Tag Archives: X-Force

#4072: Grizzly

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

GRIZZLY

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“The rampaging strongman of Cable’s mercenary outfit the Six-Pack, the massive Grizzly balances unequal physical force with a liberal dose of sardonic humor. But don’t take him too lightly, lest he turns his prodigious mutant strength and massive battle-hammers to the attack. Now reunited with his former Six-Pack Comrades after serving with the SHIELD unit Weapon Prime, Grizzly battles those menaces that pose a threat to a safe and prosperous future for mutant and human alike.”

What, new mutant character from the ‘90s who was part of a paramilitary squad and has a “sardonic humor?”  That’s so very unique and original.  Is he also the best there is at what he does?  Well, “unequal physical force” suggests yes, I guess.  The name, though?  Not very original, since Grizzly is the fourth character to sport that name in the Marvel universe, and is, perhaps, the one with the least rational for using it.  But, he’s the only one who got a figure from Toy Biz, because it was the ’90, and we were all about the X-characters.  Anyway, here’s the figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Grizzly was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line, alongside fellow Six Pack member Kane.  He was the fourth member of the team, though he’s the fifth and final member I’m reviewing.  Yes, there were six members, but it’s Toy Biz, so they couldn’t finish a line-up; that would be out of character for them.  In their defense, the comics also pretty much forgot Hammer existed as well, so the main five are the ones you’d remember anyway.  The figure is about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He lacked any sort of neck movement, and the shoulders were restricted by the action feature, but he does at least get knee joints.  His sculpt was unique to him, and would remain so for Toy Biz’s whole run.  It’s perfectly fine.  Generally, it looks the part.  I think an argument can be made for him being a bit under-scaled, especially given the slight scale up on the Cable and Kane from this same assortment, but given he was a Liefeld character, his scale was rather all over the place in the books.  Otherwise, the detailing matches up pretty well with his depictions in the comics, and there’s a decent assortment of textures.  Grizzly’s color work matches pretty well to the comics.  It’s odd, for sure.  Like, why is he red?  No idea.  He just is.  And he wears a lot of blue and green, which doesn’t really match.  But, also, there it is.  He’s packed with a pair of “Power Hammers” which he can hold in his hands, and swing up and down using his action feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The entirety of my knowledge of Grizzly comes from this figure’s existence.  And, admittedly, that’s not a lot.  I’ve never had much attachment to any of the Six Pack stuff, so I can’t say I really sought it out.  I got Grizzly because I was buying a couple of other Toy Biz figures online and wanted to combine shipping, and he was one I didn’t own.  I can’t say he does much to bring me into being interested, but also, like other X-Force figures, I can’t say he’s a bad figure, either.  And, if you really want that Six Pack line-up, this is the only Grizzly, so, you know, you gotta.

#4068: Kane – 2nd Edition

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

KANE — 2ND EDITION

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“A product of the same Weapon X program that created Wolverine, Garrison Kane’s arms were replaced with a pair of multi-purpose bionic weapons. Now, alongside his mentor Cable, he battles those menaces that would jeopardize the prosperity of the future as a member of the mercenary unit called Six Pack!”

