Tag Archives: Hasbro

#3469: Iron Man – Model 01

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

IRON MAN — MODEL 01

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When Billionaire Industrialist Tony Stark dons a sophisticated armor of his own design, he becomes a living high-tech weapon and the world’s greatest human fighting machine — the Invincible Iron Man”

In the ’60s, a lot of Marvel’s super hero books started out decidedly less super-hero-y. Things like Hank Pym being “the man in the anthill” before his proper Ant-Man persona, or the Hulk’s more generally monstrous angle. When Tony Stark first appeared as Iron Man, the focus was less on a heroic persona, and more on the sci-fi side, playing up the suit’s mechanical nature. While he switched over to the more traditional super hero fare in short order, that original design has nevertheless remained a memorable and distinctive one, and a recurring variant in the world of toys.  Today, I’m taking a look at its latest toy incarnation!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man Model 01 is part of the “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” sub-line of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends.  He’s much like the Amazing Fantasy Spider-Man from last year’s Spidey anniversary line; a just above standard priced single release figure in effectively a standard single figure package.  This marks the second time the Model 01 has graced Legends, following up on a Toy Biz release from all the way back in 2006’s Mojo Series.  He’s based on his original armor design from Tales of Suspense #39, without the adjustments of later appearances of the armor.  The figure stands __ inches tall and he has __ points of articulation.  Despite how bulky the armor may be, the figure remains pretty darn poseable.  Some of the joints do require a little extra care to clear the sculpted parts around them, but its not anything crazy, and it’s done without making the joints too obvious.  Iron Man’s sculpt is all-new; it pretty much has to be, because it’s not like he can really share much with any of the later armors.  Presumably, most of the sculpt is earmarked for re-use down the line for a gold variant, but until then, it’s just this guy.  For the most part, I do really like it.  It’s chunky and the detailing is clean, which is all you can really ask for on this design.  The only thing I’m not keen on is the helmet.  It seems a little too flat and small to believably have Tony’s head in there, and I’m also really not a fan of the shaping of the eyes.  The armor as portrayed in ToS has a pretty distinctive eye shape (which Toy Biz’s version actually gets down very well); they should flare out both sides from the center, but they just slant upward instead, which looks off.  Iron Man’s color work is more involved than it looks at first glance.  The bulk of the coloring is handled via molded plastic; it’s the swirly silver kind, which I’m iffy on.  There’s actually a good deal of painted scratches, which can be missed at first, since they look a bit like the swirls.  I do like them, though; it’s just a shame they’re lost a bit on the plastic.  He also gets some pretty cool detailing on his arc reactor.  Iron Man is packed with two sets of hands (open and fists), two blast effects, and matching smoke trail effects.  The effects don’t plug into his hands, since this armor predates the repulsors, but instead plug into the boots, for rocket flying.  You’ll need to supply a flight stand of some sort if you want him to actually use them, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Toy Biz Model 01 is one of the few Legends I still clung to as a default, in part because there was no competition, and in part because I honestly just think it’s still a pretty good figure.  That said, I’m a sucker for early Iron Man armors, and I was happy to see an update crop up.  From the neck down, there’s no denying this is a big upgrade. Unfortunately, I’m still not really sold on the helmet.  It just doesn’t feel right to me, and for that reason, he’s still not a total replacement in my eyes.  Honestly, I was rather underwhelmed by this one right out of the box.  Messing around with him for the review did help me enjoy him more overall, though, to the point that I realized it was really just that head throwing things off.  Maybe the inevitable gold repaint might get a new head, ala the Marvel Universe version?  That would sure be nice.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3468: Luke Skywalker & Grogu

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

LUKE SKYWALKER & GROGU

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“To help him hone his skills and understand the ways of the Force, Grogu trains with a new Jedi Master: Luke Skywalker”

One of the things that has been a marvelous accomplishment in this day and age of literally no narrative turn or surprise going un-spoiled has been the fact that The Mandalorian managed to completely surprise audiences not once, but twice.  First, with Grogu’s reveal at the end of the very first episode, and again with Luke Skywalker’s arrival at the end of the show’s second season.  Due to the secrecy required for such surprising, they were both late arrivals to the merchandising side of things, but now things are in full swing for both of them.  And hey, here they are in one convenient package!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Luke Skywalker and Grogu are part of the Book of Boba Fett-sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series.  The set is numbered 7, and it started hitting late summer.  It exists at a unique price point, as it’s officially billed as a two-pack, but since Grogu’s not a full scale figure, it’s between a deluxe price and a full two-pack price.

