Tag Archives: Hasbro

#1111: Punch It

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

PUNCH IT

SMALL SOLDIERS (HASBRO)

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I feel it would be unfair tor review a member of the Commando Elite without also giving the Gorgonites their proper due, so today I’ll be looking at yet another Small Soldiers figure.  Fun Fact: the supporting Gorgonites in the movie are all voiced by the members of Spinal Tap (likewise, the Commando Elite are voiced by the cast of The Dirty Dozen).  Harry Shearer, also known for his work on The Simpsons, voiced Gorgonite Punch It, whose figure I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

punchit2Punch It was part of Hasbro’s Small Soldiers line from 1998, but he wasn’t a standard release.  Due to his size, Punch It was his own, special deluxe release.  It’s actually a bit surprising that he was just a solo release, and not packed with Scratch It, his perpetual companion from the movie (who you had to buy a large vehicle to acquire).  Anyway, the figure stands a little under 8 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  The articulation issue is still present here, but amusingly enough, Punch It has more articulation than a lot of the figures in the line, despite his on-screen figure actually having less movement than the other figures.  The only real frustrating part for me is that the hands and legs, which are separate pieces, are glued in place, rather than being articulated.  Punch It’s sculpt is actually one of the better sculpts to come out of this line.  It captures the movie design pretty solidly, and there’s a lot of really tight small detail and texture work.  He’s appropriately chunky and solid, and all of the extra details make him one of the most visually interesting figures Hasbro put out.  Possibly the only downside to the sculpt is the fact that if you remove his big missile launcher on his back, there’s a big obvious post sticking out.  Of course, it’s not like it’s anywhere near as obvious as the huge freaking gun thing on Brick Bazooka’s back, so that’s a plus.  Punch It also gets one of the cooler paint jobs from the line.  The basic work is all pretty solid and clean, and the colors match up nicely with his design, but I think the coolest part is the marbleized plastic for his skin, which plays up the texturing very nicely.  Punch It included a back-mounted missile launcher and a clip-on claw for his right arm.  My figure doesn’t have those pieces, sadly, so I can’t expose you guys to the awesomeness therein.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m always on the prowl for Small Soldiers figures, so when I found Punch It at Yesterday’s Fun over the summer, I was pretty psyched.  Sure, he was loose and missing the accessories, but there’s no denying the sheer coolness of this design.  If I’m totally honest, I think that Punch It’s design was the one that best translated to the actual toyline.  This guy is just really, really cool, and I’m very happy that I got one.

#1110: Sgt. Brick Bazooka

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

SGT BRICK BAZOOKA

SMALL SOLDIERS (HASBRO)

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Back in April, I looked at a pair of figures from Small Soldiers, which is probably one of my favorite movies (I know, Ethan likes the movie about the action figures.  What a shock).  The figures in the movie, built by the legendary Stan Winston Studios, are really, really cool.  There was a tie-in toyline from Hasbro (who also helped design the on-screen figures), which don’t quite capture the awesomeness of their onscreen counterparts, and was sadly short-lived.  That being said, something is better than nothing, right.  Today, I’m taking a look at one of the villainous Commando Elite, Sgt. Brick Bazooka!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

