Tag Archives: Marvel

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0021: Polaris

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

POLARIS

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Whaaaaaaaaat!?! Another one of these addendums? So soon? You betcha! I don’t like bringing them back for just one thing, so, umm, I’m not! Ha-haaa! We’re keeping this Toy Biz Marvel bit rolling, but jumping quite a bit ahead in my reviews, all the way to 2021, when I reviewed Polaris!

“Lorna Dane, a long-time friend to the X-Men, is the mutant known as Polaris! Able to manipulate the forces of magnetism, she has learned to utilize her powers in various ways, such as creating force fields and firing pure bolts of magnetic energy! As a member of the government sanctioned X-Factor Team, Polaris will not hesitate to use her powerful mutant abilities to help the X-Men whenever she is needed!”

“Long-time friend” kind of down plays that whole period in the ’60s when she was an actual member of the team.  Or that period in the ’80s when she was an actual member of the team.  Heck, you can’t even use the “maybe they were trying to keep it in line with the cartoon” excuse, because, there too, she was an actual member of the team.  What I’m getting at here is a simple question: why does this unnamed Toy Biz copy writer have a personal vendetta against Lorna Dane?  Is it because of all the times she’s been brainwashed and crazy?  Because you’re going to have to rule out, like, 90% of the X-Men, if that’s your thing.  I will not stand for this slander libel against Lorna.  It’s unreasonable, I tell you!  I’m so mad, I’m gonna review this action figure.  I know, that’s so out of character for me.  See?  See how mad I am?  It’s your move, person that wrote the packaging text on a figure from 25 years ago for a toy company that’s been defunct for over a decade…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Polaris was released in the “Flashback Series” of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, which hit shelves in 1996, and was the 15th assortment in the line.  It was that year’s requisite repaint series, which they’d gotten somewhat attached to, I suppose.  Polaris marked the third member of the ’90s X-Factor team added, and would be the last one added to the mainstream line.  She’s ostensibly in her ’90s team attire, but I’ll get a bit more into that in a moment.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  Since it was a repaint series, Polaris is, unsurprisingly, a repaint, specifically of the Series 6 Rogue figure.  It’s not a terrible sculpt, I suppose, but it was a little outdated by this point, making her a little stiffer than other figures from the same year.  And, while the overall design of the character matches up alright with the sculpt if you squint, it’s not a super close match, and ends up amalgamating a few of her different X-Facter looks.  It’s seems to be closest to the sleeveless with headband look she had slightly later in the run, but adds a jacket to the mix (since Rogue’s was sculpted in place), and somewhat awkwardly recreates a few of her costume design elements by ignoring or reinterpreting the actual sculpted Rogue elements.  This is largely done by the paint work, which does the heavy lifting to make Rogue look like Polaris.  Honestly, it does a pretty respectable job, and while it looks like she’s a repaint, she’s at least distinctly different enough to not look totally out of place if both figures are on the shelf.  Polaris was packed with a removable belt, and a weird translucent green gun thing…I suppose to make up for Rogue’s general lack of the obligatory unnecessary gun?  She also keeps Rogue’s “Power Upper Punch” action feature, which is a little out of place with Lorna, but it’s a part of the sculpt, so it stays.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had Havok in my X-Men collection from the very beginning, so I couldn’t very well not have Polaris to go with him, right?  I got her back when she was new, and if I’m recalling correctly, I believe she was given to me by my parents, alongside the second of the two X-Men carrying cases I had as a kid.  I’m fairly certain I actually got her before Rogue, which made her stand out a bit more in my collection at the time.  She’s perhaps not the most exciting or inventive figure in the line, but she’s not a bad figure either, and that places her into the half of the “Flashback” assortment that wasn’t totally pointless.  Good for her.

