Tag Archives: Marvel

#0132: Falcon & The Winter Soldier

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

FALCON & WINTER SOLDIER

MARVEL MINIMATES

Today is part 2 of 3 of my review of the latest wave of Marvel Minimates.  The wave is themed around Captain America, and I’ll be looking at two of his compatriots, both of whom are set to get pivotal roles in the upcoming Captain America Sequel.  It’s the Falcon and Winter Soldier!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 54th wave of the Marvel Minimates line.

FALCON

First, my favorite part of the set, Sam Wilson aka the Falcon.  Oh, sorry “Marvel’s Falcon.”  ….TM….  The Falcon is depicted here in his more modern outfit, specifically the one he wore during Brubaker run on Captain America.  I would have preferred his classic outfit, but after 54 waves with no Falcon at all, I’ll take what I can get.  Falcon is built on the standard Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Falcon features 5 sculpted add-ons:  2 2-piece wings, and a hairpiece.  The hair looks to be new to this figure and the wings were originally sculpted for the Vulture  in the Spider-Man Friends and Foes boxed set.  I would have liked for the mask to be separate piece, so I could swap out the face for one without a goatee, but it looks okay.  The paint isn’t perfect, but it’s serviceable.  The work on the face is sharp, but the body doesn’t quite match up, with some fuzzy lines and a little bit of slop.  Falcon includes his sidekick Redwing, a flight stand, and a clear display stand.

WINTER SOLDIER

Next, it’s Cap’s former sidekick-turned-Russian-Assassin (umm…Spoilers?), Bucky Barnes aka the Winter Soldier.  There used to be a joke that nobody stayed dead in comics except for Uncle Ben, Bucky and Jason Todd.  I am eagerly awaiting the big summer event that brings back Uncle Ben.  Winter Soldier is depicted in his look he sported during the initial Winter Soldier arc.  The key difference between this look and more recent ones is the longer hair and the red star on his robot arm. Winter Soldier is built on the standard body, so he’s got the regular stats.  He features 4 sculpted add-ons: Hair, shoulder holster, belt, and leg holster.  The hair was originally used on Warpath and the shoulder holster originated on the wave 42 SHIELD Agent.  The belt and leg holster look familiar to me, but I can’t figure out for sure where I’ve seen them before.  The leg holster doesn’t quite keep the gun in place, which can get a bit annoying.  The paint is well done on this figure, with no noticeable slop.  The facial expression looks pretty dead-on for the character, with a dead-set determination.  Winter Soldier includes 2 different handguns, a sniper rifle, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was part of a larger order I placed with my favorite Minimates retailer, Luke’s Toy Store.  This was one of the sets I was most looking forward to in the wave, as both of these characters are long overdue.  I still hope to get a more classic Falcon down the line, but this one should do all right in its place.  And Winter Soldier is certainly no slouch either.

#0131: Captain America & Red Skull

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FIGHTING CHANCE CAPTAIN AMERICA & ROBOT RED SKULL

MARVEL MINIMATES

Continuing the theme started two days ago, I’ll be looking at another set from my recently received shipment of Minimates.  Today marks my first of three reviews from the most recent wave of Marvel Minimates.  With increasing regularity, waves will follow a set theme, and this wave continues the trend.  All the figures in this wave are based around Captain America, likely to somewhat tie-in with the upcoming movie.  This review focuses on variants of Cap and his arch nemesis the Red Skull.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 54th wave of the Marvel Minimates line.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

First up, the lead hero of this wave, Captain America.  He’s billed as “Fighting Chance Captain America,” and according to the back of the box, this figure depicts Cap from a storyline where the effects of the super-soldier formula began to wear off, which served as an excuse to give him padding and pouches.  Because the ‘90s, that’s why!  Cap is built on the usual Minimate body, so he features 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He features 9 sculpted add-ons: Mask, shoulder/chest padding, glove cuffs (with straps!), a leg holster, a matching leg-thingy for ammo, and his trademarked boots!  The mask is a reuse from the WW2 Cap released in the Captain America Through the Ages set, but everything else appears to be a new sculpt.  This includes the boots, which have been reworked to fit a bit better.  Everything else looks appropriately detailed, and very “pouch-y”.  The paint is quite good.  Cap’s face is covered in lines, which seems right for the art style, and the torso is fully detailed under the armor, in spite of the fact that the armor can’t easily be removed.  There are a few fuzzy lines, notably on the sleeves, but overall, everything looks okay.  Cap includes an alternate hairpiece, which was reused from The Walking Dead’s Rick Grimes, a handgun, his mighty shield, and a clear display stand.

