Tag Archives: Kenner

#4061: Parademon

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

PARADEMON

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

“Although the Parademons of Apokolips wear protective armor and can fly, their true strength is in their numbers.  There are literally thousands of them, and, the acting together, they can overcome even the most powerful heroes.”

After the first year was really focused in on the heavy hitters, in terms of both heroes and their antagonists, subsequent years of Kenner’s Super Powers run would dial in a bit more on the weirder side of DC.  Jack Kirby was brought in to do some work on the line, and a focus was placed on his creations the New Gods, who would serve as a notable backbone for the antagonistic side of the line.  It also gave us I believe our earliest instance of an army builder in a super hero line, in the form of the Parademon!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Parademon was released in the second series of Super Powers, as one of the six Fourth World figures added to the line-up that year.  The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and it has 7 points of articulation.  Most of the Fourth World characters got some degree of redesign for the line (only Darkseid and Mr. Miracle kept their originals), and the Parademon is pretty much the most divergent design of the bunch.  Steppenwolf and Mantis both got pretty hefty re-works, but the Parademon winds up sharing no elements with its original comics look.  Perhaps there was a feeling that there was too much green amongst the villains?  Or maybe that the proper Parademon look, with its more ogre-ish features, might not be as kid friendly?  It’s hard to say.  I’m hard-pressed to say this is a bad design, mind you.  It’s actually pretty decent, and feels like a respectable take on a retro-inspired alien design.  It just doesn’t really read as a Parademon.  That said, the sculpt is fun.  It’s more cartoony than the rest of the line, but maintains the same level of detailing and general stylizing, so it doesn’t feel out of place with the rest of them.  The color scheme, heavy on reds and oranges, feels a bit more like Firestorm than anything else from the line, but it’s generally unique, and certainly stands out on the shelf.  The Parademon was packed with a yellow blaster pistol, which is easily lost (especially since the hands don’t really grip it all that tightly), so there’s reproductions available.  The Parademon also featured a wing-flapping action feature, triggered by squeezing the legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I purchased the Parademon for myself, more than two decades ago.  I’d gotten $20 to Cosmic Comix for Christmas, and used $15 of that to buy an Elongated Man, so I had $5 left, and that ended up going towards this guy, mostly because I didn’t have it.  He lacked his accessory, bit in more recent years I’ve “completed” it with a replacement gun from Made Like Old.  It’s a kind of weird figure, in that it’s got pretty much no connection to the comics, but it’s certainly not a bad toy, and it’s memorable for it’s sort of out there nature.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0077: Clone Emperor Palpatine

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

CLONE EMPEROR PALPATINE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

*Sigh* …Somehow Palpatine returned…

Hey, so, you guys remember when I reviewed the Millennium Minted Coin Emperor Palpatine and I remarked that reviewing him meant I wouldn’t have to talk about Palpatine again? Well, there’s an addendum.  So…you know…gotta talk about Palpatine again.  Here we go.  Talking about Palpatine again.

“Six years after the destruction of the second Death Star, the galaxy is thrust into turmoil. A reborn evil threatens to enslave the galaxy, and the Republic’s closest friend – Luke Skywalker – may become their greatest enemy. With the power to transfer his consciousness to genetic clones, a younger, stronger Emperor Palpatine is perilously close to gaining total control of the galaxy forever.”

Following the conclusion of the original Star Wars movies, there was no immediate follow up planned. The prequels were still just a concept, and the sequel trilogy wasn’t even a glimmer in Kathleen Kennedy’s eye. The next best thing was the Expanded Universe, which fans latched onto pretty quickly. In the ’90s, in the midst of their re-launched toy line, Kenner created an EU-centered sub-line. Amongst that line were two figures based on the “Dark Empire” story, which included today’s figure, Clone Emperor Palpatine.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Emperor Palpatine was released in Kenner’s one series Star Wars: Expanded Universe line in 1998. As noted in the intro, this figure hails from “Dark Empire,” a story which sees Palpatine brought back in a series of cloned bodies. Without the name on the package to go by, you could be forgiven for not recognizing this as Palpatine, since he’s noticeably less wrinkly than he usually is. The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall (the EU figures were a little smaller) and he has 7 points of articulation. Where’s that extra point coming from you ask? Why, from his left wrist. And why just the left wrist? Because it’s actually just a side effect of making the left hand removable. It was actually pretty common around this period of Kenner’s Star Wars figures, before they realized they could do more with that joint than just detachable limbs. Now, you may have noticed my Emperor has no left hand. I lost it. Silly me. Palpatine’s sculpt was unique to him. It showed Kenner’s trend towards much less exaggerated stylings, and honestly feels more like a vintage figure than a lot of his compatriots. His robe is a separate, removable piece, which goes on and off pretty easily, and is a pretty solid sculpt to boot. The paint work on this guy is about on par with the rest of Kenner’s offerings around the time. It’s all cleanly applied, and the details are fairly sharp. It’s not terribly exciting, but there it is. Palpatine was packed with a light saber–blue, so as to leave everyone all confused and shocked. There was also this cool 3D fold-out playset thing with all of these figures. I really wish I still had that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I can’t tell you exactly why I got this guy. I got him from the Farpoint dealer’s room, back when he was new. He shortly followed my acquisition of Luke from the same series. I think I just wanted someone to go with him.

