Jul 9 2016

KanColle: Repair Ship Akashi (Day Off Figure) by Taito

Yup, Anime Saturday may stray now and then, but it’s going to keep coming back to Kantai Collection quite a bit for the foreseeable future. I’ve gone on before about how enamored I am with Taito’s line of Prize Figures and today I’m looking at another one of their KanColle releases, this time with Repair Ship Akashi, a character from the video game rather than the anime series.

Boy, do I love these packages. Simple, attractive, enclosed boxes. There’s no windows to scratch or dent and the boxes are made of pretty heavy stock so they will actually protect the figure if you need to pack them up. There’s hardly any English on the package, but I know who I’m buying, so I actually prefer it that way. It adds to the charm of the import. Inside, the figure comes wrapped in plastic and this one requires just a little bit of assembly as well as the placement of some accessories.

It’s Akashi’s Day Off, so she’s taking some time out from repairing and upgrading her fellow ship sisters and just chilling out a bit. She’s seated on a bit of repair gantry, which pegs into the base. Her feet also peg into the base and between the two she’s quite stable. While she only measures about 5-inches and change, she is reclining and that puts her in scale with Taito’s other KanColle Prize Figures. She’s winking at you while enjoying a tray of dumplings, with her equipment strewn on the floor beside her.

Akashi is wearing the typical sailor-inspired school uniform, which includes a white blouse with blue collar and cuffs, along with a pleated blue skirt with red trim. She also has white and black thigh-high stockings with pink bows at the top. The sculpting here is very well done, particularly the ruffles in her blouse and the pleating on the skirt. The paint is also a solid effort. If I get in close enough, I can see a little bit of spray or inconsistencies, but for a piece in this price range, I’m very happy with the quality.

The portrait is very charming, thanks in part to her wink and beaming smile. Her one open eye is beautifully printed with a fetching shade of green. Her pink hair is tied into two bunches in the front with red ribbon and cascades out the back and fans out around her. There’s some really nice work on the bangs. The general wildness of the hair adds just the right amount of energy and excitement to a statue that is otherwise very relaxed in its composition. I will say that the skin tones on this piece are a little bit on the waxy side, but considering that she isn’t showing a lot of skin, it doesn’t really detract from the figure too much.

Akashi holds a small bowl of dipping sauce in her left hand and is holding a dumpling in chopsticks in her right hand. Damn, now I want to go drive around the block and get an order of steamed dumplings.

The figure comes with three loose accessories, and by loose I mean they don’t attach anywhere, so you can place them wherever you want. The first is the tray of dumplings, which in the box art is just sitting on the gantry beside her. A peg or something to secure it would have been helpful, but I’ve found as long as I don’t bump the shelf, it will stay put.

You also get a wrench and welding mask, which can just be placed anywhere on the base. The base is a simple, black base, although it is rather large to accommodate Akashi’s outstretched legs. She takes up a fair amount of real estate on the shelf, but that’s usually the case when the figure is orientated in this fashion.

Akashi set me back a whopping $16 shipped, which I think is a fantastic value for an import of this quality. She displays very nicely beside Taito’s Light Cruiser Yahagi. And while I’m not nearly as familiar with the characters that didn’t appear in the anime series, I really like the idea of having a Repair Ship in my KanColle display to offer a little variety among all the Destroyers, Carriers, and Battleships. In fact, I’m kind of bummed now that she wasn’t included in the anime. I think she would have been a good addition to the cast of characters.

Jul 8 2016

DC Icons: (#13) Harley Quinn by DC Collectibles

It took a little longer than expected, but DC Collectibles has finally shipped out the third assortment of their DC Icons line. And so pleased I have been with the first two assortments, here I am ready to scarf up more. Today I’m checking out a very classic looking Harley Quinn pulled from the pages of 1999’s Batman: No Man’s Land, although this look works for her on any number of levels if you’re after a well-rounded Harley for your collection.

The packaging hasn’t really changed at all from the previous waves, so I won’t dwell on it. It has a bright and clean look to it with a window that shows off the goods splendidly. It’s also collector friendly so you have somewhere to store the extra bits if you want to keep it. The side panel has the figure’s name and number, in this case Harley is unlucky number thirteen, so you can store these on a shelf book-style and still know which is which.

And this is indeed, good ol’ Harley before The New 52 turned her into a stripper and the Arkham games turned her into a stripper in a nurse costume. Hey, I’m not hating, I like Harley’s trashy look, but I also know that I’m in a very small minority when it comes to the sentiment. I’m sure a lot of collectors are thrilled to see this figure introduced into the line. She dons her trademark black and red jester outfit and while a good part of this figure is a generic painted female buck, you do get some unique sculpting on her wrist and ankle ruffles, as well as the collar piece. She comes wearing a pair of fists, but you also get three additional hands designed to interact with her accessories. The paint here is fairly basic, but extremely clean with sharp lines.

The portrait is a winner. I think they really nailed both her smile and her eyes. Of course, she has her jester hood with the tassels hanging down on the sides. The paint here is a little less crisp than what we got on the costume, with some over-spray along the top edge of her forehead, but it’s not too bad. The paint work on her vibrant blue eyes is absolutely haunting.

