Tag Archives: Hasbro

#3628: Soundwave

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

SOUNDWAVE

TRANSFORMERS PRIME BEAST HUNTERS: CYBERVERSE (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0107: There are five Prime Soundwave figures: three by Hasbro and two by Takara.  I own all three of the Hasbro ones.

You know what?  I’m feeling a little Transformers today.  Good thing I have this little Transformer on hand!  ….Get it?  Do you get it?  It’s funny!  Cuz the…okay, I’ll drop it.  I do feel like reviewing a Transformer, though, and when I want to pull and TF review out of the ether, it’s a solid bet it’s gonna be either Ultra Mangnus or Soundwave.  This one’s gonna be the latter, and from Transformers: Prime to boot!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave is part of the second wave of the third Legion Class Series of the Prime Beast Hunters: Cyberverse line.  Legion Class served as a smaller scale line for Prime, akin to the modern Core Class set-up.  In robot mode, the figure stands about 3 inches tall and he has 12 workable points of articulation.  He’s using his design from the show, which is honestly one of the coolest from the show, and one of Soundwave’s best.  While the translation here isn’t quite as cleanly done as the Deluxe Class version of the character, relying on a more rudimentary version of things, it still works very well, especially for the scale.  He’s got the proper angles and details visible, and even his vehicle mode kibble is pretty well-matched.  For me, the only real downside to the mold is the head being fused to the shoulders, but even that’s minor, given it was typical for the scale at the time.  His color scheme hits a lot of the same marks as his larger counterpart, at least in tone, but some of the exact details are moved around a bit.  Soundwave’s shading on the show is such that both schemes work closely enough to read as accurate.  The main thing missing from this one is the purple highlights.  Soundwave included a “Sonic Saw”, which is a bladed rifle thing which actually saw quite a bit of use in this particular line.  It doesn’t feel super Soundwave-y to me personally.  Like all the Prime Soundwaves, this one’s alt-mode is a spydrone.  It’s a pretty basic transformation, but one that works well, and the end result is a pretty nifty little drone.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Prime Soundwaves are honestly the perfect spies, because they just keep sneaking up on me.  The Beast Hunters one was notably my first modern TF purchase, in a time when I wasn’t into them in the slightest, and the standard version was a surprise gift from Max a few years back.  This one?  Well, Max and I were busy figuring out which one of us was getting a different figure from a collection that came into All Time, and this one was just there and I was like, wait, that’s a Soundwave I don’t have.  And then I had him.  Cool, right?

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3627: Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0106: Before creating the synthezoid version of The Vision with John Buscema, Roy Thomas originally intended to bring back the Golden Age Vision, Aarkus, to join the Avengers.

