Tag Archives: Hasbro

#1087: Rebel Commando Pao & Imperial Death Trooper

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

REBEL COMMANDO PAO & IMPERIAL DEATH TROOPER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

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Today I’ll be wrapping up the 3 3/4 inch half of my Rogue Friday reviews.  On my plate today, I’ve got another weird new alien and another new Imperial Trooper.  Commando Pao doesn’t look like he’s going to be big part of the movie, but judging by the marketing, I think it’s safe to say the Imperial Death Troopers will be.  These guys have been on everything, including the top of all the small-scale figure packaging.  Which makes it a bit surprising that the only way to get them in the smaller line so far is via the two-pack I’m reviewing today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Pau and the Death Trooper are the last set in the first series of battle-packs from Hasbro’s smaller Star Wars: Rogue One line.

REBEL COMMANDO PAO

paudeathtrooper2As with a lot of the characters from this movie, not a whole lot is known about Pao.  According to his bio, he’s “an amphibious Drababta,” whatever that is.  Pao is one of the shorter figures in the line, standing about 3 1/2 inches tall.  He’s got the usual joints at the shoulders and hips, but in place of the usual neck joint, Pao gets a set of two joints that allow his mouth to open and close.  It’s actually pretty well designed, and it allows him to look up and down just a little bit too.  Pao’s sculpt is very nicely rendered, with lots of really great detail work, especially in the wrinkles on his jacket.  It’s also nice that they were able to work the mouth movement in without really messing up his face sculpt too bad. He looks to be pretty accurate to what we’ve seen of Pao so far.  Pao’s paintwork is quite nicely handled.  His color scheme is rather muted, and fits well with the other Rebels we’ve seen, as well as those from the original trilogy.  The application is pretty good for the scale, and the eyes are actually far better looking than most of Hasbro’s humans from this same line.  There’s some slight slop here and there, but nothing beyond what you’d expect in a mass produced toy at this scale.  Pao includes a backpack (which is very similar in design to the ones we see the Rebels wearing on Hoth in the second film), as well as a blaster rifle.

IMPERIAL DEATH TROOPER

paudeathtrooper3The Death Trooper is sort of a concept that’s been popping up since very early in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, going back to the Black Hole Troopers in the 1978 Star Wars newspaper strip, and has shown up as recently as Star Wars: Battlefront with the Shadow Troopers.  Simply put, it’s an elite subset of Stormtroopers denoted by their black armor.  The Death Trooper marks the first time this concept has been used in the “official” cannon, however, so that’s cool.  The Death Trooper stands a little over 4 inches tall and has the usual 5 points of articulation (though the right hip joint on my figure is stuck).  This is one of the taller figures in the line (with only K-2 and Moroff outpacing him), but he’s also one of the skinniest, which has been a point of contention for a lot of the fanbase.  Director Gareth Edwards has commented that he purposefully cast very tall, skinny actors for the parts of the Death Troopers, in order to give them a more menacing look.  That being said, this figure seems even skinnier than the images we’ve seen so far of the Death Troopers in the film, which makes him look a little comical.  He’s not awful or anything.  In fact, the detail work on the figure is rather impressive, especially on the helmet and the underlying bodysuit.  He just looks like he skipped a few lunches.  Or like he has the same metabolism as me.  The Death Trooper’s paint is fairly lax, with only s little bit of silver here and there and the two spots of green at the very front of his helmet.  It’s a good look, though, and everything has been applied pretty cleanly.  The Death Trooper includes his unique new blaster rifle, as well as another big missile launcher thing, which is particularly comical here, since he can’t really stand up with it on.  The clear green missiles are cool, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, so I didn’t get these guys at the TRU midnight opening, or even at Target the next morning.  I saw the set both times and just left it there.  Not sure why really.  I ended up coming across it again while running some errands at the end of the weekend, and I guess the third time was the charm.  I actually quite like this set, though, like the Moroff/Scarif Squad Leader set, it’s not for the reasons I though I’d like it initially.  I bought this for the Death Trooper, and he’s cool, but I think Pao is the real star here.  A lot of really strong work has been put into him, and he’s just a really fun figure.

