Tag Archives: Golden Pharaoh

#3764: Golden Pharaoh

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

GOLDEN PHARAOH

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

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

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#1468: Golden Pharaoh

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

GOLDEN PHARAOH

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

“British archaeologist Ashley Halberstam was at a dig in Giza, Egypt when he was engulfed by a bolt emanating from a laboratory on New Genesis. The bolt transformed Halberstam and conferred upon him the ”Power of the Pyramids,” as channeled through his magical pyramid staff. Virtuous and heroic by nature, Halberstam fought alongside Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman against the evil machinations of Darkseid and the legions of Apokolips, eternal enemies of New Genesis.”

Just two days ago, I was looking at a DC Icons figure, and lamenting the sad tale of that failed DC line.  How about another?  Yes, I’m feeling nostalgic, so let’s turn our sights to DC Universe Classics.  Admittedly, it’s funny to view this as a “failed” line, seeing as it ran 20 Series at retail and had two years of a subscription service after that.  It’s possibly the longest-running line of DC figures, especially if you factor in its precursor DC Superheroes or any of its numerous spin-offs.  It is, for all intents and purposes, the definitive DC toyline.  So, why is it a “failure?”  Mostly for retrospective reasons.  Despite it’s deep reach in terms of character selection, many teams were left sadly incomplete.  Choices of costumes and incarnations were frequently questionable.  And, if we’re being totally honest, with a few exceptions, the last quarter of the line was filled with mediocre, uninspired figures, leaving it as little more than a hollow shell of its former self.  Despite its flaws, the line is well-noted for its devotion to obscure characters, and even moreso for its recreation of Kenner’s Super Powers line, right down to the kooky original characters.  This includes today’s focus, Golden Pharaoh, who received his second figure ever courtesy of this line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Golden Pharaoh was released in Series 15 of DC Universe Classics.  From Series 8 forward, each assortment included one Super Powers-recreation figure.  Pharaoh would be the last one in the line (well, not including Samurai in the Super Friends series, but he was a slightly different story), as he wrapped up the “originals” set.  Pharaoh was easily the least developed of all the Kenner-original creations, so the fact that he was the last one to join the line isn’t a huge surprise.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He was built on the medium-sized base body, with a unique head, torso, arms, and calves, as well as an add-on piece for his loincloth.  As noted in prior DCUC reviews, it’s a body that’s started to show its age, and it wasn’t exactly top-of-the-line when it was new, but for a character like Golden Pharaoh it’s really not bad.  The unique pieces manage to capture the essence of the original figure, while still managing to be modern and updated.  It’s definitely got a bit of an Ed McGuinness vibe to it, but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest.  The paintwork on Pharaoh is pretty solid work, especially for this point in the line.  There’s not a lot of accent work, but he makes up for it with the gold paint and the translucent purple plastic.  It certainly makes for a unique looking figure.  Golden Pharaoh was packed with his fabulous Golden Pharaoh staff, as well as a Super Powers display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t buy Golden Pharoh when he was new.  I can’t really tell you why.  Possibly because we got most of this assortment to finish the Validus Collect-N-Connect, and this guy didn’t come with a piece.  I ended up getting him just a few months ago from Cosmic Comix, who just got in a large collection of DCUC figures and was selling this guy for $7, which was about the right price for me to finally get him.