Back during the site’s first month, I reviewed the original Toy Biz Marvel Legends Vision (well, both of them, actually, since I also had the variant).  I actually realize I talked very little about how I acquired the figures.  ToyBiz Legends were very hard to find, and Series 7 and its one-per-cased Vision and Hawkeye figures were some of the worst at the time.  I never saw them at retail, and it was only a few years later, with the help of the then relatively new local toy store All Time Toys, that I was able to get them.  Unfortunately, Vision got left in a motel room shortly after I got him, so my dad got me the phasing variant as a replacement, and then I later got a proper replacement for the original, once again from All Time Toys.  Through all of the updates, the original Vision has been my favorite, but I’ve been looking for a good, solid replacement.  The first Retro carded one was decent, but not quite on mark.  How about another go?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vision is Figure 4 in the Void Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s a proper classic Vision, which makes fourth appearance in Legends here, and its third under Hasbro.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Vision is built on the Vulcan body.  The Vulcan is serving as the replacement for the Bucky Cap, and all but one of the “modern” comic Visions was on the Bucky Cap, so the move makes a degree of sense.  Vulcan’s a little bigger than the Bucky Cap, which, for me, actually makes it work a bit better for Vision than the Bucky Cap did, and certainly better than the 2099 did for the first Retro card version.  The last couple of Visions have all used the same head sculpt as the Hulkbuster Series Vision.  That was passable, but not the strongest, and I felt it never lived up to the strengths of the Toy Biz version.  This release gets a new head sculpt, courtesy of Paul Harding, which is based on Harding’s “Marvel in the 70s” series of sculptures.  It’s a very strong one, and I feel a worthy successor to the Toy Biz sculpt.  It’s certainly my favorite of the Hasbro Legends Vision sculpts.  He also gets a new cape piece.  This one, I’m not sure I like as much as the Retro card version, but it’s not bad.  I think it’s just the upward flow at the ends of the shoulders that’s bugging me; it makes it seem like the cape is meant for a bigger figure, and just stuck on this one.  The Retro Vision’s color scheme went metallic, at least for the green.  This figure takes him back to all flat colors, and I think it works.  It’s quite striking.  The base application is generally clean; the boot and glove tops are a little odd, but not awful.  I particularly like the darker accenting on the face, which really brings out the details in the face sculpt.  Vision is packed with two sets of hands: fists and open gesture.  After too many Visions stuck with only fists, I’m glad he’s got the option in place.  He’s also got the head to the Void Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I was content with the Retro Vision when he was first released, but there were definitely some flaws that, over time, overtook the things that worked about the figure in my mind.  So, I’ve been hoping we might see a revisit for a little bit.  I was definitely happy to see this one shown off, and very glad to finally get him in hand.  I feel like I finally have a successor to the Toy Biz figure, and that’s a mighty fine thing.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3625: Cassian Andor & B2EMO

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

CASSIAN ANDOR & B2EMO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0104: Diego Luna, who plays Cassian Andor, was in the 2004 movie The Terminal, where his character’s love interest is a Trekkie played by Zoe Saldana.

Amonst the handful of character spin-off shows we got in the last year and some change was Andor, a prequel to Rogue One, focusing on Cassian Andor before he joined the Rebellion.  Rogue One was certainly a change of pace for the franchise, and Andor was even more so.  One of the biggest things about Andor was that it really wasn’t built for merchandising the way the rest of the franchise is.  People just don’t rush out to buy action figures of all the morally questionable players from a show based heavily on political intrigue, I suppose.  Well, I don’t suppose.  I actually know.  Because, as it turns out, I’m one of the people.  I very much enjoyed Andor, but I also didn’t go out and buy, you know, any of the figures from it.  I’m part of the problem, guys.  But, maybe I’m working on that?  No, I’m not, but I did at least wind up with an exception.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cassian Andor and B2EMO were released as part of Star Wars: The Black Series in the fall of 2022.  The set was initially exclusive to Hasbro’s online PulseCon event, but it was ultimately distributed through other venues when it was met with a softer than anticipated reception.  The Cassian figure is the same as the mainline release, while B2EMO remains, to date, exclusive to this pack.

CASSIAN ANDOR

Cassian was already no stranger to figures thanks to the various Rogue One tie-ins, but Andor elevated that, giving him the Jyn Erso-style “we’re shoving the standard look into multiple releases” treatment. The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation. For Andor, Cassian is a lot rougher around the edges than when we catch up with him in Rogue One, and his main look shows that off. He’s got a lot more layers all thrown together a bit more haphazardly, and his hair is a fair bit shaggier. The new sculpt does a good job of following the look. The head gets a better likeness of Luna than the Rogue One stuff did, and the ratio of sculpt integrity to range of motion is a pretty good one. His coloring is a lot of brown. Like a lot. Very brown. It’s accurate, though, and the paint work handles it all pretty well. Cassian is packed with a blaster pistol, and that’s all.

