Tag Archives: Mattel

#0251: Kyle Rayner

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

KYLE RAYNER

GREEN LANTERN CLASSICS

KyleRayner

To the outside observer, the identity of Green Lantern can be a bit confusing. To date, there have been six humans to bear the name, not to mention the countless aliens that use the name throughout the universe! Which one of them you think of when you hear the name largely depends on when you were introduced to DC. Many DC fans learned about the character through Challenge of the Superfriends, which featured Hal Jordan (my personal favorite). People who were fans of Justice League consider John Stewart to be the definitive GL (with good reason). And people who got pulled into comics in the 90s, well they tend to be fans of a guy called Kyle Rayner. That’s the guy I’ll be taking a look at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kyle was released as part of the first series of Green Lantern Classics, which was a subset of DC Universe Classics intended to tie in with 2011’s Green Lantern. The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and features 23 points of articulation. He’s based on Kyle’s post-Sinestro Corps War costume, which was the one he was wearing at the time of this figure’s release (I believe he’s still wearing it, though I don’t know for sure. I haven’t read a Green Lantern comicbook in almost two years.) Personally, I think it’s his best costume, so I don’t mind it’s inclusion here, but I can understand why some people were bummed we didn’t get Kyle’s main look from the 90s. Like DC Universe Classics, Green Lantern Classics was built on the buck system. Kyle makes use of the standard medium build body with a new head and a right hand borrowed from DCUC’s John Stewart. The head is a very nice piece, perhaps one of the finest head sculpts in the line. It very nicely captures Kyle’s look. The figure relies on paint to handle most of the costume’s details. The paint does pretty well, although there are a few fuzzy lines here and there, and a noticeable line of black plastic between the greens on the lower torso and the waist. All in all, it looks pretty good, though. Kyle includes a sword construct and a piece of the series’ C-N-C Arkillo. The construct is very impressive, and snaps easily over Kyle’s hand. It’s a great sculpt, and it’s nice to see include a fun accessory for a change.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a Green Lantern fan, I’m sure it’s no real surprise that I ended up with this figure. Even so, this is actually one of two figures from the first series of GLC I actually kept. This was another series where my brother and I split buying a series so that one of us could get the C-N-C. He wanted Arkillo, so I helped him finish the set. Not that it took too much pressuring to get me to buy Kyle. Even amongst all the versions of Hal Jordan offered, Kyle may well be my favorite DCUC-styled Green Lantern (although John does give him a run for his money). It’s a great figure, and I’m definitely glad I got one!

#0248: Nekron

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

NEKRON

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

Nekron

It’s not an uncommon thing to see Death personified as an actual character in a work of fiction. It’s actually really common to see such a character appear in comicbooks. DC Comics actually has five separate versions of death, for various different groups of people. Today, I’ll be looking at Nekron, who is sort of the Green Lantern version of death I suppose. Sadly, he’s not the version of death that rides around on cosmic skis. Lower your standards on this one, guys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nekron was the Collect-N-Connect figure for series 20 of DC Universe Classics, which was themed around Brightest Day, a storyline kicked off by Blackest Night, which featured Nekron as the main antagonist. The figure is about 9 inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. He’s based on Nekron’s look during Blackest Night, which is slightly different from his original appearance. The figure features a completely unique sculpt, courtesy of the Four Horsemen. It’s pretty good, with lots of nice tattered and decaying textures. It does a decent job of conveying the corpse that Nekron is meant to be. The paintwork is actually quite nice. There’s no issues with slop or bleed-over, and he has some nice weathering to make him look like he’s been buried in the ground for a while. The figure features no accessories. Normally this isn’t an issue with a C-N-C, given that they’re packed with other figures in a series, but Nekron was initially shown with a scythe accessory that was dropped right before the series was released. It’s kind of important to the character, so the absence is kind of glaring.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Nekron along with the rest of Series 20 from online retailer Big Bad Toy Store. My brother and I decided we wanted to split the figures in the series, and since he had no real attachment to Nekron, I got to have him. I gotta be honest, Nekron’s not one of my favorite characters either, but he’s a Green Lantern villain and I do have a rather impressive Green Lantern shelf…

