Tag Archives: Hasbro

#3578: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

X-MEN ’97 EPIC HEROES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0057: Cyclops’ Jim Lee re-designed costume has appeared in figure form 19 times, before the arrival of the X-Men ’97 tie-ins.

Do you guys know what day it is?  It’s X-Men ’97 day!  After a 27 year hiatus, X-Men: The Animated Series is back in the form of X-Men ’97, which makes its debut to Disney+ today.  I might be just the slightest bit excited about this.  No biggie.  There’s a whole plethora of tie-in merch hitting for the show, so I figured the launch day might be a good one to review one of those.  And, you know me: I’m a sucker for a Cyclops figure.  So, I’m definitely gonna review one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is part of the first series of Hasbro’s X-Men ’97 Epic Heroes line, which is both a tie-in for the show, and also falls under their new “Epic Heroes” banner, which is what they’re classifying all their basic price-point 1/18 scale lines under.  Cyclops was also re-released alongside the rest of Series 1, plus the vehicle pack-in Storm, and a thus far exclusive Gambit, in a five-pack for Target, which hit towards the end of last year.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and he has 15 points of articulation.  In terms of mobility, he’s about on par with the end of the Universe/Legends run.  It’s not a terrible set-up, and he’s honestly able to pull off most of the poses you’d need to get out of him.  Plus, he doesn’t feel as fiddly as some of the Universe figures, and he’s certainly more stable on his feet than the Universe ’90s Cyclops figure.  The sculpt on this figure is all-new, and it’s not bad.  It does appear that, in spite of him being specifically called out as a ’97 figure, he’s a little more in line with his design from the original show.  This is especially evident in the head, notably the way the hair sits.  Of course, it still works very much as an evergreen take on the character, which is far from a bad thing.  The actual detailing is all pretty sharp, and the proportions are nicely balanced.  Cyclops’ color work is decent enough.  Paint, especially the yellow sections, is a little sloppy.  I’m also not sure why they’ve neglected to paint his shorts yellow, but I assume there’s probably some sort of cost-saving element involved.  It’s a frustrating omission, but not the end of the world.  Cyclops is packed with an optic blast effect piece, which slips over his head.  It’s super goofy, but I unabashedly love it.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Last year, when these started to be sighted at retail, and their listings dropped on Amazon with no real info, I jumped on them, because, well, it’s ’90s X-Men, and how can I not.  Obviously, I’m not the main target audience for the line, which is part of the reason why I haven’t reviewed any of the four figures I’ve picked up until now.  But, like I said above, I can’t resist a good Cyclops, and, basic though he may be, this is a good Cyclops.  And now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna watch a new episode of X-Men: The Animated Series for the first time in two decades.

#3575: Morgan Elsbeth

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

MORGAN ELSBETH

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0054:  Morgan Elsbeth, a character of witch-y background, shares her name with Morgan Le Fay, witch of Arthurian legend, befitting Star Wars’ long-seated ties to Arthurian legend.

If you ask me to pick the things that stuck out to me about Morgan Elsbeth’s first appearance in The Mandalorian‘s “Chapter 13: The Jedi,” I don’t know that Morgan herself would have really jumped out at me, but she’s one of the parts that stuck around, getting upgraded to one of the main antagonists of Ahsoka.  She’s gotten action figures of all the main variety out of it, and I’ve opted to cover the Retro-style one, because why not?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morgan Elsbeth is the final figure in the Ahsoka show tie-in assortment of Star Wars: Retro Collection.  The figure stands just shy of 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is all-new, and it’s not bad.  It’s nothing thrilling, I suppose; Morgan’s outfit is kind of pedestrian as far as Star Wars looks go, but they do their best with it.  Like a proper vintage release, she’s got her skirt from the show sculpted into a pair of awkward legs.  It’s very silly, but it’s very proper to the style, and it helps to sell the idea well.  I do feel like the hands are a little large, and the arms a little skinny, for a proper vintage figure, but it otherwise feels pretty authentic.  Morgan’s color work is kind of bland, but that’s accurate, I suppose.  There’s some red and some off black.  Paint application is kept to a minimum, but what’s there is well applied.  Morgan is packed all on her own, with no accessories of any sort.  That’s unfortunate.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I bought Morgan for one reason and one reason only: I was buying the rest of the set.  It felt silly to just skip her and Ahsoka, so I didn’t.  She’s fine.  Not thrilling.  I get her relevance to the plot, but I do wish we’d gotten someone else instead, since a number of other notable characters didn’t get moved over to this style.

