Tag Archives: Hasbro

#3718: Commander Bly

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

COMMANDER BLY

STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH (HASBRO)

“Equipped for battle on the exotic fungus planet of Felucia, Commander Bly fights alongside Jedi Knight Aayla Secura. When the secret Order 66 is issued, Commander Bly suddenly turns on Secura and the rest of the Jedi.”

We’ve arrived at another Friday review, and I’m once again doing a bit of clearing house on some of the hodge-podge of photographed Star Wars figures I haven’t yet reviewed.  Going into today’s review, I felt like I’d discussed the Revenge of the Sith tie-in line before, but a quick doublecheck showed that I have, in fact, reviewed nothing from this line.  Crazy.  Well, now’s as good a time as any to start, I suppose, so let’s kick things off with Commander Bly.  Everybody loves Bly!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Commander Bly was one of the last run Revenge of the Sith tie-in figures, hitting just before the holiday season in 2005, alongside fellow Clone Commander Gree.  Bly was actually intended to use the red color scheme used for the standard “Clone Commander” figure from the launch assortment for the line, but he was changed prior to the film’s release, so that figure had no direct counterpart on screen, and Hasbro had to follow-up with this update later.  There are also no less than three paint variations for Bly himself, as Hasbro kept tweaking him to be more accurate.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 22 points of articulation.  The clones were the best molds to come out of the RotS line, especially in terms of articulation.  This one’s a little restricted at the legs, largely due to the plastic kama, but he’s still quite posable, and also looks the part.  He’s the same mold as the not-Bly commander, which makes sense, since it was originally supposed to be him and all.  It’s got working holsters and a visor that goes up and down, which are both pretty standard for the character.  His paintwork, which was the subject of much adjustment, is the least adjusted version on mine, so he’s still got the white joints at the shoulders and lacks the brown detailing on the helmet and chest.  Still, it’s generally not bad, and the application’s all pretty clean, even if he does look a bit like mustard.  Bly was packed with the long blaster and two pistols, which the package dubbed “Battle Gear”.  He lost the grappling hook thing that the standard Commander had, which was kind of a bummer, but was also the least essential thing in the armament.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this guy and Gree dropped, I really wanted them.  Unfortunately, they suffered from that last assortment syndrome, which made them both very rare for a while.  By the time I actually found them, they were aftermarket pricing, and I could really only afford one, so I just got Gree.  I didn’t get a Bly for over a decade, since he was always *just* above what I wanted to pay.  I did finally get a loose one courtesy of All Time.  It was a while back, maybe in early 2020?  That’s when I took the photos seen here, right around the same time I got the Black Series version.  He’s cool.  Like I said, the clones are really the best figures from Revenge of the Sith, and Bly’s one of the best clones, so just generally solid.

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

#3716: The Hellfire Club

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

EMMA FROST, JEAN GREY, SEBASTIAN SHAW, & DONALD PIERCE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

There’s been a slowdown on my Legends buying more recently, largely because there’s been a bit of a slowdown on Legends to buy recently.  There’s a bunch of stuff upcoming, of course, but in the mean time I’m continuing to fall back on some of my older un-reviewed stock.  I’m jumping over to the X-Men side of things, specifically focussing in on their early ’80s run, which is really where it’s at for me when it comes to X-Men.  During “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” Claremont and Byrne introduced a new group of “evil” mutants, the Hellfire Club, inspired by an episode of The Avengers (no, not those ones), which grew into a whole big thing, which is sort of humorous given that the group is really more of a footnote in the actual story that introduced them, as it quickly evolves to more cosmic levels then the Club can really muster.  Still, they’ve been a pretty recurrent bunch of characters, and they got their toy due in the form of a boxed set a few years ago, which I’m reviewing today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Hellfire Club were a Pulse Con-exclusive Marvel Legends boxed set, offered up in 2020.  They were clearly intended to be that year’s San Diego Comic Con set, but the con got cancelled because of the pandemic, and Hasbro switched it to a fully online model.  They also offered up a Hellfire Club Guard army builder at the same time, but he was a separate item, not officially bundled with the rest of them.

