Tag Archives: X-Men

#0127: Jean Grey

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

JEAN GREY

X-MEN MOVIE SERIES (TOYBIZ)

 

In the 90s, the 5 inch scaled ruled to toy aisle, due in no small part to ToyBiz’s gargantuan line of Marvel toys, specifically those based on the 90s mega-giant X-Men.  It looked like that was where we’d be staying for a while.  But then, the X-Men movie was released in 2000, and they were released in… 6 inch scale?  It wasn’t the first time we’d seen such a scale, but it certainly wasn’t prevalent.  Coupled with ToyBiz’s continued release of other 5 inch product, it looked like this might just be a blip on the radar.

If you’ve followed the action figure industry in recent years, you would know that the 6 inch scale was far from a blip on the radar.  It went on to become the ruling scale on the market for over ten years, which was impressive.  And a lot of its owed to the X-Men Movie line making a bold jump.  Today’s review is a two-fer, looking at both versions of Jean Grey from the line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jean was released as part of the first series of the X-Men Movie Series.  She stands about 6 inches tall and has 10 points of articulation.  I feel it necessary to point out that only about 6 of those points are really useful, and even then it’s iffy, thanks to the odd cut joints and strange pose of the figure.   Anyway, the sculpt is a bit of a mixed bag.  Sculpturally, the only difference between the two figures is the hair style.  The original release had it down, the second had it up in a ponytail.   They both look fine, though the ponytail look is more accurate to the character’s appearance in the movie.  The facial sculpt is actually a pretty decent approximation of Famke Janssen.  The body’s where things start to fall apart.  It has some really nice details on the suit, with some great work on the zippers and folds and such, but the proportions of the underlying body are just weird.  The arms are too long, the waist is too thin, and her legs are in this odd sideways crouch sort of thing.  All in all, just very strange.  The paint on these two is pretty good for the time.  I think I like the work on the first release a bit more, as it looks a bit cleaner.  There is one notable change between the two on the paint front.  The second release has a black t-shirt painted on under the uniform.  Apparently, this was the main reason for the second release, as there were some complaints from a few concerned parents about the pulled down zippers and total lack of any kind of covering on the two female characters in uniform.  Honestly, it’s a perfectly reasonable point to make, and it’s actually a bit odd that they had their uniforms zipped so far down, given that Jean has hers zipped up just like her male compatriots in the film proper.  Both Jeans included an incredibly creepy mutated Senator Kelly as there only accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The first version of Jean was my second figure from the movie line.  She, along with Professor X were purchased for me by my Nana as an end of school gift.  Yeah, I had the option to get anyone in the line, and I bought a girl and a guy in a wheelchair.  I was a strange kid.  Anyway, I held onto that one for a while, and remember the controversy and subsequent rerelease of Jean, now with t-shirt and appropriate hair style.  I was happy with my first release version, and thanks to the reissue thing, it was actually quite rare.

Then, I came home one day to find that my dog had gotten into my room and pretty much destroyed my Jean figure.  The first release was fairly difficult to find at that point, so I had to settle for the reissue.  Fortunately, a few months ago, my comic book store got in a large selection of older figures loose, and the first release Jean was amongst them, allowing me to once again have the figure!

#0126: Angel – Savage Land

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

ANGEL – SAVAGE LAND

MARVEL 10-INCH (TOYBIZ)

Okay, so I’m currently attempting to stay on top of work and school, while at the same time doing my best not to miss posting any updates.  As such, the next few reviews may be a bit more on the brief side.  Hope nobody is offended.  If you are…ummm…I’m sorry?

