Tag Archives: Mistakes were made

#3700: Cpl Dwayne Hicks

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

CPL DWAYNE HICKS

ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES (HIYA TOYS)

The post-Aliens video game Aliens: Colonial Marines had, amongst other things, a long path to its release, taking six years to finally make it to players. It was not well-received at all upon its release, which isn’t the sort of thing you generally want out of a game that took six years to make. It does, at the very least, undo one of Alien 3‘s more disliked elements, the death of Corporal Dwayne Hicks, albeit in a rather convoluted and awkward sort of way. Still, they got Michael Biehn to reprise his role, which was pretty cool, and there were also some cool figures, courtesy of Hiya Toys. I’m looking at their take on Hicks today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cpl Dwayne Hicks was released in the initial run of Hiya Toys’ Aliens: Colonial Marines tie-in line, at the same time as game marine Quintero and fellow film marine Hudson.  They hit in 2016, three years after the game’s release, which seems like a bit of time to wait, but it’s only half as much time as it took for the game to make it out, so, you know, perspective and all that.  All of these figures, even the “movie” ones, were technically game-based, with the non-game characters being based on their multiplayer skins.  Hicks technically exists in both capacities, but this figure, which lacks the scarring he received at the end of Aliens, seems to be the multiplayer/movie version.  The figure stands 4 inches tall and he has 27 points of articulation.  The articulation set-up is ultimately something of a mix between the 25th/30th era G.I. Joes and Hasbro’s Marvel Universe.  Generally, not bad, but the hip pops off a lot, and one of the knees is a little gummy.  Hicks’s sculpt had a lot of overlap with Quintero and Hudson, with them each just getting a unique head sculpt.  The head’s…not great.  It’s rather soft on the details, and the likeness just really isn’t there.  You’d be forgiven for just not realizing this was meant to be Hicks at all.  Below the neck, things are a little better.  The proportions aren’t bad, and the armor detailing is all pretty solid stuff, with the torso armor in particular honestly being pretty strong.  Because of the parts sharing with Quintero and Hudson, his sleeves come down way too far on the arms; Hicks’s sleeves aren’t visible under the armor in the film.  He’s also missing his watch and wrist band, and the lack of wrist coverage also highlights how oddly misshapen the hands are at the base of the wrist.  The color work on this figure leans into the game colors, so his uniform is bluer than the film, and his armor is browner, which makes for rather an odd contrast.  Like, it’s not terribly off, but it’s enough to throw you at first.  The application’s a little thick, but otherwise not too bad.  Hicks is packed with his helmet, shoulder lamp, shotgun, pulse rifle, a pistol, a motion tracker, and a display stand.  The helmet is wildly inaccurate, missing the back neck cover, the ear covers, and the comm, removing the distinctive Colonial Marine silhouette when he’s wearing it, and generally throwing off his look.  It’s a real shame, given how weak the likeness on the underlying head is.  The gun sculpts aren’t bad, but the hands don’t hold any of them particularly well.  Also, the pulse rifle gets no sling, and the shotgun and pistol have no holsters, so he just kind of has to throw them off to the side when not using them, I guess?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I honestly did my best to avoid everything to do with Colonial Marines after it dropped and was so mediocre, and that included the tie-in stuff.  I didn’t even know about these figures until after they’d dropped, and Hicks jumped in price rather quickly, so I never snagged him.  He got traded into All Time a month or two back, missing the shotgun, so I was able to get him for a slightly better deal.  Then the shotgun surfaced, and he was all complete again, which was pretty cool.  Ultimately, he’s not great.  I’m glad I didn’t pay the mark-up on him, because that really would have put me off.  As it stands, he’s a Hicks I didn’t have, and it was very easy for me to snag him, so it was hard to say no.  Sometimes, that’s just how it is.

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.

#3694: Elongated Man

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

ELONGATED MAN

IDENTITY CRISIS (DC DIRECT)

“Ralph Dibny was the original stretching sleuth of the JLA. His loss became the focal point of the events that unraveled in Identity Crisis.”

