Yearly Archives: 2012

Sep 8 2012

Marvel Universe: Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel by Hasbro

[Ok, one last update for what has become a Marvel/DC Week. I’ve still got a lot of this stuff to get to, but I’m going to take tomorrow off and then come back on Monday with a promise to give the Marvel/DC stuff a rest for next week. –FF]

It’s what we like to call a “two-fer” today. Why? Well, just because. I’ve had this pair sitting in my new pile for a while, even though neither of them are new releases. A long while ago, I checked out the modern version of Ms. Marvel, but this classic version has become all the more relevant since the second season of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Let’s give them both a quick looksy…

Marvel Universe packaging and nothing new here. Both figures feature some pretty solid character art on the card and both look great in their bubbles. They obviously come from different waves as the SHIELD emblem is different. Ms Marvel includes the Top Secret SHIELD files envelope and collector card that I used to love getting with these figures. Captain Marvel doesn’t have the envelope or card, but he does come with the more practical figure stand.

Captain Marvel is as simple an MU figure as you can get. His body relies almost entirely on a painted buck for detail. Thankfully the paintwork on this figure is excellent. The blue and gold on red plastic looks great and there’s virtually no slop or bleeding to speak of. The gilded starburst emblem on his chest stands out very nicely. The head sculpt is definitely one of Hasbro’s better efforts, and all in all this guy looks like a shrunken down version of Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Captain Marvel from their initial stab at that 6” line. And yes, that’s a very good thing.

Captain Marvel is based on one of the older bucks of the line, and that means the articulation isn’t what we’ve been seeing in some of the newer figures that have come since. You get ball joints in the head, shoulders, and hips. The arms feature hinged elbows and swivels in the thighs and wrists. The legs feature double-hinged knees, along with hinges and swivels in the ankles. The torso has a ball joint that serves as a swivel and ab crunch.

And that brings us to Classic Ms. Marvel. She was a variant in her wave, sharing the slot with the Modern Ms. Marvel. Both figures use the exact same body, with the only sculpting differences being the head and the inclusion of a red scarf, around Modern’s waist and around Classic’s neck. The new head sculpt features her shorter hair and older style mask. I have no problems with the sculpting work here, it looks great, but the flesh tone plastic looks waxy.

The paintwork on Ms. Marvel is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s applied very well and escapes all of the horrible slop and bleeding that plagues my Modern Ms. Marvel figure. The red plastic looks good and the yellow starburst pattern feels more appropriate then going with the gold paint used on Captain Marvel. So what’s the problem? Hasbro went with blue paint highlights on the black parts of her costume. It doesn’t look so bad to the casual eye, but if you inspect the figure under any kind of really good light, it looks downright awful.

Speaking of downright awful, Ms. Marvel suffers from some really dated articulation. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, and thighs. The arms feature hinged elbows and swivels in the wrists. The legs have double-hinged knees and hinges and swivels in the ankles. The torso has the same ball joint as Captain Marvel. At the very least, this figure is screaming for swivels in the biceps, but the lack of the same in the thighs is really frustrating too.

In the end, I’d say these figures are fairly solid, but far from great. Captain Marvel strikes me as the better of the two. Yes, he’s lacking some points of articulation, but the head sculpt is spot on and the paintwork is good. Ms. Marvel really screams for better articulation, and the blue highlights in the black parts of her costume remind me of some of that terrible first run of Comic Packs that Hasbro did for Star Wars. Still, I do like her better than my Modern Ms. Marvel, but considering that figure’s issues, it isn’t exactly high praise.

Sep 7 2012

Marvel Universe: Guardians of the Galaxy by Hasbro

It is a great time to be a Marvel comic book fan, when even characters that were once considered second or third tier are not only getting their own figures, but also huge budget movies. While I’m not sure the movie-going audience is as ready for Rocket Raccoon and company as they are for The Avengers, it’ll be an interesting experiment to see just how much hardcore nerd culture the general populace will stomach for their entertainment. Either way, this set must be somewhat popular with collectors, since it took me forever to finally find one on the shelf. When I did a week or so back, I promptly snatched it up.

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Hasbro has done a number of these multi-packs for the Marvel Universe. I’ve looked at both versions of the Fantastic Four set, and the packaging here is the same general idea. The set includes Starlord, Drax the Destroyer, Groot as a sapling, and Rocket Raccoon. The figures come in a nice window box that features awesome character art and shows off the goods quite well. The package is also totally collector friendly, which is cool because my MU shelves are getting so cramped that I have been storing all my multi-pack figures in their boxes.

