Tag Archives: I blame Max

#2986: M.O.D.O.K. World Domination Tour

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

M.O.D.O.K. & THE CAPTAIN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Stuart Immomen and Warren Ellis’s Nextwave: Agents of Hate, which ran from 2006 to 2007, is, simply put, an experience.  An experience I very much enjoyed, but one that’s very definitely of an offbeat notion.  As such, it’s maybe not the most easily merchandised thing.  While the characters within the story were helped back into prominence by its existence, and have subsequently had an easier time getting toy coverage as an extension, purely Nextwave-based merch has been effectively non-existence.  Clearly, Hasbro’s Marvel Legends team are fans of it, since they’ve been sneaking in little references wherever they can.  Most recently, they actually bit the bullet and made an honest-to-god Nextwave-inspired item, the M.O.D.O.K. World Domination Tour Collection, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The M.O.D.O.K. World Domination Tour Collection is a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends offering, released as part of Hasbro’s second PulseCon event, in the fall of this year.  The set is made up of a M.O.D.O.K. variant and The Captain, two direct lifts from the pages of the aforementioned Nextwave.  The set’s focus on M.O.D.O.K. in particular seems to be an attempt to tie-in with the show on Hulu, though there are, of course, no direct ties, and M.O.D.O.K. himself is a very minor player in Nextwave proper.

M.O.D.O.K.

Certainly, M.O.D.O.K. feels like he’s what got the set made.  The show gave him some extra notoriety, and Hasbro just put the money into getting an all-new M.O.D.O.K. mold out there, so they undoubtedly wanted to get a second use out of it as quickly as possible.  So, they opted to give us the Elvis-looking M.O.D.O.K. variant seen in Nextwave #11’s “You must buy six copies of this comic now” splash page.  It’s a rather distinctive design, and one that even found its way into Marvel Vs Capcom 3, so it’s got some reach on it.  Like his standard counterpart, the figure stands about 8 1/2 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  He’s mostly the same figure as we saw earlier in the year.  Not a bad call, really, because it was a nice sculpt the first time around, and was also very unique, so I get Hasbro’s desire to get more out of it.  This release gets a new face plate and hair piece, complete with the proper pompadour and side burns, as well as an alternate control stick, tweaked to look like a microphone.  In contrast to the last one, this figure only gets the one faceplate (though you can also swap for the other two, if you’re so inclined), but it’s at least a distinctly different one from the two we’d already seen.  The paint on this guy looks rather similar the other version, but there are definitely some small changes that are easy to miss.  The purples are now metallic, and a few of the smaller details have been changed up a little.  It’s still pretty clean, and also quite eye catching.  Elvis M.O.D.O.K. is packed with the two sets of hands included with the standard, as well as a pair of removable shades, his hamburger beam effect, and a corresponding display stand for the hamburgers.  Because why not?

THE CAPTAIN

Nextwave’s five-member line-up was mostly pre-existing characters, but there was one notable exception.  The Captain, formerly known as Captain ☠☠☠☠ until Captain America objected, was an all-new creation, designed to fill-in for all of the lame, terrible, or otherwise forgettable characters with the moniker of “Captain” over the years.  Unlike the other members, who have other notable appearances to draw from for their figures, the Captain has no such luck, making it quite an accomplishment that he got a figure at all.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  I was quite pleasantly surprised to find a set of butterfly joints hiding under his jacket, as well as cut joints at the tops of his shoes, both of which make him a little more agile than I’d expected.  The Captain makes use of the arms and jacket from the Netflix Punisher figure, but is otherwise an all-new sculpt.  That’s honestly surprising for such a minor character, but I’m certainly not complaining.  The Captain has largely been drawn by his co-creator Stuart Immomen, who has his own rather unique style, which isn’t quite the same as the usual Legends fare, so this figure sort of splits the difference between Immomen’s usual depictions and the line’s standing aesthetic.  It works out pretty well overall.  To my eye, his head seems to scale a bit larger compared to the body, and boy is he not a looker, but it generally feels proper to the character as we know him.  He gets two different heads, one goofy, and one serious.  I prefer the goofy myself, but they’re both good sculpts, and I appreciate the options.  It makes for better variety when posing.  The Captain’s paint work is overall pretty basic, but it does what it needs to, and it does it well.  There’s quite a bit of detailing on both faces, and they’ve also done a solid job on the camo pattern of the pants.  The star on his shirt is a little inconsistent in coverage, but it’s otherwise good.  The Captain’s only accessory is the previously mentioned extra head, but it’s honestly all I can really think to give him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been a big Nextwave fan since my college years, and I honestly never expected any dedicated figures for it.  I’ve been glad to get the few crossover characters we’ve seen so far, but I certainly didn’t think we’d ever get The Captain, much less a MODOK variant that appeared on one page.  I was honestly pretty hyped for this pack when they were shown off, and Max was kind enough to help me secure a set during Pulse Con.  I like this set a lot.  MODOK is far from essential, but he’s a lot of fun, and The Captain is just plain Awesome.  Here’s to hoping we can get dedicated Nextwave versions of the rest of the team.

