Tag Archives: Jakks Pacific

#3756: Radioactive Man

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

RADIOACTIVE MAN

THE SIMPSONS (JAKKS PACIFIC)

I do not talk about The Simpsons much here on the site.  A large part of that is due to only having a passing familiarity with most of the franchise until I watched the whole run during the pandemic, so I haven’t picked up many of the associated toys.  I do have a few figures here and there, and amongst the reviews I’ve done here on the site, there’s certainly been a focus on Radioactive Man, star of Bart’s favorite comic in-universe.  What can I say?  I like super heroes.  The last figure I looked at came from Super 7’s abruptly ended Ultimates line, this one comes from the next company at bat with the license, JAKKS Pacific, who kicked things off earlier this year with figures at multiple scales and price points, including a deluxe offering for Radioactive Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Radioactive Man is one of the three Deluxe figures kicking off that portion of JAKKS’ The Simpsons line, alongside variants of Mr. Burns and Homer.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 21 points of articulation.  In terms of scaling, they’re not too terribly far off from Playmates’ stuff, but they’re a little different stylistically, so they don’t quite vibe.  The articulation lands somewhere between Playmates and Super 7.  He’s got a better spread then the very barebones Playmates figures, of course, but not the same range as the Super 7 figures.  There are some very definitely limitations when posing this guy, with the elbows and knees not getting past 90 degree bends, and the neck essentially being a cut joint.  That said, he’s not prone to popping apart the way the Super 7 one was, so there’s some give and take.  Unlike the Playmates Radioactive Man, who was based on the “film” version, this one’s clearly the comics guy, but he’s an earlier run look than the Super 7 figure, which definitely stuck to more recent appearances.  I dig the decision to take a different approach here, and I think this one stands out well.  The sculpt translates the design nicely to three dimensions, and they manage to work in the articulation without it being too cumbersome.  It’s pretty clean, which is what you want out of an animation-based figure for sure.  The color work here is mostly done through molded plastics, with minimal paint.  The colors are mostly okay, but there’s some change-ups from piece-to-piece on the exact shade of red, which I don’t love.  Also, there’s a production code printed on the inside of his cape in black, which is super obvious and rather annoying.  The figure’s got a light-up feature, as part of the deluxe set-up; you press his belt buckle, and his emblem pulses.  It’s nifty, but not essential, but it also doesn’t really mess-up his look when it’s off, so I don’t mind it.  He’s packed with a larger display base, which looks like a comic cover, and also features and optional flight stand.  His posablility limits what you can do with it a bit, but it’s still a fun extra.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly didn’t expect JAKKS to tackle this guy quite so quickly in their run, because he’s usually a later down the road sort of character.  Having *just* gotten the Super 7 figure (okay, like 8 months ago, but still), I didn’t know if I needed to get this one.  That said, once I saw him in person, I liked him enough to justify dropping retail to get one.  He’s got a different approach compared to prior variants, but it’s one what works, and that results in a solid toy.  I haven’t picked up any other figures, but this one makes me feel like the line’s off to a pretty good start.

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

Matty’s Corner #0003: Shadow the Hedgehog

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Matty's Corner and tagged with , , , ,

SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (JAKKS PACIFIC)

Hi, Ethan here!  Welcome to Matthew’s Corner, where I’m collecting the mad ramblings of my 6 year old Matthew, who also likes to talk about action figures.  What can I say, I’m sympathetic to his need to ramble about action figures.  So, I’m just gonna let him take it away…though, for what it’s worth, I’m still transcribing for him.