Harley is the first female figure in this line that I’ve opened, but the articulation is consistent with what we’ve been seeing so far. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and double hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, with hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles, and double hinges in the knees. There’s an ab crunch hinge just above the waist, a ball joint just below the chest, and a ball joint in the neck. The only thing that I’m really missing here is some sort of swivel in the thighs, but she’s still a fun and highly pose-able figure.

For accessories, we start with Harley’s pop gun. The sculpt and paint are particularly nice for such a small accessory and she comes with a left hand that is designed specifically to hold it. The cork looks very realistic.

And of course, you can’t have a Harley figure without an over-sized mallet, right? This is another beautifully done piece with some great detail and paint, particularly in the barrel-style head and the red wrapped grip. She comes with a pair of hands designed specifically for this accessory, but if you aren’t a big fan of swapping out hands, the left gun hand works just fine with it.

So, here we are into the third wave of DC Icons and I’m still extremely happy that I got on board with these figures. I can remember waffling quite a bit in the beginning because the scale didn’t match up with DC Universe Classics and I didn’t want to start over. But in the end, I believe these are the best figures that DC Collectibles have ever put out and and I’m both thrilled and excited to see that it’s been successful enough to keep going. And I have a feeling that Harley here will be a stand alone pick up for a lot of fans who aren’t yet collecting this line. And I think she’s good enough to maybe convert some of those people into jumping on board.

Jul 7 2016

Transformers Animated: Starscream by Hasbro

Primus be praised! Transformers Thursday has been back in action for more than a couple of weeks now, and with a little luck, I’ll be able to keep it going for quite a while. Yes, I will be getting to some new stuff soon, but indulge me for just another week or so as I look at some recent additions to my TF: Animated collection. Today, I’m checking out Voyager Class Starscream. While the TF:A series had some ups and downs for me, one of the things I enjoyed the most was Tom Kenny’s characterization of Starscream. It took all his smarmy personality from the G1 cartoon and cranked it up to a thousand. Let’s face it, the legendary voice talent of Chris Latta should have been an impossible act to follow, but Kenny stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. I’ve got no packaged shot, so let’s jump right in and check out his alt mode…

Yup, he’s a jet, and a damn cool looking one too! This is a fresh and futuristic design, which features forward angled wings and some prominent engine pylons. It’s a new look for the traitorous Seeker, and yet it still manages to carry the homage with details like the yellow cockpit and the intakes flanking it. The coloring is different from what we’re used to seeing. Instead of an off-white he’s a pale purple, but the red striping and accents help drive the homage home just a bit more. There are a few minor things that put me off, like the obvious telescoping nosecone, but all in all, I really dig this mode.

The undercarriage features three sets of folding landing gear and while the missile launchers have to be pointed back to use them, once he’s in flight, they can be angled forward to a more useful position. They’re not positioned under the wings, like you might expect, but I like their low-slung look here.

And while it’s not an official third mode, I have to say that Starscream has a killer Gerwalk Mode. It does, however, take some finesse to hold it together. Transforming him all the way into robot mode features some clever stuff, like the nosecone collapsing in to assist in the head reveal. The rest is more or less what we’ve seen before. The real bugger of this figure, however, are all the bits that fall off of him during transformation. The hinged fingers like to pop out, I’ve head the head pop off, and it’s a good idea to unload those missile launchers first because those babies have some hair triggers and can shoot pretty far.

The end result, however, is pretty sweet and despite the stylized design, it doesn’t stray far from the Starscream we all know and love. Tail fins on the legs? Check! Weapons on the arms? Check! Angled shoulder wings? Gotcha! Cockpit dead center? Yup! About the only thing he’s missing is the shoulder intakes, and they look pretty good on his chest.

The head sculpt is spot on to his on screen counterpart. And if light-piping in the eyes isn’t enough, you also get it in the mouth too so you can see his disgustingly smug smirk even in the dark.

Much like G1 Starscream’s null rays, this guy’s missile launchers can be angled up when not in use or flipped down to a firing position. They can, however, get in the way sometimes, so it’s always an option to pull out the missiles entirely. But then, what’s a Decepticon without his weapons, eh?

While I love this design, playing with Starscream can sometimes be a bitch. For starters, a lot of the bits that fall off of him during transformation will do it when I’m playing with him. Especially those hands! Also, his legs are oddly articulated and feature some unforgiving ratchets. Getting him posed so that he doesn’t look like he’s doing pelvic thrusts can be a lot of work, but a lot of times it’s worth it.

Voyager Class Starscream is far from a perfect figure. Much like the real Starscream his toy can be a frustrating jerk, but I think there’s more good here than bad. The figure does a nice job bringing the animated style to plastic form, not to mention the engineering of a working Transformer, and that’s something that in my mind should never be underestimated or overlooked about this line. And it feels great to finally have a figure of such a masterful treatment of this character in my collection.

