Tag Archives: Hasbro

#1991: Soundwave

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

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS (HASBRO)

So, this Transformers thing…it doesn’t appear to be going away, does it?  Like last month, I am once again bookending a month’s reviews with Transformers.  Today’s offering is slightly different, however, because rather than looking at something new, I’m actually looking at something quite old.  About as old as a Transformer can possibly be, in fact.  It’s no secret that Soundwave is my very favorite Transformer, so it’s probably not a huge shock to see me go back to his beginnings, and take a look at his vintage figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave was released in 1984, as one of the line’s first Decepticons.  He was a re-working of the Microman Micro Change Cassette Man figure, and is actually one of the least changed imports the line had to offer, with only minimal re-tooling and some slight changing of his color palette.  In his robot mode, Soundwave stands 7 inches tall and has 15 workable points of articulation.  Though his sculpt is certainly boxier and more rudimentary than more modern offerings from the line, Soundwave is probably one of the best sculpts of the 1984 line-up.  He’s pretty posable, and maintains that sort of retro robot feel without getting too goofy or basic.  He’s also a rather sturdy feeling figure, which is certainly nice to find in a figure that’s 45 years old.  I particularly like the metal feet, which help to keep him up and standing.  There’s also virtually no kibble left over from his alt form which is downright impressive on such a figure.  Said alt form is, of course, that of a micro cassette player.  Cassette Man was part of a line of figures meant to be mini robots masquerading as everyday items.  While Soundwave in the show had to rely on some weird mass-shifting to go from one form to the next, the toy just sticks with letting him be a realistically scaled player, which is certainly a neat idea.  His transformation from one form to the other is pretty straightforward, which was a relief to a relative Transformers novice such as myself, and the cassette player form is a convincing one.  I mean, it’s not like it’s super complex or anything; it’s really just a box, but it does that whole box thing pretty well.  Soundwave, like many earlier Transformers, foregoes paint for more decals and the like.  For the most part, they’ve held up well, but mine is missing his Decepticon logo (which was actually replaced by a rubsign decal for figures released in 1985 and beyond).  Soundwave was originally packed with a shoulder cannon, a handheld weapon, and one of his cassettes, Buzzsaw.  My figure only has the shoulder cannon, which is really the most important to him personally.  Soundwave included an “action feature” of sorts as well; the door on his chest is spring loaded, allowing for a proper ejecting of any cassette-based associates.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This Soundwave was traded into All Time alongside a larger collection, and spent a good couple of months just sitting back behind the counter, just the see if anyone might as to purchase him.  No one did, and I found myself sitting there fiddling with him one night, at which point I realized I kinda didn’t want to put him back.  So, home with me he came.  He’s somewhat dated, but still pretty darn awesome, and I’m honestly pretty happy I snagged him.  I mean, what kind of a Soundwave fan would I be if I didn’t have the original?

#1981: Soundwave

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

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS: BUMBLEBEE (HASBRO)

