Tag Archives: Mattel

#4094: Combat Ready Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

COMBAT READY ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Back in May, two weeks before the Masters of the Universe movie hit theaters, I looked at the Mekaneck figure from its tie-in line and joked about how the film was already being labeled a “bomb” despite, you know, not being out yet.  Well, came out and…I mean, yeah, it didn’t do great at the box office. It does sort of feel like it’s one of those “repeat it enough times and it becomes the truth” sort of deals, if I’m honest, where the discussion of it “bombing” well in advance of its actual release did sort of drive some people away, but what do I know.  Well, I know that despite it’s box office performance, they’ve already greenlit a sequel.  I also know that I saw the movie in the theatre and immensely enjoyed it, having pretty much no notes.  I have no notes about a movie with Jared Leto in it.  That’s astounding.  I mean, okay, if I had one note, it would be “don’t bring back Jared Leto for the sequel” because I think part of the success is that he could have been replaced by literally anyone, but I’m getting distracted and off topic here.  As I’ve discussed before, my rule when it comes to most MotU collecting is sticking to the same batch of characters.  Obviously, I already got Mekaneck, but one of my other favorites, Roboto, who is voiced in the movie by Kristen Wiig, was also included, so I kinda had to get her

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Combat Ready Roboto is from the second deluxe series of the Masters of the Universe movie tie-in line, which hit right before the film’s release in May.  Given Roboto’s more sizable role in the movie, her early inclusion in the line certainly makes sense.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and she has 18 points of articulation.  Due to the nature of the figure’s action feature, Roboto’s left arm isn’t *really* articulated, so I’m not counting any of it’s “movement” in that number.  Roboto is scaled in such a way that she’s notably taller than the main figures, but not quite as much taller as she should be.  It’s not uncommon in these sorts of lines, and for the style, I think it works well enough, but she should technically be at least another inch or so taller for accurate scaling.  What articulation is present is all pretty solid, and an improvement on even the already pretty great standard set-up that Mekaneck got.  The ankle joints in particular prove quite useful in keeping the figure balanced.  The sculpt does a respectable job of recreating Roboto’s movie design.  Roboto’s been prone to some adjustments of design over the years, and the film takes that a bit further, with a more modernized approach to the look, which essentially rebuilds her from the ground up.  That said, there’s enough common design elements to tie her back into the vintage look, meaning she still looks like conceivably the same character.  In terms of actual sculpt quality, some of the technical details are perhaps a bit soft, but she’s generally solid for the scale and style.  As noted above, the left arm, which is in cannon mode, is tied into the “Combat Ready” action feature.  Twisting her waist raises the arm upward at the shoulder, and opens up the cannon…a little bit.  It’s honestly not a terribly impressive feature, and it gets kind of easily lost in all the other details.  It’s also a shame that you can’t move the shoulder at all independent of the feature, and there’s no way to lock the feature in place, so she’ll always just have her arm down by her side when idly posed.  Roboto’s color work is generally basic, but covers all of the necessary details, with no real omissions.  I guess there could be some more accenting or smaller detailing, but all the important stuff is there.  The best work is definitely on the head, and I also really like the clear chest plate piece.  

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I almost broke for Roboto when I ordered Mekaneck, but the two weren’t in stock at the same time, so I held off.  But, I had some other stuff I wanted, and needed to pad out an order to get free shipping, so I found myself in a situation where I’d literally be paying more not to get her, and how could I resist at that point?  I actually hadn’t yet seen the movie when I ordered her, but by the time she arrived I had, and I was all the more happy to have snagged her.  While she’s a bit more finicky than Mekaneck, she’s still a lot of fun, and I’m really enjoying Mattel doing the whole actually fun toys bit again.  That’s a neat change of pace.  And now I wait to see if they do a movie figure of a certain mid-credits appearing character I’d quite like to own.

#4085: Huntress, Galatea, & Superman

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

HUNTRESS, GALATEA, & SUPERMAN

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

Today, I’m jumping back to Justice League Unlimited, a line I haven’t talked about in quite some time.  Okay, it was just back in 2024, which isn’t crazy long ago, but there was a stretch in 2023, where it made up a good bulk of my prep reviews for my daughter’s impending arrival.  I did, like, 13 reviews in that stretch, which is a lot.  And then only three since.  Admittedly, I blew through a lot of my backlog.  Anyway, today I’m looking at a whole three of them at once, with Huntress, Galatea, and Superman!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Huntress, Galatea, and Superman were released as a three-pack in the second wave of Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited line post-move to the larger DC Universe branding in 2008.  The set is based on the Cadmus arc that wrapped up the show’s second season, most specifically “Panic in the Sky” which is the episode that actually features all three, though their interaction was minimal.

