Apr 26 2024

Mythic Legions (Poxxus): Samir Scrollwarder by The Four Horsemen

Last month I started checking out the newest assortment of Mythic Legions figures, centered around the return of the evil scourge, Poxxus. My first figure was the large and impressive Dragon Man Aracagorr, which was a mighty fine debut for the wave. And, yes, it’s taken me a few weeks to get back to it, but I really do have so much cool stuff to cover and three reviews a week can only take me so far. I’d love to do more, but it’s often a crunch just to keep up this pace. Anyway, today’s offering from the Realm of Mythoss is the powerful wizard, Samir Scrollwarder!

Unlike our giant dragon friend, who came in a window box, Samir comes in the usual bubble on card that we’ve been seeing with Mythic Legions from the beginning. The card art is generic to the wave, but you do get some character specific text on the side of the bubble insert, telling us that Samir is one of the good guys and Keeper of The Great Library of Agbendo. This presentation is both attractive and serviceable, as well as collector friendly, but I don’t tend to keep these packages. I will note that Samir came packaged with his blue robe off and in a baggie behind the bubble, but I’ve had him out long before I took this shot and opted to leave it on. But, let’s start out without the robe and see what we’ve got!

Straightaway, I love Samir’s classic wizard look. Long gray beard? Check! Bald Pate? Check! Robes? Check! And speaking or robes, let’s start there. Mythic Legions is a line known for its exquisite sculpting and paintwork, so the heavy use of softgoods is kind of a new thing for the line, and Samir is definitely the first of these figures in my collection to be fully dressed in cloth and showing very little sculpt on the body. For the record, the underlying body is fully armored, but I won’t be disrobing him. I’ll never display him without the robe, so you’ll have to take my word for it. His wizardly garment is immaculately tailored, fits the figure well, and falls about him quite naturally. There are wires sewn into the bottom edge as well as the sleeves to allow them to be shaped the way you want them and it serves the purpose very well, especially in those sleeves, which gives them a little added weight. How do wizards cope with those long dangling sleeves? It seems like they would constantly be knocking over dangerous potions or catching them on fire, while reaching over a candle to grab another book.

The head sculpt is very nicely done, giving Samir an ancient and wizened countenance. The long gray beard is intricately sculpted with strands of hair weaving around and crisscrossing each other. His skin has a rich brown pigment and I dig the creases in his brown and the crow’s feet radiating from the sides of his eyes, which suggest he’s been around a while and seen a lot. The painted eyes are a little flat when compared to some of TFH’s other efforts, making them serviceable but not exceptional.

You also get a second head depicting the mystical arts welling up in Samir. This is mostly the same head sculpt, but here we get some green paint depicting arcane markings on his face and his eyes are painted entirely in green, showing the power within him.

The robe is cinched at his waist with a brown plastic belt that tabs together in the back behind a sculpted pouch. The connection there isn’t terribly secure, so I do find it popping open now and again.. I may wind up using some poster putty to secure it, or just outright glue it, since I don’t really ever plan on removing the belt. You get some accessories for the belt, including a cluster of pouches and potion containers that clips on. There are also a pair of loops to allow him to keep a pair of scrolls at the ready. The scrolls are plastic and sculpted in rolls. The belt has some fine gold paintwork on the buckle as well as the fixtures on the pouch.

Articulation is standard Mythic Legions stuff. I believe the figure is built on the Elf-style body so despite being armored, it’s more lithe and feels a bit more agile than the bulkier knights. You get four sets of bare hands with Samir. These include fists, two sets of casting-gesture hands, and a pair to hold accessories.

Samir also comes with an mystical text from the Great Library of Agbendo The powerful tome has a sculpted belt around it, holding it permanently closed. There are some loose pages sculpted into the fore edge and a real chain so he can wear it around his neck and keep tabs on it. The covers have a realistic leather texture to them and there’s a golden sun emblem sculpted on the front as well as reinforced corners.

And finally, you get his magical staff and a magical effect part. The staff features a winged cobra at the top, encircled in a ring. The staff has several rows of rings and a spiral grip running down to the end. The entire staff is finished in a deep copper color. The swirling green effect part is meant to snake around the staff, but it also works really well to depict Samir launching a mystical attack from his hand. Snaking it around his arm inside the robe holds it in place really well and the figure is capable of supporting the weight of the piece without any help of a stand!

And here is Samir wearing his blue cloak. I had originally planned on shooting more of the review with the cloak on, but I was pretty impressed with the figure in just the brown robes and so I saved it for last. The cloak looks great on him and certainly adds some color. You get wires running throughout the edges of the cloak as well as around the opening of the hood and these make it easy to work with when posing the figure. It’s quite impressive that even with both the robes and the cloak on, the softgoods don’t look puffy or oversized on the figure and I think that’s a testament to how great the tailoring is. Ultimately, I will likely keep the blue cloak on him for regular display, but I’ll be open to switching it up now and again.

Samir feels like quite a landmark figure for the line. It not only introduces a very classic and traditional wizard design, but it also shows us how well softgoods can be utilized for these figures. Now, I’m not saying I want a lot of my Mythic Legions figures dressed from head to toe in cloth, but it’s nice to see how well TFH can do it when it’s appropriate. They also did a great job with his accessories and the magic effect piece turned out a lot more versatile than I had expected. We did get another wizard in this assortment… an EVIL wizard, but I’m going to hold off on him and try to mix things up for the next time I visit with this amazing line!

Apr 24 2024

G. I. JOE Classified: Retro Carded Duke by Hasbro

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost four years since Classified began with Duke arriving as one of those first figures. Classified’s first take on Duke wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but I was still pretty happy with him and even now I still think it’s a pretty cool and fun figure. But as the line continued and began to stick more closely with the traditional Real American Hero designs, I think we were all hoping and waiting for Duke (and Scarlett) to get more conservative do-overs. And rather than just produce regular new versions, Hasbro upped the ante and shipped them on some snazzy retro card backs!

Naturally, Duke isn’t the first figure to get this treatment. We’ve seen several Classified figures released on jumbo retro cards. It’s an undeniably beautiful presentation. The colorful character art is extraordinary, the figure comes in an elongated tray and bubble to show off all his extras, and the card stock is extremely sturdy, which will no doubt please MOC collectors. I got mine from Amazon and even they couldn’t damage the card! The back of the card has a giant multilingual File Card as well as a Collect-Them-All style spread showing Duke with Scarlett and Recondo, the other figures this wave. Alas, it’s not collector friendly and while I may grab a second to keep carded if they turn up on sale, this one is getting sliced open to get Hauser into action! I hope you wore your poncho, because I’m about to start gushing!

