Tag Archives: Marvel

#3305: U.S. Agent

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

U.S. AGENT

MARVEL SUPER HEROES (TOY BIZ)

“U.S. Agent is the ultimate super soldier of justice. And with his awesome shield, he proves it. To prepare shield for crime-fighting action, gently push the extension of his shield along the top of the shield-launcher until it locks into position. Wrist launcher and shield can both be attached separately to his wrist, thus making him ready for any – and every – attack!”

When they first took over the license, before building all sorts of different lines, Toy Biz’s Marvel toys were initially split into X-Men and a larger Marvel Super Heroes line, which covered literally everything else.  The line ran five series, with its final assortment being entirely re-hash…or at least very close to re-hash.  There were a couple of re-paints, and only one actual new character, whom I’m looking at today.  Yes, it’s time for another version of John Walker, aka U.S. Agent!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

U.S. Agent was released in the aforementioned Series 5 of Toy Biz’s Marvel Super Heroes line.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  U.S. Agent’s entire existence in the line was due to his easy parts re-use, so he’s a complete re-use of the standard Captain America molds.  Cap’s sculpt was honestly one of the best from this line, though it’s kind of the best because it’s so specifically Steve Rogers as Cap, which works just a little bit against this figure’s intended purpose.  The clearly denoted sections of chain mail, as well as the vertical stripes on the mid-section, and the star symbol on the front of the chest are all elements that don’t work quite so much for the U.S. Agent costume.  Likewise, the face is very definitely Steve, not John.  That said, the paint does its best with the material, and it’s honestly not terrible looking.  It helps that a lot of it’s black, which hides more of the extra details, and it also helps that the paint work is pretty sharp, so it at least looks pretty good.  U.S. Agent is packed with the same shield and launcher as the basic Cap.  It’s a little clunky, but honestly a fun gimmick, since the shield still functions as a shield, while also working with the launcher.  The shield has been appropriately re-colored, and looks pretty nifty.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve owned this figure three times over.  My first one came to me as a gift from my Nana, who had gotten him for both me and my cousin Rusty, I believe as a “good job with school” gift.  Mine was well-loved, but also wound up losing his foot at one point, in an incident I was never able to explain.  Rusty was kind enough to give me his, so I had one with two feet again, but I lost the shield and launcher from both over the years.  Enter the third one, which was given me just a few years ago by Max, who had gotten a sealed one and decided he didn’t really need it.  As U.S. Agent, this guy’s not quite there.  As The Captain, he’s actually not bad, so I’ll just consider him that way, I guess, because at least then I can enjoy him unimpeded.

#3303: Excalibur

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

CAPTAIN BRITAIN, MEGGAN, & SHADOWCAT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

In the 1980s, the X-Men had become such a popular book for Marvel that they were in need of more than one monthly book to contain all there success, so the solution was spin-offs.  The first was The New Mutants in 1982, which introduced a largely new cast of characters, as the name suggested.  In 1986, the original five members of the X-Men reunited under the X-Factor title.  And, finally, in 1987, a small handful of X-Men characters were borrowed from the main book, and moved overseas to meet up with the UK line’s Captain Britain, whose solo series had just been cancelled, meaning he needed a new home.  The result was Excalibur, a rather off-beat addition to the X-line-up.  While it never quite hit the highs of the main book, it’s always had something of a cult following, and the team’s been bouncing around ever since.  Individual members have done okay with toy coverage for the most part, but last year Hasbro jumpstarted their presence in Legends a bit, with a whole boxed set dedicated to them!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Captain Britain, Meggan, and Shadowcat were an exclusive Marvel Legends three-pack.  Exclusive to where?  Good question.  They were definitely on Hasbro Pulse, and I believe meant to go on Shop Disney, though I don’t know that they ever did.  They eventually worked their way back around, though, and are now going through Entertainment Earth and their various wholesalers, making them more of a Fan Channel-exclusive at the end of it all.  Yay?

CAPTAIN BRITAIN

“Using his super strength, flying ability and courage, Captain Britain fights for justice throughout the world and in other dimensions as well.”

