Jun 15 2016

Mythic Legions: Sir Gideon Heavensbrand by The Four Horsemen

Starting today I’m locking down Wednesdays to begin covering the big boxes of Mythic Legions figures that arrived. If you’re unfamiliar, this is a line of 6-inch fantasy figures designed and produced by The Four Horsemen Studios and funded via Kickstarter. I’m starting with Sir Gideon who was the figure I chose as my Backer Reward before I kept piling on more and more and more. I still question whether I should have gone all in, but I’m very glad that I at least bought as many figures as I did, especially after seeing how quickly the pre-orders sold out. I’ve heard more than a few backers refer to the arrival day as being like Christmas and that’s a damn good analogy. I’m going to take my time opening these and relish every moment!

Before getting to the meat of the Feature, I’ll toss out some props to T4H and the way they ran this Kickstarter. Yes, it technically missed the target ship date, but not by a lot, and their communication along the way was absolutely impeccable. I don’t want to slag any other recent Kickstarters, but when it came to this one, my confidence never wavered. They really had their act together, they didn’t send out signals promoting false shipping expectations, and from start to finish it was a professional operation. Oh yeah, and the figures they produced easily met if not exceeded what they promised. Let’s start with a quick look at the packaging!

The figures come in packaging that is quite similar to past figures from T4H. You get a bubble that wraps around the edges of a card. This makes for a nice carded presentation, while still being collector friendly. You just bend back the tabs on the bottom edge and slide the card out to get at the figure. The card back is generic for all the figures, but it features some nice background art on the front and back. The back of the card also shows some head shots of other figures and has a little story about the fiction behind the line.

The packaging is customized for each character through an insert at the bottom of the bubble. The left side panel has a faction emblem and the right side panel has a head shot of the character along with his name and a brief bio. I’ve got to admit, I was not expecting that! The figure is secured to the tray with a simple twist tie. His sword is mounted beside him and all the other accessories are baggied behind the tray.

In the bags you get a dagger, a shield, two pieces of shoulder armor, a belt, and an extra head featuring a different style of helmet. The shoulders simply peg into holes in the back of the figure. The belt is probably actually a shoulder strap, but I find it a little snug, so I opted to use it as a waist belt. To put it on you pull the figure apart at the waist. Seriously, it’s all right! A big feature of these figures centers around their ability to mix and match parts. Nearly every part of articulation on the figure can be detached and while swapping parts wasn’t one of the features that motivated me to get in on this line, I can’t deny it opens up some amazing possibilities.

The figure itself is absolutely gorgeous. Sir Gideon features a sculpted white tabard and a suitably heroic set of gold and silver armor. The details include tons of scalloped overlapping plates, tiny rivets, and all the belts and straps that “hold” everything on. It’s such a remarkably detailed sculpt that it’s hard to believe it’s mostly part of the buck. Layered soft plastic extras like the previously mentioned shoulders, and the “skirt” serve to further add some depth and complexity to the armor without impairing the articulation. The only possible nitpick I have about the figure’s sculpt is the tab hole in his back. This is supposedly to allow for future customization pieces, but for now it’s just there. A great idea would have been to include a tab with a connector that would hold the shield. For now, we’ll have to see what T4H come up with.

The paint consists mostly of a sumptuous gold that gives off the right balance of brilliant luster and realistic battle gear. The trim is touched up with an equally pleasing silver. The quality of the paint is superb, with very little bleeding or slop to speak of.

The stock head features a form fitting helmet with a raised visor so you can get a good look at Sir Gideon’s heroic face and manly ‘stache. It’s a great portrait and certainly one befitting of the hero of this line. I’d be hard pressed to believe that Strongheart from LJN’s AD&D line didn’t help shape the look of this noble knight, and that’s an homage I can get behind. The paint on his blue eyes is straight and the mustache and eyebrows are clean and sharp. The helmet features some rather extravagant decor in the form of two mighty wings protruding from the sides and a beautiful silver eagle crest jutting up off the top. All three pieces are articulated and can even be removed if you so desire. The visor pegs into the forehead of the helmet, and there are pegs for two positions…

…so you can display the figure with the visor up or down. It’s a really cool option, especially since you can still see his eyes and the underlying face sculpt through the slits in the visor. Of course, if you prefer a different helmet, you can pop this one off and pop on the secondary head…

This one is a fully enclosed Crusader-style Great Helm and as you can see, the eagle standard pops off the other helmet and onto this one so that the other warriors on the battlefield recognize Sir Gideon even with a different helmet. Although, granted it would be hard to miss him in that armor! Despite spending the better part of a year drooling over the pictures and details and waiting for my figures to come in, I never once remember seeing anything about Gideon having a spare head, so this was another great surprise. It’s going to be hard to decide which helmet to display the figure with, I really do dig them both!

Articulation on this guy is all about ball joints and rotating hinges. You get 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. Posing this figure feels fantastic and while it looks like a collectible piece, it’s a figure that begs to be played with.

I’ve already given a rundown on his accessories, so let’s take a quick look at each. His large curved shield features a gold face with a black griffon or dragon on the front and a silver border, making for a very attractive piece. The grip is a simple clip that pegs into the shield and clips around the figure’s wrist. I was a little apprehensive about the clip for fear that it would rub the paint off the arm, but it seems like so long as it’s clipped around the wrist joint and not the upper arm, things will be fine. The fact that the clip pegs into the shield is a pretty big deal to me, because that means it can swivel and so you can angle the shield however way you want it, no matter which way the arm is holding it.

The sword and dagger have matching hilts. These are stout and simple looking weapons, which I prefer over super ornate accessories. The grips are painted red and they fit perfectly in his hands. The belt has a single loop to hold the either the sword or the dagger, but not really both at once. Again, I believe the intended purpose for this piece is as a shoulder strap, but I’m just not thrilled with the way it fits across the chest.