Jul 6 2016

Ghostbusters: Limited Edition White Fudge Marshmallow Twinkies by Hostess

So, today I went out for lunch and a couple of pitchers of brew with some friends and it took me near a Walmart that I never go to. I never really go to any Walmarts anymore, because none of the ones in this area actually stock any toys worth a damn. But with Titans Return figures cropping up all over, I thought I’d give it a try. It turned out to be a bust. A shelf crammed with Motormasters and pegs stuffed with Robots in Disguise. I grabbed some kitty litter so it wasn’t a wasted trip and stomped off to the register defeated. But then it just popped in there. Something that I loved from my childhood. Something that could never possibly destroy me. Mr. Stay Puft. And he was on a box of Twinkies. In a big display at the checkout. I bought them and now I’m going to tell you what I think. And Ray is going to help me…

While the toys for the new Ghostbusters film may already be on clearance at a number of retailers, the breakout marketing hit seems to be of the edible varieties. The nerd world seems to have gone mad over the return of Ecto Coolers, and now we have Hostess jumping on board with Ghostbusters themed Twinkies. I haven’t purchased Twinkies in something like 20 years. I can barely remember the last time I ate one. But these looked like they were worth a shot. They had Slimer branded ones too, but I wasn’t confident in Hostess’ ability to work wonders with fake Key Lime flavoring. These are more my bag. White fudge covered Twinkies with marshmallow topping. The box is branded with Mr. Stay Puft himself and the Ghostbusters logo warning you that these are Limited Editions. Indeed, very limited, as the expiration date on my boxes show their time is up next month. What’s that old joke about Twinkies never expiring? Anyway, this box of chemically produced snack cake goodness boasts 9 individually wrapped cakes, which seems to me like a rather odd number. Both literally and figuratively. Nonetheless, I was anxious to try these with my afternoon coffee.

So, the last time I had a Twinkie, I’m pretty sure it came in a clear baggie. These come in swanky white wrappers peppered with the Hostess logo. They feel posh, but I’ll confess to being disappointed that the branding stops at the box. Those Hostess emblems should have been Ghostbusters emblems. Also, these look rather small. I probably remember Twinkies bigger because I was small the last time I ate one, but these are not big Twinkies. I didn’t even feel bad about my plan to gobble down two of these with my coffee, providing they passed the taste test. If these Twinkies represented all of the psycho kenetic energy in my immediate area, I’d be OK with that, because it wouldn’t be much. Ray looks a little more worried. But then they’re huge by his standards.

With the wrapper off, I’m less impressed. It’s not really Twinkie shaped. It’s kind of got a flat top. It also looks like something Mr. Stay Puft might leave behind after a squat. It does smell good though. Also, I’m now enamored with the idea that Mr. Stay Puft shits marshmallow Twinkies.

Now’s the time to admit that I was a little disappointed when I got the box home and read the fine print. I expected the Twinkie filling to be marshmallow, but it’s regular Twinkie filling. The Marshmallow is spread on top of the Twinkie before its encased in the white fudge. Yeah, it clearly states that on the box, but in my defense, I’m a 43-year old man buying snack cakes to cheer myself up from not finding any toys. My oversight is understandable. Breaking one open, it certainly looks inviting. The sponge cake is yellow and spongy and the creamy center is chock full of fluffy isotopes. But I can’t see any marshmallow layer. Hmm… Well, the proof is in the eating.

And I have to say, these things are damned good. The marshmallow is there. And it’s fairly potent. But not too potent. It’s hard to believe it’s all coming from that nearly non-existent layer on the top, but I’d say it’s just the right amount of marshmallow finish. It also blends nicely on the palate with the combination of white fudge icing and whatever the creme goop is that they inject these things with. The cake is as smooth and spongy as modern science can produce, and I found these to be a real treat with my coffee. Would I buy more? Yes, undoubtedly. I doubt I’d make a special trip to that Walmart for them, but if they turn up at the Target or Publix around the corner, I could see putting a box or two of these away for a rainy day. I could also see myself being sad when the last one is gone.

Jul 6 2016

Mythic Legions: Urkku by The Four Horsemen

It’s the fourth week of what has become Mythic Legions Wednesday here at FFZ. So far we’ve seen some good and evil knights and a skeleton warrior, and today I’m busting out one of the Orcs… let’s have a look at Urkku!

Here’s a quick look at the figure in packaging. You get a generic, yet attractive card with the character’s name on the right side of the bubble insert. The card slides out from the bubble, making everything completely collector friendly. Unlike most of the non-Legion builders, Urkku appears to be a generic name for these warriors and not a specific character. Damn, I wish I got more of him! And since I only have one I’m still going to just call him Urkku. I hope that’s not racist.