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Let’s go ahead and start with Starlord. He’s a really cool figure and quite impressive considering that he’s almost a complete reuse of the AIM Soldier body, which was also repurposed for Ghost Rider. The only new sculpting here is the belt, which is sculpted to include the bottom part of his tunic, a new collar, and naturally a new head. I’m pretty pleased with the head sculpt that packs an awful lot of detail and a rather complex design into such a small scale figure. The combination of military style helmet and mask fits the character perfectly and looks cool doing it. His hands are sculpted to hold each of his detailed… machine pistols? Well, that’s what they look like to me. I can’t place them… maybe they’re just reused, but they don’t look bad in the figure’s hands.

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But I think it’s the paintwork that really makes this figure stand out. The bulk of the uniform is blue, with a slight wash that I could have done without, but the red piping looks snazzy as all hell and the glossy black used for the belt and boots, coupled with the gold for his chest emblem and helmet ornamentation really wraps the whole thing up.

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The reuse of this particular body means that Starlord sports some solid articulation. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders and hips. The arms feature hinges in the elbows and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs feature double hinges in the knees, swivels in the thighs, and hinges and swivels in the ankles. The torso swivels at the waist and features a ball joint for an ab crunch.

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Next up is Drax the Destroyer, whom we last saw in the larger Marvel Legends format. Again, Drax recycles a body, this time the one used for Absorbing Man and modern Luke Cage. It’s a shirtless buck with trousers and it fits the character perfectly. There’s a newly sculpted belt hung around the waist, which includes two slots in the back so he can sheathe his two combat knives. That was a brilliant and unexpected touch! The grim head sculpt is perfect. I love the scowl, particularly the nose. Drax’s paintwork is about what you would expect. He has dark blue trousers and green skin, with a modest wash to it. All of his red tats are present, although they don’t quite come off as vibrant as they do on the Legends figure. Still, not bad for a guy in this scale.

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Drax’s articulation is a tad more limited than Starlord’s. Here you get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, and hips. The arms feature swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinged elbows. The legs feature double hinges in the knees and hinges and swivels in the ankles. The torso has the ball jointed ab crunch. What’s missing? The waist swivel and the thigh swivels.

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The critters of the set include Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Groot comes in his tiny sprig form, crouching in a tiny terra cotta planter. He’s an absolutely marvelous sculpt for such a tiny guy, but try not to sneeze when you’re holding him or you’ll lose him. Honestly, I’m not too upset that this little guy is all we got. With a GotG movie on the way, I’m sure we’ll see a proper Groot figure, either as part of MU or part of a separate movie line. My opinion on Rocket Raccoon is a little divided. On the one hand, it really is a hell of a nice sculpt with some excellent paintwork. Well, apart from the stray red mark on his eyebrow. I noticed that in the store, but it was the only set they had, so I had to go with it. On the other hand, I was at least expecting some basic articulation like swivels in the shoulders and hips. As it is he’s a totally static piece designed to hold his removable gun out in a “come get some” kind of taunting stance. I do really like his gun, complete with what looks like a missile on the top and a tiny little raccoon-sized bayonet.

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The going retail for this set is about $20, which is the same as the Fantastic Four and other MU multi-packs. It does seem a little bit steeper here, since you are only getting two full figures, instead of three, and both of which feature some heavy parts re-use. That having been said, I’m not going to argue with parts reuse when it’s done this well. Besides, this is certainly a niche set even by Marvel Universe standards and frankly I’m amazed to see something like it land on Big Box toy shelves, when by all logic it should be relegated to comic book and specialty shops. Oh, but then there’s that big movie release pending, so who knows, in a year or so we could see all kinds of Guardians of the Galaxy toys flooding the shelves. Wouldn’t that be something?

Sep 6 2012

DC Universe All Stars: Superboy Prime by Mattel

So, I’ve been having a little fun with DC Universe All Stars and about how despite all the hype on Mattel’s part about DCUC being completely rebranded as a new retail line, nothing has really changed in terms of the brand. We’ve got the same basic figure styles, same basic packaging. So let’s at least give it to Mattel that what they really meant was that DCUC was being rebranded as a concept, and was going to be spearheading the action figures based on the New 52 reboot. That’s why the first wave has included figures like New 52 Superman and Batman and now… uh… Superboy Prime? Ok. So scratch that idea too. Isn’t Superboy Prime one of the main players partly responsible for the whole thing the New 52 reboot was intending to get away from? Sigh… let’s press on…

Yes, it’s the new rebranded packaging that looks the same as the old packaging. At least having “Classics” left on the package makes sense now since this figure is from the old continuity. For all my poking fun at the lack of package changes, I’m still happy for it. It’s comforting to continue to see this familiar old style keep turning up, despite the line being officially dead and reinvented into something new. The back panel has the little blurb about Superboy Prime and pictures of the other three figures in this wave. This will be the third of the four that I’ve looked at here, and I’m probably going to pass on Red Robin.

