Tag Archives: Hasbro

#1845: Falcon & Winter Soldier

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

FALCON & WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Trained by different armies, but equally prepared to defend their allies from any threat, Winter Soldier and Falcon stand their ground to protect the Earth from other worldly adversaries.”

There were a *lot* of characters in Infinity War, so its not a huge shock that even several months later, there’s still a pretty healthy helping of action figures streaming out of the Hasbro toy machine.  While there were plenty of MCU characters granted their very first figures over the course of all of this, today’s set actually concerns two who we’ve seen before, The Cap’s bestest pals, Falcon and Winter Soldier.  Since their last figures were both exclusives that not everyone could find, Hasbro decided to re-issue them in…an exclusive set that not everyone can find.  You win some, you lose some.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Falcon and Winter Soldier ended up as a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, alongside Black Panther’s Everett Ross and Killmonger.  The sets were shown off early in the year and initially theorized to be Toys R Us-exclusives, but we all know how that turned out.  Both figures are based on their Infinity War appearances…in theory, at least.

FALCON

Falcon’s look from Civil War to Infinity War didn’t change much, and, much like the Minimate, this figure reflects that, really being quite similar to the previous release.  He stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His sculpt appears to be identical to that last figure.  The head may possibly be new, but the body is definitely the same.  While not perfect, the previous sculpt was certainly passable, and its re-use is certainly more acceptable than, say, that same Cap body that Hasbro keeps giving us.  The main difference between these two releases is the paint, but oh boy what a difference does it make.  The Civil War figure was somewhat lacking on a few of the smaller applications, which gave him this almost unfinished vibe.  This figure, on the other hand, adds back in a lot of the smaller details, and just overall gives the figure a better finish, making him look comparatively much more complete.  The figure includes the same wing pack as the last release, so the wings are still not posable.  He also lacks the deployed version of Redwing, but that’s acceptable, given Redwing doesn’t factor into the movie.  Also still missing are his guns, but at this point that’s no surprise, and it has to be some sort of a licensing issue.

WINTER SOLDIER

I haven’t actually reviewed a Winter Soldier Legends since, well, Winter Soldier.  He had a Civil War release, but that one just never spoke to me for whatever reason.  By extension, this guy ended up as the main draw of the set for me.  While Falcon’s design was fairly unchanged from Civil War to Infinity War, Bucky actually had a number of changes implemented, resulting in a design that’s actually a little closer to the comics incarnation of the character in design.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s a mix of old and new parts, with the same head and arm as the Civil War figure, and the boots from the WS/AoU/Civil War Cap, with everything else being new to this release.  The head actually has an amazing likeness of Sebastian Stan, far better than the prior release might have made clear.  The only real trouble is that it’s clearly Bucky circa Winter Soldier, not the scruffier, recuperating-in-Wakanda-for-a-year of Bucky Infinity War.  That said, it’s an issue that bugs me far less here than it did on Cap.  From the neck down, he’s actually quite accurate, and marks some improvements in movement from the WS variant of the character.  I particularly like all of the small detail work on the stitching on his torso; it adds to the realism.  Bucky’s paintwork is definitely one of the figure’s strongest suits.  The work on the body is reasonable in its own right, though not necessarily anything particularly stand-out.  The head, however, uses the face printing, and it’s one of the best instances of it I’ve seen, certainly rivaling the likes of Hot Toys in the realism department.  Bucky is packed with two different rifles.  The first is the same goofy dead-fish-looking thing that the WS release got, but this time in gold.  I hate it just as much this time as I did the first time around.  Fortunately, this figure also includes the assault rifle from the Netflix Punisher, which is a far more sensible piece, and will be the one my figure will be keeping.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I saw these figures once at an out of the way Target, and passed on them at the time, reasoning that Falcon wasn’t all that different from the one I had, and I’d be perfectly content to just keep my first Winter Soldier.  I also figured I might see them later, at a more local location.  Well, then I didn’t, so when I happened upon that same Target again, I was more easily swayed.  I knew Bucky would be the star of the set for me, and I was correct on that front.  While he may not be 100% accurate to the film, he’s still the best version of the character to date, and an all-around fun figure.  I didn’t expect much out of Falcon, having already picked up the CW release.  This one makes just a few subtle changes, and yet still ends up feeling almost like an entirely new figure, and he’s a lot better than I’d expected him to be.

