Tag Archives: Video Games

Guest Review #0011: Siris – V1

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

SIRIS -V1

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

Sirus1

Today’s review is written by Tim Marron.  Check out more from Tim over at Tim’s Blarg and Timsical Thoughts.  Take it away Tim!

One of my favorite game series of all time has got to be the Infinity Blade franchise, developed by Chair for iOS. It’s got everything I love: swords, fighting, swords, monsters, weapons, and swords [also swords. –Ethan]. The 3rd volume of the game was released in 2013 and somewhere along the line, there was an update that added the feature to order a custom 3D printed figure of your character straight from the game. The figures can be printed in small (~3 ½ inches), medium (~4 ½ inches), and large (5 ½ – 6 inches) sizes. Today, for my inaugural IB figure review, I’ll be looking at version 1 of my Siris build in small.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sirus4Siris is based on his appearance in Infinity Blade 3. Mine specifically is 3 ½ inches tall and shows him sporting the Nightbringer helm, Still Plate armor, Starsh sword, and Nodus shield in the “crossed” pose. Being 3D printed, all of Siris’ sculpt is new, and because it was printed using the game’s model data, it’s pretty spot on. Certain areas like the shield can seem a little chunkier than in the game, but at such a small scale, beefing up parts like that to improve durability is perfectly acceptable. In addition, the coloring is quite impressive. There isn’t a drop of paint used on the figure, instead, all the color comes from the print medium itself. The shield again seems to have a little trouble with some of the details being slightly fuzzy but it’s not terrible and the rest of the figure is nice and clean. Sandboxr, the company that handles printing these figures describes the medium as a “sandstone-like powder” material that is then treated to make the print a solid piece. The choice of medium allows for much more detailed prints than with plastic filament printers and also gives the figure a nice amount of heft. Aside from the aforementioned sword and shield permanently affixed to his back, Siris features no accessories and has no articulation.

Sirus2Sirus3Siris5

 THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Until just a couple months ago, I had no idea the feature of having your character as a 3D print was even a thing, so when I stumbled across the Infinity Blade Collectibles website and found it, I immediately jumped into the game and decked out my character. The wait between placing the order and receiving it seemed a little long, but honestly, for something custom made, the turnaround was not bad at all. It is a bit of a shame that they only make static figures, although the level of customization involved would make fully articulated figures a bit of a pain to produce. In the end, it’s a super cool little statue to have and I’m already looking into getting more.

#0314: Atlas

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

ATLAS

PORTAL 2 (NECA)

Atlas

I’m not much of a video gamer. It’s not to say I don’t enjoy playing them, but I’m not devoted like some. One of the big things that does pull me into a game is multiplayer capability and cooperative modes. One of the best Co-op modes in recent years has to be Portal 2, which really hits home the need for the players to, you know, cooperate. My brother Christian and I had a great time playing through the game, and we both wanted a set of the figures based on the Co-op mode’s stars, Atlas and P-Body. Christian’s already taken a look at his set, and now it’s time for me to look at mine. I looked at P-Body yesterday, now let’s look at the other half of this dynamic robotic duo, Atlas!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

AtlasWilsonAtlas was released in tandem with P-Body in the second series of Portal 2 figures from NECA. Atlas is a little shorter than P-Body at just over 7 inches tall and he features 15 points of articulation. Possibly more, but it’s a bit hard to tell with this figure. I’m hesitant to move some pieces, given the fragility of the design. Just like P-Body, Atlas features an all-new sculpt. It looks like a pretty straight recreation of Atlas’s design from the game. All the details look spot on, which is really great. Again, like P-Body, the sculpt and design lead to some decreased articulation, which is annoying, but comes with the territory. The design of the lower legs and feet also makes Atlas a bit wobbly, so he has a tendency to shelf dive. The paintwork on Atlas is all pretty clean. There’s a few areas of fuzzy lines, and a few small instances of bleed over, but overall it looks pretty good. Atlas adds a light up feature to the list of traits shared with P-body. Atlas’s light seems a bit dimmer than P-Body’s, which seems more accurate to the game. Still not something I see being left on long term, but cool nonetheless. Atlas also includes a portal gun, which has been detailed with blues to match Atlas’s color scheme and lights up a nice purple color.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Atlas was part of a set with P-Body, which I purchased from Big Bad Toy Store. Even though I’m ususally the second player, aka P-Body, I have to admit I think Atlas features the better design. It just seems to work a bit better. The figure is a very nice representation of that design. Stability issues aside, it’s a pretty great figure, certainly worth the purchase if you’re a fan of the game.

