Tag Archives: Hasbro

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0048: Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

SNAKE EYES & STORM SHADOW

G.I. JOE VS COBRA (HASBRO)

Today’s Friday, but it’s not just *any* Friday!  No no!  Today’s October 17th, meaning it’s officially been 12 years of me running this humble little site.  And, to showcase that humbleness, I’m not even running this in front of a review, but instead an addendum, because that’s just how I roll these days.  I’m making it an ever so slightly more special addendum, though, with a revisit to one of my older year-ending reviews.  So, let’s look back at Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow!

Heyo! As all my faithful FiQ-fans are undoubtedly aware, today marks four years of reviews here at the site. In honor of this momentous day, I wanted to take a look at a pair of figures that are somewhat important in the grand scheme of my collection. I’ll be setting my sites on G.I. Joe, a franchise that I feel I don’t look at quite as often as I should around these parts. I mean, it is the *original* action figure, after all. The line definitely deserves some respect. Today, I’ll be looking at two of my favorite characters from the franchise (as well as two of the most popular characters in general), Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow were released in Series 1 of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe Vs Cobra line. This series served to bring brand-new 3 3/4-inch Joes back to mass retail after a one year absence and a few years of repaints.

SNAKE EYES

“SNAKE EYES learned his top combat skills in missions around the globe. A tragic helicopter mission took away his voice and scarred his face. That’s why he communicates with sign language and never removes his mask around others. He studied mystical martial arts with the Arashikage clan, which is also the family of master ninja STORM SHADOW, SNAKE EYES is an expert in all disciplines of martial arts and silent weapons. He can move silenty and without being seen. At one time, he and STORM SHADOW were sword brothers, linked by spirit and tradition. Now that STORM SHADOW is part of the evil COBRA organization, there is no escape from a final battle between two of the world’s greatest martial arts fighters.”

As perhaps the most popular Joe ever, it was no surprise that Snake Eyes turned up here in the first series. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall (he’d be taller without the wide stance) and he has 14 points of articulation. The first series of Vs were distinct in their construction. Hasbro abandoned the more typical O-ring construction, and went for a more solid construction. This results in figures that are a little sturdier than their predecessors, but slightly more limited in their posability at the hips. It wasn’t a perfect solution, and that’s why Hasbro ended up going back to the O-ring build in the next series. This Snake Eyes had a unique design, which made use of elements from all of his prior figures. I may be a little biased, but this has always been a favorite look of mine. His sculpt definitely shows its age….or an age. Given the sheer size of this guy’s muscles, he looks like he should be straight out of the ’90s, not the early ’00s. Guess Hasbro was still shaking off a little of the Extreme days from the ’90s. That being said, whoever worked on this sculpt was certainly having a good time of it. The details in the wrappings, the straps, and the pouches are all really well rendered, and indicate real attention being paid to this figure. The head’s my favorite part of the figure, as it’s probably the least affected by the stylization. I like that you can clearly see the face under the mask, but it’s not quite as ridiculous as the sculpted lips from Rise of Cobra. The paintwork on this figure is a bit more involved than most Snake Eyes figures tended to be. He’s actually molded in a very, very dark green, allowing his visor to be made straight black and still have contrast. The rest of the work is all in the accents, which all go pretty well. He’s got some color without it getting too garish. Snake Eyes was packed with a pair of swords, a backpack to hold them, a knife, and a sub-machine gun. After 15 years, all my figure has left are the swords.

STORM SHADOW

“STORM SHADOW grew up in the Arashikage clan of ninjas. During his training, his sword-brother was SNAKE EYES, the commando and martial arts master of the GI JOE team. The evil COBRA organization recruited Arashikage members. This corruption split the clan in two. After a COBRA agent killed STORM SHADOW’s uncle, he went undercover within COBRA to find the assassin. When the killer was revealed, STORM SHADOW joined the GI JOE team to get revenge. But now, STORM SHADOW is back with COBRA. Are all Arshikage ninjas evil? Or does COBRA COMMANDER hold some special power over STORM SHADOW? Whatever the reason, the anger is clear when he meets SNAKE EYES. The battle between the ninja masters will be legendary.”

