Tag Archives: Imports

#0967: Bio Rider

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

BIO RIDER

S.H. FIGUARTS (BANDAI)

BioRider1

The term “Tokusatsu” refers to Japanese live-action films or TV dramas that make use of considerable amounts of special effects. The term includes things such as Godzilla and Ultraman, as well as Super Sentai (more commonly known in the U.S. as Power Rangers). It also includes Kamen Rider, which is the source of the subject of today’s review. This marks the second time I’ve looked at a Kamen Rider figure on this site, so hey, it’s still kind of new and exciting! I’ll admit up front: my knowledge of Kamen Rider stuff is passing at best, so I’m counting on what I’ve read online to fill in the blanks. So, without further ado, here’s Bio Rider!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BioRider2Bio Rider is part of the rather extensive Kamen Rider sub-set of Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts line. He was released in the latter part of 2014. Bio Rider hails from the Kamen Rider Black RX show (which was the show that was adapted into Saban’s Masked Rider in the mid-90s), where he was a power-up ability for the title character, referred to as “Bio Rider” in Japan, but “Masked Rider Super Blue” in the U.S. I feel like Japan kind of won on the naming front. The figure stands about 5 ½ inches tall and has 45 points of articulation. While Bio Rider and RX share some common design themes, the two designs were actually pretty divergent from each other. Bio Rider is by and large a much sleeker design, and he sort of has an almost art deco air about him. It’s a much stronger design than the basic RX look, but I suppose an argument could be made that it loses some of more signature Kamen Rider elements. The figure’s sculpt does a pretty good job of capturing Bio Rider’s design from the show. He’s not a pitch-perfect recreation: the helmet’s a little squatter, especially in the face, and the eyes are more round. But, it’s still pretty darn close. The details on his suit are pretty amazingly done. He actually looks like he’s wearing a rubber suit, just like on the show. There are even small creases on the thighs to show that they crumple when he moves his legs. That’s quite an attention to detail! Bio Rider has quite a unique color scheme for a Kamen Rider. They tend to be predominantly green and black, but Bio Rider is a nice blue and silver combo, which looks pretty sweet. The actual paint application is some of the sharpest work I’ve seen on just about any figure. There’s no bleed over or slop that I can tell, and the color choices really pop. Also, not paint, but the lenses and buckle of the belt are both molded in translucent red, which works in conjunction with the sculpted texture on the underside, giving him a cool bit of depth. In terms of accessories, Bio Rider includes his Bio Blade weapon, as well as hands in fist, tight grip, loose grip, relaxed, open gesture, and karate chop positions. That’s a bit lighter than some of the Figuarts figures I’ve reviewed, but Bio Rider was actually a slightly less expensive figure, and it’s still not a bad assortment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is Tim’s fault. See, I’ve looked at some of the Figuarts Kamen Riders before, but managed to steer clear of them. But, then Tim went and bought himself a Kamen Rider, and suddenly I found lacking. So, using an Amazon gift card (given to me by Tim’s parents! That’s strike two for Tim!), I ordered this guy. I’m not 100% sure what called me to this guy. Maybe it was the color scheme, or perhaps the sleek design. I must admit, I was amused to find out that he was actually from the one incarnation of Kamen Rider I’ve actually seen, given that wasn’t a purposeful decision. This is a really fun figure, and I’m definitely glad I got him. I foresee more Kamen Riders in my future.

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#0862: Robot Soldier

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

ROBOT SOLDIER

CASTLE IN THE SKY (FINE MOLDS)

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Every so often, I like to take a look at a model kit. There’s a lot of cool snap-kits out there, which not only give me the fun of building a model, but I also get to have a fully functioning toy when I’m done with building. That’s one hell of an incentive, for me anyway. I’ve looked at three of these kits so far, all of which have been based on Gundam, a property I’m not super familiar with. So, I was more going for a cool looking toy at the end of the ride, without a whole lot of emotional attachment to any of the figures I was building. Well, today, I’m actually looking at a kit I got for the sole purpose of getting a cool figure of a character I really like, though the figure’s still a little outside of my usual area of expertise. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the Robot Soldier from Castle in the Sky, or as it’s known in Japan, Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

