Tag Archives: Mattel

#3601: S.T.R.I.P.E.

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

STRIPE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0080: The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy are a unique instance of a kid superhero having an adult sidekick, with Pat “Stripesy” Duggan serving as sidekick to both Sylvester Pemberton and Courtney Whitmore during their turns in the role.

When I was a kid, I got my first introduction to the “modern” incarnation of Stars and STRIPE via their guest appearance in Impulse, an issue I got as a free give away at an early Baltimore Comic Con I attended (which was also my introduction to Impulse himself). I had known of their golden age incarnation thanks to reading my dad’s copy of the JLA/JSA team-up featuring the Seven Soldiers of Victory, but I felt kind of like I got in on the ground floor with the new ones. They haven’t been excessively blessed with action figures over the years, especially not as a pair, but they did both at the very least make it into DC Universe Classics. I reviewed the Stars part of the team a while back, so now I’m looking at STRIPE!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

STRIPE was the Collect-N-Connect for the 19th Series of DC Universe Classics. The assortment was JSA-themed, and while Pat was never directly affiliated with the JSA himself, he’s been pretty closely tied to them enough for his inclusion to make sense.  The figure stands 9 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  His movement isn’t terrible for a figure of his build, with the only notable hang-up being that his mid-torso joint is effectively useless.  Beyond that, it’s not bad.  The sculpt, handled by the Four Horsemen, was built from a number of the same parts as the Stel CnC.  The legs are entirely shared, as well as the upper arms and the pelvis.  The rest of it was unique to this figure, and it all meshes together pretty well into one cohesive piece.  Said cohesive piece is interesting, because STRIPE’s design is not actually based on any pre-existing look for the character.  He’d had two notable comics looks and another design for JLU, and while there are certainly elements of all those looks here, it’s still something largely unique.  Certainly some of this comes from the ability to share parts with Stel (who got an upscaling of his own to also be able to share these parts), but there seems to have been a degree of letting the Four Horsemen go wild a bit with it.  While I’d have liked to get something more in line with his original look from the comics, I can’t deny that this is a pretty cool design in its own right, and it still works well for the character.   STRIPE’s paint work is pretty basic looking, but there’s a bit more to it.  He’s entirely painted, and the bulk of him is a pearlescent white, which is very fun.  The accent colors really pop, and he’s even got a light blue wash to help bring out more of the sculpted elements.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I tried to actually build this guy when he was new, but I never succeeded.  I wound up with half of him and just never got more.  I kept hoping I might find the missing pieces, but it didn’t happen.  However, as luck would have it, just as I was giving up on the whole endeavor, a mere decade after starting on him, a complete one got traded into All Time, and, boom, here he is.  Fun times.  He’s nifty.  Still would love a more comics accurate one too, but this one holds up nicely.

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.

#3569: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0048:  I’ve reviewed all of the Mekanecks in my collection, which means at this point, all I have to do is review each new one as I add it!

I’ve touched on it here on the site before, but Mekaneck has been my favorite focus in Masters of the Universe since my earliest days with the franchise.  As such, he’s my top want in any given incarnation of the franchise, and I always get excited to see him crop back up.  Classics was perhaps the longest wait for the character to join a given style, but Masterverse took a little while itself.  But he’s finally here, and I’m checking him out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck was released in Series 11 of Masters of the Universe Masterverse.  He’s under the “New Eternia” banner, alongside Tri-Klops.  As with the others in that sub-brand, he’s taking the classic look and putting a few upgrades into place.  In his most basic mode, the figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation.  The extended neck grants him extra height and movement, of course.  Mekaneck is actually largely new, at least to me, sculpturally.  The old “barbarian” body has been worked out with the Revolution re-launch, and this is an upgraded version.  It’s got harder angles, it’s generally smoother, and the articulation works a touch better.  He’s got an assortment of character-specific parts, which include the head, chest armor, and his left arm bracer.  The head does a nice job of capturing the vintage look, while also giving it just the slightest bit of an updated flair.  The new shaping sits a bit better with the general aesthetic of the line, and it sits much nicer on the head than the Classics version.  The new chest piece is surprising, given that they had already sculpted one for Stinkor, and the two usually share.  I do like the shaping on this one more than the Stinkor version, even if they’re ultimately very similar.  The new bracer piece gives Mekaneck an asymmetrical set-up, mirroring his vintage figure.  It’s got a peg-hole in it, for the purposes of mounting a shield, if you so choose.  Mekaneck’s color work is pretty nicely handled; it leans into metallic shades, which I really dig.  He also gets mirrored lenses for the goggles, fixing one of my biggest issues with the Classics release.  Mekaneck is packed with five segments to his extended neck, his club, two sets of hands, and a shield.  The neck segments can be swapped in and out, allowing both additional posability, and much more modulation to the length of the neck.  Further, the top of the club is now removable, and it’s on the same joint system as the neck, so you can give him an extended club as well.  Or, mount his club in place of his head, I guess.  Dealer’s choice, really.  The hands come in gripping and fists; the back of the box shows a relaxed left hand, but it’s not present in the box.  The shield is a fun piece; the front shows a graphic inspired by the Road Ripper, which Mattel seems to have decided to link to Mekaneck now, if this and the Origins figure are anything to go by.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I can’t help but love a good Mekaneck figure.  The Classics Mekaneck was just okay, never really strong.  But, between Origins and this guy, I feel like I’ve gotten some very good Mekanecks.  Honestly, this figure is everything I wanted the Classics figure to be.  He’s just so immensely fun.