HUNTRESS

Huntress goes from bit player to major focus in the show’s second season.  This was actually the fourth release of this figure, following two prior three-pack offerings and a single.  She was still kind of rare at this point, so it was certainly appropriate.  Huntress actually has two looks in the show; this figure goes for the second, which is the one that she got once she was actually in focus, so it makes sense.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  The articulation’s really more an experiment in theory than anything proper, since the neck is limited by the hair, the hips are v-cuts, and the arms can’t quite swing past the legs.  She’s using the generic female body, which was never one of the line’s strongest.  She does at least get a new head and cape, and they’re both rather nice.  The head in particular is quite sharply detailed and does a good job of capturing the animation model for the character.  The paint work is actually pretty clean and crisp on this one, which is not always the norm for this line, so it’s a pleasant change-up.  While the three-packs tended not to do accessories, Huntress does at least get a stand, which is good, because the base body has a rough time with standing.

GALATEA

Galatea is this set’s one unique figure, which makes sense, her being pretty specifically tied to the Cadmus thing.  She’s based on her one look, with its Power Girl inspiration.  Like Huntress, she’s using the standard female base body, for better or for worse.  The left leg is extra warped on my copy, which is a bit annoying.  She has a unique head and it’s…well, it’s unique.  And that’s good.  It’s very good that they never used it again, because boy does it not look great.  Admittedly, that might also be somewhat paint.  The eyes are just totally off, which makes her look more than a little bit dopey.  Otherwise, the paint is kind of sparse, leaving out a lot of details from her costume.  She gets the display stand, like Huntress, which is great, because she really can’t stand without it.

SUPERMAN

Superman was another re-pack, and one that had been repacked, like, a lot.  They had moved away from the extra posable variants of the main team by this point, which was actually for the better, because the original sculpts were a bit better.  I reviewed the original figure way back in 2014, and he’s really just the same here.  Yay for consistency?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As noted in her particular spot of the review, Huntress was rather rare during the line’s run, even with her multiple releases.  I think I saw her once, and foolishly passed on her.  I’ve been keeping an eye out since.  When I was visiting Power Comics while down in South Carolina last month, they happened to have this set, so I mixed it in with the stack of Toy Biz Marvel I bought.  Huntress is a really nice figure, and I’m glad I finally have one.  Galatea is, conversely, really bad.  But, I guess she was along for the ride.  Could be worse, I suppose.  And hey, I have another Superman.  Cool.

#4073: Robin

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

ROBIN

DC PREMIER (MATTEL)

At last, nature is healing.  Or, something like that.  See, back at the end of 2019, Mattel, who had held the DC license for 17 years at that point, lost said license.  It was a choice on their own part, rather than DC’s, as they felt they needed to regroup.  Given the state of things, that was honestly pretty fair.  But also, I’m not gonna say Mattel giving up the DC license broke the world, but….can I convey a vague gesture around me in the text here?  Anyway, Mattel’s had pretty decent run of years here (helped by coincidentally scaling back their operations *just* before the pandemic that broke every major manufacturer’s supply chains for over a year), and with the DC license up for renewal again last year, they were able to successfully get it back.  We’re just now starting to get the very first of their new product, a basic 6-inch line of heavy hitters.  As there’s neither a Superman nor a Nightwing at the start, I’ve gone for the next best option: Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin is part of the first “Core” wave of Mattel’s DC Premier line, alongside a Batman, a Joker, and a Flash.  In stark contrast to most recent Robin figures, this one is Dick Grayson, specifically based on Dan Mora’s update to his classic design from the recent World’s Finest book.  It’s a fun design that keeps a lot of the signatures of Dick’s original look, while also working in some of Tim Drake’s design.  Essentially, it’s Dick’s original look, but now he gets to wear pants.  Good for him?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  The pricing on this line puts it more or less in the same range as the recent Masters of the Universe movie line, which was honestly not a bad line, but Robin’s even better, with a really, really good articulation set-up.  There are some slight drawbacks; he lacks any mid-torso movement, and I would love more than just a swivel at the ankles.  But, the good greatly outweighs the bad here.  Robin’s sculpt is all-new, and appears to be shared with the deluxe version with the bike, but is otherwise unique.  It’s clearly inspired by Mora’s art, with a little bit of house styling in place as well.  The head sculpt is definitely the strongest piece; the separate hair is nice and sharp, and the expression feels right for Dick.  Robin’s cape is cloth, and it’s nothing terribly impressive, but neither is it bad looking.  Given Mattel’s earlier attempts at capes, it’s honestly refreshingly simple.  Robin’s coloring relies pretty heavily on molded plastic, but there’s still some paint mixed in.  He’s bright and colorful, as he should be, and the application is all very clean and sharp.  Robin gets quite an impressive array of extras, with two staffs, two pairs of different varieties of throwing weapons, two pairs of handcuffs, a knife, and a weapons rack to store them all on.  Additionally, Robin’s belt has three spots on the back where you can store some of the accessories, actually on the figure.  While I’d maybe like a more proper staff or some batarangs, I do like the variety offered, and the storage for everything is super cool.  You can also link up multiple racks if you have them, for a larger arsenal set-up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was hardly a Mattel fanboy during the latter part of their original run with the DC license, but I liked where they were headed right before giving up the license before, and I’ve been impressed by what I’ve picked up of their post-DC stuff.  While McFarlane certainly has grown on me, I was eager to see where Mattel could take things.  I was looking for a good intro figure, and when the first wave started showing up in stock, I liked the look of the Robin pictures enough to order one.  I’m really impressed.  He’s an incredibly good step forward, and shows Mattel really has changed their approach here.  I don’t know if I’m looking to go all-in here, but I’ll certainly pick up the occasional figure as they hit.

