Tag Archives: Wolverine

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0039: Wolverine – Yukon & Yukio

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

WOLVERINE — YUKON & YUKIO

MARVEL MINIMATES (DIAMOND SELECT TOYS)

It’s Friday, so we’re flashing back again!  Once more, we dive into the world of my early Minimates reviews!  A couple of weeks ago, I revisited some of the The Wolverine movie tie-ins.  Here’s another one of those, with Wolverine — Yukon and Yukio!

“Today, I’ll be taking a look at yet another set of Minimates. Like the last Minimates review I did. These also come from the tie-in line from this year’s The Wolverine. Once again, it features a variant of the title character, this time packed with his trusty companion Yukio.

THE FIGURE THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the Toys R Us tie-in series for The Wolverine.

WOLVERINE (YUKON)

First up, it’s our hero Wolverine. He’s depicted in his “Yukon” look, from early in the film. This is the look that Logan sports for the first half an hour or so of the movie. It’s a very different look for the character, and is important to the character’s story in the film. It’s also really unique, which makes it stand out pretty well on the shelf. He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. He has sculpted pieces for his hair, jacket and claws. The claws are the same as those used on the rest of the Wolverines in the wave. The hair and jacket are new pieces. They are sculpted well, and accurately depict his look from this point in the movie. The paint is well done on the figure. In spite of it not being a default look, I think that the likeness on this Wolverine may be the best Jackman likeness so far. The paint on the coat could possibly be a little better, with so noticeable slop on the edges, but nothing too bad. There’s some great detail work on the pants, with the wrinkles and such all being present. And underneath the jacket piece, there’s also chest detailing, showing Logan in a brown turtle-neck. I don’t recall him wearing it in the movie, but I could be wrong. Regardless, it’s a nice touch. Yukon Wolvie is rounded out with a pair of spare normal hands and a clear display stand.

NINJA YUKIO

Next up is Yukio, who fills a role that would conventionally be referred to as the “sidekick”, but that doesn’t seem quite right for Yukio. Were it not for the fact that the title of the film was “The Wolverine” I feel like she’d fall more into the hero role. Anyway, she’s depicted here in her “ninja” look, at least according to the package. I’d personally describe it more as a formal look, since it’s what she wears during the funeral sequence. It’s one of her two main looks from the movie, so it makes sense to see it here. Like Wolverine, she’s built on the base Minimate body, and has the standard 2 ½ inces of height and 14 points of articulation. As far as sculpted pieces, there’s her hair, her forearms, her skirt, and here boots. The forearms are shared with Mariko from the specialty wave, the hair was previously used on the Amazing Spiderman Gwen Stacy, and the boots have seen numerous previous uses, including the Urban Yukio from the specialty wave. Near as I can tell, the skirt is a new piece. The paint is all fairly well done, though there is a bit of slop on the hair. The likeness is better here than on the Urban Yukio I feel, but still a bit off. Rila Fukushima, who plays Yukio in the film, has a very uniquely shaped face, which seems to be difficult to translate to the cylindrical Minimate head, so I think Diamond did a pretty good job. Yukio is accessorized with a sword and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set was ordered online via tru.com. Unlike Wolverine & Harada, I had no real issues acquiring this one, so that’s good.

I really like this set, it has a really unique Wolverine, and a very well done version of Yukio, who is one of the best characters in the movie. While I don’t think either figure is going to be the definitive version of the character for me, it’s a really fun little set!” 

Real talk?  I don’t really have any notes on this review.  I think I covered the bases pretty well, all of the parts are there, and my point still stands.  I thought it was an okay set then, and I still pretty much feel that way.  So, today’s just enough writing to justify showing off all the updated photos.  Here you go!

