Tag Archives: Video Games

Guest Review #0027: Earthworm Jim

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

EARTHWORM JIM

EARTHWORM JIM (PLAYMATES)

EWJ1

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

This figure, like my review of Ash and Pikachu, is from a game I’ve never played. However, that won’t stop me! I now have all the systems (including the 360, since there was an HD Remake on the 360) to play Earthworm Jim, but whatever! I’ll get to it. You don’t own me…….

Let’s get on with the review.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

EWJ2Jim was an earthworm from Earth, in case you got lost, and got a suit that gave him the ability to walk around and defeat baddies. Ya know, cuz Aliens™. Also, he could disconnect from the suit briefly to use his head (or the worm body) to whip as a platforming maneuver. That’s just…. Eugh! His backstory may be odd, but once it gets going it’s a pretty typical rescue Princess Whatsername from Evil Queen Slugforabutt (both actual names of the characters. Again, Eugh!) Now, knowing that interesting lore, the figure itself stands at just under 6 inches tall with 6 points of articulation. I have to say that the paint job is pretty spectacular. It really captures the essence of Jim (that sounds like a perfume). I bought him used so there are yellow stains which I can’t explain. Sounds creepy, right? The one I bought only came with his laser gun, which I looked up. The figures I’ve seen in-package had green accessories, but mine’s red. The Battle-Damaged Jim came with red accessories, but mine isn’t the battle-damaged Jim. Nonetheless, I prefer the red gun as it was the color of his original gun. Even though there is not comfortable way to put the gun in its “holster.” In that 90s style, and to keep up with what Jim actually can do in the game (Remember…..Eugh!?), there is a button on Jim’s backpack that makes his head shoot off. Very far. There’s almost no easy way of getting it off without having to go pick it up off of the floor. Otherwise, this is a really well done figure and he has a place on my shelf.

Yes, I too have a shelf. Though it’s smaller than Ethan’s. But then again I don’t have 2800+ action figures, so there.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I said, I got this figure used, but I can’t remember where or when. Must’ve been recent, but I don’t know exactly. Even though I didn’t play the game(cause I wasn’t born then), I still love the figure because I love it when I get to have an action figure of a video game character. That just hits the spot. I’ll see you soon guys. DFTBA.

Guest Review #0021: Noble Team Minimates

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

JORGE, EMILE, NOBLE SIX, AND GAUSS HOG

HALO MINIMATES

Warthog1

The following is a guest review by Tim Marron. For more from Tim, check out Timsical Thoughts and Tim’s Blarg.

You may know that I’m a big fan of the Halo series of video games, however, Halo Reach never quite seemed to stop teetering on the like/dislike fence for me. It was one of those frustratingly middle sort of games where any negatives on one hand like lame deaths, Kat in general, and an overall meh delivery of plot were balanced on the other hand by things like Emile, jetpacks, new guns, and Emile again. Fortunately, the set I’ll be looking at today has far more of the better parts of the game in it. And there’s plenty Emile to be had. I mean, it’s just one figure but that’s enough. It would just be weird to have, say, 6 of the same character. But I digress, on to the reviews.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

In this set we get two of the more memorable/tolerable NPC Spartans from the game’s campaign, Emile, and Jorge, along with Blandy McBlanderpants a.k.a. Noble Six as well as a big car they can all ride in. They make up half of the central Noble Team, the remaining three Spartans being grouped in another set.

JORGE

Warthog3For those unfamiliar with the game, Jorge is Noble Team’s guy with a big machine gun, along the lines of Drake and Vasquez, Dutch, or the TF2 Heavy. He’s based on his appearance in Halo Reach, for it is his only one. He stands about 2.5 inches tall and features 12 points of articulation. He’s built on the basic Minimate body with a modified waist which adds a little extra height to him. In addition, he comes sporting special pieces for his helmet, body armor, hands, leg plates, and boots. All of these pieces are pretty well sculpted and accurate to the game, though the fact that his bulky-ass shoulder pads are part of his body armor does mean his arm movement is pretty limited. The paint is not stellar. There’s a fair bit of slop and bleed on his armor and his visor is more of a pinkish beige rather than gold. He is the only Spartan of this set who actually has a face under his helmet. The details are a little too heavy and dark, making his wrinkles and facial stubble look like he drew them on with Sharpie. The texturing on the hair is a surprisingly nice touch though. Jorge comes with his signature big machine gun.