#4058: Mekaneck

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

MEKANECK — HEROIC HUMAN PERISCOPE

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Did you guys hear that the Masters of the Universe movie bombed at the box office?  Isn’t that crazy, what with it not being out in theaters for another two weeks and all?  Feels like actually letting the movie come out in theaters *might* be an essential part of how it does in said theaters, but what do I know; I’m just a guy who writes about toys.  While the last Masters movie was pretty sparse on the colorful denizens of Eternia it included, this one seems to be going more in depth (hardly a surprise, given director Travis Knight’s Bumblebee did a similar thing with the Transformers in its Cybertron sequences), which means that they’ve also included my personal favorite Master, Mekaneck, heroic human periscope!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck is part of the second series of the basic movie tie-in Masters of the Universe line from Mattel, released in preparation for the movie’s drop in June.  He’s a one-per-case release, so he’s a little rarer, but he’s also Mekaneck, so I can kind of get it.  Honestly, I’m surprised he made out as quickly as he did at all.  The figure stands 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 20 points of articulation.  In terms of articulation, the line’s pretty closely following the Origins set-up, which is a solid selection of movement.  Style-wise, it’s a lot like the “core” lines Hasbro was doing for some of their movie tie-ins, like GI Joe or the Marvel movies.  I think Mattel’s implementation here is working a bit better, though.  Mekaneck has a sculpt that, as far as I know, is unique to him.  It’s possible he might share limbs with others, but I haven’t picked up any others from the line, so I can’t say for sure.  I can say it’s a pretty decent sculpt.  It looks pretty accurate to his appearance in the movie, at least based on what we’ve seen thus far, and it’s also a pretty respectable adaptation of Mekaneck’s usual look.  A little more rounded off, and most notably missing the furry shorts on the outside of his pants, but it certainly reads as Mekaneck.  His color work is on the basic side, mostly just getting the broadest of the colors.  This leaves a lot of details, especially on the arms and legs, just totally unpainted.  That said, it’s not a terrible look, as those are sections that can believably be all one color, and it’s well within what’s expected for this scale and style.  What application is there is cleanly handled, with minimal bleedover and no slop to speak of.  Mekaneck is packed with a small blaster pistol, which is rather a departure from his usual club, but let’s go with it, as well as two extended neck segments, which are similar to the Masterverse version in how they work.  I really do like the modular idea on the neck segments, and they add a lot of posing variety.  My only complaint is that I might like to have a few more of them, but the two included still offer a lot of options.

 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Mekaneck was announced as being in the new movie, I was kind of expecting him to be one of those “hey, here’s a crowd of people in one shot and they look vaguely like some guys from the toyline” things, and not really in any sort of focus.  I definitely wasn’t thinking of new toys.  So, I was a bit surprised when this guy just kind of started showing up places.  I had a handful of things I was putting off ordering from Entertainment Earth, so I got myself a nice little shipment of new stuff, and it’s this guy’s fault.  And honestly?  I’m okay with that.  He’s great for the price, and just a resoundingly fun little Mekaneck figure.  I’m a sucker for a resoundingly fun Mekaneck figure.

