Tag Archives: X-Men

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0066: Wolverine

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

WOLVERINE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s Friday!  We have once more made it to the end of the week!  Oh boy, that was rough, huh?  Well, let’s jump into another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum.  Once more, we’re looking into the world of Toy Biz, with a second look at Wolverine!

“When it comes to fighting Evil Mutants, the X-Men know there’s no one better than Wolverine! With his razor-sharp adamantium claws, his lightning-quick reflexes and his unmatched combat experience, Wolverine can outfight anyone! Thanks to his super-fast mutant healing ability, in just a few short hours he’s totally healthy and ready for action again, no matter how serious his wounds!”

Would you believe there was a time when a Wolverine figure was an exciting and new thing? I know, that’s a bit hard to grasp. But, until Mattel’s Secret Wars line, there were no Wolverine figures at all. And that one wasn’t even all that good! He’d have to wait until 1992 for a second go, courtesy of Toy Biz’s then-newly-launched X-Men line. He would be the first of very, very many.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine was released in Series 1 of the X-Men line. He was actually unique amongst the 5-inch X-Men figures for being in Wolverine’s brown costume. It was still his current look when these figures hit (which is more than could be said for a number of his Series 1 compatriots), but it was quickly replaced by the returning tiger-stripe design, which would be the main focus for a good decade. The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall (making it one of Toy Biz’s few offerings to truly stick to Wolverine’s proper stature) and he has 7 points of articulation. His sculpt was new to him, and remained unique for all of Toy Biz’s run. It’s a pretty decent one for the time. While it doesn’t quite eclipse the likes of Magneto and Nightcrawler, it’s still really quite good. The build of the body is probably the strongest aspect; Wolverine figures tend to overlook his distinctive stature, so this one getting it down so well is certainly notable. The head’s not quite as strong. This was really the first time that Logan’s hair was translated into three dimensions, so they were still sorting it all out. It ends up looking a little goofy and sort of impossible, but it’s not terrible. Wolverine’s paintwork is reasonable, though not anything outstanding. The base colors are all pretty decent recreations of the comics look, and he’s rather eye-catching. There’s some unevenness with the lines in a few spots, especially on the torso. Wolverine was packed with his mask, which works surprisingly well for the scale, as well as a katana. He was also the first Wolverine to feature the popping claw action, which allowed him to simulate Wolverine’s signature “snikt” move. It robs his arms of any elbow movement, and the claws are required to be rather small to facilitate. That said, it works reasonably well, and is certainly fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was too young to get Wolverine new, and he wasn’t one that was prone to showing up later on. Fortunately, Cosmic Comix had me covered there, and I got this guy not too long after getting into collecting. He’s actually not a bad figure, and despite the sort of odd removable mask, it was one of the better Wolverines from the line.

This was written in the summer of 2018, and, if I’m honest, I remember very little about writing it.  Looking at the reviews around it, I think I probably wrote either during or immediately before my family vacation that year, so I might have had my mind on other things.  It was also the year of Infinity War, and the onslaught of Marvel product that accompanied it, so I might have even been a little burned out.  I think I did alright by him in the writing, though.  The only thing missing when I reviewed him was his katana, which I’ve since found, so aha, here it is!  He can’t hold it especially well, but I guess it’s still cool.

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.

#3998: Cyclops – Gamerverse

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

CYCLOPS — GAMERVERSE

SH FIGUARTS (BANDAI)