Out of the package, we have Superboy Prime wearing his Anti-Monitor inspired armor and it is the armor that I dislike most about this figure. Take a look at the photo of the figure on the back of the package. It looks just like the early promotional images for the figure we’ve been seeing all along, right? Now take a look at the figure itself and you can see some major differences in the armor. The shoulder armor in the images has separate hoses that look really nice. The final figure has hoses sculpted onto the shoulder pieces and are painted like shit. There’s a ton of slop between the gold and the blue making it look like someone had it with a brush and some Testor’s model paint. I can’t tell you how disappointed this change made me. At least the hoses are real on the arms and legs, and the chest shield being part of the shoulder armor is kind of cool.

The figure under the armor is pretty decent. The head sculpt features Supes’ traditional cowlick and the prominent ears give him a youthful, almost dorky appearance. I also like the tattered sculpt used for the cape. Naturally, both hands are sculpted into fists for some “reality punching action.”

I’ve already pointed out how crappy the paint on the shoulder armor is. The paint on the rest of the figure is actually pretty decent, although there isn’t much else to speak of. The body is cast in a nice shade of blue plastic with the boots and super-undies painted matte red. I like the use of glittery blue paint on the arm and leg armor. There is a little scratching on the front of the gold belt, and the blue highlights in his hair are a bit weird.

Articulation? You know the drill. There are ball joints in the neck and shoulders. The arms have hinged elbows and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have universal joints in the hips, hinged knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso swivels at the waist and has an ab crunch hinge. The armor inhibits the articulation at the shoulders quite a bit. Thankfully the hoses on the arms and legs are soft and loose enough to not impede the rest of the figure’s articulation.

Who knows what Mattel was attempting with the whole “DCUC is dead and will be rebranded into something new” malarkey? (Yes, I used the word malarkey, dammit! Deal with it!) They could have been trying to fool retailers into carrying the figures again, but then I haven’t seen any of the new All Stars in any of the Big Box toy aisles. They could have been using it as a scare tactic to try to push the Signature Collection as a subscription line to cut out middlemen and up the profits. Or they could have just had different plans that somehow went tits up. I distinctly recall the initial teasers for All Stars having all New 52 versions of the characters, rather than this mix of old and new. Honestly I would have preferred that arrangement, especially in light of how Superboy Prime turned out. He’s not the worst figure I’ve ever picked up, but he’s a blatant bait and switch between the early proto and the final figure, and had I seen him on the pegs, instead of buying him blind online, I would have taken a pass. At least I didn’t wind up paying a premium for him.

Sep 5 2012

DC Universe All Stars: “New 52” Superman

Time to check out the second New 52 treatment in Mattel’s DC Universe Classics line… oops, I mean All Stars. Make no mistake, this isn’t DCUC, that line was cancelled. This is something brand new. You can tell just by looking at the package…

Yep, there’s nothing at all familiar here. We just saw this packaging a few days ago with New 52 Batman, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time on it. It still looks great to me. The back panel of the card has a blurb about Superman, just in case you don’t know who the hell he is, right? The bottom of the card shows the other three figures that make up this wave. Let’s rip it open and get Supes out…

Once again, your mileage with this figure will depend a lot on how you feel about the New 52 costumes. Batman’s wasn’t all that much different than what we’re used to, but Superman here breaks from tradition a bit more. It’s still a blue outfit, red cape, and giant “S” shield on his chest, but as they say, the devil is in the details, and a number of the iconic details have changed up a bit. The most obvious is the omission of the red “underwear” which seems to bother fans the most. The belt has gone from yellow to red, there are panel lines in the costume, giving it a slight armored look, and he’s now sporting a high collar. But in the end the design is what it is, and we’re here to see how well the figure pulls it off…

Pretty damn well, I think. First off, the size difference doesn’t seem as apparent on this figure as it did with Batman. Yes, New 52 Supes seems a little slighter when standing next to my DCUC Supes, but they’re roughly the same height and they can certainly hang on my shelf together. The second thing that grabs my eye the most is the new head sculpt. It really does a great job matching the new, more youthful guise of the New 52’s comic book counterpart. I like it a lot. Next up is the glorious sculpted chest shield. Yes, just as with Batman, DC pointed out in one of the early issues of Justice League that the emblem on Superman’s chest should be raised in any 3D recreations and Mattel answered the call. The difference between a sculpted emblem and one that is just painted on makes a huge difference to me. As with Batman, the panel lines on Supes’ costume are downplayed a bit. I think I would have liked to see them more pronounced.