It’s truly amazing to watch a lot of the X-Force cast’s bios evolve as they reappear in the Toy Biz line and have clearly had major developments to their backstories in the comics.  Garrison Kane’s first figure was produced while he was still one of the book’s many mystery characters, but by figure 2 we knew a little more about him, and so his bio actually, you know, talks more about who he is and less about what this figure’s action feature represents.  They even mention Six Pack!  Everybody loves Six Pack!  Alright, let’s take a look at the second Kane figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane (2nd Edition) was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  It’s crazy to think that, of all the characters in the first round to immediately get a second go, it was Kane who showed right back up.  Shatterstar, Deadpool, and Warpath all got second figures too, but they had to wait, whereas Kane was just right back at the head of the line.  I guess it was more a case of getting while the getting was good, because he didn’t get any additional follow-ups.  While the first Kane figure was the subject of a downright obscene number of variants, they had it better under control for his second figure, so he just has one standardized release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Elbow joints had still not become standardized yet, so he lacks them, but he does get a swivel on his right wrist, even if it’s really just tied into his action feature.  He gets two of them, both tied into his hands.  His right hand, which is permanently in propeller mode, has a spinning mode, while his left has a “super punch,” which really just means it means the hand moves back and forth *a little.*  Beyond the action features and articulation, Kane’s sculpt showcases the rather quick evolution of the line’s sculpts.  His first figure was quite rudimentary, but by this assortment, they were a lot more involved, with far sharper detailing and generally bulkier promotions.  It makes for a decent match for Kane’s non-Liefeld appearances, and is generally a rather nice little sculpt.  The permanent propeller hand is really goofy, of course, so he’d probably benefit from an alternate hand or something, but it was what it was.  He had a removable vest piece, which was later re-used for the Fantastic Four Mr. Fantastic, which adds some more variety to his look.  Kane’s paint work is generally basic, and marks a slight departure from his original colors, but he still maintains enough consistency that he generally looks like the same guy.  Kane is packed with a small gun, which he can hold him his left hand, and only his left hand, because his right hand is a propeller.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kane was added to my collection at the same time as last week’s Cable II figure, when they were traded in at work still sealed and were still quite cheap.  I remember the first Kane, but have very little memory of the second one’s existence when I was a kid.  I think I just lumped him in with the original.  It’s not like I had any real frame of reference on the character.  I didn’t know much of what to expect on this figure, but I actually quite enjoy the final product.  Even with his permanent propeller hand.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#4064: Cable – 2nd Edition

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

CABLE — 2ND EDITION

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“The mysterious warrior called Cable stands ready to battle evil wherever it appears-even in the cold void of space! Armed with a high-tech suit of space armor and weapons that won’t be invented for hundreds of years, Cable seeks out the extraterrestrial enemies of mankind-and exterminates them with extreme prejudice.”

Back at the beginning of the year, a whole six months ago, I reviewed my first Toy Biz Cable figure, which I noted was weird, given how many variations were produced of him during the run.  So, you know, I guess it’s time to go back to that well, with a specific focus on environment-specific variants.  Oh yeah, let’s go ahead and take this guy out into deep space!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cable — 2nd Edition was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  He’s the second Cable, and the first of two included in the assortment.  This one was specifically sporting his “Deep Space Armor,” which, as far as I can tell, isn’t actually based on a specific comics design.  But I’m getting ahead of myself there.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  His sculpt was totally unique to him, and, as noted above, sees to be a wholesale Toy Biz creation.  While the first series of X-Force followed the same style as the early X-Men figures, the second series started introducing more updated sculpts, and this Cable is included in that batch.  You can hardly tell he’s supposed to be the same person as the first Cable figure.  In general, I think it’s mostly an improvement, in terms of build and detailing, but I’ll admit the head is a bit less on the mark for specifically Liefeld’s version of Cable.  All that being said, it’s certainly not a bad sculpt at all. There’s a lot of neat detail work, and it feels pretty accurate to the character.  The head dome part is removable, albeit after a fashion, allowing a better view of the head sculpt.  The head’s a separate piece, but the neck doesn’t budge on my figure, and I know better than to force it on these guys.  His paint work is pretty nice.  The orange and blue feels rather unique.  The first release of this has a fair bit of detailing, which they’d incrementally strip from him on later releases.  Cable is packed with a rather large gun, to the great surprise of everyone, I’m sure.  Parts of it slide, I suppose to simulate some sort of firing?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I avoided most of the Cables as a kid, because I just didn’t feel the need to have more than one.  I do recall seeing them all on the back of the various boxes, and this one always kind of caught my eye as a counterpart to the Space Suit Wolverine.  Though certainly a departure from the first figure, he sets the standard for the rest of the line’s Cables going forward, and it’s not really a bad standard to set.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

#4008: Forearm

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

FOREARM

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“This Evil Mutant loves to fight! Forearm’s favorite boast is that he’s the best in hand-to-hand-to-hand-to-hand combat. It’s not a hollow boast either-Forearm can clobber a dozen attackers in seconds. Locked doors can’t keep him out for long, either. His rapid-fire piledriver punches can buckle steel! Though he can use guns if he has to, Forearm prefers to fight with his fists. Because he’s so good at it, Magneto the leader of the Evil Mutants is only too happy to let him!”