Ah, the revolving door that is Storm Shadow’s affiliation. Yes, one of the notable things done by the relaunch was placing Storm Shadow back on the side of Cobra, which was explained in the Devil’s Due comics of the time as the result of brainwashing. The figure has the same height and articulation as Snake Eyes. Thanks to a slightly straighter stance, that actually makes him a little shorter. The sculpt for Storm Shadow as another all-new one, and while Snake Eyes would get another sculpt very quickly, Storm Shadow’s stuck around for several years. It’s not anywhere near as exaggerated as the Snake Eyes sculpt, so I guess it had a slightly longer shelf life. That being said, I can’t help but feel this sculpt is a little less inspired than that of Snake Eyes. The details seem a lot flatter, less organic, and just generally a little less developed. And then there’s that hood; what’s going on with the hood? It’s all stuck to the head, and generally un-hood-like. The Storm Shadow figure just prior to this one clearly showed that sculpting a hood was totally within Hasbro’s grasp, so this just looks…strange. It’s as if they didn’t decide until the last minute whether they wanted the hood or not, so he just has this amorphous could-be-a-hood-could-be-a-mask thing. Storm Shadow’s paint is alright. It’s pretty basic stuff, really. Red, white, gray, and black. It’s relatively clean, and makes for a good contrast with Snake Eyes. The white is all molded plastic, though, so he’s done some serious yellowing over the years. The figure was packed with two swords, a backpack, a knife, and a sub-machine gun. Apart from the backpack and knife, the pieces were actually unique to Storm Shadow, not shared with Snake Eyes. That’s actually pretty cool!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two are my very first small-scale G.I. Joes. I had several of the 12-inch ones, but the smaller line was on the back burner for my earlier collecting years. When the first series was first shown in ToyFare magazine, I was pretty excited, and I knew from the very beginning that Snake Eyes was the first one I wanted. Storm Shadow sort of came along for the ride. My dad bought these for me, as a reward for patiently waiting for flooring with him at Home Depot. They aren’t amazing figures. None of this era of Joes really were. But they were my first, and they were fun. I loved having them, and they got me into the whole franchise. Now I have over a hundred of these little guys. Lots of them are better technically than these two, but these two are still my favorites.

So, as noted within the review, this was the review that capped off my fourth year on the site, way back in 2017.  This was the very first review to be published on “thefigureinquestion.com” rather than “thefigureinquestion.wordpress.com” which was a really big deal for me at the time.  It’s crazy to think how long its been since the true free blog days of the site, but that’s the notable shift.  After a year of bouncing around, I had finally found myself settled back in at home, and was working a regular office job that would last me until the pandemic.  It marks probably one of the few periods of stability for me since starting the site, so I guess that was pretty nice.  

But what of the actual toys?  Well, I still pretty much stand by my assessments of the figures from the time.  I think they’re a bit dated and their own sort of thing, but still very much fun, and the kind of figures I really do dig.  When I reviewed them, I mentioned that I’d lost a lot of their parts.  As I mentioned in my B.A.T. review earlier this week, I had call to do some digging through all of my Joe parts from this era, and in the process, I actually wound up finding all of the pieces that went to these two, which is super cool.  Snake Eyes now has both swords, his sheaths, his uzi, and his dagger, while Storm Shadow gets…well, pretty much the same, but slightly different.  Yay!  Enjoy the new pictures of them in all their proper and complete glory!

#3939: Cobra B.A.T.

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

COBRA B.A.T.

G.I. JOE: SPY TROOPS (HASBRO)