The Blaster In Question #0070: Hades XVIII-6000

Posted by Tim Marron in Nerf Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BlasterInQuestion1

HADES XVIII-6000

RIVAL (PHANTOM CORPS)

Sometimes you don’t need to make something entirely new to end up with something really good.  Sometimes you just need to take something promising, and tweak it just a bit, then double its capacity and add a shoulder stock.  And presto, its as easy as that.  At least, it is if you’re Nerf, because that’s exactly what they did to bring us this week’s blaster, the Hades.  Just imaging James Woods is reading this review to you.  

THE BLASTER ITSELF

The Hades XVIII-6000 was launched in 2018 as the main spring-powered blaster in the Rival line’s fall quarter releases.  It features a hefty 60 round capacity tacked on to pretty much the exact same system as the Artemis XVII-3000, which used a pump action, rotating barrel mechanism to continuously feed rounds into the chamber.  With the integral magazines laying parallel to the blaster body, it’s a very streamlined layout that yields a high capacity for the size.  The Hades’ shell seems to be all original even with its similarities to the Artemis.  Thinking the Artemis might be better suited to the name Persephone, personally.  As mentioned before, the Hades has double the capacity of the Artemis and actually has a shoulder stock, making it more of a rifle.  Like the Artemis, the Hades’ pump grip is kid of an odd shape, in my opinion.  It’s not really shaped to the human hand, it’s just sort of there.  That’s really my only complaint with any weight behind it, anything else from here on out is really just nitpicks.  For instance, While I’m happy about the inclusion of a shoulder stock, I think the pistol grip is a little too far back as it makes the respective distances from off hand, to shooting hand, to shoulder a little wonky.  I think it would be as simple as moving the pistol grip forward just a couple inches to make it really nice, but I acknowledge its a highly subjective opinion to have, so not everyone will experience the same thing.  Additionally, I’m a little bummed that Nerf has gotten into the habit of leaving iron sights off of Rival blasters for a while now.  Sure you can use the red dot sight they make, and even such, sights don’t really help on a Nerf blaster, but I really enjoy when they are there.  As you’d expect from a Rival blaster of this size, the Hades hits pretty hard.  Pair that with the capability of slam-fire and you’d better be really sure your younger sibling deserved it before you bust into their room and start blasting away.  I believe the Geneva Convention lists an unprovoked attack from the Hades as a declaration of war, so keep that in mind.  If you do take that route and need to rearm, you reload the Hades by sliding the top cover all the way back to the stock and loading rounds into the ports on the top sides of the magazine tubes.  The Hades comes packaged with 60 Rival rounds in standard yellow, as well as blue and red team indicator flags.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION 

A common misconception that a lot of people have about Hades is that he wasn’t really a villain.   He was just kinda grumpy and could be a little frightening due to the nature of his job.  And I’d say that’s an apt description of this blaster.  It’s a really good blaster, like, you should go buy one.  It just depends which side of it you find yourself on that determines how frightening it is.  I guess I didn’t really write this to sound like James Woods very much, just replace some of the verbs with “schmooze” and I think that should do it.

#1842: Snake Eyes

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

SNAKE EYES

G.I. JOE: 25TH ANNIVERSARY

“SNAKE EYES is proficient in 12 different unarmed fighting systems (Karate, Kung-Fu, Jujitsu) and is highly skilled in the use of edged weapons. Has received extensive training in mountaineering, underwater demolitions, jungle, desert and arctic survival, and some form of holistic medicine. Qualified Expert: All NATO and Warsaw Pact small arms.”