You know the expression “too cute by half?”  Well, if I were to refer to today’s focus, Forearm, as having a name that was too cute by half, and we factored in that his starting point is actually twice the mode for a person, would that mean that, relative to others, you he might be too cute by a whole?  Or am I just overthinking this?  I did, after all, adjust my second sentence there to replace “average” with “mode” because I realized it was incorrect to say the average person has two arms.  So, you know, probably overthinking it.  Not like Liefeld when he came up with Forearm, a guy who has four arms.  He really just went for the obvious on that one, right?  Yeah.  Forearm is so not overthought that his bio up there mentions Magneto, a guy I’m not sure Forearm has ever actually worked for, but not Stryfe, the guy that Forearm was working for when this figure came out, who was in fact included in the same very series.  But I’m back to overthinking it.  Let’s just review Forearm, the man with four arms.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Forearm is the final figure in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Force, a nine figure line-up that’s only actually got three members of the team, which is an odd kind of start, especially relative to how X-Men launched.  Perhaps they were just building for longevity?  I suppose they kind of won out on that one.  Where was I?  Right, Forearm.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  He gets extra movement thanks to the extra arms, but offsets it a bit with a lack of knee joints.  I guess it helps keep him a little more stable on his feet.  I do like that this figure, unlike some other more-than-two-armed people, gets separate shoulder movement for each arm, albeit tied into his “punching” action feature.  Forearm’s sculpt is pretty much on par with the others from this first assortment.  It does a respectable job of capturing the character’s look, and not looking too dated…you know, apart from the character’s general design.  His hair is undeniably an odd shape sticking up out of the headband all flat like that.  It looks not unlike a pot-pie, something I can demonstrate with a handy photoshop courtesy of my boi Tim.  Look at that silly pot-pie lookin’ hair.  Otherwise, though, the proportions seem fine, and the level of definition on the details is pretty sharp.  Forearm’s paint work is fine.  Generally basic, and not the most appealing set of colors, but it works well enough.  In addition to his overabundance of arms, Forearm includes a weird sort of double-nun-chuk thing, which he can fling about with his action feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have Forearm as a kid, but I do quite distinctly remember him being on the back of the boxes of other figures I had.  He does have a pretty neat visual, especially if you’re just going by what’s on the back of the box.  It took me a little while to finally track him down, but I got him with a larger batch of loose X-Force figures that got trade into work a couple of years back.  He’s neat.  He makes me chuckle about a number of tangentially related things, and that’s always a fun bit.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0064: Avalanche

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

AVALANCHE

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

The week, she is once more at an end.  Honestly, feels like it flew by, but maybe not in the best way.  But, the main point is, we made it to Friday!  Alright!  Go us!  Let’s have another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum, this time jumping back over to my little Toy Biz Marvel corner of the world with a return to Avalanche!  Why would anyone want to return to Avalanche?  Your guess is as good as mine.

 “A mutant with the ability to control earth and rock, Avalanche’s powers earned him a place in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants! Now operating largely on his own, or in the company of his allies, the Blob and Pyro, Avalanche strikes not so much out of hatred for normal humans, but from a desire to make a profit!”

Back in the ‘90s, the X-Men were super hot, and by, extension, the various X-Men spin-offs were super hot. X-Force, the spawn of everyone’s favorite artist Rob Liefeld, was inexplicably successful, but only the actual team seemed to get real notoriety. The villains were mostly forgettable, however, so for the toyline Toy Biz borrowed a few classic X-Men baddies, including today’s focus character, Avalanche!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Avalanche was released in Series 5 of Toy Biz’s X-Force toyline. He was the second of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants figures featured in this particular line, following Pyro. Seeing how the two of them were a semi-recurrent pair on X-Men: The Animated Series, it was a pretty sensible inclusion, I suppose. The figure stands 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation. He got extra disk joints on his hips, which I guess was kind of nice. It does seem a little bit odd that Avalanche of all people got extra special articulation, but I’m not gonna fight it. HIs sculpt was all new to this particular figure, and it was fairly decent for the era. The proportions are a little exaggerated, obviously, but given that he was in the X-Force line, it’s actually fairly balanced. There articulation could perhaps be worked in a bit better, but it’s not awful. The details of the costume are pretty clean, and I do like the intensity of the expression on what we can see of his face. It’s a bit of a shame that his helmet is permanently affixed, since he had it off rather frequently on the cartoon, but it looks good, and that’s ultimately the most important thing. Avalanche’s paintwork is fairly standard, mostly silver and blue. It looks decent enough, though it’s perhaps not the most thrilling color scheme. Avalanche was originally packed with an “Exploding Rock Platform” which demonstrated his powers via action feature. My figure was purchased loose, however, so he doesn’t include this piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Avalanche is a rather recent addition to my ‘90s Marvel collection, picked up over the summer from Yesterday’s Fun. They had a number of old X-Men figures, and this was one I kept meaning to grab, but never got around to. He’s a pretty decent figure of a character I admittedly don’t have a ton of attachment to. Nevertheless, I’m happy to have him, and he brings me one step closer to completing this collection.