#2982: Miles Morales

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

MILES MORALES

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When a fierce power struggle threatens to destroy his new home, Miles Morales realizes that with great power there must also come great responsibility.”

In 2018, Sony took advantage of their exclusive distribution rights on Spider-Man media to release a totally PS4-exclusive game based on the character, which was rather a big hit. There were some toy tie-ins at the time, and last year they launched a follow-up game to go along with their launch of the PS5, now centering on Miles Morales in the title role. Unsurprisingly, there are some more toy tie-ins, starting with a standard version of the main character, who I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Miles Morales is figure 4 in the Armadillo Series of Marvel Legends.  Miles is under the Gamerverse branding, and is the only such figure in this set.  He’s based on his standard costumed appearance from Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which is in turn a pretty straight translation of his costume design from the comics.  The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  In terms of how the articulation works, he’s pretty much set-up the same way as the Integrated Suit Spidey, with the adjusted neck joint which includes the double ball joint.  It’s generally not a bad set-up, so I can get behind it.  Miles is sporting an all-new sculpt (which is shared with the Gamestop-exclusive stealth version).  It’s a little taller and the proportions are a little more nuanced than on the previous strictly comics Miles.  There’s also a good deal more texture work this time around, with raised webbing and some actual patterning on the suit proper.  It all looks pretty good, and helps give him a little bit of extra sharpness over his predecessor.  It also means that, unlike the Peter figure we got back in 2018, Miles is quite screen accurate, which is pretty cool.  Miles’s paint work is generally pretty solid.  The application’s all pretty sharp, and I quite dig the slightly metallic finish on the red sections.  Miles is packed with quite an impressive selection of accessories, getting three sets of standard hands (in fists, open gesture, and thwipping), plus a set of hands specifically for his shock abilities, as well as an unmasked head, and the right leg for the Armadillo Build-A-Figure.  Given how anemic the accessory selection on some of the Spidey variants has gotten more recently, as well as the fact that he’s an all-new sculpt, there definitely feels like a lot of value here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Special thanks to Max for loaning this figure for review.  I’ve been taking a closer look at how I collect Legends in the last year, and with me already owning a pretty standard-looking Miles figure that I quite like, I wasn’t sure I was in a rush to get this one.  Max, not having the prior release, was snagging one, so he was kind enough to set me up with the BAF piece, as well as letting me borrow this one to round out the reviews.  This figure’s quite nice, I won’t lie.  He turned out very well, and I certainly appreciate the level of detail on the sculpt, as well as how well accessorized he is.  I also like that Hasbro’s committed to keeping a standard Miles available, especially one that’s just a strong all-around figure.

#2974: Emperor Palpatine

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

EMPEROR PALPATINE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE (KENNER)