EMMA FROST

Emma Frost, the White Queen, is no stranger to Marvel Legends, though until recently she *was* a stranger to *good* Marvel Legends, with her debut in the line, as part of Hasbro’s very first series of Legends no less, being one of the very worst figures Legends has ever spawned.  Her classic costume, which is admittedly rather on the risque side, has only been done in Minimate form before this, which certainly contributed to her being the biggest pull of thus here set.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Emma got a lot of new parts, for her torso, upper arms, and cape, as well as re-using the alternate head from her Walgreens figure, and filling in the rest with the TRU Storm body.  It does unfortunately mean that she’s got visible pins on the knees, which is sort of a bummer, and also that her legs are a bit prone to warping and generally making it hard to keep her standing.  It was not easy keeping her standing for the photos here, I tell ya.  The new pieces are generally pretty nice, though.  The corset piece certainly does what it’s supposed to, and looks the part, and does so in a way that’s sharply sculpted, and reasonably well proportioned.  I do like that all of the elements of her outfit barring the boots have proper raised edges sculpted, so we’re not just relying on paint for the break.  Even the boots break at a joint line, so it’s still the same general concept.  The Walgreens head, which I hadn’t looked at before, is certainly a solid sculpt, though maybe a more generic than Byrne depicted her.  I’m not crazy about the cape, which is very thick and heavy, and virtually makes her unposeable.  It’s good for standing there and not much else, it seems.  Her paint work is pretty minimal, since the sculpt has so many separate pieces, but what’s there is decent.  My figure’s just a touch wall-eyed, but generally things look good.  Emma is without any accessories.  Not even an extra set of hands.  That’s definitely weak.

JEAN GREY

This is the second time Jean Grey as the Black Queen has gotten the Legends treatment, following the TRU-exclusive that repainted the first Legends Emma, and made her a surprisingly less awful figure.  Like that one, this one is again re-using parts from Emma, namely the Emma I just reviewed.  She gets herself a new head, collar, and cape in order to differentiate her.  The head is really nicely done, and is consistent with the other Jeans in the line in terms of her face, while also giving her that slightly off expression that seems ever-so-not-Jean.  The cape on this one is more dynamic than Emma’s, allowing for more actual posing.  Unfortunately, the legs on mine are even more wobbly then Emma, so he really has a hard time standing.  Since her construction is very similar to Emma, a lot of her coloring works the same way too, with minimal actual paint.  What’s there is generally good, but there’s some slop around her waistline.  While Emma had no accessories, Jean gets three pairs of hands (open gesture, fists, and gripping), a whip (re-used from Black Cat), and an alternate head to allow her to be Selene, her replacement in the role of Black Queen.  Technically, Selene’s outfit was different than Jean’s (and, by extension, Emma’s), but it’s close enough, and it’s just nice to actually get the extras after Emma was totally lacking.

SEBASTIAN SHAW

Sebastian Shaw is the Black King, and the de facto leader of the group.  He was also played by Kevin Bacon in First Class.  How many degrees of separation does that put him at?  Any?  I don’t know exactly how those rules work.  He’s also no relation to the actor who plays old Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi.  While Shaw got a Minimate for First Class, this is the first, and to date only, time his comics counterpart’s gotten figure treatment.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  His mold was largely new, designed to be shared with the other members of the Club.  I looked at it originally for Wyngarde.  It’s a pretty decent sculpt, but it admittedly feels a little skinny for Shaw.  I feel like he should have just a touch more presence.  He gets a unique head sculpt, which is a respectable recreation of his usual look.  This one feels more in line with the Byrne design, so I’m happy about that.  His paint work is a little more involved that the women, with a decent amount of accent work on the vest, which is quite cool.  The buttons are a little sloppy on mine, as are the edges of the cuffs, but he looks okay overall.  He’s packed with two sets of hands (relaxed and fists), the Beast’s book (which still has its scientific formulas), and Magneto’s helmet.  The helmet is the one from the Amazon set, so it’s still got the peg that would have gone into the head, meaning no one else can actually wear it, but it’s cool for holding.