Captain Britain’s graced the Legends line twice before, once with Toy Biz and once with Hasbro.  Since Hasbro had previously done a more modern costume for Brian, this time they went back and did the same one that Toy Biz did for theirs, namely his second, Alan Davis-designed costume.  It’s honestly his best look, so I’m all for that.  That said, it’s somewhat humorous, given that the trading card image on the back of the box has him in his *other* Davis look, which still is without Legends treatment, despite it also being the look present on all of the images for the Toy Biz release.  Some day, it might eventually get made, right?  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Our last Legends Captain Britain was built on the Hyperion base body; this one is Hyperion adjacent, as he’s actually making use of the upgraded torso from the Unworthy Thor figure.  It lacks the weird torso shelf that the standard Hyperion torso had; strangely, this torso’s been unused since its introduction in 2017.  I do definitely like it more, though.  He also gets a new head, forearm, and knee pieces, to showcase the more unique pieces of his costume.  The new meshes well with the old, and I appreciate how the head sculpt here is distinctly different from the prior Captain Britain.  This one’s more a mask than a helmet; I did like the other one a fair bit, but this one fits the classic costume design nicely.  Captain Britain’s color work is decently handled, with some nice and sharp application.  There’s a touch of fuzz on some of the white lines, but nothing too terrible.  My figure has a touch of missing red on the front of each bicep, but it’s again pretty minor.  Captain Britain is packed with an alternate bearded head, two sets of hands in fists and gripping, and the actual sword Excalibur.  It’s not a terrible set-up, but I do find it interesting that he didn’t get an unmasked head, since the back of the box shows him unmasked.  Also, it’s a personal thing, but I’d have liked to see the previous head done up in the colors to match this costume, just to have the helmet option too.  But, you know, that’s more a me thing.

MEGGAN

“Meggan is a mystical mutant metamorph, able to change her shape at will.”

Excalibur‘s one truly unique character in their debut line-up, Meggan is the one member of the team who’s not likely to get much coverage outside of specifically team-themed set-ups.  As such, this is her first time as a Legend, and in fact only her second action figure at all, with the first being her Minimate from that line’s own Excalibur boxed set.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  At this point in the line, almost every female figure is made up of some sort of frankensteining of prior female bucks, and in Meggan’s case, she’s using a collection of parts which previously showed up together for the TRU Dark Phoenix, which add up to a base that seems about right for Meggan, especially given how Davis tended to depict her.  She swaps out that set-up’s heeled shoes for the bare feet from the First Ten Years Pepper Potts figure, and also gets a brand-new head sculpt.  The head’s got a big ol’ chunk of hair, which is appropriate for Meggan, and she also gets a big smile, which also fits, and is a nice change of pace compared to the more stoic expressions we tend to see on female figures.  The sculpt looks nice when viewed from the front, but it does seem just a tad flat from the side.  Her color work is generally pretty simple; she has the proper green and black for the costume, and the printing for the face is nice and lifelike.  She’s packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture.  It’s a shame we couldn’t maybe get some alternate pieces showing off her shape-shifting, but that might have been a bit complex for the set-up of this pack.

SHADOWCAT

“Shadowcat possesses the mutant ability to “phase” her molecules, letting her pass through walls, walk on air, and allowing things she touches to do the same.”

Like Captain Britain, Kitty Pryde has gotten the Legends treatment twice before, once for each of the two manufacturers.  Both of those ones were more modern costumes, however, while this release finally gives her the all-blue number she wore during her early days with the team.  Similar to Captain Britain, I do really find this look to be one of her best.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Seeing as this is still supposed to be Kitty more on the younger side, she uses the Spider-Girl base body as a starting point.  It’s a base I’ve always rather liked, so I’ve got no issues with that.  She gets a new head, upper torso, and arms, sculpted by Eddie Mosqueda.  They flow well with the base body parts, and capture her design from the comics pretty nicely.  In particular, the loose-fitting shirt hangs in a way that quite convincingly conveys the weight of the material.  I like that a lot.  The head sculpt, like Meggan, gives her a smile, and I like that too; Davis’ illustrations of Excalibur frequently had them smiling, so it feels like it really fits the tone of the book.  Kitty’s head sculpt also bears an uncanny resemblance to Natalie Portman, and may well be the best likeness of her Hasbro’s produced, which is kind of humorous in its own way.  The colors on this figure are very blue, as they should be.  It’s a slick look,  and again the face printing brings a nice lifelike quality to the whole thing.  Shadowcat is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and open gesture, as well as her pet dragon (and fellow team member) Lockheed.  Lockheed is the same mold as the prior one packed in with Kitty, though this time he’s in a slightly brighter color.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was intrigued by this set when it was first shown off, but not quite enough to actually go out of my way to get it.  I already have both Kitty and Brian in my Legends collection, even if they may not be in my preferred costumes, and I don’t *have* to have Meggan.  But, I was certainly keeping my eye out, if they should make their way in front of me.  When they went back up for a wider distribution, that meant I was able to get them through All Time, which made life much simpler.  It’s a pretty fun set of figures.  I can’t say any of them really blow me away, though that may be partly due to how impressed I was by the last Kitty and Brian.  Still, these ones are really solid, and Meggan is no slouch either.  And, now, all we need is a red suit Rachel Grey, and we can round out the initial team!

