Tag Archives: Marvel

#2598: Captain America – Stealth

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — STEALTH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Injected with an experimental Super-Soldier Serum, Steve Rogers has the peak potential of strength, endurance, and dexterity.”

It’s become a surprisingly recurrent thing for Captain America to wear a stealth variant of his regular uniform, just across the board.  I guess there’s just an innate desire to take him out of the bright colors, and perhaps remove him just a touch from being too overly patriotic.  Or maybe it’s just because black is cool, and we like getting cool things, and I’m reading too much into what is at its core a very simple way of getting another use out of a Captain America mold.  That seems to have been the primary motivation between today’s figure.  Does it work out?  Let’s jump in and find out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Stealth Captain America is the final single release figure in the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s another game-inspired figure, like yesterday’s Iron Man.  His purpose is fairly cut and dry, I suppose: re-use the standard Gamerverse Cap molds again.  That he does, which means, like that figure, he stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  It’s honestly not a terrible sculpt.  Obviously, it’s going to be rather informed by your personal preferences on the game’s main Cap design.  But, as an adaptation of that design, and just as a figure in general, it’s certainly a solid offering.  The first big difference here is the color work.  The standard look already subdued the usual Cap color scheme, but this one takes things even further, subduing to purely black and white…well, black and rather light grey.  It’s honestly not a bad look, and it’s even got a bit more pop to it than the standard colors.  It honestly feels a little more suited to this particular sculpt, and has sort of a US Agent feel to it, which honestly gives a bit more of a practical purpose, at least as far as my collection is concerned.  It’s worth noting that the application of the paint is also a little better here than it was on the standard version.  That figure wasn’t bad, but notably his face paint was a little bit grey.  This time it’s a little more lively, which looks far better.  It’s a little sloppy on the edges of the mask, but otherwise looks pretty solid.  The area where this figure really improves things from the last one is the accessories.  Standard Cap had his shield and literally nothing else.  This one gets that same shield, plus two sets of hands this time (one gripping, the other fists, giving us two complete sets of the one and one pair from the prior figure), an unmasked head, and the left arm of Joe Fixit.  In my review of the standard figure, I lamented that he didn’t come with an extra head or hands, so them being here certainly helps.  It also helps that I really like the unmasked head.  It’s not quite scaled correctly to the body, but it looks really good on the 80th Cap, so that’s probably where mine will end up staying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t quite as against the last Cap as some collectors, but I could certainly see his shortcomings.  When another Cap was confirmed for this line-up, even I was less than thrilled, especially with it being something that feels like such a lazy repaint.  Ultimately, this figure is better than the last one in every facet, and is honestly just a pretty fun figure in his own right.  The biggest issue, is that he retroactively makes the last one even more pointless than he already was.  These two figures definitely should have been condensed into one.

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

#2597: Iron Man – Atmosphere Armor

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

IRON MAN — ATMOSPHERE ARMOR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Tony Stark developed his cutting-edge Atmosphere Armor to defend the world against catastrophic threats.”