bazooka2Brick Bazooka was released in the first series of Small Soldiers figures from Hasbro.  Unlike Archer and Chip Hazard, this was Brick’s only figure in the line.  This figure is more or less captures his basic look from the film.  He’s about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation (well, technically he’s got 6, but one of those is tied directly into his action feature).  As I noted in the last two Small Soldiers reviews, the articulation on these guys is by far the most disappointing aspect. That we couldn’t even get elbows and knees is the worst part.  But, three figures in, I can kind of move on from it.  There’s two aspects of the sculpt: one good, and one sort of weird.  One the good side, from the front, the figure’s a pretty good representation of the “sculpt” from the movie.  He’s got the buzzcut and the super creepy grin down pat, and while he’s not a pitch-perfect recreation of the film design, he fits in well with the other figures in the line, which is really the most important thing.  So, about the weird.  You know how his name has Bazooka in it?  Well, apparently, that means he needs to actually turn into a really big gun.  Because toys or something.  Anyway, the gun swings forward from his back, with his head flipping through the torso, and…stuff.  It’s kinda weird.  I can’t say it adds much to the figure, and it means that he’s got this huge gun sticking off of his back even in normal mode.  It looks rather strange.  The paint work is pretty much on par with the other figures I’ve looked at.  It’s clean, it matches pretty well with the colors on the screen, and all-around looks like what you see in the movie.  There are a few missing details here and there (which was true with the others as well), and mine sort of beat up, but that’s understandable.  Brick was packed with two large guns and a missile for his chest-gun-thingy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was growing up, I didn’t have a Brick Bazooka figure, but my cousin Rusty did, and I was always a bit envious of that, because I thought he was a really cool figure.  For whatever reason, Bazooka’s one of the rarer Small Soldiers on the after market, so I didn’t see one for a good long while.  Brick ended up being a birthday gift from my parents, who picked him up for me from 2nd Chance Toyz.  This guy’s really goofy, and totally a product of the ‘90s, but that’s kind of what I’m about.

#1109: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL LEGENDS (3.75)

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Given how long he wore it, Daredevil’s yellow costume is rather disproportionally popular.  I guess it’s just different enough that it stands out.  It’s also a pretty easy variant for toy companies to release, what with using the same selection of parts as the normal Daredevil costume and all, so there’s lots of incentive to make figures of the design.  So far, its shown up in just about every major scale of Marvel figure, including 3 3/4-inch, which I’ll be looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ddyellow375bDaredevil was released in the second series of the smaller-scale Marvel Legends line.  He’s the second smaller-scale Yellow Daredevil figure we’ve gotten, but the last one was built on one the less than stellar bodies that Hasbro used to kick off Marvel Universe, so an update was much needed.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 28 points of articulation.  Structurally, he’s the same as the Daredevil vs Bullseye two-pack version of Daredevil from the  Marvel Universe line.  Since that figure’s tooling was already paid for, it means this guy gets to keep all of the articulation, giving him about 10 points more than his compatriots from this same series.  Like with the Marvel Legends Daredevil I looked at a few months back, the sculpt here seems a little too well-built for an early in his career Matt Murdock, but it’s not like it’s a bad sculpt or anything.  In fact, he was probably one of the better sculpted Marvel Universe figures.  Paint is the key part here, and it works alright.  The color scheme is pretty much the same as we saw on the larger figure this year.  The brown isn’t my favorite thing ever (I prefer black with red highlights), but it looks decent enough, and everything looks pretty sharp.  The logo on the chest is still a little on the large side, but it’s not quite as bad as on the larger figure.  Daredevil is packed with his billy clubs, which are the same as those included with all the prior small-scale Daredevils.  They work pretty well, and seem a bit less rubbery this time.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Daredevil was picked up for me at the same time as Rage, mostly to keep my Yellow Daredevil collection going.  There’s not really much new here, but I liked the basic version of this figure, and by extension I like this one.  There’s certainly nothing wrong with a simple repaint when it’s appropriate, especially when it means I get another Yellow Daredevil!

#1108: Rage

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

MARVEL’S RAGE

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES (3.75)