Alright, I’m gonna level with your guys: you might want to get comfortable with the Transformers reviews.  Because there’s probably going to be a substantial uptick in them going forward. Read them at your own peril.  It’s okay, though, because I’m going to ease everyone into them, you see.  I’m not just jumping into Transformers willy-nilly. I’m going to be placing a lot of focus on the one Transformer that’s not odd to see around these parts: Soundwave!  Yes, he’s without a doubt my favorite Transformer, and as with all of my favorite characters, I’d like perhaps to own every version of him.  A man can dream.  And chipping away at that dream is today’s figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave is part of the overarching Transformers: Bumblebee line that came out of December’s Bumblebee film, in which Soundwave made a brief appearance.  He’s from the Energon Ignighters Power Plus Series‘ third wave, which just started showing up in the last month or so.  It features this guy here, alongside Autobot Ironhide.  He’s ostensibly based on Soundwave’s look in the film, but it’s a much looser interpretation than others.  I’ll touch on that in a moment.  Unlike most of the Transformers I’ve looked at on this site, where it’s a robot figure that turns into a vehicle, this one is kind of an inversion.  The vehicle mode is the real focus, with the robot mode there as more of a gimmick.  In the film, Soundwave doesn’t have a vehicle mode (that we know of), so this one makes one up for him, settling on a van that’s actually a pretty sensible choice if you don’t want to go for the classic cassette player, since it still kind of keeps that music theme going.  It fits the overall retro feel of the rest of the Bumblebee stuff, to be sure.  In van mode, Soundwave measures 4 1/2 inches long, 2 inches wide, and 2 inches tall.  All four wheels are actual, working wheels, and the back doors of the van are designed to spring open when the top of the van is pressed down, revealing some impressive looking speakers.  Paint on the van-mode is mostly pretty sparse, but he does have a decal in particular that I love: the mural on the side.  It features a cheesy ’70s-esque painting of a jaguar and a bird, homaging Soundwave’s usual companions, Ravage and Laserbeak, which I just think is the coolest thing.  Soundwave includes an “Energon Ignighter” piece, which is the gimmick for the whole line.  It drops into place through the roof of the van, activating the spring-loaded doors and allowing for a motorized pull and release movement.  Fitting with the overall theme of this release, the ignighter is shaped like a boombox, which is another fun touch.  Soundwave’s transition from van to robot is a fairly simple process, largely consisting of turning him over so that you can see the hidden robot that was under the van.  His appearance is certainly inspired by the classic Soundwave look, just like the movie, but I can’t really say the two designs are all that close.  If I had to guess, I’d say he was probably patterned after early designs for the character.  Whatever the case, he’s still pretty recognizeable as Soundwave, which is the important thing.  He’s not particularly poseable; you can pretty much only move him at the elbows, though there’s some slight shifting to be had in the shoulders as well.  Like I said, the robot’s not really the main focus of this release; he’s more a gimmick than anything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: this is Max’s fault.  No, really, I swear it is.  See, he preordered one of these for himself on Amazon, but then found one in-store, and decided to grab that, but was unable to cancel his order.  So, boom: extra Soundwave.  Shame he doesn’t know anyone who would want a Soundwave… In actuality, I had actually wanted to track one of these down, because I dug that sweet van art.  It’s gimmicky, and not going to be anyone’s #1 version or anything, but for a Soundwave fan like me, he’s a fun addition to the collection.

#1980: Force Link 2.0 Starter Set (w/ Han Solo)

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

FORCE LINK 2.0 STARTER SET (W/ HAN SOLO)

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (HASBRO)

When Hasbro launched their tie-in offerings for The Last Jedi, they launched alongside them a new play gimmick…well, an old play gimmick with a shiny new coat of paint, anyway.  Dubbed “Force Link,” it allowed for all compatible figures and vehicles to enhance their playablitity with sound effects and dialogue.  The whole thing required a reader to activate, and I reviewed that reader back when it was first made available. It was an amusing enough gimmick, but the whole thing ran into trouble just a few short months after its release, since Hasbro had failed to build in figures beyond the TLJ offerings planned when the reader debuted.  Not wanting to completely abandon the concept, but also not wanting to make all of the prior figures obsolete, they used the launch of Solo to offer up a “2.0” version, designed with updates in mind.  This, of course, meant another reader, and thereby another starter set, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE SET ITSELF

The Force Link 2.0 starter set was released alongside the rest of the Solo-themed product in April of last year.  Not quite the grand hurrah of prior toyline launches, but there it was.  The set includes the new version of the reader, as well as standard Han Solo figure.  Both of these items remained unique to this set throughout the line’s run, unlike the first starter set.  As with the first set, the three AAA batteries needed for the reader’s operation are not included.

FORCE LINK 2.0 READER

If you read my review of the first Force Link reader, then there’s not much new about the basics of this one.  It operates using the same NFC partnering between the reader and the figures.  The basic physical design is also the same, albeit with some slight cosmetic changes that better match it to Solo‘s aesthetics.  This mean’s it’s operation in conjunction with the figures is also the same, for good and for bad.  It’s still a tight fit on the wrist, and getting the figures to work as Hasbro intended doesn’t so much go; I again found holding the figures up to the reader directly to be more efficient.  There’s one new feature, which is kind of the selling point of the 2.0, but is also it’s biggest problem.  The new reader is tied-in with a Force Link app (which can be downloaded onto mobile devices), allowing for periodic updates.  This is supposed to fix the issue of the prior reader’s fixed selection of characters to interact with by allowing for new figures to be added via these updates.  So, what’s the problem?  Well, right out of the box, the reader is compatible with the Han Solo it comes packed with…and no one else.  No launch figures, no 1.0 figures, nothing.  Every figure beyond Han will simply give you a “Firmware Update Required” message.  You have to download and launch the app, pair the device to your phone and go through a rather frustrating interface process, all to start a very lengthy firmware update (Hasbro says it can take up to an hour, and mine stuck right to that).  The fact that they couldn’t even have the 1.0 and initial figures ready to go is a real problem, and it’s further hurt by the updates not actually being available when this thing hit shelves.