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

#3301: Insulated Spider-Man & Electro

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

INSULATED SPIDER-MAN & ELECTRO

MARVEL MINIMATES

In 2009, we were between cinematic versions of Spider-Man, so all of his toy tie-ins were sticking closely to the comics for their inspiration.  This was especially true of Marvel Minimates, who had three dedicated assortments just for comic Spidey, as well as working him into some of the mixed assortments.  Wedged in the middle of the themed set-ups was today’s set, a variant of Spider-Man and one of his classic foes, Electro!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Insulated Spider-Man and Electro were initially released in the fourth TRU-exclusive assortment of Marvel Minimates, before getting a follow-up release in Series 30 of the main line.  The set from this review was the specialty release, but the two sets were effectively identical apart from packaging.

INSULATED SPIDER-MAN

“This alternate costume was created by Spider-Man to counter the devastating electricity powers of the super-villain Electro. By utilizing non-conductive materials and building on his original ‘rubber air mattress’ design, he defeated Electro with ease.”

Introduced in 1997’s Amazing Spider-Man #425, Spider-Man’s Electro Proof Insulated Suit was crafted to battle Electro’s increased powers of the ’90s.  It had graced toy form before during Toy Biz’s run with the license, but with this it had a Minimate.  Different!  The figure was based on the standard post-C3 ‘mate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  His only add-on is a full face-mask piece.  They were standard for Spidey for a brief span of time, but this assortment actually dropped that; the only reason this particular figure got the piece was for the extra padded design.  Everything else is handled with paint.  There’s quite a lot going on, but it does a great job of capturing the design of the costume as seen in the comics.  Under the bulked up mask is a standard Spidey mask.  It’s unfortunately saddled with the peg hole in the head, but otherwise it was really great, and the red was designed to be an exact match for the standard Spidey from Series 24 of the main line, allowing a replacement of his bulked up mask piece from the original release.  Spider-Man was without any extras for this release.

ELECTRO

“Given super-human powers by a freak electrical accident, Max Dillon was transformed from an average electric company lineman into the super-villain known as Electro! Able to absorb and manipulate near-limitless amounts of electricity, Electro can only be defeated by shorting out or overloading his powers.”

This marked Electro’s introduction to this line.  While there were another four variants of the character to follow, but this is to date the only one based upon his classic design.  He got three add-on pieces for this release, for his mask and his two glove cuffs.  All three were all-new pieces.  The mask was a little bit deep at the front, but was otherwise a good piece.  The cuffs take what would become the standard approach for the flared gloves, and add the electric effects to the ends.  His paint work is respectable enough; the colors are nice and bold, and the line work is quite detailed.  There’s a ton of work on the face, which would perhaps be overboard on another character, but actually kind of works for Max.  Electro was packed with two electricity effects pieces, shared with Series 29’s Storm.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I bought this set new from my go-to place for Minimates at the time, Cosmic Comix.  I remember being pretty happy about getting an Electro, and the Insulated Spider-Man was certainly a cool design.  The figures both suffer from a little bit of production issues cropping up, but they’re both pretty good overall, and neither found themself with any real replacement.

#3299: Namor – Wakanda Forever

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

NAMOR — WAKANDA FOREVER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The ruler of Talokan, an ancient civilization hidden in the depths of the ocean, Namor will stop at nothing to protect his people.”