I’ve always been a fan of Superman’s colors scheme and this figure’s coloring really pleases the eye. The blue plastic used for the body suit is vibrant and spot on and meshes beautifully with the red plastic used for the cape. The paintwork on the chest shield is immaculate and the use of glossy red paint for the boots is certainly welcome. There’s no slop or bleeding to speak of and everything looks snazzy and fresh.

The only things here that I’m not all too keen on are the belt, the wrist cuffs, and the emblem on the cape. The cape emblem is just tampoed on in drab black ink and doesn’t really match the colorful snap of the rest of the figure. The belt is oddly un-centered. I’m not sure if this is a stylistic point that I missed from the comic artwork or not. Either way, it’s not a huge deal. As for the cuffs, well that’s just a sticking point I have with the design, not the figure.

How about articulation? Well, I realize this All Stars line is brand new *cough* so you might not know what to expect. Surprisingly, the articulation is identical to the old DCUC line. Imagine that! You get a ball jointed head; the arms feature ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have that same universal movement from the old DCUC line, hinged knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso swivels at the waist and features the ubiquitous ab crunch hinge. Nope, no surprises here!

In the end, I really like this figure a lot. It’s definitely fresh and new and it hits all the points of the redesign quite well. The sculpting is all around solid and the coloring is gorgeous. I’m not prepared to toss my original DCUC Superman figure into a tote and give this one his space on the shelf, but I respect the changes, probably more than most vocal fans, and the figure really does it all… dare I say it? Justice!

Sep 4 2012

Marvel Legends: Yellowjacket by Hasbro

I’ll be frank: The wait for the next wave of Marvel Legends is killing me. To remedy that, I’ve been trawling some of my old haunts and picking up some of the older Marvel Legends figures that I wanted back into my collection. Yeah, selling these things off was not one of my better moves. As a result, I’ll be looking at a lot of these in the coming months leading up to the release of the next Wave. Today we’re checking out one of my favorite Marvel characters, the deliciously flawed and deeply complex Hank Pym as his Yellowjacket persona.

Hasbro’s earlier package design for the Marvel Legends wasn’t that bad, but it isn’t as delightfully obnoxious as the current style. Nonetheless, the principal is the same with the character art on the upper left corner and various comic panel shots running down the right of the bubble. Yellowjacket was part of the series of figures needed to build The Blob. By the time Hasbro took the line over from Toy Biz, I was cherry picking the figures so I never did get to build The Blob, and in fairness it wasn’t really a BAF that would have made me buy figures I didn’t want.

Out of the package and we have Yellowjacket in all his glory. The majority of the figure is a simple painted buck, although the torso has his trademark shoulder pieces sculpted in and they look pretty darn good. I’m very pleased with the head sculpt here, particularly the antenna and the yellowed out eyes as opposed to Pym’s eyes peeking through the mask. Don’t ask me why, I just like this look better.

The paint on my figure is pretty solid, and I really like the shade of yellow plastic used here, far better than the gold-yellow used on the Marvel Universe figure. The paint on his belt looks a bit like a sloppy afterthought, but the emblem on his chest is pretty crisp. From sculpt to paint deco, this version really captures the character for me.

As a Hasbro figure, Yellowjacket doesn’t have the insane amount of articulation as the Toy Biz line, but there’s still a very good effort here. He has a ball jointed neck. His arms feature shoulder hinges built into the torso, in addition to ball jointed shoulders. He has double hinges in the elbows, hinged wrists, and swivels in both the biceps and the forearms. His legs feature ball joints at the hips, double hinges at the knees, hinges at the ankles and the middle of the feet, and swivels in the hips and lower legs. He also has rocker joints in the ankles for those wide stances.  His torso swivels at the waist and has an ab crunch hinge. No, not too shabby.

Usually when I think back to Hasbro’s first attempt at Marvel Legends I don’t have fond memories of the experience. But I guess it’s easy to forget that for every shitty movie Jean Grey you got a solid figure like Yellowjacket. Ok, maybe the ratio wasn’t exactly one-to-one, but I’m interested to see how many of these earlier Hasbro efforts impress or disappoint me, as it’s been quite a few years since I’ve owned any. Either way, Yellowjacket really hits all the right points. What’s more, he looks perfect standing alongside the newer figures and contemplating why no one called him to be in the Avengers movie.