One of the impressive things about Luke’s Jedi Knight design is its slow evolution over the course of the film.  Its something that his Mandalorian and Book appearances have kept rolling.  So, by the time we get to his appearance in Book, he’s actually not got any common elements with his Jabba’s Palace look, but the general vibe is still maintained.  Since we’ve gotten every other possible variant on the Jedi look, we’re at the Book design.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Luke’s articulation scheme is the standard set-up for Black Series these days, with the one notable change-up from prior versions being the addition of butterfly shoulders, which are very definitely a welcome addition.  Luke’s sculpt is all-new, though there are definitely a lot of similarities to the other Lukes of the same general design.  It’s an interesting sculpt, especially when it comes to the head, since it’s based on a facsimile of Hamill’s likeness, rather than a direct likeness.  With that in mind, it looks pretty good.  Honestly, it’s probably more authentic than what we saw on screen.  Certainly less unnerving, that’s for sure.  The rest of the sculpt is pretty good, and honestly gave me the ability to see just how different his garb in Book really is from the other appearances. Paint work on this guy is minimal, pretty much just on the head, since everything else is just molded colors.

The last time I looked at a Grogu figure, he still wasn’t officially being billed as Grogu.  Oh how the times change.   There have been so many Black Series Grogus over the years, but it’s only the second one that I’ve taken a look at here.  He’s not drastically different, since his design hasn’t really changed.  He’s still just over an inch tall and he still has 7 points of articulation.  Though he looks exceedingly similar, Grogu’s sculpt is unique from his original figure.  It’s actually a fair bit sharper in terms of detailing, and its most important detail change is his left hand, which has a proper grip on it, for use with accessories.  His color work is again very similar, but there’s a touch more detailing on the head, which really adds more life to the whole thing.

The set includes a whole host of accessories.  We get Luke’s lightsaber (with removable hilt), the back pack for carrying Grogu, a riser piece to prop up Grogu in said back pack because it’s a re-use of the Yoda one, Yoda/Grogu’s lightsaber with an alternate un-ignighted hilt, a box for the hilt, Din’s gift for Grogu, the small frog-like creature, a training drone, a flight stand for the drone, and an effects/environment stand for the drone and Grogu to interact.  Honestly, it covers just about everything you could possibly want from the interactions between the two of them in the show.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Weird CGI-face aside, Luke’s reappearance in The Mandalorian filled me with all sorts of nostalgic excitement, and I wanted some form of figure coverage.  But, by the time his figures from that appearance started hitting, he’d shown up on Book, and I really dug the further updated look.  The two-pack really hit right where I wanted for a post-Jedi look, and I get an updated Grogu to boot.  This set is perhaps a touch pricey for what it is, but it works very well for me.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3464: Hawkeye with Sky-Cycle

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

HAWKEYE WITH SKY-CYCLE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Ex-circus performer Clint Barton renounced a life of crime to join the Avengers as Hawkeye. Using his archery skills atop his Sky-Cycle he leads the fight against the foes no single hero could withstand”