Man, I really let that poor nameless Toy Biz copywriter have it, didn’t I?  Really didn’t like the “friend of the X-Men” bit.  In my defense, I was going through some stuff.  And, you know, the bio was wrong.  And boy do I have trouble letting that sort of thing slide.  Also, in re-reading this for the purposes of this addendum, I caught, like, a bunch of typos in this one.  So, I’ve fixed them, so as to eliminate all the evidence make it easier to read.  Beyond the horrible typo-related sins, it’s a decent review.

When I reviewed the figure originally, I had lost her gun and belt, though I didn’t actually note the omission within the text.  I got both of them via a trade-in that showed up at All Time, so now my figure is back up to her full ’90s standards.  Hooray!  And, while I was at it with the new accessorized photos, I also went back and fixed the visible whole in my backdrop that was still present in the original pictures.  Because, you know, it looked bad.

#3624: Namorita

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

NAMORITA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0103: Namorita is the daughter (and genetically clone) of Namora, who is cousin to Namor.  If they didn’t have a tendency of only being alive two at a time, that might get confusing at dinner.

My first introduction to the New Warriors was the preview copy of the first issue of Volume 2 included with the Wizard Magazine Avengers special.  I remember not knowing exactly what I was looking at, but being somewhat intrigued.  I ultimately had more proper encounters with most of the team in other books, and in the case of Namorita, the first story I remember her in was the Namor storyline that updated the Invaders to “modern” day (that being the ’90s, of course).  I can’t say I’ve had a ton of attachment to the character, but I’ve grown to appreciate the New Warriors as a whole, especially in light of how badly they got butchered in Civil War.  Legends has been zeroing in on getting all of the founding members accounted for, and its Namorita that seals the deal!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Namorita is figure 5 in the Void Series of Marvel Legends.  She joins Justice as the New Warriors contingent of the set, and is also alongside a new version of her cousin Namor.  Namorita has had a number of rather divergent looks over the years, and, for reasons I myself don’t *fully* grasp, this figure goes for her Civil War era look.  I guess it’s unique.  I myself don’t *hate* the blue skin, but I’ve always been iffy on the red suit.  It also means she doesn’t match with anyone else, and, unlike Justice and Firestar, who have costumes that at least read as similar to their looks from early on, Namorita’s is one that really only works for that one specific era, and it’s not exactly an era people are looking to really remember.  Maybe Hasbro just felt there was too much green in the line right now?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Namorita is built on the Spinneret update to the Phoenix body, which is a solid base body, apart from the weird peg holes in the back.  She gets a new head, add-ons for her wrist guards, modified shins to add her ankle wings, and new bare feet.  The new parts are solid, if not really anything major to write home about.  I do like the flow the hair, though.  Her color work matches the look from the comics, for better or for worse.  The application’s a slightly mixed bag.  The markings on her skin are nice and crisp, and the face works out well.  The suit, however, is pretty fuzzy on the edges, which looks kind of cheap.  Namorita is packed with two sets of hands, one open, the other in fists.  Curiously, while the open ones re-use Winter Soldier Widow’s fingerless gloves, the fists are basic fists, without even having the fingers painted blue.  It’s an odd lack of internal consistency.  She’s also packed with the torso of the Void Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, Justice stole the thunder on finishing out the New Warriors in this assortment.  Not helping things is the costume choice they went with just emphatically not being the one I would want.  So, sure, we got her, but I’m just waiting for the inevitable follow-up figure that does the version that everyone actually wants.  Presumably, she’ll be in some sort of multi-pack with modified versions of prior New Warriors.  Until then, this one’s passable, and I’ve got a complete, if somewhat eclectic, New Warriors founding line-up.

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.

#3622: Justice

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

JUSTICE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0101: Vance Astrovik was originally introduced purely as the “present day” counterpart of Guardians of the Galaxy member Vance Astro.  After a split in the timeline, he became the second Marvel Boy, and eventually Justice.