When you want to promote a toyline based on warfare to children, but you don’t want to think too hard about the moral quandaries of having your heroes gun down actual people, you gotta bring in the robots!  G.I. Joe’s 3 3/4-inch incarnation would first do that in 1986, with the Battle Android Trooper, a concept they’ve revisited a number of times since.  They were notably revisited in the relaunch of the scale in the early ‘00s, becoming a major plot fixture in both the “Sound Attack” and “Spy Troops” themes, and even getting a major role in the Spy Troops animated movie.  As a toyline first and foremost, there were also plenty of toys to be had, and I’m looking at one of those today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This Cobra B.A.T. was released alongside a re-decoed Cobra Commander figure in 2003 as part of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Spy Troops line.  This was the fifth version of the B.A.T. at this scale, and the third under the re-launch.  The figure stands just shy of 4 inches tall and has 12 points of articulation.  The figures had returned to the o-ring construction at this point in the line, though the actual builds of the characters remained consistent with how the earlier solid construction figures were built.  They were all notably broader across the shoulders, had smaller heads, and were thinner at the waists, so they didn’t quite slot in with the vintage stuff.  The B.A.T. sculpt seen here was first introduced at the tail end of the G.I. Joe vs Cobra line’s “Sound Attack” imprint, and was presented here with some slight modifications.  It’s presented as a slight update on the original B.A.T. design, and it does that pretty well.  It feels consistent with the original, while also feeling rather modern to the time of the release.  This second version of the mold replaces the standard right hand of the prior version with one designed for swappable attachments, much like the original figure had.  It also features a removable chest plate, so that it can be more armored, or show off some of its inner workings, which are now more of an Iron Man-style arc reactor type set-up.  This figure returns the B.A.T. to a color scheme very similar to its original incarnation, which works very well with this sculpt.  The B.A.T. is packed with three different attachments, a sword, a rifle, and a flamethrower, as well as a backpack to put them on when not in use, and a cloth ghillie suit, which is missing from my figure.  Notably omitted is any sort of standard hand for the right side, so it’s just always going to be battle mode for this guy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In 2003, I was pretty into this line, and it was also really cheap and affordable, which made it pretty perfect for being that sort of “hey, can I grab this two-pack while we’re out buying something else?” kind of purchase.  I was going to a Halloween party at my cousin’s, and my dad and I had to stop and get something, and they had this pack, so I got it.  Never cared much about the Cobra Commander, so he’s long gone at this point, but I’ve had most of this guy for a while.  A couple of months ago, Max was chatting with me about some figures he’d gotten from this era of the line, which got me to sort through what remained of my originals, at which point I found I had a lot more of this guy than I’d realized, which made me quite happy.  He’s a very fun figure, and certainly amongst the best of this era of the line.

#3935: Morph

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

MORPH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The character of Morph was created for X-Men: The Animated Series by re-working an obscure X-Men foe “Changeling” essentially for the sole purpose of having a team member to kill off in the pilot, to show the seriousness of the situation.  Morph, however, proved to be a lot more popular than the show runners had expected, so the character’s death was reversed at the end of the first season, and they returned as an antagonist in the second, before eventually turning on Mr. Sinister (who had kept them alive, but brainwashed them), and returning to the team as a reserve member.  For the show’s continuation, X-Men ’97, Morph is once more a full-fledged member of the team, and that’s finally paid off in figure form, too!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morph is part of the third X-Men ’97 tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  Due to delays with the show and a lack of knowledge of the exact demand for product, the third round had a pretty significant delay from the first and second, with over a year’s worth of space between them.  This is the animated Morph’s second time in Legends form, following up on their first release in the VHS line.  Obviously, that one was based on Morph’s original animated design, which was really just Changeling in a standard X-uniform.  Morph’s success in the show led to the character’s reintroduction during “Age of Apocalypse,” which saw a rather radical redesign.  For ’97, Morph is sporting a design that mixes the two notable looks together, with the presumption that this is Morph’s default state, and the more “human” look seen during the original run (which makes a brief re-appearance in the first episode of ’97) is an affected look used to fit in better.  The figure stands just under 6 1/4 inches tall and they have 32 points of articulation.  Morph is sporting an all-new sculpt.  The articulation scheme is a bit stiff and old-fashioned, apart from the pinless construction, but it does what it needs to.  They end up feeling a bit like the What If…? figures in terms of movement.  The actual sculpt is a good match for the animation model.  The last Morph sort of fit them into the more general Legends style, and was likewise a bit more bulked up than their in-show appearance.  This figure sticks much closer to Morph’s more svelte design, giving them a more unique feel, overall.  Morph’s color work is largely molded colors, which is always pretty clean.  There’s a bit of accenting on their face, to keep it from being *too* blank, which works pretty well.  Morph is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open), an alternate original series styled head, and an alternate Gyrich head.  Alternate heads are a classic bit for Morph, and I do generally dig them (especially taking the opportunity to offer Gyrich, since he’s a rather noteworthy character who’s never gotten a figure), but unfortunately the molded color on the neck is a match for the standard head, meaning they’ll always have an off-white neck.  Since the neck’s a separate piece, it’s too bad they couldn’t include an alternate part to swap in.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Morph’s certainly a favorite of mine, especially in regards to the original series, and all of the figures included.  I’ve always had a soft spot for them, and I was thrilled to hear they were being promoted to full-fledged team member for the revival.  I was a bit bummed by no Morph figures at launch, but I’m glad they were amongst the first of the post-show product.  Definitely a fun little figure.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3928: Captain America vs Venom