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0036: Wolverine – Prisoner & Kenuichio Harada

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

WOLVERINE — PRISONER & KENUICHIO HARADA

MARVEL MINIMATES (DIAMOND SELECT TOYS)

Last week’s Marvel Minimates Flashback Friday Figure Addendum went so well, I’ve decided to keep it going.  Honestly, I’ve got things mapped out far enough ahead that I would have kept it going anyway.  It’s my site, and all.  So, I’m going back to the very early days of the site, with a set that’s noteworthy for being the first set of Minimates I reviewed new for the site.  That’s pretty nifty!  Of course, it’s stuff from The Wolverine, so maybe let’s not let “nifty” take us too far.  Anyway, here’s Prisoner Wolverine & Kenuichio Harada!

The Wolverine was released this summer.  It was a sequel to X-Men 3, and it was one of those few times that a movie actually manages to make its predecessor better, not by making it look better by comparison, but by retroactively adding some emotion to a lackluster film.  The Wolverine was not a perfect movie, but it wasn’t bad either.

Like most of the recent Marvel movies, Diamond Select Toys did a selection of figures from their Minimates line in order to tie-in with the movie.  Like previous movies, this one was given a comic book store assortment, and a Toys R Us assortment.  I’ll be taking a look at one of the sets from the Toys R Us assortment today.

The characters featured are, of course, Wolverine himself, and somewhat antagonist, Kenuichio Harada.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Like I said above, these guys were released as part of the Toys R Us tie-in series for The Wolverine.

WOLVERINE (PRISONER)

First up is the titular character.  Wolverine is depicted here in his “prisoner” look, which is what he’s wearing during the WWII era flash-backs in the film when he is a POW in Japan.  There’re some important scenes that feature him with this look, so it’s not surprising to see it pop up here.  It’s a bit odd to see it packed with Harada, but it’s not a huge deal.  The figure is once again built on the basic Minimate body, standing about 2 ½ inches tall and featuring 14 points of articulation.  He features sculpted hair and claws and a sculpted belt.  I’m not 100%, but I’m fairly certain that the claws are a reuse from a previous Wolverine.  The other pieces are new, although the hair piece was also used on two of the three other Wolverines in the wave.  Wolvie is mostly molded in the appropriate colors, but the paint still makes up most of the detailing.  It’s well done and fairly intricate.  The face on this version is fairly calm, which is okay, since Wolverine kept pretty calm during the captivity scenes.  The Hugh Jackman likeness is better than some of the one’s we’ve seen in the past, but not quite dead on.  Wolverine includes the sword he was presented by Yashida, a display stand, and three sets of hands:  one regular, one clawed, and one bone clawed.  The Adamantium claws aren’t scene accurate, but I appreciate that they give people the option to choose.

KENUICHIO HARADA

Next is Japanese Hawkeye  Kenuichio Harada, technically an antagonist, but an unwilling one, making him more of an anti-villain.  He’s shown here in his ninja gear from the film, which is what he spends most of his screen time in, so it makes sense.  Like Wolverine, he’s built on the basic Minimate body, meaning he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has the standard 14 points of articulation, although his hair restricts the neck joint a bit.  Harada has a sculpted jacket and hair, as well as wrist pieces to simulate the ends of his gloves.  The hair and jacket are new pieces, although the jacket is shared with the Black Clan ninjas also in this wave.  The hair seems a bit off for the character, whose hair was far less bulky in the film.  It looks right in the control art on the box, but something seems to have been lost in translation.  Paint wise, he’s really only got the detailing on his face, which is passable.  The likeness isn’t as good as Wolverine’s, but it isn’t too bad.  Harada is rounded out with his trusty bow, two arrows, an alternate masked head, and a clear display stand.  The Bow and arrows appear to be reused from one of the Haweyes from last year, and the head is identical to the head on the Black Clan ninja.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Oh boy.  Hold on tight guys, it’s another tru.com story.  Yeah, so I’m always uncertain as to whether my local TRU will get their exclusive wave, so I tend to order online.  I’ve mentioned before that tru.com has a tendency not to put up pictures or label their sets correctly, making online ordering difficult.  But it’s okay, as long as you have the proper sku code, which allows you to go directly to the corret product page.  And that’s how I ordered this set and the other exclusive set from this wave.  Unfortunately, I seem to be smarter than tru’s online store, as they still sent me Wolverine and Shingen in place of this set.  And that’s not cool because Shingen kinda sucks.  Anyway, I ended up having to drive to my local TRU and exchange it.  Which is what I was trying to avoid.