As a kid, my earliest interactions with Marvel comics were largely through my dad’s ’70s and ’80s books.  My first real interaction with “current” books, at least as far as the mainstream line, was Busiek and Perez’s run on Avengers.  After the big launch that brought every living member of the team up to that point back for a reality-warping adventure fighting Morgan le Fay, they settled into a line-up of mainstays, joined by former New Warriors Firestar and Justice.  There was a poster of this new line-up, drawn by Perez, included in the issue that introduced it, which my dad pulled out of his copy and gave to me.  It hung over my bed for a good many years and only further cemented the run as definitive for me.  I’ve longed to build that version of the team in toy form since that poster came out, and it’s been a slow-going experience to say the least.  A particular hang-up has been Justice, who has, up to this point, not gotten any figure coverage that wasn’t “Vance Astro.”  Hey, look, a Justice figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Justice (or “New Warriors Justice” as he’s listed on the box) is figure 3 in the Void Series of Marvel Legends, which is the first Avengers-based line-up of 2024.  Vance has had a number of different looks over the years.  This one specifically goes for his second look from New Warriors Vol. 5, which was right around the Marvel Now! era.  It takes elements from his prior designs and is notably pretty similar to his Perez era costume, while still being a little different.  I’m still partial to the Perez look, of course, but this one’s not bad, and it’s technically “current.”  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s based on the 2099 base body, which is a respectable match for Vance’s usual build.  It’s interesting that it’s not using the modified versions of the arms and legs, without the visible pins, but there seems to be some sort of strategy to which version gets used for which figure.  Justice gets a new head, upper torso, and cape, all courtesy of sculptor Dan Mitchell.  The head is decidedly dialed into the 2014 Vance look, which is, as noted, no my go-to, but I can’t help but like this sculpt nonetheless.  I feel it does a really nice job of matching the energy of Speedball sculpt in particular, and I really liked that one too.  The new upper torso is designed to work in tandem with the cape sculpt, to give him one seamless design.  It’s very clean and concise, and works well to capture the design.  Justice’s color work goes for a slightly more reserved take on his look, which works well for the specific design they’re aiming for.  Paint application is all pretty sharp and clean, which is definitely key for a design as simplistic as this one.  Justice is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and relaxed, as well as the tendrils to the Void Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

With each New Warrior we’ve gotten in Legends, I’ve hoped we might be that much closer to getting Justice.  It’s been a wait, for sure, but I kept hoping.  I knew he’d be the last proper member I added to my Avengers line-up, and sure enough he was.  He’s not in the right costume, but, honestly, I don’t care.  I got a Justice figure, and he’s really, really nice.  I’ll take what I can get, especially when what I get is as solid as this 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.

#3621: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY — SPACE RIDERS

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0100: “The Dark Phoenix Saga” is the proper storyline to be published in the trade paperback format by Marvel.

You guys didn’t forget about the Space-themed X-Men figures, did you?  Because I certainly haven’t.  They’ve been sitting on the floor of my room for months, and, you know, I kinda wanna not have them there.  Reviewing them seems like the easiest way to go about that, honestly.  I’ve done Wolverine and Cyclops, so might as well do the third point on the triangle and get Jean Grey reviewed!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean Grey is the fourth member of the deluxe-sized “Space Riders” assortment of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, which was released in 1997.  The figure stands a little under 5 inches tall and she has 8 points of articulation (which includes a spinning ponytail).  Jean is lacking the single wrist swivel that a bunch of the others in the set got, which is a bummer.  In general, she’s a bit stiffer, I feel.  Her sculpt is all-new, and it’s…fine.  Her design is dialed very closely into the Jim Lee look, making this the closest the main X-Men line got to actually doing that look during the ’90s.  Crazy, huh?  It’s pretty much just that look, with some extra armoring.  The sculpt is rather on the soft side, especially on the head.  It’s in rather stark contrast to the heads on Cyclops and Wolverine, which are easily the best parts of their respective sculpts.  For Jean, that would be…I don’t know, maybe her boots?  Those seem pretty nice.  Jean’s paint work is fine.  It checks the boxes, but like the rest of the set, it’s thick and a little sloppy.  Jean is packed with her own Space Racer, which has folding wings, and a pair of missiles.  She’s also got a mask piece, though hers is missing any actual enclosing around the mouth, which feels like it defeats the purpose.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I actually got this one before the others, when a sealed one came through All Time a few years ago.  I even had to fight Max for it.  Okay, not really.  He wanted it, but I said I didn’t have one, and he told me I got first dibs on Toy Biz Marvel, which was very considerate.  No actual fighting.  Probably for the best, really, since she’s…well, she’s not amazing.  I mean, I guess she’s not terrible, but she certainly feels like the most phoned-in of the figures thus far.