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA VS VENOM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In the ‘90s, Capcom’s arcade fighting games were a pretty notable thing, and also Marvel Comics was a pretty notable thing.  So, Marvel and Capcom opted to do that whole “two great tastes that taste great together” thing, and teamed up for some crossover action.  First starting more focused with X-Men vs Street Fighter, they eventually added the larger rosters of both Marvel and Capcom to the mix, and even got some toys along the way.  There’s remasters and all sorts of nostalgia going on right now, which always leads to an interest in some merchandising.  Jada has been running a really strong showing with a number of the Capcom properties, and, in a bit of an informal crossover, Hasbro’s doing their own line of just the Marvel half of the games.  Would you believe I bought the Captain America?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain America vs Venom is a two-pack release from Hasbro’s Marvel Legends.  They’re part of the first big push of the “VS” set under the “Gamerverse” banner.  Though the packaging uses sprites and design elements from Marvel vs Capcom, there’s no actual mention of the game on the package, again keeping the informal crossover bit going.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag you’re buying the same thing over and over again?  I mean, I frequently am doing *exactly* that, but, like in a more metaphorical sense?  That’s where I’m at with this Captain America.  He’s the next progression of the journey to a classic Cap that we started back in 2016, with the Cap Wolf Cap, who debuted Cap on the “new” Reaper mold.  Wow, I said “Cap” a lot of times in that sentence.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Remember my “Ship of Theseus” comment in the Secret Wars Cap review?  Well, this guy just sort of furthers that.  All that remains of the original Reaper body use at this point is, in fact, his belt piece.  He gets the lower torso first used for the 80th Cap, and the standard calm masked head included with the 20th Anniversary Cap.   His lower arms, pelvis, and legs to the top of the shin are all the modified pieces used on the Secret Wars Cap last year.  That leaves a new upper torso, upper arms, and boots for this specific release.  Cap’s game design notably omitted the usual scale-mail that his upper torso spots, so this figure does that as well,  but it still grants him a lot of sculpted elements, rather than simply painting them all on, like the Cap Wolf figure did.  Most notably, the new upper torso gives Cap butterfly joints on his shoulders, something he hasn’t had since the Toy Biz days.  They’re quite handy when it comes to fighting poses, which is ideal for a figure that’s specifically for a fighting game.  Cap also gets a new alternate head, with another expression.  This one takes the teeth-gritting expression of the Secret Wars release and dials it up to 11, for a full on scream.  It’s not your typical Cap expression, but it feels exceptionally true to the sprite models from the game.  Cap’s color work is perfectly fine, if not above average in terms of paint work application and quality.  But, once again, we’ve gotten *another* shade of blue, meaning that you can’t swap the heads on this guy with either the 20th or Secret Wars figures, which continues to feel like a missed opportunity.  Presumably, Hasbro’s waiting to unveil a Maximum Cap that has all the heads and retools this torso into one with the scale mail.  Cap is packed with two pair of hands (fists and thumbs up), his shield, and a bash effect piece for the shield.  The thumbs up hands are really cool, and offer a lot of fun posing options.  I wasn’t thrilled about the move back to the smaller shield, but I think it does work a bit better for the game look.  It’s amusing that this shield is smaller than the one included with the original TB MvC Cap figure, though.

VENOM

Venom.  Yay.  Venom.  I totally bought this set for both figures, and not just the one.  Of course.  I totally know all of the facts about the different Venoms, too.  Like, this one’s…blue?  Cuz of the sprite.  That’s why.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like Cap, the classic Eddie Brock Venom’s gone through a lot of different mold variations.  This appears to be the same mold used for the Amazon three-pack Eddie that came with Riot and Agony, which itself was based on the Omega Red molds.  It means he’s still got visible pins on the knees, but otherwise modern articulation.  It’s not a bad sculpt by any means.  It feels very true to the character, and the heads both feel very much in line with his game design.  I especially like the partially unmasked head, because it reminds me of the old Spider-Man Classics figure.  In terms of coloring, he is, as noted above, blue.  It’s honestly a pretty good way of getting him to stand out from the others.  Generally, the paint’s pretty basic.  I do really love the green saliva on the tongue, though.  Venom is packed with the alternate unmasked head, and two pairs of hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m cursed to keep buying every Captain America from Hasbro as they continue to make them incrementally better every time.  I’ve just accepted that.  This time, they also made me buy a Venom.  Wasn’t thrilled about that, but I really wanted the Cap, so I did it.  I’m glad I did, because I do really, really like this Cap.  The changes feel worth it, and he feels more like a new figure and not just a retread of the ones from before.  I think Secret Wars may still be more of a definitive Cap for me, but this one’s exceptionally fun, and I especially love all the fun stuff you can do with that screaming head.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased these figures for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0044: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Jedi Duel

