Tag Archives: Marvel

#3659: Magneto

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

MAGNETO

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

For the bulk of the ’90s, KB Toys filled up a good portion of their action figure aisle with Toy Biz Marvel figures.  Earlier in the decade, they got a lot of close-out and liquidation deals on older figures, so they had a pretty steady stock of those, allowing for ease of access to fill-in a collection.  As they sold through that stock, however, they needed more.  The easiest solution was just to ask Toy Biz to reprint some old molds in stripped down packaging, which honestly worked out pretty well.  A lot of the figures wound up being nearly identical to the earlier releases, but every so often they’d mix things up.  Case in point?  Today’s Magneto figure.  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Magneto was released in the second KB-exclusive repaint assortment of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, released in 1998.  He was an ever so slightly tweaked version of the prior repaint release of Magneto from the Marvel Hall of Fame line the prior year.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Sculpturally, this figure is the same as the AoA Magneto.  It’s a solid mold, through and through.  Definitely a more specifically dialed-in version of the character, of course, but it was Toy Biz’s most recent version of the character at the time, and AoA styling or not, the mold that fit the most with the rest of their output at the time.  The major change-up here is the paint.  Rather than a straight adaptation of the AoA costume, this one’s got more of an amalgamated look.  Definitely still leaning into the main classic color scheme, but he’s also got bare arms and a big white “M” on his chest now, which both call back to his ’80s costume (which finally got its proper figure due this year as part of the Legends ’97 tie-in line-up).  He’s also got a bit of silver thrown into the mix as well, for a little extra accenting.  It’s not a strictly comics-based look, but it’s honestly a pretty solid set-up, and the paint work is definitely very strong.  Like his AoA-counterpart, this guy is packed with his removable helmet and cape, as well as the big hand attachment.  I dig the hand a lot more this time, since it’s gets fully-painted detailing, which sells the whole look a bit better.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually came very close to getting this figure a number of times back in the ’90s, before I’d gotten the proper AoA version.  But, once I got that one, I didn’t feel like I *needed* this one.  Look, I was young; I didn’t know where I was ultimately going with this ’90s Toy Biz thing.  It’s one of those figures I’ve always remembered, and I’ve been hoping to get one for a bit.  As luck would have it, I happened upon a loose one while wandering through Factory Antiques during a day trip back in the spring.  He’s pretty nifty.  Like, yeah, not comics accurate, but it’s just a lot of fun.

#3657: Ghost Rider

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

GHOST RIDER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When Danny Ketch crosses paths with a cursed motorcycle, he is transformed into a Spirit of Vengeance, wielding supernatural powers as Ghost Rider.”

I’ve only gotten 7 Ghost Rider reviews here on the site, and three of those are multipacks.  While there’s been a split between Ghost Rider’s various hosts, Johnny Blaze has definitely been the breakaway lead.  That said, I ended my last Ghost Rider review, way back in December of 2022, by asking if we could get a proper figure of Danny Ketch, the third main Ghost Rider, introduced in the ’90s.  I guess someone out there was listening.  Or, you know, in a less me-centric-view, they had to get around to him eventually, right?  He wasn’t part of the sadly rather small selection of 50th anniversary offerings for the character, but he *does* get to be part of another anniversary set-up, albeit a more overarching Marvel celebration.  You know what? Good for him.  So, let’s just go ahead and give ol’ Danny his due!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ghost Rider is a deluxe offering from Hasbro’s Marvel Legends, released under the “Celebrating 85 Years” banner.  He’s effectively an “Ultimate Riders” level offering, but they’ve discontinued that wider set-up, so he’s more of an on his own sort of thing.  This is *technically* Danny’s third time in Legends form, and *technically* his second in his classic attire.  Why “technically”?  Because his first Legends release, back in Series 3 of Toy Biz’s run, was identified as Johnny Blaze on the back of the box, despite clearly being Danny.  Still, it was clearly Danny, so we’re giving him the number on that technicality.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  The figure’s sculpt is largely new; the head and neck are the same ones that have been in use since the Rhino Series figure.  It’s honestly fair; what exactly are you going to do to reinvent a flaming skull sculpt?  It’s got that cool moving jaw too, which I definitely dig.  From the neck down, he’s all-new.  The articulation scheme is a lot of the same style of layout we saw on the prior mold, but it’s more refined, and a lot cleaner looking.  He also gets drop hips, which are super beneficial for riding poses.  In terms of the look, we’re finally moving away from the re-used AIM parts and their built-in ’70s stunt guy vibe.  This one’s got the proper ’90s bike update, as Ketch well should.  There’s a lot of small detail work, especially in terms of texturing.  His jacket and boots have the stippled leather detailing, and the pants even get all of the right stitching and seams.  All of the real edgelord-y stuff (the spikes and chains) is separately sculpted, which grants the whole set-up a lot more depth and sharpness.  The color work relies on this construction, with a lot more molded coloring than prior releases.  That’s not to say there’s not paint work; the head gets a fair bit of accenting, so that the skull looks like an actual skull.  He’s also got detailing for his eyes, which seem a touch low, but they still work.  Ghost Rider is packed with two sets of hands (gripping and an open gesture/fist combo) and the flaming chain piece from the last few Riders.

