Tag Archives: Hasbro

#0882: Ben Reilly Spider-Man

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

BEN REILLY SPIDER-MAN – EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE

MARVEL LEGENDS SERIES

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In the 90s, Marvel was marred by lots of big, multi-part story arcs, all based on some terrible concept or hook, almost all of which have gone down in infamy. For Spider-Man, it was “The Clone Saga,” a story that actually started off alright, before Marvel decided to capitalize on the vast sales of early installments by extending the story to more than twice its intended length, resulting in…well, let’s be nice and just call them “serious issues.” At about the mid-point of the story, it was revealed that the Peter Parker we’d been following for the last 20 or so years was actually a clone, and the more recently introduced Ben Reilly was in fact the original Parker (this was later reversed, for obvious reasons). This resulted in a major status quo shift, where Peter stepped down from the role of Spider-Man, and Ben took over. Today’s figure hails from that particular era…mostly. I’ll get to that in a little bit.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SpiderBen2Spider-Ben (that’s the shorthand I’m gonna use, just to make my life easier) is the first figure in the latest Spider-Man Marvel Legends Series (seems they’ve dropped the “Infinite.” Does this mean the line is now just finite? Oh no!). Like last series’ Scarlet Spider, Spider-Ben fills the slot of the required Spider-Man variant. The figure’s official title is “Edge of Spider-Verse,” a title he shares with Spider-Gwen. The thing is, Ben didn’t appear in the “Spider-Verse” event, at least not the Ben from the main universe. So, is this perhaps meant to be an alternate universe Ben? Who knows. Regardless of what universe he hails from, this figure wears the costume that Ben was sporting during his stint as the main Spidey during the mid-90s. It’s a slight tweak of the classic Spidey costume, but it’s actually a pretty sharp redesign, and proved popular enough to get re-used for M2’s Spider-Girl. Structurally, Spider-Ben is about 95% re-use from last year’s “Pizza Spidey.” That means he stands just over 6 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation. The Pizza body is by far one of Hasbro’s strongest bodies, with solid SpiderBen3proportions and a pretty decent range of motion. It also makes a lot of sense to re-use it, seeing as Peter and Ben should have the same build (what with one being a clone and all). The only difference between the two sculpts is the addition of web-cartridges to the wrists. I think these are different from the ones used on Scarlet Spider, but it’s had to tell, due to differences in paint. The general paintwork on Spider-Ben is all pretty solid. Aside from one or two small bits of slop, he looks pretty sharp, and does a spot-on job of replicating Ben’s costume design from the comics. Ben includes the same three sets of hands included with Pizza Spidey: web-shooting, fists, and open gesture. They’re just as cool here as they were there, and I’m glad their inclusion has become a standard. Ben also includes the head and hands from Carnage, done up to match this figure’s color scheme. This allows him to be transformed into Spider-Carnage (from when Ben briefly bonded with the Carnage symbiote), which is a really cool extra. Finally, Ben is packed with not one, but two arms from this series’ Build-A-Figure, Absorbing man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I was at MAGFest, buying Hellboy figures, my parents were out buying me this newest series of Marvel Legends (okay, it’s not like that’s all they were doing. They were actually having a day out and about). As odd as it seems, this was probably the figure I was most looking forward to in this new series. I love the new Spidey body, and I’ve always had a soft spot for this particular costume. This figure definitely doesn’t disappoint. In fact, he may very well be my favorite Spider-Man yet.

