Tag Archives: Hasbro

#1018: Nuke

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

MARVEL’S NUKE

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

Nuke1

Alright, it’s the penultimate day of Giant-Man week. Today’s kind of the “meh” day if I’m being totally honest, especially since yesterday was Black Panther. The focus figure is Nuke, who’s actually a Daredevil villain, created by Frank Miller. He’s sort of been in the spotlight recently (though not as Nuke) thanks to Netflix’s Jessica Jones, where he served as a recurring character. And now he’s got an action figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nuke2Nuke (or “Marvel’s Nuke,” as the package bills him) is figure 4 in the Giant-Man Series of Marvel Legends. He’s the final comic based figure, and perhaps the one with the most tenuous ties to Captain America. I think he’s fought Cap once or twice. He’s a failed attempt at recreating Cap’s super soldier serum, but who in the Marvel universe isn’t? (Seriously, if they’re not a mutant, good money says they’re a failed attempt to recreate Cap). The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Nuke uses the Hyperion body as a starting point, but that’s really just the upper body.  He has an all-new lower half, which is wearing some loose fitting pants and a pair of combat boots. He also has a new head sculpt, and an add-on piece for his vest. I don’t hate the Hyperion body, but it isn’t without fault, and those faults are becoming more apparent as new bodies are introduced. The new parts work pretty well, though I can’t say the head is one of my favorites. He seems to have been a victim of “Hasbro face” (where the male figures all look the same), which is a little bit of a bummer. At the very least, I’d say the eyes are a bit wide set. Definitely not one of my favorite sculpts as of late. The paintwork on Nuke is pretty basic color work, with no real accenting or anything. It’s fairly decent work, but it makes him look a little gummy. I don’t know what it is in particular that does that, but there it is. At the very least, the application’s clean.  Nuke includes an extra head based on some of his more recent appearances. It’s bald and battle-damage, and reveals his underlying robotic skull. He also has a weird sci-fi rifle that’s been done up in a patriotic paint scheme, and a rather large knife. The extra head’s kind of fun, but I wish he could hold the gun a bit more naturally. The figure also includes Giant-Man’s torso, which is a bit amusing, since Nuke, the largest figure in the series, ends up with the largest figure in the set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nuke has never been a particular favorite of mine, so I wasn’t particularly enamored with this figure in the first place. I ended up finding him at TRU (at the same time as Panther and Fury), and bought him solely for the Giant-Man piece. Having bought him, I can’t say my opinion of the figure or the character has really changed. He’s an alright figure, but if you aren’t a fan of the character, I can’t see this changing your mind.

#1017: Black Panther

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

BLACK PANTHER

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

PantherCW1

We’re now four days into Giant-Man week. Today, we’ll be looking at my favorite figure from the set. Oops. Spoilers? Ah, you’ll get over it.

Anyway, Black Panther was by far the coolest thing to come out of Civil War (which is saying a lot, because Civil War had *a lot* of cool things in it). As of yet, merchandise of him has been a little difficult to find. I’ve looked at Hasbro’s smaller figure and the Minimate, both of which were pretty cool, but still left me wanting just a little bit more. My most anticipated Panther figure was the Marvel Legends version. It’s been a bit of a wait, but he’s finally here! Does he live up to the expectations? Well, duh.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PantherCW2Black Panther is figure 3 in the Giant-Man Series of Marvel Legends. He’s the third of the three Captain America: Civil War-based figures from the series (not counting the build-a-figure, of course). Of course, Panther ended up with one of the most faithful costume translations in all of the Marvel movies, so there’s no reason this guy couldn’t pass for a comic Panther too. The figure stands 6 ¼ inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. Like the Mark 46, Black Panther sports a completely new sculpt, and an impressive one at that. Not only is his musculature nicely proportioned and balanced, but he’s also a pretty much perfect match for Panther’s build from the movie. On top of that, ever bit of this guy is covered in sculpted texture. Panther’s suit looks like it’s made from an actual woven material, which at this scale is immensely impressive. Even the hands are well done, offering a cool claw bearing pose that works really nicely with the figure’s articulation. The sculpt also manages to work in all of the articulation in a way that disrupts the sculpt as little as possible, which is greatly appreciated.  Panther’s paintwork is rather on the minimalistic side, but what’s there is quite sharp, which is good, because imperfections in the paint would be rather obvious due to the highly contrasting natures of the colors. This is one of those times where less is more with the paint, because the lack of superfluous painted details allows the finer parts of the sculpt to really shine. Panther includes an unmasked T’Challa head, which has pretty nice likeness of Chadwick Boseman. Oddly, the head lacks his slight bit of facial hair. The Minimate has this same issue, so it’s possible that he was clean shaven in early shots. Panther also includes the left leg of Giant-Man. I wouldn’t have minded some extra hands as well, but the extra head is certainly a cool extra.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Panther is the figure I’ve been most looking forward to in this set. I’m not alone in this, however, causing him to be the most difficult figure to find by far. Fortunately for me, my local TRU got in a case of this series right before my birthday, when I just so happened to stop by. Panther ended up being bought for me by my boy Tim. This figure not only lives up to my expectations, it actually manages to exceed them. The sculpt is great, the movement is great, and even the paint is pretty great. Hasbro really upped their ante on this guy. Let’s hope they can keep it up!

