Tag Archives: The Tick

#3982: Fluttering Arthur

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

FLUTTERING ARTHUR

THE TICK (BANDAI)

“Not in the face!  Not in the face!”

A super hero with a solid sidekick is always a great thing.  Obviously, there’s the classic dynamic duo of Batman and Robin, but one of my very favorites has always been the Tick and his sidekick Arthur.  Arthur debuted fairly early in the Tick comics, and is one of the few characters to follow Tick through all of his adaptations, which included every episode of the ‘90s cartoon, which netted him a handful of figures, one of which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Fluttering Arthur was released in Series 1 of Bandai’s The Tick toyline.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  As this is Bandai’s American division’s work, scale’s not exactly their main forte.  As such, Arthur’s rather large relative to the Ticks in the same line.  He’s still physically shorter, of course, but not by nearly as much as he should be, and his general scaling is also just a lot larger than it should be.  But, it is what it is, and 30 years after the fact, it’s kind of quaint.  The actual sculpt is honestly not bad.  He’s very preposed, which is a little odd, but otherwise pretty faithful to the show’s animation models for the character.  He’s a slightly more reserved Arthur than we frequently saw in the show, where he was dealing with the Tick’s many antics, but this look is ultimately a bit better for a more general figure look.  In terms of color work, Arthur’s always pretty easy, since he’s just a lot of white.  The figure actually goes mostly for an off-white, which is all molded plastic.  It works out better in the long-run, since he’s not all yellowed now.  It also means his goggles can be an actual proper white, which helps them stand out a bit better, even if they are a little fuzzy around the edges.  He’s also got paint on his face and hands, which likewise has some fuzz on the edges, but is at least pretty clean and consistent in its application.  Arthur gets no accessories, but does get an action feature that draws on the “Fluttering” part of his name.  Pushing the button on his back makes his wings “flap,” which is amusing enough, and also pretty non-intrusive.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The saga of me getting this figure goes back to the early ‘90s, when he was still new.  At the time, Tick was on the air, but I didn’t watch it religiously or anything.  But, it was super hero fare, and I liked that, so I’d seen a few episodes, which was enough to know that I liked Arthur quite a bit.  Shortly before my birthday, my Nana took me to the store to get some ideas for gifts, and I saw this guy, and said I wanted him, specifically him, and not any of the others.  Here’s the thing about my Nana and gifts: she had a tendency to decide to buy me a more extravagant gift than I’d asked for, which was nice and generous, but also meant she got me something that simply wasn’t what I wanted.  So, instead of getting the standard Arthur figure, I unwrapped….the 14-inch deluxe talking Tick figure.  Which was cool, but it wasn’t an Arthur, nor was there an Arthur to go with it (I later made my own Arthur by wrapping a 12-inch Robin figure in masking tape).  So, I was without an Arthur for a while.  And, while these figures aren’t rare by any means, they don’t land in front of me nearly as often as other things, so I never did get one.  That is, until I unwrapped this guy on Christmas morning, courtesy of my son Matthew (with an assist from my wife Rachel).  I saw him at a comic con a few weeks ago, and they circled back around to get him for me, which was very nice.  He’s basic and goofy, but very much my vibe, and I’m happy to finally have one after all these years.  But, I fear I now must track down so many more of these figures…

#3816: Tourist Tick

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

TOURIST TICK

THE TICK (BANDAI)

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!

Look, I’m just legally required to start Tick reviews that way.  It’s in the contract.  What contract?  It’s not important.  I’ve not had a *ton* of Tick reviews here, but I’ve had a few, and they’re happening with increasing frequency at this point.  Thus far, the only “figure” I’ve looked at from the cartoon tie-in line was one of the small figurines, and not even of the Tick himself.  So, here’s me taking a look at an actual Tick figure from the original Tick line!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tourist Tick was released in the “Tick Talkers” series of Bandai’s The Tick tie-in line, which hit during the line’s second year in 1995.  They were designed to augment the standard line of figures with extra Ticks with electronic talking features.  The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt is pretty similar to the rest of the Ticks, which is to say pretty on-model for his design in the show.  He’s got minor pre-posing, but nothing too crazy.  The head’s got his big toothy grin he was prone to doing, which feels very on character.  To sell the touristy thing, he’s got a pair of sunglasses and a pair of swim trunks, which are a minor but fun change-up.  The sculpt works them in pretty well, with the glasses in particular being pretty sharply detailed.  The color work starts with the basic Tick set-up, of course, but he’s also got some fun coloring on the shorts, which make for a nice little pop.  The paint work is cleanly handled for the most part, which is good for this era of figure.  Tick got no accessories, but he did have the talking feature.  The batteries are long dead on mine, but that button’s still there, taunting me.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed most of the Bandai Tick line as a kid.  It was a short run, and I hadn’t quite gotten into the show yet.  I did have the 14-inch talking figure, but that was it.  I later snagged most of a figurine set, but again nothing beyond that.  This particular figure has actually been sitting on my shelf at work for a few years, clutched in the hands of a ’90s Godzilla figure.  We ended up dismantling the employee shelves for more space, so my stuff got boxed up and brought home, and Tick here made the cut on the stuff that actually joined my collection.  He’s a neat little figure, and a reminder that I really should get some more of these guys.

