Monthly Archives: May 2013

May 11 2013

Doctor Who: The 11th Doctor Sixth-Scale Figure by Big Chief Studios, Part 2

Aaaaand I’m back to conclude my look at Big Chief’s 1:6 scale 11th Doctor figure. The guys at Big Chief packed The Good Doctor with a lot of accessories based off of items that we’ve seen featured in various episodes. Some are great, some are kind of cool, and some I could have done without. But first…

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I’m going to start out with the figure stand, only because the stand is easily the most disappointing thing about this figure, and I don’t want to end the feature on a low note. Rather than just a simple stand, Big Chief delivers a bit of an environment. They were going for a stand that looks like a section of the clear platform that surrounded the TARDIS console in Series 5, 6, and 7A. The look is certainly there, but the stand has enough issues to make me wish they hadn’t tried it. For starters, it feels rather cheap. The stand comes in two parts: You get the base and the post, which supports the figure. The base looks good, but it’s so light and flimsy feeling.

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The post snaps into the side of the platform and it features the same type of extendable wire piece that Hot Toys stands use to hold the figure’s crotch. The problem is that it positions the figure all the way in the back of the platform, leaving this large bit of empty floor in front of him. I suppose the idea here was that you could lay out all the accessories on the base in front of him, but I don’t want a bunch of little bits lying around like that, and so it’s just wasted space that pushes the figure back on my shelf. If the post came out of the middle of the base, I would have liked it a lot more. Actually, I would have been a lot happier with just a more functional figure stand and a cardboard illustration of the TARDIS for him to stand in front of.

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HANDS!!! The 10th Doctor was fond of carting about his spare hand in a bubbling jar, so why shouldn’t the 11th Doctor have a whole bunch of extra hands? “You Time Lords, you’re like worms. Lob a bit off and it grows back!” You get three pairs of mitts and they are replaced with the same post system as Hot Toys figures. The only difference is these hands are more soft and rubbery, so while the post sockets are actually smaller, I find the hands much easier to swap. I’m not a big fan of swapping hands on my figures, but some of these are definitely required if you’re going to pose him holding some of the accessories.

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As for the actual accessories… you get a whole bunch of stuff gathered from Series 5 and 6 episodes. Obviously the one thing The Doctor can’t live without these days is his trusty Sonic Screwedriver and you actually get three of these little beauties: The 10th Doctor’s Sonic and two versions of 11’s Sonic, one opened and one closed. They are simple enough pieces, as they are rather tiny, but the sculpts and paint on all three are pretty solid. I doubt I’ll have the 10th Doctors Sonic out of the tray much, but the other two will get a lot of use. The closed one will reside in his inside jacket pocket and the open one will likely remain in his hand.

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The “Lash Up” device is like a homebrew mobile phone. I have no recollection of this device in the series at all. Was it used in “The Girl Who Waited?” I just can’t place it. It’s a great looking little accessory, but I don’t have much use for it.

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Next up is the Nano Recorder. This is a gun-like device that The Doctor used to implant recorders under the skin of his team when going up against The Silents. It’s a device that didn’t have a lot of screen time, but at least I can remember it from the series context. Besides, if Character Options can make a roleplay toy based on it, I’m not going to harp on Big Chief for tossing it in as an accessory here. Once again, a cool little piece, but not one that I will likely ever display with The Doctor.

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And then we have his handkerchief and the bit of exploded TARDIS. I’m pairing these up because The Doctor used the handkerchief to reach into the crack in time and pull out the piece of TARDIS. “Hey, Moffatt, I’m still waiting on you to explain that one! Why the hell did the TARDIS blow up???” Anyway, the handkerchief comes folded neatly and looks great. The chunk of TARDIS is arguably the best looking accessory because the paint work on it is really impressive. It looks genuinely distressed. Very cool!

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Ah, the Psychic Paper! We haven’t seen a lot of it lately. I know some fans complain that he uses it too much like a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card, but I think it’s a clever way to bypass a lot of explanations as to why he turns up where he’s not supposed to be. Besides, it isn’t nearly as annoying to me as the new Sonic Swiss Army Knife that somehow functions like a tricorder. That really, REALLY bugs me. I think it’s time to bring the Terileptils back to destroy that thing. Wait… where was I? Oh yeah, the Psychic Paper is just a cool little rubbery piece of plastic. I’ve been trained against the use of it by the Headless Monks, so mine is blank when I look at it.

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Moving on… we have the Time Lord Consciousness Cube as seen in “The Doctor’s Wife.” It’s basically just a little frosty transparent cube. Originally, it was inferred that it might light up, but it’s so small that would have been pretty tough to do. There’s not a lot to it, but it is a cool piece, and one that I may actually display with the figure from time to time.

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Last, but not least, is the invitation from “The Impossible Astronaut.” It’s just a tiny little envelope with a card inside, and yet it’s possibly the most impressive accessory here. It’s so damn tiny and yet all the little printing on it looks so great. The fact that it even opens and has the invitation inside is all the more amazing.

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And that wraps up the inventory of accessories. Cyberman not included! Honestly, after all the trepidation on my part, in the end I’m extremely happy with this figure. The quality of the figure’s body, the articulation, and most of all the likeness, are all well worth the money and as you see, you get a ridiculous number of accessories and extras. Sure, the tailoring on the costume can use some tweaks and bobs, It’s easily the figure’s weakest point, but even still, it’s a very solid effort for a first figure. I think Big Chief established themselves quite well with this initial offering and I’m very anxious to see what else they have coming. We’ve already seen pictures of the 10th Doctor and Amy Pond figures and we’ve seen lots of teasers from the upcoming 4th Doctor figure. I do believe I’m on board and I won’t be as hesitant to pull the trigger next time.