RED SKULL

Next, the arch enemy of Captain America, the Red Skull!  …Sort of.  This is “Robot Red Skull”, who supposedly represents the Red Skull after he transfers his mind into one of Arnim Zola’s robot bodies, following the death of the Russian general he was inhabiting before.  Okay, so that happened.  I think that was actually during the Ed Brubaker run on the series, so it was probably much better than it sounds.  Robo-Skull is built on the typical body, so he’s got the usual stats.  Robo-Skull is one of the less sculpt-heavy figures in this wave, but he still features a brand new head, plus shoulder pads, and a skirt.  Go ahead, insult the skirt.  I dare you.  The head looks nice, and seems to be accurate to what they were going for.  The rest of the figure relies on painted details, which look very nice.  The face on the torso in particular is very cool looking!  Robo-Skull includes a Red Skull mask that fits over the robo-head, a hand holding the Cosmic Cube (you call it a Tesseract and I will hurt you), and a clear display stand.  The Cosmic Cube in particular excites me, because it’s a piece that’s been sorely missing for far too long!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two were part of the large shipment of Minimates I ordered from my favorite Minimates retailer, Luke’s Toy Store.  I really only got these two because I was buying a whole set of wave 54, but they aren’t too shabby.  The Cosmic Cube is practically worth the price I paid alone!

#0130: Age of Ultron Minimates

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CONQUEROR ULTRON, NICK FURY, IRON MAN, & ANGELA

MARVEL MINIMATES

 

I mentioned yesterday that I just got a new shipment of Minimates, so I’m gonna continue looking at those today.

I’ll be going back to old faithful, the Marvel line, this time looking at a boxset based on the recent Marvel crossover “Age of Ultron.”  I won’t go into my thoughts on “Age of Ultron” itself, because I’m trying not to go all nerd-rage-y too often.  Suffice to say, I did not care for it.  But, they made Minimates, and Minimates have the ability to make most things better, so I bought the set.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These guys were released late last year as a 4-pack centered around the aforementioned “Age of Ultron” story.  They’re all based on the looks of certain characters from the series.

CONQUEROR ULTRON

First up, it’s the title character, Ultron.  He’s not actually based on a look from the series itself, but rather from one of the variant covers to the series.  It’s a decent design, so I have no issues with them deciding to use it here.  Ultron is built on the basic body, but thanks to a new set of lower legs and a few other add-ons, he stands roughly 3 inches tall and features 24 points of articulation (The 6 arms really help him there).  Ultron has a buttload of sculpted pieces: head, upper arms, 3 different hand sculpts, torso, upper legs, and lower legs.  The upper arms and one of the sets of hands are shared with the Marvel Now! Iron Man that was released in the 16th Toys R Us wave, but everything is brand new to Ultron.  The amount of new pieces present is impressive.  I had assumed, due to the quantity of sculpted pieces, that Ultron would be a bit more lax on the painted details.  This is definitely not the case.  He’s got a detailed face, both on the Ultron head, and on the translucent red standard head underneath it.  Plus, he’s got full detailing on the torso under the sculpted piece, allowing you to display Ultron in a more classic two-armed state if you so desire.  Ultron’s only accessory is a display stand, which he can’t use due to the new foot sculpt.  I’m willing to be a bit forgiving on that front, given how many add-ons he features.

