Monthly Archives: October 2011

Oct 2 2011

Perfect Dark: Joanna Dark 1:6 Scale Figure by Blue Box

It’s going to be a slow week for acquisitions, as I’ve got some other financial responsibilities. Nonetheless, the show must go on and so I’m spending a good part of this week poking around my toy closet for some older stuff that’s worth checking out. Today’s installment is takes us back into the world of video games for BBi’s 1:6 scale Joanna Dark figure. While I still try to put in some time behind the controller, I’m not the gamer that I was ten or so years ago and as far as Perfect Dark goes, I wasn’t a huge fan of the franchise. I did have a good amount of fun playing the original on the N64 back in the day, but I thought the Xbox 360 sequel was thoroughly wretched and could never be bothered to finish it. Nonetheless, I do enjoy picking up the occasional 1:6 scale figure, especially if its a bad ass femme fatale and Joanna certainly fit the bill when BBi produced a couple of figures based on her.

Joanna comes in a sturdy half tube with a window that shows off the figure very nicely. It’s a pretty compact design that doesn’t waste any space and yet doesn’t sacrifice anything in terms of presentation. Granted, it wouldn’t work so well with a lot of current 12-inchers on the market as they tend to come with a lot more accessories than Joanna does. The accessories she does come with are discretely taped inside the bubble and there are indentations for her feet on the bottom of the tube for her to stand. The backdrop of the tube’s interior has a computer style readout and circuit schematics printed on it. Needless to say, this packaging is extremely collector friendly. The back panel shows off this figure as well as the other Joanna Dark figure that BBi produced [which we just might be checking out tomorrow! – FF]                                
Out of the tube, we find that Joanna comes in a pretty simple, one-piece, black pleather body suit. The arms have a cool coiled, ribbing to them, but apart from that, it’s pretty straight forward, with excellent stitching, but not a lot of detailing. It does fit the figure very well, and zips up in the back. The suit is augmented by a simple belt that hangs loose on her hips, a thigh strap on her left leg, and a shoulder harnass with a holster for her sidearm.
I think Blue Box did a remarkable job with Joanna’s head sculpt, particularly when you keep in mind that this is an older figure without a high end price tag. The face is pretty and the paintwork is far better than I’ve seen on some recent contenders from other companies. BBi went with sculpted hair, which was probably a good call cosidering her short hairstyle and the price point of the figure.
Joanna is wonderfully articulated, although I’ll beg the pardon of the hardcore 1:6 scale collectors if I don’t count off every joint. I realize that the subtle differences in articulation on these figures is of paramount importance, but getting her suit on and off to study the joints is a real bitch. Suffice it to say she has a very articulated body, with soft rubbery hands to help her grip accessories, and a pair of flat feet inside her boots.
It’s only in the accessories that Joanna comes up ridiculously short. I’ve taken the liberty of digging through my 1:6 scale armory to provide her with some additional firepower, (I think she looks particularly great with the combat shotgun) but keep in mind that she only comes with one weapon and that’s her tiny little automatic pistol. She can easily hold the pistol in her right hand and it fits nicely into her holster. The pistol has a removable clip, complete with a tiny copper bullet painted in at the top of the magazine.
I seem to recall this figure retailing for around $19.99 when first released. I picked up both of these in the corner of an indie game shop on clearance. I think they were about $10 each.  I’m tempted to say she’s an amazing figure for that price, but then I think she’d be a really solid figure for even twice that. The body and head sculpt are both excellent, articulation is solid, and her outfit is nicely tailored and fits well. The only place she stumbles is in the lack of weaponry or accessories, and that’s something BBi could have easily fixed. Joanna doesn’t turn up on Ebay as much as she used to, but you can still sometimes find her in the $30 range. I’m sure the Perfect Dark franchise doesn’t have the appeal it once did, but if you’re into this scale and want a solid female action figure to add to your collection, you can do much worse than Joanna Dark.
Oct 1 2011

Young Justice: 4-inch Series, Wave 2: Vandal Savage and Black Canary

Time to round out the second wave of Mattel’s 4-inch Young Justice figures. This time around we finally get one very cool baddie in figure form and another single-carded adult hero to add to our collection. It’s Vandal Savage and Black Canary. And since these are the last two figures from the assortment, we’ll check in and see how the Hall of Justice C&C set is coming along.

Cool packaging? …check. I’ve said all I have to say about the Young Justice carded figures. I’m still really digging on the packages. Once again the back panel of the card contains the character portrait and bio blurb as well as an illustration of what parts your getting for the Collect & Connect Hall of Justice.
Let’s kick it off with Vandal Savage. Savage has been committed to figure form before by DC Direct, but surprisingly he has yet to appear in the DC Universe Classics line. Either way, this is the first time I’ve owned the character as an action figure and I really like what Mattel did with him. The figure features all new tooling, which is a nice change from the reuse of parts and the similar styles we’ve seen in a lot of the figures through the first two waves. He retains more of his cromagnin features than some of his past character designs, and certainly a lot more than his DC Direct figure. His overcoat is cast in soft, rubbery plastic ands certainly makes him look distinctive in this line of otherwise bland bucks. The head sculpt is pretty good, and I like the red coloring on the eyes, as well as the glossy finish on his boots and gloves.
Vandal features the basic five points of articulation that is standard for this line. He has a rotating head, his arms rotate at the shoulders and his legs rotate at the hips. He also comes with a chunk of meteor that has granted him his immortal status. It just looks like a yellow-grey blob and it’s really tough to get him to hold it, but then accessories have been more or less throwaways for this line so far.
On the flipside is Black Canary, who has been released as a figure a whole bunch of times and in a whole bunch of scales. In addition to this one, I already have the character in the Infinite Heroes line and in DC Universe Classics, and I’ve come pretty close to picking her up in 1:6 scale a couple of times. Like Vandal, Canary is a completely new sculpt, but that’s to be expected since she’s the first 4-inch female figure in this Young Justice line. She’s still pretty simple, but I really like the headsculpt and the paint apps on the face are nice and clean. I was never that crazy about the Infinite Heroes version, so I’m particularly happy to have this one in my collection.
Yep, you get the same five points of articulation here, and it’s praticularly irksome with Black Canary, since you can’t get any decent action poses out of her. They might as well have just sculpted her standing in mid scream. She does comes with her battle staff.
And there it is, the Hall of Justice as it stands with all the pieces from Wave 1 and 2. I’m a little peeved that Wave 2 leaves us with parts that can’t be connected. The first batch of figures was good about allowing you to connect what you’ve got, but here I’m left with two extra parts until I can get the next assortment of figures. Just to recap, there are 12 figures bundled with HoJ parts spread out through three waves, so that means I’ve still got four figures to go before getting this baby complete.
And there’s Wave 2. The third Wave of Young Justice 4-inchers is slated for the Fall, so I’m hoping they hit the shelves soon. Considering two of them are repaints, it shouldn’t be too much work to get them out. I can’t say as I’m jonesing for the Wave 3 figures so much, but dang I am really excited to finally get my Hall of Justice completed. As for the figures themselves, yes I still regard these figures as woefully overpriced, so if you haven’t picked up any of these yet, proceed with caution.