Tag Archives: Marvel

#1141: Captain Britain

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

CAPTAIN BRITAIN

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

capbritain1

Can you believe that Toy Biz handed over the reigns to Marvel Legends (and all the other Marvel toys) almost 10 years ago?  That’s pretty darn crazy.  It also means that it’s been long enough since every single one of those Legends figures was released that updates are pretty much a given.  This year in particular, Hasbro seems to have put some serious effort into redoing some of Toy Biz’s efforts.  While the Juggernaut series was perhaps the most evident case of this, it’s seeped into some of the other line-ups as well, including the recent Abomination Series.  Like I did with the X-Men figures, I’m going to be looking at the originals and the updates in tandem with each other, and I’ll be kicking things off with Toy Biz’s take on Captain Britain!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

capbritain2Captain Britain was released in the (first) Giant-Man Series of Marvel Legends, alongside Havok and Kitty Pryde.  The set was the first Walmart-exclusive series and would prove to be one of the last three series during the Toy Biz run.  Captain Britain is based on Brian’s second costume, which is the one he’s best known for, and is, quite frankly, his best look.  It’s worth noting that prototypes for this figure showed him in both this and his look from later in the Excalibur run pretty much interchangeably, so it was kind of down to the wire as to which particular look was getting released (in fact, the figure pictured on the box for this guy was painted in the other costume, prompting some to wonder if it would be some sort of running change).  The figure stands 6 inches tall and has 35 points of articulation.  The body that Brian is built on was initially sculpted for the Series 10 Black Panther figure, before being ever so slightly re-tolled for Series 11’s Wonder Man.  The good Captain gets most of the Panther pieces, with the slightly tweaked upper torso from Wonder Man, as well as Wonder Man’s hands.  He also gets a new head, forearms, and lower legs, which are mostly sculpted to match up with the pre-existing pieces.  The head is nice, and is probably one of the better head sculpts we got out of the TB Legends.  The helmet/mask even matches up with the rest of the body’s texturing, which shows that real effort was put into making the piece match up.  The forearms are fine; basic flared gloves.  The boots/feet are the real weak part of the new pieces; we were well into TB’s duck feet phase at his point, and it was something that they never really got past.  The lower legs are also completely un-textured, which feels rather weird compared to the rest of the body.  And, speaking of the body, that’s where we hit the next snag.  The Panther body was actually pretty cool for the time; it had a nice, sturdy build, and the added texturing to make it clear that he was wearing a costume, not just prancing around in body paint.  It hasn’t aged particularly well, but it was a reasonable piece for the time.  So, it’s not a bad base, generally speaking.  Except, of course, for the fact that Brian Braddock is canonically half a foot taller than T’Challa, which is a bit of an elephant in the room, if I’m honest.  The proportions of the new pieces have been kept internally consistent with the body, which means Captain Britain is, as a whole, in a scale that is completely his own.  There’s pretty much no other figure in the line you can put this guy with.  Captain Britain’s paintwork is decent, certainly on par with other offerings from the line.  The base work is mostly pretty clean.  The white piping on the red details is a little sloppy (because painting a textured base is a bit hard to do consistently), but not awful.  He’s also got some accent work, which feels like it goes a little overboard, especially on the white, or should I say light blue, areas of the costume.  TB never quite grasped how difficult it was to translate this sort of detailing from a custom-painted two-up to an actual production figure.  Captain Britain had no character specific accessories, but he did include the right leg (JUST the leg.  No foot.  That came with another figure…) of Giant-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Giant-Man Series as a whole was rather difficult to acquire, thanks to Walmart’s trademark spotty distribution.  I eventually found this guy (and a few others from the series) while on a trip to visit some family in North Carolina.  Because the small mountain town definitely needed a large stock of this exclusive series of figures that most of the general public had never heard of.  This is a flawed figure.  There’s no denying that.  And, unlike so many Legends from this era, it’s not simply an age thing; he was always flawed.  The weird thing is, as hyper critical as I’ve been of this guy, and as many things that are wrong with him, I still have a soft spot for this figure.  And I’m not even that much of a Captain Britain fan!

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#1140: Scarlet Witch

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

SCARLET WITCH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

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As superhero movies have begun to feature larger and larger casts of colorful heroes and villains, sadly the toys that tie-in with those films have become smaller and smaller.  When it comes to the MCU, ever since the first Iron Man (which really only has like, what, four figures you really need to make?  And two of them are essentially the same sculpt), no movie has really gotten a full-lineup, especially not in the 6-inch scale most collectors prefer (Avengers did eventually get there, but only after a few years and additional movies).  Age of Ultron came pretty close, giving us the six basic Avengers and Ultron Prime, but the three newest additions to the team were sadly left out.  Hasbro’s put quite a lot of effort into getting as many figures as possible out of  Civil War, including Scarlet Witch, one of the characters who got left out of the larger Age of Ultron product.  I’ll be taking a look at her today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