The last time that I reviewed a Namor action figure here on the site, it early 2018, and I was reviewing the figures from the first Black Panther tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  He was a comics-based Namor, and I remarked at the time that his presence in a Black Panther-themed set was kind of odd and hard to justify.  Well, don’t I feel foolish now.  Namor was introduced to the MCU last year in Wakanda Forever, where he serves as the antagonist, albeit perhaps not a totally villainous one.  Tenoch Huerta’s performance in the role was an impressive one, giving us a Namor that was a little harsher than his comics counterpart tends to be.  Nevertheless, it’s a good set-up for a potential future for the character within the MCU.  And, he’s got another action figure in a Black Panther tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends, but this time it makes sense!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Namor is part of the Attuma Series of Marvel Legends, which is the dedicated tie-in assortment for Wakanda forever.  In an assortment that’s got a fair bit of re-hash going on, especially with its movie figures, Namor stands out as being the most noteworthy addition to the line.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Namor’s articulation scheme is generally pretty decent, following with the current line set-up.  He’s got the pinless structure on his elbows and knees, which is a little nicer looking.  I’m not super crazy about the range of motion on the mid-torso joint, but otherwise, everything works out all pretty decently.  Namor is sporting an all-new sculpt, courtesy of sculptor Dennis Chan.  The head has a solid likeness of Huerta, albeit looking perhaps a little dryer than he really does in the film proper (it’s worth noting that Chan sculpted it with a different, more flow-y styling to the hair originally, and it was changed).  Still, a good likeness is a good likeness.  The body sculpt is fairly balanced in terms of proportions.  The only part of it that I feel is a little bit off is the neck, which is just a tad too long to be quite right.  Not terribly off, mind you; just the slightest bit.  The jewelry around the neck is a separate piece, which can be slipped off if you pop the head off, allowing for a slightly more comics-looking Namor.  Of course, this does exaggerate the neck issue just a little more, but again, not the worst.  Namor’s color scheme, thanks to his construction, is largely handled via molded plastic.  There’s a touch of paint for the face, of course, as well as on the feet.  It’s clean, and the face in particular is fairly lifelike.  There’s a small spot of glue slop on the back of the hair, but he’s otherwise without blemishes.  Namor is packed with two sets of hands, with one pair of flat hands, and one in a fist/gripping combo, as well as his spear, and the left arm to the Attuma Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I largely opted to skip this round of figures, due to having previous versions of most of the characters included, I was definitely down for the first MCU version of Namor.  It’s been a long path to seeing him on the big screen, and he was one of my favorite parts of Wakanda Forever.  I’ve had this guy for a while, but he had the misfortune of just sort of slipping through the cracks, since there was just the one of him.  He’s not top of the line or anything, but he’s a solid mid-range 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.

#3298: Black Panther — Wakanda Forever

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

BLACK PANTHER — WAKANDA FOREVER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The success of the first Black Panther film understandably fast-tracked the turnaround on a sequel, but with both Infinity War and Endgame locked-in on the schedule, there was a slight wait before we could get right to it.  Things were further delayed by the pandemic in 2020, right when the movie was set to begin production.  Plans were further thrown into chaos later that same year with the passing of Chadwick Boseman, leaving the film without its star.  The film was hastily reworked to remove Chadwick’s role, with the rest of his ensemble cast taking up as much of the reins as possible.  Who would be taking over the titular mantle was a heavily discussed topic, and the actual identity of this new Panther was kept secret before the film’s release.  In the end, the person to inherit the role was T’Challa’s sister Shuri, who is truly the most natural choice for the part, especially given her history of taking over the part in the comics.  In order to preserve the film’s secret, merchandise of Shuri in her Panther suit was held off until after the movie’s release.  This included the Marvel Legends figure, which is just making its way out now.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Panther is a single-release Marvel Legends figure, meant to tie-in with the rest of the Wakanda Forever assortment, while also standing on her own.  She’s sold in a box that matches the others, but is billed only as “Black Panther” and also gets no bio, suggesting they were working extra hard to keep this one a secret, even once the figure got out there.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 28 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme is up to the more modernized standards for the line; she’s got double joints for the elbows and knees, which are using the pinless construction.  She also gets a decent ball-joint for the neck.  The range isn’t quite there on some of the joints, mostly around the middle of the figure, and the elbows have a tendency to stick a little bit on one end or the other.  Panther’s sculpt is an all-new one.  It does a respectable job of capturing her costume design as seen in the film…I mean, at least as far as I can tell from the limited screen shots are available for the look; some times that super secrecy really works against them, huh?  It’s a visually interesting design, with a lot of sharp detailing, and plenty of texturing.  The build seems a decent match for Letitia Wright, though she’s notably taller than the prior Shuri figure, which doesn’t quite track with her actual height.  Technically, she should be a fair bit shorter than both figures.  Maybe the heart shaped herb just makes her taller?  I’m willing to buy that, I guess.  The paint work on this figure is pretty on the mark; the gold accents go where they’re supposed to, and they look pretty sharp.  Shuri is pretty light on the accessories front, with only two sets of hands, in fists and open claw.  They’re cool and all, but her not getting an unmasked head, or even any of her blaster attachments for the wrists.  Presumably, the secrecy of the design and more than likely far quicker turnaround time resulted in less extras.  It’s a shame, but at least she got the bare minimum?  Also, an all-new sculpt, so there’s that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The main assortment of Wakanda Forever figures was a lot of rehash, so I didn’t pick up much of that set.  The absence of Shuri from that line-up didn’t really help matters, as it was honestly one of the few designs I really felt the desire to own.  The separate release was appreciated, and not really a surprise, I suppose.  Even so, I was a bit on the fence with this figure, just because my collecting habits are shifting a bit.  Max was having none of this, however, and decided to put an end to my hemming and hawing over this figure by just going ahead and paying for one for me in advance.  How dare he?  How absolutely dare?  Aside from a lack of accessories, she’s a rather nice figure, and one I’m certainly glad to have in my collection.