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.

#3572: Rumble

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

CONCEPT ART DECPTICON RUMBLE

TRANSFORMERS: STUDIO SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0051:  In 2018, there was a blue humanoid cassette bot released to tie-in with the Bumblebee movie, who was named Frenzy.  In 2024, there was a blue humanoid cassette bot based on concept art from the Bumblebee movie…named Rumble.  There has as of yet been no Bumblebee movie red cassette bot.

My love of Soundwave extends, at least somewhat, to his cassettes.  They’re his little buddies, and you always have to have at least a few of them, right?  What I’ve settled into is a desire to have certain ones in every style, and those certain ones are Laserbeak and Frenzy.  The trouble is, there’s some confusion about who’re Frenzy and who’s Rumble.  Now, I’m a firm supported of the blue guy being Frenzy, and I’m not about to let a label on a package tell me otherwise.  Okay, I might let it tell me otherwise, but I’ll still go to great lengths to file a formal complaint…in my mind.  The point is, sometimes, if I want a Frenzy, I have to convince myself a Rumble’s not really a Rumble.  Case in point.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Concept Art Decepticon Rumble was released in the ninth Core Class assortment of Transformers: Studio Series, which serves as the first Core Class assortment of 2024 for the line as well.  He’s alongside Mohawk and (humorously) a re-pack of the 86 Frenzy, who’s red, so as to be animation accurate.  In his robot mode, Rumble stands a little over 2 inches tall and he has 18 workable points of articulation.  He’s actually surprisingly mobile; the articulation scheme here does a lot in its small space.  The mold is all-new, and it’s a fun one.  I really dig this design; it grabs all the classic cassette boi vibes, but also modernizes a bit.  I love working the thumper weapons directly into the arms, even if it’s at the cost of him not actually having hands.  He gets two guns, which he can’t hold, but you can mount them on his back, I guess, so there’s that.  Like Ravage before him, Rumble turns into a prism thing, which can be fitted into the Voyager Soundwave’s torso.  I found the transformation on Rumble a lot simpler, and a lot less fiddly than Ravage, so I far preferred it.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Since there were no cassettes beyond Ravage in the movie, I didn’t expect to get anyone else to go with my Bumblebee Soundwave.  This was a pleasant surprise.  He sort of fell into a different batch of figures I was buying when he came in, so I forgot about him, and wound up opening him while in the car for a long road trip, which was another pleasant surprise when I realized just how much fun he was.  Sure, his name may be wrong, but he’s still an awesome 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.

#3570: HK-87 Assassin Droid

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

HK-87 ASSASSIN DROID

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0049: The HK-87 Assassin Droid’s design is based in part on an unused concept drawing by Ralph McQuarrie for the character that would eventually become IG-88.

Well, I didn’t *intend* to miss a review yesterday, but the day just wasn’t having any of it.  Have no fear, I’m back and on track once more, and jumping headlong back into the Star Wars side of things.  I’m going back to the Retro Figures well again, this time having just a little bit more Droid-related fun with the HK-87 Assassin Droid!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The HK-87 Assassin Droid is the sixth figure in the Ahsoka tie-in assortment of Star Wars: Retro Collection.  This one is specifically meant to be one of the rank and file HKs, seen in both Mandalorian and Ahsoka.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is all-new and unique to this release.  It’s a pretty good breakdown of the design seen in the show, filtered through that vintage lens.  The design is the totally stripped down version of the droid, without any of the belts or cloaks they tend to wear in the shows.  It allows for extra customization, I suppose, if you were so inclined.  Beyond that, the details are generally hitting the broader design pieces, and they’re pretty cleanly handled.  His color work again goes for one of the rank and file droids, so he’s got the mix of grey, tan, and red.  It’s again a little broader and stripped down than the show design, but it works, and it sells the idea pretty well.  The HK is packed with a vintage styled-version of the battle droid blaster.  It’s surprising that no cloak or anything is included, but this does match with the more paired down approach of the vintage line.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

The HK design’s a fun one, and it’s one I’ve been wanting in some format, but I was’t sure I wanted to spring for the Black Series version.  This one hit just as I was trying to make the decision, which made the whole thing a lot easier for me.  It’s a basic figure, much like the rest of the line, but he’s fun.

