Tag Archives: Target Exclusive

#3687: R5-D4, BD-72, & Pit Droids

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

R5-D4, BD-72, & PIT DROIDS

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Peli Motto makes quick work of refueling and repairing battered ships with the help of R5-D4, BD-72, and a team of hyperactive pit droids.”

There’s a lot of cool things going for Star Wars as a concept, but one of the most infinitely marketable pieces has to be the droids. There’s just so many models, and there’s a bunch of unique names thrown at the models, and when they introduce new models, we get to see them get worked into the background with other, older models, and that’s cool too. And there are so many toy possibilities, too, which works out very well for me, a toy collector. The titular character from The Mandalorian having a distrust of droids at the outset did limit the droids he interacted with initially (barring, of course, IG-11, whose just too awesome to be limited), but they’ve worked their way into the show as it’s progressed, and there’s even been enough of them to warrant a whole special pack. How about that?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

R5-D4, BD-72, and the Pit Droids are a Target-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series offering, which started showing up mid to late summer.

First and foremost, we’ve got the one “proper” figure of the set, R5. R5’s reappearance on the show was a fun little touch, since we’d seen nothing of the little guy since his motivator blew in A New Hope. Obviously, with stuff still happening on Tatooine, it’s not the craziest thing for him to reappear, but I don’t know if anyone was expecting him to actually get to go on a full-fledged mission with Mando.  R5 got a GameStop-exclusive Black Series release back in 2017, but that was on the old, smaller Astromech body.  Since then, of course, Hasbro has totally redone the Astromech, and we actually got an updated R5 on that body last year as a single.  This one is more or less the same as that one, albeit with a few minor differences.  Regardless of release, he’s a new head on the body of R2, which is pretty typical of an R5 (you know, unless he’s the GREATEST R5 FIGURE OF ALL TIME).  It’s a pretty solid mold on its own, and the new head makes it nice and distinctly different from the prior R2.  The one structural difference between this figure and the single is that his motivator panel, removable on the single, is new glued in place.  His paint work is pretty much the same, and is likewise pretty similar to the R2, just with some adjusted colors.  Application is generally pretty clean, which is cool.  I’ll be honest, though, I kind of miss the shiny silver sticker from the GameStop one, as hokey as it might have been.  In terms of accessories, R5 gets the same five attachments as his single release (borrowed from the R2 mold), as well as brand new swappable side panels featuring the jet boosters used by R5 in The Mandalorian.  Presumably, we will at some point see these get used on some form of R2 re-release, since it was the only notable attachment missing from the last one.

Since first debuting as a pack-in figure with the original Cal Kestis figure in 2019, we’ve had our fair share of BD droids.  Most of them have actually just been BD-1, but the BD that appears in The Mandalorian is officially a different droid, BD-72, making this officially a new character.  The mold’s a straight re-use, which is fair enough, because it’s quite a nice one, being surprisingly poseable *and* surprisingly stable for a mold of its size.  It’s got a new deco, which is fairly basic, but heavier on the blues than the original.

Now we get to the real meat of the set.  Look, R5 and BD are all well and good, but the real reason anyone’s buying this $40 set isn’t for the two minor tweaks to prior releases; no it’s for the Pit Droids!  Though we’ve technically gotten a Black Series Pit Droid once before, it was in one of the Disney Parks-exclusive multipacks, which is far from the most convenient way to get a new mold.  Thankfully, this set makes up for it, with two whole Pit Droids, each in their own color scheme!  Yay!  The figures both stand 4 inches tall and they have 23 points of articulation.  They’re quite poseable, and I’m glad their smaller size doesn’t make them too spindly to allow for that.  The sculpt is a solid recreation of the design from the movies and shows, and definitely looks he part of the Pit Droid.  It’s a nice, clean visual, and it’s translated well here.  But, one of the coolest things about the Pit Droids is how they fold up when not in use.  Their smaller figures could never quite capture that, but these ones actually do!  Sure, it’s a little fiddly to get them there (and there’s no instructions like a Transformer would get), but you can get a surprisingly accurate folded up look out of these two.  In terms of coloring, we get one Pit Droid in tan, and the other in maroon.  The bulk of the coloring for both is molded, of course, with paint for the “eyes”, and a little bit of accenting for both.  On the tan guy, it’s a little more subtle, while the maroon guy gets some more obvious offsetting.  Of the two, I’m partial to maroon, but they’re both fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I quite like Pit Droids, but they’re frequently tricky to get as figures due to weird release schemes.  I wasn’t thrilled when the first Black Series one was stuck in a Parks set with other figures I didn’t really need, so I do like another option.  Not sure Target-exclusive set with other figures I don’t need is *ideal*, but it’s not the worst thing ever.  Since I opted not to grab the single R5 release, he’s not really a double up for me, at least with this mold, and another BD isn’t the worst thing.  Plus, I do get two whole Pit Droids, and they’re truly fantastic little figures, so I’m happy to have them.