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#1016: Nick Fury

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

NICK FURY

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

NickFuryMLS1

Alright, let’s keep moving steadily through Giant-Man week. Today, we go back to the comics side of things with Nick Fury. Though the general public is familiar with Samuel L Jackson’s performance from the MCU movies, Fury spent the first 38 years of his existence as a middle-aged white guy (he was also once played by David Hasslehoff, but the less said about that, the better). The SLJ Fury has gotten a couple of Marvel Legends figures from Hasbro, but it’s been a fair while since we’ve seen a figure of the original Nick. Fortunately, Nick’s one of the figures in the latest round of Marvel Legends. On to the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

NickFuryMLS3Nick Fury is figure 5 in the Giant-Man Series of Marvel Legends. He’s the second of the three comic-based figures in the set. He’s a slightly odd choice, since Fury isn’t much of a player in either the comic or movie Civil War stories, but it’s not like Nick’s exactly an off-the-wall choice. The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Fury is seen here in his classic SHIELD uniform. It’s a slightly more recent incarnation of the uniform (the color of the boots gives it away) but the changes are minimal enough that this Nick could really fit in just about anywhere. He’s built on the Bucky Cap body, which is a pretty good fit for the character. He’s got a new head, as well as add-ons for the shoulder holster, belt, glove cuffs, and thigh strap. This Fury’s head seems to go more for suave super-spy over the Toy Biz Fury’s grizzled old warrior. While I don’t mind it, and I think it may be one of Hasbro’s nicer unmasked heads, I can’t help but miss some of the character from that old sculpt. Comparing the two bodies is no contest, though: Bucky Cap is a huge improvement over the old Namor body, and all of the add-ons look really nice. It’s too bad we’re back to a permanently attached gun on the shoulder holster, but I won’t deny it looks better that way. The paintwork on Nick is all pretty solid. They’ve gone for the solid patch of grey method of handling his 5 o’clock shadow, but it doesn’t look atrocious on this figure. I quite like the SHIELD logos on the shoulders, and I really appreciate the accent work on the white parts of the uniform. Definitely some solid work from Hasbro here. Nick includes two spare heads. The first is a fully helmeted one, allowing for him to double as a generic SHIELD agent, which is much appreciated. The second (and more fun) head is Dirk Anger, Director of H.A.T.E., the Fury parody from Nextwave. Technically, Dirk should have a different uniform, but seeing as this is probably the only way he was ever going to make it into figure form, I’m hardly going to split hairs. Nick also includes a pistol (which can be holstered on his thigh) as well as the left arm of Giant-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Remember what I said in my Red Guardian review about how finding these guys in stores was happening with increasing frequency? Well, it applies here. I was out with Super Awesome Girlfriend and Tim for my birthday, and we stopped by my local TRU, which had apparently just put out a case of the Giant-Man series. Super Awesome Girlfriend insisted on getting this one for me, so here he is. I can’t say a re-done Nick was high on my wants list, but this guy turned out pretty well. Add in the Dirk Anger head, and I’d definitely call this guy a winner!

