Tag Archives: Marvel

#3776: Captain America – Brave New World

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — BRAVE NEW WORLD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“After carrying the mantle of Captain America for a few years, Sam Wilson must use his intelligence and make new allies to stop a force unlike any he’s seen before.”

Every so often, it’s good to highlight some people that like to punch Nazis.  Because Nazis need some punching.  And who better to lead the charge in Nazi punching than Captain America?  There’s a new Captain America movie coming out next month, and I sure do love Captain America movies (well, most of them; I don’t wanna talk about the 1990 one), so I’m excited.  This one is Sam Wilson’s first time headlining a film in the title role, which I do love as well.  And, there’s new toys.  I especially love that.  Here’s one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is one of the three Deluxe-sized Marvel Legends releases tying into the release of Brave New World.  It’s not a bad approach, and certainly works a bit better than the Build-A-Wing approach of the prior Sam Cap.  This way, he’s a nice one-and-done offering.  At his core, the figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation. He’s got what appears to be an all-new sculpt, based on his new design for the film.  His new costume isn’t ultimately too drastic a departure from the last one when you get down to the sculpted details; a lot of the elements are the same, just recolored in such a way to more closely mimic some of the Steve Cap costume elements.  He does go a little more casual, loosing the “mask” elements that connected to his goggles, and rolling up the sleeves (a change that Carol Danvers also did in her most recent movie; I guess the Captains are all just rolling up their sleeves now).  I feel like he maybe seems a little bit too skinny for Sam, but it might just be me.  It’s got some respectable proportion balancing, though, and the likeness on the head is a very good match for Anthony Mackie.  As with the last figure, he’s also got his wings, which add an additional 8 points of articulation to the figure.  They’re a total rebuild from the last ones, adding an extra segment with an extra joint, as well as being sharper and cleaner.  I honestly thought the old ones were pretty good, but these ones just improve on them and are super awesome.  Sam gets a fair bit of painted detailing, and it all works pretty well.  It’s generally pretty clean on the application front, and the new color scheme is at the very least an obvious departure from the last one.  Sam is packed with two pairs of hands (fists and open), an extra helmeted head, an alternate folded up backpack, Redwing, and his shield.  The helmeted head is nifty, but really hard to get on the body, so I don’t see myself using it much.  Redwing appears to be the same one from the Build-A-Figure release, but has no stand or anything to mount on, so I don’t really know what to do with him.  The shield is the John Walker Cap version of the mold, so it can be mounted on either of the two backpacks, which is certainly an improvement.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These figures snuck up on me.  Admittedly, so did the movie.  I have no real excuse for the second one, because it’s been delayed and all.  It’s on me, you guys.  I haven’t been as up on things.  I didn’t *need* this one, of course, but it’s a new Cap, and I always have a hard time saying no to those.  Ultimately, this one’s pretty darn solid.  Not perfect, but the wings alone make him worth it.

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.

#3768: Quicksilver

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

QUICKSILVER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Along with his twin sister, the Scarlet Witch, the ‘speedster’ Quicksilver joined the Avengers after leaving Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants”

