Tag Archives: Mattel

#3290: Wildcat

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

WILDCAT

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

First appearing as a second fiddle of sorts to Wonder Woman in Sensation Comics #1, Wildcat became something of a journeyman hero.  He didn’t officially join the JSA until after the Golden Age had wrapped, but became quite a fixture for the team in the ensuing years.  He’s found his real footing in recent years as the old-timer hero involved in training a good chunk of DC’s street level heroes.  That was the role he found himself in for Justice League Unlimited, where his role as Black Canary’s mentor served as the basis of their shared debut episode “The Cat and the Canary.”  His part in the show got him his second time as an action figure, and I’m taking a look at that figure today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wildcat was released in the second series of three packs for Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited line, alongside Metamorpho and a re-packed Batman figure.  He was subsequently re-packed as a single with a few extra accessories later down the line.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Wildcat is based on the larger male base body, which was based upon the first Superman sculpt from the line.  It’s a decent build for the character, but he does have a little bit of trouble standing.  He’s got to lean all the way back to really balance, which doesn’t quite feel very true to the character.  Wildcat got a unique head and arms.  The head’s a little bit on the tiny side, but is otherwise a nice mold, which does a respectable job of capturing the animation design.  The arms are similar to the standard ones, but with slight tufts of fur on the forearms.  It’s a small touch, but an effective one.  The figure’s paint work is fairly minimal.  Largely, he’s just the molded off-black/purple.  He does get a little bit of paint for his face and his hands.  Nothing too crazy, but it gets the job done.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When it first launched, JLU was a rather tricky to acquire line, especially when it came to the three-packs.  After finally managing to get most of the first assortment, I actually lucked into almost all of the second series at once, while vacationing with my family back when they first dropped.  I’ve always had a soft spot for Wildcat, and I liked his appearance on the show, so I was happy to have gotten him.  He’s a pretty basic figure, but he does what he needs to, and he fits the line well.

#3285: Warhawk

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

WARHAWK

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED (MATTEL)

“In the not too distant future, an older Bruce Wayne trains high school student Terry McGinnis to become the new Batman, ensuring the protection of Gotham City for years to come. This new Batman eventually joins the future JLU, teaming up with heroes such as Warhawk, the tough-as-nails son of John Stewart and Shayera Hol.”

Since Batman Beyond‘s tie-in toyline from when it was on the air wasn’t particularly comprehensive, and was effectively non-existent by the time of the later seasons, its best toy coverage came not in its own line, but rather as part of the line for its follow-up show, Justice League Unlimited.  JLU the show was used to more clearly tie the entire DCAU together, in particular giving a little more time to Beyond, as well as its own continuation of the Justice League, the Justice League….Unlimited.  Team member Warhawk, who had previously been something of a blank canvas, was given an actual proper backstory, which wound up being a key plot point within JLU‘s last couple seasons.  As such, he was a pretty natural fit to get his first action figure in JLU‘s tie-in line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Warhawk was released in one of the final retail three-pack assortments for Mattel’s Justice League Unlimited line, alongside the previously reviewed Batman Beyond and Bruce Wayne.  The figure stands about 4 1/4 inches tall and has the usual 5 points of articulation.  Warhawk’s starting point was the medium base body, which was patterned on Green Lantern.  Given Warhawk’s parentage, as well as his usual build in the shows, it’s a pretty solid choice of base.  He gets a new head and an overlay piece for his shoulder plating and wings.  The head is a solid piece, though it seems to be a little more inspired by his Beyond appearances than by JLU proper.  They’re not terribly different, so it’s not like it’s really terribly noticeable, especially at this scale.  The overlay is pretty basic; while the hawk symbol appears to be a cut out piece on the show, it’s just painted here, probably for the sake of integrity of the piece.  The wings are separate pieces, glued in place here.  Warhawk’s paint work is fairly well handled.  It’s again going more for the Beyond appearance, given the shading of the skin, but the rest of the colors are pretty neutral for both sets of appearances.  Warhawk was without any accessories.  Most of the three-packs didn’t get any extras, and Warhawk already got quite a few new parts, so it’s not terribly surprising.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in my review of Bruce and Terry, I was mostly out of the line by the time this set came along.  I saw the prototypes, but never anything in person.  Through All Time, I was able to get the other two a couple of years back, which was pretty cool.  But, I certainly had this distinct lack of a Warhawk figure in my collection, and, as luck would have it, the missing piece of the set made its way into All Time.  Boom.  Warhawk.  I’m glad I got him, because he’s honestly the best in the set.  Sure, it would be nice to have the whole team, but at least this guy got a cool toy out of it all.