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.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0020: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (TOY BIZ)

It’s been a year and a half since I’ve done one of these, but it’s Friday, and I’ve got some addending to do, so, behold, a new Flashack Friday Figure Addedum!  I’m diving back into an older Toy Biz Marvel review, from way back in the site’s very first year, waaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2014.  I hadn’t even seen The Winter Soldier when I wrote this!  Crazy!  So, let’s look back around to Captain America!

By the time this review is posted, I will have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  I’m hoping that I love it as much as I am expecting to, but I’ll just have to wait and see (EDIT: I saw it!  It was amazing.  Go check it out!).  In the meantime, to celebrate the release of the movie, I’ll be taking a look at my very first Captain America action figure.  Back before Cap was the household name he is now, the only way to get a Cap figure was in the tie-in line to the Spider-Man cartoon, of all places.  Cap had just made an appearance on the show, so Toybiz was gracious enough to put him in the eighth series of the line, dubbed Electro-Spark.  How does the figure hold up almost 20 years later? Let’s find out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

 

The Spider-Man line was 5 inch scale, but Cap was a big guy, standing almost 6 inches tall and featuring 9 points of articulation.  Toybiz seemed intent on depicting Cap as quite the hulking figure (not that one).  He’s so big, it’s almost like his super-soldier serum took super-soldier serum.  This was not a Cap you wanted to mess with!  The sculpt had some nice touches, particularly the scale texture on Cap’s torso, which is simple, but very effective.  The gloves and boots also show a nice level of detail.  There’s lots of folds and creases, making them stand out nicely.  The face depicts Cap in a very angry state, which wouldn’t be my first go to for the character, but it was the 90s.  Everybody gritted their teeth like that.  The paint work on Cap was simple, but it fits with the time, and it was fairly cleanly applied.  I quite like the stylizing of the “A” on the forehead.  Cap included his mighty shield, though this is probably my biggest issue with the figure.  The shield was reworked to give it some sort of light-up feature, which means it’s really small and like an inch thick. Plus, the star’s not even the right color!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in the intro, Cap was my very first figure of the character.  It was also the only version available for a few years, so this is what I had to live with.  The figure is probably one of the most dated sculpts of the old Spider-Man line, but I can’t help but love it.  I guess I just got used to what I had.  AS a kid, there was no thrill like getting to watch my VHS copies of the Ruby-Spears Captain America cartoon while holding this figure.

Here’s the part where I get all hyper-critical of my old writing.  I mean, a little.  Honestly, this one’s not bad.  It breaks format a bit, since his release info is in the intro, and the “Figure Itself” segment jumps right to the stats of the figure.  Also, it should be “Toy Biz was generous enough” not “Toybiz was gracious enough.”  Wrong “g” word past-Ethan!  Beyond that, the review covers its bases pretty well.

What it *doesn’t* cover is the extra accessories I didn’t have at the time.  In addition to that surprisingly thick shield, Cap also got a weird transforming plane/jetpack thing.  It’s extra goofy and silly, but, hey, why stop that now.  I honestly had completely forgotten the whole thing at the time of my original review.  But, thanks to an assist from Max (who I totally am gonna blame, by the way), I got a second copy of this Cap, which had all of his accessories, and look, now he’s all complete!