#3912: Roboto

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

ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

It’s been a year and a half since I’ve talked at all about Masters of the Universe Classics.  There’s….reasons?  I mean, the big one is that the line’s been dead for the better part of a decade, so it’s not like there’s a lot of updates.  Also, I’m only a moderate MOTU fan at best, so it’s not like I’ve even got a huge backlog of them.  And discussion of how the line was run is tricky at best, and I’ll just leave it at that.  But, I do have some parts of the franchise that I enjoy no matter the surrounding situation, and one of the core characters for that is Roboto.  He’s just so neat and nifty and retro, and that’s very fun.  So, let’s look at another one of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Roboto was the October release for Masters of the Universe Classics 2010 run of figures, making him the tenth standard figure of the line’s third year.  By 2010, the line was pretty much in full-swing, and they’d gotten the subscriptions set up, so Roboto was around for a leisurely 2 hours and some change before selling out, which I guess was pretty nice.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  While he loses the mid-torso joint that most figures in the line sported, he does gain an articulated jaw, so it winds up as an even trade.  Roboto’s sculpt was a mix of new and re-used, which was pretty par for the course.  Like his vintage counterpart, he shares his legs with Trap-Jaw (who also shared his legs with Optikk, all three the same year), but his upper half is all-new.  Roboto was very definitely based directly on his vintage counterpart, rather than his 200x version.  At the time, it was the most sensible choice.  There was an alternate head made available later, but that wasn’t present with the initial release.  The sculpt does a pretty respectable job of capturing that vintage look.  The head and torso are very cleanly detailed, and I love the working jaw and turning gears inside the torso.  I also really dig the little heart sculpted around the central gear, in reference to his mini comic appearance.  The arms are fine, but the elbows are notably rather restricted in their motion, which was a recurring issue for the line.  QC was unfortunately a notable issue for this guy.  Thankfully, mine isn’t plagued by the torso cracking, but there was no avoiding the reversed shoulders.  They aren’t the end of the world, but it’s pretty obvious they’re not the way they’re supposed to be.  The color work was actually pretty nice for this guy; he’s really bright and bold, so it makes him very eye-catching.  He’s also got a wash on the silver sections, to help bring out the sculpted details a little better.  Roboto was packed with his classic claw, axe, and blaster attachments, as well as a standard hand.  The weapons are a bit soft and prone to warping, but generally they look okay, and the standard hand is a nice addition.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had only *just* picked up my first MOTUC figure when Roboto dropped, and I wasn’t up on keeping current, so I missed his day-of.  I contemplated getting him a number of times early in the run, but he was always just a little over what I wanted to pay, and then I ended up sort of falling out of it all.  I’ve been keeping an eye out for a bit, though, since he was the only of my regular line-up of characters I didn’t have for Classics.  While on family vacation, Matty wanted to go to the toy store, and they just so happened to have one of this guy for for a price I was willing to pay, so, huzzah, I have one!  Admittedly, in light of the Origins and Masterverse figures, he feels kind of quaint and a little outmatched, but I’m glad to have him nevertheless, and I’ll never complain abut more Roboto figures.

#3876: Orko

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

ORKO — HEROIC COURT MAGICIAN!

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE ORIGINS (MATTEL)

I am veritably swimming in Masters of the Universe reviews these days, aren’t I?  Okay, maybe not, but two of them in one month is something of a crazy step up compared to more recent set-ups.  I’m continuing to stick to my guns on only following specific characters, but Mattel keeps getting my by doing additional variants of said characters.  It’s like the *know*.  Or, you know, they’re trying to keep the line fresh.  The last couple of years, Mattel’s been revisiting a lot of the Origins figures to do more specifically Filmation-inspired takes, and the latest of those includes one of my go-to guys, Orko!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko is part of the 25th series of Masters of the Universe Origins, which is a completely Cartoon Collection-branded assortment (simply “Cartoon” since they can’t actually use “Filmation” on the packaging).  The figure is about 3 inches tall (without his flight stand) and he has 14 points of articulation.  As with all Orkos, he’s without any legs, so he doesn’t get any articulation on that front, but he’s got a decent selection of movement in the arms, and even gets an extra point of movement from the last Origins Orko, thanks to his hat being on a balljoint, so you can move it back and forth.  His sculpt is an entirely new one from the last figure.  While there was certainly a cartoon inspiration on the last one, he was also serving two masters in a sense, also replicating the vintage figure.  One of the biggest areas was actually how big he was; he was about an inch too tall for proper scaling with the other figures.  This one addresses that, so he’ll fit in better with the others.  Otherwise, his sculpt isn’t *drastically* different from the last one.  It’s more of a death by paper cuts sort of thing where the small changes all add up to a different looking figure.  In terms of color work, the two figures remain fairly consistent, however.  The one notable change is, at least on my copy, that this guy’s application is a lot cleaner.   Orko gets a pretty nice selection of extras, with a flight stand, his “Hero” medal from “Creatures From the Tar Swamp”, and an extra head and scarf so that Orko can be turned into his Uncle Mortok.  Apart from the beard not totally covering Orko’s “O”, it’s a very cool set-up, and I like getting an extra character out of it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I bought my Classics Orko, I really thought that was gonna be it.  The Origins one was cool, but I didn’t need it….until I saw it in hand and I caved, because I’m an easy mark.  I didn’t think I’d need *another* one, though, especially since he was more directly cartoon based than other Origins figures.  But, by the time this one was announced, I knew it wasn’t a battle I was going to win, so I’ve actually been rather looking forward to his release.  I think he’s really cool, and does a lot more than the last one, which makes him feel really worth 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 and their eBay storefront.