HAN SOLO

The second half of this set is a Han Solo.  But not just any Han Solo; it’s actually the standard Solo Han Solo.  Yes, unlike the first Force Link reader, which supplied us with a Kylo variant, this time Hasbro decided to make it a more worthwhile figure.  For those planning to buy the set, this is great, since they don’t have to worry about some extraneous offering.  For those not?  Well, it kind of means that Hasbro made a Solo line without a single-carded Han Solo, which, in retrospect, may not have been their finest move.  Moving past that, though, how is the line’s standard Han Solo?  He stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  He’s rather similar in design to the Han included with the Falcon, but obviously with the jacket added.  He uses the same head, legs, and hands, with a new torso and arms.  It’s a nice, sharp sculpt, and definitely my favorite of the various Hans available in the line.  His paintwork is clean, which is good, since you actually can’t see him in the box.  In fact, he’s probably the best of the Hans…again.  He’s packed with his usual blaster pistol, which he can hold or keep in his holster.  His Force Link sounds are:  “They call me Han Solo.”  “We’ve got company!”  “Blast ’em!” “This better be worth it.” “I don’t run from a fight.”  “Huh, I’ve got a really good feeling about this.” “Okay, stay sharp!” “Wa-hoo!” and then a blaster sound.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It took a $10 off coupon to get me to buy the first Force Link starter set, so it’s probably not a huge surprise to find out I wasn’t eager to drop full retail on a second one, especially so soon after the first.  So, I clearance-waited on this one, which paid off quite nicely for me, since I was able to snag it for $4 just after the holidays.  Not great for the prospects of the concept continuing, of course.  I can see Hasbro really trying with this set, with the potential for updates instead of having to buy a new reader with every movie, and the avoidance of double-dipping on Han figures like they had with Rey and Jyn.  Unfortunately, the need to update right out of the box, coupled with how mind-numbingly frustrating the update process can be really hinders the fun factor on the reader.  The Han’s a nice figure, but he was stuck in a $30 set, and that’s a real hard sell.  And, ultimately, the fact that you couldn’t get a Han Solo figure in his own toyline without dropping $30 minimum really shot the line as a whole in the foot, which is a real shame, since they weren’t bad figures at all.

#1979: Mystique

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

MYSTIQUE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“An expert of duplication – and duplicity – Mystique uses powers of shape-shifting to assume others’ identities and complete covert missions.”

