Tag Archives: Hasbro

#2377: Hoist

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

HOIST

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: EARTHRISE (HASBRO)

Hey, remember when I reviewed Grapple and I was all like “I don’t really have much to say for the intro”?  Well, apart from this witty and self-referential bit I’ve got going right now, the very same is true for Hoist.  <checking wiki> Apparently the two of them are buddies?  Well, cool, that means that they fit together in a nice little pair of characters I know pretty much nothing about.  So, let’s again watch me try to review a character I don’t know!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hoist is the third of the three first Deluxe Class assortment figures I’ve picked up from Earthrise, and he seems to be designed to pair off with the Voyager Grapple who hit right around the same time.  It’s actually nice of Hasbro to actually finish off a pair like that so quickly; usually there’s a wait involved between such figures.  In robot mode, Hoist stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 24 usable points of articulation.  I complained in yesterday’s review about how Wheeljack’s robot mode felt a little less refined than some of the others from Siege and Earthrise, and I feel that’s even more of an issue with Hoist.  He doesn’t feel like he’s on the same engineering level of, say, Cliffjumper, or even the likes of Grapple.  There’s far more hollow sections left exposed (the entire back side of the legs for one, and the torso for another), and he keeps the side panels of the vehicle mode just stuck behind the arms rather rigidly.  Additionally, he just doesn’t feel as sturdy as other figures of the same style, so he feels literally half-formed.  I’m also not a huge fan of the colorscheme, but that’s not really specifically this toy’s issue, as much as it is just part of the character.  So, the robot mode doesn’t impress me so much, how’s the other mode?  Honestly, not bad.  He turns into a pickup truck with a towing hook.  Getting him transformed isn’t the easiest thing, but the final product is actually quite nice, and one of the most convincing alt-modes in this set.  Hoist is packed with an arm cannon, which he can use in robot mode, or stow on his side when in truck mode.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up Hoist at the same time as the other two Earthrise deluxes, mostly because I knew I wasn’t likely to have a chance to get much new stuff, and I was buying everyone else.  I’m not really a huge fan of him, at least in his robot mode.  He just feels really removed from the rest of the line in terms of quality, and doesn’t really fit in.  On the other hand, I actually really like that alt-mode, and as a first, I might end up displaying this guy in his vehicle mode full-time.

Hoist was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys, and is still available here.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2376: Wheeljack

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

WHEELJACK

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: EARTHRISE (HASBRO)

Okay, let’s continue our merry trek into this Transformers theme-week with the second of the three Earthrise reviews I’ll be doing this week.  We again go back to the beginnings of the brand with another of the original core line-up, Wheeljack, the Autobot’s crazy inventor.  Unless you were first really introduced to the character via Prime like I was, in which case his more of a war-torn bruiser.  Those two things are really close, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wheeljack is part of the first Deluxe Class assortment of the Earthrise line.  He’s a figure people have been expecting to see since Siege started, since he was included in the fan-poll that added Mirage and Impactor into the line, his poll-mate Spinister showed up in Siege‘s final deluxe assortment, and he was also seen on Springer’s box art.  It’s okay everyone, he’s finally here.  In his robot mode, Wheeljack stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 26 workable points of articulation.  His sculpt is an all-new affair, based on his G1 cartoon design.  For some reason, this sculpt feels a little less advanced, at least in terms of what it does with the remaining parts of the alt-mode when he’s a robot.  Obviously, you expect there to be some remnants there, but in this case, especially on the arms, where the backsides really showcase the car remnants.  It’s not like it’s bad, but it makes him a little clunkier, and it means the range of motion on the articulation isn’t as great as it could be.  On the plus side, the range on the legs is actually really good, especially on the ankles, which go two different ways, unlike most of the modern ‘formers.  Wheeljack’s alt-mode is a race car, much like his vintage counterpart.  Like Cliffjumper, however, it’s not a specific model, and is more of an averaged design.  It still has a real world feel.  The transformation process is pretty simple and straightforward, provided you don’t have parts spontaneously pop off in the midst of it, like I did.  It’s okay, everything went back the way it was supposed to.  Wheeljack is packed with his shoulder launcher, which the box art and the product shots show him holding in his hand, which I believe Max would like me to point out is an affront to God, or Primus, or something.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t have any major attachment to Wheeljack as a character, mostly due to him being just shy of being a core enough character to wind up in the various incarnations of the franchise I got to know growing up.  That said, it’s a neat design, and I’m getting versed enough in the franchise now to appreciate the need for him in my collection.  He’s an okay figure, and I certainly like his transformation scheme, but I do wish he was a little more polished.