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

OBI-WAN KENOBI — JEDI DUEL

STAR WARS: EPISODE I (HASBRO)

It’s another Friday, which means it’s time for another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Today, we venture once more into the galaxy far, far away, albeit with a slightly different focus than my usual more Original Trilogy-focused interests, instead turning our sights on the now 26 year-old tie-in toyline for The Phantom Menace, with a look back at Obi-Wan Kenobi!

Ah, yes, The Phantom Menace. What a thing that was. Has any other movie simultaneously brought back and killed a beloved franchise? Oddly enough, even though I don’t particularly care for it, it’s the only of the prequel trilogy that I can stand at all these days. Sure, it’s total crap, but it didn’t put me to sleep or make my brain hurt too much like the other two. Plus, it did actually have some pretty good performances by Liam Neeson and Ewan McGreggor. So, it wasn’t all bad I suppose. Just mostly…

Regardless of opinions of the film itself, the toys were a pretty big hit, and they aren’t terrible. So, today I’ll be looking at the basic figure of Ewan McGreggor’s young Obi Wan Kenobi.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan was released as part of the initial wave of figures released by Hasbro to coincide with the release of the movie. Obi Wan is based on his look during his and Qui Gon’s final battle with Darth Maul. The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and features 10 points of articulation. The articulation is important to note, as this was probably the most articulation ever to be seen on a Star Wars figure at the time. Until Revenge of the Sith came along, this was the new standard. The sculpt on the figure is pretty decent, not perfect, but a nice approximation of what Obi Wan looked like in the movie. While I understand the decision to sculpt the arms bent to hold the lightsaber two-handed, it does leave the sculpt looking a bit odd if he isn’t holding the saber. The torso also suffers from being a bit boxy, even for the time. The paint is serviceable. Nothing spectacular, but pretty good in general. The lines on the boots are a bit fuzzy, but everything else is pretty clean. Mine have long since been lost, but when he was new, Obi Wan included his lightsaber and a “comm-tech” display stand that would play some of Obi Wan’s dialogue from the movie when hooked into the big comm-tech player you could buy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While Phantom Menace is far from one of my favorite movies, I was 7 at the time of its release, and I was willing to overlook most of its flaws because it was a new Star Wars movie. I rushed right from the theatre to get an Obi Wan figure (Which was $2.99, by the way. That’d cost you $10 now…), and I was very happy to have him. 

Okay, so, like, I just need to address that, amongst the more minor things I disagree with my past self on, a pretty notable one is my stance on the Prequels.  The thing is, when they came out, I loved the Prequels, because I was between the ages of 7 and 13, and that’s the perfect time for such things.  As a proper adult, I’ve revisited them, and I see what works and what doesn’t, and respect them for what they are, because Star Wars is, first and foremost, about being entertaining and fun, and they’re honestly pretty good at that (so are the Sequels, but that’s another argument entirely).  But, there’s a period from the late ‘00s through the mid ‘10s where I gave into the cultural peer pressure of “the Star Wars Prequels are terrible” and stuck with the trendy stance.  I’m not about that these days, so I kind of find my opening remarks to this review… “cringe”?  At least I do stick up for Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan.

In the heading of my original review, I erroneously list the title of the line as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, when in actuality the line was called Star Wars: Episode I.  I was still very early in my reviewing, and not checking information as much as just writing down what I remembered off the top of my head.  Otherwise, the actual review part’s not so bad.  I was at least pretty nice to the figure.  He was at the time missing his lightsaber and CommTech stand, both of which I have since located.  Not too bad.