Though considered an X-Men character by pretty much every metric, Mystique’s first appearance came in the pages of Ms. Marvel (which was, at the time, being helmed by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, the then-current writer and just-departed artist of X-Men).  She wouldn’t run into the X-Men until 1981’s “Days of Future Past” story, which had her forming  a new iteration of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.  Since then, she’s been pretty well interweaved with the team and all their exploits, and has become one of the franchise’s most bankable characters.  Despite all of this, she’s actually not the most prevalent character when it comes to toys.  She’s got a few, but not as many as you might expect.  I’ll be looking at the latest of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mystique is the second offering in the latest Walgreens-exclusive theme of Marvel Legends, which appears to be all about the ladies of X-Men, since she follows Magik and precedes Emma Frost.  She’s the third Legends release of Mystique, following Hasbro’s first go back in 2012.  Of course, that was a modern take on the character.  Our last classic Mystique was back during the Toy Biz days, a whopping 14 years ago.  And that figure wasn’t even good *for the time*, to say nothing of how it looks now.  To say an update was needed is something of an understatement.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  She’s built on the Phoenix body, which is a decent enough choice for Mystique.  Certainly better than either of the last two figures.  Mystique gets a new head sculpt, as well as an add-on piece for her skirt.  Both of these pieces are nicely rendered, with the head in particular being a really solid piece of character work.  The paintwork on Mystique is pretty standard fare at this point, but that certainly isn’t a bad thing.  It’s cleanly applied, nice and bold, and eye-catching.  The standard straight white works better than the attempts at shading we’ve gotten over the years.  There’s also some quite nicely handled and very subtle accent work on her hair, which I can definitely appreciate.  Mystique is packed with two styles of gun: a handgun and the futuristic tommy gun from Chameleon.  Both are molded in gold plastic and fit nicely in her hands.  She is also packed with two extra heads.  The first is a re-use of Rogue‘s, but painted up to be in mid transformation.  It works well on this figure to show off her shapeshifting, or, if you have the Rogue figure already, it also makes for a nifty reveal figure.  The second head is a toy debut for a major X-Men player.  Yes, it’s leader of the Shi’ar Empire, and the once-love-interest of Charles Xavier, Lilandra.  Kind of an interesting choice for a Mystique figure, but it sure does look nice on the recent Silver Sable body.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually had that truly terrible Toy Biz Mystique back in the day…for about 30 seconds, before she promptly sprung apart at the mid-section in an irreparable fashion.  So, no Mystique for my collection.  This one was a very welcome addition, and she’s a very nice figure, and I’m also really digging the extra Lilandra head, because how cool is it to finally have a Lilandra?

#1978: Thanos, Iron Man Mark L, & Doctor Strange

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

THANOS, IRON MAN MARK L, & DOCTOR STRANGE

MARVEL LEGENDS — MARVEL STUDIOS: THE FIRST TEN YEARS

Despite being the central piece of the Tenth Anniversary celebration for Marvel Studios, Avengers: Infinity War was initially absent from the dedicated line of MCU figures from Hasbro, due largely to the initial MCU line figures hitting at the same time as the initial Infinity War offerings.  It wasn’t completely left out though, coming in right at the end with a boxed set based on the film.  So, what thrilling new, untouched characters did we get?  Well, none, actually.  New looks?  Again, no.  So what’s the point?  I’ll get to that.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Infinity War set is item 10 in the Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years sub-line of Marvel Legends, and contains Thanos, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange, meaning it’s a set entirely based on the battle on Titan.  All three figures in the set are slight reworkings of prior figures.

THANOS

As the central character of Infinity War, Thanos’ presence in this set is rather sensible, I suppose, though it is perhaps a little undercutting to the people that went to the trouble of actually building the Build-A-Figure.  This figure is a reworking of that one, reviewed here. As I noted the first time I reviewed it, it’s an okay sculpt overall, but not without its issues.  Fortunately for this figure, a couple of those problems have been addressed.  The figure comes pre-assembled, so the issues of falling apart don’t occur.  Additionally, his kind of gassy looking expression has been replaced with two different heads.  The first has a simple grimace, while the second has an angry teeth-baring expression.  Both are much better suited to Thanos than the one included to the BaF, and look like pitch-perfect recreation of his look from the movie.  Additionally, his gauntlet hand is a new piece; rather than the fist of the prior release, this Thanos’ hand is in an open gesture, which feels like a more classic Gauntlet pose.  I actually like this a lot more than I’d expected to, and it adds a lot to the figure’s posing options.  Lastly, the paint on Thanos has been changed, to better match the film.  The skin in particular is a lot nicer looking, being lighter, more lively, and flatter in its finish.  The rest of the paint is a bit brighter, slightly more contrasting, and just generally more exciting to look at.

IRON MAN MARK L

As cool as Iron Man’s armor was in Infinity War, none of the figures really captured the full extent of said coolness, his Legends release included.  This one doesn’t really fix that, but let’s see what it does.  He’s a re-working of the Thanos Series Iron Man, which is the same suit, so I guess it makes sense.  I actually liked that one a lot, despite it not being completely film accurate.  This one swaps out the torso for a new one, which loses the mid-torso joint, but in exchange gains a light-up feature on his arc reactor.  It’s gimmicky and somewhat restricting, but it’s still pretty fun.  This Iron Man includes the same accessories as his predecessor, extra hands and blast effect pieces.  No cool nano creations or anything, which is sad, but not a huge surprise.