Right, so there were *four* figures based on Dark Empire, past Ethan.  Get your facts straight!  This was a late 2017 review, so I was writing it in the lead-up to Last Jedi.  It’s funny, of course, because I had no idea at the time that they’d actually be using the Clone Emperor angle in Rise, thereby giving some more relevance.  Apart from the issue of how many Dark Empire figures there were, I do have some other notes about my review.  Mainly, though I say I can’t recall *why* I bought Palpatine, I actually can; I’d gotten Luke from the Farpoint dealers room, and was dismayed that he had a red lightsaber, which felt wrong.  Since this guy had a blue one, my Grandmother let me get him to swap the two.  This figure would also mark my only figure of Palpatine until I was an adult, because, as noted, I find the character kind of meh.  When I reviewed the figure, he was missing a hand, his lightsaber, and his fold-out backdrop.  I’ve since managed to replace all three, making him a much nicer all around offering.  There’s just no denying the coolness of those backdrops.  And there.  I did it.  I wrote about Palpatine.  And now I don’t have to do it again.

#4059: STAP & Battle Droid

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

STAP & BATTLE DROID

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“The STAP is a small, one-pilot, repulsorlift vehicle outfitted with two laser cannons. It is extremely maneuvarable, making perfect for patrol, reconnaissance and battle. STAPs are operated by battle droids who function as the infantry of the Trade Federation army.”

In 1998, the world anticipated the first film in the long-anticipated Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Kenner (or rather Hasbro, who owned Kenner and were preparing to move operations in house and dissolve the Kenner brand), then quite deep into Power of the Force II, a decidedly OT-based line, was working on a dedicated line of figures for this as of yet unnamed Star Wars: Episode I, but before getting there, they injected a little bit of product into the currently running line.  In what became a standard practice for the Prequel era, a small selection of “Sneak Preview” items were dropped in advance, in order to help drum up interest.  For Episode I, the focus at retail was on a single item, a small vehicle and pack-in figure in the form of the STAP and Battle Droid, which I’m taking a look at today!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

The STAP and Battle Droid were a standalone “Sneak Preview” release from Kenner’s Star Wars: Power of the Force II.  The set was dropped with a decent amount of fanfare (including an honest to god TV commercial) in 1998.  It’s a uniquely sized item for the line, not really occupying the same footprint as other small vehicle and rider set-ups from PotF.  It was definitely built more for display in package, which does me zero good, since I totally ripped that sucker open!

The Single Trooper Aerial Platform, or STAP, was a pretty solid choice for the first official prequel offering, since they remained a recurring element pretty much all the way through the end of Clone Wars.  This one was obviously an all-new mold at the time, but would see quite a bit of re-use over the years, again, up through Clone Wars.  It’s not hard to see why; it’s pretty accurate to the source material, fairly sturdy, and even has a pretty cool flight stand.  There’s a feature where the missiles launch when you push up on the foot plate, which is gimmicky, but still pretty fun.  The color work is pretty respectable, matching the movie’s tones pretty closely, and also offering up a nice amount of accenting, wear, and texturing.