Sep 3 2012

Young Justice: Ra’s Al Ghul & Cheshire by Mattel

[Hope y’all are in the mood for more comic related figures, because it looks like it’s going to be Marvel and DC for the rest of the week. I’m all for more variety, but this place reflects what I’m getting in and this is what I’ve been getting in! Today’s is going to be a bit of a quickie, because it’s a holiday and I’ve got grilling to do! – FF]

Not too long ago, I took a look at the Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian two-pack. Today’s feature is the second of the three sets that, when completed, allow you to build the Amazo figure. I don’t know that I’ll be picking up the Flash & Kid Flash set to build the figure, but I was sure as hell buying a two-pack with Ra’s Al Ghul and Cheshire in it! Let’s see what we got here…

This one is called “Master Assassins” but the packaging is the same as what we saw in the “Alien Mindreaders” set. You get a window box that shows off the figures very nicely and there’s a colorful animated deco around the box itself. About the only thing that I don’t like is the Amazo advert between the two figures. It just looks obnoxious and ugly. The back of the box has animated portraits of the two characters and a little bio blurb on the pair of them. It also shows the other sets needed to complete the Amazo figure. As with the last set, this one is completely collector friendly, allowing you to play around with the figures and still display them back in the package if you so desire.

I’ll start off with Ra’s, because I don’t have quite a lot to say about him. He’s definitely a cool looking figure, but apart from the excellent head sculpt, there’s not a whole lot to him. His body relies mostly on paint apps, and what’s here isn’t all that well applied. There’s slop around the belt and the black plastic has a weird swirly look to it in some places. Still, the use of matte black for the body and glossy black for the boots and arm bracers is pretty cool, and the cape is nicely sculpted and looks great on the figure. Ra’s falls prey to my usual gripe with this line, in the way the hands are always sculpted exactly the same on most of the adult figures, with one made to hold something and the other in a bizarrely positioned fist. It may sound like I’m really picking this figure apart, but truth be told he’s actually pretty good. He just should have been a little more polished.

Cheshire, on the other hand, may very well be the best figure this 4-inch line has produced. She definitely has the most unique sculpt and the most complex paint apps. The head sculpt is a total homerun, as it captures the creepy look of the animated character’s mask and wild hair perfectly. The extra little details like the single sculpted sleeve, tassels on her belt, or the sai that hang from her belt are so good it feels like it doesn’t belong in this otherwise oversimplified line of figures. The paint shows a bit of slop around the edges, but nowhere near as bad as some of the other figures. In fact, the only really downside to this figure is the way Mattel decided to stamp all the copyright information right across the back of her tushy. Otherwise, this is one great looking figure.

Articulation is identical to all the figures in this line. You get the basic antiquated five points. The head turns, the arms rotate at the shoulders and the legs rotate at the hips.

The set includes no accessories, unless you want to count the two arms to build Amazo. Oh, and the ONE figure stand. I pissed and moaned enough about that last time, so I won’t go into it again this time, except to say, “Really, Mattel? One figure stand in a two-pack? Thanks a fucking lot!”

“Targets” is probably my favorite episode of Young Justice, so it should come as no surprise that I love this set so much. But a lot of that love comes from the fact that Mattel put so much great work into the Cheshire figure that it really almost transcends the context of this line. Sure, she still suffers from the same limited articulation and somewhat bendy limbs, but she is still an amazing looking figure based on a very cool character design. As usual, this set goes for around $20 at retail. It often feels a bit high for these two-packs, but in this case I was happy to cough up the Andy Jackson for such a solid pair of figures.

Sep 2 2012

Marvel Universe: Masterworks Sentinel Figure by Hasbro

I couldn’t tell you why it took me so long to pick up this mammoth Marvel figure. Maybe it was concern over the space needed to display another big figure, or having so much else on my want list. I just don’t know. It’s not like I still have my old Marvel Legends Sentinel anymore. Plus, I procrastinated like hell on buying the Masterwork Galactus figure and when I finally got him I was thrilled with him, so there was no reason to expect buyer’s remorse here. Nonetheless, I had the Sentinel in my hands more than a few times at TRU but it wasn’t until last week that I finally pulled the trigger and got him off of Amazon. Love that free Prime shipping!

Even knowing how big the Sentinel figure is, I was still a bit taken back when I saw the box leaning up against my front door. Amazon doesn’t exactly go nuts with the packing, so I knew that was all figure in there and not much else. I was a little concerned about the box getting banged up, since I do plan on saving this magnificent packaging and I was happy to see it arrived with minimal distress. The box is the same style used for Galactus. You get a beautifully illustrated front panel, oddly enough with Nightcrawler depicted a lot more prominently than Wolverine, who is actually in the box. There’s a flap that lifts up to reveal a window and the figure inside as well as the 3 ¾” Wolverine mounted beside the Sentinel’s head.

There’s a “Try Me” hole that lets you rattle off the Sentinel’s bewildering number of phrases and sounds. The back of the box shows a great photo of the toy (two of them actually) attacking the shit out of some X-Men figures. Note that my Sentinel is the dark repaint as opposed to the silver and blue depicted on the box art. Yes, I would have preferred to get the lighter one, but the price on this guy was right and it’s my own fault for not getting the lighter one when I had him in my hand in the toy aisle.