The latest round of Avengers-themed Marvel Legends are *technically* supposed to be themed around Square Enix’s Avengers game from earlier in the year, much like its predecessor from back in May.  While that assortment was a 50/50 split between game and comics, mirroring how movie themed assortments tend to work as well, the second line-up is a lot less influenced, with only two of the standard release figures coming from the game.  Said figures are also both variants of prior figures from the last assortment, making their overall impact feel even more lessened.  I’m taking a look at the first of these two today, starting with an Iron Man variant!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Atmosphere Armor Iron Man is the fifth figure in the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends.  He follows the first Gamerverse Iron Man from the Abomination Series earlier this year, though he’s obviously a slightly more specialized armor choice than the first figure.  This one’s a space-themed armor, in line with the Gemini Starboost armor from Iron Man 3 (and also the same game as this one).  It’s got a lot of common design elements shared with the standard Iron Man figure, which makes sense, and keeps a cohesive thing going.  In general, I do like this design a little bit more than the standard armor, if perhaps just because it’s actually got a purpose outside of just being different.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  The movement style on this figure is very similar to that of the first Gamerverse figure, which is to say it’s a little bit stiff and restrictive.  On the plus side, this makes a bit more sense for this design, given its slightly bulked up appearance.  I’m still not a fan of the crunch joint instead of a ball joint for the torso articulation, but at least I knew it was coming this time.  In terms of construction, this figure’s entire sculpt was released previously as the Target-exclusive Starboost figure.  From what I’ve been able to find, these two are supposed to essentially be the same model, so I guess that’s accurate.  I also didn’t pick up the Starboost figure, so a lot of this is new to me.  It’s not all new, of course, by virtue of Starboost sharing his head, biceps, lower torso, pelvis, and upper legs with the standard Iron Man.  Again, this is sensible from a consistency stand point, and I actually find the head bugs me less with this new design, so I’m down for it.  The paint scheme marks a greater departure from the usual Iron Man palette, swapping the red and gold for blue and silver.  I dig it.  It’s unique and again helps to sell him as a more credible variant than the prior figure.  This one’s just drastically different, and that’s nice for the growing hall of armors we’ve got going right now.  Atmosphere Armor Iron Man’s accessory selection’s not bad.  He drops the prior figure’s blast effects, but I’ve honestly got plenty of those at this point anyway.  In their place, he gets a new unhelmeted Tony Stark head, which is pretty decent, if perhaps not my go-to Tony appearance.  It’s also not quite compatible with the standard armor body, which feels like a missed opportunity.  Atmo Iron Man also gets the same two sets of hands as the prior figure, as well as the right arm for the Joe Fixit Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Gamerverse portion of the last Avengers assortment wasn’t really the star point, so I wasn’t feeling a powerful need for more of them.  They seemed kind of inevitable, of course, so I was bracing myself for whatever we might end up getting.  Ultimately, I was rather middled by the standard Iron Man, but this one stands a bit more on his own, largely by virtue of there being less to compare him to.  Sure, he’s not my favorite Iron Man by any stretch, nor is he even a contender for my favorite figure from this series, but he’s perfectly enjoyable for what he is.

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

#2596: Susan Richards, Invisible Woman, & Powerhouse Thing

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

SUSAN RICHARDS, INVISIBLE WOMAN & POWERHOUSE THING

MARVEL MINIMATES

You can’t just do *half* of the Fantastic Four…well, I mean, if you’re Toy Biz, I guess you can.  In fact, you can do it way more times than you ever fairly should be able to.  Just constantly stringing people along forever…Sorry, I was having flashbacks.  Look, we’re not talking about Toy Biz here, we’re talking about Diamond Select.  And they would never leave us high and dry like that, with an incomplete team, just two members shy of completion…apart from that one time that they did exactly that with their Aliens line…look, this isn’t about Aliens, it’s about the Fantastic Four, and finishing up that line-up, which we’re totally doing right here, right now, with no further distractions!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Susan Richards and Powerhouse Thing were released in Series 8 of the main Marvel Minimates line, and then again at Target in 2005 and 2006.  Standard Sue was the heavy packed version, with a full Invisible Woman swapping in for her in the variant set.

SUSAN RICHARDS/INVISIBLE WOMAN

Sue made her Minimates debut in style.  While her brother Johnny was stuck being flamed on all the time, she gets to be regular most of the time.  Lucky her.  Like her assortment-mates, Sue is built on the standard C3-style ‘mate body, peg hole on the head and all, so she’s 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  She uses the same glove pieces as Reed, as well as a new hair piece, clearly based on a ’60s Sue ‘do.  It’s a rather basic piece, but it gets the job done, and thanks to the peg it stays in place better than Reed’s.  I’m still iffy on the bulked up glove pieces, and exactly what their purpose is, but I’ll try to move on.  In terms of paint, the standard version fairs a bit better than Reed, thanks to having consistent coloring for the all of the costume details, as well as getting some actual torso detailing.  The variant is molded in all clear plastic, keeping the detail lines, and going for a slightly translucent blue for the black sections of the costume.  It’s a cool look, and you can easily mix and match the two for a powering up effect.  Both versions are packed with a shield piece, similar to Captain America’s.  And, thanks to those bulked up gloves, the shield has to sit over her elbow joint, which is a bit annoying.

