Tag Archives: Hasbro

#1742: Poe Dameron

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

POE DAMERON

STAR WARS MIGHTY MUGGS

Man, I got a little side-tracked in my reviewing habits, and somehow, I’ve got this whole pile of “new” figures that have now gone months without being reviewed.  So, I guess I gotta make my way through some of that piles.  One of the lines that’s been the most neglected has been Hasbro’s relaunch of Mighty Muggs, which they’ve been trying to set-up as a competitor to Funko’s Pop! line.  Their primary focuses have been Marvel and Star Wars.  Today’s figure is Poe Dameron, from the latter license.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Poe Dameron is figure 9, part of the second assortment of Star Wars Mighty Muggs, which hit shelves a couple months back, right around the time Last Jedi was released on home media, in fact.  Poe’s got a few different designs to go with, so this one goes with his pilot gear.  It’s the one that crosses over from Force Awakens and Last Jedi, so I guess that makes it a reasonable choice.  The figure stands 3 1/2 inches tall and has articulated shoulders, just like the other two I’ve looked at.  Also, since reviewing the last two Muggs, I’ve discovered that the head *can* turn; it’s just really tight, and only ratchets into one of four positions.  Still, it’s better than nothing.  Poe uses the same body as Luke and Black Panther, but with a unique helmet piece, patterned after the helmet he wears in the movie.  It’s pretty well-rendered and captures the look from the movie quite nicely.  Poe, like the other new Muggs, features three different facial expressions.  He’s got serious side-eyed, cocky smile, and intense and teeth-gritty.  They’re all pretty decent, and actually have a solid likeness of Oscar Isaac.  The slightly odd thing is that the cocky smile face doesn’t have the lenses like the other two.  Not really sure why, but it makes giving him an unhelmeted look even easier, provided you can find a proper hair piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I grabbed Poe from Target when he was first release.  I was pretty happy when he was announced, and kept an eye out for him as soon as the line started to hit.  He’s not my preferred look for Poe, so I’d definitely like to see another one, but he’s a fun addition to my quickly growing Mighty Muggs collection nonetheless.

The Blaster In Question #0060: Sharp Shot

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

BlasterInQuestion1

SHARP SHOT

DART TAG

sharpshot1It’s always exciting to see new and innovative systems and mechanisms in Nerf blasters, whether they actually work or not.  It’s nice to see the effort and the willingness to try.  What really makes entirely new systems so exciting is how many other blasters use the same old tried and (usually) true methods in between.  Today, we’ll be looking at one of those old classic designs, the slide-primed single shot pistol, specifically the Dart Tag Sharp Shot.  So what sets this one apart from any other single shot pistol out there?  Let’s have a look and find out.

THE BLASTER ITSELF

sharpshot2The Sharp Shot was released in 2011 for the newly revamped Dart Tag line and then again the following year with allegedly improved internals, denoted by a blue trigger.  As mentioned above, it uses functionally the same system we’ve seen on other pistols like the Scout IX-3 or Eliminator where you load a dart in the muzzle, rack the slide and fire.  The big difference between the Sharp Shot and any other similar pistol is really the looks.  Keeping in line with that particular iteration of the Dart Tag series, the Sharp Shot features smooth, rounded edges and a nicely contoured overall shape.  Not only does this serve to look real nice, but it actually works to ensure there aren’t any weird sculpted areas that could create hot shots while using the blaster.  The other thing that was different about the Sharp Shot was the accessory that came with it.  sharpshot3Originally, the blaster was packed with a 2-ended plastic carabiner that had a ball joint swivel in the middle.  The idea behind this was so that you could clip the pistol to a belt loop or whatever so it was on your person but then if you needed to grab it quickly, the ball joint would pop apart with a stout pull, making it act kind of sort of maybe like a holster in theory.  Personally, I never once used it and mine has since gone missing, but I can’t say I feel bad about it.  For the time, the Sharp Shot had ok performance.  It was still a pistol after all, so no one really expected it to shoot like a laser.  In this day and age, however, it doesn’t hold up so great.  I’d say if you have one or can find one for cheap, it feels great in the hand and looks pretty cool to boot, but unless you’re planning on effectively overhauling the entire mechanism, don’t expect it to be much help busting into your younger sibling’s room.  The Sharp Shot comes packaged with the quick detach clip and 4 Dart Tag Velcro whistler darts. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION 

I don’t remember too much of how and when I bought this blaster.  It was a few years ago at this point.  I probably bought it mainly for the looks, which is understandable.  I want to keep this one in its original condition, but if I happen to find another one, it might be a good base for a prop blaster, should the need arise.