DONALD PIERCE

Donald Pierce, the White Bishop, is noteworthy for being a non-mutant member of the Club.  Instead, he’s just a cyborg.  He was in Logan, but I don’t really wanna talk about it.  In the comics, he left the Club and spent a lot of his time with the Reavers, a larger group of cyborgs.  He’s a cool concept, but I feel like they lost the thread on him a while back.  This is his only time getting a figure.  He’s using the same body as Shaw, just with a new head.  It’s a more modern version of the character, with a face that’s too squared off and full to be John Byrne’s Donald Sutherland-inspired take on the character.  It still works well enough, though, and I think it reads okay as the character.  His color work is more earthy tones than Shaw’s, which differentiates them nicely from each other.  The application’s a little cleaner on Pierce than it was on Shaw as well.  He’s packed with an alternate set of robotic hands (courtesy of Doom), Domino’s blaster style guns, and Wolverine’s mask.  The alternate hands work alright for the cyborg bit, I guess, but I can’t help but wish for a comic-accurate set of torn up arms showing off the cybernetics.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t actually get this set from Pulse Con, for a multitude of reasons.  I wound up getting it loose, and in two different parts, in fact.  I lucked into the two Queens fairly early on, when they were in a short market lull, allowing me to not donate my whole arm and leg to the purchase, and then I got the other two later down the line, when they’d firmly become the “cheap” ones.  The Queens, even with the standing and posing issues, are certainly the stronger half of the set.  The guys aren’t bad, just sort of okay.  Largely, I think they’re probably hampered by me having gotten Wyngarde first, and just generally liking Wyngarde more as a character.  I do hope to some day track down a guard or two, and I’m intrigued to see if they ever get around to making Leland.  I guess we’ll just see.

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

#3715: Crimson Viper

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

CRIMSON VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

A Cobra Viper!  Does this mean Ethan’s gonna trot out the “Day of the Vipers” gag again?  Eh, I’ll see how I’m feeling on the day.  Oh, today’s actually the day?  Right.  Well then, welcome to the 10th entry in the “Day of the Vipers,” a day which is apparently six years long.  Seems about right.  When I last left off on the perpetuating Day, I was looking at Hasbro’s revisit to 1989’s “Python Patrol” subtheme.  Today’s entry represents some split interests.  See, it’s a Crimson Viper, a concept first officially introduced into the line in 2002, as part of a Joe Con-exclusive boxed set.  The Crimson Viper stood in for the Crimson Guard, whose mold didn’t seem to be around at the time, and was also an excuse to re-deco the Viper into all red.  So, this is a throw back to the 2002 figure, right?  Not exactly.  But, I’ll get to that!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Crimson Viper if figure 85 in Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He was notable for being released during the plastic free packaging era of the line (which I honestly didn’t hate the way a lot of people did), and also for being the first time that the Viper got a proper mass release.  Weird when you think about it, huh?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Structurally, this figure is identical to all of the other Classified Vipers, for better or for worse.  I generally do like the mold, but when we first got it, I did really think we might see some modifications to it as we moved forward.  But, look how much mileage Hasbro got of the original Viper mold; it it really that surprising that they’d keep using this one?  I mean, I guess they could have maybe thrown the BAT’s legs on it, for old times’ sake?  The change here is signified by the name.  He’s a “Crimson” Viper, so he’s got a more red leaning.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  While the 2002 and subsequent “Crimson” Vipers were all a bright shade of red, this guy’s more of a maroon.  My initial thought was “wow, that’s not as striking” and no, it’s not.  But he’s also got the bandana, in blue this time, and the blue’s also kind of washed out.  And that looks pretty familiar with the more subdued main color.  So, here’s the thing: I think this figure, though named “Crimson Viper” might actually be a throwback to the 1997 Real American Hero Collection Viper, and his weird K-Mart on a Sunday Morning vibes.  Which, honestly? Kinda love that.  Like other Vipers at this scale, this guy gets his removable goggles (which actually sit pretty snuggly this time), the bandanna, his back pack, a pistol, and the updated rifle and removable clip.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In the greatest act of betrayal I’ve ever participated in, I skipped this figure when it was new.  I know.  How could I?  Well, the reality is I’ve largely quit Classified, and I’m really doing my best to stick to that.  This figure in particular hit right after I got Tunnel Rat, the figure that pretty much killed the line for me, so I wasn’t open to following it further.  I’d already picked up so many Vipers, and I was questioning if I really needed another.  So, I passed.  But, then a loose one landed in front of me at All Time, and I figured I might as well get the Viper I didn’t have.  Yay for completionism.  My initial response was he’s fine but kind of same-y.  However, while writing this all down, and going back into the “Day of the Vipers” stuff, I found myself loving that little twinge of “yes he’s the same, but let me explain the minute differences” which I do truly love.  The referencing of the 1997 ugly duckling Viper also helps a lot, because nothing from that run ever really gets the love it deserves.  So, you know what?  I’m glad I went back for this one.