Two Marvel reviews?  In the same week?  Is that allowed?  Well, it’s my site, and I say yes, so that’s the definitive answer, I’m afraid.  Don’t worry, though, this one’s totally different….but also kind of the same.  While most of my Marvel reviews these days are ‘90s Toy Biz, I do occasionally break away for more unique releases.  And, while most of my Figuarts reviews are of Japanese properties, I do also break into their Marvel stuff from time to time, as well.  In the past year, Marvel’s been doing a push with “Gamerverse” a branding that encompasses all of their video game stuff.  It’s previously been more modern in focus, but last year Hasbro started getting into the ‘90s era fighting games, and now Bandai is following suit, kicking things off with objectively the best Marvel fighting game character, Cyclops!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Cyclops is the first figure in the “Gamerverse” sub-line of the Marvel portion of Bandai’s S.H. Figuarts line.  He started hitting overseas just before the end of last year, and shortly after the new year domestically.  The figure stands a little over 6 inches tall and he has 39 points of articulation.  While the Spider-Verse figures went larger on the loose 1/12 scale set-up of Figuarts, Cyclops is back to more usual slightly smaller than Legends scaling, which is more practical for the purposes of intermingling with Bandai’s earlier versions of some of the Capcom characters.  His articulation scheme is generally the more straight-forward approach we’ve gotten in the more recent Figuarts releases, so he generally feels less fiddly.  The only part that’s still a little more involved is the moving “shorts” at the tops of his hips, which can sometimes get stuck up or down during posing.  His sculpt is all-new to this figure. This version of Cyclops is meant to encompass his sprite designs from the earlier MvC games, for a full ‘90s feel, and the sculpt does its best to replicate that.  It’s a really clean sculpt, which definitely feels like a classic ‘90s Cyclops.  I hadn’t noticed before this figure that the Capcom Cyclops’s back design mimics the strap layout of the second Toy Biz figure, rather than the single-strap set-up of the comics and cartoon appearances.  It’s a rather specific element, and I like to see it kept here.  As has become common with Cyclops figures these days, this one includes multiple heads, three specifically.  He’s got calm, gritted teeth, and screaming.  Taking it even further, there are also three different necks, in standard, tilted back, and leaning forward, giving you a lot of options on what exactly he’s doing with his head.  All three heads have one hair piece to swap between them; it’s a good rendition of his game hair, and it sits well on all of the heads, with out falling out of place too easily.  Cyclops’s color work is a good match for the game sprite, which trended a little oranger on the yellow than other versions.  A lot of the coloring his molded here, bit there’s some really good accenting on the blue sections of his suit, as well as some very clean base work.  Cyclops is packed with five pairs of hands (in fists, flat, two different types of open gesture, and two fingers extended), and four different visors (standard, with energy trail, with small optic blast, and with large optic blast).  The hands offer a nice variety for posing purposes, and are fun as usual with these sorts of releases.  The different visors are great for showcasing his power set, though the larger optic blasts both have a tendency to fall out on their own.  As with some of the other fighting game figures, Cyclops includes a pair of cardboard backdrops, specifically showing off his huge optic blast attack from the games, as his name, simulating a fighting stage.  They’re a bit touch to keep standing, but a cool enough set-up for a rather low-cost extra.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My knowledge of the existence of the Marvel fighting games owes a lot to my buying the old Toy Biz Cyclops vs M. Bison pack, because I just wanted a good ‘90s Cyclops figure.  I’m always game for a good figure of that look, and I’ve sure bought a lot of them over the years.  Did I need one more?  Well, maybe not need, but want for sure.  I knew I wanted this one as soon as he was shown off, so I jumped on the pre-order right away.  He’s got his minor issues, but boy is he just a really nice looking, very fun version of my favorite Cyclops look. 

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0059: Ahab

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

AHAB

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s Friday, which around here is my own day of personal reflection…well, within the context of the site, at the very least.  You know, in that sort of Flashback Friday Figure Addendum sort of way.  I’m jumping once more back into the world of old Toy Biz Marvel reviews, with Ahab!

“A houndmaster from a future timeline in which mutants are hunted down and destroyed, Ahab has time-traveled to the present to continue his mission of eliminating dangerous mutants. Employing advanced Sentinel technology in his powerful cyborg body, Ahab ruthlessly enslaves those mutants he does not kill, transforming them into telepathic hounds which he uses to track down others of their kind. Only the combined powers of the X-Men, X-Factor, the New Mutants and the Fantastic Four were able to put a stop to Ahab’s murderous rampage through our time in the past. Should he reappear, who knows what havoc he might wreak!”

