Tag Archives: Rocketeer

#3493: The Rocketeer

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

THE ROCKETEER

LONGBOX HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

“The Rocketeer is Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a mysterious jetpack that allows him to fly. His adventures are set in the Los Angeles and New York of 1938 as he battles Nazis and monsters!

Published in 1982 by reknowned writer/artist Dave Stevens, The Rocketeer is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes from the 1930 through the 1950s. Stevens gave it a retro, nostalgic feel influenced by the king of the Rocket Men and Commando Cody movie serials, along with pinup diva Bettie Page as the inspiration for Cliff’s girlfriend, Betty.”

Before being an underrated gem of a movie in 1990, The Rocketeer was an underrated gem of a comic book.  Dave Stevens’ creation began as a back-up feature to Mike Grell’s Starslayer in 1982, eventually growing into its own standalone property, and gaining a lot of critical success.  The troubles of independent comic publishers and Stevens’ own perfectionism meant that it was a slow-rolling and ultimately rather short-lived series, but it nevertheless made an impact on the pop culture landscape.  It was without much in the way of merchandising during its first few decades of existence, but in the last ten years or so, there’s been an upswing.  It’s largely been movie-based, of course, but that changes today, with the first offering from Fresh Monkey Fiction’s Longbox Heroes!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Rocketeer is part of the the launch line-up of Longbox Heroes, a Big Bad Toystore-exclusive line of independent comics figures.  Where FMF’s prior Amazing Heroes line was clearly patterned on Secret Wars, Longbox Heroes is inspired by the *other* big ’80s superhero toyline, Super Powers. The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation, gaining an extra swivel point at each knee over his Kenner ancestors. This is partly due to his modular construction, which, much like Amazing Heroes, allows all of the figures in this line to have their parts swapped at the joints. All of the figures in the Longbox Heroes line were sculpted by Jason “Toyotter” Geyer, who has been a major fixture of the online toy news and toy archiving scene since the ’90s, notably running the Super Powers Archive, amongst other things, making him a natural choice for such a project. His sculpt for Cliff is honestly pretty perfect, really. It’s very cleanly detailed, and really captures the Dave Stevens illustrations of the character, getting all of his important design elements, while also very much feeling like it’s a proper vintage Kenner sculpt. The one area where this guy is a little more removed from a Kenner offering us the paint work. He’s entirely painted, which isn’t *quite* the way they would have done it. That said, it’s a pretty solid paint job. There’s a spot of black in the wrong place on his legs, and some of the edges are a little fuzzy, but generally things look alright. Cliff is packed with his pistol (patterned on the Mauser C96, which was also the basis for Han Solo’s gun), and a Longbox Heroes display stand. Given the interchangeability angle, an unmasked head would have been cool, but not really expected given the style.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Super Powers is one of my very favorite toylines, the Rocketeer is one of my favorite comic/movie characters, and I really love Amazing Heroes, so there was pretty much no way that I was missing out on this guy.  As such, I jumped on his pre-order through BBTS pretty quickly.  This guy is a ton of fun, and a fantastic throwback to the Super Powers style.  I can’t wait to get the rest of the figures I’ve got pre-ordered.

#2851: The Rocketeer

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

THE ROCKETEER

THE ROCKETEER (MEGO)

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, that 1990’s The Rocketeer is one of my favorite movies, and truly an underappreciated gem.  The film’s failure at the box office led to Disney kind of burying it for a while, but in the last decade they’ve started to get a little more serious about licensing it out.  Funko got us a few different styles of him in the 2013-2014 area, which was cool, but then it kind of quieted down again.  There’s a bit of an uptick again, though, and included in that uptick is a figure from Mego, who are themselves in something of an uptick, I suppose.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Rocketeer is part of Mego’s line of Movie-based figures.  It’s a collection of all sorts of different film characters, and that’s really the only way someone like the Rocketeer is ever getting a chance at a release.  He started showing up around the spring of this year through specialty stores, as well as the handful of Targets that are still carrying Megos.  The figure stands about 8 inches tall and he has 16 points of articulation.  He’s built on the basic improved Type 2 body, which serves as the basis for most of their output.  As a rather average build sort of guy, Cliff makes perfect sense for this body.  Cliff gets an all-new head sculpt, sporting his distinctive helmet.  It captures the helmet’s look pretty closely, while still filtering somewhat through the usual Mego style, just so it doesn’t look *too* out of place.  It’s a nice piece, with a fun, sleek retro feel to it.  The paint work on the head is pretty straight forward; the majority is a metallic bronze, with some black detailing for the eyes and mouth.  It’s basic, but it’s clean, and it works.  Cliff’s outfit is made up of five different pieces, including the jacket, pants, boots, and jetpack.  The jacket and pants are decently tailored.  They’re a little bulky, as is the usual Mego way, but they look alright for the scale and style.  The boots are re-used from the original Mego Will Scarlet figure.  They’re not a perfect match for his boots from the movie, but they work well enough, I guess. The jetpack is all-new, and it’s a nice replica of the one from the movie.  It’s a little hard to get on his back, because the strap is very tight, but once it’s in place, it does look really nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m always a sucker for Rocketeer merchandise, but it’s not always very easy to find.  Mego and The Rocketeer are a pretty solid match of styles, and I was definitely on the look out.  Not that I was really expecting to find him in person, or anything, since none of the stores nearby tend to carry such things.

