Jan 18 2014

Transformers: Masterpiece Smokescreen (MP-19) by Takara

After languishing in my Pile of Loot over at BBTS for a while, Smokescreen has finally come home! Yes, the last of the Holy Datsun Trinity joins his brothers, Prowl and Streak. While Streak relied on a new paint job and a few slight tweaks to the mold to set him apart from Prowl, Smokescreen is rocking the most distinctive overhaul of the three Datsun Brothers. As a character, Prowl remains my favorite of the Datsuns, but Smokescreen easily ranks second. He definitely had the most personality and I recall his smokescreen got the Autobots out of a jam on at least a few occasions. I’m rather excited to get this guy opened up, so let’s get this party started…

Smokescreen comes in a compact little box that is identical in deco to the previous Datsun releases. There’s really nothing new to say here, except the box is totally collector friendly and I love it despite the fact that I can’t read any of it. Inside the box, Smokescreen rests in a clear plastic tray in his vehicle mode, with his rifle and shoulder cannons positioned below him.

I don’t mind telling you that I was pretty nervous about getting Smokescreen out of the package. He has the most dynamic deco of the three Datsuns with a lot of paint lines and graphics, all of which provided opportunities for Takara’s spotty QC to take their toll. I’m happy to say, however, that after close scrutiny I found mine to be absolutely perfect. The lines are sharp, the lettering and graphics are crisp, and the red, white and blue paint is clean and absolutely stunning. In fact, the progression from the minor paint flubs on my Prowl to the perfection that is Streak and Smokescreen has given me a renewed faith in the QC of the Masterpiece line. The passenger side rear view mirror panel was misaligned in the box, but it was just a glitch in the transformation that needed to be adjusted.

I’ve already gushed on about this mold when featuring Prowl and Streak, so I’ll limit myself here to the new stuff. The remolded areas include the extended apron on the front bumper and the spoiler on the back. They aren’t extensive changes to the mold, but they do go a long way to make Smokescreen look distinctive. Indeed, even after lining up all three of the Datsuns, I still think they are nicely varied and unique for what are basically repaints with some minor retooling. Smokescreen continues the trend of each release striking me as more beautiful than the last. The lush shades of red and blue complement each other perfectly.

By now I’m an old hand at transforming this mold and Smokescreen only holds a couple of surprises. First off, the shoulders are redesigned so that the wheels sit on top. It doesn’t really change the way you transform him much, but it’s a nice little touch to set him apart from the rest. The other difference is his set of shoulder cannons. He still has pieces that fold up from his back like Prowl and Streak, but instead of full on guns, they’re just little brackets to hold the separate guns in place. I’m sure some critics will cry foul over these being separate add-on pieces and how a Masterpiece toy should have them inclusive in the transformation, but I’m not going to jump on the wagon. I’d much rather Takara have them be separate pieces and get them looking right and in this case they surely did.

In conjunction with the new shoulder guns, we get a brand new head sculpt and it is fantastic. MP-19’s noggin is the spitting image of his Sunbow portrait and certainly the most distinctive of all three Datsuns. The paintwork is spotless and the silver, blue and yellow really make his portrait pop beautifully. The rest of Smokescreen’s deco in robot mode is quite similar to the gob-smacking paint job of his auto mode. The only thing new is the silver paint on his thighs. The coloring is every bit as gorgeous and since I didn’t bring up the paintjob earlier, you can surmise that there were no QC surprises in the paint waiting for me when I transformed him.

Original pictures of Smokescreen had me worried about the new bumper making him look too barrel-chested, but I think that effect was mostly from the perspective of the shots. In hand, the figure looks quite well proportioned, even when standing beside his comrades. As with the other Datsuns, Smokescreen’s door wings can be left straight back to mimic the G1 figure or swept upward to give him a more animated look.

In addition to his shoulder guns, Smokescreen comes with a rifle and it is an entirely new piece from what we got with Prowl and Streak. The brand new gun was a really nice surprise as I was assuming that we’d just get the same one packing in once again.

And thus endeth the Chronicle of the Datsun Trinity. I’m so very pleased to finally have these three guys standing on my shelf posed like Charlie’s Angels and ready for action. Prowl and Streak were both superb releases, so it’s no small compliment to say that Smokescreen is by far the prettiest of them all. The dynamic color scheme pushes him over the edge and the fact that it’s applied with such precision was a very welcome treat. It’s probably fitting that the same week I finish off this trio the first pictures of Masterpiece Wheeljack are starting to surface. He looks amazing, but before I move ahead, I need to move backward. I’ve already pre-ordered one of the second run of Lambors, and I hope this time the paint job will warrant me keeping the figure because this set of Datsuns makes me want more MP Autobots for my shelf.

Jan 17 2014

DC Comics: Wonder Woman ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

Last week I started checking out Koto’s ArtFX+ Justice League statues with Supes himself and since we are dealing with the “New 52” verse, I thought it fitting to move on to his main squeeze Wonder Woman. This is also where I resist the urge to comment on any recent casting announcements made by Warner Bros. regarding a certain Amazon for their Man of Steel sequel in fear of pissing off any fans of that movie or that casting decision. Oh, look! We have a statue to look at!

The packaging is similar to what we saw last time only now we get a Wonder Woman motif and her emblem looks particularly nice on the side panel. Everything I said about Superman’s box applies here as well. The printed art on the clear plastic looks great, and it’s designed that you can even display the statue pretty well while still in the package. On the downside it’s very fragile. Case in point, mine must have gotten bumped in shipment. The outer box is fine, but the inner tray was cracked at the bottom. The trays protected the statue just fine, but a regular cardboard box probably would have prevented any damage at all. I always keep my statue boxes and I’m rather concerned about these boxes getting scratched up or crushed over a long period of time.