#3652: Captain America – Symbol of Truth

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

CAPTAIN AMERICA — SYMBOL OF TRUTH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Sam Wilson takes the mantle of Captain America to new heights, combining the iconic shield with his signature wings versus threats near and abroad.”

So, like, not to be that guy who critiques the bios again, but, umm, I’m gonna do exactly that, because there’s an irony to this particular Sam Wilson Cap figure calling out his use of the iconic shield, when, umm, this one doesn’t?  I mean, I guess the spirit of the thing is still there, right?  Sure, let’s go with that.

Shortly after introducing Sam Wilson as the Falcon in the MCU, the comics had Steve aged up and unable to keep Captaining, so Sam stepped into the role, a move that I always found sort of amusing given that, well, you’d only just introduced people to the Falcon identity, and then you immediately took it away from him.  Steve eventually took the title back, of course, and while they had a touch of overlap, Sam went back to being Falcon again…and then he got handed the shield in the MCU.  We had a while where Steve was the only Cap in the comics, while the MCU built up Sam, but somewhere along the way, someone had the bright idea to just let them both be Captain America for a while again, and thus Sam became the Cap with the sub-title “Symbol of Truth” (Steve for his part got to use his recurrent “Sentinel of Liberty” monicker).  Steve is currently back to being the main focus Cap at the moment, but Sam hasn’t reverted to Falcon, and with a Sam Cap movie just having dropped its trailer, it’s unlikely he’ll do that any time soon.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain America – Symbol of Truth is a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends release.  He’s at the deluxe price-point, and started hitting retail right around the beginning of the summer.  It seems likely he was intended to tie-in with Brave New World‘s original intended release date, much like those McDonald’s toys we got, but as a comics figure, his placement is a little less weird, especially with this effectively being Sam’s evergreen look these days.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 36 points of articulation counting the wings.  By-and-large, this figure is a re-use of the Sam Cap figure from the three-pack in 2016, which was itself a re-tool of the Marvel Now Cap.  It’s a sculpt that wasn’t without its flaws at the time, but it’s honestly not bad, and it’s held up surprisingly well given the oldest parts of it are now a decade old.  It’s still got visible pins, of course, and I’m still not sure I love the head, though I’ve warmed to it a bit more in the eight years since its first release.  The primary change-up here is the presence of the wings; they were a rather glaring omission when the original figure dropped, and time hasn’t really lessened that.  This figure gets them as one separate wing-pack piece, which plugs into the peg hole already present on the back.  They’ve got 4 point of articulation, with a swivel at the base of the pack, and a hinge actually on the wings proper.  They’re a little rudimentary, but they get the job done, and we’ve certainly seen worse wings in this line.  Cap’s color scheme is also slightly changed up.  It’s nothing drastic, with the most notable shift being the switch to a brighter blue this time around, which gives him a little more pop.  The paint is also a little cleaner this time, largely because that’s just an area where Hasbro’s improved across the board.  Cap is packed with two sets of hands, the fist/gripping combo from the original mold, plus a right grip/left open gesture from last year’s Ultimate Cap.  The glove detailing isn’t an exact match, but it’s close enough to not really throw the whole look off either.  Cap is also packed with his shield, and yes, it’s very specifically Sam’s shield, since it’s got the new design from Symbol of Truth.  It’s using the tweaked Anniversary Cap shield mold that was also included with Ultimate Cap, which is by far the best version of the shield Hasbro’s had, and the new detailing looks really nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: I didn’t intend to get this figure.  I had my three-pack figure, who lacked the wings, and I had the MCU figure, who didn’t, so I figured my bases were covered.  What changed?  Well, Max found two of them at Target, and texted to ask if I wanted one.  Through a comedy of errors, I didn’t get back to him in time, but he didn’t want me to miss out, so he grabbed one just in case.  Once he’d bought it, I felt it would be rude to leave him out the cost of the second one, so I figured I might as well get one.  And you know what?  I’m glad I did.  The wing pack is fun, and I’m glad to have the new shield, and, heck, I even like the new shades to the coloring.  If I’ve already got all those Steve Caps, is it really that bad to have a few extra Sams as well?  I don’t really think so.

#3620: Darth Vader – Duel’s End

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

DARTH VADER — DUEL’S END

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0099: This is the 17th Darth Vader I’ve reviewed on the site.