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#1086: Imperial Ground Crew

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

IMPERIAL GROUND CREW

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

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It’s long been excepted that Star Wars toys will cover virtually every character to grace the screen (even ice cream maker guy), no matter how minor their role or how mundane their position.  With that in mind, you know those guys who stand out on airport runways with the illuminated cones and guide the planes in when it’s dark?  Well, today, I’m looking at the Star Wars equivalent.  Yes, it’s the Imperial Ground Crew, who I’m sure we all sort of knew existed, but never really thought they’d give any serious coverage to on screen.  But hey, here’s an action figure of them.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

groundcrewro2The Imperial Ground Crew figure is part of the first series of Star Wars: Rogue One small-scale figures, and is in fact the last of the figures in the series to be based on Rogue One (with the last three figures being based on Rebels and The Force Awakens.)  The figure stands about 3 1/2 (the same height as a certain main character released in this series.  I’ll touch on that in just a bit) and has the same 5 points of articulation as most of the line.  In terms of construction and build, the Ground Crew member is noticeably shorter and slighter in build than the other Imperial figures in the line, which seemed a bit odd to me at first.  However, a closer examination and comparison to the Series 1 Jyn figure revealed that she and this figure share a very similar body type.  So, I pulled up the teaser trailer and, sure enough, this figure is sporting the uniform we see Jyn wearing at the end, and the neck peg on this figure is even compatible with the Jyn figure I have (though, to be truly accurate, she shouldn’t have the hat/goggles).  Hasbro just recently showed off the prototype to a disguised Jyn figure that makes use of the same body as this figure.  That poses an interesting question: is this figure meant to be Jyn, or perhaps the specific Crew member Jyn steals her uniform from.  And, with that in mind, would the build of this figure indicate that we actually have a decidedly female trooper for the ranks?  That would certainly be cool if true, and would make Jyn’s infiltration in the film all the more believable.  Anyway, all that aside, the sculpt on this figure is pretty decently handled. The armor’s detailing looks similar to what we’ve seen of the uniform so far, and is also in keeping with pre-existing Imperial designs, which is certainly a good thing.  It’s also been pointed out that, for once, the groundcrewro3straight-armed nature of the less articulated figures actually works pretty well with a figure’s intended purpose, namely directing aircraft.  As far as paint goes, the Ground Crew figure is pretty good overall, but has one notable issue: the color of the jumpsuit.  Images we’ve seen from the movie show the whole thing to be a pretty consistent black, but here the jumpsuit is a dark grey instead.  It’s possible this is a case of what you see on screen vs. how it actually looks  in person (Han’s Hoth coat in ESB and the jumpsuits in Ghostbusters are good examples of this), in which case it’s not really Hasbro’s fault, since they would be working from the actual designs, not the final film.  On the plus side, there’s some pretty solid small detail work here, especially on the two Imperial logos.  The Ground Crew figure includes a pair of batons, which can be held or stowed on the figure’s back.  The figure also has a big goofy jetpack thing, but it’s worth noting that it’s actually a lot more fun than other gimmick accessories from the line.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like yesterday’s Stormtrooper, this figure comes from my second round of Rogue Friday purchases, and was mostly picked up so I’d be eligible for the promotion Target was running.  I actually didn’t think much of this figure at first, but after opening it up and messing with it a bit, I really like it.  Sure, it’s not as exciting a figure as, say, K-2, but it’s a solid addition to the line nonetheless.

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#1085: Imperial Stormtrooper

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

IMPERIAL STORMTROOPER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

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Sometimes, you just can’t beat the classics.  While the First Order and the Clone Troopers were perfectly fine designs, they were, at their core, just imitations of the original Imperial Stormtrooper.  After 15 years of revamps and redesigns, there is a certain sort of relief to getting to see the classic Stormtroopers back up on the big screen in Rogue One.  Of course, the actual troopers have never been far from toy shelves (though they were almost totally absent from all of the Force Awakens-related stuff), but now there’s even more excuse to see a whole slew of new Stormtrooper figures.  Let’s look at one of them today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

stormtrooperro2The Stormtrooper is another figure from the first series of basic 3 3/4 inch figures from the Star Wars: Rogue One line.  The figure is just shy of 4 inches tall and he has the usual 5 points of articulation.  Despite Hasbro having a number of previously existing classic Stormtroopers in this scale and style, this figure is an all-new sculpt.  This figure is based on the Rogue One design for the trooper, which I’ve heard from some Stormtrooper aficionados has some tweaks that differentiate it from the A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, but is more or less the same look (in fact, it’s just as similar to one of those movie’s armor designs as they are to each other).  Though this figure may have a more simplistic articulation scheme, the sculpt is certainly not simplistic.  The head in particular, appears to be the most faithful 3 3/4-inch re-creation of the Stormtrooper helmet that Hasbro has produced.  The details look pretty much perfect, and the sculpt is surprisingly sharp.  The body isn’t quite as amazing as the head, but it’s still pretty solid.  The details of the armor have been translated quite nicely.  They’re pretty sharply detailed, but just a touch softer than the helmet.  The proportions are pretty solid, and actually look fairly human, and the pose, while still just a straight up and down sort of pose, is more natural and relaxed than, say, yesterday’s Scarif Squad Leader.  The paint work on the Stormtrooper is okay, but not without a few small issues, mostly to do with small details being left unpainted.  While he avoids really obvious missed details (like the missing black for the shoulders on the Rebels Stormtrooper), he’s missing a few of the black details on the front of the torso, as well as the grey details on the back of the helmet.  On the plus side, what is there is pretty solidly handled, with the head in particular exhibiting some very clean detail work.  Also, the glossy finish of the armor is very much appreciated, and gives the figure a much more put together look.  The Stormtrooper includes a standard blaster, as well as a torso piece with a pauldron attached.  The piece clips over the figure’s torso, and the top portion pops off, revealing a blaster-damaged torso beneath.  Because it clips over the existing torso, it’s a bit on the bulky side, and it’s clearly designed more for play than display.  That being said, it’s not the worst thing ever, and it’s certainly preferable to another big missile launcher.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I did not actually get this figure in my first round of Rogue Friday purchases from TRU.  I had initially dismissed it as being nothing more than a simple re-release.  However, on my second round of purchases from Target Friday morning, I got a closer look at the figure, and noticed that it was a much nicer sculpt than I’d initially thought.  Since I was buying two of the Black Series figures and I wanted to take advantage of Target’s $10 off a $50 purchase, I figured he was worth the investment.  I’m very pleased with this figure, and I think it might be one of the best basic Stormtrooper figures ever produced!