As usual, the figure comes packaged without its shoulder armor, which allows for a good look at the first bare chested buck I’ve covered. Indeed, if you’ve been following along from the beginning than you’ll likely note that all the sculpting on this guy is fresh and new, introducing us to some more parts that we’ll see again in the future. The chest, most of the arms, and the upper legs are bare and cast in a very nice shade of green. The musculature and veins are very well defined and we even get some Orc Nipples, if that sort of thing floats your boat. Not judging! Urkku wears a rather large and intricate belt suggesting that he’s the Champion of some kind of Mythic Fighting Legion. Seriously, though, there’s some beautiful sculpting on that belt and it extends to the strips of leather that make up the skirt and the clump of animal fur that forms his loin cloth to protect the modesty of his private Orc bits. All the details on the belt are beautifully painted. The gauntlets and boots are made up of some seriously chunky and vicious-looking segmented plate armor with a particularly satisfying patina of rust and some nicks and scratches in the sculpt. Urkku comes with the same style sword belt as Gideon and Skapular, but you’ll note that I opted to put his on as a shoulder strap.

From the rear, you can see the two peg holes for the shoulder armor as well as the giant tab hole, which hopefully will get put to use someday. You can also get a better look at more of the “leather” straps that hang down from the back of his belt. There’s some nice texturing in all those straps as well as sculpted frayed edges.

The shoulders on this guy are also pieces that we have not seen before, but will most definitely see again. They’re nasty, angular looking pieces that match the boots and gauntlets both in style and in paint finish. Apparently Orcs don’t polish their armor often, which in this case is a good thing, because this is a wonderfully convincing wash of rust and grime.

I’ll note here that Urkku is a figure that I’ve chosen to display using only one piece of shoulder armor. This allows for the chest strap to hold his large sword across his back without any interference. If I keep the right shoulder on, it bumps up against the hilt. I also dig how it looks like the cross strap is holding the shoulder piece in place.

The head sculpt instantly reminds me of Lord of the Rings. The helmet looks like a crudely made piece of armor, as if hundreds of them were beaten out in mass production to quickly equip a disposable army of man-beasts. It only covers the top half of the face, allowing for the mouth and giant bottom teeth to protrude upward. It also displays his giant pointed ears quite nicely. The finish matches the worn and rusted patina of the rest of the armor and there are some nice bits of wear and pitting in the sculpt, as well as a nasty cut in the crest.

Articulation is identical on these figures straight across the board, but just in case this is your first time reading one of these Mythic Legions Features, I’ll still provide a rundown… Urkku features rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles. There are also ample rockers in the ankles to steady him for those wide stances. The waist is ball jointed, as is the neck. I had no issues with painted over joints, stuck joints, loose joints or anything of the kind. As always these figures are tons of fun to play with.

Like any good Orc, Urkku comes with plenty of implements to dismember his enemies. For starters, he features this long sword, which is the same sculpted accessory we saw with Gorgo Aetherblade. This one is all painted silver and has that same beautiful rusty finish as the armor. I’ve got a modest collection of real swords, and I have to say they really recreated an authentic looking finish on an antique blade.

Next up, we have the same spear that came with both Gorgo and Skapular. It’s silver with more of that rust finish.

And finally, Urkku wields the same giant axe as Gorgo, repainted in a uniform silver with a rusty finish and with black grips. Once again, you can convert the axe to a double-bladed weapon if you want to give this guy a little more cutting power. I’ll go on record and say that I really dig this version of the axe a lot more than the flashier painted one that came with Gorgo. It just looks like more of an everyday weapon.

Urkku is another beautiful figure and one that I’m especially glad I included in my order. The Tolkien influence is undeniable to me and I’m especially impressed at the coloring and paint on this figure. The green skin is just so vibrant and perfect, and I’m sure I’ve gushed enough about how much I dig the finish on the armor and weapons. I would have loved to have picked up just a couple more of him for troop builders, although there is also a Deluxe Orc, which I’ll get to sooner or later. As I run through the initial crop of Mythic Legions, I’m trying to choose the figures that offer the widest range of characters and newly sculpted parts to give an idea of what a diverse range this is. We’ve now seen representatives from the Knights, Skeletons, and Orcs, next Wednesday we’ll check out the first of the Dwarves.

Jul 5 2016

The Terminator: Ultimate T-800 (Tech Noir) by NECA

Any day that a new “Ultimate” figure from NECA hits my doorstep, I know is going to be a great one. After three solid releases in the Ultimate Terminator 2 line, NECA is headed back to the film that started it all with the T-800 and his rampage through Club Tech Noir. I can’t wait to check this figure out!

What’s the first thing I expect from NECA’s Ultimate line? Killer packaging. The figure comes in a box that looks like an over-sized VHS sleeve. You get the title, The Terminator, clearly laid out on both side panels and that iconic poster on the front. The back features some shots of the toy and there’s a velcro-secured opening front flap that allows you to feast your peepers on the figure and accessories inside. Back when I was a kid I joined one of those movie clubs where they let you pick out a bunch of movies for cheap and then you agree to buy one a month for a while. The Terminator was one of the first tapes I got from there, so this box art holds some major nostalgia for me.

I’d wager that most folks would consider the black leather jacket and shades as the iconic look for the T-800 in the original film. Well, we’re getting that, so be patient. In the meantime, that’s what makes this figure all the more special, because I never thought we’d get this version. Besides being the outfit he wore in the nightclub assault, this is what he was wearing during one of my favorite scenes with Dick Miller in the gun shop. In other words, I dig this look and really happy to get it in figure form.