If we’re having a discussion about “worst comic stories ever,” you know I gotta bring up “Identity Crisis.”  Look, I’m a die-hard Elongated Man fanboy.  On the outside, a Justice League event with Ralph at the center is something I should love, right?  Except it’s actually something I loathe, and I legitimately think it broke DC.  I know, bold words.  But they did some really awful stuff there, and it meant that two of my favorite DC characters got broken and sidelined for well over a decade.  As a consolation prize, I suppose it did at least give me another Elongated Man figure.  So, there’s that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Elongated Man was released in Series 2 of DC Direct’s Identity Crisis tie-in line, which was released in March of 2006, almost two years after the story was published.  As a central piece of the story, it’s sort of odd that Ralph wasn’t released until Series 2, but of course, he’s not really a heavy hitter, I guess, and he’s ultimately pretty well side-lined within the story proper.  He’d also just recently gotten his first figure from DC Direct’s JLA line not too long before.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 17 points of articulation, as well as an extending neck feature.  Elongated Man’s articulation scheme was tricky.  DCD was still really experimenting with things, and there’s a fair number of joints, but range of motion remains rather restricted.  All of the Identity Crisis figures were based on Michael Turner’s cover illustrations for the series (as opposed to Raggs Morales’ interiors).  Turner’s work had a rather distinctive flair, and works well in two dimensions, but it three dimensions…well, it was a real mess.  Just, across the board.  None of the sculpts were fantastic for this line.  There were a lot of really odd proportions and dimensions to everything, and everybody wound up looking kind of misshapen.  That said, Ralph turned out generally alright.  Still weird, but he’s a stretchy guy, so it’s a little more forgivable.  His expression’s rather dour, but I guess that makes a degree of sense given the subject matter.  I do kind of feel he looks a touch young and pretty for Ralph, but Turner’s art treated Ralph that way, so it’s accurate.  Ralph’s paint work is decent enough.  I like that they kept the shiny black for the gloves and boots.  The application on the yellow is a little messy, though.  Ralph was packed with a display stand (not pictured) as well as a pair of alternate stretched arms.  The stretched arms are unique to this guy (technically, the Mattel Ralph had the outstretched hand, but it’s not quite the same sort of thing), but they’re kind of weird.  They’re technically meant to be bendy, but they’re very stiff, so they don’t really bend.  They’re also oddly flat.  Still, it’s a nice option.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t like Identity Crisis, and I didn’t like how Turner’s art translated to figures, so I largely avoided this line.  I already had the JLA figure, and we weren’t deep enough on Elongated Man figures for me to even contemplate owning all of them, so I didn’t jump on this one.  I wound up getting him from KB Toys of all places, which was odd since they didn’t tend to carry DCD figures, which were typically a comics shop exclusive thing.  But, I was on a weekend beach trip with my family, and this guy was there at the KB outlet, marked way down, so I bought it.  It was pretty early on in my appreciation of the character, and kind of helped turn the tide in a way.  Honestly, he’s not terrible.  I hate the story, but I don’t hate the figure, even if he does sort of have a weird quality about him.

#3692: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING — KNIGHTFALL

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

“Dick Grayson began his crime-fighting career as the original Robin—Batman’s protégé and crime-fighting partner. An expert acrobat and skilled fighter, Dick eventually left the nest and ventured out on his own as a new hero called Nightwing. His childhood experiences as a circus acrobat and trapeze artist make him extremely agile. He is a superior fighter and a highly skilled martial artist who has been personally trained by Batman. Nightwing is a keen detective, a natural leader, and a strategist with advanced knowledge of a variety of technologies.”

