Mar 24 2016

Star Trek: Klingon Disruptor by Diamond Select

Originally featured in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the Klingon Type 3 Disruptor would go on to be a very familiar weapon, commonly seen throughout the rest of Trek’s TV and motion picture run. By my count, this same design has been in service for about 100 years, much like the Bird of Prey, and both instances are very conveniently cost effective for producers of the franchise who don’t have to keep coming up with new models and props. Indeed, when you consider the changing trends in Starfleet weapons, I’d dare say this design has become one of the most iconic pieces of equipment in the series. And that’s fitting, because the design is so very Klingon and I absolutely adore it. It’s not sleek or pretty, but it has a certain primitive and swashbuckling feel about it. Starfleet weapons look like sterile implements, but the Klingon Disruptor looks like it has a history behind it. It certainly resembles a standard firearm more than most of Starfleet’s weapons, or at least the ones appearing in The Next Generation era. With a traditional pistol-grip leading to a breech-like body and a beam emitter positioned at the end of three silver pylons that resembles a gun barrel, this is a design that I fell in love with the very first time I saw Kruge use it to vaporize one of his own officers. Let’s check out Diamond Select’s version of this warrior’s honorable weapon.

If you’ve picked up any of DST’s Starships, Phasers, or other gear, then the package here should be familiar. It’s a blue and black box with a bit of a starfield deco. The front panel features a window that shows the weapon and a “Try Me” hole that lets you sample one of the electronic sounds. The back has a picture of the Disruptor and a little blurb about it. This is a big box for an item that is much bigger than I was expecting. The only other Klingon Disruptor I ever owned was the Playmates scaled down version and going on just my memory, this one is huge by comparison.

Diamond’s version is perfectly sized and while it feels a lot lighter than I imagine the real things would be, it doesn’t feel cheap in the hand and it has a decent balance. The quality straddles that line between toy and replica. Some of the sculpted details are a tad soft, there are visible seams in the plastic, and the weathering is very simple, but they did take the time to plug the screw holes on one side. Mine has some scratches that are clearly not intentional, but they work toward making it look more properly used. This is a piece that looks good on display and is perfectly suited to cosplaying at a Con, assuming they still let you carry anything that’s even vaguely gun shaped any more. What this isn’t is a collector’s grade prop replica.

The electronics on this piece are very simple, especially when compared to some of DST’s phasers. There’s a silver sliding switch on the back that puts the weapon into three different modes. I’m assuming, the equivalent of Stun, Kill, and Disintegrate. Each time you move it, it registers with a sound. The trigger is appropriately placed as a thumb button up where the hammer on a real gun would be. Pressing it fires the appropriate sound and lights up the red emitter on the business end of the weapon. Normally with DST ships and equipment I record a little video to show off the electronics, but it wasn’t even worth my time here. The emitter light is sufficiently bright, but the sounds are mediocre at best and not great quality. If you’re expecting something that clearly resembles the awesome sound this weapon made in Star Trek III, you’re going to be disappointed.

While DST’s phasers have had features like removable palm units, this disruptor is pretty much just a static piece. The “breech” does slide back, but it’s designed to do that in order to reveal the battery compartment. I do recall seeing the Klingons “cock” this thing at one point (I think before beaming down to Genesis), but I think it was achieved by twisting the barrel. Still, sliding this piece back a bit and pushing it forward could achieve a similar look, I guess.

It’s no secret I’m a sucker for Star Trek Role Play Equipment and seeing as how much I love the design of this piece, I’ve had my eye on this Disruptor for a long time. I’m pretty sure it’s been on the market for well over a year. The issue for me was price and the hit and miss history I’ve had with the quality control on DST’s Star Trek items. The Disruptor originally retailed at about sixty bucks, which is quite ludicrous for what you’re getting. I’ve since seen it quite often for as low as $45 and even there I balked. Turns out the right price for me was $27 because that’s what got me to finally pull the trigger, if you’ll pardon the expression. At that price, it’s a decent piece, even if the electronics aren’t as good as I had hoped. It’ll still look great hanging on the wall alongside the rest of my sci-fi arsenal.