EMILE

Warthog4I’m not sure if this came across earlier but Emile is radtastic, sick nasty, and other combinations of words meaning he’s the coolest dude in the entire game. He’s the team’s resident ‘splosion master and the only character in any Halo game to have a big knife visibly on his person at all times. Construction-wise, he is built the same as Jorge except minus the torso extension and with his shoulder plates being on his arms instead of part of his body armor. The sculpt work is, again, well done and faithful to the source material. Emile shares the same boots, left hand, and right leg plate with Noble Six. Emile’s paint is an improvement over Jorge’s with only a couple sloppy spots. The skull pattern on the helmet looks pretty good too, though the black outline around the whole thing makes it look more like a sticker rather than an etching. Emile also has his trusty shotgun which is painted in snazzy silver, a nice touch that really makes it stand out.

NOBLE SIX

Warthog2Ah, Noble Six, the player character. He/she/it is what we refer to as a blank slate (I’ll keep things simple by saying “he”). He has no personality and no characterizing dialogue that I can recall, not even a face that the player can see. The figure is built the same as Emile, just with different armor pieces for his helmet, body, shoulders, right hand, and left leg. It’s all based on the starting armor set you have in the game so it’s a reasonable choice, even though in my playthrough, I wore the operator helmet, but that’s a petty gripe. The sculpt is right on par with the other two Spartans and the paint quality is the best of the lot, though not the most exciting. Nobby Sticks comes with an assault rifle.

THE VEHICLE IN QUESTION

Warthog5The Warthog is pretty much the cornerstone of the vehicles in the Halo so it’s inclusion in this set makes a lot of sense. But this isn’t the standard run-of-the-mill ‘Hog. The one in this set is the Gauss Warthog, meaning it has a Gauss Canon on the mounted turret in place of the traditional machine gun. In my opinion, it is the superior of the two. Aside from the proportions, it’s a near perfect recreation of the game vehicle. All three of the Spartans can fit in it together: one driver, one riding shotgun, and one on the turret. The wheels do in fact spin, which I’ve heard is not always a guarantee with Minimate vehicles. The turret can rotate 360 degrees and angle up and down. Overall, it didn’t need to be included but I’m glad it was as it serves nicely to keep the Spartans together and looks good doing it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was a Christmas gift from my boy Ethan. Up till that point, I’d only had a couple Minimates of my own so of course he jumped on the chance to remedy that, and I have to say, of the available sets to choose from, he chose wisely. Despite being a little dull, Noble Six is still a fun little figure and Jorge and Emile are just as awesome as they were in the game. It’s a good thing Kat wasn’t part of this set, otherwise she would probably have run over Noble Six and driven the Warthog off of my dresser.

Guest Review #0017: Master Chief & Cortana

Posted by hodgeppodge42 in Guest Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

MASTER CHIEF & CORTANA

HALO MINIMATES

Chief&Cortana1

Heeeeeeeyooooo! This is the first guest review done by the mysterious Super Awesome Girlfriend, who is way too supportive, that Ethan keeps talking about. Yes, that’s right folks; I’m a real girl! I honestly don’t know much about minimates, or this particular line of figures. So unfortunately, I won’t be able to give you any of that background information because action figures aren’t really my forte. Instead, I can give you a very brief background on the actual game characters since gaming is my guilty pleasure!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures were released in the 4th Toys R Us exclusive series. The series was based on Halo, the popular gaming franchise created by Bungie. The set includes characters from all the games, including some of the main alien characters, the Rookie from ODST, and even the Hayabusa armor from Halo 3 multiplayer (you know, the one that took hours to get because you needed to collect the bloody skulls throughout the game to unlock the individual pieces. And yes, I did get the armor, though it took me forever to get). This particular two pack includes Master Chief and his AI Cortana.

