Tag Archives: Marvel

#3275: Spider-Man – Web-Racer

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

SPIDER-MAN — WEB-RACER

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (TOY BIZ)

“Fighting super-villains in a big city like New York can take a lot out of a super hero – but not Spider-Man! With a quick double-tap on the shooters, Spider-Man is able to swing across town in mere minutes, giving his foes barely enough time to even THINK about crime!”

When Toy Biz’s tie-in line for Spider-Man: The Animated Series launched, it came with it two variants of the titular character.  They weren’t quite delving into the more prominent Spidey variants just yet, so the two that were present were both decidedly mild, doubling as fairly standard looking Spider-Men as well.  Both figures were dedicated to some variation on Spidey’s web-shooting, with today’s focus specifically honing in on his distinctive web slinging.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Web-Racer Spider-Man was released in the first series of the Spider-Man: The Animated Series tie-in line.  He sports a standard Spider-Man design, specifically adapting the look from the show, but functionally working as a fairly classic Spidey.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  The movement on this release was greatly reduced, with the arms permanently held outstretched to facilitate the action feature.  The figure’s sculpt was largely unique to this release.  The only real shared piece was the head, a common part to almost all of the Spideys from this line’s early run.  Lack of mobility aside, the sculpt actually looks pretty solid.  The proportions are quite realistically balanced, and without any shoulder joints, the figure has a nice flow about it.  There’s a channel sculpted into the arms and torso of the figure, which has a string running though the whole way.  He can be picked up by either side of the the string, and he’ll slide to the other end, appearing to swing or climb.  It’s simple, but it’s not a terrible idea.  Spidey’s paint work is nicely handled.  It’s bright, colorful, and all of the line-work is pretty cleanly handled.  I suppose the webs on the red sections could be a little sharper, but they were consistently placed, and generally looked pretty good.  Spidey included no accessories of his own, but he did get a small plastic Venom pin…for those that need small plastic Venom pins.  Not sure why Spider-Man has a Venom pin, but, hey, there it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

With Series 1 largely out of stores by the time I started collecting, I didn’t end up with any of them when they were new.  I got to tracking some of them down, but I didn’t exactly have a shortage of standard Spider-Men, so this one was never really high on the list.  This one happened to be a stray figure traded into All Time along with a couple of other Toy Biz figures.  Since I didn’t have him and he was easy to snag, I did just that.  He’s not anything flashy, but he’s a pretty fun little variant.

#3274: He-Who-Remains

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

HE-WHO-REMAINS

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A ruler. A conqueror. Creator of all. Controller of all. At the end, it is only HE Who Remains.”

Loki was full of a lot of things that would influence the greater MCU moving forward, and at the top of that list was the introduction of Jonathan Majors as He-Who-Remains, our first official Variant of Kang the Conqueror, the antagonist who’s set to serve as the MCU’s next big threat.  Appearing in Loki‘s season finale, He-Who-Remains is definitely a different sort of take on the character, who’s clearly got some Immortus leanings to him, as well as being merged with He-Who-Remains from the comics, who is, notably, not Kang at all.  Obviously, this guy’s not going to be our main Kang going forward, but he’s an interesting look at the frazzled, somewhat crazed man at the end of time.  And, hey, he’s got an action figure.  Let’s take a look at that, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