May 10 2013

Doctor Who: The 11th Doctor Sixth- Scale Figure by Big Chief Studios, Part 1

I don’t think I’ve ever done as much hand wringing over buying an action figure as I have over The Good Doctor here. I wanted this figure so, so badly when it first came out, and I even had the money set aside for it. But some of the early in-hand pictures of the outfit worried me. At $200, the price worried me. The fact that it was Big Chief’s first attempt at an action figure of this type, well that really worried me. In the end I took a pass. I just couldn’t justify $200 on such a risky venture. But $120? Yeah, I could do that. And that’s the deal I got on this figure last week from the fine folks at TFAW.com. I don’t mind telling you, that I was still a little squeamish about doing it. But in the end I couldn’t resist. You’ll find that comparisons to Hot Toys products are going to be a running theme in this feature. Hey, if you’re going to put out a 1:6 scale figure and charge $200 for it, it’s only fair to be judged against the quality of your peers. There’s a lot to say about this guy, so I’m going to start out today with a look at the box and the figure, and then tomorrow I’ll be back to look at the accessories. Let’s get to it… Geronimo!!!

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The box is right in line with what I expect when I buy a higher end collectible figure. In fact, it’s a little more elaborate than what I got with my Hot Toys’ Black Widow. The front panel has gold printing with “Doctor Who” in the center along with the “DWARTIS” logo. The side panels feature shots of Matt Smith and the BBC logo. The back panel shows a full shot of the figure and a blurb. I grant bonus points for mentioning his “cool bow tie.” The blurb also points out that it is officially licensed from the BBC. All in all, this is quite an attractive box, which feels right at home next to any of my Hot Toys figure boxes.

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A number of people have reported receiving the boxes in rough shape, and the consensus seems to be that a lot of the wear happened in the factory or warehouse, rather than from retailers. Mine certainly has a few scuffs on it, but overall it’s in pretty good shape.

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The box features a wrap-around front flap that opens to reveal the figure behind the window. The inside of the flap shows an assortment of shots of the figure holding the various accessories. The box is easily opened from the top to reveal two trays. The first holds the figure and accessories; the second holds the stand in two parts and has a packet with a few more accessories. Again, with the exception of the second tray for the stand, I’m getting a major Hot Toys vibe off of the way the figure sits in the tray, plastic wrap around the head, and accessories and extra hands fanned out on each side. Overall, I give Big Chief high marks for the presentation.

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Let’s start out with the likeness… Yep, that’s Matt Smith alright. It’s obvious that Big Chief studied some of what Hot Toys does with their head sculpts, because the influence on this piece is telling. Besides the likeness being pretty damn close, I’m really happy with how the sculpted hair turned out. You could argue that the bangs coming down the right side of his face are a tad chunky, but overall I think it’s good. The paint on the lips and eyes are extremely similar to what Hot Toys does, giving the figure that undefinable spark of life. Even the paint that makes up the skin tone looks quite lifelike. For their first figure, Big Chief really slammed the head straight out of the park. I don’t think it’s on par with Hot Toys’ best efforts, but it’s definitely in the same league as their more average efforts, and that’s not a bad thing.

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The articulation on this figure is what surprised me the most, because The Doctor has some crazy articulation going on. Big Chief devised an excellent and quite durable base body for this figure. I’m not about to strip him down to see what’s going on, but Big Chief provides a nice shot of the body’s articulation HERE.  Between the excellent articulation and the fact that his outfit isn’t at all restrictive, I find I can get a lot more poses out of him than most of my Hot Toys figures. Granted, The Doctor doesn’t necessarily need to be super-articulated, but it comes in handy when he needs to bust out the Venusian Aikido. It’s also great for any of the normal poses like checking his watch or wielding his Sonic Screwdriver. I’ll also note that some of the joints in the body are designed to pull out if placed under too much stress. One time when I was swapping his left hand, I was absolutely certain I broke his arm. Nope, it just pops right back in.

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So far, so good. But it’s the outfit where I was afraid the figure would stumble, and while it looks a lot better in person than in Big Chief’s production shots, there are certainly some nagging issues here. The jacket is an impressive piece of tailoring on a number of levels. The pattern on the tweed looks excellent, the teeny-tiny buttons look great, the elbow patches are awesome, and the lining is particularly good. There’s even an inside pocket for his Sonic. Indeed, the jacket would be perfect if it weren’t for the bit of puffiness around the seams of the front flaps, particularly on the left flap. It makes the jacket look like it’s a little thicker and heavier than it should be. Yet touching it, it feels just right, as it’s totally soft and pliable. I’m tempted to try to iron it to get a sharper crease, but I don’t want to risk damaging it. The tiny buttons do terrify me, as a couple of collectors have had them pop off while changing around the hands. Mine are fine so far, and I’ve done a lot of fiddling about with this figure, but they’re so tiny, if one were to pop off, I’m pretty sure it would be gone forever. The Doctor also sports a wrist watch on his left hand.

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The shirt underneath the jacket has a collar which looks a tad too puffy and heavy. It can be fussed into control, but one side of the collar often wants to pop up in front of the bowtie. The bowtie itself looks like it’s actually tied, proper and that’s cool. Bowties are cool, even in one-sixth scale! In truth, the bow tie is on an elastic band, although you can make adjustments to the front. The elastic suspenders are nicely done, and the trousers look and fit great. The shoes are nicely sculpted as well. Honestly, if Hot Toys hadn’t raised the bar so high for 1:6 scale costume tailoring, I wouldn’t even be dwelling on the issues here. The outfit is very good, especially for a first attempt at a figure like this, but it simply is not up to the Hot Toys standards.