#1731: 4-LOM

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

4-LOM

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

“A rusty droid with insectile features, 4-LOM was originally a protocol droid, but logic glitches allowed him to escape his programming and become a bounty hunter. That proved a perfect occupation for the cold, calculating mechanical.”

Aw yeah, are you guys ready for a review featuring the absolute bestest, coolest Bounty Hunter in the whole Star Wars universe?  Okay, okay, you guys got me.  I’m not reviewing the “bestest, coolest bounty hunter in the whole Star Wars universe” today.  I already reviewed IG-88, back when his Black Series figure was released in 2015.  Guess I’ll just have to settle for the second bestest bounty hunter!  Oh, wait, darn it, I forgot, I already reviewed Bossk back in 2014.  Well, as luck would have it, the number three slot’s still gone un-reviewed.  Let’s look at 4-LOM!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

4-LOM is figure 67 in the Star Wars: The Black Series line.  He shipped to stores in the revision case that also gave us Solo‘s Qi’ra.  4-LOM is the fourth of the ESB bounty hunters we’ve gotten in this line, following Boba Fett, Bossk, and IG-88.  It’s interesting that 4-LOM hit before his partner Zuckuss, who’s usually the frontman of the two, but I’m hardly going to complain.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  As a protocol droid, it’s not a huge surprise the 4-LOM shares some pieces with the Black Series C-3PO, though perhaps not as many as you might expect.  It’s really just limited to the legs. This is for the best for a number of reasons.  First of all, though they are similar, 3PO and 4-LOM aren’t identical, so this allows 4-LOM to be more screen accurate.  Secondly, this gave Hasbro a chance to go back and fix the biggest problem with the 3PO figure: lack of elbow joints!  That’s right, 4-LOM can move his elbows!  How about that?  It’s not a whole lot of range, of course, but it’s certainly better than nothing, and it was definitely a pleasant surprise when I cracked this guy open.  4-LOM’s new pieces match well with the 3PO legs, and he once again shows just how great Hasbro is with the robot and alien sculpts for this line.  The detail work is superb, especially on the head, and I really appreciate how well they’ve captured the slightly different construction of his upper body when compared to 3PO. After some rather basic paint jobs in this line, Hasbro finally seems to be learning (for now, anyway), and 4-LOM definitely benefits from this.  The coolest bit is definitely the head, which was cast in translucent green plastic, allowing the eyes to have a slightly see-through appearance.  The brown wash on the figure’s body also does a nice job of accenting the smaller details of the sculpt, and keeps him from looking too clean in this grimy, broken-in universe.  4-LOM includes a larger blaster, which appears to be the same one that was used for the Sandtrooper, way back in Series 1.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have yet to see 4-LOM once at regular retail.  I’ve seen his case-mate Qi’ra quite a few times, but never the LOMster.  I had almost given up hope on finding him, when my friends at Cosmic Comix randomly got in a few cases of Black Series figures, 4-LOM included.  I’m quite happy to have found this guy, and he’s definitely a favorite of mine.  I look forward to the release of Zuckuss and Dengar to round out the set!

The Blaster In Question #0059: Barricade RV-10

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

BlasterInQuestion1

BARRICADE RV-10

N-STRIKE

barricade1Just about everyone has at least heard of the Stryfe or the RapidStrike or Modulus ECS-10.  Any of the big names in the wide range of electric flywheel blasters Nerf has produced over the years.  The blaster most people these days don’t remember is the one that actually started the entire flywheel class of blasters at Nerf, the Barricade RV-10.  Not the police car from Transformers, this is a different Barricade, both Hasbro properties, though.  Who?  No, Dwayne Johnson played Roadblock from G.I. Joe, another entirely different still Hasbro property.  Anyway, let’s take a look at the blaster.