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#0878: Daredevil – Yellow

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

DAREDEVIL – YELLOW

MARVEL LEGENDS INFINITE SERIES

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Just a little while after this review is posted, Netflix will be premiering the second season of Marvel Studios’ Daredevil. I don’t know about everyone else, but I absolutely loved the first season of the show, so I’m pretty darned excited about season two. In honor of the show, why not look at something Daredevil-related? Because I want to, that’s why!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DDYellow2Daredevil was released as the third Walgreens exclusive figure in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinite Series line. The back of the box groups him with the Rhino series of figures, though he arrived at Walgreens a fair bit after those figures hit stores (he also doesn’t include any sort of Build-a-Figure piece). The figure stands about 6 ¼ inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. As noted in the review’s title, this is “Yellow Daredevil;” he’s wearing the costume from his first handful of appearances, before he switched to the all red number we all know and love. While the costume was short-lived, it’s fairly distinctive, and has quite a lasting power with fans, resulting in it getting more than a few figures over the years. Sculpturally, this Daredevil is identical to the red version released last year. That’s not a huge shock, since he’s the same guy and all. I will say, while it was perfect for the regular Horn-Head, it seems a little off here. It feels like this more of a “later in his career” sort of sculpt, and I kind of expect early Daredevil to be a little more…svelte? Maybe if he’d been on the Pizza Spidey body? Of course, it’s not like this body is bad by any stretch of the imagination, and Yellow DD figures have traditionally just been straight repaints, so maybe I’m just off with this one. The paint is the whole selling point of this figure, so DDYellow4how did it turn out? On a whole, not bad.  He’s bright, colorful, and sufficiently different from the last one. The colors do a decent job of capturing the look (though I personally prefer it when straight black is used for the darker sections), and the application is mostly pretty clean. The choice to paint part of the yellow on the shin was unfortunate (remember guys, dark on light. Dark on light!), since it means that the shins don’t match the rest of the leg, and on my figure they don’t even match each other! Also, the “D” logo is definitely way too big on this guy; it should be like half the current size. DD includes the same pair of billy-clubs as the last figure, but in red this time. Since he doesn’t include a B-a-F piece, they’ve given him an extra, unmasked head. It’s just a re-use from the Marvel Now! Hawkeye figure, so it doesn’t quite match up with the features on the masked head. Still, it’s not a bad extra, and it looks pretty great popped on a suit body.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The original Daredevil costume will forever have a special place for me. I can’t say exactly why I like it so much, but I just really do. The SMC version was one of my personal grails, and this costume is the reason I got into Minimates. Needless to say, when Hasbro announced he’d be getting released in the new Legends style, I was pretty darn excited. I didn’t have any luck finding him at first, but two weeks ago, I happened upon him in a Walgreens I don’t frequent very often. Yeah, he’s just a repaint of the figure I got last year, but I loved that figure, and I love this costume, so I love this figure too. Now I’m gonna go binge watch the new season.

*Want a Yellow Daredevil figure of your own?  He’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check him out!

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#0869: Luke Skywalker – Snowspeeder

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

LUKE SKYWALKER – SNOWSPEEDER

STAR WARS: TRANSFORMERS

SnowspeederTF2

Sometimes, two things can be combined to make one single, super awesome. Take for instance chocolate and peanut butter. Great on their own, but put those two together and you’ve got yourself a winner. Over the years, a similar theory has been applied to all sorts of action figures and toys. Nine times out of ten, it’s Transformers + something else. In the mid-00s, Hasbro realized that the held the rights to both Transformers and Star Wars, and that no one had ever put those two properties together, so they did just that. Some of the more recognizable characters from the franchise were made into the alt-modes of their corresponding vehicles, and Hasbro even came up with an in-universe backstory for why the vehicles turned into robotic versions of their pilots. As a central character in the movies, Luke Skywalker got a couple of different figures, and I’ll be looking at one of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SnowspeederTF3Luke was released as part of the sixth series of Hasbro’s Star Wars: Transformers line (the same figure saw a re-release in a later series as well, but there were a few cosmetic changes and less accesories). He’s the second Luke in the line. In his humanoid form the figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and has 19 points of actual articulation (with a bunch more joints to facilitate the whole transformation thing). Luke is based on his basic pilot’s gear look, which makes for a slightly easier conversion to the Transformer aesthetic. He’s been made quite a bit more robotic and angular, and his look has been slightly tweaked to allow for the more mechanical parts of the ship he transforms into. The quality of the sculpt is okay, if a bit rudimentary. The head is definitely the best work. Though the transforming feature was a main selling point here, the robot mode definitely feels mostly extraneous, as he’s got a fair bit of excess stuff from his alt look. The first Luke’s alt-mode was his definitive X-Wing fighter. This one mixes things up, offering up a snowspeeder. The snowspeeder definitely got the focus here, resulting in a fairly faithful recreation of the ship from the movie. The transforming feature is a little difficult, but not terribly so. Paint is minimal on this set, but what’s there works and looks pretty decent. Once again, the speeder gets most of the focus, and ends up looking pretty cool. Luke was packed with a little 1 inch tall Luke figure, which is pretty neat. He also has a pair of blasters (which serve as the cannons in vehicle mode), as well as a lightsabre, though mine did not have that piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Star Wars: Transformers were something I never really got into when they were new. However, Gidget’s Gadgets, a small toy store near where my family vacations over the holidays, had a rather large selection of these guys when I was there in December. I was in a particularly Star Wars-y mood at the time, so I decided I might want to have one. Since they didn’t have an X-Wing, I went with the next best thing. It’s definitely a goofy figure, but I’m glad I got it. It’s a lot of fun!

