Tag Archives: Kenner

#0087: The Alien

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

ALIEN

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 9 of my post-Christmas Review, and it’s my final review of the Alien ReAction line by Funko.  If you haven’t read my previous reviews of the line and you want a little bit of backstory, go here to my review of Ripley.

I’ve saved the best for last, with this one.  Today, I’ll be looking at the title character, the Big Chap, The Alien himself.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien is, of course, part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  The Alien only really has the one look once it’s fully grown, and that’s the look depicted here.  The Alien stands closer to 4 inches, making him a bit taller than the rest of the figures in the line, and he’s got 6 points of articulation.   While it’s fairly obviously still a sculpt from the late 70s, it’s a pretty good one.  I’d say that the alien is probably on par with Kane sculpt-wise.  The details look to correspond pretty well to the design of the creature from the movie.  The clear head dome is removable, which allows you to see the head underneath and also allows you to operate the Alien’s inner mouth.  The inner mouth works nice and smoothly, when you push down the lever-thing.  There’s not much paint to speak of on the Alien.  His teeth are painted silver, and there’s a bit of paint denoting a few of the ridges underneath of the dome.   All of the paintwork is clean, with no real slop.  The alien has no accessories, but given that it’s a larger and more complex figure than the others, that’s perfectly alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like all the others in the first wave, this bad boy was a gift from my superbly amazingly supportive parents.  He’s probably the best figure in the series, which is good, because he’s probably the most important.

All in all, this was a really cool line of figures.  I’d really like to see Funko tackle another series.  It’d be really cool to get Parker, Lambert and Brett so we can finally have the whole crew.  And would it be too much to ask for a set of ALIENS figures to go with them?

#0086: Ash

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

ASH

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 8 of my post-Christmas review, and I’m continuing my reviews of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  If this is the first of the ReAction reviews you’ve read, go here to check out my review of Ripley, which explains the background of the line.  Today, I’m looking at the Nostromo’s science officer Ash.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ash here was a part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  Ash has two looks over the course of the film, but they’ve depicted him here in the more formal uniform he wears for the majority of his time in the film.  Ash stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Ash’s sculpt is pretty on par with the rest of the line.  It’s not bad, just simplistic, which isn’t much of a surprise, given when the figure was sculpted.  All the important details are present, but he can seem a bit bland at times.  The likeness on the head sculpt is iffy at best, but it bears a passing resemblance to Ian Holm, which is about as much as you can ask of a figure of the time.  As with the rest of the wave, Ash features a rather simplistic paint scheme.  It’s all pretty well done, and looks pretty good.  I do have one complaint, though.  They’ve painted Ash’s hair black, while Ian Holm looked to have grey hair in the film.  The black hair was also present on Kenner’s prototype, so perhaps that’s what the studio wanted.  Ash also includes the motion detector that he builds to track the film’s alien.  Like with the flamethrower, it seems a bit on the small side, but it fits the style of the line, so that’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the rest of the series, I received Ash as a (slightly late) Christmas gift from way-too-supportive-of-my-crazy-habits parents.  Ash probably takes second to last place as far as my line-up of the wave goes, but that’s not a bad thing.  He just suffers from a slightly blander design than, say, the Alien or Kane in his space suit.  Like Dallas, Ash adds a lot to the wave as a whole, and I’m sure will go over well with fans of the film.

#0085: Kane

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KANE

ALIEN REACTION

For Day 7 of my post-Christmas Review, I’ll be taking a look at another figure from the first wave of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  For the details of how this line came to be, go ahead and read up about it in my review of Ripley.

Today, I’ll be looking at the Alien’s first true victim, Kane.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane was part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction series.  Kane has a few looks over the course of the film, but they decided to depict him in his space suit from the scenes where the crew explores the planet.  It’s probably the best choice for a character like Kane, as most of his key scenes occur on the planet surface.  Kane stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Kane probably has the best sculpt in the line, and it’s a pretty good sculpt even by today’s standards.  The suit has texturing on pretty much every surface of the figure, which is certainly impressive.  While the facial likeness isn’t anything amazing, I was actually surprised by how much of John Hurt I could see in it, which is really neat.  The paint is once again on the simple side, but it does its job, and looks appropriate to what the figure’s going for.  Kane’s only real accessory is his removable helmet, which is really cool.  It clicks on well and stays in place without much issue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Ripley and Dallas, Kane was a gift from my super awesome parents.  He’s definitely a top contender for best in the wave, and he’s just a lot of fun in general.  I’m hopeful that Funko decides to continue the line so that we can get Lambert and Dallas in their accompanying space suits.  I feel like Kane’s a figure that you could enjoy even if you aren’t a big fan of the style.

#0084: Dallas

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

CAPTAIN DALLAS

ALIEN REACTION

Day 6 of my post-Christmas Review!  Continuing the theme from yesterday, it’s the next figure from the first wave of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  For the full story on how the line came to be, check out my review of Ripley.