B2EMO

Look, we all know why we’re here, and it’s B2EMO. Since K2 isn’t yet reprogrammed, Cassian needs another droid to pal around with, and that’s B2EMO. He’s like Marvin, but squarer. Same disposition, though. The figure is about 2 1/2 inches tall. He can collapse and extend his core body, as well as his little casters he uses for feet, and his head has a swivel joint. B2EMO is a rather unique looking droid, and so he gets a unique sculpt as well. It’s a very good one. Hasbro knows how to sculpt a good droid. All of the moving parts fit together well, and he’s got the appropriate denting and damage. Certainly an accurate depiction of the droid from the show, I’d say. His color work is a little more exciting, being reds and blues. He’s still muted, of course, but it’s at least a little different. The paint work continues the wear and tear started by the sculpt, resulting in a sufficiently used looking bot. B2EMO is without accessories…or, depending on how you look at it, he includes a whole Cassian as an accessory. That seems like a better value, I suppose.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I liked B2EMO a lot in the show and wanted a figure, so I was tempted by this set, but it just felt far too expensive for what you got, so I passed. It did the rounds and got cheaper and cheaper, so by the time one with popped tape seals came into All Time, it was so cheap I didn’t feel like I could pass it up. Cassian is an okay figure, just not one I needed. B2EMO, however, is a fantastic little biscuit of a figure that I’m very glad to have.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3624: Namorita

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

NAMORITA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0103: Namorita is the daughter (and genetically clone) of Namora, who is cousin to Namor.  If they didn’t have a tendency of only being alive two at a time, that might get confusing at dinner.

My first introduction to the New Warriors was the preview copy of the first issue of Volume 2 included with the Wizard Magazine Avengers special.  I remember not knowing exactly what I was looking at, but being somewhat intrigued.  I ultimately had more proper encounters with most of the team in other books, and in the case of Namorita, the first story I remember her in was the Namor storyline that updated the Invaders to “modern” day (that being the ’90s, of course).  I can’t say I’ve had a ton of attachment to the character, but I’ve grown to appreciate the New Warriors as a whole, especially in light of how badly they got butchered in Civil War.  Legends has been zeroing in on getting all of the founding members accounted for, and its Namorita that seals the deal!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Namorita is figure 5 in the Void Series of Marvel Legends.  She joins Justice as the New Warriors contingent of the set, and is also alongside a new version of her cousin Namor.  Namorita has had a number of rather divergent looks over the years, and, for reasons I myself don’t *fully* grasp, this figure goes for her Civil War era look.  I guess it’s unique.  I myself don’t *hate* the blue skin, but I’ve always been iffy on the red suit.  It also means she doesn’t match with anyone else, and, unlike Justice and Firestar, who have costumes that at least read as similar to their looks from early on, Namorita’s is one that really only works for that one specific era, and it’s not exactly an era people are looking to really remember.  Maybe Hasbro just felt there was too much green in the line right now?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Namorita is built on the Spinneret update to the Phoenix body, which is a solid base body, apart from the weird peg holes in the back.  She gets a new head, add-ons for her wrist guards, modified shins to add her ankle wings, and new bare feet.  The new parts are solid, if not really anything major to write home about.  I do like the flow the hair, though.  Her color work matches the look from the comics, for better or for worse.  The application’s a slightly mixed bag.  The markings on her skin are nice and crisp, and the face works out well.  The suit, however, is pretty fuzzy on the edges, which looks kind of cheap.  Namorita is packed with two sets of hands, one open, the other in fists.  Curiously, while the open ones re-use Winter Soldier Widow’s fingerless gloves, the fists are basic fists, without even having the fingers painted blue.  It’s an odd lack of internal consistency.  She’s also packed with the torso of the Void Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, Justice stole the thunder on finishing out the New Warriors in this assortment.  Not helping things is the costume choice they went with just emphatically not being the one I would want.  So, sure, we got her, but I’m just waiting for the inevitable follow-up figure that does the version that everyone actually wants.  Presumably, she’ll be in some sort of multi-pack with modified versions of prior New Warriors.  Until then, this one’s passable, and I’ve got a complete, if somewhat eclectic, New Warriors founding line-up.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3622: Justice

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

JUSTICE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0101: Vance Astrovik was originally introduced purely as the “present day” counterpart of Guardians of the Galaxy member Vance Astro.  After a split in the timeline, he became the second Marvel Boy, and eventually Justice.

