Tag Archives: Hasbro

#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.

#2465: X-Man

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

X-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Nate Grey travels between dimensions armed with astonishing psychic powers.”

Though initially self-contained, there were a few parts of Age of Apocalypse that stuck around after the event had wrapped.  On the more prominent side of things was X-Man, the story’s reimagining of Cable.  While Nathan Summers was the son of Scott Summers and Jean Grey’s clone Madelyn Pryor who was sent to the future and then sent back into the past, Nate Grey was an artificiality conceived child, created by Mister Sinister, using the biological material of Cyclops and Jean Grey, and concocted as an ultimate weapon to be used against Apocalypse.  He also kinda looks like a member of a boy band, because, hey, it was the mid-90s.  After the destruction of the AoA universe, Nate was one of four characters who managed to make it into the main 616 universe, and had his own ongoing series for a bit, until he faded out of fashion when Marvel realized that it was already hard enough to justify keeping one overly-90s-sterotype son of Scott and Jean around, and they might as well keep the one they’d invested more time in.  He’s not been nearly as privy to toys as his mainstream counterpart, but fortunately he was on the shortlist for AoA Legends, meaning I get to talk about him today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

X-Man is figure 2 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, which, as noted yesterday, is all AoA-themed.  This marks X-Man’s first time as a Legend and second figure overall, with his first coming in during Toy Biz’s rather ironically named “Most Wanted” line from back in the day.  Nate wound up with quite a few different looks, mostly centering around the same basic concept, but this figure plays it safe and just goes with his main appearance from the event.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  X-Man is built on the Bucky Cap body, a sensible choice given how he was usually depicted in terms of build.  Like most Bucky Cap builds these days, very little of the final figure *actually* comes from the Bucky Cap body.  Only his legs are shared, and even then, his knees are new parts, so that he can get those funky knee pads.  This guy’s effectively an all-new figure, when you get down to it, and I’d say Hasbro’s aiming to slowly ween us off this mold.  Much like yesterday’s Jean Grey, I think there’s a lot of really solid detailing going on, especially on the figure’s jacket.  Following in the steps of the ‘90s Cable from 2018, the head sculpt here has a permanently attached energy effect on his left eye, showcasing his telekinetic powers in action.  It’s a really cool, very dynamic look.  I do sort of wish there were an extra head without the effect included, but this is one of those instances where I don’t mind this being the only option too terribly much.  On the paint front, I was a little disappointed to discover just how messy the application was on my particular figure.  There’s a lot of bleed over from the yellow into the blue, and my figure exhibits two spots, one on his right bicep, and one on his right calf, where there’s just stray yellow paint.  I haven’t seen anything like this from Hasbro in a bit, so hopefully its confined to my figure.  X-Man doesn’t get any accessories for himself (something that will prove to be a common trend in this assortment), but he does get one set of Sugar Man’s arms.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always had something of a soft spot for X-Man.  I had his Toy Biz figure back in the day, and followed his solo series well after everyone else stopped thinking he was cool.  I’ve been low key hoping for him to get Legends treatment for a while now, and I was definitely happy to see him crop up here.  Issues with paint aside, I’m very happy with this figure, and he ranks pretty highly within his assortment 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 Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2464: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Jean Grey can read and project thoughts and stun opponents with pure psionic force.”

25 years ago, the X-Men went to hell…no, wait, sorry, 31 years ago the X-Men went to Hell.  25 years ago, their entire line was overwritten by an alternate reality, the Age of Apocalypse, where Charles Xavier died before founding the X-Men, leading to Apocalypse conquering the Earth, and generally making it…post…apocalyptic….yeah.  While not high art, the story was certainly a big splash from a marketing stand point, and made a lasting impression on a good number of X-fans.  Every so often, toy companies throw it a little bit of love, and in honor of the its quarter-century marker, Hasbro’s dedicated a whole assortment of Marvel Legends to it.  I’m kicking things off with a look at Jean Grey!  While many characters were left in strange new predicaments in the AoA timeline, Jean wound up being more or less the same, though she did have a lot less hair and 100% more face tattoos.  Yay for face tattos!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean Grey is figure 1 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, which is our first X-Men assortment of the year, as well as being totally AoA-themed.  This is our first official AoA Jean Grey Legend, but we were supposed to get one as a variant of the Jim Lee-style Jean in the Rocket Raccoon Series of Return of Marvel Legends.  That figure was ultimately scrapped, and would have been based on one of her post-event redesigns, however.  This one goes for her look from the main series, which is probably for the best.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Jean’s actually made largely from new parts, at least for her upper half, anyway; the legs originally showed up on the Legendary Riders Black Widow.  Everything else, however is new to Jean.  What impresses me the most on the new parts is the range of motion, especially on those arms.  I was expecting her to be a lot more restricted.  The actual quality of the sculpting is pretty solid, too.  The wrinkles and folds on her sleeves are quite impressive.  Her hair might actually be a touch too short, but it varied between artists, and it certainly doesn’t look too terribly off.  It could definitely be much worse.  The paint work on Jean is pretty standard overall.  The base application is mostly pretty clean, but some of the red’s coverage is a little uneven.  She’s got some slight highlights in her hair, which work pretty well to convey the depth and detail in the sculpt.  Jean doesn’t get any accessories for herself, but she does get the largest piece of Sugar Man, his face and torso, which is so large that Jean effectively had to be posed Vana White-ing it in the box so that they could both fit in.  That was pretty amusing, truth be told.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jean’s AoA incarnation isn’t one of the more exciting pieces of the story, but it’s got a distinctive look, and is prominent enough that she really was a lock for this set.  She wasn’t at the top of my list for this series, but she wasn’t at the bottom either.  In-hand, I like her a fair bit more than I’d expected to.  She’s still not my favorite piece, but I think she’s solid middle-tier, and that’s 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.