Atlas&P-Body

#0313: P-Body

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

P-BODY

PORTAL 2 (NECA)

P-Body

Guest reviews are still something I’m getting used to on this site, I must say. I’ve had them for a little while, but for the most part Tim and Christian have their own interests separate from mine. Believe it or not, there’s some cross over, which means, occasionally, one of them will own a figure I do. This creates the issue of duplicate reviews, an issue I’m facing today. See, Christian and I received our Atlas and P-Body figures at the same time. He was very excited about them and asked if he could do some guest reviews. Obviously, I obliged. I also didn’t want to steal his thunder, so I pushed my own reviews back a little. Thing is, I don’t really know that I have any new ground to cover here, so I’ve actually been pushing these two back for over a month. I’ve finally given in, so here goes. Let’s start with P-Body.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

P-BodyWilsonP-Body was released as part of what I’d guess you’d call the second series of Portal 2 figures from NECA. According to Christian, P-Body’s a girl, which seems weird to me, but I guess if you have to assign genders to inanimate objects, P-Body could be a “girl.” P-Body is about 7 ½ inches tall and features 17 points of articulation. The sculpt is totally unique to P-Body, and I believe it may have been built from a 3D model of the character. Everything looks pretty much spot-on to the design from the game, so that’s all pretty good. The sculpt does limit what you can do with the articulation, but that’s not too surprising, given the design and scale. P-Body’s paint seems to be pretty clean over all. There’s a fuzzy line here or there, but nothing too bad. P-Body has a light-up feature. By pushing the button the figure’s back, you can enable the light up eye, which will stay-on until the button is pushed again. It seems just a tad bright to look right, plus it’s battery powered, so I can’t see many people leaving it on long term. Still, it’s a cool feature. P-Body includes a portal gun, painted to match the figure. It also lights up, via the same type of mechanism.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got P-Body as part of a set with Atlas online. Christian had found P-Body at Toys R Us and was wanting an Atlas, so I ordered the set so we could both save on shipping. So, yeah…

Anyway, I was always second player, so I suppose I can kind of connect with P-Body. It’s a pretty great translation of the design to action figure form, and for $25 it’s pretty much a win!

Guest Review #0010: Wheatley and Turret

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

WHEATLEY AND TURRET

PORTAL 2

Wheatley1 Turret

HA! I knew someone was alive in there! Welcome back, everybody, to the final review of action figures in the Portal 2 series. It is a sad day, BUT also a great one! Today, I will be reviewing the small ones in the bunch, the Aperture Science Turret™ and the cuddly Wheatley (Pre-Machiavellian Transformation)!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

TURRET

TerretWilsonUp first is the Aperture Science Turret™ from NECA. These figure reviews have been released in order in which I received them, but since I got Wheatley the day of this review’s inception, Big Brother gave me the OK to do a review of both of them together. And since I got the Turret first (Or at the Same Time as Chell, because they were a joined birthday gift from Big Brother) he is up to be reviewed first!

Like I said before, this Turret is from the great minds at NECA! Many different incarnations of the Turret from Portal 2 have been made by other manufacturers, but this one is the cheapest, but one of the hardest to get. The Turrets were released in two waves (Open Turrets and Closed Turrets) with twelve different styles (The same styles, but, again, OPEN AND CLOSED). Here’s the catch though. You couldn’t buy what you wanted! You could buy either from wave one (closed) or wave Two (open), but they were bought at random for $6. This process of random figure buying is known as blind-boxing. This particular Turret is the plain, white, closed Turret from the 1st Wave of the Blind Box Turrets. This figure has NO articulation, but it doesn’t need any as, in the game, the Turrets can’t move on their own (except for their eyes, but that would be a very unnecessary and difficult articulation point). The paint job is perfect EXCEPT for the eye which has a little red run-off. Overall, for $6, this is a really great addition to my Portal 2 action figures and is really cool to pose and do stuff with.