#3227: Zodac

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

ZODAC

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

“Few are more powerful than the omnipotent master of the cosmos, Zodac.  As the keeper of the neutral balance between good and evil, the Cosmic Enforcer’s universal travels return him to Eternia – home of Castle Greyskull, the Nexus of Realities, and the center of the multiverse.  For a threat to the cosmic balance can come from anywhere at any time.”

While I *did* take a look at something Masters of the Universe related within the last month, it’s been four months since I really looked at anything new from the franchise.  It has a tendency to happen, especially when there are such gaps between the characters I actually want.  Look, this Mekaneck-erasure will not stand, you guys.  It’s driving me a little batty.  Making me but more figures of the *other* guy in a goody red helmet.  So, um, here’s another version of Zodac, I suppose.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Zodac is part of Series 5 of the Masterverse line, and he’s part of the “New Eternia” sub-branding for the line.  Thus far, New Eternia seems to be a way of doing classic versions of the characters, but with some optional updates to their looks, something that Zodac sticks to pretty closely.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Zodac’s sculpt uses the basic male body as a starting point, as well as re-using the forearms from Barbarian Skeletor, and the feet from standard Skeletor.  He also gets a new head, upper torso, shins, pelvis, and an add-on for his armor.  The new parts are all pretty respectable recreations of that classic Zodac look.  The head’s certainly consistent with the way the classic version of the character tends to be depicted, to the point that I felt the need to double check that he wasn’t sharing his head with the Origins.  The two pieces are distinctly different, though.  The new upper torso replicates the vintage figure’s use of Beast Man’s torso, though in a far less bulky and less hairy way than the Masterverse Beast Men did.  His armored up pieces are generally consistent with his classic design, but he does get a little bit of updating, with his loincloth piece getting a fancier tabard sort of thing at the front, and his chest armor getting some shoulder pads.  It keeps his general look, while also cleaning him up just a little bit.  He also gets a holster piece, which adds a bit more practicality to him.  The look is cool, but I did find some functionality issues with how they interact.  The shoulder pads attach via clips on the back, which work fine, but they’re also meant for weapon storage, so you ultimately have to choose between them.  The holster attaches via one of the chest armor straps, which means that posing pulls the strap loose if you’re not careful.  Rather minor issues, though.  Zodac’s color work sticks to the classic set-up, with red, grey, and white.  It’s largely molded plastic coloring, but there’s some paint work on the head and torso armor.  It works out pretty well, and the application’s all pretty slick and clean.  Zodac is packed with two sets of hands, his weird sci-fi gun, as well as a staff piece, which can be split in two for storage.  Unfortunately, my figure was missing half of his staff, but Max was kind enough to loan me his for the review photos.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, it would seem I’ve apparently added Zodac to the list of Masters characters I’m buying in every style.  I didn’t really see that happening.  Certainly not with Zodac with a “c”.  Zodak with a “k”, perhaps.  But Zodac?  Well, I guess I have a soft spot for this goofy space guy.  This figure’s a pretty fun one.  I like the classic design with just those very slight updates.  The figure’s got a few little minor flaws, but he’s very fun, and I like that a lot.  Still holding out for that Zodak re-deco, though.