Mar 23 2016

Star Wars Black (Rebels): Kanan Jarrus by Hasbro

The newest wave of the Star Wars Black Series has a particularly interesting offering in it. No, I’m not talking about Old Han Solo… I’ll get to him eventually. No, I’m talking about a realistic treatment of Kanan Jarrus, the fugitive Jedi from the Rebels animated series. Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen animated characters get a realistic makeover. Hasbro did it to Ahsoka Tano in the Vintage line. Actually, they did it to her again in this wave, only not in the wave I got stuck with. My case had two Lukes in it instead. But don’t get me started again on that. Really, don’t.

Despite the Rebels crossover there’s nothing new to be said about the packaging. You get a monochrome portrait of the character on the front and a little blurb about him on the back. Kanan is Figure #19.

So, right off the bat, I’m going to say that I think this is one of the nicest figures we’ve had in the Black Series in a while. Putting aside whether or not the realistic portrait works or not, and looking at it from the neck down, the sculpt and paint on this figure are both fantastic. Hasbro added texturing to the pants and part of the shirt to give the outfit a realistic look, while also downplaying those vertical stripes on the shirt from the animation model. There’s also a more drastic color difference for the darker parts, which adds a little more complexity to this new realistic look. Overall, the colors are more muted, making for a grittier appearance.

The armor on his right shoulder and arm looks particularly good. The paint is very convincing as worn metal and the added white insignia on the shoulder looks appropriately worn and weathered. The cross strap for the shoulder armor is sculpted as part of the buck and the fixtures are neatly painted. He also features a smuggler’s style belt with a low slung holster on his right hip. No doubt about it, this version of Kanan looks like he would be right at home swaggering through a backwater planet in the live action Star Wars Universe.

The portrait is no slouch either. To be clear, I enjoy Rebels in spite of its stylistic look, not because I’m a fan of that look. I didn’t like the style at all in the beginning, but the show ultimately won me over. So, I was likely an easy mark for this figure and I really like what they did with the head sculpt. There’s a little over spray on the beard and I do wish Hasbro would stop using the waxy plastic for the heads or at least find some way to paint more realistic flesh tones, but that’s the best nitpick I can come up with here. The head looks great, right down to the little ponytail in the back.

The articulation here is as solid as we get in the 6-inch Black Series. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivel cuts in the thighs, double hinges in the knees, and the ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a ball joint in the torso and both a ball joint and hinge in the neck. I would have loved some swivel cuts in the biceps, but Hasbro seems to be done putting those into this line.

Kanan comes with both his lightsaber and his holdout blaster. The blaster is a great sculpt, and looks a lot like the ones carried by some of Jabba the Hutt’s henchmen in Return of the Jedi. His right hand is sculpted to hold it and it also fits nicely in the functional holster on his right hip.

The lightsaber includes a removable blade and the hilt breaks into two parts so that they can be worn separately on his belt like he does on the show. After all, you can’t go around advertising you’re a Jedi. The larger part tabs in horizontally on the back of his belt and the smaller tabs into the front. After getting so many of Luke’s lightsaber in this line, it’s nice to get a fresh and original design.

Sure, I was excited for this figure to begin with, but I didn’t expect it to turn out anywhere near this good. It’s no secret that the Black Series has been languishing in mediocrity a lot of the time, so to get a figure that impresses me is a nice surprise. Granted, there’s nothing about this figure that couldn’t have been done just as well in the 3 3/4-inch scale, except maybe the hilt would be too small to break apart. Still, at this point, I’m just happy to get a figure that looks this good and feels like Hasbro put a lot of work into it. Sabine from Rebels has already been confirmed for the Black Series, and I seriously hope that Hasbro plans to follow through with the rest of the crew at least.