In addition to the return of Ewan McGregor in the title role, Kenobi also brought back Hayden Christensen, now not just playing Anakin, but in fact playing a full-fledged Darth Vader. I never had the full-fledged hate-on for Hayden’s work in the prequels the way others did (though I’ll admit to getting in on some of the joking about it when the prequels hate was at its height), and it was super cool to see him get to do more work with the character. His Kenobi portrayal brought out a rawness to Vader that we hadn’t really seen in live action, and that was really impressive. I skipped the standard Kenobi Vader from Black Series, since he was very similar to other releases, but I couldn’t turn down a shot at a more obviously show-specific version!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Darth Vader (Duel’s End) is figure 15 in the Kenobi-sub-set of Star Wars: The Black Series. Like the rest of the back portion of that set, he was an exclusive, specifically to Target, hitting at the end of last year.  As the figure’s name indicates, this guy is based on his appearance at the end of his climactic duel with Obi-Wan, after Ben’s given him quite a beating.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  This figure is obviously using a good deal of parts from the standard Kenobi Vader, which itself was mostly re-use from the #43 Vader.  Once you’ve got a good base Vader sculpt, you just really need to move some details around, so I can get it.  He does get an all-new head and torso, though.  The torso gets some minor change-ups, with the slashes across his control box, as well as the one on his back (which is very easy to miss).  The head’s the real star piece, though, as the helmet is split open, revealing traces of the scarred Anakin beneath.  There’s a whole head sculpt under there, which is fun, even if you can’t see the whole thing.  The split helmet is great, because it’s got the proper updated look from the show on the undamaged parts, while also replicating the damage very nicely.  As with prior Vaders, he’s using soft goods for his cape and underlying robe.  The tailoring is a little better here than the prior ones I’ve messed with, and they even added extra damage to everything to match up with his sculpted damage.  The only issue I’ve got with it is that, at least on mine, the robe isn’t all the way under the shoulder armor the way it should be.  Vader’s paint work is standard Vader for the most part, but he does get some more exciting parts with the head under the helmet.  Vader is packed with his lightsaber and…well, that’s it.  It’s light, but it’s Vader, so we all kind of know what to expect, I guess.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I don’t really play the exclusives game, so I wasn’t thrilled by this one being only at Target.  But, over a long enough period of time, pretty much everything seems to show up in front of me, so I was able to snag one that got traded into All Time.  I’m glad, because I didn’t need the basic Kenobi look, but after getting Jabiim Kenobi, I really wanted a Vader to pair off with him.  This one’s an impressive piece in his own right, and a great companion piece too!

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.

#3509: Space Knight Venom & Mania

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

SPACE KNIGHT VENOM & MANIA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“To protect high school student Andi Benton, Flash Thompson accidentally bonds his symbiote to her, only learning later that the Venom symbiote had passed on his demonic Hell-Mark to her”

Once Venom’s popularity really started to take off, Marvel began its rather lengthy run of evolving the concept to keep it from getting stale. Eddie Brock himself evolved into an anti-hero, and ultimately lost the symbiote, which was bonded to Mac Gargan, in order to become villainous once more. After Gargan lost the symbiote, the US government passed it on to Flash Thompson, who took on the alias Agent Venom. After joining the Guardians of the Galaxy and visiting the Symbiote’s home planet, Thompson unlocked new abilities, taking on the form of Space Knight Venom. Whilst in possession of the symbiote, Flash also inadvertently created his own sidekick, Mania, who rounds off the pair of figures I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Space Knight Venom and Mania are a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, released in the fall of this year. Venom was previously a Build-A-Figure in 2016, but Mania is an all-new release.

VENOM

Though he may be a re-release, Venom’s the real reason for this set’s existence. The Space Knight Venom series was notoriously hard to find, making him one of the most expensive BAFs to piece together. All but one single release character from the set has seen some form of update since (and I don’t believe people are beating down Hasbro’s door for a new Ashley Barton), making Venom a natural choice for another figure. The figure stands — inches tall and has — points of articulation. The core figure sculpt is the same one used by the Build-A-Figure, which makes sense, since not many people got their hands on it the first time. It helps that it’s a generally pretty decent sculpt. It’s not without some signs of its age, of course. There are still visible pins on the elbows and knees, and some of the articulation is a little bit shaky. I do like how well it merges the comic design with the Legends style, and how unique it is from other Venom figures. There are also a lot of sculpted elements that could have just been painted on, which makes it look even better. The figure’s paint work is functionally the same as the Build-A-Figure. It’s hard to go wrong with black and white detailing that follows the sculpted elements, so it makes sense. There’s a bit of fuzziness around the edges of the white sections, especially where there’s no sculpted lines to act as guides, but the overall appearance is pretty decent. The BaF Venom was without accessories, but this release changes that, giving him an extra head (with more of an “unleashed” appearance), as well as blade attachments for both arms. I’m more a fan of the standard head, but the option is nice, and I definitely dig the attachments.

