Tag Archives: ReAction

#0327: Jayne Cobb

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

JAYNE COBB

FIREFLY REACTION

Jayne1

Of all the Firefly toylines out there, Funko and Super 7’s Firefly ReAction Figures line is certainly the one with the most characters. It is certainly the best Firefly line in the 3 ¾ inch scale that imitates the vintage Kenner style. This line’s versions of Wash, Zoe and Kaylee can’t be beat! Ummm….okay, so I may be reaching for things to say here. So here’s the sad state of affairs, guys: as I continue with the reviews of the Firefly ReAction Figures, I find the quality to be on a bit of a downward slope. Let’s continue that slope with Jayne Cobb, who is hands down the best hired gun on board the Serenity!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

JayneWilsonJayne Cobb was released in the first series of Firefly ReAction Figures. The figure is about 3 ¾ inches in height, and he features those very familiar 5 points of articulation we’ve all seen before. Like the rest of the series, Jayne has been given a look that sort of epitomizes his look from the show. Here’s where things go off the rails. I’m not going to say that the sculpt is bad per say. It’s just that Funko’s sculptors seem to have based their sculpt on some alternate universe where Jayne was played by David Schwimer instead of Adam Baldwin. I can see the confusion, though. I mean, Adam and David are both… tall, and uhh… Okay, they aren’t really that similar. All joking aside, Jayne has been saddled with the worst sculpt in the series. His proportions are odd, his arms stick out weirdly, his torso’s too flat, and his head is just wrong. Jayne, who should be a rather big and imposing guy, has been reduced to a scrawny, silly looking toy. That hardly does the character justice. To give Funko some credit, the detailing on the boots, gloves, and belt are actually really nice, but they aren’t enough to save the sculpt. The best that can be said about the figure’s paint work is that it’s clean. That being said, it’s not terribly exciting, and the work on the face doesn’t really do much to help the unfortunate sculpt. Jayne comes packed with both a handgun and his very favorite gun, Vera. These are cool, but, like Mal, Jayne has some trouble properly holding them.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Just like the rest of the “post-Wash” Firefly reviews, Jayne was acquired via Amazon. Cutting right to the chase, Jayne’s not a very good figure. That being said, as I pointed out with Kaylee, I can’t bring myself to hate this figure. For all its flaws, it fills me with just a bit of joy to even have these figures on my shelf. Jayne may not be a great figure, but Wash was. It wouldn’t feel right to only have part of the crew on display, so Jayne becomes necessary. It’s also important to keep in mind that this style of figure doesn’t mesh with every character. Jayne’s mean to be a cool looking, big, imposing guy. Let’s all keep in mind that Kenner turned this into this. That’s not a complaint against Chewbacca, it’s a statement that these figures will always look a little goofier than their counterparts. Jayne is not one of my favorite figures, and the first series of Firefly ReAction Figures are not without flaws, but I don’t regret the purchase of a single one of them. Take that for what you will.

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#0326: Kaylee Frye

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

KAYLEE FRYE

FIREFLY REACTION

Kaylee1

You have to give some credit to Funko. They somehow have the ability to get every license ever. Is there some property you’ve been dying to see some toys from? Because odds are good that Funko currently holds the license for that property. I think part of the reason they are able to secure so many licenses is just the sheer amount of product they are able to put out. When they announced their partnership with Super 7 to produce the ReAction line, which is a line of figures done in the style of the 80s Star Wars line from Kenner, they didn’t hold back. They announced over 50 figures from numerous properties, all in one shot. Amongst those properties was fan favorite Firefly. The figures certainly aren’t for everyone, but I was rather excited. Today, I’ll be taking a look at the ship’s every cheerful mechanic, Kaylee!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