Opening the box, pulling out the Sentinel and two things immediately come to mind. The first is, “Wow, this is one heavy chunk of plastic” and second, “Holy hell, this thing smells.” It may be a result of sitting in a hot Florida USPS truck for a couple of days, but it took a full day for the burning rubber smell to wear off of this thing. Noxious odors aside, much like Galactus, the Sentinel is really heavy figure that practically justifies the purchase by sheer heft alone.

Hasbro boasts Sentinel at 16 inches, which makes him pretty nicely in scale with the Marvel Universe 3 ¾” figures. He’s built off some of the Galactus body, although there is so much re-sculpting and new parts that there’s really only a glimmer of similarities here and there. Galactus still measures up as a being a little taller, thanks to his bucket head, but for all intents and purposes, the two Masterworks figures are scaled the same. The sculpting is pretty solid and while some parts of the figure don’t feature an overload of detail, there are just enough nice touches here and there to carry the day. I particularly love the sections of exposed wires. The head sculpt is also pretty great, even if he does look like he’s wearing a ski cap. The only part of this figure’s aesthetics I’m not crazy about is the sticker used for his chest. It just looks a little cheap in context of the rest of the figure. A clear amber piece of plastic and another light would have been cool.

Of course, the Sentinel features electronic lights and sounds right out of the box. Or even in the box if you use the “Try Me” hole. Press the somewhat stubborn button on his chest and the eyes light up and you get one of the following 18 phrases…

“X-Men must be detained.”

“Mutant life form detected.”

“Halt!”

[Scanner sounds] “Fugitive mutant detected.”

“Destroy!” [Explosion]

“Stop!”

“Sentinel under attack.”

[Unrecognizable electronics sound]

“Halt, fugitive mutant!”

“System breach!”

“Alpha level mutant detected.”

“Halt, mutant!”

“Sentinel power core breached.”

“Purge power core.”

“Beta level mutant detected.” [wooshing sound]

“System meltdown.”

“Power core failure in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1.”

“Ejecting power core.”

Holy crap, this thing says a lot of stuff!

Being based off the Galactus body, you would expect the Sentinel figure to feature the same basic articulation, and you’d be right. You get a ball jointed head; the arms have ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps, forearms and wrists. The legs feature ball joints and swivels in the hips, double hinged knees, hinged ankles, and swivels in the lower legs. The torso also swivels at the waist. The joints are all nice and strong and despite being ridiculously heavy, the Sentinel can stand just fine.

In addition to the Sentinel figure, you also get a 3 ¾” Wolverine. This is a repaint of the exact same sculpt we’ve all seen before. Where? Hell if I can remember, but it’s standing there on my shelf and most likely came from a Comic Pack or possibly Wolverine Origins. Either way, the figure has somehow escaped the scruitny of a feature here on FigureFan, so someone feel free to help out my alcohol addled mind. I’ll admit that I wasn’t dying with anticipation to own another one of these figures, but it is a solid figure and a nice bonus if you don’t already own it. I’ll also say that I like the brighter paintjob on this one better than my original.

What’s the best thing about this figure? It only set me back $35. Obviously it was worth every penny, even if it isn’t the color scheme I would have preferred. It’s just a solid hunk of satisfying action figure goodness, and it’s so cool to display him taking on a load of X-Men figures all at once. Hasbro’s Masterworks Sentinel goes on that list of toys that I would have died to own as a kid, and honestly, as an adult that collects toys, I don’t think I can pay this guy any greater compliment than that. To quote Dr. Channard from Hellraiser, “…and to think, I hesitated!” 

Sep 1 2012

DC Universe All-Stars: “New 52” Batman by Mattel

[Holy hell, its September already, and to kick off the new month and try to get unburied from the continuing inrush of action figures landing on my stoop, I’m going all week this week. Let’s go… -FF]

I can still remember where I was when Mattel announced the end of DC Universe Classics. It was a line that I sort of just stumbled into a few waves after it first morphed out of the DC Superheroes line, having no idea what an addiction it was going to become. Nonetheless, after years of hunting down these figures, dealing with horrible distribution, and usually surrendering and buying them by the case online, the line was to be no more. Never again would I know the joy of seeing one of those instantly familar DCUC carded figures hanging on the pegs. Never again…

Oh. Huh. Yep, DCUC is dead, but Mattel replaced it with… DCUC. It says so right on the package. Even the “All Stars” moniker was one adopted by DCUC in the past for the Non-C&C re-releases. I understand that this line is supposed to be less classic focused and more intent on delivering figures based on the DC universe since the reboot, but after making such a big deal out of killing the old line, you’d think they could have put a little more into rebranding the line that was “replacing” it. The point I’m making here is that the packaging sure hasn’t changed much… or hardly at all.