MANIA

While Flash’s Venom sort of bled out into other areas of the Marvel universe, his sidekick Mania remained fairly contained to Venom-specific stories, so I didn’t read much with her. She’s another take on the female Venom play, with more of Flash’s Agent Venom persona present, I guess. The figure is about 5 1/2 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation. She appears to be using a variation of the Spider-Girl body, with new limbs sporting the pinless double joints, as well as character-specific pieces for her head, lower arms, boots, and belt. The new parts mesh well with the old, and create a solid approximation of her comics look. It’s an interesting mix of cartoony and realistic, but that’s kind of the character, I suppose. Her paint work is pretty basic overall, with the whole black/white thing. She does get a little more accenting on her gloves and boots, which is pretty fun. Mania includes no accessories of her own, which is a bit of a letdown, but also I don’t know what she should get.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Try as I may, I was never able to get more than a single piece of Space Knight Venom in his original run, which very definitely sucked. I’ve been hoping for some form of rerelease for a while, but it’s been a long wait. I had no need for Mania myself, but I can dig her getting a figure, and this seems like a good way to do it. Venom is very fun, though, and I’m glad I got him, and that also acquiring him was relatively painless. I just preordered the set and they shipped out no problem. Yay for no problem!

 

#3432: Spider-Man Noir & Spider-Ham

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

SPIDER-MAN NOIR & SPIDER-HAM

MARVEL LEGENDS

“In an alternate universe where it’s still 1933, Peter Parker is a hard-boiled private eye who likes to drink egg creams and fight bad guys…a lot!  Peter Porker was a mild-mannered spider before the bite from a radioactive pig transformed him…into the Spectacular Spider-Ham!”

Tie-ins to the first Spider-Verse movie were at a minimum at the time of its theatrical run, so we had to wait until a fair bit later to finally get proper Legends treatment for any of its characters.*  When we finally did get anything, it was folded into a larger Spidey-assortment of the main line, so we got a very barebones version of the cast, leaving some of the side Spiders out in the cold.  One of the most glaring omissions was Spider-Man Noir, the Nicholas Cage-voiced 1930s detective Spidey.  Sure, we had comics Noir, but that’s hardly the same thing.  But, now we’ve *also* got the movie one.  Oh, and another Spider-Ham, I guess.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man Noir and Spider-Ham are a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends offering from late last year.  They were billed as a two pack, and, well, that’s just wrong.  Like, yes, there are two characters included, but only one of them is a proper figure.  The Spider-Ham is just the same one that was included with Spider-Gwen (albeit with the slightest tweak on the shade of blue), and she wasn’t billed as a two-pack.  I can’t blame them for wanting to get Ham back out there, mind you, especially with Gwen getting an update for the new movie.  I just don’t agree with the billing of it is all.  Anyway, I’m just gonna look at Noir now.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  Noir starts with an interesting bit of re-use: T’Challa Star-Lord.  He’s got the torso, pelvis, upper legs, knees, and hands from that figure.  I definitely wasn’t expecting to see them turn back up here, and they weren’t my favorite pieces the first time around, but they actually work out better in the context than I’d expected.  He gets a new head, arms, and lower legs, as well as add-ons for his collar, jacket, and belt.  The whole thing adds up to a figure that’s a pretty good half-step between the first movie’s slightly more dialed into the usual Legends aesthetic set-up and the more animation accurate figures from the second film, which is nice, since it means he fits okay with both.  I actually quite like the dynamic nature of the coat; usually I’m not as big on such things, but the flair works really well for the character, and winds up being more versatile than it seems at first glance.  The one downside to the sculpt, for me, is the hands, which are both gripping.  It’s not the end of the world, but I do wish he had the proper hands for some fisticuffs; they’re just basic black hands, though, so it shouldn’t be impossible to supply my own.  In terms of paint work, he’s actually a lot better than expected.  Rather than go for straight black for the whole figure, there’s actually hightlights, which even have the halftone printing signatue to Noir’s coloring in the movie.  Noir is packed with an alternate head with the hat removed, as well as a small pistol.  And also the Spider-Ham, but he’s not officially classified that way, I guess.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Noir is my favorite of the alternate Spiders from the first movie, so I was definitely more than a little let-down by him being completely left out of all the tie-in stuff.  This one fills me with mixed emotions.  He was a Target-exclusive, and not the easiest to acquire at that, and on top of that, there’s the weird two-pack thing and the upcharge that accompanied it.  But I wanted a Noir, and I was getting a Noir, so I did get a Noir.  And he’s a good Noir.  Slightly too expensive and packed with a Ham I didn’t need, but a good Noir figure just the same.

*There was a shoddy repaint pack of Miles and Gwen at the time, but that hardly counts.