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There are a lot of rather obscure characters in comics.  It sort of comes with the territory, since you can’t expect every single character who appears in a monthly installment of serialized fiction to be beloved by the masses.  What’s interesting with some of these characters is how close to high profile they get.  Take today’s entry, Rage, for instance.  Rage was a member of the Avengers, for over a year no-less, but most people would be completely unable to ID the guy if they saw him.  He did get something of a cult following from his stint with the New Warriors, and now he’s even got an action figure, so maybe things are looking up for him!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

rage2Rage is from the second series of the 3 3/4 inch scale Marvel Legends line by Hasbro.  Thanks to Living Laser’s presence in the set, he may not even be the most obscure character from the series, which is kinda saying something.  The figure stands a little over 4 inches tall and he has 19 points of articulation.  The reduced articulation of this line is something I’ve addressed a few times, and mostly I don’t find it ruins or holds back the figures too badly.  However, Rage seems far stiffer in terms of range than prior figures, and on top of that, his head can’t actually turn more than a few degrees before popping off, which is really annoying.  Rage is seen here in his original costume.  It’s not a particularly attractive design, but let me tell you, he’s had far, far worse during his career.  Rage is built on one of the larger male bodies, with character specific pieces for the head, lower arms, and lower legs, and add-ons for his jacket and belt.  The jacket and belt are definitely very strong pieces, and the hands and feet are pretty good too.  Something about the body and the head seems a little too smooth for me.  Like he’s unfinished or something.  It’s hard to say, but it really feels evident on the torso.  It’s on par with a lot of the other stuff from this particular line, so I can’t really say he’s an outlier in that regard, but I also can’t say that’s much of a point in his favor.  I just sort of wish the whole sculpt matched the quality on the vest.  Rage’s paintwork is generally pretty straight forward.  It’s mostly just solid color work, which works fine for the character.  There’s a little bit of accenting on the vest and pants, which goes a long way, and gives him some much needed pop.  Rage has no accessories, but I can’t really think of what you’d give him anyway.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rage here was picked up for me by totally rad brother, who got him for me while I was away with Super Awesome Girlfriend and her family.  Back when the Marvel Universe line was in full-swing, I put a lot of effort into tracking down as many Avengers in that scale as I could get ahold of, so from that perspective, Rage is pretty cool to finally have.  Could he be better? Probably, but this is quite possibly the only Rage we’re ever going to see, and he’s far from the worst thing ever.

#1107: Captain Rex

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

CAPTAIN REX

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

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Ever since The Force Awakens re-launched everything, I’ve been on a pretty serious Star Wars kick, and it’s only gotten worse with all the Rogue One stuff.  One of the things I’m finally getting around to as part of said kick is watching Star Wars: Rebels.  I gotta say, I don’t know why I put it off for so long, it’s definitely a fun show.  One of the cool things about the show is how it’s connecting its predecessor Clone Wars with the Original Trilogy, by bringing in a few of Clone Wars’ original characters.  One of my personal favorites from Clone Wars was clone Captain Rex, who appears in Rebels during the second season.  I haven’t gotten to him on the show just yet, but that didn’t stop me from picking up his action figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

rexrebels2Captain Rex is from the towards the tail-end of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens line.  He was part of the third Desert Gear assortment, alongside Unkar Plutt and FN-2187.  This assortment technically hit back in February, but most places didn’t see it until early summer.  Rex is based on his Rebels appearance, which is a fair bit removed from his Clone Wars look, what with it being 15 years later and all.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has the basic 5 points of articulation we’ve come to expect from the standard 3 3/4-inch stuff.  Rex’s sculpt is unique to him, and it does an alright job translating his show design into plastic form.  I wouldn’t mind a bit more fine detailing here and there, but the overall appearance matches up pretty well.  For some reason, Rex has been sculpted with his chest puffed out bit and his neck set back.  The only way to get him to look forward is to tilt the head down as far as it will go on the ball joint, and even then he’s still sort of looking upward.  I’m not sure why they handled him that way, and it makes posing him rather difficult.  In terms of paint, Rex is certainly well executed from at technical standpoint, with most of the paintwork being rather clean.  The real issue is that he’s actually too clean.  His show design has the armor looking rather disheveled, but on the figure that’s really limited to just the bottom of his boots.  He doesn’t look terrible by any means, but he isn’t quite as cool as he could be either.  Rex includes a pair of small blaster pistols, just like the ones he carried during Clone Wars, which can be stored in the holsters on his legs.  He also has his helmet, which seems slightly oversized, but is still pretty cool.  I especially like that he still has the tally marks that he was sporting towards the end of TCW.  Lastly, Rex has a piece of the build-a-whatsit thing.  It’s a staff that fires a missile.  It’s actually not as lame as prior pieces, but still not adding much value to the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually picked up Rex before starting Rebels, back during the summer.  I was in upstate New York with Super Awesome Girlfriend and her aunt and uncle on an RV trip, and I found this guy at the local Walmart.  Not gonna lie, I partly bought him because he was one of the few figures there I didn’t have, and I was sort of going into withdrawal due to not having ready access to internet and being in a town with literally nowhere to buy action figures (apart from said Walmart).  That being said, I’d been intrigued by this figure since seeing his prototype at SDCC.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Rex, and I look forward to seeing him on the show. 