There’s a short list of Avengers members that the team just doesn’t feel like “the Avengers” without, and very prominently placed on that list is Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye.  He joined the team just over a year into their run, and remained a member in some fashion pretty consistently. So, if you’re planning a celebration of the team’s 60th anniversary, you’d be kind of hard-pressed to leave him out of the running.  Thankfully, Hasbro avoided doing just that, and gave him the deluxe treatment, even.  How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hawkeye with the Sky-Cycle is part of the “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” sub-line of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends. He’s a wide release item that hit with the rest of the set towards the end of the summer. Everything is it’s own separate item and price point, much like the Spidey anniversary stuff from last year, but Hawkeye is clearly meant to be continuing the Legendary Riders pricing and set-up. This Hawkeye is clearly meant to be a classic Hawkeye, which we haven’t seen in the line since the retro card one in 2018. But, where that was a redeco of the Allfather Series release, this one’s an all-new figure. He stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation. Hawkeye gets one major improvement over prior Hawkeyes: butterfly shoulders. Very helpful when it comes to archery poses, so it’s about time. He’s also pinless at the elbows and knees, which looks extra slick. The last handful of comic Hawkeyes have all gone for the Bucky Cap base, but with that (allegedly) retired, this one instead gets a body that appears to be entirely new, and is courtesy of sculptor Rene Aldrete. It takes what worked about prior comic Hawkeyes and really just expands on that. The head is a little sharper and less boxy, which feels truer to the character. His whole set-up on his torso is also sculpted into the chest, rather than being an overlay piece, which slims the look down a lot and also makes him far easier to pose. The skirt piece is cloth this time, rather than plastic or rubber, which makes for a far better range of motion on the hips as well. The only down points for me are the upper arm bands, which suffer a bit from the Jim-Lee-Cyclops-always-popping-out-of-place syndrome, and the knee joints, which really stick on my figure. Otherwise, I really love it. Hawkeye’s paint scheme is actually pretty solid. There’s far more accent work than we usually see on comics figures, and a nice mix of differing shades and finishes on the purples. Hawkeye is packed with two sets of hands (fists and gripping) a bow, an arrow, his quiver, and, of course, the Sky-Cycle mentioned in the title.  I like getting extra hands, but I do feel like the simple grip hands are a bit limiting.  He really struggles to hold the arrow in any convincing fashion.  Also, if they’re going to go with cloth for the skirt, it’s a shame we couldn’t also get a proper string on the bow; this one being plastic makes it very difficult to do any convincing drawback poses.  The Sky-Cycle is the bigger focus here; it’s cool and all, and even has the adjustable flight stand thingy, but I’m personally not gonna use it much.  It’s a nice way of padding the cost so that Hawkeye could get a slightly more deluxe treatment, though, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I liked my Toy Biz Hawkeye well enough back in the day.  Then I liked my Allfather Series one well enough after that.  I even picked up the Retro one in the interim, and I liked that one too.  So, I suppose I didn’t *need* this one.  Hawkeye’s a character that’s always been served pretty well by Legends, so the changes from figure to figure are very incremental.  That doesn’t mean this one’s not fantastic, of course.  He’s very definitely the best Hawkeye Legend, and will be very hard to top.  Heck, I like him about equally to my Marvel Universe one, and I’ve thought for quite some time that he’s the best Hawkeye ever made, so that’s pretty high praise.  I’m not sure about the whole riders thing and bumping up the price, but damn if this isn’t a really, really nice figure.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3462: Captain Marvel vs Doctor Doom

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

CAPTAIN MARVEL VS DOCTOR DOOM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Whisked to another planet by the mysterious Beyonder, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) joins forces with fellow heroes in Secret Wars to stop Doctor Doom from becoming an all-powerful being”

It’s not really a secret 1984’s Secret Wars was really just about selling toys.  Mattel had the Marvel license and wanted a central book to tie them into, so that’s what they did.  Even the title, which was originally meant to be “Cosmic Champions,” was picked because focus groups found that kids liked the words “secret” and “war.”  The resulting 12-issue series is *not* good (to be fair, neither are the toys it tied into), but it was certainly very marketable.  With this year being the 60th anniversary of the Avengers, and next year being the 40th anniversary of Secret Wars, it’s a perfect time to do something that strikes those two themes, I suppose.  So, let’s look at Captain Marvel and Doctor Doom!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain Marvel and Doctor Doom are part of the “Beyond Earth’s Mightiest” sub-line of Marvel Legends, which is celebrating the Avengers anniversary.  Secret Wars isn’t specifically an Avengers story, but they’re present for it, and it’s a good enough excuse to trot some new looks out, I suppose.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

After years of no toy coverage at all, Monica Rambeau is finally getting her due, with two whole figures in the same year, no less.  That’s downright amazing.  When she was first introduced in the ’80s, she was the second character to bear the title “Captain Marvel,” which she held onto until Genis-Vell took the mantle in the ’90s.  Since this is meant to actually be her in the ’80s, she finally gets a figure with her original name, which is also pretty amazing.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  She’s using the modified base-body parts last used on Spinneret, with a new head, arms, and lower legs.  The head is definitely the strongest part; she matches well with Monica’s depictions in the comics from the ’80s, and the hair even gets an impressive level of texturing and detailing.  The arms feature her “wings,” which are a little stubborn to work with, due to their split construction.  They look alright in straight-armed poses, but they’re awkward in other poses.  I’m not sure if they’re better or worse than the cloth set-up on Banshee and Siryn…it’s more a lateral move, I guess.  The new legs get flappy boots, which are cool.  I don’t dig the lack of peg-holes on the feet, but that’s about it.  Monica’s color work is pretty solid; she’s got some sufficient pop, and the white and black works really well for her.  Monica is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.