As a kid, my earliest interactions with Marvel comics were largely through my dad’s ’70s and ’80s books.  My first real interaction with “current” books, at least as far as the mainstream line, was Busiek and Perez’s run on Avengers.  After the big launch that brought every living member of the team up to that point back for a reality-warping adventure fighting Morgan le Fay, they settled into a line-up of mainstays, joined by former New Warriors Firestar and Justice.  There was a poster of this new line-up, drawn by Perez, included in the issue that introduced it, which my dad pulled out of his copy and gave to me.  It hung over my bed for a good many years and only further cemented the run as definitive for me.  I’ve longed to build that version of the team in toy form since that poster came out, and it’s been a slow-going experience to say the least.  A particular hang-up has been Justice, who has, up to this point, not gotten any figure coverage that wasn’t “Vance Astro.”  Hey, look, a Justice figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Justice (or “New Warriors Justice” as he’s listed on the box) is figure 3 in the Void Series of Marvel Legends, which is the first Avengers-based line-up of 2024.  Vance has had a number of different looks over the years.  This one specifically goes for his second look from New Warriors Vol. 5, which was right around the Marvel Now! era.  It takes elements from his prior designs and is notably pretty similar to his Perez era costume, while still being a little different.  I’m still partial to the Perez look, of course, but this one’s not bad, and it’s technically “current.”  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s based on the 2099 base body, which is a respectable match for Vance’s usual build.  It’s interesting that it’s not using the modified versions of the arms and legs, without the visible pins, but there seems to be some sort of strategy to which version gets used for which figure.  Justice gets a new head, upper torso, and cape, all courtesy of sculptor Dan Mitchell.  The head is decidedly dialed into the 2014 Vance look, which is, as noted, no my go-to, but I can’t help but like this sculpt nonetheless.  I feel it does a really nice job of matching the energy of Speedball sculpt in particular, and I really liked that one too.  The new upper torso is designed to work in tandem with the cape sculpt, to give him one seamless design.  It’s very clean and concise, and works well to capture the design.  Justice’s color work goes for a slightly more reserved take on his look, which works well for the specific design they’re aiming for.  Paint application is all pretty sharp and clean, which is definitely key for a design as simplistic as this one.  Justice is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and relaxed, as well as the tendrils to the Void Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

With each New Warrior we’ve gotten in Legends, I’ve hoped we might be that much closer to getting Justice.  It’s been a wait, for sure, but I kept hoping.  I knew he’d be the last proper member I added to my Avengers line-up, and sure enough he was.  He’s not in the right costume, but, honestly, I don’t care.  I got a Justice figure, and he’s really, really nice.  I’ll take what I can get, especially when what I get is as solid as this figure.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3620: Darth Vader – Duel’s End

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

DARTH VADER — DUEL’S END

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0099: This is the 17th Darth Vader I’ve reviewed on the site.

In addition to the return of Ewan McGregor in the title role, Kenobi also brought back Hayden Christensen, now not just playing Anakin, but in fact playing a full-fledged Darth Vader. I never had the full-fledged hate-on for Hayden’s work in the prequels the way others did (though I’ll admit to getting in on some of the joking about it when the prequels hate was at its height), and it was super cool to see him get to do more work with the character. His Kenobi portrayal brought out a rawness to Vader that we hadn’t really seen in live action, and that was really impressive. I skipped the standard Kenobi Vader from Black Series, since he was very similar to other releases, but I couldn’t turn down a shot at a more obviously show-specific version!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darth Vader (Duel’s End) is figure 15 in the Kenobi-sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series. Like the rest of the back portion of that set, he was an exclusive, specifically to Target, hitting at the end of last year.  As the figure’s name indicates, this guy is based on his appearance at the end of his climactic duel with Obi-Wan, after Ben’s given him quite a beating.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  This figure is obviously using a good deal of parts from the standard Kenobi Vader, which itself was mostly re-use from the #43 Vader.  Once you’ve got a good base Vader sculpt, you just really need to move some details around, so I can get it.  He does get an all-new head and torso, though.  The torso gets some minor change-ups, with the slashes across his control box, as well as the one on his back (which is very easy to miss).  The head’s the real star piece, though, as the helmet is split open, revealing traces of the scarred Anakin beneath.  There’s a whole head sculpt under there, which is fun, even if you can’t see the whole thing.  The split helmet is great, because it’s got the proper updated look from the show on the undamaged parts, while also replicating the damage very nicely.  As with prior Vaders, he’s using soft goods for his cape and underlying robe.  The tailoring is a little better here than the prior ones I’ve messed with, and they even added extra damage to everything to match up with his sculpted damage.  The only issue I’ve got with it is that, at least on mine, the robe isn’t all the way under the shoulder armor the way it should be.  Vader’s paint work is standard Vader for the most part, but he does get some more exciting parts with the head under the helmet.  Vader is packed with his lightsaber and…well, that’s it.  It’s light, but it’s Vader, so we all kind of know what to expect, I guess.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I don’t really play the exclusives game, so I wasn’t thrilled by this one being only at Target.  But, over a long enough period of time, pretty much everything seems to show up in front of me, so I was able to snag one that got traded into All Time.  I’m glad, because I didn’t need the basic Kenobi look, but after getting Jabiim Kenobi, I really wanted a Vader to pair off with him.  This one’s an impressive piece in his own right, and a great companion piece too!