Oh man, more Marvel Legends?  Whaaaaaaaaaaat?  Who could have foreseen such a shocking twist of events?  Okay, so it’s not really a shock.  Well, maybe a minor surprise?  I did run out of new Legends for a moment there at the end of last year.  There are always more on the horizon, but specifically at this moment, I’m back-tracking the slightest bit to grab more of a filler piece.  So, let’s look at Quicksilver, who is of a greener variety than his usual state of being.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quicksilver is a stand-alone Marvel Legends release.  He was a retro carded figure, released exclusively through Walmart at the tail end of last year.  This is our second comic Quicksilver Legend in the modern era of Legends, following up on the blue version from the three pack back in 2019.  He’s seen this time around in his original green costume, which last got the Legends treatment as a variant to Hasbro’s original Quicksilver from back in 2007.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  The construction on this figure is very similar to the last Quicksilver, but with a generally updated flair.  He’s got the upgraded version of the 2099 body, with the pinless elbows and knees, as well as a new head.  At least, I think it’s a new head.  The hair is certainly new, and has regained Pietro’s signature wispy bits at the front.  It also feels a bit less bulbous in comparison to the rest of the body, which is what leads me to think it’s a whole new head.  I certainly like it a lot more than the previous set-up.  The color work on Quicksilver is generally pretty bright and clean.  It’s not a straight palette swap from the blue; the white’s more of an outright white, and they’ve given him the lower collar that was more common to his earlier appearances.  If you want to get finicky, his boots and gloves were more often than not a lighter green with this costume, not white, but that’s really more of a by the artist thing.  Quicksilver gets two pairs of hands, one in fists, the other in open gesture.  The open gesture instead of flat’s an odd choice, and not one I love, but it’s not the end of he world.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure honestly flew under the radar for me until it was already out and people were getting them in-hand.  That was certainly a weird experience, but that’s how it is when you’ve got a lot going on, which is certainly where I am these days.  After hearing about him, I didn’t really go looking, because I’m even less up for the hunt than I used to be.  Thankfully, one landed in front of me without much fuss or trouble, and now I have him.  He’s not a perfect figure, but he’s certainly a much better figure than the blue one, so that works for me.  I wouldn’t mind an updated blue version, though, and I’ll never say no to the Perez costume, either.

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.

#3766: Wolverine

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

WOLVERINE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A broken and shame-fueled Logan reluctantly joins Deadpool’s side to fight for their survival — and a shot at redemption”

I discussed Deadpool & Wolverine very briefly when I reviewed the Legacy release Colossus, but didn’t really get into the whole film proper.  In general, my experience with the Deadpool movies was one that improved as they went along, going from not personally caring for the first film to being thoroughly entertained by the third.  In particular, the return of Hugh Jackman to the role of Wolverine after his departure in Logan was something I really enjoyed, especially since it was accompanied by him finally getting to wear the “yellow spandex” we were teased with 24 years prior.  And now, it’s time for the toys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine is part of the three figure Deadpool & Wolverine tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  He’s one of the two Wolverines included, this one being the more “standard” of the two, since he’s wearing his actual hero suit from the movie.  Or…well, it’s sort of an idealized version of it, since we don’t ever see the mask and the full suit on screen at the same time.  Look, it’s close enough.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The articulation’s interesting.  He gets a more unique style of shoulder articulation, which is sort of like a butterfly joint, but in all directions, being something more akin to the types of joints we see on McFarlane figures.  It’s a tighter connection, though, so it doesn’t feel like it’ll fall apart the same way.  It was a little tricky to get it posing at first, especially with the shoulder pads, but the range definitely improved after messing with it a bit.  He’s got a ball-jointed neck, with all the range that affords, but then a rather limited crunch and waist swivel on the torso, which feels…reductive?  Out dated?  It’s an all-new sculpt, so it was a choice for sure.  The sculpt is itself generally nice, but not without its drawbacks.  We get the full version of the suit, sleeves and all.  It’s a pretty good recreation of the film’s Astonishing-inspired suit, with its smaller details worked out pretty well, and plenty of texturing, so he looks as much like a basketball as he should.  He feels either too narrow at the shoulders or too wide at the hips; his proportions feel a little off either way.  Otherwise, things are pretty solid.  I do really love that masked head.  In terms of color work, he’s certainly garish, but in the way that he’s supposed to be, what with the clown suit and all.  Application is clean, perhaps a touch too clean, but clean.  Everything more or less goes where it should.  He would definitely benefit from at least a little accenting, but that’s not where Legends are these days.  He’s packed with two pairs of hands (fists with claws, and a clawless fist/gripping combo) and an unmasked head.  The gripping hand’s weird, since he doesn’t have any accessories to hold, but it gives you the option, I suppose.  The unmasked head’s as good a Jackman likeness as we’ve seen previously, so good on them for that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited for Deadpool & Wolverine.  It was really great to finally get to see Jackman in a proper Wolverine costume, and, if I’m honest, I was excited to see him get a better send off than Logan, a film that really didn’t work for me.  *ducks to avoid getting hit*  The yellow suit’s inclusion was certainly an interesting experiment, and it really worked in some ways, and not so much in others.  The figure sort of meets that assessment itself.  In both cases, I’m happy they gave it a go, and I enjoy the end result.  And, with this Wolverine and the previous Colossus, I can create my fantasy world where those two actually interacted the way they unfortunately didn’t in the movie.  And perhaps I’ll further that fantasy by hoping I might some day see more movie X-Men of a similar style.