Oh well, I have them now.  Which is good, because Harada was my favorite character in the film and I’d be bummed to have missed out on him.

Well, I was somewhat complimentary of The Wolverine.  It was still new and fresh in my mind, and Days of Future Past hadn’t come out to reset my expectations of the X-Men movies, so I was rather positive.  I don’t know I’d be as positive now, but admittedly, I haven’t watched the movie since 2013, so it’s hard to truly gauge.  My review’s honestly pretty much spot-on beyond that.  I got the Minimates reviews down pretty quickly, as you can see.  I had personally forgotten a lot of my TRU.com-centered diatribe.  Seven years without them has let me forget how frustrating dealing with them could be.

#3833: Savage Wolverine & Crawler-Rex

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

SAVAGE WOLVERINE & CRAWLER-REX

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“The X-Men find themselves mysteriously transported to the Savage Land a prehistoric tropical jungle in the middle of the Arctic circle! With the help of their friend and leader of the Savage Land, Ka-Zar, the X-Men weave their way through this treacherous land. Aided by dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, Storm, Wolverine, Angel and Joseph have their hands full throughout their dangerous journey.

More animal than man, the savage Wolverine finds himself right at home in the Savage Land. Wielding bone claws and a feral, animal-like instinct, Wolverine slashes his way through trouble. A fierce fighter, Wolverine finds himself a prehistoric partner to match his toughness. The Crawler Rex’s jaw-chomping action together with Wolverine’s fighting skills make the two of them one ferocious team.”

Okay, we had a brief run-back to some old Toy Biz, and now we’re back at…some old Toy Biz.  Keeping the theme from last week’s main review, I’m plunging deep into the depths of the Savage Land!  In addition to Ka-Zar, there were also a bunch of regular rank-and-file X-Men with special X-tra “Savage” gear.  And, since you can’t very well do *anything* with the X-Men without Wolverine, here he is!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Savage Wolverine and Crawler-Rex are the third of the five “Savage Land” sets released in Toy Biz’s X-Men line in 1997.  As with all the other sets in the line, it pairs off the main figure with a larger creature.

Savage Wolverine admittedly takes things to a further departure than the other two X-Men in the line-up, because it’s dialing into a very specific era of Wolverine, following the removal of his adamantium and then the subsequent secondary mutation that made him more feral, and also cost him his nose.  It was surprisingly scarce in toy form; Toy Biz just did this one and the Onslaught series release.  The figure stands about 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  While he doesn’t actually share any direct tooling with Wolverine Unleashed (as he’s actually in scale with the main line, more or less, rather than towering over them like all the others), the general aesthetics are very similar, as is the posing, suggesting they may have started from a common point.  It’s incredibly exaggerated and silly looking, but that’s honestly, pretty much on point for this era of Wolverine.  The color work is fine enough; I do quite like the accenting on the bone armor parts in particular.  Wolverine is without any actually accessories for himself, instead relying on his creature buddy.

Said creature buddy is Crawler-Rex.  While Angel and Ka-Zar both got an actual established character for their pack-in creature, Wolverine instead just gets a rather generic dinosaur…thing.  It’s supposed to be a T-rex sort of thing, I guess, but it’s certainly more on the cartoony side of things.  That head’s super large, which is some what comical looking, and he’s got an action feature where his jaw chomps…which doesn’t make him look any less comical, to be honest.  His color work is honestly pretty fun.  Still sort of goofy, but that’s hardly a problem.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I recall seeing this one back when the sets were new, but by 1997, I was rather Wolverine-d out, even for one that was, admittedly, pretty unique.  Now that I’m in the midst of trying to actually finish out the Toy Biz run, obviously, I can’t very well get Wolverine-d out, now can I?  I was a tiny bit bummed this figure wasn’t in the haul that brought the Day of the Wolverines upon us, but I ultimately got him very recently, when in the midst of searching for a Ka-Zar set, I found a lot with all the sets I was missing.  This one’s okay, but perhaps not quite as fun as the others in the assortment.  Still, it’s got that good goofy vibe I love.

