Tag Archives: Toy Biz

#0040: Ultron

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

ULTRON

AVENGERS:  UNITED THEY STAND (TOY BIZ)

Ah, yes, Avengers: United They Stand.  Poor A:UTS. it gets a lot of hate and I’m not certain it deserves it.  Perhaps it wasn’t the greatest depiction of the Avengers to grace the small screen(That honor goes to the more recent Earth’s Mightiest Heroes), but I didn’t think it was all that bad.  The designs and animation may be late 90s over complication at its finest, but I thought the characterization was actually nicely done, and I loved the fact that the focus was on the slightly lesser known Avengers instead of Cap, Iron Man, and Thor.  One of my other favorite things was the tie-in toyline, which is what I’ll look at today.  In particular, the toy counterpart of the shows recurring antagonist: Ultron!  This isn’t the first time Ultron’s been mentioned on this blog.  I previously mentioned him in passing in my Vision review, where I mentioned Ultron was the creator of Vision.  Ultron himself was the creation of Avengers founding member Hank Pym, aka Ant-Man, aka Giant-Man, aka Goliath, aka Yellow Jacket, aka Wasp, aka Dude with serious identity issues!  Ultron rebelled on his creator and became a powerful Avengers foe.  He’s also set to be the villain in the upcoming Avengers sequel.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultron was released as part of the first wave of Toy Biz’s Avengers:United They Stand tie-in line.  Ultron had several different looks over the course of the show, but this one seems to be a bit of an amalgam of the various looks, with the largest portion of influence coming from his appearance in the show’s first two episodes.   He stands just over 5 inches tall, and features 11 points of articulation (13 if you count the moving knee-pads).  Ultron is a completely new sculpt.  It’s well done, and quite detailed, especially for its time of release.  In particular, the head really captures the look of the character.  The paint is pretty well done, being mostly all one color; a nice bluish silver.  There’s a wash over the whole figure to help bring out the details.  The figure also features a light-up feature.  By pressing the button on Ultron’s waist, you could make the figure’s eyes and mouth light up.  It’s a neat feature that helps to further simulate the look of the character from the show and comics.  At one point, Ultron had a large cannon that hooked onto his right arm, but I’ve since lost that piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My dad bought Ultron for me when he was initially released.  We happened to stop at a Toys R Us and there he was.  He was one of the last figures I acquired from the line.  It wasn’t because I didn’t want one, but because the A:UTS figures were quite difficult to find initially, so I kind of got them when I saw them.  Growing up, he was the closest thing I had to a classic Ultron.  Because of that, I have quite the soft spot for him.

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!

#0030: The Fallen

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

THE FALLEN

MUTANT X (TOY BIZ)

Ah, Mutant X.  Man, that was such a 90s comicbook.  One that I enjoyed immensely!  Diamond Comics’ catalogue Previews offered figures of four members of the books main team “The Six”(No, I don’t really know why they didn’t offer all six.  Seems a little odd, doesn’t it.  It’s like only releasing  three of the Fantastic Four!).  Being a fan of the comic and a fan of action figures, particularly 90s Marvel figures, I of course wound up with a set.  Today, I’ll be looking at The Fallen, who was an alternate universe version of Warren Worthington III, aka Archangel.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Fallen stands about 5 inches tall, and has 13 points of articulation.  He also had his signature wings, which could be snapped onto his back, and were made of a soft translucent green material, with wire running through to allow them to be posed.  The wires honestly didn’t offer much poseability, but it’s the thought that counts, I suppose.  Fallen also included an X-Logo shaped stand, which is good, because he can’t stand without it due to his top heavy nature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Fallen, along with the other figures from the Mutant X line, was a Christmas gift from my parents.  I recall being fairly excited to open him, as he was my favorite character from the series.  Yay!