This is Matthew back on the writing!  I told you I would meet you back with Shadow, and I thought about being back with Venom, but I said “no, I could never miss saying that”  I said I was gonna be back on Shadow.  So, I am back on Shadow.  Now I’m gonna stop with this.  But I’m still back on Shadow.  My dog’s name is Shadow.  But I’m not reviewing my dog.  I’m reviewing Shadow.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shadow is from, right now only, Sonic the video game.  The figure is from the Sonic line.  Jakks Pacific makes the Sonic line.  Aaaaah.  Aaaaah.  Aaaaah.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.  Okay, just being weird.  I meant to do that.  But, Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.  Okay, now I’m actually done.  For once in a lifetime, someone has to be done with something.  And I am.  I am back reviewing SHADOW!  MY DOG!  No, not my dog.  I’ve not actually finished the review yet.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah.  Okay, so now I’m really done.  Sorry for being stupid in the other part.  The figure of this has 17 joints.  I really like the detailing of the figure.  I like the painting and I like the sculpting.  I like the fur detailing on his chest because I think that’s really hard to do.  So if the person that made this hears that, thank you, that’s really impressive.  I really like the shoes.  I think they’re really detailed and intense.  Especially how they’re symmetrical.  The most talented sculpting would probably be the head on the back.  It’s really pointy and the colors are where they’re supposed to be.  Now we’re going to pronouncing the colors of everything on the figure.  The gloves are white, and part of the shoes is also white, and the curvy part of the eyes, and then the chest fur is white, but just a little bit.  Now we are going to be listing the black things on this figure.  The head is black, but not all-purposely, and part of the not-white part of the shoes is black, and of course the nose is black, and part of an arm thing is black too.  Now we’re listing the gold and orange things.  The gold things are the things on the arm and then part of the shoes, and the outside of the mouth, and the inside of the ears.  Last but not least, the red things on this figure!  The bottom of the shoes are red, and part of the spikes on his head are red, and his eyes too, and part of his arm pads.  That’s all of the color listing.  Shadow comes with a coin.  It’s only in like one picture.  The coin is pretty cool.  And, one thing, the colors.  There’s only gold and red.  The number “10” is red, and the outside of all of that is gold.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The reason why I got Shadow is because I really liked Sonic the Hedgehog 2, so I planned on getting two figures from it and only two, because Ethan likes Knuckles, so I let him get that one.  The reason why I got Shadow is because I needed a third person.  What is Sonic without three people?  So, I got Shadow because he’s in the next movie, which is going to be in a year or something.  Anyway, I’ll see you guys later goodbye.  I will see you next for a review of a Blue Power Ranger!

#3104: Knuckles

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

KNUCKLES

SONIC 2 (JAKKS PACIFIC)

Video game movies are always a tricky prospect.  There’s a whole lot of room for error in any adaptation to a new medium, but games to movies has classically proven particularly troublesome, typically resulting in films that not only fail as adaptations of the source material, but also as movies on their own.  Released just before the start of the pandemic in 2020, the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie started off with some trouble, namely the uncanny valley surrounding the title character’s design.  However, by the time the final product hit theaters, audiences were surprised to find that…it was actually a pretty solid movie?  Like, both as an adaptation, and just on its own merits?  I was certainly surprised. With the success of the first film, its sequel was fast tracked (at least as fast-tracked as anything can be during the pandemic era), and it just hit about a month ago.  It’s even more fun than the first one, and introduces a few more of Sonic’s usual supporting cast.  This includes my personal favorite character, Knuckles, voiced within the film by Idris Elba.  It’s pretty great, you guys.  Let’s have a look at the figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Knuckles is one of the four figures that make up the first series of Jakks Pacific’s Sonic 2 movie tie-in line.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 21 points of articulation.  Knuckles is sporting a pretty impressive selection of articulation, given the scale/price point.  The joints do have a tendency to get stuck, at least on mine, but with enough working, they pose pretty nicely.  The sculpt is an all-new affair, based on Knuckles’ design from the movie.  His movie design is quite faithful to his classic video game appearance, just brought a little bit more in line with the first film’s take on Sonic.  The figure follows the movie model quite well, making for a pretty spot-on recreation.  The sculpt gets some pretty solid detailing, especially on the texturing for his fur.  The color work on Knuckles maintains the design from the movie pretty well.  It’s rather basic, of course, but that’s kind of expected.  The red is all molded, as is much of the white, but what paint work is present is generally well-applied.  There was a bit of iffy coverage on the white patch on the torso on the figures I looked at, but my copy generally looks pretty good.  Knuckles is packed with a snow board (which is also included with Sonic).  Not the most Knuckles-esque extra, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The first Sonic movie was a pleasant surprise for me, and I was excited by what more the sequel could offer.  The confirmation of Knuckles, followed up by Idris Elba’s casting, made me quite hyped for it.  I’ve been eying the Jakks Pacific stuff for a bit, wanting to grab a decent Knuckles.  This particular release finally cemented the deal for me.  He’s a pretty fun little figure.