#3413: Astonishing Ant-Man

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

ASTONSIHING ANT-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Attempting to save his daughter’s life, ex-criminal Scott Lang steals technology imbued with Pym Particles. Gaining the ability to shrink to the size of an insect, Scott becomes an unexpected Super Hero as Ant-Man”

Alright, I may have wrapped up the Cassie Lang Series of Marvel Legends last week, but that doesn’t mean I’m done with the cool Ant-Man goodness *just* yet!  In 1979, with the Ant-Man identity three names back for Hank Pym, the guise was assumed by Scott Lang, who used it to save his daughter Cassie’s life.  Scott would take on the title officially until his demise during “Avengers Disassembled” in 2004, and would reclaim it following his 2012 resurrection in Avengers: Children’s Crusade, allowing him to again be the main Ant-Man when it came time for the MCU incarnation to make his debut.  Obviously, Scott’s gotten quite a bit of toy love in the last few years, but classic Scott Lang figures are still something of a rarity, which makes today’s offering extra cool!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Astonishing Ant-Man is a Target-exclusive Marvel Legends release.  He hit roughly around the same time as the Cassie Lang Series, which had him timed out to loosely coincide with the home media release of Quantumania.  This is our second classic style Ant-Man under Hasbro, and our third Legends version overall, counting the old Toy Biz release.  Technically, it’s also a one and one for Scott Lang sporting the gear, since the Retro Card Ant-Man Hasbro put out was actually Hank, going by the eye color.  Yes, I brought up the eye color.  Deal with it.  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  He’s using the ANAD 2099 body as his base this time around.  It means he’s still got visible pins on the elbows and knees, which is a bit of a bummer, but I do feel like the build is a much better fit for both Scott and Hank than the Pizza Spidey body was.  Ant-Man gets a new head and belt piece to finish off the look.  The head is just a beautiful piece of work, through and through.  The helmet is a separate, non-removable piece, and it’s honestly never looked better in Legends form.  They always get something slightly off, but not this time.  It’s clean, it’s sleek, and it’s sharp.  The only downside is how the antenna are easily bent out of shape, but a little bit of heating, straightening, and cooling does wonders for him.  Under the helmet, we get a new facial sculpt, which can honestly work alright for either of the two Ant-Men, but is ever so slightly leaning towards Scott, as it should be.  His new belt is very similar to the one used on Retro Ant-Man and Black Ant, but it’s sized correctly to the new base body, and is also much more sharply detailed.  Ant-Man’s color work is very bright, very bold, and very clean.  The paint work on this one is especially sharp, and it really sells the overall look.  They’ve also made sure to give Scott his proper blue eyes, so that you know who’s who.  Ant-Man is packed with two sets of hands, one open, one in fists.  It’s light.  I won’t lie.  But, honestly, Ant-Man’s always light when it comes to Legends.  I think maybe an unmasked head, or even yet another release of that same pack-in mini Ant-Man might make me feel better, but the hands aren’t terrible.  At least he’s not just stuck with fists again.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Retro Ant-Man was, at best, always just kind of a placeholder for a better figure.  Black Ant as fine on his own, but he’s not classic Ant-Man, and repainting him in classic Ant-Man colors doesn’t magically fix that.  So, he was fine, but he was never really a star piece for me.  That said, this figure, much like his Toy Biz Walmart-exclusive counterpart, is a figure I didn’t realize I needed as much as I did.  Thankfully, Max was able to hook me up with one without much fuss, allowing me to get him in hand and realize that he is, in fact, the best classic Ant-Man figure out there by a very large margin.

#3334: Bumblebee Cassette Pack

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

BUMBLEBEE, FRENZY, BUZZSAW, & HOWLBACK

BUMBLEBEE: GREATEST HITS (HASBRO)

What good is a Soundwave without his cassette buddies?  Well, not so good, I suppose.  Sort of thing you don’t like to see happen, really.  So, whenever Hasbro does a new Soundwave, there’s invariably some sort of cassette component included as well.  Just to really sell the gimmick.  When the Titans Return Soundwave mold was retooled for a Bumblebee tie-in, they could have let people just try to track down the TR cassettes, I suppose, but where’s the fun in that.  And, more importantly, where’s the money in that?  So, instead, we got a whole companions set, just for that guy.  Nice!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Bumblebee Cassette Pack was part of the Target-exclusive Bumblebee: Greatest Hits line, which was under the umbrella of Hasbro’a larger Bumblebee movie offerings.  It was specifically designed to coincide and go along with Soundwave and Doombox from the same line…for the most part.  The set includes three cassette boys, Frenzy, Buzzsaw, and Howlback, who are clearly meant to go with Soundwave.  However, it also includes a Bumblebee, who is not at all in scale with the other stuff, and really just exists to put a Bumblebee in the set, since it was tying into his movie and all.  It’s still a tad odd, though.