You know how sometimes there’s bad figures of good characters? Or, on the flip side, good figures of bad characters? Today represents neither of those things. Today, I look at what might be one of the very worst figures ever released in Toy Biz’s 5-inch X-Men line. He’s a little figure by the name of Ahab. Let’s just get straight to it, shall we?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ahab was released in Series 5 of X-Men. In a series populated by fan-favorites, he’s…well, he’s not. He’s an odd choice for the set, and the line in general really. I mean, I guess he was involved in some semi-important stories in the comics. But, given that one of the characters completely absent from Toy Biz’s entire run was Rachel Summers, who’s sort of the only reason Ahab matters at all, he feels out of place. Maybe there’s a big Ahab fanbase out there or something. I don’t know. Anyway, the figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, he lacks neck and elbow movement, which makes for a very stiff figure. Already not the greatest start. Ahab has what has to be one of the clunkiest sculpts of any figure in this line. I genuinely don’t know how they managed to mess him up this bad. I mean, he’s hardly got the greatest design in the comics, but it’s better than this, to be sure. Everything about this figure is blocky, stiff, and inorganic. That’s fine for the blocky, stiff, and inorganic parts, but not so much for the parts that aren’t those things. His head is particularly bad, given it’s incredibly thin, tall look, and complete lack of neck. He’s got this sort of cyborg-zombie-Abraham-Lincoln thing going on, and the sculpt doesn’t seem to be able to decide what’s his hair and what’s his headgear. They just sort of meld together. He’s also got this look on his face like he just crapped his pants. Which, in a gross way, leads me to my next complaint: his legs. Or, more specifically, his hips, which are oddly shaped, not particularly accurate to his comics design, and start a considerable distance after his torso ends. Ahab’s paintwork is decent enough for what it is. It’s pretty basic, and far from the most appealing color scheme. Burnt sienna and lavender isn’t exactly an imposing combo. Also, we get the same issues the sculpt had with the hair/headgear changeover, which just sort of…happens. The figure was originally packed with a missile launcher and three “harpoons,” which I don’t have.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, if I hate this guy so much, why do I own him? Is he another gift from a confused family member? Nope, he’s actually a pretty recent acquisition. In the last few months, I’ve decided to try and complete my ‘90s X-Men collection. That meant I was gonna have to get this guy eventually. I found this one at Yesterday’s Fun for $1, which is really about the cap of how much I’m willing to pay for him. He’s an awful figure. Just awful. But, I like to look at the positives: the collection only improves from here! 

Okay, so, for the second time since I started doing these, I find myself honestly not liking a review I wrote.  It’s odd for it to be one so late in the run, after I’d established the style more, but…yeah, I just feel like this one seemed a bit mean spirited.  Looking at the publication date, it went up the day after my birthday in 2017, and, well, I was going through some stuff at the time, which I think may have impacted my writing a little bit.  It’s not to say that I think I was wrong about Ahab being a less than stellar figure.  That he most certainly is.  Worst in the Toy Biz run?  Eh, I don’t know if I can really stand by that.  He’s not super fun, and I think I made a good point that it’s odd they made him and no Rachel Summers to go along, given he mostly exists as a foil to her.  Worst though?  Seems a bit hyperbolic.

In 2017, I was still content to have a bunch of incomplete figures in my collection, and I’m less about that now, so this summer I actually bought a second Ahab (I know, crazy) so that I could get the missile launcher and harpoons.  They, like the figure, aren’t great, and are even worse in the sense of how they interact with him, which is not very well.  But, at least he’s complete.  And, he’s the only Ahab figure out there, so he’s at least got some novelty?  I don’t know, I’m trying to be nice!

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0054: Gambit

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

GAMBIT

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Hey, it’s Black Friday!  …which, for the purposes of this site directly…doesn’t really mean much.  You know what?  I’ll give you guys today’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum free of charge.  How does that sound?  Like it’s the same cost as usual?  Well, yeah, sure.  But think of the value!  Anyway, here’s Gambit!

The ‘90s were quite good to the X-Men. They several top selling comics, a few video games, and a cartoon. But, most importantly, they had an awesome, hugely expansive line of action figures, courtesy of Toy Biz. Earlier figures in the line were fairly straightforward versions of the X-Men, but as the line continued, Toy Biz started experimenting with a number of different gimmicks to keep things interesting. The very first “gimmick series” gave each figure a light-up feature. Though light-up features weren’t new to the line, these figures were different in that, rather than lighting up themselves, they used a two-part light-up feature that allowed them to light up their accessories. Mostly, the series was just an excuse to release new versions of a few outdated figures. Today, I’ll be looking at Gambit from that series.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gambit was released in the X-Men: Classic “Light-Up Weapons Series,” which was the 13th series of figures in Toy Biz’s 5-inch X-Men line. This was Gambit’s second figure in the line, after getting his first back in Series 3. The figure stands about 5 ½ inches tall and has 9 points of articulation. His articulation isn’t terrible, but the light-up feature’s inner workings are in his chest and right arm, which reduces the posablilty of the right shoulder quite a bit and also necessitates removing the usual elbow joints. Though the X-Men line was meant as a tie-in for the cartoon running at the same time, the figures tended to be more directly based on their comics appearances. Gambit actually looks to take a lot of influence from his Capcom game appearances, since he’s rather beefy and stylized. The overall look isn’t too bad, though it does seem like Gambit’s been juicing just a bit, since he’s usually more slender than he’s depicted here. He’s about to burst out of his sleeves for Pete’s sake! Also, his hands are absolutely huge, and if I’m honest the right one barely even looks like a hand at this point. The head exhibits the best sculpted work, and does quite a nice job of capturing Gambit’s smarmy personality. Gambit’s paint is fairly decent, if not fantastic. There’s a bit of slop here and there, especially on the fingers, and the pink lines on the sides of his pants are way more subtle than they should be. The color scheme they picked is once again pretty game-inspired, but it has a nice degree of pop, so no complaints here. Gambit included his usual staff, as well as a piece showing a fan of playing cards being kinetically charged, as if Gambit has just thrown them. The latter piece is the source of the light up feature. When plugged into Gambit’s right hand, the cards would light up at the push of the button on Gambit’s back.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This is another ‘90s X-Men figure that I’ve owned two of. The first was bought for me by my grandparents on my Mom’s side, I believe as a reward for finishing kindergarten. I got him and Juggernaut, but I think I mostly got Gambit because my grandparents felt I needed to get a “good guy” figure to go with the villain. Somewhere along the way, I lost that figure, so I picked up this replacement from a dealer at Balticon this year. He’s not a terrible figure, but he definitely shows his age. 