In addition to that, of course, he’s got the biggest extra: his cycle.  Danny’s version of the bike is drastically different from Johnny’s stuntcycle-inspired ride, opting for a far more “tough” design, at least as far as the ’90s were concerned.  It was particularly angular and boxy, something that this version captures well.  The old Toy Biz release was noted for having a somewhat diminutive bike, but this one is quite well scaled to the figure it’s packed with.  The bike also gets its own selection of extras. There are flaming effects for each of the wheels, allowing the bike to stand better on its own, and adapting the flaming wheels effect from the comics pretty nicely.  There’s also an attachment for keeping the bike up with one wheel in the air, which adds a lot of dynamic posing options to the set.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got a bunch of Johnny Blaze Ghost Riders, which is cool, because I sure do love Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider.  But I also love Danny Ketch Ghost Rider.  And I have significantly less of those.  I want more, but I rarely get the opportunity.  I have very fond memories of getting that first Legends Ghost Rider, and I was hoping for a good update.  This is a good update.  For variety’s sake, I might have liked a new head, but seeing how literally everything else is new, I can’t really complain, especially when everything else about the figure works so very well.

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.

#3655: Lilandra Neramani

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

LILANDRA NERAMANI

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Just three issues into Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum’s run on X-Men, readers were introduced to the Sh’iar via its first member, and eventual empress, Lilandra Neramani.  Lilandra would become a major recurring character through the Phoenix Saga, and in fact a notable recurring character for the X-universe as a whole.  She got a good focus on X-Men: The Animated Series, and even got a returning role in X-Men ’97 earlier this year.  Despite her prominent placement in the mythos, she’s not been exceedingly lucky with toy coverage.  She had a Minimate, but that’s effectively nothing these days.  Beyond that, she was relegated to just an extra head included with Mystique.  But no more!  No, now she’s getting real coverage!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Lilandra Neramani was part of a Marvel Legends two-pack released earlier in the year.  The pack is inexplicably part of the Wolverine anniversary celebration, made slightly less weird by the inclusion of a Brood-Infected Wolverine as the other half of the set.  It’s still a little odd to pack Lilandra and Wolverine together, given they don’t exactly have much of a history, but then neither do Lilandra and Mystique, so maybe it’s just her thing?  She’s seen here in her armored attire, which is very Empress-y.  Doesn’t quite have the same nostalgic twinge for me as her original design, but that one’s also a little harder to sell as a toy, I feel.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Her sculpt uses some of the more standardized female buck parts, but she gets her fair share of new ones.  The most surprising new piece is the head, which isn’t a re-use of the Mystique piece as I’d expected it to be.  The detailing on this one is a little sharper and the shaping on the helmet is more in-line with her usual depictions.  The body sculpt gets a lot of character specific elements, rather than leaning into the painted detail side.  This is especially notable on the chest; those lines are actually etched in.  Her color work uses a lot of molded colors, but there’s a little bit of paint mixed in there as well.  The work on the face is particularly crisp.  Lilandra is packed with two sets of hands, in gripping and flat/fist pairs.  She’s also got her staff, which is a brand new sculpt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since ’70s X-Men is my favorite era of X-Men, I’m always down for figures of the characters that originated there.  This set, however, presented me with a conundrum, since it paired Lilandra off with a decidedly ’80s Wolverine variant.  I thought about sticking with my Mystique head on Silver Sable body, but I did really like the more character-specific elements, and I thought I might be able to suffer through the Wolverine to get her.  I didn’t actually have to, though, because somebody who bought the set from All Time only wanted the Wolverine, so there was a spare Lilandra.  Well, not really, because it really meant there was a Lilandra for me.  She’s a solid figure.  I’d still love a first appearance version, but this one’s a good one to start with.

