Tag Archives: Hasbro

#2317: Lost Galaxy Red Ranger & In Space Psycho Red Ranger

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

LOST GALAXY RED RANGER & IN SPACE PSYCHO RED RANGER

POWER RANGERS: THE LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

Following Power Rangers move from one overall narrative from Mighty Morphin’ into In Space, to the more one and done, self-contained approach starting with Lost Galaxy, the show still had the Super Sentai counterparts’ yearly team-ups with their predecessors for the prior year.  That meant that, in the midst of establishing a new universe for Lost Galaxy, they also were bringing back the last of the wider universe they’d wrapped up the prior year.  Alongside the returning heroic Space Rangers, we also saw the return of In Space‘s resident evil Rangers, the Psycho Rangers, who found new adversaries in the Galaxy Rangers.  Hasbro is paying homage to that in their latest two-pack, pairing Psycho Red off against Lost Galaxy‘s own Red Ranger.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Red Galaxy Ranger and Psycho Ranger are the second two-pack in the Lightning Collection line-up, hitting shelves about a month or two after the Green and Putty set I looked at yesterday.  They also starting hitting right around the same time as GameStop’s exclusive Psycho Blur figure, giving the Psychos a bit of jump start.

RED GALAXY RANGER

We got Lost Galaxy‘s sixth ranger in the second assortment of the main line, so getting the Red Ranger in rather quick succession isn’t much of a surprise.  It also introduces the Galaxy Ranger-specific tooling, clearly opening the door for the rest of the team.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  For the most part, he’s using the core Ranger parts, with his only truly unique parts being his helmet and belt, something we should all get comfortable with as Hasbro fills in more of the more basic-looking Ranger teams.  Both new pieces make for a decent match for the design from the show, and match pretty well with the already sculpted base body parts.  There’s not much to write about beyond that; he’s a pretty straight-forward, no frills design.  The paint work is respectable, but again follows that same basic model of the sculpt, being pretty straight-forward.  There’s a little but of fuzz on the edges of the changes from white to red, but other than that, things look pretty solid.  The Red Ranger includes an alternate unmasked Leo head (with a pretty solid likeness), two pairs of hands (in gripping and a fist/flat combo), the Quasar Saber in full-sized and compact modes, and a flame effect for the full-scale Saber.

RED PSYCHO RANGER

Evil Power Rangers aren’t an uncommon element for the franchise, but the Psycho Rangers are probably the most prolific, with ten television appearances under their belt, making them the natural choice for first Evil Rangers to get toy coverage.  Bandai was supposed to do a full set in their Legacy line, but ended up not completing them, so Hasbro’s giving it a shot.   Their starting with Psycho Red, who’s a fairly sensible starting point.    The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Psycho Red is an all-new sculpt, though I would imagine that a number of these parts are shared with Blue.  I can’t say for sure, because I’m not paying GameStop’s mark-up on that one, so it’s totally conjecture.  How dare I?  It’s a pretty nice sculpt, all things considered, and there’s a lot more going on with this sculpt than with Galaxy Red.  The poseability isn’t quite as free range as I’d like, especially on those shoulders, but for the most part it turned out very well.  Psycho Red’s paintwork is pretty solid.  Again, there’s a little more going on than with Galaxy Red, making him the slightly more visually interesting appearance.  Application is pretty clean for the most part.  There are some slightly sloppy points, but it’s nice looking overall.  Psycho Red is packed with his Psycho sword, and two sets of hands (one pair gripping, one pair fist/lightning effect).

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Lost Galaxy is right as I started to fall out of Power Rangers.  I had a few of the original toys, and I love me some Magna Defender, but I don’t have any major connection to Leo.  He’s fine, but ultimately nothing much to write home about.  Psycho Red, being from In Space, my personal favorite incarnation, is right up my alley.  He’s got a few small issues, but is otherwise really cool, and the definite star of this set.  I look forward to getting the rest of this team, as well as some proper Space Rangers to fight them.