Because what we have here is one of the finest examples of Classified’s ability to take a classic RAH design, nudge it into modernity, and use the larger scale to pack in some lovely added detail. Retro Duke dons the same green trousers, high brown boots, and khaki button-down shirt as the vintage figure and it all looks superb! The sleeves are rolled up a little higher here, practically up to the elbows, there’s some more color to his belt, but all the familiar beats are present and accounted for. Naturally, some aspects of the original figure that were merely sculpted on are now fully fleshed out accessories, like the bandoleer strap, the holstered pistol on his right thigh, and the knife and sheath on his left boot. And we even get butterfly crunches in the shoulders in addition to the all the usual Classified articulation. In terms of the uniform and body sculpt, I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more.

The portrait is another direct hit, as this is the epitome of Duke perfection. I really liked the head sculpt Hasbro did for the first Classified Duke, but this one is just leaps and bounds better. The chiseled jaw, the bold nose, the concrete brow, it all looks so damn good. Even the hair is surprisingly sharp and clean considering that it’s part of the head and not separately sculpted. If I were to do a Venn Diagram of RAH Duke, Sunbow Duke, and an ideal Modern Duke, I think this portrait would fall right in the middle of those connecting circles. Now, would I have liked a second smiling head or shouty head? Yes, absolutely. But considering how good this is, I’m not going to get greedy.

Like the RAH figure, this Duke also comes with a removable helmet. And while we’ve certainly seen some pretty detailed helmets in this line, Hasbro went with a pretty simple design as a nod back to the original figure. They did, however, add a clear visor that can be worn up or down and I probably could have done without this, as it strikes me more as a Flash helmet rather than a Duke helmet, but that’s OK. Maybe it was just Hasbro’s way of saying that Gambello is coming. Duke also comes with a pair of binoculars which he can wear around his neck, and these are very similar to the accessory included with the original RAH figure. They fit pretty well, but I prefer to tuck them under the bandoleer to keep them more flush with his chest.

The backpack is certainly a strong nod to the original, but with plenty of modern flourishes, like the twin canteens behind his shoulders and the extra pouches and straps. And yes, it’s a repaint of the same backpack issued with the first Classified Duke. The entrenching tool is still front and center, but this time it’s painted green to help it stand out better. The blade also has the GI JOE motto on printed on it, which really makes me smile. The pack plugs into the hole on the back of the figure and it stays put very well, which has not always been the case with Classified backpacks.

Duke comes with two sets of hands: Fists and a pair to hold his weapons and accessories. The lack of a flat, saluting hand is kind of conspicuously absent. Hey, I’m really trying to come up with some criticisms here!

The knife on his left boot can be removed from the sheath and it’s a beautiful little representation of a military KA-BAR style knife. The pommel is rather distinctive, as it’s a gold disk more reminiscent of a medieval dagger than the flattened butt cap of a military fighting knife, but pretty cool nonetheless. The segmented grip is brown and the dark gray blade has a small fuller near the back and a clipped point. The straps holding the sheath to the boot can ride up and down a bit and occasionally need adjusting.

The sidearm holstered on his right thigh is a modern style automatic pistol. It’s cast all in black with some excellent detail in the sculpt. There’s also a hole in the center of the barrel so it can make use of blast effect parts included with other Classified figures. Like the boot sheath, this holster is held on by two straps and it seems to stay in place really well.

As for bigger weapons, Duke comes with his traditional M-32 Pulverizer Submachine gun, and wow is this a great sculpt. The weapon is cast in green plastic, has an effect part hole in the barrel and a removable magazine.

And you get the Sunbow style XMLR-3A laser rifle, which is another absolute banger of a sculpt. The detail is so sharp and crisp, especially on the top rail and foregrip. The stick is black while the rest of the weapon is green. If Hasbro ever released a weapons pack with a bunch of these, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

And finally, you get a figure stand! This is a black rectangle with two foot pegs and the GI JOE shooting star logo sculpted into it. This stand is extremely similar to the generic ones I buy for my Classified figures, only mine are missing the star emblem and have an extra footpeg.

If you can’t tell, I’m rather smitten with this figure and it probably goes without saying that I’ll be retiring my original Classified Duke. You served the shelf well for four years, and now you stand relieved, sir. Go buy a fishing boat and enjoy your retirement. Yes, Hasbro absolutely hit it out of the park with this figure and it really shows how far this line has come both in style and execution since the first days. What’s also great is Hasbro seems to have made this figure easy to get, as it’s been available through most major online toy retailers, and even now it’s still available on Amazon for the MSRP of $24.99. Can Retro Scarlett also be this good? Well, we’ll find out next week!

Apr 22 2024

ThunderCats Ultimates: Mongor by Super7

With new waves of both GI JOE and Silverhawks Ultimates arriving at my door last week, the Super7 figures continue to pile up here, so it’s likely you’ll be seeing them turn up a little more often in my review rotation. Add to that the fact that I’m currently working my way through the most recently shipped wave of Super7’s ThunderCats Ultimates, and well… there’s a lot of plastic to cover! I already checked out Willa and Snarf and now it’s time to let the baddies of the assortment have their turn. So let’s have a look at Mongor, a one-off, demonic goat villain from the first season of the cartoon!

I have nothing new to say about the packaging. It’s the same window box with a foil black sleeve over the top. There’s some character art on the back panel of the box, along with a little bio. Oh, and mine came with a nasty rip in the front of the sleeve. I guess those brown mailer boxes we don’t get anymore were good for something. Anyway, Mongor is just one of those hazards you have to accept when living on Third Earth. You’re a Thunder Kitten and one day you go out to explore and screw around and the next thing you know, you’ve unleashed a hell-spawned goat creature from his tomb. Mongor was pretty terrifying as far as cartoon villains go, probably second only to Mumm-Ra himself. Surprisingly, he also actually got his own figure back in the LJN line, which was odd since he only appeared in one episode and there more than a few regulars that didn’t get figures.

And here he is, freed from his cardboard and plastic tomb and ready to haunt your dreams. I don’t know what it is about goat creatures, but they give me the willies, and this guy is no exception. To make things even creepier, Mongor comes at you with nothing but his sculpted lavender fur-pants for modesty. And what a great job they did on the fur sculpting! The detail is sharp and it has a really nice shaggy depth to it. He does have bald spots on the backs of his calves and the lavender shag also runs up his back. Otherwise you just get bare grey skin with some subtle texturing to it and a pretty impressive six-pack of abs. He has sharp claw-like fingernails and big brown talons on his clodhoppers. As far as the body is concerned, this is a fairly minimalist design made extra memorable by the sculpt and paint. As much as I love the lavender, it would be interesting to see him repainted with those parts in black and gray.

You get two heads to choose from, and both are pretty unsettling. The lavender face is framed by more of that shaggy hair in a darker shade. It forms a beard that cascades down over his chest and a mane that spills over his shoulders. Slightly curved goaty ears protrude from the sides of his head and he has a pair of majestic horns sprouting up and outward, each doing a little curl. The yellow eyes are practically reptilian with their vertical slits for irises and he has an open mouth advertising a wall of teeth. I’ll confess, the work on the teeth is a tad sloppy and does let this otherwise majestic portrait down just a tad. On the other hand Mongor’s piercing yellow gaze is totally on point. I’ll also note here that swapping the heads on this figure is a painful experience. There is no place to grab either head so as not to have sharp plastic points digging into your flesh. And the more force you have to apply, the deeper those points dig. It really, really hurts.