#3766: Wolverine

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

WOLVERINE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“A broken and shame-fueled Logan reluctantly joins Deadpool’s side to fight for their survival — and a shot at redemption”

I discussed Deadpool & Wolverine very briefly when I reviewed the Legacy release Colossus, but didn’t really get into the whole film proper.  In general, my experience with the Deadpool movies was one that improved as they went along, going from not personally caring for the first film to being thoroughly entertained by the third.  In particular, the return of Hugh Jackman to the role of Wolverine after his departure in Logan was something I really enjoyed, especially since it was accompanied by him finally getting to wear the “yellow spandex” we were teased with 24 years prior.  And now, it’s time for the toys.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine is part of the three figure Deadpool & Wolverine tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  He’s one of the two Wolverines included, this one being the more “standard” of the two, since he’s wearing his actual hero suit from the movie.  Or…well, it’s sort of an idealized version of it, since we don’t ever see the mask and the full suit on screen at the same time.  Look, it’s close enough.  The figure stands a little over 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  The articulation’s interesting.  He gets a more unique style of shoulder articulation, which is sort of like a butterfly joint, but in all directions, being something more akin to the types of joints we see on McFarlane figures.  It’s a tighter connection, though, so it doesn’t feel like it’ll fall apart the same way.  It was a little tricky to get it posing at first, especially with the shoulder pads, but the range definitely improved after messing with it a bit.  He’s got a ball-jointed neck, with all the range that affords, but then a rather limited crunch and waist swivel on the torso, which feels…reductive?  Out dated?  It’s an all-new sculpt, so it was a choice for sure.  The sculpt is itself generally nice, but not without its drawbacks.  We get the full version of the suit, sleeves and all.  It’s a pretty good recreation of the film’s Astonishing-inspired suit, with its smaller details worked out pretty well, and plenty of texturing, so he looks as much like a basketball as he should.  He feels either too narrow at the shoulders or too wide at the hips; his proportions feel a little off either way.  Otherwise, things are pretty solid.  I do really love that masked head.  In terms of color work, he’s certainly garish, but in the way that he’s supposed to be, what with the clown suit and all.  Application is clean, perhaps a touch too clean, but clean.  Everything more or less goes where it should.  He would definitely benefit from at least a little accenting, but that’s not where Legends are these days.  He’s packed with two pairs of hands (fists with claws, and a clawless fist/gripping combo) and an unmasked head.  The gripping hand’s weird, since he doesn’t have any accessories to hold, but it gives you the option, I suppose.  The unmasked head’s as good a Jackman likeness as we’ve seen previously, so good on them for that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was pretty excited for Deadpool & Wolverine.  It was really great to finally get to see Jackman in a proper Wolverine costume, and, if I’m honest, I was excited to see him get a better send off than Logan, a film that really didn’t work for me.  *ducks to avoid getting hit*  The yellow suit’s inclusion was certainly an interesting experiment, and it really worked in some ways, and not so much in others.  The figure sort of meets that assessment itself.  In both cases, I’m happy they gave it a go, and I enjoy the end result.  And, with this Wolverine and the previous Colossus, I can create my fantasy world where those two actually interacted the way they unfortunately didn’t in the movie.  And perhaps I’ll further that fantasy by hoping I might some day see more movie X-Men of a similar style.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3662: Spider-Man & Wolverine – Fantastic Four