THE BLASTER ITSELF

barricade2The Barricade RV-10 was released in 2010 as part of the N-Strike line, kind of the only line Nerf had going at the time.  It was the first (I believe) flywheel blaster to come from Nerf.  There was at least one blaster from Buzz Bee Toys that used flywheels before the Barricade, but we don’t talk about that.  I mean, we could, but people will laugh and throw things.  The Barricade uses more or less the same mechanical configuration we’re used to on modern flywheel blasters but with 2 main exceptions.  First, it fires from a 10 round rotating cylinder rather than a magazine.  The second major difference is that instead of having a rev trigger just beneath the firing trigger like we’re used to, it has an on/off toggle switch that sits just above your thumb like a safety or fire selector switch, assuming you’re holding the blaster in your right hand.  The Barricade’s shell is all original, although it was reused in the Prime barricade3variant- I mean, the Elite version, which came with a stock and was renamed the Stockade.  Amazing.  It features a stock attachment lug on the back of the blaster and an accessory rail up top.  There’s also a interesting front sight that has a hole going through it, maybe so you can still see your target when aiming?  Who knows, but it has no rear sight to line up with and it’s on a pre-Elite blaster so it’s about as useful as.. something… not useful.  Wow, good job, Tim.  By today’s standards, the plastic of the shell feels a little thin and creaky, but that was about par for the course with the original N-Strike blasters.  Also somewhat outclassed by modern blasters is the Barricade’s performance.  Yes it is semi-auto, but with old motors running off of only 3 AA batteries, it can’t really keep up with today’s flywheels.  Given the lengthy rev-up time and the lack of any substantial power, I’d recommend setting this one aside as a collection piece rather than trying to bust into your younger sibling’s room with it.  The Barricade RV-10 comes with 10 Sonic Micro darts and requires 3 AA batteries.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION 

To be honest, I was not excited for the Barricade when it was announced.  I’m still not that into it.  I only bought mine because it came in a value pack with a stock that I really wanted.  I didn’t have it on hand so I left it out of the review.  Regardless, even if I’m not crazy about the Barricade, I do quite enjoy many of the other flywheel blasters that have come out since then, so I guess I can give it credit for that.  And I got a cool stock out of it too.

#1725: Imperial Speeder (w/ AT-DP Pilot)

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

IMPERIAL SPEEDER (W/ AT-DP PILOT)

STAR WARS: REBELS

“AT-DP Pilots are elite ground vehicle pilots for the Empire. Equipped with unique armor, they are formidable opponents for all of the Empire’s enemies.”

While everyone else seems to have gotten in on the speeder bike game, our first taste of speeder bikes were property of the Empire.  They also had the absolute coolest variants of the Stormtroopers driving them, which was always a plus for me.  Rebels, which is set before the original trilogy, doesn’t make use of the Scout Troopers, but they do have their own unique pilots, which are pretty cool in their own right.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Imperial Speeder was released as an initially Toys R Us-exclusive item alongside the main Rogue One product launch.  It was a more informal exclusive, though, since it bore no actual denotation of the status (and, of course, now it’s not an exclusive at all).  Unlike the last two sets I looked at, it just had the one release, likely due to it being a pretty simple re-skin of Ezra’s Speeder from yesterday.  The only difference between the two sculpturally is the addition of a cannon on the left side of this one.  It’s a little obtrusive, but I guess it mixes things up a little better.  The paint work is the main changing point here, as it’s done up in a much milder palette than the last, which is certainly much more pleasant.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Included with the speeder is the AT-DP Pilot.  No, the speeder isn’t actually called the AT-DP, he’s technically the pilot of another vehicle, who’s been repurposed.  His sculpt’s been re-purposed as well, being a reissue of the Saga Legends figure from back in 2014.  But I missed the first one, so I appreciate the re-release.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is probably one of the finest to come out of the Rebels subset of figures, being a pretty awesome translation of his on-screen design.  The detail work is crisp, and there’s actually a ton of smaller detail work, even for him being one of the animated designs.  His paintwork is a pretty straightforward recreation of the first figure’s paint, which was itself a good recreation of the colorscheme from the show.  It’s pretty clean overall, though it gets a little fuzzy at some of the edges.  However, since it’s all shades of grey, it’s not all that off looking.  The AT-DP Pilot is packed with a standard Stormtrooper blaster, should you want him to be doing something other than driving.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, unlike the last two sets, this is actually an item I fully intended to buy when it was new.  However, I never actually saw it at retail, and then I sort of forgot it.  Fortunately, it showed up in pretty high numbers at my nearest Toys R Us during the liquidation process.  I gotta say, it’s a pretty simple set, and not really anything new, but I really dig it.