#0021: The Vision

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

VISION

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOY BIZ)

Today, I’m looking at the first of what I’m sure will be many Marvel Legends reviews.  Back in the early 2000s, this was THE line to collect.  They had killer sculpts, awesome paint, and of course, a huge quantity of articulation!  And let’s not forget the scalper appeal.  While this line didn’t start the trend of action figure scalpers, its high demand and tendency to pack fan-favorites as short-packs led to high prices, and a whole lot of “legitimate businessmen” trying to corner the market.  It was so great.  No, wait, I meant the other thing.  Terrible.  It was terrible.   I’ll be looking at the Vision figure from the line.  For those of you who are unaware (which is probably a large portion), the Vision is a long standing member of the Avengers.  He was a synthezoid (basically an android) created by the villain Ultron to destroy the Avengers.  However, he was created using the brain-patterns of Wonder Man, a reluctant villain who the Avengers had tried to help before his unfortunate demise.  Apparently, Wonder Man’s emotions overpowered the synthezoid, and he rebelled against his creator and joined the Avengers.  There’s a lot more to his story, but that’s the basic gist.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vision was part of the seventh series of Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends line. He stands roughly 6 inches tall and has 33 points of articulation.  He also included a clear poseable stand that can simulate his flying ability.  He was available in both regular and “Phasing” versions.  The regular has a normal paint job, while the phasing is cast in various translucent plastics.  I managed to get a hold of both versions, and since they’re the same sculpt, I’ll be looking at both today.  The phasing version was technically the variant.  I say technically because Vision was only one to a case, meaning which version of him was in said case was fairly random.   Both figures depict Vision in his original green and yellow costume.  Vision was built on a base body, with the details added via paint.  The body’s fine, though the abundance of articulation does give it some odd proportions.  The head is this figure’s real strong point.  It’s an all new sculpt, and it’s really well done.  It has that perfect “just too perfect to be human” look, which is great!  The painted figure has some sharp paint ops that really highlight the sculpt well.  For this reason, I think the regular version is a bit better than the phasing version, as the details can get lost in the clear plastic.  Both figures are topped off by a nicely done rubber cape.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, you saw the displeasure up there about the whole scalpers charging insane prices thing?  Yeah, that pretty much sums up my experience with this figure.  While I was eventually able to track down both versions of this character for my collection, it wasn’t until well after Toy Biz’s Marvel Legends were done and gone.  Being less than one per case (thanks to the variant) he was near impossible to find, and instant scalper bait, resulting in a high after market price.  I was fortunate enough to track down both versions loose from a local toy store that had just bought someone’s collection, which made me a happy collector indeed!

#0017: Terrax

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

TERRAX

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOYBIZ)

Today’s review is another Fantastic Four figure, this is the last of the wave one reviews: Terrax.  There was one other figure in the first wave, Benjamin J Grimm, aka the Thing, but I didn’t have that version.  I had the later wave 3 version.  And can I just address the fact that I’m reviewing Terrax, but I’ve yet to get to the Human Torch and the Invisible Woman? You know the other HALF of the title team!  How exactly did TERRAX get himself a spot in the line before two of the title characters?  He’s really not that great a character, nor has he ever really been all that important…ever.  Anyway…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So like I said before, this is Terrax, the second herald of Galactus, part of the first wave of Toybiz’s FF line.  He’s depicted here in Terrax’s only look ever, which must have made the costume choice pretty easy for the guys at Toybiz.  At one point in time, Terrax had a rock stand and his trusty axe (which tears through stuff.  Cleaver name….).  Mine doesn’t have these items any more.  The figure’s actually a very good depiction of Terrax, which is nice because he’s not one of those characters who gets many chances at having an action figure made.  His hands are interesting, because they’re both molded to hold his axe, but due to their vertical placement and his limited articulation, he can only hold it in one hand at a time.  This leaves the other hand with this thumbs up position.  What is this guy, the Fonz? (AAAAAAAAY!)  Actually, that might make his character a bit more interesting.  You heard it here first Marvel! (Do they even realize that this character exists?)

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Terrax was another of the gift figures.  It’s fine because he’s a great, big, bad guy for your heroes to fight.  That was always good enough for me!

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!  And another one here!