SnowspeederTF1

#0864: Han Solo

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

HAN SOLO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

HanTFA1i

A lot of (very much deserved) praise has been heaped on the new cast members introduced in the Force Awakens, but one of the coolest things about the movie was the return of some of the “old guard” from the Original Trilogy. The most prominent returning hero by far was everyone’s favorite scuffy-lookin’ nerf-herder, Han Solo. For a number of reasons, Han, along with most of the other returning characters, was absent from the first few waves of Force Awakens product, but the merch based on him is starting to hit in full storm. Today, I’ll be looking at his much anticipated Black Series figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

HanTFA2Han was released in the fifth series of the latest iteration of Star Wars: The Black Series. He’s marked as number 18 in the line, which makes him the last figure in this particular series numerically. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall (which is the same as his A New Hope figure) and has 27 points of articulation. Some of the movement, most notably his hips, is a little restricted, but he can certainly pull off just about any pose that the real Harrison Ford can. Han’s sculpt is totally new, and it’s an amazing piece of work. The proportions look great, certainly better than the last Han, and the detail work on the clothing is just fantastic. The jacket in particular has some amazing texture work, which adds a lot of character to the figure. The shirt and underlying belt are a little on the soft side, and I’m not sure I’m a fan of the pose on his left hand, but those are my only real complaints. The real draw of this sculpt is the likeness. Harrison Ford has a notoriously hard to capture likeness, but this is perhaps the best one we’ve ever seen. There are a few angles where it looks a bit off, but the HanTFA4boverall appearance is very close. Now, you may be thinking that, based on the pictures, he really doesn’t look as close as I’m saying. Well, here’s where the paint comes in. For the most part, the paint’s great. The clothing (particularly the coat) has some really great work, which really sells this as a real person. My first nit is the eyes; they aren’t terrible, but they’re a little sloppier than I’d like. However, the major issue here is the hair. The application of the paint is alright, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’s simply the wrong color. Instead of being mostly grey with maybe a few streaks of light brown, it’s light brown with just a few streaks of grey, resulting in him looking a fair bit younger than he should. It’s really annoying, because it seriously throws off an otherwise really great figure.* Han only includes one accessory: his signature blaster, which is a totally different mold than the one included with the Series 2 Han.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I found out this figure was hitting stores, I was anticipating him being a chore to find. So, I was pleasantly surprised to walk into my local Target and find him hanging on the pegs, hiding behind a pair of Jango Fetts. I’m not sure I can adequately describe just how much I like this figure. He’s hands down the best Han Solo figure I own, and possibly one of the best Black Series figures to date, and certainly the best of the Force Awakens figures. Yes, the hair thing is annoying, but this figure outshines all those issues, and is just a ton of fun to mess around with.

HanTFA3c

*It should be noted that the hair thing isn’t limited to just this figure. The Pop! and LEGO versions also sport the light brown hair, suggesting it’s a licensing issue of some sort.

#0860: Star Wars Mashers

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

LUKE SKYWALKER, HAN SOLO, DARTH VADER, STORM TROOPER, & SCOUT TROOPER

STAR WARS HERO MASHERS

ROTJMashers1

For a guy who’s not a huge fan of Hero Mashers, I sure do seem to be picking up a lot of these guys, don’t I? Yeah, I don’t really have an excuse. I’m a bit of a push over when it comes to certain things. But, hey, it means you guys get to keep reading about these figures. Isn’t that a plus? No? Well, sorry…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This five-pack of figures was released not long after the onslaught of Star Wars-merch in September. It initially appeared to be a TRU-exclusive set, but has recently begun to show up at other retailers. All of the included figures are based on Return of the Jedi.

LUKE SKYWALKER

ROTJMashers2Luke makes his second appearance in the Mashers style here, based on his Jedi look from….Jedi. Specifically, he’s based on his look from towards the end of the film, after he’s ditched the vest and unbuttoned one side of his chest-flap-thingy. The figure stands 6 inches in height and he’s got 18 points of articulation. He’s got the same reduced shoulder movement that all the more recent Mashers have gotten, but I’ve really stopped noticing at this point. The figure shares his head with the Bespin version of Luke from the two-pack. That’s nice from a consistency standpoint (even if Hamill does look different in the two films…) and the actual sculpt does a pretty nice job of tweaking Hamill’s likeness to fit the style. The rest of the sculpt is unique to this figure, and it’s a pretty sharp sculpt. This particular design definitely transfers well to the Mashers aesthetic. Like every Mashers figure, Luke can be disassembled at the neck, elbows, hips, and knees, and his parts are interchangeable with the rest of the line (if you’re into that sort of thing…). Luke’s paintwork is generally pretty simple; it’s limited to the face and chest, with some slight finish variance on the glove and boots. There’s an odd spot of silver on one side of my figure’s collar, but aside from that, the application is pretty clean. Luke is packed with his green lightsaber from the movie, which is so far unique to this set.

