Tag Archives: X-Men

#2470: Weapon X

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

WEAPON X

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Armed with adamantium claws and superhuman healing abilities, Weapon X joins the battle against Apocalypse.”

And we’re jumping back into the Age of Apocalypse fray.  We last left off with a figure that didn’t fill me with much enthusiasm, and we’re picking up with…another one of those.  Yeah, it’s a Wolverine episode, guys.  Oh, wait, I’m sorry…Age of Apocalypse…it’s a Weapon X episode, guys.  While others around him got new backgrounds and personalities, Logan more or less remained the same in AoA, apart from not being “Wolverine” and being down a hand.  Not that either of those ended up making much of a difference.  I guess it helps justify the toy, though.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Weapon X is figure 5 in the Sugar Man Series, which seems surprisingly late in the number scheme for a Wolverine, but, well, I guess he’s not a Wolverine, is he?  By the way, if you guys think that joke’s going away, you’re sadly mistaken.  That joke’s here to stay, unlike the Wolverine name…or Logan’s hand…or self-respect.  This marks the third time as Legends figure for AoA Logan, but given that the last one was during the Toy Biz days, an update feels like a good call.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Like most Logans these days, he’s built on the body from the Juggernaut Series Wolverine, with the cleaned up shins from Weapon X and a new head and forearms.  Essentially, it’s just a pretty straight update on the old figure in terms of part re-use, since that one was also built on its era’s brown costume body.  The new head’s definitely the star attraction here.  Logan’s hair got crazier and crazier as we got further into the ’90s, and in AoA it was at almost peak craziness.  That’s translated here, as this guy’s got one hell of a mane on him.  It puts all other Wolverine hair to shame, really.  How much hair gel do you think he has to use to get that all to stay in place?  I bet it’s a lot.  Like, obscene amounts.  And in a post-apocalyptic setting no less.  The intensity of the hair is matched only by the intensity of his facial expression.  This guy’s definitely feeling a need to show all of those teeth he’s got, in just the most intense way possible.  On the new forearms front, the right one’s not too different from previous releases, but the left of course gives us Logan’s stump, albeit with his claws extended from it.  The paint work on this guy is generally pretty decent.  The basics are all pretty sharp and clean, and they’ve done a respectable job handling the stubble and his arm hair.  He’s also got his signature forehead tattoos, which beg the question of how exactly does Logan manage to get tattoos?  Seems like too much thought for a ’90s comic, I suppose.  Weapon X is packed with a spare stump without the claws extended, thereby allowing for his appearance from earlier in the story, as well as one of Sugar Man’s legs.  It’s too bad we couldn’t also get an alternate burned head to fully replicate all of the looks from the two Toy Biz offerings.  That would have helped to up this figure’s appeal a little bit.

THE ME HALF OF EQUATION

I owned the Toy Biz Weapon X.  I sold the Toy Biz Weapon X (well, okay, not the burned head variant).  I didn’t really miss the Toy Biz Weapon X.  I can’t say I really felt the need for a new and improved version either.  But, I was getting the rest of the set, and I’m kind of doing this completist thing with the line, so I guess I wasn’t missing him, was I?  He’s fine.  Better than I expected, honestly.  It’s just that the AoA version of Logan isn’t really as exciting as other characters.  But, it’s not like we were going to ever get this assortment without him, so I guess it could be worse.

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

#2467: Wild Child

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

WILD CHILD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Enhanced regeneration and superhuman senses make Wild Child an excellent tracker.”