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.

#3557: Big Barda

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

BIG BARDA

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0036: Big Barda is consistently depicted as standing *at least* a head taller then her partner Mr. Miracle, and the “Big” part of her name is in no way meant in jest or irony.  Any depictions to the contrary are, generally speaking, wrong.

When I was a kid, probably around 10 or 11, I got pretty super into Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.  At the time, action figure coverage for any of it was pretty sparse, so I made do with the couple of sets of figures put out by DC Direct in the early ’00s.  Some of my favorites of the Fourth World characters were Mr. Miracle and Big Barda, who were amongst the few figures from DCD, but that didn’t stop me from going back to the well when new versions were available…or at the very least trying to.  DC Universe Classics had a rather nice selection of Kirby’s characters, and they made sure to include Scott and Barda…even if there were some questionable choices made.  But, you know what, it wouldn’t really be DCUC without the questionable choices, right?  They kind of excelled at those.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Big Barda was part of Series 7 of DC Universe Classics, which was the series that built Atom Smasher.  Not that the two had any real ties or anything.  There were two Bardas available, one with her helmet and one without.  DCUC had two methods of handling variants: 50/50 splits and 70/30 splits.  For some reason, they made the two Bardas a 50/50, meaning that half of the figures out there where a look that most people wanting a Barda didn’t want, resulting in it being the one that was everywhere.  Great call, guys.  But, I harped on that in my helmet-less Barda review.  This one’s the good one…more or less.  Barda stands about 6 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  Now, the biggest…well, the most major issue with either DCUC Barda figure is sizing; Barda’s supposed to have quite a stature to her, commonly being depicted as about a head taller than the average male hero.  Here, she’s taller than the other female heroes, but is in fact *shorter* than most of the men in the line.  What’s more, she’s also rather skinny, again in contrast to how Barda’s always been depicted.  Given the line’s precedent for bulking characters up from their usual depictions, it makes her really get lost in the crowd, especially compared to the other New Gods.  What’s especially baffling about all of this, though, is that the most sensible explanation for her downsizing, which is the line’s reliance on shared molds, doesn’t hold up here, since Barda got a brand-new sculpt.  Why not just make that brand-new sculpt a larger one?  You got me.  I’d ask the people in charge, but, well, that’s a whole other thing.  The difference in the sculpt between this figure and the one I’ve already looked at is that, in place of a hair piece, she’s got a helmet.  Of the two looks, the helmet is certainly the preferred, so she’s at least marginally better than the other release.  Barda’s paint work is actually pretty good, so she’s at least got that going for her.  In particular, the accenting on the chainmail sections of the suit is quite nicely rendered.  Barda was packed with her Mega-Rod, as well as one of the arms to the Atom Smasher CnC.  It’s a little light, and it’s a shame she didn’t at least get the hover discs that Scott had gotten a series prior.  At least she got the Mega-Rod?

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I had the unhelmeted version of this when the line was new, as it was the only one I could get my hands on.  I was never happy with that one, so when I got the opportunity to swap out for this one a few months ago, I jumped on it.  It’s still not a great figure, as she’s marred by some very poor choices in terms of production.  Still, she’s a Barda figure, and those always have some form of residual coolness at the very least.

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.

#3552: Starfire

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

STARFIRE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0031: The New Teen Titans’ Tamaranean powerhouse Koriand’r is not DC’s first character, or in fact even the first Teen Titan, to use the name “Starfire.”  The first was actually Leonid Kovar, better known as “Red Star,” and introduced 12 years before Koriand’r.