scarletwitchcw4Scarlet Witch is the first figure in the Abomination series, which is the latest series of the Captain America-themed Marvel Legends.  She’s this series’ resident movie tie-in, and appears to be the last of the Civil War-based Legends, unless Hasbro pulls a surprise out of their sleeves, but that seems unlikely at this point.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Scarlet Witch features an all-new sculpt, based on her Civil War design.  It’s my favorite of the three looks we’ve seen her in so far, so I’m pretty happy about the costume choice.  This figure may actually have one of my favorite MCU sculpts (really, only Panther is better, and his was reeeeeaaaaaally good).  There are a few small details that are a little off (the shoulders on the coat should really be a little more squared off, but that change probably has more to do with better range of motion than anything), but the overall figure is very accurate.  The head’s easily got one of the best likenesses of any of the MCU Legends; there are a few angles where it’s ever so slightly off, scarletwitchcw1but there’s really no denying that this is Elizabeth Olsen.  Also, I rarely talk about hands, but the hands on Wanda are pretty phenomenal; they’re perfectly posed to replicate her “spellcasting” look from the movies, and look awesome in a ton of different poses.  Hasbro’s been trending upwards in terms of paint application, and Scarlet Witch definitely benefits from this.   Slop and bleed over is minimal, and the colors match pretty well with the onscreen design. The face in particular is not only very clean, but also has degree of life to it, which a lot of the MCU figures haven’t quite gotten.  If there’s one downside to this figure, it’s the accessories.  She includes two effects pieces for her hands, which aren’t awful, but don’t really look much like how her powers manifest onscreen, and are just sort of a general step down compared to the effects pieces included with more recent figures.  She also includes the head of this series’ BAF, Abomination.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is a figure I’ve been waiting for since Hasbro first showed it off earlier this year.  I’ve yet to see this particular series turn up anywhere nearby, and on top of that, Wanda’s by far the most sought after in the set.  Her price online was pretty high for a while, but she finally came down to pretty much retail on Amazon, so I ordered her there.  I really like this figure a lot, and I’m very happy to be able to add her to my MCU collection.  Between her and Panther, I have high hopes for future MCU Legends.

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#1138: Daredevil

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

DAREDEVIL

MARVEL SUPER HEROES: SECRET WARS (MATTEL)

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When you’re talking Marvel Super Heroes action figures (or really action figures from the big two in general.  Or even just licensed action figures in general), the first major blip on the radar was Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes line.  That line gave us our first figures of a number of Marvel’s best known characters.  However, there were a number of characters who found themselves left out of the whole action figure thing until the second blip on the Marvel action figures radar, Mattel’s Secret Wars line.  One such character was Daredevil, a character who has recently come into a fair bit of popularity on his own.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ddsw2Daredevil was released in Series 2 of the Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars line.  This was his very first action figure, but it’s kind of amusing to see him crop up in this line, given that he wasn’t present for the actual comic series it was based on (don’t worry, he was in good company; none of the Series 2 figures but the Symbiote Spider-Man were from the comic).  One presumes that his presence in the line over any of the many characters who were actually there has more to do with his relative lack of new pieces than anything else.  The figure is roughly 4 1/2 inches tall and has the same 5 points of articulation that all of the other Secret Wars figures had.  Daredevil uses the standard male body, with only a unique head sculpt to set him apart from the rest of the line.  It’s a pretty good sculpt, though the neck does seem just a touch too long for the body.  Still, the actual head is a pretty good rendition of ol’ Hornhead, so I can’t really complain.  Also, like Spider-Man, Daredevil’s already rather simple design means he’s not a bad fit for the admittedly doughy base body.  Daredevil, like so many of the other figures in this line, relied heavily on paint, and, just like all those other figures, he’s also rather letdown by said paint.  I mean, it’s not awful.  They molded him in a decent red, and what’s there is pretty sharp.  The problem is, what’s there isn’t all that much.  He gets the logo, his lower face, and then the front third of his belt, the front quarter of each boot, and the outward quarter of each glove (which is inexplicably up at his elbow).  Why they only gave him part of each glove and boot is beyond me, and it ends up looking really strange.  Couldn’t they just finish those lines?  Or, if they were really being that cheap, just leave those lines off entirely?  Also, just like his companions, Daredevil’s paint is very prone to wearing off, as you can tell by the state of my figure’s nose.  Daredevil was packed with his usual billy club, and, of course, the weird holographic shield thing that every figure in the line had.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Geez Ethan, for someone who swears he’s not trying to collect this line, you do seem to have quite a lot of them, don’t you?  Yeah, weird voice in my head, I do.  This one’s not my fault, though, I swear.  This is another addition to my collection courtesy of my Super Awesome Girlfriend, who bought him for me from Yesterday’s Fun over the summer.  I gotta say, as many issues as there are with this figure, I really find myself liking him.  And really this line in general.  Yep, I think I’m gonna end up with this whole line.  Crap.