So, umm, I’m not gonna lie, today’s review was supposed to be a totally different review.  It was supposed to be a review of the Power of the Force Darth Vader with Removable Helmet.  I took the photos, I did the background  research, I grabbed the text from the back of the box.  And then I pulled up my own prior reviews for some reference, at which point I discovered that I actually already reviewed that figure on July 25th of last year.  This is really embarrassing, you guys.  I don’t know how this happened.  I’m…I’m slipping, I guess.  Well, on the plus side, my slippage has given me something more interesting to talk about in the intro than whatever I was going to struggle to say about Sheev Palpatine.  So that’s a plus.  Anyway, here’s Sheev.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Emperor Palpatine was added to Kenner’s Power of the Force II line in 1997.  It was generally a Jedi heavy year, so Palpatine’s presence was a fairly sensible one.  Palpatine actually wound up getting three of his four PotF figures all in that same year, so it was a good one for him, I suppose.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation.  Like the other PotF Palpatines, while he may *have* the articulation, there’s not much he can actually *do* with it.  At least this one’s got a little more to do with his arms, I guess?  The sculpt is quite similar to both the electronic and Cinema Scene versions of the character released the same year.  I guess there are really only so many ways to sculpt a wrinkly old guy in a robe.  They do an alright job of it.  There’s honestly not a ton you can do to dress up this design, so he does what needs to, really.  Honestly, it’s probably the best of the three, just given its greater versatility.  As with the other Palaptines, the paint work here is pretty much confined to the face and hands.  It’s thickly applied, which does make it kind of hard to make out some of the sculpted details, but it generally works.  At least they got the weird shading around the eyes.  That’s right out of the movie.  Palpatine was packed with his cane.  Sure, it’s not as technically impressive as that whole unlimited power bit, but he does gets some use out of it for walking purposes.  Yes, this is certainly a walking man’s Palpatine.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My generally middling opinions about Palpatine aren’t really a secret, so it’s not a shock that I didn’t own this one as a kid.  Instead, I actually got it as part of a batch of PotF figures I got from Max a couple of years ago.  Of all the Palpatines from the line, it’s the most average.  I guess that’s okay.  Not terribly exciting, but certainly not bad.  He’s good for standing on the shelf with other, more interesting figures.  In fact, he does that quite well.

#2960: Starscream

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

STARSCREAM

TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA (HASBRO)

“Starscream uses his speed and maneuverability as a jet to launch aerial attacks on the Autobots. No one can compete with him when it comes to speed and skill in the air. He slices through the sky, chasing the enemy and even endangering any Decpticon that gets in his way. As the second in command, he pretends to be loyal to Megatron, but is always looking for an opportunity to weaken his leader’s rule and take control of the Decepticons.”

Present in the franchise since its beginning, Starscream is a rather inescapable piece of the Transformers lexicon.  Other characters may come and go, but after Optimus and Megatron, the character next most likely to find himself in a given version of the story is Starscream, always Megatron’s lackey, always ready to betray him and take power for himself.  Transformers: Armada actually flipped the script on Starscream a little bit, though.  Rather than being purely motivated by his own self-interests, the Armada Starscream’s inevitable betrayal of Megatron saw him not taking power directly from Megatron, but rather switching to the side of the Autobots.  While still selfishly motivated on the surface, he would eventually find his own more valiant side, and even make a rather heroic sacrifice, something that no other version of Starscream would ever even consider in the slightest.  It was cool change-up, and a fun take on the character.  Helping even more on the fun/cool scale?  A pretty awesome toy, which I’ll be looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Starscream made up one half of the first Max-Con Class (the line’s equivalent to the modern Voyager Class) assortment of Hasbro’s Transformers: Armada line, released alongside the show’s debut in 2002.  In his robot mode, Starscream stands about 7 inches tall and he has 10 workable points of articulation.  As with most of the other figures in the line, Starscream’s articulation is rather restricted by the nature of his design.  There’s no neck movement, and the shoulders don’t move either.  He’s got some swivels near the shoulders, and some okay leg movement, but there’s not a ton of posing to be had here.  He’s good for one thing, and that’s standing.  The sculpt is a pretty impressive piece.  It matches up well with how he looks in the animation, and it’s got a solid bit of heft to it.  The boxy shapes definitely work well, and his robot mode is well-formed.  There’s a bit of kibble, especially when it comes to the back of the torso, but he generally makes it work.  He’s armed with a folding sword, which is actually his left wing removed and unfolded.  It’s not the most convincing thing, but it works in its own goofy sense.  Also included is his Mini-Con partner, Swindle.  Swindle’s robot mode isn’t quite as strong as Jolt or Blackout’s were.  It’s okay, but not great.  The R&D definitely went to Starscream on this one.  Swindle allows Starscream to unlock the two cannons on Starscream’s shoulders, which each shoot a missile.  The missiles are, sadly, missing from mine.  The cannons also have a tendency to unlatch themselves from time to time, and, if you’re not careful, the latches can wear out, causing them to be permanently be forward.  Fortunately, that’s not the case with mine.