MASTER CHIEF

Chief&Cortana2As most people know, Master Chief is the main character of the Halo franchise, without him and his very recognizable voice the game would not have been as successful. He is the playable character for all of the main games, Combat Evolved, Halo 2-4, and is briefly mentioned in Reach and ODST. He’s the mysterious masked badass that defends humanity with an assault rifle, some grenades, and a witty AI companion, Cortana.

The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches in height and he has 12 point of articulation. This figure is based off of the design from Halo: Combat Evolved, which is personally my favorite. According to my boyfriend, this figure has the standard minimate body with unique arms and add-ons for his helmet, torso, belt, thighs, boots, and hands. The figure successfully captures Chief’s design in CE, which is really refreshing because some of the other figures didn’t transfer very well. Now, the figure isn’t flawless but the flaws are pretty amusing, so it’s okay. Master Chief doesn’t have two left feet (though we never see him dance…) but he does have two left thighs, making one leg taller than the other. His right leg is literally the left one but switched, so he has a butt plate on the front of his leg. But other than that little hiccup, the figure is well painted and very satisfying. The Minimate also comes with a well recreated version of the original assault rifle and a really tiny Cortana on a chip that can clip into his hand!

CORTANA

Chief&Cortana3Since Combat Evolved, Cortana has been a constant companion for gamers as they played the games, guiding you in the right directions and giving you constant and witty dialogue. In the story, she wasn’t made for the Master Chief, but under the circumstances their paths crossed and their relationship grew as they took down the Covenant and the Flood together. Basically, there is no Chief without Cortana. Period.

Minimate Cortana is modeled after what I believe is the Halo 3 design. She is roughly 2 ½ inches with 14 points of articulation. According to Ethan, she has the standard Minimate body, which has a painted female body, with removable hair. The figure doesn’t have any noticeable flawless, like two left thighs, but she doesn’t have anything really unique about her except for her stand. Since Cortana is an AI, she is usually stored in a data chip that is stored in the back of Chief’s helmet. For this figure, her stand is the data chip which actually has pretty good detailing, not a lot but enough to be satisfying.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got these Minimates on our one year anniversary, which was Christmas Eve. I knew that I was getting figures this season, because Ethan wanted me to join the guest reviewing family, but I was really touched that these were my first. If you haven’t noticed already, I am a gamer. I love video games and I have been playing for more than a decade now. Halo: Combat Evolved was the first serious game that I played on the original Xbox when I was six or seven with my older brother. I have been a fan of the series for a long time and I stuck with it, and will probably continue to stick with the story until 343 Industries really piss me off. I’ve told Ethan a few times about how I got started with video games, and Halo, so I wasn’t surprised by what he got me. Instead, I found it poetic that the first figures that I got where the characters from the first game that I played that really got me into gaming. I grew up with Master Chief and Cortana, and I find it sweet and a little surprising about the things that Ethan remembers.

#0424: Batman – Video Game

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

BATMAN – VIDEO GAME

BATMAN ’89 (NECA)

The last several reviews highlighted some of the positives of Mattel’s hold of the DC license. So, hey, for a change, how about a discussion of how they totally suck? That’ll be a real change…

Mattel’s DC license has exclusivity built into it. This means that DC won’t license to anyone who would provide Mattel direct competition. The larger scale stuff is a bit more open, but anything under 12 inches is pretty much Mattel’s game. Given Mattel’s lackluster offerings as of late, this kinda sucks for DC fans.  For years, fans have wanted proper figures based on the 1989 Batman movie, specifically Michael Keaton’s take on the title character. However, when Mattel finally released a Keaton Batman, it was A)in 3 ¾ inch scale, rather than the preferred 6-7 inch range, and B) not very good. Enter NECA.