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

#3206: Mekaneck

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

MEKANECK

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Well, would you look at that, I’ve officially been running this old site of mine for nine whole years.  What a time it’s been.  As I always like to do on these anniversaries, I’m opting to make today’s review just a little bit more special.  I’m focusing on a line that’s as of yet not gotten to be in the spotlight here, Masters of the Universe.  While my ties to MotU don’t go hardcore or anything, I did have something of an attachment to the franchise’s 2002 re-launch, which was what introduced the whole thing to me, back when I was just 10 years old.  Since early into my exposure to the franchise, I’ve had a particular attachment to the heroic warrior Mekaneck.  So, let’s look at a Mekaneck, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mekaneck was part of the second assortment of the 200x Masters of the Universe, alongside a He-Man variant and a bunch of re-packs.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  While the original Mekaneck design was meant to re-use a good bulk of the standard male body, his 200x design was decidedly quite removed from the core look.  As such, this guy wasn’t designed with other characters in mind, so his mold was totally unique to him.  It’s a pretty great offering, courtesy of the Four Horsemen.  The updated version of the design added a lot more tech details, especially to the underlying body, but also to his armor, which was a bit more basic on his original figure.  All of the classic elements are still present, and it’s very clear who he’s supposed to be.  His distinctive chest armor, originally a piece he shared with Stinkor, was affixed permanently to the torso here, and again given a far more in depth selection of detailing.  He’s got the same neck extending feature from his vintage counterpart; twisting his waist extends his neck about an inch or so.  About the only down side to this figure’s sculpt is to do with his secondary action feature, which is gives you the ability to “see” through his head, which is done via a gaping hole in the back of his head.  It’s certainly an odd choice to be sure, since it offers minimal play value, but also results in a really obvious hole in his head.  Beyond that, though, the sculpt’s great.  The figure’s paint work is generally pretty great.  There were two versions of the paint, with the one seen here being the standard release, which technically has green goggles.  I say “technically” because the translucent plastic barely shows any deviations in the colors, so it can be hard to tell.  Mekaneck is packed with his usual distinctive mace, which he can hold in his left hand.  His arm has even been given a spring-loaded swinging feature in the elbow, which isn’t terribly impressive, but it’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The 200x incarnation’s accompanying cartoon debuted with a pilot movie, aired during Cartoon Network’s Cartoon Theatre.  I remember excitedly sitting down and watching it when it aired.  In addition to running out to get a He-Man the next day, I was also quite intrigued by Mekaneck, even with his brief appearance in the film.  His prototype had already been shown off by then, so I knew I wanted him pretty much from the start.  He was quite a rare figure at the time, but I actually had a stroke of luck on this particular release.  When I was a kid, my grandmother and I made it a ritual to visit the KB Toys at the local mall, on an almost weekly basis.  In 2003, she and my dad had located the KB Toys liquidation outlet, which was just a few hours drive from where we lived.  They planned a day trip out, and I wound up getting a whole boatload of stuff, largely older Toy Biz Marvel.  However, amongst the piles of figures that were almost a decade old by that point, I found one lone Masters figure, thrown on a random shelf, and, as luck would have it, it was Mekaneck.  Quite a thrilling find on a day of thrilling finds, really.  He’s a goofy figure, but he’s Mekaneck; he’s supposed to be goofy.  That’s what’s great about him, and that’s what’s great about this figure.

#3189: Spartan Buck

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

SPARTAN BUCK

HALO UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Wow, is this me, doing another Halo review?  Already?  I mean, yeah, I guess so.  If I’ve got the figure to review, I might as well.  During the lead-up to Halo 5‘s release, Microsoft was trying to move past the purely older age range of the franchise up to that point.  In keeping with that, they moved the master license for the property from McFarlane Toys over to Mattel.  Mattel’s handling of the license was kind of lackluster for the most part, but they were also doing stuff for Halo 5, which was also kind of lackluster, so I guess it fit.  While Mattel’s first batch of products were pretty much everywhere, the weak response to their offerings meant that all of the follow-ups were generally scarce.  Amongst those scarce items: the second series of their Halo Universe line, which happened to feature the only ODST-related figure the line had to offer, Spartan Edward Buck!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Spartan Buck was part of the aforementioned Series 2 line-up of Halo Universe, which started to just show up online in little trickles over a year after the release of the first series.  Buck wasn’t even truly confirmed as part of Series 2 prior to its release, and he’d been long assumed cancelled when he just randomly showed up.  Yeah, that was really just how the end of Mattel’s run on the Halo license went in a nutshell.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  This line’s scaling was definitely weird; the Spartans are supposed to be pretty big compared to regular people, so at only 6 1/2 inches tall, these guys don’t fit in with much.  But, I guess they had each other?  Sure is great that Mattel gave us a deep cast of characters, right?  Yeah… Given the general bulkiness of the figure and how Mattel figures generally were at the time, Buck’s articulation is surprisingly well-handled.  The range of motion is pretty decent, and he can pretty easily hold his weapon with both hands, something that I know the Series 1 figures really struggled with.  For this line, Mattel designed all of the Spartan figures to feature removable armor.  Given that we rarely see the Spartans without all of their armor, it was an odd choice, but I suppose their desire to do something different isn’t the worst thing. The construction means that he’s even bulkier than a Spartan usually would be, but it was consistent with the overall look of the line.  Mostly, it’s just the head being a bit too small that’s the issue, but I don’t hate it.  The armor actually looks pretty nice, and, apart from the calf armor having a tendency to pop out of place, it’s actually pretty secure.  The underlying suit is kind of goony looking, and I’m not ever gonna display him that way, but, again, it’s at least something different.  Buck’s paint work is largely on the basic side, but the application is clean, and he’s got a few pretty cool smaller details.  Buck is packed with an assault rifle, a knife, and an unmasked head.  The unmasked head is kind of on the large side relative to the helmet, but it’s a decent enough sculpt, and kudos to Mattel on actually giving him the extra head to swap, rather than trying to get an extra sale out of it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m amongst the people who though this figure got cancelled back in the day.  I was really not into the first series of the line, and was at least a little curious about this guy, but when a year went by and the others all got clearanced out, I called it quits and didn’t pay it much attention.  In the years since, this figure’s value’s gotten really high on the aftermarket.  Fortunately for me, I was able to snag a loose one that got traded into All Time for a reasonable price.  He’s a better figure than I’d expected.  He’s still got his own odd quirks, but I actually kind of like him.