He-Who-Remains is figure 4 in the Khonshu Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the second Loki-themed figure, following up on Classic Loki, as well as our fifth overall Loki figure in the line.  He’s also our second figure of an incarnation of Kang in the modern Legends, as well as the first figure of Jonathan Majors in the role.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  He-Who-Remains’ articulation scheme is a little restricted by his design, but generally makes the most of it.  As with a lot of slightly more restricted figures, the character isn’t incredibly agile during his appearance on the show, so he’s certainly capable of doing pretty much whatever he needs to.  The only real downside to it all is that he can’t really lounge about the way he did in the show.  He-Who-Remains gets an all-new sculpt, based on his attire in the show.  His look definitely brings him closer to the Immortus side of things than the Kang side (and the initial concept even took it further by adding Immortus’s usual head gear), so he’s without anything particularly tactical.  He’s definitely far more for lounging about, which offsets pretty well with the TVA’s more bureaucratic design theming.  The sculpt does a pretty respectable job of capturing his look in plastic form.  His likeness is a good match for Jonathan Majors, and his expression is a bit lighter, which fits He-Who-Remains’ temperament in the show, and means that he’ll be different from the inevitable Kang figure.  The body sculpt captures his attire well, with decent hang and weight to all the drape-y stuff.  Some of the smaller details are a touch on the softer side, but I do really dig the embroidery on the shoulders.  The one area where the figure slightly falls is the paint.  It’s definitely not bad, just a bit lacking on the outfit.  He’s very bright, and there’s a lot of molded plastic without accenting, which looks a little too plasticky for his show look.  It really hits the robe hardest, since all that purple just ends up losing a lot of the sculpted detailing.  The other areas aren’t quite as bad, and the face in particular looks quite lifelike.  I also really dig the obsidian plate on his left hand, with its brightly colored veins.  He-Who-Remains is packed with his apple, which is a pretty distinctive item from his episode, and adds to our ever growing array of Legends foods.  He’s also got the head to the Khonshu Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ll be totally honest, I didn’t have the highest opinion of the Loki finale.  After building up a ton of momentum, we spent an hour in a room with three people talking.  It wasn’t *bad*…but it did feel a little anti-climactic.  That said, I liked getting a preview of Kang, as well as the little nods to Immortus and Kang’s other incarnations.  It’s also a pretty unique design, and I’ve got all the other Loki figures, so it’s hard to pass that up.  This guy’s decent.  Not breaking the mold, and not my favorite, but he does what he needs to, and he looks pretty cool on the shelf.

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.

#3273: Classic Loki

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

CLASSIC LOKI

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“The epitome of Loki potential! Powerful, carefree, and mischievous, this Loki’s decisions led to a long life, but that didn’t come without its own baggage.”

One of the coolest parts of Loki, which was admittedly a show with a lot of cool parts, was the introduction of “Variants”, or alternate timeline versions of characters we’ve seen before.  After introducing us to Sylvie, the main Loki’s distaff counterpart, the show took things even further as the season progressed, with a whole host of different Lokis.  Amongst them was “Classic Loki”, portrayed by Richard E. Grant, who is, for all intents and purposes, just a straight adaptation of Loki as he appeared in the comics in the ’60s.  He’s a rather glorious adaptation of the character, with a rather glorious focus and send-off, and now he’s also got an action figure.  Is it glorious?  Let’s find out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Classic Loki is figure 2 in the Khonshu Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s one of two Loki figures in this line-up, joining up with the other three we’d gotten up to this point in the main line.  Classic Loki is the first of the secondary variants of Loki to get figure treatment, but hopefully some of the others aren’t too far behind.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  This figure’s articulation scheme is surprisingly rudimentary, especially given where the line’s been headed recently.  It’s not terrible, or anything, and he does get that nifty pinless construction on the elbows and knees, which is always fun.  That said, the other movement is a little awkward, and the joint construction is a little out of date.  The waist is really where it gets hit the worst, with the flat swivel waist looking rather odd, and the hips not being even remotely worked in.  All that being said, the articulation is still generally workable, once you get used to it.  Classic Loki’s sculpt is all-new for this figure, and apart from the awkward articulation layout I mentioned above, it’s honestly pretty strong.  It matches well with the design seen on the show, and I quite like the way they weave the comics elements in with their real world equivalents.  He gets two different head sculpts, one sullen, and the other grinning.  Both of them sport a spot-on likeness of Grant in the role, and grant the figure quite a bit of versatility for posing.  Classic Loki’s color work is quite nicely handled; while his costume in the show stuck to his comics counterpart’s stark green and yellow coloring, it was also rather grimy and worn-in.  The figure has some decent accenting on the yellow sections, which makes him look appropriately disheveled.  Classic Loki is packed with a spare set of hands with magic effects, as well as extra magic effects for the wrists.  He’s also packed with the right leg to the Khonshu Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Loki variants were such a fun concept, and really showcase the high point of the show for me.  Classic Loki in particular was just a treat to watch, especially given how satisfying an arc he was given, even just in his single episode of focus.  I wasn’t sure we’d be seeing a figure any time soon, since he’s so similar the classic comic Loki from the Retro line.  I was definitely happy about his inclusion here.  His articulation’s a little wonky, but beyond that, I actually do really like the figure a lot.

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.