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Ok, I’m well past my average length for a feature, so I’m going to break here and come back tomorrow to start checking out The Doctor’s crazy amount of accessories, as well as the figure stand.

May 9 2013

Transformers Unleashed: Optimus Prime by Hasbro

In the last month or so, I’ve checked a few of Hasbro’s very cool Star Wars Unleashed statues. Hasbro had a good thing going on with this line and in an effort to make lightning strike twice, they tried the same thing with Transformers. The difference? The Star Wars statues seemed like a genuine attempt to bring attractive display pieces to collectors on a budget. The Transformers statues seemed more like a quick and dirty cash grab amidst a sea of other movie related merchandise. I should be able to wrap this one up mighty quick and we can all go on with our business.

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I don’t have the packaging for this wonderful object d’art any longer, but I seem to recall it coming in some sort of window box. I also need not confess to actually buying it, as it was a present from the former Mrs. FigureFan. I’m tempted to say it was well-intentioned, but unfortunately she turned out to be quite a vindictive headcase, so it could have just as easily been gifted out of spite. Anyway, the idea here is that in the true nature of the Transformers, this is actually two-Two-TWO statues in one! On one side, it’s Prime in his truck mode, but turn it around and there he is in his robot mode. You see? It’s like a Transfromer but it’s a statue!

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The alt mode portion of the statue depicts Prime in his movie truck form, launching himself off a cliff against a backdrop of terrible looking translucent plastic flames. The cliff looks like it’s carved out of chocolate and there’s a huge Autobot insignia sculpted into the side. Only part of the truck is actually here because it’s partly obscured in the so-called fire. I never minded Prime being an extended front cab, but I was never a fan of this coloring. There’s way too much blue, and this statue seems to add even more. Apart from that, there are some stray splotches of paint. All in all, this looks Ok, I guess, but it’s nothing spectacular. Maybe the flipside will be better?

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Nah, not really. The pose isn’t bad. Prime is bent down on one knee with a fist held out in defiance and his other arm converted into his gun. Giving Prime an arm that converts into a gun never seemed right to me. It just doesn’t fit the character. But then again, before Revenge of the Fallen I wasn’t used to seeing my childhood hero rip people’s faces off either, so I guess I need to get with the times. Either way, the statue is just being faithful to the source material, so I can’t blame it for that. In fairness, there’s a lot of sculpted detail on this guy, but it’s still not enough to effectively convey the crazy complex “bag of scissors” aesthetic of the Bayformer designs. There’s also way too much bland grey plastic here and not enough painted detail. The head is pretty unspectacular as well. The sculpt is really soft and you can’t really even see his eyes.

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It’s hard to put my finger on exactly where Hasbro went wrong with this piece. Sure, aesthetically this is far from my favorite version of Prime, but I was still able to appreciate his Leader Class movie toys. Ultimately, I think most of the blame lies in the super soft sculpt not being able to capture the intricate design. Had this been a statue of old school G1 Sunbow Prime, I think it could have been spectacular. In concept, the whole turnaround gimmick showing off both modes may not have been inherently bad, but the execution just doesn’t result in a piece that I’m all that keen on displaying. And so, Prime here resides on the tip top shelf of display case in the corner. Mostly out of sight and out of mind.

May 8 2013

DC Comics Unlimited: “New 52” Flash by Mattel

As promised, today I’m back to check out the fourth addition to my “New 52” DCUC-style Justice League. The Flash has had a lot of love from Mattel over the past couple of years. We finally got Jay Garrick, we got Mirror Master, soon we’ll be getting Wally West, and now Barry Allen joins the ranks in his reboot costume. I only read the first couple issues of the current Flash book, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and I have the first two volumes of the collected editions on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I am, however, up to date on my Justice League reading and while I think the story took a nose dive around issues #8 to #12, I enjoy the chemistry between the characters, and I really like Flash in that book.

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The packaging here is the same as we saw yesterday with Wonder Woman, so we can just take a gander and move on. I still really dig the art on the big side panel, although in this case, I think they took it from Flash’s own book, rather than Jim Lee’s awesome Justice League art. The packages are so big that the lack of a C&C part is rather conspicuous, but I’m perfectly fine with Mattel not going down that route again with these guys. I already have the All-Stars New 52 Superman and I probably won’t bother with Hawkman.

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I was disappointed to see that Mattel incorporated the lightning effects into the figure. I didn’t like these on my DCUC White Lantern Flash, and I don’t much like them here either. On the plus side, they are all removable. On the downside, removing the one in his back leaves a big hole there. Here would have been a great opportunity for Mattel to toss in a little piece of red plastic to fill it in, but this is Mattel, and I know them better than to expect that. Ok, on to the figure.

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I really dig Flash’s current costume, and I think it looks particularly nice on this figure. He’s molded in a vibrant red plastic, and the added yellow piping just makes the costume look more dynamic and interesting. The apps for the yellow striping are applied with razor sharp precision on my figure. I remember when first reading Justice League, the back of the book had some artist design notes for the new costumes and pointed out that all the emblems should be raised whenever the characters were reproduced in 3D form. Mattel has been true to that directive on all the figures so far, and Flash is no exception. His emblem is sculpted into his chest and apart from his boots, represents the only real sculpted detail on the costume. The boots are somewhat similar in design to Superman’s and even a little bit like Batman’s. I like the added detail a lot.