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

#3713: Endor Rebel Soldier

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

ENDOR REBEL SOLDIER

STAR WARS SAGA (HASBRO)

“When Han Solo, Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker land on the forest moon of Endor to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star II, they are accompanied by a squadron of commandos. Loyal and courageous, these soldiers are inteprid fighters for the cause of the Rebellion.”

Wow, a Star Wars Saga review?  I really must be scraping the bottom the barrel for review subjects.  I mean, going to Saga.  Saga, people.  I mean, in the 3712 reviews here on the site, I’ve only reviewed a single Saga figure up to this point.  Which, honestly, pretty good metrics, right?  And even the one review can be chalked up to it being my first year reviewing and me just not knowing any better.  What am I getting at here?  Well, generally, that Star Wars Saga, the line designed to tie-in with Attack of the Clones’ product launch, is…well, it’s not a great line.  It wasn’t great when it was new, and it has’t gotten better with age.  The figures were all sorts of pre-posed, impossible to keep standing, and frequently just sort of weird looking.  But, I guess I’m reviewing one of them, and none of you can stop me because it’s my site and I do what I want.  It’s at least an Endor Rebel Soldier, so I think that makes it better?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Endor Rebel Soldier is figure No. 33 in Hasbro’s Star Wars Saga line-up.  He was part of Collection 2 and was released in 2002.  There were two variants: one bearded and one not.  This one is the not, in case you couldn’t tell.  He was the later of the two releases, and the rarer when the line was new, though it seems like after the fact, they’re pretty evenly balanced.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  The articulation’s not a bad count, but it’s largely unusable thanks to how the sculpt is set-up.  Like the rest of the line, this guy is very pre-posed.  He’s got sort of a lunging-while-pointing-his-blaster look, which, I guess isn’t a terrible choice for the character.  Honestly, the arms aren’t bad (though they’re hit pretty badly by the sculpt interfering with articulation, since the jacket overlay piece covers the shoulders, making those joints essentially worthless), but the legs seem a little odd.  Also, with such a very specific pose, army building feels a little difficult, since you wouldn’t expect a bunch of guys to all be running around in exactly the same rather strange fashion.  Unlike prior Endor Rebels, this one got a removable helmet.  It’s a nice piece, and it sits very well on the head.  Said head is a nice sculpt of its own.  It doesn’t appear to be based on any specific Rebel from the movie, instead going for more of a general purpose thing.  The paint work on this figure is notable for being the first time we really got a proper deco based on what the Rebels are actually wearing in the movie, rather than the straight green up and down.  The camo pattern on the legs is a little odd, and the feet are the wrong color, but it generally isn’t bad, and the application works out pretty well.  He’s packed with his blaster rifle and a backpack.  The rifle’s a bit warped, since he was packed holding it, but it does at least get the cool blast effect piece, which is pretty nifty.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always really dug the Endor Rebels, and the PotF one was one of my favorites from that line.  I wanted the Saga version, specifically the not bearded one, when they hit, but all I could ever find was the bearded one, who I begrudgingly bought, but decided to get rid of later.  I eventually got this one when I sizable run of Saga figures got traded into All Time way back in 2018.  Like last week’s Durge, I took the pictures of this guy pretty much right away, but just never got around to actually writing the review.  So, you know, here we are, I guess.  He’s not bad.  Not great, but given the rest of the line, he could certainly 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 cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3712: Apocalypse