#3184: Alisha Hawthorne & Buzz Lightyear

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

ALISHA HAWTHORNE & BUZZ LIGHTYEAR

LIGHTYEAR: ALPHA CLASS (MATTEL)

For their summer offering this year, Pixar went back to the well that is Toy Story, but, having acknowledged that you can only wrap up the franchise’s loose ends so many times before you start to really see diminishing returns, they went a little bit different with things.  In the early 2000s, we got Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, a Saturday morning cartoon that was meant to be the in-universe Saturday morning cartoon that went with the Buzz Lightyear toy from the movies.  In 2022, Pixar asked the question: “what if the cartoon and the toy were both actually based on a movie?”  And then they went ahead and made that movie.  And there was much rejoicing.  No, the other thing.  There was a lot of complaining, actually.  Mostly by people who didn’t, you know, actually see the movie.  But, that’s just our culture at the moment, I guess.  I liked it.  I also bought some toys, because, well, that’s who I am.  And I enjoy the recursiveness of the toys based on a movie based on the toy from a movie, which was in-universe based on a movie.  It’s mind-boggling in just the best possible way.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Alisha Hawthorne and Buzz Lightyear are a Target-exclusive two-pack release, courtesy of Mattel’s Lightyear: Alpha Class line.  There are a handful of different scales in play for the tie-ins, with the Alpha Class stuff being on par with Mattel’s other collector-geared lines, though they’re still definitely toys.

ALISHA HAWTHORNE

Buzz’s partner at the beginning of the film, Alisha winds up getting a small but very integral to the plot role in the movie.  Over the course of about 20 minutes of the film, we see her live out pretty much her entire life as Buzz checks in with her between his light speed jumps.  This figure is based on her look from about the mid-point of things, when she’s established herself as the commanding officer of their station, and gets the fancy dress uniform to go along with that.  Barring the classic Space Ranger attire, it’s her most distinctive look, and it is very snazzy.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and she has 32 points of articulation.  Her movement is about the same as Mattel’s other collector lines, which is to say it’s actually pretty good.  They’re using pinless construction on the elbows and knees, so everything looks pretty slick.  The actual sculpt is unique to this release, and does a fairly respectable job of capturing Alisha’s design from the movie.  I quite like the way the hair turned out, and the uniform is nice and sharp.  Alisha’s paint work is pretty decently handled.  The base work is all very cleanly applied, and there’s some great small detail work on all of her ribbons and medals.  The eyes are perhaps a touch crazy looking, but I think that’s more an adaptation thing, just being one of those design elements that looks fine on screen but ever so slightly off on an actual physical object.  Alisha technically doesn’t really get any accessories, but, it’s honestly hard to say that with absolute certainty.  The stuff included all feels like it *should* go with the other figure, but there’s no reason you can’t share the load.  Product shots showed her with the knife, so I gave her that for the Wilson photo, just so she had something more to do.