Wheeljack was purchased from my friends at All Time Toys, and is still available here.  If you’re looking for Transformers, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2375: Cliffjumper

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

CLIFFJUMPER

TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON: EARTHRISE (HASBRO)

Okay, well, my options for reviewing new things are more on the limited side these days, so I kinda just have to make due with what I picked up before things shut down.  Luckily, I did manage to pick up enough new Transformers to qualify for a theme-week, so that’s just what I’m gonna do.  Today, I’m beginning a three-part look into the main line’s theme for this year, Earhrise, the second entry in the War for Cybertron trilogy, and also taking a look at one of the franchise’s oldest, and quite frequently most overlooked characters, Cliffjumper!  He’s not just red Bumblebee!  I swear!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cliffjumper is part of the first Deluxe Class assortment of the Earthrise line.  As we saw in Siege these figures are continuing the trend of trying to stick as closely to G1 animation models as possible, and in that regard I’d say Cliffjumper hits pretty darn close.  In his robot mode, Cliffjumper stands 4 inches tall and he has 22 workable points of articulation.  Cliffjumper is, for once, an all-new sculpt.  The expectation is that at least some of this figure will be turning up later as a toon-accurate Bumblebee, but exactly how much of this exact sculpt they’re going to re-use is a bit up in the air, mostly depending on whether or not they’re going to try for the VW Beetle.  But, that’s all a discussion for when we actually get a Bumblebee!  We’re not looking at Bumblebee, we’re looking at Cliffjumper!  He’s different, I swear!  As I noted on Grapple, Cliffjumper (and Earthrise as a whole) has a slightly cleaner sculpt than a lot of the Siege figures did.  He’ll still fit in with them, of course, but he’s not quite as battle torn.  He’s a pretty sleek, and honestly pretty small sculpt, especially given he’s a deluxe, but ultimately it works for him, and I think there’s enough going on with the figure that it doesn’t feel like you’re getting gipped.  Cliffjumper’s original alt-mode was a Porsche 924 Turbo, which isn’t technically what this guy turns into; he’s instead a more generic ’80s-style sports car.  That being said, he’s clearly designed to be reminiscent of the original mode, and it’s certainly a plausible car for the real word.  The transformation process is pretty simple.  It does require some minor parts forming where you remove the back of the car and plug it in as a backpack in robot mode.  This apparently ruins the figure.  Ruins it, I tell you.  Okay, not ruin.  Or hinder at all, really, at least in my book.  In fact, I quite like how the transformation works on this figure, and I’m happy with both modes.  Cliffjumper is packed with a very large blaster, which he can break up into several much smaller components.  For the robot mode, it can be split into two smaller blasters, and for the car mode, it can be turned into a set of skis and a propulsion system, which I think is a lot of fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I have a soft-spot for Cliffjumper.  He’s kinda like the Ultra Magnus to Bumblebee’s Optimus.  Also, when I was younger, I had a handful of the Robot Heroes line, and while I never had a Bumblebee, I did have the Cliffjumper repaint.  I’ve been hoping to see him show up in the modern line, and I was actually kind of happy he got added before Bee.  He was my most wanted of the initial Earthrise offerings, and he’s definitely my favorite of the batch I’ve picked up so far.

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

#2374: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

AVENGERS INFINITE (HASBRO)

“With an armored suit and steel billy clubs, Daredevil vanishes into the night to defend the city!”