THING

Thing gets his third go at a Minimate here, thanks to being the only team member available for a while, and yet still kind of needing to be included in the assortment proper.  So, here he is.  2005 marked a notable change-up for the line’s construction, adding in a few more bulked up parts for slightly larger characters, hence the “powerhouse” title for this version of Thing.  He uses the same bulked up hands as before, as well as making the first use of the original powerhouse chest piece, and an all-new head piece.  The powerhouse piece is pretty basic, and not nearly as involved as later bulk up parts.  This kind of helps to keep him more on the basic side, in keeping with the rest of the assortment.  The only part I don’t really care for his the head piece.  It’s really just different from the prior piece for the sake of being different, and that’s not really a good reason to change it.  It’s just not as good as the older piece, and even DST knew it, since this piece didn’t get used beyond this series.  In terms of paint, he’s not terribly far removed from the Series 5 version.  He’s got the proper team shorts this time, which is good, but I don’t like the the new face. It just doesn’t match that classic Thing feel.  Fortunately, the oranges match, so a re-work is possible.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in the last set of these I looked at, despite being very excited for this set of ‘mates, I didn’t buy them new, and I didn’t really jump too quickly into tracking them down after the fact either.  I blame the Thing; he’s just so ugly.  I snagged these guys at the same time as Reed and Johnny, just to round out the team.  They’re not bad, but they’re definitely dated, and kind of from a weird middle spot for the line.

#2594: Thunderstrike

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

THUNDERSTRIKE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Kevin Masterson follows in the noble footsteps of his idol Thor—because the world still needs heroes.”

After Walt Simonson’s run on Thor cemented the concept of someone other than the God of Thunder himself (or Don Blake, his usual alter ego) being able to wield the power of Mjolnir, passing the hammer onto other wielders became a recurring feature.  Not terribly long after Simonson’s run ended, Eric Masterson was introduced as a supporting player in Thor.  He was then promoted from supporting player to alter ego for Thor, then just to being Thor proper for a time, and then eventually was given his own, separate identity as Thunderstrike.  Eric’s story ultimately ended with his demise, and eventually his hammer was passed onto his son, Kevin, who took up the identity for himself.  Thunderstrike’s an intriguing alternate to Thor, and makes for a good figure to fill that “Thor” slot in an assortment, which is just what he’s doing here.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Thunderstrike is the fourth figure in the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends, and also the final of the comics-based figures in the assortment.  This marks Thunderstrike’s first time getting the Legends treatment, although Hasbro’s done him before in their 3.75″ line.  In stark contrast to the name attached to the bio, this Thunderstrike is very definitely Eric’s version of the character, not his son Kevin.  Clearly somebody didn’t double check the wiki there.  It’s perfectly alright, however, because Eric is certainly the more logical choice for inclusion, given he’s the one everyone thinks of when they hear the name.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Thunderstrike makes use of a surprising amount of new parts.  At first glance I’d expected him to be fairly heavy on the re-use, but on the final product the only re-used parts are the arms (which are from the 80th Thor), and the vest (which is from Rage, a parts share that existed in the smaller line as well).  Everything else is new.  It crafts a pretty spot-on recreation of the character’s design from the comics, for what that’s worth.  It’s…not the greatest design, but it’s certainly very indicative of the time it hails from, so I guess there’s that.  The ball joint for the mid torso certainly works out well, and looks better aesthetically as well.  The head’s got a rather dynamic flair to it, with a quite intense facial expression.  It’s different, and I do like the change up, but it’s also a touch limiting when it comes to posing him.  At least it’s pretty well suited to the character.  Thunderstrike’s paint work is pretty basic stuff.  The application’s clean, but the brown sections could certainly use some sort of accenting.  As it stands, some of the details get a little bit lost.  Thunderstrike is packed with his hammer of the same name, as well as two different left hands (the same two included with Thor), and the head to Joe Fixit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Thunderstrike is a character that’s kind always been just outside of my area of interest.  I’ve got nothing against him, but I’ve also got no real attachment to him (hence why I never grabbed his smaller figure, even after seeing it on clearance all over the place).  His inclusion in this set was kind of a middling moment for me, but I can’t say it’s a waste of a space or anything.  He’s at the very least a pretty solid figure, and another rather classic character for the line-up.

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

#2593: Kang

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

KANG

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Born in the 31st-century, Kang employs time travel and hyper-sophisticated technology to conquer all of time.”