The alternate head might as well be that of a sleep paralysis demon. The pupils are gone from the eyes and the mouth is fully open revealing a much better detailed set of choppers. You also get some electric effect parts for his horns, which work on either head, but they look best with this one. The yellowish tint on the effect parts made me think they might be Glow In The Dark, but sadly they don’t seem to be. They still look pretty rad though!

Mongor’s articulation falls right in with the standards we’ve seen in this line. That is to say you get a lot of useful points, but maybe not the range you were hoping for, particularly in the elbows, where Mongor can’t quite do a 90-degree bend. I won’t run through all the points, since we’ve seen it before, but everything else is pretty damn good and his big feet make for a stable platform for what is a pretty well balanced figure. Also, I didn’t have any issues with stuck or loose joints. Naturally, you get a good sized helping of hands. These include a pair of relaxed hands, fists, pointy fingers, and accessory holding hands.

Mongor comes with one weapon and that’s the big, terrifying scythe he wielded in the cartoon. There’s a slight S-curve to the shaft and it has a simple wood grain texture sculpted in. The blade is black with a jagged line that transitions to a silver edge.

And if a giant goat demon with a scythe isn’t intimidating enough, there’s a flame effect that you can attach onto the blade. Normally, flame effects aren’t terribly impressive to me, but this one is quite a banger. The sculpt looks great, especially the way the individual flames lick around the blade and shaft. The transition from the inner yellow to the outer orange plastic looks especially nice too. I guess it’s nice to have the option to go with or without the flame piece, but I can’t imagine ever displaying the figure without it. It just looks too good!

In a wave that delivered on Snarf, Willa, and another Evil Mutant, Mongor was probably considered to be the black sheep (or in this case lavender goat) of this wave by many. Maybe doubly so, since he only had the one appearance in the cartoon. But, it’s a credit to how well this figure is executed that he stands tall among the assortment of heavier hitters. It’s still crazy to think that LJN produced a figure of Mongor over a regular like Willa, but then I’m guessing the thought process was that kids were probably more likely to want the purple goat monster than an icky girl. Either way, I’m thrilled to add this one to my ThunderCats shelf and that leaves just one more figure in the wave to go. And I smell a big rat on the horizon!

Apr 19 2024

DC Multiverse (Gold Label): Kilowog and Kyle Rayner by McFarlane

I should have a lot of DC Multiverse figure reviews popping up, as I’ve been spending a lot of time opening my backlog and getting them up on the display shelves. A lot of these will be older figures, but I’m not against pushing some newer releases to the head of the line. Like today’s Green Lantern Corps set featuring a Mega Figure of Kilowog and another release of Kyle Rayner Green Lantern!

This box is bigger than your average DC Multiverse two-pack, enlarged to contain a whole Kilo of ‘Wog plus the regular sized figure and a fair number of accessories. It’s a Gold Label release, meaning that it is a retailer exclusive, and in this case that retailer is Amazon. I do enjoy Amazon exclusives, because they tend to be easy to get and actually ship on time, whereas I have almost no chance of even ordering most Walmart Exclusives and as for Target, they just issue about twenty “Approve Delay” emails before cancelling it anyway. The last Kilowog figure I had was Mattles Collect-and-Connect version from DC Universe Classics, so I am very excited to get an updated release! And sure, Kyle Rayner too? Why not. Let’s start with him.

Of course, we already got a Kyle Rayner Green Lantern in DC Multiverse not too long ago, but this time we’re getting him in his debut costume. And while I’ll be the first to admit that this design never really struck a chord in me as a Green Lantern uniform, I do like to get characters in their first appearance costumes so I am pretty happy to get this release. There’s a fair amount of reuse from that previous figure giving him the same textured body suit, albeit repainted in black and white with a Lantern Corps emblem on the left side of his chest. The boots and gauntlets are new, with a smooth and organic armored design and provide the bulk of the green in this costume’s color palette. And I do indeed like the emerald green used on this costume a lot more than the pea soup green used on the last release.

The head sculpt is borrowed directly from the last figure, which is good and bad. It’s good because I actually like this portrait a lot. The strands of hair are a bit chunky, but I like his cheesy grin and the fact that the mask is sculpted separately from the face. Also, you get more of that emerald green for the mask. The bad is, well it’s a Gold Label figure with a lot of reuse in the body so, I dunno, maybe you could have splurged for a new head, Todd. Eh, it’s fine.

And speaking of reuse, you get two recycled accessories as well. Both the large sword and the lantern are lifted straight from the Atrocitus Wave Rayner. But they are both cast in translucent emerald green plastic and once again, these look better than the clear pea soup plastic. Kyle also comes with an extra right hand designed to grip so he can wield the large blade construct with both hands. I’m a little less salty about these recycled accessories, because you also get two new ones…

The Samurai-style armor and sword constructs are pretty damn cool. The armor simply slips over the head and rests on the shoulders. And despite being a translucent plastic piece, it has a lot of nice detail in the sculpt. The sword is a lot more sensibly sized and goes really well with the armor. I’ll admit getting a first appearance Rayner makes me willing to overlook the reuse here to a degree, but if only there were an absolutely bitchin Kilowog figure included in this set to smooth things out…

And there is! Kilowog is an appropriately big bruiser with some intricate texturing all over his uniform. He’s got a nearly even mix of green and black deco, with the black found on his arms, legs, and hands. He’s got chonky boots, armored bracers on his forearms, and his Lantern chest emblem is green against a white background. Naturally, he also has his ring sculpted onto the finger of his right fist. The proportions here are really nice and he looks like an absolute powerhouse. This is a big departure from the super smooth costume on my DC Universe Classics Kilowog, making for a truly modern looking update.

The head sculpt is really nice with a complexion that reminds me of pink silly putty. His eyes are set very deep, nestled under a severe brow ridge. His downturned mouth is parted just a bit to flash a few teeth and I can’t overstate how cool and casual the depth to that mouth looks. There’s also plenty of creases and lines in his alien flesh, and the only thing I can pick at here is that a little bit of added paint wash would have made the sculpt look even better.

The normal Mega Figure articulation applies here, which is to say, it’s very good, albeit with the expected abbreviated range in those elbows. Still, he sports double hinges in the knees, a wide range of motion up in those hips and shoulders, and he even has the toe hinges. Kilowog has an excellent balance and he is lots of fun to pose around and play with. He also feels heftier than Mongul, the most recent Mega Figure I checked out.

Naturally, Kilowog includes his lantern battery and it is pretty big! The accessory is cast in the same translucent green color as Kyle’s and it looks great in hand or displayed beside the figure.