Though he’s more or less stuck with the same look since switching to the all-red number early in the ’60s, Daredevil has still managed to pick up a few different designs over the years.  In the ’90s, when everything was getting more “x-treme”, Daredevil combated the X-treme-ness with an extra armored design, dubbed Armored Daredevil, for originality’s sake.  Despite being around in the ’90s, at peak “we’re making toys of these” time, Armored DD is a slightly rarer entry in the toy world.  Toy Biz did one quick and dirty repaint version, and there’s been a Minimate, and there’s also today’s figure, courtesy of Hasbro.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Daredevil was released in 2015 as part of the line that initially started as the Avengers Infinite line, but after losing the Avengers focus had transitioned to just Marvel Infinite.  It was, for all intents and purposes, just a continuation of the Marvel Universe line, since it was the same scale and general style.  The figure stands 4 1/4 inches tall and he has 19 points of articulation.  By this point, the line was pretty quickly cutting down on the articulation on the figures in order to keep the cost of figures down, so DD is definitely more on the restricted side of things.  This has its pluses and minuses, as it makes him a slightly sturdier figure than a lot of the MU-style figures were, but it also means there’s just not a lot of posing to be done with him.  The lack of any sort of mid torso joint is definitely the biggest limitation, but as a whole, he’s just kinda stiff.  The figure did at least have a good number of new parts.  Only the torso is a standard piece, with all of the others being new parts, which do a really nice job of capturing the armored plates of the comics design.  In this costume, Matt had ditched the holster on his leg for his clubs, and instead kept one mounted on each forearm.  This figure permanently attaches one to his left arm, just to demonstrate the concept, I guess.  It’s odd that the one with the club attached is also the same arm with a closed fist, since you would assume that he would grab each club with the opposite hand, but maybe he likes passing them between hands?  DD’s paintwork is pretty cleanly handled for the most part.  Nothing amazing, but the color work matches the comics, and it’s fairly cleanly applied.  DD was originally packed with a loose club to match the one on his arm.  Mine doesn’t have that, but he does have a billy club piece that’s not actually his, because I didn’t realize that until after taking the main photo.  Silly me.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was sort of interested in this figure when he was first shown off, because I have something of a soft spot for this design, but by the time he actually hit, I just never brought myself around to picking him up.  Like the Colossus figure I reviewed two weeks ago, he’s part of a collection that Cosmic Comix bought, which allowed me to get him for fairly cheap.  He’s a cool figure, and I’m glad I finally picked him up, but I can’t say I regret not buying him at full retail.  He’s just okay.