WHEATLEY

WheatleyWilsonThis handsome son-of-a-gun is actually a KEYCHAIN/FLASHLIGHT. Yep. But he is in scale. So I bought him. DONE. In all seriousness, this is a VERY well-crafted figure. So here it goes.

Wheatley is an “intelligence” core that tries to help Chell escape from Aperture Science Laboratories in the video game Portal 2.  (SPOILERS AHEAD!!!) He later becomes the game’s second main antagonist and takes control of the facility only to be cast out into space. (SPOILERS OVER!!!) This figure was manufactured by ThinkGeek and retails for $8-10, but I snagged him for $6. Something about the number 6 is very relevant in Portal 2 Action FIgures….

This figure has an astounding 2 POINTS OF ARTICULATION and a blue LED Light for an eye. This figure also, like I said, acts as a keychain and a flashlight. Unlike the other characters in the Portal 2 series with LED Lights, Wheatley’s (because it is a flashlight) is VERY bright, as you can see below. The paint job is great and I can’t notice any blemishes. I really like this figure as a figure, but I wish there was an easier way to remove the keychain part.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I received these figures at different times. I got the Turret with Chell as a birthday gift from Big Bro and Wheatley off of ThinkGeek. I’ve wanted figures of both these characters for a long time and it is great to finally have them in my hands, EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE A GOSH DARN KEYCHAIN!!!

#0288: Iron Golem

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

IRON GOLEM

MINECRAFT

IronGolem1

What’s this? Two video game reviews in a row? Is Ethan feeling okay? Will the sentences stop being questions? Yeah, it’s time for another Birthday review, Part 8, in fact. Once again, this figure comes from a video game, but this time it’s a game I’ve actually played quite a bit: Minecraft! This particular figure is based on the Iron Golem, one of the game’s NPCs, which can be built by a player in-game.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IronGolemWilsonThe Iron Golem was released as part of the second series of Jazwares’ Minecraft line. The figure stands about 4 inches tall and features 6 points of articulation. As far as I can tell, the figure sports a brand-new sculpt, though it’s possible that the legs may be re-used from one of the line’s other figures. I don’t have any of them to compare, so I can’t be sure. The sculpt looks pretty good. It’s not a complex design, but they’ve done an admirable job translating to three dimensions and adding points of articulation. The paint is really great in that it looks simple, but it’s actually very calculated so as to capture the pixelated detailing of the character really well. It gives the figure a nice, unique look, and makes it instantly recognizable to fans of the game. The Iron Golem includes a rose and an iron block. These are pretty clever, as roses are one of the Iron Golem’s favorite things, in-game, and the iron block is a pivotal piece to building the character.

IronGolem2 IronGolem3

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Iron Golem is another of the gifts I received for my birthday. My brother had originally wanted to get me this figure instead of the Heavy, but he couldn’t find the Golem in time. However, on the way home from dinner on my actual birthday, my family agreed to stop by the nearby Toys R Us with me. I found the Iron Golem, and my parents went ahead and bought it for me. How cool are they? The Iron Golem is my favorite of the designs from Minecraft and I was decently excited to see the figure turn up in series two. I can’t really see myself getting into the rest of the line, but the Iron Golem makes for a pretty decent standalone piece.