Our first trooper from the new movies was the Battle Droid.  We got a whole lot of them over the years, but this one was the first, and he was designed specifically with the STAP in mind.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Since he was specifically designed to pilot, that means he actually gets working knee and elbow joints, which are surprisingly uncommon for small scale Battle Droids, given how easily they work into the design.  That said, he’s really not designed for standing on his own; his ankles are tilted back, and his toes are pointed inward, which makes him a bit precarious.  Also, his shoulder and elbow joints are very loose, in order to not hinder the action features on the STAP, so he just sort of flings them about when he’s not on the vehicle.  It’s kinda goofy.  He’s just a basic Battle Droid, with no command markings.  He’s got some shading, as well as a little bit of “wear,” and looks pretty much like all the other Droids from the movie, which is hardly a bad thing.  As essentially an accessory to the vehicle, he works well to do what he needs to.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t recall *exactly* when I got this one, largely because it’s an exceedingly common piece.  A lot of speculators bought it, and pretty much no one opened it, so it’s everywhere.  It got traded in at work, like, a lot, so I had my pick of offerings.  One of the times it came in, I decided that was specifically the time, and thus, one came home with me.  You know, and then it sat, sealed, on my shelf, for a few years.  Yeah.  Look, I finally got to it, and that’s the most important thing, right?  Right.  I do like this set.  It’s basic and there’s some definite gimmicks, but I think it did a good job of selling hype for the movie, and it’s a pretty nice little piece.  If you want a neat little Battle Droid toy, you can’t really go wrong with this one.  And, thus, for the last time, I feel like I put off opening a Power of the Force figure for longer than I should have, because, at their heart, they really were pretty fun, right?

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#4057: Green Arrow

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

GREEN ARROW

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

“Green Arrow uses an arsenal of ingenious trick arrows in his war against crime.  These weapons, combined with his keen eyes and steady hands, make him feared by criminals everywhere.”

A lot of Kenner’s inspiration for their Super Powers line was drawn from Super Friends, understandable, given the show was the defining take on most of the characters for a lot of people at the time.  They ultimately went deeper on the Justice League line-up than the show ever did, but even some of their deeper cuts, like Green Arrow, who had a guest appearance in the show, were still banking on that tie-in.  Though not as big a name as others (at the time; he’s certainly a lot more mainstream now), Green Arrow had a tendency to be one of the nicer figures of any line he occupied.  Was this one an exception?  Let’s find out.  Okay, no, I won’t string you along, that’s just cruel.  He’s not an exception; he’s very nice. Let’s get into the specifics.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Green Arrow was released in the second series of Kenner’s Super Powers line, one of four new JLA members added that year.  All of them built on the Satellite era line-up, which was still fairly current at the time.  This was Arrow’s second time as an action figure, following up on his debut during Mego’s run.  Both figures used his second, far more distinctive look, which is really a classic.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s got pretty much the standard articulation for the line, with the standard set-up, and the frequent “squeeze the legs” gimmick, which in this figure’s case is a “Power Action Archery Pull”, raising his arms up as if he’s taking aim with his bow.  His sculpt is on par with the quality of the rest of the line, which is to say it’s very good.  Proportions are generally well-balanced, and there’s plenty of costume details to keep things interesting.  Things like the little “G” buckle and the wrinkles in his boots are very cool, and give the whole thing quite a nice flair.  Everything below the neck on this guy was later re-used (with some light re-tooling to remove the knee joints) for Kenner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves tie-in line’s take on the original emerald archer, albeit with a rather ill-sized Kevin Costner head shoved on the neck joint.  But, at the time, it was all unique to Ollie, and it looked really good.  He’s got a bit of pre-posing on the arms, to better work with a bow and arrow set-up.  The figure’s paint is pretty solid; there’s three whole shades of green, which gives him some decent variety.  Application is basic but clean, and he really does look the part.  Green Arrow was packed with his bow and three arrows, which are very nice pieces, but also very, very easily lost, which is why mine has a set of reproductions.  The bow is held securely in his left hand, and the arrows can either go in his quiver, or one of them clips to the bow, to aid in this “Archery Pull” gimmick.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I was a kid, I got at least one Super Powers figure each year for Christmas.  This guy is one of the very few I specifically requested.  The year prior I’d gotten Green Lantern, and I really wanted to have this guy to go with him.  In order to make sure I got him, my dad actually bought me a rather sizable lot of Super Powers, which included my Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Superman as well, and accessories for a few others I already had.  Green Arrow was certainly the star, even without his accessories.  As with Aquaman, I recently “completed” him with a set of repro parts from Made Like Old, though he thankfully didn’t need the extensive paint work that Aquaman did.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0076: Luke Skywalker – Dark Empire

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

LUKE SKYWALKER — DARK EMPIRE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Heeeeeeeey, it’s Friday again!  Right now, I’m all about keeping the Star Wars thing rolling, so let’s have a little more of that!  Let’s delve back into the now defunct Star Wars Expanded Universe with a follow-up look at Dark Empire Luke!

