Tag Archives: Hasbro

#2480: Ranger Slayer

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

RANGER SLAYER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Though they were a smash success on TV, Power Rangers and comics didn’t have the strongest start.  Attempts were made to start some sort of on-going in the show’s hey-day, but nothing really took off, and eventually things just got dropped.  However, a renewed interest in the MMPR-incarnation of the show allowed Boom Studios to launch a comics-based revival in 2016, which ultimately expanded into its own full-fledged continuity.  One of the bigger stories to come out of it was “Shattered Grid”, an alternate universe story featuring an evil Tommy Oliver as its primary antagonist Lord Drakkon.  Serving Drakkon was a brainwashed and crazy Kimberly Ann Hart, now under the monicker of Ranger Slayer.  Hasbro is starting to delve into the comics a little with their toyline, including Ranger Slayer, who I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ranger Slayer is the final figure in Series 5 of Hasbro’s Lightning Collection.  Following Lord Drakkon’s release in Series 3, she’s our second Boom Studios-inspired figure.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  Ranger Slayer is sporting an all-new sculpt, and even gets a slightly tweaked articulation scheme, most notably on the ankles, which are a slightly more compact design than the standard boots we’ve been seeing on other Rangers in this line.  The articulation’s great in concept, but perhaps a little iffy in execution, as on my figure, her feet tend to fall off at the ankle during posing a lot.  This also makes her not exceedingly stable on her feet, so she falls down a lot.  I’m not a huge fan of this.  In contrast to Magna Defender and his permanently attached cape, Ranger Slayer’s cape is totally free floating, and doesn’t actually attach to the figure.  Ultimately, it works out okay, but it does mean it falls off a lot, which I’m again not the biggest fan of.  At the very least having it peg into her back would have helped.  The final issue with my figure is one that isn’t a line-wide one, but is an annoying one nevertheless.  It seems the head on my figure wasn’t quite properly molded, resulting in the socket for the neck joint not actually clicking into place.  It just sort of wedges on there, and never all that securely.  That, coupled with the cape and the feet, really makes posing her a pain.  Moving past all of that, I will say that the figure has a good *looking* sculpt, and I particularly like the way the cape has been sculpted so dynamically.  Her paint work is decent, but probably the weakest of my Series 5 set.  There’s a few spots of noticeably missing paint, and some sloppy edges, especially on the legs.  Ranger Slayer includes her Bow of Darkness, Blade Blaster, a stock of three arrows, a shooting arrow effects piece, and two sets of hands (gripping and fist/flat combo).  It’s too bad she didn’t also get an unmasked head, especially given that Drakkon got one, but at least she doesn’t feel like she comes up too light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I haven’t really followed the comics from Boom, but I have been aware of some of the broad strokes elements, which included Drakkon and Ranger Slayer, both of whom have some pretty nifty designs going for them.  I missed out on Drakkon’s initial release, but I definitely didn’t want to miss this one (or any of this series, really).  Ultimately, this is a figure I had pretty high expectations for, and unfortunately, especially in the case of my personal copy, I definitely feel a little bit let down.  She’s not a bad figure, and she still does have an impressive design, but she’s just not quite as playable as I’d like.  Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing Hasbro go back to the comics well again for things such as the Ranger Sentries.  That’d be pretty cool.

