Tag Archives: The Inhumans

#3957: Triton

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

TRITON

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“Cousin of the mighty Black Bolt, Triton is another powerful member of the Royal Family called the Inhumans! Like his relatives before him, Triton was exposed to the mutagenetic qualities of the Terrigen Mists at an early age. He emerged with aquatic mutations that included dorsal fins, and a scaly green skin which covered his body. Super-strong but unable to breath out of water, Triton uses an intricate infiltration system to respirate when his adventures with the Inhumans bring him to the surface land.”

Hey, remember when I was talking about the Inhumans a couple of weeks ago?  Well, I’m talking about them again, as it seems.  Since the group was introduced in the pages of Fantastic Four, Toy Biz used the FF tie-in line as a way to introduce them to the action figure world as well, putting one of them in per series.  Black Bolt led the charge in Series 1, followed by ol’ stompy boy Gorgon in Series 2.  For Series 3, Toy Biz went with the aquatic guy.  No, not Aquaman.  Or Sub-Mariner.  Or Abe Sapien.  It’s the other guy, Triton.  You know, the one what hangs out with the Inhumans?  That’s the one.  Let’s look at Triton.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Triton was released in Series 3 of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four tie-in line, which contains a whopping *three* underwater guys.  That’s crazy.  He slightly predates the character’s appearance in the show, but not by quite as much as the other two.  It does, however, mean that he’s not *quite* on model for the character’s animated appearances, but he’s not super far off either, so it’s not a big deal.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Generally, it’s the basic set-up, but he’s got an action feature in the shoulders, which doesn’t eliminate their movement, but does make it a little bit…wonky?  His sculpt’s okay.  It was new to him, but got re-used later down the line for an aquatic Spidey variant.  It seems maybe a touch bulky for Triton, especially when compared to the far more reserved builds of Black Bolt and Gorgon, who are traditionally a little bigger than he is.  But, there’s a lot of fun texture detail work, which is always fun.  The webbed hands, though not accurate to the show, and an incredibly neat detail, which I do quite love.  Triton’s color work is basic, but does what it needs to, replicating that purple/green combo that makes you think he might be a villain even though he’s actually not.  Triton was packed with two accessories: a shark and a sea trumpet.  The shark has a spring-loaded jaw, which I do rather love, but it’s also got no real way at all to actually interact with Triton at all.  The trumpet is at least shaped in such a way that you can loop it over his hand so he can hold it.  Both accessories feel a bit more Sub-Mariner than they do Triton, but neither is a bad piece or anything.  He’s also got a “swimming” feature; squeezing his legs makes his arms swing downward at the shoulders.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

During our many runs to Ageless Heroes, a comic store near my parents’ house that closed down in 1999, my dad got most of the Inhumans, which included Triton.  I didn’t get one at the time, but I always liked the figure, so when I found him amongst the piles of other Toy Biz figures at the KB liquidation center in 2003, he was the one I absolutely made sure to grab.  Though I’ve never had much attachment to the character, I nevertheless made a lot of use of the figure, and I still do really think he’s quite a nifty figure.

#3945: Gorgon

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

GORGON

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOY BIZ)

“A member of the mysterious race known only as the Inhumans, Gorgon is one of the staunchest defenders of their hidden city of Attilan. Possessing the ability to cause staggering shockwaves with a stamp of his hoof-like feet, as well as superhuman strength and stamina, Gorgon is a foe to be reckoned with…as those who would exploit or harass his people have discovered, to their regret!”

Apart from a brief stretch of time where Marvel was *really* trying to push them as X-Men replacements, the Inhumans have kind of been a back burner for Marvel.  As supporting players, they’re neat enough, but as the main feature, it’s hard for people to connect.  They’ve struggled pretty fiercely with proper toy coverage, and it’s been a running gag that in 30 years of them getting toys, the royal family’s never been done collectively in one cohesive style.  Hasbro’s finally doing it this year, but in the mean time, I’m running back to near the beginning, with Toy Biz’s second entry in their ultimately incomplete line-up, Gorgon!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gorgon is the final figure in the Series 2 line-up of Toy Biz’s Fantastic Four line.  He predates the character’s Season 2 debut on the show they were tying into, but uses a design that’s pretty typical classic Gorgon, in line with what the show eventually used.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points or articulation.  While the arm movement’s perfectly fine, the legs are quite stiff.  The right hip is tied into a kicking (or in this case, I guess stomping) feature, same as the first Gambit, so it’s not really for posing, so much as it is either locked down or extended upward.  The non action feature-y left hip doesn’t have much more motion, though, and his knees are also kind of limited.  That said, he can stand there all menacing like, which is most of Gorgon’s thing anyway.  The sculpt is generally pretty good.  It gets all the major points, and certainly looks the part for the character.  He does feel maybe a little small, especially by more modern standards, but it’s not an unreasonable size.  The sculpt’s also a tad soft on a lot of the details.  I do, however, like the detail work on the head, especially his somewhat unkempt hair.  Color work on this figure is decent overall.  The colors match well with his usual depictions, and application on the paint mostly looks good.  He does have a bit of missing paint on his chin, but other than that, the coverage is pretty consistent.  Gorgon is packed with a pair sci-fi rifles, re-purposed from the X-Men line’s Bishop.  Not really Gorgon’s speed, but I guess there was extra space in the package and they wanted to fill it? 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a Gorgon figure as a kid.  I wasn’t as personally drawn to the Inhumans, so I just stuck with Black Bolt.  My dad had one, which he got during one of our many trips to Ageless Heroes when it was closing down.  I remember messing with it a few times, but not much beyond that.  Ultimately, he wound up third to last on the list for this line, snagged early this year when Rachel and I took a trip down to Factory Antiques Mall.  He was there, he was affordable, and I didn’t have him, so it all worked out.  He’s not without his drawbacks, but he’s also kind of neat in his own right.  