The crazy gray jacket is a freaking work of art. The sculpted detail on the stitching and pockets and rumpled fabric is all so incredibly well done. Not to mention the chain looped through the left epaulet and all the studs on the back of the jacket. The zippers are all painted gold, even the one on the back of the collar. Underneath the jacket you get a crazy shirt with the graffiti all over it. This is crazy. I never even noticed how totally metal this outfit was until right now, and I’ve seen this movie a hell of a lot of times.

You get three portraits with the figure via three swappable heads, and here’s where things get even better. The first head features the T-800’s long hair from the beginning of the scene up to the Club battle. Is it even worth pointing out that this is a great sculpt with a great likeness? Probably not, because NECA has been killing it with the Schwarzenegger likeness for a long, long time now. It’s hard enough for some companies to get the general likeness right, but NECA has done a great job even nailing the age differences.

After Tech Noir, the T-800 literally gets his hair and eyebrows burned to a crisp, which is reflected in the second head. You also get a slightly different expression. Wow, he really looks pissed. “My eyebrows will be back!”

The third noggin reflects the shorter hair and no eyebrows, but this time with some facial damage. It’s not as extensive as what we saw in the T2 damaged head, and that’s appropriate, but he does have one eye closed and some bloody paint apps.

Articulation has been a big part of these Ultimate figures and it’s the only category where this figure comes up a bit short. Don’t get me wrong, the points are all there, but some of them have issues working with the sculpt. Let me run them down before explaining what I mean. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles. The wrists are ball jointed, as is the neck. The legs swivel at the hips and have swivel cuts at the tops of the boots. Finally, you get a ball joint just above the waist. The issue here is all in the elbows. The way the sleeves are sculpted make the range of motion there very limited. I think NECA was worried about sacrificing aesthetics in the arms and as much as I would have liked more elbow movement, I still think they made the right choice. Alas, it does make it difficult to make use of the next extra bits that I’m going to talk about…

Yes, you get a replacement right forearm recreating the scene where the T-800 had to do a little self-maintenance. You also get two pairs of forceps. He can even hold them pretty well in the extra left hand, but with those elbow limitations, he can’t really get them anywhere near the arm to look like he’s poking around in there. Still, it’s a cool piece with some impressive sculpting and paintwork that shows the inner workings of his arm with all the “meat” torn away. Hey, how about some guns?

The 12-gauge auto loader. It’s Italian!

The .45 long slide with laser sighting. It’s a good gun. Just touch the trigger, the beam comes on and you put the red dot where you want the bullet to go. You can’t miss! Phased plasma rifle in the 40-Watt range? Hey, just what you see, pal!

And the Uzi 9mm. The T-800’s right hand is sculpted to accommodate any of the guns, and his left fist can be swapped out with a second gun-toting hand so he can dual wield his hardware.

The Ultimate line continues to do NECA proud with collector grade packaging, some amazing sculpt and paint, and a hearty helping of accessories. And once again I have to call out just what a great value these figures are. At $22, this T-800 doesn’t quite feel on par with the T2 figures in terms of extras, but it sure feels like I’m getting a lot more than what I paid for. You simply cannot find this kind of craftsmanship and value anywhere else in the toy aisle these days. So long as NECA keeps putting these out there, I’ll keep picking them up!

Jul 4 2016

Marvel Legends (Absorbing Man Wave): Venom by Hasbro

Once again, it’s Marvel Monday! Today, I’m moving into the final stretch of three figures in the Absorbing Man Wave with what is sure to be a very popular figure: Venom. I’ll be honest, the Symbiot figures have caused me a lot of frustration. I like Venom, I love the concept, but I’ve long since reached the point of Symbiot Fatigue. The problem is that a great many collectors have not, and so these Symbiots tend to be tougher to find and sometimes wind up costing me a lot more than I’d like to spend in order to complete a wave. Case in point, I still don’t own Toxin from a few Spider-Man Waves back. Fortunately, this figure didn’t beat me up too badly in the pocket.

It’s heads and hands a-popping in this package! The figure is flanked by not only his own alternate head and hands, but a pair of heads for the Creel BAF. Oddly enough, this is the only figure in this entire wave that doesn’t share a slot and thereby enjoys the privilege of having his name on the front of the package.

Out of the package, Venom holds few surprises, and that is not at all a criticism. You get a nice, beefy black buck, appropriately enough the same one used for Anti-Venom from the Hobgoblin Wave, and some strategic white paint apps to make the costume. The emblems on the chest and back aren’t exactly razor sharp, but they’re passable, and the same could be said for the markings on the backs of his hands. One odd thing worth mentioning, when articulating the arms on my figure the two halves of the torso popped apart. Fortunately they popped right back together and I haven’t had an issue with that since. Weird!

The stock head is superb. The super wide and creepy mouth is sculpted pretty deep into the head and those needle teeth look fantastic. The paint on the eyes is a little dirty, but nothing too bad. The evil, mocking grin combined with those giant white eyes make for a wonderfully terrifying portrait that peers back hauntingly from the 90’s.