Well, honestly, that review’s really not bad.  Kind of hits all the important marks, and I stand by my assessment of the figure from the time.  He’s another figure that came from a large batch of Toy Biz figures I fished out of a big box of loose figures in the Baltic dealers room, literally the weekend after my college graduation in 2016.  None of them had any accessories, but the thing about this guy in particular is that I had one when they were new, and while I lost the figure proper, the accessories remained.  So, I simply united the two halves, and, boom, he’s got his staff and playing card effect again.  Yay for completeness!

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0049: Quicksilver

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

QUICKSILVER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s Friday!  Finally!  Oh boy, the week’s over…almost.  Well, here’s a double blast from the past, because today’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum is another one of those doubling down on an addendum entries.  So, let’s look at Quicksilver again…again!

Countdown to Avengers: Age of Ultron: 7 days remaining.

Alright, we just took a look at Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye, two of the most important Avengers in my books. They both joined the team back in Avengers #16, along with the subject of today’s review, Quicksilver. They were led by Captain America and dubbed “Cap’s Kooky Quartet.” Yeah, it was the 60s. Anyway, Quicksilver is an Avenger of moderate importance, though he’s not quite on the same level as the other two. Still, he’s an important guy, and seeing as he’s Scarlet Witch’s twin brother, it’s a little difficult to have one without the other. Plus he had that fantastic scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past, so he’s going places. Let’s look at one of his action figures!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Quicksilver was released in ToyBiz’s 90s X-Men line as part of their infamous “Muntant Armor” series. The figure was available in two possible decos: his classic blue and white and his current (at the time) white and grey. This one, in case you hadn’t already noted, is the white and grey, which, for those interested, was designed by legendary artist George Perez when he helped re-launch The Avengers in the 90s. The figure is 5 inches tall and has 11 points of articulation. Quicksilver was built on one of ToyBiz’s recurring male bodies of their 5 inch lines, which first popped up in the sixth series of ToyBiz’s Spider-Man line. It’s a pretty decent sculpt, with a nice, lean look, and a decent amount of movement. The only real downside is the left hand, which was hastily retooled from a web-shooting pose, resulting in a rather strange looking fist. In addition to the base body, Quicksilver features a head that is sort of new. The facial structure is the same as that of the “Battle Brigade” series Archangel, but the hair is completely new, giving us Pietro’s signature ‘do. The face is actually a lot better for Quicksilver than it was for Archangel, and the hair is very nicely handled, so it works very well. The figure’s paintwork is generally pretty well-done, though mine has taken its fair share of wear and tear. The lines are a bit fuzzy in some places, but overall the figure is pretty decent. The semi-metallic sheen on the dark grey parts is actually pretty cool, so there’s that. Quicksilver was packed with a stands shaped like a dust cloud and some sort of strange machine gun thing. Most intriguing about this is that he doesn’t actually have any armor, not even of the “Muntant” variety.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got Quicksilver at a local toyshow, which my dad took me to, probably about 15 years ago. I remember that I was never able to find either of the Quicksilver figures when they were at retail. My dad had the blue and white version, but my collection was sadly Quicksilver-less. So, when I found this guy, I was pretty excited. I didn’t have a choice in deco, but I actually like this one, so it worked out. This figure’s still a pretty strong figure, even after almost 20 years. I’m certainly glad I found one!

That’s the original review from 2015, and here’s what I had to say when I revisited it two years later:

Oh man, this review was part of my rather lengthy countdown to Age of Ultron’s release. I was very excited for that movie. It’s funny to see my line about him “going places” seeing as the MCU Quicksilver won’t be going much of anywhere. You didn’t see that coming?