#3272: Agent Jimmy Woo

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

AGENT JIMMY WOO

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Agent Jimmy Woo arrives in Westview to investigate the strange energy field surrounding the town.”

Jimmy Woo is a character with quite a backstory in the comics.  He predates Marvel’s boom in the Silver Age, first appearing as the hero of the antagonist-titled espionage series Yellow Claw, which saw him facing off against a yellow peril villain who was, surprisingly, neither the Fu Manchu, nor the Mandarin.  Yellow Claw ran only four issues in 1956-1957, but was remembered for being a surprisingly positive portrayal of an Asian-American hero.  Jimmy would resurface in the ’60s when he was made an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a spot he’d stay in for most of his comics career.  He got a starring role again in Agents of Atlas, which reunited the ’50s Avengers, a team of heroes from Marvel’s pre-Silver Age days, with Jimmy as the team’s leader.  Jimmy’s introduction to the MCU came not as a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent, or leading the Agents of Atlas, but instead as the FBI Agent assigned to Scott Lang in Ant-Man and the Wasp, before he was given a rather sizable (and quite redeemable) role in WandaVision.  He’s poised to do even more in the MCU, which is definitely fun, but the most important thing is that he’s got an action figure, which I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Agent Jimmy Woo is figure 1 in the Khonshu Series of Marvel Legends, which is the fourth Disney+ centric assortment of Legends.  It’s sort of an oddball mix of everything.  Jimmy is the only WandaVision figure in the mix, and the first one since the Wanda and Vision we got back in the first D+ series.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  He uses the Coulson body as his starting point, with a new head, arms, and an add-on for the jacket piece.  The old and new mesh pretty well, making for a figure that’s pretty cohesive, and a good match for Jimmy’s WandaVision appearance.  The head sculpt sports a rather spot-on likeness of actor Randall Park, complete with his slightly goofy smile that he’s always sporting as Jimmy.  The new jacket and arms give him a slightly more informal field jacket, which is a nice change of pace for the suited bodies.  The arms get the updated construction without the pins on the elbows, which is certainly a plus, and they lack the weird, oddly balanced split with the elbow movement that the other arms for this body had.  Jimmy’s color scheme is rather on the subdued side, as is accurate to the source material.  It’s largely molded plastic, but there’s some nice accent detailing on the jacket, as well as a quite nicely executed printing for the face.  Jimmy includes his FBI badge on a sculpted chain, as well as an alternate left hand holding his business card, which he has presumably just close-up-magicked out of his sleeve, like in the show.  It’s a small, but incredibly cool touch.  He also includes the left arm and staff to the Khonshu Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jimmy’s one of those characters that, even going back to his comic appearances, I never expected to get an action figure of.  Given his MCU incarnation is even less classically toyetic, I really wasn’t expecting to see him.  I was pleasantly surprised by his announcement for this assortment.  He’s an unexpectedly well-done figure, thanks to the commitment to detail.  The likeness is really strong, and the extra hand with the business card really sells it.

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.

3270: Mystique

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

MYSTIQUE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“Wanting her foster-daughter Rogue back in her life, Mystique helps Miser Sinister in his plan to take over the X-Men! Shapeshifting into the Beast, Mystique tricks the X-Men into Sinister’s clutches. Witnessing Sinister turn Rogue into a monster proves too much for Mystique and she turns against the villain, using the now out of control monster Wolverine to aid in her revolt.”