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR

As the titular character of the film, Buzz gets a lot of looks over the course of the movie, and pretty much all of those got toys.  Obviously, they’re not going to stick his main Space Ranger gear in an exclusive two-pack, so that’s not what this one gets.  Instead, this one is sporting the suit he does his last jump in, which is what sends him into the film’s “current” time.  It’s kind of an interesting choice, since it means he doesn’t really match up with Alisha, who is out of the story by the time he dawns this gear.  That said, it’s the one he spends the second most time in, so it’s at least a pretty prominent one.  The figure stands just shy of 7 inches tall and he has 33 points of articulation.  The articulation scheme is very similar to Alisha’s, though he also gets a ball-jointed waist, which adds just a little more range to his posing.  The sculpt appears to be unique to this release.  It’s the only way thus far to get Buzz with the flight cap, so that’s cool and unique.  The detailing on the sculpt is generally pretty solid.  He’s definitely a good recreation of the animation model, and this particular look has a lot of cool intricate details to work with.  Some areas, notably the arms and legs, are a little softer on the detail work, but the overall look is pretty great.  Buzz’s paint work is fairly strong.  The base work is nice and clean, and the level of work on the small printing and insignias is particularly impressive.  Buzz is packed with his removable helmet, a rifle, the warp crystal in its case, an upgraded version of the IVAN autopilot, his portable computer (with closing lid), and a laser knife.  It’s a great selection of extras, and none of them feel phoned in at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Toy Story was my first movie in the theatre, so I definitely have more than a small attachment to the franchise.  As faithful readers will have no doubt picked up from the Matty’s Corner entry about some of the basic figures, I took my son Matthew to see the movie when it was released.  He, unsurprisingly, wanted toys, so I took him to pick out a few.  At the same time, I saw this set, and it really spoke to me.  It was also on sale.  Win-win.  It’s a really great set.  Both figures are really strong, but honestly, the Buzz just really steals the show for me.  The detailing, both in terms of sculpt and paint, as well as the accessories, just really put the whole thing over the top.

#3134: Teela

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

TEELA

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

“Learning she had been lied to her entire life, Teela threw down her sword, rejected her title, and turned her back on her family, friends, and all of Eternia.  Fate, however, has a way of returning.  Prince Adam’s secret identity as He-Man — the same secret that shattered her trust — became intertwined with her quest to save magic from disappearing from Eternia.”

Oh, wow, you know, those last two Masters reviews were so lovely, I think I might just do one more. Like a dessert or something. Just a little extra. Masters of the Universe Revelation spent most of its runtime in a post-defeat of He-Man setting, but it’s first episode, as well as some flashbacks sprinkled throughout the rest of the show, still gave plenty of focus to the main characters in their classic designs. This also gives the tie-in portion of Mattel’s Masterverse line plenty of free reign for some more straightforward updates of the original figures. While the line’s first Teela was sporting her later Revelation look, there was a rather quick follow-up to that one, this time with her classic attire. I’ll be taking a look at that one today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Teela is part of Series 4 of the Masterverse line, as one of the two Revelation-themed figures in the set. The figure stands about 7 inches tall and she has 31 points of articulation. She again keeps with the set-up we’ve seen previously with the female bodies in this line, which is a pretty solid articulation scheme. Her sculpt is obviously starting from the same base point as the other female figures, but she’s almost entirely new. It’s a strong sculpt. I was a big fan of the prior Teela, and I liked the extra details the newer design offered, but this one looks pretty great too. The armor is very clean and sharply detailed, and I like how the two faces are a younger, more cleaned up Teela, but still very distinctly the same person.  As hinted by the “two faces” comment from the sentence prior, Teela includes two head sculpts.  The first is the more classic one, with her hair up and her headdress in place.  The second is her post-quitting look, with her hair down and messy.  They’re both a lot of fun, and, again, consistent to what’s been established thus far for the character in this iteration of the line.  Teela’s paint work is generally pretty decent.  The application is pretty clean for the most part.  There’s a little bit of slop on the tops of the boots, and the coloring on the cheeks is a little heavy handed, but otherwise, it works well.  Teela is packed with two sets of hands, a sword, and a shield.  Not quite as impressive as the last two figures I looked at, but still a nice set-up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was quite content with my post-time-jump Teela figure from Series 2, and, as cool as this figure looked, I wasn’t planning to grab this one.  I then got offered a deal on one that I really couldn’t beat, and suddenly, I have one.  She’s really nice.  A fantastic update on the classic Teela design, fitting right in with the other “classic” figures from the line.  I definitely dig the extra pieces, and she’s just a pretty solid figure all around.