#2463: Luke Skywalker – Bespin

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

LUKE SKYWALKER — BESPIN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Luke battles Darth Vader on a narrow platform in Cloud City and rejects Vader’s urging to turn to the Dark Side and rule the galaxy with him.”

40 years and some change ago, in this galaxy, right here, the second Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back, hit theaters.  As Hasbro likes to use pretty much every five-year milestone as grounds for celebration, that means that this year we’re getting a bunch of throw-back Empire stuff in toy form.  Things kicked off with the Probe Droid, and, following in A New Hope‘s footsteps, there’s also a vintage-style-carded line of Black Series figures.  The first assortment was mostly re-hash, but I’m taking a look at the most unique of the bunch today with another go at Bespin Luke!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker (Bespin) is one of the five figures that makes up the first series of the Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary sub-line of Black Series figures.  The other four, Bespin Han, Hoth Leia, Yoda, and the AT-AT Driver are all straight re-cards of prior releases, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that was the case with Luke as well.  He’s a lot of re-use, to be fair, with everything below the neck being re-used from the very first Black Series Bespin Luke.  Like that figure, this one stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Black Series articulation hadn’t really gotten to be what it is now in 2014, when this mold first hit, so he’s admittedly a little bit archaic in terms of movement.  The elbows sit a little low on the arms, the range on the hips is quite restricted, and he’s got the up/down joint on both of his wrists, which is a little odd for posing.  All that said, it’s still a pretty nice looking sculpt, so I can’t totally dis the re-use.  He gets an all-new head, which updates him to the more modern style of separate pieces for the face and hair.  The original Bespin head was probably the weakest of the initial Luke head sculpts in terms of a Hamill likeness, so another go at it isn’t the worst.  This new sculpt is…different?  I hesitate to say better, but I also wouldn’t say worse.  In some ways, it’s a better match, but in others it’s more off, and in particular it seems a bit too large proportionally.  The new head is matched by a new paint scheme, which uses the face printing, thereby making him a little more lifelike.  I definitely like that, but I’m not quite as down for how stripped down the paint on his fatigues has become.  The wash on the original was one of the best parts of the figure, but this one loses a lot of that, and the details on the outfit subsequently become easier to miss.  This figure is packed with the same extras as the last version: a lightsaber and a blaster pistol.  They’re as good here as anywhere else.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

A re-issue of this guy’s been pretty much inevitable, given how hard to find the original had become, as well as the original hitting during one of the weakest periods of the line.  There were definitely improvements to be made, and while this figure makes some of them (namely the better paint on the face/hair), it’s really a trade-off.  This should have been an actual improvement, but it’s instead more or less an equivalent product.  It’s a shame, because I was kind of hoping we might get a more deluxe update on this guy, with extra parts to replicate more of the beating he takes during his Bespin duel.  Perhaps such a release could still happen later.

Luke was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Black Series, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2458: Terror Dog

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

TERROR DOG

GHOSTBUSTERS: THE PLASMA SERIES (HASBRO)