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#1084: Moroff & Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader

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

MOROFF & SCARIF STORMTROOPER SQUAD LEADER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

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Well, I’m still without power here where I live, which makes getting these reviews written and posted more than a little difficult.  But have no fear dear readers, I’ve found a place where I have access to wifi, all just to write today’s review.  It’s all for you guys! Okay, no not really.

So, back to the Rogue One stuff!  I’ve looked at two of the more prominent characters from the movie (as well two characters not from the movie).  Today, I’ll be looking at one of the Empire’s faceless minions (with a new hat—I mean new armor!) alongside one of Rogue One’s new alien characters.  Yes, it’s Moroff and the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Moroff and the Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader are the second set from the first series of Battle Packs from the Star Wars: Rogue One line.  Unlike the last two-pack, these guys both hail from Rogue One.

MORFOFF

morofftrooper4Moroff (or is it THE Moroff?  I really don’t know yet.  The bio lacks any “the” so I’m guessing his name is just “Moroff”) is apparently muscle for hire, at least going by the bio.  That’s a pretty cool idea I suppose.  Given this is a VS pack, it would appear he’s sold his muscle to the heroes for the purposes of this story.  Wasn’t that nice of him?  His figure is about 4 3/4 inches tall (he’s just a smudge shorter than K-2) and he has 5 points of articulation (though the neck movement is practically non-existent).  Given what I’ve been able to find of Moroff online, the sculpt looks to be fairly accurate.  It’s certainly quite detailed, though the hair, like any sculpted hair, sort of has to be compromised.  He’s about on par with a Chewbacca figure in that respect.  In fact, he seems to share more than a few design elements with the Wookies, though whether there is any sort of connection is not evident at this point.  The coolest parts of the sculpt are definitely the tech-y parts.  The rebreather is a neat piece, and I’m curious to find out what the story is behind that.  Also, I really appreciate the heft on this guy; it helps him stand out from the rest of the released figures.  Moroff’s paintwork is okay, if not the best we’ve seen.  The large amounts of cream-colored plastic look a little cheesy.  There’s some slight brown at the base of the feet, which breaks it up a bit, but also looks sort of weird since it doesn’t match the rest of him.  Despite the slight goofiness of the main body, the various extra bits are all very nicely painted, and help breakup the cream coloring a little bit.  Moroff is the half of this set “blessed” with the missile launching apparatus.  It’s similar in design to the one that came with Poe, but obviously much larger.  It’s not terrible looking, and some of the shots we’ve seen of Moroff show that the actual backpack part of it is accurate to Moroff’s pack from the film, minus the actual blasters.  Since the “arms” can be removed, it doubles as an actual accessory.  Moroff also includes a large, non-missile launching blaster, which also looks to be movie accurate.