Starscream’s alt-mode is a sci-fi jet.  The transformation is a little more involved than the other two, but he’s a more advanced class, so it makes sense.  It’s still not particularly difficult, and there are also a few spring-loaded components to the transformation.  The end result is a vehicle that’s a little awkward in some spots, but one that also lacks the major under the jet kibble left over from the robot mode, which is something that shows up a lot with the jets.  In his jet mode, there are some sound effects built in; they no longer work on mine, but there are a few jet related sounds.  They’re honestly more annoying than anything, so I can’t say I miss them.  Swindle has his own alt-mode as well; he turns into a racing car, and is honestly more convincing as a car than as a robot.  Now, why a race car robot is packed in with the big jet is anyone’s guess, but I try not to dwell too much.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Of the three Armada figures that my cousin owned for a very brief time and ultimately gave to me, Starscream was definitely his favorite.  When they were in his possession, I didn’t get to play with Starscream the way I did the other two.  So, when he was finally mine, that was a pretty big deal.  Unfortunately, he also wound up being the only one readily available to me to grab when I decided to get rid of a lot of my stuff at around 15 or so.  I wound up selling him off (to All Time Toys, actually, along with a bunch of junk that they honestly gave me more than they should have for), and it’s something I’ve regretted since.  I’ve been keeping my eye out for a replacement ever since.  Fortunately, I was able to snag one from a collection that came into All Time last January.  He was missing Swindle, but Max was nice enough to set me up with a replacement, and boom, here we are.  I really dig this figure.  He’s just a really good, solid toy, and I’m very glad to have him again.

#2946: Hot Shot

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

HOT SHOT

TRANSFORMERS: ARMADA (HASBRO)

“Hot Shot is a young, heroic fighter who rushes into danger without regard to his own safety. He courageously charges into the middle of the fight to aid his friends in battle. He has taken charge in several battles, showing great leadership potential. But he needs the guidance of his elders before he can hope to lead the Autobots. Will he learn to be a leader who strives for good, or will his reckless nature ruin his promising future?”

As a child of the ’90s, as well as someone who sometimes dabbles in Transformers, it would be easy to assume that I’m into Beast Wars, but I’ve actually never had a particular attachment to it.  I mean, aside from Silverbolt.  That guy’s awesome.  Generally, I’ve tended to be more into the vehicle-based Transformers stuff.  I first dabbled with the franchise with 2001’s Robots in Disguise (which instilled in me a love of Ultra Magnus), but my first real investment in the franchise was during the show that followed in 2002, Transformers: Armada.  One of the central characters in Armada, and in fact the rest of the Unicron Trilogy, was Hot Shot, who I’m taking a look at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hot Shot was part of Transformers: Armada‘s first wave of Super-Con Class figures, which were the line’s Deluxe Class equivalent.  He was the only Autobot in the assortment (which also included Cyclonus and Demolisher), and they all hit alongside the launch of the show in 2002.  In his robot mode, Hot Shot stands about 5 inches tall and he has 10 working points of articulation, as well as a moving visor for his helmet.  Emphasis was still very much on the transformations and vehicle modes at this point, so Hot Shot’s movement is rather restricted.  The legs do alright, but his head doesn’t move, and his shoulders move side to side, but there’s no forward and back.  For the time, though, he remained remarkably mobile.  Hot Shot’s sculpt actually does an okay job of matching up with how he looked in the cartoon.  His race car driver design is carried over well.  There’s a fair bit of kibble from his alt mode, especially on the backs of the arms, but it at least folds up to be out of the way.  Hot Shot got his own Mini-Con partner, Jolt.  Jolt is a much smaller robot, standing about inches tall, and having a whole 6 points of articulation.  Using Jolt (or any Mini-Con, really, but Jolt’s the best one), you can unlock Hot Shot’s built-in weapon, affectionately referred to as his “axlezooka”, which is spring loaded to deploy.  The springs on mine are a little weak, so it needs a little extra help, but it’s still pretty cool.  There’s meant to be a missile, but it’s missing from mine.  Jolt also has a rather big gun piece which Hot Shot can wear as chest armor.