DOCTOR STRANGE

Despite his decently sized role in the film, Doctor Strange was actually not featured in the Legends line-up for Infinity War.  As such, this figure goes back to Strange’s figure from his solo outing, reviewed here. This figure’s actually pretty substantially changed compared to the other two figures in the set, since the initial figure was based on early designs, rather than his final film look.  This one amends that, with a new head, cape, and right forearm.  The head sports a much better likeness of Cumberbatch, especially his disheveled self from the movies.  The new cape also captures the proper shaping of the movie much better, plus it actually pegs into his back this time, so it doesn’t shift all over the place like the original.  The new forearm has the Time Stone effect sculpted on it.  It’s a little warped on mine, but still looks pretty cool.  It’s not removable, and there’s no standard forearm to replace it, so you have no choice but to have him using it.  That’s really the only flaw against this figure.  Strange’s paintwork is also a bit different from the last release.  The most major change is the printed face, which certainly looks more lifelike.  He also changes up the overall color scheme of his costume, following Thanos’ lead by making the overall design brighter and more contrasting.  Doctor Strange is packed with a spare left hand, as well as another magic effects piece, which looks a little odd in conjunction to the Time Stone effect.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this set was unveiled, I will admit, I was quite underwhelmed, since I had the original releases of all three figures and all.  It didn’t really matter, though, since it never really showed up around me.  Or so I thought.  The set showed up at Super Awesome Fiancee’s store, and was actually there long enough to get decently clearanced. Being the ever-supporting Fiancee that she is, she of course bought it for me.  I knew going in the Strange was going to be my favorite, and that proved true.  I didn’t anticipate how much I was going to like the Thanos figure, who is just across the board an improvement to the BaF.  And, while Iron Man may not blow his predecessor away like the other two, I actually like the light-up feature a fair bit, so I’m happy enough to have him.

#1975: Arnim Zola & Hydra Supreme

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

ARNIM ZOLA & HYDRA SUPREME

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A clandestine ally of Hydra, Supreme Leader Captain America reveals his true allegiances and joins forces with Arnim Zola to bring Hydra to a position of dominant world power.”

Hey, you know what I just haven’t reviewed enough of recently?  Marvel Legends.  They’re just so scarce around these parts.  Oh, no, wait, they’re the other thing.  Abundant.  Very abundant.  Well, they’re about to get moreso, because, hey, more Marvel Legends.  Today, I’m swinging on over to the Hydra side of things, with a look at head scientist Arnim Zola, alongside the Cosmic-Cube-altered Hydra Supreme version of Captain America.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Arnim and Hydra Supreme were released back in January as the “Hail Hydra” set, the latest Marvel Legends two-pack.  It’s technically an EE-exclusive, but can also be gotten through a number of other retailers, since EE does wholesale and all.  The two figures are both inspired by 2017’s Secret Empire event.

ARNIM ZOLA

A fairly classic Cap villain, Arnim is a fairly prominent fixture, both in the comics and the movies.  He’s also not a stranger to Legends, having been a Build-A-Figure shortly after the Return of Marvel Legends line began.  This release is largely a re-release of that one, with a few minor tweaks.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  The sculpt is largely a re-use of the Build-A-Figure, but he gets a new head (resembling his slightly more streamlined appearance from recent years), as well as swapping out his puffy-sleeved arms for Colossus’ more conventionally armored ones, all resulting in an ever so slightly more modernized take on Zola.  While some of the articulation is a little stiffer than more modern releases, he’s still pretty suitably posable, certainly posable enough for a character like Arnim.  The paintwork is another change between the two Arnims.  Where the first one went for a bolder, brighter, more comics-inspired palette, this one again angles more for a modern take, with a darker, metallic appearance.  Even the face is more modern, with a more intense, cackling expression.  Admittedly, I think I prefer the color scheme and face of the prior figure, but this one’s certainly not bad.  Arnim is packed with a small device of some sort, as well as the more boxy head from the original release.