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3619: Man-Thing

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

MAN-THING

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0098: In the mid ’70s, Marvel published extra-long issues of some of their books under the “Giant-Size” banner. Through this venture, there are not one, not two, but four issues of Giant-Size Man-Thing.

For the most part, I tend to map out my schedule of reviews at least a few weeks in advance, but I didn’t actually pick the subject of today’s review until just yesterday afternoon. It was definitely more down to the wire than I like to go. But, here we are, with a Man-Thing. So, you know, umm, there’s that? Look, let’s just call him Ted, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Man-Thing is the Build-A-Figure for the self-titled series of Marvel Legends from 2017. The set was the first Marvel Knights-themed series, meant to loosely tie-in with the release of the Netflix Defenders show, and giving us a handful of show-based figures mixed with some comics-based ones. Ted here was purely comics based at the time, but he’s made the jump to live action since, with a look that honestly isn’t that far removed from this one.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  The sculpt for this figure is a totally unique one.  I’ve long felt that the Toy Biz Legends Man-Thing was one of their best offerings, so this one had a very serious bar to clear.  It takes a decidedly different approach, going for a larger, more bulked up version of the character.  He’s also a little more balanced out and less piece-meal looking than the Toy Biz version.  That said, it’s still a very detailed, very rich sculpt, and certainly ranks as one of Hasbro’s best.  The color work does a fair bit to assist the sculpt, as he gets quite a bit of accent work, far beyond what we tend to see from Hasbro.  There’s a darker wash on most of the body, plus some lighter detailing on a few spots as well.  It all works quite nicely, and it’s one of the few times that a Hasbro paint scheme honestly rivals the original Toy Biz version.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

The Toy Biz Man-Thing remains one of my favorites from that line, so when this got shown off, I wasn’t 100% sure I needed one.  But, I did give it an honest try at finishing it, before giving up when the assortment proved rather difficult to get my hands on.  After five years, I got down to needing two parts, and then wound up just getting a complete one when it was traded into All Time last year.  Sort of takes the fun out of it, right?  Okay, not really.  This one is cool.  He’s different from the Toy Biz one, but in a way that makes them both equally cool.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3618: Silverbolt

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

SILVERBOLT

TRANSFORMERS LEGACY: UNITED (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0097: Eagles and wolves are both apex predators, though their completely differing tactics of hunting prey and different places in their respective food chains mean they have little, if any, interaction.  Unless, of course, they make up the two halves of a Fuzor.