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

#3133: Andra

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

ANDRA

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

Remember when I was talking about Masters of the Universe yesterday? Good, then I won’t have to repeat myself too much. As it turns out, I’ve got a small little handful of Masters figures to check out, so I’m going ahead and doing that now. As I mentioned yesterday, the Masterverse line started off with tie-ins for Revelation, and while it’s moving on to some other corners of the franchise, there’s still a few more Revelation figures to cover. I’m looking at one of those today. This time around, it’s Andra. Originally introduced as a supporting player in the first ongoing Masters of the Universe comic (published by Marvel’s short-lived Star Comics imprint), Andra was revived and updated to be a major player in Revelation, getting her very first action figure in the process. I’m looking at that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Andra was released in Series 3 of the Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line. It’s the last fully Revelation-themed set for the line, and also featured Fisto, Stinkor, and Scare-Glow. Andra is one of the characters to only be seen post-time skip, so she’s only got the one real look, which is what this figure goes with. The original Andra design’s honestly not much to write home about, so Revelation departs from it pretty radically, going for more of a post-apocalyptic, quickly thrown together sort of vibe, which I really dig.  The figure stands 7 inches tall and has 31 points of articulation. Her articulation scheme is the same as we saw with Teela and Evil-Lyn before her. As with Teela, actual re-use is at a minimum, mostly being confined to her upper arms, and the internal structure of the body. Beyond that, she’s an all-new sculpt. It’s a pretty great one. She continues the trend set by Evil-Lyn and Teela of the female figures really being the best ones in the line. The show design has all of its elements captured well, with just a little extra detailing to make the figure a little more visually interesting.  Her paint work is rather involved, but far more reserved than the usual offering from this line.  It works out pretty well, and matches up nicely with her look from the show.  Andra rivals Evil-Lyn in terms of accessory pack-outs, going for a real all-in-one set-up.  She gets her alternate masked head from her intro, plus a cloth cloak to go with it, three different pairs of hands, and a blast effect for her wrist blaster.  Certainly not a bad set-up at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Andra’s not a character I knew before Revelation brought her back, but, as I’ve mentioned a few times before, I really dug Teela’s whole team, and they’re really my main focus with this line.  Andra’s certainly not a character I could leave out, given how central she is to so much of the story.  She’s genuinely one of the line’s nicest figures, with a real feeling of value for what you’re getting, as well as a lot of very obvious care going into the whole construction.

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

#3132: Beast Man

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

BEAST MAN

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: MASTERVERSE (MATTEL)

“Shaman of the Seven Savage Tribes that dwell within the majestic jungles of Eternia, Beast Man defeated the mighty bear demon and earned the right to lead his people.  Then they mysteriously disappeared.  Now he searches all corners of the planet for his tribe.  Nothing can stop him from reuniting him under his care.  Not the barbaric He-Man.  Not even the evil Skeletor.”

There’s been a slight hiatus in Masters of the Universe coverage here on the site, so, hey, why don’t we fix that. It seems like Mattel’s done a respectable job reviving the brand at retail, with three separate main lines all running concurrently. My definite favorite of the trio is Masterverse, which is sort of a half-step between Classics and the 200x run. The line started with a focus on tying in with the Revelation cartoon, but as it has continued, Mattel is treating it more like a legacy line, covering some of the other parts of the franchise. The first additional theme to be added is “New Eternia”, which reinterprets some of the pre-Masters concept work into all-new figures. Today, I’m taking a look at that particular sub-set’s version of Beast Man!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