#3447: Karnak

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

KARNAK

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Through mental discipline, the Inhuman known as Karnak has mastered the ability to perceive the flaws and weak points in any person or object.”

Remember back in 2017, when Marvel was desperately trying to make The Inhumans a thing?  And remember when it really didn’t work out, and they gave up and just waited to get the X-Men back so they could use mutants again and not push the Inhumans anymore, so they dropped all their merch like a sack of wet potatoes?  Pepperidge Farm remembers.  No, wait, they probably don’t.  They’re a snack company, and probably not super into The Inhumans.  Well, enough time has passed that I guess it’s safe to do something more with The Inhumans.  Let’s bring that Legends line-up on up to a whopping three, with Karnak!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Karnak is figure 5 in the Totally Awesome Hulk Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s the second of the four comics figures in the line-up, and the next step down in the relevance of the comic figures to the overall theme.  I mean, the Inhumans were a Kree experiment, and so is Carol Danvers, so I guess that’s something.  As noted above, Karnak is our third Inhuman in Legends format, following Black Bolt, Black Bolt, Black Bolt, and Medusa.  There’s been a lot of Black Bolts.  Oh, sorry: Blackagar Boltagons.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Karnak is using the Pizza Spidey body as his starting point.  It’s not a terrible fit, given Karnak’s usual skinnier build, but it’s still got the visible pins on the elbows and knees, and its generally a little outdated, especially with the AF Spidey in use now.  In particular, the butterfly shoulders really seem to be wearing out on this mold, so I worry about long-term longevity.  Karnak gets a new head, forearm guards, and belt/loincloth.  The new pieces are actually quite nice; the head’s got the proper weird shaping for the character, and the face makes for a good likeness of a more evergreen take on Karnak.  The guards sit well on the arms, and help to break up the base body a bit.  The belt piece is a bit too free floating for me, but otherwise looks alright.  The color work on Karnak is largely handled via molded colors, which keeps it pretty clean.  There’s still some paint to make things work; some of the edges are a little fuzzy, but overall things look quite nice.  Karnak is packed with two sets of hands, one in fists, the other in flat poses, as well as the right arm of Totally Awesome Hulk.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Getting one cohesive set of Inhumans is apparently an impossible feat.  Across four different styles, we’ve had four differently incomplete takes on the team.  Legends has been at the lowest set up until now, but I guess it’s turned itself around by virtue of at least matching up to Marvel Universe, so now there’s only three differently incomplete teams across four styles.  Progress!  Karnak, like Marvel Boy from last week, is a pretty by the numbers figure, really only hampered by the odd choice to put him on such an old body.  Still, he could be worse.  He could be a lot worse.  Now, can we please get the rest of the team before the line ends?

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review. If you’d like to see a video of this figure (and the rest of the series) in action, I helped out with one for their YouTube channel, so check that out.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#1543: Black Bolt

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

BLACK BOLT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Supercharged powers and a quasic-sonic scream let Black Bolt destroy enemies with a single utterance.”