Out of the package, WW looks gorgeous. I’ll get to her pose in a moment, but first I really need to gush about how beautifully the matte plastic used for her skin contrasts with the high gloss metallic paint used on her costume. Granted, she’s showing a lot less skin than the older and more iconic WW costume. Here she’s graduated to wearing full pants and a corset-style top leaving just her arms and shoulders bare, but the effect is still striking. I probably like WW’s “New 52” outfit least of all the Justice League member makeovers, but I do still like it. I miss the gold, I think the boots should still be red, and the darker blue and lack of colored stars mean that it’s not quite colorful enough for me, but Koto still did a wonderful job recreating the new look here and they even managed to include her short sword. Still, it’s the sculpting on the corset is what really grabs me. The eagle motif on top and the panel lining are both fantastic.

And then there’s the portrait. Koto is no stranger to sculpting some lovely looking ladies and Wonder Woman here is no exception. There’s still a bit of an anime influence here, but I don’t find it as overt as what we saw in Superman. She’s looking slightly down and off to the side, which is practically Koto’s trademark look by now, and sporting a stern and noble expression. The sculpted work on her hair is splendid and I love the way they carried it over to her face with paint apps. The tiny choker necklace and tiara tie the whole portrait together.

Like Superman, the pose here is very much “museum style” with just a hint of action. Wonder Woman is practically mugging for the camera with her left arm cocked and her fist is resting on her hip. Her right arm poised at the ready to grab her golden lasso. The way her back is arched is almost poetic and I think she looks best when positioned on her base at a slight angle with her left foot pointing forward.

Speaking of bases, you get the exact same base that came with Superman. It’s a simple black metal square with “Justice League” on the front. The magnets in Wonder Woman’s feet help her to stand up, which is a good thing because she’s hard to keep standing without the assist. The magnet system also ensures that you can position her anywhere on the stand. She looks particularly nice when sharing a stand with Supes.

I was already sold on this line with Superman, but with the acquisition of Wonder Woman I was further assured that there was no turning back now. She’s an absolutely gorgeous statue. Initially I had some minor doubts about the scale on these pieces. 1:10^th scale seemed a bit too close to the action figures and I tend to associate Koto’s work with 1:8^th scale and above. Those doubts, however, are starting to fade and I’m thinking that these statues are going to be the perfect size for assembling the entire team on my shelf. Wonder Woman originally retailed at around the $40-45 mark, but I was able to pick her up off of Amazon for just under $30. A very nice deal for a very nice statue! Next week, we’ll check out The Flash!

Jan 16 2014

Transformers Energon: Sharkticon by Hasbro

It’s Transformers Thursday and today I’m turning the dial back to 2004 with a look at one of my favorite Deluxe figures from the Energon line. He’s Sharkticon, and while he was a single character on the show, the show’s fiction never meant much to me and I used this guy as an army builder. It seemed logical to me since the Sharkticons were Quintesson foot soldiers in the G1 continuity, but I actually paired these guys up with Energon Mirage to serve as his equivalent of The Sweeps. It may sound convoluted, but as a collector of the Unicron Trilogy toys that didn’t watch the shows, I was always looking to fill in the backstory for the new figures I got. I don’t have a packaged shot of this guy, but he was available in both the regular Energon card as well as the red Powerlinx packaging. Let’s start with his alt mode.

Sharkticon is a battle ship with some shark influences in his design. While I believe the intent was that he’s an ocean-going craft, I imagined these guys would be just as happy as a space-faring armada. I love so much about this toy’s design it’s hard to know where to begin. I think the elements of traditional battleship design are what appeals to me the most, particularly the rotating gun stations on top. He also has a bridge tower and two rotating gun turrets on the sides. The shark elements aren’t overdone and I think the fins on the back make him more credible to me as an air or space ship. Either way, it’s exactly this kind of wild imagination and creativity that makes me love so much of the Energon line.

The deco is quite striking. The hull is mostly black with silver paint apps used to accentuate some of the intricate sculpted detail. The purple accents work for me as does the giant Decepticon insignia plastered on the bow of the ship. I freaking love that! On the other hand, I could have probably done without the orange, it’s distinctive, but feels out of place. I also would have left the bridge tower black instead of the odd choice of white. But even a few questionable color choices can’t wreck this toy for me!

Ah, but just when you thought we’d seen it all and it was time to move on to the robot mode, Sharkticon has two little surprises. You can pull out the side panels on his hull to reveal a pair of hidden missile launchers. Cool!

The transformation here is nothing too complex and yet fairly clever for a Deluxe. The back of the ship unfolds into his arms, the legs are obviously part of the undercarriage and the bulk of the battleship folds onto his back. Everything locks together wonderfully making him a fun figure to play about with. Sharkticon’s robot mode is pretty slick looking. There’s a nice blend of boxy design with a little bit of curvy organic feel thrown in. It’s the kind of aesthetic that I associate a lot with the G1 movie and I love it. The torso is brimming with sculpted detail and he has an Energon port right in the center of his chest so you can give him an Energon chip. He maintains a lot of his shark motif in robot mode with fins coming of his arms and legs and even the head sculpt is a bit evocative of the underwater predator. Even Sharkticon’s balance is well engineered. He’s wearing half the battleship on his back and yet he’s still easy to stand.

The deco in this mode shows off less black and more orange and purple, plus there are silver and red accents. For the love of God, just look at how many paint apps are on this guy! And he’s a Deluxe! Nowadays you wouldn’t find this many paint operations on a Voyager. Surprisingly the orange doesn’t bother me as much in robot mode even though there’s more of it. He’s just gorgeous!

The best compliment I can pay this figure is that I just kept buying him whenever I saw him on the pegs. At one point I had six or seven loose and even a couple carded. But after some trades and sell-offs I’ve paired that down to a simple squad of three now. There aren’t a lot of figures in the Transformers Universe that lend themselves to army building, so this was a case where I just invented my own opportunity. Of course, Energon also gave us the Terrorcons, and I don’t even want to tell you how many of those I have laying around. Next Thursday I’ll be checking out Mirage, the Decepticon who commands these guys in my own crazy homebrew Transformers fiction.