#1724: Ezra Bridger’s Speeder

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

EZRA BRIDGER’S SPEEDER

STAR WARS: REBELS (HASBRO)

“Once a lone street urchin stealing to survive on Lothal, Ezra Bridger has been taken in by the crew of the Ghost and is now a determined freedom fighter who plays a critical role in the rebellion against the Empire. With the help of his master, Kanan, Ezra is well on his way to becoming a Jedi – he uses the Force to fight the Imperial opposition that threatens to destroy the galaxy.”

If there’s a competitor to Kanan Jarrus for the “main character” slot in Rebels, it’s his apprentice Ezra Bridger, who is essentially Aladdin in space.  Cool?  But, instead of a magic carpet, he’s got a speeder bike.  So, that’s different, I guess.  Let’s just review this toy already.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

Ah, yes, who can forget the eternally memorable, unmistakably distinctive…speeder owned by Ezra Bridger.  Okay, so I still haven’t actually gotten past more than the first season of Rebels, and I only watched it the once, so I don’t recall off-hand if this is actually in it.  I want to say it is.  But I doubt it’s a prominent fixture regardless.  Anyway, this set was part of the smaller scale vehicle releases that hit on the first Force Friday, alongside the Force Awakens products.  It was then re-released alongside the Rogue One product, which means it pretty much never, ever left store shelves.  The vehicle is about 6 inches long and stands about 2 inches tall.  It’s more of a basic seated bike than the ones from Return of the Jedi, which is fortunate given the reduced articulation of the figures.  It’s a pretty decent sculpt, slightly softer on the details like prior vehicles, but it’s not terrible.  It’s certainly sharper detailing than we saw on the Y-Wing yesterday, so that’s a plus.  The paintwork on the bike is certainly unique. Green and orange is quite a unique combo.  A hideous combo, but certainly a unique one.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obviously, it would be odd to release Ezra Bridger’s Speeder without an Ezra figure, so here it is.  Of course, as sensible as it may be in this particular case, he ends up in the same boat as the Kanan figure, since at this point we had a ton of Ezra figures already (and, like Kanan, there was a single-packed Ezra, released at the same exact product launch as this one).  That said, this is actually the first figure of him I’ve gotten, so it’s not a total waste.  The figure stands 3 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is largely the same as the first Rebels Ezra, but with the legs tweaked to add some pouches.  The sculpt does a respectable job of capturing the show design, and I think it’s a slightly better sculpt than the Kanan figure.  His paintwork is pretty clean, and pretty bright as well (this signifies that my figure is the later release; the earlier ones were rather washed out).  Ezra is packed with his lightsaber, which, unlike Kanan’s has a removable blade, which is pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Kanan and the Y-Wing, Ezra and his speeder were picked up in the TRU liquidation sales.  I hadn’t really planned on getting it, but I didn’t yet have an Ezra figure, and this was the easiest way to get him.  While it’s hardly the most thrilling set, I can appreciate it for what it is.

#1723: Y-Wing Scout Bomber

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

Y-WING SCOUT BOMBER (W/ KANAN JARRUS)

STAR WARS: REBELS (HASBRO)

“Discover exciting stories of good versus evil in a galaxy of starships and vehicles. Armed with proton bombs and laser cannons, this prototype Y-wing Scout Bomber uses its rotating engines to provide enhanced maneuverability during flight.”