#0209: Stargirl

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

STARGIRL

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

Stargirl

If you liked yesterday’s Aquaman review, you’ll be happy to know I’ll be taking a look at yet another DC Universe Classics figure today. This time around, it’s Stargirl, who is most commonly known for her association with the Justice Society of America. She’s one of DC’s better characters in recent years, and if you’d like to know more, you can check out her entry in the Backstories section, here.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Stargirl was released in the 19th series of DC Universe Classics. The series was themed around the Justice Society, so her inclusion makes sense. Stargirl stands about 6 inches tall and features 25 points of articulation. Astoundingly for DCUC, Star Girl is almost an entirely unique sculpt. Only her forearms and boots are re-use, hailing from the 90s Supergirl from Mattel’s earlier line DC Super Heroes. The body sculpt is pretty decently done. She’s well-proportioned all around, and looks appropriate to the character. Sadly, the head doesn’t fair as well. They tried to give her a grinning expression, and she ends up looking a bit like the Joker. I’ll give them credit for trying something different, but it just didn’t work out. The paint work is all very clean, and I really like the metallic blue they used, but the head is once again hit the hardest. The paint on the teeth makes the sculpt look even worse, which is really sad. Stargirl includes her cosmic staff and a piece of series 19’s C-n-C, STRIPE. The staff is a nice piece, though it’s been molded in clear yellow for some reason, and she has a little bit of trouble holding it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Stargirl was picked up for me by my Dad. He found her in the store and knew I’d been looking for one, so he bought it for me. I know I kinda ragged on her, but I honestly don’t think Stargirl’s that bad a figure. Sure, the head sculpt leaves a bit to be desired, but I’ve seen worse and the rest of the figure is handled very well. Plus, it’s a character I like, so I’m just glad she got a figure at all.

#0208: Aquaman – Camouflage

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

AQUAMAN – CAMOUFLAGE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

Aquaman(Camo)

Aquaman tends to get a bad rap. People are very quick to label him as “lame” or “stupid.” Now, I’m not one to tell people they aren’t true fans, or say my opinion is law or anything, but I feel like people that write the character off like that aren’t really looking at the character too closely. I mean, the guy lives at the bottom of the ocean. Dude’s gotta be super-jacked! Certainly not the kind of guy I’d want to make fun of.

That being said, in the 80s, Aquaman got a mini-series where he was given a new costume to replace his classic orange and green look. It was water camouflage.  It was lame. It was stupid. And, it was one of the versions of the character released in Mattel’s DC Universe Classics. “Ethan, if you think the costume is lame and stupid, why do you have an action figure of it?” Because shut up, that’s why!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Aquaman was released in the 7th series of DC Universe Classics. He is in the aforementioned “Aqua-Camo.” The figure is about 6 ½ inches tall and features 25 points of articulation. He’s built on slightly larger male buck, which fits the king of the seas, I suppose. His head is reused from DCUC’s previous Aquaman figure. Yes, he was a total re-use figure. At least the reused parts are good pieces. The head sculpt is definitely one of the line’s stronger pieces. It has just the right amount of nobility and heroism that should be present in the king of Atlantis. One thing I did notice is that he has a slight mutilation on his face that results in some lines that shouldn’t be there. I actually like the look, as it kind of look like some cool scarring, but I imagine not everyone would be so thrilled. The paint work is pretty good. They’ve replicated the design of the suit very well, and it does really pop, which is always nice. It has a few fuzzy lines here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary for a DCUC figure.  Aquaman includes a trident and a piece of the series’ C-n-C, Atom Smasher. This is my first Aquaman I’ve reviewed on the site, so I’m gonna address this here: what is up with the tridents? Aquaman pretty much never carries a trident, and yet every single Aquaman figure’s got his friggin’ trusty trident!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I purchased this figure for two reasons: I wanted to finish Atom Smasher, and the basic Aquaman was hard to find. Seriously, I’ve never actually seen the regular Aquaman in person. The series he was in was pretty much impossible to find. So, I had to settle for true blue here. He’s actually not a bad figure, even if I’m not the biggest fan of the costume. He also adds a nice splash (heh!) of blue to the JLA shelf.