CitSRobot2The Robot Soldier is one of two Castle in the Sky-based model kits from Fine Molds (the other is the Robot Gardener, which is really just this set, but with different arms). The set was released in early 2011, in time for Laputa’s 25th anniversary. The figure is 1/20 scale, so he stands about 7 inches tall and fully assembled, he has 36 points of articulation. The articulation isn’t super flexible; he won’t be getting into many crazy poses beyond standing/walking. The shoulders are quite mobile, but the hips, for instance, don’t do anything but move side-to-side. What’s there is perfectly serviceable, so I can’t really complain. The robots from Castle in the Sky actually have a pretty neat heritage; they were inspired by the robot attackers from the Fleisher Superman serial “Mechanical Monsters,” a serial that would also inspire similar robot designs in Lupin III, Batman: The Animated Series, and the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. As the Robot Soldier, he’s officially based on the first of the two main robots we see in the movie. It’s the harsher of the two designs, though it’s mostly just about the arms, which are all spikey here (in the movie, the spikes allow for wings, giving the robot the ability to fly). The sculpt does a pretty great job of capturing the design from the film, and making it look decent in three dimensions. The only real point of inaccuracy is the hips. In the film, they sort of round off into his waist, but on the figure, they end in a fairly straight line. In the figure’s defense, the hips of the robot in the movie are a classic case of cheating the angles. As they are shown in the movie, there’s no practical way for them to work, so they had to be tweaked. One of the best things about this guy’s sculpt is the texture work; the film is cel-animated, so the robots shown therein are mostly devoid of any real texture, just for the sake of easier animation. However, the shading and such of the ‘bots is done in such a way to suggest a slightly rough texture to them, were they to exist in real life. This figure has a nice, ripple-y effect on all of his pieces, barring the visor and neck. This gives the figure a visually intriguing look, and has the added benefit of hiding the imperfections and such caused by breaking the parts of the figure off of their mold trees. Also, it should be noted that, while many snap-kit figures tend to feel light-weight, and of a slightly lower quality than a mass-produced figure. This is not the case with this guy, who is easily the sturdiest kit I’ve put together, and feels not unlike a figure you might buy fully assembled. As with all snap kits, there there’s no paint on this guy. Some kits use stickers to make up for this, but this guy doesn’t, instead letting all the separate pieces be molded in the appropriate colors. This actually works really well, and he doesn’t feel lacking at all. The Robot is packed with a little scale figure of Pazu. He doesn’t have any articulation, and the lack of paint is plain as day here, but it’s cool to have gotten him. One thing I do feel is missing is some sort of an extra attachment to swap out for the lower half of the left arm. The main Robot Soldier we see in the movie is lacking said arm, so being able to showcase this look would have been nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Until the last two years, I had never actually watched a Miyazaki film. This changed when I started dating Super Awesome Girlfriend, who is a huge fan of Miyazaki’s work. Castle in the Sky was the third of Miyazaki’s films I saw, and I fell in love with it immediately. The awesome Robots therein played no small part in this. After seeing the movie, I made an off-hand mention of how I wouldn’t mine owning a figure of one of the Robots. Super Awesome Girlfriend showed just how much she pay attention, and presented me with this kit as a Valentine’s Day gift this year. I then spent an hour or two putting the guy together, with a bit of help from my buddy Tim. This is an awesome figure, and I’m super thrilled to have gotten him. Easily my favorite of the snap-kits I’ve gotten, and just a great figure in general!

Guest Review #0034: Ultraman

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

ULTRAMAN

ULTRA-ACT/S.H. FIGUARTS

The following is a guest review by my dad, writer Steven H. Wilson!  Check out more from him over at his blog, located at stevenhwilson.com

Bandai’s Ultra-Act line has released dozens of figures based on Tsubaraya Productions’ long-running Ultraman series, which includes of two dozen individual TV series, running from 1967 to the present, and about half that many feature films. Every series stars a new Ultraman character, differentiated from his brethren by a suffix–e.g. “Ultraman Jack,” Ultraman X,” “Ultraman Mebius.”