#1096: Green Lantern

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

GREEN LANTERN

DC SUPER HEROES SILVER AGE COLLECTION (HASBRO)

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Hey guys!  In case you didn’t see earlier, The Figure In Question has made it through another year of reviews, which marks three years of me running this humble little site.  In honor of the occasion, I’ll be taking a look at a figure with some extra meaning to me.

I’ve discussed once or twice here how I’m a pretty big Green Lantern fan (or I was.  It’s complicated).  Well, back in the ‘90s, when I was just getting into the world of action figure collecting, Green Lantern was something of a rarity on toy shelves.  To make matters worse, what Green Lantern figures did exist were all based on Kyle Rayner, not Hal Jordan, who was the Green Lantern I was most familiar with (due to Cartoon Network’s Super Friends re-runs and a healthy diet of bronze-age DC comics provided to me by my Dad).  The first Hal Jordan Green Lantern to be released within my lifetime was part of the DC Super Heroes Silver Age Collection, which was Hasbro’s attempt at copying Toy Biz’s attempt at copying Mego with Famous Covers.  Confused?  You probably still will be after this review.  Sorry.  On to the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

gl9inch2Green Lantern was released as part of the first Series of the Silver Age Collection, alongside Aquaman and Green Arrow.  It was actually a pretty bold selection of characters for the time, since all three were at best second stringers, two of whom had been replaced in their respective roles and the third of whom had undergone a massive redesign a few years prior.  The figure stands 9 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation. He’s based on Hal’s initial Silver Age costume, defined by the lack of green on the shoulders.  As a throwback to the old Mego figures (which, incidentally, did not include poor GL here), this figure makes use of a cloth costume.  The costume is alright.  It’s a little baggy, and the stitching around the shoulders and hips is a touch bulky.  It’s worth noting that the costume looks far better on this figure in it’s packaged-fresh form; my figure has been beat to heck thanks to 10 years or so of steady play, which stretched his uniform out of shape.  The underlying body on this figure (which is the same one used for the other DC 9-inch figures, as well as the later Marvel-based Signature Series) is actually pretty decent, especially when compared to the ones used by Playmates and Toy Biz for their figures in this same scale.  It posed pretty well, and was actually fairly nicely proportioned.  In addition to the base body and the cloth suit, GL gets a sculpted head, hands, glove cuffs, feet, and boot cuffs.  The head is the standout piece on this figure.  I think this is, to date, the best Hal Jordan sculpt ever made, and it was perhaps the strongest sculpt the line produced.  The detail is sharp, and it’s a very good likeness of how Hal was portrayed in the comics.  The rest of the sculpted pieces are decent, if not quite as stand-out awesome as the head sculpt.  The right hand is cool, what with the power ring and all.  And check out Hasbro using that finger articulation a few years before Toy Biz popularized it with Spider-Man Classics.  That’s pretty cool.  As far as paint goes, Hal here is pretty basic, with the vast majority of it being on the head, and even then only being on the hair and the mask.  What’s there is clean, and, most impressively, the green of the mask actually matches the green of the tunic.  GL’s only accessory was a display stand with the DC logo on it.  Each figure included one, but with a variety of different colors, with GL’s being black (rather than the more obvious green…).  He’s one of the few GL figures not to include his power battery.  I actually had a small Coleman lantern keychain that I used with this figure, which I really wish I still had.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, since this was the first Green Lantern Hal Jordan to be released within my lifetime, you’ve probably gathered that this was, by extension, my first Hal Jordan figure.  Not my first Green Lantern, of course, but still.  I remember first seeing the prototype pictures of this figure and being very excited, and then being even more excited when my parents and I found him at the store (I believe it was Target).  This figure is extra important to me because I got him in 1999, which was the same year my younger brother Christian was born, and this guy came with me to at least a few of the hospital visits to see him, which gives him a whole other dimension of awesome for me (the figure, not my brother.  Though my brother’s awesome too, for what it’s worth).