I picked these two up from my friends All Time Toys, and they’re still available here.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2316: Fighting Spirit Green Ranger & Putty Patrol

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

FIGHTING SPIRIT GREEN RANGER & PUTTY

POWER RANGERS: LIGHTNING COLLECTION (HASBRO)

At the beginning of 2019, Hasbro took over the Power Rangers brand, and got right to work producing their own line of 6-inch scale figures on par with their Marvel Legends and Star Wars: The Black Series lines.  They’ve been working to bolster their numbers within the line through any means necessary.  We’ve gotten three standard assortments, augmented by two three store-exclusive figures, an SDCC two-pack, and two wide-release double packs.  I’m looking at the first of those wide-release packs, Fighting Spirit Green Ranger and the Putty Patrol, today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Green Ranger and the Putty were the first Lightning Collection two-pack to hit shelves, initially showing up (in a small capacity, at least) in the late summer of last year.  They started hitting more in full force just before the end of last year.  Both figures are, of course, based on the Mighty Morphin’ incarnation of the show.

FIGHTING SPIRIT GREEN RANGER

Tommy Oliver’s other MMPR Ranger incarnation served as the backbone of the first standard assortment of the line, so I guess it’s appropriate that this one would anchor the two-packs.  This figure is officially dubbed the “Fighting Spirit Green Ranger” on the package, as he’s based on the Power Rangers: Dino Thunder episode “Fighting Spirit,” which see’s Tommy facing down three of his prior Ranger identities.  While the White and Red designs would go unchanged, the Green Ranger costume had some minor tweaks (which the fanbase was *so* forgiving of, of course…), and this guy reflects those. The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  I’ve actually looked at most of this figure previously, when it was used for the Dragonshield Black Ranger, though this figure was *technically* released first.  Whatever the case, the two share all but their heads and belts with each other.  It’s sensible enough, given the similarities of the base costume designs, as well as the fact that the Dragonshield is cannonically the same piece between them anyway.  The new helmet is a solid recreation of Tommy’s green helmet, matching well stylistically with the other MMPR Rangers we’ve gotten so far from this line.  Sculpturally, the only thing that sets this guy apart from a proper MMPR Green is the belt, which has his dagger sheathed on the right hip, rather than the left.  Big change-up, I know.  The paintwork is where most of the changes between the two designs crop up, with the most prominent change being detailing the helmet’s crest in silver rather than leaving it green like on the original piece.  As much as it may be sacrilege, I don’t hate the extra detailing there; it adds a nice little pop to the helmet.  Beyond that, he’s got a couple smaller changes.  The belt buckle is silver, like the other five rangers, rather than his unique gold, and the sheath for the knife is white instead of black, again matching the holsters of the core five.  If you want to get really picky, the green’s a slightly more saturated shade as well, which can be seen in the comparison between the Figuarts and this guy at the end of the review.  The Green Ranger is just as well accessorized as any of the solo-packed figures, with an unmasked head (borrowed from the White Ranger), four hands, his dagger, his sword, and an effects piece for the sword.

PUTTY

As I discussed in my reviews of Zedd and Goldar, the Rangers villains don’t tend to get quite as much toy love from the Japanese side, and by extension seem to miss out on the best of the toys.  This was also true of the franchise’s original army builder, the Putty Patrol, who were a conspicuous absence from the Figuarts stuff.  Bandai’s American side did at least give them a little more coverage, but they always felt a little more phoned in than the Rangers themselves.  Fortunately, Hasbro seems committed to not phoning in the villains for their ownership of the line, and the Putty is finally joining Zedd and Goldar.  As with most toys of them, this Putty is sporting the more basic Season 1 appearance, from before Lord Zedd retooled them into his own force.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  The construction on this figure is actually largely shared with that of the core Ranger body.  For the most part, that’s pretty reasonable; they were all similarly build guys in spandex, so it’s not like there’s a *whole* lot different you can do.  That said, he does end up sharing his boots with the Rangers, which isn’t strictly speaking accurate, as they should sit lower and be less ridged for a proper set of Putty boots.  It’s quite minor, though.  He does get a new head, lower arms, and belt, though, which sure do help to sell the Putty-ness of the figure.  The head and hands both spot quite a nice selection of texture details which give him that real world feel.  The paint on the Putty is fairly monochromatic; they were just shades of grey on the show, and they remain shades of grey here.  It’s more or less accurate, although I suppose there are some spots where they could stand to have dialed up the differences in shades a little bit.  It’s really not bad, though, and the monochromatic nature does help those red eyes to really pop.  The putty is packed with hands in both standard hand configurations, as well as a blade/club combo, which gives you some options if you opt to army built.  He also includes an effects piece, which he borrows from the White Ranger.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I already had the Figuarts Green Ranger, so my Green Ranger in this scale was covered, meaning I didn’t *need* this set.  Of course, I like the Putty, and I’ve wanted a few of those for a while, which did leave me mighty conflicted on this set.  With the Green Ranger *technically* being a different version of the suit, it did make things a little easier, so once I was able to take a look at one in person, it wasn’t exactly a hard sell.  Ultimately, I think I still prefer my Figuarts Green overall, but this one’s still a lot of fun, and the Putty is definitely a cool figure that I hope Hasbro makes more of, because boy do I want to army build.