NICK FURY

Next, it’s Nick Fury, Agent of Shield.  What’s that you say?  He doesn’t look like Samuel L Jackson?  Yeah, this is classic Nick Fury, before the Ultimate Universe recast him in his more SLJ state.  Specifically, this is the look Fury was sporting during the crossover.  It looks to be a “business casual” style SHIELD uniform, with a polo shirt, combat boots and a tactical vest.  I still prefer the basic SHIELD uniform, but this doesn’t look to terrible, and I suppose it does add some variety to the SHIELD line-up.  Fury is built on the usual Minimate body, so he’s got the standard 14 points of articulation, and he stands around 2 ½ inches tall.  Fury features 6 sculpted pieces: hair, vest, gloves, belt, and a holster.  The hair and holster are definitely reused, with the hair hailing from the Tomb Raider line, and the holster first appearing on the Avengers Movie Maria Hill, Fury and Widow figures.  The belt and gloves might be reused, but I can’t say for sure.  The vest is a brand new piece, and it looks really cool, and has the jetpack previously seen on Hope Summers and the Heavy SHIELD Agent attached to it.  Apparently, the jetpack was supposed to be a removable piece, but a mix up at the factory led to it being glued to the vest.  It’s too bad it can’t be removed, but it doesn’t ruin the figure.  The paint detailing is pretty good.  All of the detail lines are nice and sharp, though he does have a fair bit of noticeable slop, particularly around the sleeves and on the hands.  But, the logos all look great, and he even has a fully detailed shirt under the vest.  Fury includes a large gun, a hand gun, a blast base for his jetpack, and a clear display stand.

IRON MAN

Next up, it’s the biggest name in the set, Iron Man.  He’s shown here in his slimmed down armor from the series, which also bears a resemblance to the armor he was sporting towards the end of Matt Fraction’s run on Iron Man.  He’s built on the usual body, so he’s got all the typical stats.  Iron Man is the most basic of the set, with only a single sculpted piece: his helmet.  I think the helmet is a reuse from the Marvel Now Iron Man from TRU wave 16.  Since he’s only got one sculpted piece, the figure mostly relies on paint.  Fortunately, the figure delivers on this front.  All of the paint work is nice and sharp, with none of the slop that was seen on Fury.  Iron Man’s only accessory is a clear display stand.

ANGELA

Last, and very much least in my opinion, it’s Angela.  Angela!  The big, highly kept secret from the end of the series!  Oh boy, I’m so glad that was a thing.  Yeah, I have, like, no interest whatsoever in this character.  But, since she was packed in a set with other figures I wanted, I got her anyway.  So, she’s built on the basic Minimate body, with all the usual stuff.  She’s got 5 sculpted add-ons: hair, one shoulder pad (because kids dig asymmetry!), two separate hand sculpts, and a belt with a sheath.  Near as I can tell, all of these are new pieces.  From a purely technical standpoint, all of its well-handled, with some pretty decent detailing.  The paint on the figure is neither the best nor the worst in the set, which is fine.  Angela includes a newly sculpted sword, and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this set in a recent order from my favorite place to get Minimates, Luke’s Toy Store!  I really only bought this set for the Ultron and the Nick Fury, and after having the set in hand, I pretty much still only got the set for those two.  Ultron is, without a doubt, the star of this set.  I’d be hard pressed to find something I don’t like about that figure.  Fury isn’t quite as good as Ultron, which is due mostly to the sloppy paint that plagues him.  Still, he’s a nice update on the classic Nick Fury, who’s been in dire need of an update for a while now.  Iron Man’s actually not too bad.  I enjoy him more than I thought I would, and he really is well put together.  But, at the end of the day, he’s just another Iron Man variant that is gonna get tossed in a box.  Angela is Angela.  This set has in no way swayed me on the character.  I’m happy for those who wanted her, I guess, but she’s just not for me.

#0127: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

X-MEN MOVIE SERIES (TOYBIZ)

 

In the 90s, the 5 inch scaled ruled to toy aisle, due in no small part to ToyBiz’s gargantuan line of Marvel toys, specifically those based on the 90s mega-giant X-Men.  It looked like that was where we’d be staying for a while.  But then, the X-Men movie was released in 2000, and they were released in… 6 inch scale?  It wasn’t the first time we’d seen such a scale, but it certainly wasn’t prevalent.  Coupled with ToyBiz’s continued release of other 5 inch product, it looked like this might just be a blip on the radar.