#1093: Imperial Hovertank Pilot

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

IMPERIAL HOVERTANK PILOT

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Well, dear readers, we’ve made it to the end of the Rogue Friday stuff.  I’ve looked at all of the regular release figures that I’ve gotten.  However, I also managed to grab one of the many store-exclusives, that were up for grabs.  This one fits the theme of the last few days, being another Black Series figure. Rogue One is offering us a whole bunch of different specialized Imperial troopers, such as today’s Hovertank Pilot, who follows the precedent set by the TIE fighter pilots, the AT-AT drivers, and even the Biker Scouts, of being a trooper specifically designed to drive a thing.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

hovertankpilot2The Imperial Hovertank Pilot is part of the Star Wars: The Black Series line and is a Toys R Us-exclusive figure.  He was released alongside the latest Black Series set on Rogue Friday, but appears to have shipped in cases of just Hovertank Pilots.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  So far, the figure has a totally unique sculpt, but that’s likely to change, given the closeness of the Pilot and Scarif Trooper designs.  From the looks of things, all of the Pilot’s armor but the helmet and belt is the same as the Scarif Trooper.  The helmet lacks the mouthpiece, sports a much thinner visor, and is wider at the base than the Scarif helmet, and the belt lacks the skirt, in favor of two slightly longer pouches on the frontmost pockets.  I like the design of the Pilot, but, like the Death Trooper, I’m not certain it quite fits the OT-aesthetic.  It’s certainly close (especially on the parts shared with the Scarif Trooper), but something about the helmet looks more First Order than Imperial.  Someone brought up that this figure almost looks like a first order take on the Biker Scout, and I kind of agree.  But, like I said, it’s still a solid design on its own.  The sculpt does a good job translating the design (at least from what we’ve seen of it), and features a nice assortment of smaller detail work.  In particular, I like the texturing on the clothing under the armor.  The shoulders seem a touch wide, but other than that, the proportions feel pretty solid.  The paintwork is actually a good deal better than a lot of Black Series figures.  Not only is the basic application pretty clean, but he’s also got some really great wear and tear on his armored parts, which makes him stand out a bit next to the other spotless Troopers we’ve gotten.  Here’s hoping we get more like him!  The Hovertank Pilot includes a standard Stormtrooper blaster.  Like some of the others in this series, he feels a little light on accessories, but I don’t really know what else you could give him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I’m sure no one’s shocked to find out that I got this guy at TRU during their midnight opening event for Rogue Friday.  I actually wasn’t sure I was going to grab him, and I didn’t pick him up on my first pass.  However, when I looped back around to the Black Series figures, he was still there, and I decided to go for it.  I’m glad I did.  After K-2, I’d say this guy’s my favorite of the Rogue Friday stuff.  He’s just a very well put together figure.  I look forward to getting the Scarif Troopers on this body!

Okay, that’s it for the Rogue Friday stuff (well, mostly).  I think this launch was much more successful than the Force Awakens product, and I hope that Hasbro is able to keep it more or less consistent for the Episode VIII launch.  Only time will tell! Tomorrow, I’ll be back to some non-Star Wars figures.