And you also get a hammer construct, which looks like a medieval meat tenderizes. There’s some sharp detail in the sculpt, despite the translucent plastic and I love the studded surface of the heads. It’s not overly huge, but big enough that it fits the figure pretty well.

Man, I really do dig this set a lot. I think a good percentage of collectors would have rather seen Kilowog released as a stand alone Mega Figure, and I can certainly understand that. But I’m fine with the two-pack since it got me the first appearance Kyle Rayner costume, which I would have picked up as a single release anyway. And like it or not, that’s the way the game is played. Companies squeeze more money out of existing tooling in order to bankroll new figures. The MSRP here is $69.00, which breaks down to about $50 for Kilowog and $20 for Rayner and that’s about right for McFarlane’s pricing. Granted, there’s no diorama-style figure stand here like we often get in these two-packs, but I don’t tend to use those anyway. Maybe tossing in a couple of card holders would have been a nice idea, but again… not something I tend to use so I don’t miss them.

Apr 17 2024

Popup Parade (Darkstalkers) Morrigan Aensland and Lilith by Max Factory

It’s taken a lot of willpower to kick collecting scaled anime figures. Not that I was ever huge into them, but I had to scratch that itch every now and then. Eventually I got priced out of it and even Kotobukiya (once the best value in scales) has become too rich for my blood, except for the odd sale here and there. On the flipside, I also gave up prize figures because it’s easy to amass totes full of them and the quality is all over the place. But, I still have to get my fix every now and then and so I’ve settled on Popup Parade as a compromise. Last year, I took a look at their Cowboy Bebop figures as well as their Cammy and Chun-Li from Street Fighter. And now, they just shipped out the Succubi from Darkstalkers, and well you know I had to pick these up!

This pair of succubi come in rather large plastic boxes that can double as display cases once you unwrap the figures inside. With that being said, they are pretty big to accommodate the girls’ wingspans, and I’ve gone on record saying how much I don’t care for the generic style of these. The names of the characters are so understated and there’s very little branding for the license. Sure, there’s merit to be found in the idea that you let the figure do all the talking, but would it kill them to use the Darkstalkers logo and print the names of the characters in a way that it doesn’t look like you’re ashamed of them? Since Morrigan tends to get the most attention in terms of figures and statues, let’s start with Lilith!

Lilith’s origins are a bit too complex for me to get into here, but she’s sometimes referred to as Morrigan’s half-sister, albeit by way of mystical means. She is often represented as a manifestation of Morrigan’s lost innocence, so she’s portrayed more cute than voluptuous, making for a nice contrast when the two characters are displayed together. I’d classify the pose here as museum-style mixed with a little attitude, as Lilith has her hands resting on her hips, which makes me feel like she’s judging me. The coloring on this figure is excellent with the blue leggings having the darker blue bat patterns, the sleeves being slightly more purple, and a gorgeous high gloss crimson finish on her boots and one-piece. There’s some sculpted white fur that leaves her shoulders bare and a white diamond in the center of her chest. The deco is so vibrant and she pops so beautifully on the shelf.

She has two sets of bat-like wings, jutting from her back and head, and these have a leather-like texture on the front and back. The fronts are painted black with the fingers between the membranes painted in red, while the backs are completely red. There are white horns jutting from the tops of each wing and the red paint used on the backs is high gloss, giving them a creepy wet look.

The portrait is right on point with big, adorable eyes and perfectly printed lips and eyebrows. The purple hair is sculpted separately from the head allowing the bangs to hang down over her face and adding a lot of depth. The skin tone leans toward the pale side, but it isn’t waxy as is sometimes the case on these budget figures.

The display base is a standard black disk, which is par for the course with Popup Parade’s figures. What I don’t care for at all is the way the foot pegs are done. As we’ll see with Morrigan, the feet usually peg into the base and sometimes there’s some clear plastic in the gap between the foot and the high heel for stability. Here there are clear plastic platforms that the feet rest on and it doesn’t make any sense. Maybe they were going for a levitating look, but I honestly don’t think that’s the case. Also, one of my figure’s foot pegs will not stay all the way in, so I may end up gluing it.

The way the clear foot pegs are done may seem like a petty gripe, but what irks me so much about it is they went out of their way to design it that way. Still, it’s not enough to completely mar what is an otherwise very nice figure. I dig the pose, the sculpt is great, but it’s the coloring that really makes this figure a win! Plus, she’s currently the only Lilith figure in my collection. Let’s move on to Morrigan…

Unlike Lilith, I have at least a few Morrigan figures, with the most recent being Koto’s own Bishoujo version, so she’s got some competition. Still, I like what they did here. Morrigan strikes a seductive pose with one arm crossed under her copious chest and the other drawn back behind her head. It’s not as playful as Koto’s pose, but I think it works really well for the character. The coloring is appropriate and it looks great, even if it isn’t as vibrant as Lilith’s. You get purple tights with the bat patterns, a glossy black onesie and boots, white, sculpted fur trim around the biceps and a sort of pale orange for her sleeves. And naturally, her chest is practically spilling out of her top!

The four pairs of wings have purple membranes on the inside with black fingers separating them, while the backs are all glossy black and have some excellent leathery texture sculpted in. The purple interior doesn’t really catch the light as much as I would like, but I think some of that has to do with how folded in they are, along with the lighting I used.

I really dig this portrait and a lot of that has to do with the eyes, which remind me of some of the earlier character art. Her blue peepers are perfectly printed, along with the eyebrows and lips. There’s a fleetingly haunting flavor to her expression. It’s seductive and just a bit intimidating, and totally distinctive from any of the other Morrigan figures I have. The turquoise hair whips around behind her head and shoulders, giving the piece some real energy.

And here’s how the foot pegs should have been done for Lilith. They connect to the base perfectly and you don’t have those weird clear platforms under her feet, just between the heel and toe.

At about $34 each, these ladies fall on the lower end of Popup Parade’s spectrum, and it’s hard to argue with that considering how nice these turned out. It would have been cool to get some kind of connecting bases, but that’s not something this line seems to do. And that’s OK, because they still look great when displayed on the shelf together. I’m happy to finally have Lilith in my collection, although I’m still keeping an eye out to see if Koto’s Bishoujo version ever goes on sale. In the meantime, if Max Factory releases more Darkstalkers characters in this line, I’d definitely be down for adding more!

Apr 15 2024

The Princess Bride Figures by McFarlane

The Princess Bride is a movie that I absolutely love and for some reason never seem to re-watch a lot these days. I’m not sure why that is, but maybe it’s because I overdid it back when it first hit home video. I was surprised to see McFarlane turn up with the license, not only because it was a weird fit among their sea of DC Comics and Warhammer figures, but also because the film has received so little merchandising over the years. Either way, I wasn’t in on these figures when they were first released, but earlier this year they hit the bargain bins and I was able to snap up the regular figures for under ten bucks each and the Mega Figure, Fezzik, for $16. So, let’s just tackle the whole damn thing today! Inconceivable? Nah, we can do this!