Perhaps the Avengers greatest foe (and certainly their most *numerous* foe, at least in terms of identities), Kang the Conqueror has been a thorn in the team’s side since their first year as a team, first appearing in issue #8 of the series, which was coincidentally, two months prior to the appearance of Immortus, his future incarnation, and 11 months after the appearance of Rama-Tut, his past incarnation.  Also 41 years prior to the appearance of Iron Lad, his even past-er incarnation…time travel’s messy.  Though a prominent fixture in the team’s history, he’s never been the most marketable of their enemies, so he’s also not had the most toy coverage.  He’s still done better than Jocasta, of course, with at least one notable release in every major style of Marvel figure.  He’s been in the Legends game once before, and now he’s gotten back into it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kang is the third figure in the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends, and is also the third of the four comics-based figures included in the line-up.  As I touched on in the intro, Kang has been included in Legends once before, during Hasbro’s first run with the brand in 2008.  That figure was actually just a re-release of the super rare Fantastic Four Classics Kang Toy Biz put out right before handing over the reigns, but the 2008 version ended up being a really rare exclusive in his own right, making neither version very easy to track down for the average collector (or me, for that matter).  It’s also a mold that’s 14 years old at this point, so it was in need of a replacement.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  Though the articulation count is a bit on the lower side, the range of motion on the joints follows the recent trends of being much improved compared to older figures.  The most impressive joint is definitely the ball-jointed waist, which gives him a lot of possible tweaking to his posing.  It’s a lot of fun to mess with.  Kang is sporting an all-new sculpt, and a quite nice one at that.  It’s undeniably a classic Kang design, and there’s a ton of detail work going on, from the way the tunic “hangs” on the body, to all of the piping and folds on his very, very tall boots.  The head manages to capture Kang’s rather goofy headgear in such a way that’s not totally ridiculous, which is certainly a plus, while also capturing Kang’s stern expression.  It definitely works well.  The paint work on Kang is pretty straight forward stuff.  It’s mostly just base application, and that application’s all pretty cleanly handled.  The color palette is appropriately vibrant, and works well for the character.  Lack of vibrance has actually been a recurring issue on prior Kang figured, so I’m glad it worked out here.  In addition to getting a whole brand new sculpt, Kang’s also got quite a nice selection of extras, including five different hands (R and L fists, R and L open gesture, and L grip), a large futuristic blaster rifle, and the left leg to the Joe Fixit Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kang’s definitely high on my list of favorite Avengers villains, and I’ve been wanting him in Legends form for a long time.  The last version was never easily found, and as such I never got one.  I’ve been waiting for this one for a while, and I was very pleased to see him crop up in this assortment.  On top of that, he’s really just a top-notch figure.  Everything about him just works very well.  Finally, this Avengers foe has really gotten his toy due!

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

#2592: Jocasta

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

JOCASTA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Jocasta’s superhuman force fields and electromagnetic beams make her a valuable ally of the Avengers.”

After creating his “son”, The Vision, Avengers foe Ultron set his sights on creating himself a bride.  Being the melodramatic and rather twisted so and so he is, he opted to use the mind of his “mother” Janet Van Dyne, aka The Wasp, for his robot mate.  He dubbed his creation “Jocasta” in reference to Oedipus, and the obvious Oedipal complex that Ultron possessed in reference to his creator Hank Pym.  Jan was able to keep her brain in her own body of course, leaving Jocasta a lifeless husk…at first.  Eight issues after her first appearance, however, she reactivated, with her own personality, one which, like Vision before her, led her to rebel against her creator.  She went on to play a supporting role in the Avengers books for the next couple of decades, tending to hover in the background of most stories.  Recently, she’s actually been getting a bit more focus, with a pretty central role in Dan Slott’s run on Iron Man in particular.  She’s been without a single action figure for the first 43 years of her existence, but, lucky her, that’s just changed!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jocasta is the second figure in the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends.  She’s another comics-based figure, of course, and is, as noted above, the very first Jocasta figure we’ve ever gotten (something Hasbro very proudly announced when they showed her off).  Jocasta’s look has been fairly consistent over the years, but this figure goes for the most classic aspects of the character.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Jocasta is built on the Moonstone body, which is one of the oldest bases still in Hasbro’s parts library (only Bucky Cap and Hyperion are older).  Compared to more recent additions to the line, it’s a bit limited in terms of posability and range of motion, as well as having slightly wonkier proportions compared to newer stuff.  In terms of build, it’s not exactly a pitch perfect match for Jocasta, so why exactly it was chosen for this figure is kind of up in the air.  It’s not bad, but I’d personally have preferred to see the use something more recent.  I guess they don’t want too many figures in a short span of time being built on the Phoenix body, though.  To help liven things up, she gets a new head, torso, pelvis, and an add-on for the thigh “garter.”  The new parts are pretty decently handled, with the head in particular being a solid recreation of her classic comics design.  The torso’s an improvement on the standard Moonstone parts, but is somewhat hampered bu having to deal with the older arms and legs.  In terms of paint, Jocasta’s a lot of silver, which is accurate, of course.  They’ve at least actually given her a two-toned set up, which keeps things somewhat interesting.  The darker color’s molded, while the lighter is painted.  It works pretty well.  Jocasta is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, and one in open gesture, as well as the torso of the Joe Fixit Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jocasta and Machine Man are one of my favorite little obscure odd-ball pairings, and have been for some time.  Back in the Toy Biz Legends days, I assembled my own custom Machine Man (which I mentioned when I reviewed Hasbro’s take on him), and I had the parts picked out for a Jocasta, though I never did get around to finishing her.  Ever since getting Aaron in an official capacity, I’ve been hoping for a Jocasta to go along with him, and that’s only increased as her role in the comics has grown.  While the base body choice is still questionable, she’s certainly a serviceable figure, and at this point I’m just happy to have her in any sort of figure form at all!

