Tag Archives: Walmart Exclusive

#0846: Black Lightning

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

BLACK LIGHTNING

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

BlackLightingDCUC1

As much as I loved DC Universe Classics, the problems with the line (which were mainly distribution-based) cropped up pretty early in its run. While the first series received fairly even distribution, series 2 and 3 were fairly spotty in coverage (possibly due to slow sales on Series 1). By the time Series 4 came along, it seemed things had mostly been sorted (apart from the odd instance of several variants being easier to find than their regular counterparts). Then came Series 5. See, Walmart is notoriously difficult to work with, especially if you’re a toy maker. In order to carry a line, they’ll frequently demand an exclusive series. Because of this, they did not carry the first four series of the line. To ensure their support of future series, Series 5 was given to Walmart as an exclusive. Walmart under-ordered and ended up sending no more than a single case of figures to many of its stores, with some receiving none at all. The end result was one of the hardest to find series in the line, with individual figures commanding extraordinarily high prices on the aftermarket. Black Lightning, who was having a bit of a career revival at the time, had the misfortune of being one of the figures in this set.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

BlackLightningDCUC2Black Lightning was, as noted in the intro, released in the Walmart-exclusive fifth series of DC Universe Classics. The figure stands 6 ½ inches tall and has 25 points of articulation. Lightning uses his Ed Benes redesign from the relaunch of Justice League of America. It was his current look at the time, and it happens to be far less dated than his original and 90s looks. It also had the added benefit of not requiring much new tooling. He uses the mid-sized male buck, with a unique head sculpt. The buck is a decent match for Black Lightning’s build from the comics and it allows him to fit in seamlessly with the rest of the line. While it was top-notch at the time of its release, it’s starting to show its age a bit, especially at the shoulders. Also, the poor quality of the plastic on this particular series makes Lightning’s body prone to warping, and some tearing at the joints, which is a definite negative. The head sculpt is fairly decent; it does a fairly good job of capturing Lightning. It’s not super distinctive, but neither was Lightning at this point. Unfortunately, it’s got some pretty obvious mold scarring, which is made worse by the fact that he’s bald. He looks like he’s taken some damage. The paint work is okay but not great. The base colors are nice and vibrant, which is good, but some of the lines, particularly the yellow for the belt, are really fuzzy. Also, while the prototype for this figure had clear goggles, allowing his eyes to be seen, their totally opaque on the final figure. Lightning included no accessories of his own, but he did include a piece of the C-n-C for this series, Metallo.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had no luck finding any of Series 5 in stores when they were released, so I ended up having to buy this guy second-hand, without his Metallo piece. I was quite enjoying him in Justice League at the time, so I was glad to find him at a semi-reasonable price. The final figure is sadly a bit lacking, mostly due to the lower quality of the materials used for this figure. I’m happy I have him, but his lower quality contributed to me not going out of my way to find any of the others from this series.

#0839: Rey (Jakku)

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

REY (JAKKU)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

ReyWM1

“Rey is a resilient survivor, a scavenger toughened by a lifetime of dealing with the cutthroats of the harsh desert world of Jakuu.”

There’s one more major character I haven’t looked at in this latest round of The Force Awakens figures. In fact, she’s the lead character! Let’s take a look at Rey!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