For the next entry in my week of Star Wars vehicles, I’ll be starting off a trend that’s going to finish out the week: Star Wars: Rebels.  Rebels had its own devoted line of figures back when it first started out, but it was sort of swallowed up by the recent movie toylines (which is how I acquired my rather modest collection of figures).  The main crew has each cropped up at least twice, with a few of them popping up a little bit more than that.  Kanan Jarrus is probably the most common, and he’s part of today’s review, alongside a variation of the Y-Wing.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Y-Wing Scout Bomber was released as one of the mid-sized weapons in the Force Awakens toyline, and was re-released unchanged for the Rogue One line as well.  It’s a much smaller variant of the traditional Y-Wing from the original trilogy, with its roots in The Clone Wars.  The vehicle is actually an almost entirely re-used sculpt, from back in the Clone Wars days, but tweaked a bit to fit Chopper in place of a more standard astromech droid.  The ship is about 7 inches long by 4 1/2 inches wide, and stands about 3 1/2 inches tall.  The thrusters on the back are both posable pieces, as is the turret for the astromech droid.  Overall, it’s a very squat and compact ship, which isn’t perhaps as impressive as a more standard piece, but for the price point, it’s about what you’d expect.  The paint work on this piece shifts it more from a Clone Wars design to something closer to the Original Trilogy, adding in some white and yellow.  The details are a little sloppy in some spots, but nothing too terrible.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Included with the Bomber is the aforementioned figure of Kanan Jarrus.  Kanan is sort of the show’s lead, I guess, so his prominence in the toy form makes a little bit of sense.  What makes less sense is how many times they released him the exact same get-up.  This was the fifth time this figure was released, more or less.  This one has a slightly tweaked head with the head set, but that’s the only difference.  Most egregiously, there was a standard Kanan in the launch wave of the Force Awakens product, so he was hitting twice on that same day.  The fact that he was picked over the less oft-released Chopper, whom the ship kind of needs to look complete, is rather frustrating.  It’s not like anyone who needed a Kanan was missing him.  But I digress.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  He’s using most of the same sculpt used several times before, but with the new head.  It’s Kanan’s basic garb, which works decently enough.  The sculpt is softer than later releases, in part due to his animated nature, but also due to him just being a slightly older sculpt.  He’s still a pretty respectable looking figure.  Kanan’s packed with his lightsaber, which is a pretty cool piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kanan and the bomber is a set I saw very many times, but never picked up.  However, in Toys R Us’s last days, they had a bunch of these various vehicles for rather cheap, and I got sucked in.  Honestly, it’s not much to write home about, but it’s a decent enough toy, especially for the much lowered price.

#1722: TIE Silencer (w/ Kylo Ren)

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

TIE SILENCER

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (HASBRO)

“Kylo Ren has inherited piloting skills from his father, though he uses these abilities to pursue the Resistance from the seat of his unique, angular TIE Fighter.”

In the last few months, I’ve picked up quite a few Star Wars ships. There was a store going out of business or something.  So, in an effort to make my way through them, I’ll be devoting this whole week to reviewing them.  Behold Star Wars Ships Week…which technically started yesterday.  Shhhh, don’t worry about it.  Yesterday, I looked at Han Solo and his signature Millennium Falcon.  Today, I’m following that up with his son, Ben Swollo Solo, and his ship, the TIE Silencer.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The TIE Silencer is the latest derivation of the TIE Fighter.  Like his grandfather before him, Kylo is flying a brand-new, advanced form of TIE amongst his troops.  After going more classic for the Force Awakens, this design is definitely more divergent.  This ship was the largest of the ships meant to interact with the figures from the Last Jedi toyline.  Size-wise, it’s footprint isn’t much smaller than the Kessel Run Millennium Falcon, though that’s largely due to the wings.  This makes the Silencer much closer to its proper scale than the Falcon.  It’s still a little smaller than it technically should be, but no worse than the X-Wing and TIE from the last film.  Kylo looks a little goofy in there, but worse things have happened.  Like some of the prior vehicles, the Silencer needs a little bit of assembly when you get it out of the box.  There wings need to be popped into place, and then the front guns need to be placed on.  Once assembled, the ship is about 12 inches tall, 8 1/2 inches wide, and stands 3 inches tall.  The Silencer’s sculpt is a pretty decent recreation of the ship’s design from the movie, following the proper shaping and internal proportions (even if it’s small). The internal cock-pit has had to be tweaked a bit to fit the smaller size, but isn’t far enough, and you won’t really be able to see much of it anyway.  The detail work, especially on the wings, is really in depth, which is a nice change of pace for these vehicles, which have a tendency to be lighter on such details when compared to the figures.  The paintwork on the ship is fairly scarce.  There are some silver details, but mostly it’s just the same very dark grey plastic. There’s one slight error there: the color of the (actually pretty cool) transparent windshield, is incorrect.  It’s just more grey here, but was red in the film.  In Hasbro’s defense, however, this was a rather late change, and the same error shows up across a lot of merchandising.  The Silencer, like the whole Last Jedi line, is Force Link compatible, and it’s probably the coolest bit of compatibility we saw from the line.  When you pick up the ship while wearing the bracelet, in addition to the usual swooshing sounds, there are also some light-up features.  It’s pretty fun, though I can understand why some people were upset about being unable to access those features without the reader.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Included with the Silencer is its pilot, Kylo Ren.  This figure’s just a slight tweak on the standard single-careded release.  He’s one of those figure’s that’s bafflingly different.  Like, why did they make a figure that’s technically all new molds, instead of just re-using the other figure?  I mean, I guess they didn’t want to force people to buy the same figure twice, but I can’t really say this is much better.  Between the two, I find myself preferring the last one, but I guess I can appreciate having the second to keep in the ship.  Kylo includes his lightsaber, should you want him to have some non-ship battles.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the one main vehicle I *didn’t* pick up on Force Friday II.  It was the most expensive, and I was already getting the basic Kylo, so that worked for me.  But then it sat around at my nearest Walmart for a good long while, and eventually got mega clearanced, and then it was cheap enough for me to get invested.  It’s a pretty fun ship, and a design that I certainly like, though I can’t say I find it quite as fun as the Falcon.  Guess I’ve always been more invested in the hero’s vehicles.