I picked up this pair from my friends All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2310: Super Skrull

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

SUPER SKRULL

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Super Skrull may have been ever so slightly undercut as a FF foe by yesterday’s review of the greatest comic book villain of all time Doctor Doom, but let’s not let him get too down here.  I mean, he’s a pretty solid antithesis of the team, being a guy who can match them all ability for ability. After DC’s Amazo proved the concept of combining all the heroes’ powers into one could work, the FF followed suit with Kl’rt, a Skrull warrior imbued with…the combined powers of the FF.  Look, it’s all pretty straight-forward.  Despite being specifically tailored to the FF, Super Skrull was sort of batted around the general Marvel universe following a few defeats from his initial foes, and has even had a few turns as a reluctant ally to our heroes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Super Skrull is the titular build-a-figure for the newest FF-themed series of Marvel Legends.  Kl’rt has actually never had a proper Legends release before, but he did get a 6-inch figure out of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four Classics, which they dropped right before losing the license.  Hasbro subsequently re-issued that figure in a two-pack, but intended as a more generic Skrull army builder, rather than a true figure of the original Super Skrull.  Whatever the case, this figure is certainly a welcome addition to the current line-up.  He stands 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Super Skrull, rather interestingly for a Build-A-Figure, is built on the Hyperion body, which is typically a single-carded piece.  He gets his own head (two of them, in fact), upper torso, and arms to help differentiate him.  The two heads give us two different moods for Kl’rt; one somber, and one mad and cackling.  I like the cackling myself, but both are solid pieces, and internally consistent to boot.  The new upper torso not only gives Kl’rt his proper Skrull shoulder pads, but also replaces the usual upper torso, thereby eliminating the weird torso shelf that is the standard Hyperion body’s one major flaw.  The new arms replicate Super Skrull’s typical “using all the powers at once” appearance, although with a slightly different than usual application. Rather than going for the symmetrical stretched out, flaming Thing arms and transparent legs, this figure gives us one flaming Thing arm (courtesy of a clip-on effects piece), and one stretched out invisible arm.  They’re pretty awesome pieces with just one downside.  Though a spare set of standard arms is included, the design of the left powered-up arm doesn’t allow it to be removed from the torso after initial assembly, which is why my Kl’rt keeps the Thing arm no matter what.  I don’t think I would ever display him without the powered-up parts, but it’s annoying not to have the option.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this figure by buying all of the figures needed to complete him.  Hands up, who’s surprised?  Honestly, though, I wasn’t sure about another set of the FF, but upon seeing this guy as the Build-A-Figure, I was pretty well sold on the assortment.  I never got the old Toy Biz figure, but always wanted one, so another chance at the character is much appreciated.  I’m annoyed by the inability to change the arms back and forth as you should be able to, but even without the standard arms, this figure’s pretty darn cool.

This assortment is a pretty balanced one.  While I can easily say that Doom is my favorite (and Reed’s my least favorite), the grouping on the assortment as a whole is pretty tight.  There are definite positives to the whole assortment, and they make for a really solid set of figures.