#1129: Wolverine & Thunderbird

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

WOLVERINE & THUNDERBIRD

MARVEL MINIMATES

wolvthunderbird1

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers out there!  And, to all my non-American readers, happy Thursday!  Hey, there’s nothing wrong with some general positivity, right?  Today, I’m wrapping up my Giant Size X-Men Minimates, which includes Thunderbird, the team’s Native American member.  Him being half of the set I’m looking at today is really just a coincidence, but it works out, I guess.  And hey, it gives me a chance to post this Bulletin Bits strip, featuring Thunderbird’s brother Warpath!

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Alright, so let’s have a look at Thunderbird and his pack-mate Wolverine!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Wolverine and Thunderbird are the fourth and final set in Series 68 of Marvel Minimates.  These two make for an interesting pair.  While Thunderbird famously died during the team’s second mission (spoiler on a 41 year old  comic, I guess), Chris Claremont has gone on record that both Thunderbird and Wolverine were on the chopping block for issue 95’s fatality.  Wolverine was ultimately only saved by having a slightly more defined power set than Thunderbird.  Imagine how different the X-Men might have been had those roles been reversed!

WOLVERINE

wolvthunderbird3Wolverine is no stranger to Minimates, with this particular ‘mate being his 59th entry in the line.  It’s also out fifth version of his basic Tiger-Stipe look, but it’s the first one in a little while, and, as with the others in this series, he’s specifically patterned after Dave Cockrum’s illustrations.  The figure is about 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He has add-ons for his mask, shoulder pads, clawed hands, and boots.  All of these pieces are from the Series 28 version of this costume.  While that was 7 years ago, the pieces still work, so the re-use is more than warranted.  The mask could, I suppose, be a little more streamlined, as it was in the ‘70s, but at this scale it’s negligible.  Wolverine’s paintwork is pretty great all-around.  The colors are a good match for the classic Wolverine, and the line work does a very nice job of translating Cockrum’s drawings into the ‘mate form.  I will say, he definitely looks better with the mask on than without.  There’s something about the unmasked look that’s a little off.  Of course, I’ve got plenty of unmasked Wolverines, so a good masked one is fine by me.  Wolverine includes an extra hairpiece for his unmasked look, as well as a clear display stand.  It feels rather on the light side, especially compared to some of the others in the series.  At the very least, a spare set of normal hands should be standard, and I would have also appreciated the hanging mask piece from the Series 47 Wolverine, just to give him some extra display options.

THUNDERBIRD

wolvthunderbird2This marks Thunderbird’s second time as a Minimate, after his figure in the GSXM boxed set.  Given his relative obscurity, it’s not really much of a surprise.  That being said, that figure’s been rather outdated for quite some time now, so an update is very much appreciated.  The figure uses add ons for his hair, sleeves, belt, and boots.  The belt is a standard piece, but the rest of the parts are new to this figure.  They look pretty good, and certainly do a nice job of capturing Thunderbird’s look from the comics.  This new method of construction works a fair bit better than the way the costume was handled not he first Thunderbird ‘mate.  The paint work on Thunderbird is pretty well handled.  The colors are certainly vibrant, and I appreciate that his skin tone is a little different from the rest of the figures in the series.  I also appreciate the Cockrum-style shading on the various parts of the costume.  It takes him from a potentially “meh” ‘mate to a pretty interesting one.  Thunderbird’s only accessory is a clear display stand.  That being said, I can think of pretty much nothing else that a Thunderbird figure really should have, so he doesn’t feel unnecessarily light (the fact that he has quite a few new pieces helps a fair bit too).   

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is probably the set from this series I was the least excited for.  I’ve got plenty of Wolverines, and as cool as Thunderbird is, he’s never been near the top of the list of figures I needed.  In hand, I do really like both of them to be sure.  Wolverine will be my definitive version, and Thunderbird definitely feels like a solid ‘mate all-around.  That being said, compared to the more parts heavy sets in the series, these two do feel like the come up a bit short, especially since half of the set is a character we’ve gotten 58 times before, in a costume we’ve gotten four times before, built entirely out of re-used parts.  This set could definitely have used a little something extra to help it pop.  It’s not bad at all, but it is a little less exciting than the others.

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#1128: Colossus & Nightcrawler

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

COLOSSUS & NIGHTCRAWLER

MARVEL MINIMATES

nightcrawlercolossus1

The X-Men line-up presented in Giant Size X-Men #1 undoubtedly gave us some of the more memorable X-Men.  Obviously, there’s the likes of Storm and Wolverine (even if he did appear elsewhere first), but it also gave us both Colossus and Nightcrawler.  While they may not be quite as big as some of the others (and poor Colossus has been woefully overlooked when it comes to the cartoons), they’re still pretty popular with the fanbase at large.  They also happen to be two of my favorite X-Men, so packing them together is pretty awesome!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Colossus and Nightcrawler are part of Series 68 of the Marvel Minimates line, which is based around GSXM #1.  Both figures are based on their Dave Cockrum-designed looks, but it’s worth noting that these two stuck with these particular looks for a good long while.