#2372: Snake Eyes

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

SNAKE EYES

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

In 2016, after an attempt to revitalize the line with a 50th Anniversary celebration after numerous re-brandings of the core line, the G.I. Joe brand was retired from retail, with its only continuation being in the form of a handful of Collector’s Club exclusives and a one SDCC exclusive from Hasbro that wasn’t even specifically Joe-centered.  In 2018 there were exactly two Collector’s Club-exclusive, and the rest was silence.  With over a year of no new Joe at all, the fanbase kind of folded in on itself, with most of the focus shifting to the old vintage line, because they were desperate to have *something* to buy.  After that year-plus of silence (to the point of even leaving G.I. Joe off of a brand poster that included freaking *Visionaries* of all things), Hasbro went into 2020 with a plan to revitalize Joe again.  The Snake Eyes movie is supposed to be hitting theaters this year, the mobile game was officially launched in January, and Hasbro’s bringing G.I. Joe back to retail in the form of a new 6-inch scale line, much in the style of their Legends, Black Series, and Lightning Collection lines.  So far, we’ve seen most of the first series (which is tentatively hitting in June, but who knows at this point?), and the line has officially been kicked off with a deluxe version of everyone’s favorite ninja-commando-mute, Snake Eyes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Snake Eyes is figure 00 in the newly launched G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  He was offered exclusively though Hasbro Pulse, and, as the “00” denotes, he’s meant as a preview for the line proper.  The rumor mill is speculating that the core figure of this release will be going to regular retail with the rest of the line, making all of the deluxe-ness the real exclusive part of this one.  Speaking of the deluxe-ness of this release, before I dive into reviewing the actual toy proper, I would like to mention the packaging of this release.  Though I’m not usually all that interested in what my figures get to me in, this release deserves a special mention, because Hasbro’s really gone the extra mile here, with a heavy cardboard construction, and an almost faux-leather exterior.  The intricate design on the front and back of the box is really impressively applied, and said design is also included as a pretty cool print when you open the box.  Inside the box, there’s a foam tray with spots for the core boxed Snake Eyes (in a variation of what will be the line’s standard packaging) and all of the exclusive extras.  It’s one hell of a presentation, and shows that Hasbro’s really invested in the significance of this release.  Alright, we’ve discussed the beauty that is the box, now we tear it open and look at the guy inside.  Snake Eyes stands just shy of 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Hasbro’s gotten pretty impressive with their articulation on their 6-inch-scale lines as of late, but Snake Eyes takes that to the next level, adding things like butterfly shoulders, a ball-jointed waist, and drop-hips to the equation.  He also fuses the Black Series double-ball-jointed neck design with the Legends hinge joint, which gives the best of both worlds in terms of range.  He’s a very, very posable figure is what I’m getting at here.  However, it’s worth noting that the figure’s sculpt really doesn’t suffer to grant him this posability.  Said sculpt is clearly patterned after Snake’s v2 figure, which is generally considered his most distinctive look, and a good starting point for any new version of the character.  He’s not a straight adaptation of that design, though, as Hasbro is clearly building a new aesthetic for the Joes for this new line.  The broad strokes are all the same.  He’s got the knight-style visor, the bandolier with grenades, and all the pouches and straps are in more or less the same spot.  However, when you take a closer look at the smaller details, that’s where the changes come in.  They’ve followed a bit in the footsteps of the movies, giving him a more armored appearance, at least on the head and torso.  Within that set-up, he gets some extra webgear on his shoulders, which is really the only part of this design I’m a little iffy on.  Honestly, I don’t hate it, but I think it stands out a little too much from what’s around it.  I think the fact that I can hone in on one specific thing like that and say it’s slightly off speaks to the sleekness of the rest of the sculpt, though.  I really do appreciate how well they homaged the v2 release with this sculpt.  In terms of the paint, Snake Eyes goes a fair bit more involved than the usual figure of him.  He still keeps things predominantly very dark, but it’s not quite as much straight black.  There’s a lot of variance to the browns, and there’s also some nice change-ups in the finish on the black sections as well, making the different sections look like different materials.  It’s really nicely handled, especially given how easily they could have just left things all-black.  In terms of accessories, there are really two groups with this figure.  Firstly, there’s what is actually included in his smaller box with him.  He gets a sword (which according to Tim is more of a messer than a katanna, and I’m inclined to believe him there), an Uzi, a Beretta m93r with a removable silencer, a knife, a backpack, a sheath for the sword (which can plug either straight into his back or onto the pack), and two extra hands, one holding throwing stars, the other flat.  The Uzi, sword, and backpack do a great job of replicating the v2 figure’s accessories, and the Beretta, knife, and extra hands just accent things further.  Outside of his own packaging, Snake Eyes also gets a whole Dojo wall full of weapons.  The wall itself is a nice piece in its own right, and its got spots for the 2 sai, 2 axes, 2 kama, spear, long sword, and katana included alongside it in the box.  Snake Eyes can use these extra weapons if you like, or they make for a pretty killer display behind him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got a slight heads up that a 6-inch Joe line was coming, so I was pretty eagerly awaiting its arrival.  Once this guy was shown off, I knew I needed one.  Max was kind enough to let me use his Pulse account so that we could both order one, meaning I got in on the ground floor with this guy.  And then I got him literally the day everything started shutting down around here, so I’ve gotten a lot of time to mess with him.  I love this figure.  I love this figure so much.  This is pretty much everything I wanted out of this line, and I’m really excited for the rest of the line to hit so that this guy can have some companions.  Until then, he’ll just have to face off against my Fortnite Havoc figure that’s totally not just a 6-inch Firefly.

#2369: Secret War Captain America

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

SECRET WAR CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Recruited by Nick Fury for an undercover mission, Captain America serves SHIELD in the pursuit of justice.”

Comics like to re-use names.  Take, for instance, this figure, and the story he’s sourced from.  Is “Secret War Captain America” from Secret Wars, Marvel’s cross-company event designed to help sell action figures?  Or perhaps Secret Wars II, its sequel?  Or how about Secret Wars, the 2015 cross-company event designed to help sell that comics were still a relevant thing and these crossovers were still totally worth doing and you should really buy them all?  It’s a resounding “no” to all three.  No, he’s from Secret War, a Brian Michael Bendis-written event from 2003, which, despite its name, is completely and totally unrelated to the three other events I listed.  Oh, Bendis.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Secret War Captain America was part of the Abomination Series of Marvel Legends, which was the last of the three Cap-themed Civil War tie-in assortments released in 2016.  Hasbro was eager to get as much mileage as possible out of the new Cap pieces they’d tooled up for the Reaper body, and also needed a third Cap variant, so this guy got the nod, being based on Gabriele Dell’Otto’s stealth uniform Cap from the previously mentioned event series.  Cap’s costume from this series is apparently a favorite for toy companies, since its had both a Legends and a Minimates release, while none of the other heroes costumes have graced toy form.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  As I noted above, this guy was built on the Reaper body, specifically the one with all the Cap-specific parts that was first used for the Cap-Wolf figure.  That means he’s got the flared boots and gloves.  He also re-uses the head from the RoML Ultimate Captain America, since it lacks the 3D head wings of Cap-Wolf’s standard head.  Also, doesn’t have that same horrible, hideous face, so that’s a plus.  He does get one new piece, an add-on for his belt, which appears to be fairly accurate to the source material.  Of all the things to spring for new tooling on, this one seems a little odd, but to be fair, it’s really the only new piece he needed.  The main changes are made via the paint, which really gets the stealthier colors of the design down. He’s still got the trappings of your standard Captain America color scheme, but toned way down to allow for something slightly stealthier…even if it’s not like he’s really actually hiding who he is.  Whatever the case, it looks cool.  Cap is packed with the same shield as all of the post-Reaper Caps, and also includes the throwing effect for the shield, which I reviewed with the 80th Cap, but was debuted with this particular figure.  As I noted in that review, it’s a fun extra piece, and definitely added some pop to what could have been a drab release.  Cap was also packed with the right arm of the Abomination Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