 “Six years after the destruction of the second Death Star, the galaxy is thrust into turmoil. A reborn evil threatens to enslave the galaxy, and the Republic’s closest friend – Luke Skywalker – may become their greatest enemy. Freed from their detention cell, a group of rebels begin their escape from the Imperial planet Byss. But the sudden appearance of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, could mean unfortunate news for the Rebels. Has Luke fallen under the spell of the dark side?”

Remember two weeks ago when I was talking about the Star Wars Expanded Universe? Well, hows about a little more of that? Yeah, let’s go with that. It’s another Dark Empire figure! Wooooo! This time, it’s Luke Skywalker, in his ‘90s anti-hero phase. Let’s have a look!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dark Empire Luke Skywalker was another of the four Dark Empire figures in the one and only series of Kenner’s Star Wars: Expanded Universe line. The figure stands about 3 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation. Like the Clone Emperor, the seventh point of articulation is on his wrist (though this time it was the right one), which was more to allow for the removal of Luke’s hand…which is why my figure is missing his right hand. Luke had a totally unique sculpt, based on his bad-boy look from the Dark Empire comics. It’s sort of goofy and definitely dated, but I can’t help but find it endearing. By this point in time, Kenner had lost the bulky, puffy look of their early ‘90s Star Wars figures, so this guy doesn’t look anywhere near as goofy, at least proportion-wise. The head was a new mold, showcasing Luke’s extra bouncy hair from Dark Empire, but it has the same facial construction as Kenner’s second-generation PotF2 Luke heads, which had a slightly better Hamill likeness. It’s a little strange that he’s ended up looking so much younger, but I don’t think it looks terrible at all. Luke’s paint is pretty solid overall. I think it’s a bit more pleasing to the eye than the Clone Emperor, and the application is generally pretty clean. Luke included a lightsaber—red to denote his flirting with the Dark Side during the events of Dark Empire—as well as a blaster pistol. He also included another of the fold-out 3D display stand things, which was pretty cool. Reeeeeaaaaally wish I still had one of those.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I think this was the first instance of me eagerly awaiting the release of a Star Wars figure. I was at the local Another Universe at the mall with my Dad, and I saw this guy on the cover of a Star Wars fan magazine, which had the details on the whole Expanded Universe assortment. My Dad was nice enough to buy the magazine for me, and I remember dragging that thing all over the place while I eagerly awaited this figure’s release. As I mentioned in the Clone Emperor review, I found this guy in the Farpoint dealer’s room the year he was released, and he was purchased for me by my Grandmother. He’s a pretty awesome figure, and still remains one of my favorites.

This has always been one of my favorite Power of the Force figures, and I think my original review conveys that pretty well, as well as showing just how well-loved he was, given his *many* missing parts.  He actually spent a lot of his time with a stand-in right hand, stolen from a spare Saga Clone Trooper I had, which didn’t really fit or match, but it made me feel better.  I actually purchased a whole replacement Luke back when I got most of the other Expanded Universe figures, so I had a complete one there, but, then, over the course of a couple of years, the original hand and lightsaber from my old figure turned back up, which made me quite happy.  Buying the replacement still gave me a chance to get his 3D fold-out back-drop again, though, and I do really, really love those.  I did *unfortunately* misplace the replacement blaster I picked up, so I may have to do another lead-in photo at some point.  For now, though, I’m happy my favorite PotF figure has all his essential parts again.