DOCTOR DOOM

One of the things that Mattel requested of Secret Wars was a new, more toyetic design for classic villain Doctor Doom, so Marvel obliged, and Doom got a more armored up appearance for the run of the series.  Despite its toyetic-ness, it’s actually kind of rare in toy form, with only its original Mattel release and a Minimate prior to this version.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  In a similar fashion to the vintage figure, he makes use of Iron Man parts, specifically the arms and legs of the “80 Years” Iron Man, along with a new head, torso, pelvis, and add-on piece for his leg band.  The new parts get a lot of really nice detailing, and mesh well with the prior existing parts.  I do particularly like the new head, which is a really nice classic Doom design.  His color scheme is a bright take on classic Doom colors, and they’re metallic, which is honestly pretty fun.  Doom is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open gesture), as well as an unmasked head, a pulled down hood piece, and a separate mask piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m on record as being a pretty big fan of Monica Rambeau.  I’m pretty much always down for her in figure form, and I’ve been hoping for a classic version of her for some time.  I was definitely down for this one when it was announced.  She’s ultimately pretty by the numbers, but I can’t say I really need much more from her.  Doom is kind of the dead weight of the set for me, but I’m not necessarily the target market, since I’ve been content ever since the Retro card version got released.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this set to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3459: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

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

SPIDER-MAN, ICEMAN, & FIRESTAR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Using their fantastic powers, Spider-Man teams up with fellow heroes and former X-Men Iceman and Marvel’s Firestar to battle the world’s most dastardly villains from their secret crime-fighting lab.”

Going back to the ‘60s, Spider-Man has never been a stranger to animation.  He typically brings with him his own cast of characters, centered around just him.  Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, however, took a different approach, partnering him off with two other heroes, Ice Man and the show-original-creation Firestar (who was created when Human Torch was unavailable due to the same licensing issues that led to the creation of H.E.R.B.I.E.), which not only gave the an additional spotlight, but also opened the door for the wider Marvel universe as a whole, providing one of the deepest mainstream cuts of Marvel characters for a good couple of decades at least.  The show was without merchandising at the time of its release, but has found its way into wider Marvel toy lines a few times in recent years.  Hasbro gave us the first fully cartoon-based set back during their Marvel Universe line, and they’ve followed that up with a proper update to their current Legends scale.  So, let’s check that one out!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar are a Marvel Legends three-pack, originally released at the beginning of the year. Like Tuesday’s Iron Man, this set was initially a Pulse-exclusive, but it has since moved over to a wider Fan Channel release, going to other retailers at the end of the summer.

SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man is, of course, no stranger to Legends treatment, but the last year in particular has seen a lot of reinventing of the standard Spidey, thanks to the 60th Anniversary stuff.  This one is another take on that.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation.  He’s a re-use of the Amazing Fantasy figure from the Anniversary line-up.  I was a really big fan of that one, and I’m still a big fan a year later.  It’s got such an amazing range of motion, and really balances it well with the proportions.  The big change-up here comes down to coloring; the first release was in his first appearance colors, where as this one does him in his classic red and blue.  It’s largely just a straight palette swap, but he does change-over to the proper updated spider-emblems as well.  I had no issues of slop on this one, but he’s still got the slightest bit of mismatching on the reds.  AF Spidey was pretty jam packed when it came to accessories; this guy gets a bit of a down grade on that.  He still gets the three of the four sets of hands (thwipping, fists, and open gesture; gripping gets dropped), but he loses the webline and the two sets of web-wings.  The web-wings he didn’t have in the show, so I get that.  The spots are still there to plug them in, if you’re still wanting a classic Spidey with the wings, though.

ICEMAN

Though not a total stranger to the line, Iceman is certainly less frequent a release than Spidey.  Our last one was back in 2021, and that one was an AoA variant, so he’s *technically* not even the same guy.  For classic, we’re going all the way back to 2019.  So, maybe another one’s not such a bad thing.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Pizza Spidey body, calling back to his Juggernaut Series release.  I honestly rather like the sizing of it for Bobby, especially for his Amazing Friends incarnation.  Its only downside is the visible pins, but even that’s pretty minor.  He gets the head from the retro carded version from 2019, which is a solid choice for a classic Iceman, and it sits pretty well on the changed out body.  The last few Iceman figures have all gone transparent in some way, but this one goes for an opaque look, which better fits the animation.  He’s got a little bit of cel-shading going on.  It’s a little odd from some angles, but it’s largely pretty versatile.  The only thing I don’t like is the white eyes.  In the show, they were yellow (or possibly green, depending on how you view the exact shade), so as to further differentiate them from the rest of his face, and they should really be that way here, but they’re not.  It’s an odd choice.  Icemen is packed with two sets of hands, open and in fists, as well as the small ice-sled piece from the retro card release.