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#1015: Iron Man Mark 46

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

IRON MAN MARK 46

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

IMMk461

Giant-Man week continues! Yesterday was a slightly more obscure character. Today’s review goes the other direction, with a character that everyone and their mother knows. Yes, it’s Iron Man! You can’t go too many series of Marvel Legends without another Iron Man! There might be, like, riots or something. This figure in particular is based on his turn as an antagonist (but NOT a villain, because there’s a difference) in this summer’s Captain America: Civil War. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IMMk462Iron Man Mark 46 is figure 2 in the Giant-Man series of Marvel Legends. He’s the second of the three Civil War-based figures in this set, which is pretty sensible. The figure stands about 6 ½ inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation. Iron Man has an all-new sculpt, which makes this the first Iron Man since the switch-over to Infinite Series to get one. It’s quite nicely handled. All the details seem to match up pretty well to the armor from the movie. What I really like about it is the bulk to it, which makes him pretty convincingly a guy in a suit in armor. That’s nice, because a lot of Iron Man figures don’t quite manage that. The only slight downside to the size is that it makes the already small Captain America look even smaller. But, that’s hardly this figure’s fault. All-in-all a solid sculpt, though. The paintwork on the Mark 46 is actually quite nice. Recently, Hasbro’s Iron Men have been missing some of the painted details on their backs, which is a little frustrating. However, this guy isn’t plagued by this same issue, as he has all of the proper detailing he should. The application could be a little cleaner, but it’s above the usual quality we see from Hasbro. Yay Hasbro! Iron Man was packed with two pairs of hands in both open and closed poses. The open hands also include a pair of removable repulsor blasts (which can also be plugged into the feet, which quite cool) which are a very welcome addition to Hasbro’s Iron Man arsenal. Lastly, he includes the right arm of Giant-Man, which I’ll cover with the rest of figure later this week.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I found this guy twice before actually buying him. The reason for skipping those two was NOT because I didn’t want the figure. Nope, it was because both of those figures had their build-a-figure piece stolen out of the package by some scumbag. Bleh. Fortunately, my Dad came across this guy at the Walmart right outside of the town where my family vacations. Despite having quite a few Iron Men already, I was actually quite looking forward to this guy. The new sculpt and the extra repulsor pieces make him a definite win. He’s easily Hasbro’s best movie Iron Man.

IMMk463

#1014: Red Guardian

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

RED GUARDIAN

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

RedGuardian1

“In Soviet Russia, Shield throws you!”

Oh great, six words into the review, and I’m already stereotyping. This can’t be a good sign. So, today is the first day of “Giant-Man Week”. A few weeks back, I looked at the first figure from this series, Captain America. Today, I’ll be looking at Red Guardian. If my opening quote hadn’t clued you in, Red Guardian is the Soviet equivalent to Captain America. This is the Red Guardian’s second time as an action figure, though it’s his first time as a Marvel Legend. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RedGuardian2Red Guardian is figure 6 in the Giant-Man series of Marvel Legends. He’s based on Alexei Shostakov, the original Red Guardian and he’s one of the three comic-based figures from the series, though, as a Captain America villain who was once married to Black Widow, he’s the comic figure with the closest ties to the Captain America: Civil War theme. The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Red Guardian is built on the Grim Reaper body, which is one of Hasbro’s new favorites. The size and musculature are a good fit, so it’s good to see Hasbro’s taking advantage of the new piece. Specifically, he’s a new head on the variation of that body used for the Red Onslaught series’ Classic Cap figure. The re-use is sensible, since Red Guardian is purposefully similar to Cap in design.  Technically, the belt should be circular, but that’s really a minor nit, and with a character like Red Guardian, most people won’t even notice. The new head fits the body well and suitably transitions the look to Red Guardian. I could see an argument that the head’s too big, but I don’t mind. The paintwork on Red Guardian isn’t bad, but I wish they’d fully committed to some of the detailing choices.  He has a nice, subtle shading on his head and upper torso, reminiscent of the creative inking usually seen on Captain America in the ‘60s and ‘70s, which looks really cool. Unfortunately it stops rather abruptly at the shoulders and lower torso, which kind of kills the look. I like what we got, but I wish they’d at least eased in out bit more. The whited out eyes are an interesting choice, seeing as Alexei’s eyes were always visible in the comics. What’s more, the sculpt even has the openings around the eyes for the skin, but it’s just painted black. It’s certainly not a bad look or anything, but it’s a slightly odd choice. Red Guardian was packed with his shield (a repainted version of Cap’s, in keeping with the rest of the figure), and the right leg of Giant-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found Red Guardian at my local Toys R Us. Just walked in, and there he was. That like never happens anymore. Okay, it’s actually happening with increasing frequency, but still. I have only a passing familiarity with Red Guardian, but I’ve always liked the concept and I think he’s got a pretty sweet design. I’m definitely happy to have the figure, and doubly so since I didn’t have to work too hard to get him.