Jan 15 2014

Star Wars Black: Greedo by Hasbro

I’m moving my way through Wave 2 of 6-inch Star Wars Black and our next stop is Greedo. I was a little surprised to see this character turn up so soon, but I’m all but guaranteed to buy any of the Original Trilogy characters that Hasbro deems worthy of this format. I was already pretty excited to get him, and the fact that he came in the same wave as “A New Hope” Han Solo definitely bumped up my interest even more. It also made me wish I had a 6-inch scale Cantina booth. Anyway, I was tempted to look at both Han and Greedo in the same feature, but I’ll have plenty to say about Han when he gets his turn, and as it turns out once I got Greedo out of the package, I thought was deserving of his own feature too.

Speaking of packaging… here it is again: The Star Wars Black window box. I still love it, but I’ve got nothing new to say, so instead let me just take a moment to wax nostalgic about this guy. Greedo action figures and I go way back. I got my first one as part of the Kenner’s cardboard Creature Cantina set and I’m pretty sure I got a single carded version of him one Christmas because my parents bought a whole set of the figures that were at the store. Once “Empire Strikes Back” came out and bounty hunters were all the rage, I used my two Greedos as twin bounty hunters piling on in the search for Han. Later, I would use him as one of Jabba’s crooked accountants who embezzled money and was seeking asylum with the Rebel Alliance. I was a weird kid. I’m sure I’ve owned just about every subsequent version of him after that, including three or four of the POFT2 Greedos because there seemed to almost always be one of those thrown into every lot of Star Wars figures I ever bought off of Ebay. Hell, I bet if I dug through enough totes, I could still find one of those carded.

And so, behold 6-inch Greedo. The first thing that strikes me about this figure is that Hasbro didn’t half-ass him. The sculpt is quite striking and detailed, whether you’re talking about the rumpling in his outfit, the lines of stitching in his vest, or the intricate little bumps on his Rodian head. The vest is made of soft plastic and is removable. He also sports a separate gun belt with a low slung functional holster on his right hip. The pastel colors of Greedo’s outfit appear to be pretty accurate, although the Cantina was so poorly lit it’s hard to tell for sure. I’ll give Hasbro the benefit of the doubt here. Everything here is just beautifully done, but if I had to find something to pick at, I’d say that Greedo’s vest could have used some weathering.

The portrait is absolutely brilliant. The Rodians are among my favorite Star Wars aliens and this 6-inch scale really does him Greedo justice. Are the eyes the right color? Again, it’s hard to tell because of the Cantina lighting, but they look fine to me. The familiar contours of the Rodian face are superbly represented here and it’s all the tiny little bumps and bristles that really makes this guy stand out for me. This is a head sculpt that really benefits from the up-scaling of the line.

Greedo’s articulation features all the goodies I’ve come to expect from this line. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders and feature hinges and swivels in both the elbows and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs, and double hinges in the knees. The ankles feature ball joints as well as lateral rockers. The torso has a ball joint just above the waist and the neck is both ball jointed and hinged. There’s plenty of useful articulation here making Greedo a damn fun figure to fiddle about with.

You get one accessory with Greedo and as you might have guessed it’s the pistol that he used to not shoot first. It’s a little snub nosed gun with a metallic finish. He can hold it comfortably in his right hand and naturally it fits in the holster.

Even after opening a wave and a half, it still feels weird (in a good way!) to have these figures in this scale. That’s especially true for Greedo because, despite the fact that he actually had lines in the movie, we’re coming close to dabbling in back bench character selection. Not that I mind, because like I said… I freaking love Greedo and I freaking love this figure. Plus, every slot that’s filled by a minor Original Trilogy character over a major Prequel character makes my heart swell with happiness.

Jan 14 2014

TW-H01: Hardbone by Toyworld

That’s right, Hardbone! If Transformers have porn stars, surely this would be a killer stage name. “Oh, Hardbone… your gun is soooo big!” But all kidding aside, today’s feature has been a long time coming. Hardhead was one of my favorite G1 Headmaster toys and I fell in love with Hardbone when he was first released. Alas, at the time my toy buying funds were being diverted to some pesky real life expenses. By the time I had money back in the kitty, I was also becoming intrigued with Fansproject’s own series of Not-Headmasters and considered keeping it in the FP family by waiting for them to do their own Not-Hardhead. But I got tired of waiting and many fine people in the know were telling me just what a great toy this was. And so sometime just before Christmas I tossed him into my Pile of Loot at BBTS and shipped it out. He soon arrived and I set him aside for a special occasion, when the madness of the holidays were behind me and I could settle down and really take the time to enjoy opening him up. And today is finally that day!

This is my very first figure from Toyworld so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the packaging and presentation. Hardbone comes in a sort of half-window box with the toy in his tank mode and the head-robot figure at the top center of the tray. It’s kind of weird since the gun isn’t mounted on the tank you don’t really get a good idea of what you’re looking at. The whole presentation seems to accentuate the tiny head-robot more than anything else and I just find that to be a strange choice.

The package deco is green and black with a grid motif. There’s some decent character art down at the bottom of the front panel and again on the left side panel. The back panel and right side panel have actual photos of the toy so you get to see him in both modes. The box is certainly sizeable. It’s just a tad smaller than MMC’s Feralcon boxes and falls right inbetween the boxes used by TFC for Uranos’ Blackbird and the rest of the team. The package is nice enough, there’s nothing wrong with it, but it feels a little amateurish when compared to what we’ve seen from from TFC, MMC, or Fansproject.