If you’ve followed the action figure industry in recent years, you would know that the 6 inch scale was far from a blip on the radar.  It went on to become the ruling scale on the market for over ten years, which was impressive.  And a lot of its owed to the X-Men Movie line making a bold jump.  Today’s review is a two-fer, looking at both versions of Jean Grey from the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean was released as part of the first series of the X-Men Movie Series.  She stands about 6 inches tall and has 10 points of articulation.  I feel it necessary to point out that only about 6 of those points are really useful, and even then it’s iffy, thanks to the odd cut joints and strange pose of the figure.   Anyway, the sculpt is a bit of a mixed bag.  Sculpturally, the only difference between the two figures is the hair style.  The original release had it down, the second had it up in a ponytail.   They both look fine, though the ponytail look is more accurate to the character’s appearance in the movie.  The facial sculpt is actually a pretty decent approximation of Famke Janssen.  The body’s where things start to fall apart.  It has some really nice details on the suit, with some great work on the zippers and folds and such, but the proportions of the underlying body are just weird.  The arms are too long, the waist is too thin, and her legs are in this odd sideways crouch sort of thing.  All in all, just very strange.  The paint on these two is pretty good for the time.  I think I like the work on the first release a bit more, as it looks a bit cleaner.  There is one notable change between the two on the paint front.  The second release has a black t-shirt painted on under the uniform.  Apparently, this was the main reason for the second release, as there were some complaints from a few concerned parents about the pulled down zippers and total lack of any kind of covering on the two female characters in uniform.  Honestly, it’s a perfectly reasonable point to make, and it’s actually a bit odd that they had their uniforms zipped so far down, given that Jean has hers zipped up just like her male compatriots in the film proper.  Both Jeans included an incredibly creepy mutated Senator Kelly as there only accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The first version of Jean was my second figure from the movie line.  She, along with Professor X were purchased for me by my Nana as an end of school gift.  Yeah, I had the option to get anyone in the line, and I bought a girl and a guy in a wheelchair.  I was a strange kid.  Anyway, I held onto that one for a while, and remember the controversy and subsequent rerelease of Jean, now with t-shirt and appropriate hair style.  I was happy with my first release version, and thanks to the reissue thing, it was actually quite rare.

Then, I came home one day to find that my dog had gotten into my room and pretty much destroyed my Jean figure.  The first release was fairly difficult to find at that point, so I had to settle for the reissue.  Fortunately, a few months ago, my comic book store got in a large selection of older figures loose, and the first release Jean was amongst them, allowing me to once again have the figure!

#0126: Angel – Savage Land

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ANGEL – SAVAGE LAND

MARVEL 10-INCH (TOYBIZ)

Okay, so I’m currently attempting to stay on top of work and school, while at the same time doing my best not to miss posting any updates.  As such, the next few reviews may be a bit more on the brief side.  Hope nobody is offended.  If you are…ummm…I’m sorry?

Today, I’ll be doing my second review from ToyBiz’s line of 10-inch scaled marvel figures.  For those of you who missed my previous review, quick little backstory: in the 90s, ToyBiz had a rather expansive line of 5 inch scaled Marvel stuff.  They decided to double their profits by up-scaling a bunch of the molds and releasing them as 10-inch scale.  Towards the end of this line, they actually started mixing up some of the pieces to get some new concoctions and character designs.  I’ll be looking at one of the later additions: Savage Land Angel.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Angel was released towards the end of the line, after it had become an exclusive to KB Toys.  He stands 10 inches tall, and features 13 points of articulation.  The figure, coming from the end of the line is completely built from previously used parts.  The head comes from the second Archangel figure, released in the Invasion series of  ToyBiz’s X-Men line.  The body is reused from The Vulture, who was released as part of the 90s Spider-Man line.  The head is sensible, given that it’s the same character, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of this sculpt, with its odd expression and wide eyes.  My issues are only amplified with the larger scale and normal flesh tone coloring.  The body is an interesting choice, I suppose, but given that is was the overly armored 90s Vulture, it means that Angel is left wearing this odd armor.  The paint is a bit of a mixed bag.  The head actually has some pretty decent work, and the shading on the armor is nice, but the costume under the armor looks a bit strange.  They seem to have tried to replicate the look of the previous Savage Land Angel, with his classic costume torn up.  However, while that figure had  bare feet, that wasn’t an option, as those pieces weren’t tooled for the large scale, which means that he’s got these weird painted on boots. Which look very strange with the shorts look, like he’s perpetually that nerdy guy who wears shorts with dress shoes and socks.  It’s weird.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoyed the 10 inch line, and how I practically got a new one every time I went into a KB Toys.  Not this guy.  This guy, I passed up more times than I can remember, mostly based on how damned creepy he looks.  I’ve mentioned before about the trip I took to that huge KB Toys outlet center, which had a 5-10 year back log of toys.  This guy was amongst them, and I finally decided to get him to round out my X-Men.  I still think he’s a bit odd, but, he’s not the worst thing ever.