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

APOCALYPSE

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

Hey!  It’s October 17th!  That means today marks the end of the site’s 11th year.  That’s pretty crazy.  Last year was, of course, the end of my first decade, so I did an even more extravagant wrap-up than usual, which I think was a nice send-off to the big wrap-ups, so I’m not gonna do one of those this year.  I will however, still be doing my usual slightly more significant item to review, just to mark the day a bit.  I haven’t reviewed any figures from Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line since we were in the depths of the pandemic and the lockdowns, which feels sort of crazy, because it was at one time such a notable portion of my collection.  I’ve scaled it back a lot, though, especially with Legends having overtaken it on so many fronts.  But, there was a good five year stretch or so where it was one of my main jams.  A character that’s never *really* been one of my main jams, however, is Apocalypse.  Don’t get me wrong, I like some of what he’s been involved in, but something about him’s never fully clicked for me.  That said, I’ve had more than a few good toys of him, and, you know what, here’s one of those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Apocalypse was released during Marvel Universe‘s third year, in the 13th overall assortment, which was the second of the year.  He’s figure 009, and shipped alongside Jim Lee Cyclops, First Appearance Wolverine, Cable, and Gladiator.  All of the new figures were X-themed, which was a first for the line.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  Apocalypse is seen here in his “Messiah Complex” look, which was still pretty current at the time of the figure’s release, and also matched up with the Cable from the same assortment.  He was built on the larger male body introduced with Juggernaut the prior year.  It’s a very solid starting point, coming after Hasbro had finally weeded out their truly abysmal initial base bodies for the line.  This one’s got a surprising range of motion given its build, and is also quite stable on its feet.  He gets a new head, lower arms, hands, shins, and feet, as well as new overlay pieces for the shoulders and belt.  It’s a good selection of parts, and the mesh well with the underlying base body.  The hoses on the arms are a little limiting for poses, not as bad as you might expect, and I particularly l love the gesturing hand; it adds so much character to his poses.  Apocalypse’s paint work isn’t bad.  Hasbro was in a period of doing washes and such for accenting, so he gets a bit of that, which works quite well with the sculpt.  Apocalypse’s only accessory was a display stand with his name and figure number printed on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like I touched on in the intro, I’m not classically much of an Apocalypse fan.  So, why is this guy my significant-year-end-review choice?  In the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college, I was back home and spending a lot of my free time with my younger brother Christian.  A few times over the summer, he needed to go into work with me during the day, so I’d make it up to him by stopping by the Target on the way home, so that he could get something cool at the end of the day.  Target was, at the time, running a buy-one-get-one-free sale on Marvel Universe, so I’d buy one for him and get one for myself as well.  We built up a bit of collection that way, and it eventually got to the point of us actively hunting for the line together.  A good chunk of my MU collection went back with me to college that year, and I promised him we’d keep collecting as I got the chance.  A couple of days after I moved into my dorm, my parents were dropping off some supplies for me, and when I went down to meet them, Christian was also there, and presented me with this guy, who he’d insisted on getting me.  It was tremendously thoughtful.  My small MU collection was one of the things that helped get me through what would ultimately be a kind of rough year at school, and this guy was one of the most significant pieces for me.  I may not be a huge Apocalypse fan, but I’m a huge fan of this figure in particular.

#3711: Phoenix

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

PHOENIX

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

You know, I feel every few years, I have to review a Marvel Legends Phoenix. Just, like, some sort of cycle. They keep remaking her, and I keep buying her, and then the reviews come back around, rising from the ashes, like some kind of…phoenix. Ha. Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Wait, sorry, that’s the wrong publisher! This is Marvel, a Disney subsidiary! Maybe we go with this is the song that never ends? Hang on, I think I’m confusing that with “It’s A Small World.” “The Song That Never Ends” is Lambchop. I don’t know who owns that. Well, this intro’s just going swimmingly, then, isn’t it? Let’s just look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Phoenix is a deluxe Marvel Legends release, hitting on her own as a Fall 2024 offering.  We actually got a pretty quick turnaround for release on this one, since she wasn’t shown off all that long before dropping at retail.  She’s decidedly a classic Phoenix, rather than Dark.  It’s only the third time we’ve gotten just a classic Phoenix in Legends.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 32 points of articulation.  She’s got the updated pinless construction arms and legs from Shriek, along with a brand new torso set-up, which works in the more modernized articulation style like we’ve been seeing on the Spider-Men more recently, as well as adding in butterfly shoulders.  The whole thing’s a very solid set-up, and I look forward to seeing it show up elsewhere going forward. Jean’s got a new sash add-on, which sits a lot better than the prior pieces, and two different head sculpts.  One’s more standard Jean, and the other’s all powered up.  It took me a minute to warm up to the new heads; I was really a fan of the powered up head from the Dark Phoenix figure, and I wasn’t sure they’d be able to top it.  That said, these two are far more refined and subtle.  They’re very dynamic with the hair flow, and the face sculpts really capture that ’70s Jean look.  The color work on this release is a marked improvement on earlier versions, especially the prior Hasbro version, which was a touch murky.  This one’s got more pop, and the application’s much cleaner.  Phoenix is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open gesture) and, for the first time since the Toy Biz days, a big, fiery Phoenix bird base, which serves as a major selling point for this release.  It’s a little tricky to assemble, and there’s no guide or anything, but once it’s built it’s very impressive, and even has an articulated neck for further posing options.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I genuinely didn’t think I needed this figure when she was announced.  I was happy with my 2016 figure with the alt head from the two-pack and the Toy Biz base.  Sure, it was hodgepodge, but I liked it well enough.  No need to upgrade, right?  But, I started to waffle as we got closer to release, and when I saw how nice she looked in person, I just couldn’t say no.  She’s so very much nicer than the prior releases, and I’m very glad I caved.  This is the definitive take…until Hasbro manages to somehow outdo themselves again in a few years, I guess…