Today, I’ll be doing my second review from ToyBiz’s line of 10-inch scaled marvel figures.  For those of you who missed my previous review, quick little backstory: in the 90s, ToyBiz had a rather expansive line of 5 inch scaled Marvel stuff.  They decided to double their profits by up-scaling a bunch of the molds and releasing them as 10-inch scale.  Towards the end of this line, they actually started mixing up some of the pieces to get some new concoctions and character designs.  I’ll be looking at one of the later additions: Savage Land Angel.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Angel was released towards the end of the line, after it had become an exclusive to KB Toys.  He stands 10 inches tall, and features 13 points of articulation.  The figure, coming from the end of the line is completely built from previously used parts.  The head comes from the second Archangel figure, released in the Invasion series of  ToyBiz’s X-Men line.  The body is reused from The Vulture, who was released as part of the 90s Spider-Man line.  The head is sensible, given that it’s the same character, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of this sculpt, with its odd expression and wide eyes.  My issues are only amplified with the larger scale and normal flesh tone coloring.  The body is an interesting choice, I suppose, but given that is was the overly armored 90s Vulture, it means that Angel is left wearing this odd armor.  The paint is a bit of a mixed bag.  The head actually has some pretty decent work, and the shading on the armor is nice, but the costume under the armor looks a bit strange.  They seem to have tried to replicate the look of the previous Savage Land Angel, with his classic costume torn up.  However, while that figure had  bare feet, that wasn’t an option, as those pieces weren’t tooled for the large scale, which means that he’s got these weird painted on boots. Which look very strange with the shorts look, like he’s perpetually that nerdy guy who wears shorts with dress shoes and socks.  It’s weird.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoyed the 10 inch line, and how I practically got a new one every time I went into a KB Toys.  Not this guy.  This guy, I passed up more times than I can remember, mostly based on how damned creepy he looks.  I’ve mentioned before about the trip I took to that huge KB Toys outlet center, which had a 5-10 year back log of toys.  This guy was amongst them, and I finally decided to get him to round out my X-Men.  I still think he’s a bit odd, but, he’s not the worst thing ever.

#0124: Gambit

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

GAMBIT

MARVEL LEGENDS (TOYBIZ)

So, Happy President’s Day, I guess.  Um, I don’t really have that much in the way of presidential action figures, so I’m just gonna go ahead as if it’s any other day.  But I thought I’d point it out anyway.  Just to mess with you.

Looking back at my past reviews, I’m actually a bit shocked by how few reviews I’ve done of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends.  For a while back there they were, like, the only line I really collected, and I’ve done quite a few reviews of DC Direct figures, which I collected about the same time, so it seems odd I haven’t really looked at any of them.  I think part of this might be that I have some bad memories of trying to track certain figures down, and part of it might be that the figures just haven’t aged all that well.  Or, I’m going by a totally randomized list, and not as many of them have popped up.  Who knows? (Well, me but that kinda ruins my intro).

So, in an effort to attempt to correct some slight oversight, I’ll be reviewing the Marvel Legends version of the X-Men’s own resident scum bag, Gambit!  Gambit isn’t as big a deal as he once was, but he was pretty big in the 90s, and even into the early 2000s, hence his place in the line.  So, let’s take a look at the figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Gambit was released as part of the 4th wave of ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends line.  He stands about 6 inches tall, and he has 40 points of articulation.  The figure depicts Gambit in him classic pink/blue/black leotard and brown trench coat look that everyone thought was oh so rad in the 90s.  It’s a truly hideous design, but I can’t help but be so damned nostalgic about it, because being born in the 90s ruined me as a person.  The sculpt was pretty good at the time, but now feels like one of the more outdated sculpts in the line, with huge hands, some pretty serious monkey arms, and an overall emaciated look to him.  I think the head still holds up, with that perfect floppy Gambit hair, and the totally in character smirk.  The coat isn’t the best tailored thing ever, but it isn’t too bad, and it does somewhat mask the odd proportions of the figure.  The figure’s paint is pretty good, though it can be sloppy in some places, particularly the face, which I’ve seen have some variance from figure to figure.  I do appreciate that this is one of the only Gambit figures to give him the appropriate black sleeves with those weird pink squares, instead of just leaving them pink.  The figure had a really nice assortment of accessories that I wish I still had, including: his staff, an energy explosion with a set of cards to simulate his powers, and a base sculpted to look like a fallen Sentinel hand.  These pieces were all pretty cool, and I think I still have the stand in a box with some others, but the other two pieces are long gone.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Believe it or not, Gambit was one of my favorite ToyBiz Legends.  I’m not really sure why, as I’m not that big a fan of the character, and the figure isn’t that amazing, but I really liked him.  I suppose coming early  in the line, he got a lot more play time than some of the later figures, and he was one of the figures in the line who you didn’t have to devote all your free time to tracking down.