ReyWM5Rey is part of the third series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures, alongside the previously reviewed Poe and Finn, as well as a re-released Han Solo from Return of the Jedi. The figure is 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. I do wish her waist joint offered more movement, but her articulation is generally pretty solid. Rey is noted as being based on her “Jakku” appearance, which isn’t all that different from her look from the rest of the film. That said, this figure does feature Rey wearing gloves, which she only does during the film’s Jakku scenes, and all of her accessories are Jakku specific. Rey’s sculpt is similar to the larger 6-inch figure, but like Finn and Poe, there are enough differences to show that this is an original work. It’s definitely a top-notch sculpt; there are lots of great small details, and the texturing on her cloths is very nicely handled. Her proportions are fairly balanced (perhaps her arms could be just a touch less gangly, but that’s minor), and the head has a passable likeness of Daisy Ridley. The hair’s a little thicker than Ridley’s was in the film, but that’s forgivable, given the small scale. Rey does take a bit of a hit in terms of paint. The general application is not terrible, ReyWM3but she suffers from some rather sloppy spots. In addition, the joints for her ankles are cast in flesh toned plastic, which makes them stand out quite a bit against the brown of her boots. Lastly, she has the same slightly rosy cheeks as her larger scale counterpart, which, while a bit more subtle this time, exhibit a dot-matrix-style patterning (suggesting a printed paint app of sorts), which is a little distracting up close. Still, she fairs a bit better than either of her previously-reviewed figures, which show’s Hasbro’s at least getting a little better. Rey makes out quite well in the accesories department, including her signature staff (now with proper painted details), a back pack, and an alternate head featuring the head wrap and goggles she wears in her introductory scene. While thes parts are all re-used from prior Rey figures, the improved paint apps elavate them to a new level, and the complement the figure very nicely.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Rey was the last of these figures I got. I ended up having to stop at five different Walmarts to find her, and when I finally did find her, she was the last one the store had, and she’d even been hidden under a Darth Vader figure. Rey was packed into cases in the same quantities as Finn and Poe, but as the lead, she’s proved to be the first figure to get picked up by most collectors (and she’s also become scalper-bait. Yuck!). In addition, she’s hands down the best figure in Walmarts’s exclusive line, and the best Rey figure currently available. Here’s hoping that Hasbro can find a way to get more of this figure out there, because everyone should have this figure.

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#0838: Kylo Ren

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

KYLO REN

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

KyloWM1

“A dark warrior strong with the Force, Kylo Ren commands First Order missions with a temper as fiery as his unconventional Lightsaber.”

Every story needs a villain, and for The Force Awakens, that’s good ol’ Kylo Ren.  A lot of people took issue with the character’s portrayal in the film, but I really enjoyed it, and look forward to seeing more of the character (and the makers of the next Fantastic Four film should take note on how to properly handle a vain, masked, megalomaniac with a bad temper).  I’ve only looked at one other Kylo figure, so why not look at another?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

KyloWM2Kylo was released in the second series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures, alongside yesterday’s Stormtrooper and a figure of Leia from A New Hope.  The figure is roughly 4 inches tall and he has 26 points of articulation.  The neck and right shoulder are somewhat restricted by the sculpt of the hood, but other than that, the articulation is pretty solid here.  The larger Kylo used cloth for the outer portion of Kylo’s robes, while the regular 3 ¾ inch figure opted to sculpt the whole thing.  This figure goes for the best of both worlds.  The upper half is entirely sculpted, while the lower half makes use of soft goods for the outer most skirt.  This allows for the hood to be a bit more controlled than it was on the larger figure, while still offering some extra movement on the legs.  I think this compromise works, though it does look just the slightest bit jarring at the changeover.  I wish the cloth skirt were just a touch shorter, but other than that, it works well. The sculpted parts are quite impressive, and offer a ton of really great texture work.  On a whole, the figure looks quite imposing, a trait I felt the larger figure lacked.  Kylo’s paint is fairly minor, given how much of him is just straight black, but what’s there is pretty solid.  The silver of the mask and belt looks good, and I definitely appreciate that they used a different finish of black for the gloves and boots.  Kylo is packed with his distinctive lightsaber, both lit and unlit, which seems a better solution than a removable beam.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kylo was picked up at the same time as Finn and the First Order Trooper, purchased for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend.  Kylo was definitely one of the figures from this set that I wanted the most, seeing as I didn’t get one of the smaller scale Kylo’s back in September.  The 6-inch figure was a bit of a disappointment, but this guy definitely delivered, and he’s probably the best Kylo out there right now.

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#0837: First Order Stormtrooper

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

FIRST ORDER STORMTROOPER

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

FOTrooperWM1

“Equipped with sleek armor and powerful weapons, the Stormtroopers enforce the will of the First Order.”