#0016: Silver Surfer

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

SILVER SURFER

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOYBIZ)

Time for another Fantastic Four review it seems.  Today we’re looking at a sometimes foe, but usually friend of the team, Silver Surfer.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure in question is the first herald of Galactus, Norin Radd, aka the Silver Surfer.  Good old Nor here has 11 points of articulation and stands 5 inches tall.  At one point in time, he was a bit shinier, but my figure has long since dulled.  The figure’s sculpt is solid.  I think it would be difficult to mess up a bald, naked guy, but I’d probably be wrong.  He’s got a nice assortment of articulation, though I’m not really sure what’s going on with his right arm.  Is he supposed to be doing something specific ?  Because all I see is some kind of record scratching move.  Maybe this is actually a figure of often forgotten 90s sensation DJ Sizzle Surfer-izzle and I just wasn’t aware…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was a moderate silver surfer fan as a kid, but I actually rarely used this figure as the Surfer.  He was a nice, generic figure, good for a million things.  His joints are practically worn out from all the play time this guy got!

#0014: Mole Man

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

MOLE MAN

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOYBIZ)

I’m looking at a fourth (hey that’s neat!) figure from Toybiz’s 90s Fantastic Four line.  This time it’s a figure of their first foe (Other than those wacky cosmic rays):  Mole Man.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure is Mole Man, released in the first wave of Fantastic Four figures.  He’s got 7 points of articulation and he stands about 5 inches tall.  And that’s an issue.  Mole Man is a character typically depicted as being a short, fat guy in the comics, and while Toybiz got the girth right, the scale of this figure is WAY off.  He’s the same height as just about everyone in the line, but he’s obviously meant to be smaller.  Quite frankly, he looks like he belongs with a marvel Legends set up, were it not for the more simplistic styling of the figure.  He’s also got this weird spinning right hand action feature.  When you press the button at the top of his right arm, his hand quickly spins 360 degrees.  I’m not really sure what it’s purpose is, but there you have it.  Somebody thought that was a good hook for the figure.  This figure is fairly disappointing, because the sculpt isn’t bad, but the scale totally kills it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Mole Man, while disappointing, actually represents a pretty neat story.  He was purchased in 2003 from a KB Toys liquidation center.  It was pretty much this giant KB, that was full of deeply discounted toys from about 5-10 years earlier.  Mole Man was purchased along with a large selection of other 90s Marvel figures for an insanely low price, which excited me greatly.

#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.

#0012: Dr. Doom

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

DR DOOM

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOYBIZ)

Today, we look at another figure from Toybiz’s Fantastic Four line from the 90s.  Yesterday, we looked at Reed Richards, today we look at his arch nemesis Dr. Victor Von Doom

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The patriarch of Latveria was released in the first wave of figures.  He’s based on the character’s look on the cartoon, which was obviously based the comic book look.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and has 8 points of articulation.  He has a removable cape and a spring loaded right hand.  The hand is launched by pushing the extremely obvious lever on the shoulder.  It’s kind of an odd feature, as I don’t recall Doom ever doing anything that resembled what this figure seems to emulate.  I guess maybe if he were a Doombot, but it just seems like an odd choice for a figure that would have probably been better without it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Dr. Doom was a great figure.  I remember being pretty content with this figure, and as a kid he was one of my go to bad guys for whatever hero I was playing with that week.  I think he still holds up pretty well for the time, aside from the odd action feature.

Check out this figure’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!

#0011: Mr Fantastic

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

MR FANTASTIC

FANTASTIC FOUR (TOYBIZ)

Today’s post is from Toybiz’s Fantastic Four line from the 90s.  The line was released to coincide with the cartoon from the same time.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The figure in question is the leader of the FF, Dr Reed Richards, aka Mr Fantastic (Mr. F!).  He’s from the first wave of the line.  Reed is depicted in his costume from the cartoon, which was based on the John Byrne design.  He stands 5 inches tall, with 5 points of articulation.  He features stretchy arms and a neat Negative Zone harness, for all that negative Zone exploring he’s prone to do.  The harness fits well, and goes on and off pretty easily.  The stretchy arms were an inspired choice, but I feel they may have been the wrong way to go.  As you can see from the photo, the rubber is very prone to yellowing, kind of ruining the figure.  Plus, there’s no way to pose his arms any other way than straight down at his sides.  Overall, a decent depiction of Mr Fantastic, but there’s some room for improvement.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Reed was my second figure of the character, bought to replace my fragile Marvel Super heroes figure.  He’s definitely an improvement in sturdiness and in overall quality, though I’m not sure it’s a spot-on Mr Fantastic.