#3619: Man-Thing

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

MAN-THING

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0098: In the mid ’70s, Marvel published extra-long issues of some of their books under the “Giant-Size” banner. Through this venture, there are not one, not two, but four issues of Giant-Size Man-Thing.

For the most part, I tend to map out my schedule of reviews at least a few weeks in advance, but I didn’t actually pick the subject of today’s review until just yesterday afternoon. It was definitely more down to the wire than I like to go. But, here we are, with a Man-Thing. So, you know, umm, there’s that? Look, let’s just call him Ted, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Man-Thing is the Build-A-Figure for the self-titled series of Marvel Legends from 2017. The set was the first Marvel Knights-themed series, meant to loosely tie-in with the release of the Netflix Defenders show, and giving us a handful of show-based figures mixed with some comics-based ones. Ted here was purely comics based at the time, but he’s made the jump to live action since, with a look that honestly isn’t that far removed from this one.  The figure stands 7 3/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  The sculpt for this figure is a totally unique one.  I’ve long felt that the Toy Biz Legends Man-Thing was one of their best offerings, so this one had a very serious bar to clear.  It takes a decidedly different approach, going for a larger, more bulked up version of the character.  He’s also a little more balanced out and less piece-meal looking than the Toy Biz version.  That said, it’s still a very detailed, very rich sculpt, and certainly ranks as one of Hasbro’s best.  The color work does a fair bit to assist the sculpt, as he gets quite a bit of accent work, far beyond what we tend to see from Hasbro.  There’s a darker wash on most of the body, plus some lighter detailing on a few spots as well.  It all works quite nicely, and it’s one of the few times that a Hasbro paint scheme honestly rivals the original Toy Biz version.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

The Toy Biz Man-Thing remains one of my favorites from that line, so when this got shown off, I wasn’t 100% sure I needed one.  But, I did give it an honest try at finishing it, before giving up when the assortment proved rather difficult to get my hands on.  After five years, I got down to needing two parts, and then wound up just getting a complete one when it was traded into All Time last year.  Sort of takes the fun out of it, right?  Okay, not really.  This one is cool.  He’s different from the Toy Biz one, but in a way that makes them both equally cool.

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.

#3616: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS — SPACE RIDERS

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0095: While Cyclops’s only space suited appearance in X-Men: The Animated Series kept his usual headgear from the show under his helmet, his fully cowled look showed up under his space suit in the “Pryde of the X-Men” pilot.

Hey, you know those X-Men Space figures I was talking about last week? Those are pretty fun. Wanna read about them some more? Well, I sure hope so. And, hey, this time it’s a Cyclops. Can never get enough of the Cyclopes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is the third piece of the “Space Riders” assortment of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, released as a deluxe item in 1997.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Like the rest of this line-up, Cyclops’s sculpt was an all-new one, based on a wholly original design for the character.  Cyclops’s design is definitely drawing a fair bit of its visual elements from the Jim Lee design, which makes a fair bit of sense.  One of the neat things about this particular release, however, was the presence of his cowled look, which hadn’t been featured in the main X-Men line since the first series*.  It’s fun to see how far the line’s sculpting had progressed since those early figures.  There’s definitely a lot of stylization to this one, and I’m not *entirely* sure how I feel about the weird sneering expression.  The body sculpt is a bit stiff, which was common with these figures.  The armored elements definitely feel a little bit tacked on and random, especially on the arms.  I’m not sure that suits a character like Cyclops, but it does at least feel pretty consistent with this era of X-Men designs.  The proportions are also a little bit wacky, with that left hand in particular being…just odd.  I don’t know.  It’s, like, too large, and also something seems off about his fingers.  The color work on this guy is pretty by the numbers.  It’s a lot of blue and yellow, and, honestly, what more could you ask of a Cyclops.  The paint’s not nearly as sloppy on this figure as it was on Wolverine, which is certainly a plus.  It’s still a little bit sloppy, of course, but nothing beyond the usual expected level for this era of Toy Biz.  Cyclops is packed with his face mask, his big inter-locking space sled, and some disc projectiles (missing from my copy).  I don’t like this mask quite as much as the Wolverine one; the visor bit is cool enough, but the shaping just seems a little off, and I don’t much care for the extra hose leading to his hand.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Cyclops was the only one of these I had as a kid.  And I didn’t even have the space sled bit!  Really, I had looked at him a bunch of times and came very close to buying him (largely for that cool cowled head), but he was gone from retail by the time I’d truly made up my mind.  So, I wound up getting a loose one, at a toy show, I believe.  Or maybe it was a Comic Con?  I don’t know.  I remember fishing him out of a big cardboard box.  I was pretty excited at the time, but I did regret missing out on his extra gear.  Thankfully, I found a full set, and he came with it, so that was pretty fun.