#0205: Hal Jordan, Sinestro, & Abin Sur

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

HAL JORDAN, SINESTRO & ABIN SUR

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED

IMG_1737

It’s no secret that I’m a pretty big Green Lantern fan. Due to this, I own a metric ton of Green Lantern crap. Good or bad, I own it. There is, however, one Green Lantern item that I will never, ever, own. That is the Hal Jordan Green Lantern figure based on the character’s brief cameo in the Justice League Unlimited episode “Once and Future Thing.” Mattel decided to give this figure out as a gift to a number of Warner Brothers executives one year. I believe the number of figures in existence is in the low three-figures. Unsurprisingly, the figure rarely shows up on the aftermarket, and when one does, they go for prices far beyond what someone like me can reasonably pay.

So, I was bummed. I mean, Hal Jordan was one of my favorite characters of all time, and I would be unable to own him in the primary DC scale of the time. What a bummer! Then came the set I am reviewing today, offering me another chance at the character. No, it’s not the same, but it’s something, so I’ll take it.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hal Jordan, Abin Sur, and Sinestro were released as part of a San Diego Comic Con exclusive three pack, meant to sort-of promote Justice League: New Frontier. Hal and Abin are based loosely on their appearances there, and Sinestro is based on his GL look in the comics. All three feature swappable heads, to allow Hal to be displayed in either of his GL uniforms. It’s debatable as to whether it works or not.

HAL JORDAN

Hal is presented here in his Ferris Aircraft-issued test pilot gear. He stands just shy of 5 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation. He features a brand new head and legs, along with the basic medium build torso and arms and a coat add-on previously used on Mr. Terrific. The head looks pretty accurate to what Hal looks like in New Frontier, so that works. The re-use all works appropriately as well. The paint work is okay, though there are some fuzzy lines in a few spots.  Hal has no accessories, unless you want to count Abin and Sinestro…

ABIN SUR

Abin Sur is presented here in the GL uniform he wore in his original appearance. This was a bit of a contentious point amongst fans, because it’s not the design he sported in his appearance in the Animated universe. It was done to facilitate the Hal Jordan thing, but I guess I can see the annoyance. Abin is built on the medium build body with a brand new head. The head is a bit big for the body, but overall it looks nice, and the medium body was the best of the bucks Mattel used for this line. The paint is serviceable, though it also still has a few fuzzy lines.

SINESTRO

Sinestro is shown here in his GL uniform, which he never actually sported in any of the animated material, but they wanted to do the interchangeable heads thing, so there it is. Sinestro is a complete re-use. He’s built on the same medium body as Abin, and shares a head with the previous Sinestro figure. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The paint is nice and clean, cleaner than the other two, in fact, which is something I suppose.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this set up off of Matty Collector following SDCC. It was mostly painless. It’s not the same as the super rare Hal, but this set isn’t too bad. It provides a perfectly fine version of Hal, and Abin and Sinestro are pretty cool too. It’s not a thrilling set, but it is cool for someone who’s a fan of Green Lantern, which is a bill I fit. Yay.

#0189: The Demon, Etrigan

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

THE DEMON, ETRIGAN

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

Ah, yes, DC Universe Classics. A line I loved and hated. I love most of the figures, but I grew to hate Mattel, the producers of the line, more and more as every series went by. This figure goes back to the happier times, way back in Series 1, before things went to crap.