Hot Shot’s alt-mode is a modified Audi TT, which is a fairly generic looking sports car, really.  The transformation sequence is actually rather simple, so it makes it very easy to switch him back and forth without much trouble.  He also stays in the mode very securely.  In general, it just works very well.  Jolt has his own alt-mode; he transforms into a small helicopter through an even simpler transformation process.  Jolt’s gun can also be mounted to the front of Hot Shot’s hood, and Jolt can be mounted on one of the three Mini-Con ports on the vehicle mode.  The central one actually releases the springs on Hot Shot’s feet, to use as “driving claws.”  You know, as you do.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite how much I liked the show and kept up with it when it was new, I didn’t actually get any of the toys first hand when they were new.  Instead, my initial exposure to them was through my cousin Patrick, who had a small handful of them, and would frequently bring them over for both of us to play with.  During that time, Hot Shot was always my go-to.  Patrick decided fairly quickly that he didn’t need to keep them, so they were rather quickly gifted to me.  Hot Shot himself wound up getting lost at my grandparents’ house some time during my childhood, and it wasn’t until after I moved into their house a few years ago that I actually found him again.  He was missing all of his extra stuff, but fortunately for me, Max was able to help me out and get me set-up with Jolt and the gun.  I like this guy a lot, and he’s probably the most nostalgic I get about Transformers.

#2928: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

BATMAN: THE CAPED CRUSADER (SPIN MASTER)

I think I’m finally hitting an okay pace when it comes to these Spin Master DC figures.  I mean, it’s at least a consistent one.  Sure, that consistent pace is, like, one figure per month, but that’s still something, right?  This year’s theme for their Batman line is Bat-Tech, which is outfitting all of the Caped Crusader’s allies and foes with new variant costumes that are all techy.  Largely, I’m picking up the actually new characters, but there are a few intriguing variants mixed in, and I’m always a sucker for a good Nightwing.  So, you know, here we are.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is part of the sixth assortment of Spin Master’s Batman: The Caped Crusader line, which is the second assortment under the “Bat-Tech” banner.  This is the same assortment that included the previously reviewed Batgirl, making Nightwing a logical inclusion.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation.  Structurally, the figure is the same as the prior Spin Master Nightwing.  It’s a reasonable enough sculpt, not perfect, but certainly serviceable, and the consistency isn’t a bad thing.  In order to fit with the “tech-y” nature of the set, Nightwing’s color scheme has been tweaked.  It keeps the same basic Nightwing feel, but he’s molded in a smoky translucent plastic, which is fun, and he’s got a bunch of the tech details like we saw on Batgirl and Batman.  They’re fun little details, and I also enjoy the slight change-ups to his basic suit’s layout of details.  Nightwing is packed with the same baton pieces that the prior release included, but in sparkly blue plastic instead.  He also gets two different guns, one of which has a piece to allow for hooking it up to his back.  Guns feel a bit in contrast to Nightwing’s usual loadout, but I guess they’re not real guns, so that’s better maybe?  I’m only gonna use the batons anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting Batgirl, I found myself really liking the Bat-Tech set-up as a whole, and, I am, as noted before, a sucker for a good Nightwing.  Max wound up finding this one during one of his stops, so he was nice enough to enable me pick one up for me.  He’s not drastically different from the last one, but he’s still a lot of fun, and keeps the spirit of Spin Master’s whole set-up really going.

#2926: Alvin “Breaker” Kibbey with RAM Cycle

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

ALVIN “BREAKER” KIBBEY w/ RAM CYCLE

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

G.I. Joe: Classified Series has kind of slowed its pace in new releases, presumably to allow people a chance to, you know, actually find some of them.  The last two sets of the main line have been devoted to the ill-fated movie tie-in stuff, while the core line stuff is still kind of tied-up with exclusives.  Two years into the line, we’re getting a second vehicle, this time around for the Joes.  It’s another bike, though this time it’s actually an update on one of the vintage vehicles, specifically the RAM Cycle, one of the Real American Hero line’s debut vehicles.  It’s even packed with an updated version of one of the Original 13, Breaker!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

Alvin “Breaker” Kibbey and the RAM Cycle are one of the two pieces in the latest round of Target-exclusive “Special Mission: Cobra Island” sub-set of Hasbro’s G.I. Joe: Classified Series.  They’re numbered 29 in the overall line-up, thus far the highest number we’ve seen.  Breaker with the RAM Cycle feels like a kind of an odd pairing, but it’s actually not the first time they’ve been packed together, since they did the same thing in the 25th line.