*Though the look would have shown up again on a more proper ’70s/’80s Cyclops figure had the second round of Missile Flyers not been cancelled.

#3614: Giant-Man & Wasp

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

HANK PYM — GIANT-MAN & JANET VAN DYNE — WASP

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0093: Hank Pym was not originally intended to be a super hero, and was simply the star of a story of a man who shrank to the size of an ant, before being retooled into a superhero in subsequent appearances.

When the Giant-Man HasLab was in swing, the lack of a matching Wasp in the current line was brought up a few times, and Hasbro eventually showed off a Wasp prototype, noting that she’d be released in some fashion later this year. Well, here we are, apparently, with not just Wasp, but also a conspicuously not so giant Giant-Man. Let’s jump right in, shall we?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Giant-Man and Wasp are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack. They were shown off in April, with the intent for them to go up for preorder the following day. Then it turned out that pre-order was actually just actively in-stock, at least for some batch of them. The pack is a continuation of the Beyond Earth’s Mightiest anniversary celebration from last year, and is also intended to loosely tie-in with the Giant-Man HasLab shipping some time in the fall.

HANK PYM — GIANT-MAN

Hey, it’s Regular-Sized-Man! It’s not as much of a novelty now to get a standard-sized Hank in his Giant-Man costume, since we’ve had a few, but it was a big deal a while ago, when it never happened. Of course, this is the first time his original Giant-Man costume has gotten the treatment, so it’s still a little bit special. The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation. He’s using the updated ANAD 2099 body with the pinless arm and leg construction, which all makes sense. Hank isn’t super bulky or super skinny, so this threads that needle. He gets a new head and belt. The head is decent. Obviously, the HasLab will be more detailed, given the scaling, but this one looks okay, and fits with the depictions of Hank we’ve gotten more recently. The belt is basic, but it works. His paint work is okay for the most part,m. There’s a spot of black on the upper torso that shouldn’t be there, but it’s otherwise pretty clean. I’m not a huge fan of the painted red on the tops of the boots, but it’s either that or painting the whole shin blue, which seems impractical. Hank is packed with an unmasked head (reused from the West Coast Avengers pack), a soft goods lab coat, four hands (a gripping/fist combo and an open gesture pair), two beakers/flasks, and a miniature Quinjet.