My first McFarlane Super Powers figure, which I reviewed over a year ago now, was Nightwing.  He was a figure I remarked wasn’t terrible, but which missed the mark of “Super Powers” by, amongst other things, putting Dick into a modern costume, rather than something more era appropriate.  Well, it’s okay, because they did another Nightwing, and he’s in an older costume.  Surely there will be no problems with this one, right?  Riiiiiight?  Look, let’s just get into the review, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing (Knightfall) was released in Series 5 of the McFarlane Super Powers line under the DC Direct banner.  He was accompanied in the line-up by a similarly Knightfall-themed repaint of the Tim Drake Robin figure from just a series prior.  So, here’s where we encounter our first problem: costume choice.  The last figure was in his modern costume, which didn’t exactly fit with the vintage line.  This one goes earlier, but it’s only a little bit earlier, since this one made its first appearance in 1992.  That would place the vintage of this design not with Kenner’s run, but honestly closer to, say, the Toy Biz run, continuing to add to my theory that Todd’s actually trying to homage the TB line, not the Kenner one.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation.  We’re back again to the figure’s being too large, but that’s really because of the parts re-use, since he’s just a repaint of the Series 3 figure.  And here we are again with the problems.  See, if we’re throwing in the towel on an accurate costume choice for the line, can’t we at least get an accurate depiction of the costume we’re getting? Well, it would seem no.  The most glaring thing here is that there are two distinctive hairstyles associated with this costume: the mullet and the ponytail.  This sculpt is neither of those, and it robs the design of some of it’s punch.  I can forgive the body sculpt re-use, but couldn’t we at least get a new head?  His new paint is at least alright.  I dig the metallic color choices, which give him a rather nifty appearance.  Nightwing is packed with his eskrima sticks, now in black.  They’re also not really accurate to this costume, since he was pretty exclusively using the discs at the time, but this one I’ll let slide, because you could have just as well left him with no accessories.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure frustrates me immensely.  I got the first Nightwing, and I accepted him for what he was, but getting a second Nightwing who’s still in the wrong costume, and said wrong costume not even being done the right way seems downright insulting.  So, why’d I buy it?  It landed in front of me, it’s a Nightwing, and I’m week.  Honestly, I don’t hate him.  The choices are weird, but I still kinda find him 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.

#3623: Radioactive Man

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

RADIOACTIVE MAN

THE SIMPSONS ULTIMATES (SUPER 7)

Fun FiQ Fact #0102: The Simpsons’ in-universe fictional super hero Radioactive Man shares his name with a Marvel Comics villain, meaning that Disney owns two completely unrelated Radioactive Men!

I don’t talk too much about The Simpsons here on the site, largely because I’ve never been incredibly invested in The Simpsons, and therefore don’t have a ton of the associated merch.  It’s worth noting, however, that one of the things I did during the pandemic was watching through the show’s whole run, at least up to what was current at the time, which gave me a slightly different perspective, I guess.  I still can’t say I have *that* much of an attachment to the franchise, but I’ve certainly narrowed in on the things I like.  Unfortunately, there’s a shortage of Sideshow Bob merch, and they never did anything for Cecil, so my Simpsons-based Frasier set-up is a no-go.  Guess I’ll just have to settle for something else.  Well, I do like super heroes, so I could do worse than Radioactive Man, I suppose.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Radioactive Man is part of Series 3 of Super 7’s The Simpsons Ultimates.  This set wound up being the final assortment of the line, as the Simpsons license has transferred over to Jakks Pacific.  It’s…well, it’s an interesting send-off, I guess.  While Playmates’ old World of Springfield Radioactive Man was based on Rainier Wolfcastle’s interpretation of the role from the episode “Radioactive Man,” Super 7’s version is based directly on the in-universe comic character, which is a nifty switch-up.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  His articulation is…something.  The elbows are restricted, as per usual for Super 7, and the tolerances on the joints are definitely a mixed bag.  On my figure, the shoulders are really tight, while the hips are quite loose, especially the right one, which pops off a lot.  Also, one of his two heads never truly clicks into place on the ball-joint.  QC was definitely very lax on this assortment.  His sculpt is, admittedly, pretty decent.  It translates the design into three dimensions pretty well, and actually manages to look good from multiple angles.  There are two different heads included, one calm, the other with his teeth bared.  The calm one doesn’t click in place quite right, but they’re both at least pretty nice sculpts.  The figure does a bit of mixed media, with a cloth cape piece, which has a wire running through it for posing options.  It sits a little weird on the neck joint, but it’s otherwise decent to look at.  The color work on Radioactive Man is basic, but bright an eye-catching.  There’s minimal paint work, and what’s there is a little on the sloppier side, again because of the clearly lax QC for this round of figures.  There’s a lot of small scratches, fuzziness, and even errant marks that shouldn’t be there, especially given the retail on this thing.  Radioactive Man includes the aforementioned swappable heads, plus six hands (fists, two different right gripping hands, a thumbs up left hand, and a pointing left hand), a Radioactive Man comic, and an American flag (which has 43 stars, for some reason).  Personally, I’d have loved to see some goggles that do nothing, but that wouldn’t actually be right for this one, with him not actually being the Wolfcastle version.  As it stands, though, he does feel a little light.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