In 2017, when I wrote that review, I was batting back and forth between more comical reviews and more serious ones, and Avalanche wound up as the latter.  Alas, it means my witty intro about how he never got much of a a character arc beyond “being Pyro’s buddy” wasn’t until I reviewed his Marvel Legend.  I instead used this one to rag on X-Force a bit, which, you know what?  Fair.  My review of the actual figure seems pretty solid.  Still really don’t know why he got the extra movement on the hips, but it is what it is.  In 2017, he was missing his stand, but in 2026, he’s got it once more.  It’s a rather neat piece, and demonstrates the powers about as well as I think you can.  It also keeps him very stable, which comes in handy with those hips.

#4004: Gideon

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

GIDEON

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Imagine fighting a stronger and faster version of yourself. That’s what it’s like for the X-Men when they battle Gideon! Whether it’s one person or ten, Gideon can absorb the abilities of everyone he fights, increase that power, and turn himself into a super-charged version of his opponents. Not only that, Gideon is also one of the richest men. His ultimate goal is a mystery, but one thing’s for sure, he has the power and money to reach it!”

By the ‘90s, a lot of the new mutants introduced into the X-books seemed to rely pretty heavily on  one-upmanship and taking a pre-existing character’s power set and making it “cooler” or “edgier,” frequently by just adding “gun” somewhere in their description.  Today’s entry, Gideon, debuted in the same issue of New Mutants as Deadpool, and effectively takes Rogue’s power mimicry abilities and kicks them up a notch.  Also, fun fact here, he’s an “External,” a concept explored in the early X-Force run about a group of extra special mutants who are immortal and have been secretly guiding history for a very long time.  Because somebody really liked Highlander, I guess.  As with so any characters from early in X-Force, Gideon was touted as being a “big deal” before kind of quietly fading into the background and largely being forgotten.  He did get an action figure, though, so there’s that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gideon was part of the first series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  There’s a lot of non-team members present, huh?  Also kind of amusing that Gideon predates the inclusion of both Cannonball and Sunspot, the two characters on the team he spent most of his time with.  They weren’t too far behind, at least, so it’s not the end of the world.  This was his only action figure, with no re-releases or variants even, so he was truly a one-and-done.  The figure’s just under 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s missing the elbows again, which was quite common in this first round of figures.  He seems rather small, again pretty common for this particular batch of figures.  Not sure why the X-Force line in particular seemed so small and shrimpy.  I’d say that makes him something of a Li’l Gideon, but I think connecting this guy to a Gravity Falls reference might be too high class for him.  Gideon’s sculpt is totally unique to him and…yeah, it’s certainly something.  Gideon had a number of looks early on, all rather out there, and meant to showcase his…look I don’t know.  He’s dressed like a cyborg chippendale or something.  None of it makes sense independently, much less as a whole cohesive thing.  I suppose it’s at least unique and distinctive?  Yeah, let’s go with that.  The actual quality of the sculpt is pretty similar to the others in this first series.  He’s kind of soft on the details, and the direct resemblance to Liefeld’s artwork is minimal.  He’s sort of pre-posed on the arms, but otherwise rather stiff.  He looks awkward for sure, and his ponytail is hanging in a way that doesn’t really feel natural.  His color work is…unpleasant.  It’s accurate…more or less.  The comics were back and forth on Gideon’s hair color; sometimes it was white, and other times green.  I think green might have been more fun, but they went for white, which is fine.  Otherwise, it’s *fine*.  Once again, not very cohesive, but the application’s clean enough.  Gideon is packed with a briefcase that has a removable katana.  You know, as you do.  He’s got an action feature as well, where flipping the lever on his back moves his arms up and down.  You know, as you do.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a Gideon as a kid, but my cousin Rusty did.  Neither of us actually knew who he was, nor was either of us really much of a fan of the guy.  I later got that figure, in a bag with a bunch of others, when my grandparents’ house was being cleared out, and he was in *rough* shape, and I ended up chopping him up further for custom fodder.  The one seen here was a much later addition to my collection, circa 2018.  I got him sealed for super cheap, because that’s how things are for Gideon.  He then sat sealed until last spring when I decided to actually appreciate the stacks of Toy Biz figures I had sitting around, so I finally cracked him open and put him on the shelf.  He’s not a great figure.  He’s not a good figure.  He’s maybe a mediocre figure.  His design is awful, and there’s very little appealing about the final product, honestly.  But, there’s something sort of amusing about how poorly executed every part of Gideon’s journey to action figure was, so…I kinda love him?  Wait…when did that happen?  I think all this Toy Biz reviewing is starting to get to me.