SCARIF STORMTROOPER SQUAD LEADER

morofftrooper3Wow, this guy’s got a long name, doesn’t he?  Guess the OT Imperials were a little jealous of the First Order’s really long names, and just had to catch up.  So, going by this guy’s bio, Scarif is where one of the Imperial’s top-secret HQ’s is located, which makes these guys something of an elite force, hence the fancy new armor design.  Yes, that’s why they look different.  It’s in no way so that there’s another Stormtrooper to sell toys of.  That’s the crazy talk.  It appears there are a few different Scarif Trooper designs in the movie, but this guy is based on the Squad Leader look, which adds some extra colors and gives him the little command skirt that the Clone Commanders were oh so fond of.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and has the usual 5 points of articulation.  He’s sporting an all-new sculpt, which looks to be a pretty close re-creation of the design from the movie (going by what we’ve seen so far).  It’s a good design, and it translates well into the smaller toy form.  Perhaps my only issue with this guy is the stiffness of his stance.  He looks very rigid, and it’s only made worse when you try to give him his gun, which he can’t even get close to holding like his illustrated counterpart from the packaging.  I don’t hate the lessened articulation inherently, but it might be nice if Hasbro started sculpting some of the troopers with their arms posed to accommodate holding their rifles properly, much like the later POTF2 figures.  As far as paint goes, the Scarif Trooper’s not bad.  He’s a little cleaner than his onscreen counterpart, but that’s consistent with the rest of the line.  The colors are nice and vibrant, which is always a nice thing to see.  The Trooper’s only accessory is his blaster rifle, which looks like a good match to the piece in the art on the package.  He’s a little lacking, but the Moroff’s extras make up for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another set I grabbed from TRU’s midnight opening.  I actually saw this set a few days before Rogue Friday at a nearby Walmart, but all the Rogue One products were street date locked, so I couldn’t buy them.  I liked the look of the Scarif Trooper, so this was one of the items I was on the look out for.  I actually didn’t know what to expect from this set initially.  I really wanted the trooper, but didn’t care all that much about Moroff.  After getting the set, the trooper’s still my favorite in terms of overall look, but the Moroff was a pleasant surprise.  They’re both solid figures, and I’m glad I got this set.

#1083: K-2SO

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

K-2SO

STAR WARS:ROGUE ONE

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Hey guys! So, I’m currently sitting in my powerless apartment writing this review, courtesy of hurricane Matthew. I’ve actually written this review out usin g paper and pencil, so, you know, old school! If I’m very lucky, my power might be restored by the time this is published, but probably not. Oh well.
Moving past that, let’s get back to the Star Wars figures! Today, I’ll be looking at Rogue One’s most intriguing character (to me, anyway), the repurposed Imperial Security Droid turned hero, K-2SO!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

k2sosmall2Like yesterday’s Jyn Erso figure, K-2 is from the first series of smaller-scale Star Wars: Rogue One figures. As far as I know, K-2 just has the one look in the movie, and that’s the look seen here. The figure stands 4 ¾ inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. It’s worth noting that not only does K-2 have an extra point of articulation (there’s a ball-joint at the base of his neck AND the base of his head), he also gets ball-joints for all of his joints, giving him some of the best mobility in the line. The only downside is he’s a little hard to keep standing, but he’s certainly workable. K-2’s sculpt is certainly a very strong one. He has no actor’s likeness, but the likeness of the character is certainly there. His design has been captured very well here (even if the non-functioning joints on the arms and legs are annoying). All of the sculpted details are nice and crisp, and he just looks like he’s supposed to. The paintwork on this figure is also pretty good, especially given the scale. While some of the details such as weathering have been removed or dialed back, there’s still plenty of really top notch work here, and there aren’t any details that have gone completely unpainted. K-2’s only accessory is his big, goofy grapple-thingy, which I feel fairly certain is not an authentic extra from the movie. At least it matches him stylistically, I guess.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

K-2 is one character that I knew that I wanted going into Rogue Friday. I love Alan Tudyk, I love robots, and this guy in particular has a pretty sweet looking design. This was the first of the smaller figures that I grabbed from TRU’s display, and I was very happy to get him. He’s probably the best basic figure Hasbro’s produced since they switched to the lowered articulation.

#1082: Jyn Erso – Eadu

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

JYN ERSO – EADU

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE

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Okay, so yesterday was technically the start of my Rogue One coverage, but the two figures covered there were both from The Force Awakens, so there wasn’t really a lot of new ground covered (especially since I’d already looked at both characters before).  Today, we really get started with the Rogue One stuff, kicking it off with one of the figures of the film’s main character, Jyn Erso, self-declared rebel.  In what is undoubtedly an attempt to avoid another #wheresrey type of controversy, Hasbro has made sure to get all manner of Jyn products out right out of the gate, with even more in the pipeline for later release.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