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.

#3652: Captain America – Symbol of Truth

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — SYMBOL OF TRUTH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Sam Wilson takes the mantle of Captain America to new heights, combining the iconic shield with his signature wings versus threats near and abroad.”

So, like, not to be that guy who critiques the bios again, but, umm, I’m gonna do exactly that, because there’s an irony to this particular Sam Wilson Cap figure calling out his use of the iconic shield, when, umm, this one doesn’t?  I mean, I guess the spirit of the thing is still there, right?  Sure, let’s go with that.

Shortly after introducing Sam Wilson as the Falcon in the MCU, the comics had Steve aged up and unable to keep Captaining, so Sam stepped into the role, a move that I always found sort of amusing given that, well, you’d only just introduced people to the Falcon identity, and then you immediately took it away from him.  Steve eventually took the title back, of course, and while they had a touch of overlap, Sam went back to being Falcon again…and then he got handed the shield in the MCU.  We had a while where Steve was the only Cap in the comics, while the MCU built up Sam, but somewhere along the way, someone had the bright idea to just let them both be Captain America for a while again, and thus Sam became the Cap with the sub-title “Symbol of Truth” (Steve for his part got to use his recurrent “Sentinel of Liberty” monicker).  Steve is currently back to being the main focus Cap at the moment, but Sam hasn’t reverted to Falcon, and with a Sam Cap movie just having dropped its trailer, it’s unlikely he’ll do that any time soon.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America – Symbol of Truth is a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends release.  He’s at the deluxe price-point, and started hitting retail right around the beginning of the summer.  It seems likely he was intended to tie-in with Brave New World‘s original intended release date, much like those McDonald’s toys we got, but as a comics figure, his placement is a little less weird, especially with this effectively being Sam’s evergreen look these days.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation counting the wings.  By-and-large, this figure is a re-use of the Sam Cap figure from the three-pack in 2016, which was itself a re-tool of the Marvel Now Cap.  It’s a sculpt that wasn’t without its flaws at the time, but it’s honestly not bad, and it’s held up surprisingly well given the oldest parts of it are now a decade old.  It’s still got visible pins, of course, and I’m still not sure I love the head, though I’ve warmed to it a bit more in the eight years since its first release.  The primary change-up here is the presence of the wings; they were a rather glaring omission when the original figure dropped, and time hasn’t really lessened that.  This figure gets them as one separate wing-pack piece, which plugs into the peg hole already present on the back.  They’ve got 4 point of articulation, with a swivel at the base of the pack, and a hinge actually on the wings proper.  They’re a little rudimentary, but they get the job done, and we’ve certainly seen worse wings in this line.  Cap’s color scheme is also slightly changed up.  It’s nothing drastic, with the most notable shift being the switch to a brighter blue this time around, which gives him a little more pop.  The paint is also a little cleaner this time, largely because that’s just an area where Hasbro’s improved across the board.  Cap is packed with two sets of hands, the fist/gripping combo from the original mold, plus a right grip/left open gesture from last year’s Ultimate Cap.  The glove detailing isn’t an exact match, but it’s close enough to not really throw the whole look off either.  Cap is also packed with his shield, and yes, it’s very specifically Sam’s shield, since it’s got the new design from Symbol of Truth.  It’s using the tweaked Anniversary Cap shield mold that was also included with Ultimate Cap, which is by far the best version of the shield Hasbro’s had, and the new detailing looks really nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: I didn’t intend to get this figure.  I had my three-pack figure, who lacked the wings, and I had the MCU figure, who didn’t, so I figured my bases were covered.  What changed?  Well, Max found two of them at Target, and texted to ask if I wanted one.  Through a comedy of errors, I didn’t get back to him in time, but he didn’t want me to miss out, so he grabbed one just in case.  Once he’d bought it, I felt it would be rude to leave him out the cost of the second one, so I figured I might as well get one.  And you know what?  I’m glad I did.  The wing pack is fun, and I’m glad to have the new shield, and, heck, I even like the new shades to the coloring.  If I’ve already got all those Steve Caps, is it really that bad to have a few extra Sams as well?  I don’t really think so.