Sixth in Ultra-Act‘s 2015 lineup is an Ultraman character not from a TV series, but from a 2011 Manga which has recently been collected in trade paperback for the U.S. market. The Manga and its lead character are simply called “Ultraman,” and the hero is the human son of the first Ultraman from way back in 1967.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The packaging is dual-branded with the logos of Ultra-Act and S.H. Figuarts, another Bandai line. The figure is not in scale with the rest of the Ultra-Act line, coming in at 6 3/4 inches, about a half-inch shorter than the typical Ultraman figure. This explains the dual-branding, since it is in scale with S.H. Figuarts‘ popular Power Rangers and other lines. The figure has 30 points of articulation, and comes with three sets of interchangeable gauntlets, three sets of hands–including different pointing gestures, and, of course, fists–an extra chest plate, and the trademark Ultra-beam-blasting effect. I’m not sure what the point of the extra chest plate is. It’s slightly more streamlined than the one that comes packed on the figure, but its jewel is the same color. I would expect the whole point of providing an alternate chest plate for an Ultraman would be to show his warning light blinking red.

It’s a bit disappointing that the mask is not removable, a la early Marvel Legends Iron Man figures, since this Ultraman is not a giant from another world, but a kid in an exo-suit. The figure is very, very posable–almost too posable. He falls down a lot when displayed, and doesn’t come with a stand. On the up side, he tends to fall into some great action poses. An optional flying-stand is recommended for this guy. One other nit-pick, I suppose, that I have with all the Ultraman figures, is that their arms aren’t designed to easily assume (or hold) the cross-elbow beam-blasting stance that’s so commonly seen when an Ultraman fights. Still, the detail is amazing, and the figure brings a 2D character to beautiful 3D life.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The figure was given to me by Ethan, the man behind The Figure in Question, who’s also my son. He feeds me a steady diet of Ultra-Act figures (and Spark Dolls, another Ultraman line) for Christmases and birthdays and the like. He knows I’m devoted to all things Ultra. I grew up watching the original 1967 TV series, and have recently discovered (and developed something of an obsession for) all the spin-off series that were never dubbed into English. He picked up this figure for me for Christmas, and suggested I review it alongside my review of the source material, which is on my blog now. [You can read it here!– E]

#0803: Alien Warrior

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

ALIEN WARRIOR

SCI-FI REVOLTECH

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We move onto day 2 of the post-Christmas gift reviews. Continuing from the theme started yesterday, how about some more Aliens? I mean, let’s be honest here, the Queen isn’t any good all by her lonesome, right? No, she’s got to have someone to do her bidding! Well, as luck would have it, Revoltech had one more Aliens figure in their line-up, based on one of the basic Alien Warriors from the second film. Let’s see how this one fares!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

XenoRevol2The Alien Warrior was figure #016 in the Sci-Fi Revoltech line, placing him two figures ahead of the Queen numerically. The figure between them isn’t Aliens-related at all; it’s Santa Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, which isn’t a sci-fi movie, but whatever. Like the Alien Queen, the Warrior is also based on the Stan Winston-designed look from Aliens, which happens to be my personal favorite. The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall (meaning he’s nowhere near being in scale with the Queen) and he has 52 points of articulation, plus a bendable tail. The design of this figure may take its cues from Aliens, but this definitely feels much more like a “concept” take on the look than it does an actual proper translation of what is seen in the film. A lot of that has to do with proportions. This figure foregoes trying to look like a man in a suit, and is instead very spindly and bug-like. It makes the figure a bit more unearthly, but I’m not sure it’s as frightening as the film design. A lot of this has to do with the head being more or less unchanged, and thereby much larger compared to the body. He doesn’t look goofy or anything, but there’s a touch less menace. The figure is still fantastically detailed, though, and all of the signature XenoRevol3Xeno details are impeccably captured. The overall look of this figure is definitely a creepy one. The Warrior’s paint is rather similar to the Queen’s; the base plastic is a smokey clear color, with a semi-metallic blue painted over it, and then a few smaller silver details. I think the overall result is better here, though, and this figure doesn’t suffer from the same tackiness as the Queen. The Warrior includes a pretty nice assortment of extras, including a spare set of forearms without the big fin pieces, a pair of more splayed hands, an egg, a name plate, a display stand made to look like part of the colony’s floor, and a standard Revoltech box.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy was the other half of my gift from my boy Tim. I liked the Queen well enough, but the Alien Warrior really does step it up to the next level. He’s oh so posable, and he’s got the interchangeability thing going on, and he’s a whole lot sturdier. All that adds up to a pretty fantastic little figure. Is he perfect? No, but what figure is? That said, he’s just oodles of fun!