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#1092: Kylo Ren – Unmasked

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

KYLO REN – UNMASKED

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Alright, let’s keep moving on with the Rogue One stuff.  Today we’ll be looking at…Kylo Ren?  Okay, I used my bad Terminator rip-off joke with the Poe set at the very beginning, so I can’t use it here.  Ummm…here’s Kylo Ren?

Kylo seems to be a rather polarizing character.  It seems that most either love him or despise him.  I fall into the first category, but can sort of understand people in the second.  I chalk my enjoyment of him up to his being perhaps the greatest onscreen portrayal of Dr Doom to date, in everything but name.  Anyway, Kylo’s gotten himself another figure, and I’m reviewing that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

kylounmasked2Kylo Ren is the last figure in the first set of Rogue One-based Star Wars: The Black Series figures (the set is technically Series 7 of the Force Awakens stuff, which explains his present here).  He’s figure #26, and he’s the highest numbered Black Series figure to date, which is cool I suppose.  This Kylo was previously available at this year’s Celebration event, with a couple of extra pieces not included here, but this is his first main retail release.  The figure is about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  For the most part, this figure is the same as last year’s #03 Kylo.  The only difference between the two is the head, which is unmasked this time around (as denoted by the figure’s name).  The head offers a pretty good likeness of actor Adam Driver, looking just as pouty as he should.  The head fits well on the body, and looks the part, so no complaints here.  The body is alright; I still have my issues with the cloth parts, but I’ve come to terms with them now.  As far as paint goes, most of the changes are once again on the head, which is handled pretty well, though his skin is really pale.  The only change to the body is on the gloves, which have been given a shiny finish here, which actually makes the figure look a little better.  The exclusive Kylo had a lot of extras, including a First Order flag, Vader’s helmet, and an extra helmeted head.  This figure lacks those.  All he gets is two versions of his lightsaber.  Instead of the removable blade version from the first figure (which was technically inaccurate), he gets one with a permanently affixed blade and one without.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I hadn’t initially planned on Kylo being one of my Rogue Friday purchases.  In fact, I passed him up at TRU’s midnight opening (well, initially, anyway.  Then he was gone by the time I got back).  However, when I picked up the Death Trooper, this guy was sitting there too, and I just kind of wanted him.  I’m actually quite glad I picked him up, because he makes a few nice changes to the prior Kylo, and is just a really fun figure all-around.

#1091: Imperial Death Trooper

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

IMPERIAL DEATH TROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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Picking up from yesterday’s intro, today marks the second of the two character designs to be featured in both the larger and smaller scale Rogue One lines from Hasbro.  To be fair to the Death Trooper, though, this is currently his only single-release figure, which certainly has some added appeal, doesn’t it?  Yeah, I’m sorry guys, I don’t have a lot of stuff I can say here, not having seen the movie and all.  Let’s just take a look at the figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