The character in question is The Demon, Etrigan, a character created by Jack Kirby in 1972. He was originally Sir Jason Blood, a knight in King Arthur’s court, who was bound with the demon by Merlin. Jason became immortal, and had the ability to summon the Demon’s form by reciting “Gone, gone the form of man. Rise the demon, Etrigan!” The character had prominent appearances in Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League, if you want to check those out.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Etrigan was released in the first series of DC Universe Classics. I always have found this to be an interesting choice, given the character’s relative obscurity, but I suppose Mattel wanted to show they intended to go pretty obscure with the line. He has 23 points of articulation is is just shy of 7 inches tall. DCUC was usually heavily dependent on the Buck System, but Etrigan actually had an almost entirely unique sculpt. The only thing I believe was ever reused is the upper torso piece, which I believe was later see on some of the Collect-N-Connect figures such as Atom Smasher. Etrigan’s sculpt is a truly impressive piece of work by Mattel’s oft-used sculpting team The Four Horsemen. The skin has some wonderful texture work, and the sleeves and cape are nicely tattered. Etrigan’s lower arms and hands are a bit rubbery, but nowhere near as bad as some later entries in the line. The paint work on Etrigan looks great. All the basic paintwork is clean, no slop or bleed over. He also features several washes, which really help to bring out the details of the sculpt. Etrigan’s only accessory is the left arm of Metamorpho, the C-N-C of series 1. Etrigan doesn’t really have anything that would work as an accessory, and he’s a bit bigger than the typical figure, so it’s understandable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had initially not planned on purchasing Etrigan, or really getting into DCUC at all. The line-up was mostly figures I already had in some form or another, and most of Mattel’s previous DC work had been lackluster at best. DC Direct seemed to be killing it with their more expansive offering of DC figures. But then, Mattel announced the next two series of figures. Specifically, they announced Series 3’s Green Lantern, which quickly caught my attention. So, I gave the first series a second look, and found that several of them were actually quite good. I found Etrigan and two of his compatriots at my local Target and picked them up, effectively creating a monster. Yay.

#0175: Keith & Black Lion (Plus Voltron!)

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

KEITH & BLACK LION

VOLTRON CLASSICS We’re nearing the end of Voltron Week, with Part 5! Today’s review is a look at the final Lion and its pilot Keith from Mattel’s Voltron Classics. Keith is the team’s leader and the Black Lion is the most important of the set, connecting the other four to form Voltron.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Keith and the Black Lion were the final release in the line. They went up for sale on Matty Collector in October of 2012. Keith stands about 3 ¾ inches tall and features the same 18 points of articulation as everyone else in the line. Keith shares a body with Lance. It’s not a perfect sculpt, but it works fine, and Lance and Keith should have similar builds, so it’s a sensible reuse. The head is a new piece and looks pretty spot on to the character’s look on the show. Paint-wise, Keith makes out the best of the pilots, with really clean lines and details, and by far the best detailing on the head. Like Allura, he uses a molded skin tone instead of a painted one, but unlike Allura, he isn’t plagued by messy paint. Keith includes an alternate helmeted head, the final piece of the “Blazing Sword” and a key stand.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Black Lion is the central Lion, and is definitely the biggest of the five. This isn’t quite accurate to the show, where the Lions were more or less the same size, but things were understandably fudged so that the final Voltron construction looked good. The Black Lion is about 7 inches tall, and features 29ish points of articulation. Like the rest of the Lions, this articulation is mostly limited by the various spring loaded features, though the back legs, tail, neck and wing thingies are all unfettered by the features. The sculpt isn’t terrible, but the proportions are noticeably off, obviously done to optimize the design of the fully assembled Voltron. Everything is sharp and symmetrical. The Black Lion features the most detailed paintwork of any of the Lions, which does bring him up a peg. All of the paint is cleanly applied with no bleed over or slop. The Black Lion included a fully assembled Voltron sword and shield, fully completing the five lions’ transformation into:

VOLTRON, DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE!