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.

#3763: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When the Avengers, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four are transported to a strange planet, Captain America is chosen to take the lead in fighting the ultimate war!”

As much as it’s become something of a rarity these days, since I tend to buy most Marvel Legends for myself, there was a time when Legends invariably made up a large component of what I got for Christmas.  We’re, of course, going largely back to the Toy Biz days, but still.  Thanks to a new set of figures that came in right under the wire on last year’s deliveries, the timing astoundingly lined-up for that to happen again.  2024 marked the 40th anniversary of Secret Wars, an event designed to sell toys, so what better way to mark the occasion than by selling some more toys?  It gives Hasbro a good excuse to re-release some heavy hitters, like, for instance, Captain America!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is part of the six-figure “Secret Wars” anniversary assortment of Marvel Legends, which hit right at the end of last year.  He’s joined by the similarly heavy-hitter-y Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Iron Man, as well as the all-new but still very much important to the actual event Beyonder and Titania.  They’re all patterned on the vintage Mattel line, with replica retro card backs, and a few of the gimmicks as well.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Structurally, this figure’s the same kind of “Ship of Theseus” set-up as the Renew Your Vows Spider-Man, just for Cap.  His oldest parts are from the Grim Reaper body, who was reworked into Cap Wolf.  Cap Wolf got upgraded to 80th Anniversary Cap, who was also used for the 20th Anniversary Series 1 Cap.  This figure further upgrades the body by adding pinless construction on the arms and legs, as well making the glove cuffs a separate piece, making for a cleaner assembly.  In general, it takes a base body that was already quite strong, and gives it that winning edge, making this the best Cap base body to date.  Cap gets two new head sculpts, both sculpted by Paul Harding, who handled the heads on the 20th Cap.  According to him, all four heads were sculpted at the same time, and these ones were saved for later.  This time around, he’s got one smiling head, and one gritting his teeth.  They’re both quite nice, and just as solid as the prior two.  Personally, I think the smiling one’s my favorite of the bunch, but I like the versatility in general.  There’s only one drawback, and that’s to do with the colors.  This figure is notably NOT the same color palette as the 20th release, which in a vacuum isn’t terrible.  Clearly, they’re trying to emulate the Mattel colors more directly, right down to the reversed stripe pattern on the mid-section.  The blue in particular is a bit warmer, and I do honestly prefer that.  The biggest trouble with it, however, is that it means you can’t swap the different expressions between this guy and the 20th, so there’s no neutral expression for this figure, and you can go more intense with the 20th.  It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a little more limiting than I’d expected.  In terms of actual application, he’s generally alright.  The glove construction in particular clears up the problem with messy edges on the gloves that we saw with the earlier mold.  On my figure, both heads do have some slight issues, with part of the A being scraped off on the happy head, and a weird flecking of flesh tone paint on the angry head.  Neither is a major issue, but it’s frustrating.  Cap is packed with three sets of hands, in fists, gripping, and flat/pointing.  The gripping are an interesting choice, and I assume they’re just there to reference the vintage figure?  I do miss the open gesture hands from the 20th, but I always miss the open gesture hands when they get left out, honestly.  He gets two different shields, and neither of them is standard, continuing the bit of this updated Cap mold not getting standard shields, and also the gag of the vintage Secret Wars Cap not getting a standard one either.  He’s got a throwback vintage shield, complete with the lenticular gimmick, as well as a shattered version of the standard shield, which even includes the broken off pieces.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I love the 20th Cap, but even when he was new, I was aware there would be another on the horizon.  This one didn’t surprise me.  I ended up getting him as a gift from Max, who sniped me purchasing him on the basis that he didn’t know exactly what to get me, and knew I wouldn’t have the new Cap that just came in.  It’s a solid observation.  I’ve gotten something out of every successive iteration of the Caps that led to this version of the mold, and this one is certainly the best thus far.  Sure, the color change is frustrating, and we still don’t have a proper undamaged classic shield for him, so I know there’s another one on the horizon with all the heads and a repainted Ultimate shield.  And, I’ll buy that one too, because I’m weak.  But, until then, I do really, really like this one.