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Barry’s head sculpt is excellent. Yes, he’s a little stern looking. Maybe a slightly more light hearted expression would have worked too, but what’s here is fine. The lightning style panel lines are sculpted into the hood and the lightning on the sides look great and are surprisingly not made of super flimsy rubbery warping plastic.

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Naturally, Flash features your typical DCUC style articulation, which includes, ball joints in the head and shoulders. The arms feature swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. The legs have the usual DCUC hip joints, swivels in the lower thighs, and hinges in the knees and ankles. He has a swivel in the waist and an ab-crunch hinge in the torso.

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Flash is a nice figure, stupid effect parts notwithstanding. So far, I’m fairly happy with DC Unlimited. For a while there, I was tempted to just go the DC Collectibles route and get the whole Justice League in one shot and be done with it. Sure it would have been cheaper, and I wouldn’t have to wait, but I’ve become so used to having the DCUC style articulation in my DC figures, that I’m glad I went this route. Hopefully we’ll be getting Hal, Aquaman, and Cyborg soon too, although if Mattel makes me wait long enough I can’t say I won’t go back and pick up the “We Can Be Heroes” set at some point down the road.

May 7 2013

DC Comics Unlimited: “New 52” Wonder Woman by Mattel

Last week I hit y’all with a triple play of Marvel, and yesterday I did my usual Marvel Monday. In case you’re all Marveled out, I thought we’d see what’s going on in the other camp. Today and tomorrow I’ll be delivering a one-two punch from Mattel’s DC Comics Unlimited series, and we’re starting with Wonder Woman. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I really dig the New 52’s Wonder Woman. The art isn’t among my favorite of the current DC books, but it gets by. The story, on the other hand… conceptually, the story is just everything I wouldn’t have expected. The first year played out as a bizarre tour of the tortured relationships between Diana’s extended family, The Olympian Gods. The take on these Gods is nothing short of brilliant. Their dialogue is dry and witty, their character designs are fresh and original, and in a lot of cases, their characterization is so entertaining that they make Wonder Woman take a backseat in her own book! I can see why this sort of thing would irk Wonder Woman fans to no end, but ultimately the book is so imaginative and entertaining to me, I’m willing to forgive what sometimes feels like a bait-and-switch.

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DC Unlimited is just another one of the confused splinter lines which rose from the ashes of the now defunct DC Universe Classics. Like the Signature Collection, or the short-lived All-Stars, these figures are designed to be right at home on your DCUC shelves, while drawing primarily from characters as they appear in contemporary DC Comics media. I had a lot of fun poking fun at the “reinvention” of the DCUC line into DC All-Stars when the package and branding barely changed at all, but the packaging for DC Unlimited got a full revamp, and the result is pretty spectacular.

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The cards really stand out on the pegs, thanks to the huge panel of artwork inside the bubble. The artwork featured here comes from Jim Lee’s Justice League, rather than WW’s own book, which is a good thing, because I think that book looks far more dynamic and exciting. The back panel features a little blurb about the character and brings back the little list of stats. Overall, this packaging is just every bit as colorful and exciting as a comic book action figure deserves.

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The first thing I noticed about WW was that she seems rather smallish, so much so that the regular DCUC WW stands about a head taller. On the plus side, all the New 52 figures have been smaller than their predecessors, so Diana fits in fine with my DC All-Stars Batman and Superman. I’m not sure if Mattel did this to save plastic or just because these are supposed to be younger versions of the characters, either way it does make them stand out when displayed with DCUC figures.

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That having been said, what’s here is quite good. The skin tone on Diana’s face is a bit waxy, but the sculpt is beautiful. Again, she’s patterned after the Justice League art as opposed to Cliff Chiang’s larger eyed version from the Wonder Woman book. The hair is particularly well sculpted, although it does render her neck articulation useless.

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DCUC used to get by with a lot of painted costumes, but that’s certainly not the case here. With the exception of her arm band, every detail on Wonder Woman’s outfit is actually sculpted onto the figure. That includes not only the boots and bracers and the crest running along the top of her “swimsuit” but also all of the panel lines, the stars, and the choker. Her lasso is permanently coiled and attached to her hip, and she has an oddly placed loop on her butt to hold her sword. The sword came out of my package warped to hell. I was able to straighten it out and it looks pretty good in her hand, but it’s still a very soft and flimsy piece of plastic. The one downside of the sculpt is Mattel’s decision to plaster the copyright information in huge lettering across Diana’s back. Yes, some of it is obscured by her hair, but it’s really ugly. This kind of thing belongs on the bottoms of the feet or inside of the leg in tiny letters, not like a billboard on the figure’s back.

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Wonder Woman’s paintwork is mostly ok, but it varies a lot. The paint on her face is solid, although there is a stray mark between her eyebrows. The paint on her one-piece is practically immaculate. On the other hand, the white striping on her boots is rather sloppy. I do like the red and blue and silver they used, although I’m not a fan of the blue boots over the old red ones. But that’s an issue I have with the character design, not Mattel’s figure.

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Diana’s articulation offers most everything you would expect to find in a DCUC figure. The arms are ball jointed in the shoulders, hinged at the elbows, and have swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have the usual DCUC joint in the hips, which allow for lateral movement, hinges in the knees and ankles, and swivels in the biceps. There is no ab crunch hinge, instead, there’s a swivel in the upper torso. It feels like it might be a ball joint, but it really only allows for side to side movement. The neck is ball jointed, but as already mentioned, the sculpted hair renders it useless.