kayleeWilsonKaylee was released as part of the first series of Firefly ReAction Figures. She stands just shy of 3 ¾ inches tall and features those same faithful 5 points of articulation as the rest of the ReAction line. She’s dressed in her typical jumpsuit with a colorful shirt underneath look, sort of the inverse of Wash’s look. Kaylee is unfortunately a character that is a bit let down by this particular style of figure. Putting it lightly, the figure isn’t as pretty as Kaylee was on the show. That being said, this isn’t entirely the fault of the sculpt. The sculpt is far from perfect, but it doesn’t do a terrible job of capturing Kaylee. One notable thing: Kaylee is far too skinny. It’s a fairly known fact that Joss Whedon had actress Jewel Staite put on a little bit of weight so that she would, in his words, “look like she enjoyed a cheeseburger occasionally.” Making her too skinny sort of robs the figure of character. At first glance, the worst aspect of the sculpt is the head, which bears next to no resemblance to actress Jewel Staite. Further examination reveals that it’s not the sculpt that is the issue, but rather the paint. The head’s still a little off, but it’s not as terrible as the paint would leave you to believe. The main issue with the paint work on the figure, particularly the head, is misalignment. Looking at the figure’s face, it’s pretty clear that the eyes are meant to sit down a bit lower. The misplacement ends up making her look rather strange. The rest of the paint isn’t terrible, but there are numerous areas where it seems the paint has just slightly missed its mark. Like Zoe, the paint on the figure looks alright as a whole, but examining each piece it looks pretty bad. Kaylee’s only accessory is a small wrench. I guess it makes some sense, since she’s a mechanic, but she wasn’t actually seen carrying a wrench on many occasions. What’s more, the figure can’t even really hold it, making it even more pointless. I can appreciate Funko’s movement to give the figure a little more value, but I feel like something like the box with the strawberry or her paper umbrella from the pilot might have made for more appropriate pieces.

Kaylee2 Kaylee3

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Kaylee from Amazon, at the same time as the rest of the first series (sans Wash). Kaylee was my second favorite character on the show, after Wash, so this was a figure I was kind of looking forward to. Sadly, I think Kaylee is the figure I was most let down by in this first series. She’s not the worst in the series (I’ll get to that tomorrow), but she isn’t as good as she could be. To be fair, a decent coat of paint would do a lot to redeem the figure, so it could be possible to make the figure a little better if you want to put the effort in. All that being said, I can’t help but enjoy the figure. It’s irrational, but there it is.

 

#0325: Zoe Washburne

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

ZOE WASHBURNE

FIREFLY REACTION

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The vintage 3 ¾ inch style has recently come back into fashion. Leading the charge are Funko and Super 7, with their ReAction Figures. They started the line off by releasing the unreleased Kenner Alien figures, and have moved onto their own unique sculpts based on other properties. Among the first properties to be released in the style was Joss Whedon’s Firefly. So far, I’ve looked at the ship’s captain Malcolm Reynolds and the pilot Hoban “Wash” Washburne. Today, I’ll be taking a look at Mal’s right-hand (wo)man and Wash’s wife, Zoe Washburne.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ZoeWilsonZoe is another figure from the first series of Firefly ReAction Figures. She’s roughly 3 ¾ inches tall and features the classic 5 points of articulation. Like Mal, Zoe had a fairly consistent look over the course of the series, with mostly just the colors changing from episode to episode. Zoe features a totally unique sculpt. It’s a pretty decent sculpt, and it probably captures the Kenner style the best of all the figures in the series. The figure bears a passing resemblance to Gina Torres, which I suppose fits the style of the line. The face does seem just a slight bit too thin, but it isn’t terrible. It would also be nice if the hair allowed for a bit more movement, but this is actually a complaint about true vintage Kenner figures. The paint on Zoe is where things fall apart a bit. Viewed as a whole, it’s not bad, but it’s not great. Close examination brings out some serious issues of bleed over as well as a bit of slop here and there. The biggest issue is the figure’s hairline, which is a total miss. It looks like the paint app for her skin was just totally misaligned, which leaves it bleeding pretty heavily into what’s supposed to be her hair. Her eyes and eyebrows seem to be shifted a tad upward too, which means they don’t quite line up with the sculpt. Another issue, which I didn’t even notice at first, is that they’ve painted the upper part of her torso incorrectly. It should be done in a flesh tone to match the rest of her skin, but they’ve accidentally painted it the same color as her leather vest, making it look like she’s got another shirt underneath the green one. If you don’t know it’s supposed to be that way, it’s not too bad, but it looks odd once you’ve seen what it should look like. Otherwise, the paint is fine, I guess. Zoe includes a shotgun, which is pretty signature to the character. Her grip isn’t quite right to hold it, but it’s no worse than how Mal holds his revolver.

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THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Zoe was purchased along with the rest of the series from Amazon. Zoe’s definitely in my top three for favorite characters on the show (after Wash and Kaylee), so I definitely wanted her to be a good figure. The sculpt isn’t bad, but the paint work is a serious letdown. With a better paintjob, I really think this could have been one of the best figures in the line. As it is now, I think it’s still the second best, after Wash, but it’s nowhere near the quality of that figure. She’s not a bad figure by any means, but she could be better.