#3759: Archangel

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

ARCHANGEL

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“Rich playboy Warren Worthington III was the X-Men’s Angel until the day that he was captured and transformed into one of the horsemen of Apocalypse. A darker reflection of his previous self, Archangel now possessed wings made of metal – wings that he could barely control, wings that fired paralyzing “feathers” at friends as well as enemies. Constantly battling his dark side, Archangel longed to regain the goodness that he once stood for. Recently finding kinship with the X-Men’s Psylocke, Archangel has come to terms with his transformation, and has started to rebuild the life he thought he had lost forever!”

Do you guys like X-Men?  I heard somewhere that you might.  I mean, I do.  And it’s my site.  So, you know, it’s ultimately my call, right?  Amusingly, I was actually not gonna do an X-themed review today, but then I thought better of it.  Yay for me.  And here, on the day before the day before X-Mas, I’m reviewing an X-Man named Archangel, which feels somewhat appropriate, right?  Sort of that “lo, an angel of Xavier appear and they were sore afraid” kinda vibe?  Of course, it’s just Warren Worthington, and he’s kind of a push over prep school guy, so, maybe not “sore afraid.”  I’m getting sore afraid of this intro going any longer, if I’m honest.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Archangel is from the Battle Brigade Series of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, which was the 14th assortment.  I’ve already reviewed the standard version of this figure, but he, like all of the figures in this particular line-up, also had a color variant.  While the standard was in his white and blue, Neal Adams-inspired costume, this one’s in the Champions-inspired version.  The figure stands 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  He’s the exact same mold as the standard version, which was itself largely re-used from the “Invasion” series release.  It’s still a little bulky for Warren, and we’re just ignoring the sculpted wrist bands.  Still, it’s not too terrible.  I do rather like this particular head sculpt, especially for this version of Warren.  The wings remain a bit floppy as well, but they do at least look the part.  In terms of paint work, this guy’s got the same layout as the standard, but with red in place of the blue.  It’s a little rough on some of the edges, but otherwise looks pretty solid.  Like the standard and Invasion releases, this guy gets no accessories.  He’s still got the wing-flapping action, though, which remains pretty nifty.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy is actually quite a recent acquisition for me.  I’ve been wanting one since shortly after I got my original, so it’s been a good 20 years, but in all that time, I’ve never seen the variant in person.  I was at Ocean City Comic Con last weekend, and found a booth that had exactly one sealed Toy Biz X-Men figure in it, which happened to be this guy.  I was honestly pretty excited.  He’s obviously not super different from the regular release, but the color change-up is enough to give him a pretty unique look.  It certainly helps that I liked the standard figure so much in the first place.

#3754: Rogue

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

ROGUE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“Super strong and virtually indestructible, Rogue is a one-woman fighting force! But when there are too many enemies for even Rogue to handle at once, she relies on her Double-Barrel cannon slammer. Flying in above the clouds, Rogue faces the forces of Master Molds Sentinel squadrons and is overwhelmed by their number. But with the help of her cannon slammer and her fellow X-Men, the Sentinels don’t last long enough to realize what hit them. With a mutant power matched only by her southern charms, Rogue is one mutant to be reckoned with!”