Oh boy, late ’90s X-Men line.  When the whacky themes ran rampant.  Early in the line, things were rather focused and comics based, with a little bit of the cartoon input bleeding in here and there.  As the line progressed, the concepts started to get weirder, but not too crazy.  1996 had some weirdness, but it was 1997 where things got crazy, and each assortment seemed to be trying to top the last.  We had Ninjas and Robot Fighters, and eventually they just turned everyone into monsters.  Yeah.  At least we got one new character out of the whole deal, though.  Let’s look at Mystique.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mystique was added to the X-Men line in 1997’s “Monster Armor” assortment, which was the twentieth series of the line.  This marked Mystique’s first time in 5-inch form, though she’d previously been part of the 10-inch line as a rather hastily thrown together Rogue repaint.  Mystique was seen here in her classic attire, likely chosen because it matched her animated appearances.  That was a small grace, since she had some real doozies in the ’90s.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  She marked a rather reduced articulation set-up.  Generally, this assortment marked a move away from practical articulation and into more pre-posing, a la what McFarlane’s offerings of the time.  Mystique’s articulation was good for minor tweaks to keep her standing, but ultimately not much else.  Her pre-posing was at least kept to a minimum on the figure’s sculpt, so she doesn’t look quite as silly as some of the others.  The sculpt has a respectable set of proportions, and just generally looks pretty balanced.  Toy Biz was clearly a fan of this one, too, since it got quite a few re-uses in the following years.  The paint work on this figure is decent enough.  Some of the change-overs are a little fuzzy, but there’s nothing horribly out of place and all of the important details are there.  Mystique was packed with her own set of Monster Armor, which included a mask, hand, and feet clip-ons, meant to turn her into a loose approximation of Beast, as mentioned in the bio.  It’s not spot-on, but it works okay, and it’s actually a pretty sensible accessory set-up for a character whose main gimmick is shape shifting.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this assortment hit, I got distracted by the prospect of another Cyclops, and wound up not actually getting any of the others.  I’ve been slowly grabbing the rest over the years, and Mystique was on the top of my list.  I wound up snagging her from Collector’s Corner a few years ago, when they were doing a sale on a lot of their action figure back stock.  She’s not bad.  I mean, sure, she could be more posable, but otherwise she does look pretty decent, and it was the best option for a very long time.

#3267: Steve Rogers & The Hydra Stomper

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

STEVE ROGERS & THE HYDRA STOMPER

MARVEL STUDIOS WHAT IF…? (HOT TOYS)

“Who does Peggy Carter call in for backup when she needs it? Steve Rogers, of course. In this universe, Peggy Carter jumps into action with a number of familiar faces, but even she might need some help defeating the enemy. Calling in air support, she certainly doesn’t expect Steve to come swooping in – in a Hydra Stomper suit.”

Prepare for more formula breaking, as I interlude with yet another Hot Toys review outside of a monumental number!  I seem to be doing this far too frequently, don’t I?  It’s gonna make the monumental reviews not so special.  Ah, I don’t really care that much, honestly.  I just want to review the toys.  It’s kind of the whole purpose of the site, right?

In my last Hot Toys review, I was discussing my adherence to just Captain America stuff, and how that played into some alternate universe characters, specifically when What If…? is on the table.  While What If…? is a show I had generally mixed feelings about, I absolutely loved its first episode, “What If…Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?”  I’ve already got the HT Captain Carter, so there’s only one proper way to follow-up: The Hydra Stomper!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Steve Rogers and The Hydra Stomper is a deluxe set of figures from Hot Toys’ Television Masterpiece Series, where it’s numbered TMS060, placing it just after Peggy in the numbering.  This marks the third What If…? offering from Hot Toys.  Like Peggy, this set stuck pretty close to its original anticipated release date of the end of 2022/beginning of 2023, though it did stick to the earlier end of the window.  There are two releases of the Hydra Stomper available; just the Stomper on its own is available as part of the Power Pose Series, and then there’s this set, which adds in the full pilot Steve Rogers figure to the mix.  Clearly, there was no way I was just doing the Stomper when there’s also a Steve available, right?  Right.

Steve is technically the actual “figure” here as classified by HT and Sideshow (to the point of being the one with an actual classic HT-style box), so I’ll kick things off with a look at him first.  The figure stands just over 11 inches tall and has over 30 points of articulation.  Steve’s head sculpt, much like the Captain Carter figure, is an animation-inspired piece, rather than shifting him to a realistic style like a lot of Hot Toys offerings.  As with the Peggy sculpt, there’s still a degree of an Evans likeness present here (albeit, the shrunken down and skinny Evans likeness from early in The First Avenger), so you can tell who it’s supposed to be.  It’s a good match for the design as seen in the show, and it’s nice, clean, and slick.  The paint work emphasizes the animated look further, while still maintaining the usual high Hot Toys standards.

Steve’s outfit is generally pretty simple (which is true to the show), being a rather standard loose-fitting jumpsuit.  There’s an underlying shirt, albeit without any sleeves.  You won’t notice, of course, since the suit’s not designed to be removed.  Further tailored items include some harness straps and a removable back pack.  There’s also a sculpted buckle for his belt, as well as a pair of feet that look like boots.  Under the outfit, he’s got a rather small and scrawny base body, matching well with his pre-serum build.  It’s a rather nicely articulated base body, which makes for easy posing.