If you’re curious about scale, at 6-inches tall these figures are compatible with a number of other lines. The most obvious would be Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Classics, one of the more high profile lines sculpted by T4H. While they are fairly different stylistically, they can certainly interact with each other comfortably and Gideon is easily able to mount any of the MOTUC beasts as well. They also scale very well with NECA’s “Heroes of the Storm” line, which should make for some pretty fun Legions-Warcraft crossovers.

As a Backer Reward for a $45 buy-in, Gideon is the most expensive of the initial assortment, but I think he’s still worth every penny. Subsequent figures that were added on were between $18 and $33, so if I spread his extra cost among the 18 other figures I bought, it all works out pretty well in the end. If you can’t already tell, I’m beyond satisfied with the quality of this figure and I can happily say it was well worth the wait. I’ve got a lot of these figures to go through in the weeks ahead and I’ve also got some of the figures from Wave 1.5 coming, so there will be plenty of Mythic Legions love to go around!

Jun 14 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: PowerCon Exclusive Granamyr by Mattel

Sometimes collecting MOTUC Exclusives can be a real ball buster. In the case of this year’s PowerCon Exclusives, you didn’t have to go to the Con, you just had to be willing to pony up big money on a pre-order at one of those well known online scalpers, oops… I mean toy retailers. One of those was a re-release of the large dragon, Granamyr in his green Mini-Comic colors. The price? $140 for a repaint of a toy that was originally $85 back in 2012. Hey, don’t judge me… it’s already selling for a lot more than that on Ebay and it’s still cheaper than what the original red Granamyr is going for these days. Besides, my idea of self-control was not buying the other two PowerCon Exclusives. So hey, let’s take a look at this big-ass dragon…

The box looks very similar to the one used for the original release with his color being appropriately changed from red to green. I absolutely adore the artwork here. It’s very reminiscent of the stuff we used to get back in the vintage days. His tag line on the front reads, “Great Dragon Lord of Darksmoke” and it points out that as big as this box is, he does indeed come unassembled. The box is collector friendly, but it has that weird shape that Matty loves to do on these things, meaning that there’s actually multiple flaps on the side panels, the tape on each of which need to be carefully cut in order to preserve the box while opening him.

The back features a picture of the toy and a full bio. You also get a little headshot from the Mini-Comic, which inspired this new deco for the character. I was really on the fence over picking up the original release of this guy, but I had a lot of other irons in the fire and my resolve actually held out for once. When I saw how great this re-deco looked in green, I just couldn’t resist. Time to open him up!

Dragon parts!!! Inside the box you get two trays of parts, plus the torso wrapped in a plastic bag, and a simple, folded instruction sheet. There are a total of ten parts used to build him: Two legs, two arms, torso, neck, head, two wings, and a tail. If you’ve ever put together a Hasbro Build-A-Figure or a Mattel Collect-And-Connect, than putting this beast together should feel familiar, only on a much larger scale. I was surprised that it looks like he’s capable of being disassembled and returned to the box, which isn’t always the case with these kinds of assembly jobs. I can’t imagine any time when I won’t want this guy on display, but it’s always nice to have options to return a toy to the box, especially when it’s an exclusive release like this one.

Dear God, this thing is gorgeous! GORGEOUS!!! If you already have the original release, most of what I’ve got to say will be common knowledge, but this is my first experience with the figure, so please forgive me, because I’m going to have to do a lot of gushing. Granamyr measures about 14-inches tall in his seated position, and make no mistake, this is a figure that is designed to be sitting. His spindly little dragon legs can indeed be stretched out for him to stand on, making him monstrously tall, but he really looks goofy when standing. He does, however, look right at home seated with his knees drawn up on either side of his chest. Regardless, he’s still fully articulated in his arms and legs, with rotating hips and shoulders and rotating hinges in the elbows, knees, wrists, and ankles. He has additional swivels at his chest and the base of his tail, there are rotating hinges in his wings, and his neck is ball jointed.

The sculpt here is quite extravagant. The body is indeed rotocast, and that sometimes results in softer and mushier sculpts, but that’s certainly not the case here. Every part of his body is covered with sculpted scales, which feature some beautiful definition, making him look ancient. You also get crosscuts in his chest and the bottom ridges of his tail, some nice barbs coming off of his forearms, and a row of beefy spikes running down his spine. You can even make out the muscle definition in his upper legs and the tendons running from his fingers to the backs of his hands. The detail on display here feels worthy of a higher end statue, and it’s really something special to see it on an action figure, albeit a rather pricey one.

Like a great piece of art, the quality and composure of the paint compliments this sculpt brilliantly. That’s not to say the original red version wasn’t stunning, this one is just… different. The multiple shades of green are applied to get the most out of picking out the detail in the scales and muscles and other bits of dragon anatomy, with a lighter lime green used for his belly and some glossy gray paint for his claws.

And then there’s the head sculpt, which is a total knock-out. Sure it helps that they had a great design to begin with, but the quality of this sculpt just elevates it through the roof. The wrinkles, the jagged teeth, those lizard-like creases around the corners of his mouth. The cavernous nostrils and the prominent, imposing brow framing those mystical pupil-less white eyes. Everything here is just so masterfully done giving Granamyr a ton of personality and an ancient and wizened look.

The paintwork on the face is also stellar and arguably even better than the body. It emphasizes every little crease and crevice. The teeth are painted to match his claws, the eyes are now white, instead of the yellow used for the first release, and his helmet is finished to look like worn, cold steel. The horns on the helmet have a realistic ivory finish.