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

#2479: Time Force Red Ranger

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

TIME FORCE RED RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

My relationship with Power Rangers is a little bit turbulent.  While I recall the tail-end of the original run of MMPR, it wasn’t until Zeo that I jumped into the merchandising aspect of things.  Then Turbo came along and kind of killed any real interest I had, before I got thoroughly hooked by In Space.  Its follow-up Lost Galaxy was fine, but not my favorite, and Lightspeed Rescue has really always left me a little bit bored.  My last true hurrah with the franchise was Time Force, after which I pretty much tapped out (but then again, so did Saban…at least for a bit).  Time Force is finally making its entrance into The Lightning Collection, with its Red Ranger, Wes Collins, who I’ll be taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Time Force Red is part of Series 5 of Hasbro’s Lightning Collection, and is both this assortment’s requisite Red Ranger and our first Time Force Ranger.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation.  Surprisingly, Time Force Red is an all-new sculpt.  Given how Galaxy Red was handled, I was definitely expecting this guy to be fairly re-use heavy.  Obviously, I’m sure most of these parts will end up used again for the the other three male Time Force Rangers, but it’s nice to see them actually go to the trouble of mixing things up a bit with some new parts.  I actually like how these parts turned out a little bit more well put together than some of the earlier parts.  It’s definitely a slightly sleeker sculpt than the MMPR parts, which definitely suits the design aesthetic of Time Force in general.  If I have one complaint about the sculpt, it’s that the helmet seems a touch wide, but it’s possible my memories of the old figures are playing tricks on my eyes with that one.  It’s certainly not a *bad* sculpt, so I’m hard-pressed to really complain.  His paint work is pretty clean, and is probably the best in this particular assortment, at least as far as my copies are concerned.  It definitely works well with the more crisp and clean nature of the design, as I think paint errors would have been more of an issue here.  Time Force Red is packed with his Chrono Blaster, a pair of Chrono Sabers, an effects piece, two pairs of hands (gripping and a fist/thumbs-up combo), and an unmasked Wes Collins head.  The sabers can combine as in the show, resulting in a slight compromise to the handles when they’re separate.  Still, it’s a cool gimmick.  The thumbs-up hand is one the better alternate hands, and the unmasked Wes head is another strong likeness.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Time Force still ranks pretty highly for me in terms of Power Rangers shows, and while Wes isn’t necessarily my favorite member of the team, I’m still glad to be getting our first taste of the team.  He’s a pretty solid figure, and I really dig all of the new parts they’ve given him.  I look forward to getting the rest of the team to go with him!

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

#2478: Mighty Morphin’ Blue Ranger

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

MIGHTY MORPHIN’ BLUE RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Continuing on yesterday’s Lightning Collection theme, today we’re jumping just a little bit back in Rangers history, with a Mighty Morphin’ era figure.  Hasbro’s been slowly weaving the inaugural team into the Lightning Collection line-up, and the latest to join them is Billy Cranston, the Blue Ranger, notable for being the only member of the MMPR team to stay with the show for its whole run, before being retired from active Ranger duty during the events of Zeo.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mighty Morphin’ Blue is part of the fifth series of Lightning Collection figures, and is the MMPR offering for this particular set.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Billy is largely built out of the same bank of parts as the other male MMPR Rangers, which is fairly sensible, and also fairly expected.  It also means he’s a pretty straight-forward figure in terms of what he does.  The new helmet’s a nice enough piece, though as with all of the MMPR figures, I think I do prefer the Figuarts one. Something about the proportions on this one just seems a little off.  Of course, it’s still got all the important Blue-specific elements, so it’s still very identifiable as Billy’s helmet.  As with Red and Black, Billy gets a slightly tweaked belt, with the proper belt buckle, which continues to be a really cool, and not immediately expected element.  Billy’s paint work is pretty straight forward stuff; if you know general Hasbro paint, you know how this one goes.  There’s minimal slop or bleed over on my sample, so that’s certainly good.  For me, the part where this figure really shines is the accessory selection.  He gets an unmasked head (with a pretty solid David Yost likeness; it’s easily the best of the MMPR likenesses), two pairs of hands (in gripping and fists), his power lance in separated and fully extended form, and a blue lightning effect.  The unmasked head is definitely a lot of fun, but I was also really happy to get the fully extended Power Lance, given its absence from the Figuarts release.  Now, between the two, I have the full accessory complement.  Yay!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I generally haven’t felt the need to pick up the MMPR cast in the Lightning Collection style, thanks to already having the Figuarts and still being quite happy with those, Billy is by far my favorite member of the team, and just one of my favorite Rangers in general.  Given the extra unmasked portrait and the extended lance, this one was pretty easy sell for me.  Not gonna lie, he’s making it harder for me to stick to the my plans to skip MMPR, because I do really like this figure.  I think I’ll be able to manage holding out on the others, though.  Whatever the case, this guy’s pretty sweet.

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

#2477: Zeo Gold Ranger

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

ZEO GOLD RANGER

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

ZEEEEEEEEOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLD!!!!!  OH YEAH!!! …ya know?