#3916: Cobra Viper

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

COBRA VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Do you ever have one of those days that just feels like it goes on forever?  Or, like, more specifically, about seven years?  Is that more specifically a me thing?  See, cuz I got this day, I call it the Day of the Vipers, and every time I *think* it’s over….it’s not.  So…for my 11th entry in the seventh year of the ill-named “Day of the Vipers” we’re going back to the beginning.  I mean, like, not really, but sort of homaging, maybe?  Yeah, that’s the ticket.  So, what’s the in depth deal on this guy?  Well, when Hasbro launched Classified Series, it was meant to be a more thorough modernization of the Joe line, rather than just a recreation of what came before, but at a larger size.  As such, a number of the designs from the early run were similar to the vintage ones, but tweaked to better fit the new aesthetic Hasbro was aiming for.  As the line has progressed it has, like pretty much every Real American Hero throwback before it, shifted into just the straight updates territory, and to offset that, Hasbro’s going back and redoing older figures to retrofit them.  The Viper’s taken a bit longer than others, but it’s here, so let’s see how it is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cobra Viper is part of the Retro line-up for G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He hit mid-summer this year, alongside Mindbender and Rock n’ Roll.  This is the seventh version of the Viper under the Classified imprint, but the first not to be build from the exact same bank of parts.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  At this point, if you know the Classified articulation scheme, you won’t really be surprised by any of the figures as the come out.  It’s effectively the same every time.  It works, and also Joes have a tendency to stick to the formula, so it all makes sense.  This one does notably add pinless joints to the mix, which is a first for the Viper, and a nice change-up.  The Viper shares his head sculpt and goggles with the prior versions of the character at this scale.  It’s a firm case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, so it makes a lot of sense.  The rest of the sculpt is all-new.  Apart from the very different configuration of the roll of the sleeves, it’s not drastically different than the prior sculpt, at least in a broad strokes sense.  Everything is sort of moved around and tweaked to be a more direct translation of the original ’86 mold.  It’s a very sharp mold, and there’s no denying it’s a good match for the original…just, you know, bigger.  His color work is clean and bold.  The last few “standard” Vipers were a bit on the muted side, so I like the slightly brighter palette being in play for this one.  The exact layout is again mimicking the vintage figure, which is generally fine, but I do also kind of miss some of the more varied adjustments of more recent updates.  But, it certainly gets the job done.  The Viper is packed with three pairs of hands (fists, gripping, and a point/open gesture combo), two different styles of rifle, a pistol, a backpack, and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve generally run my course on Classified Series, and I’d also kind of run my course on the original Viper mold for the line.  I didn’t mind the departure, but I was hoping to see some more adjustments to the mold as things progressed.  When those didn’t happen, got a bit bored, I guess.  This figure goes for a total rework, which in some ways works, but also, just feels like we’re retreading just to retread.  It’s kind of the doomed fate of any post-ARAH line, I guess.  They just all become retreads.  Where does that leave this guy?  He’s a good figure from a technical standpoint, for sure, and a good recreation of the classic figure.  And, for me, I think he’s a good send-off to Classified Series, closing off on the figure I thought I really wanted, but maybe I didn’t?  Could be worse.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3904: The Thing

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

THE THING

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

When it comes to cinematic adaptations, Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing, has had a bit of a mixed presentation.  Michael Chiklis’s turn as Ben was undoubtedly the highlight of the two Story films, but Jaime Bell’s mumbling loner from Fant4stic was a particularly poor showing in an already poor film.  And, somewhere in the middle, you’ve got Micheal Bailey Smith and Carl Cialfalio’s two-handed Ben and Thing approach from the Corman movie, which is admittedly mostly just hampered by the film’s unfinished nature.  Where does Ebon Moss-Bachrach fall in the scale?  He’s at least as good as Chiklis, I’d say.  My only hang-up is that I don’t feel there’s as much time spent with him as the other three, so it’s a little harder to form a full opinion.  I do look forward to seeing more, though, and it’s certainly a much better approach than the one that immediately preceded it.  Anyway, here’s a figure of him!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Thing is another entry in the First Steps tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends, and the last of the four members of the titular team.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The film returns Ben to something closer to his ‘60s scaling, which means that this figure is the smallest of the Legends Thing figures to date.  That’s not a bad thing, mind you.  His articulation’s a little different from the other team members, given his bulkier stature.  We see a bit of a return to the “twisting meat” era with the biceps and the abdomen both having opposing joints that sort of cancel each other out.  It’s not quite as much of an aesthetic problem this time around, though.  Ben’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s…well, it’s not technically inaccurate,  but it’s not the look the character spends the bulk of the movie sporting.  In the film, in contrast to most depictions of the character, he has a full uniform to match the other three, but what we get here is something closer to how Ben’s classically depicted, sans shirt and boots.  We see him in action with this look briefly during the opening montage of the team’s first four years of exploits, and it also shows up a few times in the in-universe promotional images, keeping him more in line with the slightly adjusted hair styles of Reed and Johnny.  It’s ultimately a more quintessential look for the character, and I myself prefer it, but maybe we’ll see a more accurate final battle Ben, complete with bearded head sculpt later down the line?  This sculpt is a strong offering, though.  The likeness on the head matches his design in the film nice, and they do a good job of recreating the rocky texturing of his skin, as well as keeping his uniform’s stitching consistent with the other three team members.  I do especially like the more reserved expression on the head, which feels very in line with Moss-Bachrach’s portrayal of the character.  The paint work here is a bit mixed.  The rocky skin gets some really solid accenting, which really works well with the sculpted details.  On the flip side, the uniform is a bit sloppy, and one of the logos on his leg was all scratched-up right out of the box.  Ben is packed with two pairs of hands, one in fists and one in open gesture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ben’s my favorite FF member, and this was the figure from this set I was most looking forward to.  He’s a modern movie Legend, so if you’ve gotten a bunch of those, you know what you’re getting here.  It means he’s a pretty solid, pretty straight forward figure, though, and he certainly feels like he gets the character down pretty well.