HYDRA SUPREME

The Hydra Supreme is like the standard Hydra, but with tomatoes and sour cream.  At least, it is when you play by Taco Bell rules.  Specific Hydra rules may be *slightly* different.  But I like to hope that the indoctrination of Steve Rogers included adding extra toppings to him.  And maybe giving him a nice Baja Blast, as well.  This figure depicts the Cosmic-Cube-ified Steve Rogers from the very end of Secret Empire, when he’s given up the heroic patriot charade entirely.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  At first glance, he appears to be be an all-new sculpt, but he actually has a sizeable amount of re-use.  His arms and lower legs are from Taskmaster, and his hands are from the Bleeding Edge armor Iron Man.  That leaves the head, torso, and upper legs as new pieces.  The end result is quite a cohesive looking figure, who is also quite accurate to the source material.  Since he’s drawn from Bucky Cap-based pieces, he’s perhaps a little smaller than Steve should be, but, admittedly, it doesn’t seem too far removed from how he was depicted in the comics.  Maybe being evil is a good weight loss program. His colors are decidedly on the Hydra end of the spectrum, as they were in the book.  It’s certainly a different look for the character.  Hydra Supreme is packed with a unique shield, based on his design from the comics.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I hadn’t gotten back into Legends yet when Zola was a BaF, so I never did get him built.  I was happy to see him offered up again here, since he’s a pretty important piece of the mythos.  Arnim’s a decent figure in his own right, but the surprise hit for me is definitely the Hydra Supreme, who’s just a really fun figure.  I’m hoping we might get to see him recolored as a Civil Warrior down the line.

#1970: Kree Sentry

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

KREE SENTRY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Mar-Vell’s appearance in late 1967 was not our first taste of the Kree empire.  In fact, our first run-in with them was several months earlier year, when the Fantastic Four faced off against Sentry 459, a deactivated Sentry stationed on Earth.  Its defeat by the team would signal Ronan the Accuser, and bring the entire Kree empire into play.  But it all started with this big, hulking purple and blue robot.  So, what better Build-A-Figure for Kree-centric series of Marvel Legends than said big, hulking, purple and blue robot?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Kree Sentry is, unsurprisingly, the build-a-figure for the Kree Sentry Series of Marvel Legends.  This marks the Sentry’s first foray into the world of Legends figures, though it’s the second figure overall, following a Minimate release back in 2012.  The figure stands 8 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  The Sentry is an all-new sculpt, which isn’t a huge shock.  It’s definitely a more modernized take on the Sentry, which, if I’m honest, wouldn’t be my first choice.  I’d really dig a more Kirby-inspired sculpt, but this one hits all of the broad strokes, I suppose.  If nothing else, this one was probably a little easier for Hasbro to articulate, as well as being slightly more balanced in size from piece to piece, thereby making him a little easier to break up amongst the single-release figures in this assortment.  The design on this guy kind of makes me wonder what other figures this guy might possibly be re-used for; I’m guessing Hasbro has *something* in mind.  Anyway, it’s a fairly decent, if perhaps slightly goofy, offering.  His paintwork, or color work as it mostly may be, is fairly eye-catching.  The metallic purple and blue is a nice look.  The only actual paint is on the head, which is nice enough, as it matches with the rest of the look.  The Sentry includes no accessories, but he’s an accessory himself, so that seems fair.  Also, I’m not really sure what else you could have given him, anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Kree Sentry’s a rather classic design, and one that hasn’t gotten much toy love.  When this guy was shown off as the Build-A-Figure for this set, I was definitely interested, though, like a lot of the figures in this line-up, I can’t say I *needed* him.  While I would have preferred a more classic take on the character, and I also wouldn’t have minded a slightly larger figure, I’m overall pretty happy with this goofy guy.

This assortment is kind of a middling one for me.  I like the Bomber Jacket Captain Marvel a lot, and I was rather let-down by the Yon-Rogg figure, but the rest of the figures fall firmly into the Journeyman category.  They certainly aren’t bad, but none of them are quite going to break any records.  Still, it’s not a bad set, especially for fans of the movie.  If you’re interested in getting a set of your own, all seven of the single figures are still in-stock at All Time Toys’ webstore.  And, as always, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out All Time’s website and their eBay storefront.

#1969: Genis-Vell

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

GENIS-VELL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Born of a Titanian Eternal, Genis-Vell possesses indomitable strength and uses powerful Nega-Bands to channel incredible energy blasts!”