#2309: Doctor Doom

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DOCTOR DOOM

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Victor Von Doom uses his incredible intelligence and mystical abilities to oppose the Fantastic Four.”

On this Valentine’s Day, I’m examining the truest love of all: the love of hating one’s enemies and watching them unquestionably defeated by circumstances that you and you alone control.  A love that Victor Von Doom, greatest villain in all of comics, has been striving for since his introduction in 1962.  But that curse-ed Richards just keeps preventing him from attaining it.  How dare he?  Alas, Doom will just have to settle for the love of having the best action figure in the latest assortment of FF-themed Marvel Legends.  It’s the small victories that keep you going.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Doctor Doom is figure 1 in the Super Skrull Series of Marvel Legends, a great example of Hasbro knowing to lead with their best foot forward.  Alongside the Thing, Doom is one of the double-packs for this assortment, again an example of Hasbro knowing what’s up here.  While Victor Von Doom returned to Legends last year as a Walgreens exclusive, it was under his Infamous Iron Man moniker, and as cool as that figure was, he wasn’t classic Doctor Doom.  We haven’t gotten one of those since 2012, and even that one was a re-used mold from ’08.  The need for a proper update, especially in light of the FF getting classic-inspired updates in the Walgreens line-up.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.   Doom gets an all-new sculpt from head to toe, and it’s one of Hasbro’s most impressive sculpts, pretty much in their entire time on the license.  It takes the classic Doom design and effectively just translates it to how it would look if manufactured in real life.  The armor has rivets, seams, and leather straps and clasps, and under the main plates, you can clearly make out a chain mail under suit.  Even under the skirt of the tunic, the armor remains fully detailed, even though there’s absolutely no reason for it to be.  The tunic is appropriately detailed in its own way, with a distinct fabric texturing sculpted in to differentiate it from the armored segments.  At first glance, I felt the skirt of the tunic was too long, but after messing with the figure a bit, I’m actually quite happy with the length, and also pleasantly surprised by how posable the hips remain even with it in place.  On the back of the torso, there are jet thrusters, as have become customary for Doom figures.  He’s also got a very nicely detailed belt, with a fully working holster.  There are two different heads included with the figure.  He comes wearing the more modern design of his mask (seen in the shot with Wilson), but also includes a more Jack Kirby-inspired head.  Both are beautiful pieces in their own right, but the Kirby head is my favorite by far.  Doom’s paintwork is pretty solid.  While a lot of the colors are just molded, there are never the less plenty of spots where paint *could* have been missed but wasn’t, especially with those straps on the sides of the armor plates, which again continue up under the tunic.  Truly impressive.  In addition to the previously mentioned extra head, Doom also includes his signature Luger, plus two sets of hands (fists, and a trigger finger/open gesture combo).  He also includes the leg of Super Skrull.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Doctor Doom is my favorite comics villain ever, and frequently a favorite of mine when it comes to action figures.  Since completing the Walgreens FF, I’ve been patiently waiting for this guy.  As soon as he was shown off, I knew he’d be my favorite in the set, and in hand he absolutely lives up to my expectations, and makes for the perfect counterpart to my FF.  This figure is clearly a labor of love for Hasbro and I’m very glad to have him.

I picked up Doom from my friends All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for other cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.

#2308: Hulk

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

HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Jennifer Walters struggles to control her anger, and keep the powerful Hulk at bay.”