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

But hang on just a second here!  We’re not quite done with today’s feature.  Since I’m admittedly a little outside of the target demographic for these figures, I’ve decided to bring in a little bit of help from my good buddy Matthew, who’s a little more in the realm of being a kid, because…well, um, he is.  He’s not quite so versed on the reading and writing thing himself just yet, but he took some pictures, and he’s supplied me with his thoughts on the rest of the series, which I’ve done my best to transcribe.  Take it away Matthew!

This is Matthew!  Just so that you know, you heard about me from the other paragraph.  These are my figures from Sonic 2.  Tails, Sonic, and Eggman…no, Dr. Robotnik.  I went to the theatre to watch this movie, and it was really good.  If you have not watched it, please do, and then check out Ethan’s website [hey, this kid’s a pretty good promoter–Ethan].  You should go to All Time Toys if you want these.  That’s where I got them.

I want to tell everyone my favorite figure, which is the one in the middle.  It is Sonic.  I like blue.  My room is blue.  And they painted it right on this figure.  I like the board of Sonic [his accessory–E], it is really cool.  Just forewarning, he falls apart really easily, so be careful when you get them.  The feet come off…when I said that, the feet just came off.  Especially be careful with the hands and shoes.  But I do like how the joints move when he’s not coming apart.  I’m done talking about Sonic.  I wanna talk about Tails now.

Presenting the one on the left hand side: Tails!  One thing did not come with him: the backpack.  And just so that you know, if you have watched the movie, I’m just telling you a part of it, because he has a backpack in the movie.  I like that he has his gadget thing.  All his parts still come off like Sonic’s can too.  I don’t like the tail because it makes Tails fall over if you haven’t put down his feet properly.  If you have him on the Eiffel Tower tipping, he will fall over.  I’m done talking about Tails.

Presenting Dr. Robotnik! I like that he has an egg.  I do not like Dr. Robotnik.  I like the toy.  Not the guy.  Why I do not like the guy, is because I do not like his beard.  His mustache I mean.  I love his mustache.  I mean I hate his mustache.  I do not like that he’s evil.  And he likes drinking coffee.  And that’s why he comes with a coffee cup.  Because he’s Dr. Robotnik.  And he loves coffee cup.  He could even eat a coffee cup with coffee in it.

I hope you like the website.  And if you want the toys, you should go to All Time Toys.  Good bye!

#1333: Noisy Boy

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

NOISY BOY

REAL STEEL (JAKKS PACIFIC)

“The Magma Mangler – Strength: 5%, Speed: 45%, Intelligence: 45%, Special Moves: 5%”