Like a lot of people of my age group, my first solid intro to the New Teen Titans line-up was through the Teen Titans cartoon.  I of course knew the original team well from the comics, but the cartoon really got me hooked on the likes of Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg.  Because of that, though, I’m more generally invested in the animated versions of the characters, which are a touch different from their comics counterparts.  I’ve grown to appreciate the comics Starfire over the years, though, and I especially liked her portion of 52, which saw her partnered up with Adam Strange and Animal Man for a cross-space-roadtrip.  How about a figure that’s sort of related to that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Starfire was released in 2009, as part of a Matty Collector-exclusive DC Universe Classics two-pack.  She was originally packed alongside Adam Strange, in a pack that was the first of the four exclusive DCUC sets that hit Matty Collector.  The pairing for this set is undoubtedly in reference to their 52 storyline and it’s follow-up Countdown to Adventure, further enforced by Animal Man’s presence in one of the other three Matty Collector sets.  The figure stands just over 6 inches tall and she has 25 points of articulation.  Starfire’s based on the first standard female body for the line, notably used for Katma Tui.  It’s not a bad base on its own, but it’s not really a great match for Kori.  It’s a bit too small and scrawny, and also, it’s clearly sculpted to be wearing a full shirt, rather than the bikini-looking thing that she’s actually wearing.  As a result, she’s got what was affectionately referred to by the fanbase as a “uni-boob”.  She really should have gotten a different torso piece, or they should have perhaps chosen a different costume for the character.  As such, it looks a little weird.  She’s got unique parts for her head, collar, and forearms.  The new parts are okay; they match decently with the rest of the parts, but they don’t quite hit the mark for the character.  The hair in particular could use a bit more volume, and the face seems a bit too thin and pinched.  The paint work on Starfire is alright, but not without its issues.  The purple details are rather fuzzy around the edges, and it kind of muddies a bit with the shade of the orange on the skin.  Starfire was packed with no accessories, which, given the retail on these sets, was really light.  Not even an energy effect?

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

The two-packs were just too cost prohibitive for me when they dropped, so I didn’t get any of them new from Matty Collector.  I wound up getting Adam Strange on his own a few years back, but I’ve been waiting for my chance to snag the other half of the set.  I finally got the chance via a trade-in at All Time a few weeks back.  She’s not great.  Honestly, she’s not even really that good.  She’s there.  But now I have her?  Sure, let’s go with that.

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.

#3547: Batman Beyond

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

BATMAN BEYOND

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

FiQ Fun Fact #0026:  While he started as a purely animated character, Batman Beyond has had 12 different non-animation based figures.

DC Universe Classics launched with a lot of weirdness when it came to distribution, and not helping things early on was the closure of KB Toys, one of the few stores consistently carrying the line’s earliest assortments.  Their closure coincided with the fourth series of the line, a fact I vividly recall because they were actually amongst the very last things I bought from KB.  Well, most of them, anyway.  There was one figure I missed, largely because he was far and away the most popular figure in the set.  And that figure?  Batman Beyond.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batman Beyond is part of the aforementioned Series 4 line-up of DC Universe Classics.  There were actually two different versions of the figure available, a standard and a KB Toys-exclusive unmasked release.  The standard was also meant to get a re-release under the planned DC Universe All-Stars line, but that was scrapped when All-Stars was rejected by retailers.  So, just the one release on this guy.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He’s based on the medium-sided male body, which honestly seems a bit too large for Terry, who was just a teenager most of the times we saw him.  At this point in the line, however, the only smaller body was the one used for Sinestro, which would have made him really short as well, so they just did the best they could, I suppose.  Admittedly, the whole line seemed a little bulked up relative to their usual looks, so it wound up being more a stylistic change-up than anything.  Terry got a new head, forearms, and belt piece.  They all match-up well enough with the base body pieces, and make for pretty decent “real world” takes on the Batman Beyond design.  It keeps the design fairly clean, which I definitely like, especially compared to other realistic updates to the look.  The color work on this figure is pretty cool.  They opted to make the black a glossy finish, which is a different choice, but one that very definitely works for the figure.  It makes him really pop out from the rest of the series, when he could otherwise get lost in the crowd.  Batman Beyond was packed with a single batarang, and the arm to the Despero Collect-N-Connect.  The batarang is an okay sculpt, but is for some reason silver.  I get not having the budget to do multi-colors, but either red or black would have made more sense, I feel.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Back when KB was going out of business, I got the full set of these minus Terry.  I tried and tried, but one never made its way to me, so I just made due with my DC Direct Superman/Batman figure for a while.  In the mean time, I’ve been constantly searching for the perfect Batman Beyond for my collection, and I’ve just kept coming up shy on every figure.  Sometimes, you just have to go back to the beginning, I guess.  I finally got ahold of a loose one recently, and, well, here he is.  He’s a pretty by the numbers DCUC figure, but I honestly really like by the numbers DCUC figures.