Bumblebee was a re-deco of the Age of Extinction High Octane One-Step Changer Bumblebee.  It’s *a* movie Bumblebee, but it’s not the one seen in the movie at all.  I mean, I guess it *kinda* works for Bee at the very end of the movie.  Ah, I’m overthinking it.  In robot mode, he’s about 4 1/2 inches tall and he’s got workable articulation via universal joints at the shoulders.  He’s not very mobile, but that’s not what he was designed for.  He gets an okay approximation of his later film robot mode, albeit a bit chunkier, and with some notable hollow spots.  Again, given that he’s built for play more than accuracy, it’s not bad.  His transformation is, as advertised, one step.  Essentially, he folds and unfolds much like a butterfly knife, with the top of the car/chest being spring-loaded to flip it into place for each respective mode.  It’s admittedly pretty fun.  His main change-up is the color scheme, which sticks more closely to classic Bee than the initial release, which was predominantly black.

With Bee out of the way, we get to the real meat of the set: the cassettes!  The first of them is Frenzy, in his proper blue color that Frenzy is always supposed to be, because Frenzy is blue.  Always.  Right?  Right.  Rumble, the other humanoid cassette, was released on his own during Titans Return, but poor Frenzy was left out in the cold until this release.  In robot mode, he’s about 3 1/2 inches tall and he has 11 workable points of articulation.  Frenzy’s actually quite posable given the scale and construction, especially when compared to the rest of the set.  His mold began as Titans Return Rewind, before getting a new head for its release as Rumble, and then that version got a full re-use here.  It’s a pretty decent mold, and honestly one of the best when it comes to the cassette bots.  Certainly the most advanced of the TR era molds for the cassettes.  His color scheme is very, very blue.  I like that a lot.  There’s a decent amount of smaller work going on, and I dig the gold accents.  Application’s pretty clean, but the paint is prone to a bit of wear, especially on the face.  His main alt-mode is a “data tablet”, which is largely an excuse for a rectangle shape that works as a stand-in for a tape.  He gets some stickers with actual cassette details on them, which are very cool.  Frenzy gets a second alt-mode, which turns him into a tank.  Both transformation sequences are rather intuitive and generally pretty fun.

Next up is Buzzsaw, the not-Laserbeak bird cassette, who’s largely notable for being included with Soundwave’s original G1 release.  Interestingly, while Frenzy was thus far uncovered in this style, Buzzsaw had already been done during Combiner Wars.  His robot/bird mode can sort of move at his neck and wings, but not a ton at either.  His bird mode is pretty clunky.  It’s always a little clunky, but especially in this instance.  The color scheme is duller than the CW version, with more black and actual gold.  It’s not bad, and honestly a little closer to the vintage version, I suppose.  Buzzsaw’s first alt-mode is the data tablet again; fairly similar to Frenzy, though the actual layout of the pieces is different.  He also gets a sort of tank-looking thing as his third mode, which doesn’t work quite as well as Frenzy’s.

The last of the cassettes is Howlback, who’s like Ravage, but…not Ravage?  So, you know, there’s that, I guess.  Howlback’s robot mode has movement on the legs, but like Buzzsaw, her motion is generally pretty restricted.  You can get her standing, but that’s really about it.  It’s another rather clunky mold, but I’ve honestly felt that almost every Ravage mold was rather on the clunky side.  So, you know, this one just fits with that, I suppose.  Howlback gets the data tablet alt-mode, which is again chopped up a little differently than the others, but results in the same general end.  Howlback also gets a third mode, which is not a tank, but is instead a plane.  The bird doesn’t turn into a plane, but the jaguar does.  It’s again pretty clunky, but it’s at least unique and different.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting a really good deal on the Greatest Hits Soundwave, I found myself in the market for some cassettes to go with him, and this was the most economical option at the time, provided you were able to find it at retail.  Which I did.  Hahaha.  Bumblebee is sort of unneeded, but fun enough.  Buzzsaw and Howlback are limited by the format a bit, but okay.  Frenzy is the real star, like, far and away.  He’s just really good, and holds up even after going through several Cassette boi style changes.

#3329: Soundwave & Doombox

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

SOUNDWAVE & DOOMBOX

BUMBLEBEE: GREATEST HITS (HASBRO)