Naturally, the box is collector friendly. You just open the side panel and slide out the cardboard tray, which in turn holds the plastic tray that contains the goods. Hardbone is secured to his tray by three wire twisties and his cannon rests below him. The head-robot sits in his own compartment toward the top. Also inside you get a folded color instruction sheet and a profile card that doesn’t really tell you anything. Let’s check out Hardbone’s alt mode first!

Like his spiritual successor, Hardbone is a Cybertronian tank and a pretty cool looking one at that. The body is molded in green plastic with four sets of chunky black treads positioned all around him. He has removable guns mounted on the sides of his rear treads (which can also be pegged into the front treads) and one big mama of a cannon, which connects behind the cockpit and can be offset to the left or right side. The smaller guns can also be pegged into the cannon to create one giant Decepticon-busting mega-cannon. The cannon can swivel left or right as well as raise and lower and there’s a translucent yellow muzzle at the end that can be removed if you don’t fancy it. Beneath the sculpted treads, Hardbone rolls along on six translucent yellow wheels.

The heft on this guy is pretty nice and the quality of the plastic feels great. I’m also really happy with the shade of green that was finally used. Early promotional shots made him out to be bright neon green whereas the final product ended up a lot closer to the green used on the Hardhead that I remember. There aren’t a ton of paint apps, and I’m Ok with that. The mold itself includes enough sculpted detail to carry the day and there are enough different color plastics used to make him look exciting. I particularly like the hatch sculpted onto the back of the tank and there’s some effective detailing in the faked-out treads.

My only gripe here would be that not everything locks together as well as I would like. The side pegs for the rear treads don’t seem to go in deep enough and that sets the rear treads at an ever so slight angle. It can probably be fixed by shaving the pegs a bit, but I doubt I’ll risk it. The back plate behind the cockpit doesn’t lock down so when you move the cannon around it tends to flop up. On the plus side, the front of the tank is set on Hardbone’s waist swivel and doesn’t lock. Some might consider this a design oversight and it probably is, but to me it feels like part of the tank’s suspension and I think it’s pretty cool.

Hardbone’s tiny robot buddy, oh let’s just call him Not-Duros, is a very cool little figure. He’s a bit chunkier than Fansproject’s Not-Nebulons and his transformation is tad simpler than what we got with Q-U and Smart Robin, but he is an impressively solid figure absolutely brimming with tiny little details right down to his itty-bitty sculpted fists. He’s basically designed to look like a smaller version of Hardbone and even his tiny face is painted!

Hardbone’s cockpit opens to reveal a detailed driving compartment for Not-Duros who can sit inside. Unfortunately, because of his huge backpack, the cockpit won’t close with him sitting in there. It’s close, but not quite. If you absolutely want to put him in there you can make him fit when he’s in his head mode. Now, keep in mind, I love having the little bots pilot the Headmaster vehicles, so this is a pretty big strike against the figure for me. Fansproject was able to get their Not-Nebulons to fit and their Function figures are much smaller than this guy. Hardbone’s robot mode is going to have to be pretty damn incredible for me to overlook something like this.

Well guess what? It is! I found Hardbone’s transformation to be fairly straightforward. There are a few double-hinged panels that were a little tricky until I figured out what they were doing. While probably not necessary, I stripped him of his weapons, including the gun barrel and bayonet that are concealed in his tread panels. Unpacking his legs took a bit more force than I would have liked and unfolding his hands proved to be a challenge. Eventually I got them flipped out by inserting the handle of the bayonet into the socket and using it as a tool. But when all is said and done, this guy is absolutely gorgeous. He’s just the right amount of boxy to scratch my G1 itch and the head, while a little too difficult to turn, just looks fantastic. Hardbone is considerably larger than Fansproject’s Function figures, but I think he scales beautifully with them. He’s a tank so he should be bigger and chunkier and I find that the aesthetic matches perfectly. He even scales rather well with the Masterpiece Datsuns.

Hardbone’s cannon can be positioned to angle over either of his shoulders. Thanks to the swivel and the hinge in the connection you can position it a lot of different ways. You can also peg it directly into his back and just have it hang down and out of the way. The other big treat here is Hardbone’s lateral tilts in the feet. He’s a big guy that looks good in a wide stance and both his feet and heel spurs can support that and still be flat on the ground.

If you like customizing, Hardbone’s weapons should be right up your alley. He can wield his guns in both hands and the spare gun barrel that stores in his leg can be used on either gun to make it into a rifle and it can also be inserted into the big cannon as a scope. The bayonet, which stores in his other leg, can mount under either gun or it can be wielded by Hardbone as a combat knife. There’s plenty of fun to be had with this guy if you fancy experimenting with his weapons load out.

In terms of articulation, Hardbone isn’t quite as agile as FP’s Function figures, but I’m willing to forgive that because he’s a hulking beast compared to them. As a result, you don’t get any double hinges in the elbows or anything fancy like that. You do, however, get full rotation and lateral movement in the shoulders, hinges and swivels in the elbows, and swivels in the wrists. The legs offer full rotation and lateral movement in the hips, swivels in the thighs, hinges in the knees, and those lovely lateral rockers in the ankles that I already mentioned. Hardbone can turn his head, but the plate that turns it seems to be a ratchet joint, which offers a bit more resistance than is comfortable.

With an original MSRP of about $100, Hardbone may seem a bit pricey especially when compared to the $60 Function figures, but he is a much bigger figure. Nowadays you can grab him for closer to $70 and that’s a pretty good deal for a third-party Transformer in this size. What Hardbone lacks in mind-blowingly clever engineering he makes up for by just being an ultimately solid, fun and functional toy. Yes, there are a few minor design oversights, all of which are confined to his vehicle mode, but I think Hardbone makes up for those with a lot of the cool customization options with his weapons. The inability to have Not-Duros sit in the closed cockpit does irk me quite a bit, but that one fail isn’t enough to torpedo this figure for me. I think the highest praise that I could give Hardbone is that I love him enough, that I doubt I’ll double-dip on the character even if Fansproject does do their own version of him.