COLOSSUS

nightcrawlercolossus3Colossus has had a few different ‘mates over the years.  That being said, this is the first one to directly retread on previous territory, being a pretty straight re-do of the GSXM boxed set version (the alt look for the Series 47 version came pretty close, but was actually based on his slightly tweaked ‘90s look).  The figure is built on the standard ‘mate body, and as such stands about 2 1/2 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Colossus features add-on pieces for his hair, wrist bands, torso cover/belt, and boots.  The hair and gauntlets were both used on the 47 Colossus; they worked well there and they work well here.  The torso piece and boots are both new to this ‘mate.  It’s interesting: after getting several attempts at handling the torso piece a “better” way than the GSXM set’s version, they just went back to essentially the same style.  I’m certainly not complaining!  I do like the subtle hints of musculature on the chest piece, which make him seem larger than the others, but prevents him from looking puffy.  I’m not 100% sold on the boots.  Something about the knee pads seems off to me.  There’s certainly been worse, though.  Colossus’s paint is very impressively handled.  The colors are nice and bold, and he really pops.  The line work is very sharp, and the details, the face in particular, are a very good rendition of Cockrum’s Colossus.  I was very happy to find out that the actual torso has full detailing, allowing you to display Colossus shirtless, if you so choose (some people like that sort of thing).  Colossus’s only accessory is a clear display stand, which feels rather light.  Obviously, the parts for an un-armored Piotr would make him essentially a second figure, but the fastball special hand should have been included at the very least.  Oh well.

NIGHTCRAWLER

nightcrawlercolossus2Amazingly enough, this is only the third time we’ve gotten Nightcrawler (and the third time we’ve gotten this exact costume too, no less).  I thought the Excalibur set version had him pretty well covered, but it’s been over five years since that one was released, so another version feels warranted.  Nightcrawler has  unique hands and feet, as well as sculpted add-ons for his hair, shoulder pads, and tail. The tail remains the same piece used on both prior Nightcrawlers (and his dad Azazel), but everything else is new to this figure.  Personally, I prefer the Wolverine-style shoulder pads from the last Nightcrawler to the ones featured here (I like the neck to be left unencumbered as much as possible), but they’re a decent enough piece, I suppose.  The hair, hands, and feet are all improvements over what we’ve gotten before (the hands especially, since the prior hands are huge) and are just well sculpted all around.  The ears could maybe stand to be a little more pronounced, but that’s the only real negative I’ve got.  Nightcrawler’s paintwork is pretty good, but not without its issues.  The basics are all pretty good.  The color palette is bright and bold, and the colors accent each other well.  His basic head has a frightening expression we haven’t yet seen on a Nightcrawler ‘mate.  It’s a good rendition of the earlier, scarier NIghtcrawler, and it makes this figure a little more specific to those appearances (thus giving the figure a bit more reason to exist).  Unfortunately, the application of a lot of the paint, especially the red, is a little uneven.  The red detailing on the edges of the gloves and boots is far too thin, resulting in an obvious line where the underlying colors switch from white to black.  That, coupled with the fact that the glove trim stops abruptly for the inner half of the arm, makes him look a little unfinished.  Nightcrawler includes an extra head with a more jovial expression (my preferred of the two faces), a cutlass (finally!), a “bamf” stand, and a clear display stand.  All of these are pretty cool, except the “bamf” stand, which is more than a little frustrating, since the peg is too small for either foot, and it also requires him to stand with both feet together, a rather un-Nightcrawler stance.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though I missed out on the GSXM set, I wasn’t missing either of these characters, having picked up their subsequent releases.  Colossus was a pleasant surprise.  There was something missing from the ‘mates since the GSXM version, which I think has been found again with this guy.  He’s the perfect embodiment of the character.  I don’t see him being replaced any time soon.  Nightcrawler is a more mixed figure than Colossus.  I’ve never really cared for the original ‘mate, but the Excalibur version was pretty solid.  This one adds some nice stuff (the extra head, the new hands and feet, and the cutlass), but also takes a few hits (the paint, the effects base, and, if I’m being really picky, the shoulder pads).  The good outweighs the bad, but he could still be a bit better.

#1127: Storm & Sunfire

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

STORM & SUNFIRE

MARVEL MINIMATES

stormsunfire1

One of the more intriguing aspects of the “All New, All Different X-Men” presented in Giant Size X-Men #1 was the diversity of the team.  This was especially poignant in comparison to the original team.  While the X-Men (and Mutants in general) were supposed to represent groups who were oppressed, shunned, and otherwise mistreated, the actual original team was made up entirely of upperclass, good-looking, and generally well-off whites, which ever so slightly hindered the message the creators were trying to put forth.  When the new team appeared with members representing cultures from all over the world, it really helped to sell the inclusiveness of the whole idea, and redefined how the team was portrayed moving forward.  Many of these new characters became some of the most memorable characters in the franchise’s history, including Storm, who I’m looking at today.  Then there’s Sunfire, who is…less memorable….

