good at that.  He’s got some minor detailing for the flame effects, which are a little on the soft side, but get the point across.  The strongest portion of the sculpt is definitely the head, which sticks closer to the comics interpretation of the character, with his rather other-worldly cheek bones and all.  Firelord’s paint work is alright.  It’s not quite as bold and differentiated as some of his colors tended to be in the comics, but the general look again works pretty well, apart from some slight muddying of the colors without any real clear outlines.  That said, it’s not terrible.  Not terrible at all.  Firelord was packed with his flaming staff, dubbed “Cosmic Flame Launcher” on the package.  It’s in two parts, and one part launched like a missile out of the other.  I’ve only actually got the missile part anymore, which is the half that looks more convincingly like his staff anyway. [EDIT- I actually got the other half for him, as addressed in his Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!]

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned before on the site about Ageless Heroes, a comic store nearby that had a rather huge going out of business sale when I was between six and seven.  It served as a pretty sizable boon to my 5 inch Marvel collection as a kid.  Firelord here was one of the figures from that boon.  He wasn’t actually bought as Firelord, since I didn’t really know the character, but instead got initial use as a Jim Hammond Human Torch.  I did eventually learn who Firelord was, courtesy of a copy of his appearance in Uncanny Origins, which I got from Ageless Heroes’ back-issues, in fact.  He’s not a perfect figure, or anything, but he’s certainly one I got a lot of use out of as a kid.