While I’ve never been crazy into the Simpsons stuff, the Playmates line was always very tempting to me.  I particularly liked the Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy set, though I never actually owned one.  The Ultimates line has also been tempting me, but the higher price point kept me from jumping in on most of the figures.  I was honestly holding out for a “Cape Fear” Sideshow Bob to be my entry into the line, but with that off the table, I was back to being tempted by this guy.  With the line ending, and uncertainty about availability, I bit the bullet and bought one.  He’s…well, he’s a bit of a mess, honestly.  The general set-up is great, but the QC is *rough*.  I was rather unhappy when I pulled him out of the box.  That said, I’ve had some time to mess with him and let my opinions form more fully, and I do find myself liking him a lot more than I did initially.  There’s still issues, but he’s at least fun to pose and stick on the shelf.

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.

#3512: Captain America

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Equipped with a streamlined new uniform and his Vibranium shield, Captain America leads a team of covert S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives on clandestine missions into the most dangerous corners of the world.”

During this site’s very first year, I got back into Marvel Legends hardcore for one major reason: Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  That was a pretty crazy shift.  And, as of next April, the movie is a decade old.  It tracks, of course, but, you know, it does still feel a little crazy to me.  Whatever the case, ten years means more toys, right?  It sure does.  In fact, we’re even getting them just a little bit early, so that’s not so bad.  Today, I’m taking a look at our latest update to Cap’s stealth look from the movie.  Oh yeah.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America is part of the 2023 assortment of what has become the ongoing Infinity Saga sub-line of Marvel Legends.  I guess we’re just revisiting it every year now.  I got no problems with that, of course, so let’s do it.  We’re finally getting Cap in a standard release assortment for the line, which I’m always happy to see.  Cap is seen here in his S.T.R.I.K.E. suit from the movie’s opening half, which is patterned on his Commander Rogers gear from the comics.  It’s a very good look, and certainly one of the MCU’s most memorable Cap designs.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  His articulation is a lot like the Stealth Cap from 2014.  In fact, it’s identical to the articulation on the Stealth Cap from 2014.  Do you know why?  Because this figure is, aside from the head, the Stealth Cap from 2014.  The thing is, I liked the sculpt a lot in 2014, and it was very good in 2014.  But that was a decade ago and Legends has definitely made some advancements since then.  This figure, with his visible pins, somewhat limiting ab-crunch and waist swivel, and kind of scrawny arms, is…well, he’s dated.  Don’t get me wrong; the sculpt was top of the line when it hit, and it’s not completely outmoded in this day and age…but it could be better.  In 2021, we got a totally upgraded Mark III sculpt to replace the old movie figure, and this is serving as an update for a figure that’s almost as old, relatively speaking.  At least a new upper torso would go a long way.  He does at least get the updated helmeted sculpt from the First Ten Years two-pack; that sculpt is at least a very strong one, with a much better Evans likeness than the last release of this body.  This figure’s paint work is, unsurprisingly, very similar to the last one.  It’s a little cleaner this time, and he gets the printed face, as opposed to the rather thick paint from the last one.  In terms of accessories…we run into some issues again.  He’s got an unmasked head and a shield.  I can’t tell if the head is the same sculpt as the First Ten Years one, or not.  If it is, the paint’s not holding up its end, because the likeness doesn’t feel as strong this time.  It also looks a bit large on the body, which doesn’t help the overall scrawniness feeling.  The shield is the updated version from the two-pack, now in the stealth colors.  It’s a fine piece, but it again seems too large compared to the rest of the figure, making him feel a bit small by comparison.  And that’s it on the accessory front.  The last release included a shield and an alternate head as well, but also had a second set of hands, as well as a Build-A-Figure part, and he was $5 cheaper.  Now, I understand rising costs and all, but given that this figure features at most a single new part, it sucks that he can’t at least get extra hands.  We finally got a pair of gripping hands for Cap with the Infinity War update, so the fact that we’re back to him not being able to grip his shield properly so shortly after that is definitely frustrating.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been waiting for an update to this look for at least five years, and I was very happy to see his name crop up on this list.  And then the figure arrived and…well, it let me down.  It’s very frustrating that after ten years, we don’t actually get an update to this design, and instead get yet another release of a mold that needs to be retired.  This very definitely should have been our chance to finally get a new Cap mold, built from the ground up, rather than continuing to get MCU Caps cobbled together from old parts.  It feels like a real missed opportunity.  Okay, ready for the flip around?  This figure?  I like him.  I know, I tore him to shreds up there, and brought up a ton of issues.  And I stand by those issues.  But, I also acknowledge that, viewed purely on his own, this is still a very good figure.  After getting through my issues with him, I just sort of sat back and took in the figure by himself, with no other figures, and I remembered why I loved this mold in the first place.  I’d still love an actual update (maybe they can do a new one without the shield and helmet and just say it’s him from the beginning of Endgame), but at the end of the day, there are worse things they could have done than re-use these parts.