Let’s jump back to the faraway year of 2018.  There was a new Transformers movie, Bumblebee, and after five prior live-action offerings of diminishing success, this one was a slightly different approach.  The scale was largely brought back, and focused almost entirely on the title character in his own smaller-scale adventure.  However, the initial cut of the film had a brief appearance from Optimus Prime, who now sported a more G1-inspired design than in previous installments, and when word of this design got out, fans wanted more G1-inspired elements.  This led to the film’s prologue on Cybertron, which sported a whole ton of G1-ish looks.  They were largely absent from tie-in toys, since they were all pretty last minute, but there were a few things thrown together to not leave them totally out in the cold.  Given the film’s ’80s setting and emphasis on music, it’s not terribly surprising that Soundwave made his way into the tie-in stuff, even if he didn’t have a musically-based alt-mode in the movie.  And I’m a sucker for Soundwave stuff, so, you know…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Soundwave and Doombox are a Leader Class release from the Target-exclusive Bumblebee: Greatest Hits line, which was part of their larger Bumblebee movie offerings.  He was the only of the three offerings from the subline not to include a Bumblebee of some sort, and was presumably chosen because of his thematically appropriate alt-mode.  Also, because he’s Soundwave.  Always have Soundwave.  And Magnus.  Him too.  Always have both.  I’m getting side tracked.  Just talking about the Soundwave today.  Calm yourself down, Ethan.  In his robot mode, Soundwave stands about 10 inches tall and he has 19 points of workable articulation.  This release is a retool of the Titans Return/Legends Soundwave mold (itself a retool of Titans Return Blaster).  The only change-up for actual sculpting between the releases are the leg panels, which mostly serve to change up how he looks in his alt-mode.  The mold is definitely a very G1-esque Soundwave, albeit one that’s perhaps a little more rudimentary and boxy when compared to more recent updates to the look.  He gets a bit more kibble on his back, keeping a rather noticeable handle protruding from his shoulders.  He’s also got a fair bit of hollow construction, which was more prevalent at the time of the mold’s original release.  He’s certainly a nice, chunky figure, though.  His color scheme was adjusted to fit a bit more with how he ended up looking in the movie, or at least an approximation of it.  It’s a little darker and greyer than typical G1 figures, which is of course more on par with the usual movie stylings.  Soundwave was packed with a blaster rifle, his usual shoulder mounted cannon, and a sort of a stand-in piece for his usual tape-deck-inspired associates.

Soundwave’s primary alt-mode isn’t his original tape recorder, but it’s closer than other updated modes, since it’s a boom box (a mode he inherited from the Blaster that used the mold first).  It’s honestly a pretty good alt-mode.  The transformation’s not too complicated, and everything folds up and into place pretty convincingly.  The updated leg panels change the detailing of this mode’s speakers, going from the mesh-style to the slit style.  Not crazy important or anything, but it does at least add some variety to him.  Since this mold began as a Titans Return release, his head is a Head Master, so it’s removed during transformation and can turn into “Doombox”, who’s a little mini version of the classic Soundwave look.  He’s obviously a lot less detailed, but it’s a fun gimmick.  It also works really well with Soundwave’s third mode, which turns him into a base, which can be used with any of the Head Masters.  The stand-in for the tape deck can be used as a vehicle for Doombox, which is honestly a lot of fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve had this figure since he was still at retail, and I just never got around to reviewing him.  I know, bad Ethan.  I had gotten a gift card from someone at work, and happened upon him at Target, which was enough of a justification to grab this guy.  He’s never been my go-to Soundwave or anything, but he’s surprisingly fun, and he’s a good showcase of the gimmicks from this era of the line.  And, most importantly, he’s another Soundwave.  Hard to beat that.  Unless you’re a Magnus.

#3283: Python Patrol Viper

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

PYTHON PATROL VIPER

G.I. JOE: CLASSIFIED SERIES (HASBRO)

Alright, for the ninth entry in this truly maddening concept that is the “Day of the Vipers”….hang on, wait, that was, like, five years ago, wasn’t it?  Well, maybe the Day of the Vipers just keeps going and going and going…you know, not unlike the Energizer Bunny.  Or an exceptionally bad joke that I refuse to let die.  It’s definitely one of those things.  The point here is that I’ve got another Viper to review.  So, I’m gonna do that.  Has to be done.  In 1989, Hasbro repainted a bunch of their Cobra troops in a rather garish new color scheme and dubbed the whole group “The Python Patrol”, who were like the regular troops but “pythonized.”  I’m not even kidding.  “Pythonizing” is used on the file cards and everything.  Though they’re a pretty easy justification for a repaint in more modern lines, they only really surface every so often, probably due to how garish the aforementioned color scheme is.  Classified has decided to tap into the Python Patrol for their latest round of Target-exclusives, and, surprising no one, I have the Viper.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Python Patrol Cobra Viper is figure 42 in the G.I. Joe: Classified Series line-up.  As mentioned in the intro, all of the Python Patrol stuff is Target-exclusive.  The Viper is the second of them, after the B.A.T., although they both hit pretty much in tandem, alongside the Tiger Force Outback figure.  The figure stands roughly 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 35 points of articulation.  Like the three-pack from last year, this guy is built from the same selection of parts as the initial Cobra Island Viper.  It’s a pretty solid selection of parts, and it keeps all the Vipers consistent across the board.  It also makes perfect sense for the Python Patrol figure to be a straight repaint, because all of the other Python Patrol Vipers have been, too.  The main change-up here is the paint, which makes the expected shift to grey, yellow, black, and red.  The layout of the colors works out pretty well with the newer mold; some of the details wind up shuffled around a bit, but the overall look reads very similar to the original.  The actual application isn’t quite as strong as previous Vipers, unfortunately.  On mine, there’s quite a bit of slop, especially on the yellows.  It’s not the worst I’ve seen from Hasbro, but it’s on the lower end for more recent figures.  This figure’s accessory selection is largely the same as the standard Viper, but there are some changes, and none of them are particularly good.  He’s got the goggles, the rifle with the removable magazine, the pistol, the arm guards, and the back pack.  So, on a positive note, the arms guards here are the easiest to remove of all of the uses of this mold so far, which is a definite plus.  Unfortunately, the goggles are the worst fit thus far, and they simply do not want to stay on unless you really jam them on, far past where it really feels safe.  I definitely worry about them breaking over time.  Also, while all other uses of the mold have included the bandana, this is the first one to leave it out.  Given that he’s a total repaint, and retailing above the cost of the original, it feels almost insulting to leave the piece out, especially when even the three-pack made sure that all three Vipers got it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had mixed feelings about this guy from the start.  On one hand, I wasn’t thrilled about this one being another Target exclusive, but on the other, I feel like he’s kind of the perfect choice, since it’s not like Python Patrol is anyone’s primary look.  Certainly not mine.  That said, I do sure like my Vipers, in all the various colors, so I put in my pre-order when they dropped, and played the waiting game.  I was half expecting the order to get cancelled, but it just showed up at my door one day.  Of the five Vipers we’ve gotten in the line, he’s the weakest.  He’s not bad, mind you, but his execution definitely feels a bit lacking.  Still, it’s another Viper, and I won’t complain about that.