In 2007, Hasbro was in something of a dry patch.  Marvel Legends was all but dead, the Star Wars franchise was slowly dragging along waiting for Disney to buy it, and their in-house G.I. Joe’s re-branding as “Sigma 6” didn’t pan out quite as they’d hoped.  But, with the looming quarter-century anniversary of G.I. Joe’s A Real American Hero incarnation, they were hoping to at least have a modest, 25 figure celebration.  Little did they know that they’d inadvertently revive the brand for another five years of resounding success.  Yes, the 25th Anniversary line was the breath of fresh air that G.I. Joe needed.  Ironic, given that the whole purpose of the line was fixating on the past, but it showed Hasbro that you didn’t need to totally ditch the past to inject some modern ingenuity into the line.  Today, I’m looking at one of that line’s many, many variants of Joe heavy-hitter, Snake Eyes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes was part of 2009’s 10-figure “Hall of Heroes” sub-set of the G.I. Joe: 25th Anniversary line.  He was figure 10 of 10, bookending the assortment, which featured another Snake Eyes as figure 1 of 10.  Even in the limited engagement sub-line, there were still two different Snake Eyes variants!  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, he’s the same figure as the initial boxed-set 25th Snake Eyes, based on Snake’s original 1982 appearance.  After years of him being a pretty straight ninja, it walked him back to being a commando, who I guess would make more sense on a military task force.  That figure’s sculpt was very good, with tons of great little details littered all throughout.  The mask has tiny little vents at the front, his goggles are now clearly a separate piece, and you can even make out the stitching on his cowl.  His proportions are far more true to life than either the vintage or ‘00s lines, and the use of rubber overlay pieces for his web gear mean his gear has a much higher level of detailing, and he can even properly stow some of his weapons, something of a rarity in prior offerings.  The original Snake Eyes figure was actually part of the assortment as a cost-saving measure; a figure that required no paint applications.  This figure operates as a send-up to that, being predominately molded in straight black plastic.  He’s not completely without paint, though, as that would look rather cheap on a modern figure.  He’s got the slightest bit of accenting on his buckles, and the rim of his goggles.  It’s very subtle, enough that you might miss it, allowing him to maintain the same look as his original figure, while still maintaining that ever so slight extra detailing.  Snake Eyes is packed with a knife, handgun, uzi, and satchel, as well as a display stand with the G.I. Joe logo and his name printed on the front.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about All Time getting in a large collection of vintage Joes?  Well, this past week they followed it up with a collection of 25th Anniversary Joes.  As a huge shock to everyone, I’m sure, I didn’t come home with a huge stack of Vipers this time.  Nope, just this guy, who was one of a handful of Snake Eyes variants sitting at the bottom of the box.  He’s a very nice figure, just like all of the Snake Eyeses built on this body.  Hasbro really was at the top of their game here, and it resulted in great figures, even when they just were minor re-paints like this guy.

This guy was loaned to me for review by All Time Toys.  Like I mentioned above, they just got in a collection of these, which they’ve got available on their eBay Store.  So, if you want Snake Eyes or some of his other compatriots, check them out there.  Of course, I make no promises about this particular Snake Eyes, because he may or may not be staying in my collection.  And, if you’re more in the market for something new, also check out their website.

#1841: Solo Set

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

HAN SOLO — MIMIBAN, STORMTROOPER — MIMIBAN, STORMTROOPER SQUAD LEADER, MUDTROOPER, IMPERIAL PATROL TROOPER, & TIE FIGHTER PILOT

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (HASBRO)

Solo may not have been quite the box-office-smash that Disney was hoping for, but it’s maintained a nice little following of fans, and by extension has managed to support a nice little selection of continuing merchandise.  While its toy presence hasn’t been quite as pervasive as the three films that preceded it, there are still some fun pieces trickling out.  Target’s picked up a healthy helping of exclusives, including today’s set, a selection of the film’s various Imperial forces, all in one convenient package!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set is a Target-exclusive boxed set, part of Hasbro’s continuing Solo line.  It started hitting retail shelves about two weeks ago, and if other such sets are anything to go by, it’ll be staying on them for at least a little while.

HAN SOLO

It would be a little bit strange to have a Solo set that didn’t include the title character, and as luck would have it, he does spend at least some of his screen time in an Imperial uniform, so he still fits the overall theme of the set.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation (get used to those numbers; they stand true for most of this set).  The sculpt is “unique” in the sense that it’s new to this set, but not totally unique to just this figure.  It’s a solid sculpt, nicely detailing Han’s environment specific armor from Mimiban.  The goggles and rebreather are separate from the main head sculpt, allowing for a fully revealed or fully covered look, which means he can operate both as a Han variant or a troop builder, depending on your fancy.  Also of note, the pre-posed arms, allowing for a proper handling of his weapon.  It’s a nice change of pace after a couple of years of purely straight-armed set-ups.  Han’s paintwork is solid, and pretty straight forward.  Application is mostly pretty clean, and all of the important details are there.  It gets the job done.  Han is packed with a blaster rifle, of a different style than we usually see.