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.

#3508: Tunnel Rat

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

TUNNEL RAT

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

My GI Joe reviews aren’t *quite* as infrequent these days as they have been, I suppose, but my investment in the franchise’s latest incarnation, Classified, is certainly waning. At this point, I’m just sticking to characters I have a prior attachment to, rather than trying to build up a full lineup. First introduced into the franchise in 1987, and even getting a focus in the animated movie from the same year, Tunnel Rat’s not necessarily one of the faces of the franchise, but he’s become a recurring element of its more paired down core team approaches. And, four years into Classified, he’s getting a 6-inch update.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tunnel Rat is figure 83 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series lineup. They’ve done away with assortments at this point, but he’s been shipping alongside the classic Firefly, as they’re both mass release figures. The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation. Tunnel Rat’s articulation scheme is more or less the same setup we’ve seen on all of the male Classified figures. It does what it does. It can at times make him a little floppy, but that’s just G.I. Joe. Tunnel Rat is sporting an all-new sculpt, courtesy of sculptor Fred Aczon, patterned pretty much directly on his v1 figure. It’s…well, I certainly have some opinions. Let’s discuss just looks first. On a purely aesthetic front, he’s a very nice looking figure. The technical side of the sculpting is definitely solid. That said, the design being so slavishly loyal to the original means that you get a guy who’s clearly patterned on a Viet Nam-era soldier, inexplicably hanging out with high-tech paramilitary squad in 2023. It’s not entirely without adjustments, though. Notably, while the original figure was inspired by Larry Hama, both facially and in terms of footwear (hence the cowboy boots), this one goes for more generic facial features, and grants him more standard issue footwear. While the head looks nice, I can’t help but feel it loses a bit of the personality sported by the original. Still, it’s an overall decent look. So, with the overall positive assessment of the look out of the way, let’s discuss functionality, because oh boy is that a thing. As has become increasingly common for the line, Tunnel Rat’s assembly has all of his gear each as its own separate overlay piece. While this is great in theory, what with the potential of customization and all, in practice it leads to a lot of loose floating pieces, all on top of each other. In Tunnel Rat’s case, his neckerchief, shoulder holster, ammo belt, and satchel are each a separate part, all vying for the rather small space that is his torso. With no way for any of them to peg into place or lock in, they just get mangled into a mess of stuff sliding all over the place every time you try to pose him. In particular, the ammo belt wants to slide off the shoulder, and the holster wants to pop up off chest, and they are going to fight you every time you move. If there was just some way to lock a few pieces in one spot, I think he’d be a lot more fun. His color work is about what you’d expect, being on par with the rest of the line, as well as consistent with the original figure. There’s a little bit of missing coverage on the edges of the bandanna on mine, but he otherwise looks pretty solid. Tunnel Rat is packed with his large rifle (with folding legs at the front and a removable magazine), a pistol, a knife, night vision goggles, his backpack, and two flashlights. While the rifle’s folding legs are more secure than the folding stock on Falcon’s shotgun, the magazine falls out very easily, which is frustrating for posing. Likewise, the backpack again doesn’t contour to the figure’s back at all, meaning it also falls out of place a lot, adding even more to the general not-fun-ness of handling the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Tunnel Rat’s been a particular favorite of mine since I got into the smaller scale Joes in the early ’00s, and he was one of the very first vintage Joes that I added to my collection. I’ve loved his updates for Sigma 6 and Renegades, and he’s been a character I’ve been hoping to see added since Classified launched. This figure is one that I wanted to love so badly…but unfortunately I just don’t. Sure, he looks cool, but he’s absolutely no fun, and that kind of sucks. It’s just another sign that the line’s just really not what I’m looking for, I suppose.