First appearing in Alpha Flight #11, Kyle Gibney, aka Wild Child, was a fairly minor character in terms of the larger Marvel Universe when he was re-envisioned for the Age of Apocalypse crossover.  In the crossover, Kyle was made into a feral creature, kept in check by the universe’s more heroic Victor Creed.  His non-verbal set-up meant he didn’t really get much added depth from the story, but at least it granted him a fair bit more visibility, by virtue of spending most of the story line chained to one of the story’s most memorable characters.  Of course, now we’ve got Wild Child and no Sabertooth to go with him…Ah well, might as well review him.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wild Child is figure 4 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, and marks the first time that Wild Child has gotten a proper figure.  Previously, he was included as an un-articulated figurine with Toy Biz’s 5-inch AoA Sabertooth, but that’s it.  So, good for Kyle, I suppose.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  He’s built on the Pizza Spidey body, which is certainly scrawny enough for Wild Child, but seems like it’s a bit too tall for Kyle, who I feel should be a fair bit smaller, at least going by the AoA illustrations I recall.  Additionally, the joints are a little bit limiting for getting Wild Child into his proper crouched over poses.  I know that this body was designed for Spider-Man, and he’s prime for getting into all sorts of crazy poses, but it for some reason feels stiffer for Wild Child than it was for Spidey.  He gets a new head and shoulder overlay, as well as making use of the Superior Venom hands and feet.  The new parts are decent enough.  The head is certainly dynamic, and does its best to capture how Wild Child was depicted in the comics.  It’s not a terribly attractive head, but I guess that’s pretty much on par for the character.  The color work on Wild Child is okay, but not quite perfect, largely due to the mismatch between the plastic on his torso and his limbs.  It should all be one jumpsuit, but he kind of ends up looking like he’s wearing two separate bits.  Beyond that, the paint application’s all pretty clean, for what there is of it.  He’s ultimately pretty sparse on details, which is in keeping with the character’s design.  In a first for this assortment, Wild Child actually does get an accessory!  It’s the chain that keeps him on a leash.  It connects to the back of his collar, and pretty clearly is meant to go around *someone’s* arm at the other end.  Gee, I wonder who that could be.  Wild Child also gets another piece to Sugar Man, this time being his…back?  Yeah, let’s got with that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite the very first Wild Child (and the AoA Sabertooth that was really more the star attraction) from Toy Biz being my very first introduction to anything AoA, I can’t say that I’ve ever had much of an attachment to the character in the slightest.  AoA Sabrertooth I’ve grown to like, but Wild Child?  Meh.  So, getting him but no corresponding Sabertooth doesn’t exactly thrill me.  I mean, I have no doubt in my mind that Sabertooth is coming, but until then, Wild Child feels a bit…incomplete?  He’s not a bad figure, but he’s not a particularly great figure either.  He’s just sort of here.

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

#2466: Sunfire

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

SUNFIRE

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Scorching ionized plasma allows Sunfire to fly, protect himself, and blast his enemies.”

The Pete Best of the All-New, All-Different X-Men, Sunfire struggles to really find his footing in the X-Men ‘verse, but wound up getting some pretty decent coverage, courtesy of Age of Apocalypse, wherein he turned from “stereotyped Japanese guy with fire powers” to “Human Torch if the powers didn’t turn off” or even “Chamber, but with his whole body, rather than just his upper torso.”  Or, I guess, if you want to jump companies, possibly Wildfire without the suit.  Okay, so maybe AoA didn’t make Sunfire super unique in terms of power or story, but he’s definitely a strong contender for getting the best redesign out of it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Sunfire is figure 3 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends.  Believe it or not, this isn’t AoA Sunfire’s first time getting the Legends treatment.  He was actually the winner of the 2007 Fan Poll, netting him the third AoA-based Legend ever.  The line’s made some strides since then, however, so a new release probably wasn’t the worst idea.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  Sunfire is built on the 2099 body, a sensible choice for two reasons.  One, it’t the same body that the classic Sunfire used, and two it’s the same body that Bullseye used, and given that the first AoA Sunfire was on the Bullseye body, I’d say that means they’re right on the mark size-wise.  He swaps out the forearms and hands for Human Torch’s flame-covered ones, and gets a new head and overlay piece for his shoulders.  I like how the flame effects were done here just a touch better than how they were for Human Torch; there’s something that really works about that very artistic curling to the flames.  It’s very dynamic.  Sunfire’s color work is pretty key to getting his look down, and fortunately the figure does pretty well on that front.  The translucent effect on the plastic is really cool, and I dig the slow shift from yellow to orange.  The paint application’s a bit better on this figure than the last two I looked at from this set, so things are sharper and cleaner.  That’s good, because it really helps with conveying this particular design.  Sunfire, like the last two figures I’ve looked at from this set, doesn’t have any extras of his own, but he does get the second set of arms for the Sugar Man Build-A-Figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wasn’t really sold on Sunfire being part of this assortment, largely due to the prior Legends release.  Of course, I never actually got that release, so I’m not sure why I was so opposed.  Maybe I just don’t like Sunfire?  Could be, I guess.  The figure’s pretty solid, though, and I can definitely get behind his inclusion after getting him in hand.  He’s a solid update, and a solid design.  Not bad at all.