#3780: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

It’s time for more of the review subject gift that keeps on giving, DC Universe Classics.  I’m taking a break from this month’s general theme with DCUC of Hal Jordans and Green Lanterns, because why not.  Also, because it’s Superman, and I realized all this time in I hadn’t reviewed the basic DCUC Superman, which seems like something of an oversight.  So, let’s fix that particular oversight and get him done now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

There was a strange path of release to this particular figure, and I’m gonna break that down here.  Since DC Universe Classics spun out of the somewhat similarly designed DC Super Heroes line, Mattel didn’t immediately put out a new classic Superman.  The first Supes was in Series 2, and it was Superman Blue, with a Superman Red variant.  Eradicator got released in the exceptionally hard to get Walmart-exclusive Series 5, and had some more classic Supes vibes, but his classic Supes head had red eyes.  Series 6 was set to have regeneration suit Superman as the standard and classic suit with the long hair as the variant, but those got swapped before release, so we had something slightly approximating a classic Superman.  Then we got a two pack release with the standard costume and the short haired head from Eradicator, but the eyes were still red, so still not classic.  Classic costume with classic hair and classic eyes would finally get its release in the first Walmart Exclusive five-pack in 2009.  That same figure later got a single “World’s Greatest Super Heroes” release and two-pack releases with a repack of the DCSH Parasite and a recolored MOTUC He-Man, all in 2010.  So, finally a standard Superman, and four ways to get him.  I bought mine loose, so I couldn’t tell you which particular release it was, but they’re all effectively the same.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He used a variation of the standard-most male body, with the Eradicator head, and the Superman specific cape, belt, and calves.  Generally, they’re pretty good parts.  The head’s maybe a touch long, and the cape sits a little odd on the shoulders, but that’s really all I’ve got on those fronts.  He certainly reads well as a classic Superman.  The color work is okay.  The paint gets a little sloppy, especially on the yellow/red change-overs.  The logo is a little thin, I feel, and the blue always struck me as the slightest bit too dark.  I believe the WGSH release gave this guy one of the blue oval stands, but otherwise, he was never given any extras that I know of.  Mine’s got nothing, but it’s Superman, so I guess your options are a bit more limited.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wanted this figure, but I didn’t really want a multipack to get him, and I managed to never see the single release at retail.  I ended up finally getting a loose one off eBay, back in 2011 I believe.  I was trying to fill out my JLA roster, and being as close as I was the the Satellite era roster, I really needed this guy.  Ultimately, he’s not a crazy good, defining piece for the character or the line, but it was a solid version of an essential character, filling out the roster of a pretty solid line.

#3775: Hal Jordan vs Thaal Sinestro

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

HAL JORDAN VS THAAL SINESTRO

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Hey, hey, hey, it’s another DC Universe Classics review!  I’m enjoying the weekly rhythm on these, so I’m keeping it going for a bit.  I’m also keeping the Hal Jordan theme going, because why not?  Last week, I brought up how there were no Hals in 2009, but there were three of him in 2010.  Well, he’s another one of the 2010 ones, facing down his arch enemy, Thaal Sinestro, in exclusive two-pack form!  Who doesn’t love that?  Well, a few people, for, admittedly, valid reasons.  But let’s not dwell on that here.  Onto the review!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hal Jordan and Thaal Sinestro were released as a Toys “R” Us-exclusive DC Universe Classics two-pack, which hit towards the later part of 2010.  It was one of six two-packs released in 2010, and one of the two released at TRU.  The pack contains the two figures, accessories for each of them, and a split color yellow and green power battery for them to fight over.