#0324: Malcolm Reynolds

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

MALCOLM REYNOLDS

FIREFLY REACTION

Mal1

Back in the 80s, the toymakers at Kenner made a serious impact on the action figure market when they introduced their line of 3 ¾ inch figures based on Star Wars. The scale proved to be a huge hit, maintaining itself as one of the industry standards for over 30 years. Moreover, the style of the vintage Star Wars figures is quite popular with many collectors, those being the figures that brought many of them into the collecting world. Funko and Super 7 have recently joined forces to try and recapture that style and bring it to just about every property imaginable. One set of figures I was most excited for was the figures from Joss Whedon’s cult favorite Firefly. I recently reviewed plucky pilot Wash, and I liked him enough to pick up the rest of the first series. I’ll be kicking things off with Captain Tightpants himself, Malcom Reynolds.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

MalWilsonLike Wash, Mal was released as part of the first series of Firefly ReAction Figures. He is 3 ¾ inches tall and features the old-faithful 5 points of articulation. Mal had a fairly consistent look over the course of the series, though it should be noted that Funko have chosen to depict him without his signature Brown Coat. There is an exclusive version that features a cloth one, but the regular release is sans coat. Mal features a sculpt that is completely unique to this figure. It’s an alright sculpt. He bears a passing resemblance to Nathan Fillion, but it wouldn’t be very easy to place him if he weren’t in the typical Mal get-up. The weakest point of Mal’s sculpt is definitely his torso, which is too flat to properly capture the Kenner style. It really throws the rest of the figure off, which is a shame. It seems odd to say this, but the legs are actually the best work on the figure. I can’t help but look at those and see a set of vintage Kenner legs, so kudos to Funko for that. The paintwork on Mal is in keeping with the Kenner style that Funko’s going for, which is certainly good. It’s simplistic, but it’s nice and clean. All the paint apps seem to be right where they should be. Mal’s sole accessory is his signature revolver, molded in a brownish yellow.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After I picked up Wash, I pretty much immediately went ahead and ordered the rest of the first series from Amazon. Being totally honest, Mal isn’t quite up to the standards set by Wash. He lacks a lot of the character that was present in that figure, which makes this figure a little more bland overall. That being said, he isn’t a bad figure. If you’re into this style, you could do a lot worse than to pick up this figure.

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#0312: Hoban Washburne

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

HOBAN WASHBURNE

FIREFLY REACTION

Wash1

Back in January, I took a look at the first entry in the ReAction Figures line, produced jointly by Funko and Super 7. Those first figures were based on the unreleased prototypes from Kenner’s ALIEN line. When Funko stepped in to handle distribution of Super 7’s line, they also brought with them their vast catalogue of movie and TV licenses. Together, Funko and Super 7 have launched a wide variety of figures under the ReAction banner, spanning several decades of properties, all in the vintage style. One of the properties I was most excited for was Joss Whedon’s Firefly, a show that, up until now, has been mostly lacking in action figures. The Firefly figures from the ReAction line have just been released, and I picked up my personal favorite character, Hoban Washburne, better known as Wash!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

WashWilsonWash is part of the first series of Firefly ReAction Figures. Wash is 3 ¾ inches in height and features the standard 5 points of articulation. Wash sported many looks over the course of the series, so there’s a lot to choose from. He’s depicted here in a brown jumpsuit with a blue and green Hawaiian over it. I don’t know exactly which episode he wears this combo in, but it suits the character perfectly. This is exactly what comes to mind when I think of the character. Unlike the ALIEN figures, which were previously existing sculpts, the Firefly figures are brand-new sculpts from Super 7 and Funko. Wash’s sculpt appears to be unique to him. It’s a pretty good sculpt, given the style they were going for. I was surprised by how well they captured Alan Tudyk’s likeness, given the figure’s more simple nature. The sculpt’s weak point is the figure’s torso, which just seems far too flat and devoid of any actual body shape. It’s not horrible, but it’s a bit distracting. Overall, the sculpt actually reminds me of Fisher Price’s Adventure People line, rather than the vintage Star Wars look they were going for. The lines are from the same time period and they are fairly similar, but there are some discerning details. Wash’s paint is in keeping with the simplistic look that Funko and Super 7 are going for, without being too simple. Everything looks rather clean, and he’s got some pretty great detailing on the Hawaiian shirt. The eyes being the same color as the eyebrows caught me off guard, but it’s actually in keeping with the Kenner style. Wash includes two small dinosaurs: a T-Rex and a stegosaurs. I can’t think of a better set of accessories for the character, and they fit perfectly in his hands. His is an evil laugh!