#3650: Iron Man (Model 01 – Gold)

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

IRON MAN (MODEL 01 – GOLD)

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“When Tony Stark decides that Iron Man needs an outfit upgrade, he faces off against the hypnotic Gargantus wearing golden armor”

In his first appearance, Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor was a simple, dull grey.  Realistic for a suit of armor, especially one bearing the name “Iron Man”, but perhaps not quite as heroic.  This issue was, in fact brought up, even in story, leading to Tony’s first proper upgrade to his armor, where he grants his armor its golden hue for the very first time.  Though short-lived, the armor is notable for being the one he was wearing when the Avengers were founded, which gives it some lasting presence.  It helps that it shares its sculptural structure with the first appearance armor, making it a really easy repaint.  Hey, that would be nifty, wouldn’t it?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Iron Man (Model 01 – Gold) is part of the Iron Man-themed Retro Card assortment of Marvel Legends.  While this armor itself wasn’t ever released on the card being referenced, it was at least part of the 5-inch Toy Biz run, via the “Marvel Collector Editions” Avengers boxed set.  So, you know, similar vintage, I suppose.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 31 points of articulation.  The sculpt is mostly identical to the Beyond release of the Model 01 sculpt, courtesy of sculptor Dan Mitchell.  It’s still a sculpt I like as a whole.  In fact, I think I like it more this time around.  One of my main issues the first time around was the helmet shape, which felt off for the first appearance look, but for the gold version, where the helmet was frequently depicted with a slightly different shape, it actually works a bit better.  The figure does get one notable change, in the form of a skirt place that swaps out for the belt piece from the last figure, in order to make him more accurate to the gold version of the armor.  It’s better than Toy Biz gave us, so kudos to Hasbro on that one.  The main change-up here is the coloring, of course.  Largely, he just swaps in gold plastic for the gun metal grey of the last one.  He doesn’t have the same scuffing details, but does get additional accenting on the panels.  He also gets painted eyes, which the last one lacked.  Like the last release, this one is packed with two sets of hands (open and fists), two blast effects, and matching smoke trail effects.  He also gets an unmasked head, which is re-used from the 20th Anniversary release.  Amusingly, for the second time, the ’70s style head sculpt (courtesy of Paul Harding) is packed with a ’60s armor.  Like, it’s not a bad sculpt at all, but it’s…well, it’s just not the right one for the armor.  They’ve got one that matches already, too, so it’s kind of funny.  Like, maybe not “ha ha”, but I get a kick out of it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t as enthused with the Beyond release of this mold as I’d hoped to be, but I was still holding out hope for a recolor.  I didn’t realize one would be here *quite* this quickly, but it’s not terribly shocking, I guess.  Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  He doesn’t change much, but I just find myself liking the mold a lot better this time around.  Maybe I’m just a sucker for the gold armor.  Whatever the case, I’m happy to have this one.

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.

#3647: She-Hulk

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

SHE-HULK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With incredible strength and a passion for justice, Jennifer Walters fights evil as both a lawyer and the Gamma-powered Super Hero, She-Hulk”

Sometimes a character is created because there’s a solid idea, or an undying need for the character.  Sometimes, they’re created to claim a trademark before your competition does.  Jennifer Walters, alias She-Hulk, was the latter, made to prevent Universal Studios from creating their own Hulk spin-off from their own live-action Incredible Hulk show.  The character’s actually grown to be far more than that over the years, though, developing her own personality, style, and whole side of the universe, largely removed from her cousin.  She’s gotten a run in the spotlight more recently, thanks to her live action show on Disney+.  Also, cool new toy coverage.  Oh yeah!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