HAN SOLO

ROTJMashers3After getting his styling jacketed look in the two-packs, this Han returns him to his classic vested look (albeit the slightly less classic variant of it from Jedi). Han’s sculpt is mostly the same as that of the two-pack figure, with only a new torso piece. The re-use isn’t too terrible, but it does mean Han’s got pockets on each arm, which isn’t accurate. The overall sculpt isn’t bad, but Han doesn’t seem to have translated as well to the Mashers style as Luke. The head in particular just seems far too generic for Harrison Ford. Also, this figure’s hips seem particularly wideset. An additional note: Han’s hands are separate pieces from the forearms. They aren’t designed to be removable, but they might pop off if you aren’t paying attention. Han’s paint is a bit more complex than Luke’s, and it’s handled pretty well. There are a few fuzzy lines, but nothing really terrible. Han is packed with his signature blaster. It’s got a blaster bolt permanently attached, which looks a little odd in a basic pose, but does add some nice flare in an action set-up.

DARTH VADER

ROTJMashers4I’ve actually reviewed a lot of this guy before. Vader, unlike the others in this set, goes for a very scene specific look. Namely, the scene where he’s getting electrocuted by the Emperor. That seems a little morbid for a kid-aimed toyline, but okay! The torso, upper arms, legs, cape, and skirt are all exactly the same as the single-release Vader. Same sculpt, same paint, same everything. What’s new are the head and lower arms, which take the previously used pieces, add a bit of “electricity” detailing to them, and cast them in a cool translucent blue. Of course, to be truly accurate to the scene, he should be missing his right hand, but I guess that would be too morbid for the kid’s toy. Vader is packed with the same extra as his single-packed counterpart, a lightsaber, as well as two electricity effect pieces.

STORMTROOPER

ROTJMashers6And now for the set’s one straight re-pack, the Imperial Stormtrooper! Yes, this guy’s the same exact figure as the single-packed version. But come on, it’s a Stormtrooper! You can’t have too many of these guys, right? The design definitely fits the style very well, and he’s helped by the totally armored look. He’s easily got the sharpest detailing of the figures included here, which definitely helps the overall look. The one major nit with the sculpt is more an articulation issue than anything; since his elbows only swing forward and back, he can’t actually hold a blaster two-handed. Also, like Han, the hands are separate pieces, glued in place. The Stormtrooper’s paint is generally pretty decent, though the black is a little sloppy in a few spots, and there are a few bits of slop. It’s all relatively minor, though. He’s packed with a standard trooper blaster, which, like Han’s, has a blaster bolt permanently affixed. Consistency!

SCOUT TROOPER

ROTJMashers5Last, and very much not least, it’s the Scout Trooper! By far my favorite Trooper design from the OT, and also the one totally new figure included in this set. The Scout Trooper’s design is already pretty chunky and blocky, so it translates very nicely to the Mashers style, and doesn’t look quite as cartoony as some of the other figures. The general quality of the sculpt is pretty great. Some of the details are a bit on the soft side, especially on the torso, but he’s no worse than other Masher figures. The one thing that knocks this figure down a peg is his paint. It’s not terrible or anything, but there’s definitely a fair bit of bleed over, and the edges of the white paint are all pretty fuzzy. From a slight distance, he looks fine, but up close he’s a bit off. The Scout Trooper includes a small blaster, which has the affixed blast, just like the other two. Three for three!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

“Ethan, if you aren’t a huge fan of Mashers, then why did you buy this big set of figures?” The answer is simple, hypothetical reader: Scout Trooper. I have an unhealthy addiction to Scout Trooper action figures. It was just my luck that this guy had to be part of a big boxed set. Due to the slightly high price tag of the set, I actually passed on it several times. However, last month, I was at Target, and they had this set for half-price. For $25, I figured it was worth it. I don’t regret this purchase in the slightest. The Scout Trooper is definitely my favorite, but the basic Stormtrooper and Luke are pretty awesome too. Han’s not really my preferred version and I can take or leave Vader, but the overall set is actually pretty fun.