#4053: The Joker

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

THE JOKER

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

Last week, I dove back into the world of Kenner’s Super Powers, and I’m keeping that whole business going this week.  In prep for this review, I discovered that I haven’t reviewed a Joker figure since 2021, which does seem kind of crazy, given he’s a rather prominent character.  Honestly, I chalk it up to my general feeling that he’s become a bit overplayed, but I digress. Curiously, despite Todd’s focus on the Batman side of things, Joker was a notable omission from the McFarlane revival of Super Powers, so we have to go back to the vintage Kenner days for him.  Let’s take a look at him now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Joker was released as part of the first series of Kenner’s Super Powers line in 1984.  He was one of two different Bat-Rogues included in the line-up, pairing off with Penguin.  This was Joker’s third figure after his Mego World’s Greatest Super Heroes and Comic Action Heroes figures from the ‘70s.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Joker has the line’s standard articulation set-up, which works well enough for him.  His sculpt was totally unique at the time (though it would be retooled for Kenner’s World of Batman line for a Nicholson-inspired Joker in 1991), and like the rest of the line, it’s based on his Style Guide entry.  It’s a nice, polished classic Joker design.  He’s notably a lot skinnier than the other figures in the line, in keeping with his usual depictions, as well as nicely distinguishing him from the others. The suit’s well-defined, with lots of folds and texturings, and even etched-in lines for the pin-stripes on his pants.  The paint work is rather basic, but covers the basics.  It matches his usual depictions at the time, though it’s maybe a bit washed out compared to the other figures in the line.  Joker is packed with a large green mallet, which is hollow on one side, and can fit over his head to look like a larger version of his face?  Because, that’s a thing?  It’s weird, but also somewhat endearing.  I do kind of dig it, in an odd way.  His action feature is when your squeeze his legs, his right arm swings down, so as to smash things with his hammer.  

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly don’t really recall much about getting this guy.  He was one that just was sort of added to my collection in the shuffle.  I wanna say I got him at the same time as Penguin, at a Comic Con?  He had neither his accessory, nor his coat tails.  I got the mallet first, with a larger lot that also netted me Penguin’s coat tails, and a Batmobile.  The coat tails were actually really recent, only in the last couple of years.  Nothing about getting this guy is particularly notable, and, if I’m honest, after so many Joker figures, it’s hard to find anything notable about this guy in general.  But, he’s certainly not a bad figure.

Friday Figure Addendum #0075: Aquaman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

AQUAMAN

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

When is a Friday Figure Addendum not a Flashback? When it’s for a review I only ran three days ago.  I mean, I guess that’s still a flashback.  Right?  But it doesn’t feel like it, and I’m writing this literally right after the proper review, so I’m just gonna drop the “Flashback” for this one.  So, let’s talk a little more about Aquaman!

In Tuesday’s review, I discussed my Super Powers Aquaman, who was a rather cheap addition to my collection, which came to me in rather rough shape.  Further more, I was seven when I got it, so it only got more played with from there.  For the fullest extent of what I’m talking about, here’s what my Aquaman looked like in March of this year:

As you can see, he took quite a beating.   Since my Super Powers are something I’m rather proud of, with a pretty prominent display spot, I wanted him to be a bit better.  I used to do a fair bit of customizing, and even some restoring from time to time, so I decided to break those skills out again, and get this guy back up to his fullest potential.  I think I did pretty well, and I’m very happy with the end result.  And, I threw in a repro trident courtesy of Made Like Old, so he feels all polished and complete.  For a beater figure I bought for $2.50 almost three decades ago, I think he’s doing pretty well!

#4051: Tattooine with Luke Skywalker

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

TATTOOINE with LUKE SKYWALKER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Far from the center of the galaxy lies the twin-sunned, desert planet Tatooine, homeworld of Rebel Alliance hero Luke Skywalker. Geographically, the rocky Jundland Wastes span a vast area of the planet and include sights such as the Dune Sea and craggy Beggar’s Canyon, where the young Skywalker maneuvered his T-16 skyhopper.  Tatooine’s native lifeforms include the peaceful, droid-scavenging Jawas; the nomadic and aggressive Tusken Raiders; and various creatures including womp rats, banthas, and the enormous krayt dragon.  One of Tatooine’s most menacing lifeforms lies hidden within the Great pit of Carkoon, in the heart of the Western Dune Sea. The Sarlacc is an omnivorous beast that anchors itself at the bottom of the pit, using its tentacles to trap unfortunate prey and digest them over the span of a thousand years.

Tatooine’s remote location makes it an ideal refuge for some of the galaxy’s most notorious criminals, mercenaries and bounty hunters. The most infamous of this questionable population, crime lord Jabba the Hutt, keeps residence in his palace here, presiding over his far-reaching operations from within its fortress-like walls.”

As I make my way through my last handful of Power of the Force reviews, I’m finishing off a lot of the various sub-lines and sets.  Last week, I wrapped up the creature sets, and before that I did the whole run of Millennium Minted Coins, and before that the vehicle pack-ins, and before that the singles.  Today, I close out the last of the sub-sets, Complete Galaxy, part of Kenner’s great experiment in “how much crap can we get people to buy for a pack-in figure?”  The answer was, apparently, not a weird globe thing, because the line wasn’t really much of a success, but there were four of them, and I reviewed three of those, so, here’s the last one!