STORMTROOPER

Perhaps the most difficult figure to find in the single-packed assortment was the Mimiban Stormtrooper.  He was a new trooper and he was packed at one per case.  Maybe not the best break-down, but at least Hasbro was nice enough to offer up a straight re-issue here.  The figure’s sculpt has a lot in common with the Rogue One Stormtrooper; no actual shared parts, but a very similar styling.  This new sculpt is pre-posed like the above Han, allowing for a proper rifle-holding pose.  His helmet has been slightly tweaked to add his blast shield, and he also gets an additional cape piece.  His paintwork is suitably muddy for the much more worn-in Mimiban armor, covering him in all sorts of much and grossness.  The Mimiban Stormtrooper is packed with a larger marksman rifle, as well as one of the standard E-11 blasters.

SQUAD LEADER

Hey, remember that awesome Rogue One Stormtrooper?  And then remember the Mimiban Stormtrooper?  Great.  Smash those two together and throw in a shoulder pauldron, and boom, you’ve got this guy.  Not really anything new, but it makes for the best Trooper variant available in the modern line, so I’m definitely counting this one as a win.

MUDTROOPER

Hey, remember the Han figure from up above?  Great.  This is the same figure.  Okay, not exactly.  The helmet and goggles are all one piece, and his rebreather is glued in place.  Throw on a slightly different application of paint on his right arm, and a slightly different blaster rifle and boom, new figure.

PATROL TROOPER

Easily one of my favorite designs from Solo was the Patrol Trooper.  It’s not a huge surprise, given that its really just a take on the Biker Scout, my favorite Trooper design of all time.  The absence of the Patrol Trooper from earlier assortments was definitely my biggest complaint about the line-up.  This figure gets an all-new sculpt, and boy is it a nice one.  The details are really sharply defined, and very accurate to the film.  It’s a slick design, and it certainly translated well into toy form.  The paint work maintains the slickness, with clean application and a lot of smaller details that you might not expect to see on a lower end figures.  There’s a lot of detail work going on there, and it makes the figure all the better.  Since a full patrol speeder seems like a bit much to ask for in this sort of set, the Patrol Trooper instead has to settle for a Biker Scout-esque blaster pistol.  Worse things have happened.

TIE FIGHTER PILOT

Though they don’t figure prominently into the film at any real point, there certainly have to be some TIE Pilots in Solo, somewhere, right?  More importantly, Hasbro had this great TIE Pilot mold sitting around, and had only released it a single time, so I guess they wanted everyone to have another shot at it.  This figure is sculpturally identical to the Rogue One version packed in with the TIE Striker.  Like the Rogue One Stormtrooper, it’s one of the most screen accurate sculpts Hasbro has produced, making it a fantastic offering even in spite of its lessened articulation.  The paintwork is ever so slightly tweaked from the last release, with a small bit of extra detailing on his helmet denoting that this figure is a higher ranking pilot than the last.  That’s a cool touch.  The TIE Pilot is packed with a mid-sized blaster, same as the prior release.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Care to guess where I got this Target-exclusive set?  Did you guess “Target”?  Good for you!  You get the FiQ-No-Prize!  I didn’t quite know when or even where this set was hitting, but I knew as soon as I saw that Patrol Trooper that I was getting one.  So…I kinda bought this big set for one figure.  I know, bad Ethan.  In my defense, the Patrol Trooper is really, really good, and I found myself happy with all of the figures included, so I don’t at all feel like the money I spent was wasted.

#1836: SP//dr

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

SP//dr

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Yo Shinji, get in the robot!  Your dad loves you, get in the robot!”