HAL JORDAN

This was Hal’s fifth entry into DCUC, and it was sort of an amalgam of some ideas that had come before.  Structurally, he’s the same as the last two Hals I looked at.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  He’s using the medium base body and the standard Hal head sculpt.  They were good the first few times, and they were still good.  In fact, on my figure at least, he’s got even better plastic quality than the prior two.  The main change-up here is the paint work, which is pretty drastic this time.  This one is a glossy, metallic finish, which I actually really like.  It’s very sleek, and an intriguing contrast to the flatter colors.  He also takes some inspiration directly from his Super Friends appearance, with a slightly adjusted logo (something that not even the officially Super Friends based figure got right), and visible pupils.  The eyes got him labeled as “creepy eyes Hal” by a lot of the fanbase, but I’ve never been quite as bugged by them myself.  While prior Hals were without any constructs, this one gave him a few options: a gun attachment (from John Stewart), buzzsaw (from Gold), and a mace (from Iron).  It’s crazy that they went into the John Stewart molds for a construct and didn’t give him the giant fist that always felt tailor made for Hal.  It’s even crazier that they *never* gave that attachment to Hal in the whole of the line.  But, at least he got something.

THAAL SINESTRO

What, didn’t you know Sinestro was his last name?  Yeah, he’s actually Thaal.  I *totally* knew that before this pack came out and didn’t totally discover it when the set was announced.  I’m a proper GL fan.  I couldn’t miss a detail like that, right?  Right.  Last week, I discussed the height issues of the original DCUC Sinestro.  The 5-Pack didn’t really come up with a good solution, but this pack aimed for something a little better.  Generally, it succeeds, but there’s certainly some Frankensteining involved.  He starts with the skinnier base body of Deadman, and adds on the forearms, head, collar, and belt of the Series 3 release.  Honestly, it’s not terrible.  His forearms are perhaps a little short, and the neck joint is rather tight, but otherwise, it goes together alright, and is certainly a better end product than his original diminutive showing or the 5-pack version.  Sinestro’s paint work is basic and clean, and generally a good match for the stuff that came before.  Sinestro gets his own assortment of constructs in yellow, including Gold’s pickaxe, Iron’s wrench, and Hawkman’s mace.  The mace is handheld, which is weird, but it’s just one of the three, at least.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I remember this set’s release, and I remember the frustration around it at the time.  It was kind of pricey for an ultimately unneeded repaint of Hal and the Sinestro we should have gotten in the first place.  I, being a college freshman, with not a ton of money, didn’t go out to get one right away.  I did, however, find a loose pair not too long after the fact, while trying to build back up my GL collection.  Honestly, this set’s not a bad one.  It gets a bad rap, but Sinestro’s the best one Mattel offered, and I do like the Hal a lot more than I’d initially expected.  There were certainly worse offerings from the line.

#3773: Orko & Gwildor

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

ORKO & GWILDOR

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Looking back on my reviews, I haven’t just done a straight Masters of the Universe review in a fair bit.  I looked at some of the TMNT crossover figures, but I stuck to the Turtles characters, so, you know, it’s not really there.  It’s been since all the way back in March.  It was at least a Mekaneck, so that’s a good leave-off.  As always, I do tend to gravitate to a specific selection of characters in any given style.  One such character is Orko.  I’ve *technically* already got him in the Masterverse set-up, but the first one was more of an accessory than a figure himself.  But now there’s a new one, and he’s even bringing a Gwildor along for the fun!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Orko and Gwildor were released last year in the Masterverse line-up as an Amazon exclusive, though that information didn’t seem particularly well advertised….which might have contributed to the deep discounting of the set.  The pair are both based on their appearances together in Revolution.

ORKO

Hey, it’s Orko the Unnamed Power-Up!  His lack of subtitle here certainly frustrated his actor Griffin Newman, if his Dad-At-Arms interview is anything to go by (also, I really do recommend that interview if you’ve got the time; it’s quite entertaining and Newman is incredibly insightful about his character).  Maybe he’s Orko the Great?  I like that.  Seems solid.  We already got the weakened Orko from Revelation, which was okay, but not great.  This one’s more put together, in terms of both design and final product.  The figure’s about 3 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  He’s decently posable for an Orko, and I certainly appreciate that he’s at least got elbow movement, something the last one was lacking.  The neck joint is a lot tighter this time as well, so no bobble-head Orko.  The sculpt’s a nice offering.  It’s clean and show accurate, with a good flow to the robes.  The paint work’s a little iffier on this guy.  Some of it’s pretty clean, but his notably got a lot of slop on the gold trim, especially on the hat, where it’s quite uneven.  He does get a nice selection of accessories.  He’s got a pretty sizable stand, with a larger magic effect that surrounds him, as well as a long flowing train for the robe, and two smaller magic effects to go over the hands.  It makes for a nice display, but I do sort of wish there was a smaller option on the stand.  I suppose you could always steal it from the prior one.