Today’s figure is the Nostromo’s  ill-fated captain, Dallas.  Let’s see what that’s about!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dallas was released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  He’s depicted in his jacketed look he sports for a fair bit of the film.  He stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Like with Ripley, he doesn’t have a super detailed sculpt, but since it’s a sculpt from 1979, that’s okay.  Of all the sculpts in the line, I feel that Dallas’s is the most dated looking.  The details are all very smooth, and the likeness really isn’t there.  Out of context, people would probably have a difficult time saying who he was.  That’s not to say the sculpt doesn’t have its merits.  The texturing on his jacket looks really good, and is more intricate than I would have expected from a figure of the time.  The paint is once again on the simplistic side, but it’s not badly done.  He has lettering on the back of his coat, which reads “NOSTROMO.”  It’s a really nice touch, and could have been overlooked, so I really appreciate it.  Lastly, Dallas includes the same flamethrower that came with Ripley.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Ripley and the rest of the wave, Dallas was a gift from my incredibly awesome parents.  He’s probably my least favorite in the set, but that’s not a bad thing.  I just like him less than some of the cooler figures.  Still, he looks great with the rest of the set, and he’s a cool figure if you’re a fan of the movie or of figures in this style.

#0083: Ripley

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

RIPLEY

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 5 of the post-Christmas Review, where I cover the figures I received during the past holiday season.  I’ve looked at one figure from the world of ALIEN before, but for Christmas I received a full set of Funko’s new Alien ReAction line.

The story behind this line is that back in 1979, when ALIEN was released, Kenner acquired the license to produce a line of figures similar to their Star Wars line.  They only released two items, a board game and a large scale version of the Alien from the film.  The Alien was pulled from shelves when it began scaring children, and when that happened, Kenner thought better of their plan to make toys from an R-rated horror film and scrapped their planned 3 ¾ inch line.  The prototypes had been shown and were well known in the toy community as one of the holy grails of unproduced figures.

Flash forward 35 years.  A small company by the name of Super 7 acquired the original prototypes and the license to make them and began taking orders for a fairly small run of the figures.  A few months later, there was a significant amount of buzz surrounding them, and it looked like they might become a very difficult to get item.  But all was well!  Longtime toymaker Funko swooped in to save the day, and partnered with Super 7 to get the figures a wide release!

So, after 35 years of waiting, the first wave of ALIEN Figures has been released.  Today, I’ll be looking at the film’s heroine, Ripley.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So, Ripley was obviously released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  Ripley had a few looks in the movie, but she’s shown here in her jumpsuit that she wears for the majority of the film.  She stands about 3 ¾ inches even and she has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t super detailed, but given that it was actually sculpted in ’79, I’m gonna cut it some serious slack.  It’s not bad for the time period, though it’s difficult to see much of Sigourney Weaver in the face.  The jumpsuit looks about right for what she wore, although it doesn’t have some of the finer details that the one in the movie did.  The paint is also on the simple side, but it’s to be expected.  All of the lines are clean, and there’s no real slop to speak of, so it’s well applied.  Quite frankly, anything more detailed would look strange on this sculpt.  Ripley also includes the flamethrower she carries at the end of the film.  It’s a little bit undersized, but that once again fits the aesthetic that the figure is attempting to capture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ripley, along with the rest of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line, was a gift from my awesome parents.  They missed being here in time for Christmas, but they arrived shortly after, and they were certainly worth the wait.

This isn’t a figure that’s going to appeal to everyone.  You’ve definitely got to have a love of the style of figure that this represents.  But, it’s a perfect style for figures from this movie, in my opinion.  It captures the feel of the time period perfectly.  Ripley may not be a perfect representation of Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal, but it’s definitely a fun little figure!

#0052: Leia Organa – Hoth

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

LEIA ORGANA (HOTH)

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (KENNER)

My last bunch of reviews has veered towards things released fairly recently, but today, I’ll be jumping back to 1980, for a look at a figure from Kenner’s The Empire Strikes Back toy line.  The figure is of main character Princess Leia Organa in one of her looks from the film.  Let’s have a look!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Leia was released as part of the initial assortment for Kenner’s Empire Strikes Back line which coincided with the movie in 1980.  There were two Leias released, but I’ll be looking at the one that depicts her in her cold weather look from the ice planet Hoth.   The figure stands just shy of 3 ¾ inches tall, and has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is actually pretty detailed for a figure of this scale and time-period, with all the padding and such being handled quite realistically.  The head doesn’t have much of a Carrie Fisher likeness, but it’s in line with what most of the rest of the line looked like.  The paint was fairly basic, I assume, although, as you can see, mine has seen better days.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, for those of you rapidly fumbling with math attempting to piece together my age, no I didn’t get this figure when it was initially released.  I wasn’t alive when it was released!

When I was small, my Dad gave me his collection of vintage Star Wars figures.  They were exclusively from the first film, so this Leia wasn’t among them.  But, I got to really liking them, so over the years, I picked up a few others to expand the set.  The ice planet Hoth (I’m pretty sure you always have to say it like that) look has always been my personal favorite look for Leia, so a while back, I found this figure at an antique store, along with a few others.