Hey, look, it’s time for more Toy Biz X-Men!  The things that keep me happy.  And taking them away would make me unhappy.  You certainly wouldn’t want to make me unhappy, would you?  Good.  Glad we’re all on the same page there.  As Toy Biz moved later into the run of their 5-inch line, they had run out of standard versions of the main characters, so they had to start doing some good old fashioned wacky-varianting.  They went heavier on gimmicks, with their “Secret Weapon Force” branding in particular standing out as a notable push.  New designs, even comics-based ones, were filtered through these gimmicks.  Here’s a gimmicky Rogue.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Rogue was released in the “Power Slammers” assortment, which was released under the Secret Weapon Force heading in Toy Biz’s 1998 X-Men line-up.  This marked Rogue’s fourth figure in the 5-inch line, and was based on her Shi’ar mining uniform, which she sported for a stretch of less than a year.  It debuted in 1997, so it was pretty quick turnaround for such a thing.  It’s a pretty notable departure from her traditional designs, and was fairly short-lived, but it’s nothing if not unique.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and she has 12 points of articulation.  On my figure, the joints are exceptionally loose, to the point of making it difficult to keep her standing, which is frustrating to say the least.  I am also, as always, not really a fan of the v-hips, but it is what it is.  Rogue’s sculpt was new at the time, though most of it would be re-used two years later for the movie line’s team suit Rogue.  It’s rather on the stylized front, but a decent match for the art from within the books at the time.  There’s a touch of pre-posing, but generally to a minor degree, and the level of detailing honestly is pretty solid.  The head’s particularly unique, and the hair in front of her face is certainly a neat touch.  Rogue’s color work is generally solid.  It’s an odd color scheme (the Shi’ar outfits were generally off-model in their coloring), but it’s accurate.  The’s a bit of fuzz at the edges of some of the painted elements, but the overall appearance is decent.  Rogue was packed with a big giant gun thing, which serves as the titular “power slammer.”  When the bit at the top is slammed down, there are small yellow ball projectiles that fly out.  It’s super silly and super goofy, but it does at least go totally apart from the core figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rogue comes from the era of the line where I missed more than I got when they were new.  There were a lot of repeats on characters, and I had most of my core cast, Rogue included, so I didn’t double up on most of them.  Since jumping back in, though, they’ve been some of my focuses.  I managed to snag Rogue from Yesterday’s Fun while vacationing a couple of summers ago.  She’s alright.  The look’s certainly unique, but the figure has some issues, especially the loose joints, which hold it back.

#3752: Colossus

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

COLOSSUS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Though quite successful at the box office and rather ripe for merchandising, the first two Deadpool movies weren’t granted any direct merchandising at the time of their release.  The second film did get a handful of figures a year after the fact, as part of Hasbro’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first X-Men movie, so that was at least something.  However, Colossus, notable player in both films, was absent from these delayed tie-ins, which was certainly a bummer.  The third film, Deadpool & Wolverine has been granted a more direct tie-in, as well as a few “legacy” figures, which means we finally get a Colossus!  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Colossus is a single deluxe-sized Marvel Legends release.  He was designed to coincide with the release of the main Deadpool & Wolverine tie-ins, but he wound up hitting just a bit before them, which winds up actually making him a pretty nice bridge between the Legacy re-releases and the new figures.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  As far as Colossus figures go, this one’s actually got pretty decent articulation, with no real issues of restriction, a nice change of pace from the last few Hasbro’s done.  I did have an issue with his knees being a bit stuck out of the package, but they freed up without too much trouble.  This guy gets a brand-new sculpt courtesy of Dennis Chan, based on Colossus’s largely unchanging look from the three films.  It’s overall a very nice offering, with only one real complaint from me, which is that the arms are a tad too long.  Beyond that, though, it’s a solid recreation of his look from the movies.  In particular, I really like the head sculpt, which just feels appropriately Colossus-y to me (and, bonus points, it’s the same shade of silver and the same neck peg size as the 80th set version, so you can swap it to the classic body if you’re so inclined).  Colossus’s colir work is reasonable.  The silver is the same used on the 80th figure, and the rest of the application is generally pretty clean.  He’s packed with an alternate head, two sets of hands, and his pocket-sized X-Men rule book.  The alternate head has his teeth gritted and some slight damage, indicating it’s from his fight with Juggernaut.  The rule book has two of the rules actually written out so you can read them, which is a very fun little touch.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was kinda “eh” on the first Deadpool (I know, sacrilege), but I absolutely loved how they handled Colossus, and enjoyed his expanded role in the second film immensely.  Him being left out of the first round of coverage really bugged me, so I was really hoping the third one might bring this guy around.  The Toy Biz Colossus remains one of my favorites from their Legends run (he’s maintained a spot over my desk in my office for several years now), and I was always a bit let down by how middle of the road the 80th figure was.  This one may be movie-based, but he’s the best Legends Colossus we’ve gotten from Hasbro, and I do love the extra cross-compatibility.  Even on his own, though, he’s just a fantastic 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 and their eBay storefront.