Steve gets a rather modest selection of extras, with three sets of hands (L and R relaxed, L and R pointing, L gripping, and R flat), and a display stand that matches with the one included with Peggy.

Moving past the Steve Rogers figure, let’s take a look at the thing that takes up the vast majority of the package space here: The Hydra Stomper!  The figure stands a little over 22 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.  On its own, the suit is part of Hot Toys’ Power Pose Series, which is their way of releasing Iron Man armors at a cheaper price by cutting back on articulation in order to simplify the engineering.  As such, this figure only gets movement where it absolutely *needs* it, rather than just sort of all the places it naturally would.  All things said, the posability is still better than I’d expected.  In particular, the fully articulated fingers are really impressive.  The only area that’s truly restricted is the lower half, but on the plus side, it does keep him very stable on his feet.  His sculpt is, as expected, quite impressive.  It’s very clean and sharp, and a spitting image of the design as seen in the show.  The figure is designed to allow Steve to actually sit inside; it’s a bit tricky to get him in there, and he’s a little cramped, but it’s cool to have the option. There are light up features worked into the eyes and the torso, both of which are battery operated independently from each other.  The Hydra Stomper is packed with a flight stand, which affixes to the belt line of the figure.  It holds him rather securely horizontally, allowing for a more stable point for Peggy to hold onto the back like in the episode.  It’s a little tricky to get it all properly posed and secure, but it’s fun that the option is there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in the Captain Carter review, this episode was by far my favorite of What If…?, and I was honestly already kinda sold on these even before seeing the show.  The Hydra Stomper design is just one that really works for me, and as soon as I saw this figure, complete with the Steve Rogers, I was sold on getting this set and the Captain Carter.  Since I got Peggy from Jason at All Time as a Christmas gift, this sort of became my Christmas gift to myself, I suppose.  It’s huge, it’s impressive, and it’s just a whole lot of fun.  And I’ve even made shelf space for it already, so I don’t even have that whole thing looming over me!

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.

#3261: Captain Carter

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

CAPTAIN CARTER

MARVEL STUDIOS WHAT IF…? (HOT TOYS)

Greetings and welcome to a brand-new year, faithful readers!  Today’s important thing is the official kick off the post-Christmas reviews.  Very fancy stuff.  Notably, I’m also breaking formula, and totally writing a review of a Hot Toy, but not on a big review number.  Look, I’ve got a new Hot Toy, and I don’t really feel like waiting over 200 reviews to get to it, okay?  When last I was discussing Hot Toys, I had two different Captain America reviews, and indicated that was kind of the path I’d be sticking to for Hot Toys going forward.  Today’s focus sticks with that, more or less, albeit in a sort of an alternate universe capacity.  Yes, straight from 2021’s What If…?, I’m taking a look at a very fancy version of Captain Carter, Margaret “Peggy” Carter’s super soldier alter-ego!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Carter is the second figure in the What If…? component of Hot Toys’ Television Masterpiece Series, which is their “small screen” equivalent to their longer running Movie Masterpiece Series.  She’s figure TMS059, placing her right between Zombie Hunter Spidey and the Hydra Stomper.  It’s a nice little stretch of What If…? figures there.  Peggy stuck pretty much spot-on to her original release date of fourth quarter 2022, hitting back in early November.  Captain Carter is based on her WW2-era outfit from her debut episode, which is definitely the more distinctive of her two looks (it also pairs well with the upcoming Hydra Stomper).  The figure stands about 11 3/4 inches tall and she has over 30 points of articulation.

Captain Carter’s head sculpt marks a change for the usual Hot Toys stylings.  They most often got for hyper realism, even when adapting non-realistic designs (as highlighted by the Clone Wars characters in their larger Star Wars line), but the What If…? figures are instead sticking closer to their actual animation models.  This appears to possibly be a licensing thing, since the Legends figures were the same way.  Whatever the case, the spot where this is most evident is the head sculpt.  The sculpt is much smoother and streamlined than your typical Hot Toys head, but it’s nevertheless a really strong likeness of the character as she appears in the show.  It’s still got a respectable likeness of Hayley Atwell, making her fairly easily recognizable.  She includes two different pieces for the back of her hair, allowing for either a relaxed hang, or something a bit more dynamic.  They’re both attached via magnets, so they swap out and hold in place pretty nicely.  They also both work really well for their respective looks, and add a nice bit of variety to what you can do with the figure. As with the sculpting, Captain Carter’s paint work is a bit different from the usual, with something a little cleaner and bolder.  The application’s still really strong, and she’s got enough realism to her that she doesn’t stand out too much from other figures Hot Toys has done.