Jan 13 2014

Doctor Who: “The Daemons” Collector Set by Character Options

2014 is slated to be a pretty slim year for Classic Who action figures, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at January, because this month two new sets have landed at my door. Technically released at the tail end of 2013, “The Daemons” and “The Claws of Axos” boxed sets didn’t make it to me until last week and it took me a few days to get the time to open the first of them up. This week we’ll take a look at “The Daemons” and I’ll save the Axos set for next week.

“The Daemons” set comes in the now familiar Classic Who window box with a timeline on the bottom pointing out that this is based on a Third Doctor story originally broadcast in 1971, the year before I was born. There are plenty of production stills of the characters and a little blurb about the story on the back. Inside the box you get the animated gargoyle Bok, as well as brand new versions of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and The Master. I make it no secret that Jon Pertwee’s portrayal as The Doctor is one of my favorites so naturally I’m going to be partial to this story. Nonetheless, it’s one that I usually only watch once a year, and always in October. Since 2005 we Whovians have become used to the idea of Christmas Specials, but if you’re ever hankering for a Doctor Who Halloween Special, “The Daemons” is most definitely the story you’re looking for. Let’s start things off with The Brigadier.

Character Options first gave us a figure of The Brig last year fully kitted out in his UNIT dress uniform. This time around we’re getting him in his tactical sweater and I’m thrilled because this is The Brig in action! He’s out in the field, and trying to blow the piss out of alien scum. The most surprising thing about this release is just how few reused parts that are here. The legs are the same, the hands appear to be repainted, but the rest of the figure is brand new. The green sculpted pullover features pads on the elbows and shoulders and a new web-gear style belt with a (sadly non-functional) holster.

You’ll note that I didn’t include the head sculpt as one of the recycled parts and that surprised me more than anything, particularly since both Brigs are wearing their officer’s caps. Now, I had no issues at all with the original figure’s head sculpt, but after putting these guys side-by-side I have to go with this new one as being considerably better. The uniformed Brig looks a bit more like a mannequin to me. The sculpt is not all that drastically different, but when you combine it with what is a generally better paint job, this new Brig just looks more lifelike.

Alistair features the same articulation as the last release. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders with hinged elbows and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have universal movement in the hips, hinges in the knees, and swivels in the thighs. There’s no torso articulation, but The Brig can rotate his head. Anytime CO works ball joints into their Classic Who figures I am a very happy camper.

Accessories! The Brig comes with three accessories. First off you get the same pistol that came with the original Brig; you get a swagger stick; and last up you get a set of binoculars, which can hang around The Brig’s neck. The binoculars are a tad oversized, but still appreciated because he can use them to observe just how little damage the air strikes do to whatever alien UNIT happens to be fighting. I’m also thrilled that we got a swagger stick for him to tuck into the crook of his elbow or to point menacingly at poor Seargeant Benton.

Next up is Mr. Magister… aka The Master. As much as The Brigadier figure is an example of a thoroughly fleshed out new version of his character, The Master feels more like a quick-and-dirty cash grab. He appears to be the same Delgado Master figure we’ve already seen twice only with soft plastic robes permanently attached over him. CO’s likeness of Roger Delgado is among their best so naturally the head sculpt is as good as ever, but the robes don’t look quite right. What’s more, because of the robes the figure features almost no useful articulation. His head can turn and his arms can move just a wee bit up and down but any other articulation is rendered moot by his plastic costume. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, because I’ll gladly buy any version of The Master that CO deems worthy of production, but there were other versions I would have preferred to see over this one.

Finally we get Bok, who is the only figure in this set that is one hundred percent new and he looks truly fantastic. As an animated stone gargoyle, CO combined a great sculpt with some cool paintwork to give this guy a really convincing stone finish. The head sculpt is quite accurate to the costume used in the show, right down to the tongue sticking out. For all you people who think the Weeping Angels are frightening, I don’t mind telling you that this little f’cker creeped me the hell out when I first saw “The Daemons” as a kid. It moved around like a demented monkey and the atmospheric lighting combined with the B&W picture just made him all the freakier. Oh yeah, and don’t bother not blinking because he’ll still freaking kill you even if you happen to be looking at him.

Naturally everyone wants their little stone gargoyles to be super-articulated and Bok delivers with some pretty damn good poseability. He has ball joints in his shoulders and hips. His arms feature hinged elbows and swivels in the biceps and wrists. His legs have hinged knees and swivels in the ankles. The tail and wings aren’t articulated but are made out of softer plastic.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this set since the day it was announced and now that I have it in hand I’m not at all disappointed. Sure, I think The Master’s robes could have been executed a little better but I’m not going to complain about getting another Delgado Master. Plus, The Brigadier and Bok are both such great figures that they alone easily justify the purchase of the set. It’s crazy to think how overjoyed I was last year to finally have a figure of The Brigadier and now I have two fantastic variants. And next week when I open “The Claws of Axos” set, I’ll have three! Of course, I’ll have to keep them on separate shelves to avoid setting off the Blinovitch Limitation Effect. And to anyone who got that joke… Cheers!

Jan 11 2014

Batman Classic TV Series: Batman & Robin by Mattel

Yesterday we looked at the last Club Infinite Earths release, which happened to be a Batman figure. Well I really wanted to wrap up some unfinished business this weekend, and so at the risk of being repetitive today we’re going to look at the last two figures I have yet to feature in Mattel’s 1966 Batman series. With all the single carded figures already under my belt, this boxed two-pack is all that’s left of this rather brief run. Mattel were real bastards about making Robin an exclusive to this set. Any of us that were buying a complete assortment of the first wave wound up with two of the same Batman figures. I wasn’t going to bite, but when this set turned up on Amazon over the holidays for $13 shipped, I couldn’t resist completing my Dynamic Duo.