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.

#3296: WWII Wolverine & Hydra Agent

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

WWII WOLVERINE & HYDRA AGENT

MARVEL MINIMATES

In 2009, we weren’t yet into the actual MCU proper, so we had to make due with our only Marvel movie of the year being X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Dark times, I know.  There was, of course, a proper tie-in assortment of Marvel Minimates for the movie, but the line also had a fair number of Wolverine-themed comics-based ‘mates.  There was a largely Wolverine-themed assortment in its entirety, but then they also worked him into the mixed assortments as well.  For Series 29, there were two sets, focussing on old and new.  Today, I’m looking at the old.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

WWII Wolverine and the Hydra Agent were the variant set for Series 29 of Marvel Minimates.  The Hydra Agent was the shared army builder between the two sets, with WWII Wolverine swapping in for the X-Force Wolverine from the standard set.

WWII WOLVERINE

“Before he joined the X-Men as Wolverine, Canadian soldier James Howlett served alongside Captain America, Bucky and others during World War II – something Wolverine himself only discovered after the memories of his past were restored.”

Wolverine’s past, specifically his service during the second World War, has been a subject that’s been rattling around the Marvel universe since early in his comics career.  With Origins‘ renewal of interest in the era, this made for a sensible choice of design for this assortment in 2009.  The figure is based on the standard post-C3 ‘mate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He makes use of four add-on pieces, for his helmet, jacket, and sleeve cuffs.  He also gets a set of tweaked hands featuring his pre-Adamantium bone claws.  The helmet came from the DC Minimates Sgt Rock, the jacket from Platoon‘s Sgt Barnes, the sleeves from BttF‘s Marty McFly, and the hands from the “Wolverine Through the Ages” Weapon X.  Aside from the helmet not having any trace of Logan’s hair, making him look kind of bald with it removed, the parts do their job pretty well, so that’s actually pretty cool.  The paint work on this guy is pretty drab, but that’s expected.  It’s not a bad look at all, and there’s actually some really nice detail work going into some of it.  The head was consistent with the other comics Logan ‘mates at the time, and he’s even got a fully detailed shirt on the torso block under the jacket.  I also really dig the “X” on the helmet; it’s a fun touch.  Wolverine was packed with an alternate hairpiece (one of the Origins tie-in ones), a spare set of standard hands, and a Thompson machine gun (also re-used from Sgt Rock).

HYDRA AGENT

“The loyal minions of super-villains such as the Red Skull and Baron von Strucker, HYDRA Agents are bent on world domination through terrorist attacks and dangerous experimental technologies.”

The Hydra Agent marked the line’s fourth go at the army builder concept for the re-pack figure.  He’s a pretty classic one, and one that was at the top of everyone’s lists when the concept was first discussed.  It was kind of a big deal, really.  How’d it go?  Umm…about that… So, right out of the box, he’s got six add-on pieces.  All of them are re-use, with the standard full-face mask piece, the DC-style flared gloves, Emil Blonski‘s torso cap, the skirt from BSG’s Laura Roslin, and Assault Punisher’s holster.  They were clearly trying to get the most out of re-used parts here, and it largely works.  The real issue’s with the torso piece, which just doesn’t quite feel like it fits the usual style of Hydra Agents.  The paint is where the mixed bag really comes into play here.  Series 29 and 30 mark DST really trying to go more in-depth on the line-work for Minimates, so there was a lot more smaller detailing and creative shading, and things just generally looking more scratchy and sketchy.  The face on the full face mask for this figure is kind of a victim of that; there’s just really way too much detailing going on, and it gets kind of distracting.  There was a push on these figures to add alternate looks, and that certainly helped this one a little bit; removing the mask, gloves, and torso cap reveals a slightly more classic Hydra Agent, which is generally an improvement.  Unfortunately, due to a mix-up at the factory, this guy wound up getting a head with a peg-hole at the top, which can become just a touch distracting.  Also, I’ve never been much of a fan of the figure’s coloring.  They went for two shades of green, rather than the usual yellow and green, and the two shades are much closer than I’d like.  Throw in that both shades are rather on the dull side, and the whole thing becomes rather muddy looking.  In addition to all the removable add-on pieces, the Hydra Agent also got a pistol, an assault rifle, and Blonski’s night vision goggles, but in a matching green.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was actually pretty excited about this set when it was announced.  Sgt Rock was one of those unexpected favorites of mine from the DC line, and I liked being able to expand his set-up just a bit with this version of Wolverine.  I’d also really been wanting Hydra Agents for a while.  When I finally got the set, I was admittedly underwhelmed.  Wolverine’s certainly not a bad variant, but he’s also not really meant to be the selling point.  The Hydra Agent showed a lot of promise, but ultimately has a lot of little issues that add-up to him not being so great.  Thankfully, there was a later variant that improved on him, but until then, this was all we had.