FIRESTAR

Firestar’s run with Legends is a very recent thing; she just got her first figure back in 2021, covering her classic look, with both comics and animation looks covered.  What new ground does this one cover?  Well…umm…elbows and knees?  See, the last one had disc and pin elbows, and visible pin knees.  This one has double elbows and knees, which are both pinless, by virtue of her re-using the arms and legs from Shriek, in conjunction with the all the other parts from the last Firestar.  And I do mean *all* the other parts, including the extra head and hands, the effect pieces, and even Ms. Lion.  The only change-up is that Ms. Lion is now in her cartoon colors, as opposed to the comics colors of the single release, which is actually a pretty nice touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this set was an exclusive, it was an easy pass for me, because there was nothing here I *needed*.  I’ve got close enough versions of all three, so why bother going to the extra effort?  Once it got the wider release, it really *wasn’t* any extra effort, so I figured why not?  It’s an interesting set-up, because nothing here is new or ground breaking.  Every figure here is just a slightly better figure of something else out there.  I do like having the better versions, of course, and I’m sure I’d be singing a different tune if I hadn’t snagged the other versions previously, but it does beg the question who this set was for, especially when it comes to the Firestar figure, who was a Fan Channel exclusive on her own not that terribly long ago.  Still, I do like the set.  Firestar’s just a little better, Spidey’s classic colors on my favorite Spidey body, and Iceman feels like a more complete package than the other versions.  So, it’s an overall win.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3458: Iron Man – Plasma Cannon

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

IRON MAN — PLASMA CANNON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark’s Modular Iron Man Armor gives the Armored Avenger access to an evolving range of advanced weaponry, from his repulsors and uni-beam to the devastating plasma cannon!”

Remember, like, two years ago, when I was talking about Iron Man’s Modular Armor?  Cool, well, I’m gonna talk about it some more.  As I touched on previously, the armor was somewhat short-lived in the comics, but it gained a greater cultural impact from outside media.  Since Iron Man: The Animated Series was in development at the time of Modular being introduced into the comics, as was Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes.  Thanks to the cartoon getting a toyline and Marvel Super Heroes having its Iron Man model transferred over to Marvel vs Capcom 2, the design wound outlasting its comics counterpart by a good five years in the public eye, giving it quite a hold.  While the Legends release from back in 2021 gave us a decent, if specifically comics-based take on the armor, we got a follow-up at the beginning of the year, which really honed in on those animation and video game aesthetics.  I’m taking a look at that one today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man is a deluxe-sized Marvel Legends offering, originally released at the beginning of the year.  He was initially a Pulse-exclusive, shown of during and going up for order shortly after last year’s Pulse Con. However, he got moved over to a wider Fan Channel release over the summer. Iron Man is technically a part of the Retro-carded sub-set, though he takes it a step further, and does the retro card for the main figure, and then a 10-inch line-inspired box for his extra accessories. The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation. This figure’s sculpt is largely shared with the prior Modular armor release, which makes sense, it being the same armor and all. He gets a new head, as well as a modified upper torso. The head is patterned on the adjusted model from the first season of the cartoon, where they gave the design back the classic armor’s faceplate.  It seems just a touch on the large side, but not terribly so, and the detailing is really well handled.  The upper torso gets one change, which is easily missed; the unibeam is depressed into the chest now, rather than totally raised, allowing it to interact with one of the included effect pieces.  Beyond those changes, he’s pretty much just the same as the prior Modular (and, by extension, the MVC2-style War Machine from earlier this year), which was a pretty great mold in the first place.  The biggest change-up to the figure is the coloring.  The prior release went for metallic red and gold, which Hasbro’s done a few times for the comic-style armors.  It’s okay, but I frequently find it makes the colors too muddied.  This release, in keeping with the cell-animation of the cartoon and the 2D sprites of Marvel Super Heroes and MVC2, is done in flat red and yellow.  Boy, do those colors look so very nice on this mold.  The finish is also very glossy, which I enjoy a lot.  In terms of accessories, Iron Man gets quite a load out.  He’s got three sets of hands (the fists and blasting hands from the prior release, as well as an all-new set of gripping hands), the original comic-style helmeted head (allowing for either Animated Season 2, or Capcom looks), an unmasked head with the truly unmistakable mullet of ’90s Tony, an effect for his hand, an effect for the unibeam, the Proton Cannon from the Capcom games, and an effect and a display stand for that as well.  Now, if you want to get picky, he lacks an unmasked head that matches the Season 1 armor, since that was pre-mullet, but I’ve got plenty of non-mulleted Tony heads laying around, so I’ll give them a pass.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ended my review of the standard Modular Iron Man with “I’d maybe have liked some extra accessories, and I’d also love to see a version with flat colors,” not expecting Hasbro to do exactly that.  I was also not in a spot of chasing down exclusive variants to figures I already owned when this one was released, so I opted to hold out on him as a Pulse exclusive.  When he stopped being a Pulse exclusive, however, all bets were off.  The changes to the core figure aren’t a ton, but they take a figure I already liked a lot, and make him even better.  The extra accessories really just send him over the moon.  I’ve got nothing much else to say beyond wow is this figure awesome.  Really, really awesome.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3455: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Jabiim

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

OBI-WAN KENOBI — JABIIM

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Obi-Wan Kenobi is set years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Kenobi faced the corruption of his friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord Darth Vader.”