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

#3708: Durge

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

DURGE

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars is something I don’t talk about with any real frequency, but that’s not for lack of love, I assure you.  It’s easily the best thing from the prequel era released during the run of the three films, and even when you expand past that, it’s really only rivaled by the 3D Clone Wars, and that one needed a much longer run to achieve the rivalry.  While the show worked with a lot of pre-existing characters, it had a few originals, which included Separatist Bounty Hunter Durge, who serves as one of the notable antagonists.  Durge is surprisingly sparse on action figure coverage, but was at the very least part of the short tie-in line for the show.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Durge was released as a single figure in the second assortment of animated Star Wars: Clone Wars figures, released in 2003.  He was also subsequently re-released in 2005 as part of the “Sith Attack Pack” entry in the Commemorative DVD Collection, alongside Asajj Ventress and General Grievous.  Mine is the single release, though the two are more or less identical.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As with all of the 2D animated figures, this one prioritizes form over function.  His articulation his limited to the neck, the shoulders, and wrists, with no movement below the torso at all.  The movement he *does* have is largely for minor tweaks to the one predetermined pose he’s got.  Ultimately, with Tartakovsky’s style, the glorified statue approach is the best way to handle things.  It translates very well to this set-up, and they’ve made him work pretty well from most angles.  He’s clean and he’s very stylized, and it’s very clear who it’s supposed to be.  His color work is flat colors, capturing the cel animation’s coloring set-up.  The application’s all fairly clean, and there’s no notable missing details.  He’s packed with his jousting-lance-thingy from the show, as well as one of the stands that was packed with all of the figures.  It’s not much, but none of these figures were very accessory heavy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As much as I loved the show, I had very few of the figures from it at the time of their release.  The line was just generally hard to find.  Durge in particular was one I wanted but never could get.  I wound up getting him from Cosmic Comix back in late 2017, I believe?  I even took the photos that accompany this review back when I got him, but I just kept putting off writing the actual review until this very moment.  That’s just how I roll sometimes.  He’s pretty par for the course on this line.  They’re not astoundingly fun to mess with, I suppose, but they sure do look really cool.

#3707: Marcus Brody

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

MARCUS BRODY

INDIANA JONES: ADVENTURE SERIES (HASBRO)