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

#2591: Falcon

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

FALCON

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Sam Wilson soars through the skies dispensing justice and restoring faith in humanity.”

Introduced in 1969’s Captain America #117, Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, has the notoriety of being the first African American super hero in mainstream comics.  Since his introduction, he’s been an on and off fixture of the Marvel Universe, and he’s become especially prominent in the last few years, thanks in no small part to Anthony Mackie’s portrayal of the character in the MCU.  It’s been a little bit of time since we got a proper comics Falcon in figure form from Hasbro, but they’re coming back in for the save on the latest round of Marvel Legends, with a figure I’m taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Falcon is the first figure from the Joe Fixit Series of Marvel Legends, which is the second of this year’s Avengers-themed assortments.  He’s one of the four comics-based figures in the assortment, and marks our first comic Falcon since back in the Toy Biz days in 2006.  That release had classic and modern (at the time) variants available, where as this one goes for Sam’s design from around the Brubaker era of the comics.  It’s become a go-to for his costume in various merchandising outlets, and is certainly far less dated than a lot of his costume designs, so it’s certainly a solid choice.  The figure is 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Falcon is built on the 2099 body, a strong starting point for the character given his usual build in the comics, and a good core body in general.  He also re-uses the recent comic-style Vulture wings from earlier this year.  There’s also a new set of arms to allow for proper connection of said wings, as well as a new head and feet.  The Vulture wings are still that wonky “fully detailed on one side, not at all on the other” set-up, but that’s at least less of an issue with Falcon’s adjusted color scheme.  The newly sculpted parts meld really well with the old, and are just generally impressive pieces.  The head feels right for Sam in terms of expression and features, and the new arms and feet certainly go beyond the bare minimum detailing for the design.  They certainly didn’t have to do the fully sculpted ridges on his gauntlets or the tread on the boots, but they did and it adds that extra flair to the design to help differentiate him from other uses of the body.  Additionally, these new arms use the pinless construction, further the figure’s sleekness.  Falcon’s paint work is rather straight forward.  It’s all just basic application, but it’s cleanly done, and the translucent plastic for the wings is certainly pretty cool, and, as noted in the sculpt segment, helps to hide the one-sided-ness of the wing sculpts a bit more.  Falcon is packed with two sets of hands (fists and flat) and the left leg to the build-a-figure Joe Fixit.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Toy Biz Falcon was a figure I really liked back in the day, but he’s also one of their figures that hasn’t aged quite so well, so I’ve been eager for a proper comics update for a little while.  This guy was high on my list for this assortment to be sure.  I’m very happy with the final product, and I’m happy to have a decent Falcon for my comics shelf again.  Of course, I certainly wouldn’t say no to using some of these parts for a classic Falcon down the road, if Hasbro feels so inclined.

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

#2590: Storm & Thunderbird

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

STORM & THUNDERBIRD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Weather changer Ororo Monroe and noble Apache warrior John Proudstar wield their mutant powers for good.”