Voltron

Please do excuse the out of the ordinary background for Voltron. He’s too large for me to photograph in my usual set up, so here he is standing in my family room. Voltron stands 24 inches tall and features 25 points of articulation while in Voltron-mode. Voltron is of course made up of the five Lions, so most of the things said in those reviews apply here. He does have a sculpted face, which appears when the emblem on the Black Lion’s torso is pressed, popping the Lion’s jaw open. The face looks pretty spot on to what the character looked like on the show, and it’s painted with some nice detail work. Overall, Voltron was very definitely worth the wait to get all the Lions, and his size alone makes him quite the standout piece.

VoltronAccessories

 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the rest of the figures from Voltron Classics, I had to pick up Keith and the Black Lion from Matty Collector on the day of release. It was quite the hectic day, as there were a number of other items I was attempting to get at the same time. I wound up being successful, only hitting a small handful of waiting screens, and completing my order in less than 10 minutes. Upon arrival, I noticed Keith’s extra helmeted head had been quite mangled in the package. I contacted customer service to get a replacement, but they seemed very reluctant to send out a new piece, and ultimately wanted me to ship Keith and the Lion back, and then they would send me another one once mine arrived. I wasn’t really keen on sending it back, so I ended up doing a bit of work to get the head into a less mangled state.

#0174: Princess Allura & Blue Lion

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

PRINCESS ALLURA & BLUE LION

VOLTRON CLASSICS

Voltron Week continues with Part 4!

Today, I look at the fourth of the 5 lions that make up Voltron. Once again, this is a figure from Mattel’s Voltron Classics. This time around, the pilot is the group’s token female, Princess Allura, pilot of the Blue Lion!

THE FIGURE ITSELF


Allura was the fourth release in the Voltron Classics line. The set containing her and the Blue Lion went up for sale over at Matty Collector in August of 2012. Allura is about 3 ¾ inches tall and has the same 18 points of articulation as all the other pilots in the line. Similarly to Pidge, Allura shows some improved articulation in the hips, as well as better movement in the knees, making her the best sitting of the pilots. Yay her. Allura’s sculpt is right in line with the rest of the figures, so it’s not bad, though she does have the same issue as Lance regarding the odd shape of her upper arms. The paint work on the figure is a bit of a mixed bag. She features some improved detail work compared to the others, and I do like the change to molded flesh tones in place of painted ones, but the paint on her hairline is pretty bad, with some pretty noticeable slop. It’s not as apparent in hand as it is in the photos, but it’s still there, and it’s pretty annoying to see this level of slop on a so-called “collector line.” Allura included an alternate helmeted head, a piece of the “Blazing Sword” and a key stand.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Blue Lion is another “Foot Lion” like the Yellow Lion. As such, it’s bigger than the Green and Red lions, standing about 5 ½ inches tall and being roughly 10 inches long. It has 19 points of “articulation” that is mostly limited by the various spring loaded features. For a breakdown on said features, check out my review of the Yellow Lion, as they do the exact same thing. The Blue Lion shares most of its pieces with Yellow, but it does have a unique head and hatch cover, illustrating the Blue Lion’s more angular design. The Blue Lion has the best paint application we’ve seen so far on the lions, with more additional details, and pretty much no slop or bleed over. Maybe it’s just the color scheme, but the Blue Lion seems to be a sharper piece overall than the others.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned previously that I missed out on the subscription Mattel offered for the line, which meant I had to be on at noon for each release to guarantee I didn’t miss anyone. For some reason, Mattel decided to put the Blue Lion up for sale 15 minutes early, leading to some serious server issues and some overall widespread panic. I was able to place my order, but the site timed out on the very last page, leaving me uncertain as to whether the order had actually gone through. After about 20 semi-panic-filled minutes, I finally got my confirmation e-mail and all was well. I’m glad it worked out, because the Blue Lion ended up being my favorite Lion in the set!

#0173: Pidge & Green Lion

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

PIDGE & GREEN LION

VOLTRON CLASSICS

Voltron Week is going strong with Part 3!