The bulk of Captain Carter’s costume is a single piece jumpsuit, in contrast to the usual two-piece set-up we’ve seen on the Captain Americas.  That said, she’s still got that layered look like the Caps have, so as to properly recreate all the cool little details of the costume.  On mine, the mid-torso stripes do seem *just* a tad off-center, just careful posing makes them look just fine.  The suit is topped off with a shoulder harness, a belt, and boots, which are all plastic add-on parts.  Like the more recent Captain Americas, the boots use a two-piece construction, so that the ankles can still properly move.  The belt and harness just being plastic is a slight step-down from the cloth construction on the other Caps, but it also tracks a bit better with her more animated appearance.

Peggy’s underlying base body is a rather basic one, which seems to go more for function over form.  It’s a fairly standard female base body, albeit one that’s a little taller than the usual.  It’s generally a pretty good match for Peggy as seen in the episode, although, if I’m honest, I do feel like she’s still perhaps a bit too short for her appearance in the show.  Likewise, her shoulders seem a little narrower.  Beyond that, though, it does work okay.  The posability is pretty decent, especially in the arms.  The hips are a bit restricted, but that’s more about the costume design than the actual body.

Captain Carter gets a pretty decent selection of extras, covering all of the basics for what she’s got in her episode.  Included are:

  • 7 hands
  • Shield
  • Hanger for shield
  • Sword
  • Handgun
  • Display stand

The hands included are two fists, two gripping, two relaxed, and a right hand with trigger finger.  The shield is smaller than Steve’s (which is either accurate or not, since it’s scale fluctuated depending on the shot), but it’s still similar to his in construction and detailing.  The straps can unhook just like Steve’s, and there’s a hook for hanging it on her back.  The sword is based on the one she grabs during the first episode’s climactic battle, and it’s nice and sharply detailed.  The handgun is a little simpler than other HT weapons, which I’ll admit I was just a tad bummed by, but it’s not going to get much use by me anyway.  Her display stand goes with the hexagonal shape, with a printed design based on the What If…? branding, as well as her name on the front.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Captain Carter episode of What If…? is far and away my favorite of the show’s first season.  I’ve been very excited for all of the tie-in stuff for it.  While I’m keeping it lighter on the HT side still, I’ve got that soft spot for the Captain America-related stuff, and I’ve honestly been wanting an HT Peggy of some form since The First Avenger.  Now, you’ll notice that I said this figure was kicking off the post-Christmas stuff.  I got this one courtesy of All Time’s owner Jason, who gave her to me as a very generous Christmas gift.  She’s pretty awesome, and I’ve very excited to pair her off with the Hydra Stomper figure!

#3258: Silk

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

SILK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Bitten by the same radioactive spider that gave Peter Parker his powers, Cindy Moon develops spider powers of her own and soon takes on the role of Silk!”