My actual review for this guy is pretty solid, I think. It’s worth nothing that, despite this being the fourth figure I reviewed on this body, I do believe it’s the first time I actually reviewed it. I kept referencing the Fallen figure’s review, but I never actually discussed the body there at all. Pro tip, guys: re-read the reviews you reference.

During The Find, I dug up this guy’s little dust cloud base thingy. It was re-used from the X-Men 2099 line’s Mean Streak figure. Quicksilver’s feet slide into the two slots, and he looks like he’s running. I guess. There are also wheels on the bottom, so you can push him around like he’s a parade float or something. Nifty.

I still like this guy a lot. One of these days, I’ll need to track down the other costume.

My first addendum notes it was a pretty good review the first time around, and I’m inclined to agree, even a whole decade removed.  Good for me, having good and consistent reviewing habits.  About a year after the addendum, I finally did get that other costume, so good on me for that one.  When I first revisited the figure, I’d found his dust cloud running base, a repurposed piece from fellow speedster Meanstreak (who I have reviewed in the time between these addendums), but was still missing his goofy arm-mounted machine gun accessory.  I found it!  Yaaaay! I don’t know that it was ever used with any other figures, but it’s an odd piece for Pietro, and also doesn’t really seem to work all that well with this figure’s mold.  I mean, he can hold it, but it’s awkward.  Also, in the time since my last visit to this figure, I’ve done a little bit of restorative work to his paint, so he’s not longer got that weird balding look.

#3943: Cyclops & Jean Grey

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

CYCLOPS & JEAN GREY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

As a direct continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, the designs in X-Men ’97 at its launch stick pretty close to the designs from the original, which for most of the characters also means sticking to their Jim Lee-designed looks from X-Men #1.  Before the show launched, we heard that the main cast would be getting some costume changes, which led to a lot of deliberation about which set of post-Lee costumes they’d land on, until the show itself threw things into reverse, reverting most of the cast to their ‘70s and early ‘80s era attire (the explanation in-show being that those are the costumes they had on-hand at the auxiliary base they have to launch their final run on Magneto from).  For me, it’s the best of both worlds, because I love both sets of designs, and it also means that the more frequently overlooked ‘70s designs get an excuse for some toy focus.  Also, there’s a new Cyclops and Jean Grey, and how can I ever complain about that?

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Cyclops and Jean Grey are a Hasbro Pulse-exclusive Marvel Legends two-pack.  They’re under the X-Men ’97 banner, and were released at the same time as a Storm and Wolverine two-pack with their matching costumes (Jubilee in her alternate attire, which was *not* a ‘70s/‘80s look also hit right around the same time in the main line).

CYCLOPS

This figure makes up kind of the central need for this whole set in the first place.  Though this look served as Scott’s main appearance for just over a decade, it often gets the short end of the stick on toy coverage.  In the case of Legends, the last release was back in 2017, as part of an exceptionally hard to get Toys R Us-exclusive two-pack.  Suffice to say, that figure’s gotten pretty pricey on the aftermarket, and also doesn’t quite fit with newer releases.  This one’s aim is to address all that, and also to maybe fix some issues with prior figures?  I’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  As with most recent Cyclops figures, this one is built on the Vulcan body.  For this design in particular, it feels like a pretty natural choice for the character.  He gets a pair of new heads, new shins, and a new belt add-on piece.  The two heads follow the trend of recent Cyclops figures, with one calm, and one more intense.  As with prior instances, the more intense head has a slot in the visor for the attachment of an optic blast effects piece, which is always a fun touch.  When the X-Factor Cyclops was released, I was low-key kind of expecting those heads to get a straight re-use for this costume, despite the inaccuracies involved with such a choice.  I was very pleasantly surprised by the decision to go all-new for both sculpts, meaning that not only does he get the more distinctive visor shape of the Cockrum/Byrne days (complete with the etched in lines running at either side of the visor), he also gets the proper slants of the full mask under the visor; both prior Legends versions of this costume have gone with the later straight lines from the edges of the visor look, and while it’s a minor detail, I’m very glad it didn’t get overlooked here.  Likewise, his new boot pieces are a more accurate version of the boots Scott wore with this costume than the more generic buccaneer boots of earlier releases, making him even more accurate.  The only thing that isn’t quite as cool as Hasbro’s last version is the paint work, which, rather than replicating the shading of the comics for the blue sections, just goes for a flat blue.  They’re going for the animated look, which was a bit flatter, and I know the coloring on the last one was difficult to get consistent, so I understand it, and this one ultimately doesn’t look *bad*, but it’s the one area where he’s not *quite* as impressive.  Cyclops includes two pairs of hands (in fists, and an open/activating visor combo) and the large optic blast effect first used with X-Factor Cyclops.  It’s basic, but covers the important bases.