#0124: Gambit

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

GAMBIT

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOYBIZ)

So, Happy President’s Day, I guess.  Um, I don’t really have that much in the way of presidential action figures, so I’m just gonna go ahead as if it’s any other day.  But I thought I’d point it out anyway.  Just to mess with you.

Looking back at my past reviews, I’m actually a bit shocked by how few reviews I’ve done of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends.  For a while back there they were, like, the only line I really collected, and I’ve done quite a few reviews of DC Direct figures, which I collected about the same time, so it seems odd I haven’t really looked at any of them.  I think part of this might be that I have some bad memories of trying to track certain figures down, and part of it might be that the figures just haven’t aged all that well.  Or, I’m going by a totally randomized list, and not as many of them have popped up.  Who knows? (Well, me but that kinda ruins my intro).

So, in an effort to attempt to correct some slight oversight, I’ll be reviewing the Marvel Legends version of the X-Men’s own resident scum bag, Gambit!  Gambit isn’t as big a deal as he once was, but he was pretty big in the 90s, and even into the early 2000s, hence his place in the line.  So, let’s take a look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gambit was released as part of the 4th wave of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends line.  He stands about 6 inches tall, and he has 40 points of articulation.  The figure depicts Gambit in him classic pink/blue/black leotard and brown trench coat look that everyone thought was oh so rad in the 90s.  It’s a truly hideous design, but I can’t help but be so damned nostalgic about it, because being born in the 90s ruined me as a person.  The sculpt was pretty good at the time, but now feels like one of the more outdated sculpts in the line, with huge hands, some pretty serious monkey arms, and an overall emaciated look to him.  I think the head still holds up, with that perfect floppy Gambit hair, and the totally in character smirk.  The coat isn’t the best tailored thing ever, but it isn’t too bad, and it does somewhat mask the odd proportions of the figure.  The figure’s paint is pretty good, though it can be sloppy in some places, particularly the face, which I’ve seen have some variance from figure to figure.  I do appreciate that this is one of the only Gambit figures to give him the appropriate black sleeves with those weird pink squares, instead of just leaving them pink.  The figure had a really nice assortment of accessories that I wish I still had, including: his staff, an energy explosion with a set of cards to simulate his powers, and a base sculpted to look like a fallen Sentinel hand.  These pieces were all pretty cool, and I think I still have the stand in a box with some others, but the other two pieces are long gone.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Believe it or not, Gambit was one of my favorite ToyBiz Legends.  I’m not really sure why, as I’m not that big a fan of the character, and the figure isn’t that amazing, but I really liked him.  I suppose coming early  in the line, he got a lot more play time than some of the later figures, and he was one of the figures in the line who you didn’t have to devote all your free time to tracking down.

He hasn’t aged amazingly well, but he’s still held up better than some of the figures, which does give a leg up.  And given Gambit’s rather quick decline in popularity, the character has yet to see any kind of rerelease in the more recent incarnations of the line, which I suppose makes this guy a bit more valuable.