He hasn’t aged amazingly well, but he’s still held up better than some of the figures, which does give a leg up.  And given Gambit’s rather quick decline in popularity, the character has yet to see any kind of rerelease in the more recent incarnations of the line, which I suppose makes this guy a bit more valuable.

#0069: Storm

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

STORM

MARVEL SELECT

Yesterday, I looked at Wolverine from the Marvel Select line.  Today, I’ll be looking at one of his teammates, Storm.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Storm was released in the last year of the line.  As with everyone else in the line, she’s not part of a specific series. Instead, she was released solo.  Storm is presented here in her original costume.   It’s nice to see this costume, as it’s not used as often as it should be in my opinion.  Storm stands about 7 inches tall, and has 17 points of articulation.  She’s definitely got one of the better female sculpts I’ve looked at on the site.  It’s pretty well proportioned, and does a fair job of living up to her comic book counterpart’s looks.  She’s not as Cockrum influenced as Wolverine, instead going a bit more generic, but she still looks appropriate for the character, so I can’t complain.  The paint is all nice and cleanly applied, with no slop or fuzziness.  I really like the choice of shiny finish for the black parts, as it makes them stand out well.  They’ve opted to use gold for the traditionally yellow parts, which adds an air of regality to her, which works nicely.  Storm includes a small display stand and a corner of the Danger Room.  It’s got several parts, and has a great geometric look to it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Storm was picked up at the same time as the Select Wolverine, also at my local comic book store’s end of the year sale.  I’d actually been wanting to pick this figure up for a while, and I was glad to find it at a slightly lower price.  I don’t have many Storm figures in my collection, so I was very glad to add this one.  She’s not just a good Storm figure, but a good action figure in general.

#0068: Wolverine

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

WOLVERINE

MARVEL SELECT

It’s honestly surprising how few Wolverine figures I’ve reviewed so far, given how many I own.  Anyway, this is another Marvel Select review, based on the aforementioned Wolverine.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine was released a few years ago as part of the Marvel Select line.  Like all the others in the line, he’s not part of a “series”, but rather, he was released on his own.  Wolverine is based on his look from his early appearances in X-Men in the late 70s.  Specifically, he looks to be based on Dave Cockrum’s interpretation of the character.  He stands about 6 ½ inches tall, giving him the proper stature of an early Wolverine, and he has 17 points of articulation.  The sculpt is handled well.  He’s a tad bit skinny, but not too bad.  The head in particular is great, because it’s spot on to Cockrum’s take on the character.  I also like that the claws are handled better than on most Wolverine figures, and have a nice unique look to them.  The paint is done well, particularly the yellow parts, because yellow can look hideous in some cases, but they’ve added a nice wash to it to bring out the sculpt.  Wolverine is topped off with a display stand, depicting a chunk of scenery from what appears to be Weapon X, which is appropriate to the character.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this guy from my comic book store’s annual end of the year sale.  I’m not the biggest fan of Wolverine, but I love the early Claremont/Cockrum run on X-Men, so I was super excited to get a Wolverine based on that time period.  He’s definitely one of the best Wolverine’s out there, and my favorite in my collection.