Everybody’s gotta have some faceless minions, right? You just aren’t a credible threat without a few thousand faceless minions! So, why don’t I take a look at one of the quintessential faceless minions, the Imperial First Order Stormtrooper?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FOTrooperWM2The First Order Stormtrooper is part of the second series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures. The figure stands just over 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. The articulation still features the awkward hips, and the torso joint is rather loose, but hey, guess what! We finally have a 3 ¾ inch FO Trooper who can hold his blaster properly! Isn’t that swell? Well, it’s more bittersweet, really. I’ll get to that. The sculpt is all-new to this particular Trooper; it’s decent, but not as strong as some of the other Troopers we’ve gotten. He’s a bit on the scrawny side, especially for the rather bulky FO Troopers. Still, the basic design is pretty solid, and there’s some nice detail work, especially on the underlying bodysuit. Now, here’s where a few minor issues with the sculpt arise. First of all, there’s the issue of the neck peg, which is once again much larger than the other figures (such as Finn), preventing easy head swaps. Then there are the hands, which have a fairly loose grip, which, coupled with the slightly restrictive sculpt of the elbow joints, means the figure has a really difficult time holding his gun the right way. Which is a super bummer. What’s even more of a bummer is the paint; it’s all over the place. There’s pretty much no part of the figure that isn’t subject to a missed section of paint, or some bleed over. While he looks okay from a distance, he’s really sloppy up close. The FO Trooper is packed with both a large and a small blaster, just like his larger counterpart. As noted, the figure has difficulty holding them, but one can be stowed on his thigh, which is cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got the Stormtrooper at the same time as Finn, courtesy of Super Awesome Girlfriend. I’m a fan of the new Trooper design, so I was kind of looking forward to this particular figure. It’s hard to say I’m not disappointed a little by the end product. The joints aren’t as strong as they could be, the hands are badly sculpted, and the paint is pretty sloppy. That said, he’s not terrible, just a bit of a letdown. Could he be better? Absolutely. Could he be worse? Very much so.

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#0836: Finn (Jakku)

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

FINN (JAKKU)

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

FinnWM1

“A trained warrior desperate to escape his past, Finn is plunged into adventure as his conscience drives him down a heroic, but dangerous, path.”

One can hardly have Poe without Finn. Those two have to stick together! So, let’s look at a Finn figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

FinnWM2Finn is another figure in the third series of the Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures. As with Poe, the main draw of this figure is the higher detailing and higher articulation count than the regular 3 ¾ inch figures. The figure is about 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. The articulation is much the same as Poe’s, which is to say it’s mostly good, apart from the slightly outdated hip joints (though they’re less of an issue here, since being able to sit easily isn’t essential for Finn). As the name notes, this is the Jakku version of Finn (though his Jakku look ends up being his main look for the movie). At first glance it looks like this figure might share a few parts (namely the head and coat) with the regular release Finn, but a closer look shows that all of these figure’s pieces are new to this release. The detail work on the sculpt is absolutely superb, and there’s tons of fine detail work that really makes this figure stand out. The level of texturing on the clothing, especially the incredibly subtle detailing on the shirt, are really impressive. The two previous Finn’s had a pretty decent John Boyega likeness, but I think this one beats both. While Poe’s figure was hampered by sub-par paint, Finn ends up a bit more lucky on that front. The base paint is all very clean, and the work on the face is some of the cleanest I’ve seen from Hasbro in some time. The jacket and the lower portion of his pants also get some nice accent work, which adds a touch of realism. The pants could stand to be a touch more subtle, but the overall look is good. Finn is packed with a blaster, the same one all the other Finn figures have had. He doesn’t really use it much in the movie, but it’s a unique looking gun. What’s more, the level of painted detail on this version is astoundingly good. If only Hasbro could handle all of the accessory paint this well!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After finding Poe, I was eager to pick up the rest of the Force Awakens characters from this line. Finn here was purchased for me by my Super Awesome Girlfriend, at a slightly out of the way Walmart. Poe had a few issues that held him back, but Finn isn’t in the same boat, and ends up being the best version of the character we’ve gotten so far. Definitely glad I got him!

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#0835: Poe Dameron

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

POE DAMERON

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES

PoeDamWM1

So, a slight aside: I do my very best to keep this site light and fun. Action figures are kind of my one outlet of pure enjoyment, and I like to pass that enjoyment on to others as best I can. Sometimes, the real world gets to me a bit, but I try my best not to let it influence my writing, but it gets really hard. Back in December, The Force Awakens was by far my favorite thing of the moment, and more than anything, I wanted to review Star Wars toys. So, I bought a whole bunch, took the pictures, and put them on the schedule. But, before I could get around to actually reviewing them, several outside forces cropped up, and managed to suck just about all the excitement I had for Star Wars toys right out of me. There’s a whole lot of fighting going on in the community, and I’m just not a fighter. I really just want to enjoy my toys. So, in the next five days, I’m going to do my best to review some figures I was really excited about, without letting the outside stuff get me down. As an advance warning, that probably means minimal introductory comments from me for a few days.