She-Hulk is part of the Iron Man Retro-carded assortment of Marvel Legends.  Why is She-Hulk in an Iron Man assortment?  You got me.  She had a Toy Biz figure in the ’90s, which this figure is clearly homaging, but that was in the Hulk line, not the Iron Man one.  But, here she is, on a very Iron Man-y card.  It’s weird, but as with many things Legends, I’m not going to question it.  What’s actually pretty fun about this one is that she’s using her costume from her second stint with the Avengers, post FF-run, which hasn’t gotten action figure treatment before.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and she has 30 points of articulation.  Her sculpt is an entirely new one, and a truly impressive one at that.  She properly dwarfs most of the other standard sized characters, and she has a build to match it.  The body sculpt is generally pretty basic, and sure to be earmarked for some sort of re-use later, so it’s designed with that in mind.  It still works very well for Jen, of course.  The head sculpt, on the other hand, is very much Jen, through and through.  I really enjoy it; the facial expression is spot-on for Jen’s light hearted demeanor, and the hair sculpt is properly voluminous.  I dig that it’s got a bit of a Byrne vibe to it, while also still fitting with the line’s overall aesthetic.  She-Hulk’s color work is vibrant and very eye-catching, just as you’d hope it to be.  I particularly like the shade of green they’ve used for her skin tone.  The face detailing is also very sharp, and the green accenting on the hair really works well with the sculpted elements.  She-Hulk is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as a machine gun that looks like she’s bending it in half.  While her cousin classically has gotten such pieces to demonstrate his strength, this is the first time She-Hulk’s gotten such a piece.  It’s definitely fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

She-Hulk is one of those characters that I have a kind of a specific idea in my head of what she’s supposed to look like.  Hasbro’s given us five Legends She-Hulks, and they’ve all been very good figures, but they’ve not been *quite* right for the look in my head.  This one, on the other hand, is so very, very, very close to it.  Close enough that I’m content to call her my go-to.  Unless, of course, someone at Hasbro wants to be very nice and repaint this mold in her FF costume.  Because that would be very, very nice.

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.

#3646: Captain America – Fighting Armor

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL FIGHTING ARMOR (SENTINEL)

Isn’t it funny that so very many of the import figures I look at here on the site are Captain Americas?  I mean, a notable swath of the Figuarts here on the site are Cap, but I didn’t want to just leave it all to Bandai.  There’s plenty of other companies out there, looking to get in on the action, right?  A company  I haven’t yet looked into here on the site is Sentinel, who have gotten into the Marvel license with a couple of lines in the last few years.  Their more wide-reaching line is their Fighting Armor one, which asks that oh so rarely asked question of “what if the Marvel heroes had armor?”  That never comes up, right?  Okay, it does, but on the plus side, the answer is usually something along the lines of “it would be very awesome”.  I’ve explored this question twice before on Captain America, but I certainly won’t let that stop me from giving it yet another shot!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is figure 3 in the Marvel Fighting Armor line from Sentinel.  The figure stands 6 3/4 inches tall and he has 42 points of articulation.  Compared to, say, a Figuart, the articulation is certainly a lot more straight forward.  It’s not quite as simple as a Legends figure, though; it sort of falls in between.  There’s a degree of moving panels around for proper range of motion, but it feels like it has a good flow about it.  Cap’s sculpt appears to be unique, at least for the most part.  I don’t have any of the others, of course, so I can’t say for certain.  It’s a solid set-up.  He’s got a new design, made to fit in with the rest of Sentinel’s in-house looks for the Fighting Armor figures.  It takes the classic Cap design, with a bit of the Marvel Now design thrown in, and armorizes it, but notably in a different fashion than, say, the Tech-On Cap.  The whole thing is very sleek and clean, which I love.  It also just feels very intrinsically Captain America, which I also love.  His construction uses a little bit of die-cast metal.  It appears to be largely confined to the core of the figure, and mostly serves to give him a reasonable heft when you pick him up.  I don’t mind that so much.  Cap’s color work is dialed into the traditional Cap fare, being very heavy on the red, white, and blue, albeit mostly metallic.  He’s got a flat shade in place of the white, though, which breaks things up pretty well.  Cap is packed with three sets of hands, in fists, gripping, and open gesture, as well as an armorized version of his Shield, and a standard display stand.  The shield’s got a kind of interesting way of attaching; there’s like this whole arm on it, which swings in and out relative to how you want it to be attached, be it his back, or either of his hands.  It’s an interesting idea, but the joints are a little loose on mine, so it flaps down a lot.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was aware of the Fighting Armor figures, but I hadn’t jumped in just because the figures are all pretty pricey, and I just wasn’t sure.  But, when a bunch of them landed in front of me, and there was a Cap in the mix, it felt like the best time to jump in.  And also I was weak.  Look, cool Captain America, okay?  I’m just a man!  I’m glad I got the chance to snag him, because he’s an immensely fun figure, and a neat alternate take on the armored Cap idea!