jyneadu2Jyn is part of the first series of Star Wars: Rogue One 3 3/4-inch figures.  She is one of the three Jyn figures Hasbro put out on Rogue Friday.  From what we’ve seen in trailers for the film, Jyn has several distinct looks over the course of the film.  This figure is based on her Eadu look.  It says so on the package.  Presumably, Eadu is one of the planets that Jyn and her team travel to.  It’s not a look we’ve seen a lot of in the trailers, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see more of it in the movie. The garb she’s wearing here looks somewhat similar to the Endor gear from Jedi, so it’s consistent with he time period she’s supposed to be a part of.  The figure is just over 3 1/2 inches tall and she has 7 points of articulation.  I know, a whole two extra points of articulation!  It’s a Christmas miracle!  The extra movement is placed at her wrists, and very well hidden.  I almost didn’t realize it was there.  Jyn’s sculpt is about on par with the output from TFA, which is to say she’s very well proportioned and has a lot of fun little details.  The hat is a permanently attached piece, which isn’t a shock at this scale.  That might be more annoying were we not getting a whole slew of Jyn figures, but it’s acceptable in this case.  It’s hard to really say whether she looks like Felicity Jones, given just how small the head is, but she doesn’t look UNlike Jones, so I guess that’s good.  The main poncho piece is a separate piece of softer plastic, which has been glued in place (so it’s not coming off).  She’s sporting a breathing mask just like the ones used by Han, Leia, and Chewy in Empire.  It’s mostly just there as an extra bit of detail, but I guess you can get her to wear it if you want.  It’s a cool piece, but the tank part of it is glued to the poncho, right under her left arm, which means her arm is permanently stuck out just a bit.  All in all, not a bad sculpt, though.  The paintwork here is decent, and once again about on par with the TFA line.  She’s rather on the dull side, colorwise, but that’s accurate to what we’ve seen from the source material.  The eyes are a bit high-set, but other than that, the placement looks pretty good.  Jyn is packed with a blaster pistol, which she can either hold or place in her holster.  She also includes a large missile launcher, because, hey, Hasbro.  This one’s actually not terrible, and it’s certainly better than the build-a-thingies included with TFA figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like Poe and the Snowtrooper, Jyn came from my trip to TRU’s midnight opening.  I wasn’t exactly sure which versions of Jyn we’d be seeing, but seeing as this was the only small-scale Jyn available, this was the one I got.  I actually like this look quite a bit, and though the figure isn’t perfect, she’s still pretty cool.  And, even if the movie totally blows, she’s still a pretty cool Rebel trooper, which I can certainly get behind.

#1081: Poe Dameron & First Order Snowtrooper Officer

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

POE DAMERON & FIRST ORDER SNOWTROOPER OFFICER

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE (HASBRO)

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Last Friday was Rogue Friday, Hasbro’s second attempt at the whole “Force Friday” thing they tried last year.  It marked the official launch of all of the Rogue One-related products.  However, in light of the fiasco that was last year’s Force Friday event, most stores decided to forego the midnight opening event, with only Toys R Us participating.  Super Awesome Girlfriend and I headed over to the closest TRU last Thursday night, and I picked up an assortment of Rogue One products.  Today I’ll be looking that the first of the bunch, Poe Dameron and the First Order Snowtrooper Officer.  Why are Poe and a First Order Snowtrooper in the Rogue One line?  Well, it’s because it’s been a well-kept secret of Rogue One actually involves the Snowtrooper Officer being sent back in time to kill Jyn Erso and prevent the birth of Resistance fighter Rey.  The only hope of stopping him was the Resistance’s own Poe Dameron, sent back to protect her.

Wait. Sorry, that’s actually the plot of Terminator.  My mistake.  Right.  Yeah, Poe and the Snowtrooper are just here because TFA product is still being released under the Rogue One banner, as is the case with most new Star Wars lines!  I doubt Poe’s really going to be in the movie.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Poe and the Snowtrooper Officer are one of the three 2-packs in the first Battle-Packs assortment in the Rogue One line.  Each line has one or two Force Awakens products peppered in and these two are that portion of the Battle-Packs.

POE DAMERON

snowtrooperpoe2I kinda love Poe Dameron.  He’s easily my favorite part of TFA.  So, I was pretty happy to see another Poe pop up with all the new figures.  Of the three new main characters, Poe ended up with the most distinct looks.  So far, we’ve gotten his jacketed look from the beginning of the film and his pilot look from later.  The only one missing is his dress uniform from the very end of the film, which is the look this figure replicates.  It’s admittedly a somewhat obscure look, since it’s really only seen in the one shot, but it’s cool to get it nonetheless.  The figure stands a little under 4 inches tall and he has the basic 5-points of articulation that everyone should be accustomed to with these new Star Wars figures.  Poe gets an all-new sculpt.  That means we get yet another attempt at Oscar Isaac’s likeness for the head.  It’s still not perfect, but I think this is the best version we’ve gotten from Hasbro yet.  The rest of the body does a good job of snowtrooperpoe5translating the uniform we see on screen into action figure form, at least from the few reference shots I’ve been able to find (seriously, this is a short-lived look).  One thing I do really like is that, even with it being a totally new sculpt, the pants and boots here are clearly the same ones on the jacketed figure.  That’s consistency!  The paint on this guy is alright, but not without issue.  Sadly, most of those issues are on the head (again), mostly dealing with the hairline (again).  It’s far from the worst paint I’ve seen from Hasbro, but it could definitely be better. On the plus side, at least he’s not as pale as some of the prior Poe figures!  The paint on the body is pretty solid, as well, which is good.  Poe includes a blaster pistol (the same as the one that came with his X-Wing pilot figure).  He is also the figure in this set who gets the big honking missile launcher.  Because Hasbro.