After pretty much only being Bruce Banner’s alter-ego for five decades, in the last couple of years, the name “Hulk” has been shared by a handful of other people.  The first being Thunderbolt Ross (who admittedly did put “Red” in front of it to distinguish himself a bit), then Amadeus Cho (who stuck with “Totally Awesome” as his lead-in), and then eventually Hulk’s original spin-off, Jennifer Walters, previously a Hulk of the “She” variety.  I mean, I think she’s still of the “she” variety, but it got dropped from her name.  Also, she’s angry now, so there’s that.  And now, there’s a figure of this new incarnation!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hulk is figure 6 in the Super Skrull Series of Marvel Legends.  Though not super linked to the FF in her most current incarnation, Jen is nevertheless a good fit for an FF-themed assortment, given her history with the team during John Byrne’s tenure, and how that helped shift her into the spot-light.  Of course, I’d still like a proper Byrne FF She-Hulk one of these days, but that’s an issue for another time.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Unlike the last ML She-Hulk, this figure is an all-new sculpt, and a rather impressive one at that.  Since her transition to just being Hulk also had her picking up some of her cousin’s temper issues, this new sculpt depicts an angrier, more savage Jen.  The face is an intense, teeth-baring snarl, which you don’t often see on female figures, and the hair is wildly blowing, with a stray stand even blowing across her face.  It’s quite a dynamic head, and I really love that about it.  The body goes to the proper Hulk roots of tattered clothing remains.  Like the last two comic He-Hulks we got, this one has a separate rubber tattered shirt piece, although this one isn’t designed to be removed.  She’s also sporting a pair of jeans with enough holes in them to make a clothing designer jealous, and with a ton of really nice texture work to make them feel like a real piece of clothing.  All of its on a body that has a great build to match most depictions of Jen in her Gamma-induced form.  I’m sure some of these parts have already been ear-marked to crop up again.  Jen’s transition to an adjective-less Hulk was accompanied by a change in color from her usual green to a grey more in like with her cousin’s earlier appearances.  This figure replicates that, but does keep enough green in there to make her still look more like a half-way point between Bruce’s two forms.  The paintwork on this figure does some solid work, especially on the hair, which has that nice green highlight to it.  I also really dig the bright green scars.  Hulk is packed with two sets of hands in fists and open gesture, as well as the right arms to Super Skrull.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The A-Force She-Hulk was a better figure than I expected, but was still a rather dated piece even when she was new, which definitely left me wanting a more properly updated version of Jen.  While I’ll admit this one might not have my first choice of design, and I’m certainly still holding out for a Byrne version, I can’t deny that this is a very nice figure, and would it not for the figure I’m about to review tomorrow, she’d probably be my favorite in the set.

Hulk came from my sponsors at All Time Toys.  If you’re looking for Marvel Legends, or other toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2307: Invisible Woman

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

INVISIBLE WOMAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Sue Storm has the ability to bend light, making herself and others invisible.”

Let’s officially bookend these modern FF Legends reviews with the Invisible Woman, the character that started this renewed lease on Legends life for the team back in 2016 when Hasbro first unveiled her at one of the con presentations.  Hasbro launching with Sue was something of a promise to long-time collectors that they were really going to finish the team, by kicking things off with the most frequently neglected member of the core group.  With this latest set, Hasbro seems to be sticking with that promise, releasing the whole team in one go this time, and not making the same mistakes that Toy Biz made over and over again.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Invisible Woman is figure 3 in the Super Skrull Series of Marvel Legends.  Like the rest of her team from this assortment, Sue is sporting her latest costume from the comics, thereby completing this set of the team.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  This Sue shares most of her parts with the last Sue, which seems respectable enough.  The Phoenix body is a good fit for Sue’s usual build, and a solid base body in general, so there are no complaints there.  She also uses the same face as the last figure, but gets a new hair piece, as well as new feet to match the more stylized soles of the rest of the team.  I was a pretty big fan of the prior Sue figure’s head sculpt, and I wasn’t so sure about this one at first, but in person I find myself really liking the new hairstyle, and even preferring its more dynamic nature to the previous sculpt.  It also looks really nice swapped onto that old body, for those interested.  The feet are okay; not as goofy looking as Reed’s, but I’m not the biggest fan of the wedges.  I liked the prior figure’s flat feet.  They don’t look bad, though.  The paintwork on Sue matches well with the rest of the team, but something about it looks better on this particular body than the others.  I don’t know if the design of this body just lends itself better to the costume layout or what, but I just like the costume even more here.  Not having that belt broken by a waist joint probably helps.  The prior figure didn’t get anything in the way of effects pieces to demonstrate her powers, but this one gets an all-new force shield piece, which clips over her right hand.  I quite like it, and it’s also compatible with the Walgreens figure, for those curious.  In addition to the shield,this figure includes the torso of the Super Skrull Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure didn’t do much for me when she was announced.  I really like the Walgreens figure, and didn’t see much room for improvement, and honestly felt the changes made the figure look worse.  In-hand, it’s a totally different story.  That new head sculpt is really great, the effects piece is one of Hasbro’s coolest, and even the costume works better here than on the others, making Sue my favorite of the FF members from this particular set.  I think a lot of people might pass her up for being so similar to her prior figure when compared to her teammates, but she’s surprisingly good.