RedGuardian3

#0997: Captain Phasma

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

CAPTAIN PHASMA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

PhasmaSmall1

With the dust very definitely settled from The Force Awakens, it does seem that people went a little crazy over Captain Phasma. She was a perfectly entertaining character, and she definitely had a cool design, but there wasn’t much more than that. Which definitely upset some people. I had no real expectations, so I wasn’t let down. I would like to see more of her in the next one, though (especially after catching up on Game of Thrones and finding out just how awesome Gwendoline Christie can be), so here’s hoping. Phasma’s gotten at least one figure in each of The Force Awakens’ many lines, with the latest being from the smaller Black Series line-up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PhasmaSmall2Phasma is the last of the three figures that make up the fourth series of Walmart’s exclusive 3 ¾-inch Star Wars: The Black Series. The figure stands a pretty sizeable 4 ¼ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. Her design is quite similar to the First Order Stormtrooper, but the actual figure is a fair bit sturdier than the smaller Trooper, which is much appreciated. There’s plenty of great fine detail work (the helmet once again stands out), and the proportions are pretty nicely balanced. My only complaint is less about ther sculpt and more the way the figure was packaged: her shins are quite bowed, which makes keeping her standing quite difficult. The cape (which is a sculpted add-on) is thinner and less obstructive than the larger figure’s cape, which is good. It’s a little odd, since the aesthetics of this series so far have dictated cloth capes and such, but I can’t say I mind the sculpted piece. Like her two previous figures from Hasbro, this Phasma goes for flat silver paint, in place of the more chrome stylings of the movie. I’m still a little bummed by that, but it’s a little more acceptable on a more articulated figure such as this one. In spite of the flatter finish, the paintwork here is pretty solid. There’s a bit of bleed over on some of the black/silver changeovers, but that’s all pretty minor. Phasma is packed with her usual custom blaster, which she can hold much better than the troops she commands could hold theirs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with Han and Leia, Phasma was purchased for me by Super Awesome Girlfriend. As with all the Phasmas I’ve looked at so far, I really like this one. I think the 6-inch one is still my favorite of the three versions, but this one’s still really solid, and I think she’s my favorite of the Series 4 figures!

#0996: Han Solo

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

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

HanStarkiller1

Continuing off of what I said about Leia and Han yesterday: given the sizeable role of Han in The Force Awakens, it was no shock that he was the first of the pair to get added to the toyline.  It was a bit surprising that he was not offered in the higher-end 3 ¾ inch line, though.  However, that’s something that Hasbro has now amended, if perhaps not quite in the way we were expecting.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanStarkiller2Like Leia, Han was released in the fourth series of Walmart’s exclusive 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series.  This is the second Han in this line (though the first one was from Jedi) and the third Force Awakens Han overall.  So, how is this not quite the Han we were expecting?  Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, he’s wearing his cold weather gear, which Han has for (parts of) the attack on Starkiller Base.  It’s not a look that he has for long, and it’s certainly less of a signature look than the black jacket. With that being said, it’s far less of an issue with Han than it was with Leia, since this isn’t Han’s first figure from TFA and it’s also not a bad look.  The figure is about 4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t quite as good as his 6-inch counterpart, but it’s not bad.  The body definitely gets the best work, with tons of really great texturing on the jacket in particular.  I’m also glad that the holster can be plugged and unplugged from his leg, allowing for some additional movement that the prior Han did not.  I’m having trouble seeing much Harrison Ford in the head, but I think that may have more to do with paint than anything else.  Structurally, the head sculpt doesn’t look too far off from the 6-inch version, which was pretty good.  So, about that paint.  It could definitely be better.  The body isn’t bad, but the head is a bit of a mess.  Ignoring the brown hair (which seems to be a licensing thing), the application on the eyes is just off.  They’re not properly placed and they’re at least twice as big as they should be.  Han’s definitely got the crazy eyes going on.  The brown hair and larger eyes also have the misfortune of making him look far younger than he should, which is not what you want from an old-man Han.  Han includes his blaster pistol, which is nicely sculpted and very well painted.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just as with Leia, I didn’t find Han at any of the Walmarts near me.  In fact, I didn’t find him at all: Super Awesome Girlfriend did!  Han’s a figure that could definitely use some improvement.  He had a high bar to clear after the truly amazing 6-inch Han, and he didn’t quite do it.  That being said, he’s certainly not a bad figure.  I’d be curious to see if a better paint job could breathe some new life into him.