JEAN GREY

Jean’s return to her green miniskirt costume in the last pair of ’97 episodes is a return in more ways than one, since she’d also worn it during the original show’s adaptation of the “Dark Phoenix Saga.”  She’d also recently returned to it during the Krakoan-Era in the comics, which was how it got its last Legends figure.  That one wasn’t all that long ago, nor was it super hard to find, so this one was a *little* surprising, but given the two-pack angle, not incredibly so.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 29 points of articulation.  Going in, I was expecting a lot of re-has from the HoX release of this costume, but that’s really not the case.  The only piece actually shared between the two is the torso.  The arms and legs are newer, updated pieces that sport the pinless construction on the elbows and knees.  The feet are now proper closed boots with heels, instead of the re-purposed shoe-d feet from Peggy Carter, and the gloves are now cleaner slip-over pieces, rather than the wrinkled ones from the last one.  She’s also got two new heads, and a newly sculpted skirt piece, which is more dynamic than the last one, and therefore more practical for posing the legs.  In general, she’s a much easier figure to pose, and by extension more easy to balance.  Much less falling over with this one.  The two heads mimic Cyclops, with one calmer, and the other more intense.  They’re both clearly patterned on her animation model from the show, but can also work easily as a stand-in for her comics look.  Jean’s color work is a slightly different approach than the HoX version, which went for flatter shades.  This one goes a bit more off-kilter, making the yellows gold and the green a sort of duller shade.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but in hand it actually really works, and gives this design a more unique feel, while also calling forth her Phoenix design.  Jean is packed with two pairs of hands (in fists and open gesture), as well as two energy effects pieces in blue.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned many times how the late ‘70s X-Men is really what I consider my X-Men.  So, I’ve got this real attachment to that classic Cyclops look.  The Toy Biz version’s not worth mentioning, and much as I love the TRU Cyclops (because he’s a half-way decent Cyclops), he’s got some issues that hold him back.  When this look reappeared in ’97 I was very hopeful it would turn up in toy form again.  It took a while, but here it is.  I jumped on the pre-order for these as soon as possible, because I was not missing this Cyclops.  He’s sooooooooooo nice.  Very much the best version of this costume, and I love so much about him, but especially the actual accuracy to the costume’s intended design, which is always overlooked.  Jean I had very little actual expectations about.  I had the HoX release, and it was fine but not overly impressive.  I expected mostly re-hash here, and just saw her as a glorified accessory for the Cyclops figure.  While she doesn’t supplant Cyclops as the star for me, she’s a lot better than I expected, and an unquestionable improvement over the last release, and I’m very happy about that.

#3935: Morph

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

MORPH

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

The character of Morph was created for X-Men: The Animated Series by re-working an obscure X-Men foe “Changeling” essentially for the sole purpose of having a team member to kill off in the pilot, to show the seriousness of the situation.  Morph, however, proved to be a lot more popular than the show runners had expected, so the character’s death was reversed at the end of the first season, and they returned as an antagonist in the second, before eventually turning on Mr. Sinister (who had kept them alive, but brainwashed them), and returning to the team as a reserve member.  For the show’s continuation, X-Men ’97, Morph is once more a full-fledged member of the team, and that’s finally paid off in figure form, too!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Morph is part of the third X-Men ’97 tie-in assortment of Marvel Legends.  Due to delays with the show and a lack of knowledge of the exact demand for product, the third round had a pretty significant delay from the first and second, with over a year’s worth of space between them.  This is the animated Morph’s second time in Legends form, following up on their first release in the VHS line.  Obviously, that one was based on Morph’s original animated design, which was really just Changeling in a standard X-uniform.  Morph’s success in the show led to the character’s reintroduction during “Age of Apocalypse,” which saw a rather radical redesign.  For ’97, Morph is sporting a design that mixes the two notable looks together, with the presumption that this is Morph’s default state, and the more “human” look seen during the original run (which makes a brief re-appearance in the first episode of ’97) is an affected look used to fit in better.  The figure stands just under 6 1/4 inches tall and they have 32 points of articulation.  Morph is sporting an all-new sculpt.  The articulation scheme is a bit stiff and old-fashioned, apart from the pinless construction, but it does what it needs to.  They end up feeling a bit like the What If…? figures in terms of movement.  The actual sculpt is a good match for the animation model.  The last Morph sort of fit them into the more general Legends style, and was likewise a bit more bulked up than their in-show appearance.  This figure sticks much closer to Morph’s more svelte design, giving them a more unique feel, overall.  Morph’s color work is largely molded colors, which is always pretty clean.  There’s a bit of accenting on their face, to keep it from being *too* blank, which works pretty well.  Morph is packed with two sets of hands (in fists and open), an alternate original series styled head, and an alternate Gyrich head.  Alternate heads are a classic bit for Morph, and I do generally dig them (especially taking the opportunity to offer Gyrich, since he’s a rather noteworthy character who’s never gotten a figure), but unfortunately the molded color on the neck is a match for the standard head, meaning they’ll always have an off-white neck.  Since the neck’s a separate piece, it’s too bad they couldn’t include an alternate part to swap in.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Morph’s certainly a favorite of mine, especially in regards to the original series, and all of the figures included.  I’ve always had a soft spot for them, and I was thrilled to hear they were being promoted to full-fledged team member for the revival.  I was a bit bummed by no Morph figures at launch, but I’m glad they were amongst the first of the post-show product.  Definitely a fun little figure.