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#0856: Black Panther

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

BLACK PANTHER

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

BPantherMU1

Poor Black Panther. He should be a really prominent character, but he always feels like he gets the short end of the stick. He has trouble keeping an ongoing comic (often due to poor creative direction), he’s mostly relegated to guest star roles in all the various Marvel cartoons (barring the truly awesome Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes), and he didn’t even get an action figure until the early 00s (and even then, it was only in the-10 inch line. It would take a little while longer before he got a normal 5-inch figure, just as the scale was starting to go away). Fortunately, it looks like his luck should be changing with the release of Civil War, as well as his solo film in 2018. Why not look at one of his action figures?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BPantherMU2Black Panther was part of the first series of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line. He’s based on the Panther’s classic look, from his time with the Avengers in the late 60s. The figure stands roughly 4 inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. Panther is built on Hasbro’s first attempt at a mid-sized male body. It was only used for him and two variants of the Punisher. The reason it didn’t see any further use is quite simple: it’s not very good. Sure, parts of it look pretty decent, but the overall assembly looks very awkward. The upper arms in particular are about as tall as they are wide, which just looks odd. In addition, the articulation scheme is weird and makes the figure pretty stiff. You won’t be getting much more than a basic standing pose out of this guy, which just isn’t right when you’re talking about Black Panther, a dude who does his fair share of crouching! The head, lower arms and lower legs are all unique to this guy. I like the head a lot, and it’s definitely the best part of the figure. The arms and legs do at least put some effort into detailing Panther’s striped gloves and boots, but they suffer from the same odd proportions as the rest of the body. The left hand is bigger than his face! Panther has paint for his eyes and… that’s it. Just the eyes. The rest is straight black plastic, which makes him a bit flat looking. Some highlights, or even painting the gloves blue, as they were often showed in the comics, would have done a lot to help this figure, but alas, no such luck. Black Panther was packed with a staff with a blade on it, which Wikipedia tells me is a naginata. It never struck me as particularly in keeping with Panther’s aesthetic, so I lost it at some point.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always liked Black Panther (I chalk it up to his Keith David-voiced appearance on the 90s Fantastic Four cartoon). So much so that when I was 7, I made one of my Batman Forever Batmen into a custom Panther using some black tape. When Hasbro showed him as one of the first MU figures, I was pretty excited to see him there, and he was one of my first purchases from the line. Unfortunately, he got saddled with the worst of the initial bodies, which held him back. He’s not a terrible looking figure, but he’s not super fun either, which is disappointing. On the plus side, Hasbro just re-released him in their Avengers Infinite line, using the later mid-sized body (used on Falcon), so the character wasn’t totally forgotten.

#0854: Sgt Stalker

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

SGT. STALKER

G.I. JOE: 30TH ANNIVERSARY

Stalker30a

G.I. Joe’s switch to the smaller scale is probably one of the most successful re-brandings ever. For most, those smaller figures simply are G.I. Joe. When the line was initially launched, there were 13 figures. They were all unique, but they were specifically designed to make the most of as little tooling as possible. Today’s subject, Sgt. Stalker, was among those 13, though he was just “Stalker” at the time. When it came time to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the smaller line, Stalker was chosen as the representative of the Original 13, with a reimagining of his first figure, in a more modern aesthetic.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Stalker30bSgt. Stalker was released in the first series of G.I. Joe: 30th Anniversary figures. The actual anniversary year was 2012, but the 30th figures were rushed into the end of 2011, in order to make way for the G.I. Joe: Retaliation toys. Of course, Retaliation was then pushed back to 2013, making the rushed release of the 30th figures completely pointless. Yay. The figure is a little over 3 ¾ inches tall and has 24 points of articulation. While the later series of the line would release a wide variety of newly sculpted parts, the first series got by on as much re-use as possible, and Stalker was not exempt. The head is re-used from the Resolute version of the character. My feelings on this are a bit mixed. While it’s not a bad head at all, it has the Resolute design’s dreadlocks. Those fit in fine with the more exaggerated Resolute designs, but they look just a bit out of place on the more realistic figure, especially one that’s supposed to be an update on his original figure. The rest of the figure is repurposed from one of the Pursuit of Cobra Snake Eyes figures. That figure was itself meant to be an update on Snake Eyes’ original figure, and given that the original Snake Eyes and Stalker figures used the same body sculpt, this actually makes a lot of sense. It helps that it’s a really nicely sculpted body, with some amazing small detail work, especially on the underlying turtleneck piece. The body is so Stalker30cattentive to detail that it even has removable knee-pads, which is a pretty awesome touch. To differentiate him a bit from Snake Eyes, Stalker gets a different web gear piece, which was first seen on the Jungle Patrol Dutch Duke from PoC. Stalker’s paint is fairly decent, and is clearly meant to emulate his original design, but I can’t help but feel he’s a bit drab, especially when compared to some of the other 30th figures. Still, he doesn’t look bad at all. Perhaps the figure’s strongest suit is his accessory complement. He has a submachine gun, a pistol with a removable silencer, a pistol without silencer, a machete, a knife, a small sword, and a display stand with his name on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the time the 30th figures starting hitting, I had long since realized that finding the G.I. Joes I wanted in stores was not a thing that would be happening. So, I had resorted to ordering full sets of each series from Big Bad Toy Store. I hadn’t planned on getting Stalker at first, being content with the Resolute figure, but I wanted the rest of Series 1, so I got him anyway. I’m actually really glad I got him. Yes, I’d have liked for him to get a new head, but other than that (honestly minor) issue, he’s a pretty darn fun figure, who reminds me just why I loved this line so much.