Marvel has a thing for legacy, and the mantle of Captain Marvel is perhaps one of the most premiere examples of this.  Amusingly enough, the third person to hold the title, Genis-Vell, began his career actually named “Legacy.”  Genis was an interesting exploration of the whole concept, biologically the son of Mar-Vell, but created through engineering, rather than the old-fashioned way.  After inheriting the title in the ’90s, Genis was front and center for a little while, but by the mid-00s, he’d kind of fallen out of fashion again, and was ultimately dispatched by Baron Zemo in Thunderbolts.  Oh how the mighty had fallen.  But, with the Captain Marvel name getting a boost, it seems poor Genis has not been totally forgotten, and he’s received some Legends treatment, courtesy of Hasbro!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Genis-Vell is figure 6 in the Kree Sentry Series of Marvel Legends.  He is the second of the two comic-based figures in the set, but hey, at least he’s actually Captain Marvel-themed…what with being Captain Marvel and all.  Of course, he’s just titled “Genis-Vell” with no mention of holding the title, likely to avoid any brand confusion for people just coming in to the character with the movie.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Genis is seen here in his Kree-inspired get-up from the second half of his solo run.  It’s a cool design.  Not *my* personal choice, as I’m partial to his Mar-Vell-inspired costume, but that one was already released by Toy Biz back in the day, so I can understand Hasbro wanting to do something different.  Of course, it does mean that with this figure and Yon-Rogg, we ended up with two kind of similar looking figures in the set, but that was sort of inevitable no matter which way you took him.  The figure is built on the Reaper body (just like Grey Gargoyle, meaning both comic figures in this set are on the same base body), with a new head, shoulder-pads, shoulder strap, holster, and Nega-Bands. The new parts are decent enough.  The head sits a little high on the neck, but with the helmet it’s not super noticeable.  I foresee those Nega-Bands turning up again in the future, especially if Hasbro wants to give us a Mar-Vell update at some point.  Genis’s paintwork is actually a lot like Grey Gargoyle’s, in that the coolest bits aren’t actually painted.  The starfield effect is achieved through flecks of metallic plastic being molded throughout, and it looks quite nice, especially when lit.  The metallic green they’ve gone with is a shade on the dark side, which does mean it blends in a bit with the black of the body.  I think the figure would be a little more striking with a brighter green, allowing those details to stand out a little more.  Of course, the green sections not standing out is kind of a common issue for this design, even in 2D.  Genis is packed with a small gold blaster, as well as the Kree Sentry’s left leg.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never much followed Genis in his solo exploits, but I liked him in Avengers Forever, so I was definitely hoping to see him show up here.  Of course, this costume wouldn’t have been my first choice (like I said, I never followed his solo exploits), but it makes for a decent toy, I suppose.  Like Gargoyle, this figure is well-executed and a solid addition to the line-up.  That said, I’m still pulling for a pre-crazy Genis at some point.  In the mean time, this one will have to keep my Songbird company.

Genis hails from my friends at All Time Toys.  He’s actually the one figure in the set that they’re currently sold out of, but they still have all the rest.  And, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1968: Grey Gargoyle

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

GREY GARGOYLE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Dr. Paul Duval discovers his ability to turn his body to stone and becomes the transmuting mercenary, Grey Gargoyle!”

Amazingly, this is *not* the first time I’ve reviewed a Grey Gargoyle figure for this site.  I say “amazingly” because there actually aren’t that many to chose from.  In fact, his only other straight figure is the ’90s Toy Biz one I’ve already reviewed.  Even more amazing?  I have no particular attachment to the character, and yet, here I am, reviewing both of his figures.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Grey Gargoyle is figure 5 in the Kree Sentry Series of Marvel Legends.  It’s a Captain Marvel-themed series, but Gargoyle is kind of the odd-man out in that regard, being the only figure contained here that has almost no ties to the Captain.  He began as a Thor foe, then moved on to Iron Man, and finally just became a more general Avengers foe, but it’s not like he ever really fought *any* of the Captain Marvels.  My money’s on easy parts re-use being the primary reason for his inclusion here.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Reaper body, which seems a decent choice for the character.  I suppose an argument could be made for giving him a more chiseled appearance, but that would require an all-new sculpt, and I don’t think that would have ever been feasible for a character like Gargoyle.  He gets a new head, left hand, feet, and add-on for his cape, as well as Prowler’s belt piece.  The head’s definitely the star piece, with a wonderful maniacal grin, and proper blocky features.  The rest of the new parts are all pretty standard stuff, making for a figure that meets expectations for the line.  Gargoyle’s most interesting feature is really the color work.  It’s not really paintwork, because most of it’s done with the plastic, which is semi-translucent, and features all sorts of little flecks and variations in color.  The end result is a figure that does a respectable job of capturing the look of someone who’s made out of stone. He doesn’t have any accessories of his own, though I can’t really say what he could of come with.  He does still have the head of the Kree Sentry figure, which I’ll be looking at later in the week.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted when I last reviewed a Grey Gargoyle, I’m not particularly a fan of the character.  I certainly don’t *dislike* him, so I was down for picking up the figure when he was shown off.  While perhaps not the star figure of the assortment, Grey Gargoyle is a solid addition to the line, and does some interesting things with the design.  Now I kind of want to track down a Dreadknight to round out my ’90s Iron Man rogues.