Anyway, sorry if I brought people down; let’s move onto today’s figure. It’s Poe Dameron, number one pilot in the Resistance.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

PoeDamWM2Poe is part of the third series of Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures. Prior to the Force Awakens branding, Hasbro was running The Black Series in both 6-inch and 3 ¾-inch scales, but the rebranding led to the 3 ¾-inch line being nixed, in favor of a more expansive selection of the lower-end 3 ¾ inch figures. Fortunately, Walmart decided to carry the higher-end 3 ¾-inch figures as exclusives, giving collectors a chance at some better articulated versions of The Force Awakens’ main characters. Poe stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 26 points of articulation. Articulation is one of the main selling points on these guys, and most of Poe’s joints are pretty well-handled. The only real problem areas are the hips, which use a somewhat outdated style of joint and are a bit of a pain to work with. Poe gets an all-new sculpt, which depicts him in his pilot gear, which, after seeing the film a few times, really feels like his definitive look. The sculpt of this figure has a fair bit in common with the 6-inch version of Poe, but a close examination of the two shows that it’s not just a shrunk down version of that one. The sculpt has a ton of great texture work, and it’s top-notch for the scale. Poe’s likeness seems to be the toughest one to crack for Hasbro. It’s hard to accurately judge the sculpt on this one, since it’s under some iffy paint, but it does appear to be Hasbro’s closest effort so far. Unfortunately, it’s under the aforementioned iffy paint. Most of the paint on this figure really isn’t that bad, but the face just doesn’t look right. It’s definitely the eyes and eyebrows. The pupils of the eyes are too low-set, and the brows are just too thin to properly capture Oscar Isaac. I’d love to say the eye issues are a one-off, but every version of this figure I’ve seen looked about the same. Poe includes his helmet and a small blaster. The helmet is a great piece, and it’s the first one not to look oversized, and the blaster fits nicely both in Poe’s hand and the holster on his belt.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was surprised by these figures, truth be told. I’d heard rumblings of them happening, but I hadn’t seen any actual confirmation. Then I caught pictures of Series 3 over the holiday, and knew I’d have to try and track them down. Poe was the first one I found; he was the only figure left at my local Walmart. None of the Poe figures so far have been quite right, and this one continues that trend. Were the paint on his face a bit better, he’d be the best version of the character, but as it stands, I still like my mash-up of the two 6-inch figures the best. Still, this guy’s not a terrible figure, and he’s probably the best small-scale Poe out there.

PoeDamWM3

#0421: Gold

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

GOLD

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS

DC Universe Classics, through all of its victories, was not without its flaws. When the line ended, more than one team of heroes was left incomplete. That being said, the line did manage to finish up a couple of teams. One of those teams, the Metal Men, hadn’t seen toy form ever before. That’s not a particularly shocking thing, truth be told. The Metal Men are far from one of DC’s more well-known properties. Still, they managed to all show up in this line, and they serve as an example of the line’s strength in rendering oft-forgotten characters in action figure form.