I already walked through the articulation here, and pointed out that this figure is designed with a very singular display option, however, that doesn’t mean the articulation is wasted. Not at all. You can still get some wonderfully expressive poses out of him and he’s still a lot of fun to play with.

I pre-ordered this beauty the day it went up, and I’ll be real honest and admit that when the pre-order finally dropped, I found myself hit with a pang of regret. My list of want-to-buy toys right now is pretty long and I’m already making some painful compromises to accommodate my budget. I needed a $140 dragon hitting my checkbook like I needed a hole in the head. Checking completed listings on Ebay, I had every intention of putting him on the block when he arrived and making a little extra cash on the deal too. But then I opened him and put him together and sat this majestic creature on my desk beside me. It was then I instantly knew that I had made the right decision buying him and that there was no way I could give him up. This is quite simply a work of art and I absolutely love him. What’s more, he’s such a versatile figure, and I can see using him in a whole bunch of different displays besides MOTUC, from Mythic Legions to my LJN Advanced Dungeons & Dragons figures. He’s going to be welcome among many different lines.

Jun 13 2016

Marvel Legends (Absorbing Man Wave): Jack O’Lantern by Hasbro

Alrighty folks, it’s time for another Marvel Monday and today I’m pressing on through the Absorbing Man Wave, this time with the second half of Marvel’s “Villains of the Night,” Jack O’Lantern!

As part of a shared slot, Jack comes in the exact same package as Morbius did, with his name only appearing on the back panel. This is the Marvel NOW! version of the character as he appeared in Agent Venom’s book. I suppose I should say “version of the characters” (plural) as Jack is one of those villains who has had many different identities. Hell, forget about all the other villains, Hobgoblin could have made a killing franchising out an army of Jacks.

And what a very unique looking figure he is! That’s not always the case when it comes to Marvel Legend’s sea of re-painted bucks. And yet, Jack still makes use of a recycled body. The last (and only) time we saw this one before it was transparent and bundled with the Thunderbolts as Ghost. I would never have made that call in a million years and yet seeing it makes it seem like a no-brainer. It’s a super thin body with lanky limbs, which lend themselves to a creepy look.

And it’s amazing what some fresh paint and colored plastic will do! Even though I have Ghost in my collection, Jack still comes across as a newly tooled figure to me. He’s mostly black, but his chest harness and straps are painted brown and there’s some super sharp silver paint on the fixtures. His belt is a newly sculpted piece and has a secondary belt displaying his reserve pumpkin bombs.

The head sculpt here is mighty awesome. The fully realized jack o’lantern noggin is beautifully painted and features some snazzy flame effects wrapping up around the back of the head and spilling out the eye holes too. Magnificent!

Articulation is mostly what I’ve come to expect from the Legends line. That includes rotating hinges in the shoulders and hips, double hinges in the elbows and knees, swivels in the biceps, wrists, hips, and waist. The ankles have hinges and lateral rockers, the torso features an ab crunch hinge, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. Yup, the only odd thing here is the lack of hinges in the wrists and the fact that their swivels are pretty far up the forearms. Also, I should mention that the shoulders have some crazy tight ratchets, that make it hard for me to work with them. I’m really not sure why Hasbro felt the need to do that, it isn’t an issue at all on Ghost, but it can be a little frustrating when playing with the figure.

Accessories! In addition to the Absorbing Man leg, Jack comes with his flying broom, sickle, and a flaming pumpkin bomb. The bomb is a simple little piece sculpted in the same brilliant translucent orange plastic as the flames on his head. He can hold it pretty well in either hand.

The sickle is pretty big and a little ungainly. Because Jack’s hands aren’t designed for holding it, the sickle has a plastic rectangle on the grip to slip his fingers through. It works OK, so long as you’re happy with him holding it in the right hand. One side of the sickle has a cool hammered look to the sculpt, but the other side is largely unfinished.

Lastly, you get his flying broomstick, because… COMICS! It’s partially painted and partially the exposed translucent plastic that is a running theme with this figure. There are a couple of bars to tuck his ankles onto and a grip bar, similar to what we saw on the sickle so he can hold the handle of the broom. I’ll confess, I wasn’t too keen on this piece when I saw it in the package, but I’ve found that it’s actually quite a big of fun and with a little work, he can pose quite well with it.

Jack O’Lantern is a character that I didn’t even know I wanted until I had him in hand. His design is wacky, creepy, and sinister all at once and all of that is executed beautifully in this figure. Everything about him feels fresh, and since the previous use of this buck was a limited release, he should be like a totally newly tooled figure to a lot of collectors out there, and that’s something we don’t see all that often in this line. So far, The Absorbing Man Wave is batting two for two. Next Monday, I’ll see if I can throw a wrench into the works with a look at Speed Demon.

Jun 11 2016

DX Girls Snap Collection (One Piece): Nami (Vol. 1 and 2) Figures by Banpresto

I’ve been covering a lot of figures from properties that I’m passionate about on Anime Saturdays, but not today. Today I’m going back to my drunken guilty pleasure, One Piece. It’s a show that I only watch when I get back from a crippling night at the pub, and when I watch it, I’m usually simultaneously hunting Nami figures online in an inebriated stupor. Multitasking! So let’s check out some Nami figures from Banpresto’s DX Girls Snap Collection…

If I’m going to engage in drunken online anime figure shopping, I could certainly do worse than the DX Girls Snap Collection. These roughly 7-inch tall figures are simple and inexpensive, so when the package arrives a couple days later, I don’t have to panic and worry about what damage I did to the bank account. The figures come in matching window boxes and while they’re certainly serviceable, they feel flimsy and arrived to me in rather shabby condition. I much prefer the fully enclosed box that Banpresto used for the “Sea Nymph” Nami that I got a couple months back. These boxes are collector friendly, but I sincerely doubt I’ll be keeping them. Rather than go straight to the fan service, I’ll start with Nami in her Alabasta Kingdom outfit…

As the “Snap Girls” name suggests, these figures are all about mugging for the camera and that’s exactly what Nami’s doing here. It’s a glamour shot with one hand on her hip and the other behind her head and her dress is blowing out beside her and she looks really great. In fact, I only have one negative thing to say, and that’s the ragged cut of her dress looks more to me like a fault in the mold than something intentional, but that might just be me. Otherwise, this is a surprisingly solid piece for such a low end figure.