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Storm and Sunfire are part of the 68th series of Marvel Minimates, which is GSXM-themed.  Both characters are based on Dave Cockrum’s renditions of the characters from Giant Size X-Men #1, though, like with Banshee yesterday, Sunfire’s design was just a slight tweak on his design from earlier in the original run.

STORM

stormsunfire3Aside from Wolverine, Storm is easily the most memorable of the characters brought onto the team in GSXM #1 (and she’s definitely the most memorable of the characters *introduced* in GSXM #1).  To date, she’s held a prominent role in every cartoon adaptation, and had a role in five of the six movies (and she even cameoed in the sixth).  That’s important!  She’s also had 9 prior Minimates, covering most of her prominent looks, which is better than can be said for quite a few Marvel characters.  Being built on the standard Minimate base body, Storm stands about 2 1/2 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Storm gets add-on pieces for her hair and cape.  Both of these pieces are new to this figure, and they look quite good.  Some figures of this storm design downplay the length of her hair, which is always a little frustrating, so I was grad to see this one doesn’t.  The basic cape included here is decent enough, if perhaps a little rigid.  Fortunately, for those who want Storm’s cape to be a little more flowy, there’s also a much larger, flying cape included.  It’s definitely my preferred piece of the two, and it really sets this Storm apart from the others we’ve gotten.  Storm’s paintwork is pretty solid all around.  All the colors are great matches for what’s seen on the printed page, and I really like the glossy sheen on the black parts of her costume.  This figure probably has some of the best paintwork in the series.  In addition to the extra cape, Storm also includes an extra head (w/ pupils), two electricity pieces, a flight stand, and a clear display stand.

SUNFIRE

stormsunfire2Sunfire here pairs up with Banshee on the whole “left off of the cover” business, meaning he was also left out of the original GSXM boxed set.  Unlike Banshee, this is actually his very first Minimate (and only his fifth action figure in general).  Sunfire’s never been all that prominent, since he quit the team after only an issue, and never really came back, so no real action figure coverage for him.  He’s probably not helped by his costume have the rising sun motif, but there it is.  The figure gets an all-new add-on piece for his weird looking mask.  It does a decent job of trying to make sense of that goofy thing.  Could this be the first time that a Minima’s lack of nose actually makes his costume make more sense?  The rest of the details are rendered via paint, which is all pretty solidly handled.  The white parts could be a little cleaner, and the orange could maybe stand out a bit more, but the line work is really great.  Under his mask is an appropriately angry Shiro Yoshida.  That guy was alway pissed.  For accessories, Sunfire gets an extra hairpiece for an unmasked look, two flame effect pieces for his hands, an orange-tinted flight stand, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ever since missing out on the GSXM set, I’ve been waiting on a good classic Storm, and when this one was announced, I was pretty psyched.  I can’t say I’m disappointed with the final product.  Definitely the best version of the character yet.  And, getting Sunfire after so long is also pretty darn cool.  He’s no one’s favorite character, but he’s an important piece of the team’s history nonetheless, and it’s great to finally have him!

#1126: Cyclops & Banshee

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

CYCLOPS & BANSHEE

MARVEL MINIMATES

bansheecyclops1

In the summer of 2003, Marvel Minimates was launched, with Series 1-3 all hitting pretty much simultaneously.  It was an interesting mix of characters and eras to be sure, but that’s a story for another review.  Series 3 gave us our first taste of the X-Men, presenting them in their Ultimate X-Men incarnation, which was a little bit of a letdown for the more classic comics fans in the audience.  Fortunately, in January of the following year, they got back to the X-Men, this time offering up a set based on Giant Size X-Men #1, perhaps the quintessential “classic” X-Men.  Now, 13 years later, they’ve returned back to GSXM #1, this time offering up a whole series of two-packs based on the team.  Today, I’ll be looking at the first two-pack from the set, leader man Cyclops & Banshee!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cyclops and Banshee are part of the 68th Series of Marvel Minimates, which hit towards the end of September.  Both characters are based on their Dave Cockrum designs from the early issues of his and Chris Claremont’s run on X-Men, though, in the case of Cyclops and Banshee, both designs are slight tweaks of the Werner Roth designs for the characters.