This two-pack comes in a sizeable box with the vintage Batman logo and a large window that lets the figures and base do most of the talking. The Caped Crusaders are carefully posed on the wall base against an animated background and they look great. I’m glad I took a picture, because it proved to be the last time I was able to achieve that look with the figures on the base. But I’ll come back to that in a little bit.

Mattel’s presentation for this line has been spot on from the get go, but I think the deco on this box drives it home even better than the carded figures. There’s no stupid and nonsensical overreaching quote from Robin and no extrapolated artwork of the villains, at least not any that’s prominently displayed. The artwork of Batman and Robin shaking hands on the back of the box looks like it was taken directly from the TV credits and really yanks at my nostalgia pole. The side panels feature the credit artwork of the Caped Crusaders running and it just looks awesome. Just about every iconic and animated trope from the series is on display here. Let’s get the figures out and take a look.

Batman should look familiar because it is practically the same as the carded figure I featured a few months back. The biggest difference here is the cape, which features wires running through the edges to help it fan out. I presume this was done to make the capes fall more realistically when the figures are “climbing” up the wall base. It also features a HUGE f’cking obnoxious mattress tag inside the cape, which I had to cut off. Why the hell did that have to be on this figure and not the carded one? I’m sure the real answer is ridiculous, but if anyone knows the I’d seriously be curious to hear why. The cape here isn’t really better or worse, just different. I’ll probably wind up displaying the carded one just because this cape seems to float a little higher around the neck. Otherwise, this is still a decent figure and he does come with a bonus batarang, which was excluded from the carded release.

Moving on to the real reason I bought this set… Robin. I’ve read some mixed reactions to this figure but in hand I have to say I think he turned out quite good. The head sculpt is a little soft but still a good likeness to Burt Ward. I’m not sure about the height, maybe he’s a little too tall, but he is shorter than Batman and that works fine for me. The build of the figure’s buck is good and the detail on the costume relies as much on original sculpting as it does on paint. Robin features the same style cape as Batman with the wires in the sides and the huge tag. I imagine the wires could be removed fairly easily if you wanted him to match the carded Batman a little better, but I’m content with leaving mine the way it is.

Since this is the first time we’re seeing Robin, I’ll run down his articulation, although it’s basically the same as Batman. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows, and have swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have the usual DCUC style hips, Swivels in the thighs and hinges in the knees and ankles. Robin has a swivel at the waist, an ab crunch hinge in the torso and his neck is ball jointed. I’ll also throw it out there that while his legs are pretty thin, he can stand a lot better than my last DCUC Robin, so that’s a bit of a treat.

The rest of this set is represented by a base that looks like part of the side of a building with opening windows and foot pegs for the figures. The idea here is that you can recreate the iconic scene of the Dynamic Duo climbing up the side of the buildings. During these sequences various famous actors would make cameos by popping their heads out of the windows and hilarity would ensue. It’s a great idea that sadly doesn’t work at all. Despite having a socket to help you hang the base on the wall and a small hole to attach the included rope, I find it impossible to get the figures pegged in so that they will stay in place on the vertical base, let alone do so while appearing to be climbing. If you can’t tell the photo above was obviously flipped vertically. I suppose if you were willing to glue the figures into place you could get a satisfactory result, but even then the base isn’t really big enough to make the illusion work for me. The failed execution of this makes me all the angrier that Mattel didn’t just release Robin as a single carded figure.

This Batman and Robin 2-pack retailed at about $25-30, which isn’t all that bad for what you were getting. I was boycotting it on principal that we shouldn’t have to buy another Batman to get Robin. But as I mentioned in the opening, when the price dropped to $13 on Amazon I ended the boycott. I guess my principals are worth exactly $17. In all seriousness though, the sale price was about what Robin would have cost as a single carded figure and so I felt justified. Besides, it wasn’t until I got the Dynamic Duo together on my shelf that I realized the folly of not completing my collection with Robin. Thankfully I was never all that interested in the display base, because it just doesn’t work.

Jan 10 2014

DC Universe Signature Collection: Batzarro by Mattel

Here we go, folks, it’s the very last release in Matty’s Club Infinite Earths! Well, unless you count the four quarterly releases Matty will do this year. The Signature Collection had a pretty good run for two years and while I was still willing to sub for another year, the truth is that the waning months of the club in 2013 was starting to wear thin for me. Case in point, the last release we get is Batzarro. I’ve had this figure for a couple of weeks now and I still have mixed feelings about this guy. On the one hand, I don’t think there were many collectors out there who were asking for him and when you think of how many characters were vying for this slot, Batzarro is a ridiculous choice. On the other hand, if there was ever a viable venue for Batzarro’s release, I suppose a hardcore collector club like this one was the best way to do it.

There’s the packaging. We may see it again, as I will be buying Ice when she’s released this year, but who knows how Matty will package her. She could come rubber banded into a plastic sandwich baggie for all we know. I don’t have anything new to say about these Signature Collection window boxes. They were well designed, nice and compact, collector friendly, and mostly had great character art. If space wasn’t such a concern for me I would have saved them all. Farewell!

And here’s Batzarro out of the package. I have absolutely zero knowledge of this character other than what’s printed on the back of the package. Apparently he’s a clone of Batman as opposed to a legitimate Bizarro version of Batman. Does it matter? Not to me. What we have here is basically a pretty standard Batman figure in the grey and black costume with some fun tweaks. His “futility belt” is a newly sculpted piece with all the pouches upside down and opened. The bat symbol printed on his chest is also upside down. Also, I dig that the interior of the cape is grey as opposed to black. The head sculpt is new and it’s pretty damn creepy. There are no eye holes in the cowl and Batzarro sports a crazy rictus grin displaying fanged teeth. It seems pretty obvious that this was a figure planned for the Batman Unlimited line as he would look right at home on the pegs next to that ungodly Planet X Batman.