#0107: Original Ghost Rider

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ORIGINAL GHOST RIDER

GHOST RIDER (TOYBIZ)

Time to take a jump back to the 90s and to ToyBiz’s powerhouse that was the 5 inch Marvel line.  Sure, they had the X-Men line, and the Spider-Man line, and they did a few waves of Hulk, Iron Man and Fantastic Four to tie in with the cartoons.  But they wanted to do more.  They wanted another character to devote a whole line to.  And seeing as it was the middle of the 90s and being oh-so-90s was the big thing to be, they needed someone who just bled 90s.  Someone who screamed “X-TREME!”  With chains, and leather jackets, and skulls!  And what do you know, Marvel had a character like that:  Ghost Rider!  And so, Ghost Rider was given his own toyline!  To ToyBiz’s credit, the Ghost Rider line is easily one of the highlights of the many toylines they produced in this time period.

Today, I’ll be looking at one of the variants of the main character from the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

“Original Ghost Rider” as he was dubbed was released as part of the second (and last) wave of the Ghost Rider line.  In spite of the name, he’s actually based on the second Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch, who was the main Ghost Rider at the time.  I’ll be honest, the name makes no sense.  Like, at all.  So, I’m just gonna overlook it and just review the figure on its own merits.  Ghost Rider stands just over 5 inches tall and has 13 points of articulation.  For the record, that level of articulation was phenomenal for the time, which just goes to show ToyBiz’s commitment to the line, which was odd, given there wasn’t a Ghost Rider cartoon or anything.  The sculpt on GH is actually really good.  It’s quite detailed, and it’s well-proportioned for the time.   The figure’s covered in flames, that all look to be well handled, if perrhaps a bit odd looking, give that they’re opaque.  Originally, the figure had an action feature where, when you pressed a button on his back, the front of his chest would pop open, displaying his fiery torso.  However, the chest pieces didn’t stay on very well, and I lost mine over the years, leaving my Ghost Rider with a permanently exposed chest.  That sounds awkward.  The paint is pretty good, though some stuff, like the glow in the dark gimmick on the head, leaves the paint under-detailed, which is a bit of a disservice to the sculpt.  Ghost rider was originally packaged with a set of glow in the dark chains to be clipped onto him, but child-me seems to have lost that piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ghost Rider was part of a large subset of figures that were purchased for me by my dad what a nearby comicbook store called Ageless Heroes went out of business.  The store had a large stock of the various 90s 5 inch figures, and they were being sold for quite a discount.  I know this was my go to Ghost Rider for a while, and I really thought the chest thing was pretty cool.  Of course, I only bought Ghost Rider because I felt my Champions display needed him.   Yeah, I was that kid.  And for all of you who went “who are the champions?”, go look up Marvel’s Champions.  Be amazed at my obscure references!

#0100: Captain America – Avengers Version

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CAPTAIN AMERICA

THE AVENGERS (HOT TOYS)

Hey look!  100 reviews!  That’s not too shabby, is it?  Like with my 50th review, I’ll be doing another “Deluxe Review.”

For those of you that don’t know, Hot Toys is a toy company based in Hong Kong who are renowned for their almost life like 1/6 scale figures.  They cater strictly to those with a large amount of money to spend on such things, as each figure costs anywhere from $200 to $300 on average.  They tend to pick up the licenses for big block buster movies, and last year they released figures from The Avengers.

Today I’ll be looking at their take on Captain America from that film.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So, like I mentioned before, this figure is based on Cap from the Avengers movie.  He was #174 in Hot Toys’ Movie Masterpiece Series.  The figure stands about 12 inches tall, and has a whole lot of articulation.  I don’t know exactly how much, as most of it is hidden by his costume.  So I’m gonna just go with a bunch.

Cap-AvengersCloseUp

THE HEAD IN QUESTION

I’ll look at the basic head here, and the extra head in the accessories section.    The basic head depicts Cap with his helmet/mask on.  The helmet appears to be a separately molded piece, but it’s not removable.    Sculpt wise, all the details look great.   I’m not sure that they’ve quite gotten Chris Evans’s likeness down, but they’ve came pretty damn close.  The helmet is pretty much a miniaturized version of the actual one from the film, with pretty much every little groove and detail included.  The under-the-helmet-hood is also well done, simulating the texture of the fabric impressively.  Paint is one of Hot Toys’ strong suits, and this figure doesn’t disappoint.  The level of detail and the lifelike quality is nothing short of amazing.  Viewed from the right angle, this figure could pass for a real person.