The five figures come in window boxes with the front window wrapping around to the sides and a bit on top to let lots of light in. The printed backdrop features art from the movie poster and it really elevates the presentation. Also, for some reason Fizzini, gets some added floral deco around the top corners of the box, which the other figure boxes all lack. But, he was part of the second wave, so I’m guessing they all had that. The boxes are mostly collector friendly, but in typical McFarlane fashion you will have to tear the figure stands off the backing if you want to use them. The line consisted of Westley as The Dread Pirate Roberts, Princess Buttercup, Inigo Montoya, Vizzini, and Fezzik. McFarlane also produced variants of all of these figures except Vizzini. Westley and Inigo got bloodied versions, Buttercup got a different color dress, and Fezzik got a cloak. Even at deep discount, I didn’t go for the variants, so we’ll be sticking to the regular releases. Let’s start with Westley!

Obviously this figure is more about the sculpt than the paint, as the outfit is all black with just a few silver paint hits to the belt fixtures and scabbard. Still, there are some nice flourishes in the sculpt, including the puffy sleeves, leather texturing on the boots and gauntlets, and whatever that is going on in the shoulders. It looks like chainmail, but I’m thinking it’s probably supposed to be some kind of weave. There are some loose ends of the sculpted scarf wrapped around his waist, and you get all sorts of wrinkles and rumples in the outfit itself. The pins are a little clunky, but otherwise I think the figure looks really good.

The head sculpt is passable. Granted, they only had the eyes and the lower half of the face to work with so I’m not going to go too hard on the likeness. The fact that the mask is actually a separate sculpted piece is great because it creates a lot of depth and definition against the underlying eyes, which are extremely well painted. The facial hair looks a bit more like dirt than hair, and he was pretty clean shaven in the film, so I’m not sure why they added that. The neck and chest portion are also sculpted separately from the body, creating immaculate lines between the skin and suit. If you want an unmasked Westley, you gotta go for the bloodied variant.

The rapier is a really impressive piece for this scale. It’s made entirely from bendy plastic and yet everything holds its shape very well. The hilt looks just like the sword used on screen and the blade fits into the scabbard very smoothly. The right hand is pretty stiff, so it’s a bit of a chore getting it into the grip, but at least that makes for a tight grip.

As for articulation, you get pretty much everything we’ve been seeing out of McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line, which means lots of useful points, including toe hinges, but no thigh swivels. Unfortunately, the frustrating and unsightly ball jointed ankles are here, but they aren’t all that offensive on this figure. The puffy sculpt to the arms definitely impede the elbow movement, but he’s still plenty of fun to pose and play with. I like this figure a lot, and even if you aren’t all that into the movie, if you’re looking for a solid Pirate/Zoro/Swashbuckler in this scale, he’s just the ticket! Next up… Inigo Montoya.

If you killed his father, prepare to die! While I wouldn’t call the costume colorful, Inigo at least varies things up by going from all black to Earth tones. Here you The beige long sleeve shirt, belt, and charcoal tunic are all part of the same sculpt, both of which are cast in soft plastic and worn by the figure. The trousers are painted chocolate brown and there’s a bit of brown and charcoal on the boots to give them a worn and leathery look. The belt buckle has some sharp gold paint, adding a little splash of color. There’s nothing mind blowing here, but he looks pretty damn good!

The head sculpt sports a pretty solid likeness to Mandy Patinkin in the film, with maybe just a bit of a toony filter. The full coif is sculpted separately from the head and the mustache is pretty well done. You do get the infamous McFarlane side-eye, which was all the rage back when these figures were produced. Honestly, I don’t think it’s all that problematic here. The portrait is punctuated by the Inigo’s trademark pair of scars, one on each cheek. All in all, I think this portrait came out really well.

The articulation is identical to what we saw with Westley, although you can get a much tighter bend out of Inigo’s double-hinged elbows. There are slits in the sides of the tunic to keep from inhibiting the hip movement, and the ugly ankle ball joints are mostly concealed by the sculpted split-boots. I did, have some problems getting his ankle rockers to work, particularly the left one, but he may just need a hot bath.

I’m kind of torn on Inigo’s rapier. On the one hand, the hilt is a crazy complex design for this scale, and I think McFarlane did an admirable job recreating it, but it definitely feels oversized. But, I don’t want to come down on it too hard, because it would have probably been tough to do it any smaller, and it really does look just like the hilt on the screen-used prop. The blade, on the other hand, feels too small, but I think that’s just because the hilt is enlarged. I don’t recall whether Inigo had a scabbard or if he just thrust his rapier through his belt, but it would have been cool to at least have a loop so he could wear it. With all that having been said, this is another solid figure! Moving on to Princess Buttercup!

McFarlane made the ambitious choice to go with both sculpted plastic and softgoods to recreate Buttercup’s dress and I think it was a great idea. The arms and chest are plastic with fabric texturing, while the red cloth dress tucks in under the chest and cascades down to the ground. The cloth is light enough to fall about the figure naturally and I like the long train it leaves behind her. Very regal! Sure, the difference between textured plastic and cloth is obvious, but they did a very nice job matching the color and I think the end result looks great. The plastic belt is a little clunky, but it allows for a sharp gold printed pattern. The arms do suffer from what I like to call wizard sleeves, where they are sagging down no matter what position they’re in, but that sort of thing can’t be helped.

The portrait… well, it’s not the best likeness, that’s for sure, but I don’t think the likeness is totally off. I think the nose is the big problem here. Robin Wright’s nose looks a lot more prominent as she’s gotten older, but I don’t remember it being quite this pronounced when she was younger and in this role. This looks more like a House of Cards Robin Wright nose. Again, you get the side eye, which is off-putting in a lot of poses. I will say that they did a fantastic job sculpting her hair, as it’s both complex and extremely sharp. The tiny earrings are impressive too. In the end, the portrait is not a disaster, but there’s room for improvement.

Buttercup has full articulation under that skirt, with her legs completely sculpted in red plastic to match the dress. Obviously, by going with softgoods, she doesn’t suffer from teepee syndrome, where the legs are useless because of a plastic cone dress. Unfortunately, she doesn’t come with any accessories. Maybe, the softgoods ate up the budget for extras, but just a couple accessories would have been nice. A plastic blindfold to slip over her head? Or maybe a dagger? To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to like this figure much, but I’m actually quite pleased with how she turned out.

The final figure in the initial assortment is the Mega Figure Fezzik and he sure is big! There’s a lot of cool things going on here and a few not so great thing. The outfit is just fantastic. The burlap-style tunic is all cast in soft plastic and worn by the figure and boy is the texture executed perfectly. Even the way it’s sculpted to cinch around the belt looks pretty damn convincing, as does the cuffs on the sleeves overlap the wrists. The billowy pants have some striped texturing and the boots feature a leather-like finish. The articulation takes a big step back with rotating hinges in the knees and ankles instead of double hinges, but that’s understandable. One thing I don’t like is the lack of wrist rotation and the big clunky hinges they used for the wrists. That’s just a poor design choice.