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.

#3645: Ka-Zar & Zabu

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

KA-ZAR & ZABU

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“In a lost world full of prehistoric dinosaurs, Ka-Zar performs heroics as Lord of the Jungle alongside the sabretooth Zabu”

The Ka-Zar most people think of (or at least the Ka-Zar people who think about Ka-Zar think about, I guess) is actually Marvel’s second character to use the title.  To be fair, the first one predate’s Marvel even being “Marvel” and was such a thinly veiled Tarzan knock-off that even Stan Lee admitted he’d never read any of the Golden Age Ka-Zar’s appearances prior to introducing the second one during the Silver Age.  Introduced by Lee and Kirby in X-Men #10, the Kevin Plunder Ka-Zar also brought with him a rather enduring piece of X-Men lore: the Savage Land!  Because who doesn’t love a good “why are there dinosaurs here?” story?  Ka-Zar the first has had *no* action figures, while Ka-Zar the second has had two of them, and now has a third.  And every time, he brings along his best pal Zabu!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Ka-Zar is figure 3 in the Zabu Series of Marvel Legends, while Zabu is, unsurprisingly, the Build-A-Figure.  The assortment is a Fan Channel exclusive, which is becoming fairly common with Build-A-Figure sets these days.

When it comes to Ka-Zar designs, there are a few different variations, but generally they all land on the same basic idea: blonde guy in a loincloth.  This one sticks with the oft-seen “and also boots” variation, which is acceptable, and notably different from his two prior figure releases.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  His sculpt makes its start as the Vulcan base body, which is an okay start, apart from the slightly odd glove lines at the forearms.  He’s got a new head, upper torso, loincloth, and boots courtesy of sculptor Paul Harding (who, fun fact, also sculpted the prior Legends Ka-Zar).  The new pieces are all pretty solid.  The hair restricts the neck movement at bit, but other than that, I Iike them.  They capture a sort of Frazetta-esque vibe, which feels appropriate for the pulp-y origins of Ka-Zar, even if it’s not the pulp-y origins that belong to *this* Ka-Zar.  Kazar’s color work is pretty simple.  Lot of molded flesh tone, as expected.  There’s a bit more to the clothed parts of him, plus the usual face printing, which always does nice work for the sculpt.  He’s also got a bit of accenting on the hair, which keeps those particular sculpted details from getting lost.  Ka-Zar is packed with three sets of hands (in fists, gripping, and open gesture), a spear, and a knife (which can be stowed in his belt), as well as front right leg to….

Zabu!  Everybody’s gotta have a Zabu.  Well, Ka-Zar’s gotta have a Zabu.  I mean, I guess.  Does he really *have* Zabu, though?  Or are they just buddies?  Is one of them a mentor to the other?  It’s confusing.  You know, technically, Zabu has a near-human intelligence from when he was exposed to radioactive mists, and Ka-Zar, at least in earlier appearances, of a sub-average-human intelligence, so maybe they’re on a closer level than we realize.  Zabu has accompanied Ka-Zar to every figure release, but he tends to be somewhat hampered.  His first figure was really just a glorified, and the second was a re-deco of a Sigma 6 mold.  This one takes advantage of the Build-A-Figure budget to give him an all-new mold. It’s a solid one, which gets his general sizing and his look down. I mean, he’s a sabretooth, so it’s not like it’s an exceedingly unique look, I suppose, but it does it well. There’s some decent texture work for the fur, and they’ve managed to work it the articulation in such a way as to not totally break up the flow of the sculpt. Paint on this guy is minimal, which isn’t really a shock. What’s there certainly works, but I wouldn’t have minded maybe a little bit more accenting on the fur. That said, I know it’s tricky to get such things consistent across multiple BAF pieces, so maybe it’s best this way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ka-Zar and Zabu’s original figures are on the list of Toy Biz figures I’ve never owned. My dad has a set, which I suppose was good enough for me. The last Legends set was an SDCC exclusive, so that one was out too. I was…non-plussed about having to buy the whole wave to get Zabu this time, but I also didn’t really want *just* Ka-Zar.  So, I bit the bullet and bought the whole set just to build the Zabu, and then off-loaded the other figures I didn’t want.  It was actually less difficult than I thought it would be.  They’re a fun pair.  Some day I’ll get that Toy Biz set, and that’ll probably be my default set for the characters, but these two are certainly very nice.