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.

#3568: ARC Trooper Captain

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

ARC TROOPER CAPTAIN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0047: Though there have been numerous figures based on the 2D Clone Wars‘ Captain Fordo, his name as only been used officially one time for a figure.

Have you ever loved something from afar? That’s my relationship with the original Clone Wars and its tie-in figures. I loved them, but the airtimes for the original shorts made them tricky to catch, and the line was pretty majorly scalped at the time. Nevertheless, I still hold a fondness for it. One of my favorite parts remains something I actually *did* get to experience firsthand during the original run, which is Clone Captain Fordo and his original figure. And me being me, that translates to buying more figures on top of the one I already have, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The ARC Trooper Captain was a Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series release, released in packaging styled after the original 2D tie-in line, and under the Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary banner. He hit in the Spring of 2022, alongside similarly styled Mace Windu and General Grievous figures. The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Fordo is largely based on the molds introduced by ARC Trooper Echo. As they’re both ARC Troopers, it’s not the craziest idea, I suppose. If you want to get technical, it leaves a number of inaccuracies on the armor, but the flip side is that he’s based on an animated design to begin with, so there’s a degree of a grey area there. The most glaring things, really, are the ammo pouch being on the wrong side and the permanently affixed backpack. He does get a different helmet, this time using the more proper phase 1 helmet. It’s based on the updated version of the helmet mold, and it’s been modified to include his rangefinder. The paint work on this figure is decent and fairly basic. Most of the line work is pretty clean, but there’s a little waviness on some of the red lines. I was surprised to find that, even though the helmet is glued in place, the underlying head is still molded in flesh tone plastic, rather than just matching the helmet color like other troopers without removable helmets. I assume it’s somehow linked to the mold’s original use, since the other ARCs have all gotten removable helmets. Fordo is packed with two small blaster pistols, a medium rifle, and a long rifle. He’s still saddled by only the one trigger finger, and he doesn’t get Fordo’s usual modified pistols, but it works out alright.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I loathe dealing with exclusives, and Walmart exclusives top that list, so I did no hunting for this guy in-store, even though he’s Fordo and I love Fordo. Instead, I played the waiting game, and it paid off, as I was able to snag a sealed one from All Time through a trade-in. He’s got his flaws, but I’m very forgiving when it comes to Fordo. There’s no denying he’s quite fun.

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

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#3566: Sabine Wren

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

SABINE WREN

STAR WARS: RETRO COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0045:  The vintage Star Wars line featured only three instances of removable helmets: Leia as Boushh, Lando as a Skiff Guard, and Luke in Stormtrooper Disguise.  The Retro Collection has re-released two of those and added two additional figures.

I don’t have a lot in the way of Sabine Wren coverage here on the site, or in general in my collection.  It’s not from a dislike of the character, so much as, I suppose, a contentment with the figures I already have.  I do like to pick up a new figure every once in a while, though, and her appearance on Ahsoka gave us all sorts of new potential venues for figures.  Let’s dive into the retro side of things, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sabine Wren is the fifth figure in the Ahsoka-tie-in of Star Wars: The Retro Collection, which hit late last year.  This is Sabine’s third figure at this scale, and the the third with the 5POA set-up.  Also, the second with a removable helmet, for what it’s worth.  The figure stands just shy of 3 3/4 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  She’s got another all-new sculpt, this time more clearly inspired by Kenner’s later run vintage figures.  It captures her updated design from the show quite nicely.  There’s some fun little details, like the lightsaber hilt sculpted onto her belt.  As touched on above, she gets a removable helmet, which works pretty well.  Her head’s a touch smaller to accommodate it, which is in keeping with the style of the older figures, and the helmet’s a touch larger.  It’s a good look, and the helmet stays in place snuggly.  Her paint work is pretty respectably handled.  There’s a good mix of colors and accenting, making for some fun pops of color.  Sabine is packed with two blaster pistols.  They’re in different colors, an exaggeration of the slight tweak in detailing on the blasters in the show.  She’s also got a lightsaber, which continues the Bespin Luke style of saber.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This figure and Chopper were really the ones that sold me on this whole assortment.  They just jumped out as being rather fun, which was appreciated after I’d kind of lost momentum with the Book of Boba Fett set.  I rather like this one.