#3750: Spider-Man 2099

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

SPIDER-MAN 2099

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

You know what time it is?  It’s Marvel Legends time!  We can’t forget about Legends time!  Do you have the Legends time?  …because, it’s, uhh, it’s Legends time.  Look, what I’m getting at here is that I’m doing another Marvel Legends review.  And I had this bit in my notes for the review, and said in those notes I should come up with something better, but I opted to not do that because I was feeling a bit lazy.  So, there you have it.  I’m keeping up with the Spider-Verse theme today, taking a look another of the main characters from Across the Spider-Verse, Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099.  2099 made his first appearance at the end of Into, setting up Across in the process, and he’s also one of three Marvel characters portrayed by Oscar Isaac.  And now he’s got another figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man 2099 is the fifth and final figure I’m looking at from the second series of Across the Spider-Verse tie-in Marvel Legends figures.  He follows in the footsteps of Punk and Gwen, being a figure that’s effectively a re-hash of the one from the prior assortment.  Given 2099’s role in the film, and also how well the standard version sold, another one’s far from a bad choice.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The majority of this guy’s parts are re-used from the first version.  That means his articulation remains the most restricted of the bunch, but beyond that, it’s not a bad looking sculpt.  It’s a good recreation of the film design, with strong proportions and pretty sharp detailing.  The back has been retooled so as to remove the cape and where it was mounted, since he spends a lot of time without it in the movie.  He also get the cross-dimensional goober like Punk, Gwen, and Pavitr, though this one is obviously larger to fit his larger stature.  His color work is slightly tweaked as well, with the blue being darker this time, making the contrast on the costume a little punchier.  Otherwise, the paint masks look to be the same, and he still looks fine.  2099 gets the same sets of hands as the last release, as well as a new unmasked head sculpt, which is a good match for the source material, and gets some solid paint work.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The first 2099 was fine, but he never elevated beyond that.  I had high hopes and he was just a touch below them.  So, a new one wasn’t a terrible venture, and I like that they took the time to add more to this one.  If you already have the first one, it’s hard to say if the new parts truly justify buying a whole new figure, but I prefer this one overall, and think he’s just a generally superior product.

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.

#3749: Silver Samurai

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

SILVER SAMURAI

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“The Silver Samurai has but one goal in life: to become the leader of the Japanese underworld! Trained in the martial arts and wielding a massive katana through which he can channel mutant energy, this honorless samurai has often come close to achieving his desire–if not for the interference of Wolverine and the X-Men!”