#3797: The Tick

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

THE TICK

LONGBOX HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!

Yesterday, I took a look at a direct continuation of Kenner’s Super Powers, but today I’m returning to a more indirect continuation.  Early last year, I looked at a few figures from Fresh Monkey Fiction’s Longbox Heroes, a line of independent comic book characters done in the Super Powers style.  While a follow-up to that set is still forthcoming, I only ended up getting a few of the figures from the first one, so there are still plenty for me to potentially pick-up.  There were three Tick figures in the first set, and I had two of them.  The one I didn’t have was the basic Tick, so here he is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Tick is figure 7 in the first series of Longbox Heroes.  Like all of the non-Rocketeer figures, he was released in March of last year.  There are two Ticks in the line-up; this one is more patterned on the character’s earlier appearances, and is a bit more basic in his approach.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Like the rest of the line, he’s got a sculpt courtesy of Jason “Toy Otter” Geyer.  From the neck down, it’s the same as the other Tick, which is a solid, clean sculpt that captures both the Tick’s usual depictions and the Super Powers aesthetic.  The head is unique, and sports an expression that’s a little more reserved than the big toothy grin from the other release.  It still very much feels like the same character, though, and while it’s not my preferred take on the character, it still works well.  In terms of coloring, this Tick is darker than the other version; it’s more comic than animation, and definitely works a bit better with the more resigned expression.  Tick is on the lighter side, getting only a display stand as his accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I sure do love me some Super Powers and I sure do love me some Tick.  I also sure did love me the figures I already got from this line.  So, that’s a great recipe for me being invested in this figure.  That said, when the preorder period was running for these, I opted to go with Disguised Tick, because I liked the general set-up of that one a little more.  That said, I still kinda wanted one after the fact, so when a loose one landed in front of me a few weeks ago, I took that rare opportunity to own another Tick figure.  I think I still prefer the Disguised overall, but more Tick is always a good thing.

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.

#3605: Longbox Heroes

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

THE TICK IN DISGUISE, BARRY HUBRIS, & MADMAN

LONGBOX HEROES (FRESH MONKEY FICTION)

Fun FiQ Fact #0084: The Tick and Madman are both associated with the name “Townsend”, Tick having been played by Townsend Coleman in his ’90s animated series, and Madman’s original pre-death name being “Zane Townsend.”

Back in November, I took a look at The Rocketeer, the first offering from Fresh Monkey Fiction’s Longbox Heroes.  I’ve been patiently waiting for the rest of the figures I had on pre-order to arrive, and they’re finally here, and I’m very happy about that.  So, now I get to talk about The Tick, another not quite the right guy The Tick, and Madman!  Let’s get ginchy!  Spoooooooon!  Whatever Barry’s catchphrase is!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

The Tick in Disguise, Barry, and Madman are figures 15, 16, and 8, respectively, in the launch line-up of Longbox Heroes, a Big Bad Toystore-exclusive line from Fresh Monkey Fiction.  While everything was intended to hit at the same time initially, due to license constraints, all of the Rocketeer figures got released earlier than the rest of the line, splitting everything into two assortments.  The second portion hit in March of this year.

THE TICK IN DISGUISE

There are a couple of Tick-based figures in this line-up, with two in particular based on the main big guy.  There’s a standard version, based on his earlier appearances, as well as this one, which is him “in disguise”.  It’s the one that spoke to me, so it’s the one I went with.  The figure is a little over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  His articulation scheme is the same as we saw on the Rocketeer, which is the Super Powers set-up, but with extra swivels at the knees.  The sculpt, which like the rest of the line is handled by Jason “Toyotter” Geyer, is a solid offering.  It’s of course more basic than what we saw on Rocketeer, as is expected for the Tick’s design.  He’s appropriately a lot larger than the other figures in the line-up, but still very much in keeping with the Super Powers-inspired stylings of the line.  His main unique piece is the head, which is based on the more refined Tick of the later ’90s, post cartoon and all.  I love that goofy grin on the head so much; it gives me flashbacks to my old Tick figure from the ’90s.  For the most part, Tick’s color work is handled by molded plastic, in contrast to the Rocketeer’s totally painted set-up.  This is more accurate to the Super Powers aesthetic, and, per Toyotter himself, was the plan for the whole line, but just didn’t work out for the earlier figures.  This release goes for a brighter blue, which I really dig, again going very much for that cartoon-style look.  Tick is packed with the necktie that serves as his “disguise,” which can be easily taken off by popping off the figure’s head, as well as a “Longbox Heroes” display stand.