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.

#3542: Prince Adam

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

PRINCE ADAM

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

(Not So) Fun FiQ Fact #0021:  I’m coming into this MotU review with an unfortunately re-ignited frustration towards the Classics era of the line…or at least some of it’s management.  Thankfully, I’m not focusing on that era!  Yay!

My introduction to Masters of the Universe was the 2002 re-launch of the brand, specifically the pilot movie to the cartoon, which aired during Cartoon Network’s Cartoon Theatre.  I really loved it, and got a basic He-Man from the tie-in line almost immediately.  The line was notoriously hard to find, though, so follow-ups to He-Man were on the trickier side.  But, even during the original run, I did manage to snag He-Man’s alter ego Prince Adam, who in this incarnation was actually convincingly a different guy.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Prince Adam was released in the third main assortment of the rebooted Masters of the Universe line from 2002.  The figure stands a little under 6 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  He was notably smaller than the rest of the Heroic Warriors, accurately depicting the smaller stature Adam had in the cartoon.  His articulation matched the rest of the line; it’s hardly super-posable, but it was an improvement on the vintage line, which was cool at the time.  Adam’s sculpt was, like the rest of the line, handled by Four Horsemen Studios.  Honestly, it’s one of my favorites from the line, just because it was different from everything else.  It takes the core elements of the vintage Adam design, and translates them into something more in-line with the updated aesthetics of the line.  There’s plenty of detail work, and it’s a pretty nice example of subtlety from the line.  Adam’s paint work is decently handled.  It’s largely on the basic side, but the application is clean.  He could definitely benefit from some additional accenting, but that was really true of this whole line.  Adam was packed with the “powered-down” version of the Power Sword, as well as a scepter thing, which originally included a missile launcher-style case, but I’ve lost that.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

My dad had driven me around to a few stores when I was looking for a basic He-Man, and from that point on, he kept a pretty close eye on the line’s other releases.  This one in particular he kept an eye out for, because it had all the markings of a particularly tricky to get release, and he wound up finding me one in a much shorter fashion than I think either of us expected.  He’s basic, and kind of just a statue, but still definitely my favorite version of Adam.

#3537: Orko

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

ORKO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0016:  Orko’s original name was “Gorpo,” but having a “G” on the front of his robe would have made it difficult for Filmation’s animators to easily flip his animation cels from shot to shot, so his name was changed.

I was very hot and cold with Masters of the Universe Classics.  I definitely fell into some of its hype (it was hard not to at the time, especially given how into DC Universe Classics I was), but it was also not a line that was particularly easy to get into without paying an arm and a leg.  Even within my usual rule of only certain characters it was tricky, just based on the weird ways things wound up released.  I did wind up getting *most* of the figures I really wanted, though, which included the goofy comic relief sidekick, Orko!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Orko was the 2010 San Diego Comic Con exclusive for the Masters of the Universe Classics line.  There were two versions: an attendee version, and an online version.  The one here is the online version, which was the more standardized of the two, as the attendee version had a heat-activated invisibility feature.  The figure stands just shy of 3 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  This figure was a big deal at the time for being the first Orko properly scaled to the line he accompanied; the vintage figure was much too large, and the 200x was still a touch out of scale.  Also, while his articulation wasn’t top-notch or anything, he’s surprisingly mobile for an Orko, and even at this point, he’s only rivaled by the Origins figure.  This one got an all-new sculpt (a rarity for the line), which is clearly modeled on his Filmation incarnation.  It’s clean and well-rendered, and very certainly looks the part.  His color work was a mix of paint and molded.  The colors are a good match for his usual look, but the paint is notably a little on the sloppier side, especially when it comes to his ears.  Orko was packed with his staff and book, as well as the flight stand used by Triclops’ seers, allowing him to float.  Well, more fly; it’s honestly a little too tall, given Orko tended to float closer to the ground.  Still, as the one bit of re-use, it’s alright.  Orko also included one more, rather substantial accessory: a full Prince Adam figure.  Yep, despite being a full-scale Classics figure, Adam is treated as an accessory in every way, not getting proper billing on the package (though there’s a bubble that denotes his inclusion off to the side of Orko’s name), and even packaged laying down below the cardstock name tag for Orko.  If you don’t know he’s there, it’s possible to miss him.  Why exactly Mattel opted to do him this way is anyone’s guess, but they did some odd stuff at the time, so I’m not gonna try and delve into that myself.  Adam was built on the standard barbarian body (with the matching wrist bracers), so he stands about 7 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  He got a new head (with a real Mona Lisa smile situation going on for the expression), as well as a new vest piece.  He also got accessories of his own, in the form of both molds for the power sword (full and split) in the proper magenta color, and an alternate head borrowed from the standard He-Man.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t much care for Orko being an exclusive, and I didn’t have any luck getting him from Matty Collector directly either.  What *did* happen, however, is that I somehow managed to find a sealed one on eBay for a surprisingly low price.  I really only bought it for Orko, and him I do genuinely love.  Since I’m a 200x fan at heart, a classic Adam is something I could take or leave.  And, in fact, I took him and I left him…which is to say, I sold him when he was going for a rather insane aftermarket price, completely offsetting what I put into the set, because why not.  I got the pictures, though, so think of his presence in the review as being like that one last movie an actor filmed before they died, I guess.  Or maybe something less morbid?  I don’t know, do what makes you happiest.  I certainly did, which is why I just have the Orko and not the Prince Adam.