Batzarro comes with a soft plastic batarang, which he can hold in each hand. The fact that the bio points out that he likes to use guns makes the absence of a gun accessory rather disappointing.

If today’s feature is brief, it’s because I don’t have a hell of a lot to say about Batzarro. A lot of collectors were pissed off to find that he was going to take the last slot in the CIE sub, but I will concede that I find him to be a fun release. Yes, he represents some pretty poor character selection by the powers that be over at Matty. The truth is that the final slot could have been much better spent on any one of a hundred characters. Nonetheless, I dig Batzarro a lot more than I did R’as Al Ghul or Red Hood, even if that’s a back-handed compliment. He is by no means the worst figure I received from the sub in its final year. Maybe that fact alone means it was time for CIE to shut down. It’s hard to argue that CIE wouldn’t still be going strong with better and more exciting character selection and Batzarro’s reception is a prime example of that.

Jan 9 2014

Transformers Generations: Rhinox by Hasbro

Hey, it’s the first Transformers Thursday of 2014! As promised last time, I’m going to start mixing it up on TFT with both modern and older stuff and today we’re continuing with the modern. Rhinox was one of the last Transformers to ship in 2013 and he was a nice surprise because he’s a Beast Wars Voyager! Holy crap! As a fan and collector I’ve always had an undying love for the Beast Wars TV series, but that love never carried over to the toys. Oh, I had quite the collection of Beast Wars figures, but they never really captured the magic of what came before and what has come since. I ended up unloading that collection (except for Megatron) during one of the Great Toy Purges and I can’t say as I regret it. Needless to say, I was excited to get a modern Rhinox in hopes that he could help me find some affection for a Beast Wars figure.

The package consists of a familiar window-style box similar to what we got for the other Generations Voyagers. This one still keeps some of the G1 inspired grid pattern, but also embraces the white granite look of the Generations comic packs. The box retains the “Thrilling 30” moniker, but it’s labeled as a 2014 figure and brandishes the Maximal insignia in several places. The wrap-around character artwork is absolutely killer and Rhinox himself is packaged beside it in his robot mode. I really can’t wait to get this guy out and transform him, so let’s start out with his beast mode.

Yup, Rhinox is a rhino, and a mighty fine looking one at that. Sure, there’s seaming situated all around him, but the plates all lock together quite well, minimizing any unsightly gaps that advertise him as a shell-former. The sculpt here is quite good and consists of leathery looking skin and a very convincing rhino head. There is some obvious, green robot kibble visible on the backs of his legs, but apart from that you’d need to pick this guy up and look underneath to see that anything really funky was going on. The rhino covering is mostly made up of hard plastic, although softer stuff is used for his hinder, ears, and horn. There isn’t a lot of paintwork on this aspect of Rhinox, but he doesn’t really need it. Overall, it’s a pretty good rhino disguise.

If you’re looking for a super-articulated rhino, however, you will be disappointed. Rhinox’s beast mode sports very limited articulation. His legs can move forward and backward a bit, but it isn’t really a natural movement and the more you move them the more you risk knocking the plates out of whack. He can, however, open his mouth and bite things. Honestly, I’m not terribly upset about the limited articulation in beast mode because this guy is going to spend very little time as a rhino. I’m mostly happy that he locks together so well and stands well and he does indeed capture Rhinox’s hilariously grumpy animal visage.

Of course, I didn’t buy this ticket for the Rhino Show. The rhino is just the warm-up band. No, I got this guy for loveable Rhinox in robot mode and let me tell you this is a glorious treatment of the character. The transformation felt a tad intimidating at first, but after going through it only once, it seemed really easy when I was done. In fact, it’s all rather obvious. Everything unfolds from Rhino mode in a logical manner, but even going back into Rhino mode is rather intuitive. Shell-formers have a habit of being frustrating, but Rhinox avoids falling into that trap. And it’s hard to argue with the resulting figure.

Rhinox is a fantastic representation of his animated counterpart. The proportions are great and the sculpt is gloriously complex, particularly in the chest and shoulder area where the mechanical hinges and gears mesh beautifully with the smooth rhino parts to create that amazing bio-mechanical aesthetic. I love the way the rhino mouth unfolds to form not only his chest plaste, but the plate over his pelvis as well. The subtle shift that positions the two plates that flank the chest piece is really cool too. The shoulders give the figure a properly hulking appearance and also allow for a wide range of movement in the arms. And the head? Hasbro really nailed Rhinox’s head sculpt. There’s a bit of mold flashing over my figure’s left eye, but I can probably clean that up with a razor.

The rhino head and rhino butt lock together on Rhinox’s back very similar to the way the nosecone and tail lock together on TFC’s Uranos jets. Maybe a coincidence, or maybe someone at Hasbro is paying attention? Either way it’s cool and effective. The only gripe I have about Rhinox is he his a tad back heavy and the hip joints are rather loose. It is possible to get him standing fully erect, but it helps to lean him forward a bit. Have I mentioned the paintwork? The gold and green look amazing and contrast beautifully with the drab grey rhino parts.

Naturally, Rhinox comes with his spinning hand cannons. The pieces clip together and serve to fill out his belly cavity when he’s in rhino mode and in robot mode he can wield them in each hand. There’s even a button on each one to make them spin. The sculpting on these guns is great, but the fronts are cast in the same grey rhino skin plastic, which is rather a bummer. Some silver would have made them look amazing. I’m guessing Hasbro ran out of budget for additional paint operations, which is understandable considering how amazing a figure this is.

After some dubious modern efforts at Classics-style Dinobot and Cheetor, I’m happy to say that Hasbro’s third time was the charm. This figure does for Rhinox exactly what many of the best Classics/Generations figures have done for G1 characters. The rhino mode may not be the most exciting thing around, but it looks good and it gets the job done. Rhinox’s bot mode on the other hand is as sexy as a giant robot-rhino can possibly be. The sculpt, the proportions, the coloring (mostly)… everything about this figure just gels beautifully for me. He was a wonderful surprise for the Generations line and a great first addition to my Transformer collection for 2014. The fact that I got him at half price with free shipping on Hasbrotoyshop was just the icing on the energon cake. Now I really need to find me a Waspinator.