#3291: Tactical Wolverine & Marvel Now Magneto

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

TACTICAL WOLVERINE & MARVEL NOW MAGNETO

MARVEL MINIMATES

For the last few years of Fox’s hold on the X-Men film rights, Disney actively discouraged licensees from doing any direct tie-ins with Fox’s movie releases.  So, while we got tie-in assortments for both X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Wolverine from Minimates, the last of the solo Wolverine films, Logan, went without.  To tie-in with the general themes, however, there was still a comics-based Wolverine assortment in the main line, as well as a corresponding TRU-exclusive.  Today, I’m looking at the TRU-exclusive.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Tactical Wolverine and Marvel Now Magneto were released in the 23rd TRU-exclusive assortment of Marvel Minimates, alongside two shared sets from Series 72 of the main specialty line.

TACTICAL WOLVERINE

“A verteran of many wars, the slow-aging Logan has acquired a great many human combat skills to complement his natural animal instincts.”

As the 65th version of Wolverine to grace the line, Tactical Wolverine definitely comes from a place of “what more can we do to make different versions of this one guy?”  The answer, as it turns out, is add a headband and a vest.  Very exciting stuff, really.  The figure is based on the standard post-c3 ‘mate body, so he’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He’s got add-ons for his hair and vest, plus the adjusted hands and feet with the claws and signature boots.  The hair is the same piece unmasked hair piece that had been in use for a few years at this point, and the hands and feet were the same set-up.  The vest appears to be a unique part.  It’s alright.  Kinda soft on the details, but not the worst.  The paint work on this guy gives him his brown costume, and it’s actually pretty crisp and clean.  I definitely dig the extra stubble on his face; it looks really cool.  For accessories, he’s packed with a mask piece, so that you can convert him to a proper Brown Costume Wolverine, as well as a clear display stand.

MARVEL NOW MAGNETO

“Max Eisenhardt has been both friend and foe to the X-Men over the years. His magnetic powers make him one of the most powerful mutants on Earth.”

Ah, yes, Marvel Now.  Or, I guess Marvel Then at this point, since none of it stuck.  Well, except for Magneto going monochromatic, I guess.  Yay.  Glad that stuck.  Big fan of that.  There were a few different versions of his costume in play.  This one’s sleeveless and black.  He’s got add-ons for his helmet, cape, belt and wrist cuffs.  The belt and cuffs appear to be new, while the cape is a re-use from the Avengers Vs X-Men Scarlet Witch and the helmet is from the Series 50 Onslaught.  The parts are all pretty respectable matches for the source material, so that’s cool.  His paint, monochromatic though it may be, is pretty crisp and clean, and just quite nice looking.  His head gets full face detailing, as well as ears, since Magneto was bald at the time he had this look.  He’s still got the hole in his head, of course, but, you know, there it is.  Magneto’s packed with both a flight stand and a clear display stand.  The flight stand is a bit too small, so his foot doesn’t actually securely stay put, which makes balancing him a real…well, balancing act, I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

None of these sets really appealed to me at the time of their release, largely due to me not having a whole lot of money to throw at Minimates.  I got these for the same reason I got most of the Minimates of the same era: TRU was going out of business and they were cheap.  Both figures are pretty nice, all things considered, but they’re also both non-essential looks, which makes this set as a whole kind of extraneous.  Still, they’re not bad.

#3289: Captain America – Tech-On Avengers

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — TECH-ON AVENGERS

S.H. FIGUARTS (BANDAI)