NECA, who are known for their killer movie sculpts, produced their own Keaton Batman, but due to the Mattel license, it had to be 18 inch scale. But, NECA is the king of making impossible things happen (Sigourney Weaver likeness FTW!), so they were working on a way to get out a 7 inch figure. As it turns out, while Mattel’s license covers all of the comics, the movies, and the cartoons, it only covers some of the video games. In particular, it doesn’t cover the 1989 NES game done to tie into the movie. So, by painting up their Keaton sculpt in those colors, they were golden. He was just sort of wonky colored…

(Incidentally, about a week after this figure was released, it was announced that NECA had worked out a deal to have a properly colored version released with the new Batman Blu-ray release. So, yeah.)

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batman here was a special single release from NECA, but he follows the theme set by previous NES-style releases. Batman has the notoriety of being the first such figure to feature a new(ish) sculpt. I don’t usually discuss packaging, but it’s actually pretty cool here. It’s been done to look like the box for the original game, and it looks really cool. The only downside is that it’s shrink-wrapped, which means looking at the figure inside won’t happen until you’ve actually purchased it. This might up deterring some potential buyers, which is a bummer. The figure is a little over 7 inches tall and he features 25 points of articulation. So, you’ll notice up at the beginning there I referred to the sculpt as “new(ish).” This sculpt is essentially the same as the one used for NECA’s awesome 18 inch Keaton Bats. However, this is the first time it’s been seen in this scale, and it’s received a number of tweaks to make it work at the smaller size. Whatever its origins, it’s a really good sculpt. The coolest thing is that it’s not lots of straight pieces, it’s pieces on top of pieces, which gives it the appropriate amount of depth and layers. It really adds to the realism. What little can be seen of the Keaton likeness is spot on, and the figure’s proportions in general look to be a great representation of the actor. The sculpt is topped off with a cloth cape. It’s serviceable, though the hole for the head can show if you don’t have the figure posed properly. Paint is the one area where NECA sometimes has issues, but this figure has not been struck by any such issues. Overall, everything is very cleanly applied, and there aren’t any issues with slop or bleed over. The paint is also what makes the figure so distinctive. The colors are bold, and just wacky enough to make this figure the highlight of any Batman collection. Batman is armed with a grapple, a batarang, and two hands to hold them.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure is my lone Black Friday purchase. This was the one. I got him from my local Toys R Us, late in the evening, in between rounds of rapid Christmas decorating. I’ve been waiting for this figure to be released, pretty much since it was announced. What’s funny is, I actually hadn’t gotten him yet when the proper colored one, which I thought I wanted more, was announced. But, after seeing both of them, I just can’t get as excited about that one as I am about this one. I just really like the colors, and the general uniqueness of this guy. Another winner from NECA!

#0395: Ghostbusters Video Game Minimates

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

CHEF DEMASSI, THE ARCHITECT, BLACK SLIME MONSTER, AZETLOR

GHOSTBUSTERS MINIMATES

Hey, look at that, more Minimates. This time around, I’ll be turning to Ghostbusters Minimates, a line I haven’t shown enough love. DST’s take on the ‘busters was pretty notable for offering just about every character from Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2. However, before they had even finished a complete set of the main characters in their signature uniforms, they released this little gem of a set, based on the then current Ghostbusters video game. The set offers figures of four of the more pivotal ghosts created for that game.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This set was released as an Amazon exclusive, but its history is sort of confusing. It was originally meant to be packed in with this super-mega release of the game that had this huge selection of various goodies. Minimate fans in particular weren’t happy about having to drop a rather large sum of money just to get these four, but many signed up for the preorders anyway. Then, the release was cancelled. Most people figured the ‘mates were not to be, but Amazon stepped in and offered the set as their own exclusive, sold on its own.

CHEF DEMASSI

The Chef is one of the early ghosts in the game, fought at the famous Sedgwick Hotel, where the ‘busters got their start. He’s a take on the basic Italian Chef, and he actually fits in with the ghosts from the movies pretty well. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and it features 7 points of articulation, due to the lack of a lower half. The figure makes use of the arms and torso of the standard Minimate body, with different pieces for the head, hands, and lower half, as well as add-ons for the rolled sleeves, torso, and skirt. The head is originally from the DC Minimates Series 8 Sinestro, the hands are from Marvel Minimates Series 18’s Venom, the floating lower half piece is from this line’s Slimer, the sleeves are from the first Back to the Future Marty McFly, the torso cover is from Marvel Minimates Series 26’s Blob, and the skirt is from Marvel Minimates Series 18’s Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane. All of the pieces are well sculpted, and they add up to a pretty decent approximation of the character from the game, though the hole in the top of the head is sort of annoying. The paintwork on the figure is great; everything is cleanly applied, and all of the detail lines are nice and sharp. They’ve even given him little food stains on his coat! Chef Demassi included no accessories.