In the more than a decade that I’ve been running the site, I’ve mentioned Indiana Jones only in passing, and only, like, three times at that.  I guess it’s just one of those franchises I’ve never had a major connection to.  Like, I’ve seen all the movies, and they certainly have their moments.  Last Crusade is genuinely just a good movie, which I do really enjoy, but outside of that one, they’re all just fine enough, I guess.  I’ve tried on the toys a few times in the past, and I just always wind up falling right back out of it.  I ended up passing on Adventure Series, Hasbro’s 6-inch line from 2023, pretty much as a whole because I couldn’t ultimately see myself sticking with it.  That being said, in all of the toy coverage over the years, we’ve never gotten a figure of my favorite character from the films, Marcus Brody, played by Denholm Elliot, whose other roles weren’t really keen for action figure coverage either.  There’s a sincere lack of Trading Places action figures is all I’m saying.  Hasbro did actually offer Marcus up for Adventure Series, though, and I got one, so I’m looking at British-guy-in-a-suit Denholm Elliot today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Marcus Brody was released in a Fan Channel-exclusive Indiana Jones: Adventure Series two-pack, alongside a variant of Rene Belloq.  It’s a multi-pack of guys in suits.  Odd choice, especially since the two don’t share any scenes in Raiders.  I think they interacted a bit in the expanded universe, so maybe that’s what we’re going with?  Look, it got us a Marcus figure, so I’m not gonna stress about it too much.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  His articulation, which is pretty typical for the line as a whole, is a lot like the modern Black Series set-up, which works pretty well, and also makes a fair bit of sense.  It’s not, like, super great for crazy posing or anything, but it works fine for the type of character Marcus is supposed to be.  Marcus’ sculpt is a pretty respectable one.  It’s again got a Black Series vibe to it, which works fine by me.  The head’s got a pretty respectable likeness of Denholm Elliot, which is the most important part.  The suit sculpt is a little softer, but it does alright.  The multi-layered construction definitely works well.  The color work is generally basic.  The most in depth work’s on the face, which is using the printing.  Most of the rest of it’s molded plastic.  It’s generally clean.  There’s not a ton going on, but it’s accurate.  Marcus is packed with an apple (our second one of those in this scale from Hasbro, though its a different mold than the one packed with He-Who-Remains) and his large book, which opens up to a fully detailed interior page.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Marcus is my favorite part of the franchise largely because of Denholm Elliot in the role.  I’m a big fan of Elliot’s other roles, especially Trading Places and Noises Off, so the prospect of owning a figure of him was definitely a cool one.  I wanted to snag this figure, but the two-pack set-up was tricky, especially because I didn’t really want Belloq.  Matty wanted to go into a Gamestop a couple of months ago, though, and they happened to have the set on clearance, which made the whole thing easier to justify.  I offloaded the Belloq, and now I’ve just got a Denholm Elliot figure, which is pretty nifty.  Now, if I could just manage to find 1/12 scale figures of Eddie Murphy and Jaime Lee Curtis, I’d be all set for my own Trading Places set-up.

#3706: Doctor Strange

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

DOCTOR STRANGE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Stephen Strange was a brilliant surgeon before an accident ruined his hands. Now he defends our reality from supernatural threats as Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.”

I took a break from Marvel reviews all last month, largely because we’re in a waiting period on new Marvel Legends, which make up a substantial portion of my Marvel reviews.  Of course, that doesn’t stop me from digging into my backlog, I suppose.  I’ve had a number of “new” figures sitting off to the side waiting for a Legends-light period to slot them in, and I’m officially dusting some of them off!  And I do mean that literally…they’ve been sitting for a while you guys.  Anyway, here’s our second ever classic Doctor Strange, released more than a decade after the first!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Doctor Strange is a Walmart-exclusive Marvel Legends release, hitting in 2022 as a loose tie-in with the release of Multiverse of Madness.  He was only actually available online, rather than in-store, but that wasn’t a widely promoted thing, so it was easy to miss.  As noted in the intro, this was the first classic comic Strange since Toy Biz’s initial release of the character, all the way back in the Galactus Series, since Hasbro’s been sticking more to the modern side of things.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, Strange makes use of the lower half of the ANAD 2099 body, as well as the upper arms from Kang.  Beyond that, he’s all-new, though a number of the parts were re-used for the Spider-Man: Animated and Wong two-pack Strange releases.  Ultimately, it’s a good mix of parts, which does a really good job of conveying the flow and depth of the design.  The cape (which is one piece that is thus far totally unique to this release) is glued in place at the front, so it’s not going anywhere.  On one hand, it’s a little annoying not to be able to display him sans-cloak, but on the other it means it’s not flopping about and falling off, which I do like.  There are two main heads with this release, one “standard” and the other meditating.  What’s interesting is that they aren’t just a simple change of expression, but also have different hair styles.  The meditating one is more ’70s-inspired (and was in fact sculpted by Paul Harding, based on his own “Marvel In the ’70s” Doctor Strange sculpture), while the other is shorter and more modern.  I generally prefer the meditating one, but it’s limited by those closed eyes.  This is definitely one of those “wish I could swap the hair pieces” moments.  Strange’s color work isn’t bad.  It’s certainly bright and colorful.  The yellow paint on his cape is particularly sloppy, and I find the greying temples on both heads to be a little unsubtle in their application, but generally, things look okay.  Doctor Strange is packed with a third, masked head, based on his era of extra super-hero-y-ness in the ’60s.  It’s just a repainted Silver Surfer head, and it doesn’t actually match the body it comes with, but how else am I gonna build my Kurt Busiek’s The Order line-up?  Strange is also packed with two pairs of hands (spell casting and a fist/grip combo), spell effects pieces, the Wand of Watoomb, and the Axe of Angarruumus, which is all pretty fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall this figure being shown off, and I recall him going up on Walmart.com, but I never did get around to ordering him or putting any real effort at all into tracking him down.  It’s not that I didn’t want one, but I did still have the Toy Biz release, which is really, really good, and I just wasn’t in a rush to deal with getting a Walmart exclusive.  One with a broken tape seal showed up a few months after the fact at All Time, and I took that as a good sign that I should get one.  He’s a solid classic Strange, and a good update to the Toy Biz release.  I can’t say there’s much to him beyond that, but does there really have to be?