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.

#3565: Daredevil, Elektra, & Bullseye

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

DAREDEVIL, ELEKTRA, & BULLSEYE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0044: The first Legends-branded comic Daredevil figure was released in the “Urban Legends” boxed set, which featured, amongst other things, a white costumed Elektra.  20 years later, an updated comic Daredevil found himself released in a boxed set alongside a white costumed Daredevil.

I keep doing this thing where I skip a Pulse-exclusive set, and then I manage to get it through other channels *just* before an improved version is announced.  It’s not annoying at all.  Why do you ask?  Yeah.  In this case, it’s all about that Daredevil.  Sure, there may be two other figures in play here, but is anyone really paying attention to them?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Daredevil, Elektra, and Bullseye are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends three-pack, which started shipping on the earlier side of last year.

DAREDEVIL

Undoubtedly the star of the set is its upgraded Daredevil.  Unlike the last handful of DDs, this one his the classic red costume, not some form of derivative.  While the Hobgoblin Series release is still no slouch, there’s definitely been some progress on articulation schemes since then, and with Matt’s generally acrobatic nature, that’s pretty important.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 38 points of articulation.  This new Daredevil is making use of the upgraded Spidey body that first turned up in the Renew Your Vows set, making this the first time since the second series of Spider-Man Classics that the two have shared a base body.  Typically, Matt’s depicted as a little bigger than Peter, but the Renew body is on the bulkier side for Spidey, so it winds up working out alright for Matt.  When I first reviewed the base, it was right on the heels of the Amazing Fantasy figure, which I very much loved, so I was a little biased.  I find myself liking it a bit more here, and I’m not sure if it’s just distance from the original release, or if I just like it more as Daredevil.  Sculptor Paul Harding provides a new head sculpt, and there are new add-ons for his belt and holster as well.  The new head is less dialed into a specific look than the Hobgoblin Series release (which was very much a Chris Samnee DD), going for a more all-encompassing “classic” look.  It sits very well on the base body, and just generally feels like a solid DD head sculpt.  His coloring is actually pretty subdued.  While other all red Daredevils have used multiple shades of red to differentiate the gloves and boots from the rest of the suit, this one makes almost everything the same shade of red, with only the eyes, logo, and belt buckle being differentiated.  What’s visible of the face also gets some printed detailing, which is quite lifelike.  DD is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping), his batons, and the dynamic zipline piece that clips between the two of them.

ELEKTRA

Elektra’s not been a stranger to Legends, but they do like to keep things rotating on designs.  The second Legends Elektra (from the Urban Legends set) was painted up in her white outfit, and this one duplicates this look, in order to distinguish her from the SP//dr Series release.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Elektra’s constructed on the fancy pinless female base body.  She’s re-using the skirt piece from the last one, and she’s also got two new heads, courtesy of sculptor May Thamtarana.  One goes with her usual bandanna design, while the other gives her a headband that really lets her crazy wild hair hang free.  The headband one is definitely my preferred of the two; there’s just so much character there.  The bandanna one isn’t quite as strong; the expression is a little bland, and hair sits a little high relative to the face.  Her color work is alright.  Lot of white.  The application gets a little sloppy on the change-overs, but the printed faces look pretty nice.  Elektra has two sets of hands, a pair of sais, and a katanna.  The katana has black spot on blade, but other than that, the extras are pretty standard stuff.