Giant-Size X-Men #1 is one of the most distinctive covers in the history of comics, but that hasn’t always made getting all of the characters featured *on* said cover all that easy.  Typically, the X-Men’s second incarnation has had to rely on special releases to truly fill in their ranks.  In the case of Marvel Legends, we’ve been working on the line-up since 2003.  It’s…it’s been a long road.  Hasbro steered more toward completing the ’90s line-up more recently, but with that one more or less complete, they’ve moved back around to the better  earlier incarnation of the team. Right now, we’ve got a new two-pack featuring one of the team’s most prominent fixtures…and Thunderbird.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Storm and Thunderbird are a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, which just started hitting back in October.  It was initially pretty scarce (thanks in part to its instantaneous sell-out online), but appears to have picked up in volume in the last few weeks.  Hopefully they remain that way for a bit.

STORM

First Appearance Storm is surprisingly illusive as a Legends figure.  She was never done during the Toy Biz days, and was eventually shown off during Hasbro’s Fan Choice Poll in 2007, where she lost (rather criminally, if I do say so myself) to the AoA version of Sunfire (who managed to also get an update before poor Storm even got one single release, furthering the criminality).  She’s been the most notably absent figure from the classic X-Men line-up, and there was definitely a lot of built up demand….and then they went and made her an exclusive.  Goody.  She was shown off at Toy Fair this year by herself, before being confirmed for this here multipack.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Her articulation is quite well implemented, with most of the joints (the elbows in particular) having a better range of motion than typically expected from such pieces.  The knees use the new pin-less design for their construction, which helps to give the whole thing a sleeker feel.  Storm’s sculpt is all-new, and it’s quite a nice piece.  She’s not quite a pitch-perfect Cockrum recreation, but she certainly captures the classic Storm feel.  The costume details, many of which could have just been painted on, are all actually sculpted elements, and the proportions are certainly well balanced.  The head and cape pieces are both sculpted with a dynamic flow to them, with a teeth-gritting expression, and a sweeping nature to both her hair and her cape, indicating that she’s right in the midst of using her powers.  It works really well.  The paint work works out okay for the most part, but there’s a lot of ups and downs.  The core figure’s paint is really strong, and I really dig the glossy finish on the black parts of the costume.  The cape is where the issues arise, mostly having to do with that yellow border.  It’s just really sloppily applied, on both of the capes.  Did I say “both”?  That’s right.  In addition to the more dynamic head and cape, Storm also gets extras of both for a more calm, just lounging around the X-Mansion look, as well as three sets of hands (in fists, open, and lightning effects).  Quite a nice selection of extras there.

THUNDERBIRD

The cover of GSXM #1 has five of the most prominent X-Men in the franchise…and Thunderbird.  Thunderbird’s primary contribution to the team is really just that he died, and he actually managed to stay that way, which I guess is pretty notable.  He tends to get one figure in every major scale eventually, and now he can add Legends to his list.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Thunderbird is largely built from parts re-use, making use of the Reaper body as his starting point.  It’s a decent enough match for Thunderbird build wise, as he’s always been depicted as a little bulkier than most of his team mates, but not quite the same size as his brother James.  It also matches his usually more balanced proportions pretty well.  He gets a new head, as well as add-ons for his sleeves, wrist guards, belt, and boot tops. The add-ons sit alright on the body, but the fringe pieces for the boots and shoulders do require a little bit of proper positioning to get them to stay in place.  The head is a nice piece on its own, but it sits a bit too high on the body, which looks really wonky.  Thunderbird’s paint work is pretty decent.  It’s brighter than the colors on Warpath, which seems more appropriate.  Thunderbird is packed with no accessories, which is a pretty stark contrast compared to his pack-mate Storm.  Not even some extra hands, guys?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was one of the fans who voted for Storm in the poll back in the day, so I was definitely waiting on this figure.  It’s been a long wait.  I was super thrilled when she was unveiled this year, but immediately less so when she was announced as a Target exclusive.  When she sold out in pre-order, I was definitely bummed, but I kept routinely checking the page, and happened to catch them in stock not too long after release.  All-in-all, pretty painless, I suppose.  Storm’s awesome, and by far my favorite release of the character.  I’m particularly thrilled to have y “Pryde of the X-Men” line-up complete.  Thunderbird is fine.  That’s the best I can muster, really.  He feels far more phoned in than Storm, and certainly feels like a late addition to the set-up.  He could be worse.  Now, can we get a proper update for Banshee so that we can complete the GSXM team?