Wash2 Wash3

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned above, Wash was my favorite character from the show, by far. I was always quite bummed that he wasn’t amongst the small selection of characters to receive a figure in the Serenity line. I was overjoyed to hear he would be amongst the first set of figures Funko would be releasing. When my local comicbook store, Cosmic Comix, received the first series of figures, Wash was the one I had to get. The figure is really quite cool in person, and I can’t wait to get the rest of the crew. I know that this style isn’t for everyone, but I really hope that Funko sees fit to release a second series with Simon, River, Book, and Inara!

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#0087: The Alien

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

ALIEN

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 9 of my post-Christmas Review, and it’s my final review of the Alien ReAction line by Funko.  If you haven’t read my previous reviews of the line and you want a little bit of backstory, go here to my review of Ripley.

I’ve saved the best for last, with this one.  Today, I’ll be looking at the title character, the Big Chap, The Alien himself.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien is, of course, part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  The Alien only really has the one look once it’s fully grown, and that’s the look depicted here.  The Alien stands closer to 4 inches, making him a bit taller than the rest of the figures in the line, and he’s got 6 points of articulation.   While it’s fairly obviously still a sculpt from the late 70s, it’s a pretty good one.  I’d say that the alien is probably on par with Kane sculpt-wise.  The details look to correspond pretty well to the design of the creature from the movie.  The clear head dome is removable, which allows you to see the head underneath and also allows you to operate the Alien’s inner mouth.  The inner mouth works nice and smoothly, when you push down the lever-thing.  There’s not much paint to speak of on the Alien.  His teeth are painted silver, and there’s a bit of paint denoting a few of the ridges underneath of the dome.   All of the paintwork is clean, with no real slop.  The alien has no accessories, but given that it’s a larger and more complex figure than the others, that’s perfectly alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like all the others in the first wave, this bad boy was a gift from my superbly amazingly supportive parents.  He’s probably the best figure in the series, which is good, because he’s probably the most important.

All in all, this was a really cool line of figures.  I’d really like to see Funko tackle another series.  It’d be really cool to get Parker, Lambert and Brett so we can finally have the whole crew.  And would it be too much to ask for a set of ALIENS figures to go with them?

#0086: Ash

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

ASH

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 8 of my post-Christmas review, and I’m continuing my reviews of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  If this is the first of the ReAction reviews you’ve read, go here to check out my review of Ripley, which explains the background of the line.  Today, I’m looking at the Nostromo’s science officer Ash.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ash here was a part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  Ash has two looks over the course of the film, but they’ve depicted him here in the more formal uniform he wears for the majority of his time in the film.  Ash stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Ash’s sculpt is pretty on par with the rest of the line.  It’s not bad, just simplistic, which isn’t much of a surprise, given when the figure was sculpted.  All the important details are present, but he can seem a bit bland at times.  The likeness on the head sculpt is iffy at best, but it bears a passing resemblance to Ian Holm, which is about as much as you can ask of a figure of the time.  As with the rest of the wave, Ash features a rather simplistic paint scheme.  It’s all pretty well done, and looks pretty good.  I do have one complaint, though.  They’ve painted Ash’s hair black, while Ian Holm looked to have grey hair in the film.  The black hair was also present on Kenner’s prototype, so perhaps that’s what the studio wanted.  Ash also includes the motion detector that he builds to track the film’s alien.  Like with the flamethrower, it seems a bit on the small side, but it fits the style of the line, so that’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the rest of the series, I received Ash as a (slightly late) Christmas gift from way-too-supportive-of-my-crazy-habits parents.  Ash probably takes second to last place as far as my line-up of the wave goes, but that’s not a bad thing.  He just suffers from a slightly blander design than, say, the Alien or Kane in his space suit.  Like Dallas, Ash adds a lot to the wave as a whole, and I’m sure will go over well with fans of the film.

#0085: Kane

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

KANE

ALIEN REACTION

For Day 7 of my post-Christmas Review, I’ll be taking a look at another figure from the first wave of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  For the details of how this line came to be, go ahead and read up about it in my review of Ripley.