CYCLOPS

bansheecyclops6When it came time to rebuild the team, Cyclops was the one point of overlap between old and new (though Jean Grey would find her way back in short time, and Beast and Angel would both pull stints as recurring members.  Only Iceman really stayed away), kept on as the new team’s field leader.  It gave him a sense of seniority he hadn’t really had with the prior incarnation of the team.  This particular Cyclops design has graced the Minimate style twice before, but the last time was as part of an exclusive two-pack in 2005.  Minimates have made a lot of progress since then, so the update to what is probably Scott’s most prominent design is a much appreciated one.  The figure stands about 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation, as is the norm for any figure built on the standard ‘mate body.  Cyclops has additional parts for his cowl/visor and his boots.  The boots are the standard cuffed boots, and they do the job well enough.  The mask is a new piece, and it does quite a nice job of both capturing the feel of Cockrum’s illustrations of Cyclops’ visor, while also still fitting in well with the general Minimate aesthetic.  The rest of Scott’s details are handled via paint.  The overall application is pretty good, but there are a few issues, such as his left glove not getting enough coats of yellow to totally cover the underlying blue, thereby giving him a slightly green color.  Also, like a few previous X-Men, his belt buckle still has some traces of yellow left at the very bottom, which is a little frustrating.  That being said, there’s a lot to like here.  The shading on the blue sections of the costume is very near perfect, and really sells this as a late 70s Cyclops, as well as adding a lot of depth and dimension to the design.  While the gold visor has occasionally been something that bothers me on Cyclops figures, this is one time I really don’t mind, as Cockrum always went out of his way to indicate the visor was metallic.  I also appreciate the little red visible “eyes” in the visor, as they signify this is undoubtedly a Cockrum Cyclops, not Byrne.  Under the mask, there’s a face that’s a pretty great recreation of the unmasked Cyclops we see near the beginning of GSXM #1.  I really like the extra attention to detail on this one.  Cyclops includes a spare hairpiece for his unmasked look and a clear display stand.  The AvX and ANAD Cyclopses both included an extra mask with an optic blast attached, which certainly would have been nice, but given the number of extras included with the other figure in the set, it’s not the worst thing ever.

BANSHEE

bansheecyclops3Banshee was one of two members of the new team to have already appeared in X-Men prior to to GSXM#1, so he wasn’t one of the new characters paraded on the oh so famous cover.  By extension, he was also left out of the GSXM boxed set back in 2004, and left unreleased until Series 60, last year.  And even then, that was in his Strike Force uniform, making this particular ‘mate 13 years in the making.  Alright!  Guess my focusing on the positive worked!  Banshee gets add-ons for the hair, collar, and his wings.  The hair and collar come from the “Strange Tales” Morbius. They work decently enough.  I personally prefer the hair used on the last Banshee ‘mate, but the Morbius piece is a good match for Banshee’s appearance bansheecyclops5earlier in the run.  The wing pieces are new.  The slip over the wrists, and when positioned correctly, look like he’s using them to glide on the air.  Pretty cool new pieces, definitely.  The paintwork on Banshee is pretty good in general.  There are some fuzz edges here and there, and there’s a weird sort of film on the pelvis piece, but otherwise, the line work is sharp, and the colors are nice and bold.  Banshee’s default face is screaming, which is pretty well handled.  He also includes an extra head, with a more playful grin, a perfect recreation of Cockrum’s depictions of Banshee off-duty.  I can’t begin to tell you guys how excited I am to have a Banshee that includes an extra, non-screaming head.  How this is the first version of the character to do such thing, I’ll never know.  In addition to the extra head, Banshee also includes the cape and sonic scream piece from the last Banshee, as well as a flight stand and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

For quite some time, one of my main wants from Marvel Minimates was a GSXM-themed series.  For a number of stupid reasons, I never owned the original boxed set, so there was this sort of a hole in my collection.  So, I was pretty thrilled by the announcement of this set. Moreover, I’ve been waiting for this Banshee pretty much since 2004, so I’m very happy to have him finally.  He’s definitely the Banshee I’ve been waiting for.  Sorry Strike Force Banshee, looks like you’re being replaced (well, maybe I’ll keep that hair).  The John Byrne Cyclops from 2005 has been my go to version of the character for over ten years, and he’s become increasingly outdated as the line’s moved on.  I was eagerly awaiting the new version, and I’m very happy with the final result.  This one’s going to be hard to top moving forward!

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#1125: Spider-Man – Black Costume

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

SPIDER-MAN – BLACK COSTUME

MARVEL SUPER HEROES: SECRET WARS (MATTEL)

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It’s a rare occasion for a character to have not one, but two of the best known looks in comics under his belt, but that’s the case with everyone’s favorite web-head, Spider-Man.  His original design is clearly his best known, and the one that most people will associate with him.  But, in 1984, Marvel decided to give him a new design.  Coming out of their (toyline tie-in) Secret Wars maxi-series, they introduced a new, black and white costume.*  Obviously, it was never going to replace the original, but it did stick around for a surprising amount of time.  It’s also made quite a few reappearances in comics and other media adaptations, and even gotten spun off into a totally new character, because, let’s face it, it’s a badass design.  Due to the aforementioned badassery of the design, it’s also shown up more than a few times in action figure form.  Today, I’ll be looking at the very first one ever released.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