FYI, we’re going into post-Jess territory here.  This guy was the last piece of the trip out to Target that brought me Major Bludd and the Plastic Patroller, though he’s not actually from the *same* Target, but rather another Target we all stopped at on the way back after the first Target didn’t have something Cheyenne was looking for.  Jess and I didn’t talk about The Rocketeer a lot or anything, but we watched it a few times together, and she did buy me one of my other Rocketeer figures.  But, if I’m sticking to attaching my own projections and feelings to what are likely unrelated events, I suppose it did mean something to me that I found three figures I actually wanted, on one trip, despite the general barren nature of retail these days.  It was at least a nice little pick me up in light of the worst week of my life.  It’s a small victory, but the small victories are what keep me going these days.

#0701: Rocketeer

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

THE ROCKETEER

THE ROCKETEER: LEGACY COLLECTION (FUNKO)

RocketeerL1

I love 1990’s The Rocketeer. It’s legit one of my favorite comicbook movies ever.  Just everything about it is so much fun, and it’s lead character, Cliff Secord, aka The Rocketeer, has a really, really cool design.  Unfortunately, the movie was a box office flop, so rather than being yet another entry in the Disney merchandising giant, and getting tons of cool toys, it was instead buried for many years.  However, it’s built up quite a cult following in the last few years, which seems to have made it marketable again.  Funko, masters of getting every license ever, have released him in just about every style of figure they offer, including their 6-inch Legacy line, designed to compete with Hasbro’s Star Wars: The Black Series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RocketeerL2The Rocketeer is figure 1 in the The Rocketeer: Legacy Collection.  I’d place pretty good money on him being the only figure this line sees, but maybe Funko will pull a surprise out of their hats.  Time will tell.  Though the line was designed to compete with The Black Series, the figure is actually at a slightly larger scale, standing just shy of 6 ½ inches tall.  The figure also features 26 points of articulation.  Some of the joints are a little tougher to move than others, but movement is decent overall.  Structurally, this guy’s an all-new sculpt.  It’s a pretty good one, to be fair, though it isn’t perfect.  For one thing, the sculpt seems to favor the appearance of the basic standing over any other pose, meaning he looks slightly off in certain poses.  Also, I’m not sure what’s going on with the cut joints at the hips, but man do they look weird.  Like, I feel like Funko was trying to hide the joints a bit, but they ended up being more obvious than they would have been if they’d just been straight cuts.  The biggest issue is the helmet, though.  It’s not bad; in fact, it’s really good; but there’s something about it that seems just a bit off-kilter, almost like someone leaned on the mold while it was cooling.  It’s really close, but just shy of being right.  Those assorted issues aside, the sculpt actually shows off some very nice work, especially in terms of proportions and finer detailing.  The signature rocket is handled exquisitely, and is a near-perfect match for the prop from the movie. The paintwork on the Rocketeer is pretty decently handled.  There’s no real slop to speak of, and there’s even a nice wash on the pants to help bring out the details.  The figure includes his signature Mauser C96, as well as an un-helmeted head.  The head is a decent enough sculpt, with more than a passing resemblance to actor Billy Campbell (who was himself the near spitting image of the comics version of Cliff).  The paint is a little basic, but it’s not bad. Also, while some of the promo pics show the front of the jacket and the jetpack as removable, they don’t appear to be so on the final figure.  Not a big deal for me, but just worthy of noting.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ended up snagging this guy at a somewhat out of the way Toys R Us, after a few weeks of searching.  Seems there was a fair bit of demand for this guy.  I’m really glad I found one.  The figure certainly isn’t without issue, but I’m just glad to have an awesome Rocketeer figure after all these years!