#0287: The Heavy

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

THE HEAVY

TEAM FORTRESS 2

Heavy1

Birthday Reviews chug along, now working into Part 7. We’re nearing the end, but we aren’t there just yet! Today, I’ll be looking at a video game figure, a first for me, but not for the site. Most interestingly, while I have played a few video games, and I do have some figures from them, this one doesn’t come from a game I’ve personally played. But toy, so…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Heavy3The Heavy was released as part of the first series of NECA’s Team Fortress 2 line. This particular version is the Blue Release, which was put out a little while after the initial Red Release. The figure stands just shy of 8 inches tall and features 32 points of articulation. He’s based, shockingly enough, on the design of the Heavy from Team Fortress 2. The figure has an all new sculpt, which isn’t too surprising, given the unique nature of the character designs in the game. The sculpt seems to be pretty spot on to the design from the game. Some changes have been made here and there to facilitate the articulation and make the figure a bit more stable, but they’re minor changes. The blocky nature of the design really translates nicely to figure form, which is a definite plus. The paint work marks the distinguishing feature between the two versions of the character. I have the Blue Version, which means I have the one painted blue, which is what the Heavy looks like when a player is playing on the Blue team. The default looks tend to be Red, but Blue was a little easier to find, so it works for me. Otherwise, the paint all seems to be done pretty well. There aren’t any noticeable occurrences of slop or bleed over.  The Heavy comes armed with his big gun and a shotgun, as well as a pair of hands to properly hold both.

Heavy2

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Heavy was given to me by my really cool brother this year for my birthday. I’ve never actually played TF2, but I know of it, and I’ve always found the designs, particularly the Heavy’s, to be pretty cool. This is definitely a neat figure, and probably even more so to someone who’s actually played the game!

Guest Review #0009: Atlas

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

ATLAS

PORTAL 2 (NECA)

Atlas1

 

Hey guys!  The following is a Guest Review from my awesome brother Christian Wilson!  Take it away Christian…

Hello again! I’m back again for another action figure review because I’M OFF MY MEDICATION! This is Part Deux in the Deux Part series of action figure reviews about the Dynamic Robotic Duo, Atlas & P-Body! Today, I’ll be reviewing P-Body’s male counterpart, Atlas!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Atlas is the male robot, made by Aperture Laboratories, from the co-op portion of Portal 2 and works alongside P-Body. From our best boys at NECA, Atlas stands at about 7½ inches tall, just shorter than P-Body. Atlas boasts 15 points of articulation and has a blue LED light in his eye. This light, like with P-Body, is REALLY FREAKING BRIGHT! This figure is my favorite because of the design of the character. The ball (or head) moves side to side at 360 degrees and the figure is a lot stockier than P-Body, which make him easier to stand, so a lot less jimmying on this end. The paint job, like with P-Body, is fantastic and really brings the character to life (Ba dum Tshh!). The figure comes with no stand, but comes with his own personalized Portal Gun, with the colors of blue and purple in the game, but just purple here, because Chell’s Portal Gun was already blue-lit. The gun is the same model as Chell and P-Body’s, but has two blue lines along the top, which are a good paint job. Atlas does hold it pretty well, but it’ll take some work. The joints, for mine, took a while to ease up, especially in the wrists. So, I thought that he didn’t have any, until the Chief Executive [I guess I’m the Chief Executive — E] told me that he did. One of the problems I found with P-Body was the lack of good leg movement. Atlas does it better, but at the cost of having any shoulder articulation at all! This lack of articulation does stifle the fun a little for me but he is hindered TOO much by it.

WARNING: Like I said in my last review, these figures like to break A LOT. Luckily mine was from bigbadtoystore.com, and they guarantee not broken figures, which they do deliver (Ba dum tshh) However, I have seen other Atlases (Atlasi?) that have broken legs, so WATCH OUT!

AtlasWilson Atlas2

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I kinda touched on this in my last review, but I didn’t get P-Body and Atlas at the same time. I got P-Body first because she wasn’t broken at Toys R Us. Both Atlases were so I didn’t want to waste my money. I ordered it when I got home, but then we went to the beach and I didn’t get to it until the week after. Still, IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT! Both Atlas and P-Body are fantastic figures and have been LONG in the making. NECA did a good job of making these figures so go and GET ‘EM!