Not to say that’s a bad thing. I always loved these packages. They’re not as amazing as the Signature Collection window boxes, but for a retail-based line, these heavy card and bubble design displayed the figures well. This time there are no gimmicks included like C&C pieces or collector buttons, just a figure. The back panel is largely the same design too, with an illustration of the character, a short bio blurb and the publication stats replaced by an invitation for you to go to Matty Collector and expand your collection, which is odd since there really isn’t much DC stuff for sale on Matty Collector. You also get shots of the other figures in this four-figure wave.

Out of the package and this is indeed the New 52 version of Batman and a big part of the appeal of these figures will depend on your personal feelings toward the character redesigns. Most people seem to hate the new designs, but I don’t. And in the case of Batman, well, he’s been re-designed a thousand times over, so I don’t think there’s a huge amount of shock value here, particularly since this version is hardly a major reinvention of the character’s look. I’ll start off by saying that I love the coloring on this figure. The matte grey for his body suit meshes nicely with the glossy black of his boots and gauntlets. The cape is matte black on the outside and grey on the inside, and the whole ensemble is capped off by his bright yellow utility belt. The paint is all clean and well-applied.

The figure’s sculpt is also quite good, with particularly nice attention paid to detail on his gauntlets. Back when the New 52 Justice League first came out, DC included a number of pages of concept art for the characters pointing out that the emblem on Batman’s chest should be raised in any 3D recreation. I’m happy to see Mattel honored that idea with a sculpted bat symbol on the figure’s chest. It really looks fabulous. On the other hand, the panel lines (for lack of a better term) in the suit aren’t as clearly defined as I would have expected and I’m guessing this will please most people who are on the fence over the new outfits. They seem to be more defined in the DC Direct version of the figure, and I would have liked to see them more pronounced here. The head sculpt is pretty straightforward and albeit a little soft. Still, it’s far better than what I’ve seen of the DC Direct version.

Something should be mentioned of the figure’s size, as this has been a point of some controversy since the new All Stars were revealed and the size of the first wave of figures seem to be all over the place. Batman is actually smaller than previous DCUC incarnations of the character. He’s close enough so that he can hang with the other figures, but the size difference is pretty clear. The only possible explanation I can offer is that the New 52 characters are supposed to be conceptually younger versions. It’s a weak explanation, but it’s all that I’ve got.

Size notwithstanding, the body types and articulation are identical to what we’ve seen in the DCUC line. You get a ball jointed neck, the arms have ball joints in the shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the wrists and biceps. The legs have universal movement in the hips, hinged knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso swivels at the waist and has the usual ab crunch hinge.

In the end, the slightly diminished size of the figure does irk me a bit, just because it makes no sense, but I’ll still have no problem displaying these guys with the rest of my collection. Other than the size issue, I absolutely love this figure. I think it’s a really good mesh of traditional design with a little sprucing up to make it look fresh. I would have preferred more defined panel lines in the costume, just because if you’re going for a new look, you might as well flaunt it, but in the end I think this figure may be a welcome compromise between those who embrace the new designs and those who just don’t like them. But in the end, Batman’s look has been fluid and this one hits all the traditional and iconic points. Unlike, say New 52 Superman, but we’ll get to him in a couple of days…

Aug 31 2012

Avengers: “Shield Launcher” Captain America by Hasbro

It took a while, but I think I’m at the end of my 3 ¾” Avengers run. I may still pick up a variant Thor, but otherwise I’ve got what I wanted to get out of this line and I can move on, although I’d still love to get a Maria Hill without having to buy that ho-hum Helicarrier. Obviously, Cap was a “must have” figure for me, since he’s the one that really changed his look the most between his own movie and the Avengers flick. Amazingly, I never did find this guy on the pegs and had to pay a little extra for him via the Interwebs. Let’s see if it was worth it…

Could this be the last time we see the Avengers packaging here on FigureFan? Could be, rabbit, could be. You’ll note the package heralds this figure as the “Shield Launcher” Cap, which means the figure is saddled with a ridiculous bazooka that fires Cap’s shield. I can only imagine this contraption is designed in case Cap can’t show up one day, but left his shield behind and some regular grunt needs to shoot it at a Chitauri. Once again, I beg the question to you, Hasbro, is it really cheaper to make these shitty weapons than it is to put a goddamn swivel cut in the figure’s waist? Moving on…

As mentioned earlier, this is the first time we’re seeing 3 ¾” Cap in his Avengers outfit and I think it translates pretty well. At first, I thought the figure a bit too bulky, particularly in the chest and belt area, but having viewed Avengers again since buying the figure, I think it’s pretty close to screen accurate. In fact, I really dig the way the sculpting makes the suit look more like armor than cheesy superhero spandex. There’s some especially nice detail worked into the gloves, boots and the belt, and I love the fact that the star on his chest is sculpted rather than just painted on. Cap also has a functional holster sculpted into his thigh. I’m certainly more a fan of his WWII-era costume from his original film, but this one has grown on me a lot. The paint apps are all nice and clean and the figure is bright and colorful, just like a comic book figure should be.