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

SPIDER-MAN & WOLVERINE — FANTASTIC FOUR

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

Though the emotional through line of the Fantastic Four is undoubtedly the core family of four, the team itself has been no stranger to line-up changes over the years. Perhaps the most drastic of those changes was “The New Fantastic Four”, a team quickly assembled when the original four were presumed dead.  Rather than leaning into the usual quirky second tier character set-up that FF replacements tended to be, the New FF was all heavy hitters, with a line-up comprised of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and the Hulk.  The concept’s been brought back a few times since, more recently during Dan Slott’s run on FF, where Franklin and Valeria need assistance defending the Earth while the main four are off-planet, and call in Spider-Man and Wolverine, who get snazzy new team uniforms for the set-up.  Super toyetic, right?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Spider-Man and Wolverine are a Fan Channel-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack, which just started hitting at the tail end of last month.  They seem to be loosely tied into the larger Wolverine anniversary celebration, though they’re slightly removed.  Both figures are based on their team suits as seen in Fantastic Four #21.

SPIDER-MAN

While Spidey’s gotten a few FF-related costumes previously, this marked his first time that got specifically a Fantastic Four design.  This one takes the usual Spidey costume layout, and mixes it with the inverted color scheme suit design the FF had earlier in the Slott run.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and has 34 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Amazing Fantasy body, which remains my favorite Spider-Man body that Hasbro has put out.  It’s just a really good base body, with balanced proportions and a really good range of motion on all of the articulation.  It’s a solid match for a more svelte Spidey, which is how he was depicted in the books.  The key selling point here is the new color scheme, which is heavy on the blue and black.  It matches with previously released Franklin and Valeria, and the application on the paint is all pretty cleanly handled.  Spidey is packed with four sets of hands, in fists, gripping, thwipping, and open gesture.

WOLVERINE

Wolverine’s ties to the FF are a little on the looser side, but he’s Wolverine, so, you know, he goes where he wants, I guess.  His costume design follows Spidey’s lead, also working in a bit of the classic brown costume, at least in terms of layout of the costume pieces.  The figure stands a little under 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation. Wolverine is largely using the same bank of parts Wolverine has been using since the Juggernaut Series release. It’s not quite as slick as newer molds, but it gets the job done. Since this costume lacks Logan’s usual distinctive boot shape, he’s got the more basic shins from the Retro card black suit release, and he’s also using the slightly more modern claw shape from the X-Force costume. His color scheme matches Spidey, which means it also matches Franklin and Val, which is certainly a plus. The application is generally clean, with no real issues to speak of. Wolverine gets no extras, not even extra hands, which is a bit of a bummer.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This set definitely falls into that category of “things you don’t know you want until they exist” for me. I read the issues where these looks appeared, and I enjoyed them, but I didn’t feel like I *needed* them. But, when they got shown off, and I already had Franklin and Val in-hand, I was a pretty easy mark. They’re not much to write home about, I suppose, since they’re just straight repaints of figures we’ve already got, but they’re still solid figures, and they’re sensible variants.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#3611: Wolverine – Space Rider

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

WOLVERINE — SPACE RIDER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Fun FiQ Fact #0090: The X-Men have had their share of space-faring adventures, but Wolverine in particular was particularly well-suited to space battle, with three different space suit-wearing figures in Toy Biz’s ’90s X-Men line.