ALVIN “BREAKER” KIBBEY

Breaker was one of the handful of greenshirts that launched the ARAH line in 1982, but has largely been confined to purely recreations and anniversary stuff since then.  As such, he’s really only had the one look (we don’t talk about “Stars and Stripes Forever” guys), which is effectively one this one’s recreating, albeit in a more modernized sense.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  In terms of articulation, Breaker is rather standard for the line, but I did note that on mine the left hip was exceptionally loose.  Structurally, Breaker’s got a lot of re-use, going on.  The torso is from Beach Head, the arms from Duke, and the legs and waist are from Snake Eyes.  He then gets a new head, chest cover, and boots in order to make him a little more unique.  I’m gonna be honest, I’m already kinda starting to get tired of seeing Duke’s arms; we really need a set with the more proper tighter roll on the sleeves sooner than later.  I’m also not entirely sold on the new head.  It’s not a bad piece, and even bears quite a resemblance to Jake Gyllenhaal, which I guess could work well if you want an unmasked head for Mysterio.  That said, it feels a little too suave and cool for Breaker.  Again, not bad, but it does seem slightly out of character.  The vest is also a little more bulked up, and with him being packed in with a vehicle, I do kinda feel like I’m getting Clutch vibes off of him more so than Breaker.  I guess this is just one of those things that comes along with how similar all of the original figures were.  Breaker’s paint work is fairly one note.  There’s a lot of olive green, which is true to his design, I suppose.  The application is a little spotty, especially on the hairline and on the edges of the wrists.  In general, he gets the job done alright, though.  Breaker is packed with an all-new helmet.  It’s got his comm piece built in, as well as an affixed visor.  The visor is totally opaque, which is kind of a bummer, and also adds to making Breaker look too cool to really be Breaker.  I’m also kind of sad we didn’t get an alternate head with his trademark bubble gum bubble; we got it for Jubilee and Boom, why not Breaker?

RAM CYCLE

Hey, we finally got a second vehicle for the line!  What’s it gonna be this time?  Another motorcycle?  Wow, what a total shock that no one could have possibly seen coming.  Look, we all know bikes are the most cost effective way of doing vehicles at this scale, so I think we can all just get comfortable with this one, right?  Unlike its predecessor, the COIL, the RAM Cycle is a classic Joe vehicle, so it’s nice to see it make a return here.  The RAM is an all-new mold, measuring 5 inches tall by 8 inches wide, and having working wheels and steering.  It’s a pretty decent recreation of the vintage RAM Cycle, scaled up to the new line size, of course.  There are some pretty cool sculpted details worked in, and it’s got a totally different feel from the COIL’s Cobra-themed aesthetic, making it clearly a Joe vehicle.  Breaker also sits on it a little better than Baroness did on the COIL, making it feel like a slightly more coherent set.  There’s a removable side car piece, designed with the included minigun in mind.  It mimics the old toy’s mounted gun, while also allowing for the gun to be used on its own, presumably for someone who’s, you know, not Breaker.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Target exclusives for this line are kind of burning me out at this point.  I’m just rather tired of the hunt, and of not finding anything, and of having to deal with all the related stupidity.  So, I made no notable attempt to get Breaker, because I just couldn’t be too bothered really.  Plus, it’s another vehicle, and I’m not really displaying those right now, so it felt like a bit of a waste.  Max wound up snagging one of these for himself, and after opening it, admitted he really only wanted the bike, so Breaker was going to just be tossed in a bin somewhere.  I admitted I really only wanted Breaker, so we opted to split the set, with me doing the full review here first.  Breaker’s fairly by the numbers, and kind of not terribly Breaker-like, but he’s a decent enough figure that I’m glad to have him.  The cycle is fun, and I’m glad I got to mess with it, but it’s not something I need to own, so this set-up really does work out for both of us.