And alas, the portrait here is kind of a mess. I’m not sure if it’s the sculpt or the paint or a bit of both, but the likeness came out really cartoony and I’m not a big fan of the Bob Ross hair piece. Also, those mutton chops are awful. It looks like shit is literally leaking out his ears and onto his cheeks. I mean, sure I can tell it’s Andre the Giant, but with a head this big, it seems like they could have done a little better.

Fezzik comes with two accessories: A rock and a peanut. The peanut isn’t so much an accessory but a reference to a line where Fezzik and Inigo are making rhymes and Fezzik says, “Anyone want a peanut.” There was no peanut. It was a joke. And that makes the accessory kind of bewildering, especially since there’s no way for him to even hold it or interact with it. The rock is decent enough.

The final figure is Vizzini, and he was the only figure included in the second assortment that wasn’t a variant. He sports a pretty complex green tunic with a deep cut grid and circlets in each of the squares. Like the other dudes in this wave, the tunic is sculpted separately from the body in soft plastic, but look at those arms! He reminds me of George Costanza in the Gortex coat. The arms hand down in an awkward fashion and the upper body makes his legs seem really disproportionately small. It’s a shame because there really is some very nice sculpt and paintwork on this outf.

The portrait is decent enough, but like Westley I think they went overboard on the five o’clock shadow. Also, the side eye is especially egregious here. Still, I think the likeness to Wallace Shawn is mostly there and when combined with Playmates old Grand Nagus figure from their Star Trek line, I can proudly say that I now have two Wallace Shawn figures in my collection!

The articulation here is obviously hindered a lot by those arm sculpts, although I think the figure looks much better with the arms raised than awkwardly hanging down. The puffy sculpted sleeves grant very limited range in those elbows, similar to what we saw with Westley. Everything from the waist down is standard McFarlane fare.

Vizzini does come with a pair of chalices. Is one of them poisoned, or both!?!

I like these figures, I’m glad to own them, but I’m also glad I didn’t spend full price on them. Even the usual sales didn’t tempt me until they hit the bottom of the clearance bin. All told, I think I spent a little over $50 on them all, which is like buying two and getting the rest for free. The variant versions of each figure are starting to hit some pretty low clearance prices at different sites, but I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got. Ultimately, I think these figures range from really good to pretty average, but it’s nice to see the movie getting some action figure love. Super7 did show off a wave of retro-style Princess Bride ReAction figures, and oddly enough those are hitting some sites at clearance prices while they’re still on pre-order, and I can’t even wrap my head around that.

By figurefanzero
0
Apr 12 2024

Halo: Warthog and Master Chief by Jazwares

Halo and I have had our ups and downs together. I adored the first game and still think it’s one of the best games to ever launch with a console. I’ve played it through at least a dozen times, and I’m long overdue for a revisit. Halo 2 disappointed me, because I did not like the bait-and-switch that forced you to play half the game as a filthy Covenant. Halo 3 must have been pretty forgettable, because I have no memory of it. And I kind of liked Halo 4, which I think is at odds with most people. I have yet to play any of the other games, but I’m pretty sure I own all of them. With that preamble aside, I have a lot of nostalgia for the property and I like to pick up the toys now and then. The last one I checked out here was a surprisingly good and cheap 12-inch figure by Jazwares, and today I’m checking out their 4-inch scale Warthog with Master Chief.

To be honest, the only reason I bought this toy is because it turned up on Amazon at half-off and for fifteen bucks, I decided to give it a try. After it arrived and I played around with it for a short while, I was so impressed that I quickly ordered up a second while it was still on sale, so that should give you an idea where this review is going. The iconic vehicle comes in an enclosed box with a cut out to show the included figure, and boy does the art on the front of this box give me the feels. It’s kind of weird to have nostalgia for a game that was released when I was 23 years old, but I guess the older you get, the more that window of what’s nostalgic just opens wider and wider. One strange thing about the packaging is that you have to look really hard to find the manufacturer, and when you do, it’s listed as Wicked Cool Toys. And it turns out that WCT is a subsidiary of Jazwares, and I simply can’t understand why Jazwares wouldn’t want to stamp their name on a toy this good. Maybe it’s a licensing issue. Anyway, the Warthog comes out of the box nearly completely assembled. You just have to put the machine gun on the back, plug in the antenna, and load up the extra gas cans. Let’s take a look, and we’ll start with the Master Chief figure.

I don’t have any experience with this 4-inch line, so I wasn’t expecting much from a figure packed in with a vehicle. Suffice it to say I was pretty pleased when I got this little guy in hand and started playing around with him. The sculpt is decently detailed, albeit a bit soft, there’s a fair bit of dry brushing to give the olive green armor some weathering and character, as well as some black scoring where he took a hit on his chest. The exposed parts of the suit between the armor is all painted black, and naturally John-117 has his tiny 117 printed on his chest. There are some silver paint hits on some of the suit details and the visor is painted in a metallic gold finish. Chief comes with his trusty United Nations Space Command Battle Rifle, which can peg into his back or held and ready for action.

I think the articulation is what surprised me the most about this little Chief. He’s got rotating hinges in his shoulders, elbows, hips, and ankles. His neck is ball jointed and he’s got another under the chest. His wrists swivel and he’s got double hinged knees. I can get some great poses out of this fella and I absolutely love how he can even draw his rifle up to his shoulder to aim down the barrel. I’ve got plenty of 6-inch scale figures that can’t even do that! OK, let’s move on to the Warthog!

These days, I expect toy vehicles found at retail to be mostly hollow, cheap plastic, and have minimal paint apps. This Warthog is the complete opposite of all that. The build quality is fantastic and it has a nice heft to it, especially for a 4-inch scale vehicle. The detail in the sculpt is off the charts, with no expense spared at giving this war machine all the character it deserves. Sure, there’s the more obvious stuff like the vents, latches, hatches, stepping bars, and grab bars on the body, but then you’ve got the insane attention to detail in the undercarriage, where you can see the suspension straight through to the shock absorbers behind the wheels. There’s s non-functioning winch with a hook hanging off the front and you get some big beefy treads in the plastic tires. The deco is also superb, with plenty of dry brushing to simulate abrasions where the paint has rubbed down to the bare steel. You also get various UNSC tampos and emblems placed about the vehicles body. Overall, I think this vehicle looks more like a mid to higher grade model than it does a toy, and yet it’s rugged as all hell and rolls along great.

The machine gun can raise and lower, and it also rotates at the base, but it is very hard to turn it. I think they overdid it a bit with the friction to keep it in place. It’s actually easier to pull it out and pop it back in the direction you want it pointing. There’s a foot peg to help secure the figure to the base and a couple of handles for him to grab.

The four gas cans on the back are each removable, with one attaching flat against the rear tailgate and the other three tabbing in on their sides.