THE ARCHITECT

The Architect is the game’s primary villain, and he actually turns out to be Ivo Shandor, the man who built Dana and Luis’s apartment building from the first movie, which was a nice way of tying things together. The Architect is bout 2 ½ inches in height and he features 14 points of articulation, though most of the leg movement is rendered motionless by the skirt. The figure’s look appears to be based on the big figure towards the end of the game, but it’s missing the horns. He makes use of the basic Minimate body, with add-ons for the hair and skirt. The hair is from Ultimate Sabretooth, way back in Series 3 of Marvel Minimates, and the skirt is from The Spirit’s Formal Wear Sand Serrif. The pieces aren’t bad, though the hair is a little out of date. They make for a decent approximation of the Architect’s look. The Architect’s paint is, if nothing else, interesting to look at. He’s got a molten rock kind of a look to him, which is handled by strategic use of red and gold line work, with some dark grey thrown in for a little extra detail here and there. Everything is pretty well applied, and it ends up looking essentially like the design should. The Architect included an energy blast piece, which adds a bit of variety to the figure.

BLACK SLIME MONSTER

So, the first Ghostbusters had green slime, the second had pink, guess it’s fitting that the game got black slime. And if you’re going to have black slime, you have to have a Black Slime Monster, right? Sure, why not. The Black Slime Monster is just over 2 ½ inches tall and sports 14 points of articulation. The figure uses that standard Minimate body, with specific hands and feet, as well as add-ons for the torso and waist. The hands are from the Marvel Minimates Series 18 Venom (just like Chef Demassi), the feet are from the Series 20 Abomination, and the torso and waist pieces are from the Series 22 movie Abomination. The pieces are all pretty good, and they add up to a pretty decent approximation of the design from the game. The paintwork on the figure is decent. Nothing amazing or anything, but everything’s well applied, and the figure looks appropriately “mucky.” He at the very least makes for a visually interesting monster. The Black Slime Monster included a hook on a chain, which is a re-use from DC Minimates Series 7’s Lobo.

AZETLOR

When you’re making a set entirely out of re-used pieces, sometimes you end up with a figure that’s more than a little off. Case in point with the final figure in the set (and, incidentally, my personal favorite), Azetlor. The character has a few designs in the game, and this one doesn’t really look much like any of them. Which isn’t to say it’s a bad figure, just not a particularly accurate one. The Azetlor is about 2 ½ inches tall and he’s got 14 points of articulation. The figure pretty much the standard Minimate body, but with a DC Minimates Sinestro head in place of the standard one. What’s interesting is that all of the prototype shots show this guy with the normal head, but they decided to change it somewhere along the way. So, with a mostly basic build, he relies on paint to make him work. He’s molded in clear plastic, with details painted on here and there, making him look like bits of debris floating to make up a vaguely human shape. It’s all done very nicely. All of the lines are nice and clean, and the blue parts have some impressive shading, which gives the figure some much needed dimension. The Azetlor included no accessories

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, I totally skipped this set when it was first released. And I never really tracked it down. I almost bought the Azetlor by himself a few times, but I never really was pulled in by the rest of the set. So, what changed? Price changed. Cosmic Comix, my local comicbook store, got in a large quantity of this set, and they were selling them for $2.99 a piece. That’s less than $1 a figure! For that, they were more than worth it! It’s actually a pretty decent set of Minimates, especially if you’re just looking for some good generic monsters!

Guest Review #0016: Siris V2

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

SIRIS v.2

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

SirisV2a

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!