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

#2465: X-Man

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

X-MAN

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Nate Grey travels between dimensions armed with astonishing psychic powers.”

Though initially self-contained, there were a few parts of Age of Apocalypse that stuck around after the event had wrapped.  On the more prominent side of things was X-Man, the story’s reimagining of Cable.  While Nathan Summers was the son of Scott Summers and Jean Grey’s clone Madelyn Pryor who was sent to the future and then sent back into the past, Nate Grey was an artificiality conceived child, created by Mister Sinister, using the biological material of Cyclops and Jean Grey, and concocted as an ultimate weapon to be used against Apocalypse.  He also kinda looks like a member of a boy band, because, hey, it was the mid-90s.  After the destruction of the AoA universe, Nate was one of four characters who managed to make it into the main 616 universe, and had his own ongoing series for a bit, until he faded out of fashion when Marvel realized that it was already hard enough to justify keeping one overly-90s-sterotype son of Scott and Jean around, and they might as well keep the one they’d invested more time in.  He’s not been nearly as privy to toys as his mainstream counterpart, but fortunately he was on the shortlist for AoA Legends, meaning I get to talk about him today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

X-Man is figure 2 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, which, as noted yesterday, is all AoA-themed.  This marks X-Man’s first time as a Legend and second figure overall, with his first coming in during Toy Biz’s rather ironically named “Most Wanted” line from back in the day.  Nate wound up with quite a few different looks, mostly centering around the same basic concept, but this figure plays it safe and just goes with his main appearance from the event.  The figure stands 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  X-Man is built on the Bucky Cap body, a sensible choice given how he was usually depicted in terms of build.  Like most Bucky Cap builds these days, very little of the final figure *actually* comes from the Bucky Cap body.  Only his legs are shared, and even then, his knees are new parts, so that he can get those funky knee pads.  This guy’s effectively an all-new figure, when you get down to it, and I’d say Hasbro’s aiming to slowly ween us off this mold.  Much like yesterday’s Jean Grey, I think there’s a lot of really solid detailing going on, especially on the figure’s jacket.  Following in the steps of the ‘90s Cable from 2018, the head sculpt here has a permanently attached energy effect on his left eye, showcasing his telekinetic powers in action.  It’s a really cool, very dynamic look.  I do sort of wish there were an extra head without the effect included, but this is one of those instances where I don’t mind this being the only option too terribly much.  On the paint front, I was a little disappointed to discover just how messy the application was on my particular figure.  There’s a lot of bleed over from the yellow into the blue, and my figure exhibits two spots, one on his right bicep, and one on his right calf, where there’s just stray yellow paint.  I haven’t seen anything like this from Hasbro in a bit, so hopefully its confined to my figure.  X-Man doesn’t get any accessories for himself (something that will prove to be a common trend in this assortment), but he does get one set of Sugar Man’s arms.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve always had something of a soft spot for X-Man.  I had his Toy Biz figure back in the day, and followed his solo series well after everyone else stopped thinking he was cool.  I’ve been low key hoping for him to get Legends treatment for a while now, and I was definitely happy to see him crop up here.  Issues with paint aside, I’m very happy with this figure, and he ranks pretty highly within his assortment for me.

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

#2464: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Jean Grey can read and project thoughts and stun opponents with pure psionic force.”