Marvel’s Original Sin cross-over from 2014 was one with a few lasting changes, none of them particularly huge status quo shifts, or anything, but notable none the less.  It officially added Neil Gaiman’s Angela to the Marvel universe by revealing her to be Thor and Loki’s long-lost sister, came up with a convincing way to write out the original Nick Fury so that his son, Nick Jr, who happens to more closely resemble the Samuel L Jackson version of the character, could replace him, and, most relevantly for today’s review, revealed that the spider that bit Peter Parker had also bitten his classmate Cindy Moon, giving Cindy her own set of abilities.  Cindy was worked back into the mainstream universe during the battle with Morlun and his family the Inheritors, having been hidden away for years to keep her protected.  She was given the codename Silk, and spun (heh) off on her own, though she does find her way back to the main Spidey book from time to time for cross overs.  Silk’s actually been pretty fortunate in terms of raw numbers when it comes to toy coverage, though perhaps a little bit less so when it comes to actual distribution.  It’s okay, though, because I finally got one.  So, let’s look at Silk!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Silk is an part of an Amazon-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, which was released under the “60 Amazing Years” banner that’s celebrating Spider-Man’s anniversary. The other half of the set was a Doc Ock, which is just a slight adjustment on his figure from back in 2018. This Silk marks her third time in Legends form, following two solo releases.  This one is based on Cindy’s most recent look, which sports shorter hair, and a slightly more vibrant color palette.  It’s honestly my favorite of her looks thus far, so that works for me.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and it has 29 points of articulation.  Silk’s largely built using the same patchwork body as Spinneret, which, apart from the ever evolving ports on the back of the torso, is honestly a pretty solid base body, and certainly a good match foe Silk’s usual depictions in the comics.  It’s also a good deal more posable than her last two figures, which feels more appropriate for a web-slinger.  Silk gets a brand-new head sculpt, and it’s honestly the nicest sculpt she’s gotten to date.  It’s certainly the first one to really capture her Korean heritage, which is definitely a plus, and I really like the more naturalistic approach to the detailing, as well as the ever so slight windswept look to her hair.  It’s enough to look somewhat dynamic, without looking too crazy.  Silk’s color work is based on the bolder palette of her newer design, so she’s definitely got some visual pop.  The application is generally pretty cleanly handled; there’s a little bit of slop on the edges of the white sections, but it’s pretty minor.  The head does quite well, with the printing for the eyes looking quite lifelike, and the subtle blue accenting on the hair really bringing out the sculpted details.  The figure is packed with an alternate unmasked head for Cindy, with a corresponding pulled down mask piece, as well as three pairs of hands (fists, gripping, and open gesture) and an extra right hand with a web effect.  It’s quite a nice selection of extras, and covers pretty much all of the bases.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Silk’s introduction was, admittedly, a little clumsy (something even her creator Dan Slott has admitted in recent years), but she got better pretty quickly, and she’s been a pivotal character to a couple of Spider-cross-overs since.  I missed out on her first figure because that wave showed up effectively nowhere, and her second because I just underestimated how quickly it would sell.  I was poised to miss this one, too, since I didn’t really need another Doc Ock, but I was fortunate to get just Silk on her own when one got traded into All Time.  She’s actually quite a lot of fun, and getting this version makes me kind of glad I missed the other two.

#3256: Sakaar Loki & Heimdall

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

SAKAAR LOKI & HEIMDALL

MARVEL MINIMATES

“In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – the Incredible Hulk!”

For movies prior to Thor: Ragnarok, Diamond Select’s Minimates line-ups typically relied on a mix of a couple of different retailers carrying two-pack assortments, but beginning with Ragnarok, the specialty assortment was replaced by a boxed set, augmented by exclusive two-packs at both TRU and Walgreens.  For Ragnarok, Walgreens took two exclusive packs, while TRU took one, which is the one I’ll be looking at today.  Let’s have a look at Sakaar Loki and Heimdall!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Sakaar Loki and Heimdall are, as noted in the intro, the one proper TRU-exclusive set for the Marvel Minimates tie-ins for Ragnarok.  Interestingly enough, this was the second time the two characters had been packed together in the line, as they were also paired for the Dark World tie-in assortment as well.

SAKAAR LOKI

Surprisingly enough, Loki was actually the character with the most ‘mates for Ragnarok, edging out even his brother Thor, and netting one variant for each of the three release venues for the movie’s tie-ins.  This one is based on what he wears for the bulk of the movie, while running around on Sakaar.  It’s not quite as true to the character as his final battle attire, but it’s still pretty decent.  The figure is built on the standard post-C3 minimate body, so he stands about 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Loki’s got three sculpted add-on pieces, for his hair, belt, and cape.  The belt and cape were shared with the boxed set Loki, while the hair was a new piece shared with the civilian Loki released on the Walgreens side of this assortment.  I find the hair to be a little bit bulky for Loki in Ragnarok, but it’s generally not bad, and the cape is still one of my favorites.  Loki’s paint work is a little cleaner than his boxed set equivalent, with no major issues with slop or bleed over.  He’s also a little more colorful, which is true to the Sakaar design.  I’m not as big on the facial expression for this one, which is rather bland, and feels like it has too many lines for Hiddleston.  Loki’s only accessory is a clear display stand, which is rather on the light side.