#0055: Angel – Savage Land

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ANGEL – SAVAGE LAND

X-MEN (TOYBIZ)

The 90s X-Men line!  Now there was a line.  I haven’t really looked at this line yet on the site, aside from the Original Members Boxed Set, which wasn’t actually part of the line.  But in the 90s, the X-Men were the big thing.  They had a TV show, their comics sold millions, and they had one of the most comprehensive toy lines to date.  There was a Cho’d action figure for God’s sake!  Towards the end of the line, they began to run out of new characters to release, so they started doing these theme waves with rereleases of the main characters.  One of those theme waves was a set of figures based on the X-Men’s many trips to the Savage Land.  It featured figures of the X-Men in tattered “Savage Land” uniforms.  Today, I’ll be looking at the Angel figure from that line.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So, as I said above, Angel here hails from the Savage Land series of Toybiz’s 5-inch X-Men line.  He stands roughly 5 inches tall and has 11 points of articulation.  If you read the review of the Fallen, you’ve seen a lot of this figure before.   He shares all but his head, arms and feet with that figure.  The head was actually one that saw frequent reuse over at Toybiz, and I know this wasn’t the first figure to use it, but I honestly don’t know what was.   Anyway, it works fine here, though it might be a bit scowly for a pre-Archangel Warren Worthington.  The figure’s look is mostly done through paint, which depicts a tattered version of Angel’s blue and white costume from the silver age*.   It’s cool to see this costume here, but a bit disappointing that the costume never got a proper release.  Angel at one point featured a pair of (very small) wings, a gray vest with an X-logo, and some weird claw thing that attached to his wrist, but I lost most of those pieces many years ago.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got this figure on one of my many trips the KB Toys outlet in Rehobeth Beach.  I was very excited to get it because Angel figures were a bit of a rarity in the 90s.  I know I really liked this guy, and for reasons I can’t fathom at this point, I know he spent a lot of time in my Ghostbusters Ecto-1.

*In super hero -comics, the first 40 years or so are divided into three “ages”:  The Golden Age, The Silver Age, and the Bronze Age.  The Sliver age, at Marvel any way, is believed to start with Fantastic Four #1, and end somewhere around Giant Size X-Men #1.

Read the Flashback Friday Figure Addendum here!

And there’s a second one here!

#0051: Wolverine & Yukio

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

WOLVERINE (YUKON) & NINJA YUKIO

MARVEL MINIMATES

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

THE FIGURE THEMSELVES

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

WOLVERINE (YUKON)

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

NINJA YUKIO

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

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

#0049: Wolverine & Harada

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

WOLVERINE (PRISONER) & KENUICHIO HARADA

MARVEL MINIMATES

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

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

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

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

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

WOLVERINE (PRISONER)

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

KENUICHIO HARADA

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

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

#0034: Uncanny X-Men Team Pack

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

ROGUE, WOLVERINE, LONGSHOT & CYCLOPS

MARVEL UNIVERSE (HASBRO)

Today’s review looks at yet another mighty Marvel toy line, Hasbro’s Marvel Universe.  The Marvel Universe line is pretty much Hasbro doing Marvel characters in the scale that they know best: 4 inch(well, technically 3 ¾ inch, but let’s not split hairs).  The line’s been running for a few years, and Hasbro likes to mix things up occasionally and release figures in multipacks.  I’ll be looking at their 80s/90s X-Men Boxed set today.  The set features X-Men mainstays Rogue and Wolverine, as well as prominent 80s member Longshot and a kiddified version of X-Men leader Cyclops.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures were released in the 2013 series of “Team Packs”

ROGUE

First up, it’s everyone’s favorite angsty mutant who can’t touch anybody!  Rogue is depicted here in her Jim Lee designed 90s costume.  It’s a good choice, as this is the costume that most people are familiar with.  Rogue stands just shy of 4 inches and has roughly 20 points of articulation.    She’s built on Hasbro’s second basic female body, with a new head and arms, and add –on pieces for the jacket, belt, and boots.  The body sculpt is well done, and the generic body works fine for her underlying spandex costume.  The newly sculpted pieces are passable, if not the greatest.  The jacket’s sculpt is well done, and the boots do their job, though they do kinda stick out as add-on pieces.  The head is far from the worst in the line, or even the worst Rogue figure we’ve seen, but it’s not the best offering.  The hair looks fine, but the face is far too gaunt, and they’ve left her with her mouth permanently open.  The paint is passable, but could be better some places, particularly at the cut joint’s on her thigh, where it’s virtually impossible to get the lines of the yellow parts to line up.