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Overall, I think Wonder Woman turned out ok. She’s not exceptional in any way, just competent. There are some tweaks here and there that could have made her a better figure, but she fits in fine with the growing ranks of my New 52 Justice League. I picked up mine online for around $18, which feels a little steep. I think these figures are closer to $15 if you can find them on the pegs, but there’s only one store in my area that even stocks DC Unlimited and all they have is Hawkman, and I’m not keen on his new design to pick warrant a purchase.

Ok, folks, time to pay the kitty, I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at DC Unlimited Flash!

May 6 2013

Marvel Universe: Beast by Hasbro

Alrighty then, I’m getting Marvel Mondays back on track with Marvel Universe features as originally intended… at least for the next month or so. Today we’re looking at Beast. I’ll be honest, I was going to pass on this figure, but I found him on clearance at a really good price, so I tossed him in my virtual shopping cart. I don’t have anything against Beast, it’s just that it’s been ages since I’ve read an X-Men book, and I haven’t read any of the current ongoing Astonishing X-Men. I do have the collected TPBs of the Joss Whedon run, so I’ll have to remedy that at some point. It’s worth pointing out that this isn’t one of my favorite designs for the character, so keep that in mind as we press onward!

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Yep, we’ve seen this packaging many times before. It’s the current style being used for the Marvel Universe figures, complete with that totally shitty little piece of printed cardboard that Hasbro tries to pass off as a collectible. Remember the days when you bought a Toy Biz Marvel figure and you actually got a full sized collector card? Hell, remember the days when you bought a Marvel Universe figure and you got a figure stand and a Fury File? Ah well. The packaging is nice enough. I guess Beast’s character art is pretty good. I mean, at least he doesn’t look like Kelsey Grammar.

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The back of the package has a little blurb about Beast and a shot of the figure doing a crazy handstand. It shows off the other three figures in this wave. I’m passing on that Spider-Man, and we’ll probably be looking at Beta Ray Bill next Monday. Oh yeah, this time the cardback features Rocket Raccoon schilling the figures. OH MY GOD, I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE WE’RE GETTING A “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY” MOVIE AND ROCKET RACCOON IS GOING TO BE IN A BIG BUDGET MOVIE!!! The Age of the Nerd has truly come to pass.

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I’m perfectly capable of setting aside my personal design preferences in order to appreciate a great sculpt when I see it. I may not be a big fan of Beast’s angry blue teddy bear look, but Hasbro sure did a nice job sculpting it here. The detail and the expression in that head sculpt are just incredibly well done, and all the exposed fur on the figure looks good. Even the gold piping on the costume is sculpted into place. For all the crap I give Hasbro for using so many painted bucks in this line, when they do decide to tool an entirely new figure, they always go all out. It’s a pleasant surprise, because I can’t see a lot of potential for reusing this guy.

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The paintwork is a solid effort. There’s some bleeding between the black and the yellow on the costume, but nowhere near as bad as I’ve seen on some MU figures. The gold used for the piping and the bracers has a nice, bright luster. Again, not a big fan of this costume design, but Hasbro did a nice job putting it on the figure. I do think the blue for Beast’s fur could have been a tad more vibrant, but I’m really reaching for things to pick at here.

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Beast is one limber little dude with a ton of articulation. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, wrists, torso, hips, and ankles. You also get swivels in the biceps and thighs. The elbows are hinged and the knees are double hinged. He has an extra hinge in the neck, and… holy crap, he even has hinges in his feet!!! There’s no waist swivel, but that torso ball joint really has a crazy amount of movement to it.

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No doubt, Beast is a stand out figure, especially for what is probably a one-off mold. He’s a great combination of amazing sculpt and wonderful articulation. If you’re a fan of this look for the character, you should be extremely happy with this guy. Me? I’m certainly content to have him among my legion of Marvel Universe figures, but I’d also like to see another release based on the older Jim Lee design. Regardless, I give Hasbro a lot of guff for a lot of MU figures not feeling like a great value at $10 a pop, but with all the work that went into Beast, he is well worth the price. I’m actually surprised that he’s so easy to find on clearance.

May 5 2013

Sunday Funday: New 52 Suicide Squad Comics!

Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day and while work prevented me from taking advantage of it, at least I made lots of money to buy lots of comics. That’s almost as good. Anyway, the last time I talked comics on Sunday Funday, I got all ranty and kind of mean, and that kind of missed the point of the day, although I can’t deny it was fun. This weekend, a great deal of my downtime was spent reading the first two TPBs of Suicide Squad and then going back and re-reading some of Gail Simone’s run on Secret Six. I recently picked up two of those collected editions, “Unhinged” and “The Darkest House” as my individual issues inexplicably found their way into storage… at least I hope they’re in storage. 

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There were a lot of reasons to be suspicious and wary of the New 52 reboot, but when I look back to it, there was really only one thing about it that pissed me off: It signaled the end of Simone’s Secret Six. It was like being in a speeding car heading toward a brick wall and I couldn’t get out. Secret Six had grown to become one of my favorite comics of all time. Granted, that’s a long list, as I do love me my funnybooks, but Secret Six is a comic that I thoroughly savored. It hit on all the points that make me still an avid comic book reader, even as I enter that precarious point in my life called Middle Age. I can’t remember ever being so sad and disappointed as when I found out that it was wrapping up in favor of the impending reboot.