BARRY HUBRIS

When the Tick was originally created, he was intended to be brown, but it was decided that blue worked better on the page.  In reference to this, Barry Hubris, another man who claims the title of “The Tick” was created and given Tick’s original color scheme.  Like Disguised Tick, this figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Barry is built on the same body as Tick, which makes sense, since they were about the same build and all.  He’s got a unique head sculpt, which gets Barry’s crazed look down nicely.  His color work is again heavily reliant on molded plastic for the bulk of things, but he’s got a fair bit more painted elements than the Disguised Tick did.  The application’s all very sharp and clean, and his costume elements are well defined.  Barry’s only accessory is his display stand; it might have been nice to get his shield, but at the same time, I get it.

MADMAN

Madman is no stranger to Fresh Monkey Fiction’s retro-inspired toylines, having also been part of their Secret Wars-inspired Amazing Heroes line.  But, you simply can’t have too much Madman, so he’s in this line, too.  Honestly, Madman should be in *more* lines.  Every line.  All Madman.  All the time.  There are even multiple Madman figures in this very line-up.  This one is the most standard of the bunch.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has he same 9 points of articulation as all of the others.  His sculpt is…I mean, sure it’s simple, but it’s also just so on the mark for the style of the line and of Allred’s work with the character.  It’s really sharply detailed, and and there’s a lot more going on with it than is immediately visible.  There’s even the very slight wrinkling on the ankles of his boots.  His color work is really solid too.  The white is molded, as it should be, and the painted elements are the sharpest of all the figures I’ve gotten from the line.  Like Barry, Madman’s only accessory is a display stand, which is honestly pretty great for some of the wackier poses the character demands.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

Like I said in my Rocketeer review, Super Powers is one of my favorite toy lines, so the prospect of any sort of continuation was very exciting to me, so I jumped on the pre-orders for these guys pretty darn quickly.  It’s been a patient wait since then and….I mean, it was just so very much worth it.  I think Madman’s my favorite of the three here, but I love all three.  What I wouldn’t give for an Arthur to go with Tick, but until then, I guess Madman is just filling in for him.

#0987: Dynamole

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

DYNAMOLE

THE TICK

Dynamole1

SPOOOOOON!!!!!!!!

Does anyone else love The Tick?  Because, let me tell you something: I love The Tick.  I super-duper love The Tick.  I love the comics, I love the cartoon, and I even love the short-lived live action show.  Through his many adaptations over the years, the Tick and his supporting cast have been privy to a number of different styles of toys and action figures over the years.  None of them have quite lived up to the awesomeness of the source material, but I think they’ve all at least tried.  In the 90s, when the cartoon was on the air, Bandai America tried their hand at a few different lines, including a smaller scale line of figurines that covered a large number of cast members, both major and minor.  On the more minor side of things is Dynamole, a minion of the villainous Chairface Chippendale.  Not necessarily one of the most exciting characters from the show (or even the most interesting bomber on the show.  That would be the Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight!), but he was part of the ensemble none the less.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dynamole2Dynamole was part of the first (and only) series of Bandai’s small-scale The Tick line.  He stands about 3 inches tall (making him to be too large to be in scale with most of the other figures in the line, a common issue with Bandai America’s products) and zero, count ‘em, zero, points of articulation.  This guy and all the figures in this particular line were deliberately designed as figurines, not as full functioning action figures, so none of them got any movement.  The pose you see here is the pose that you get…for eternity.  He’s also permanently attached to a stand, one would assume for additional stability.  Dynamole’s pose is fairly generic, standing straight up and down sort of look, with his right arm bent outwards and his index figure pointing out as if he’s about to press a button or something.  Presumably, it’s a detonator of some sort.  The actual quality of the sculpt is overall pretty decent, if nothing particularly noteworthy.  He looks like the character from the show, which is the important thing.  The details could stand to be a little more defined in several spots, but it’s hard to tell if that’s truly an issue with the sculpt or if it’s to do with the paint.  Speaking of the paint, while the colors are pretty decent, the actual application is incredibly thick, and the details only tend to be in the same approximate area as the sculpted elements.  The paint is also incredibly glossy, which is a slightly odd choice, since I don’t believe Dynamole is supposed to be slimey or shiny or anything.  Kinda weird.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Somehow, I managed to miss out on most of the cartoon-based Tick merchandise when it was still new.  I ended up finding Dynamole and most of the other figures from this particular line at a nearby antique store a few years back.  I mostly got Dynamole because I was buying the set, and I mostly bought the set because it was the most expansive selection of characters from the show that was readily available.  Ultimately, Dynamole isn’t a super exciting figure, but he’s interesting enough, and looks decent with the rest of the set.