HEIMDALL

Heimdall’s only prior coverage in the line was his Dark World release, which actually wasn’t bad, and is also his fully armored attire, which was distinctly different from his on the run look from Ragnarok.  Heimdall gets two sculpted add-ons, for his hair and for his cloak/coat.  The hair is an alright piece, though it certainly feels rather too kempt for Heimdall’s look in Ragnarok.  Where Loki’s piece seemed too bulky and long, this one feels too tame and short.  The chest piece is also…it’s just not great.  Making the whole thing one piece means that the right arm is effectively trapped in place, and the legs and waist are also pretty restricted, and on top of that, the neck can’t really do much either, so he’s just generally not really posable.  And, to add insult to injury, the piece is just flat out not accurate to the character’s look, like at all.  It’s got him wearing some sort of heavy coat and multiple layers, when in the movie he’s got a sleeveless shirt and a simple pair of pants on under the cloak.  I’m not sure if this was based on early concept art or what, but it’s just not really right, and the figure would have really been better off if this piece had just been the cloak, rather than the whole thing.  The paint work doubles down on the inaccuracy of the sculpted pieces, resulting in a kind of dull look for the figure.  Heimdall is packed with his sword, as well as a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

There was a whole slew of 2017 releases for Minimates that I had to skip on when they dropped, and almost the entirety of the Ragnarok line-up was on that list, this set included.  This one was snagged from TRU during the beginnings of their clearing out of their products in 2018.  Loki’s okay, but not as definitive as the boxed set version.  Heimdall is rough, I’m not gonna lie.  He’s not accurate, and he’s not a particularly fun figure either.  This set’s generally kind of weak.

#3253: Ghost Rider

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

GHOST RIDER

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Wielding supernatural abilities and weapons from the back of his flaming motorcycle, Ghost Rider roams the mortal world as the Spirit of Vengeance.”

I don’t review enough Ghost Rider stuff around here.  I probably should review more.  Honestly, It’s kind of crazy how the last two Ghost Rider reviews I wrote were in 2020 and 2019, and were neither one a “standard” rider.  In the fallout of the Engine of Vengence Haslab not making it, there’s at least a tiny glimmer of Ghost Rider hope out there.  Since it’s the character’s 50th anniversary and all this year, we’ve got a few small offerings to tie-in, including today’s focus, which is a Legends release that throws back to Toy Biz’s line from the ’90s…sort of.  I’ll get to that.  Let’s check him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ghost Rider is a standalone Fan Channel release for Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line.  He was initially slated for a March 2023 release, but like a lot of items recently, he moved up considerably on the timeline, starting to hit in November.  He’s the first figure to sport the retro Ghost Rider packaging, though time will tell if there will be more going forward.  Though the packaging may be retro, the figure in the packaging doesn’t really directly correspond to any particular figure from the old toy line. Instead, he’s kind of an amalgamated sort of design, which ultimately makes him actually more of a throw back to the very first Legends Ghost Rider.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation, which still includes that awesome moving jaw.  This guy’s a complete parts re-use of the Rhino Series Ghost Rider, who was himself using a good number of parts from the A.I.M. Soldier.  The whole thing’s been re-used once before, for the first Legendary Riders release of the character.  It’s a very good classic Ghost Rider sculpt, and one that still holds up really well even 7 years after its initial release.  Some of the articulation’s a little bit stiff, but for the character, it all works pretty well.  This release changes up the color scheme a bit; while the last two releases both stuck rather closely to the ’70s color scheme, this one sort of merges that look with Danny Ketch’s usual color layout, by going for a more straight black on the jacket, and grey for the pants.  The skull is now far starker white compared to the flames around it, and we even get the appropriate paint work to show off the bones of his neck.  The Rhino Series Ghost Rider was notably without any extras beyond the Build-A-Figure piece, but this one gets a fair number of extras, adding in the chain whip from the Riders release, plus two flame effects for the arms, and an all-new alternate head and hands (sculpted by Paul Harding).  The new head depicts Johnny mid-transformation, which is a ton of fun, and the new hands show off his skeleton hands sans gloves.  It makes for some really fun posing options.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I passed on the Riders version of Ghost Rider because I was content with the first release of the mold and didn’t feel like I needed a re-paint.  I was initially planning to do the same with this guy, but then I saw all the new parts he came with, and rethought it.  The prior version still remains my definitive, but boy are the extras a lot of fun on this one.  It really takes him to the next level.  Now, can we please get a proper Danny Ketch?

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.