What, you weren’t expecting me to start this Marvel Legends review with a quote from Neon Genesis Evangelion?  Well…too bad?  It’s my site, I do what I want, which in this case means I’m gonna quote Evangelion for the purposes of drawing comparisons between the plugsuits from Evangelion and Peni Parker’s mecha suit, SP//dr, who just so happens to be the latest Spider-themed Build-A-Figure, who just so happens to be the figure I’m reviewing today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SP//dr is the Build-A-Figure for the second 2018 Spider-Man-themed series of Marvel Legends, another entry in the every-growing Spider-Verse line-up in Legends form.  The figure stands 9 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation.  The mech is a touch under-scaled to go properly with the standard Legends figure.  It’s probably about 3/4ths the size it should be as is.  That being said, it still reads as suitably larger than the other figures, and its not as underscored as *some* Build-A-Figures we’ve gotten over the years.  I find its size to be reasonable enough.  The articulation on this figure is just a touch imbalanced.  The movement on the legs and torso is really great, with a lot of range and mobility.  The arms are something of a different story, with the shoulders being just a slight step-up from straight cut joints, and the elbows just being single-jointed.  It’s not enough to ruin the figure, but it does make posing it a little bit frustrating.  The figure is sporting an all-new sculpt, which I’d imagine will be staying largely unique.  It’s definitely a strong one.  The details are clean and sharp, and its quite faithful to the suit’s design from the comics.  The actual suit lends itself rather nicely to toy form, though that’s hardly surprising from a take-off of Evangelion.  I’m always happy to see Hasbro do something that relies on technical detailing, as it really plays to their strengths.  SP//dr’s paintwork is fairly decent.  It’s bright and eye-catching.  The application could stand to be a little cleaner, though, as some of the red sections miss their mark by a fair bit.  It’s definitely a piece-by-piece thing, though, as some of the parts for mine are a lot better than others.  SP//dr includes no accessories, but as a Build-A-Figure, that’s perfectly acceptable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I like SP//dr well enough as a character, though I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to build this one when it was first shown off.  Of course, that’s really just because I was lying to myself, because seriously, in what world was I *not* going to want this figure.  It’s a Spider-Man-themed fighting robot.  That’s totally up my alley.  It’s a figure that’s not without of flaws, but the overall product outweighs the cons, and makes for quite a fun toy.  I’d love to get VEN#m and Daredevil to go with it, but that might be ever so slightly reaching, I guess.

There’s a lot of re-treading in the SP//dr Series, but with SP//dr and Ock as my last features in the reviews, that re-treading starts to make a lot of sense.  I had a long wait for this set, so there was a lot of anticipation and a lot riding on them.  I have to say, the individual figures impressed me a bit less this time around, with my favorite of those being Daredevil, a figure that’s really not that different from the last two Daredevils.  Maybe I’m just really a Daredevil fan.  Nevertheless, the set does sort of come into its own when fully assembled, and I think SP//dr makes the whole thing worth it.

#1835: Doc Ock

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

DOC OCK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Otto Octavious gears up with 4 mechanical tentacle appendages as the evil genius Doc Ock.”

Okay, I just really feel the need to start this review by pointing out, for the sake of posterity, that every single instance of Otto Octavious’ super-villainous name on the packaging of this figure simply refers to him as “Doc Ock”…which, uh, well, it isn’t actually his name.  It’s the nickname he got from Spider-Man, who I suppose I should be exclusively referring to as “Spidey” henceforth.  Was there some sort of Ock-related re-branding that I haven’t been privy to, where he dropped the proper form of his name.  Or does he just feel that “Doc Ock” better instills fear?  Who knows for sure?  Well, Hasbro, I guess, but they aren’t returning my phone calls.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Doc Ock is the figure 1 in the SP//dr Series of Marvel Legends.  Okay, that’s kind of a lie; he doesn’t get a number like the other six figures, since he doesn’t actually contribute to the Build-A-Figure.  But, he’s the first figure pictured in the line-up, so I’m giving it to him.  This is Ock’s first proper Legends figure since back during the Toy Biz days (though Otto’s gotten one in the mean time, under the guise of Superior Spider-Man, or “SpOck” as I assume he’d be called now).  That figure was one of TB’s stronger offerings during their tenure, and Hasbro undoubtedly wanted to put off following up on it until they were sure they could properly contend.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 39 points of articulation.  He’s a head-to-toe new sculpt, and I’m doubtful we’re going to see much of this one re-used, unless Hasbro’s planning to do a bunch of Ock variants.  The sculpt is definitely a top-notch effort, rivaling Toy Biz’s attempt from all those years back.  I think I still prefer that old head sculpt, but I otherwise prefer the movement and build of this guy, and it’s not like this one’s got a bad head sculpt at all.  Like the Toy Biz version, the goggles are a separate piece, with a fully detailed set of eyes beneath them, but they remain non-removable.  The tentacles are a sore point for a number of collectors, and I understand why.  The static nature of the actual tentacle sections is definitely frustrating, making the posablity and playablity of the figure somewhat restricted.  I prefer the general design of these to the more organic designs of the Toy Biz figure, but I can’t help but wish for an Ock with a set of classically-inspired and properly-jointed appendages.  Or at least a couple of cut joints…just something to add some extra variety to the poses of them.  As it stands, there are two different configurations of arm, which you can swap around for some slight versatility.  It’s better than nothing, I guess. Ock’s paintwork is fairly straight-forward.  It’s clean, it’s bright, it’s attractive.  It could use a bit more accent work, I suppose, but it definitely works as-is.  Ock includes no additional accessories or Build-A-Figure piece, but given the size of the included appendages, as well as the all-new sculpt, Ock doesn’t feel light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Doc Ock’s Toy Biz figure was one I enjoyed immensely back when I was collecting that line, but when I got out of Legends, because I’m not a *huge* Doc Ock figure, I foolishly parted with him.  I’ve been regretting it since.  So, I was happy to see Hasbro finally step-up to the plate and offer one of their own.  He’s not without those flaws, and I will eternally hope for better appendages down the line, but he’s still a very, very strong take on the character, and I’m happy to have another Spider-rogue on the modern Legends shelf.