#3996: G.W. Bridge

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

G.W. BRIDGE

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Wherever there’s a private war being fought, or an Evil Mutant that needs to be captured, you’re sure to find G.W. Bridge, the special agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., America’s top secret, high tech security agency. This battle-scarred veteran is a weapons-master extraordinaire and has tracking abilities that put a bloodhound to shame. Everyone agrees that once G.W. Bridge is on an Evil Mutant’s trail, one thing is certain-that evil Mutant is as good as caught.”

Okay, so remember when I was talking about Kane a couple of weeks ago, specifically in regards to not really knowing a lot about the guy?  Well, we get to go down that path again, today, with GW Bridge.  Like Kane, he’s from Cable’s past, and he’s like, tough, in that sort of generic ‘90s way that people were tough.  He was also in SHIELD, so I guess that’s an additional thing he’s got going for him?  And, he was set-up to be such a big deal.  So, you know, here’s Mr. Big Deal himself.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

GW Bridge was released in the first series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line, and that was it.  He had no variations, no re-releases, and no follow-up figures, so he wasn’t even on Kane’s level in that regard.  He’s seen here in his “Six-Pack” era attire, which s certainly his most Liefeldian.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  No elbow joints again, but he gets all the other standard movement.  He’s still pretty stiff, which was very common with these earlier figures.  His sculpt was new, and remained largely unique to him (though his head was re-used later for an unmasked Rhodey).  It’s pretty much the same quality as the other Series 1 X-Force figures, which is to say it’s rather soft in terms of details.  Also quite small given the ultimate direction of the line.  I think GW in particular seems sort of…uninspired?  He’s just kind of bland, and shallow, with his expression in particular seeming rather devoid of any sort of character.  Not even a Liefeld grimace.  His body sculpt is kind of awkward in terms of posing, and he’s also very difficult to keep standing. GW’s color work does its best to replicate his Christmas decorations-looking outfit, and generally does fine at that.  It’s prone to wear, as you can see from my copy, and there’s a fair bit of bleed over on the edges.  GW Bridge is packed with a “Rapid Fire Gun” accessory.  It’s an odd sort of rifle thing, which he can’t really hold very well.  There’s a switch on the side, which slides back and forth, in a sort of bolt-action motion, and there’s a clicking noise that accompanies.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I knew a little bit about GW Bridge as a kid, because I seem to recall him appearing as a SHIELD agent in something I read, and also the re-used head for that Rhodey figure.  I didn’t have a figure of him, though, because I can’t say he made much of a lasting impression.  He was pulled from the same bag of junk figures as Kane, and likewise given to me by Jason from All Time.  He didn’t have the gun, but that got re-used a few times, so I thankfully had a spare laying around.  Kane had some novelty, but GW rather lacks even that.  He’s just sort of unimpressive, and it’s kind of a shame he never got a better figure.

#3992: Shatterstar

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

SHATTERSTAR

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“An alien warrior from another planet, Shatterstar’s whole body has been scientifically redesigned to make him the ultimate warrior! That means his reflexes are super-humanly fast, his endurance is unmatched and his ability in battle is overwhelming. Shatterstar can learn how to use any weapon, no matter how strange, in seconds. But his favorite weapons are his swords which can easily slice through even the toughest steel!”