Back during this site’s first year of reviews, I looked at the first of a set of five X-Men figures, the “Space Riders.”  It’s been 10 years, but, well, I’m finally looping back around, I guess.  I’ve been in a particularly X-Men themed mood, especially when it comes to the ’90s era.  I can’t imagine why that might be.  Anyway, since I’m going for that nostalgia vibe, why not also be nostalgic about my own work, while I’m at it!  So, let’s look at Space Riders Wolverine, and hope I don’t get flashbacks to the Day of the Wolverines.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine was released in 1997 as part of the “Space Riders” sub-line of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  They were one of two sets of more deluxe themed figures from the year, the other being “Savage Land” themed.  Talk about your extremes.  The figure stands just over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Wolverine’s sculpt was unique to him, although it’s certainly got some similarities to the Water Wars Wolverine, showing more of a consistent take on the character during this year of releases.  We’d shrugged off the gargantuan stature that Wolverine picked up in the mid-run of the Toy Biz line, which is nice.  He’s got a built-in crouch to him, which is also proper for the character, and there’s an intensity to the detailing, especially the facial sculpt (which is also where the most similarities to the Water Wars sculpt crop up).  His space suit design is using the core Wolverine Tiger Striper look, but with extra armored bits stuck on, largely on the arms, but also the shoulders and boots a but.  It doesn’t come across as incredibly practical for space travel, but it does at least read as a solid take on Wolverine.  The paint work on this figure is astoundingly sloppy.  Honestly, just some of the worst I’ve seen on a Toy Biz offering, even from this era.  Like, there’s a whole rather sizable spot of just straight missed paint on his “trunks,” and the yellow paint on his armor looks to have been thrown in the general direction of the sculpted elements, but not actually purposefully applied.  It’s rough.  Wolverine is packed with a fun removable face-mask, which I sure do love, as well as his space sled, which serves for all that “space racing” he’s got to be doing.  His sled has built-in claws, so, you know, very on brand.  It interlocks with the rest of the sleds, so you can build one extra big one.  This one’s definitely geared to go at the front, but there’s still some modularity to it.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I remember seeing this set a good many times at KB Toys when I was a kid, and I always thought they were cool, but I only ever got a loose Cyclops growing up.  I picked up the Xavier I reviewed back in 2014, but I’ve been looking to fill in the rest of the set for a while.  And fill in the rest of the set I did.  I managed to find them all in one shot, at Factory Antiques, when I stopped there to break up the drive back home from my Grandmother’s funeral back in the fall.  Given how many of the visits to KB Toys where I didn’t buy these where taken with her, I suppose it was ultimately rather appropriate.  Wolverine is goofy and silly, and exactly what I expected out of this set.

#3491: Wolverine Combat Cave

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

WOLVERINE COMBAT CAVE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“The Combat Cave is Wolverine’s secret training complex in which he works to improve his formidable fighting abilities. A wide array of weapons and traps challenge Wolverine’s slashing skills to the fullest. Only after completing the combat Cave workout can Wolverine be certain that he is ready for the ongoing struggle against the Evil Mutants.”

Last week, I was discussing the presence of vehicles in ’90s action figure lines, and continuing down that path of figure-adjacent items from those lines, let’s follow up with a look into the wild world of playsets!  I’ve delved into them a little bit here on the site, but not in a terribly in-depth sort of fashion, and not for a good long while.  I’m dipping my toes back in today, starting off on the smaller side of things with the Wolverine Combat Cave!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Wolverine Combat Cave was released in 1991 alongside Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  It was one of two small-scale playsets that accompanied the line’s launch, both clearly meant to emulate portions of the Danger Room.  It would be rendered more or less obsolete by the larger X-Men Headquarters playset, which had a more elaborate set-up, but that wasn’t until 1995, so this set had a decent run of its own.  The Combat Cave measures 7 inches tall, 7 inches wide, and 4 1/2 inches deep.  The set required assembly when new, so you needed to pop the three walls into the base, as well as popping in a few other parts.  It’s a pretty small little area, but with a name that features “cave,” you’re not expecting a huge set-up, I suppose.  The sculpting on it’s notably not very cave-like, though.  It’s pretty basic and geometric, without much in the way of actual detailing.  As far as classic Danger Room designs go, it’s alright, I suppose.  The set has a few spots that are designed for more direct figure interaction.  You plug the figure onto the stand (which works with any figure with standard pegs, but is clearly designed to work directly with the Series 1 Wolverine), and there’s a lever to move the stand back and forth, as well as spin the figure on the stand.  All three walls get some sort of feature as well.  There’s an attack thingy mounted on the first wall with a bunch of different weapons, which you can move in and out towards the figure.  The longest wall gets a printed picture of Magneto that’s affixed to a sliding door, which has a circle in the middle that can be punched out.  On the last wall, there’s a “brick” section, which has a spring-loaded release, which flips the top half down.  The vast majority of this set’s coloring is molded plastic, but there are decals for the obligatory X-Men logo at the top, and the Magneto on the sliding door.  There’s also a small touch of paint for the mount for the logo, which I guess is cool.  Other than that, it’s molded red and blue-grey.  It’s an interesting color choice; certainly not my go-to for a Wolverine theme, but I guess it’s alright.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I came into the game a little late for these particular sets.  I recall seeing them in the booklet that came with my Sentinel, but that was really it, with the Headquarters being my main X-playset as a kid.  I added this particular one to my collection when I came across a sealed one for a remarkably good price at Player’s Choice, one of the two comic shops near where I lived when I was in South Carolina back in 2016.  It was sort of a comfort purchase, given it was my first real time away from home, and I rather vividly recall sitting down and assembling it in my old living room.  It’s a kind of a goofy little set, but it’s a fun little stepping stone towards the more complex stuff from later.