25 years ago, the X-Men went to hell…no, wait, sorry, 31 years ago the X-Men went to Hell.  25 years ago, their entire line was overwritten by an alternate reality, the Age of Apocalypse, where Charles Xavier died before founding the X-Men, leading to Apocalypse conquering the Earth, and generally making it…post…apocalyptic….yeah.  While not high art, the story was certainly a big splash from a marketing stand point, and made a lasting impression on a good number of X-fans.  Every so often, toy companies throw it a little bit of love, and in honor of the its quarter-century marker, Hasbro’s dedicated a whole assortment of Marvel Legends to it.  I’m kicking things off with a look at Jean Grey!  While many characters were left in strange new predicaments in the AoA timeline, Jean wound up being more or less the same, though she did have a lot less hair and 100% more face tattoos.  Yay for face tattos!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean Grey is figure 1 in the Sugar Man Series of Marvel Legends, which is our first X-Men assortment of the year, as well as being totally AoA-themed.  This is our first official AoA Jean Grey Legend, but we were supposed to get one as a variant of the Jim Lee-style Jean in the Rocket Raccoon Series of Return of Marvel Legends.  That figure was ultimately scrapped, and would have been based on one of her post-event redesigns, however.  This one goes for her look from the main series, which is probably for the best.  The figure stands 6 inches tall and she has 27 points of articulation.  Jean’s actually made largely from new parts, at least for her upper half, anyway; the legs originally showed up on the Legendary Riders Black Widow.  Everything else, however is new to Jean.  What impresses me the most on the new parts is the range of motion, especially on those arms.  I was expecting her to be a lot more restricted.  The actual quality of the sculpting is pretty solid, too.  The wrinkles and folds on her sleeves are quite impressive.  Her hair might actually be a touch too short, but it varied between artists, and it certainly doesn’t look too terribly off.  It could definitely be much worse.  The paint work on Jean is pretty standard overall.  The base application is mostly pretty clean, but some of the red’s coverage is a little uneven.  She’s got some slight highlights in her hair, which work pretty well to convey the depth and detail in the sculpt.  Jean doesn’t get any accessories for herself, but she does get the largest piece of Sugar Man, his face and torso, which is so large that Jean effectively had to be posed Vana White-ing it in the box so that they could both fit in.  That was pretty amusing, truth be told.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Jean’s AoA incarnation isn’t one of the more exciting pieces of the story, but it’s got a distinctive look, and is prominent enough that she really was a lock for this set.  She wasn’t at the top of my list for this series, but she wasn’t at the bottom either.  In-hand, I like her a fair bit more than I’d expected to.  She’s still not my favorite piece, but I think she’s solid middle-tier, and that’s not bad at all.

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

#2462: Civilian Logan & Juggernaut

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

CIVILIAN LOGAN & JUGGERNAUT

MARVEL MINIMATES

The first year of Marvel Minimates had assortments that were all themed, but when they entered their second year, most of the assortments got a little more mixed.  For Series 5, we really saw that kick in, with each two-pack representing a different facet of the Marvel Universe.  We got our first taste of the Avengers with the previously reviewed Captain America & Absorbing Man, as well as a return to the X-Men with today’s focus, Civilian Logan and Juggernaut.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Logan and Juggernaut were released in Series 5 of Marvel Minimates.  Both would also be included in a TRU 4-pack, alongside Battle-Damaged Daredevil and Masked Spider-Man, and Logan also hit Walmarts and Targets in a two-pack with Masked Spider-Man again.  A slightly tweaked version of Juggernaut was also included in the very easily found Darktide boxed set, meaning these two are definitely numerous.

CIVILIAN LOGAN

We got a civilian version of Wolverine in Series 3, but I guess we needed one more, because, you know, Wolverine.  This time, he doesn’t have the jacket, though, so I guess there’s that.  The figure uses the older basic body (with the long feet), so he’s 2 1/4 inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He gets a new hair piece, which is a little wilder than the previous ones (it would be re-used a few times), and also re-uses the clawed hands from the prior three Wolverines.  It’s a fairly basic set-up, but it works well enough.  I myself am not the biggest fan of the larger Wolverine hair, however there’s certainly precedent.  The paint work is pretty strong on this guy.  He gets a far more detailed facial expression, which is really angry, and the torso block gets quite a bit of detailing, making it stand out a fair bit from these earlier ‘mates it was released alongside.  It’s a little weird that his feet are the same grey as the rest of the leg, but it doesn’t look terrible or anything.