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As it turns out, I’ve been pretty happy with a number of the New 52 books. Some may call that sacrilege, but that’s where I stand. I can say that I read every first issue, I pursued a little more than half of them past the first issue, and since then I’ve narrowed it down quite a bit. But the ones that I’m still reading are entertaining enough and somewhat refreshing to me. I’ve got 30+ years of the crushing weight of comic continuity running through my head, and I constantly felt as if I was falling behind on the books I cared about and in some cases, getting caught up would be a lost cause. Reading comics started to feel like a frustrating chore, and that’s never what I wanted from one of my favorite pastimes. The New 52 made me feel like I had half a chance again. Maybe on some level the reboot was like killing the patient to cure the disease, but in the end I was glad DC did it.

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Anyway, one of the books I didn’t follow past the first issue was Suicide Squad. I was still bitter over Secret Six ending and I just thought DC was trying to use the Suicide Squad title as a cheap way to continue the popularity of Simone’s book.  Whether that’s the case or not, it’s hard to argue that it’s intended as the spiritual successor. I can remember flipping through that first issue violently and screaming, “YOU’RE NOT SECRET SIX… STOP TRYING TO BE!!!” Then I threw it down and ran out of the room sobbing while slamming the door as loudly as I can. Ok, that didn’t really happen. I did, however, want to stay mad and bitter, but ultimately, my love for King Shark and Deadshot sucked me in, and I picked up the first two TPBs while browsing at the comic shop a week or so back.

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A great deal of my resistance was worn down by seeing Adam Glass’ name on the cover. I really enjoyed Deadpool Pulp and Luke Cage Noir is still on my reading list. I can’t say I was instantly familiar with either artists’, Fernando Dagnino or Federico Dallocchio, work, but I can say that I’m a fan now because I really dig the look of these books.  Anyway, I devoured both volumes pretty quickly and then I flipped through them a second time to skim the good parts and it dawned on me that there was room to have both books exist in my good graces. Suicide Squad is fun, violent, crazy, and best of all I can get my fix of Deadshot and King Shark. Y’all know I’m not a big Batman fan, so this was one of the first times I really followed a book with Harley Quinn and I warmed up to her a lot more than I thought I would. Oh, and tossing Captain Boomerang in there never hurts either. It’s a far cry from the glory days of Simone and Secret Six, but a good time had at the FigureFan ranch this weekend, and I’m looking forward to October when I will most definitely pick up volume three.

Images used are the copyright of DC Comicsand are reproduced here for review purposes only. If you love comic books, support the artists and writers by BUYING them, either digitally or in print. Better yet, buy them in print and support your local comic shop too!

May 4 2013

Star Trek: Starfleet Phaser (2009 Movie) by Playmates

Today’s feature is going to be a quickie, because I’ve got a bunch of stuff to do. No, I mean actual STUFF, not just drinking. I set about to think up something quick and easy and then I remembered that we’re less than two weeks away from the premier of Star Trek Into Darkness. A quick dig through one of my Toy Closets and… voila… I found this little beauty from the original film. Playmates certainly had their share of stumbles handling the toys for the first Abrams Trek movie, but their hand phaser was not one of them. This thing is definitely a cool little toy. Let’s take a look!

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The hand phaser comes sealed in a clamshell with a cool, curvy bubble. It’s not collector friendly by any stretch, as you’ll practically need a phaser to cut it out of there, but it is very nice to look at. There’s also a “Try Me” hole that lets you pull the trigger, but because of the moving parts, you can only try it in vaporize mode. Still… pretty nice. The 2009 Phaser is one of my least favorite of all of Starfleet’s hand phaser designs, but that doesn’t mean I dislike it. It certainly reflects the alternate Abrams timeline in which Kirk’s dad dying prematurely suddenly gave Starfleet engineers a collective chrome fetish. It borrows a bit from past phaser designs, and it does manage to capture at last the profile of a Classic Starfleet phaser while tossing in a whole lot of originality.

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In hand, this phaser looks pretty amazing. The chrome finish looks good, and apart from some plastic seaming on the top, it doesn’t look overly toyish. The size is also a pretty comfortable fit in my hand. All too often Role Play toys tend to go too big and chunky or undersized to better fit into kid’s hands. Damn toy companies pandering to kids, with their tiny hands! It’s the extremely light weight that betrays this piece as an inexpensive toy, as there’s virtually no heft to it at all. One side looks totally clean, while the other features some exposed screw heads, the copyright stamp, and the “Hey asshole, don’t throw your old batteries in the garbage” icon.

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The thing I like least about this phaser design is the switch-gimmick. Setting aside the toy talk for a moment… The engineering on the design uses two different emitters: A red one for vaporize and a blue one for stun. The emitters sit on opposite sides of a revolving piece, so when the user switches from one setting to the other, the appropriate emitter snaps to the front. They made a point of showing this in the film and when they did, I wanted to stand up and scream, “WTF??? Pause the movie… I need to see that shit again!” The design goes out of its way to be more complex than it needs to be, and much like the old Automatic vs Revolver debate, it seems like it’s just something extra to malfunction on the weapon. There’s nothing worse than when you’re in a shootout with some Klingons and your phaser jams. Now, I’m no 23rd Century weapons engineer, but I can’t see why it would be necessary to do this over the old elegant phaser design.

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Anyway, getting back to the toy… Playmates’ phaser replicates the moving emitters… sort of. If you have the phaser in the stun position, you can press a button on the side of the handle to automatically switch to the vaporize position. You cannot, however, switch back unless you manually re-position it. It seems like it should have been easy to make it work both ways, but whatever.