#3259: Antoc Merrick

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

ANTOC MERRICK

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“Antoc Merrick commands Yavin 4’s starfighters before the Battle of the Death Star, flying as Blue Leader”

Originally, during A New Hope‘s climactic trench run on the Death Star, the color-coded squadron of pilots joined by Luke was not supposed to be red, as seen in the final film, but blue.  However, when the production realized that the blue-screen effects they were using for the space sequences would result in all of the blue markings on the ships being replaced by the background, the squadron was switched to red, with the intended back-up squadron going from red to gold, and Blue Squadron winding up shelved.  With the advancement of special effects over the years, Blue Squadron has shown back up in other forms, including in Rogue One, where Blue Squadron is more or less wiped out during the final battle on Scarif, thus explaining their absence from A New Hope.  The squadron is lead in the film by Antoc Merrick, who’s a cool dude who got far too little action figure coverage when the original Rogue One product hit.  Have no fear, the second round of product is here!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Antoc Merrick is one of two Target-exclusive Star Wars The Black Series figures released for the Rogue One sub-set from earlier this year.  He is figure 8 in the overall Rogue One line-up, making him the second numerically of the two exclusives.  The figure stands a little bit under 6 inches tall and he has 29 points of articulation.  For the most part, this figure is re-using parts from the original Pilot Luke body (which I reviewed when it was used for Wedge), but he actually swaps out the arms for the ones from the Snowspeeder Pilot Luke, so as to give Antoc his proper gloves.  The Luke body’s technically a touch short for Merrick, whose actor Ben Daniels is closer to 6 feet tall, but given that he’s a much more minor player, I suppose expecting a totally new pilot body just for him is probably a bit much.  It’s at least a decent sculpt, and the alternate arms mix things up a little bit from Luke and Wedge.  He doesn’t get the proper collar piece from the movie, but it’s otherwise fairly accurate, and the collar’s honestly quite minor.  Antoc gets an all-new head sculpt, which sports a respectable enough likeness of Daniels in the role, although it does seem a little too large for the body.  Antoc’s color work is a nice change of pace for the pilots, since it’s predominantly blue.  The paint work is generally pretty basic, but it’s got some solid application, and the face printing works well.  Antoc is packed with his helmet and a blaster pistol, which have become the standard pilot offerings.  The pistol looks to be the same one included with Luke, while the helmet is, curiously enough, the Snowspeeder version of the mold, which is a bit smaller than the X-Wing version.  It makes getting the piece onto Antoc’s head rather tricky, since the sizing doesn’t work quite right.  It’s at least a very nicely painted piece, and it makes for a decent thing for him to hold.  Given he’s not likely to get an X-Wing to pilot at this scale, having him hold the helmet seems more appropriate anyway, but it’s still odd.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve honestly been hoping for an Antoc Merrick in some form or another since Rogue One hit theatres.  He’s a minor character, but a cool enough one that he caught my attention.  I was always a little bummed that the basic line never got to him.  I wasn’t super thrilled by him being an exclusive, as I’m not really going out of my way to track any of them down these days, but I happened to find him in store right as Target was doing that crazy markdown on all of their figures, so I got him at $12, which is a price that I really couldn’t say no to.  He’s not a game changer or anything, but he’s nifty, and I do like actually having him.  Hey, another pilot for the shelf!