#0005: Lt Ripley

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LT ELLEN RIPLEY

ALIENS (KENNER)

So, change of pace.  Moving away from the Batman stuff for a bit.  Today we’re looking at a figure from another Kenner line:  Aliens.  This line is nominally based on 1986’s ALIENS, though it was originally meant to be a tie-in line for Operation: Aliens, a scrapped Saturday-morning cartoon adaptation of the film.

Ellen Ripley is the sole survivor of the Nostromo, drafted by the colonial Marines to save a colony that has been attacked by a hive of creatures like the one Ripley faced before.  At least that was what she was in the movie.  I have no idea what her backstory would have been in Operation: Aliens, though if the comics included with each figure are anything to go by,  she was going to be one of the marines.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is a pretty decent representation of Ripley from the movie, though her palate’s been tweaked a bit to make her more colorful.  The figure’s also a bit soft on the details, but that makes sense given it was based on the cartoon design.  The face actually isn’t too bad of a Weaver likeness for the time.  The figure included a pretty cool flamethrower, but I’ve since lost that. [EDIT-But I found it again, and brought it back for her Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!]

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though the figure was released in 92, I didn’t get mine until 2003, when I saw ALIEN for the first time.  I know I had this figure and the accompanying Hicks before seeing ALIENS itself because I sat through my first viewing of the film clutching both of them very tightly.

 

#0004: Night Flight Batman

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NIGHT FLIGHT BATMAN

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

0004a

Today’s review is the last of the Batman Forever reviews.  It’s a third variant of Batman.  This is another brief review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

0004bThis is another Batman from the Batman Forever line.  He’s yet another fairly-typical-but-not-THE-typical-version(let’s go with FTBNTTV for short).  Night Flight Batman probably has the most descriptive name of the many batmen in the line, as his big feature was a giant set of wings(Lost long ago by silly child-Ethan).  There was certainly a fanbase for the pre-face “Night” amongst the Kenner think tank.  I get that he’s Batman and all, but seriously, Night’s a bit unoriginal.  The actual figure is pretty basic.  Note that I didn’t lose the cape on this one,  he never had one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I do actually recall getting this one.  I liked the “basicness” of this one, so my grandmother bought it for me.   He actually didn’t get much playtime as Batman himself.  Instead, he had his face and torso covered in black tape so that I could use him as Black Panther with my Avengers.  Yeah, I was that kid…

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!

#0003: Sonar Sensor Batman

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SONAR SENSOR BATMAN

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

0003a

Continuing the trend of my last two posts, I’m looking at another figure from 1995’s Batman Forever Line.  This guy isn’t quite as significant as the last two, so he’ll be a bit more brief.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

0003bSo, like I said above, Sonar Sensor Batman is another Batman Variant from the Batman Forever line.  This one’s a slightly more conventional Batman, though, like Robin, not THE conventional Batman of the line.  This one’s still got the cape because it’s permanently affixed, which was a good move on Kenner’s part.  And he’s got what appears to be a….nipple gun?  I mean, that’s what it looks like(And this is Scumacher we’re talking about here).  It’s right on his right pectoral, and it’s even got those red dots on it.  When you push the yellow button on his belt, the gun flips down, only emphasizing the nipple gun-ness of it.  And I have no idea what any of this has to do with sonar, or sensing for that matter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Not a whole lot on this one.  I remember having it.  I remember thinking he had a nipple gun as a child.  I actually don’t know where I got this one, so I’m going to assume it was a gift.  Regardless, it didn’t really get much play-time as my go to Batman.

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!

#0002: Hydro Claw Robin

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HYDRO CLAW ROBIN

BATMAN FOREVER (KENNER)

0002a

So, yesterday’s post was about my very first action figure, Batman.  And, because a hero’s no good without his sidekick, here’s my very first figure of his old chum: Robin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

0002bHydro Claw Robin is a Robin variant from the Batman Forever line.  He’s actually a fairly standard looking Robin, though he’s not THE standard looking Robin of the line.  His main feature, now lost to me, was a jetpack with wings, a rebreather, and the eponymous “Hydro Claw.”  It’s really unfortunate that I’ve lost this piece, as I recall that it was really quite cool, but alas, 4 year old me was not very good at keeping track of such things!  Even without the accessory, this is still a pretty stand up version of Robin, even if it is based on the utterly terrible Chris O’Donnell.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure is a good deal less of a mystery than the Night Hunter Batman.  This guy was a gift from my dear Aunt Susan for Christmas 1995.  I had asked for a Robin figure to prevent my caped crusader from being too lonely, and she was more than happy to oblige.  Christmas morning I opened this guy up and joyfully danced around the room for a good 5 minutes, humming the Batman theme song.  I know, that story is so sweet it almost hurts, doesn’t it?

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!