Today, I’ll be looking at the Alien’s first true victim, Kane.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane was part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction series.  Kane has a few looks over the course of the film, but they decided to depict him in his space suit from the scenes where the crew explores the planet.  It’s probably the best choice for a character like Kane, as most of his key scenes occur on the planet surface.  Kane stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Kane probably has the best sculpt in the line, and it’s a pretty good sculpt even by today’s standards.  The suit has texturing on pretty much every surface of the figure, which is certainly impressive.  While the facial likeness isn’t anything amazing, I was actually surprised by how much of John Hurt I could see in it, which is really neat.  The paint is once again on the simple side, but it does its job, and looks appropriate to what the figure’s going for.  Kane’s only real accessory is his removable helmet, which is really cool.  It clicks on well and stays in place without much issue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Ripley and Dallas, Kane was a gift from my super awesome parents.  He’s definitely a top contender for best in the wave, and he’s just a lot of fun in general.  I’m hopeful that Funko decides to continue the line so that we can get Lambert and Dallas in their accompanying space suits.  I feel like Kane’s a figure that you could enjoy even if you aren’t a big fan of the style.

#0084: Dallas

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

CAPTAIN DALLAS

ALIEN REACTION

Day 6 of my post-Christmas Review!  Continuing the theme from yesterday, it’s the next figure from the first wave of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  For the full story on how the line came to be, check out my review of Ripley.

Today’s figure is the Nostromo’s  ill-fated captain, Dallas.  Let’s see what that’s about!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dallas was released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  He’s depicted in his jacketed look he sports for a fair bit of the film.  He stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Like with Ripley, he doesn’t have a super detailed sculpt, but since it’s a sculpt from 1979, that’s okay.  Of all the sculpts in the line, I feel that Dallas’s is the most dated looking.  The details are all very smooth, and the likeness really isn’t there.  Out of context, people would probably have a difficult time saying who he was.  That’s not to say the sculpt doesn’t have its merits.  The texturing on his jacket looks really good, and is more intricate than I would have expected from a figure of the time.  The paint is once again on the simplistic side, but it’s not badly done.  He has lettering on the back of his coat, which reads “NOSTROMO.”  It’s a really nice touch, and could have been overlooked, so I really appreciate it.  Lastly, Dallas includes the same flamethrower that came with Ripley.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Ripley and the rest of the wave, Dallas was a gift from my incredibly awesome parents.  He’s probably my least favorite in the set, but that’s not a bad thing.  I just like him less than some of the cooler figures.  Still, he looks great with the rest of the set, and he’s a cool figure if you’re a fan of the movie or of figures in this style.

#0083: Ripley

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

RIPLEY

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 5 of the post-Christmas Review, where I cover the figures I received during the past holiday season.  I’ve looked at one figure from the world of ALIEN before, but for Christmas I received a full set of Funko’s new Alien ReAction line.

The story behind this line is that back in 1979, when ALIEN was released, Kenner acquired the license to produce a line of figures similar to their Star Wars line.  They only released two items, a board game and a large scale version of the Alien from the film.  The Alien was pulled from shelves when it began scaring children, and when that happened, Kenner thought better of their plan to make toys from an R-rated horror film and scrapped their planned 3 ¾ inch line.  The prototypes had been shown and were well known in the toy community as one of the holy grails of unproduced figures.

Flash forward 35 years.  A small company by the name of Super 7 acquired the original prototypes and the license to make them and began taking orders for a fairly small run of the figures.  A few months later, there was a significant amount of buzz surrounding them, and it looked like they might become a very difficult to get item.  But all was well!  Longtime toymaker Funko swooped in to save the day, and partnered with Super 7 to get the figures a wide release!

So, after 35 years of waiting, the first wave of ALIEN Figures has been released.  Today, I’ll be looking at the film’s heroine, Ripley.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So, Ripley was obviously released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  Ripley had a few looks in the movie, but she’s shown here in her jumpsuit that she wears for the majority of the film.  She stands about 3 ¾ inches even and she has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t super detailed, but given that it was actually sculpted in ’79, I’m gonna cut it some serious slack.  It’s not bad for the time period, though it’s difficult to see much of Sigourney Weaver in the face.  The jumpsuit looks about right for what she wore, although it doesn’t have some of the finer details that the one in the movie did.  The paint is also on the simple side, but it’s to be expected.  All of the lines are clean, and there’s no real slop to speak of, so it’s well applied.  Quite frankly, anything more detailed would look strange on this sculpt.  Ripley also includes the flamethrower she carries at the end of the film.  It’s a little bit undersized, but that once again fits the aesthetic that the figure is attempting to capture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ripley, along with the rest of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line, was a gift from my awesome parents.  They missed being here in time for Christmas, but they arrived shortly after, and they were certainly worth the wait.

This isn’t a figure that’s going to appeal to everyone.  You’ve definitely got to have a love of the style of figure that this represents.  But, it’s a perfect style for figures from this movie, in my opinion.  It captures the feel of the time period perfectly.  Ripley may not be a perfect representation of Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal, but it’s definitely a fun little figure!