Shoutout to 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.

#3900: Johnny Storm

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

JOHNNY STORM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

There’s no shortage of Johnny Storms in the MCU.  Or, at least, there’s no shortage of Johnny Storm *actors* in the MCU.  They’ve absorbed all of them thus far, and the next logical step, of course, is to just have their own Johnny, portrayed by Joseph Quinn in First Steps.  He does a solid job with the part, giving the MCU a Johnny to be proud of, and one that won’t get lost despite the overabundance of Johnny actors around.  And, just to make sure he doesn’t get lost in the sea of MCU-associated product, there are two versions of him available in the Legends assortment for the movie.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Johnny Storm is part of the 6-figure Marvel Legends tie-in assortment for Fantastic Four: First Steps.  As noted above, there are two Johnny figures included, one flamed on and one not.  This one is the not, in case the photos didn’t clue you in.  I do really like getting that option right out of the gate; we don’t really see it much with these figures.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  His construction is very similar to Reed, though the two don’t actually share any parts.  All four members of the team have unique uniforms in the movie, and Johnny’s is the one that deviates the most from the traditional set-up, at least in terms of color break-down.  That said, it’s still a very FF-feeling set-up, so I can certainly dig it.  It’s also neat how they decided to put the whole team in a knit material so that Johnny would have something that looked like his old “heat lines” when flamed-on.  Johnny’s head sculpt has a good likeness of Quinn.  As with Reed, the hair isn’t quite on the mark for his look in the movie; it seems to take its influence from the in-universe promotional images within the movie, which have Johnny with a slightly more swept-back look.  The color work is largely consistent with the other two I’ve looked at; the exact details are slightly tweaked, and he’s definitely cleaner than Sue, but overall very similar.  I do like the accenting on the hair, as well as the very subtle stubble on his face.  Johnny is packed with two sets of hands (in open and fists), as well as two flame effect pieces.  The fists for some reason omit the black palms from the gloves, which is rather glaring in most poses.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

If nothing else, I am a sucker for a fully powered down Johnny figure, given their relative rarity for so long.  So, when the movie figures were confirmed to be giving us both, that made me quite happy.  I was also quite pleased by Joseph Quinn’s casting in the role, and his performance was certainly a highlight in the film.  The figure is fun.  Pretty much exactly on par with the others, and by extension exactly on par with other modern Legends, but it’s hard to complain about consistency when it’s this good.

Shoutout to 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.