At the time that this assortment hit in 2016, I was kinda between jobs, so I didn’t really have the funds to go all-in on it (nor did the line-up or the Build-A-Figure really inspire me to do so), meaning I only picked up the figures I really, really wanted.  Cap didn’t quite make it on that list, and I just never saw him in person again by the time I had the money to spend on him.  Fortunately, All Time managed to get a few of them in as part of a trade, and so I was able to grab one for my Cap collection.  He’s not a standard version of the character, but the stealth look is a cool one, and he was certainly an improvement on the Cap Wolf figure.

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

#2367: Colossus

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

COLOSSUS

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

“When you weigh almost 2,000 pounds and can’t be stopped by any obstacle on Earth, the term ‘fair fight’ doesn’t normally apply…unless your opponent can lift 75 tons and comes encased in impenetrable organic armor.  The unstoppable Juggernaut!  The unbreakable Colossus!  Look out!”

So, that bio might reveal some things about how this figure *should* be reviewed, which is to say with another figure, since he’s clearly part of a two-pack.  But that ain’t how I roll…well, this time, at least, because I just have the one of them.  I definitely dig me some Colossus, and he definitely has a tendency to really rock as an action figure, which really only makes me dig him that much more, and, well, here we are, I guess.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Colossus is one half of a Marvel Universe “Greatest Battles” two-pack, which is what the Comic Packs became after Hasbro rounded out their Secret Wars celebration.  Like the larger-scale set I looked at a while back, this pack paired off Colossus with Juggernaut, in reference to their battle in X-Men #102 (which was, unsurprisingly, the comic that came included with this pack).  This figure would mark Colossus’s third time in the Marvel Universe line, and following a single-carded release based on his Astonishing costume, and a differently colored “classic” Colossus in the Giant-Size X-Men boxed set.  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  This Colossus draws from the same parts bank as his two predecessors, and is in fact sculpturally identical to the GSXM version, which was just a minor retool of the Astonishing version.  A number of these parts would also later be used for Death’s Head, who I’ve previously reviewed.  While the earlier MU sculpts were definitely wonky, but the time that Colossus was introduced, Hasbro had the formula down really well, and it results in a very nice sculpt for Piotr.  Honestly, I think it’s even a little bit better than the recent Legends sculpt, certainly on the head, at least.  Even his poseability is pretty good, especially for his stature.  There’s no real weak points in the movement, and his neck in particular has a fantastic range.  Really, the only downside to the sculpt is the same thing that afflicted so many MU figures: he’s got some real trouble standing.  Even then, it’s not as bad as some figures in the line.  Throw some ankle rockers on this guy and he’d be pretty much perfect.  The only thing that really differentiates this guy from the GSXM release is how he’s colored.  While that one went for a “real world” color with actual silver, this one opts for stricter comic book coloring, so the colors are (mostly) flat.  It’s a different look, and I’m not sure it works quite as well as the straight silver, but I do kinda dig the only slightly pearlescent grey, in a sort of a kitschy-retro sort of a way.  It reminds me of his appearance on Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, or even the old bendy figure Colossus (which was actually my first Colossus figure).  Colossus included no accessories, unless you want to count that whole second figure that was in the pack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t get Colossus new, but I have had him for a little while.  Some time back, Cosmic Comix got a bunch of Marvel Universe figures in loose, and had them all out for pretty good prices.  I had the standard Juggernaut from the line, as well as the Astonishing Colossus, so I didn’t pay this set much mind as a two-pack.  However, this guy on his own, as a easy way of getting a classic Colossus, definitely had some appeal to me.  The sculpt is one of the finest the line produced, and the paint may be a little out there, but I can appreciate him for what they were trying to do.  Maybe he wouldn’t be anyone’s fist choice, but I really like him.