JANET VAN DYNE — WASP

The real star here is Wasp, who isn’t a stranger to Legends, but isn’t as frequent with *good* ones. Also, this particular look, which is her original one, has only been offered as little mini figures previously, and never as a full-scale figure of her own. The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 34 points of articulation, plus a moving head-set piece.  Wasp re-uses the pinless double jointed arms and legs from Shriek, since they’re pretty basic.  The head, torso, skirt, and forearms are new, and they’re quite nicely handled.  I was especially impressed with the head sculpt, which manages to translate her pointy-headgear without it looking too silly, and I really like the moving head-set piece.  She’s re-using the wings from the prior comic Wasps, which are decent enough, so there’s no reason to change them at this point.  Wasp’s color work is a lot cleaner than Hank’s, which I certainly like to see.  Since the sculpt is a more complex assembly, there’s a lot more molded coloring in place, which makes it generally a much sharper looking piece.  Wasp is packed with two sets of hands (open and fists), a tablet (re-used from AIM Supreme), and an alternate head without the cowl.  It’s a little lighter than Hank, but she’s also got a lot more new parts than he did, so it makes sense.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I, of course, backed the HasLab Giant-Man during his campaign window, so I’m in the group of people patiently awaiting his arrival.  I was definitely looking for a good Wasp, so this one was very high on my list.  I kind of thought we might see a standard sized Hank alongside her, and I’m honestly all about it.  I wasn’t expecting to get them quite so quickly, but Max hooked me up with a set on the earlier side, and, well, here we are.  Hank’s fine.  Nothing special, but nifty enough.  Jan is very nice, and she’s gonna be my default version of the character going forward.  And now I finally have the whole Avengers #4 line-up in one cohesive style!

#3613: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

MARVEL COMICS (SIDESHOW COLLECTIBLES)

Fun FiQ Fact #0092: The plural of Cyclops is “Cyclopes”

Did you guys hear there’s, like, an X-Men-related thing going on today?  Nothing crazy.  Just the season finale for X-Men ’97 is all.  I’m just a tad bit excited about that.  And, when I’m excited about X-Men stuff, I tend to default to reviewing Cyclops figures.  I kicked off my ‘97 hype with a ’90s-style Cyclops, so I might as well close it out with another one.  Of course, the first one was on one end of the price-spectrum, while this one’s over on the other.  This one’s all fancy, you guys!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops was released by Sideshow as part of their Marvel Comics line in the spring of 2021.  There were three versions available: a Jim Lee-inspired look with both standard and Sideshow-exclusive editions, and an Astonishing version.  This one is the Sideshow-exclusive release, and I’ll note the difference there when I get to the accessories section.  The figure stands a little over 12 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

Since Cyclops is from later in Sideshow’s 1/6 run, he’s a bit of a step up in quality from the other offerings I’ve looked at here.  This is very evident in the figure’s head sculpt, which is quite a thoroughly detailed piece of work.  He takes the comic stylings for the character and makes them look more like a real live person, which, well, if I’m honest, seems to involve making him look quite a bit like James Marsden.  I mean, I can’t really say I’m complaining about that, since it’s not like Marsden looks *unlike* the character, and he’s certainly got that nostalgia kick on his side.  It’s also not like it’s 100% meant to be him, so there’s still a little more comic Cyclops peaking through.  If I have one complaint, it’s that the “ears” of the visor wind up sitting just a touch too close to the head for my liking, making it easy for them to get lost with the visor fully in place.  I was quite impressed by the paint quality on this figure, especially the way the hair detailing works out.

Cyclops is built on a rather standardized body, which works okay.  However, one of the things I’ve never been super keen about with most of Sideshow’s offerings is how the bodies scale relative to the heads; the figures always look just a touch too scrawny to my eye.  Cyclops sort of experiences this, and it’s especially notable with it being the Jim Lee look and all.  With some decent posing, especially making sure his shoulders are up, he looks alright, though.  Topping off the body, Cyclops gets a heavily Jim Lee-inspired outfit, which features a cloth bodysuit and trunks, as well as sculpted elements for his belt/harness, leg straps, and boots.   The bodysuit gets a little more piping than the original design, and the boots and gloves get extra work as well, but it all reads as the classic design.  And, he even keeps the shorts, unlike the Mezco update of this look.