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.

#3643: Captain America – Age of Ultron

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — AGE OF ULTRON

MOVIE MASTERPIECE SERIES (HOT TOYS)

I said I might break the hiatus for the odd review, didn’t I? Well, I’m cashing in. Why? America, that’s why. Okay, specifically Captain America. It is his birthday after all. Also America’s too, but can America do this all day? Depends on how you define “this” I guess. Well, Captain America is a better fit for review here on the site than just America, so I’m going for him. I’ve reviewed a lot of Hot Toys Caps here, but I’ve got one more, so guess what we’re doing today! …did you guess “reviewing a Hot Toys Captain America?” Because I tried to really set the bar low on that one. There’s a picture of him at the top and everything. Well, whether you guessed it or not, that’s what we’re doing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Avengers: Age of Ultron Captain America is part of Hot Toys’ Movie Masterpiece Series. He’s figure MMS 281 and he was released in the midst of all of the other AoU figures. While Hot Toys usually has quite a wait on tie-in figure releases, the AoU figures had a surprisingly quick turnaround, with Cap himself hitting before the end of the summer in 2015, just a few months after the movie’s release. He’s based on Cap’s team-oriented suit from the movie, and stands about 12 1/4 inches tall with over 30 points of articulation.

After the Winter Soldier release skipped it, this Cap goes back to the first Avengers set-up of including two head sculpts. The first is masked, and uses the same sculpt as the STRIKE suit figure. I was surprised to find it didn’t get the extra joint at the base of the head, just the bottom of the neck. It’s a little more restrictive in posing, but it does look a little cleaner. The likeness is solid. Not quite as good as the Endgame figure, but a step up from the prior two film’s figures. The unmasked head is a reuse of the one from the Winter Soldier Civilian Steve, and would be kept in circulation for Civil War, before being replaced after the solicitation stage of the Endgame figure. It’s a solid sculpt, with an even stronger likeness than the masked head, so I can get why it got so much mileage. The paint work on both heads is up to HT’s typical high standards, but it’s worth noting that the unmasked head has its pupils offset, so he’s looking to the side. It’s an interesting change-up.

Cap’s outfit uses a similar set-up to the Endgame figure, with the underlying suit being made up of a shirt and pants. They’re fairly decently tailored, though some of the stitch work is a little bulky. In contrast to the belt line on the Endgame figure sitting too low, this one actually sits a little too high, which makes the whole torso seem a little small. There’s a cloth harness with metal fixtures, as well as a mixed media belt, and plastic sculpted boots, which use the two part set up for better movement.  The structure of the boots on this figure is a little awkward, I feel, and they sit a little strange in more basic poses, making his ankles look disproportionately large.  That said, the general assembly of the outfit is a decent match for his uniform from the movie, and there were no major inaccuracies or areas of concern that I saw.

The underlying base body is a smaller one than some of the other Caps have used, which is a little surprising.  It makes him seem a little scrawny, and gives the head the slightest bit of a bobble-head vibe.  It’s far from *awful*, but it’s not quite right either.  Articulation is notably restricted here as well, with the legs getting okay movement, but the arms, especially the shoulders, getting a rather tiny range.  They can move out to the sides okay, but forward and back isn’t really happening.