THE TOYS THEMSELVES

Tattooine with Luke Skywalker is the final of the four “Complete Galaxy” sets added to Star Wars: Power of the Force II in 1998.  This set’s based on Return of the Jedi, specifically the sequence on the skiff above the Sarlacc pit.  We get the globe thing that all the sets have, this time based on Tattooine.  They do their best to make the exterior more than just a tan ball, with some variations and the labelled spots on the map like the other three.  It sits a bit better on the base than the Endor set, but not quite as securely as the other two.  The interior gives us a section of the Pit of Carkoon scene, with part of the the skiff, with the plank extended, and the Sarlacc visible on the lower section.  The Sarlacc even gets articulation and everything, which is honestly really cool.  It’s not as ambitious as the Endor set, but that gives it a more easily attainable mark, and that makes it ultimately more successful.

This set’s included Luke Skywalker is one of three nearly identical figures from around the same time, all based on his vested Jedi look from the beginning of the movie.  They’re all different enough to be different, but not much beyond that.  The figure is about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation, with the standard 6 points for the line, plus a swivel on the right wrist.  There’s a lot of parts sharing between the various Jedi Lukes, and the only truly unique pieces to this one are the legs.  Ultimately, I think this is probably my favorite assembly of all the Jedi Lukes, so I’m a fan.  The paint work is pretty much on par with the other variations of this design.  The only notably different thing is that the hair’s a bit darker than the other releases.  It’s not a major shift, but you can see it.  Luke includes his Jedi green lightsaber, which he can hold in either of his hands, but not both.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had this set on my watchlist for a while, and was honestly kind of waiting for one to land in front of me, but it never did, and suddenly it was one of the last pieces I needed from the line, so I just finally jumped on one from eBay.  The Complete Galaxy sets have been kind of middling at best, and I’ve messed with the very similar Luke figures, so I wasn’t exactly expecting much.  That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  Though the changes to Luke are minor, I think they overall work a bit better.  The Tattooine set is honestly he coolest of the four globes, working a bit more effectively, and giving us the Sarlacc, which feels like it justifies the set’s existence a bit more.

#4049: Aquaman

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

AQUAMAN

SUPER POWERS (KENNER)

“Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas, can remain underwater indefinitely, can swim tremendous distances, and can communicate telepathically with sea creatures and have them obey him.”

Hey, it’s Super Powers!  I haven’t talked about Super Powers since January, after a whopping 25 Super Powers reviews last year.  I blame Todd McFarlane.  I mean, for, like, a lot of things, but in this case, he’s responsible for the upswing and then downswing in new Super Powers figures after a 40 year break, which gave me a bunch more to review.  I’ve decided to finally get myself together and take a look at the remaining unreviewed Kenner Super Powers in my collection, so, you know, here’s that.  We’re starting off with Aquaman, swift and powerful monarch of the seas!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Aquaman was released in the first series of Kenner’s Super Powers in 1984.  He was no stranger to the toy world at this point, with multiple figures from Mego, and even a Captain Action set from Ideal.  As one of the heroes to receive his own Filmation cartoon, as well as maintain a presence for the whole run of Super Friends, Aquaman’s a pretty logical pick, especially for this era.  Perhaps the most curious thing was that, for all his prominent placement early in the run, he never got any of his own antagonists in the line (McFarlane did at least give us a Black Manta).  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  His movement is standard for the line, with the caveat that, unlike most of the line, his action feature is in his legs, triggered by squeezing his arms, rather than the usual reverse.  It’s worth noting that Flash, also in the first series, had the same set-up, though.  It makes him slightly less stable on his feet, but ultimately, it’s not a major shift.  Aquaman’s sculpt was unique to him, and certainly up to the line’s high standard.  He’s clearly working closely towards that Jose Garcia-Lopez style guide look, even moreso than some of the others in the line.  There’s a ton of work going into the texturing, especially on the scaled shirt.  The head is also quite a spot-on Aquaman, in a way that I think a lot of later figures would miss; he feels like the same general character seen in Super Friends, but also doesn’t look quite as silly.  There’s a slight goofy charm still there, though, and you do love to see it.  I particularly love that swoop to how his hair falls, which just feels very natural and expressive.  His posing is more understated for this line, which tended to at least somewhat bend the arms.  Since he was meant for swimming, though, Aquaman’s got straighter arms, and a particularly well sculpted flat hand on the left side.  Aquaman’s color work matches well with his classic design, covering all the basics, but not getting too crazy.  Aquaman was packed with a trident (Tim would note that it’s technically got five points, though, so it’s really a “quintdent”), which is quite prone to both loss and breakage, but there are thankfully a lot of pretty decent reproductions out there, if one were so inclined.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Aquaman is, I think, my second Super Powers figure.  He was purchased during one of many trips to Ageless Heroes, a comic shop that closed down at the end of the ‘90s, and liquidated all of its inventory.  He was behind the counter, tied to a backer board, and wound up being, like, $2.50?  It was a very low price.  Admittedly, he was in very rough shape, and remained that way for my entire childhood.  At the time, it was pretty much the only way I was getting a classic Aquaman, though, and I wasn’t much for the hook-handed look, so I was pretty thrilled.  Over the years, I’ve contemplated getting a replacement in better condition, but more recently I decided to give my original some TLC, and get him a bit closer to his former glory.  I love every Super Powers figure, but Aquaman is certainly one of the nicest, in a decidedly understated sort of way, that I can really dig.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0074: Speeder Bike (w/ Luke Skywalker in Endor Gear)