Here we go, strolling over the crest of a hill to overlook a scenic vista of some old vaguely gothic castle and announcing quietly, “Siris, I will review you.” Yes, I have more of Infinity Blade‘s lead character for you today and this time he’s changed his outfit. Let’s take a look at my second version of him. Start Bloodline 2.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

SirisV2eFor those unfamiliar, one of the main game mechanics of the Infinity Blade series is the abundance of weapon and armor options from which to earn experience points which have to be swapped out for different gear once they are “mastered”. You know, like when you have to change clothes because you get too good at wearing them…? I mean, that’s what I do, at least, but we’re getting side-tracked here. This version of Siris shows him wearing the Dark Plate armor, Dark Plate Helm, and wielding the Poison Scythe sword. The Poison Scythe is a dual weapon in the game so, in this case, he has no shield. Also, Siris is posed in the Glory pose and is sculpted in the small 3.5″ scale. I can’t say much about the sculpt that I haven’t said already, aside from one thing. Viewed in the game, Siris’ right arm is held out to the side more, resulting in the sword being at about hip height. It seems that the people at Sandboxr adjusted the model so that now the tip of the sword touches the ground. I understand why they might have done this, but it makes the pose feel a bit more static than I would have liked. The colors are all well applied and definitely look true-to-game though a little bit more contrast in the sword would be nice. As before, Siris includes no accessories and no articulation.

SirisV2b SirisV2d SirisV2cSirisV2Game

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I actually received this figure in the mail at the same time as my Isa v.1 figure. I thought the initial Siris was very new and clean looking so I tried going for the opposite with this one when kitting him out. Plus, it gave me a reason to give him the Poison Scythe, which is based off an Egyptian sword called a khopesh, and I’m a big fan of khopeshes. It is a little irritating that they lowered his sword arm so much and I would have maybe liked an extra coat of the varnish, but he’s still a good figure and I may actually like this one just a bit more than Siris v.1. Perhaps his descendants will fare even better.

#0381: Robin

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

ROBIN

DC COMICS MULTIVERSE

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in! Frequent readers of the blog will probably be aware of my less than stellar opinion of Mattel. For those of you who have only recently joined us, let me ‘splain….no it is too much, let me sum up: Mattel has a tendency to make bad decisions and when said bad decisions fail like they should, they like to place the fault on their fans. It’s not a particularly endearing quality. I am also not a huge fan of the current output of DC Comics. So, it would seem that Mattel holding the DC License would be a perfect partnership for me to ignore. However, I am stubborn, and in spite of my issues with Mattel and DC, I still like the DC characters and Mattel occasionally stumbles their way into a decent action figure. Such is the case with today’s figure, Mattel’s latest version of Batman’s faithful sidekick Robin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin was released in the fourth assortment of Mattel’s DC Comics Multiverse line, which is their current “collector oriented” line of 3 ¾ scale figures. Robin is based on the character’s appearance in the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight game, which seems to take fair bit of influence from the Damian Wayne Robin design. The figure clocks in at just about 3 ¾ inches tall and he features 18 points of articulation. Robin’s articulation scheme is the same as that seen on the Christopher Reeve Superman. It’s not bad, and it’s certainly better than what we saw on Zod, but he really would benefit from some ankle articulation, some sort of swivel in his upper arms, and maybe a mid-torso joint. As it is, the figure’s posing options are rather limited, which leaves him rather stiff looking. He’s good for a standing pose, but not much else. Robin appears to have a completely unique sculpt. Overall, it’s an okay sculpt, but it has some rather glaring faults. His head is a bit too small and his torso is too large, resulting in some serious pin-headedness. His torso is also rather flat, and his waist seems to sit too low, making the torso too long. All that being said, the sculpt does have some nice detail work, especially in the armor’s various engravings. The cape is not sculpted, but rather made of cloth. The material used for capes in this line seems to be inconsistent. They go back and forth between cloth and plastic with very little rhyme or reason. I personally prefer the sculpted capes, so the cloth isn’t a huge plus for me. This one’s not too bad, so there’s that. Robin’s paint is decently handled. It’s relatively straight-forward; there aren’t any washes or different finishes or anything. For the most part, it’s rather cleanly applied, but there are one or two areas, like the shoulders, where there is a bit of slop. Robin includes no accessories. His right hand looks as if it should hold a staff or something, so it would have been nice to get something, anything. As is, the figure feels light for the price.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I swore I was done with the DC Comics Multiverse line once I got Superman and Zod. So, why then did I end up with this guy? Call it nostalgia. I was visiting some family in mountains in North Carolina. We were picking up a few things at the nearby Walmart, and as I am prone to do, I wandered over to the toy section. I saw this figure and remembered something: on my very first trip to NC, back in 1998, my Dad bought me a Nightwing figure from the Animated Series line of the time. With this in mind, I was drawn to this Robin figure (for those of you confused as to what the two have to do with each other: Nightwing is an older Robin). So, here I sit in my family’s NC house with no internet connection or cellphone service writing this review and feeling nostalgic. This is certainly not a perfect offering, but I feel like it’s better than most of what Mattel and DC are putting out these days.