GWILDOR

After being sort of a shoddy replacement for Orko in the live action movie, Revolution does a pretty neat and compelling turn at weaving Gwildor into the main lore, and in fact giving him some fun interplay with Orko, making his replacement somewhat of a meta joke.  The figure stands about 4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  Gwildor’s a more conventional figure for the line, just a bit shorter than usual.  The articulation works more or less the same.  Some of them are a little more limited on range, but honestly, he’s not bad considering.  The only real issue for me is the elbows.  The sculpt’s pretty decent.  There’s more going on with it than Orko, with a lot more texturing and layering.  It makes for a contrast.  The sculpt is definitely more of an animated twinge, as expected given the source, but also he should work okay with the movie He-Man too.  His color work is rather on the bright side, again matching the animation.  In general, the application is cleaner than Orko’s, which is a plus.  Gwildor is packed with the Cosmic Key, which is solid, but also does feel maybe a touch light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was all prepped to buy this set, but then they were an exclusive, and it wasn’t initially clear where, and then I didn’t wind up tracking them down after the fact.  It ended up working in my favor, because I was able to catch them on a particularly good discount.  And yes, that makes me part of the problem, and I am sorry about that.  I would not that it came in an exceptionally jacked up box, but the figures inside were fine, and given the price, I can’t really complain much.  Orko was my main reason in getting this set, but I also didn’t mind having a Gwildor, since I’m one of those people that actually kind of likes the live action movie.  Both of them are pretty solid, and I’m glad I finally managed to snag them.

#3770: Green Lantern’s Light

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

HAL JORDAN, GUY GARDNER, JOHN STEWART, SINESTRO, & TOMAR RE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Last week, I did my first dive back in to DC Universe Classics since early last year, because that’s the space I’m deciding to occupy right about now.  I kicked things off by looking at the very first Green Lantern from the line, so I guess I’ll keep that particular theme running.  Green Lantern was at something of a high point for the property while DCUC was running, with the main comic being consistently at the top of DC’s list, plus multiple events building out of it, and, of course, the movie on the horizon.  In 201, there was quite a bit of lead-up to the film tie-ins, which included not just a whole GL-sub-line, but also a fair bit in the main line as well, such as today’s big ol’ boxed set!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Officially titled “Green Lantern’s Light,” this 5-pack was a Walmart-exclusive DC Universe Classics offering, which hit retail in 2010.  It was the second of three such 5-packs offered up by Walmart during the line’s run.  In contrast to the prior year’s set, all of the figures included here were unique in someway, and would remain so going forward (though that doesn’t mean the set didn’t have a lot of re-hash).  In addition to the five figures, the set also included 5 power batteries, this time in a more sensible color than the first release.

HAL JORDAN

“While training in a flight simulator, test pilot Hal Jordan was suddenly transported to the crash site of an alien spacecraft. The injured pilot passed on to Jordan his green ring and uniform. The ring allowed him to make real anything that he could imagine, from flying unaided through space to lifting mountains. With it, Jordan, chosen by the ring itself because of his fearlessness, must fight evil as a member of the Green Lantern Corps.”

After kicking off the GL-theme in 2007 and getting a two-pack release in 2008, there were notably no Hal Jordans to be had in 2009.  It’s okay, because 2010 made up for it by putting out three of them.  Like his standard Series 3 release, this one stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He’s the same exact mold as that one, which was pretty much expected.  It’s a solid starting point, since it’s a pretty nice sculpt in the first place.  In order to mark a little more change, this guy was specifically based on Hal’s post-Crisis appearances, when they gave him the graying temples to signify his status as one of the last hold-outs from the Silver Age.  It actually works pretty well, and differentiates the figure more than you might think.  In addition to the hair change, this Hal gets the same iridescent green for the uniform as the rest of the set, which works a touch better than the flat green used previously.  I also find the paint to be generally cleaner and sharper than on the earlier figure.

GUY GARDNER

“When Abin Sur crash-landed on Earth, his power ring detected two equally suitable replacements: Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner. Jordan got the ring because he was closer to the crash. Later, Guy received a second chance to join the Green Lantern Corps, but he often clashed with Jordan. Still, the Guardians sensed great potential in him. After proving himself, Guy Gardner was promoted to ‘honor lantern,’ one of the highest ranks in the Corps.”