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.

#3448: Battle Mode Blue Beetle

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

BATTLE MODE BLUE BEETLE

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE TOYS)

Warner Brothers really is trying to figure out how the heck to handle DC movies.  It’s crazy, because it really shouldn’t be this hard to figure out making movies about some of the best known pop culture icons on the planet, but it’s honestly pretty classic DC.  They’re really bad at understanding their own stuff.  If they were better at it, they might have not spent their entire marketing budget for the year on the dumpster fire that was The Flash, and might have saved enough to give poor Blue Beetle something more than one proper trailer.  You know, maybe put some support behind the best DC project since the Nolan trilogy.  Heck, the best DC project since Christopher Reeve’s Superman.  Yeah, I said it.  And I stand by it.  After trying desperately for years to find their Iron Man equivalent, DC finally made one in Blue Beetle…and they missed the mark by not actually getting people to see it.  That’s gotta sting.  Well, at least I got the best love letter to the Blue Beetle mythos a fan could ever hope for.  It’s a decent consolation prize.  Oh yeah, and there’s some toys, too.  Not a ton, you know, because the the flubbed marketing thing.  Also, McFarlane.  Still, Blue Beetle.  Calling it a win where I can.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Battle Mode Blue Beetle is one of two Blue Beetle figures released in the main tie-in assortment of McFarlane’s DC Multiverse.  There’s another Blue Beetle with the arm cannon and sword, as well as a deluxe Carapax MegaFig, but I’m gonna look at “Battle Mode” Blue Beetle.  You know, the one that comes with wings and no weapons of any kind.  Like a Battle Mode.  The figure stands about 7 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is the standard McFarlane set-up, with the addition of two swivels on the wings/horns….allegedly.  The wing/horn swivels aren’t actually good for much, but I’ll get to that in a moment.  There’s layers here.  The bulk of this figure’s sculpt is shared with the other Blue Beetle from the assortment.  It makes sense, since it’s always the same core suit in the movie, and he just cycles through different attachments.  Honestly, it’s even a pretty darn good sculpt.  It looks a lot like the movie suit, it has a lot of sharp detailing, and, apart from the arms being a touch too long, it has pretty solid proportions.  Because it’s shared with the other figure, you can also still remove the left forearm, allowing you to swap in the other figure’s cannon arm, if you so choose.  Heck, it even moves pretty well.  The core body, that is.  It’s McFarlane, though, so you’re all waiting for this to take a turn, right?  Well, here’s where that happens.  You know how this figure has Beetle’s wing attachments?  And they’re removable, even?  Yeah, well the horns, which are always visible on the back of the suit when its powered up, are attached to the wings.  So, you can’t give him the horns without the wings…you know, the way he looks for most of the movie’s runtime.  Also, because of the angle that the horns are attached to the wings, you also can’t have the wings posed in anything but a straight out angle, otherwise the horns get caught on each other and bump into his head.  This figure does at least *have* the horns, which is more than can be said for the other figure, which just lacks them outright.  If they’d just been sculpted onto the actual backpack piece, there’d be no issue.  Heck, I’d have settled for a separate set of horn pieces to swap out for the wings, since they’re easily removed.  But, nope, we just get the ones attached to the wings.  That’s annoying.  Moving back to better things, the paint work on this figure is also pretty good.  The base colors are clean, and I love that metallic blue.  Then there’s a bunch of accenting which gives him a little more wear and tear, while also still not going too overboard.  I can certainly appreciate that.  Beetle is packed with six different hands (a pair of fists, a right open gesture, a right pointing, a left thumbs up, and a left peace sign), a standard display stand, and a card.  The hands are fantastic and I love having them.  The stand is surprising because it’s not a flight stand, which seems odd, but it’s better than nothing.  And the card is infuriating because it shows Jaime with the horns but no wings.  You know, the way this figure can never be displayed.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was quite a bit of a Ted Kord fan back when Jaime was first introduced.  And, despite Jaime’s comics origin requiring Ted being shot in the head, I still really liked Jaime.  I followed his first solo series, I followed his back-ups in Booster Gold, and I even followed Generation Lost.  I drew the line at the New 52 incarnation, but that’s a whole other thing.  I love Jaime just as much as Ted, and I was very excited when this movie was announced.  In case you didn’t gather from the intro, I loved the film when I saw it in the theatre as well.  And even though it’s McFarlane, I still wanted one of the figures.  This figure is so frustrating because he’s *so* insanely close to being the best thing McFarlane’s done with DC.  He’s got a solid sculpt, good paint, the awesome extra hands….they just got the horns wrong.  And, like, doubly wrong, because the way they are, you can’t even use the wings right, either.  We’re so close!  Thankfully, there are some people out there doing kits with just the horns as a separate piece, but I really shouldn’t have to resort to third party pieces to get the standard look for a character.  But, hey, it’s Blue Beetle.  I’ll take what I can get.