Cap is of course packed with the two previously mentioned heads, but in addition to those, he also gets:

  • 8 hands
  • Shield
  • Empty helmet
  • Display stand

It’s a lighter load for a Hot Toys release, honestly, but I guess the two heads balance things out a bit.  The hands have pairs of fists, tight grip, and loose grip, as well as a wide gesture right and a shield holding left.  They’re tricky to swap, which is always the case for Cap, but I didn’t have any issues with breakage.  The shield is metal this time around, and there are magnets to allow attachment to the forearms and tight gripping hands for holding, or the back of the harness for storage.  The magnetic feature ties it more directly to the movie, of course, but is also just a much easier way of attaching it than we’ve seen on other HT Caps.  The empty helmet looks to be the same piece as the Endgame one; it’s the same helmet on the main head, just with no Steve head in it.  The display stand is yet another different shape, this time a kind of a trapezoid thing, which matched the other AoU figure stands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By Age of Ultron, I was totally off the Hot Toys train and moved onto other things.  I didn’t imagine going back to the Caps at the time, especially after skipping the Winter Soldier figures.  It coming out so quickly after solicitation, and then also jumping so high in price for a while certainly didn’t help.  Honestly, after going back, I wasn’t even sure this was one I’d get to, since he’s not drastically different from the Endgame costume.  I know, I wasn’t particularly convinced by that last sentence either.  When the huge 1/6 collection was filtering into All Time some months back, I kept thinking “there’s not really going to be anything else I need”….and then there kept being one or two more things I needed.  This was nearer the end, and when he first came in, he was missing his stand and alternate head, so I played the waiting game until the end of the collection.  But, sure enough, the extra parts were there, and therefore he was mine.  Ah, who am I kidding?  I would have bought him even if he were incomplete.  He’s decent, though compared to more recent ones, he’s not quite as technically impressive.  That doesn’t make him any less valuable a piece of my Cap collection, though, so I appreciate him all the same.

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.

#3642: Wolfsbane

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

WOLFSBANE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0121: This figure is the first time that Hasbro has released a Wolfsbane figure that actually has her name on the package.

Growing up, my absolute favorite episode of X-Men: The Animated Series was “Cold Comfort.”  It’s got a good script, some of the show’s best animation, and a fun delve into the history of the team.  Largely, it’s X-Factor’s presence at the end of the episode that really sells me on it, though.  Okay, largely it’s Havok’s presence at the end that sells me on it.  But, with Havok, there was a whole team, and I’ve grown somewhat attached to that specific team since.  We’ve been slowly piecing together the whole line-up of that team since 2018, and there’s been just one missing member, who I’m finally getting the chance to look at today.  Let’s take a look at Wolfsbane.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolfsbane is figure 2 in the Zabu Series of Marvel Legends, which is a Fan Channel and Amazon exclusive assortment.  It’s a real grab-bag assortment of characters, with Wolfsbane being the only explicitly X-Men-themed character in the set (though Ka-Zar and Zabu are somewhat X-related as well).  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Wolfsbane is sporting an all-new sculpt, which I’ll admit is a little surprising.  Only a little, since I certainly expected a lot of new pieces, but the total lack of anything shared certainly caught me off guard.  I’d thought we might at least see some Tigra parts mixed in there.  Whatever the case, it’s a good one.  There’s a lot of really solid texture work, and it contrasts quite nicely with the clean lines of her uniform.  The head resembles the art of Todd Nauck, to my eyes, which is fair, since it’s his work that’s on the box as well.  The color work is cleanly handled, with the best of the paint being on the uniform.  The fur largely relies on molded coloring, which looses a little of the detailing.  They do go for a touch of accenting, but it’s not a *ton* and it winds up sticking out a bit.  Wolfsbane is packed with two sets of hands (fists and clawed), as well as the body to the Zabu Build-A-Figure.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Honestly, I kept forgetting that we still needed Wolfsbane.  It’s not that I didn’t want her, but, well, I had the four I really wanted, so I sort of checked out a bit.  But, with her announcement, I remembered, and here I am, completing the team.  She’s kind of a quiet send-off to the team.  She’s fairly well put together, and a solid figure start to finish.  I can’t say she thrills me, but I can’t say she’s bad either.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.