As a bit of backstory, the Metal Men are a team of robots, constructed by Dr. Will Magnus, who were each made out of a particular metal, animated by a “responsometer” which gave each of them a distinct personality. Today, I’ll be looking at the team’s field leader, Gold, who was the member of the team who best fit the traditional hero archetype.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gold was a figure in Series 14 of DC Universe Classics. Series 14 was the third Walmart exclusive series in the line, and it fell somewhere in between the impossible to find Series 5 and the rather plentiful Series 10 in terms of availability. Gold is a little over 6 inches in height and he features 23 points of articulation (he was released after Mattel removed the ankle rocker joints). He was the second Metal Man released in the line, following Series 12’s Iron. The figure makes use of the mid-size male buck as a starting point, with a new head, forearms, and calves, as well as a set of die-cast hands (first used on Iron), and an add-on for the front of his torso. The mid-size body is a good fit for Gold, so it was well chosen. The new pieces match up pretty well with the body, while giving him some individual flair. The head is the only piece to sport any flaws. It’s not a bad sculpt, but it doesn’t seem quite right for Gold; he should look more confident and self-assured. The hands being actual metal is cool, though the fact that they were originally sculpted for Iron means that they have some dings and things that aren’t quite right for Gold. Gold’s paint is rather straight-forward. He’s painted from head to toe with gold paint. The decision to use paint rather than gold plastic was a wise choice, as the end result is much cleaner. In addition, he also features a few details for his symbol on his head and torso, as well as his eyes. The eyes are rather clean, but the symbols are a slight bit off center. Gold included two hand attachments: a buzz saw and a pick axe. Both are well done, but the buzz saw really stands out, just for the sheer amount of imagination that went into it. If you look closely, you can see that it actually looks like a stretched out version of his hand is holding the blade. It’s a great touch. Gold also included the left leg of the series Collect-N-Connect, Ultra Humanite, who you can read about here.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After finding Iron at a reduced price, I was all on board for getting Gold when he was released. My dad is a pretty big fan of the Metal Men, so this was one of those instances of both of us wanting a certain figure. So, when we finally came across a set of Series 14, the single Gold figure went to him. I didn’t mind, seeing as I got all the other figures I wanted, but I still hoped to find another. The figure’s price jumped and I figured I’d missed my shot. Fortunately, while checking out The House of Fun, I found a loose Gold amongst their large selection of DCUC figures. I’m happy to have the figure. He’s not perfect, but he’s pretty close, and he’s a key piece of one of DCUC’s greatest legacies.

#0060: Ultra Humanite

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

ULTRA HUMANITE

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Hey, two new thingies to my blog:  DC Universe Classics and Build-A-Figures.  DC Universe Classics was a great line of DC figures released by Mattel over the past few years.  It was one of the most expansive DC lines to date, and even though not every decision was perfect, it was a really fun line.  Unfortunately, the advent of the New 52*, DC mandated that the classic looks of the characters wouldn’t appear at retail.  So, Mattel attempted to move the line to their online store, Matty Collector.  However, questionable character choices, no advertising, unreasonably high prices and an over-reliance on a blind-faith all or nothing method of distribution on the figures meant that the sub just barely made it through two years before dying with a whimper (Batzarro?  Seriously!?!  That’s the line’s final figure?).  But, the line did give us some great figures, like the one I’m looking at today.

This figure’s a build-a-figure, or Collect-n-Connect as Mattel branded them.  That meant that each figure in a particular series included a piece to one larger figure, so if you got the whole series, you’d have a cool extra figure.  This time around, it’s everyone’s favorite body-hopping mad scientist with a propensity for albino apes:  The Ultra Humanite!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ultra Humanite was the Collect-N-Connect figure for the 14th series of DC Universe Classics, which was also the 3rd series of the line exclusive to Wal-Mart.  He stands around 8 inches tall and has 22 points of articulation.  Humanite’s had a few distinctive looks over the years, but Mattel decided to go with his albino ape in a red unitard look.  It’s a good choice, as it’s by far the most distinctive look that the character’s had over the years, and had some prominence a few years ago when the character appeared on the Justice League animated series.  Humanite is mostly a new sculpt, though he does share arms with previous C-n-C Gorilla Grodd.  It makes sense given their design similarities.  Everything else is new, and it’s all very well done.  The hair detailing continues over his whole body, and looks good enough. His clothing is a bit jarring in its smoothness when compared to the rest of the body, but that’s accurate to the characters design, so I suppose it’s to be expected.  The head sculpt is easily my favorite part of the figure.  It perfectly conveys Humanite’s smug superiority, while perfectly replicating his ape features.  The paint is nice and consistent with no slop or bleed.  There’s a nice wash on the body to bring out the detail in the sculpt.  It’s a bit heavy in a few places, but it does the job well.  Humanite didn’t include any accessories, but given he’s technically an accessory himself, that’s okay.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Due to the unfortunate distribution of the DCUC line, this was actually the first C-n-C I got all the pieces for.  And even then, it was more a stroke of luck finding the necessary figures at a nearby Wal-Mart.  But I’m really glad I was able to get him built with relative ease, as I feel he’s one of the strongest figures in the line.

*In 2011, DC decided to do a line-wide reboot of their entire line of comics, AGAIN.  So, they redesigned all the characters, and launched 52 new titles, referred to as the “New 52.”  I feel there’s enough nerd rage in this review already, so I won’t delve into my opinion on that idea at this time.