#3532: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0011: Despite not being one of the franchise’s central characters, Mekaneck has been included in most incarnations of the Masters of the Universe toyline.

For reasons I’ve never been able to fully explain, Mekaneck has been my favorite part of Masters of the Universe since my very first interactions with the franchise. I got into things with the 200x re-launch, and even before that line’s Mekaneck got to retail, I had already tracked down a vintage figure, because I just really wanted the character that badly. For Masters of the Universe Classics, it was the potential inclusion of Mekaneck that finally got me interested in the line, after hemming and hawing on it for a couple of years. I just really like that long-necked guy, I’m pretty much every form. Even when that form requires braving Matty Collector on a day of sale…but it’s okay, because that’s way in the past now, and all I’ve got is the figure, which is far more pleasant a thing. Let’s check him out now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck was released as part of the 2012 line-up for Masters of the Universe Classics, which ran during the line’s fourth year. He was the monthly figure for September of that year. Much like with the later Origins release, Mekaneck was the last 1984 character to join Classics. The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation. His sculpt was a lot of re-use. He has the line’s standard barbarian body, with the modified left arm for the symmetrical bracers set-up. Technically, that breaks from his vintage design, but animation tended to go for matching, and Mattel seems to want to reserve the larger bracer for He-Man proper most of the time. Since the Classics version of Stinkor was released before Mekaneck, this figure re-used the chest armor piece, albeit with the peg at the top of the plate glued in place this time, since Mekaneck had no alternate piece to swap out. The one new piece for this release was the head. It was a two piece assembly, with the helmet being separate. The helmet seems to sit a bit high, meaning the goggles don’t line up with where his eyes should be. It was brought up at the time that Mekaneck more than likely had some sort of cybernetic enhancements that make the lenses on the helmet something more than goggles, so they wouldn’t strictly *have* to line up with his actual eyes. It’s a reasonable explanation, but it doesn’t change the fact that literally every other Mekaneck figures has the goggles sitting where they should, and that Classics had a history of figures where molded parts weren’t fitted together properly during production. It was hardly the end of the world, but it was annoying. Mekaneck came from an era of the line where figures were almost entirely painted, allowing the main parts to be batch molded in black plastic. It caused issues for certain figures, but luckily Mekaneck wound up with a pretty good set-up. The only real issue is the lenses of the goggles, which are the same flat silver as the other accents on the helmet. The vintage figure hand mirrored lenses, and the 200x version had green ones. Either would have been nice, but the flat color makes it hard to distinguish any difference in the sculpted elements. Mekaneck was packed with his club, as well as two neck extensions of differing lengths. Technically, the necks can stack for one extra long neck, but the presence of a blue collar at both bases means that it looks a touch odd.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Obviously, there was no way I was gonna miss this guy, so I had to deal with that fateful day-of sale on Matty Collector, which I honestly recall not being super stressful.  Yay, fun bonus!  After quite a wait for him, I recall being a little bit underwhelmed when he finally made it out.  I bounced back pretty quickly, since I was really just happy to have him, and having him as part of a larger collection of Mekanecks has taken some of the pressure off of him.  He’s not as strong as the later Origins release, and I don’t have the same nostalgia for him as the vintage or 200x releases, but he’s at least a reminder of my time with Classics, for better or for worse.