#2589: Torch & Mr. Fantastic

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

TORCH & MR. FANTASTIC

MARVEL MINIMATES

First previewed in the line in 2004, in 2005 the Fantastic Four proper made their way into Marvel Minimates.  Marvel’s first family was on the rise that year, with a movie hitting theaters that summer, and all sorts of cool toy product to go along with everything.  Of course, then the movie actually came out and we all collectively went “meh” and the FF kind of got back-burnered, but hey, they were still full of all this cool potential at the beginning of the year, right?  Minimates got in on the pre-movie hype by devoting an entire assortment of figures (well, almost…more on that later) to the team, which was certainly a leg up from prior coverage.  Today, I’m kicking things off with a look at Reed and Johnny!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Torch and Mr. Fantastic were part of Series 8 of Marvel Minimates, which hit retail shelves in January of 2005.  The same pairing was also released through Target in both 2005 and 2006.  They’re kind of an odd pairing, thematically, since it would seem to me that Reed/Sue or Reed/Ben and Johnny/Ben or Johnny/Sue would have made way more thematic sense.  But, I guess they had good money on everyone going for the whole set anyway.

TORCH

Apparently, Johnny is no longer human, he’s purely torch, because that’s what he is on every instance of his name on the package.  No clue at all as to why they ditched the “Human” portion of his name for the Series 8 release, but it did fortunately reappear when the packs made their way to Target.  My guess is it was a mistake that no one caught until it was too late.  For his first ‘mate, Johnny went fully flamed-on.  It’s always an iffy prospect in three dimensions, but it’s certainly distinctive.  He’s on the standard ‘mate body (which now comes with the C3 feet standard in the main line, a first with this Series), so he’s 2 1/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Johnny has add-ons for his hair and the flames on his shoulders, both of which are new.  It’s interesting that the hair was new, rather than being a re-use of the Ghost Rider piece from the prior year, but it does look a bit better.  It’s also notable for introducing the pegged hair pieces to the line.  Up to this point, all of the heads had been without peg holes, and all of the hair pieces had purely been held in place via friction.  It worked for some designs, but not others, and the pegs really helped to keep the figures held together a bit better (though they would have other drawbacks that would surface later).  All in all, it’s a good set of parts, and works decently for the character, albeit a more modern take on his flamed-on appearance.  The paint work on this guy’s quite nice, with a very comics-esque and very dynamic facial expression, as well as musculature and the classic Torch heat lines on the torso, pelvis, and legs.  It works very well.  Johnny was packed with a fire blast effect piece and a small flight stand, both of which were new, and which helped to further sell his flame abilities.

MR. FANTASTIC

Reed actually got a preview release in the line in late 2004, as part of a TRU-exclusive 10-pack, where he and Ultimate Green Goblin were the exclusive pieces.  But, for those of us who didn’t want to buy 8 duplicate figures just to get two, there was this two-pack.  Yay!  This guy’s built on the standard C3-footed body, in contrast to the early release, which was long-footed.  He’s got add-ons for his hair and gloves.  Both were new.  The hair’s a little blocky and minimalistic for where the line was going by this point, and it’s worth noting that, due to being produced the year before, it doesn’t have the peg like Johnny’s.  This also means it has some trouble staying in place.  The gloves are decent enough pieces, though I do really have to wonder why they were included at all, since it’s not like the FF’s gloves have ever been depicted as anything other than just as skin tight as the rest of the suit.  They just end up looking oddly bulked up, especially with the lack of any corresponding parts for the boots.  Reed’s paint work is far more basic than Johnny’s, but also a lot more imbalanced.  There’s a lot of detailing on the face (which is actually a pretty solid Jack Kirby-style recreation of Reed), but the body gets only very simple detailing.  He doesn’t even have any musculature on his torso.  Additionally, for some odd reason his boots, belt, and collar are a dark blue, while his gloves are a straight black.  Why aren’t they just all black?  Isn’t that weird?  Reed gets a pair of extended arms, which swap out at the hands, and are actually pretty darn cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was really excited for this assortment when it was shown off and really wanted the whole set, and then inexplicably bought exactly none of them when they were actually released.  Couldn’t tell you why.  Just wasn’t feeling them right at that moment, I guess.  I waited on getting them for quite a while, actually, and only actually got around to picking them up when a whole slew of Minimates came through at All Time last year.  Johnny’s okay.  There have been better versions, but he’s not a bad offering on his own.  Reed was weak even when he was new, and just feels really imbalanced, like parts of him were designed way earlier than the rest.