BULLSEYE

Bullseye has a tendency to go some distance between Legends releases; his last one was in 2017, which isn’t the same distance as the 12 year gap before that, but it’s still notable.  Unlike the other two in this set, Bullseye’s not really designed to be drastically different from what came before.  In fact, sculpturally, he’s exactly the same as the last one, meaning he’s still about 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  The sculpt wasn’t bad the first time around, apart from the head seeming maybe a touch too large, and it’s generally held up okay.  The paint work was one of the weaker aspects of the last figure, so this one aims to change that up a bit.  They actually adapted a slightly different design this time around, going for his look from his 2017 solo series.  The only real change-up from the classic design is the blue torso section.  It’s different, but I don’t hate it.  The actual application is *a lot* cleaner this time, and it does head sculpt a lot of favors.  Bullseye is packed with four hands (right gripping, and left fist, finger gun, and knife throwing), an alternate unmasked head, and a knife.  They have notably removed the pistol from the prior release, which wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for the empty holster that is attached to his belt.  Like…what are you supposed to do with that?  The stock photos stick the knife in there, but that just moves the problem, since then he’s got the empty sheath on the back of the belt.  Also, it’s clearly a gun holster, so the knife isn’t an ideal place holder.  I’m not entirely sure why they made the change, but given the replacement of the two trigger finger hands as well, it was clearly something more than simple cost-saving.  It results in the one downside to this figure relative to the earlier release.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I really only wanted the Daredevil out of this set, because I’m a sucker for a good Daredevil.  But, only wanting 1/3 of the set, I wasn’t looking to pay full price.  I was able to snag one second hand for a good deal, so that made life a little easier.  DD is undoubtedly the star, and he’s a definitive classic red DD.  I like the alternate head for Elektra, but she’s otherwise just kind of middling.  Bullseye wound up really surprising me.  I expected to get nothing from him, but the new paint just really sells the figure.  The missing gun’s just weird, but he’s still nice enough that he’s replaced the prior one as my default Legends Bullseye.

#3564: Ultra Magnus

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

ULTRA MAGNUS

TRANSFORMERS PRIME: CYBERVERSE (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0043:  There are 7 Prime-style Ultra Magnus toys.  I own 5 of them, and I’ve reviewed four of them here.  Here’s the fifth!

I do love me an Ultra Magnus review, because it signifies that I get to talk about a new Ultra Magnus.  Is there anything better than that?  Well, yeah, probably.  But it’s certainly high on the list!  I’ve still got a sizeable collection of Magnuses, and I haven’t yet reviewed them all, so I get to pull one off the shelf every so often and jump back in.  So, that’s what I’m doing here!  This one’s on the tinier side!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Magnus is part of the third Commander Class wave of the Prime: Cyberverse line.  In contrast to these days, where Commander Class is a size above Leader, during Cyberverse, it was the larger of the two smaller scale lines, more on par with the likes of the modern Core Class.  In robot mode, Magnus is just shy of 4 inches tall and he has 11 points of workable articulation.  Much like his larger scale Powerizer counterpart, Magnus is using his pre-show appearance design, which is a bit more unique.  As such, he gets a unique sculpt, rather than re-using Optimus parts.  I remain a fan of this design, even if it never did get any show use.  It’s smaller scale equivalent is a little more rudimentary and has more obvious bits of his vehicle mode hanging off, but that doesn’t make it less cool.  His coloring is similar but not identical to the larger version; there’s a larger proportion of red on the torso and shoulders this time around, and the blue’s a little darker.  Magnus gets a hammer weapon, which is kind of a half-way point between the Powerizer and Arms Micron releases of the weapons included with the larger mold.  It converts into a cannon mode, but definitely works better as a hammer.  This Magnus’ alt-mode matches the larger figure, with more of a tow-truck vibe than we tend to see on Magnus.  The transformation is pretty simple, and it locks together pretty well.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Max has been very supportive of me in my goal of acquiring all the Magnuses, and this is one of those instances.  He went out of his way to make sure this guy got to me, in the midst of a very rough patch of time for me.  He’s just a little guy, but he’s a little guy I really do love.  I’m always down for another Magnus!