deathtrooper2The Imperial Death Trooper is part of the first set of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures, and he’s figure #25, making him the fourth figure in the set.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and has 27 points of articulation.  While he doesn’t quite have the range of K-2, the posablity on this guy is a marked improvement over the First Order Troopers we got last year, and he doesn’t feel like he compromises his look for movement either, like the original trooper did.  Right off the bat, this Death Trooper doesn’t feel quite as insanely skinny as his small-scale counterpart.  He’s still more svelte than the average figure, but in a more realistic and believable way, which I think makes his whole design just look a tad better.  The detailing on the armor is nice and sharp, and there are plenty of extra details not seen on the smaller figure.  Getting a closer look at the armor, the Death Trooper really does feel like it belongs somewhere between the clones and the Stormtroopers chronologically.  Now, whether it’s actually supposed to be in-between is another matter entirely, but I like the shared elements.  It makes him fit in very well.  I also like the Darth Vader-style belt, which, as small as it is, still really sells the time period these guys come from.  I’m still not 100% sold on these guys fitting into the Original Trilogy timeline, but we’ll see how the movie handles it.  The paint on the Death Trooper is actually pretty impressive, especially when compared to the rather low level of detailing on the smaller figure.  There’s a ton of great little accent work on the armor (including a very slight green tint to the lenses on the helmet), and there’s even  noticeable difference between the finish on the armor and the underlying bodysuit.  The Death Trooper includes a large, shotgun-style gun (same as the smaller figure), as well as a smaller blaster, which is actually one of the available pistols in the latest Battlefront game.  Both guns are pretty cool, though, like Cassian’s blaster, I do wish they had a little bit of paint on them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed the Death Trooper at the TRU midnight opening.  I made it a point to grab Jyn, Cassian, and K-2, but I moved onto the 3 3/4 inch figures before securing this guy, and by the time I got back, there were none of him left.  Fortunately, Target saved the day the following morning, placing him right at the front of the big display near the store’s entrance.  I wasn’t sure about the Death Trooper’s design at first, but the figure is definitely amongst the strongest in the initial assortment of products.

#1090: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

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In contrast to their output from The Force Awakens, Hasbro has mostly steered away from doubling up character/costume selection for The Black Series and their smaller scale lines for their first batch of products.  There are a handful of exceptions, such as today’s subject K-2SO.  Of course, in K-2’s case, it seems acceptable, seeing as it looks like he’s only got the one look for the movie, and he’s definitely set to be a fan-favorite.  Let’s see how his second figure turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2sobs2K-2SO is part of the first set of Rogue One-themed Star Wars: The Black Series figures.  He’s figure #2, which makes him the third figure in the set.  The figure is 7 1/2 inches tall (making him shorter than only Chewbacca in terms of the other figures in the line) and he has 31 points of articulation, which is just downright impressive.  Even more impressive is the general posability. Pretty much everywhere that the real K-2 has movement, so does this figure.  The range of movement is the best we’ve seen on a Black Series figure.  K-2’s really cool design has been very nicely translated into figure form here.  The smaller scale figure had quite an impressive sculpt, so this one definitely had a bar to clear in that respect.  I’m happy to say it cleared that bar with room to spare.  K-2 is incredibly well detailed, with lots pf sharp work on the various plates and pistons.  This figure offers us a really nice look at some of the cool little details his design features to tie him in with the rest of the Imperial designs, such as the “OII” that is seen on the backs of the Stormtroopers, and the torso’s overall similarities to the Snowtrooper chest piece.  It helps to make K-2 feel appropriately Original Trilogy in style, as well as selling the whole “reprogrammed Imperial droid” thing.  The downfall of many a Hasbro figure is lackluster or even just mediocre paint, but that’s not the case with K-2.  The majority of the figure is done in a nice, dark gunmetal grey with a flat finish, which looks very accurate to the film.  On top of that, he’s got the proper detail work for his eyes, the orange around his shoulders and hips, and the Imperial insignias on his shoulders.  The insignias are slightly worn off, which, along with the other small bits of silver here and there, gives him a nice worn-in look, which is especially appropriate for an OT-era character.  K-2 has no accessories.  Early prototype shots showed him with a Stormtrooper blaster, but that was dropped somewhere along the way.  Given the size and quality of this guy, he hardly feels lacking.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the figure I most wanted going into the Rogue Friday midnight opening, and as such was the very first figure I grabbed when I got into TRU (though a lot of that was due to the Black Series display being the closest to the door).  K-2 is hands down the best item to come out of the Rogue One launch.  In fact, he’s possibly the best figure to come out of The Black Series period.  Heck, he may well be one of Hasbro’s best overall offerings of all of their various licenses.  This is a figure everyone should own, even if you haven’t seen a single Star Wars movie.  He’s just really, really, really cool.

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