What’s that? You want Gene Simmons Venom? Well, it’s only a head swap away. The alternate head features the open mouth, extended tongue, and furled brow. It’s a more complex sculpt, but to be honest, I don’t find it nearly as creepy as the stock head. There’s plenty of green slobber painted on, but it looks pretty flat. That having been said, if this were a common figure, I’d still probably grab a second to display both heads. As it is, I doubt the tongue head will get much display time.

In addition to the extra head, Venom comes with a pair of fists. It’s always nice to have options, but I’ll likely not be swapping them out with the graspy claws all that often. The claw hands are great and I appreciate them not being the terribly over-sized meat hooks that came on Anti-Venom.

Articulation? Well, we’ve seen this buck plenty of times before, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have swivels at both the thighs and lower legs. The ankles are hinged and have some nice lateral rockers.

After so many Symbiot variants, it’s nice to go back to Venom’s roots with an original “vanilla” Venom. And while some may be rolling their eyes at the sight of yet another Symbiot, I think this one is a huge win for collectors. Yes, it’s a very basic figure, but it’s also an excellent one. Next Monday, I’ll be moving into the home stretch with a look at the final slot of figures from the, “Edge of the Spider-Verse!”

Jul 3 2016

Star Trek Mega Bloks: “Day of the Dove” and “The Guardian of Forever” by Mattel

There may not be much evidence of it, but we’re smack dab in the middle of Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary. It’s kind of sad, really as it’s a milestone event for one of my favorite sci-fi properties and apart from some higher end figures coming out from Qmx and Mezco, there isn’t a lot of merchandise out there to celebrate. Unless you look in the most unlikeliest of places… Mega Bloks! Yes, the brand may be a LEGO knock-off of often dubious quality, but Mattel has used it to bring Classic Trek to the toy shelves, and there was no way I was going to sit this out. Today I’m checking out two of the smaller sets, each based on episodes of The Original Series!

The packaging here is really nice. You get the Classic Star Trek logo along with the 50th Anniversary insignia and I’ll confess it’s just weird to be seeing the Classic Series branded on mass market toys again. The front of the boxes show illustrations of what you get along with a Starfleet insignia cut-out displaying one of the Micro Figures. The back of the boxes have actual shots of what you get to build. I’m going to start with “The Day of the Dove.”

The box contains a folded color instruction booklet, two baggies of bricks and figures, and a tray containing one loose figure, in this case it’s Scotty. This one is 97 pieces and it is an extremely quick and easy build. I don’t think it took me all of ten minutes. This episode featured an alien life form that fed on rage, which staged a battle on the Enterprise between Starfleet and Klingon crews using only swords to hack each other to bits. Downed crew-members would eventually get back up and have at it again all while the alien entity gorged itself on the negative energy. One of the key battles took place over Engineering.

The Micro Figures include Scotty, Chekov, Commander Kang, and a Klingon crewmen and these goofy little bastards are pretty damn cool. I think the aesthetic works well here and the amount of articulation that Mattel packs into these tiny figures is always impressive. The paint is simple and clean. If I had one complaint, it’s that the Klingons should have darker complexions, but whatever! Each of the figures comes with a cutlass and a gold disc stand.

The build is a section of an Engineering console, which is basically just a base and a wall and the work center. The consoles and screen are all printed, so no stickers, which is nice. I will say that I wish Mattel had made this a bigger set, so we could have had a bigger Engine Room. Maybe two sections with the ladder between them. But at least what we got looks spot on. I can’t imagine anyone not being a fan of this episode, because it’s pretty freaking great, but if not, this is still a worthy set to pick up as it gives you part of the Enterprise, a couple officers, and a couple Klingons. How could you go wrong? Moving on…

The second set is called “The Guardian of Forever” but is based on the first season episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever” in which the Enterprise discovers a portal that can take them to any time and place. Sulu goes apeshit and runs through it, and they wind up going back in time to mid 20th Century Earth and inadvertently mucking up the timelines. This set is roughly comparable to the previous one, with two baggies containing a total of 111 pieces.

The Micro Figures here include Kirk, McCoy, and two Red Shirts. You get a communicator for Kirk, a tricorder for McCoy and phasers for the two bastards who are about to die. I’ll mention here that the likenesses on these figures are surprisingly good for what they are. I mean, yeah they look like caricatures, but I can definitely recognize all the actors faces in the main characters.

The Guardian build is a bit more complex than the Engineering station, but it still goes pretty quick and overall, I’d say it looks good. I like the use of some transparent blocks. Again, this could have been a bigger and more impressive set, with a larger Guardian and a bigger environment, but for what it is, I’m pretty happy with it.