In addition to the gunner, the Warthog holds a driver and passenger in the front cabin and Master Chief fits in quite nicely despite his bulky armor.

When you consider that I don’t really collect Halo toys, that I only bought this one because it was on deep discount, and that I have a huge backlog of stuff that I do collect, it really says something that I bumped the Warthog up to the front of the review queue. I was just so impressed with this toy I wanted to give it it some recognition. Sure, a lot of the wow factor comes from getting it for $15, but even if I had paid twice (which I believe was the original MSRP), I would have been equally happy. It seems like when Hasbro releases something approaching this quality in their Star Wars Vintage Collection line it would be at least $50-60 and it might not even include a figure. Now… I may just have to pick up one of the figure packs so I can get this Warthog fully loaded!

Apr 10 2024

DC Multiverse (Mega Figure) Mongul by McFarlane

My DC Multiverse collection has really ballooned in the short time I’ve been collecting it, and a lot of that has to do with the frequency that these figures go on sale. And one of my favorite types of Multiverse sale pick ups are the Mega Figures, which tend to show up at deep discounts. I like that McFarlane does these, as they tend to outclass the Collect-To-Build figures by quite a bit and they usually look pretty damn impressive on the shelf. Plus, Mongul has always a favorite of mine, so I was glad to pick this one up at about half price. Let’s check him out…

The Mega Figures come in huge window boxes, which are generally just XXL versions of the regular Multiverse releases. You get the same clean black box with the blue comic panel collage background behind the tray. It’s mostly collector friendly, but you will have to tear the collector card and the stand off the backing if you want to get at them. The windows on the top and right panels let in more light, making MIB a great display option here, but these boxes are way too big for me to keep, so I pitch them. The collector card art is repeated on the back of the box and it’s a great piece of work, but doesn’t match the version of Mongul we get in the box. Indeed, I really have no idea what version of Mongul they were going for here, as he feels like an original design that borrows from a number of different appearances. Sometimes, the source material will be called out on the side panel, but in this case it’s just labeled Superman’s Villains.

The Ruler of War World comes out of the box looking to be quite the imposing brute. Despite his large size, he’s a little light on the heft as I suspect the torso is hollow. That’s not really a knock against the figure, as the quality and build still feels great. He’s rocking the sleeveless look to show off his big orange vein-popping guns and sports a dark blue one piece with purple leggings. He’s got a high-tech silver shoulder harness with an energy source pulsing in the center, and matching silver belt and boots. The ensemble is finished off with a pair of green bracers on his forearms. The coloring here is very well done with the darker purple and blue contrasting beautifully with the very premium silver finish. And of course the orange skin and green bracers add a lot of pop to this palette. As for gripes, I would have loved to see a paint wash over the skin to bring out some of that sculpted detail, and my figure has a bit of silver paint transfer from the armor to the skin on his shoulders.

The head sculpt is fantastic with some excellent creases in the forehead and bridge of the nose to give him some expressive character. The deep set eyes are blood red and there’s some black paint around the edges, making it look like the skin is charred from the immense power contained within those peepers. But, I think the real showcase on this portrait is the evil smile and wall of nasty teeth. The sculpt and paintwork are absolutely on point here! The window in his armor, on the other hand, could have used some more flare. I’m assuming they were going for a pulsing glow, but it just looks like a white dot on a green platform. Some translucent plastic would have looked great here, but barring that it just needed a bit more work to make that painted area more convincing.

As for articulation, Mongul has all the right points, but some of them don’t offer as much range of motion as I would like. And the biggest offenders are those elbows. They’re set on simple hinges and because the sculpted biceps and those arm bracers are at odds, he can’t even pull of a 90-degree bend. The legs make out much better with a decent range of motion in the hips, double hinges in the knees, hinges and rockers in the ankles, and hinges in the toes. There’s a ball joint in the waist and neck. There are no extra hands, but with a left fist and a right graspy hand, he’s got some different display options covered. Even with the limitations, this guy is still a lot of fun to play around with.

I think the design of this figure looks great, but I’d love to know where McFarlane used as their source material because I’ve known Mongul since the 80s and I don’t recall ever seeing him look exactly like this. It’s certainly possible he’s from a more recent appearance that I haven’t encountered, but as I mentioned earlier, sometimes I think McFarlane just comes up with original designs that are amalgamations of past appearances. And that begs the question, why not just pick an iconic appearance and go with that one? But in the end, there’s no question of who it is, and I ended up really digging this figure a lot. And since I have no shortage of Superman figures in my DC Multiverse collection, he’s going to look damn good duking it out with The Man of Steel on my shelf. It also doesn’t hurt that I picked him up for about $20!

Apr 8 2024

RoboCop: Officer Alex J Murphy by NECA

NECA is certainly no stranger to the RoboCop license, as they’ve been producing figures based on the movies and comics and video games for well over a decade now. Of course, the overwhelming majority of those releases have been different versions of RoboCop himself, with the odd foray into ED-209, and that leaves a lot of ground uncovered for potential figures. I’ve gone on record before about RoboCop being on my list of what I consider to be perfect movies, so naturally I’ll take whatever merchandise I can get. Personally, I always wanted them to do a series of figures based on the failed RoboCop experiments, but more realistically, I just wanted Officers Murphy and Lewis. And now we finally have a pre-cyborg version of Alex!

Murphy is part of the NECA’s Ultimate line, which just means it is fully articulated and has a bunch of extras. I seem to recall the Ultimate moniker came about to distinguish these from the more static releases of their Cult Classic days. The figure comes in the usual window box with a front flap secured by velcro, but instead of using artwork or photos for the front they just plastered a giant OCP and RoboCop logo as well as Murphy’s badge number. I dig this, as it’s almost like a memorial plaque. Besides, there are plenty of photos of the figure on the inside flap and back and side panels to help sell the goods. There are a few ways to display this figure, so let’s start with how he comes out of the box, and then things are going to get gruesome, so if plastic gore triggers you, you may want to dip out before the end.

Officer Murphy comes out of the box wearing his tactical vest and helmet. While this is an excellent representation of the uniform and gear he wore in the film, it doesn’t necessarily allow for a lot of wow factor when it comes to sculpt and paint. The only insignia and color present on the otherwise completely blue and black fatigues are his OCP shoulder patches. Still, there is plenty of detail in the rumples and wrinkles of the uniform. He also has sculpted knee pads and pockets and some especially nice flourishes in the utility belt, which includes some magazine pouches, a handcuff pouch and what looks like a tube of mace. He also has a functional holster on his right hip with a flap that tabs into place. The removable vest is actually worn by the figure, and it looks great without being too bulky. If you’ve handled NECA’s Ultimate figures before, the articulation here holds no surprises. There are a lot of rotating hinges and his elbows are even doubled up!