How often do you get to write a review of a guy who’s his own grandpa?  Well, if you’re me, about once every year and a half, averaging it out.  Admittedly, that’s literally all Shatterstar and Longshot, who are locked in a time-travel-based cycle of father and son…or something.  Look, we’re not gonna deal with that, because today we’re jumping back to a time before all of that, when Shatterstar was just a guy with weird two bladed swords and no discernible backstory or motivation at all.  Oh yeah!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Shatterstar was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  It was his first figure, and one of three he got during Toy Biz’s run.  This one, unlike the later ones, was based on his original costume design, in all its inconsistent Liefeld-y goodness.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 10 points of articulation.  His articulation is all the basics for the scale, and, unlike a number of the others in this first set, he even gets both elbow joints.  His sculpt was new, and remained unique to his release.  It’s on par with the other figures in the first series, which is to say it’s kind of an awkward sort of thing.  Details are kind of on the softer side, with his face in particular just sort of seeming like silly putty.  The build on him is skinnier than later figures, which is ultimately closer to Shatterstar’s usual build, especially under Liefeld, but he’s got an oddly small waist, and oddly large legs.  His stance is sort of stiff, and not really natural, and his feet are strangely positioned.  So, you know, the whole thing’s just rather awkward, is what I’m getting at.  It’s not really a shock this one never got re-used.  Shatterstar’s paint work is notably thick and shiny in its application, which makes him look especially fake and plastic, but…I mean, the color work is good, so there’s at least that.  Shatterstar is packed with a pair of his two bladed swords.  They’re both the same sculpt, which means the left sword’s blades angle the wrong way outwards.  That said, the sizing feels more accurate than the later ones, since they’re not too small, and the alternate coloring on the hilts is really nice.  Shatterstar has a “slashing” action feature; turning his waist swings both arms up and down in an alternating fashion.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Two-and-a-half decades ago, give or take, I was staying at my grandparents house, and found a random issue of X-Force (issue 6, I’m fairly certain), which my father had rescued from a donation bin while working at the library years prior.  It was my first exposure to the book, or Liefeld in general, and, being 8, I loved it.  Shatterstar was central to the issue, so my next trip to Cosmic Comix involved me getting this guy, because I thought he was cool.  He is absolutely not a great figure, but I loved him at the time, and it’s saddled me with this nostalgic twinge for Shatterstar ever since, which is, I guess, okay?  So, you know, I kinda love him, even if he’s not great. 

#3988: Kane

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

KANE

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Evil Mutants watch out! The long arm of justice now has a name: Kane, the mutant with the “rocket-powered” hand! Few people know his past, and those that do keep quiet about it-if they know what’s good for them! Kane’s an expert tracker, and can master even the most complex weapons system in minutes. But his flying hand with its vise-like grip is his favorite weapon-and the one his enemies fear the most.”

Hey, here we are, back with more X-Force!  It’s a thing that I am most certainly an expert on, just through and through, because I know so very much about all the X-Force stuff.  Take for instance, Kane.  He’s…a guy named “Kane.”  Umm….evil mutants watch out?  Long arm of justice?  Expert tracker?  Kane?

Okay, joking aside, I know a little bit about Kane, who was introduced early in the X-Force run as a guy from Cable’s past back before they’d really nailed down what exactly that past might be.  He’s a member of Cable’s first team, “Six Pack” (yes, really), and he, like all the good mystery men from X-Men characters’ pasts is a cyborg.  He didn’t really take off the same way as others from the early days, but he got two figures before he faded into relative obscurity.  Here’s the first of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line that they spun out of their X-Men line.  He was subject to no fewer than four paint variations, concerning the color of his hair and the strap on his leg, and exactly how they were combined, but the sculpt remained the same all the way through.  The version seen here is the most common of the four, by virtue of being released on two separate card backs.  The figure stands a little under 5 inches tall (the early X-Force offerings ran a little bit small) and he has 8 points of articulation.  One of those joints is wrist movement on his left arm, which is actually just incidental movement, brought about by his “Snap Back Living Hand!” feature.  His hand is attached to a string that’s on a spring mechanism; you can pull it out, and then pushing the lever on his back snaps it back into place.  It’s an inoffensive gimmick, and it’s not a bad take on his “rocket-powered” hand.  It does mean you and spin his wrist, though, so there’s that.  His sculpt is rather common of these early figures.  It’s not crazy detailed, and, especially compared to Liefeld’s line-heavy illustrations, looks rather basic and simple.  Kane’s face looks almost child-like, and his proportions are thin and stretched out.  His costume details are at least pretty consistent with the ones seen in the book, as ridiculous a costume design as this may be.   His paint work is basic, but fine.  It was the source of the variations, with the one seen here sporting black hair and a red band on his leg.  There were also samples with grey hair, as well as those with blue straps, and corresponding mixes of the hair and strap colors.  Kane was packed with  a blaster/gun thing, which he can hold in his right hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I know a bit more now, I knew very little of Kane as a kid.  He’s in X-Men: The Animated Series, but it’s a different design, and he’s never named, so I didn’t connect it.  Mostly, I just remember that he was on the back of the boxes, and I never knew who he was, and then he didn’t really reappear after that.  So, I never got his figures.  At least, until I decided to get all of the Toy Biz Marvel stuff, so then I needed to.  I got this guy loose, given to me by Jason from All Time when I fished him out of a plastic bag of mostly junk that got traded into All Time back in, gosh, probably 2019?  He didn’t have his gun, but I came across that in one of the bags of spare Toy Biz parts I’ve accumulated over the years.  He’s not the most impressive figure, and he’s not the most impressive character, but there’s a certain bit of novelty to him, for sure.