#2365: Evolution Rodimus Prime

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

EVOLUTION RODIMUS PRIME

TRANSFORMERS: POWER OF THE PRIMES (HASBRO)

“With the Matrix of Leadership, Autobot Hot Rod becomes leader of the Autobots: Rodimus Prime.”

Two weeks ago, I took a look at Hot Rod, the proposed new lead character of the Transformers franchise as introduced in the 1986 movie.  Though Hot Rod spends most of the film’s run time as just plain old Hot Rod, after taking ownership of the Matrix of Leadership during the film’s climactic battle, Hot Rod becomes “Rodimus Prime,” meaning we had two forms of Rodimus to choose from for pretty much every release going forward.  For the purposes of the 2017 incarnation of the line, Power of the Primes, we actually got both versions of Rodimus in one, with a figure I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Evolution Rodimus Prime was part of the first Leader Class assortment of the Power of the Primes toy line, alongside the similarly-themed Optimus Prime. Straight out of the package, Rodimus is in his full-on Rodimus Prime form.  In this state, the figure stands 9 1/2 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  In terms of mobility, the figure’s a bit of a mixed bag.  While he moves alright in the legs, the arms, especially at the shoulders are quite restricted.  There’s a little bit of a workaround if you use the joints further into the shoulder, but the design of the transformation means that you’ll always be stuck with the shoulders proper being at that 90 degree angle.  In terms of construction, he overall makes for a pretty decent recreation of the G1 animated appearance of Rodimus, and is certainly a better looking figure than the original vintage piece.  That said, there’s a fair bit of concession made for his transformation.  He’s got some pretty hefty kibble both on his back and on the undersides of his forearms, meaning that while he looks alright from the front, from an angle things look a little weird.  Additionally, much like the Combiner Wars Magnus I took a look at, Rodimus’ larger size requires a bit of cheating with the plastic, so that he’s not solid all the way through.  Instead, there are a number of hollow sections, mostly in the upper arms and legs, which again make the figure better when viewed from the front.  Lastly, there’s one oddity caused by the line’s main gimmick for the Leader Class figures, which results in there being a smaller set of arms visible on his torso, making him look kinda like his a very big-headed smaller robot that’s piloting a mech suit…which maybe isn’t so far off.  Rodimus Prime includes the Matrix of Leadership, which he can only really store in his chest cavity, since it’s not possible for him to hold in his hands.  He’s also got a long blaster rifle.

The gimmick for all of the Leader Class releases in Power of the Primes was evolution (as noted by the name of the figure), and much like the Siege Leader Class figures, this was accomplished via a smaller bot with armor to “evolve” it into a larger bot.  Popping off the arms and removing the torso from the legs allows for the torso segment to be transformed into a Deluxe Class-scaled Hot Rod figure, standing 6 inches tall and sporting 19 practical points of articulation.  Like with the larger bot, there are some spots where the articulation is a little bit restricted, this time on the legs (which were actually the shoulders of the larger figure, so I guess that tracks).  The hips don’t have a ton of back and forth motion, and I definitely miss the rocker ankles here.  He’s also missing a waist joint, as well as wrists.  At least in the case of the wrists, there are balljoints at the elbows, so the actual mobility isn’t horribly impacted.  Though this guy has less actual articulation than the larger figure, I did find that it was a little easier to work with on the smaller figure.  The actual sculpt on this guy is actually a pretty solid update of the vintage Rodimus, just with better articulation, and a slightly more animation-faithful appearance.  There are less hollow points in his construction, and in general he fits in pretty well with some of the less greeble-y Siege guys, which is alright by my count.  In this mode, Hot Rod still can’t hold the Matrix, but he can at least make use of the large blaster, which splits into two pieces, replicating Hot Rod’s smaller blasters from his original toy.