Donning the native dress of the Alabasta Kingdom is a big change from Nami’s familiar jeans and bikini top, but I think it makes for a distinctive figure and allowed for a lot more creative license in the sculpt. Both the dress and the half-jacket that she has tied around her top are separate, permanently attached pieces, so there’s a nice feeling of depth and complexity here. The billowing of the dress adds a bit of energy to the pose and allows the figure to show off a little leg… or a lot of legs, depending on which angle your viewing her from. The detail on her arm bands and bangles is appreciated, and while the portrait is pretty simple, it’s undeniably Nami with short cropped hair.

The paintwork is quite good. There’s some faint blue used on the dress to make it look like thin cloth even though the plastic used is actually quite thick. The blue paint on her waist fringe and ornamentation on her top is all neatly applied. I’ve certainly seen worse examples on far more expensive figures. The eyes are printed on, so no worries there, and they even bothered to paint her toenails. The skin tone is also even and natural looking with none of that awful waxy finish I’ve sometimes encountered in budget figures. All in all, a very nice figure. And now for the fan service…

Awww, yeah! If exotic Eastern dresses aren’t your cup of tea, here’s just plain old Nami walking along in a bikini and enjoying a refreshing ice cream cone. Nothing wrong with that! There’s not a lot of wardrobe to talk about here and by extension not an abundance of paint operations or unique sculpting. Nami looks as fit as ever and, the skin tone here is again quite good and I’m happy to say there’s no ugly seams to ruin it.

Despite the simple and skimpy outfit, the paint and sculpt still feature some nice flourishes. The tied strings for her bikini top look good as does the ornamental waist chain that rests on her hips. And uh-oh, she looks like she’s slipping out a bit in the back. I also think it’s funny that Banpresto put the copyright information across one half of her backside. I guess there was really nowhere else to put it. The paint is excellent with a very nice shade of blue for the bikini and some sharp patterns on the top. And of course her tattoo is neatly printed on her left shoulder.

The portrait is very similar to the Alabasta figure, but this time she’s licking her lips and the hair, while still short, is a completely different sculpt. The ice cream cone in her left hand looks good enough to eat! Also, both figures feature the same plain black disk with peg holes to hold the figure in place.

At around sixteen bucks a pop, drunk or not, how could I go wrong? These Namis are damn great and I can wholeheartedly endorse having them even now that I’ve sobered up. Sure, I wouldn’t mind having a better example of her in my collection, but my confidence is still shaken from the dreaded Bootleg Nami incident of 2014. These are nice enough that I could have easily Featured these figures separately, but the truth is I have so many anime figures to go through that it would take me a ton of Saturdays just to get to them all. I’m still thinking about looking at my Figmas and Figuarts during the week and saving Anime Saturdays just for statues and prize figures. Now, with that having been said, next Saturday I’m going back to Kantai Collection with a look at a relatively new(ish) line from Figma… FigFix!

Jun 10 2016

Rock Candy (DC Comics): Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Modern Batgirl by Funko

What do you do when your Funko and have something like 1.5 million different Pop! Vinyl characters in circulation? You keep expanding, of course! And now Funko has introduced a new line of vinyl collectible figures called Rock Candy. Now, I’ve only dabbled in Funko’s Pop! Vinyls, but these roughly 5-inch tall, non-pose-able female figures feature a super cute style that I couldn’t resist. Currently the line is only featuring characters from DC Comics, and different versions of Barbie. Weird! Today I’m sampling half of the initial six DC Comics releases.

The figures come in compact little window boxes that feel a lot more premium than the POP! boxes. They feature some nice gold foil lettering with each character’s name in her own particular logo on the front and again on the side panel. Oddly enough these aren’t numbered, so maybe Funko isn’t anticipating a lot of growth with this line. Like the Pop! figures, these packages are designed so that you can use them as their own display cases and still get to see most of the figure. Unfortunately, the front window on my Supergirl has heavy rubbing, so I haven’t decided whether to pitch the boxes, or maybe try to get a better Supergirl box. Of course, if you want to open them up, the boxes are totally collector friendly and you even get clear display stands with pegs designed specifically for each figure.

Overall, I really dig the styling here. There are definitely some cutesy tropes at work, what with the big head and eyes, but I also feel like it’s something fresh and new and works well with all the characters I’m looking at today. Wonder Woman sports an adorably determined expression with hands on hips and I’m surprised at how much of her costume is fully realized through the sculpt. The belt, the chest emblem, her wrist bracers, all of these could have been simple paint apps, but aren’t. Even the coiled lasso is quite detailed! Only the stripes on her boots and stars on her super-panties are achieved with paint alone.

And speaking of paint, what’s here is overall very solid. The original promotional shots of these figures looked very sharp and I can remember thinking that it was going to be a line that would live or die based on the quality of the paint and considering some of the hit or miss paintwork on Pop! Vinyls, I’m surprised at what we got here. Sure, the lines could be a little more crisp in some areas (particularly the stripes on the boots), but there’s virtually no slop and the shades of blue and red and gold all look so vibrant.