I began my last Zeo Gold Ranger review with a note that I don’t review many Power Rangers here, a statement that has become patently untrue, so I guess I can’t very fairly repeat it.  However, if I *didn’t* review many Power Rangers around here, this guy would still probably make the cut.  Why is that?  Because he’s the Zeo Gold Ranger, and the Zeo Gold Ranger is the best damn Power Ranger there is.  And I will fight you on that.  Okay, I probably won’t.  It’s okay if you don’t agree.  I’m gonna be sad, and that means you made me sad on my birthday, but I guess we’ll all learn to live with it.  I can learn to forgive.  Where was I?  Yes, the Gold Ranger review.   Excellent.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zeo Gold is part of Series 5 of Hasbro’s Power Rangers: The Lightning Collection, following Zeo Blue’s debuting the show’s coverage in Series 4.  But, as I noted in the review of that figure, Zeo Gold was technically the debut figure, thanks to an early release last summer as part of an SDCC two-pack last year.  At their core the two releases are the same, but there are some differences when it comes to accessories, which I’ll touch on when I get to that section of the review.  This actually marks the third Gold Ranger in the line, after the Beast Morphers and Dino Charge versions, for those keeping track of such things.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  A number of Zeo Gold’s parts are shared with Zeo Blue, but he still gets a new set of arms, lower legs, head, and armor, which keeps him looking *fairly* unique when compared to Blue.  It’s a solid selection of the parts for him, and does a really nice job of capturing the suit as seen in the show.  The torso armor is a little more floaty than I might have liked, especially when compared to the White and Green Rangers.  It’s not terrible, and the floating is preferably to being totally fixed when it comes to posability.  It’s a really nicely sculpted piece, though, and it and the helmet are definitely the coolest parts here.  On the helmet, I especially like the raised kanji element, as the Bandai figures usually didn’t have quite as nicely pronounced.  It looks really sharp here.  The paint work is overall pretty solid on this guy.  The helmet’s definitely the best, with the sharpness again really coming though, but I also really like the accenting on the chest piece.  There’s a touch of inconsistent coverage on the upper sections of the knees, but beyond that, it’s pretty good.  Now, for the change-ups from the SDCC release, the accessories.  The biggest shift is the unmasked head, because while the SDCC figure was Jason, this release is Trey of Trifecta, and gets the corresponding unmasked head.  It’s just the one Trey head, and it definitely would have been cool to get all three triplets, but only one of them actually wore the suit at a time, so I guess this is fine.  I totally don’t need three of him.  That would be silly.  It’s worth noting that the Jason head that went with Jason in the SDCC set actually got packed with the standard Mighty Morphin’ Red in Series 3, meaning it’s pretty easy to make him Jason on your own.  No matter who you prefer to have in the suit, Zeo Gold gets two sets of hands in gripping and fists, as well as a yellow effects piece (both of which were the same on the SDCC version), and his Staff of Gold, which is in a slightly different configuration than the two versions included in the SDCC set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As noted in the intro, Zeo Gold’s my favorite Ranger, so when be was initially released in the SDCC set, I was a little bummed, but figured a single-release was inevitable.  It was quite a wait (with two other Gold Rangers taunting me in the meantime), but he finally showed up, and boy was I excited to see him in the line-up, and he was the first figure I tore into once I got the set in-hand.  I was happy with the Legacy Collection Gold when he was released, but he’s not held up, and I was definitely glad for this upgrade.  He’s really awesome, and I’m so happy to have him.  ZEO GOLD!