As with his vintage counterpart, this smaller Hot Rod figure’s alt-mode is a futuristic sports car.  In fact, it’s pretty much a straight re-creation of the exact future sports car mode used by the vintage figure, with only some rather moderate surface changes between the two.  The transformation process here is really quite simple, and in fact a fair bit of it is just reversing a few things you have to do to transform the Rodimus Prime torso into Hot Rod in the first place.  It’s a pretty slick looking vehicle mode, and like the robot mode is quite accurate to the animation design for said alt-mode.  To take things even further, you can at this point add back in all those parts you set aside when you converted him into Hot Rod, and add them back in as a trailer, because that’s what really signifies the whole Prime thing: a trailer.  No one’s gonna say anything about the fact that there’s a freaking trailer attached to a sports car or anything, because that’s clearly a natural and normal thing to encounter, and is not at all odd or suspicious or strange.  The trailer that is totally inconspicuous is a little trickier of a transformation, mostly when it comes to fitting it onto the car, but it’s not terrible, and like the standard car, the full mode is fairly accurate to the animation, though there are some concessions made to allow the actual car part to remain the same between the two modes.  In this mode, the blasters can be mounted on the trailer for a fully armed effect.  He still can’t hold that Matrix, though.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I first started to dip my toe in the Transformers water, I looked at this figure while he was still “new”, or at least still in-stock as a regular floor item at All Time.  Ultimately, I didn’t end up getting him, but I resigned that if a used one came through I’d give it some serious thought.  One came in as part of the rather sizable collection of Transformers the store recently received, and in a messed up box that was going to necessitate opening him up anyway.  With the announcement of Arcee, and taking into consideration that I already have a lot of the other “heavy hitters” in some sort of modern form, it was pretty easy to convince myself to finally pick this guy up.  The Rodimus form doesn’t do a ton for me personally, but the inner Hot Rod bot is actually really nice, and a solid addition to my current set-up.  Plus, it meant I got a modern and a vintage Hot Rod in the same day.  How cool is that?

As I noted above,  I got this guy from my friends at All Time Toys, and a good chunk of the collection he came from is still available here.  If you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2360: Flint

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

FLINT

G.I. JOE: SIGMA 6 (HASBRO)

“Flint worked with many stealth forces before joining the GIJoe team. He leads espionage operations, while Duke commands tactical missions. Like a cat hunting the night, he is silent and unseen, until he attacks with the full force of his impressive combat skills. He and Snake-Eyes make a perfect team: the knife that cuts the night, and the arrow that pierces the dark. His multi-weapon system can be configured in different ways, and the custom-made sword is this stealthy hunter’s formidable ‘claw.'”

With a new relaunch of G.I. Joe almost upon us (provided the world doesn’t end first, of course), I’m in a mood to delve back into some of their previous re-launches.  Let’s take another look at poor old Sigma 6.  Initially, Sigma 6 placed its focus on a core team of arguably the most memorable (or at least marketable and distinctly different) Joes, upgrading them to a more multipurpose task force, in order to fill some of the spots classically taken up by the ’80s line’s more specialized forces.  However, by the time of the line’s third and final year, they decided to expand things ever so slightly, and reintroduce a few more of the ’80s characters into the fold.  Some of those figures were fairly faithful updates of the old toys, while some of them went a little more for the reinventing side of the line.  Today’s focus, 1985’s Warrant Officer Flint, fell into the latter category, with a pretty hefty rework.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Flint was released in the third Commando wave of the 2007 line-up of G.I. Joe: Sigma 6…well, okay, technically it wasn’t “Sigma 6” anymore, as Hasbro had dropped the branding from the toys after the show stopped airing.  But they were still in the same style and are a continuation of the same line…and otherwise it’s just a line simply titled “G.I. Joe” with no further modifiers.  I’m getting kind of off topic and distracted.  Sorry.  So, Flint was in the penultimate Commando wave of the line, and definitely sticks with the end of the line’s slight move away from some of the stricter team-building they’d been doing previously.  Interestingly, Flint’s bio describes him as a character that’s really, really different from his more “mainstream” counterpart, suggesting that perhaps he had already been planned for an appearance of some sort on the show before it wrapped up?  I know other figures from late in the line were based around un-used cartoon concepts, so maybe Flint was too.  The figure stands a little over 8 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  He’s also got the Kung-Fu grip feature on his right hand, which allows for some slight movement on the fingers, but is designed to snap back into place for a tighter fit on the grip (which is actually a totally different design than the original kung-fu grip; his left hand is actually far closer to the original design).  Flint was an all-new sculpt, and one of the most unique sculpts from the line.  He doesn’t go for the sigma-uniform variant that the other Joes in the line did, making him feel like more of an outsider.  It also gives him a slightly more generic, and slightly more real-world appearance, at least in terms of what he’s wearing.  He still maintains the line’s signature style, of course, but he’s not wearing anything that looks particularly sci-fi-y.  He’s also not wearing anything that looks particularly Flint-y.  About the closest you get to a traditional Flint item is that his cloth vest piece has some straps of pouches that look somewhat like the original figure’s “suspenders.”  The head represents possibly the most radical departure of all.  Not only does he not get Flint’s signature beret, he’s got long hair, possibly the longest hair of any of the main Joes in the line.  It even covers part of his face!  What kind of a warrant officer would stand for that?  The kind that’s not actually a warrant officer, I suppose.  He’s also got a pretty sizable scar running down the left side of his face, but scars are hardly a new development when it comes to the Joes.  Flint was packed some climbing gear, which included his vest and a harness for his pelvis.  He also included a gun which could be broken down into much smaller components, but like a lot of my Sigma 6 collection, my figure is missing a good number of his parts.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sigma 6 was difficult enough to find at retail when retailers were supporting it, so when they stopped supporting it late in the line, the figures became practically non-existent.  By the time of Flint’s introduction, I’d pretty much given up any hope of really getting any of these at retail.  Thanks to some hunting over the years on my part, I’ve managed to actually find a few of the ones I wanted, Flint included.  Flint is an interesting inclusion in the line, especially since the only thing that connects him to the original character is the name Hasbro stuck on the box.  That doesn’t stop him from being a really cool figure, though, and I’m glad I was finally able to add one to my collection.