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The rest of the electronics feature an activation wheel on the top. Rotate it toward you and the panel lights up a bright greenish yellow and the phaser makes a nice, loud activation sound. This one is my favorite of the toy’s FX. The trigger activates the emitter light and sounds depending on which setting you have it on. The red light is very bright, and while the sound is loud, it sounds a bit abbreviated. I think that’s because the Abrams phasers shoot pulses and not sustained beams. I hate that, but in fairness to Abrams, I think that shit started during The Next Generation. Pulse phasers are evil, they just don’t feel like Star Trek to me. The stun setting on the toy is all around crap. The light is really dim and it sounds like the phaser is either malfunctioning or farting.

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Even with its flaws, this phaser is a pretty cool toy. I think it originally sold for around $15, but chances are you can still find it on clearance at your local Toys R Us. One of the TRU’s here still has an endcap of these and the figures. Hell, even the local Books-A-Million, in their bizarre transformation into part book store and part toy store, still has these. None of this stuff sold well because there probably hasn’t been a kid since the early 70’s that said, “Hey let’s get our phasers and go outside and play Star Trek.” Sad but true. But this phaser is still a wonderful piece for convention cosplay and a nice addition to any Trek arsenal on a budget, particularly if you want to display all the designs. Now, if you’ve got a little extra gold-pressed latinum to spend, Quantum Mechanix made a remarkably nice prop replica of this piece for under $100, which can still be found at various e-tailers around the InterWebs. (If you have a little more money to spend, they also make a $10,000 Enterprise model!) I don’t own their phaser, but I got a chance to hold one at a convention. The static model doesn’t feature any FX or moving parts, but it does look and feel really nice in hand.

May 3 2013

Robocop (Spring-Loaded Holster) by NECA

Last year I picked up NECA’s excellent Robocop figure and not long after they revealed another one at about the same price with a working holster in the leg. CURSES!!!! I usually cry foul when companies make me double-dip, but it’s hard to get mad at NECA or the prospect of having another Robocop figure in my collection. It’s not like Robocop figures are flying at me from all directions. Anyway, I’d say I bought this one more out of curiosity than anything else just to see how the holster gimmick turned out, and whether it could replace the figure I already have as the definitive version. We’ll take a look at the packaging first, and then I’m going to dive right into what will largely be a comparative look at both figures. Robocop vs. Robocop… FIGHT!

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While this figure still comes in NECA’s usual sealed clamshell, they did redesign the inserts since the release of my other Robocop. It makes sense to call attention to what is a new release, but honestly, I like the package design on the older release better. It was grittier and more in spirit with the original movies and it even had Murphy’s directives printed on it. This one has a somewhat cheesy top view of Robocop’s head making up the bottom insert, and overall it looks a lot more polished and sterile. Of course, none of this matters because the package will soon be in the trash. I’ll also point out that the new package includes a side panel with instructions on how to work the holster, because there is a trick to getting it closed properly. Also worth mentioning, Robocop is strapped into his tray with a bonafide zip tie, so make sure you have a good pair of cutters handy.

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Straight away, Robocop is a great looking figure, but he’s mostly the exact same figure as the previous release. That’s a mighty good thing, because I think this is a pretty amazing sculpt. As near as I can tell, the only thing that’s been changed on the figure is the upper right leg for the new holster gimmick. The pistons on his back legs seem to stay on better than on my original release, but it doesn’t look like they’ve been actually changed. Maybe NECA just used better glue. Suffice it to say, with the holster closed, the only noticeable difference between the two figures, is the little button on the back of the right leg.

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I will say that the consistency of the silver paint is slightly better on this newer release, but only slightly. I never really had a problem with the paint on the old one, but it did have some swirly bits on the top of the helmet, which this one lacks. I’m sure it’s probably more an instance of variances in QC than a deliberate change on the figure.

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As with the original release, this newer one comes with the same swappable right hand, which has the data spike deployed.

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And now we come to the reason we’re here… the spring loaded holster! You all know I love functional holsters on my action figures, but this one is a SPRING-LOADED functional holster. It’s one of the coolest aspects of the Robocop design, and no matter how good a Robocop figure may be, if it doesn’t have this feature, it seems like it’s missing something. Nonetheless, the idea of getting the feature to work in a 7-inch figure hardly seems feasible. Does NECA pull it off with this figure? Yes, they do… mostly. Flipping the switch in the back causes the front of the leg to snap forward and the side portion back, revealing the gun inside, and it all happens in an instant. Closing it up again is a tad more precarious. You only push on the front panel, and you have to use a fairly good amount of force. Once you hit the sweet spot, the side panel will come along and the whole thing will lock together with a satisfying snap.

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There is a little room for quibbling here. The gun, which is the same size as the gun included with the original release, sits pretty far inside the leg, so you really need to dig it out, and getting it back in can be a bit of a chore, since it has to sit just right in order for the leg to close up again. The side panel is held on by two pegged hinges and can be very prone to popping out, especially if you try to close it by any other means than ONLY PUSHING IN ON THE FRONT PANEL. It easily pops back into the hinges, but just looking at all the tiny plastic machinations inside makes me really nervous. It doesn’t look like it will take much to break any one of the tiny plastic parts that make this whole thing work. Now, with all that having been said, I really have to applaud NECA for not only getting this to work so well in a figure at this scale, but also for being able to contain the whole shebang inside the one leg piece without effecting the aesthetics of the toy beyond the small button on the back. Which brings me to…

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Articulation! Because everything involving the holster mechanism is confined to the one leg piece, this figure pulls off the exact same articulation as the first figure. In case you missed it last time, the arms feature ball joints in the shoulders, hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the wrists. The legs have ball jointed hips and hinges in the knees and ankles. The torso has a swivel at the waist and a ball joint in the torso, and the neck is ball jointed as well.