#0853: BB-8, Jakku Scavenger, & Unkar’s Thug

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

BB-8, JAKKU SCAVENGER, & UNKAR’S THUG

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

BB8Scavengers1

Star Wars has characters of every shape and size, which can make things difficult when it comes to doing properly scaled action figure lines. Sure, the likes of Luke, Leia, or Han can all be more or less the same basic size and price point, but how do you handle outliers like Chewbacca or R2D2? Well, Kenner always went for an approach of letting the averages work out, pricing them the same as the others. Of course, then came The Force Awakens, which gave us BB-8, who was far too small to realistically sell by himself. The solution so far has been to pack him in with larger characters. In the Black Series, he was packed with Rey,and for the smaller scale line, he was packed with two of the lesser known Jakku characters. I’ll be looking at the smaller BB-8 and his two companions today.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These three were part the the multi-pack assortment of Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures, which hit at about the same time as the second assortment of single figures.

BB-8

BB8Scavengers4He may be the smallest, but BB-8’s definitely the “draw” for this set, with this being one of the only two ways to get him in this smaller scale. The figure is about 1 ½ inches tall and has 1 point of articulation. BB-8 has a new sculpt, which does a pretty spot-on job of capturing his movie look. While the larger BB-8 was a more exact duplicate of the onscreen look, this figure has flattened the bottom of the body. While it’s not technically accurate, it does make this particular BB-8 much more stable, which is much appreciated. The paintwork on BB-8 isn’t the most involved work ever, but it gets all the basic work done. He’s orange and white and the colors mostly go where they’re supposed to. Some of the lines could probably stand to be a little cleaner, but that’s about it.

JAKKU SCAVENGER

BB8Scavengers2This figure is officially billed as “Jakku Scavenger,” but he does have an actual name. He’s Teedo. He’s called that, by Rey, in the film, and his bio on the back of the box even calls him that. So it’s a little odd that Jakku Scavenger is his official title. Oh well. The figure stands 2 ¾ inches tall and has the now standard 5 points of articulation. Teedo’s design harkens back to the OT in a lot of ways, looking like a cross between a Jawa and a Tusken Raider. The sculpt of this figure does a nice job of capturing his look, and offers a lot of really great detail work, especially on the body wraps. Some of the various stuff attached to him could stand to be a little more defined, though, as it has a tendency to blend in with the rest of his body. The paint on Teedo is decent, but like BB-8, it’s not anything super amazing. It gets the job done. Teedo includes a big giant missile launcher thing, with a net attachment. Gotta give them at least some credit for being pseudo accurate.

UNKAR’S THUG

BB8Scavengers3This guy is by far the most minor of the three characters included. He’s so minor he doesn’t even get a name. He’s the possessive of another character. That’s gotta suck. He’s the tallest of the three at a full 4 inches tall. He’s technically got the usual 5 points of articulation, but the nature of his hood renders the neck joint pretty much null. The Thug’s sculpt appears to be all-new to him; it’s a decent sculpt, though the design it’s replicating isn’t the most exciting look of all time. The mask/goggles are pretty cool, but other than that, he’s really just a mix-match of various common pieces of clothing. Still, the sculpt makes those parts look pretty cool, and he’s on par with most of the others in terms of quality. His paint is handled pretty well. He’s pretty muted, but it works, and all of the application is pretty clean, so that’s good. The Thug includes a staff (I think it’s supposed to go with him), and a small blaster pistol.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was the hardest to find of the multi-packs, so I didn’t get this one until after I’d seen the movie. I ended up getting these three at the same time as Rey’s Speeder. I actually really like this set a lot. BB-8 is clearly the main draw, and while he’s not as cool as the Black Series version, but he’s still pretty nifty. Teedo is a really fun figure of a neat background character. Unkar’s Thug isn’t the most exciting figure here, but he’s a solid figure, and he fills up the back of the display quite well.