THE COSTUME IN QUESTION

This is kind of a new category for me, as the costume features few sculpted pieces and very little paint.  That isn’t to say he has no sculpted pieces.  He’s got his hands, boots, gauntlets, the chevrons on his shoulders, his belt buckle, and the star on his chest.  These are all fairly well executed, although, the boot and gauntlet sculpts may be a bit on the soft side, sculpt-wise.  All of the sculpted parts are painted quite well, with no slop or bleed over.

So, I’ve looked ate the sculpted parts, now I’ll move on to the rest of the figure’s costume, which is all cloth.  Cap’s costume is tailored specifically to fit his body, and is handled with two main pieces:  Shirt and Pants.  Most of his uniform is made from the same coarse blue fabric.  I find it’s a bit on the dark side for Cap’s look from the movie, but it isn’t too bad.  The costume is assembled from multiple layers, which really adds to the realism.

THE ACCESSORIES IN QUESTION

Cap comes with quite a hefty selection of accessories.  They are:

  • Unmasked Head
  • Pulled down Hood to display with the unmasked head
  • 7 spare hands
  • 2 shields: Regular and Battle-Damaged
  • Chitauri Arm Cannon
  • Display Stand

The alternate head is pretty good.  Once again, I’m not sure they’ve completely captured Evans, but it’s hard to tell given the choice of expression.  I don’t really know why they decided to go with an angry expression for the unmasked head, since that isn’t very characteristic of Cap in the movie, but I guess it looks okay if you’re going for more of a battle-damaged, end of the movie look.  The head switches out at the base of the neck, and does so with relative, which is nice because it means you don’t have to man handle you’re $200+ action figure.

The alternate head is complimented by a hood piece to replicate what Cap’s hood looked like when he pulled it down in the movie.  It’s pretty much just a piece of blue cloth.  It’s okay, but it has difficulty hanging properly, which can look a bit awkward.  It’s attached via two snaps that hook on the inside collar of the costume.  They’re unreliable, and don’t tend to hold well.  Overall, this is kind of an extraneous piece.  I’m glad they included it for those that want it, but it’s not something I ever plan to use.

Cap includes seven hands in addition to the relaxed pair he has on in the box.  The hands include: gripping(R and L), Pointing(R), splayed(R and L), and fists(R and L).  They’re all sculpted well, and offer a nice variety of gestures.

Cap’s most important accessories are his mighty shields.  He includes both a clean and polished one and a scuffed up, battle-worn one.  The clean one is vac-metallized, which is a decision I question, as it doesn’t really accurately depict what Cap’s shield looks like in the movies.  Also, if you’re unlucky, all to paint might start flaking off like some people have experienced, so there’s that.  I much prefer the BD shield, as I feel it looks more like the one Cap carries in the movie.

Cap also includes a Chitauri arm-cannon thing.  He takes one from one of the aliens during the movie’s climactic battle, so it fits.  It’s pretty cool, and can be plugged into Cap’s hand peg if you so desire.

Lastly, Cap includes a black display stand with his name and the Avengers logo on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Hot Toys announced their Avengers line, this was a figure I wasn’t going to buy.  I planned on getting the rest, and need to save the money for them.  Plus, I already had Cap from his solo film.  That should be enough for me, right?

Well, as you can see, no, it wasn’t.  I broke down and bought the figure because I really wanted that really cool Avengers set up, and First Avenger Cap just wouldn’t look right.  I’m glad I bought him in the end, but man I am such a push-over on these figures.

Cap-AvengersUnmasked

#0096: Thor & Loki

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

THOR & LOKI

MARVEL MINIMATES

Hey look guys!  It’s Minimates!

This time around it’s another peak at the earlier days of Marvel Minimates.  We’ll be jumping all the way back to wave 16 for this review.  I’ll be looking at the very first Minimates of Thor and Loki.  It’s shocking to think that these two didn’t see a release until 16 waves in, but they were hardly the household names they are now.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 16th wave of the Marvel Minimates line, which was an Avengers themed wave.