Supergirl boasts a confident look with fists on display and ready for action. Once again, there’s a lot of sculpted detail here that could have easily just been paint or printing, including her belt and chest shield. The paint here is also very clean and I appreciate that they even used glossy red for the boots and matte for the cape and skirt. But most of all, the colors are just so bright and luxurious.

And that brings us to Batgirl. This is the Babs Tarr, Batgirl of Brunside, version of the character and a look that I’m very fond of. The sculpt here is pretty impressive as it includes all sorts of little touches like the laces on her boots, the pulls on her zippers, her belt and pouches, she’s even holding a batarang in her left hand. I think I like Batgirl’s expression the most out of the three, as she has a lot of personality. Even the pose, with her one knee drawn in is just adorable.

Unfortunately, the paint on this one is a bit disappointing when compared to the other two figures. The lines just aren’t as sharp, particularly around the yellow and black areas. I should qualify that by saying it’s still pretty acceptable for a mass produced vinyl collectible in this price range. I mean, they even made a go at painting the laces on her boots! I think this is more an example of the other two figures looking so exceptionally good, that it hurts the one that looks average.

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But, I don’t want to end this Feature on a sour note, because the truth is I totally dig all three of these figures and I’m definitely going to round out the DC assortment by picking up the DCEU version of Wonder Woman as well as Classic Batgirl and Harley Quinn. At $9.99 these figures are in the exact same price point as Funko’s Pop! Vinyls and I think you’re getting a lot more for your money here. They’re cute, colorful, and feel like a decent value, whereas the Pop! Vinyls to me feel like a dirty addiction that I should be ashamed of. In the end, it just feels like more work and personality went into these. While the Barbie releases aren’t my bag, I’m going to be really interested to see if Funko expands this line to include more DC figures or even other franchises. I sure hope they do.

Jun 9 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Goat Man by Mattel

Masters Classics continues to limp along as I cling to the glory days with my little Collector’s Choice subscription. But since that figure was delayed (again!), today I’m going to open up Goat Man, a figure I picked up during one of the Early Access sales. Goat Man was one of those infuriating exclusives that was available at multiple conventions and eventually put up for sale on Matty’s site with warnings about limited quantities. I don’t recall whether he sold out quickly, but whatever the case, Matty had some more lying around and we got a second chance at him a couple of months back. This was a good thing, because he’s a really obscure character, which must have been like a dream come true for a lot of hardcore fans. For me, seeing him just made me realize that my Eternian shelves lacked a Goat Man and I just couldn’t have it.

Despite being a Con Exclusive, there’s nothing on the package to indicate that. Flipping over the card reveals that he was the days of the line (last year) when Matty still printed bios on the back of the cards. While his tag line, “Horn-Headed Servant of Beast Man” more or less sums him up, reading the bio told me that he also got his ass kicked by Buzz-Off. Jeez. That’s quite the resume.

Goat Man feels like he settled on his name because Ram Man was already taken. There’s nothing terribly goat-ish about him. He doesn’t have hooves for feet. He doesn’t have those creepy horizontal irises, nor does he have a scraggly little chin beard. He does feature a pretty standard MOTUC buck with the usual furry diaper and belt, some blue boots with scalloped tops, and some thigh wraps, that I don’t remember ever seeing before. The torso is covered with a vest that makes him look really puffy, and some criss-crossing black straps sculpted on.

The paint here is mostly good. The combination of blue used for the boots and belt, and the red for the furry diaper, gloves, and vest makes for a colorful deco. There’s even a very subtle difference between the metallic red they used on the flared shoulders and the regular red used for the rest of the vest. I do find it peculiar that his skin is regular flesh tone, while his face is red. The paint on my figure has a few minor flubs, like some chipping on the black straps on the back of his vest, but overall the quality is OK.

The head sculpt here is decent, but nothing much to write home about. It’s actually a pretty scary portrait, with the mouth full of sharp teeth, the black and red eyes, and the curling ram… I mean goat horns. This guy looks like he would be right at home on the cover of an 80’s Heavy Metal album. Again, the fact that his face is red and the rest of the skin isn’t makes it look like he’s supposed to be wearing a mask. If that’s the case, than I have to bring his pedigree as a legitimate Goat Man into further question.

The articulation conforms to the usual standard MOTUC buck. If there’s going to be one positive thing about this line ending is that I won’t have to run down the articulation on these any longer. Right now, I can practically do it in my sleep. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have hinges in the knees and ankles, and swivels up near the hips. There’s a swivel in the waist, an ab crunch hinge in the torso, and a ball joint in the neck.

Goat Man comes with two accessories, but only one is intended for him. His is the huge, bitchin’ hammer and I absolutely love this thing. It’s a simple sculpt, with a steel finish and a sculpted, brown wrapped grip. It looks totally appropriate for him and it’s probably one of my favorite MOTUC weapons in a long while.

The other accessory is the Staff of Avion taken from the Mini Comics. For a little while now, Matty has been trying to get extra accessories out to the fans by randomly bundling them with other figures, and this staff is yet another example of that. I can’t say that I was pining to get this into my collection, but I’ll never say no to another accessory. It’s mostly translucent green plastic with a little gold paint, and it actually looks quite striking. It’s ironic, but Stratos originally came with no accessories and now he has two Staffs of Avion (the other coming with Filmation Icer).