I purchased Doc Ock from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re interested in buying him or other Legends figures, or are looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1834: Cloak & Dagger

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

CLOAK & DAGGER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A hooded vigilante in the war on drug crimes, Tyrone Johnson uses powers of darkness as Cloak.

Tandy Bowen channels her unrivaled possession of Lightforce into signature light dagger weapons, earning herself the name Dagger.”

Created in 1982 as to face off against Spider-Man (albeit in sort of an anti-heroic fashion), Cloak and Dagger were, from their very inception, intended for a spin-off-driven future.  It sort of didn’t quite work out so much that way for them, but they have nevertheless retained a cult-classic status, which proved enough for them to get a TV show last year.  Time will tell if this is what escalates them beyond cult status.  In the mean time, they’ve both just been added to the ranks of Marvel Legends.  Today, I’ll be looking at their Marvel Legends debut.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cloak and Dagger are figures 3 and 4 in the SP//dr Series of Marvel Legends.  This marks the characters’ debut in this style, though their second figures from Hasbro, who also offered them in their Marvel Universe line. 

CLOAK

Cloak stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Has the articulation is, of course, slightly different than “uses the articulation”, which thanks to the titular cloak, Tyrone doesn’t really do.  Though he’s built on the Reaper body, it really amounts to little more than elaborate cloak-hanger.  He does get a different set of hands than we usually see on this body; they’re outstretched in an open gesture.  You aren’t going to see them much, but at least this way they’re a bit different.  The previously mentioned cloak is an all-new piece.  While articulation-restricting, it’s quite a nicely sculpted piece, and it hangs well on the Reaper base body.  Its nice to see that Hasbro’s gotten over their trend of bad capes, though it’s a little bit unfortunate that this is the only option he have for displaying him.  Cloak gets a new head as well.  It’s clearly a later-in-his-career version of Cloak, as denoted by the goatee.  Its an interesting choice, but not one that really makes for much of a difference in the character’s depiction.  The hood of the cloak is fixed to the head, separate from the main cloak, as has become Hasbro’s standard for such designs.  The paintwork/color work on Cloak is subtle, but pretty impressive.  The cloak and his arms are molded in a semi-translucent plastic, which gives him something of an etherial quality, which definitely works well for the character.  Though he doesn’t get any character-specific extras, Cloak does include the head to SP//dr.

DAGGER

The light to Cloak’s dark, Dagger stands 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  Dagger is built on the mid-sized female base body, a good fit for how the character is usually depicted.  Like Elektra, she’s saddled with slightly more restricted elbows, but they aren’t quite as terrible for Dagger.  Dagger’s one new piece is her head-sculpt, which is a really nice piece.  The hair in particular really turned out well.  It flows well with the body, its got a natural hang, and the detailing is nice and sharp.  The rest of the work is dene via paint, and even then, she’s really pretty basic.  The majority of the work is, again, on the head, specifically the hair, which gets some solid accenting, which helps it look more realistic and provides more depth to the sculpt.  Dagger is packed with an effects piece, simulating her throwing her light daggers.  It clips onto her wrist, and generally looks pretty cool.  I’m always down for effects pieces.  She also includes the torso of SP//dr, which is the largest and most important piece, so she’s got that going for her.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t really have a huge attachment to Cloak and Dagger, but I do think the two of them have a rather striking design going on, and they make for fun figures.  Also, I really wanted to build SP//dr, so they have that going for them as well.  There’s not a whole lot new going on with either of these, but that’s kind of reasonable given their designs, and the execution is solid.