THOR

First up, it’s the God of Thunder, Thor!  Thor is depicted here in his classic costume.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  3 of those 14 points are rendered pretty much motionless by the hair and boot sculpts.  Thor’s sculpted pieces include: Hair/helmet, torso cover/cape, wrist bands, boots and belt.  I believe that all of these pieces were new to Thor, but a few of them would see some reuse later down the line.  The sculpts are all reasonable for the time, but they seem a little soft by today’s standards.  They also seem a bit boxy compared to more recent stuff.  Structurally, they all look good, and work really well for the character.  The paint is fairly minimal, with some minor base work on the areas such as the clack on the top of the legs and the silver on the chest and helmet.  These look fine, and don’t seem to have too much slop or any fuzzy lines.  Detail lines are present on the face, torso and boots.  They’re all sharp, and look pretty good, although the face does leave a little to be desired.  In an effort to make it fit without being obscured by the helmet, they kind of squished it, which doesn’t really work for Thor.  It was extremely common to see another face subbed in for this one back when this was the only Thor on the market.  Thor includes his trust hammer Mjolnir, which was a new sculpt.  It’s a bit on the simple side, but it worked well for the time.

LOKI

Next, Thor’s villainous brother, Loki!  Like Thor, Loki is depicted in his classic Kirby costume.  He too is built on the usual body for the line, so he has the usual height and articulation.  Fortunately, unlike Thor, none of Loki’s articulation is impacted by his sculpted pieces.  Speaking of sculpted pieces, Loki has two of them: his helmet and his cape.  The cape was previously used on wave 9’s White Queen Minimate, but the helmet was brand new to Loki.  The cape is a bit questionable, but it looks okay, and it’s easily removed if you don’t like it.  The helmet looks spot on to the one Loki wore in the early comics.  Like with Thor, paint is at a relative minimum with Loki.  He’s mostly molded in the appropriate colors, but he’s got some yellow paint for his gloves, boots and such.  Loki has detail lines denoting his face and the texturing on his torso.  The face looks appropriately sinister, though it does kind have the same squashed look as Thor.  The texturing is nice, and it looks accurate to the look they were going for.  Loki includes a chalice, painted in the same yellow as is present on the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two were part of wave 16 of the Marvel Minimates line, which was not only a turning point for the line itself, but also for my involvement in the line.  Wave 16 represents the first time I eagerly awaited the release of a set of minimates, and the first time I bought an entire set of them, instead of just a random set here or there.  While they seem a bit dated now, Thor and Loki were a big deal at the time, and they helped put the Avengers a lot closer to a formidable presence in the line, an idea that seems absurd nowadays.  This was the wave that showed that this line could go the distance.  And boy, did it…

#0094: Spider-Man

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

SPIDER-MAN

MARVEL 10-INCH (TOYBIZ)

In the 90s, ToyBiz’s 5 inch Marvel line was pretty unbeatable when it came to superhero toys.  They had wide variety and best assortment of articulation you could find at the time.  Having met a great success with the 5 inch line, ToyBiz decided to release a larger scale line through a partnership with toy store KB Toys.  The 10 inch line was made from sized-up molds from the popular 5 inch line, and offered a variety of characters at a low price.  They were also a bit more durable than the smaller figures, which made them great for play.  Today, I’ll be looking at the basic Spider-Man from the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spider-Man was part of KB’s exclusive line of 10-inch figures, though the line never really had “waves” or “series.”  Instead, the figures were just kind of in constant supply.  Anyway, this was the basic Spider-Man, who was offered for the entirety of the line.  The figure stands 10 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation.  The sculpt quite simplistic, but fairly well handled, especially given it would have been released in the 90s.  The web lines are painted instead of sculpted, but that was the standard at the time, and it does make the figure look like he’s from the 90s Spider-Man Animated Series, which was undoubtedly an influence.  For the most part, the figure is molded in the appropriate colors, but there are a few painted spots.  The color matching is good, and everything looks clean, with no smudges or slop.  I believe that this figure included a web-line with a suction cup, but I’ve long since lost it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This guy was purchased on one of the many trips taken to the nearby, mall-based KB Toys with my Grandmother.  She would occasionally buy me one or two of these figures and I would joyfully take them home to play.