Atlas&P-Body

Guest Review #0008: P-Body

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

P-BODY

PORTAL 2 (NECA)

PBodyCH2

Hey guys!  The following is a Guest Review from my awesome brother Christian Wilson!  Take it away Christian…

Hello, everybody! It’s me again! The brother of the big man upstairs (Ethan)! As these (P-Body AND Atlas) are my figures and they are from a game I played (and very much enjoyed), I’ll be reviewing these robotic buddies of friendship for you loyal 17 readers. Now, sit back and “HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS!”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

P-BodyWilsonAs P-Body was the first figure I obtained (I’ll explain later), it’s only fitting that I review this strapping and tall robot buddy first!

P-Body and Atlas (who will be tomorrow’s review) are the co-op playable characters from the video game Portal 2 by Valve. She is the robot best-friend of his robot counterpart, Atlas, and her Portal Gun colors are Orange and Red. P-Body stands at about 8 inches tall with 17 points of articulation. The overall sculpt of the figure is all its own since this line is very limited and no two figures really use the same parts (maybe Atlas possibly uses the same parts, but if so, not many).The figure has one LED-Lit eye (that you may switch on and off at will) and it is really FREAKING bright! As she is very detailed as a robot with all the wiring and stuff, her articulation is strange. In the game, P-Body moves around with her legs a TON. So, you’d expect SOME leg articulation, but it is very limited. This lack of articulation in the leg department is also present in the other figure in this line, Chell. The paint, for a figure that only cost $25, is fantastic! It looks extremely aesthetically pleasing and represents his character greatly! The figure has one accessory, her personal Portal Gun! It is LED-Lit also, but only displays one color, Red. It is also well-painted, but a reuse of the Portal Gun belonging to Chell (the first figure in the line). P-Body needs some jimmying to get her to hold it, but she can! P-Body, unlike Chell, does not come with a stand. She can stand on her own, but again, it will take some jimmying.

WARNING! These figures like to break A LOT! Not beyond repair, but in the case of P-Body, mine’s right arm comes loose on a regular basis. This may not be the case of yours(if you choose to buy one after reading this review, already own one, or are from the FUTURE) but it is very much the case with mine. Still, I think this figure is WAY PAST COOL and I was and am excited to purchase and own her!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got these very recently (The day before I wrote this review) at a Toys R Us in Glen Burnie. Both Atlas & P-Body were there, in fact TWO Atlas’s(Atlases? Atlasi?), but both were broken and would both need to be bought just to fix one. So I ordered Atlas immediately. Still wanting something to get, I got P-Body. I STILL AM IN LOVE WITH THIS FIGURE, but it would’ve been nice to have both. As these were delayed again and again, I was swooned away when I finally got at least one. Now we wait for Atlas.

PBodyCH1

Guest Review #0007: Chell

Posted by Christian Wilson in Guest Reviews and tagged with , ,

CHELL

PORTAL 2 (NECA)

Chell

Hey guys!  The following is a Guest Review from my awesome brother Christian Wilson!  Take it away Christian…

Initiating Surprise in Three…..Two……One…. SUPRISE!!! EVERYONE GATHER ROUND! IT’S ME! THE SMALLER VERSION OF THE HEAD HONCHO(Ethan), CHRISTIAN! I, like Tim, LOVE video games. But, my upbringing on action figures, was not one of Video Game based action figures, it was a very similar upbringing to Ethan, as we are brothers. I don’t have as many action figures as Ethan nor am I as good at video games as Tim, I still have years of experience in both to combine them to create a lovely concoction. Still, I do love them video games equally as much as action figures. Moving On! As Portal 2(The game this figure is from) is one of my favorite video games of all time, it’s no surprise I would get the action figures. The first one I got is the one you see above, a girl named Chell.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ChellWilsonChell is the main protagonist in both Portal and Portal 2. She is the only human test subject left in all of the ruins of Aperture Science. She successfully escapes the Laboratory in Portal, but is brought back into the Lab by another Aperture Science robot. She then again tries to escape in Portal 2, but eventually is let go by the main robotic operator of the facility, GLADoS. Moving onto the figure, Chell stands at 7 inches tall, with 23 points of articulation (EVEN ONE IN HER PONYTAIL!). The paint job is quite fantastic (Although, there are reports of HORRIBLE face paints, but mine looks OK) and shows Chell from Portal 2, not Portal (There was a major redesign in the appearance of Chell between games). Also, her parts seem to be all newly sculpted and they really look well-sculpted. She comes with a Dual Handheld Portal Device, or Portal Gun for short. This Portal Gun has a blue LED Light and fits nicely in her hands. Also she comes with a stand, BECAUSE SHE CAN”T STAND FOR S**T! Since Chell comes equipped with “Long Fall Boots”(These were created by Aperture Science to stop Test Subjects suffering from fall damage and breaking valuable equipment) the design of them cuts off her standing ability almost entirely. So hold onto the stand, because she’ll need it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Since the game is first person, Chell was not immediately recognizable. But I knew after the marvel that was Portal 2, I would need to get one of those figures. But, my BIG BRO got me Chell for my birthday and I was very pleased. She is a great figure and is up on my shelf to stay!