Hey, how about some more Toy Biz Marvel?  Would you like that?  Would it be good for you?  Well, it would be good for me, and it’s my site, so I’m doing it.  It’s more X-related stuff today, though it’s worth noting that the focus, Silver Samurai, wasn’t an X-Men character at the start, but rather a Daredevil villain.  These days, he’s not even really a villain, I suppose.  In the ’90s, when he got his first figure, he was a bit more straight forward, and was a recurring thorn in Wolverine’s side.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silver Samurai was released in Series 6 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line in 1994.  Going by my records, he’s the last of that particular line-up I’ve gotten to reviewing.  The whole assortment was pretty odd-ball, being really light on notable characters, ultimately resulting in it being a rather poorly performing set, and Samurai was one of he worst sellers in the line.  He was, for unknown reasons, also re-packed in a two-pack with Robot Wolverine/Albert from the same assortment.  Because we needed more of him.  The figure stands about 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He’s exceptionally restricted on the articulation front, curiously having knee joints but not hips, making the knee joints effectively useless.  He doesn’t get elbows or wrists either, just neck, shoulders, waist, and knees.  The sculpt is rather stiff on top of that, so it doesn’t really help.  His helmet is removable, and also permanently attached to his shoulder pads for some reason.  Don’t know why either of those things is the case, but the piece doesn’t really stay in place very well, and also the underlying head is rather oddly shaped.  If there’s one redeeming feature to this guy, it’s the chrome finish on most of him; it gives a literal shine to an otherwise lackluster sculpt, and at least helps him stand out a but.  Silver Samurai is packed with his sword, which is partially chromed as well.  It’s rather prone to breaking, and also not really the proper shape for a katana, but there it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

It took me an exceptionally long time to get this one, all things considered.  I’ve seen a great many loose ones, always missing the helmet, and I didn’t want to bother with an incomplete one.  I finally snagged a sealed one while on vacation this past summer, which I took as something of a win.  Is he a good figure?  No.  Not in the slightest.  But, I do like the chrome.  So, you know, he’s a bit like Google that way.  Not great, but I do like the chrome.

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.

#3747: Spider-Gwen

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

SPIDER-GWEN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Hey, it’s another Marvel Legends review. Alright, cool. Umm, well, if you were expecting something quippy, I’m not your guy on this one. I go more meta, but not in a social media way. So there. Today’s topic is Spider-Verse again, specifically Gwen. Spider-Gwen, Spider-Gwen, does whatever a spider cwen! Yeah, that’s the ticket right there. Onto the review!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Gwen is the fourth figure in the second Across The Spider-Verse tie-in series of Marvel Legends. Thus far, Gwen’s been represented in every Spider-Verse tie-in assortment, and she’s definitely the re-hashiest of the bunch this time around. Not that it’s ultimately a bad thing. Like the last time, the figure stands just under 6 inches tall and has 29 points of articulation. Generally, this is the same mold as before, but it’s not *identical*, and it’s actually more different than I’d expected. The one properly new piece is the wrist band goober thing, which most of them get this time around. It just slides on over the wrist, so you can also give it to the standard Gwen, if you’re so inclined. She also has changes to both of the included heads, granting them slightly different expressions. The mask has wider eyes, and the unmasked head has a more serious expression. I liked the prior heads just fine, but I honestly feel like these two are both just a bit stronger.  The color work on Gwen marks another slight change-up.  Like Spider-Punk, Gwen gets a re-deco based on her shifting color scheme from her home universe.  This one’s more purplish.  It’s not a drastic change, but it’s a neat one.  Gwen gets the same extra hands as her regular release, as well as a small figurine of LYLA, Miguel O’Hara’s holographic companion.  It’s not really so much an accessory for Gwen herself, mind you, instead just being an extra piece for 2099, but it’s still nifty.  It’s nicely sculpted, and a good match for the animation model.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was happy with my Into Gwen figure, and wasn’t initially sure about the standard version.  But, I got that one, and I really liked her, and I felt like that was probably good enough.  I wasn’t really expecting another one, and this one initially seemed like one I could skip.  Then, of course, I saw she came with LYLA, and I didn’t want to miss out on a new character.  Honestly, I like the end result more than I’d expected to.  The colors are run, and I prefer the slightly changed new heads.  All-in-all, she’s a slightly oddball choice, but a fun 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 and their eBay storefront.