I picked up Sue from my friends at All Time Toys. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

 

#2306: Human Torch

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

HUMAN TORCH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Johnny Storm can transform his body into incredibly hot plasma, control fire, and fly.”

Since there have been figures of the Fantastic Four, there have been some concerns about how best to adapt some of their power sets.  The most common source of difficulty for toy makers is with the team’s resident hot-head Johnny, whose flame-on abilities mean that he has two distinct appearances: flamed on and flamed off.  Unlike other members of the family, his on/off can’t quite as easily be replicated with a selection of extra parts; he kind of warrants two separate figures.  It’s rare that a line gets a chance to do both, so most just stick will fully flamed-on (though we do get the occasional mid-way design).  His last Legends figure was fully powered-on, but Hasbro decided to be kind this time and give us a full powered-down Johnny, something we’ve never actually gotten in Legends form.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Human Torch is figure four in the Super Skrull Series of Marvel Legends.  Like the other members of the core team, he’s sporting his newest costume, something that the flamed-off nature of the figure allows to be fully displayed.  It does mean he’s not going to match the Walgreens set, of course, but that does kind of go without saying doesn’t it?  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  In contrast to the rest of this assortment, Johnny is *not* primarily a parts re-use of his prior figure.  While that figure was build on the Bucky Cap body (something I was never terribly happy with), this guy instead moves over to the 2099 body.  While my preferred choice is still the body they’re using for Reed (since he and Johnny have been typically depicted as about the same build), I do think that this one is a slightly better choice for Johnny, and I can understand Hasbro wanting the two characters two be on different bodies.  Johnny gets a new head and feet to complete his slightly more unique look.  The head I wasn’t so sure about when it was shown off, but I actually like it a lot more than I’d expected to in person.  It still looks a little off from some angles, but posed correctly, it looks pretty solid.  The new feet are similar to Reed’s, but the style works a bit better for this particular base body, making them look a lot less goofy.  The paint work on Johnny is fairly similar to that of Reed, which is sensible, what with the uniformed bit and all.  It’s well-applied and the color work is pretty bold and striking.  Johnny is packed with a spare set of hands, re-used from the previous Human Torch, which along with the effects pieces from the Infinity War Scarlet Witch, makes for a nice smaller demonstration of Johnny’s flame abilities.  He also includes both left arms for Super Skrull.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Human Torch was my least favorite piece of the last FF set, partially because of his fully flamed-on nature, and partially because of his choice of body.  This figure addressing both of those issues was certainly a point in his favor.  That said, the prototype didn’t really wow me, so I wasn’t sure.  In hand, I like him a lot more than I’d expected to, and I think he turned out quite nicely.

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

#2305: Mr. Fantastic

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

MR. FANTASTIC

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Reed Richards is a brilliant scientist with the ability to stretch his body into any shape.”