No matter your stance on the Star Wars prequels, it’s hard to deny that Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the very best things about them.  It was always kind of a shame that his storylines within the three movies never felt like the fully utilized him.  Thankfully, last year he got his own focus series, titled, rather unsurprisingly, Obi-Wan Kenobi, which really gave him time to shine.  There’s been plenty of action figure coverage from the show, especially of Obi-Wan himself.  I looked at the Retro Collection figure, but I haven’t yet looked at anything Black Series, so let’s change that up!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi — Jabiim is figure 11 in the Obi-Wan Kenobi sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series‘s fourth phase.  He was part of an assortment that hit towards the end of this summer, which also featured Tala and the Fourth Sister from the same show, as well as Darth Malak and Bastilla Shan from Knights of the Old Republic, and Vel Sarhta from Andor.  This is the third Black Series Obi-Wan based on the show, and is specifically based on his attire from the back half of the show, which is, amongst other things, the one he’s wearing during his big showdown with Vader.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  While Black Series has made some incredible strides in mobility on their figures more recently, Obi-Wan is a bit of a mixed bag.  A lot of it’s definitely more design than anything, but his arms are very restricted.  His shoulders have butterfly joints, but their range is very limited by the tunic, and while the elbows can get past 90, they’re limited in what they can do by how far the shoulders can go.  Additionally, the wrist joints are mostly rendered inert by the way the sleeves wrap around the hands, which is a definite bummer.  The neck, waist, and everything on the legs apart from the hips, are at least decent on their movement, which is a plus.  The sculpt makes use of the hands and lower half from the Wandering Jedi release, which makes sense, since he’s wearing a lot of the same stuff.  Interestingly, the head is *not* a re-use, despite the last two Obi-Wans from the show using the same one.  I can’t say I’m upset about it, though, because the end result is hands down the best Ewan McGregor likeness that Hasbro’s ever given us.  I mean, this thing is just absolutely spot-on.  It makes all the other Obi-Wans look like Obi-Twos.  The figure also gets a new torso and arms, as well.  They’ve got the aforementioned issues with mobility, but they do at least look the part of the garment he was wearing in the show.  It’s all topped off with a soft goods robe piece, which is okay.  It’s not great right out of the box, but I’d imagine there’s some tricks to shaping it, which would help it look a lot better.  Obi-Wan gets a pretty good mix of paint and molded plastic for his coloring; the face printing on the head is particularly strong on this release, and the base color work on the body is all rather cleanly applied.  Obi-Wan is packed with his lightsaber (with removable blade) and a blaster pistol, both of which are repurposed from the other two show-based Obi-Wans.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since The Phantom Menace, McGregor’s Obi-Wan has been a favorite of mine, and its an opinion that’s only grown stronger over time.  While I immensely enjoyed Kenobi, the Wandering Jedi release for Black Series didn’t really speak to me.  This look, however, was one I really liked in the show, especially for the scenes between him and Vader.  That said, I was beginning to waffle a little bit on whether I was really going to grab this one, but once in-hand shots of him started surfacing, I knew there was no way I could avoid grabbing a figure with that good of a likeness.  Ultimately, the figure’s a bit of a mixed bag.  That head sculpt is absolutely fantastic, but the articulation definitely leaves something to be desired.  Still, he’s a very nice offering, and I’m glad I added him to my collection.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3454: Totally Awesome Hulk