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.

#3922: Gambit & Rogue

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

GAMBIT & ROGUE

MARVEL’S FAMOUS COUPLES (TOY BIZ)

“Even though they’ve only kissed once, Gambit and Rogue are one of the X-Men’s greatest couples. Kept apart by Rogues mutant ability to absorb the memories and powers of whoever she touches, this couple still finds themselves inevitably drawn together. Whether they’re battling the Sentinels or walking side-by-side in the part, Gambit and Rogue know that there is nowhere they’d rather be than together.”

Hey, that’s not a bad bio…for the mainstream Gambit and Rogue…who these aren’t.  Confused?  Allow me to explain.  In 1996, Toy Biz dedicated a single series of their X-Men line to the “Age of Apocalypse” storyline.  It wasn’t really much coverage, but did its best to hit some of the heavy hitters.  It was originally a six figure line-up, but was cut down to five prior to release (something faced by the Iron Man and Fantastic Four lines at the same time, which led to US Agent and Adam Warlock getting cut), with the alternate universe version of Gambit winding up on the chopping block.  Not wanting to let a wholly new sculpt go to waste, Gambit was ultimately salvaged for use in a Famous Couples two-pack, alongside a similarly themed Rogue figure.  All well and good, apart from the two not *actually* being a proper couple in the alternate universe, and certainly not a “famous” one.  Ah, we’ll give them a pass on this one.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Gambit and Rogue are another of the three two-packs from the Toys “R” Us-exclusive Marvel’s Famous Couples line.  Each pair was released separately, with this pair hitting in 1997, during the run’s second year.  The set includes the two figures, their relevant accessories, and a metal pin depicting the two of them.  At least it’s got more direct purpose than the weird metal thing from the Cyclops and Jean set.

GAMBIT

Gambit is really the whole reason this set exists in the first place, as a means to release the unused AoA Gambit from the main X-Men line.  The AoA Gambit design is…well, it’s something.  Of all the designs, his feels the most like it delves into different for different, and it ultimately suffers from not being nearly as striking as the mainstream equivalent.  But, it’s certainly *different* so I’ll give it that.  The figure stands just over 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation. The left shoulder is spring-loaded, so he’s got sort of a flinging action.  It also robs him of his elbow movement.  The sculpt is decent enough.  Rather on the pre-posed side, but pretty much on par with the other AoA figures.  He does wind up rather contorted, especially when it comes to the neck, which looks pretty strange in most poses.  He’s also a little tricky to keep standing.  His cape is a separate piece, and it’s kind of floaty and never seems to quite sit right.  His color work does alright.  This design is a bit slapdash in its color choices, kind of like they just picked at random, but they replicate them well here.  The application’s generally okay, though the skin tone on his face is quite thick, obscuring the sculpted details quite a bit.  Gambit is packed with his staff piece, as well as an energy piece for him to throw, which is, for some reason, cast in opaque blue.