JUGGERNAUT

Nothing stops the Juggernaut…is a surprising phrase to attach to this particular iteration of the character, because, quite frankly, he looks like he could be stopped by a stiff breeze.  The larger characters were still a ways away from getting any bulked up parts, so Juggernaut just gets his helmet and bracers.  It’s definitely a different look, and makes him look a lot punier than he should.  At least he has the slightly larger hands to give him something more.  That’s better than either Hulk or Venom got.  Juggernaut’s paint work isn’t quite as impressive as Logan’s, but there’s still quite a bit of detailing going on, especially on that face.  Speaking of his face, since Cain’s visage is pretty much entirely covered by his helmet, Juggernaut was the very first ‘mate to get an alternate hair piece to allow for a sans helmet display.  It’s not really the best piece ever, but it’s certainly better than nothing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had this set when it was new, but I can’t say it was ever really a favorite of mine or anything.  I mean, it was serviceable, but it was the first of the kind of unnecessary Wolverine variants that would come to plague the line, and Juggernaut feels somewhat underwhelming.  I ended up losing most of the parts to my originals, and got a replacement pair when All Time got their big Minimates collection in last year.  I still don’t really have much connection to them, but I can admit that they were both better than I recalled.

#2448: Bonebreaker

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

BONEBREAKER

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“The villainous cyborg known only as Bonebreaker desires nothing more than the chance to wreak havoc. Employing his robotic abilities first as a mercenary and then as a member of the nefarious Reavers, Bonebreaker leaves a trail of destruction wherever his travels lead him!”

Man, we are just jumping into the deep end with the obscure ’90s X-Men characters, aren’t we?  I mean, it’s kinda hard to top Senyaka and his lack of any staying power in the slightest, so that does give today’s entry a slight leg up…okay, so not “leg up”…because, you know, the lack of legs and all.  Tank up?  Tread up?  Ah, this is definitely way too much thought to put into a Bonebreaker intro.  Look, he’s half-man, half-tank.  It’s pretty cut and dry stuff, really.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Bonebreaker was released in Series 7 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  It was the final series to be released solely on the more character-specific short cards, which actually proved a little tricky for the breaker of bones here, since they had to manage fitting his lower half into the package with him.  You have to wonder if that may have slightly influenced the decision to go to the larger cards.  By and large, Series 7’s line-up is one of the softer selection of characters in this line, with only two real “heavy hitters” in the line-up, one of them being quite possibly the most boring Wolverine the line ever produced.  Of the remaining five figures, Bonebreaker may possibly be amongst the best known (although I myself tend to favor Ch’od and Raza on that front; it really comes down to which era of the comics you’re most familiar with).  Why am I talking so much about all of this not Bonebreaker stuff?  I don’t know.  I’m honestly not sure I can bear to talk only about Bonebreaker for quite this long.  But, I suppose I’ve stalled for long enough.  The figure stands 3 inches tall and has 7 points of articulation, as well as rolling wheels (though not proper moving treads, unfortunately).  There aren’t exactly a lot of potential posing options with this guy, but it’s not exactly for lack of trying; there’s really only so much you can do with the design.  The sculpt is decent enough for the time, with a pretty on-brand sculpt for the human portions.  His lower tank half is actually pretty impressive, with fairly sharp and solid technical detailing throughout.  It rivals Ch’od for the best sculpting work in this assortment.  The paint work on Bonebreaker is fairly drab and basic, which I guess is more or less a clean translation of the source material.  The tank’s sculpt kind of suffers here, because the nice detail work ends up getting a bit lost in all that un-painted turquoise plastic.  It’s perhaps not the best choice of coloring.  Bonebreaker was originally packed with two guns, one hand-held, and the other for mounting to the tank.  I have neither.  For shame.