#1721: Millennium Falcon — Kessel

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

MILLENNIUM FALCON — KESSEL RUN

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY (HASBRO)

Well, poor Solo’s kind of come and gone.  You can still find it playing in a few theaters, but not nearly as many as you might expect.  And that’s really a shame, since it wasn’t a bad movie at all.  But, it had the misfortune of being the last in a string of summer blockbusters, being too close to the last Star Wars flick’s release, and being the Star Wars film that was in theaters when parts of the fanbase decided to…do…something?  I haven’t gotten that piece figured out quite yet.  Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Solo, and have picked up a slew of the toys, including the newest (but technically oldest) incarnation of the Millennium Falcon.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Kessel Run variant of the Falcon hit stores alongside the rest of the Solo product in April of this year.It’s by far the biggest of the items offered this time.On the flipside, it’s also the smallest version of the Falcon we’ve ever gotten that was still intended for use with the standard figures.This size has certainly upset large parts of the fandom, who have become accustomed to more robust offerings for the Falcon, and weren’t pleased to see it scaled down quite so far.  I’m of two minds on this.  While I appreciate the play set approach of earlier versions of the vehicle (the POTF2 version is my jam), but they could certainly be a little unwieldy for actual use as a space ship.  This slightly streamlined and smaller model, on the other hand, allows for more use for flying around and such.  It’s not a move that’s going to please longer term collectors, but there’s definitely a rationale behind it.  As it stands, this version of the Falcon is still noticeably bigger than most other recent ships, and upon opening it, it actually wasn’t quite as small as I’d expected. I’d say it’s about 80% of the size of
the POTF2 version, which is respectable.  Obviously, the sculpt on this thing is all-new, given not only the new size, but also the cleaner, sleeker design of the Falcon in Solo. It’s a nice looking ship,to be sure. There are three main areas where the figures can interact.  The most obvious, of course, is the cockpit.  It’s somewhat negatively impacted by the scale.  Getting two figures into the cockpit of even the vintage Falcon mold was difficult enough, but this one throws the concept out all together.  There is one single seat in the cockpit, and one person’s going in there.  If you really try, you can kind of get Han and Qi’ra both in there, but it’s far from natural looking. Of course, once the cockpit’s canopy is shut, it’s not like you can really see who’s in there anyway, so the point is kind of moot anyway.  There are two panels towards the back of the ship which can also be popped off.  Unlike earlier versions, there’s not a ton you can really do with either of these areas. I mean, it’s still nifty to see them there, though.  The details seen there look pretty nifty, and it’s a nice little bonus. The last area of interaction is the escape pod between the mandibles.  It’s really just a simple hatched piece, with space for another figure, albeit laying down. The interior matches the other sections, and is better than just smooth grey plastic.  The pod is, of course, removable, and features further detailing for the thrusters and such, allowing it to fully function as it’s own separate piece.  Personally, I prefer the ship without it, but the option is much appreciated.  The paintwork is a little sparse on the Falcon, being limited mostly to the blue detailing.  The Falcon is supposed to be cleaner, so it works alright.  Smaller details and the like are done with decals, which have to be applied after you get the ship out of the box.  The Falcon has a few action features built in.  It’s compatible with Force Link 2.0, but that’s thankfully limited to the escape pod.  The other features are native to the toy proper.  There’s flight sounds, activated by a “takeoff” (theres a spring-loaded piece of landing gear that senses when the ship is picked up).  There are then some lights and sounds determined by the gyroscope within the ship sensing motion.  Pressing the buttons on the sides intensifies the lights and sounds which each subsequent push, with the third push enacting the “hyperdrive”, which has some rumbling, and pops off two panels on the back and two on the front, thus simulating the damage the Falcon takes during the Kessel Run.  It takes a little bit of work to learn the rhythms of the mechanics.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Included with the Falcon is a variant of the title character, Han Solo himself.  It’s a unique version of the character, based on his appearance from the very end of the movie (and not the Kessel Run as the figure’s name suggests).  The figure stands 4 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  This Han gets the coveted wrist articulation, which is pretty cool. The sculpt is, surprisingly, totally new.  Not even the head is shared with the other two Hans.  I think I like this one more than the one from the speeder.  It’s certainly a sharper sculpt.  Even the paint is a bit cleaner, which is a plus.  Han includes his blaster, as well as a canister of cargo to go in the ship.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I realized at the time of this set’s release that I hadn’t actually gotten a Millennium Falcon since the ‘99s, which didn’t seem right.  However, the higher price tag on this boy meant I was definitely waiting for a sale.  And find a decent sale I did, so now I have it.  Yay! It’s got its issues, and it’s not going to be for everyone, but I found myself quite liking it, a fair bit more than I’d expected to.