#2899: Batgirl

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

BATGIRL

BATMAN: THE CAPED CRUSADER (SPIN MASTER)

It’s been a little bit since I’ve looked at anything from Spin Master’s DC slate.  Admittedly, that’s because it tends to be a little tricky to find.  I’m reviewing it as fast as I can, you guys!  I swear!  This year’s theme for the line is Bat-Tech, which is allowing them to do all sorts of whacky variants for the Caped Crusader, his allies, and his foes.  It’s a mix of re-decos, re-workings, and even some all-new figures.  I’m looking at one of those all-new additions, Batgirl, today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batgirl is part of the sixth assortment of Spin Master’s Batman: The Caped Crusader line, which is also the second assortment under the “Bat-Tech” banner.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and she has 17 points of articulation.  Apart from the way the hair is sculpt blocking the neck movement a bit, it’s a good articulation set-up, like the other Spin Master DC offerings before it.  Batgirl’s design here is a mix of a few different designs.  Her Batgirl of Burnside design from recent years is very definitely being referenced, but there’s also some more classic ’60s Batgirl vibes, especially with the gloves and boots.  And it’s all topped off with just a dash of the whole Bat-Tech aesthetic, making it all future-y and sci-fi.  I expected Batgirl to be using parts from Batwoman, but upon comparing the two, that doesn’t seem to be the case, and it looks like Barbara is sporting an all-new sculpt.  It’s a pretty good one at that.  Like Wonder Woman, she’s still rather leggy, but it comes across as more of a stylistic thing, and with the long cape and such as well, it all comes together for a nicely put together sculpt.  Probably one of my favorites, honestly.  The paint work on the figure is pretty decent as well.  The base work matches the sort of amalgamated design, and the extra tech detailing is a rather fun, generally unobtrusive choice.  Batgirl is packed with three accessories, a batarang, a katana, and a grapnel gun, all in transparent blue.  They’re all kinda goofy and silly, but it fits the vibe of the line well, so I can’t really knock them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I discovered this Batgirl figure’s existence while going through the line’s upcoming releases during my first Bat-Tech review, and I knew I wanted her right away.  I’ve already got a Nightwing, and in my mind, no Nightwing really feels complete without a corresponding Batgirl.  Thankfully, Max was able to keep his eye out for me, and I got my hands on one without much fuss.  She’s a lot of fun, and I honestly don’t mind that we got the Bat-Tech version first, because the extra details are nifty.  I dig it.

#2879: He-Man – Revelation

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

HE-MAN — REVELATION

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

About a month and a half ago, Netflix dropped the first half of Masters of the Universe Revelation, the Kevin Smith-led continuation of the original series.  It’s a really fun product, and an absolute love letter to the vintage toyline and the history behind it.  It is, notably, the first Masters cartoon not to have He-Man’s name above the title, which signifies his slightly diminished role, at least in what we’ve seen so far.  He’s still very much present, and very much pivotal to the story, but it’s in a way that allows some of the others to shine just a little bit more.  That said, he’s still He-Man, and Mattel knows what’s up with how the toys work, so he’s part of the first drop of figures from the show, and I’ll be taking a look at him today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