ROGUE

Rogue’s a pretty notable character in AoA, and honestly more noteworthy than Gambit, so the fact that she wasn’t even planned at all for the line-up does seem kind of odd.  There are, notably, no women in the AoA series from ’96, so it might have been a retailer thing.  At least she didn’t ultimately have to wait too long.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  Since Rogue didn’t have a pre-existing mold sitting around to use, Toy Biz had to sort of improvise a bit.  They opted to re-use the mold from the Generation X White Queen figure, which isn’t a bad sculpt, but also isn’t exceedingly much like Rogue’s design from the cross-over.  I guess the head’s not too far off, and they decided to just make the rest of it work as best they could?  Honestly, it does work out a bit better than I’d expected, so I’ll give them some credit on their inventiveness there.  There’s a cloth robe/vest piece, which replaces the jacket of the original mold, and largely serves to hide a little bit more of what’s going on, which it’s ultimately okay at.  Otherwise, it’s paint work doing the heavy lifting.  It’s very much takes Toy Biz’s patented “just completely ignore the sculpted elements” approach, which is what it is.  I do like the colors, though, especially with the metallic sheen the whole thing gets.  Rogue gets a stand, which is the Generation X stand, but in gold instead of red.  Since she’s a bit iffy on her feet, the stand is certainly nice.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back in the early days of collecting for me, it was less immediately clear what figures actually got released.  As such, it was a little while before I learned that there was never *actually* a single release for the AoA Gambit on the back of all the boxes.  I made do at the time with the light-up release, and didn’t know of this one’s release for a few more years.  I ended up getting this one at the same time as last week’s Cyclops and Jean.  It’s nice that they were able to get the Gambit figure out in some way, and also that they found a means to release a Rogue from the story, resulting in a pretty nice selection of the AoA cast in the longer run.

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

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0042: Eric the Red

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

ERIC THE RED

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s Friday, and that means we’re flashing back into another figure addendum!  I get to dive back into the world of Toy Biz Marvel, which is of course one of my very favorite things.  Specifically, I’m going back to my own personal earliest days, and revisiting the one and only ever action figure of X-Men antagonist Eric the Red!

Eric the Red was a famous Viking, known for being the father of—wait, sorry. That’s not the right Eric the Red. Right. Umm… Eric the Red was an alias used by X-Man Cyclops in order to infiltrate a group of villains so he could rescue the rest of the X-Men. What? Still not right? Hang on….

Here it is: Eric the Red was a member of the Shi’ar Empire, the alien race most notable for really hating the Phoenix. He actually stole the identity from Cyclops, for reasons unknown, and used Shi’ar tech to mind control Havok and Polaris into battling the current team of X-Men. Mostly, he’s known for his appearances in the 90s X-Men cartoon during the show’s version of The Phoenix Saga, which is what earned him this figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Eric the Red was released in the “Invasion Series” of ToyBiz’s X-Men line. In all honesty, I’m a bit surprised he wasn’t part of the wave meant to tie-in to The Phoenix Saga, but I guess ToyBiz was just making everything X-Men related at the time. The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation. That’s a bit less than the norm, mostly due to his lack of knee joints. I’m not really sure why he’s missing them, but they do cause him to be a little difficult to get to stand properly. From a sculpting standpoint, the figure’s amazing. The 90s X-Men line could be a bit odd or overly simplistic at times (doesn’t mean I don’t still love them), but this one is genuinely great. He pretty much looks dead on to Dave Cockrum’s interpretation of the character, which is really cool to see. There’s an amazing amount of sculpted detail, and I especially love how well the head’s been handled. It just looks perfect. The paint work isn’t quite as astounding as the sculpting, but it’s all well applied, and I do really like that all the red parts have been molded in metallic red. Eric included a crazy space blaster, which fit very nicely in his hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Eric was a Christmas gift from my parents. I received him, along with Havok, I believe. He was a very early addition to my action figure collection, and as such, I have a lot of nostalgia for this guy. It also helps that he was in The Phoenix Saga, which I owned on VHS, and that he is also just a pretty great figure. He also made for a really great bad guy for just about anyone to fight, which is always cool. 

This review came from roughly the middle of the first year, and was a very early review for Toy Biz X-Men.  He’s only the second mainline figure I looked at here on the site, which is honestly a pretty deep pull, but also feels very appropriate for me.  I think my review’s generally not bad.  It helps that he’s a figure I genuinely like a lot, and I think that comes through pretty well.  I do still have a few notes.  Firstly, my figure was missing his “crazy space blaster” as I dubbed in my review, which I have subsequently replaced.  It’s a pretty basic piece, and he does hold it well.  Something I glossed over in Eric’s review, but talked more about in my year-end wrap-up review for Havok, is that Eric and Havok are my first two X-Men figures, purchased for me by my father for Christmas the year they came out.  Allegedly, my mother raised some concern that I wouldn’t know the characters, but that was pretty well squashed when I opened them Christmas morning.  Eric doesn’t maintain quite the same significance for me that Havok does, but he’s still pretty up there, and I do still really love this figure.