Jan 8 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Strong-Or by Mattel

December was a month of endings. It was the end of 2013, but it was also the end of the DC Club Infinite Earths sub and the end of the Club Filmation sub. Both will be missed, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see another Filmation mini-sub pop up next year. Today we’re going to check out the final figure in the Filmation sub. He’s Strong-Or and probably the one figure that I was least interested in among the club’s excellent roster.

There’s the packaging and there are no surprises here. Fans of the cartoon will note that he was originally named Strong Arm, but has been redubbed Strong-Or, probably because of some kind of copyright gobbledygook. Hey, at least he was spared the name Fisto. Flip the package over and we get a bio, which inexplicably mentions the name that they couldn’t give him on the front. Weird. Also, I’ll note that the only figure I’m missing on the back of the card is Fang Man, who I believe is another Filmation character. Fang Man is crazy expensive now, so I may never get him. There’s not much else to say about the package and since my Jameson is getting low, I’d better just dive right in to my next unpleasant task. I’m off to watch “She Demon of Phantos” and I’ll be back in about 25 minutes.

Ok, so that was um… an episode where some stuff happened. The Eternian Palace has a standing deal to buy ~~vibranium~~ ~~adamantium~~ photanium metal from Queen Elmora of Phantos to make their weapons, but Skeletor takes over the planet and secretly sells them shit metal instead. Meanwhile he takes over Phantos, turns Elmora into a crazy old hag with a wonky eye, and it’s up to He-Man and gang to set things straight. What’s missing? Strong-Or. He’s hardly in it, other than just being another one of Skeletor’s goons. It makes him an odd choice for the sub, since all of the other one-off’s were at least pretty central to the episode they were in. That’s not really a complaint, because I’m just as happy to get another Evil Warrior for Skeletor’s brood. I also need to confess that I fast-forwarded this one a lot. While the premise showed promise, this episode just bored me to tears. Thankfully, the bio makes this guy a lot more interesting. Ok, so let’s check out the figure.

He may be from another planet, but Strong-Or is a dude who fits right in with the crazy freaks of Eternia. He’s got the head of a bulldog-jowled cyber punk-rocker, a giant mechanical arm and a miss-matched bright yellow glove. Nothing about this dude is subtle. And yet the bulk of the figure is comprised of a pretty standard MOTUC buck cast in orange with metallic blue boots and spiked belt and a soft plastic piece of armor that rests around his neck and on his shoulders. Oddly enough it’s the yellow glove that bothers me the most about this guy. Yes, it’s animation accurate, but it’s just so out of place. I think if it matched his armor or boots it would have tied the figure together splendidly. Sure, it’s a rather unfair critique, as it says more about Stong-Or’s poor fashion sense than the figure itself, but I thought I’d throw it out there anyway.

Obviously, the portrait here is pretty distinctive to say the least. Strong-Or’s mask has a crude, hammered and chiseled look that I think works in the character’s favor. The soft rubbery spiked mohawk is the pinnacle of lazy 80’s design, and yet somehow it’s still passable on Eternia. The giant triangular ears are only made more bizarre by the fact that they’re painted to be real ears and not part of the mask. Speaking of paint, the paint on Strong-Or’s head is a little rough. There’s a lot of slop between the ears and the mask and some obvious brush strokes on the face. It’s nothing terrible, but the paint apps on my MOTUC figures are usually so well done, I thought it worth pointing out here.

Strong-Or’s big gimmick is his mechanical right arm, which can extend by swapping it out with a larger piece. It really seems like he’s infringing on Fisto and Jitsu’s own private freak flags, but he is from another planet, so I guess we have to let that slide. Plus, I don’t own either of those figures and that makes him more unique in my collection. The arm is very nicely executed with individually sculpted segments and and bolts running down the front and back. The swappable part is attached just below the elbow so you don’t lose any articulation when giving him the extended arm.

As if his mechanical arm wasn’t enough, Strong-Or also comes with one of the coolest guns released in the line. Check this thing out! It’s an awesome retro sci-fi gun that looks like it would be right at home being wielded by Buster Crabbe. The gun is designed to be held with both hands, which puts it at odds with Strong-Or since there isn’t a peg hole in his mechanical fists. Then again, it isn’t really intended for Strong-Or as I’m told by one of my He-Man fanatical friends that it’s a weapon used by Evil-Lyn in another episode. I have to say it’s really cool that Mattel is tossing in Filmation-style accessories with figures just to get them out there.

Strong-Or is my least favorite of the entire Filmation Club run, but that does not in any way mean that I don’t like him. This mini-sub has produced some amazing figures and I’m happy to have every one of them standing on my shelves. Ranking last in a collection of six great figures should not be taken as a mark of shame. The best compliment that I can pay to this little sub is that it convinced me to sub Club Eternia this year and as I play around with Strong-Or right now I am in no way regretting that decision. I mean, holy shit in just a couple of weeks Two-Bad will be landing on my doorstep and I can’t wait!

*Image of Filmation Strongarm taken from Greyskull Wiki.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Monthly Archives: January 2014

Transformers: Masterpiece Smokescreen (MP-19) by Takara

DC Comics: Wonder Woman ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

Transformers Energon: Sharkticon by Hasbro

Star Wars Black: Greedo by Hasbro

TW-H01: Hardbone by Toyworld

Doctor Who: “The Daemons” Collector Set by Character Options

Batman Classic TV Series: Batman & Robin by Mattel

DC Universe Signature Collection: Batzarro by Mattel

Transformers Generations: Rhinox by Hasbro

Masters of the Universe Classics: Strong-Or by Mattel

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