I purchased Cloak and Dagger from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re interested in buying these two or other Legends figures, or are looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1833: Elektra

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

ELEKTRA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Shaken by the death of her father, Elektra uses her exceptional skills in the martial arts to become an expert assassin.”

Daredevil has had a string of ill-fated love interests, but the most marketable of them (for a while, anyway) was Elektra.  Introduced by Frank Miller during his defining run on the book, she was initially meant to have a closed story…but comics characters rarely get that, and as such she’s been back many, many times since her original exit.  Unfortunately, at least recently, in pop culture, she’s kind of a marker of a bad Daredevil story, with two poorly-executed movies and a comparatively disappointing storyline on the otherwise impressive Daredevil show on Netflix.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Elektra is figure 3 in the SP//dr Series of Marvel Legends.  Elektra has quite a pedigree when it comes to Legends, being the first female figure to grace the line, way back in Series 4.  She got one more release during the Toy Biz years, and another under Hasbro’s tenure, but it’s been quite a few years.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Elektra uses the mid-sized Phoenix body, a reasonable enough choice for the character.  The one major downside is its lack of mobility on the elbows.  This his been fixed on more recent single-elbowed figures, such as Psylocke, but Elektra is back to the old model, which rather limits her posing options…at least in the elbow area. The rest of the posing is decent enough.  Elektra gets a new head and hands, as well as an add-on piece for her skirt.  The head is easily the most attractive take on Elektra we’ve gotten in Legends form, though perhaps that’s not saying much.  It is, nevertheless, a nice piece of work, and I particularly like the slight bit of flow to the hair.  The hands are sculpted to work with the sais, especially the right hand, which even has the proper form.  The skirt add-on is probably the weakest part; it’s not badly sculpted in its own right, but it doesn’t contour to the body in the same way that other such pieces have, leaving it to hang somewhat awkwardly in most poses.  The paintwork on Elektra is pretty decently handled.  The base work is clean, and she’s got some accent work on the red sections, which keeps them from being too flat.  Elektra is packed with a pair of sais, one of which got incredibly mangled by the packaging, as well as one of the legs to the Build-A-Figure SP//dr.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Elektra has never been a favorite character of mine, and as a result this is the first of her Legends releases that I’ve actually picked up.  Mostly, I got her because I wanted the Build-A-Figure, but I did think she paired off pretty well with the Daredevil from this assortment.  This is actually my second Elektra.  The first one lost a foot while coming out of the package, and while I was just planning to make due, Max from All Time was kind enough to give me his Elektra, so now I have an un-hobbled one.

Both of the Elektras currently in my collection came to me from my friends at All Time Toys. If you’re interested in buying her or other Legends figures, or are looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1832: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Martial arts master Matt Murdock suits up in black to fight the villains of Hell’s Kitchen as Daredevil.”