#3486: Wolverine Jeep

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

WOLVERINE JEEP

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“Whether he’s on a top-secret mission with his fellow X-Men or off on his own tacking one of his many adversaries, Wolverine needs a powerful rig to cover any terrain he might encounter! Thus, the creation of this custom-made jeep, designed to operate under the harshest conditions—just about the only conditions Wolverine ever finds himself in!”

In the ’90s, when action figure buying was at a definite high, figures didn’t just function on their own.  Oh, no, they also got stuff to accent.  There were playsets.  There were vehicles.  Oh, how we sang the songs of…something.  Look, it was a different time.  There was a Jeep in every toy line.  Or a Jeep in multiple toy lines, at the very least.  Most importantly (to me, anyway), there was a Jeep in the X-Men line.  And, you know what, I’m gonna look at that today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Wolverine Jeep was added to Toy Biz’s X-Men line in 1995, alongside a similarly scaled Mini-Blackbird vehicle.  For the initial release, it was officially titled “Wolverine Jeep” and sold sans-figure.  It saw three re-releases, all of which changed it to “Wolverine 4×4” (presumably having something to do with Jeep not approving the use of their name), and added a 5-inch Wolverine figure to the mix.  The vehicle measures about 9 inches long by 4 1/2 inches tall by 4 inches wide, and it’s scaled to Toy Biz’s 5-inch line, at least at the earlier end of things.  While Wolverine had driven a number of actual Jeeps in the comics and the cartoon, this particular item wasn’t specifically based on any of them, instead crafting something that is vaguely Jeep like, while also kind of being more toyetic, I suppose.  The later descriptor of 4×4 is honestly a more accurate one, which may have added to the push to re-name it.  The sculpting for this thing was all-new in ’95, but of course it would get the three aforementioned re-releases, and was even repainted for Toy Biz’s Spider-Man line as well.  It’s a pretty decent little set-up.  There’s seating for two standard-sized figures, and even some space for storage in the back, if you wanted to throw some accessories or something back there.  The wheels all can spin just fine, and you can even put the windshield down if you so choose.  In its default configuration, it’s just a pretty sensible car.  But it’s also got an action mode, because it was for a toy line.  All four wheels get adamantium claws that pull out, and pressing the steering wheel pops open the hood of the car, revealing a rotating grinder.  For grinding purposes, I guess?  The box shows Sabretooth getting thrown in there, which feels like it would be pretty messy, but he’s also Sabretooth, so he can probably handle it.  Paint work on this thing is at a minimum; there’s a little bit of base work for the blue and black detailing on the main body, but it’s otherwise just down to decals.  They work pretty well, and I especially like the printing for the headlights.  The Jeep was packed a gripping claw piece that mounts on the back, as well as a missile launcher….which launches a claw missile.  Say, do you suppose they really wanted to theme this thing around claws?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In 1995, I was only just discovering my love of Jeeps, so I didn’t jump on this one the way you might assume.  I was more invested in the Blackbird, I suppose.  It was actually a good long while before I got this one.  I snagged it from a store in my family’s usual vacationing spot, back in the fall of 2019.  It was still sealed, and it was pretty cheap, so it’s kind of hard to pass-up that sort of thing.  It’s a fun, if perhaps gimmicky, little vehicle.  Now, I just have to find all the variants on it, I suppose.