There’s something of an irony to the most recurrent character at the center of my S.H. Figuarts reviews for the last couple of years has been Captain America, but, well, here I am.  And you know what?  I’m gonna do it again.  In 2021, Marvel partnered with Bandai Namco for a Super Sentai-inspired Avengers series, Tech-On Avengers.  Marvel’s part was publishing a six issue tie-in miniseries, while Bandai’s part was releasing some Figuarts based on the designs seen in the comics.  The premise is pretty simple: the Avengers lose their powers due to shenanigans caused by the Red Skull, so they all have to be outfitted with Stark-designed armor, to become the Iron Avengers.  And I, being me, have the Captain America, which I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America — Tech-On Avengers is the second Tech-On Avengers release in Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts line-up, following the Iron Man from earlier in 2022.  Cap started arriving domestically towards the end of the year, in that early to mid December area.  The figure stands right at 6 inches tall and he has 45 points of articulation.  The articulation on this guy is a little bit finicky; Figuarts often are, but they’ve been getting less so as of late.  This guy’s even more finicky than usual, especially when it comes to the pelvis area.  The waist folds inwards on itself, and the hips are just generally kind of a little tight, which is only made potentially worse by having the waist folded in too far.  There’s also a floating pelvis piece to contend with, which just further complicates movement.  You can still get a decent range out of the figure, but it can take some getting used to.  On the plus side, the way the shoulders are laid out is actually pretty intuitive, and gives him a solid range of motion.  Cap’s sculpt is an all-new one, based on his tech-ed up look.  It’s honestly a pretty fun look, and I kind of dig the Ultraman manga vibe going on here.  It’s a good merging of the Cap, Iron Man, and Sentai vibes, while still maintaining the classic Cap vibe through and through.  The sculpt is quite nicely detailed.  It’s very sharp and clean, and appropriately sleek.  The construction uses just a little bit of die cast metal, which appears to be confined to the feet.  Not sure exactly why, but I guess it at least makes him rather sure footed.  His color work is generally pretty classic Cap fare; red, white, and blue, or at least a close variation of it.  I dig the metallic blue and the varying shades of red, but I’m a bit less sold on the light grey in place of white.  It lacks some of the pop that it should have.  At the very least, the paint work is cleanly applied.  Cap gets an impressive selection of accessories, including five sets of hands (in fists, gripping, flat, open gesture, and with pegs for use with the blast effects), a slightly more tech-y version of his usual shield, four different styles of straps for said shield (for mounting on his back, proper gripping, loose hanging, and one for throwing), a throwing effect, four different blast effects, and a display stand.  One of the gimmicks for Cap’s armor is the ability to use his shield as an extra armor-up feature.  To facilitate that, this guy gets an alternate larger set of hands, forearm guards, shoulder pads, front, back, and lower torso plates, a version of the shield that’s opening up for the armor up feature, and effects for the shield, the front of the torso, and his fist.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Overall, Tech-On is a concept that I don’t have much use for.  It’s a bunch of gimmicky variants of characters I have plenty of times over, and they’re all rather on the expensive side.  That being said, I’m a sucker for a fun Captain America variant, and that’s what this guy is.  He’s still perhaps a bit on the pricey side, but there’s plenty going on with this guy that makes him feel worthwhile.  And he’s even got fighting fists?  How can I not love a Cap that has fighting fists?

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

#3288: Cyclops

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

CYCLOPS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, is one of Xavier’s very first students and fights tirelessly for Xavier’s dream as the X-Men field leader!”

Oh sure, just go ahead and make me buy the same design for a third time, why don’t you?  What do you think I am, Hasbro, an easy target?  Because I am.  I mean, at least when there’s a ’90s Cyclops on the table.  Which there is.  Check it out.  ’90s Cyclops.  Oh, you want context?  Yeah, okay, I’ll give you context.  Remember how Hasbro’s been doing this whole line of animation-inspired X-Men figures based specifically on X-Men: The Animated Series?  Yeah, that’s been pretty cool.  I’ve picked up most of them (I’ve been focusing really just on the core team members, though), and I’ve been enjoying them a fair bit.  But, it’s all been a build up to the one figure I was really, really hoping to see, which was an updated version of ’90s Cyclops.  And, yes, I know I’ve gotten him updated.  On multiple occasions even.  But, look, I can always use more ’90s Cyclops.  And would you look at that?  More ’90s Cyclops.  Let’s review the ’90s Cyclops.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is the eighth figure in the X-Men: The Animated Series sub-line of Marvel Legends.  He follows up on the Mystique figure that I didn’t review, and is currently the last figure in the line-up, at least as far as we know.  Following Scott, Hasbro’s shifting things over to Spider-Man: The Animated Series, so Cyclops is our send-off for the line.  Like the last handful of figures from the set, Cyclops was shown off and went up for order on his own.  He was originally slated for a March 2023 release, but wound up making it out just before Christmas.  As with the rest of the line, Cyclops ships in a VHS-inspired package, with an illustration by Dan Veesenmeyer on the front.  It’s honestly my favorite illustration thus far, but I’m probably a bit biased.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  From a structural stand point, Cyclops is using the Vulcan body as a basis.  It’s a decent choice, since it’s been deigned the replacement for Bucky Cap, which was the recurring base body for Scott previously.  It’s just a little bit bulkier, which actually fits a little more with the ’90s Cyclops than Bucky Cap, honestly.  The only down side to the Vulcan sculpt is the glove line on the forearm; it’s not terribly noticeable, but it’s still just a little bit annoying.  Cyclops shares his slightly modified legs with the previously released Morph figure, allowing him to have the proper strappy bits for this costume.  He also re-uses the wrist straps from the prior ’90s Cyclops, which is fair enough.  The figure also gets a new head and a modified torso piece, both courtesy of sculptor Rene Aldrete.  The head is quite similar to the prior ’90s Cyclops head, but goes a bit more in depth with its detailing.  I liked the last sculpt a lot, but this one is a marked improvement across the board.  It’s worth noting that, similar to Morph, the sculpt walks the line between animation accuracy and the line’s usual stylings, suggesting it’s likely to get re-used for a standard color variant at some point down the line.  The new torso, much like the legs, takes the standard torso set-up, and makes the strappy bits an affixed element, rather than just a free-floating piece.  The floating nature of the prior release’s harness was one of my few issues with it, so working it into the torso sculpt not only makes it less of a pain to pose him, it also just makes for a tighter fit and a generally better looking design.  Following in the footsteps of the rest of the line, Cyclops’s paint work replicates the cel shading of the cartoon.  It’s not too pronounced, and like the others, it works surprisingly well from different angles.  I myself still quite like the cel shading on these figures, but I know others aren’t quite as keen on it.  If nothing else, it makes this release a bit more unique.  Cyclops is packed with five different hands, a pair of fists, a pair relaxed, and his usual left hand with the two fingers extended for proper optic blast unleashing.  It’s a little bit bare bones, honestly, but it’s on par with most of these releases, especially given how much new sculpting this one got.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ll admit, I was pretty hyped for Morph when this line began, because he’s unique and everything, but the figure I was absolutely hoping for the most from this line-up was this guy.  X-Men: The Animated Series‘ take on Cyclops shaped a lot of my view on the character, as well as shaping a lot of what I like in characters in general.  I like a good clean cut hero, what can I say?  I’ve gotten pretty much every possible version of the ’90s Cyclops design out there, and I honestly do love them all.  This guy is just a step above the rest, though.  And, I look forward to buying this exact same figure again, but without the cel shading.  Look, I know what I’m about, okay?