#0802: Alien Queen

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

ALIEN QUEEN

SCI-FI REVOLTECH

QueenRevol1

Alright, let’s get this party started! Christmas reviews officially kick off today! And it’s hardly a proper Christmas without some Aliens. It is, after all, the greatest film of all time (and required Christmas viewing in The FiQ household. No joke). As a fan of Aliens, I like to get as many of the figures as I can, and there have been more than a few different styles released over the years. Not too long ago, toy makers Revoltech had the license to the film. They released two figures from the movie, the second of which was the Alien Queen, which I’ll be reviewing today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

QueenRevol2The Alien Queen was released as figure #018 in the Sci-Fi Revoltech line. She’s based on her appearance in the second movie, which is the correct appearance to base a figure on. The figure stands approximately 7 inches tall when fully extended and has 86 points of articulation, plus a bendable tail. The vast majority of these joints are Revoltech’s signature revolver-style joints, which are some of the best designed joints in the industry. There are a few non revolver joints, used on the wrists and ankles. The ankle joints are fine, and they hold up pretty well, but the wrists, particularly the ones on the larger arms, are quite fragile. In fact, both of the larger wrists on my figure broke and had to be repaired, more than once, resulting in loss of movement on those joints. That’s quite a bit of a bummer, and really knocks this figure down in playablity. Regardless of stability, the sculpt of this figure is pretty darn impressive. The design has been made a bit more stylized, to better fit the rest of Revoltech’s stuff, but it’s a pretty good translation of the film design. The sculpt does a pretty great job of working in the joints, for the most part, anyway. Some, such as the hips, are a little more obvious, but not terribly so. The level of detail and texturing on the individual parts is pretty awesome, and there’s even detailing on the underside of the head! As an added bonus, the figure’s construction makes her compatible with prior Revoltech figures, such as their Assemble Borg line, which adds a pretty fun bit of customizability. The paint on the Queen is actually pretty cool, at least in theory. She’s molded in smokey-clear plastic, with a dark blue, semi-translucent paint over it. It gives her this really cool, otherworldly look. The paint is also somewhat metallic, which adds a nice polish, and there’s some pretty cool lighter highlight work to it. So, why “in theory”? Well, I got this figure a little while after its release, and upon opening, I discovered that the figure was quite tacky, which doesn’t make the figure super fun to play with long term. The Queen is a pretty intensive figure in her own right, so she isn’t jam-packed with accessories. However, she does get a few things, including a display stand that looks like the floor of the Sulaco, a name plate, and a standard Revoltech box.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Queen was given to me by my boy Tim, who’s well aware just how much I love Aliens, and fairly consistently quizzes me on just which versions of the creatures I own. After introducing me to Revoltech earlier this year and getting me hooked on their Assemble Borg line, he decided that the Revoltech Aliens were the next appropriate step. The Queen is not without her flaws, and she doesn’t quite stand up to the majesty that is the NECA version. That said, this figure did come first, so I can cut it some slack, and truth be told, she’s really not bad. As long as you’re careful, this can be a pretty awesome figure. Oh, and did I mention the fighting fists?