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#0995: Princess Leia Organa

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

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

LeiaTFA1

When the initial few waves of The Force Awakens product hit, the old guard of characters were largely absent, despite the large role of Han Solo in the film, and the decently-sized (and certainly incredibly important) role of Leia Organa. Around February of this year, Han found his way into both the 3 ¾ and 6 inch-scale lines, but Leia was still noticeably absent. Until now, that is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

LeiaTFA2Princess Leia was released in the fourth series of the Force Awakens-themed 3 ¾ inch Star Wars: The Black Series, a line which remains exclusive to Walmart. So, first bone of contention with this figure: the name. In the movie, it’s kind of a point that Leia’s not really royalty any more, and she’s almost exclusively referred to as “General Organa.” It’s a small thing, but it’s an important change for her character. The fact that the box just lists her as “Princess Leia Organa” is kind of annoying (and doubly so, since there’s already another figure in this line with that *exact* name, which is just confusing everybody). Of course, the name’s pretty easy to move past, since I didn’t keep her in the package. What’s a little less easy to move past is the costume choice. Leia spends most of her screen time in a military uniform, which is not unlike her look from the Endor scenes in Jedi. She then spends about 5 minutes at the very end of the movie in a blue dress. We got the blue dress look, which I can’t say is my favorite. Alas, I don’t work for Hasbro, so I guess I’ll just deal. The figure stands about 3 ½ inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. She can get some decent motion out of her arms and neck, so that’s good. For what it’s worth, there’s a full body sculpt under her dress (she’s keeping it modest with a full-body stocking), articulated legs and all. The legs are rather limited, both by the obtrusive dress piece and by the decision to only give her cut joints at her hips.  Just as in the movie, her dress has a two-piece design, with the outer “jacket” being made from soft plastic and the under dress being real cloth. They mesh together pretty well, and it’s sort of a best of both worlds thing, preserving look and some of the movement as well. Issues with the design aside, I will admit that this is a pretty solid sculpt. The head captures Carrie Fisher pretty nicely, and I like the small texture details on the sculpted parts of the dress quite a bit. Leia actually doesn’t have much paint, with most of the dress being molded in the same blue. She gets some paint on her head, obviously. It’s not terrible, but it could certainly be better, especially the eyes. Leia includes no accessories, which is a bit of a bummer.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve not had much luck with getting the Walmart-exclusive Black Series figures in my area, so I’ve yet to see any of these figures near me. However, Super Awesome Girlfriend is not cursed like me, and ended up just finding Leia by accident one day. Yay for me! I’ll be honest: this isn’t the Leia figure I was hoping for. Her other Force Awakens look is far more action figure-worthy, and would just make for an all-around better figure. With that said, this figure isn’t terrible, and I’ll definitely take this over no Leia at all. Here’s hoping the other version’s on the way.

#0979: Ant-Man & Winter Soldier

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

ANT-MAN & WINTER SOLDIER

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR – MINIVERSE

AntMan&WS1

Wow, it’s been two whole months since Civil War hit theatres. Consequently, that also means it’s been about a month and a half since I saw Civil War. That doesn’t seem right. I might have to fix that. In the meantime, how about a nice Civil War-themed review? Yeah, that’ll be cool. Today, let’s stick firmly on the #TeamCap side, with Ant-Man and Winter Soldier!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ant-Man and Winter Soldier are one of the two-packs in the second series of Hasbro’s current Captain America: Civil War Miniverse line, which just started hitting stores not too long ago. They’re yet another somewhat odd pairing, since Scott and Bucky don’t really spend much time interacting, but oh well.