#3286: Nebula & Drax

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

NEBULA & DRAX

MARVEL MINIMATES

“Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos! The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand.”

On December 20 of 2017, I noted in the intro to my Minimates Taserface and Mantis review that I hadn’t picked up the Toys R Us-exclusive Nebula and Drax two-pack. Well, the times they are a-changin…in the spring of 2018…when I actually bought this set.  And…then I took quite a few years to actually review it.  And I’m probably making it worse by drawing attention to it here.  But, you know what, I’m just going for it.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Nebula and Drax were the TRU-exclusive pack in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 tie-in assortment of Marvel Minimates, hitting about two months before the film’s release in 2017.  This pair rounded out the titular team from the film.

NEBULA

For the first movie, Nebula was exclusive to the specialty assortment, while this time around flipped the script and moved her over to TRU.  Still exclusive, but differently so, I suppose.  This release places her in her updated outfit she gets from the Ravagers mid-way through the film.  It’s not crazy different, but it’s got sleeves, and it’s a little redder.  The figure is based on the standard post-C3 Minimate body, so she’s about 2 1/4 inches tall and she has 14 points of articulation.  Like her first release, Nebula is a vanilla ‘mate with no add-ons.  It makes sense, since she’s pretty svelte, and has no notable things that would require anything extra on the standard body.  Nebula’s paint is where the main work is going on.  The detail work is pretty solid; she gets things toned down a bit compared to the previous version, but it’s still impressive, as is the base color work.  Nebula is packed with a blaster pistol and a clear display stand.

DRAX

Drax’s look is the least changed of the main characters in the second Guardians, which makes this release seem pretty unneeded at first glance.  However, this one was largely used to correct an issue with the last release, which bulked him up with a bulky chest piece, generally seen as not the greatest choice for the character.  This one’s only sculpted add-on is a generic pelvis cap piece, which gives him a little more bulk without going too overboard.  Beyond the change of sculpt there are also some changes in terms of paint.  The upper half of the figure is fairly similar to the first movie version, but just a touch crisper on the details.  He also gets the blue Nova uniform pants, rather than the all-black ones, which feature a fair bit more detailing than the all-black ones from the first film.  Drax is packed with his two knives and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I got the whole Specialty assortment for this movie within a few months after their release, I held off on this one, for a few reasons.  Firstly, I hadn’t gone out and actually tried to find them, and moreover, I was content with the prior versions.  But, with TRU going out of business in 2018, I had another chance at them, for a much better deal.  Nebula I can take or leave; the first one is still a favorite of mine, so this one’s just different to be different.  Drax is actually an improvement, and I quite like the changes they’ve made here.