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

#2473: Sugar Man

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

SUGAR MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Mixed in with a lot of re-imaginings of prior characters, Age of Apocalypse did also have a few honest to gosh new characters, wholly original to this reimagined universe.  Included in that grouping is today’s focus, Sugar Man, a character that even 25 years later still has no main universe counterpart.  In fact, he’s more or less his own main universe counterpart, since he was one of the four character’s to travel into the 616 following AoA’s wrap-up, and spent a good 20 years cropping up in the background of various X-Men stories.  He’s also really gross.  Yuck.  Well, let’s review him, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sugar Man is the Build-A-Figure for the predictably titled “Sugar Man Series” of Marvel Legends.  Given his monstrous size and odd proportions, he’s a rather natural choice.  While this is his first Legend, it’s not actually his first figure, if you can believe it.  He managed to get a figure from Toy Biz’s 5-inch line back in the day.  The figure’s 6 1/2 inches tall, and just about as wide, and he’s got 38 points of articulation.  Though he’s got plenty of joints, he’s not exactly the most exceedingly mobile figure in the Legends line-up.  In the figure’s defense, however, a lot of the limits are imposed by the character’s design, and he’s certainly a dramatic improvement over the old ’90s figure.  Sugar Man’s sporting an all-new sculpt, which isn’t really that surprising, because really, who would he share parts with? It’s definitely an impressive sculpt, and a really hefty one, too.  The detailing is all nice and crisp, and there’s a great dynamic flair to him with the facial expression and his flailing tongue.  He is truly hideous, and I can’t really say I’d want him any other way.  Hideous is kind of Sugar Man’s game.  There’s also just a lot going on with this sculpt, from the unique gesturing on each of the hands, to the novelty buttons lining his suspenders.  Someone certainly had fun with this one.  In terms of paint, Sugar Man does a pretty solid job of translating the quite frankly rather messy color jobs the character was usually sporting in the comics into something that looks alright on a mass produced figure.  There’s a fair bit going on here, just like with the sculpt, with a fair amount of accenting, especially on the head/torso.  Sugar Man is packed with his hammer, complete with “SUGAR” inscribed on one side.  He can either hold it or keep it stored on his belt, though it’s a little tricky to get it in there, given his general shaping.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with a lot of AoA stuff, I can’t really say that Sugar Man was a character I was dying to have in figure form.  Heck, I don’t even have the old one.  However, he did certainly look pretty impressive, and I was already planning to grab the whole assortment, so here we are.  He’s certainly one of the most unique BaFs we’ve gotten, I’ll give him that, and he fills out the rest of the assortment well.

This is definitely one of the most focused assortments of this line we’ve gotten, what with the very defined theme and all.  My favorite is definitely Morph, who’s quite basic, but just such a clean translation of his comics design.  X-Man’s another high ranking one for me, with Jean not too far behind.  Sunfire was certainly better than I’d expected, and I guess Dark Beast isn’t too bad either.  I can kind of take or leave Weapon X and Wild Child, but I definitely knew that much going in.

#2472: Dark Beast

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

DARK BEAST

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Dr. Henry McCoy constantly experiments on himself to enhance his superhuman powers.”

Within the AoA universe, there were a handful of characters who swapped over to the other team in terms of morality and good vs evil alignments.  Many former villains found themselves as reluctant heroes, but on the flipside, a few previously heroic characters became very much not so.  One of the most notable was Hank McCoy, known as Dark Beast in this new continuity.  Where the other was a kind-hearted, good-natured man who contrasted with his supranym, the AoA version was just downright evil.  He also wound up as one of the four characters to be “saved” from the AoA universe when it reverted back to the standard 616, taking him from a crossover villain to a full X-Men villain proper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dark Beast is the final single-packed figure in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, and our first proper antagonist in the line-up.  It’s the first Legends Dark Beast, but not the first ever figure, as he was released as a Minimate and as an under-articulated 6-inch figure by Toy Biz back in the day.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation.  The torso, arms, and feet are all shared with the Caliban Series Beast from last year, which was pretty much expected from the word go, what with them technically being the same character and all.  I do have to say, it actually works a little more to this particular figure’s advantage, since Dark Beast is typically depicted as being a far more towering figure, making the extra height less of an issue here than it was with the standard release.  To fully set him apart, Dark Beast gets a new head, pelvis, and legs.  The new head replicates the further mutated appearance of McCoy from the story, with his much wilder hair, and an evil grin cracking across his face.  For the hair, there was a lot of variance in the comics as to its actual shape.  This one opts for something closer to the wacky Wolverine hair side of things, which I think ultimately helps him read a little quicker as Beast, so it works for me.  I do quite like the facial expression, and it furthers my hope to see a calmer head for the standard Beast at some point.  The new legs give Hank his funky banded metal capris he was sporting throughout the event.  They’re very ’90s.  They’re very goofy.  But, they’re also very accurate, so, hey, good job Hasbro.  Another thing that had some room for interpretation in the books was Dark Beast’s coloring.  When he initially appeared, he was very clearly grey, presumably to show he had stayed his initial furry color in this universe, but as he appeared more often, he shifted more to a darker blue shade.  This figure kind of splits the difference on that front, going for a rather dark grey with a hint of blue to it.  It’s really the best possible choice, and looks good on the figure.  His actual paint application is all pretty clean and solid, and there’s more going on with it than you might realize at first glance.  Dark Beast is packed with the same two sets of hands as his normal universe counterpart, as well as Sugar Man’s Hammer, which is meant to go with the Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Dark Beast is an interesting concept to be sure, as well as a good excuse for Hasbro to get another use out of that mold they debuted last year, so he was definitely not a surprise addition to this line-up, nor is it a huge shock that he’s the hottest figure in the set in terms of demand.  With all that said, while I can certainly appreciate this is a well-made figure, I don’t personally find him to be quite as fun as some of the others in the set.  He’s fine, but that’s about where I leave it.