ANT-MAN

AntMan&WS2Both Guardians and Age of Ultron got their own 2 ½ inch lines, but poor Ant-Man was not so lucky. Which is kinda weird, since he’s the character who it makes the sense to have available in lots of different scales (especially smaller ones). But it’s okay, because he’s got a 2 ½ inch figure now! This figure stands just over 2 ½ inches tall and he has the same 5 points of articulation as any other figure in this line. Ant-Man is based on his slightly tweaked design from Civil War, which wasn’t a bad look. I can’t really say I like or dislike this look more than his last one, since they’re ultimately pretty similar. His sculpt does a pretty nice job of capturing the design from the movie, and he has quite a lot of very sharp detail work. He’s one of the more pre-posed figures from the line, with a rather wide stance and his arms slightly angled from his side. I’m not sure exactly what look they were going for, but it’s not as odd as some of the pre-posed figures I’ve gotten over the years. The Miniverse line is generally a bit light on the painted details, which can prove a problem for those with more intricate designs, such as Ant-Man’s. That being said, this is one of the few figures in the line not to lose too many painted details. Sure, there’s still a few silver accents here and there missing, but most of the important stuff is there. Of the two figures in this set, Ant-Man is the one that gets the weird armor thing. On the plus side, it seems the armor’s main purpose is to make Ant-Man a bit larger, to simulate his Giant-Man look, making it the first of these armor sets not to be totally useless.

WINTER SOLDIER

AntMan&WS3This is the second Winter Soldier we’ve gotten from this line of figures, but this is the first one to actually be based on his look from Civil War. Like Ant-Man, this guy stands a little over 2 ½ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. Surprisingly enough, this figure doesn’t share any parts with his Series 1 counterpart. His sculpt is quite well-handled, with lots of excellent detailing. The likeness isn’t a spot-on Sebastian Stan, but at this scale it’s good enough. Also, as with many of the figures in the line, the feet are a bit large, but the proportions are otherwise pretty good. Bucky has a much more subdued pose than most of the line, which is actually kind of nice to see. The paintwork here is pretty simple, being limited to the head, torso, and left arm, but the application is nice and clean, and he looks about right for the movie design. Winter Soldier has no accessories, but if all he was gonna get was more goofy armor, I’m not really going to complain.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up these two from Target. They were the only new set the store had in stock, which means I missed out on the Scarlet Witch set, but hey, this is a decent consolation. Unlike a lot of the other sets from this line, where there’s one good figure and one iffy figure, this set contains two pretty solid additions to the line. Definitely glad I got them!

#0976: Commander Gree

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

COMMANDER GREE

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS

GreeCW1

The Star Wars prequels are almost universally loathed. However, as bad as the movies as a whole may be, there are definitely some ideas and concepts present that were actually kind of cool, if under-explored. On the plus side, the animated Clone Wars show, was able to take a lot of those concepts and apply them to a narrative that didn’t totally suck. Possibly my favorite part of the prequels was the Clone army, who were actually given a ton of development and individualized treatment in Clone Wars. While many of the clones used in the show were new characters, the cartoon also took the chance to flesh out almost all of the named clones from Revenge of the Sith, including my personal favorite, Clone Commander Gree.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GreeCW2Commander Gree was released in the 2009 assortment of Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars tie-in line. The figure stands about 3 ¾ inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. He represents Gree as he appears in the earlier part of the show, prior to the time skip. He’s seen here wearing his standard Phase I trooper armor, and as such, he uses the same basic parts as all the other basic clones in the line. The body isn’t a spot-on recreation of the cartoon design: the lower torso and the limbs are noticeably a little thicker, presumably to offer more stability. That said, it’s very close to what was seen in the show. Like most of the Clone commanders in the line, Gree features a removeable helmet. The helmet itself is nicely handled, and looks more or less the same as the second iteration of the non-removeable clone helmet. Under the helmet is Gree’s head, which is sporting his rather goody twin mohawked look. It’s a decent enough recreation of his look from the show, though it does look a little older than his on-screen counterpart. It’s also slightly on the small side, but that kind of comes with the removeable helmet territory. Gree gets a unique belt piece with a holster, as well as a bandolier add-on piece. These two pieces help to add a nice flair of uniqueness to him, which is certainly cool. Gree’s paintwork is handled pretty well. Early in the show’s run, the animation models were a bit less advanced. This affected Gree more than most, since his rather complex camo design was far too much to handle. So, his Clone Wars design is just the basic clone look, but with extensive green accents. The figure replicates this pretty well, and the overall application is nice and clean. Gree included a large blaster rifle, a blaster pistol, and a large missile missile launcher. Because Hasbro.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I don’t recall exactly where I got Gree. I’m pretty sure it was a Target. I know I got him while he was still a relatively new figure.  The Clone Wars line was definitely a fun one, and Gree is a pretty strong showing.

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