New Eternia Beast Man is a deluxe offering from the Masters of the Universe: Masterverse line. Thus far, he’s only showing up at Target, but it appears that he’s only a first to market exclusive, much like Faker was. The figure stands a little over 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. The core of this figure is, unsurprisingly, the same as the Series 2 Beast Man. It’s a very sensible re-use, and it helps that it was a solid piece the first time around, and was notably not saddled with some of the issues which plagued the standard male body. The body gets modified forearms and shins, which remove the bracers from the original molds, as well as an all-new head sculpt, and new add-on pieces for his chest armor, shoulder and wrist plates, wrist bands, loin cloth, and shin guards. The parts work together to create a new look, inspired by Beast Man’s original Lords of Power concept, but modernized and made a little more monstrous. It’s a fun look, and I particularly dig the faux fur for the chest piece. There’s also a removable head piece, which furthers the sort of shaman vibe that the whole design’s got going on. It has a little trouble staying in place during posing, but it at least looks pretty cool. The more specifically updated parts can all be removed and there’s an alternate chest piece based on Beast Man’s classic design, so that you can also have a more standard looking Beast Man, adding a whole other look to the figure. The color work on Beast Man is generally okay, but he’s got a notable issue with the torso and knees being a different color from the rest of the body. Thanks to the armoring, it’s mostly hidden, but it definitely looks a little bit off. The paint work is at least otherwise applied fairly cleanly. In addition to the various parts for both of his looks, Beast Man also includes two sets of hands, his whip, and an all-new spiky club thing. According to Tim, it’s actually called a “Macuahuitl”. I was content with spiky club thing, but Tim’s a real stickler when it comes to weapons.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was content with my Revelation style Beast Man, or at least I thought I was. Life apparently had a different plan, it would seem. In a rather sizable development, I now have a six-year-old son in my life, and he was determined to buy me something I didn’t have for our first Father’s Day together, so he dragged his mother to Target, and they bought me this guy. I wasn’t in dying need of owning him at first, but, I gotta say, in hand I find this figure really fun, and I’m quite glad to have him.

Matty’s Corner #0001: Space Ranger Alpha Buzz Lightyear & Jr Zap Patrol Mo Morrison

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Matty's Corner and tagged with , , , ,

SPACE RANGER ALPA BUZZ LIGHTYEAR & JR ZAP PATROL MO MORRISON

LIGHTYEAR (MATTEL)

Hi, Ethan here!  Welcome to Matthew’s Corner, where I’m collecting the mad ramblings of my 6 year old Matthew, who also likes to talk about action figures.  What can I say, I’m sympathetic to his need to ramble about action figures.  So, I’m just gonna let him take it away…though, for what it’s worth, I’m still transcribing for him.

Hello.  It’s Matthew again!  Just a reminder: this is not my website.  This is Ethan’s website.  My dad owns this website.  I don’t know what to say now.  Chonkuta kun chot.  [At this point he broke down into mad laughter–Ethan].  I love the Buzz Lightyear movie.  Whoa.  I can always engage with my mouse protocol.  Lifeforms detected.  Meow Meow Meow Meow. [He’s just quoting his talking Sox toy at this point]  Sorry, I’m back to normal.  I was just doing something that the movie said.  I have a stuffed animal.  His name is Sox.  If you see Lightyear, you would see Sox.  He’s a cat.  But I want to talk about the action figures.  I have Buzz Lightyear and Mo!  If you know who they are, then you may have watched the movie.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

I’m gonna talk everything about Mo.  Mo is the guy with a blue hat.  He is a weird guy and he thinks sandwiches go “Meat, bread, meat.”  Mo has 20 joints of articulation total.  I like Mo a little bit.  I like that the figure actually comes with the hat.  I usually put it on him often in most of the poses I do.  I like the paint, I like the sculpt, I like the pieces.  I don’t like how his face looks.  It just looks weird.  He feels good.  Moving on!

To Buzz Lightyear!  Woo! Woo! Woo!  My figure can glow in the dark.  He’s a really cool figure.  He has 20 total joints of articulation.  I like Buzz Lightyear.  I like the figure.  It feels good.  I like the paint.  I like the sculpting.  He comes with a gun and his hat.  And he likes Mo.  They are best friends.  I like that they made the action figure smile.  It’s really cool that he’s looking like he’s happy.

THE MATTHEW HALF OF THE EQUATION

My best friend Ethan got my figures for me.  He’s my best buddy ever.  He picked these two out for me.  The characters I liked almost the best in the movie.  I like Sox the best of all, but they didn’t have Sox at the store.  I got the figures from Target.  I like the figures overall.  There are more.  Maybe I can review them next time.  I don’t know.  Please don’t be shy.  Look at this website.  Talk back.  Do everything you can to see the website.  Good bye!  Have a good day!