FIRST ORDER SNOWTROOPER OFFICER

snowtrooperpoe3Befitting the “VS” nature of the new two-packs, Poe’s pack-mate is a First Order Snowtrooper Officer.  He’s pretty much the same figure as the First Order Snowtrooper (reviewed here), but with an added shoulder pauldron.  That means he’s still about 4 inches tall and has those same 5 points of articulation as everyone else.  The Snowtrooper wasn’t a bad figure, but I’ve never been super into the Snowtroopers in general, so getting yet another isn’t exactly blowing my mind.  Seeing as Poe’s a pilot, wouldn’t a Tie Pilot be more appropriate?  I don’t know.  This guy has the same accessories as his predecessor, a blaster with an extended stock and a back pack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, as noted in the intro, these guys came from Toys R Us’s midnight event for Rogue Friday.  Last year’s event was kind of a bust, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect this time around, and only even decided to participate a day or so in advance.  Super Awesome Girlfriend and I showed up at the closest TRU at about 11:30 last Thursday night, and we were only the third people in line.  I had a very pleasant conversation with the two guys in front of me (both older fans who were amused that someone my age was out for such an event).  At 12:01, the doors opened, I made my way to the action figure aisle, and picked up most of the figures I wanted, this set included.  I even got a free t-shirt!  A hugely improved experience over last year.

As far as the actual figures?  Well, the Snowtrooper’s kind of blah, but I like the new Poe figure a lot.  He might actually be my favorite of the smaller Poe’s we’ve gotten, even if he is in his briefly seen outfit from the end.  Silver lining: now my TFA Leia isn’t all lonely in her final scene outfit!

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#1077: Deadpool

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

DEADPOOL

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

deadpoolhas2

Just a few weeks ago, I took a look at most of the latest set of X-Men-themed Marvel Legends.  I got all of the figures necessary to complete the build-a-figure, but there was still one more figure I didn’t have at the time, so he didn’t get reviewed.  But now I’ve got the figure, so why not give it a review?

It’s worth noting that I run hot and cold with Deadpool.  I was never really into him in the ‘90s, since he was still sort of being formed at the time.  I had a few of his figures from the old X-Force line, and they were cool and all.  I was actually pretty into the character around the time of Ultimate Alliance (where he was one of my favorite characters to play), and picked up a couple of his comic book runs over the years. Then he sort of did the Wolverine thing and became really really popular really really fast, and certain parts of the character got more exaggerated, and they happened to be the parts I was a little less fond of.  But, you can’t deny he’s a popular guy, and his latest Legend seems somewhat over due.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

deadpoolhas3Deadpool is the last figure in the Juggernaut series of Marvel Legends. He’s the only figure in the set not to include a piece of the unstoppable guy, which was probably a good idea, since it allows Deadpool fans to buy just the one figure without getting the random piece and it allows fans wanting to complete Juggernaut to not have to worry about tracking down what is undoubtedly the most popular figure in the series.  Deadpool has sported more or less the same design for most of his 25-year career, but there have been a number of minor changes here and there over the years.  This figure is based on the character’s most recent Marvel Now! look.  It’s a pretty good design, offering fans without prior Deadpool figures a basic Deadpool, while also offering something new for the older collectors.  The figure is 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 deadpoolhas4points of articulation.  Wade is built on the Bucky Cap body, which is a good fit for him.  He has a unique head, forearms, hands, shins and feet, as well as add-ons for his harness, belt, and thigh holster.  The new pieces blend well with the base body, and they offer a lot of really fun character-specific elements, from the slightly askew eyes, to the pinky-out trigger finger.  Clearly a lot of fun was had sculpting this guy.  Though he’s built on one of the most common base-bodies in the Hasbro stock, he actually feels incredibly unique.  Deadpool’s paintwork is pretty standard Legends faire, but it’s worth noting that, like the rest of this series, the application is a lot cleaner than some of Hasbro’s prior attempts.  Hands down, the best thing about this figure is the accessory selection.  Since he doesn’t have a B-a-F piece, Hasbro’s made sure to pack him with a full arsenal, which includes two pistols, a large machine gun, a smaller machine gun, two katanas, a knife, and a rocket launcher (with a boxing glove at the end, because why not).  He also includes an extra unmasked head, and most amusingly, a taco.  Combine that with Spider-Man’s pizza, and the Legends are starting to get some nice food options.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had sort of resigned not to find this guy, since he was the most sought after figure in an already very sought after set of figures, and I didn’t need him to finish Juggernaut.  After finding Rogue and writing all of the reviews, I figured I was done with this series.  A couple days after the Juggernaut review went live, I was moving into my new apartment, and my parents had stopped by a nearby Walmart to pick up a few necessities.  When they arrived at the apartment, this guy was also in the bag, which was a nice pleasant surprise.  Despite my mixed feelings about the current state of the character, this is a really awesome figure, and caps off what is perhaps the best series of Hasbro’s run with Legends, if not the best series of Legends period.