#0007: X-Men Original Members Boxed Set

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CYCLOPS, MARVEL GIRL, BEAST, ICEMAN, & ANGEL

X-MEN ORIGINAL MEMBERS BOXED SET

Today we look at another of Toybiz’s First Appearance boxed sets.  This one’s not quite as colorful as the Avengers set, but it’s still pretty fun.  The set is of course based on the founding members of the X-Men in their original uniforms, straight from X-Men #1.

CYCLOPS

THE FIGURE ITSELF

What better place to start than leader-man himself: Scott Summers, aka Cyclops!  He, like all the others in the set is depicted here in his black and yellow uniform from the early issues of X-Men.  He’s got 12 points of articulation.  The sculpt is pretty good, especially the head, which does a good job of capturing a nice determined look.  The facial expression is very Kirby, which is appropriate.  The body is another story.  It’s not terrible mind you, but it could be a little better.  His shoulders are a bit on the broad side, and his waist is too thin.  The torso is also a rather flat in general, which is a bit odd.  The best part of the figure, I think, is the hinged visor.  It showcases the very nice sculpt below, and highlights the light-piped eyes, simulating his optic blasts.  I also love that his right hand is specially molded to allow you to pose him holding his visor.

MARVEL GIRL

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next up is Scott’s girlfriend,  the marvelous Jean Grey, aka Marvel Girl.  She shown in her early costume, before they tweaked her design to set her apart more from the boys.  And that’s unfortunate, because it makes for a somewhat ugly figure.  Her proportions are really off.  She’s got long arms, huge hands and feet, and what looks like no ears.  Not to mention that her torso looks way to short.  Throw in the odd choice of rooted hair for the pony tail, and you’ve got yourself quite the funky looking figure.  She’s not the most hideous figure that Toybiz ever put out (That honor goes to the Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch.  Euggghh…), but she‘s far from the best.  She looks okay with the team, but not really anywhere else.

BEAST

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next up is the resident brains AND brawn, Hank McCoy, aka The Beast.  This is a pre-blue and furry beast, which is quite the rarity in the toy world.  It’s a pretty good representation of that too, though the face sculpt focuses a bit too much on the “brawn” side of things in my opinion.  The huge hands and feet are well done, and make him really easy to balance, which is quite nice.  He’s a solid addition to the set.

ICEMAN

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Next is the hot-headed but cool Bobby Drake, aka Iceman.  He’s probably the figure in the set that stands out the most, because he’s the only one not in the standard black and yellow uniform.  They’ve chosen to show him in is snowy form, from before he learned to actually turn into ice.  The figure’s  molded in clear plastic, with very light blue accents painted generously to make him more opaque.  It’s a great effect, and really makes him look nice and icy.  The sculpt is pretty strong.  He suffers from some of the same wonky proportions as Cyclops, but once again the face sculpt is spot on, depicting an nice cocky grin beneath his snowy exterior.  One minor complaint I have is that the ice blasts are permanently affixed to his hands, which does ruin his play factor a bit.

ANGEL

THE FIGURE ITSELF

And, saving the best for last, it’s everybody’s favorite angelic millionaire, Warren Worthington, aka Angel.  Angel is, in my opinion, the best this set has to offer.  He doesn’t suffer from the wonky proportions that seem to plague this set.  He’s got a perfect expression for that “I’ve got so much more money than you” millionaire look.  Plus those wings!  Those awesome articulated wings!  The figure also is somewhat of a rarity in that it depicts a pre-archangel Warren, which is always a nice change.  If I had one complaint, it would be that the figure is a bit difficult to keep standing, mostly due to the wings, but it’s nothing that I can’t deal with.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another set I remember being quite excited about, though not as excited as I was for the Avengers set.  I think it was probably because I had most of these characters already from Toybiz’s extensive X-Men line.  I believe that this set was a Christmas gift, though I don’t remember who it was from (probably my parents).

I also have spare set of this one, thanks to my Angel figure going missing not long after I got the set.  Having gone without him for so long probably just makes me appreciate him more now (That sounded weird…).