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.

#3420: Nightwing

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

NIGHTWING

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE TOYS)

Kenner’s Super Powers line is perhaps *the* defining DC toy line, but at three series totaling 34 figures, it’s also a relatively short-lived one.  So, it’s rather surprising that it took so long for anyone to really look at revisiting the line, to fill-out the roster a bit.  For better or for worse, McFarlane has stepped up to bat on that one, producing something that’s supposedly a direct follow-up, but with…mixed results.  I’ve finally gotten around to snagging one of  them for a review, so let’s have a look at Nightwing!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nightwing is part of Series 3 of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, a line that has up to this point been a Walmart-exclusive.  The Series 3 line-up also includes Deathstroke and Wonder Woman.  Nightwing is an interesting case of “new,” since Dick Grayson was in the original Kenner run, but as Robin, rather than Nightwing.  Nightwing is seen here in a modern take on his costume, which is a bit of a bummer for a character that existed during the original line’s run, and therefore has more vintage-appropriate options.  I don’t dislike the design chosen, but it just doesn’t fit the vibe, and feels like a missed opportunity to break out the disco suit.  I suppose that’s not edgy enough for Todd.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  First and foremost, he’s too tall by about a half an inch.  It’s a line-wide problem; for some reason, McFarlane went for a hard 5-inch scale instead of the 4 1/2 inch scale that the vintage line maintained.  It’s not an immense jump, but it’s enough to throw everything off just enough for it to be noticeable, and, in the case of Nightwing, it makes him taller than the vintage Batman.  It hinders the ability to mix this stuff with the old line, which sort of defeats this line’s whole point.  The sculpt looks to be all-new, and it’s honestly better than I expected.  It foregoes a lot of the weird McFarlane-isms, in favor of something cleaner and more like Kenner.  He technically gets more details than he should, since he’s got sculpted lines for his gloves, boots, and trunks, but those actually feel like details Kenner might have added, rather than McFarlane’s propensity for over complicating things.  It’s not perfect; the legs should really have a wider stance (which would also aid him in standing better than the figure actually does), and the knees having visible pins gives him more of a Toy Biz vibe than a proper Kenner one.  I don’t dislike the head, but there’s something about it that feels just a bit too modern.  All of the vintage figures were based on Jose Garcia-Lopez’s style guide, and this doesn’t feel like something he’d draw.  But, it still looks a lot better than McFarlane’s prior Nightwing head sculpts.  The figure’s paint work is basic and clean, which works fine by me.  There’s a little bit of fuzz on some of the edges, but nothing too terrible.  He’s backed with his eskrima sticks, which are just basic cylinders, as they should be; no weird clubs this time around.  As with the rest of the line, Nightwing doesn’t get an action feature.  It would be fun, but it’s the change for which I feel they get the easiest pass.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a very big fan of the vintage line, any form of continuation of Super Powers is something I’ve been hoping to see for a long time.  McFarlane rarely gives me much confidence on really any venture.  So, them being the ones to handle the relaunch didn’t exactly thrill me.  The first two series did nothing for me, but Series 3 showed a bit more promise.  I wound up in a Walmart for other reasons, and they had this guy, so I opted to give him a try.  In fairness to McFarlane, the figure’s better than I expected.  Of course, my expectations were really low, so that’s not saying a ton.  There’s definitely some major issues at play, and I can’t see this line finding its market in its current state.  At least he was decent enough that I don’t feel like I wasted the money I spent on him.