RocketeerL3

#0470: Rocketeer

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

ROCKETEER

SCIENCE FICTION VINYL FIGURES

Movie-making is a pretty competitive business. Even if a movie does manage do get made, getting it viewed by an audience can be a different story. Many movies never really see the audience they deserve and will forever be woefully underrated. One of my favorite underrated movies is The Rocketeer. The Rocketeer was a movie ahead of its time. It’s a pulp-style super hero movie that would be readily at home with the current brand of Marvel Studios movies. Sadly, in the 1990, it wasn’t what audiences were looking for, and it’s at best a cult favorite. Toys for the movie have been scarce over the years, but Funko picked up the license a few years ago and they’ve been using it all over the place.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Rocketeer was released as part of the first assortment of Science Fiction Vinyl Figures from Funko. He doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the more iconic sci-fi characters in the assortment, but I’m hardly going to complain about that. The Rocketeer is one of the rarest figures in the series, at a ratio of 1:72. Seems like this guy’s only going to be seen by the most dedicated of Rocketeer fans. The figure is about 2 ¾ inches tall and features no articulation. He has a totally unique sculpt and it’s probably the best in the series. It’s cleanly sculpted, there’s lots of great detail work, and everything is very well defined. The character’s design has been tweaked to fit the overall style of the line, but like Robby, he hasn’t had to be changed too much. The figure is posed in the most extreme of the poses we’ve seen on the figures reviewed here. It’s the character’s signature pose, seen right before the movie’s climactic battle as he stands in front of the American flag. It’s a perfect pose for the character and it’s been translated really well. Rocketeer’s paint is pretty good; nothing fantastic, but solid work. All of the colors are on the mark and everything cleanly applied with no real slop or bleed over. The lack of any real issues is actually really good for Funko, who can sometimes have some issues with quality control on their stuff.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Rocketeer was gotten at the same time as Tron, while I was out shopping with Super Awesome Girlfriend. Seeing as the other three figures I got were common figures, I figure I didn’t have much of a chance at getting this guy. However, Super Awesome Girlfriend insisted on picking out the two I was going to buy, and the Rocketeer was one of them (she’s just the best). To say I was thrilled is an understatement. The Rocketeer is a fantastic figure, marred only by the fact that he’s so freaking rare.

#0328: The Rocketeer

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

ROCKETEER

ROCKETEER REACTION

Rocketeer1

Yesterday, I defended the ReAction line in spite of its flaws. It might be easy for you, the reader, to look at the Jayne figure I examined yesterday and ask why I would try to defend a line that produced such a figure. That’s because I knew that today’s figure was up next.

1990’s The Rocketeer is one of my favorite movies. It’s a wonderful example of a super hero movie that predated the super hero boom by just a few years. Its director, Joe Johnson, even went on to direct Captain America: The First Avenger, another of my favorites. Sadly, The Rocketeer is at best a cult favorite, and it has been mostly left out in terms of toys. When Funko announced their list of ReAction Figures, the Rocketeer was the one I wanted the most. Now it’s here, so let’s see how it turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

RocketeerWilsonThe Rocketeer was his own release under the ReAction banner. He’s really the only figure I could see Funko offering, so that’s fair. I’d still like a Lothar figure, but I’m weird. The Rocketeer is roughly 3 ¾ inches in height and he has the same 5 points of articulation we’ve seen on the rest of the line. He’s based on the movie version of the character, but this is one of those rare instances where it works just as well as a comic version. The sculpt on the figure is overall very impressive. It’s not perfect. The decision to make the helmet removable goes against the Kenner style, though it’s hard to say if they would have stuck to that in the case of someone like Cliff Secord, who did take his helmet off a lot. The underlying unmasked head seems a bit vertically squashed, but it’s not terrible. I doubt anyone is planning to display him without the helmet. The helmet is a very nice sculpt, even if it is a little bit oversized. The Rocketeer is one of the few ReAction figures not to have any issues with the sculpt being too flat, which is definitely a good thing. The details on the costume are quite nice, and they fit the style very well. The jetpack is another separate piece, and it’s a really great sculpt. There’s lots of nice details, and they even sculpted the little piece of gum on the back! The paint work on Cliff is okay, not amazing. It’s mostly clean, but there are a few areas of bleed over here and there. There’s also a small issue with paint transfer from the hands to the thighs. It scratches back off, but it’s annoying. The Rocketeer includes no extra accessories, but since the helmet and jetpack are packed separately, that’s not really a bad thing.

Rocketeer2 Rocketeer4 Rocketeer3

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When I first heard about the Rocketeer figure, I was instantly on board for getting the figure. The figure’s release actually ended up sneaking up on me a bit. I ended up getting him along with the remainder of the Firefly ReAction Figures from Amazon. Of the figures I received in that shipment, Rocketeer is far and away my favorite. After the bit of a descent in quality seen with the Firefly figures, this figure is a real pick me up for the line. He has his flaws, but I think he really shows the true potential of this line. If Funko can manage to make more figures in the vein of this one, I think the ReAction line can really take off.

Rocketeer5