These sets were $15.99 each and I think that’s a pretty good deal. The builds aren’t bad, but they go so fast that these feel more like Micro Figure packs with a little something extra thrown in. If the build is all your looking for, these may disappoint, but if you’re looking for an instant little collection of Micro Figure and some neat little display environments, these are just the ticket. These are a huge step up from that shitty Trek Kre-O line from Hasbro, and I’m going to be almost all in on these sets. I say “almost” because I still haven’t decided whether I’m going to pony up the $200+ for the USS Enteprise, but then I haven’t ruled it out yet either.

Jul 3 2016

Game of Thrones (3 3/4-inch): Jon Snow, Samwell Tarly, and Ygritte by Funko

It’s Sunday and a lot of you are going to be going through Game of Thrones withdrawal tonight, so I decided to pop in with a fairly quick little Feature to take a look at Funko’s new line of 3 3/4-inch Game of Thrones figures. Yes, in a weird turn of events, Funko has abandoned their rather decent 6-inch GoT Legacy Collection line and went for these 3 3/4-inch figures instead. To be clear, these aren’t part of their ReAction line, but rather seem to be designed to stand as their own self-contained series. The initial assortment consists of six figures and all of them are focused on the War in the North. Unfortunately, that’s the aspect of the series and books that interests me the least. As a result, I didn’t go all in, but just picked up three to see what they are all about. And thank The God of Fire, for that, because these really suck!

Package presentation has never been one of Funko’s problems. The packaging was often the best thing about their ReAction line and the collector friendly boxes used in the Legacy Collection were great. Here, we have a simple and clean presentation for a carded 3 3/4-inch line. The front of the card is generic and feature a large bubble that shows off the figure well. There’s an insert at the bottom with the character’s name, and the back of the cards has a screen capture of the character from the series. I would have preferred a “Collect Them All” sort of thing on the back, but whatever.

It’s worth pointing out that I thought this line had a lot of potential. Game of Thrones features a rich universe of characters and while I really dig a lot of the 6-inch figures, this smaller scale was perhaps better suited for producing that wide number of characters. Obviously, these are not collector friendly, so let’s rip them apart and take a quick look, starting with Jon Snow.

Aaaaaand, yup! The arm broke off at the shoulder right out of the package. It’s actually possible it was already broken in there and the cape was just keeping it in place because it really does fit snug against the shoulders. How great a start is this? “You know nothing (of quality control) Jon Snow!” It’s not even a ball joint or anything complicated, just a simple swivel. It’s also one of only nine points of articulation on the figure. At this point, I was ready to bin the figure and scrap this Feature, but I decided to move on with a quick look…

Overall, this is a pretty soft sculpt without an over abundance of detail or paint. In fact, from the neck down there is some silver paint on the belt fixtures and nowhere else. I suppose the Black Watch garb is convenient as Funko didn’t have to invest in many paint operations. The head sculpt is better than the ReAction stuff, and honestly not terrible for a figure in this scale, but it isn’t great either. One of the straps for the cape seems like it was supposed to be attached, but it looks damaged and just hangs loose. All these figures have the same articulation. You get the standard vintage style in the shoulders and hips, with additional hinges in the elbows and knees. The heads are ball jointed. In the case of Jon Snow, the cape renders the shoulder articulation useless, but you can take the cape off by popping the head. It doesn’t help much in my case since my figure is now missing his right arm. Snow comes with one accessory, his sword, which is fairly decent for the scale. I just hope he’s left handed. Moving on to his buddy…

Samwell came out of his package without any limbs falling off, so that’s a step up. He features a chunkier build and sculpted quilting on his tunic. Again, there’s very little in the way of paint here. In fact, other than the flesh on his hands, there’s no paint at all from the neck down. Once again, the drab costumes of The Black Watch work to Funko’s favor and save money on paint. The head sculpt is about as passable as Jon’s. Samwell comes with a crossbow, which he cannot hold in anything resembling a firing position. It’s a pretty stupid accessory for him anyway. He should have come with a book or maybe a dragon glass dagger. Moving on…

And last up we have Ygritte. The sculpt here is super soft, and the costume is downright f’ugly, although some of that has to do with her just wearing a hodge-podge of furs, so I won’t harp on it too badly. Here, Funko couldn’t get away without some paint apps, but it’s basically just gray and brown and some darker brown wash over the fur. The head sculpt here is easily the worst of the three, as it’s a tad over-sized and there’s no likeness to the actress at all. If these were still ReAction figures, I’d probably give it a pass, but seeing as how the other two at least resemble their screen counterparts, I’ll dub this one a fail. The quiver is a separate piece and secured with a shoulder strap and she comes with her bow.

And there you have it… these are unfortunately pretty lame, and that’s not all that unexpected. I’ve been on record praising some of Funko’s stuff when they deserve it, but this is a weird line and I really don’t know what they’re going for here. They’re clearly not in the same category as ReAction, but they aren’t anywhere near good enough to be considered seriously as a legit 3 3/4-inch action figure line in the year 2016. At least only one of them broke, but that was enough to keep me out of this line in the future. Maybe there’s some merit here to keep them carded and hang them on the wall, but even that’s a reach. At ten bucks a pop, these would be a funny joke, if they weren’t ripping people off. Between these and the horrible Fallout figures, I think it’s time Funko abandon the action figure market and just go back to taking over the world with Pop Vinyls!