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#0750: Alien Warrior

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

ALIEN WARRIOR

S.H. MONSTERARTS

AlienAVP1

What’s this? Another Alien review? On my site? Why, that’s just unheard of! …Or, maybe not. So, what’s different about this review? Well, amongst other things, it’s a figure based on a movie I don’t like. Yeah, this here is one of the Alien Warriors from the first Alien vs. Predator film, a movie that’s only real saving grace is that it’s not as bad as its own sequel. In fact, it’s not a bad movie, just a mediocre one. That doesn’t seem right for Alien vs. Predator, which should really be a “go big or go home” affair. But, alas, we got the film we got, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see another. Sorry, this is actually supposed to be a toy review! Let’s get on to the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AlienAVP2The Alien Warrior is a part of Bandai’s S.H. MonsterArts line, and was released as a standalone item in early 2014. The figure stands just shy of 6 inches tall (a little taller than Bandai’s Big Chap) and has 63 points of articulation. As noted in the intro, this figure is based on the Alien vs. Predator design for the Alien Warrior. It’s interesting that they opted to release this version of the alien so far after the movie instead of something more iconic, such as the Aliens version, but if I had to guess, I’d say AvP’s probably just the cheapest of the licenses to procure. I find that each successive iteration of the Xenomorph design after Aliens loses a little of what made the first two designs work, and in particular, I found the Xenos in AvP to be too skinny and waaaaay too slimy and goopy. While this figure does strive to be an overall fairly accurate translation of the design, I find it changes a few minor things that result in a much better end product. For one thing, the details and texturing feel much sharper here than in the film, which is definitely a change I appreciate. In addition, it seems they’ve shrunk the size of the head ever so slightly, so that makes the body feel less skinny by comparison. In general, the sculpt has some incredible detail work and there’s some really great touches that they could have gotten away with leaving out, like the fully sculpted head under the dome. That’s something we don’t see in the movie, but they put it there anyway. Also, like the Big Chap, the knees and the tip of the figure’s tail are made from die-cast metal, which is a cool little, easily missed touch. The figure also has the signature Xeno inner-jaw, though the instructions tell you to remove the whole outer jaw to get it out (side note: looks like they got an actual translator for the instructions on this one. It makes for a more professional end product, but I must admit to missing the just slightly off English of the Big Chap’s instructions. Oh well.)  The paintwork on the figure is pretty much what you’d expect on a figure of a Xeno; it’s black with silver highlights. The dark brown transparent dome is definitely a cool look, and I was quite happy to see that the fully sculpted head was also fully painted under there. The Alien Warrior includes an alien egg, a chestburster, two sets of hands in splayed and closed poses, and a display stand, which, like the Big Chap’s, seems a little out of place with this figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting me the Big Chap for Christmas, my boy Tim got me this guy as a birthday present. Though I don’t love the movie, and I’m not a big fan of the Xeno design as it’s presented in the film, I actually really like this figure a lot. He’s a ton of fun to pose, and the tweaks Bandai made to the design make it a lot better looking. Definitely an awesome addition to the collection!

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#0634: Orion Vs. Onigumo

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

ORION VS. ONIGUMO

MICROMAN WECKER SIGNA

WeckerSigna1

Okay, now for something completely different. So, I had initially planned to review the Ant-Man Marvel Legends Infinite Series Ultron today, but…things decided not to agree. Essentially, I’m out of town with a broken computer without access to a fair portion of my files, which includes the Ultron images (and a few of my Giant-Man images as well, hence the slightly lighter entry yesterday). Things should be fixed when I get back, but until then, I’m at the mercy of what I have access to currently.

Amongst the things I have access to are these guys, Orion and Onigumo. Who are they? They’re part of the long running Microman line, my fandom of which I’ve kept no secret. The line went on hiatus a few years back, but before doing so, they did their best to keep it alive for as long as possible. Their last attempt was to pair it up with a Super Sentai show, called Wecker Signa. The show’s designs were based on existing pieces in the Takara library, allowing the tie-in figures to use as little tooling as possible. It was ultimately unsuccessful in its goal of saving the line, but it did get out a few sets of figures.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as set 03 in the Microman Wecker Signa line, released in Japan by Takara. They are both based on the designs of their respective characters from the Wecker Signa show.