#3896: Mr. Fantastic

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

MR. FANTASTIC

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fantastic Four: First Steps is officially here, and I can officially say it’s the best Fantastic Four movie they’ve made! …what, is that not a high bar to clear?  Well, it’s also the best super hero movie with Pedro Pascal!  Take that, Wonder Woman 1984!  Okay, so, I do seem to be dancing around this one a bit, don’t I?  Well, the truth is that I saw FF over the weekend and I liked it, but I don’t know that I loved it.  It’s not entirely the movie’s fault; I’m still really in that post-Superman high, and it’s not an entirely fair comparison.  The film’s strengths also definitely outweigh its weaknesses, though, so it’s a net positive for sure.  One of the film’s undoubted strengths, however, is the casting on the titular team, headlined by the aforementioned Mr. Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Fantastic is part of the First Steps tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends, which hit just before the film’s release, earlier this month.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Like the rest of the team, Reed’s seen here in his main team suit, with the closest ties to their standard suits from the comics.  While the comic suits tend to be uniform across at least three of the four, the movie differentiates them a bit more between the team.  Reed’s is notable in its omission of any white accenting around the collar, making it the most understated of the suits.  His sculpt is unique to him, and generally pretty solid.  The face notably has a very strong likeness of Pascal, even better than the ones we’ve seen for The Mandalorian.  It even got the Matthew seal of approval, for what it’s worth.  The hair’s a bit shorter and closer cropped at the top than it actually is in the film; it looks like it’s based more on the early promo work for the film than the actual film proper.  It’s not too terribly far off, though.  The body sculpt is fairly balanced and does a respectable job of replicating his costume design from the movie.  The articulation’s a bit obvious, especially the mid-torso joint, but I like the texturing work, especially on the piping and stitching.  Reed’s color work is really strong on the face and hair, and notably cleaner on the body than Sue’s.  The blue is a little paler than the color on the screen, again seeming to be patterned closer to the early promo images than the final film.  Reed is packed with two sets of hands (fists and open gesture), as well as a pair of alternate arms stretched out.  The stretched arms are slightly bendable, which is a fun way of showing off his power set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Pedro Pascal as Reed was pretty inspired casting from the start, so I was certainly down for some toy coverage of that.  Pascal’s come up short on figures in the past, but that’s not the case here.  That likeness is super killer, and this figure is really fun, especially with those extra bendy arms.  Reed got the coolest figures out of the 2005 tie-ins, so it’s nice to see the character still being treated well even now.

Shoutout to 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.

#3893: Anakin Skywalker

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

ANAKIN SKYWALKER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (HASBRO)

“As a youth, Anakin Skywalker was brought before the Jedi Council as a candidate for Jedi training. With some dissension, the Council voted to allow Anakin to become the apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and over time Anakin became a powerful Jedi. The Council’s concerns, however, proved to be well founded. The dark side soon overwhelmed Anakin and changed him, creating Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. Darth Vader faithfully served at Emperor Palpatine’s side, leading the Imperial efforts to crush the Rebellion. He was even ready, if necessary, to take the life of his own son, Luke Skywalker. But in the final confrontation between father and son, Luke’s pleas finally awakened the good buried deep within Darth Vader.”

While there were plenty of Darth Vaders to be had, prior to 1999, there were very few Anakin Skywalker figures on the market.  The vintage line only had a single one, released at the *very* end.  Power of the Force did a little better, upping that quantity to a whole two.  The first was a “spirit” figure, packed alongside similar versions of Obi-Wan and Yoda in a Cinema Scene pack.  The second was, like the vintage line, at the very end of the run.  He’s also hella quirky.  Let’s talk about him now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Anakin Skywalker was part of the 1999 portion of the “Flashback Photos” Star Wars: Power of the Force figures, alongside C-3PO and Aunt Beru.  Despite us not seeing this look until he was good and dead, this figure gives us old-man Jedi as if he were real and in the flesh.  Why?  Don’t think about it too hard.  The figure stands just over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  That said, you can really only use the neck and shoulders, since the legs and waist are hidden beneath the robes.  Despite his structural similarities, the only part actually shared with the Spirit figure is the head.  Otherwise, he’s all-new, and remained pretty well unique.  The sculpt’s rather on the static side, but this version of the character really just did stand around, I suppose.  It’s not a bad sculpt at all, and l can certainly appreciate the more reserved approach to posing at this late stage in the game.  His color work just goes for solid colors, because we’re just leaning into that hypothetical living version of him, I guess.  The application’s all good and clean, and pretty much what you would expect from this line.  Anakin is packed with a lightsaber, which is notable for two reasons.  Firstly, that the ghosts don’t use lightsabers, so it’s sort of odd for him to have one.  Secondly, you’ll notice I said “a lightsaber” not “his lightsaber.” That’s because it’s actually Obi-Wan’s saber, not Anakin’s.  Not entirely sure why that is.  He’s also packed with a flashback photo, which shows Anakin in Jedi and in Phantom Menace.  This is the *third* flashback photo to have kid Anakin as the Phantom Menace picture, especially notable because no one else so much as doubled up on them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall this one was rather early in my push to start completing this line of figures.  I got him alongside the Flashback Photo versions of Luke and Leia, you know for a neat little family reunion type thing.  Honestly, it’s a figure that always rather intrigued me.  He’s not anything crazy amazing or anything, but he’s a fun, if perhaps slightly quirky figure and he’s certainly remained rather unique.

Shoutout to 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.