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#1075: Grand Slam

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

GRAND SLAM

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6

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GI Joe as a franchise has always been subject to change.  Despite being the creators of the action figure market, Hasbro has spent the better part of their 50+ years with the franchise playing catch-up to the rest of the industry.  In the early 00s, anime was hitting pretty big with the hip kids in the US, and Hasbro tried to cash in on that fad via Sigma 6, an anime-styled retooling of the Real American Hero incarnation of the line.  Though the line initially started out rather focused on a small selection of characters, towards its end, many of the old mainstays from the ‘80s line were added to expand the line-up a bit.  One such character was Grand Slam, one of the earliest Joes in the ‘80s line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

grandslam2Grand Slam was released in the first 2007 Commando wave of GI Joe: Sigma 6.  Though the figures up to this point had been based on the corresponding Sigma 6 cartoon, Grand Slam was a design totally original to the toy line (it’s possible he was set to appear later in the cartoon, prior to its cancellation).  The figure is about 8 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Grand Slam was deliberately introduced into the line with the intent of re-using the already existing Heavy Duty molds, so the fact that he uses a lot of HD’s parts isn’t a huge surprise.  He uses the torso, arms, hands, and boots from HD. Those parts were cool the first time around, and they were still cool here, if rather on the stylized side.  The flip-up comm link still remains one of my favorite features from this line.  Grand Slam also gets his own head and leg sculpts. The head is, obviously, there to make it clear he’s a new character (though that would become less and less common on new characters as the line continued).  It’s somewhat generic, but works reasonably well for Grad Slam, and it’s well-fitted to the body.  The legs are the result of a change in style as the line progressed.  Initially figures made use of cloth parts for things like coats, vests, and even pants.  By the time Grand Slam came along, Hasbro had started aiming for more conventional action figure sculpts, so Grand Slam’s pants are sculpted rather than tailored.  This does the figure a lot of favors, in my opinion.  Not only does it differentiate him a bit more from HD, but it also allows his look to be a bit more consistent, stylistically.  Plus, they’ve got a lot of really great detail worked into them, which adds a bit more character to what could be an otherwise rather generic figure.    The paintwork on this guy is fairly decent, if not anything particularly outstanding.  By this point, the line had mostly given up on the wacky bright colors, so Grand Slam sticks to mostly drab greens and browns.  It’s not thrilling, but it’s still rather appealing.  As a Commando figure, Grand Slam originally included a whole bunch of extras, the only of which I actually have is his set of metal dog tags.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was initially very excited by the change to Sigma 6, but fairly quickly lost interest because of how difficult it was to find many of the figures.  Grand Slam was released a good ways after I’d stopped collecting the line, so I didn’t get him at retail.  I actually found him just a couple of months ago at the 2nd Avenue near where I live.  He was only a few bucks and was just laying there sans accessories, so I figured why not? He’s a pretty cool figure, actually, and I’m glad I picked him up.  He actually did a bit to reinvigorate my interest in my Sigma 6 figures.  Which may not be the best thing…

#1070: Sam Wilson – Captain America, Vision, & Kate Bishop – Hawkeye

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

SAM WILSON – CAPTAIN AMERICA, VISION, & KATE BISHOP – HAWKEYE

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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Wow, Hasbro sure is swamping us with Marvel Legends, aren’t they?  After a fair delay, the Giant-Man Series finally hit just about everywhere, very closely trailed by the Juggernaut Series.  The Abomination and Dr Strange series are also starting to hit in some areas as well. On top of that, there have been a number of exclusive items, with Walgreens getting two figures right on top of each other, and Walmart getting a pair of exclusives (that I still need to find).  There have also been two boxed sets: the Civil War Spider-Man set (which had a movie Spidey alongside re-decoed versions of Cap and Iron Man), and a set containing Sam Wilson as Cap, Kate Bishop as Hawkeye, and Vision…as Vision!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This trio is exclusive to Toys R Us and is loosely themed around looks from the post-Axis Marvel Now! stuff.  Sam and Kate both follow a firm legacy heroes theme, which kind of makes Vision stick out a bit.  Of course, flip-side, Sam and Vision are both part of the main Avengers line-up, and Kate isn’t.  So, exactly who’s left out is really up to you.