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#0850: Falcon

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

FALCON

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

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Falcon is certainly a character who has picked up some serious notoriety in the last few years, and I gotta say, that makes me pretty darn happy. See, I’ve been a Falcon fan since Avengers: United They Stand (a cartoon that no one in their right mind would admit to liking. I kinda liked it…) and I’ve always found the guy pretty awesome. He’s actually been pretty fortunate in regards to figures, getting a figure in just about every major scale over the years, including Hasbro’s favorite, 3 ¾ inch, where he actually got TWO figures! I’ll be looking at the first of those today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FalconMU2Falcon was released in the 14th series of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line, where he is listed as figure 013. The figure is roughly 4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation. The design of the figure is clearly based on one of his more recent costumes, but it’s not either of the modern costumes I’m familiar with. It’s actually a nice medium between the classic costume and the costume he was wearing just prior to becoming Captain America. Falcon is built on the medium-sized male body, first introduced with Guardian. It was definitely an improvement to some of the earlier base bodies, and aside from arms that can’t quite sit flush with the body, it’s actually a fairly nice sculpt. He gets a new head and forearms, as well as slightly tweaked upper arms, to allow for the wings. The new pieces are pretty decent overall; the head is a little bland, expression-wise, but it’s not bad, and the forearms sport some pretty nice detailing. His actual wings are separate pieces, and they work okay,but they aren’t as well done as prior Falcon figures. They’re only one piece, and they’re really only designed for him to have his arms above his head at like a 45 degree angle. Any other pose and they look incredibly awkward. Falcon’s paintwork is actually really nice. The base colors are well-chosen, and there’s some great accent work on the whites and reds, which helps prevent him from looking too boring. The figure is packed with his trusty sidekick Redwing and a display stand with his name on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Falcon’s actually responsible for me having as many Marvel Universe figures as I do. I had a few figures, probably less than 10, when I found this guy at Target. It just so happened that they were having a Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Price special at the time, which led to me steadily picking up a whole bunch of what was currently in stock, and eventually led to me trying to get a complete line-up of every Avenger in this scale. And it’s all because of this guy.

#0849: First Order Legion Boxed Set

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

CAPTAIN PHASMA, FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER, RIOT CONTROL TROOPER, HEAVY ARTILLERY TROOPER, SNOWTROOPER, FLAME TROOPER, & TIE FIGHTER PILOT

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

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Staaaaaar Wars! Nothing but Staaaaar Wars! ….Okay, maybe not “nothing but Star Wars.” I do still have other stuff. But, the amount of Star Wars stuff getting reviewed recently compared to just how much Star Wars stuff I actually own does seem a little disproportionally large. I guess a new movie does that. So, how about some more Star Wars toys? I’ve certainly had quite a focus on many of The Force Awakens’ dashing heroes, so why don’t we have a hearty look at the other side, with this here First Order Troop set!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These seven figures make up the “First Oder Legion” boxed set, which is part of the smaller-scale Star Wars: The Force Awakens line. The set is an Amazon exclusive, and, after a sizeable delay, it started shipping out in mid-January. Most of the included figures are simple repacks of regular release figures, though the Heavy Trooper and Riot Control Trooper are currently exclusive.

CAPTAIN PHASMA

FOLegion2One of the biggest reasons I got this set, due to her single carded figure being virtually impossible to find. While her part in the film made me glad I hadn’t shelled out the big bucks for her, I still liked her design enough that I wanted at least one figure of her. The figure is just over 4 inches tall and has the standard 5 points of articulation. The sculpt on id pretty decently handled; the details of her armor are all nicely carried out, and the under suit has some nice texture work. Her helmet exhibits some much finer detail work than the basic troopers, which is nice. She has just the slightest bit of a pose to her, which keeps her from having an awkward straight-up -and-down pose, without getting too extreme. The cape is a separate piece, made from a soft plastic material. I much prefer the plastic to cloth here, so I’m glad that’s the way Hasbro took it. The paintwork here is decent, but nothing to write home about. The somewhat flat silver plastic is definitely not as striking as the chrome-plated look from the film. Granted, the single release was like this too, but giving the exclusive version chrome plating would have been a nice way to incentivize this set for people who already had the single release. Oh well; she’s not that bad. Phasma is packed with her unique, gold-colored blaster, which she can hold reasonably well in either hand.

FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER

FOLegion3Do you remember when I reviewed the Stormtrooper Commando included with the Assault Walker? Well, then you’ve more or less seen this guy already, minus that figure’s shoulder pauldron. That’s not to say the two are identical, though. The legs are just the slightest bit wider in stance, and, most importantly, the neck pegs are the same size as the ones used for the un-helmeted characters, allowing for easy swapping, which is a definite plus. Aside from those small changes, the sculpt looks very much the same outwardly as the Commando. It’s a good translation of the film design to the smaller scale. Once again, the paint is just a fairly straightforward white plastic with black detailing deal, which looks fairly decent. The black is definitely fuzzy around a few of the edges, but not terribly so. The Trooper includes a basic mid-sized blaster, which can be stored on his thigh, like all the other troopers.

RIOT CONTROL TROOPER

FOLegion4This is one of the two exclusive figures in this set. He has the notoriety of being the same class of trooper as the fan-favorite “TR-8TR” (who’s actual name was FN-2199). As far as the figure goes? Like his larger-scale counterpart, he’s just a basic trooper, with the addition of a few new accessories. He has the same blaster as the normal trooper, but in addition to it, he has his baton and shield. Both pieces are quite nicely sculpted, and very well painted. Perhaps the only downside is that the shield isn’t quite as nicely handled on the underside as the larger version. However, it’s also a lot easier to remove, so silver lining.

HEAVY ARTILLERY STORMTROOPER

FOLegion6This figure is the other exclusive figure in this set, and is one of the major reasons I picked it up. I really like the look of the Heavy Trooper. The figure is yet another variation of the basic trooper figure. This time, he gets a unique add-on for his web-gear, which appears to hold extra ammo of some sort. It’s a bit bulkier here than in the film, but that’s to be expected, and it’s not terribly far off. In addition to the vest piece, he also gets a larger, cannon-style gun, with three pieces to help it stand. He has some trouble holding it due to the limited articulation of the figure, but he looks alright just posed standing behind it.

SNOWTROOPER

FOLegion5Where would the Stormtroopers be without a few environment-specific variants? The original trilogy Snowtroopers were always a fan-favorite, so it’s no surprise that that was the first really environment-specific trooper to get an update (having a climax that took place at an arctic locale probably helped too). The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and has the usual 5 points of articulation. The sculpt does a pretty good job of translating the design into figure form. Like Hux, this figure’s “skirt” piece has been made a part of the legs, though I feel it works far better here than it did on Hux. One thing I did notice about this figure was his rather present tilt forward, which can be a little frustrating. Aside from that, the sculpt is generally very nicely done. The paintwork on this figure is pretty basic (again), but still suffers from some of those fuzzy edges. The Snowtrooper includes a removable back pack, as well as a blaster with an extended stock.

FLAMETROOPER

Here’s the one figure in the set for whom I already owned the single-packed version. Yes, this figure is 100% identical to the regular release Flametrooper, minus the weird build-a-thing piece. Click here for my review of this figure.

TIE FIGHTER PILOT

FOLegion7The TIE Fighter pilot included here is different than the one included with the TIE Fighter. That figure had a removable helmet. While it was a cool idea, it ended up making the figure’s head a little large. So, this figure’s permanently attached helmet actually works to its advantage, giving us a more faithful rendition of the helmet design. He also has a noticeably different set of arms, which are just a bit longer and look more relaxed and natural than the other pilot’s. The paint on this figure is pretty basic, being mostly just black, with a few smaller details here and there. The insignias and small details are particularly sharp, and add some nice pop. The TIE Fighter pilot includes a small blaster.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After being disappointed by Toys R Us’ midnite opening on Force Friday, I went home and took a look at what was available online, and wound up preordering this set from Amazon. It was originally supposed to hit in late September, just after the Force Friday stuff, but it was delayed until January. I was definitely bummed, but I decided to hold out and wait for it. I’m glad I did. Not only did I finally get a Phasma figure, but I also got one of my personal favorite Troopers (the Heavy Trooper), and one of the more important Trooper variants (the Riot Control Trooper). The other figures are all pretty solid too, and add a ton of value to the set. Plus, my First Order lineup expanded pretty quickly!

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