1719: Spider-Man Noir

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

SPIDER-MAN NOIR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Reluctant hero Spider-Man Noir battles bad guys and mob bosses alike in 1930’s New York City.”

Remember earlier in the week when I was talking about the gift that was Spider-Verse?  Well, this isn’t quite that.  I mean, yeah, Spider-Man Noir was part of “Spider-Verse,” but he predates the event, and had a pretty loyal fanbase before it.  Like the 2099 venture, the Noir line of comics was an venture by Marvel that’s mostly just remembered for its take on Spider-Man.  Noir has had three action figures, and I’m looking at the most recent of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man Noir is part of the Lizard Series of Marvel Legends.  Despite being kind of divergent from the usual design, he’s technically the headlining figure, being the resident Peter Parker Spider-Man.  There are a few different versions of Spider-Man Noir out there, but this one’s based on his original comics design, which I’d hazard is his best.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Despite his more unique design, Noir is actually largely made of re-used parts.  He’s built on the AIM/Ghost Rider body, with the trench coat from the Punisher/Red Skull body.  The torso has been tweaked to give him a new collar, and he’s also got a new belt add-on.  The overall body is a little bit of a frankenstein effort, but there’s no denying that it’s an improvement on the previous trenchcoat body.  At least this guy can put his arms all the way down.  Noir also gets a new head sculpt to top things off, which is a pretty impressive translation of the character’s distinctive mask and goggles.  As far as paint goes, Noir is understandably monochromatic.  He’s largely just a lot of black, with some minor changes in finish and the exact darkness here and there.  Noir is packed with a pair of pistols.  They’re the sci-fi looking guns from the AIM figure, which doesn’t seem quite right for a character like Noir, but I guess they work in a pinch.  I know Hasbro’s recently decided to move away from more realistic firearms, and Noir’s the first one to really be negatively impacted by it.  Noir also includes one of the Lizard’s arms.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After grabbing the last four from All Time, I was a little too late to get this guy from them, so I had to resort to my usual sleuthing to find him.  I ended up coming across him at the FYE at the mall where Super Awesome Girlfriend was working until recently.  Noir’s a cool character with a cool look, and I’m glad to finally have a figure of the guy.