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

TOTALLY AWESOME HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In 2005, Marvel relaunched Amazing Fantasy, the anthology from the ’60s that had spawned Spider-Man, with a similar purpose: creating new characters.  Fittingly, the series’ most successful character would come out of its 15th issue (much like the original), when they introduced Amadeus Cho.  Amadeus would become a recurring supporting player, typically revolving around the Hulk side of things.  In 2015, following the Secret Wars event, Amadeus got to take over the title of Hulk himself, albeit in a different, decidedly more Totally Awesome way.  And it’s led to him getting a totally awesome figure.  Totally awesome!  Let’s check that out now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Totally Awesome Hulk is the Build-A-Figure for the self-titled series of Marvel Legends.  Amadeus’s ties to the overall Marvels-theming of the set are loose at best; he was on the Champions with Ms Marvel for a while in the comics, so I suppose that’s something?  Sure, let’s go with that.  Look, it got me an Amadeus Cho figure; I’m not gonna question it.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Amadeus is using the Endgame Hulk body as a starting point, which isn’t a terrible option; it keeps him a little more svelte than the typical comic Hulk, in keeping with Amadeus’s smaller stature, but keeps him noticeably larger than the standard-sized figure.  He gets a new head, pelvis, legs, and an add-on for his wrist band.  The head sculpt is a nice piece; it’s definitely leaning into Frank Cho’s version of Amadeus, which is a solid choice.  It also helps to keep him in line with the overall style of the line, and makes it clear that he’s a different character than Bruce.  The new legs mean he’s got pinless knees; still not pinless on the elbows, but it’s better than nothing.  Totally Awesome Hulk’s color work is largely handled through molded colors on the plastic.  The colors are nice and bright, and he’s very eye-catching.  He’s got a little bit of paint, mostly on his face, which gets some solid accent work.  Amadeus is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, and the other in open gesture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been an Amadeus fan since his “World War Hulk” appearances, and I’ve followed him since.  I’ve always wanted a figure of him in some form, but most of the time he’s just an average looking guy, so he’s not super toyetic.  Once he got Hulkified, I hoped that might speed up the process, but it’s still been a heck of a wait.  At this point, I’m just glad that I got some version of Amadeus, but on top of it all, he’s actually a pretty darn cool one.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3452: Iron Man – Heroes Return

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

IRON MAN — HEROES RETURN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Following his apparent demise at the hands of Onslaught alongside the other Avengers, Tony Stark returns home with a new armor and new focus.”

In the 1996, on the heals of the success of Image Comics, a company that had been formed when a bunch of Marvel’s superstar artists all left to start their own thing, Marvel, who were trying to recapture their early ’90s success, decided to hand some of their more downtrodden characters over to Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee’s Extreme Studios and WildStorm Studios.  The Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, and the FF, who all perished during the Onslaught event, were completely rebooted, in new, totally extreme ways.  Well, totally ’90s ways.  “Heroes Reborn” lasted a year, and though it saw an uptick in the sales of the four books it relaunched, the whole ordeal was far from a critical success.  It was all undone in 1997’s “Heroes Return,” which set things more or less back to where they were before.  Of course, “where they were before” for Iron Man was extraordinarily messy, so Marvel used the whole thing to do some in-universe rebooting for Tony as a whole.  And, he even got a fancy new armor out of the whole thing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man – Heroes Return is the one non-numbered figure in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends, as he’s the double pack that doesn’t contribute to the Build-A-Figure.  As the name indicates, this is Tony’s armor from the Heroes Return era, specifically the Model 16, which he wore for a while during the relaunch of both his own book and Avengers.  It was designed by Alex Ross for a pitch that he put together with Kurt Busiek for the Iron Man solo book *before* it got totally broken.  When Heroes Return came along, Busiek was writing Iron Man and wound up dusting it off.  It’s only prior toy treatment was a Minimate back in 2012, but it’s gotten no Legends, and it was conspicuously absent from Toy Biz’s ’90s run.  Also, fun fact, this armor would eventually become sentient, technically making this sort of a new character.  Yay new character!  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  At his core, this Iron Man is using a good chunk of parts from the 80th Iron Man, which has served as a starting point for a fair number of Iron Men at this point.  Apart from still having visible pins (a recurring issue with this set), it’s not a bad base, especially for an armor that was deliberately trying to recall earlier Iron Man designs.  He gets a new head, upper torso, pelvis, gloves, and boots, courtesy of sculptor Dennis Chan, in order to properly move him over to the Model 16’s set-up.  He also gets some shoulder pads, which work the way of the newer Black Series and Classified Series, where they spin with the arm.  It requires breaking up the flow of the sculpt a bit, but it also means that they won’t end up warped if you leave him posed for too long.  Beyond that, the new pieces work really well to capture 16’s design as seen in the comics, especially leaning into Perez’s take on it.  It’s got a very sharp look to it, and the extra smaller details really add some visual intrigue.  Most of the figure’s color work is handled via molded plastic, which works well enough.  He leans into gold over yellow, and I’m iffy on that some times, but with this particular armor, I really don’t mind.  If anything, I kind of wish the red was more metallic to match, because as it stands, it feels a little too flat by comparison.  Not bad, or anything, but a little flat.  Iron man is packed with two sets of hands and a pair of blast effects.  It’s too bad we couldn’t get an extra head with the face plat lifted.  As it is, he feels a little light, especially with no Build-A-Figure piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, there were three Iron Man armors that defined the character for me, based on my main ways of taking in his story.  I loved the classic armor because of the Ruby Spears cartoons, I loved the Modular armor because of the ’90s cartoon, and I loved this armor because it’s what he was wearing when I got into the Avengers comics.  It doesn’t get the same kind of toy coverage as the other two, which is a shame, because it’s a really fun design.  It also makes for a really fun toy.  And I’ve got another figure for my Busiek/Perez Avengers line-up!