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

#2471: Morph

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

MORPH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A natural mimic, Kevin Sydney transforms himself into any shape at will.”

Okay, it’s fine guys.  We got through Weapon X and Wild Child.  Now, we get to the good stuff.  Yeah, now we get to the best part of Age of Apocalypse: Morph!  After obscure ’60s X-foe Changeling was re-imagined as Morph in order to have a sacrificial lamb in X-Men: The Animated Series‘s pilot episode, he was then further re-imagined in 1995’s line-wide reboot with Age of Apocalypse.  Admittedly, he was so far re-imagined that he was practically a new character, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t an *awesome* practically new character.  In fact, he was so awesome that Marvel even wound up creating an almost identical version of the character to star in Exiles, meaning today’s figure is kind of a two-fer.  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morph is figure 6 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, and is notable for being the only of the single releases to actually be a new character for Legends.  While we’ve gotten two prior AoA Morphs, they were a Minimate and a 5-inch Toy Biz figure.  So, this is kind of notable, in that regard.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Morph’s built on the 2099 base body.  In the series, his shape-shifting meant that his physique was somewhat variable, but this base is a pretty solid middle ground for his usual default.  He gets a new head, forearms, and boots, as well as a new add-on for his cape (which I wouldn’t be too shocked to see show up on the inevitable AoA Magneto).  The new parts are all pretty clean and cartoony, which is certainly appropriate for the character.  I especially like the head, because, as simple as it is, it really just hits all the proper notes.  I love the wide eyes and the slight smirk.  It’s definitely a “less is more” situation.  The new gloves and boots are surprisingly detailed for what they are, but unlike the equivalent pieces for the Bucky Cap body, they aren’t riddled with too much over texturing so as to clash with the rest of the pieces.  The cape’s an okay sculpt, but is just a touch floaty for my taste.  It’s not quite as bad as some of the earlier Hasbro capes, but it does hinder his playability just a touch.  His paint work is, like his sculpt, rather on the clean and basic side.  For the most part, I’m a fan, even of the outlining of the mouth and brow.  The only thing I’m not quite as big on is how dark the primary blue on the body suit is.  If it were just a touch brighter, I think the figure would really pop.  Morph doesn’t get any accessories of his own, which I suppose isn’t as much of a surprise given how light the rest of the set has been.  That said, it might have been nice to get a few different shape-shifting attachments.  He does get another leg for Sugar Man, though, so at least it’s not a total loss.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, as you may have gathered from the intro, I rather like AoA Morph.  I mean, I rather like Morph in general, in all of his many forms, but this is AoA Morph we’re talking about here, so I should maintain the focus.  I had the Toy Biz AoA Morph as a kid, and I’ve been waiting for an update since we got Blink.  This guy was at the top of my list for this set as soon as it was shown off, and he’s, unsurprisingly, my favorite figure from the set.  Sure there are a few things that might make the figure perfect, but he’s still a really, really solid figure.

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

#2470: Weapon X

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

WEAPON X

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Armed with adamantium claws and superhuman healing abilities, Weapon X joins the battle against Apocalypse.”