#3525: Donatello – Heroic Turtle-At-Arms

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

DONATELLO — HEROIC TURTLE-AT-ARMS

TURTLES OF GRAYSKULL (MATTEL)

Fun FiQ Fact #0004: The vintage Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toylines shared a designer, Mark Taylor, who designed key portions of both lines.

I’m neither the world’s biggest Masters of the Universe fan nor the biggest TMNT fan, so you may be wondering what’s the deal with me reviewing a crossover figure from the two lines. Okay, you’re probably not, because I’m actually pretty transparent on some things, and one of them is that I like Donatello action figures. Where there are cool new Donnies, I tend to follow. Also, I do like me a nifty crossover. So, behold Man-At-Arms Donatello!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Donatello is part of the first standard assortment of Mattel’s Turtles of Grayskull line, alongside Leo, Man-At-Arms, and Mutated He-Man. The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation. In terms of construction, these figures are very similar to Mattel’s own Origins line, which makes a degree of sense, since it allows the Turtles to fit right in with the established MotU characters, as showcased in the included minicomic. The design brings his build more in line with the typical Masters look, so he’s a little more roided out than usual, and gets less of that typical Turtle physique. This is presumably to keep cross-compatibility between all of the figures in the line. Donnie gets his own Man-At-Arms inspired armor, which is pretty fun. I especially dig how the back shell can turn into a separate shield piece. Donnie’s color work keeps with his usual palette, but there’s clearly more purple, since that’s the main basis for the armor. I like it; it makes him stand out nicely. Donnie is packed with the 7 pieces of removable armor, plus a staff-version of the Man-At-Arms mace, and a minicomic explaining the background of the crossover. Of particular note, it features Roboto in his minicomic colors, which makes me very happy.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

This whole endeavor is Max’s fault. He let me know about this crossover’s existence, and he made darn sure I got one of these, with this particular one landing in my hands just days before Christmas. He really likes to look out for me. I don’t feel the need to go in-depth for this line (but I certainly wouldn’t say no to a Roboto/Metalhead crossover), but this one figure is definitely worth it.

#3516: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

DC COMICS MULTIVERSE (MATTEL)

It’s not uncommon to rag on modern comics as being total crap and having no value, or quality.  Certainly, not every one is a winner, that’s true.  Of course, that’s also been true of comics the whole time there’s been comics, so it feels like a middling point at best.  I myself am still a regular reader of a good number of comics, and there’s a few I’ve been really enjoying.  Perhaps the one I’ve been enjoying the most consistently for the last few years has been Tom Taylor’s Nightwing.  I’ve always loved the character, and I love where his current book places him within the DCU as a whole.  With the state of DC and its tie-ins being where they are, the book hasn’t gotten any proper tie-in figures, but Nightwing’s initial look was just his main Rebirth design, which snuck its way into Mattel’s late-run figures.  So, let’s look at that one.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing was released as part of the Ninja Batman Series of Mattel’s DC Comics Multiverse.  It was a largely Titans-themed set…you know, apart from the CnC.  Nightwing fit right in.  As noted in the intro, he’s based on his Rebirth redesign, which is a solid classic Nightwing look.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  Nightwing was built on the line’s mid-sized male body, same as Kyle.  It’s not *as* updated as some of the other late run figures from Mattel, but it was certainly an upgrade over the DCUC bodies.  It’s got decent movement, decent proportions, and even has pinless joints.  He gets a unique head, forearms, and hands, which are pretty respectable offerings.  Definitely dialing into that in-line aesthetic, and also fitting the character pretty well.  The forearms in particular are impressive, since they definitely could have gotten away without doing the arm wraps, and yet they did anyway.  Nightwing’s paint work is decent enough.  It reflects the color scheme from the books pretty nicely.  The blue is especially striking, and the paint application is all nice and clean.  Nightwing was packed with two sets of hands, in gripping and fists, as well as his eskrima sticks.  Not a ton, but also hits all the basics, which is what you really need.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the end of Mattel’s run, this line got pretty hard to find at retail, and chances of finding individual figures were zero to none.  Since I didn’t want to order a whole set online just to get a Nightwing, I wound up passing on this guy at the time of his release.  I was, however, fortunate enough to come across a loose one, when it got traded into All Time.  He’s the best Nightwing that Mattel put out, to be sure, and he’s honestly just one of the best versions of the character in this scale.

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.