The stock head features a permanently attached helmet, with chin straps that are part of the head sculpt. There’s a clear shield that can be raised and lowered, which is a pretty cool touch. I think the likeness to Peter Weller is really good, but the expression makes him look puzzled. I think it’s the raised eyebrows that’s doing it. I guess it could work well enough for some scenes, but I would have liked something a little more neutral. I do really love how they did the printing on his eyes and the texturing in the skin is excellent.

A second portrait gives you the option to go with no helmet, which is pretty much the same facial sculpt but with the chin straps removed and his fully realized coif of hair. Again, I think it’s a great likeness, but I still get that sense of a puzzled expression. There’s a third head too, but we’ll save that for later.

Murphy comes with five hands total. You get a set of relaxed hands, a set of trigger finger hands, and a right hand that’s designed to pose him twirling his gun just like TJ Lazer does on the TV! You even get two versions of his gun, one with the trigger guard slightly elongated to work better with the twirling hand and one designed for the trigger finger hand.

The second display option for Officer Murphy is to remove his tactical vest It’s not as exciting, but you do get to see all the extra detail they put into his uniform shirt. The vest is easily removed by unpegging the right side under his arm. You can then pop off both arms and just slide it up and off. And here’s where we get into the gory stuff…

“Well, give the man a hand!” Murphy’s execution scene is so horrific and hard to watch that it still makes me flinch after seeing it dozens of times. But it’s not the gore, it’s the abject cruelty in which it’s done, as Clarence Boddicker and his gang so flippantly torture Murphy to death with gunfire. And oh boy does Peter Weller sell it with his performance! It’s also a scene that drives home not only what a terrible place future Detroit is, but how totally evil the villains of the movie are. So, for starters you get the exploded hand piece that pegs into the right wrist, and the screaming head. The hand gore is pretty gross, but it’s the masterfully expressive sculpt on this screaming head that really sells it and the other pieces that recreate that scene.

Next, you get a bloody stump to replace his right arm. The sculpt includes the shredded remains of the uniform sleeve and some gross texturing where the arm was blown away.

And finally, a second vest riddled with bullet wounds, where Murphy’s torso just gets obliterated by the gang’s gunfire. The damage to the vest is convincingly done and the holes are filled in with glossy red paint. This is most definitely not the way I’ll be displaying the figure, but it’s cool to have the option.

NECA really went all out on this figure, but it’s what I’ve come to expect from their Ultimate releases. The wide range of display options makes for a great value and tempting for me to pick up a second. I also gotta say it took guts (no pun intended) to release the options to recreate the execution scene. Sure, NECA produces a lot of slasher figures and monsters, but to me seeing this kind of human suffering in action figure form trumps all the Freddys and Leatherfaces and Jasons in terms of shock horror. It’s not a criticism, mind you. I applaud it. But I also don’t think this figure should find it’s way onto Target or Walmart shelves where little kids can get at it. Now it would be great if NECA could get likeness rights to Nancy Allen so we can get an Officer Lewis figure too.

By figurefanzero
1
Apr 5 2024

ThunderCats Ultimates: Willa by Super7

With new waves of both GI JOE and Silverhawks Ultimates arriving, Super7 has been shipping a lot of figures this year and I’m going to have to put in some extra time just to keep my head above water. But since I’ve already started digging into the most recent wave of ThunderCats with Snarf, let’s press on through and try to put this one to bed with a look at Willa, Queen of the Warrior Maidens!

Willa was one of those recurring characters in the cartoon that sadly never got the figure treatment from LJN, so naturally I was really looking forward to her release. These treetop-dwelling battle-vixens were pretty strong allies for the ThunderCats to have in their fight for survival on their new home plasnet. Besides, if I found myself crash landing on Third Earth and my closest neighbors are auto-tuning robot bears or hot warrior maidens, I know where I’d be hanging out the most! Willa comes in the standard style Ultimates packaging with a sleeve over a window box. You get some character art and a little blurb about Willa on the back, and everything is collector friendly!

And Willa does indeed look like she dropped right out of the cartoon and into my hands! She dons her ragged cut dress made out of what I always presumed to be some kind of exotic orange animal skins, a double belt, which suspends a dagger in a scabbard on her waist, and some gold bangles sculpted onto her left wrist and both her ankles. The costume is pretty simple, but that’s in keeping with the character’s appearance on screen and I think Super7 did a beautiful job translating it to figure form. I was happy to see the bangles were sculpted and not worn by the figure, as this way they stay put as intended and the ones on her wrist don’t fall out when I swap hands. What I don’t care for is that the use of skin tone colored bare plastic used for the arms and legs doesn’t quite match the flesh tone that’s painted in the exposed area around her neck and chest. Maybe she just got extra tan up there? Yeah, it’s not ideal, but I can live with it.

You get two head sculpts to choose from: One serious and one smiling. I think both are excellent, but I’m going to go with the first one for regular display. I think it suits the character more, as she is a warrior maiden after all. Also, I get a bit more of a Disney Princess vibe off the second head. Both portraits feature the large flower she wears under her right ear and the ponytail down her left shoulder.

Naturally, you get a lot of hands to choose from, each fitted with hinged pegs. These include fists, grasping hands, accessory holding hands, flat hands, and a right hand for drawing her bow string. The articulation is what I’ve come to expect from this line, which means rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles. You get ball joint in the neck and under the chest, as well as ball joints in the hips with some extra lateral movement and slits in the sides of the skirt to allow for greater range of motion there. She also has lateral rockers in the ankles to keep her feet planted flat on the floor in wide stances.

Her curved dagger is removable and can be wielded in her right or left hand. It’s pretty small, but has some silver paint for the blade, guard and pommel and a black and red pattern on the grip.

Of course, Willa’s weapon of choice is the bow, and hers comes with a black string. And thank God for that, because I absolutely hate it when figures in this scale have plastic strings on their bows. The bow is red with sculpted yellow wrapping around the middle and both ends. She also sports a quiver with a number of arrows permanently sculpted inside it. The quiver has a soft plastic strap to allow her to wear it on her shoulder. Yeah, in the cartoon it was often worn around her waist but I prefer it off the shoulder.

There are two loose arrows included: One regular and one which looks like a bomb or unlit fire arrow. I was surprised that even with the limited range in the elbows, I could still get her to draw the bow and knock the arrow pretty well.

And the final accessory is Willa’s pet spider, Bushy, who can serve as a sort of living grappling hook. Bushy is just a static piece with no articulation, but they did a great job on the sculpt and paint for such a little bugger.

If I actually had any ThunderCats toys as a kid, I could say that I’ve been waiting 40 years for a figure like this, but I can say that I still remember going over my friend’s house to play with his ridiculously large collection of Thunder Kitties and realizing there was no Willa or Nayda and that always made me sad. Either way, Super7 is really doing an admirable job of knocking these cartoon styled figures off my wishlist. And boy do I hope to see Nayda turn up in a future wave! Heck, I’ll go one step further… let’s see a wave of Warrior Maidens similar to how they did the Mutant Reptile troop builders, because I would be all over that!