You might think you’ve caught on to my little running theme the last three days, where I review Marvel Legends with the prefix “Black.”  You might think you’re clever, noticing this trend.  But you’re wrong.  Today’s figure doesn’t fit that trend, because the first half of his name isn’t actually “Black,” it’s “Blackagar.”  Because, as I’d like to remind you all, dear readers, Black Bolt’s real name is Blackagar Boltagon, the stupidest name in comics.  Nah, I’m just kidding! I totally picked Black Bolt to do the whole running theme thing.  But who can resist the chance to make fun of Black Bolt’s real name?  I certainly can’t.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Bolt is part of the latest series of Marvel Legends, which is themed around next month’s Black Panther movie.  Why is Black Bolt in a Black Panther-themed assortment?  Your guess is as good as mine.  They both certainly like the same predominant color on their costume.  They were also both part of Marvel’s Illuminati team at one point, but I don’t think there was ever any overlap between them.  But hey, if it gets me a new Black Bolt figure, I guess I won’t complain too much.  Black Bolt is one of three comics-themed figures in the assortment (all of whom have questionable ties to Panther at best).  Like the Panther figure I looked at earlier this week, a lot of this figure is just a slight re-working of a previous figure, specifically the Black Bolt from 2014’s SDCC-exclusive Thanos Imperative boxed set.  That set was pretty difficult to acquire outside of the con, and Blackagar here was probably the most sought after in the set (since Star-Lord got a pretty quick re-release), so the re-release is much appreciated.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like his predecessor, he’s built on the Bucky Cap body, which seems a reasonable enough choice for Mr. Boltagon.  His upper arms are the same pieces used on the last figure, which, admittedly, isn’t a huge point in this figure’s favor.  The wings are solid plastic, and jut straight out of the back of the biceps.  They’re sculpted to rest flush with the sides of the torso, but it only works in a very specific pose.  move the arms any other way, and the wings are just sticking straight out.  I would have liked to see this handled similarly to the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, where there are two different sets of wings that can be swapped out.  As it is, they’re more than a little limiting.  This figure also gets the same head as the last one, which is a solid piece of work, and a good fit for the character.  However, Hasbro was also kind enough to throw in another head, this time depicting Black Bolt screaming and all powered-up.  There’s a lot of of fun expressiveness to this one, and I love the Kirby Krackle effect on his tuning fork.  In addition to the new head, the other change between the TI Black Bolt and this one is his paint.  It’s really just a minor shift, with a dark blue in place of the straight black, but I like it.  I do wish the silver detailing was a little cleaner, but it’s not awful.  Black Bolt is packed with the previously mentioned extra head, as well as the right leg of the Build-A-Figure, Okoye.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Black Bolt caught me by surprise.  Tim and I were out and about, and we stopped by Walgreens, mostly to see if I could find the new Legacy Gold Ranger.  I didn’t find him, but I did find the remnants of this assortment, which I didn’t even know was hitting yet.  I missed the TI set, so I was definitely getting this guy.  He’s got a few flaws, but I’m still happy with him overall.

#1506: Medusa

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

MEDUSA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Born into Inhumans royalty, Medusa is a formidable leader who uses her steel-like hair to command power.”

Hey, more Inhumans stuff!  Why the sudden spotlight?  Did something notable happen with them?  Oh, right, TV show.  That helps, I guess, even if the show wasn’t everybody’s favorite (I like what I’ve seen so far, but haven’t finished it). Regardless of rationale behind it, I’m excited to get new Inhumans figures.  Today, I’ll be looking at the Queen of Atalan, Medusa!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Medusa is the third Walgreens-exclusive Marvel Legends release of 2017.  Like the last two, she’s not really tied into a regular assortment (although her husband Black Bolt will be a part of the upcoming Black Panther assortment).  This isn’t the first Marvel Legends Medusa; there was one previously released as part of the SDCC 2014-exclusive Thanos Imperative set.  That one sported a more modern design than this, and was a fair bit harder to get, so the second figure is definitely appreciated.  This figure stands about 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  She’s largely made from the same pieces as the last Medusa.  She’s got a unique head and uses the mid-sized female body used for the likes of Hellcat and Wasp.  This figure swaps out the last one’s high-heeled shoes for flats, and also adds a belt piece as well.  While the hair is a touch on the modern side for the otherwise classically inspired design, it works well enough, and it’s a pretty nice sculpt to boot.  I only wish the hair was a touch longer, just so she had a slightly easier time standing, but it’s otherwise pretty great.  The paintwork is, of course, the main point of difference.  It’s fairly basic work, but the purples go together pretty well, and I particularly like the metallic shade on the accent pieces.  The mask is just painted on, but it works surprisingly well, and you can hardly tell this wasn’t the original plan for the sculpt.  Medusa doesn’t include any extras, but with the hair and everything, it’s not that big a deal.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I tried and failed to get the Thanos Imperative set when it went up on Hasbro Toy Shop, so I’ve been in the market for a Legends Medusa since then.  I was pretty happy when Hasbro announced she’d be getting another release, and was pleasantly surprised to find her at my local Walgreens just last week.  She’s a pretty great addition to the line, and I look forward to having Black Bolt to go with her!