#3563: Six-Armed Spider-Man

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

SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0042:  Six-Armed Spider-Man was one of the earliest Spider-Man figures added to my collections….and I didn’t really want him.  I don’t know why I was so against it, but I’ve come around on it.

Way back at the beginning of 2019, I reviewed a Marvel Legends Six-Armed Spider-Man.  I was prepared to hate him, because of factors that I’d known about since his prototype had been shown off, but, despite it all, I actually kinda dug him.  That didn’t mean there wasn’t room for improvement.  And, so, that room for improvement has been…filled by improvement?  Or something like that.  Look, there’s a new version, okay?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Six Armed Spider-Man was released in a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, alongside a re-release of the Absorbing Man Series Morbius.  While Morbius is largely unchanged from his original release, Spidey’s a little different.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 59 points of articulation.  That’s one whole extra point over the prior release.  And how does he manage this feat?  With a tweaked torso mold.  The original one was solid all the way through, but this new one, sculpted by Dennis Chan, gets a ball-joint at the mid-section.  It does a lot of loosen up the figure’s posablility, and it’s quite transformative, really.  Beyond that, he’s really just the same as the other one.  In terms of coloring, the paint’s a little bit tighter this time around, and the colors are toned down ever so slightly, but it’s all very minor.  He does make out slightly better on the accessories front, getting both the thwipping hands from the original, and a pair of fists to swap out.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, I wasn’t in much of a rush to get this one, honestly.  While I saw the areas the original could be improved, I didn’t *need* the improvements, and I certainly didn’t feel the need to re-buy a Morbius I already had to get them.  But, one came through All Time loose, and I decided to trade up.  It was a great call, honestly.  The new torso joint adds a lot to the figure.  Now, I just need to do the weblining like I did on the old one…

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.

#3562: Freestyle Skate Batman

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

FREESTYLE SKATE BATMAN

BATMAN: MISSION MASTERS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0041: Terry McGuinness is never seen skateboard in or out of the Batman costume in Batman Beyond, but that didn’t stop Hasbro from making a figure based on that very concept.

My relationship with Hasbro’s run with the DC license was a particularly good one.  While Kenner had managed an alright balance of accurate to the source figures and goofy variants during their run with the DC license, Hasbro honed in on the wackiness, especially narrowing in on Batman, and ignoring most of the DCU for…well, a bunch of rather silly Bat-variants.  The end of the animated Batman tie-ins was an all-encompassing line, Mission Masters, where the express purpose was just doing nothing but baseless variants.  As the line progressed, even Batman Beyond, whose own line was never super to begin with, got in on the action.  One time they made him a skater, because it was 2000, and that was what they decided the kids like.  Full disclosue: I wasn’t one of those kids.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Freestyle Skate Batman was part of the third round of Mission Masters, dubbed Mission Masters 3, and he was a deluxe-sized release.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He was noteworthy for getting a disc and peg set-up on the shoulders, in contrast to the simple cut joint that almost every Hasbro/Kenner DC figure got.  Why did he get the extra movement?  No clue.  It’s cool, though.  His sculpt was all-new, and it’s…well, it’s a Batman variant.  The head sculpt is very much consistent with Hasbro’s other BB head sculpts, which is to say it’s not exactly an accurate recreation of the animation model, but it’s not terribly far off.  The rest of the sculpt is definitely on the goofier side.  He’s quite pre-posed, and his design maintains elements from his standard look, but adds a bunch of extra ones, because I guess that’s what you do when you’re skating?  His color work is again pretty close to the standard, though he’s a metallic blue, rather than black.  He’s accented with some slightly bronzed silver.  I particularly dig the tech detailing on the wings.  Batman wouldn’t be much of a “Freestyle Skate” guy without some form of skateboard, so he gets just that.  It’s big, silly, strange, and it launches a big missile.  So, there it is.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t buy this new.  I saw it a good many times, as I did most of the Mission Masters figures.  I generally disliked Mission Masters when it was at retail, because it never really felt authentic.  I wanted other characters, and I didn’t dig the switch to purely odd Batmen.  But, I’ve mellowed over the years a bit, so when I got the opportunity to pick up a loose one a few years back, I jumped on it.  He’s pretty fun.  Silly, but fun.

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.