Guest Review #0014: Isa – v1

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

ISA v.1

INFINITY BLADE COLLECTIBLES

IsaV1c

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 fighting Deathless and their hordes of daeril, brute strength will only get you so far. Sometimes you need a little finesse to get the job done. Cue Siris’ sprightly feminine counterpart, Isa, to twist some necks. She also happens to be the second figure I’ll be reviewing in my growing collection of Infinity Blade figures.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IsaV1aAlthough her debut appearance was in Infinity Blade 2, Isa was not playable as a character until the third game. Her figures are based on the many possible wardrobe options in IB3. This version, in the small size, has her equipped with the Perconis helm, Forbidden Armor, Illorium (sometimes Ellorium) sword, and Honor Guard brace striking the “Zenith” pose. Like Siris, Isa’s sculpt is basically dead on, being taken from the game’s models. Certain areas like the ribbon on her helmet and the wing/fin things on her back are quite impressive for 3D printing. In a classic sculpture move, there is a little tree stump right next to her leg and sword to add a bit of structural support without leaving the figure looking unfinished. It’s not a bad feature, in fact, as far as obligatory tree stumps go it was handled pretty well. The only thing is that, in order to have Isa’s sword touching the stump, looking carefully, it seems like they may have bend the blade ever so slightly to achieve contact. That being said, it’s a minor gripe about an overall fantastic sculpt. The color on this model is right on par with my previous Siris figure: looks great overall with one or two minor splotchy areas. In Isa’s case they are on her brace and sword, both of which are fairly small in terms of surface area so I can forgive them looking a little fuzzy. Isa comes with no accessories and has no articulation, but we knew that already, didn’t we?

IsaV1fIsaV1b IsaV1e IsaV1d

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After my purchase of my Siris v.1 figure, Sandboxr, the company that does the actual printing, was nice enough to send me an offer for $5 off my next order. Needless to say I was very quick to send in my Isa’s design for printing. Then, because this is how the world works, the day after I placed my order, I got an email notifying me that Infinity Blade prints by Sandboxr were 20% off. To make a pretty short story even shorter, expect another Siris review very soon. And then probably more of both after that. I gotta wonder though, do you think Siris works for Sandboxr? Because they did a pretty good job of having her… immortalized.

Guest Review #0013: Legion

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

LEGION               

MASS EFFECT 2 (DC Direct)

Legion1

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!

If you recall I reviewed the DC Direct figure of Tali from the Mass Effect series some time ago. This time I’ll be taking a look at essentially her synthetic Geth counterpart, Legion, for he is many. It’s still just a single figure though, but whatever. Semantics.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