I picked up Grey Gargoyle from my friends at All Time Toys, and he’s still available here.  And, if you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1967: Yon-Rogg

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

YON-ROGG

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Leader of the Star Force team, Yon-Rogg is a hero among the Kree and a key asset to the Supreme Intelligence in the war against the Skrulls.”

The number on today’s review could either be very clever, or only marginally related to the contents, depending on how things play out in Captain Marvel.  You see, in December of 1967, we got the first appearance of Kree Captain Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel (at least as far as Marvel Comics is concerned.)  What does that have to do with today’s subject, apart from being from the movie of the same title?  Well, nothing as it stands currently, but a lot when the movie’s cast was still being announced.  When Jude Law was cast in the film, it was announced he would be playing Dr. Walter Lawson, the Earth-based secret identity of Mar-Vell.  Law’s blonde-haired-blued-eyed appearance as, well as typically playing heroic roles made him seem to be a natural choice for Mar-Vell.  However, when the trailers hit, and interviews started, and merchandise started being solicited, all of the sudden, Law’s character was the unnamed “Star Force Commander,” with his identity being kept top-secret.  Then, at the begging of February, after a month or two of rumors, Law was confirmed as Yon-Rogg, by this figure, the Minimate, and the Pop.  Despite all of that, there’s still a good deal of confusion about the exact nature of Law’s character, and why the secretive Vell/Rogg switch occurred.  I guess we’ll know more in a matter of hours.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Yon-Rogg is numbered figure 4 in the Kree Sentry Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the final film-based figure in the line-up.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Yon-Rogg is sporting an all-new sculpt, which is…a bit of a mixed bag, really.  Right off the bat, we’re dealing with the fact that this figure is supposed to based on Jude Law’s character, but you wouldn’t really know that by looking at him.  His head is wearing a helmet, which have yet to see Law actually wearing in any of the promotional stuff.  I’m sure he’s going to where it at some point in the film, but it’s clearly not his main appearance.  What’s more, what we can see of his face seems a good deal more generic than a proper Law likeness would be.  The whole head seems a little large when sitting on the rest of the body.  Of course, it’s nothing compared to his feet.  Those things are truly huge, and don’t appear to be remotely in scale with the rest of the figure.  Were they worried he was going to have stability issues?  He’s also got these weirdly large and flat sections of armor on his forearms, which don’t seem to match with the film appearance, and just generally make him feel rather awkward while posing.  Just in general, this is a rather odd looking figure.  I guess the paintwork is a little better; the metallic green certainly looks cool, and it contrasts all right with the black and silver.  There are still a few off spots, where sculpted details are left totally unpainted, but compared to the sculpt, it’s kind of a breath of fresh air.  So, obviously, there’s no extra head for Yon-Rogg, but he does get a small blaster pistol, as well as the torso of the Kree Sentry.  Not a super impressive selection by any stretch, but at this point, I’ve already written the figure off.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yon-Rogg is a figure I wanted to like.  I’m a sucker for the Kree Soldier look, and when he was originally shown, there was some belief that this might have just been an army builder.  I’d like to say he’d be better that way, but I really can’t.  There are just a lot of flaws to this figure, which hold him back from being as good as he could.  Maybe we’ll get a more proper Yon-Rogg in a two-pack or something.