SAM WILSON – CAPTAIN AMERICA

falccapviskateguy5We’ve gotten him in both Minimate and 3 3/4-inch form, so it was about time we got a FalCap Marvel Legend.  Bonus points for being the first Sam Wilson Legend since the Toy Biz run!  The figure is about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, he shares several pieces with 2014’s Marvel Now! Cap figure.  He has the arms, legs, and pelvis from that figure, along with an all-new head, torso, belt, and shoulders.  The Now! Cap parts aren’t a perfect match for FalCap’s design, but they’re close enough to work without too much trouble.  The new pieces match up well with the older parts, and are pretty decent sculpts on their own terms as well.  I wasn’t 100% sold on the head sculpt at first glance (as with so many of Hasbro’s Cap sculpts, I think it looks a little too mean for the character), but after having it in hand, I actually don’t mind it.  His hair seems a little closer cropped than his usual comics appearance, but it’s not like it’s completely wrong or anything.  All in all, it’s one of those sculpts that has some minor flaws here and there, but looks a lot better as a whole, which is what really matters.  The paintwork on FalCap is pretty solid. The shades on the colors are a bit more subdued than those on Now! Cap, which is fair, since he was probably a little too bright.  These colors look about right for Sam’s comics design, and still have enough vibrance to give him some pop.  The application of said paint is decent enough, though there’s still a bit of slop, especially on the switches from blue to white.  He could be a little better, but he could also could be far worse.  FalCap includes his mighty shield, which is all well and good, but what he doesn’t include are his wings.  Sure, he doesn’t always have them, but he does most of the time, and their omission here is a bit glaring.

VISION

falccapviskateguy3Vision’s a popular guy!  This is his third Legend in the last year, and the second time he’s been in one of these exclusive three-packs.  This time around, he’s based on his Daniel Acura-designed look from the latter half of Remender’s Uncanny Avengers run, which also happens to be the costume he’s wearing currently.  If I’m honest, it feels a little over designed, though, and I miss the yellow.  Also, the red bits make it look like he’s running around half naked.   That said, I like it a bit better then his first Now! look.  The figure is about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Bucky Cap body, with a new head and an add-on for the cape.  I was a bit disappointed with the last Vision head sculpt, so I’m happy they didn’t re-use it a third time here. This may well be my favorite Legends Vision sculpt.  It just captures the character quite nicely, and is very sharply defined features.  The cape is kind of an awkward design, but it’s been translated into three dimensions well enough.  It’s definitely a better attempt at a cape than the one Hasbro was using before (which, judging by all the currently shown figures, has been justly retired from the line).  Paint is the one real downside to this guy.  Of the three figures included in this set, this guy definitely has the sloppiest paint in the bunch.  It’s just all over the place.  I mean, he looks okay from a normal viewing distance, but up close he’s got a lot of rough edges, and there’s a few spots where the paint doesn’t really follow the sculpt very well.  That being said, the colors are at least nice and vibrant, and he stands out quite nicely on the the shelf.  Vision doesn’t get any accessories, but I can’t really think of what you’d give him, so that’s okay.

KATE BISHOP –  HAWKEYE

falccapviskateguy2At long last, Kate Bishop makes her way into the action figure world!  It took them long enough, since the rest of her Young Avengers teammates were released way back in 2006.  Of course, this costume doesn’t technically match the rest of them, and we still don’t have Cassie Lang, but let’s not kick the gift horse in the mouth here.  Kate here is sporting her more recent, jumpsuit look from the pages of the last two Hawkeye series.  It’s not a bad look (and it makes me feel a little bad that I never got one of the Now! Hawkeye figures), and it’s the one she’s been wearing for the last several years.  The figure is about 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  She’s built on the Phoenix body, which is definitely a good one.  It works pretty well for Kate, especially since this is the slightly more grown-up version of Kate from the last few years.  She gets a new head and lower legs, which blend well with the rest of the body.  The head does a very good job of capturing Kate, and possesses a lot more personality than is usually seen on female figures.  Kate also got a new left hand for gripping her bow, which is cool.  She has to make due with the basic open gesture right hand to be her drawing hand, which isn’t perfect, but isn’t as bad as you might think.  She also gets an add-on piece for her belt and quiver, which sits very nicely, and does a great job of completing her look.  Kate ends up with the best paintwork of the three figures in this set (which is nice, since it’s her debut figure and all).  It’s still not 100% perfect, but it’s pretty close.  Kate is packed with her bow, which is the same one included with the last few Hawkeyes, but with proper paint this time around.  Some arrows might have been nice, but the lack of them isn’t new to this figure, so it’s not hugely surprising.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these guys up from my local TRU last month.  I was actually searching (unsuccessfully) for the Juggernaut series at the time, so these guys were a little bit of a surprise.  This is a set I’ve been eagerly awaiting, ever since it’s announcement.  Kate is the main draw, of course, since she’s never had a figure before, and I’m a pretty big Young Avengers fan.  She’s the strongest figure in the set, too, making her the   real star here.  That being said, FalCap was somewhat overdue, the new Vision is much appreciated, and both figures are both really solid additions to the line.  Unlike prior sets, all three figures included here are real winners, and I don’t think any of the three feels like a forced heavy hitter.

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