Ranking probably in the third spot on the list of most memorable Ghostbusters ghosts, the Terror Dogs serve as Gozer’s precursors in the first film, eventually transitioning to full-fledged hench-dogs by the film’s climax.  Like Gozer, the Terror Dogs were a notable absence from Mattel’s 6-inch Ghostbusters line, though they did get some toy love from both NECA and DST.  Now, Hasbro’s jumping in on the game with at least one of the two.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Terror Dog is the Build-A-Figure for the first assortment of Ghostbusters: The Plasma Series.  Honestly, this feels like a more natural choice of BaF than the wonky Logo Ghost that we got from Mattel’s one retail line, so I can definitely get behind it.  There are two Terror Dogs in the movie, Zuul and Vinz Clortho.  Since we technically already got a Zuul in this set (in the form of the Dana Barrett figure), this guy pretty wisely goes with the Vinz Clortho option, as showcased by the slightly longer horns on the head.  The figure measures 5 inches tall and 6 inches long in its standard standing position, and it has 25 points of articulation.  The articulation is pretty good…on the front half.  Not so much on the back.  Seriously, the neck joint, moving jaw, and front legs all work well, but the total lack of any sort of mid-body joint, the odd decision to only do cut joints for the back hips, and the lack of a proper knee joint on the hind legs makes the back half of the figure surprisingly stiff.  I was a little let down by the lack of mobility there.  Also, make sure to not be a total idiot like me, and get those hind legs on the correct sides the first time around, because that will only further make issue of posing the figure.  On the plus side, moving past the slightly disappointing articulation, the sculpt is actually pretty nice.  There are a few spots where its a little soft on the details, but it’s a far more accurate recreation of the film design than the DST and NECA versions, at least to my eye, and fits in very nicely with the rest of the line in terms of styling.  The paint work on this figure is pretty solid as well, with a nice bit of accent work going on with the silver airbrushing.  It brings out more of the sculpted elements, and also gives the figure a cool sort of otherworldly feel, which is appropriate for the character.  The Terror Dog doesn’t include any accessories.  Being an accessory itself, it’s not unexpected or unreasonable, but I do think it’s too bad we couldn’t also get a second Zuul head to give collectors the option of which dog they want to display.  Of course, the only way to get a second body is to buy the whole set again, which might not be a ton of fun, so maybe Hasbro’s got something else up their sleeves on this one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Terror Dog has never been the star attraction of any Ghostbusters merch for me, so I was really buying this set for the individual figures, and not this guy.  I was, however, intrigued by the figure, and certainly curious to get it assembled.  Ultimately, I’m not the biggest fan of some of the choices Hasbro made, but at the end of the day, it’s a good accent piece to an otherwise truly impressive assortment of figures.

#2457: Gozer

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

GOZER

GHOSTBUSTERS: THE PLASMA SERIES (HASBRO)

“When ghastly ghouls and spooky specters come looking to paint the town dead, the Ghostbusters are ready to answer the call! But are they prepared to save New York City (and the world) from the ancient evil known as (among other things) Gozer?”

The ultimate big bad of the first Ghostbusters is Gozer the Gozerian (or the Traveler,  or Destructor, depending on your preferred subtitle), is a god who takes a couple of forms in the film.  The one that most people remember is the 50-foot-tall Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but the first physical manifestation of the character is a humanoid female, portrayed by model Slavitza Jovan in the film.  It’s a distinctive look to be sure, but not one that crops up in toy form quite as often.  Notably, it got skipped by Mattel for their 6-inch line, meaning Hasbro gets to be first to this particular scale.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gozer is the final single-carded figure in Series 1 of The Plasma Series.  As noted above, this is Gozer’s first physical manifestation, but I’m sure Hasbro’s already got the second one in the works.  Of course, this is definitely the one that works a bit better as a standard single figure.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Her articulation is pretty much the same set-up as Dana’s, but with less limitations courtesy of the sculpt, giving her a better overall range.  She’s still slightly limited on the elbows, but otherwise things work pretty well.  Fortunately, on the sculpting front, she’s a bit of a step up from Dana, thanks to slightly easier to translate costume.  I really dig how they worked in all the various textures and such all throughout her body suit.  The likeness on the head, while not as spot on as some of the ‘busters, is still a pretty solid rendition of Jovan, and to my eye looks a bit closer than NECA or DST’s attempts.  The one area where I think this figure could stand to be just a little better is on the paint.  She’s certainly not bad; all of the basics are there and everything.  That said, I wish the detailing on the face was a little more extensive, so as to better replicate the rather elaborate make-up Jovan was sporting for the role.  Additionally, while the pearlescent finish of the plastic for the body suit does okay on its own, the sculpt would be better served by a touch of accent work, just to help things pop.  Gozer is packed with a spare set of hands sporting some wicked lightning effects, perfect for “Then Die!!!!”-ing the Ghostbusters.  She also includes the head to the Terror Dog Build-A-Figure, which I’ll be reviewing in full tomorrow.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The main ‘busters were definitely my main focus from this set, but I was more than willing to have an antagonist for them, and Gozer’s a pretty respectable one.  She’s not quite up to their quality, but I think she turned out a little better than Dana, and certainly a little better than I had been expecting.  She rounds out this first set pretty well.

Thanks to my sponsors at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure.  They’re currently sold out of their initial shipment of the line, but should be getting more soon.  If you’re looking for other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.