ORION

WeckerSigna2Orion is one of the mentor figures of the show’s main team, at least I think. There’s not really a lot of info on the show available here in the US, so I made due with what I could find. The figure stands about 4 inches tall and has 28 points of articulation. He’s built on the basic Microman body, with a few add-on pieces. The base body is a little bit dated by today’s standards, but not horribly so, and it was very good at the time. Some of the joints are a little loose, and the right arm has a little difficulty staying on, but I think that’s limited to mine. Most of the add-ons are re-used from Microman Shouma, with the exception of the head. The armor parts are all nicely handled and snap onto the body pretty well, so that’s good. The head is the defining WeckerSigna3piece, and it’s pretty great. I like the sleekness; it looks like a cross between an Ultraman and a Power Ranger, which is certainly fine by me. The paintwork is rather important here, much more so than the usual Microman. The colors are nice and bright, and everything is pretty clean. Vac Metallizing is used heavily, but that’s hardly shocking to see. It’s done well and accents the normal paint very nicely. The figure includes six pairs of hands in varying poses, a lightsaber-like sword, a stand, and an extra, more-Microman-inspired head.

ONIGUMO

WeckerSigna4This guy seems to be one of the show’s big bads, so, there he is. The figure is also about 4 inches tall and has 28 points of articulation, though he does have a little but more at times, depending on how he’s set up. He too is built on the standard body, with most of his add-ons coming from Acro Hidou. The re-used parts are nicely sculpted and appropriately creepy, though they lose a lot of their edge here. I like that you can reconfigure the armor into different layouts, but other than that, ehh. He’s also got a unique head sculpt. It’s…accurate to the source material. Can’t really say much more about it. I don’t really care for his design and I care for it less in WeckerSigna5action figure form. In addition to the sculpted pieces, he’s got a faux-leather cape. It’s alright, but hard to get it to sit properly under the armor. Paint is what really pulls this guy down. While Orion still stuck with the more traditional Microman style, Onigumo really diverges, which makes his seem rather bland. Still, what’s there is cleanly applied, so I can’t say they did a bad job, just a somewhat boring one. In addition to the armor and such, Onigumo is packed with three pairs of hands, a sword, and a display stand. An extra, chrome head would have gone a long way here, but, alas, there is none.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It’s Tim’s fault. Again. See, while we were messing with our Assemble Borg stuff, I noted the similarities to some of the Microman figures I had a while back. I pulled them out, and Tim decided he had to get some of his own. Which meant he informed me of how easy they were to find on Amazon. And like that, I was pulled back in. I’d be lying if I said I bought this set for both figures. I liked the look of Orion, and the price for the set was about what I’d have been willing to pay for him by himself, so I got both. In hand, I love Orion. He’s a lot of fun. Onigumo…not so much. He’s not terrible, and with a little bit of tweaking, you can make him suck a bit less. However, there’s still a clear star here, and it’s Orion all the way.

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#0627: Jarknoid Xo

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

JARKNOID XO

ASSEMBLE BORG (REVOLTECH)

Xo1

Hey, have I told you guys about Assemble Borg? I have? Well, do you want to hear more? Whether you do or not, that’s what I’m talking about today. So, you know, just deal, I guess. Yeah, I’ve been sucked down the rabbit hole on this one, and there’s no turning back. Of course, my display was starting to look a little one-sided, with all those heroes and only one villain to fight. Enter Jarknoid Xo!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Xo2Jarknoid Xo was entry 006 in the Assemble Bog line. He’s the first of the Jarknoid trio, and signifies the start of the second “series” of figures. Xo is meant to be the leader of the Jarknoids and is in many ways an evil counterpart to Mr. Assemble. Each Jarknoid had their own descriptor, and Xo’s was “Galactic Sorcerer,” which, I have to admit, is pretty darn metal. It’s more exciting than Mr. Assemble’s “Commando Leader” anyway. The figure stands 6 inches in height and has 42 points of articulation, both of which are standard for the line. Like Zain and Mr. Assemble before him, Xo makes use of the standard Assemble Borg body as a starting point. It’s a good, basic body to build on, and its simplicity really sells the character specific pieces, so it’s definitely a good re-use. Xo gets a unique head and chest plate, just like Zain and Mr. A. Both pieces feature a similar swooping, twin-horned design, which gives Xo a nice bit Xo4of elegance, while also hammering home that this dude’s a bad guy. I like how he’s pretty much exclusively built on v-shapes. V, the evilest of the letters. Also, while his face is devoid of any eyes, his chest piece has this cool central eye motif, which really fits with the whole “Galactic Sorcerer” thing. Xo’s head continues the “helmet” trend of the last two figures, the outer head can be removed, revealing a smaller inner head. Xo’s isn’t too far off from Zain’s, but he’s got a bunch more “eyes” and a whole lot less symmetry to them, which is effectively creepy. Following the trend of the first three figures in the line, the Jarknoids each featured a character specific set of add-on armored pieces. As Mr. A’s evil counterpart, Xo features a set of large, bio-mechanical feet, which can be swapped out for the regular feet. They add a fair bit of height, and help to make Xo that much more imposing. In Xo5addition, Xo also includes four pairs of hands (in fist, open palm, trigger finger, and pointing/splayed configurations), and the weapons compliment that we saw with Zain, but this time in a dark grey. He also comes with the requisite selection of revolver joints and pegs and a box in which to store them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, it’s another Assemble Borg review. You know the drill: it’s all Tim’s fault. Xo was the other figure I got from the somewhat sizeable eBay lot of AB stuff that Tim and I split. In fact, Xo was my main reason for going in on said lot, as he was a figure I was really interested in getting. Sure, he’s not quite Zain, but he’s definitely an imposing villain guy and a really fun figure in his own right. Of course, not I really want the last Jarknoid, Yeeg. I can’t just leave the set incomplete, can I?