symbiotespideysw2Spider-Man was released as part of the second series of Mattel’s Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars line.  He was the second version of Spider-Man in the line (following Series 1’s standard Spidey), and it should be noted, he’s the only repeat character that the line produced.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Structurally speaking, he’s the exact same figure as his Series 1 counterpart, which in turn means he’s very similar to just about every other figure in the line, for good or for bad.  This means the general quality of the sculpt is rather on the soft side.  In their defense on this particular figure (oh my gosh, I’m defending Mattel.  Kill me now), it’s not like the are a lot of really sharp details that should be present.  A generally smooth sculpt is the way to go.  Why Spider-Man is sporting the same build as Captain America and Iron Man is a different question entirely, though.  Spidey gets his own set of legs. You can tell because there’s sort of a pre-posed nature to them. He’s doing some sort of brisk walk or maybe a lunge.  I’m not really sure.  Also, his right arm seems a bit longer than the left.  It’s weird.  All that being said, the overall appearance of the figure’s not bad.  Even his paint’s not awful, although that’s mostly by virtue of the design being rather simple.  It’s worth noting that he’s missing the white blocks on the backs of his hands, admittedly a minor detail, but missing nonetheless.  Also, his logo rather abruptly stops for about 1/4 of an inch on his sides before starting on the back, which is a little weird looking.  And, as with so many Secret Wars figures, the paint is incredibly prone to wear.  Spidey’s only accessory was the big, goofy lenticular shield that every figure included.  His was bright red, because why bother to match the figure, right?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Okay, you know how I kick off this section of every Secret Wars review by swearing up and down that I’m not trying to collect this line?  Yeah, you can scratch that on this guy.  He’s a figure I’ve been eying up for some time, mostly due to the coolness factor of the costume.  He ended up being purchased for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend, who picked him up this summer from Yesterday’s Fun.  I know I’m down on Mattel, and I’ve never been particularly kind to their Secret Wars figures, but this guy is very possibly the strongest entry from the line.  Yeah, he still showcases many of the same problems that plagued pretty much every single figure in the line, but if you view him as his own, standalone figure, he’s not awful.  He’s almost kind of charming.

#1116: Doctor Strange

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

DOCTOR STRANGE

MARVEL LEGENDS

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In my Mordo review, I noted that Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performance was one of my favorite parts of Doctor Strange.  While a movie’s supporting cast is certainly important (and Doctor Strange probably had one of the MCU’s best supporting casts so far), you’ve got to have a good lead to make it truly work.  Fortunately, Doctor Strange had a very strong lead in Benedict Cumberbatch, who got just the right mixture of bombast, pomposity, arrogance, and a tiny bit of genuine likability, which made Stephen Strange a great centerpiece for his self-titled movie.  I know some people were hating on his American accent, but I actually didn’t think it was that bad. For some reason, the trailer’s opted to use the one or two lines where he slips up, which seems unfortunate.  Regardless, I look forward to seeing more from Cumberbatch’s Strange in future films.  In the mean time, here’s one of his action figures!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

drstrangemcu2Doctor Strange is the fifth figure in the Dormammu Series of Marvel Legends.  It seems a bit odd for him to be nearer the end in the numbering, especially since the Astral variant of this figure (which he shares his packaging, name, and bio with) is figure 1 and the comic-Strange is 2.  Seems weird to me.  Also, for a character who’s still being introduced to the masses, his bio is the painfully short, painfully generic “The Sorcerer Supreme combats evil using many forms.”  Like, his actual name isn’t even mentioned.  What’s up with that?  Honestly, I’m probably making a bigger deal out of all of this than I should.  It’s just packaging.  What about the figure?  Well, he’s 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  He’s an all-new sculpt, albeit one that is mostly shared with the Astral Doctor Strange.  It’s a very nice sculpt, definitely among the best of the MCU sculpts Hasbro’s put out.  There’s a lot of really nice layer work on his various costume pieces, as well as some really cool texturing, especially on the tunic.  The head sculpt presents a pretty good likeness of Cumberbatch, though he’s a lot cleaner looking here than he is for most of the drstrangemcu5movie (by the time he’s fully geared up, he’s taken a bit of a beating).  At the very least, I feel like his hair should be a bit messier.  That being said, disheveled isn’t the easiest thing to translate into sculpted media.  Both the Cloak of Levitation and the Eye of Agamoto are both removable pieces.  The Cloak is nicely sculpted, but seems just a bit on the thick side for me.  It doesn’t ruin the figure, but it does make posing him a little more difficult.  The Eye is a nice enough piece, but it’s hard to get it to stay in place, though the Cloak being on top of it helps in this regard.  Strange’s paintwork is pretty solid.  It’s certainly clean, though, as with the head sculpt, it’s a bit cleaner than he was in the movie.  Also, like Mordo, Strange still lacks any sort of accent work, but, unlike Mordo, he’s got enough distinct colors present that he’s not too drab looking.  Strange includes two sets of hands in gripping and spell-casting poses, as well as a magic shield thingy, and the left leg of Dormammu.  The hands are fun (and I’m always appreciative of extra hands).  The shield looks cool from the front, but is a bit silly from behind, since he’s just holding it with a dinky little handle.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found Strange at the same time as Enchantress (after not finding him when I got Mordo and Iron Fist).  I wanted him, but wasn’t 100% sure I was going to get him right then.  Of course, then Super Awesome Girlfriend intervened and insisted on buying him for me (to be fair, the TRU trip where I found him was at the end of a rathe rough week for both of us, and she apparently feels better when she buys people stuff).  I’d say he were my favorite figure in the series, were it not for the other there figures I have from this series being really, really good too.  I don’t know that I can fairly pick a favorite.