#3451: Wild Thing

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

WILD THING

MARVEL COMICS 2 1ST APPEARANCE (TOY BIZ)

“The young woman known as Rina Logan is the daughter of the mutant Wolverine and the ninja, Elektra.  Trained by her parents from childhood to take their place as a superpowered hero, she uses her inherited mutant healing factor and enhanced senses along with her incredible martial arts skill to fight for what’s right as the Super Hero code-named, Wild Thing.  Unlike her dad, Rina slices through her opponents with claws made up of psychic energy instead of Adamantium and prefers to fight alone instead of as a member of a team.”

Ah, yes, Wolverine and Elektra.  The classic pairing.  There are no two more entwined than these two.  When you think of one, how can you not think of the other?.. Have I done the bit enough?  Can I stop now?  Cool.  So, as I was touching on last week, some of the legacy characters in MC 2 were pretty natural, and some were…less so.  Wild Thing seems to largely exist because Wolverine and Elektra were both popular in the ’90s, and they’re thematically similar enough to sort of work? Well, whatever the case, she got a toy.  Here it is.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wild Thing is the  final of the four figures in the PX-Exclusive MC2 1st Appearance line that Toy Biz released in 1999. She, like American Dream, hasn’t had any figures since this first one. Also, despite her parentage, she’s easily the most minor of the four characters in the line-up.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and she has 9 points of articulation.  Most of her articulation is honestly pretty pointless. The neck can’t move because of the hair. Shes got nothing at the elbows, and there’s the dreaded v-hips.  The shoulders are at least pretty useful, so there’s that.  Wild Thing is built on a modified version of the Death Bird body. It’s decent enough, if perhaps a little stiff.  She gets a surprising number of elements specific to her design, as well as an all-new head sculpt.  It’s an alright offering, but you gotta love the sheer absurdity of the Wolverine mask with the Wolverine hair and then a pony tail on top of that.  In general, it’s a decent enough sculpt, on par with most of the others of the era, but of the four in this line, she definitely feels like the weakest.  She does get a little bit of a mixed media thing, with a proper cloth sash, rather than a sculpted one.  Wild Thing doesn’t have a particularly thrilling or pleasant color scheme, but that’s hardly the fault of the figure.  The paint application’s a little fuzzy on the edges, but overall, things look alright.  I do really like the clear pink plastic used for the psychic claws.  Wild Thing was packed with the break-apart doors previously included with Battle-Ravaged Wolverine, which are really always a fun piece to see crop up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve got no attachment to Wild Thing.  I know her exclusively because of this figure.  If I weren’t aiming to get the whole Toy Biz run, I’d definitely pass her up.  In fact, I really only bought her at all because the antique store where I found Stinger *also* had her, and if I was already buying one, I might as well buy the other.  She’s honestly better than I’d expected.  Still my least favorite of the four, but I’m glad she came along for the ride.

X-Men vs Magneto

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

X-MEN VS MAGNETO

WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED BY ETHAN WILSON (AGE 8)

Hey guys!  What’s this?  Me posting on a Sunday?  What did we do, go back in time two years?  Nah, but I just had something cool to share, and I thought that today being Father’s Day, it might be an appropriate day for such a post.  In the last few months, my son Matty has been getting into creating his own comics and stories with friends at school.  He was mentioning this to my dad, who informed Matty that I had done some similar storytelling when I was younger.  As proof of this, my dad pulled out his copy of my third grade class project, “X-Men vs Magneto”, which he’s been saving for some 22 odd years now.  And, just for the heck of it, I decided to the craziest thing possible:  I updated it.  So, check out the fancy new version (using my verbatim words from the original), as well as the original!