And we’re jumping back into the Age of Apocalypse fray.  We last left off with a figure that didn’t fill me with much enthusiasm, and we’re picking up with…another one of those.  Yeah, it’s a Wolverine episode, guys.  Oh, wait, I’m sorry…Age of Apocalypse…it’s a Weapon X episode, guys.  While others around him got new backgrounds and personalities, Logan more or less remained the same in AoA, apart from not being “Wolverine” and being down a hand.  Not that either of those ended up making much of a difference.  I guess it helps justify the toy, though.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Weapon X is figure 5 in the Sugar Man Series, which seems surprisingly late in the number scheme for a Wolverine, but, well, I guess he’s not a Wolverine, is he?  By the way, if you guys think that joke’s going away, you’re sadly mistaken.  That joke’s here to stay, unlike the Wolverine name…or Logan’s hand…or self-respect.  This marks the third time as Legends figure for AoA Logan, but given that the last one was during the Toy Biz days, an update feels like a good call.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like most Logans these days, he’s built on the body from the Juggernaut Series Wolverine, with the cleaned up shins from Weapon X and a new head and forearms.  Essentially, it’s just a pretty straight update on the old figure in terms of part re-use, since that one was also built on its era’s brown costume body.  The new head’s definitely the star attraction here.  Logan’s hair got crazier and crazier as we got further into the ’90s, and in AoA it was at almost peak craziness.  That’s translated here, as this guy’s got one hell of a mane on him.  It puts all other Wolverine hair to shame, really.  How much hair gel do you think he has to use to get that all to stay in place?  I bet it’s a lot.  Like, obscene amounts.  And in a post-apocalyptic setting no less.  The intensity of the hair is matched only by the intensity of his facial expression.  This guy’s definitely feeling a need to show all of those teeth he’s got, in just the most intense way possible.  On the new forearms front, the right one’s not too different from previous releases, but the left of course gives us Logan’s stump, albeit with his claws extended from it.  The paint work on this guy is generally pretty decent.  The basics are all pretty sharp and clean, and they’ve done a respectable job handling the stubble and his arm hair.  He’s also got his signature forehead tattoos, which beg the question of how exactly does Logan manage to get tattoos?  Seems like too much thought for a ’90s comic, I suppose.  Weapon X is packed with a spare stump without the claws extended, thereby allowing for his appearance from earlier in the story, as well as one of Sugar Man’s legs.  It’s too bad we couldn’t also get an alternate burned head to fully replicate all of the looks from the two Toy Biz offerings.  That would have helped to up this figure’s appeal a little bit.

THE ME HALF OF EQUATION

I owned the Toy Biz Weapon X.  I sold the Toy Biz Weapon X (well, okay, not the burned head variant).  I didn’t really miss the Toy Biz Weapon X.  I can’t say I really felt the need for a new and improved version either.  But, I was getting the rest of the set, and I’m kind of doing this completist thing with the line, so I guess I wasn’t missing him, was I?  He’s fine.  Better than I expected, honestly.  It’s just that the AoA version of Logan isn’t really as exciting as other characters.  But, it’s not like we were going to ever get this assortment without him, so I guess it could be worse.

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

#2467: Wild Child

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

WILD CHILD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Enhanced regeneration and superhuman senses make Wild Child an excellent tracker.”