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , , ,

SPEEDER BIKE (W/ LUKE SKYWALKER IN ENDOR GEAR)

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Well, it’s Friday again, guys.  We made it.  It’s here, and the week is over.  Yay?  Yeah, let’s go with yay.  And what am I doing?  I’m talking about Star Wars.  It’s what I do in times of trouble.  Or just times, really.  Kind of a background noise.  Anyway, here’s a return look at Luke Skywalker and a Speeder Bike!

A couple of weeks ago, I took a look at the first of three versions of the Imperial Speeder Bike released by Kenner in their Power of the Force II line. The vehicle’s mold was first introduced in the vintage Return of the Jedi line, and was then re-packaged in the ’90s, with one of three different pilots. I’ve already looked at the one with Leia. Today, I look at her brother Luke, alongside his own Speeder.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The speeder bikes in these sets were all identical, meaning this one is exactly the same as the one I looked at alongside Leia two weeks ago. I liked it then, and I still like it now. I imagine I’ll still like it when I get around to the third variant of this set.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Like the Leia figure included with the last one, this one has an Endor variant of Luke Skywalker. Luke spends a little bit less of his time in this gear, but it’s still a fairly distinctive appearance for the character. Like Leia, it had previously appeared in the vintage line, but this was the first we saw of it in this re-launch. It would also be our only Endor Luke for a little while, as figures of him from Jedi tended to go for his, well, Jedi appearance. As such, this figure’s sculpt would remain completely unique to him. He stands 3 3/4 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. Check out those sweet knee joints! That was a pretty huge deal. Luke’s head is rather similar to the Endor Rebel trooper, not only with the same helmet, but also a rather similar facial structure. This Luke’s sculpt was notable for not including his outer vest; he was not the only version of Luke to omit it in this line, but he was the first one. Like his sister, Luke has a removable rubber poncho piece. This one’s not quite as nice. It isn’t very well fitted to the figure, making him look really pudgy. It also lacks the nice, subtle paintwork, meaning it’s just a lot of unpainted tan plastic. This guy was packed with a variant of the green lightsaber included with the basic RotJ Luke, though this one was wider than that one so that his slightly enlarged grip can still hold it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I only had one Speeder Bike, and it was this one. I was definitely a Luke kid, so I needed to have another version of him, and the Endor one was one of my favorites. That being said, I remember the actual figure didn’t get a ton of use; instead he was robbed of his poncho and speeder, which I gave to my standard Jedi Luke. Looking back at this figure, I kind of remember why that was the case. He’s not a bad figure, but he’s not as strong a figure as the Leia. 

Luke and Speeder Bike were my middle review of the three Speeder Bikes, but, as noted in the review, the first of them added to my collection, and the only one I had from the actual run of the line.  I think my review hits pretty much all of the salient points.  I don’t think it’s ultimately as strong a set as the one with Leia, but it’s still a solid little offering.  The only thing I was missing at the time was his oddly fat lightsaber, which I have since replaced.  It’s still real weird looking, but there it is.