By now we all should have lowered our expectations over articulation in this line. If you’ve managed to do that, you won’t be disappointed. Cap’s got ball joints all around, in his neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, and that’s it. The stymied articulation didn’t bother me as much in the other Avengers, because they all had similar figures with better articulation released previously. Sadly, this is the best we’ve got for Avengers Cap. The compromise is that the figure feels a lot more solid than some of the more articulated versions and stands on his own very well.

Besides the aforementioned stupid gimmick weapon, Cap also comes with his trusty shield and an automatic pistol. The shield has an awesome vac metal look to it and is sculpted with straps to slide on to his arm just like the real thing did. I give Hasbro major props for doing this in the 3 ¾” scale, rather than using a clip as they have in the past. The downside is that it doesn’t attach to his back. There is, however, still a peg back there, in case you want to rob a shield from one of your other 3 ¾” Caps and stick it on. Another bummer about this shield is that it’s sculpted from really soft plastic and mine came out of the tray a little warped, making one side look flat. The automatic pistol is a pretty standard little item, sculpted in silver plastic and it fits nicely into his holster.

I’ve heard a lot of bad things about this figure before finally getting my hands on it, but I have to say I’m digging it a lot. Sure, like all the Avengers 3 ¾” figures, this one could have had better articulation, but laying that aside, I think he looks great on the shelf and I’m very glad to be able to hunt him down. Was it worth paying a little extra for him? Hells, yeah. I can’t have my Avengers team without Cap.

Aug 29 2012

DC Universe Signature Collection: Mirror Master by Mattel

I didn’t mention it during my Voltron features, but Matty did another great job handling my subscriptions this month. Once again, I was billed the correct amount, everything was processed about five days before the Day of Sale and the package was shipped out about two days ahead of the Sale Day. I realize it’s kind of crazy to have to be praising a company for getting it right, but with how screwed up Matty Collector has been in the past, it’s worth giving credit where credit is due, and I haven’t had any difficulties with Matty for quite a few months. I was really looking forward to this month’s Club Infinite Earths figure, as I really love me some Flash and I’m always happy to add more villains to my collection. Put the two together and it’s no wonder I was happy to get Mirror Master.

There’s that Signature Collection packaging that I love so much. It’s a simple window box with some really kick ass character art on the side and back panels. The package is totally collector friendly and includes a little blurb on Mirror Master on the back, pointing out that this is indeed the Evan McCulloch incarnation of the character. Until I can reorganize my DCUC display, I’ve been keeping all my Signature Collection figures in the boxes and they sure look great lined up on the shelf.

Out of the package and we see that Mirror Master gets by with a very simple sculpt. What we have here is a very basic buck with sculpted boots and wrist bracers. There’s a sculpted belt with two functional holsters, each with fastening flaps and there’s a sculpted neckerchief draped above the figure’s shoulders. The body is cast in brown plastic with green paintwork on the bracers and boots. Both hands are sculpted to hold his weapons.

Mirror Master’s head sculpt is well executed, but I don’t think it’s one of the more remarkable ones we’ve seen from the Club to date. That’s not meant to be critical. Truth is there’s nothing wrong with McCulloch’s head, it just doesn’t pack that extra wow factor that I’ve experienced with figures like Jay Garrick or the unmasked Thom Kallor head. A bit more character in the expression might have helped, because as it is, it’s just rather neutral and flat. The paint work on the head is overall pretty good, although there are a few orange smudges on his chin.

Naturally, we get the standard DCUC points of articulation. The head is ball jointed. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows, and have swivels at the biceps and wrists. The legs have universal movement at the hips, hinges at the knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso swivels at the waist and features the standard ab crunch hinge.

Mirror Master comes with his rather distinctive looking pistols, both of which fit snugly into his holsters. They also each include swappable barrels that feature them deployed in firing mode as well as the standard configuration.

No, Mirror Master isn’t the flashiest of figures (har har) but he is a great representation of a really great character. This figure has gone through some major improvements since it was first revealed. Original images suggested the figure wouldn’t be able to hold his guns, let alone hint at the guns having dual configurations. It’s likely that the improvements were planned from the beginning and what we were seeing was just an early prototype, but you never quite know with Mattel, and fans were pretty vocal about the changes they wanted to see. Whether those changes were always planned or the result of a response to fan feedback, it’s nice that Matty put the extra effort into the figure.