First appearing in Alpha Flight #11, Kyle Gibney, aka Wild Child, was a fairly minor character in terms of the larger Marvel Universe when he was re-envisioned for the Age of Apocalypse crossover.  In the crossover, Kyle was made into a feral creature, kept in check by the universe’s more heroic Victor Creed.  His non-verbal set-up meant he didn’t really get much added depth from the story, but at least it granted him a fair bit more visibility, by virtue of spending most of the story line chained to one of the story’s most memorable characters.  Of course, now we’ve got Wild Child and no Sabertooth to go with him…Ah well, might as well review him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wild Child is figure 4 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, and marks the first time that Wild Child has gotten a proper figure.  Previously, he was included as an un-articulated figurine with Toy Biz’s 5-inch AoA Sabertooth, but that’s it.  So, good for Kyle, I suppose.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Pizza Spidey body, which is certainly scrawny enough for Wild Child, but seems like it’s a bit too tall for Kyle, who I feel should be a fair bit smaller, at least going by the AoA illustrations I recall.  Additionally, the joints are a little bit limiting for getting Wild Child into his proper crouched over poses.  I know that this body was designed for Spider-Man, and he’s prime for getting into all sorts of crazy poses, but it for some reason feels stiffer for Wild Child than it was for Spidey.  He gets a new head and shoulder overlay, as well as making use of the Superior Venom hands and feet.  The new parts are decent enough.  The head is certainly dynamic, and does its best to capture how Wild Child was depicted in the comics.  It’s not a terribly attractive head, but I guess that’s pretty much on par for the character.  The color work on Wild Child is okay, but not quite perfect, largely due to the mismatch between the plastic on his torso and his limbs.  It should all be one jumpsuit, but he kind of ends up looking like he’s wearing two separate bits.  Beyond that, the paint application’s all pretty clean, for what there is of it.  He’s ultimately pretty sparse on details, which is in keeping with the character’s design.  In a first for this assortment, Wild Child actually does get an accessory!  It’s the chain that keeps him on a leash.  It connects to the back of his collar, and pretty clearly is meant to go around *someone’s* arm at the other end.  Gee, I wonder who that could be.  Wild Child also gets another piece to Sugar Man, this time being his…back?  Yeah, let’s got with that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite the very first Wild Child (and the AoA Sabertooth that was really more the star attraction) from Toy Biz being my very first introduction to anything AoA, I can’t say that I’ve ever had much of an attachment to the character in the slightest.  AoA Sabrertooth I’ve grown to like, but Wild Child?  Meh.  So, getting him but no corresponding Sabertooth doesn’t exactly thrill me.  I mean, I have no doubt in my mind that Sabertooth is coming, but until then, Wild Child feels a bit…incomplete?  He’s not a bad figure, but he’s not a particularly great figure either.  He’s just sort of here.

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

#2466: Sunfire

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

SUNFIRE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Scorching ionized plasma allows Sunfire to fly, protect himself, and blast his enemies.”

The Pete Best of the All-New, All-Different X-Men, Sunfire struggles to really find his footing in the X-Men ‘verse, but wound up getting some pretty decent coverage, courtesy of Age of Apocalypse, wherein he turned from “stereotyped Japanese guy with fire powers” to “Human Torch if the powers didn’t turn off” or even “Chamber, but with his whole body, rather than just his upper torso.”  Or, I guess, if you want to jump companies, possibly Wildfire without the suit.  Okay, so maybe AoA didn’t make Sunfire super unique in terms of power or story, but he’s definitely a strong contender for getting the best redesign out of it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sunfire is figure 3 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends.  Believe it or not, this isn’t AoA Sunfire’s first time getting the Legends treatment.  He was actually the winner of the 2007 Fan Poll, netting him the third AoA-based Legend ever.  The line’s made some strides since then, however, so a new release probably wasn’t the worst idea.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Sunfire is built on the 2099 body, a sensible choice for two reasons.  One, it’t the same body that the classic Sunfire used, and two it’s the same body that Bullseye used, and given that the first AoA Sunfire was on the Bullseye body, I’d say that means they’re right on the mark size-wise.  He swaps out the forearms and hands for Human Torch’s flame-covered ones, and gets a new head and overlay piece for his shoulders.  I like how the flame effects were done here just a touch better than how they were for Human Torch; there’s something that really works about that very artistic curling to the flames.  It’s very dynamic.  Sunfire’s color work is pretty key to getting his look down, and fortunately the figure does pretty well on that front.  The translucent effect on the plastic is really cool, and I dig the slow shift from yellow to orange.  The paint application’s a bit better on this figure than the last two I looked at from this set, so things are sharper and cleaner.  That’s good, because it really helps with conveying this particular design.  Sunfire, like the last two figures I’ve looked at from this set, doesn’t have any extras of his own, but he does get the second set of arms for the Sugar Man Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t really sold on Sunfire being part of this assortment, largely due to the prior Legends release.  Of course, I never actually got that release, so I’m not sure why I was so opposed.  Maybe I just don’t like Sunfire?  Could be, I guess.  The figure’s pretty solid, though, and I can definitely get behind his inclusion after getting him in hand.  He’s a solid update, and a solid design.  Not bad at all.

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