Hey look, it’s Nathan Fillion!  That’s a joke I could have done above, as well, I suppose.  It’s funny that he’s played two different Earth Lanterns, though.  With Man of Tomorrow hitting this year, Guy is set to get some focus, which is good for him, I suppose.  Personally, I never resonated much with guy, and he was always my least favorite Earth Lantern (at least until Baz showed up, but there’s a lot of layers to that one).  I’ve grown to appreciate him more in recent years, though.  Guy represented he heaviest allotment of new tooling in this set, given his more unique design.  He got a new head, forearms, and lower legs, as well as a new overlay piece for his vest.  Generally, it’s an okay set-up.  Certainly different.  The head’s notably very cartoonish, and I was never a huge fan of that.  He’s seems especially out of place with the other Lanterns, even just in this set.  Something just a little more refined might have worked a bit better. The rest of the new parts work out alright, though, and I do like the vest piece. The paint is also a little bit sloppier on this one, especially on his vest.  The white detailing seems to have given them difficulty in particular.

JOHN STEWART

“When Green Lantern Hal Jordan was incapacitated en route to a JLA adventure, Hal’s power ring selected John Stewart to be Hal’s ‘alternate’ peacekeeper of Space Sector 2814. Honest and utterly without fear, John was eventually awarded his own power ring and full-time status as a Green Lantern in his own right. He continues battling evil as a Green Lantern, his dedication earning him full membership in the JLA.”

John Stewart had been added to DCUC the previous year, with a pretty fantastic figure at that.  This one takes that one and sort of tweaks it and it sort of works but it sort of doesn’t.  Since he’s re-using parts from the last John, that places him on a different base body than the other four figures in this set.  He’s still got the same basic articulation set-up, and he’s only fractionally taller, but the upper torso in particular is a bit more bulky.  In general, the initial John sculpt is a very good one, on par with the initial Hal Jordan.  The issue it runs into here is that it’s clearly a modern John Stewart…and his costume isn’t.  The paint attempts to place him in one of his earlier suits, earlier in the Mosaic run…more or less.  It’s a bit of an amalgam of sorts.  It’s not a bad one, mind you, but the hair on the sculpt doesn’t really match, nor do the raised edges on what were originally wrist bands on the first figure, now supposedly gloves.  Overall, it’s not terrible, but he’s certainly off.  The application of the paint is at the very least pretty clean; not quite as sharp as Hal, but a little better than Guy.

SINESTRO

“Sinestro was chosen to patrol space sector 1417 as its Green Lantern, but instead he ruled Korugar with an emerald fist. While he trained fledgling GL Hal Jordan, the Korugarians freed themselves and exposed Sinestro’s abuse of power. The Guardians of the Universe stripped Sinestro of his mantle and power ring, subsequently banishing him to the anti-matter universe of Qward.”

Ooooooooh, every party has a pooper, that’s why we invited Thaal!  In short, this figure is not good and by far the worst in the set.  In long?  Well, the original Series 3 Sinestro wound up too short during production.  Something about his skinny stature just got sort of lost, and they made him just  a little guy.  People weren’t thrilled.  This one, which was originally shown on a skinnier body, overcorrects the problem by moving Sinestro over to the medium base body, which is just too big for him.  He’s still using the original head, though, which was sized for a much smaller body, and therefore looks way too small.  And to top it all off, he doesn’t get his mask, which is somewhat understandable, but also still rather annoying.  I just don’t care for this one.

TOMAR RE

“An ordinary scientist from an obscure planet named Xudar, Tomar-Re never dreamed he would be chosen to serve in the Green Lantern Corps, much less that his name would one day stand for courage and integrity, assigned to protect Space Sector 2813, Tomar-Re distinguished himself so thoroughly in the line of duty that the Guardians of the Universe promoted him to their elite honor guard.”

Ha-ha!  I’ve already reviewed this one, way back in #0422!  All by his lonesome.  Really, I’m just putting him here from the turnarounds, since I wasn’t doing those yet in 2014.  Also, to reassert that even with the other four around, this one’s still my favorite, so there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I never saw this set at retail.  Not a huge shock, since I wasn’t doing much hunting, and I almost never went to Walmart at the time.  I recall being sort of “meh” on most of the set, so I ultimately settled for Tomar on his own, because he was the main one I wanted anyway.  But, the other four landed in front of me just before the end of last year, and I felt compelled to finish the set.  I’m glad I did.  Sure, Sinestro sucks, but I knew that up front.  Guy and John aren’t perfect, but they’re both still decent.  I really do like this version of Hal, though.  In general, I think it’s a set that’s better as a whole than as individual figures.