Goat Man doesn’t really impress me all that much, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like him. Hell, it’s hard for me to think of too many figures in this line that I don’t like. He’s certainly a solid figure and a welcome addition to the already colorful menagerie of characters in my MOTUC collection, but I’m glad I didn’t go nuts trying to get him when I missed out on him the first time. And believe me, I almost ended up going the Ebay route on this guy. Hopefully, I’ll be able to look at the Collector’s Choice figure, Darius, within the next week or so as I just got shipping notification on him right here in front of me… TWELVE BUCKS FOR SHIPPING ONE FIGURE… Oh, YOU CAN GO STRAIGHT TO HELL, MATTY, AND I HOPE GOAT MAN IS WAITING THERE FOR YOU WITH HIS GIANT BALL-BUSTING HAMMER!!! I do also have the PowerCon Exclusive Granamyr figure on its way, so it’ll be a race to see which one gets here first. I’m betting it’s Granamyr, because Matty’s twelve dollar shipping takes forever.

Jun 8 2016

Game of Thrones (Legacy Collection): Brienne of Tarth by Funko

The latest season of Game of Thrones is in full swing and I haven’t watched a second of it. I’ll get to it… eventually. In fact, I’ll probably binge it when it’s done. I can’t explain my apathy toward it right now, as I was pretty fond of the last season. Maybe it’s because I know the series is starting to venture more into the mystical shit that I don’t care about and away from the swords and politics I love the most about it. Anywho… Brienne and Jaime Lannister were the last two figures in the series that I bought, and likely will be the last two I will buy. I’m really only featuring her today because she’s one of those figures piled on the floor of my Toy Closet waiting to be opened and I’m making an effort to get that area cleaned up. Not really a proclamation of excitement, but I’ve enjoyed these figures and I like this character, so let’s see what she’s all about…

The packaging on this line has always been great. You get an attractive window box that shows off the figure beautifully and identifies the character on the side panel. Everything is collector friendly and there’s a J-hook if you want to hang it on the wall.

One of my favorite things about this line has been the detailed sculpts in the armor and costumes. It was popular to shit on a lot of these Legacy Collection figures, and sure we can quibble all day as to whether the likenesses are any good, but I’ve found their recreations of costumes to be totally on point and Brienne here is no exception. Granted, Brienne’s armor isn’t as fancy as the suit we saw last time on Jaime, but the sculptors still did a wonderful job here. From the ribbed lining on the armor plates to the individually sculpted straps that pretend to hold them on, I’d be hard pressed to think of too many companies to do a better job at this price range. The underlying chain mail is sculpted under her arms, the edge of her belt hangs loose, and even the quilting on her “skirt” looks great.

The paintwork here is something special too. I’m particularly pleased with the rich, oiled bronze color used for most of the prominent armor plates, and the wash that makes it look worn in some areas. Individual fixtures on most of the straps are painted too. What’s more, the paint really brings out some of the finer details in the sculpt.

The portrait’s sculpt is decent enough. I’m sure I could recognize who it’s supposed to be if the head was handed to me out of context. I think if anything it’s the lack of depth in the paint that throws it off. It really feels like Funko had totally different teams doing the paint apps for the bodies and heads on these figures. I get that it probably takes more skill to depict the nuanced coloring of a human portrait than it does a suit of armor, but from the neck up, it doesn’t look like they were even trying that hard.

Brienne comes with one accessory, and that’s her sword. This isn’t Oathkeeper, but rather the sword she carried before she was gifted the finer blade. I actually prefer it this way. I’m a fan of trusty utilitarian sword designs over all that fancy stuff. The sword fits into the scabbard that is permanently attached to her belt. Once again, there’s some really nice paintwork and weathering on the scabbard.

Articulation in this line has been good on paper, but sometimes problematic in execution due to stuck joints. My figure doesn’t have any issues with that and features some solid pose-ability for a character wearing armor. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, with both the shoulder and wrist armor made of soft, pliable plastic so as not to inhibit those joints. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs, and double hinges in the knees. The ankles are hinged and have a bit of lateral movement. There’s a ball joint in her lower torso and another in her neck.

I like this figure a lot, and to hell with the haters, because I think this was a great line. No, I probably wouldn’t have felt that way if I got hit with a lot of bad QC and joints breaking, but I find it odd that not a single figure I bought had any of those issues. And yet, considering Funko responded to the problems, I know they were widespread. Either way, this was a fun line for me, with some great sculpts and solid pose-ability and I’m truly sorry to see it go. If Funko had kept it going, I’m sure I would have kept buying them. It particularly sucks that we never got a Bronn, as he’s my favorite character. Sure, there’s always a chance that I’ll grab up some of the ones that I’m missing and we’ll see Game of Thrones Legacy Collection back on FFZ at some point, but once I realized they weren’t making any more, I lost interest.

Jun 7 2016

Vitruvian HACKS: Ultimate Spartan Warrior (NJCC Exclusive) by Boss Fight Studios

It finally happened! My second and final box of joy from Boss Fight Studios arrived with my remaining Vitruvian HACKS figures. I’ll be looking at those soon, but before I get to them, I have one more Exclusive figure to check out. I already Featured the Kokomo Toys Amazon Elite and this time I’m looking at the New Jersey Collectors Con Ultimate Spartan Warrior. Damn, I lived in NJ for the first 21 years of my life and I don’t remember ever seeing any toy or collectors conventions until I moved 1200 miles away. Aw, that’s not fair!!! There’s nothing like that where I live now. NOTHING!!!

The figure comes in the same style box as the other Exclusive with the figure on a tray inside. It features some monochrome line art and blurbs about the character on the back. It’s certainly not as flashy as the regular release packaging, but it gets the job done, I like the artwork, and it’s damn surprising how many goodies this tiny box can hold.

Yeah… seriously. This guy is more like a weapons pack with a figure thrown in! You get four helmets, two shields, five swords (one with a scabbard), two axes, and an extra pair of fists with the hinge on a different axis. This is a huge chunk of a the entire Vitruvian HACKS arsenal all in one neat little box.