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3450: Rebel Commando

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

REBEL COMMANDO

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Star Wars is big on is faceless armies getting lots and lots of troop builders, and that’s all well and good, but what about the not so faceless ones?  Don’t they deserve some love too?  Absolutely, they do.  Though not as prominent as the Imperial forces, the Rebel Troopers are the backbone of the good guys forces in the Original Trilogy.  They get one notable ground forces look for each of the three films, and thus far we’ve gotten the Fleet Trooper look from A New Hope and the cold weather gear from Empire.  We hadn’t gotten what is objectively the best Rebel Trooper design, however (totally un-biased and objective take there, by the way), the Endor Rebel from Return of the Jedi.  But, with Jedi‘s 40th anniversary upon us, it’s the perfect time to fix that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Rebel Commando is a deluxe-sized (well, deluxe-priced, anyway) Star Wars: The Black Series release, falling under the Return of the Jedi 40th Anniversary sub-line where everything is on retro cards.  He’s the second deluxe figure in this run, following the re-packed Boba Fett from earlier in the line.  The Commando, however, is an all-new offering, and as of right now, there aren’t any plans for a non-retro card release later.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  He’s using what’s become the standard set-up for articulation in the line, and it works very well for him.  Still thrilled the butterfly shoulders have become standard.  The Rebel Commando is sporting an all-new sculpt.  There are a couple of slight variations on the Endor Rebel set-up, but this figure’s largely centered on the more standard infantry get-up, with the helmet, vest, and basic fatigues.  The sculpt does a strong job of capturing the look; there’s plenty of layers, and the detailing is all nice and sharp.  I also especially dig how both hands get an extended trigger finger, allowing him to hold the rifle with either dominant hand, which aids in the customizability.  The head’s got the helmet permanently attached, and, in its default state, he’s got a head that’s clean shaven.  It appears to be based on Dutch stuntman Dickey Beer, who according to the old EU lore was “Sgt Junkin”, the strike team’s demolitions expert.  But, if you’re not a crazy person like me who looks all that information up, he works as a pretty nice generic Commando.  Like the Hoth Rebel, this guy gets an extra faceplate to make him into an additional Rebel.  This one’s even more distinctive than the first, sporting the signature white beard of the EU’s “Nik Sant,” the team’s pathfinder.  There’s been some debate since Rebels gave Captain Rex a similar white beard about whether Sant might in fact be Rex, and it seems that someone over at Hasbro’s team Rex, because the face is definitely patterned on Temuera Morrison.  Not that it makes him look *unlike* the guy that’s only in the background of a few shots of the movie, so, you know, it still works.  The paint work on this guy is generally pretty decent. It matches up with the depiction in the movie, and there’s some solid work on the camo, as well as some cool damage detailing on the helmet.  The only downside is that there’s hair visible on the back of the head, under the helmet, and its coloring doesn’t match with the second faceplate.  I guess they could have just had the helmet sit just a touch lower and leave the hair off entirely, but that wouldn’t be accurate, so it’s a catch-22.  The Commando is packed with both a Blastech A-295 rifle and a DH-17 blaster, a bandolier, and a survival pack.  While it’s a decent set-up of extras, it does feel rather light, given the price point.  The Hoth version was packed with more or less the same set-up of stuff, and he was standard retail.  Obviously, he was a good deal at the time, and Black Series figures trend towards limited accessories, but still.  He even loses the storage for the extra face plate in the back pack, which feels like a real missed opportunity.  Given the wider range of looks for the Endor Rebels, if they’d given this guy a third face plate, and perhaps the trench coat that Endor Han had, I feel like I’d be in a much better spot about the deluxe pricing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Endor Rebels are hands down my favorite design for the Rebel troops, and I’ve been looking forward to the inevitable addition of them to The Black Series.  I loved the Hoth Rebel, and that only made me more excited for this guy.  I won’t lie: I’ve got some issues with this release.  The hair thing, the lack of storage for the faceplate, and the less for more side of things all are a bit frustrating.  However, I’m an easy mark, so none of those issues were enough to stop me from getting two of these right out of the gate, especially once I knew there was a Nik Sant faceplate.  It’s a very fun figure, and I honestly wouldn’t hate it if we got a different version with some different faces and accessories, just for more mixing and matching.  Until then, these two are backing up my heroes in full force.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.