WOLVERINE

Next, it’s the most famous X-Man by far!  Wolverine is depicted in his brown and yellow costume from the mid-to-late 80s, which, like Wolverine himself, is no stranger to the action figure world.  Wolverine stands closer to the 3 ¾ inch mark, making him noticeably shorter than Rogue, and he has 18 points of articulation.  The figure is actually just a repaint of the same version of the character from the Wolverine: Origins tie-in line, but since I never got that one, it’s new to me.  The sculpt is decent, especially the body, which conveys Wolverine’s short and stocky nature pretty well.  The claws are a solid piece on each hand, which is okay by me, since they have a tendency to warp at this scale. Like with Rogue, the head leaves something to be desired.  It’s a bit too squat, and the details are a bit on the soft side.  Paint on the figure is okay, though he does have very fuzzy lines on some of the brown sections, particularly the shoulders.

LONGSHOT

Next, it’s everyone’s favorite, uhhh… no, hang on, it’s just Longshot.  And Longshot’s nobody’s favorite.  Longshot is depicted in his debut costume from the 80s.  Longshot stands about 4 inches tall and features 22 points of articulation.  Hasbro wisely reused the body previously used for Ghost Rider and the AIM soldier.  It’s a nice body, with a whole lot of folds and wrinkles which work great to hide folds and wrinkles.  The reused body is masked with the addition of a new head and hands, as well as add-ons to represent his cuffs, pouches, and belt.  These are all well sculpted end fit well.  The head is obviously a focus point, and it’s a decent piece.  It has a pretty nice determined look, and actually manages to make his mullet look okay.  The paint is nice and clean, with no noticeable bleed over or slop.

CYCLOPS

Lastly, it’s the fourth figure in the three-pack.  So, yeah…that’s a thing.  He’s actually more of an accessory than a separate figure.  In the 80s, the X-Men had a few run-ins with the villain Mojo.  Mojo was a TV exec from another dimension, always looking for the new fad.  After a few fights with the X-Men, Mojo decided that what his viewers really wanted to see was the X-Babies, child versions of everyone’s favorite mutants.  This Cyclops is based on the X-Babies version of the character.  Cyclops stands just shy of 2 inches tall, and has no articulation.  Given the small scale and since he’s technically an accessory, the articulation’s not an issue.  He’s an all new sculpt, and it’s a good sculpt!  It’s nice and simplistic, but in a good way that reflects the source material.  The paint could be a bit better, as there is some noticeable slop, but it’s not terrible.  Cyclops may actually be my favorite figure in the set!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Nothing much to report in this section.  I mostly got this set because I wanted the other sets in the series and buying the whole series was the most practical way of handling it.  I’m certainly not disappointed by this set, but it’s not really one of my favorites.

#0030: The Fallen

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

THE FALLEN

MUTANT X (TOY BIZ)

Ah, Mutant X.  Man, that was such a 90s comicbook.  One that I enjoyed immensely!  Diamond Comics’ catalogue Previews offered figures of four members of the books main team “The Six”(No, I don’t really know why they didn’t offer all six.  Seems a little odd, doesn’t it.  It’s like only releasing  three of the Fantastic Four!).  Being a fan of the comic and a fan of action figures, particularly 90s Marvel figures, I of course wound up with a set.  Today, I’ll be looking at The Fallen, who was an alternate universe version of Warren Worthington III, aka Archangel.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Fallen stands about 5 inches tall, and has 13 points of articulation.  He also had his signature wings, which could be snapped onto his back, and were made of a soft translucent green material, with wire running through to allow them to be posed.  The wires honestly didn’t offer much poseability, but it’s the thought that counts, I suppose.  Fallen also included an X-Logo shaped stand, which is good, because he can’t stand without it due to his top heavy nature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Fallen, along with the other figures from the Mutant X line, was a Christmas gift from my parents.  I recall being fairly excited to open him, as he was my favorite character from the series.  Yay!