#2582: Clobberin’ Time Thing & Super Skrull

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

CLOBBERIN’ TIME THING & SUPER SKRULL

MARVEL MINIMATES

After being introduced into the line in early 2004 with a single team member, the Fantastic Four got another Marvel Minimates release in fairly short order.  It was great, another team member to–what’s that?  Oh, it wasn’t another team member at all?  It was just the same team member a second time?  Yeah, that sounds more appropriate.  Well, at least we got another FF foe out of the deal.  Also, full disclosure: this set’s not as bad as it seems on the outside.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Clobberin’ Time Thing and Super Skrull were a Tower Records-exclusive pack, added to the Marvel Minimates line in October of 2004.  They were Tower’s second exclusive for the line, following 2003’s single-release of Silver Surfer. Rather surprisingly for figures from this early in the line, these two remained wholly exclusive to this pack, though the pack itself was never incredibly hard to get a hold of or anything like that.

THING

Yes, for the second FF set, we got yet another version of The Thing.  This time around, he’s wearing one of his more extensive FF uniforms, with the tank top and boots that Byrne outfitted him with during his run on the book.  Honestly, I’ve always loved this look myself, so I can’t really complain that much.  The figure stands 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  Ben’s built on the standard ‘mate body, but wait, what’s that I spy?  Would those be C3-style feet?  Indeed they would.  Though they wouldn’t make it into the main line until the beginning of the next year, 2004’s summer/fall exclusive packs were all given the C3 treatment, a first for the Marvel line.  He’s got add-ons for his head piece and fists, which, like the prior release, help to bulk him up just a touch, while still keeping him more true to the core body than later versions.  While the head piece remains the same as the prior release, the hands are actually new, and actually do the reverse posing of the prior release: right is gripping, left is closed.  It’s a small touch, but still a cool one.  The paint work is a fair bit changed up for this release, adding the necessary details for his uniform, as well as some actual musculature for his torso, which works very well.  Additionally, his facial expression is changed to a close mouthed one, which really appeals to me and my desire to have more close mouthed Thing figures.  The face is seated slightly better on the face this time as well, so it works even better with the head piece this time.  Thing included a small cigar accessory originally, but mine hasn’t had one as long as it’s been in my possession.

SUPER SKRULL

Facing off against this new version of the Thing was an old FF foe whose whole gimmick is mimicking all four team members’ powers.  Maybe not the best choice when you still haven’t put out the whole team, but hey, new is new.  Like Ben, Kl’rt uses the new and improved C3-footed body.  He also gets new add-ons for his cowl, shoulder pads, flame effect, and extended rocky fist.  All of these pieces were re-used as the line progressed, and they’re all pretty solid additions.  They go more for the basic detailing of the earlier offerings, of course, but there’s plenty of sculpted detailing on that rocky fist, matching closely to what we saw on Thing’s hands.  It’s definitely cool.  Super Skrull’s paint work does a solid job of merging the typical Skrull with the effects of the FF’s powers.  He’s got the appropriate flamed-on effect for the right hand and forearm, and transparent lower legs.  It’s a good look, and it’s a lot of fun.  Super Skrull didn’t get any accessories, but given the number of new parts included, that’s hardly the end of the world.  I suppose some standard Skrull parts might have been cool, but that extensive level of alt parts wasn’t really a thing yet at this point.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Though these two are a two pack, I got the respective ‘mates about 8 years apart from each other, and neither one of them was new.  I fished Thing out of a small loose figure bin at a teeny tiny comic con I was attending back in 2011, and only had him for the longest time.  When All Time got in their huge Minimates collection last fall, Super Skrull was in there with no accompanying Thing, and so it just kind of felt meant to be.  Though the set’s doubling down on Ben seems like a bad move on the outside, he’s actually a really fun ‘mate, and remains my personal favorite version of the character in the line.  Super Skrull is likewise a really fun ‘mate, and he was new and different at the time.  Honestly, this is one of the coolest sets from ’04, and is a real pick-me-up after suffering through Series 7.