I think I’ve mentioned before on this site that I’m quite a fan of robots.  So, in that respect, it’s probably not a huge surprise that one of my favorite movies in the last decade was Real Steel, a movie about fighting robots.  Based on Richard Matheson’s short-story “Steel,” the movie is essentially two hours of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots.  Which is seriously awesome.  The movie’s also full of super awesome robot designs, which make for some cool toys.  Jakks Pacific picked up the license and actually put out just about every ‘bot seen in the movie.  Today, I’ll be looking at a personal favorite of mine, Noisy Boy, the Magma Mangler!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Noisy Boy was released on the first series of Jakks’ basic Real Steel line (there was also a larger deluxe version released, but the basic line had a larger selection, so that’s the one I went with that one).  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 16 points of articulation.  The movement could be a little better.  As it stands, he lacks bicep swivels, a neck joint, and any sort of torso movement.  The figure has a light-up feature, which is why the neck and torso movement isn’t there, but I don’t think there’s any excuse for the missing bicep movement.  He manages alright without it, but it’d definitely add a lot to the figure.  Slight mobility issues aside, his sculpt is actually quite good for the price point.  Some of the details have been softened a bit (especially the spikes on the shoulders, which are now little more than tiny nubs), but all of the important bits are there, and there’s a surprising amount of detail in the legs in particular.  Overall, not a bad sculpt at all, especially from a company like Jakks, who fall more towards the middle of the pack.  The paint work on Noisy Boy is okay; what’s there is generally pretty clean (there’s a little bit of slop on the head, but it’s minor).  The only real issue is that there are a number of missing details, specifically the Japanese characters on his chest and shoulders.  It’s a little frustrating that they’re missing, but they were likely cut due to cost consideration (this is supported by the deluxe figure’s inclusion of the extra details).  Noisy Boy included no accessories, but he had the same mix and match feature employed by all of the smaller-scale figures, allowing for his arms and legs to be switched out with any other compatible figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I loved Real Steel when I saw it in theaters, so it’s not a huge surprise that I went out and bought the figures afterwards.  Noisy Boy was the first figure I got, grabbed from my local Target the day after I saw the movie.  He was the last figure left in the store, which was pretty fortunate, since he was the one I wanted the most.  He’s got some minor issues, but all-in-all, he’s still a pretty solid offering.

#1328: The Wolf Man

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

THE WOLF MAN

VAN HELSING: MONSTER SLAYER (JAKKS PACIFIC)

Hey, remember when Hugh Jackman starred in a Van Helsing movie?  I know, I know, you were trying to forget.  Why’d I have to go and bring it up again?  Well, the reason is very simple: there were toys.  And, big shock, I had a bunch of them.  For the most part I’ve phased them out of my collection, but one item still remains.  It’s the subject of today’s review, The Wolfman, who within the context of the film isn’t the usual “wolfman” Larry Talbot, but is instead Velkan Valerious, brother to…oh who really cares?  He’s a werewolf.  There ends the list of interesting things about him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Wolf Man was released as part of Jakks Pacific’s basic Van Helsing: Monster Slayer line.  There were a couple minor variations on this basic figure; mine’s the one with “magic transformation color change,” which pretty much translates to “the actual Wolf Man bit has this clear patch at the front.”  The figure is just under 4 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  The actual figure is just an un-transformed Velkan figure, which has him sporting the Bruce Banner shredded pants (they never did explain in the movie where those pants when he was the werewolf, by the way).  The sculpt was okay.  None of the figures in this line were particularly noteworthy, and Velkan seems to be the middle-est of the middling sculpts.  The proportions of the sculpt are passable; the hands and feet seem a little small, and the shoulders are definitely set too far apart, but that’s about it.  A lot of the work, especially on the body, definitely seems a bit rudimentary for the time when this was released.  The head bears a passing resemblance to actor Will Kemp, though he’s completely clean shaven here, and he wasn’t in the movie.  There’s some nice detail work on the hair, so that’s cool.  The paint is also pretty basic.  He’s mostly just molded in the appropriate colors.  The only real paint work is on the face, which seems oddly dirty.  He wasn’t exactly squeaky clean in the movie, but it seems a bit odd when compared to the rest of the figure.  The “Wolf Man” part of this Wolf Man figure is actually just a rubber suit that you pull over the Velkan figure.  I’m gonna be honest, it’s not ideal.  The basic sculpt is fine, but since it’s just thick rubber cover, there’s no actual articulation, and since it’s just rubber and not something sturdy, there’s actually no way for the thing to stand, especially with Velkan inside it.  Also, since the “magic transformation color change” bit requires the piece to molded in clear plastic, and paint on rubber is prone to chipping, the figure is invariably left with random clear patches all over.  Why exactly didn’t they just make this a whole separate figure?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, believe it or not, I actually liked Van Helsing when it was released.  In my defense, I was 11.  Anyway, I ended up getting a bunch of the figures for my birthday that year, and the Wolf Man was one of them.  He was always my favorite of the bunch, so when I got rid of the set, he remained.  The figure’s not anything to write home about; he’s a kind of bland figure based on a flat character from a mediocre movie.