EDIT 12/25/20 – I now have both of the two guns.  Less shame!  Also, I found one of his included missiles that I didn’t even list before.  For shame again!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Bonebreaker’s a figure I remember seeing…a lot.  This whole assortment (barring Rogue) was everywhere for a long time, but Bonebreaker is the one I recall seeing the most.  I didn’t get one, I guess because the design didn’t really speak to me, and because his appearance in X-Men: The Animated Series wasn’t one of my favorites.  But, I’m getting pretty serious about the Toy Biz X-Men collection, so I ended up picking up Bonebreaker here loose while on vacation last summer.  He’s honestly a bit better than I’d expected, and I’d like to see how he might turn out in Legends form.

#2441: Senyaka

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

SENYAKA

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“A member of the humanity-hating Acolytes, Senyaka is perhaps the most ruthless soldier in Magneto’s war against mankind! Often leading the other Acolytes into battle, Senyaka uses his psionic whips to course pain into his ensnared foes! Even more deadly, however, is his power to energize his own energies by sapping his victim’s very life forces. Though struck down in battle by Magneto himself, Senyaka has returned to plague humans once again, with each attack more lethal than the last!”

Remember in my last two Toy Biz X-Men reviews, where I was discussing characters who were pretty much only relevant during the ’90s?  Yeah, so today’s focus wasn’t even particularly relevant *then.*  That bio up there? Probably the most that’s ever been said about Senyaka.  I think I actually learned stuff from that bio, which I guess is the point, isn’t it?  Well, Senyaka got an action figure, so I guess I should maybe review it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Senyaka was released twice during the Toy Biz X-Men run.  Initially, he was offered up as a TRU-exclusive alongside Series 7 in 1994, and then was added to a proper assortment in 1995 as part of the Mutant Genesis Series.  He’s the same figure either way, and mostly it just served to make him *incredibly* easy to find.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  He’s got no movement at his neck or right elbow, due to how the figure is designed, making him a bit on the stiff side.  Apparently, Senyaka’s had multiple costumes?  Who knew?  Well, he’s sporting his Alcolytes costume, which seems reasonable enough.  The sculpt is pretty typical for the line.  He’s stiff, he’s buff, and he’s got pouches and shoulder pads.  There’s not a ton of detailing going on, but it looks like all of the important stuff is there.  Senyaka’s paint work is pretty standard.  The base color work is all pretty clean, and the colors seem to more or less match what Senyaka was usually sporting.  Senyaka had a slightly different accessory selection depending on release.  Both included his whip, but the Mutant Genesis release also added a nunchuck-looking thing.  Mine has neither, so I guess doesn’t really matter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Senyaka’s another one of those “if I’m getting the rest of the line, I might as well” figures.  I’ve got no attachment to the character, but then who really does?  I got mine loose, hence the lack of accessories.  Perhaps someday I’ll find them.  Ultimately, there’s nothing really impressive about this guy, but he’s certainly not the worst thing the line offered, and fills in a line-up of villains alright.

#2434: Random

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

RANDOM

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“If the price is right, there’s almost nothing that Random won’t do! And with forearms that transform into powerful blasters, there’s almost nothing he can’t do!”

Perhaps the most enthralling thing about Toy Biz’s ’90s X-Men line was how many “product of their time” characters made their way into the line, just by virtue of their brief moment to shine being during the line’s hey-day.  Though not quite as exaggerated a case as some of the characters, Random is still a character who really hasn’t found his footing since the decade that created him, which is probably why his only figure to date comes from that same period.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Random was released in Series 6 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line.  He was hardly the most obscure character in the line-up, and marked the second figure in the X-Factor subset started by Strong Guy.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He lacks any elbow or knee movement, which is a little bit of a bummer.  The left elbow makes some sense, but the knees in particular really just don’t add-up.  Maybe the extra plastic that went into making this guy a little larger meant they couldn’t cost out those extra joints?  The sculpt was unique to Random, and its a pretty respectable translation of his comics design.  He’s maybe a little bit squashed, but that’s about it.  There’s a lot of pretty nifty details, including sculpted stubble on his face.  That’s pretty easily missed, so the fact that they included it is pretty darn impressive.  Random’s paint work is mostly pretty basic, but the coolest bit by far is the inclusion of the tattoos on his arms.  Those are a lot of fun, and take what could have been a somewhat drab looking character and make him really pop.  Random included three missiles, which work with the spring-loaded launcher on his left arm.  The two spares can actually be stored to either side of the launcher, which is a nice little touch, allowing you to actually hang onto them when not firing them.  The launcher itself isn’t terribly impressive, since there’s not lock or release; you just put it in and it launches right back out.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