Cyclops’ standard release includes seven hands (pairs of fists, pointing, and gesture, as well as a thumbs up left hand), a removable bomber-style jacket, a standard visor, a blasting visor, and a display stand.  The exclusive adds a third visor into the mix, this time with a smoking effect to one side.  It’s very easy to break.  I should know, I got mine broken.  The hands give the figure some nice variety, though I was surprised not to get a two-fingered point for visor use.  Of course, the figure can’t quite get his hand up to his temple anyway, so it wouldn’t get much use.  The bomber jacket is by far my favorite piece, since it’s such a key piece of this look, and it also helps to mask the scrawniness of the base body.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This figure came from All Time’s epic collection that’s been being processed for a couple of months now.  In fact, it was the only of the things I’ve gotten that I explicitly knew in advance would be part of the collection.  It took a little bit to unearth him, though.  I remember this figure being released, but I was in a different place in my life and concerned with other, more important things.  But, with a second chance, and at an exclusive version at that, I didn’t want to miss out again.  It helps that he’s so very impressive in person.  He’s not perfect, but he’s very fun, and a nifty update to a classic design.  And now I’ve got a Cyclops for my 1/6 shelves.

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.

#3611: Wolverine – Space Rider

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

WOLVERINE — SPACE RIDER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0090: The X-Men have had their share of space-faring adventures, but Wolverine in particular was particularly well-suited to space battle, with three different space suit-wearing figures in Toy Biz’s ’90s X-Men line.

Back during this site’s first year of reviews, I looked at the first of a set of five X-Men figures, the “Space Riders.”  It’s been 10 years, but, well, I’m finally looping back around, I guess.  I’ve been in a particularly X-Men themed mood, especially when it comes to the ’90s era.  I can’t imagine why that might be.  Anyway, since I’m going for that nostalgia vibe, why not also be nostalgic about my own work, while I’m at it!  So, let’s look at Space Riders Wolverine, and hope I don’t get flashbacks to the Day of the Wolverines.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine was released in 1997 as part of the “Space Riders” sub-line of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  They were one of two sets of more deluxe themed figures from the year, the other being “Savage Land” themed.  Talk about your extremes.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Wolverine’s sculpt was unique to him, although it’s certainly got some similarities to the Water Wars Wolverine, showing more of a consistent take on the character during this year of releases.  We’d shrugged off the gargantuan stature that Wolverine picked up in the mid-run of the Toy Biz line, which is nice.  He’s got a built-in crouch to him, which is also proper for the character, and there’s an intensity to the detailing, especially the facial sculpt (which is also where the most similarities to the Water Wars sculpt crop up).  His space suit design is using the core Wolverine Tiger Striper look, but with extra armored bits stuck on, largely on the arms, but also the shoulders and boots a but.  It doesn’t come across as incredibly practical for space travel, but it does at least read as a solid take on Wolverine.  The paint work on this figure is astoundingly sloppy.  Honestly, just some of the worst I’ve seen on a Toy Biz offering, even from this era.  Like, there’s a whole rather sizable spot of just straight missed paint on his “trunks,” and the yellow paint on his armor looks to have been thrown in the general direction of the sculpted elements, but not actually purposefully applied.  It’s rough.  Wolverine is packed with a fun removable face-mask, which I sure do love, as well as his space sled, which serves for all that “space racing” he’s got to be doing.  His sled has built-in claws, so, you know, very on brand.  It interlocks with the rest of the sleds, so you can build one extra big one.  This one’s definitely geared to go at the front, but there’s still some modularity to it.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I remember seeing this set a good many times at KB Toys when I was a kid, and I always thought they were cool, but I only ever got a loose Cyclops growing up.  I picked up the Xavier I reviewed back in 2014, but I’ve been looking to fill in the rest of the set for a while.  And fill in the rest of the set I did.  I managed to find them all in one shot, at Factory Antiques, when I stopped there to break up the drive back home from my Grandmother’s funeral back in the fall.  Given how many of the visits to KB Toys where I didn’t buy these where taken with her, I suppose it was ultimately rather appropriate.  Wolverine is goofy and silly, and exactly what I expected out of this set.