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

#3703: Darth Vader

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

DARTH VADER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE (HASBRO)

“Inside the Death Star’s detention corridor, Darth Vader is intent on snapping Princess Leia’s defiance. Accompanied by an Imperial interrogation droid, the Sith Lord enters cell 2187, determined to learn the location of the hidden Rebel base from his royal prisoner”

Jumping from one caped guy in black to the next, in 1/18 scale no less!  So, look, guys, I have a lot of Star Wars figures sitting around here.  There’s a notable backlog of those guys I gotta work my way through, so I might as well do a little bit of that now.  And, if I’ve got a helping of Star Wars reviews coming at you, you know I gotta start it off with Power of the Force, because here I am with a bunch of Power of the Force, specifically.  The line had an impressive coverage of the depth of characters from the galaxy far, far away, but it also had a lot of variants of the main characters from the original trilogy.  For characters with similar looks for all three films, such as Darth Vader, the figures were pretty similar and meant to be more all-purpose, but before the end of the line, they started going a bit more movie-specific.  I’m looking at the line’s last take on Vader today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darth Vader was added to the Power of the Force line in 1999, as part of the first of the two CommTech assortments that wrapped up the line.  As the line’s last hurrah, there was certainly a focus on heavy hitters.  The figure stands just over 4 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  He’s got those extra swivels on his elbows, as the line experimented with going beyond the basic 6 they’d launched with.  It doesn’t do a ton, but it adds to the variety, I suppose.  For his last entry in the line, Vader goes decidedly back to the beginning, with our very first specifically A New Hope-inspired Vader, focussing directly on his appearance in the interrogation scene.  His sculpt was all-new, and is quite a strong one.  It wound up getting re-used a bit down the line due to how strong it was.  It’s a little pre-posed, again going into the scene specific bit, with his hands posed near his belt.  The proportions are solid, moving entirely away from the buff look of the early figures.  The details are also really sharp, which is nice.  The cape is cloth this time, which is a little awkward at this scale, but ultimately works okay if you get the posing right.  His paint work is simple, largely relying on molded black plastic, but there’s some variety worked in there.  Vader was packed with the interrogation droid (aka Dr. Ball, MD), who has its own little flight stand.  He’s also got the CommTech stand, for CommTech stand purposes.  He is, notably, devoid of a lightsaber, since there’s a hilt sculpted to the body, and he doesn’t use the saber in the Interrogation scene.  Later uses of the mold would fix that, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It took me a surprisingly long time to get this figure.  When I really jumped into the Power of the Force thing, All Time even had a sealed one, but I didn’t snag him at the time, and he sold before I got him.  My first encounter with this mold was actually one if its later uses, namely the comic pack version, so I did at least know what to expect.  I wound up snagging this one loose just a few months ago.  He’s honestly pretty solid, and probably the best Vader in the line, so it’s a good note to go out on.

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