#3309: Jon Snow

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

JON SNOW

GAME OF THRONES (FUNKO)

Wait, a Game of Thrones review….What year is this?  If it’s anything later than 2019, this just doesn’t seem to track.  Huh, I’m getting reports that it’s later than 2019.  Yeah.  Not tracking.  Look, guys, I haven’t bought anything since Game of Thrones went off the air, and I’ve honestly moved past it, but, the thing is, I’ve had this one item just sort of lingering for a while and I feel like I just need to get it done and out of the way finally, so it can just, like, stop staring at me and making me feel bad about my life choices.  Just…okay?  So, please enjoy this Jon Snow review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jon Snow was one of the 9 figures that made up the first (and only) series of the ill-fated smaller Game of Thrones line from Funko, which came and went in the last chunk of 2016.  All of the figures were centered on the Wall, for which they also did a playset.  It was, perhaps not the best choice, seeing as the two seasons that surrounded this set’s release moved the action away from The Wall for the most part, but planning and production times on toys being what they are, I suppose there was only so much Funko could do.  Jon is unquestionably the biggest name of the single carded figures, rivaled only by Tyrion overall, but he was stuck with the big, expensive playset.  Jon was based on his mid-run Night’s Watch look, in the Seasons 2-4 area.  It’s a definitive look for him, and one that tied well with the overall theming of the line.  The figure stands about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Of the four figures I own from this line, Jon’s the best articulated, just in terms of proper clearances and stuff on the joints.  It’s not anything crazy or anything, but he poses well enough for what you’re getting.  His sculpt’s a pretty basic one.  This whole line was sporting much more dialed back sculpts, which honestly felt like an odd choice for a property like GoT, but I myself didn’t hate the concept.  Admittedly, Jon’s got a look that works alright with the style.  The body captures his outfit pretty well, and it’s even got a removable cloak, which gives him some more options.  The head’s certainly got one of the weaker likenesses, though.  The other three all had some sort of distinctive trait of their actors present, but there’s really really not a lot of it Harrington coming through here.  Like his larger counterpart, however, it’s possible this might be more of a paint thing.  The paint on the face is certainly an improvement on the larger figure, but it’s still a little off; those eyebrows are still not Harrington’s.  Otherwise, things are generally okay.  The detailing on the fur of his cloak in particular is quite nice.  Jon’s packed with his sword Longclaw, which is a decent enough little piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked this figure up back in 2017, when he was roughly a year old.  I’d gotten Ygritte, Tormund, and the Wall, and I kind of wanted a Jon to go with them.  So, when I found him at a small game store in College Park called Pandora’s Cube, I went for it.  Now, you’re probably asking yourself “Why wait this many years to actually review him, Ethan?”  Valid question.  Ummm, I forgot about him.  No, really.  I took photos of him, and had actually planned on reviewing him to coincide with the series finale in 2019.  But, in the two years of waiting, and the ensuing excitement surrounding Avengers Endgame and it’s tie-in product around the same time as the GoT finale (to say nothing of my own diminishing interest in the show as the season wrapped up), I just forgot to review him, and post-finale, I had little calling me back.  But, I had the photos, and he was sitting there, and it’s honestly been nagging at me for a bit.  So, you know, there it is.  Yay.  Review done.  Boy, I sure hope there aren’t any other items I’ve been putting off lingering somewhere…