The insufferable genius archetype isn’t typically one that ends up on the super-team proper, especially when it comes to ’60s super teams.  Characters like Professor X, Niles Caulder, and Will Magnus typically serving to dispatch their teams from the side-lines.  Reed Richards, on the other hand, was a full-fledged member of his team, in contrast to the norms.  However, when said team got side-lined for a bit, he sort of found himself pushed into those sidelines for a bit.  At least he’s finally getting to return to the action!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mr. Fantastic is figure 2 in the Super Skrull Series of Marvel Legends.  Like Ben (and the rest of the team, for that matter), Reed is seen here in his current get-up from the comics.  Though not quite as evident on Ben, the main hook of these new costume designs is the reversed palette of the usual costume.  It’s a fairly striking look, recalling the Byrne-era costumes, which are a personal favorite of mine.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Just like with Ben, most of this figure’s parts are shared with the Walgreens release.  The core body from that figure is nice and balanced, and it’s honestly a little surprising that this is only our second time seeing it used.  It’s still a really good fit for Reed’s usual build from the comics.  In addition to the old parts, he also gets a new head and feet.  While I really liked the new parts on the Thing, I’m a little less immediately impressed by these.  I don’t hate the bearded look for Reed, and I definitely like that he’s got the same face beneath it as the clean shaven Walgreens figure, but something about the hair just doesn’t look right to me.  It’s accurate to the art, but it just feels like something was lost in translation.  I’m also not really big on the feet; they go for a more sculpted, almost sneaker-like appearance, which is again something that looks okay on the page, but seems off in three dimensions.  The paintwork on this figure is pretty much on par with his previous figure, albeit with the expected changes in the color scheme to match his all-new look.  This Reed doesn’t get the fully stretched arms of the prior figure (though the arms still pop out at the shoulders to facilitate swapping out, if you’re so inclined), but he does get a set of alternate stretched out hands, which are…well, they’re certainly something.  I don’t know, I guess I’d probably like them more if they had all of the glove detailing of the standard hands.  They’re something different, at least.  He also includes one of Super Skrull’s legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mr. Fantastic is one of the more different releases of the main four from this set, and I was expecting to get a little bit more out of him because of that.  I really liked the Walgreens version, so I hoped he’d be up to the same quality.  Ultimately, I don’t like this figure quite as much as I’d expected to, and I think he’s my least favorite of the new four.  Still, he’s not a bad figure, just not quite as good as the previous one.

I got Reed courtesy my friends at All Time Toys. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2304: The Thing

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

THE THING

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Bombarded by cosmic rays, Ben Grimm develops thick, orange skin and superhuman strength.”

In 2017 and 2018, the Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Legends component gave us our first Fantastic Four Legends in a long time.  It was a slow build, one member at a time way of building the team, but it was nevertheless quite a rewarding experience for the FF fans who were able to play the waiting game.  However, the downside of the whole thing was that by the time they released the final member of the team, it was kinda hard to track down the preceding three, and I know that put some people off of the whole venture.  Still, it was a very well received set of figures, and proved that there was still a market for some FF figure love, so one of our first assortments right out of the gate for 2020 is a proper Legends assortment devoted to the FF.  I’m kicking things off with the last of the four to be added to the Walgreens set, the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Thing is figure 5 in the Super Skrull Series of Marvel Legends, which is our first FF-themed series of Legends since Hasbro’s own Ronan Series back in 2008.  To say they’ve improved their process since then is something of an understatement.  All of the FF members in this assortment are based on their current costume designs from Slott and Pichelli’s recent relaunch of the book.  For Ben, it’s not as drastic a change; mostly he’s just got that more prominent belt.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and has 28 points of articulation.  For the most part, he’s re-using parts from the last Thing, which was a brand-new sculpt at the time.  They *are* the same guy, and it makes sense that Hasbro wants to get another use out of the mold.  I’m certain this won’t be the last time we’ll see it either.  It was a great sculpt the first time around, and it remains a great sculpt now.  He gets an all-new head sculpt, and I actually think I might prefer this one to the two from last time.  It’s got that extra prominent brow that they were both missing.  It also maintains that slightly calmer look for Ben, which is my preferred look for him.  Whatever the case, it’s a very strong sculpt.  He also gets a brand new belt piece.  Though it’s a separate piece, it’s not designed to be removable and won’t be coming off without damaging it.  That said, it would be easy enough to take off permanently, if you really don’t like it.  The paintwork on this figure marks another notable change in the figure, as Hasbro’s way of accenting Ben’s rocky features is a little different.  On the previous figure, they more or less outlined the rocky elements, darkening the recesses, while here they instead highlight the higher points with a lighter shade.  It’s not a bad look (though I wouldn’t mind if the coverage were a *bit* more extensive), but the downside to this change in styling is that you can’t swap the heads between the two releases, meaning you can’t put this head on a more classic Ben.  Alas.  The prior Thing release had his own selection of accessories, with a spare head and an extra set of hands.  This figure gets nothing for himself, but does include the two heads meant for the Super Skrull Build-A-Figure, so it’s not the worst trade-off.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up all of the Walgreens releases, so I didn’t *need* the main four from this assortment.  That said, I’m a big FF fan, and if nothing else, I want to support the prospect of more FF-centric assortments.  If that means getting a few variants of the main team, so be it.  It helps that I really liked Ben the first time around, and that the changes made here are subtle enough that he still works as a standard Ben, while still being prominent to give me something “new.”  It’s also nice that Hasbro’s giving the fans that couldn’t get the Walgreens set another chance at the core team.