It was difficult for me to truly avoid Beast Wars as a kid, what with it being a toy-driven show in the ’90s that aired during the Fox Kids block.  That said, it’s never been a *major* focus for me.  I remember watching it a little, but I only had two toys from it, and only really ever latched onto one character.  Of course, that character is Silverbolt, and he’s one of the best Transformers just in general, so, you know, big win there.  Since Hasbro went back to the Beast Wars well for Kingdom, I’ve been patiently waiting for my Silverbolt update, and boy did it take a while, but, hey, here it is.  Oh yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Beast Wars Universe Silverbolt is part of the second Voyager Class assortment of Transformers Legacy: United, the banner that goes along with the third year of the Legacy branding.  He shipped alongside Cybertron Universe Starscream, and he was the heavier packed of the two.  In his robot mode, Silverbolt stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 24 workable points of articulation.  His articulation is an improvement on his vintage counterpart, of course, and it’s especially notable that his wings actually sit flat to his back, rather than just jutting straight out the back like the old one.  The new sculpt aims for improved accuracy to his animation model, and it does a pretty good job at that.  The details are a lot sharper, and the proportions are far less blocky than the original.  His color scheme is nicely handled, with a lot of molded silver, of course, but there’s plenty of painted elements as well.  Unlike the original figure, all the proper details get their painted work, and the application is all nice and clean.  Silverbolt is packed with his “feather swords”, which he can either hold, or clip onto his wings, replicating the show set-up.  They just clip on this time around rather than being spring-loaded this time around.

Silverbolt’s alt-mode is, as is tradition, a merging of a wolf and an eagle.  It’s a distinctive mode, to be sure, and this figure does a good job of capturing it.  The transformation scheme is actually pretty intuitive, and the end result holds together nicely.  His hind legs sit a little bit further back than I’d like, but beyond that, it’s pretty solid.  He’s also generally more posable in this form than the original, and even gets a posable jaw.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I sure do love me some Silverbolt, and I really wanted this figure.  I was quite excited to see him shown off, and the end result is very, very fun.  I have some minor quibbles, I suppose, but it’s all very small and ultimately rather meaningless.  It’s certainly not enough to detract from how super excited I am to have an update on the character.

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 and their eBay storefront.

#3617: Xenk

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

XENK

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: GOLDEN ARCHIVE (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0096: Today’s figure has been on my pending review list for almost an entire year.

I’m a relatively new convert to the whole D&D thing, having only gotten into in late 2018…which is I guess a few years now, isn’t it?  Look, time’s been a cacophony since 2020.  Anyway, the point is that my very first D&D character was a guy called Maxwell Hold, the self-dubbed “Paladin of the People.”  I grew to have quite an attachment to that character, and the Paladin class in general, so I’ve also got an attachment to portrayals of paladins in other media.  So, it’s no surprise that my favorite part of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was Regé-Jean Page’s Paladin Xenk.  Though only part of the main party for one “session” of the movie’s story, he was a ton of fun.  And he also got a figure, which I of course bought.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Xenk was released in the third assortment of Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons: Golden Archive line, which served as their central tie-in to the movie last year.  Xenk was released alongside Doric and a re-pack of Edgin, in a set that was, effectively, a Hasbro Pulse exclusive, since the line was sadly dropped by most retailers after the first round.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The figure is, honestly, a little smaller than I was expecting.  Golden Archive seems to be more like Black Series for scaling, if not maybe a touch smaller.  Like, it’s not awful, but it does hinder cross compatibility a bit.  The articulation scheme is an interesting mix of different styles.  I found it particularly prone to sticking joints, but they did at least all free up on my copy.  I was surprised by the lack of any rocker-style motion on the ankles, as that’s become a fairly standard joint for the scale.  It makes posing him quite limited, and is not helped by the hips being further restricted by the “skirt.”  Xenk’s sculpt is a totally unique one.  It’s decent enough.  The head’s got a solid likeness of Page.  The body, especially the armored parts, are a bit on the soft side in terms of detailing.  That said, the proportions are decent, and the layout of the parts of the outfit works pretty well too.  The color work on this figure is a little more basic than I’d expected.  There’s a lot more chunks of unpainted plastic than I’d expected.  He also seems a little brighter in color than he seemed in the movie, but that may just be a selective lighting thing.  The work on the face is at least pretty impressive, down to the little mark on his forehead.  Xenk’s only accessory was his sword.  It’s very light for what the figure cost.  At least throw in his dagger from the movie, maybe?  Or some extra hands?  Something?  Not helping matters is that my figure’s sword broke about 10 seconds after I removed it from the package.  Not a lot of fun there.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