Xo3

#0621: Mr. Assemble

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

MR. ASSEMBLE

ASSEMBLE BORG (REVOLTECH)

MrAssemble1

Boy do I sure enjoy me some Assemble Borg figures. Trouble is, they aren’t the easiest things in the world to come across here in the US. There are a few figures in decent supply, but most of the line is virtually non-existent. So, I kind of have to take the dribs and drabs that I can get. I did manage to recently come across a few of the more difficult to find figures, which was quite exciting. Today, let’s have a look at Mr. Assemble, who is sort of, kind of the lead character of the series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

MrAssemble3Mr. Assemble was entry 001 in the Assemble Borg line. Yep, he’s the very first figure in the whole line. No pressure or anything. The first three figures were the three main heroes of the line, and Mr. Assemble seems to be their leader. Like many of the others from the early “heroes and villains” iteration of the line, Mr. Assemble was given his own descriptor, “Commando Leader.” It’s admittedly not the most exciting descriptor, but hey, it works. The figure is 6 inches tall and features 42 points of articulation, both of which are standard for the line. Mr. Assemble is built on the standard Assemble Borg body. We’ve seen most of this body before with Jarknoid Zain. Technically, Assemble was the originator, but it’s the same body either way. It’s nicely done; it’s simple and sleek, with a nice stylistic flair to it. It’s a great base from which to build a multitude of figures. Assemble features a unique head and chest plate. The head is the MrAssemble4most…anime-influenced(?) of the sculpts I’ve seen from the line. A lot of that comes from the hair (which is also a first) which is spiky and lively. It’s not really up my alley, but it’s certainly well handled. Like Zain, this head is really a helmet, over a smaller underlying head. The head below is slightly different from Zain’s, but once again, I can’t see this being anyone’s default display choice. The chest piece is fairly basic, with only a few details, but it’s nicely designed, and does a nice job conveying the more basic hero-style of Mr. Assemble. Each of the first three figures was given a set of extra pieces to enhance them in some way. The other two had weapons that could be swapped out for one of their arms, but Mr. Assemble gets a set of robotic boots. They’re actually pretty cool, and very well sculpted. They add a nice bit of pop to the figure, and stand out very nicely against the dark blue body of the MrAssemble6figure. Mr. Assemble also includes four sets of hands (fists, open palm, trigger finger, and pointing/splayed), a big gun, a medium sized gun, a small gun, an even smaller gun, a sword, a knife, and a selection of revolver joints and pegs. Unfortunately, my figure was missing most of the weapons, but the one I did get was pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Yeah, I totally fell overboard with the whole Assemble Borg thing. I’d like to point out that this is once again Tim’s fault. See, I had all my other Assemble Borg stuff and I thought I’d be good for a while. Then Tim came over with his AB stuff, which was fine. But, he had to go and mention this auction he was watching on eBay, which had a whole bunch of stuff, and wasn’t really clearly labeled. So, I had to look at it. And I noticed this guy and one other I wanted. So, I had to buy it. Tim and I ended up splitting it, which meant we not only got actual figures, but a whole ton of extra pieces as well. So, yay for that. To be honest, Mr. Assemble was probably the one of the first three that I was the least interested in getting. That said, with Assemble Borg, you sorta need to take what you can get, and Mr. Assemble’s actually pretty fun.