And that’s it for the Dormammu Series reviews.  It’s worth noting that there are four more figures and a Build-A-Figure, but they’re largely very similar to prior items I’ve already looked at, with Astral Strange being mostly the same as this one (with the obvious change in coloring), Comic Strange being pretty much the same as the HB Doctor Strange (just with an added cape), Brother Voodoo being a slightly tweaked version of the SDCC version, and BAF Dormammu being largely the same as the Dormammu from that same set.  The only unique figure I haven’t looked at is Nico, who is actually in Super Awesome Girlfriend’s collection, so it’s up to her to review that one.

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#1115: Enchantress – Mystic Rivals

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

ENCHANTRESS – MYSTIC RIVALS

MARVEL LEGENDS

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The Enchantress?  I thought I wasn’t looking at any more of that Suicide Squad stuff!  Oh wait, that’s the *other* Enchantress.  Yes, the Enchantress is one of those times that both DC and Marvel overlap on a character’s name, thereby providing immense confusion for all those non-comics readers out there.  Marvel’s Enchantress appeared first (in 1964, two years before DC’s), and has generally been the better known of the two characters, which makes DC’s version of the Enchantress being the first one to grace the silver screen all the weirder.  Neither version of Enchantress has ever been all that lucky in terms of action figures; up until this year, there was exactly one figure out there of the Marvel version, and that was it.  Fortunately, she seems to be lucking out this year, with two figures already out and another on the way (curiously, DC’s Enchantress is still left out in the cold, as perhaps the only major member of the Suicide Squad cast left unreleased).  I’m looking at one of those figures today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

enchantress2Enchantress is the seventh figure in the Dormammu Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s officially titled “Mystic Rivals,” a name she shares with Runaways’ Nico Minoru.  This is our second Legends version of Enchantress this year, following the figure included in Hasbro’s SDCC-exclusive “The Raft” set.  The two figures are very similar in construction (it’s really just the arms and paint that are different), which has led to a bit of contention amongst the fanbase, some of whom feel exclusives should not be released.  Of course, a whole other section of the fanbase was upset that she was an exclusive in the first place, so I don’t know.  Personally, I’m happy to have gotten the second release (and, as someone who owns two of the other SDCC figures being re-released in this series, I don’t really see the problem with reissues on popular enough characters).  The figure is about 6 1/2 inches tall (a bit on the small side compared to our other Asgardians from this line) and has 26 points of articulation.  The SDCC Enchantress was built on the Scarlet Witch body from the Allfather Series, with a new had and skirt piece.  Obviously, Hasbro’s desire to reuse the Scarlet Witch base is what’s caused her to be slightly under-scaled, and, if I’m totally honest, I don’t mind all that much.  She’s still pretty suitably tall and imposing, and I think it would have been a little weird for her to be as hulking as, say, Valkyrie.  The new head is quite nice, and does a pretty suitable job of capturing Enchantress’ typical look.  I really like the slight sneering grin, like she’s up to something.  Very in character.  The skirt is a decent enough piece, though it’s a little bulky, and sort of exaggerates the smallness of her waist in comparison to her hips.  On this version of Enchantress, the Scarlet Witch arms have been swapped out for the arms from the new female base body (seen on Phoenix), which I find to be a much nicer set of arms than the prior ones.  I’m glad they made the switch.   The paint on Enchantress marks another change from the SDCC version.  The SDCC one was a bit more subtle, with everything being a slight variation of green, and an overall metallic sheen on the costume bits.  For this figure, the belt has been changed to yellow, and the base green is now darker and matte in finish.  Thanks to slight variations in coloring over the years, both figures are more or less accurate, so it really comes down to personal preference.  The quality of the application is very clean on this figure.  In general, the Dormammu figures are some of the best painted Legends we’ve gotten from Hasbro, which is a definite plus. Enchantress includes a pair of the Scarlet Witch spell casting effects, this time in a bright yellowish-green, as well as the torso of Dormammu.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back when the SDCC set hit, I had contemplated trying to track down the Enchantress from the set, since she’s kind of an important character.  But, within a week or so, this figure was confirmed as being part of this set, which certainly made my life a whole lot easier.  I didn’t find her with my first find of this series, which was a little disheartening, but when I found the set again at my new local Toys R Us, she was right there with them, and I happily snatched her up.  I really like how this figure turned out, and I’m glad I didn’t have to pay the big bucks to get her!

*Want an Enchantress figure of your own?  She’s currently in-stock with our sponsors over at All Time Toys!  Click here to check her out!

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