The D&D movie hit theatres at a bad time for me to make it out to a theatre, so I waited until streaming for it.  Which, of course, lined up perfectly with this figure’s release, so I ordered him shortly after finishing the movie.  I was thrilled to get him, and then I opened him…and the sword broke…and I lost momentum.  I’ve been repairing the sword for the better part of a year, trying for a fix that would stick.  I finally got it to a good enough spot to at least get the photos, and here we are.  The core figure isn’t bad.  He’s not thrilling, but he does what he needs to.  Were it not for the broken sword, I think I’d have liked him a lot more.  Still, he’s at least cool on the shelf, and he’s a fun paladin figure.

#3615: R2-D2 (Artoo-Deetoo)

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

R2-D2 (ARTOO-DEETOO)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0094: This review was supposed to run back in January, but I misplaced the figure before getting photos, and only just unearthed him last week.

I have a soft spot for robots, but for reasons that don’t really line up internally, I have a hard time getting excited about R2-D2 figures. I don’t know why. Other droids I can get excited about, even other Astromechs. Hand me an R5 and I’m thrilled. But R2? Not the same. Maybe he’s just too central a character, kind of like my thing with Duke and Optimus? It’s not that I dislike the character, nor that I don’t *want* to own him in figure form. So, I do buy him…I’m just less enthusiastic about it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R2-D2 (Artoo-Deetoo) was initially released as part of the third series of the Return of the Jedi Retro Carded Black Series figures.  He was then subsequently re-released, now bearing branding from The Mandalorian, in the last standard Black Series assortment of last year, alongside Hera, Huyang, Marrok, and Pre Vizsla.  It’s worth noting that the figure reviewed here is the standard assortment version, but the two releases appear to be identical.  The figure is a little under 4 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  One of the more notable issues with the last astromech mold is how small it was; Lucasfilm has gone back and forth on their standards for R2’s scaling, and when the original Black Series release hit, they were opting for smaller than he actually was on screen.  The standards have changed again since, but there was already a mold, and Hasbro stuck with it for as long as they could.  This new one, however, aims for more proper scaling, adding about 3/4 of an inch, and generally scaling him up to match.  The sculpt is, at least outwardly, very similar to the previous one, just bigger.  The general articulation scheme is similar as well, with basic swivels at the shoulders and ankles, and hinged doors on the sides.  He also has opening flaps on his front, and now has a swivel at the top of the third leg.  Additionally, the way the third leg works has been re-worked, so it’s no longer connected to the head spinning.  The head now can spin 360 degrees unimpeded by the mechanism, and the leg doesn’t require the head to spin to lower it.  While it’s less gimmicky and odd, it’s also a lot harder to get the third leg out once it’s been retracted, so it’s a 50/50 on which approach is better.  The head now gets is own extending feature, based on unused concept work for The Phantom Menace.  It’s goofy, and certainly not essential, but it’s also a fun little extra.  R2’s paint work is decent enough.  It’s all pretty cleanly handled, and again pretty much matches what was done on the original.  It’s all pretty clean and sharp, and it looks appropriately the part.  R2 is packed with four different arm attachments, plus his periscope and radar attachments for the head.  He lacks the thrusters and the lightsaber (especially notable since his first release was on the RotJ card) of the first one, but there’s at least some nice options here.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I struggled getting enthused for the first R2 from the line.  The second I did better with, since the Dagobah look is a little more exciting.  This one’s effectively the original but bigger, so I wasn’t even sure I was going to buy him at all.  But, I was getting the rest of the set, and he did look pretty solid in person, so I broke.  And then, you know, I lost him.  As you do.  But I found him, so it’s alright.  He’s not bad.  The scaling is better, and some of the features a better refined.  He’s also notably sturdier, which I do like.  So, he’s fun.  But he’s R2, so I’m back to struggling to get excited.  Maybe I should have gotten the updated R5 instead?

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 and their eBay storefront.