#3984: Deadpool

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

DEADPOOL

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“Deadpool is a mercenary and one of the world’s most dangerous assassins. What makes Deadpool so dangerous is not his super-silent tracking ability or his assassin’s arsenal of incredible weapons, it’s his ability to paralyze his victims with fear. He enjoys doing that so much that sometimes he lets his victim go. A panic-stricken live victim, he reasons, does wonders for his reputation.”

Can you believe there was a time in the Marvel universe before Deadpool?  That seems crazy, doesn’t it?  Would you also believe that when he *did* finally appear, it was literal years before he was even remotely close to the character that everyone knows him as now? The bio for his very first action figure, shown up top there, really cements that, referring to him as “super-silent” and having the “ability to paralyze his victims with fear.”  Not really the slap-sticky, fourth wall-breaking meme guy we have these days, huh?  Well, let’s just fully commit to this back to the beginning approach for Deadpool and take a look at his very first action figure, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Deadpool was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Force line, which spun out of their main X-Men line during its second year.  While the book was still relatively new, they had already started to identify its break out characters, hence the early presence of Deadpool, despite him at that time just being a recurring character, not affiliated with the team.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  Not a bad set-up in terms of movement.  It’s all basic stuff, but it’s pretty clear in its range, and he’s fairly sturdy on his feet.  He was a unique sculpt, which wound up re-used for a couple of repaints over the years, but only ever for Deadpool.  It’s based on his earliest appearances, although, like Cable, it’s been kind of cleaned up from Liefeld’s usual inconsistencies.  Deadpool was still being shown as very svelte in is early appearances, and this sculpt follows that lead.  He’s generally light on detailing, but gets his pouches and straps, albeit with a slightly softer detailing to them than later offerings.  He’s got a dagger permanently attached to his left hand, which is spring-loaded, so he can more convincingly look like he’s stabbing someone, I guess?  Deadpool’s color work is fairly basic, but generally well in line with his comics look at the time.  Interestingly, while the circles around his eyes are black, the rest of the costume’s accenting is done with a very dark grey, which makes for a neat bit of visual pop.  There was an FAO Schwarz-exclusive variant (pictured at the end) which just made it all black, which is *fine* but feels a bit more lacking, as well as a KB Toys re-release that adds in some silver elements on the pouches.  Whatever the release, Deadpool is packed with a pair of grey swords.  They’re able to be put in the sheaths…in a manner of speaking; they’re actually just going through his shoulders into the hollow portion of the torso, and they still end up being kind of comedically small to make it work.  It does look pretty cool when they’re in place, though.  It’s amusing that they’re both removable, though, since only one of his hands is able to hold one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was not my first Deadpool (that was the unmasked one from later), but I do recall wanting to track one down rather early on in my collecting.  I found a loose on some time in the very early ‘00s, which I assumed was the original, but would only later find out was actually the rarer FAO version, necessitating that I get a proper Series 1 release many years later when it got traded into All Time.  I’m a real sucker for this mold, no matter which paint scheme it’s sporting.  Something about it just really works for my collecting sensibilities, and it’s all I really want out of a Deadpool.  He’s basic, but he really just works.