Last weekend, Netflix dropped the third season of Daredevil, the unquestionable tentpole of their Marvel shows (especially now that there are two less of them).  Hasbro’s actually pretty good with their timing, and have managed to get us a comic Daredevil Legend timed for each season, with Season 3 being no exception.  We’ve gotten horn-head in his classic red, as well as his first appearance yellow and red.  This time, we get a more modern take on the character.  Let’s see how he turned out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil is figure 6 in the SP//dr Series of Marvel Legends.  This is the second time DD’s been part of a Spider-themed assortment in the current iteration, though there’s some speculation that he was originally slated for a second Marvel Knights assortment that got dropped.  He’s sporting his latest costume, clearly inspired by the show’s Season 1 (and season 3, I guess) attire.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, most of this figure is the same as the last two figures.  He’s built on the Bucky Cap base, with the standard DD head, belt, and holster.  It was a winning combination when it was introduced on the Hobgoblin Series DD in 2015, and it’s still a winning combination three years later.  But, to keep him from just being a straight re-hash (and to keep him in line with the new design), Matt also gets a new set of wrapped hands, wraps for his forearms, and a pair of combat boots with laces.  The new pieces are a lot of fun, and add some really nifty extra detailing to an otherwise basic figure.  Daredevil’s paintwork is pretty slick and striking.  The all-black bodysuit looks good on this base body, and also works really well with the head.  The hands and boots get some very nice accent work, to help bring out their heightened sculpted details.  In terms of accessories, this new Daredevil makes out pretty well.  At first glance, it looks like he’s got the same billy club as always, but this one’s actually different.  The two halves don’t connect to each other, but rather to a dynamic zipline piece which goes between them, and makes for a nice selection of mid-action poses.  And, if you’re looking for a Devil who’s more into straight-up fisticuffs, this figure also includes a pair of wrapped fists, which match up with the standard hands.  Lastly, he comes with the usual BaF piece, specifically the right arm of SP//dr.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Hobgoblin Daredevil is one of my favorite figures from the modern Legends offerings.  As such, I wasn’t sure I needed him in another color variation.  Then I saw this guy in-hand, and I was immediately impressed, because Hasbro didn’t take the easy way out and do a simple re-hash.  Compared to the House of M Spidey, with his lack of new parts or any real accessories, Daredevil instead gives us not only a new selection of sculpted parts for the figure, but also a nice selection of accessories that are great not only for this figure, but also for prior Daredevils.  As such, this figure is quite possibly my favorite figure in this set.

I purchased Daredevil from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re interested in buying him or other Legends figures, or are looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#1831: Scarlet Spider

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

SCARLET SPIDER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The product of a failed Spider-Man cloning project, Kaine is an unstable villain who dons the suit of Scarlet Spider.”

….I think some wires may have been crossed on that bio.  Yes, Kaine is a failed clone, and yes he started as a villain, but he was firmly in the hero court by the time he adopted the Scarlet Spider title.  It was Ben Reilly who was the “villainous” Scarlet Spider after his recent resurrection.  So…there you have it.  I truly don’t envy the person who writes these bios, by the way.  Not only do they have to wade through all of these similarly named characters with similarly named backstories, but then there’s jackasses like me on the internet just tearing their work to shreds.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Scarlet Spider is figure 2 in the SP//dr Series of Marvel Legends.  This is the second time we’ve seen Kaine as Scarlet Spider in the Legends line-up; the first one was at the tail-end of the Return of Marvel Legends line, and is notable for being the final Spider-variant to be built on the old Bullseye body, meaning he was actually fairly quickly outmoded by the introduction of the Pizza Spidey and 2099 bodies.  Given his prominence in Spider-Verse and Clone Conspiracy, a re-do was very definitely warranted.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Kaine uses the 2099 body, which gives him a slightly different build than the guy he’s a supposedly a clone of.  Of course, the two builds really aren’t all that divergent, and Kaine is traditionally depicted as being a little sturdier than Peter, so it’s a reasonable choice for the character.  Scarlet Spider gets a new head and hands to complete his look.  The head’s kind of fun, being more on the expressive side.  They could have easily re-used a prior Spidey head, but I appreciate that they created a proper one for him.  The new hands include his “Sting of Kaine” stingers, and I was happy to find that, unlike the alternate Iron Man hands we’ve been getting, they still retain all of the standard wrist articulation.  Kaine’s paint work is fairly clean, and nicely details the two-toned nature of his costume.  Kaine is packed with an alternate head, hands, and the left arm of SP//dr.  The head is re-used from Cosmic Spidey, and depicts Kaine during his his Carrion-virus-degeneration from Clone Conspiracy.  It’s a bit more story-specific than I’d like, but I guess this was the best way for Hasbro to get some re-use out of it. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While Ben Reilly’s always going to be my Scarlet Spider of choice, Kaine’s prominence during Dan Slott’s run on Spider-Man gave me an appreciation for the character, and I’d been hoping he’d get a re-do.  This figure’s a pretty strong one.  It might have been nice to get a new head-sculpt, rather than the re-use, but the standard figure is definitely well-handled.  Now, how about a classic Kaine?  Anyone?

I purchased Scarlet Spider from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re interested in buying other Legends figures, or are looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.