Guest Review #0005: Ranger Elite

Posted by Tim Marron in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

RANGER ELITE (SANGHEILI)

HALO REACH

IMG_0645

Today’s review is written by Tim Marron.  Check out more from Tim over at Tim’s Blarg and Timsical Thoughts.  Take it away Tim!

When it comes to video games, two of the traits I tend to look for are the presence of shootbangs, and a high level of polish. I don’t mean that in the sense of the game being thoroughly tested and fine-tuned, although that is also desirable. No, I mean it’s got lots of shiny things. As many of you probably know, the Halo franchise meets both of these criteria consistently across titles and it is from this series that today’s figure comes. I’ll be taking a look at the Ranger Elite from Halo Reach, the origin story of the Halo universe.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

For those of you not familiar with the Halo games or lore, Elites, or Sangheili if you really want to show off, are a species of alien that are part of a military coalition known as the Covenant. This specific figure is part of McFarlane Toys’ fifth series of Halo Reach action figures and depicts an Elite in the Ranger armor. He features 25 points of articulation and stands about 6″ tall, when you can get him to stand, that is. The sculpt is pretty accurate to the look from the game and is mostly original apart from the feet, hands, and lower torso which are reused from all previous Halo Reach Elites. There are some seam lines and kibble, but anyone handy with an X-acto knife should be able to remedy these easily enough. I do appreciate how the Elite’s face can be partially seen underneath the transparent visor of his helmet instead of, say, having the visor be painted on opaque… and the wrong color. I’m looking at you, DC Direct (see my review of their Tali’Zorah figure). The sculpting does start to be an issue when it runs into certain areas of articulation on the figure. Places like the knees and elbows are sculpted to match as closely as possible to the shape of the character model in the game. However, the simple hinge joint they used on the figure aren’t entirely compatible which results in the knee caps and elbows peeling away from the rest of the arm or leg when you bend the joint. This forms weird little spikes that aren’t meant to be there and can be a little pinchy if you aren’t paying attention. The paint is decent although hardcore collectors will notice some serious areas of slop and bleed over. That being said, the average casual collector such as myself will be totally fine with the paint which has a nice variety of textures like metallic and even pearlescent in some areas. The Ranger Elite comes with a Focus Rifle, Plasma Grenade, and back plate that can be removed to attach a jetpack from one of the other figures in this line. I would have liked a stand of some kind because he is a touch on the wobbly side, but it’s not that big of a deal given that this is probably the most toy-ish action figure I have. This guy isn’t meant to be stood up on a shelf, he’s meant to be played with, and I kinda like that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was maybe one of my most impulsive impulse buys. I got him from Toys-R-Us, where I had gone initially to browse the Nerf aisle (ask me about my Nerf collection, I dare you) in search of an early release. I only saw it as I was wandering back through the store. The combination of my favorite Halo armor design along with one of my favorite weapon designs both in one box caused an involuntary reflex in which I took the figure to the checkout, purchased it, and walked back to the car. Ok, maybe it wasn’t involuntary but I am glad to have the figure. It does have its issues as a figure, but as a toy, I give it a resounding BLARG of triumph.