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You’d think the extra engineering would come at a price, but I picked up this version for around $17, which is actually a little less than I paid for the original release sans the springy holstery goodness. If you’re in the market for a Robocop and you have neither, I’d definitely recommend going for this one. Apart from the little button in the leg, it’s the same figure. The leg holds together so well, you can hardly notice it’s designed to open, and nothing else on the figure is compromised. The only downside is that I can see the holster mechanism breaking pretty easily, so caution is advised. Still, he’s an amazing figure for a very good price, but hey… it’s NECA… I would expect nothing less.

May 2 2013

Transformers Cybertron: Vector Prime by Hasbro

I had fun looking at Cybertron Metroplex last week, so I thought I’d pull out another one of my favorite Cybertron figures that has hitherto escaped being featured on FigureFan Zero. He’s Vector Prime and holy shit was I excited when I saw the pre-production photos of this guy. I thought he was one of the most gorgeous Transformers ever made. This guy reminds me a lot of the movie style designs that were appearing in the later episodes of the Sunbow cartoon. There’s no in-package shot, so let’s just go right to his alt mode.

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Hells yeah! Vector Prime is a bitchin space cruiser. One of the things I love most about this design is that his transformation is bewilderingly simple, and yet the alt mode works incredibly well. The ship rests nicely on the bulky backside, complete with wheels, and he’s got some cool guns slung under there as well. There’s also a firing missile concealed in the nose of the ship.

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There’s so much sculpted detail on this ship that it’s easy to get lost in the clutter. The surface of the ship’s hull is littered, and I mean LITTERED, with exposed gears and while Hasbro did paint some panels of these with a nice gold application, I really wish I had the customizing skills to have at the rest. A little paint and a lot of time and patience would make Vector Prime’s alt mode even more amazing. But even as he stands now, it’s hard to think of another Transformer that got this much attention to detail in the sculpt. One day, I may at least have a go at panel lining him. Damn, do I love the design of this toy!

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In addition to the crazy detail in the sculpt and the snazzy paint apps, Vector Prime makes good use of translucent blue plastic for the windshield, tiny wings, and some sensor devices on his undercarriage. And then there are the solar panel wings on the sides. They look great in the clear blue, but the plastic is very soft and these things are ridiculously prone to warping. I made the mistake of putting mine lose in a storage tote a couple of years back and when I took him out they looked like they were beyond hope. A lot of effort with a hair dryer brought them back close to their original state, but these things are not to be trifled with!

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Another cool feature of Vector Prime is the way he incorporates his minicon, Safeguard. Most minicons just do their own thing and you can stick them onto the larger robots for power ups, but I always thought there was missed potential to better incorporate them into the designs of the bigger robot’s alt modes. Hasbro did a pretty good job with figures like Cyclonus and Thrust, but then didn’t seem to bother with others. With Vector Prime, there’s an actual indentation where Safeguard plugs in to give Vector Prime a huge cannon. Nice!

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As already mentioned, Vector Prime’s transformation is as easy as it gets. You just fold his legs out, position his arms, fold the front half of the ship into a backpack, and turn the head to face forward. It’s ridiculously simple, and yet the robot mode is a thing of beauty. He has one of my favorite headsculpts of any Transformer from the period and all that great sculpted detail from his alt mode carries over beautifully into his robot mode. The angled shoulder armor looks great, and the backpack isn’t too bulky. The solar panels fold neatly to his sides, and I even dig the way the hull plates slide ever so slightly back to better reveal his fists. I also really love that huge round compartment in his chest. The whole figure hits that sweet spot of late Sunbow aesthetic when there was more of an outer space orientation to the show and we got to see a lot of older Cybertronians that we didn’t see earlier.

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Did I forget to mention that Vector Prime has a translucent blue sword that stores conveniently in his backpack? He does!

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Let’s not depart without saying something about Safeguard, because he’s on my A-list of cool minicons. His alt mode is a little spaceship with a very large gun. As already mentioned, he incorporates nicely into Vector’s alt mode and can quickly detach to fly off on his own. Because most of his alt mode is one big cannon, he can conveniently attach to either of Vector’s arms to give some added fire power. I kind of wish, Hasbro had given him a post to fit in Vector’s hand because then he would have been a proper Target Master. He can also store away by attaching to Vector’s backpack.

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Safeguard sort of mimics Vector’s transformation. He’s definitely one of the better looking minicons in robot mode. He could use a few more paint apps on his torso, but otherwise he looks great and has nice articulation for a minicon. His arms rotate at the shoulders and have ball joints in the elbows. His legs rotate at the hips and have hinged knees.

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Vector Prime is pure Transformer love. Hasbro went crazy with him and it shows. I’m always happy to get another space-faring alt mode, and the robot mode’s design is both beautiful and bad ass. There’s a ton of clever elements to the design of this figure, and yet the transformation isn’t one of them. But he’s a great example of how you don’t necessarily need an over engineered transformation to make an amazing figure.  He’s one of my all-time favorites, and he can usually be found standing on display with my Classics collection. The mold has been brought out a few more times since his original 2005 release. At the ’07 Botcon he was repainted into the glorious Alpha Trion. It was a great use for the mold and it is a strikingly beautiful figure. I’d love to add him to my collection someday, but not enough to blow $450-500 on him. He was rolled out again in 2009 in a rather unfortunately f’ugly repaint as part of the Universe 2.0 collection. If he’s missing from your shelves and you don’t want to splurge on the Botcon exclusive, I recommend going with the original release. You can still pick him up for at or below his original MSRP of about $20-25, and he’s worth every damn penny.