But that’s not to devalue the figure, because the Elite Spartan (shown on the left) is a mighty damn cool. From the neck down, this guy features the same sculpt and articulation as the regular Spartan Warrior, so I’ll refer you back to that original Feature for more details. The big difference here is that the Exclusive is all muddied up with some paint spray that overall looks pretty good. I think the stuff on the white strips around his “skirt” ventures into Hasbro’s unfortunate POTF2-era weathering territory, but the stuff on his skin and armor looks fine. The head sculpt is also new, as this guy has a bushier beard. The vanilla Spartan Warrior was a solid release minus some mushy knees, this one feels a little better in hand. Let’s talk helmets…

Four helmets is above and beyond, Boss Fight! We start off with a variant of the one that came with the Spartan Warrior. It’s not as shiny and it’s splattered with mud.

Next up we get a fully painted and non-petrified version of the helmet that came with the Cursed Stone Spartan. I’m really happy to have a regular version of this one as it has a little more flourish to the design than the regular.

Third is this one, which is my least favorite in terms of design, but easily the most impressive in terms of sculpt. This one is a new piece to me, as it was not included in any of the original assortment of four figures, but I’m pretty sure I have it coming in one of the figures I’ve yet to open.

And lastly, there’s the good old fashioned Barbute, for when you’re less worried about fancy plumage and just want to keep your noggin from getting bashed in or your ears and nose cut off. This looks like it’s the same mold used for the silver helmet that came with the Amazon Elite.

Moving on to the shields, we’ve seen these before. The first is the same one that came with the regular Spartan, whereas the other is the beautifully sculpted Medusa head shield that came with the Cursed Stone Spartan. Once again, this is another piece I’m really happy to have in a non-petrified version. It looks fantastic with the bronze finish. The shields use the same soft plastic sleeve with grab bar to attach to the figure’s arm. It can be tricky to get the grab bar to work, but it can be done. On the other hand, it’s not necessary, the shield can be warn perfectly fine with just the arm passed through the sleeve. It all depends on how accurate you want it to look from the other side.

Weapons! Some of these weapons were included with the regular Spartan Warrior, so we get the same spear. as well as the matched long and short swords. These are fantastic little accessories with some phenomenal paint.

You also get the scabbard and shoulder strap that we saw with the Spartan Warrior and a new sword to put into it. This one has more of an Etruscan type hilt. The scabbard fits the figure quite well an the red paint on the tassels and the silver paint on the buckles is all very sharp.

The fourth and fifth swords include a repaint of the broadsword that came with the Amazon Elite and a Falcata, which was not in any of my initial four figures, but it may very well be included in one of the figures I’ve yet to open. The Falcata has a bronze colored blade and a brown grip. No doubt about it, if you love swords, this box has plenty of blades to make you happy!

Let me axe you a question… do you like axes? Good, because you also get the pair of axes that came with the Amazon Elite. Phew! That’s a lot of accessories. Oh yeah, you also get the stock Boss Fight Studios figure stand that comes with all of the HACKS figures.

Like the Exclusive Amazon Elite, this figure was really easy for me to get on Ebay and at $30, I really don’t feel like I had to pay that much of a premium. They were sold directly by the NJCC, so there wasn’t any scalping padding the price. Considering the regular HACKS are about $20, I’m happy to pay the extra $10 to get what is basically a beefy accessory pack. I suspect that all of these weapons can be found scattered across the other HACKS releases, so technically what’s new in this Exclusive? It’s the dirtied up deco on the figure and some of the equipment. But HACKS is a line that gets better with sharing and the bigger the pile of arms and armor the more fun these get. The Ultimate Spartan looks distinct enough to stand beside the regular Spartan and bolster my ranks and I’m sure glad I got him.

Next week, I can start digging into the rest of the regular release figures!

Jun 6 2016

Marvel Legends (Absorbing Man Wave): Morbius by Hasbro

Well, it’s been about three weeks and now it’s time to bring Marvel Monday back to being a seemingly unending parade of Legends figures. Hasbro is showing no mercy with wave after wave of these things crashing onto the pegs like a mighty ocean of plastic. I’ve got two full waves waiting to go, one wave still to get, and now Hasbro has just unleashed images of the three new ones coming soon, including an X-Men wave that looks almost too good to be true. I’ve got it pre-ordered, so no take-backsies, Hasbro! Yes, this is a wonderful time to be alive if you love 6-inch Marvel figures and hate having money. Today I’m embarking on the Absorbing Man Wave and we’ll kick things off with one of my most anticipated figures in the assortment… Morbius!

Yup, it’s another Spider-Man branded wave and there’s still another one coming right around the corner! Got a problem with that? I don’t! Morbius comes packaged as one of the “Villains of the Night,” sharing his slot with Jack O’Lantern. I don’t know that blanket labeling him as a villain is a fair assessment of the character, but I guess he’s certainly had his moments. Either way, I’m a big fan and was happy to see an update to the old Spider-Man Classics figure. That was a figure I let go from my collection some time ago and regretted not having Dr. Morbius on my shelf anymore. Needless to say, I’m happy that isn’t a problem any more.

And what an update he is! Granted, your mileage may vary based on personal taste. This is a much more humanized look for the character. The previous release featured monstrously disproportionate arms and the much wilder and creepier head sculpt. It had it’s charms, but I don’t think the sculpt has held up very well, whereas this one is some damn fine work. Yes, even if the majority of the body is just a black painted buck.

Dammit, Hasbro… why do you have to make those numbers on the leg so apparent? Anyway… the figure’s original sculpting comes in the hands, which are your standard malevolent looking “Imma gonna getchya” monster hands. They work really well on the figure and the skin is comprised of a creepy chalky-ash paint. You also get the plunging V-neck high collar that all the fashionable “vampires” are wearing these days, even ones cooked up in a lab. The inside of the collar is painted red and the bare chest shares that same great dead flesh paint as the hands and forearms.