This figure is based on Legion’s debut appearance in Mass Effect 2. The sculpt is all new, and given the slightly more intricate design of the character, it’s pretty well done. Sadly, as with Tali, the rest is a bit of a downhill trend. Legion has 14 points of articulation but they all feel like they were added after the fact as opposed to cleverly incorporated into the figure’s construction. The range of motion in each of the joints is not terrific either so its practically impossible to get him (it?) into anything resembling a natural pose. At a glance, the paint looks fine, but when you get down into the details the problems get a little difficult to ignore. There are a few spots of bleed over as well as some areas that just look poorly handled, namely, the detailing inside the hole in Legion’s chest which is covered in blue polka-dots. Sure, it’s meant to look like all the little lights of his internal mechanisms, but they don’t conform to any sculptural pattern, they’re just a regular evenly spaced dot pattern laid over a very irregular surface. Legion comes with a sniper rifle and a stand. Sharp eyed readers may notice that my figure has a different rifle than what comes in the box. This is because for whatever reason, DC Direct decided to swap Legion’s and Garrus’ rifles so that Garrus came with a gun that, in game, was exclusively used by Legion. Luckily a friend of mine saw the same issue with her Garrus figure and we agreed to trade rifles for the greater good. Legion has his share of problems. He is a decent depiction of the character if you’re willing to overlook a couple of things, but sadly thats all there is really. There’s not a whole lot of action to go with the figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Legion from my local ToysRUs kind of on an impulse. I already had the Tali figure from the same line so I expected it to have its share of problems. Nevertheless, given how Legion and Tali have a fairly important backstory in the game, I felt compelled to get him. Maybe it was how cool he was in the game, or maybe it’s the fact that, to my knowledge, no one else makes a figure of him. I guess he isn’t really all that many.

Guest Review #0012: Ash Ketchum & Pikachu

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

ASH KETCHUM AND PIKACHU

POKEMON (TOMY)

Ash1

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

Look….. Don’t hate me but….. I’ve never played Pokemon. I’ve wanted to, but never really found the interest. And it isn’t that I don’t have a way to play it, on the contrary, I have two systems that are capable of playing Pokemon, but I never cared enough about it. But nonetheless, this is REALLY COOL figure. So, like Ethan here’s my review of an action figure from a video game that I’ve never played.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

ASH KETCHUM

Ash2Ash, or Sacha in French (but Ash in EVERY OTHER LANGUAGE), stands at 5 inches tall with 15 points of articulation. The one thing that really stands out to me is the amazing paint job on Ash. While writing this review I continued to look for ANY paint errors and I can’t find any. For only $20, that’s really cool to have a toy like this look so aesthetically pleasing. Another thing I find with a lot of Action figures is their inability to stand without long periods of me just screaming “No that’s not— No, No, No, TO THE LEFT” (I’m looking at you P-Body!). However, this is the case or Ash. While he has no foot articulation whatsoever, he stands very nicely and very easily. The only part of him that’s a bit difficult to deal with is his hands, as they are very loose in their joints and wiggle easily, but do not turn easily. Overall, Ash himself is very pleasing.

Ash comes with one accessory, a backpack, which on a scale of 1 to 10 of how easy it is to get on him, the backpack gets a resounding “Ehhh.” It’s a nice looking backpack. There’s not much else to say. Moving On, I CHOOSE YOU, PIKACHU!

PIKACHU

Pikachu (Still Pikachu in French, for some reason)is the lesser quality portion of this two-pack. Standing at 1 ¾” tall with 0 points of articulation, Pikachu looks great, but less so when you compare him to Ash(Pikachu’s a boy, right?). The red circles on his face aren’t all painted in and the ID number on his tail is very noticeable, but otherwise it’s a cool figure. Ash and Pikachu do go very well together, unless you try to stand them together, which leads me into a rant.

You may notice, on the top Ash’s backpack, a small hole. That hole is for putting Pikachu’s foot in and standing him on Ash’s shoulder. BUT THIS HARDLY EVER WORKS FOR ME!!! Ethan got it [I’m an action figure god!–Ethan], but most people who aren’t that great at standing up action figures will be tearing their hair out because if the frailness of Pikachu when he is ATOP Ash. As I said, they are otherwise great figures.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I bought this two-pack after eyeing it at my local comic book store for the past few weeks. I had the money and it was a cool action figure, so I grabbed it. Not much else to the story. These action figures do their franchise justice as I 1) Want to play a Pokemon game now and 2) Want to collect all the other Pokemon in this line of toys. Whelp, I’m done. Good Night Seattle, We love you!