I picked up The Thing from my friends at All Time Toys. If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#2302: Wedge Antilles

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

WEDGE ANTILLES

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“A talented young Rebel pilot from Corellia, Wedge Antilles survived the attack on the first Death Star to become a respected veteran of Rogue Squadron.”

Though he may be on the short list of characters to appear in all three of the original Star Wars films, poor Wedge Antilles has always had to play the waiting game when it comes to action figures.  He was completely absent from the vintage line, and while he’s subsequently gotten a decent selection, it took well over a hundred figures to finally get him in added to The Black Series.  Better late than never, right?  And, as luck would have it, his inclusion in the line just so happens to nicely coincide with the character’s long-awaited return to the franchise in The Rise of Skywalker.  How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wedge Antilles is figure 102 in the Black Series line-up, the last figure of this assortment numerically.  He’s also the second of the two OT-based figures in the set.  And, believe it or not, he’s only our second OT X-Wing pilot in the line, which seems almost baffling.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  In contrast to the rest of the line-up from this assortment, Wedge is predominantly built out of re-used parts, namely the body of the X-Wing Pilot Luke figure from way back in the very first assortment.  The two wore the same uniform in the movie, and the actors are within an inch of each other in height and pretty similar in build, so it’s hard to blame them for going for the re-use.  That said, I think some collectors were hoping they might take this opportunity to finally give us someone in the padded pilot gear from Empire, thereby keeping Wedge as a totally unique figure.  Of course, then he wouldn’t match the Luke we have, or the inevitable Biggs figure, and wouldn’t have the added benefit of giving Hasbro an easy way of filling out the line-up with some easy re-use.  Plus, it’s not like Wedge figures have a history of getting new parts, so it’s really not much of a shock.  On the plus side, the X-Wing Luke body is honestly one of the best of the earliest entries in the line, and while some of the articulation isn’t quite as well worked in as more recent figures, it still holds up.  Wedge definitely doesn’t look out of place with the rest of his assortment at all.  He does get a new head, of course, which sports a pretty decent likeness of Dennis Lawson.  The hair’s a little weird, because it doesn’t match any of the un-helmeted shots of Wedge we get in the movies.  It’s not totally off base, though, and honestly I imagine a lot of people will be keeping the helmet on him anyway.  With the helmet on, the likeness is pretty much dead on.  The paintwork on Wedge is essentially the same as on the X-Wing Luke figures, but it’s worth noting that there are a few small, easy to miss changes between the two figures, which really don’t amount to much.  Beyond that, he’s got the expected changes to the head, which is again using the face print tech.  Wedge is packed with his helmet, which is a re-decoed version of the one included with Luke, as well as a DH-17 blaster rifle, which is something we don’t see Wedge carrying in the film, but is standard issue for the Rebels, so it makes sense.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Wedge is a prominent figure for me because Wedge is honestly my favorite Star Wars character.  He was at the top of my wishlist for this line from the very start of it, ever since I got that first X-Wing Pilot Luke back in 2013.  It’s been a long wait for him, and he’s a pretty straight forward figure, but he was never the less worth the long wait.  He’s not overly flashy or anything, and perhaps doesn’t have the flair of the others in this assortment, but he’s still my personal favorite.  Now, how about that Empire variant.  And maybe a Rise version as well.  And a TIE pilot version.  Heck, let’s just reinstate the Evolutions packs, and get them all at once.  It’s the only way to be sure.

I picked up this Wedge from my friends All Time Toys, and he’s still available here.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay Store.