#2358: Count Dooku

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

COUNT DOOKU

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Count Dooku was a menacing Sith Lord and central figure in the Clone Wars. Once a Jedi, he became disillusioned with the Jedi order and thirst for greater power.”

For each entry in the Prequel Trilogy, they really tried to introduce a new and compelling villain.  They had three really strong starting points, but all three ended up being a lot of wasted potential, at least until the Clone Wars cartoon came along and actually tried to do something with them.  For Attack of the Clones, arguably the weakest of the three prequel films, Lucas got Christopher Lee, one of the greatest actors ever to grace the silver screen, to portray the role of Count Dooku, the second attempt at a decent foe.  To say the role squandered Lee’s talent is something of an understatement.  Still, he did have a cool look, and he was still Christopher freaking Lee, so no one’s gonna say no to some action figure love for this guy.  He was the final main prequel foe unaccounted for in the Black Series, but now he finally gets to join the line!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Count Dooku is figure 107 in the Black Series line-up.  He closes out this round of figures (the Sith Jet Trooper bridges the gap between the Knight of Ren and this figure as number 106, but he’s a repaint, so I haven’t picked him up yet), and is our second prequel figure in the set, which is a little surprising, since they tend to be fewer and further between than the other films.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  He actually manages to be one of the most poseable Black Series offerings, especially for one of the Jedi.  He’s even got the butterfly joints like we saw with the Sith Trooper, which I hope are going to become a more regular feature for the line, much like the double ball-jointed necks have.  The sculpt is an all-new affair, and another really good one at that.  The head has a really nice Lee likeness, and they’ve certainly captured his rather impressive height.  The line has been going back and forth on cloth vs plastic for the capes, but Dooku goes with cloth.  While it does rob him of the cape’s proper collar from the film, it nevertheless works very well, and with its two-tone design, it’s definitely among the nicest cloth pieces from the line.  Dooku’s paintwork is mostly pretty basic, with the exception of the head, which of course uses the face printing for a nice realistic look.  Dooku is packed with his distinctive curved-hilted lightsaber (which no one on the production of the films apart from Christopher Lee seemed to understand was not designed to be held like a standard lightsaber….sorry, it still bugs me), which has not one, but two blades.  The first is a standard one, but the second has a slight spread to it, simulating it being swung around.  It’s a pretty cool idea, and I’d like to see more of it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Attack of the Clones lies in an odd spot for me.  It’s unquestionably my least favorite Star Wars film, and I genuinely think it barely even qualifies as a movie.  Despite that, I’m filled with an odd bit of nostalgia for the film and all the stuff associated with it, Dooku very definitely included.  I was definitely on board for this figure, and I think the final product is yet another strong entry in this latest round of figures.

Count Dooku 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.