Jul 2 2016

Figma “Gargantia on the Verderus Planet” Amy by Max Factory

I find it terribly frustrating when I love an anime and there’s so little merchandising connected to it and that’s certainly been the case with Gargantia. There was potential for several characters to get figures, not to mention Ledo’s mech (which, admittedly did get a rather limited and pricey release), but in the end, Amy was really the only breakout star to get the plastic treatment and even there we just got a statue from MegaHouse and today’s featured Figma figure. Wow, try saying that five times fast! And while I would have loved to get Figmas of Ledo or Bellows, I’ll happily take Amy because she remains such a tremendously endearing character.

The packaging here is fairly typical for the Figma line. It’s a simple window box that manages to be pretty compact, despite the wide range of stuff inside. The deco is a lot more conservative when compared to the Sword Art Online figures. It’s not flashy, but it gets the job done and is totally collector friendly so you have somewhere to store all of those extra goodies. The figure and accessories come on one tray with a second tray for Amy’s hang-glider behind it.

Amy looks as adorable as ever and comes donning her little tribal outfit with cut-off top, skimpy dress, sandals, and shoulder wrap. There’s nothing terribly complex about her costume, but they certainly nailed it for this figure. The shoulder wrap is made of soft plastic and the strap that is meant to hold it on is only attached to one side to give it a little more leeway when posing the arms. The paint here is nice and clean and the skin tones are warm and consistent.

In addition to a whole passel of hands, Amy comes with three different portraits. The standard one features a big open-mouth smile, large beautifully printed eyes and perfectly captures the character. The second has her eyes closed and another big grin, this time showing her sparkly whites. The final one has her looking slightly perturbed, which is about as angry as Amy gets. While three portraits are standard for your average Figma, I would have liked something a little more neutral in there, but then again, I wouldn’t swap out any of the ones she came with to get it. Besides, who am I kidding? The standard face is going to stay on this figure most of the time, anyway.

Amy features your standard Figma articulation, which means it’s pretty damn great. The skirt is a little bit more restrictive to the hips than I would like, but you can still get a decent range of motion out of them. In fact, the only thing I really couldn’t get her to do is stick her hands through the shoulder holes in her wrap like she does a few times in the series. If this was a Figuart, they might have included a pair of static arms to swap in for that pose and it would have been cool, but I’m not going to knock off any points for that. Besides, I don’t even give points!

In addition to all the hands and extra faces, Amy comes with her messenger bag and her faithful little buddy, Grace. The bag is cast as a single piece of plastic with some excellent paintwork. It can be slung comfortably over her shoulder, allowing her to make her deliveries to the different ships throughout the flotilla. Grace the squirrel is a remarkable piece of work simply because she is so damn tiny and yet features so much detail. She’s posed with one paw stretched ever so slightly out and her bushy tail up.

And then there’s this beauty! Max Factory could have easily packed in everything we’ve seen so far and Amy would have been a solid release, but nope. They decided to cram a whole hang-glider into that box as well as some extra components to the stand to allow for different display options. The glider itself is composed of three pieces that easily tab into each other and can easily be taken apart. There’s a special clear connector that goes into the middle of the glider to hold it up, and a second connector to plug into Amy’s back and clip onto the arm of the stand, allowing it to support both the figure and glider. It’s clever and the whole thing goes well above and beyond.

Amy comes with some gripping hands that can be wrapped around the bars, but I’m happy enough just using her pair of relaxed hands for it.

I think she looks great posed coming in for a landing, but the extra stand bits make it so you can also get her horizontal and in mid flight. Working with all these connectors and getting the figure posed just right can be rather fiddly, but the addition of this glider takes what was a solid release and dials it up even higher.

It should come as no surprise that I adore this figure. Sure, I would love to see more figures from Gargantia, but if they’re only going to focus on one character, then it might as well be Amy. She’s been on the market for a little while now, but unlike a lot of Figmas, her price has remained ridiculously reasonable. I paid $40 for mine, which would have been a great deal even if it weren’t for the giant hang-glider accessory. I honestly feel like I’m in the minority when it comes to my love for this series, and while it’s a shame it doesn’t get more appreciation, at least it means I was able to get this Figma for pretty cheap!

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Monthly Archives: July 2016

KanColle: Repair Ship Akashi (Day Off Figure) by Taito

DC Icons: (#13) Harley Quinn by DC Collectibles

Transformers Animated: Starscream by Hasbro

Ghostbusters: Limited Edition White Fudge Marshmallow Twinkies by Hostess

Mythic Legions: Urkku by The Four Horsemen

The Terminator: Ultimate T-800 (Tech Noir) by NECA

Marvel Legends (Absorbing Man Wave): Venom by Hasbro

Star Trek Mega Bloks: “Day of the Dove” and “The Guardian of Forever” by Mattel

Game of Thrones (3 3/4-inch): Jon Snow, Samwell Tarly, and Ygritte by Funko

Figma “Gargantia on the Verderus Planet” Amy by Max Factory

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