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#0609: Jarknoid Zain

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

JARKNOID ZAIN

ASSEMBLE BORG (REVOLTECH)

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“What the hell is a Jarknoid?

 –Tim Marron

When Mego imported Microman as Micronauts, they started off with a selection of figures that were more or less the same as their Japanese counterparts. However, as the line moved forward, Mego decided to add a few of their own touches. The Japanese line had relied on the Acroyear as the foes of the heroic Micromen, and Micronauts had started much the same way. Mego decided that the ‘nauts needed a more diverse selection of foes, and created their own set of unique foes, under the heading “Aliens.” These Aliens became some of the more distinctive Micronauts, and are the primary point of separation of the two lines.

Assemble Borg, is no doubt inspired by Microman. In fact, one of Borg’s main designers originally worked on Microman. What’s interesting to me, though, is that Assemble Borg’s main set of villains, the Jarknoids, actually seem to have more in common with Mego’s line than they do the line it was based on. That kind of makes Assemble Borg the closest thing Micronauts has to a successor. And that’s actually pretty cool. So, let’s take a look at one of those freaky Jarknoids, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zain2Jarknoid Zain is entry 008 in the Assemble Borg line. Numerically, he was the last of the trio of Jarknoid villains, released as a direct follow-up to the original heroic Assemble Borg figures.  Each of the Jarknoid’s was given their own epithet, and Zain’s was “Astro-Killer,” which is simple, but rather effective in establishing the character, I guess. Like Panzer, Zain predates the line’s changeover to the more modular “Nexus” style, meaning he’s a more traditional style of action figure, but the customizability is still a present feature. The figure is about 6 inches in height and has 42 points of articulation.  Zain is built on what was the standard Assemble Borg body. We’ve seen some of this before, as Panzer made use of the same torso, pelvis, and thighs. The sculpt is definitely on the more basic side, but it offers a nice sleekness, which offers a nice contrast to the more intricate character specific pieces. Speaking of character Zain3specific pieces, holy crap is that head a really impressive piece of work. He’s got a mask that just looks like a giant skeletal hand is just grabbing his face, which is a truly disturbing design. The mask can be removed, revealing a smaller chrome head underneath, which is a fairly neat feature, though I can’t see anyone displaying this in favor of the mask. He’s also got a chrome chest piece, which is really pointy and fit’s with the mask pretty well. In addition to the basic body, each of the Jarknoids included a few character specific parts that could be swapped in place of the normal body parts. Zain gets a cool arm piece, which, depending on how you configure it can either be a big gun arm or a big claw thing. Both are pretty cool, and they have a nice bit of silver detailing to bring out the awesome details. In addition to those parts, the figure includes four sets of hands (fists, open palm, trigger finger, and Zain4pointing/splayed), a sword, an axe, a small gun, a slightly larger small gun, a medium gun, a huge gun, an adaptor to attach the weapons to any revolver connector, an assortment of revolver joints, and a coin worth 10 revolchip points.  I really love the weapons, because they all have some really fantastic spikey detailing that looks pretty awesome. Like the other Assemble Borg figures I’ve looked at, paint is relatively minor on Zain, but I do really love the color of the plastic he’s molded in.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I tried to ease into this whole Assemble Borg thing. I really did. I picked up Panzer because he was relatively inexpensive, and I thought he would hold me over. Then I got Nexus for free. I wanted Zain, but I was trying to hold off. Then Tim (who still remains at fault for all of this) showed me the Yeeg figure he’d bought (Yeeg’s another of the Jarknoids) and I found myself really wanting one of the villains. So, I ended up getting this guy off of eBay. Zain is a really, really cool figure, and he’s definitely my favorite of the Jarknoids. He’s properly imposing and just a lot of fun to mess with. Man I love this line.

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