#1477: Black Bolt & Medusa

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

BLACK BOLT & MEDUSA

MARVEL MINIMATES

The Inhumans have come into a bit of notoriety recently, thanks at least in part to their currently running live-action mini-series on ABC.  It’s gotten mixed reviews, but I’ve been generally enjoying it.  The characters have been getting a push in most media for a little while now, including cartoons, such as Marvel’s Avengers Assemble.  Cartoon appearances in turn lead to Minimates, which the Inhumans really seem to have been left out of.  Today, I’ll be looking at the heads of the Inhuman Royal Family, Black Bolt and Medusa!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Black Bolt and Medusa were released in the sixth Walgreens-exclusive series of animated Marvel Minimates.  Both figures included are based on their appearance in Avengers Assemble, where they sport slightly tweaked designs from the usual comics garb.

BLACK BOLT

“Blackagar Boltagon is the King of the Inhumans, granted abilities by the Terrigen Mists.  Even the merest whisper from his lips is a highly destructive force.”

Blackagar.  Boltagon.  Man, is that a stupid name.  That’s a very high contender for stupidest name in comics, and there are a lot of stupid names in comics.  Blackagar Boltagon’s on a whole other level, though.  There’s dumb, and then there’s Blackagar Boltagon dumb.  Yikes.  This is ol’ Blackagar’s second time as a Minimate, though it’s his first in a good long while.  The figure is about 2 1/4 inches tall and has the usual 14 points of articulation.  Black Bolt is built on the standard ‘mate body, which unique upper arms, which add his little glider wings.  The pieces are decent, and they work well enough for what they are, but they do restrict movement of the arms a little bit.  Everything else on this guy is handled via paint, which is decent enough.  I do like the choice to go for the mask painted on the standard head, which I find looks a bit better than the sculpted piece from the last one.  That being said, I’m not a huge fan of his overall colorscheme; there’s a lot of grey, and not a lot of actual black.  I pretty much always prefer black areas of costumes to be done in actual black, with highlights, rather than lightening the whole scheme.  As it is, he looks a little washed out.  Black Bolt includes an extra head with a screaming expression, a sound wave effects piece, and a clear display stand.

MEDUSA

“The Queen of the Inhumans, Medusa was given long, prehensile hair, which can obey her commands and even carry her from place to place.”

This marks Medusa’s first time as a Minimate, which is a little bit surprising, since she’s usually one of the better known members, and certainly the one with the most appearances under her belt.  She uses the same basic construction as Black Bolt, but gets a new hair piece, recreating her prehensile mane in all it’s lengthy glory.  The piece is designed to hold her aloft, as she’s frequently depicted in the comics.  It’s a nice piece; obviously animated in style, but very cool.  The paint on Medusa’s pretty decent.  She’s more colorful than Black Bolt.  I miss her usual mask, but Medusa’s look has always been more subject to change than Black Bolt, so it seems less weird to get her in a non-classic design.  Her only accessory is a clear display stand, which feels a little light, but the hair piece sort of makes up for it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been out of Minimates for a little while, but I stopped in Walgreens recently, and I saw this set sitting there, and I just had a hard time turning it down.  The Black Bolt isn’t quite as much of an improvement over the last version as I’d hoped, but I do prefer him slightly, and he’s certainly  a solid take on the character.  Medusa’s actually pretty fun, and it’s nice to have her at long last.  Here’s hoping we won’t have to wait quite as long to get the rest of the Royal Family.

#0013: Black Bolt

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

BLACK BOLT

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOYBIZ)

Today’s figure is yet another figure from the 90s Fantastic Four toy line.  So far we’ve looked at Mr. Fantastic and his nemesis Dr. Doom, now we’re going to look at another corner of the FF Universe: The Inhumans!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure in question is Black Bolt, king of the Inhumans.  Black Bolt was released in the first wave of the Fantastic Four line.  He stands about 5 inches tall, and he has 9 points of articulation.  The figure’s sculpt is pretty decent, though his shoulders are a bit slender for a character like Black Bolt.  The facial expression is okay, but it might be a bit too sly for such a serious character.  Like Dr. Doom, Black Bolt has an action feature, and also like Doom, it’s a bit useless.  When you press the button on his belt, his arms spring up, extending his wings.  While I suppose it makes more sense than Dr. Doom’s, it still mucks up the figure’s articulation for a feature with fairly minor results.  Unlike Dr. Doom, I don’t feel Black Bolt’s action feature ruins the aesthetic of the figure, it just hiders his articulation slightly.  Also, while subsequent figures of this character depict him clad in black with silver highlights, this one went with a dark blue/light blue color scheme.  It actually looks fairly striking, but it is odd that a character named BLACK Bolt doesn’t have any black on him.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

By the time I started collecting, Black Bolt was pretty much gone from stores.  But I really wanted one, so my dad tracked one down for me on ebay.  It marks the first time I ever sat eagerly awaiting the end of an ebay auction, which was a thrilling experience!  I’ve gotten other Black Bolts since then, but this one is still my favorite by far.