In my quest to fill in the holes in my Toy Biz X-Men collection, I actually picked this guy up a couple of years ago from a small place called Shazam Comics.  He was, I believe, the only action figure in the store, and the owner didn’t even realize he had him.  I don’t have much connection to the character, but he does make for a rather nifty figure, and the little touches in the sculpt and paint really make him work.

#2427: Trevor Fitzroy

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

TREVOR FITZROY

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

“An evil criminal from the future, Trevor Fitzroy used his power to create portals through time to elude the authorities of his native era by escaping into the past. Now trapped in our century, he uses his mutant abilities and futuristic battlesuit to fulfill his every lethal wish – and to attempt the destruction of his arch-enemy Bishop!”

You didn’t think I was just going to walk away from 5-inch X-Men, did you?  Okay, actually, that would be pretty sensible.  I reviewed 19 of them all in one day, just over a week ago, and that’s like a 30% increase in the number of them reviewed for the site as a whole in the 6 1/2 years I’ve been running it.  I think I technically met my yearly quota already.  Well, in actuality, all the Day of the Wolverines really did was reignite my desire to review these guys, although perhaps not in quite as crazy a fashion.  So, I’m picking up where I left off and diving into the world of ’90s X-Men with a character that exists purely within that world and pretty much nowhere else, Trevor Fitzroy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Trevor Fitzroy was released in Series 6 of Toy Biz’s X-Men line, and was quite renowned for being a notorious peg warmer for the assortment.  Even at peak ’90s, nobody really wanted this guy.  Poor Trevor.  Despite general lack of interest in the character, there were two variants of Fiztroy produced, one as part of an FAO Schwarz-exclusive four pack (which traded out his blue for purple), and the other in a KB Toys-exclusive two-pack with the previously-reviewed Maverick, which is actually featured in the picture at the bottom of this review.  Whichever version of Fitzroy you get, the figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 9 points of articulation.  His sculpt was unique to him, and it’s honestly not a bad one.  He definitely reflects the trend of these figures bulking up as the line progressed, but this one looked okay.  He’s exaggerated, but not too insanely so.  The head’s got a decent bit of character to it, as well, and they were finally starting to really get a grip on translating some of those radical ’90s hair styles into plastic by this point.  His paintwork is decent enough; nothing amazing or anything to write home about, but it gets the basics down.  The standard release had a yellow stripe down the middle, while the two-pack version swaps it out for gold.  In general, the two pack version isn’t quite as nicely painted, I found.  Fitzroy is packed with some clip-op armor which, if I’m being totally honest here, was more than a little disappointing.  It pretty much won’t say on the figure at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a Fitzroy growing up, but boy do I recall seeing Fitzroy…everywhere.  He was just all over the place.  That’s probably why I never bothered to get one, honestly.  Well, that, and his two episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series not being terribly impressive.  After getting Maverick all by his lonesome a few years ago, I tracked down the standard Fitzroy loose, and then discovered that the two-pack one was different, at which point I lost my drive for completion because it meant buying another Fitzroy.  However, when All Time got in their mega Wolverine collection, this pack was in there (because of the small diecast Wolverine included), and it was honestly easier than going through the trouble of getting Fitzroy by himself.  Fitzroy is perhaps not the most thrilling figure, but he’s better than I expected him to be, so I can’t really knock him all that much.