So far, I’ve looked at the Red and Yellow Lions and their pilots Lance and Hunk from Mattel’s Voltron Classics. I’m moving from the team’s largest member, Hunk, to the team’s smallest member and pilot of the Green Lion, Pidge. Let’s check this set out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pidge was released third in the Voltron Classics line. He and the Green Lion went up for sale on Matty Collector in June of 2012. Pidge is just shy of 3 inches tall and has 18 points of articulation. The articulation is mostly the same as that found on the other two pilots, buy Pidge does have a much better range of motion on his hips, meaning he can sit in the cockpit of his Lion a lot better than the other two. Pidge’s sculpt is in pretty much the same vein as the other pilots, just smaller this time around. His head is quite large, which is accurate to the cartoon. They even managed to nail his goofy looking hair! The paint is pretty much on par with Lance; no real slop or bleed over, but nothing spectacular. Pidge includes an alternate helmeted head, a piece of the “Blazing Sword” and a key stand.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Green Lion is another “arm lion” like the Red Lion. This being the case, the two are fairly similar in design. The Green Lion has 21 points of articulation, once again hampered by the spring-loaded features, stands about 5 inches in height and is about 9 inches long. The Green Lion has a lot of common design elements with the Red Lion, but only the legs and tail are shared between the two. Green has a brand new set of pieces to reflect the Green Lion’s more rounded design. The paint work on the Green Lion is the best we’ve seen so far, with lots of clean line work and some pretty decent details. I’m still not a fan of the stickers in the cockpit, but at this point, at least it’s consistent.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Having missed out on the subscription for Voltron Classics, I had to be online on the day of release for each of these sets. Pidge wasn’t too difficult to acquire, but there was a significant wait time involved. Thanks Mattel!

#0172: Hunk & Yellow Lion

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

HUNK & YELLOW LION

VOLTRON CLASSICS

Voltron Week continues with Part 2!

Yesterday, I looked at the Red Lion and its pilot Lance, the first release in Mattel’s Voltron Classics line. Today, I’m moving on to team Lion Force’s resident loveable muscle: Hunk. Hunk came packed with the Yellow Lion, which he piloted. Let’s see how that turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Hunk was the second release of the line, packed with the Yellow Lion. They were put up for sale on Matty Collector in April of 2012. Hunk stands about 3 ¾ inches tall and features 18 points of articulation. His articulation is pretty much identical to that found on Lance. The knees are even more restricted here, and the hips also meet a bit of resistance, but overall, it works okay. Hunk’s sculpt is similar to that of Lance, but ultimately a bit better. Hunk’s more unique features make for a better constructed figure over all, and he doesn’t have the oddly proportioned upper arms present on Lance. Unfortunately, Hunk’s paint work isn’t quite as good as Lance’s, with some more noticeable slop, particularly around the headband and hair. Hunk includes a helmeted head, a piece of the “Blazing Sword” and a key stand.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

The Yellow Lion is bigger than the previously reviewed Red Lion. It stands about 5 ½ to 6 inches tall and is about 10 inches long. It has 19 points of “articulation,” though, like the Red Lion, most of this is restricted by spring features and the like. The nature of the springs in the articulation does allow you to get a few more poses out of this one than the Red one, but nothing really substantial. The sculpt is fairly basic, with relatively little in the way of fine details, but this is in keeping with the design of the show. The paint is alright, I suppose. There are a few fuzzy lines, and I’m still not happy about the choice to use stickers in the cockpits, but it could be worse. The lion has the same two action features as the Red Lion, plus a button to allow the robot to be disconnected once it’s been attached to Voltron, an extra neck joint so the lion’s head can be used as a foot, and a piece that swings down to make the foot more stable. The old stuff is still rather pointless here, but the additional features do all adds something of value, which is appreciated.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Lance and the Red Lion, I had to get on Mattel’s site at noon the day this set was released in order to insure I got them. Hunk wasn’t too difficult to get, but I did have to go through more wait screens this time around, and he sold out faster than Lance. Thus began the uphill climb on acquiring the figures.