The portrait here is just outstanding. I’ll admit that there was something generally creepy and off-putting about the old Toy Biz version, but this one just looks wonderfully polished. This is undoubtedly Dr. Morbius in a full out vamp-rampage (a vampage!) The mouth is open showing all his teeth, the wrinkles and lines in the face are perfect and he sports his long hair with pointed ears jutting out, beady red eyes, and beard. If I kept a list of favorite Marvel Legends head sculpts each year, this one would pretty close to the top. It’s just dripping with personality… and possibly blood.

Morbius comes with two different capes, which peg right into his back. You have a small one that just hangs down behind him and another that is fanned out in the shape of a bat, which is perfectly suited for displaying him with his arms up. Both capes are painted red on the interior and black on the outsides.

The articulation here is superb. 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, double hinged at the knees, and have swivels at the thighs and lower legs. The ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist, an ab crunch hinge in the chest, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. All the joints on this guy feel tight and solid!

This wave is off to a fantastic start! Morbius is everything I had hoped for, and that’s saying a lot considering how much I was looking forward to getting him. He’s a relatively simple figure, but Hasbro put all the effort into all the right places and the two capes are a nice treat. I’ve got to say he’s going to be a tough one to beat as my favorite in this assortment. Next Monday I’ll open up the other half of the “Villains of the Night” and check out Jack O’Lantern!

Jun 4 2016

KanColle: Light Cruiser Yahagi (Preparation Figure) by Taito

If it’s Saturday then it must be time to open another anime figure and I’m sticking with Kantai Collection for just one more week before turning my attention elsewhere. Today I’m checking out another one of Taito’s Prize Figures, this time, however, I’m looking at a character from the game and not the anime series. It’s Yahagi!

I love the packaging for Taito’s Prize Figures. They’re colorful, fairly compact, and fully enclosed boxes. You get pictures of the figure on front, back, and side panels and the text is even somewhat Western friendly with the name of the character appearing in English, in this case “Light Cruiser Agano Class No. 3, Yahagi.” That’s extra helpful in this case since I’m a lot less familiar with the game then I am with the anime series. The figure inside comes wrapped in plastic and requires some minor assembly. Just peg the Yahagi into her base, along with the two pieces of equipment, and you’re good to go.

Yahagi measures about 7 1/2-inches tall, which puts her in scale with the other Taito figures I have. She features a simple but sexy pose, as she kicks her left foot back and rests it on her gun mount and has her arms up, tying a ribbon into her long hair. She’s sporting an adorable two piece outfit, which looks like it pays a little homage to the school uniform, what with the sailor-style collar, anchor tie, and short pleated skirt. The term “preparation figure” points to the fact that she’s in the process of getting ready for battle, which was one of the things that drew me to this figure. She has her rudder boots on, but the rest of her gear is lying on the ground waiting to be equipped.

While her pose is fairly passive, there’s a lot of energy in this sculpt, particularly in the way her long hair snakes around her. It’s one of my favorite things about the composition and a complexity I don’t usually expect to see in these “lower end” Prize Figures. Plus, she pulls it off beautifully. You also get a bit of wind whipping up that skirt for a little helping of ubiquitous fan service.

Both the quality of paint and coloring on this figure are superb. You do get a fair amount of gray and black, but it’s perfectly balanced out by the bright white top and that sumptuous deep crimson paint used for her skirt and the rudders on her feet. There’s also a little bit of metallic orange on the inlays of her belt and the purple on her hair ribbon. The skin tones are absolutely perfect and they contrast nicely with the cold gray of her munitions.

The portrait is simple but lovely. Her large hazel eyes are perfectly printed. Her mouth conveys surprise to me. Maybe she just received some troubling orders pertaining to her mission. I’ve already commented on how impressive her hair is. In addition to the long snaking strands, she has more of it spilling over her shoulders.

The base is a simple clear disc, and I’m happy with that. Her gear includes her twin gun mount, what I assume is her backpack, and a pair of white gloves draped over it. These are simple sculpts, but look fine. They were a little difficult to get pegged in properly, due to a tight fit, but I’d rather have them fit securely than be all loose and falling out.

I’m tempted to say that this is one impressive looking piece for a Prize Figure, but I don’t even feel I have to qualify that. She’s just plain impressive and that’s been par for the course with the majority of my Taito figures. The pose, sculpt, and coloring all come together to make for a beautiful display piece. I had originally promised myself that I would stick to figures from the anime series, but when I saw Yahagi I fell in love, and for under $25 shipped, that was a promise that was easily broken. Next week, I’m going to change things up, possibly with some One Piece, but I’ll likely be coming back to Kantai Collection before too long, because I just can’t get enough of it.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Yearly Archives: 2016

Mythic Legions: Sir Gideon Heavensbrand by The Four Horsemen

Masters of the Universe Classics: PowerCon Exclusive Granamyr by Mattel

Marvel Legends (Absorbing Man Wave): Jack O’Lantern by Hasbro

DX Girls Snap Collection (One Piece): Nami (Vol. 1 and 2) Figures by Banpresto

Rock Candy (DC Comics): Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Modern Batgirl by Funko

Masters of the Universe Classics: Goat Man by Mattel

Game of Thrones (Legacy Collection): Brienne of Tarth by Funko

Vitruvian HACKS: Ultimate Spartan Warrior (NJCC Exclusive) by Boss Fight Studios

Marvel Legends (Absorbing Man Wave): Morbius by Hasbro

KanColle: Light Cruiser Yahagi (Preparation Figure) by Taito

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