He-Man is part of the first series of Masters of the Universe: Masterverse, which just started showing up in stores towards the middle/end of July, and is more fully making it out there now.  The first set is unsurprisingly heavy hitter led.  How are you not going to put He-Man and Skeletor into the first line-up, right?  The figure stands a little over 7 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  The Masterverse figures stand just a little bit taller than Classics did, however, the proportions are a little different, so these figures will fit a little bit better with 6 inch lines, since they look more like they’re just really tall, rather than genuinely being a larger scale like Classics were (despite Mattel’s insistance to the contrary).  After a long time using the same articulation schemes, or even dumbing some of those schemes down, the Masterverse figures feel like they’re actually trying to get on Hasbro’s more recent level.  Elbows and knees are both double jointed and they’re true side to side motion on the ankles.  The articulation is also worked into the sculpt in a more aesthetically pleasing way, and they’re even doing the pinless construction on the elbows and knees as well.  There’s still a little bit of a learning curve; the softer plastic of the hips means they have to be posed just right or they risk getting stuck, which may cause some stressing on those joints long-term.  Also be careful with the knees, as the right knee on mine has some slight imperfections in the plastic that would have caused it to tear had I not been careful with it on my first posing.  Hopefully, they will continue to improve on those fronts so that breakage isn’t too much of a risk, but it’s honestly not as bad as it could be, given it’s Mattel we’re talking about here, and their track record hasn’t been the greatest.  He-Man is built on what will be the primary base body for this line.  He already shares a good portion of it with Skeletor, as is expected.  It’s a different build for him, not quite as squatty and wide as Classics or Origins.  It’s more of a step towards 200x, but without the harsher line work.  I like it, as it feels more naturalistic.  The sculpting is a little on the softer side, but looks pretty decent, and in line with the animation style from the cartoon.  I’m not 100% sold on the head sculpt, but it’s not terrible, and I like it much more than I ever liked the Classics sculpt.  He-Man’s paint work is pretty basic overall.  There’s some decent accent work on the loin cloth and boots, which I quite like, but otherwise it’s a lot of molded coloring.  It fits the style well.  He-Man is packed with the power sword, his shield, and four hands (two gripping, a right fist, and a left relaxed).  It’s not a ton, but it’s also more than we’ve gotten on other Masters releases.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

He-Man is usually the weakest link in any Masters set for me, so I wasn’t chomping at the bit to own this figure, at least initially.  After watching the show, I found myself really liking this take on the character, and enjoying how this design looked on screen, so I was warming up to the idea of getting one.  Max ended up snagging this one for himself, but upon opening it, wasn’t really feeling it, so he offered it up to me.  My expectations were moderate, but I was pretty happy with the final figure, and I honestly like him a lot more than the Classics version, so he’ll be replacing that one in my collection.  Now, for the rest of the line!

#2878: Zodac

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

ZODAC

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ETERNIA MINIS (MATTEL)

In 2013, Mattel got in on the game that Hasbro had been in on for almost a decade, which in hindsight is pretty darn Mattel I suppose.  What game was that?  The theoretically more kid-oriented super stylized small 2-inch versions of popular characters game, launched by Galactic Heroes, and then expanding to Super Hero Squad, Robot Heroes, and Combat Heroes.  Mattel’s own version for Masters of the Universe was, ever so creatively, Masters of the Universe Minis.  It was completely locked into Matty Collector, so it sort of missed its market, and wound up dying a rather quiet death.  However, with renewed interest in the brand in the last year, Mattel’s giving it another try, this time under the branding of Eternia Minis.  My usual go-to characters Mechanek and Roboto haven’t been done thus far, but there’s at least a Zodac, so I’ve got a little bit of an entry point.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zodac is a 2021 release for Eternia Minis.  He and his assortment mates first started showing up in the spring…in theory.  It’s Mattel, of course, so take that with a huge grain of salt.  The figure stands 2 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation.  It’s not a ton of mobility, but the balljoint for the neck certainly does a lot.  It’s honestly a bit better than most of the Hasbro items of the same style, so kudos to Mattel there.  Like his larger scale figures, Zodac’s arms are shared with the standard Skeletor from the line.  Everything else is unique (though it’s shared with his 2014 two-pack release) and it’s a pretty fun little sculpt.  Zodac’s goofy helmet really works in this set-up, and I love that they even included details of his hairy chest poking out from under his armor.  The 2014 Zodac was done up in his toy colors, but this one instead gives him his cartoon colors, which feature the gloved appearance, which I do really like.  It’s a small change, but an effective one.  Otherwise, the paint’s pretty solid; some of the edges are a little fuzzy, but it’s nothing too terrible given the scale.  Zodac is packed with his sci-fi-esque gun, which is a lot less “L-shaped mace”-y than the Origins one, so that’s cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Mattel first launched MotU Minis, I was very interested, but the price point and having to contend with Matty Collector were just too much for me to ever get involved.  I was glad to see them re-surface last year at a more reasonable price, but they still weren’t super easy to get, so I still wasn’t really jumping on the line.  Max wound up coming across a small display of them just a few days before my birthday and the Zodac really called out to him for me, so he snagged him.  He’s just a little piece, but he’s quite fun, and I really enjoy him.  I’d like to see maybe a Roboto or a Mechanek, if you don’t mind, Mattel.  That’d be swell.