Mar 22 2016

Vitruvian HACKS: Cursed Stone Spartan by Boss Fight Studios

As promised, I’m back to check out the other humanoid figure in the initial Wave of Vitruvian HACKS, Series 1. This fellow is not as lucky as the Spartan Warrior that I looked at this morning. He done got himself an eye-full of Gorgon and he’s been turned to stone. Because this figure shares a great deal with the Spartan Warrior, I’m going to suggest reading that feature if you haven’t done so already. In the interest of brevity, I’m going to refer back to it a lot.

The packaging is basically the same as the Spartan Warrior’s, but everything is customized to suit the character. There’s even a grizzly passage on the back about how humans cursed by the Gorgons experience heightened senses while petrified. So, not only are they conscious for it, but they are aware of everything that’s going on around them for miles. Creepy!

From the neck down, this poor guy is just a repaint of the regular Spartan, so the same great sculpt applies here as well. The paint is a wonderfully convincing stone finish. There are a few areas where the paint was a little sticky when I first got him out of the package, but it seems to have settled down after a little handling and I can’t find any evidence of it on my fingers.

The articulation here is identical to the previous figure, which means for a petrified guy, he can move around pretty well! I’ll refer you back to my one issue with the Spartan and that was the legs. The legs on this figure are a little more wonky. I think some of it might have to do with his grieves needing to be straightened, but part of it is that the soft plastic joints are warping at the knees. I may try a little blow dry straightening to see if it works. It’s not really noticeable to me when he’s in action poses, only when standing straight.

The Cursed Spartan features a new head sculpt, which is bald and works well for this look.

You also get a removable helmet. It’s the same basic style as the one included with the Spartan Warrior, but it is a unique sculpt with several notable differences.

I had a lot of great things to say about the regular Spartan’s shield, but the sculpt on this guy’s shield is even more amazing. Ironically it features Medusa’s head on it, all sculpted as well as a decorative border around the edge. This is a stunning piece of work and the intricate detail in the sculpt is married perfectly with the faux stone finish. The interior of the shield is the same as we saw last time with a soft plastic sleeve and a hand grip. Once again, it’s tricky to get the hand on it and I’ve found it better to just leave it there, since you do get an extra pair of hands to work with.

The Cursed Spartan comes with a sword and a spear. The sword has the same leaf-shaped blade as the regular Spartan’s, but the hilt is brand new. The spear is the same sculpt as the regular Spartan’s spear. Both accessories are treated with the same stone finish as the figure and shield. You also get the same figure stand that was included with the normal Spartan.

While largely a variant of the figure I looked at earlier, this is still a wonderful piece of work. Obviously, this figure is going for a very specific look and it succeeds brilliantly. I wouldn’t mind picking up a few more, as there’s enough accessories and articulation here to create a nice display of Gorgon victims. And speaking of Gorgons… I’ll be looking at those next week!

Mar 22 2016

Vitruvian HACKS: Spartan Warrior by Boss Fight Studios

The Summer of 2014 saw a lot of Action Figure related Kickstarters and one of the big ones was Vitruvian HACKS (Highly Articulated Character Kit System) from the folks at Boss Fight Studios. This 4-inch line based on Greek Mythology boasted great sculpts and a system of interchangeable parts making these figures perfect for collectors and customizers alike. The project was wildly successful, but hit a lot of delays for reasons I have no intention of going into here. To make a looooong story short, the figures were originally slated to ship in February of 2015, but in actuality are only now shipping out to backers. I got my initial Backer Reward wave late last week, but I’m still waiting on the four additional figures that I ordered at the time the project ended in July 2014, plus another two I purchased when the figures went up for general Pre-Order in December of last year. While I’ll be the first to admit my patience wore thin toward the end, I was always confident the figures would come and they would be great. These guys know what they’re doing and I think they did a fine job when faced with numerous hurdles. I was going to look at two figures in this initial Feature, but I ran long…

The figures come packaged on landscape-orientated cards and I am absolutely thrilled to say that they are collector friendly. I still remember how difficult it was for me to make the decision to cut into the bubbles of my Legends of Cthulhu figures from Warpo Toys, but there’s no such anguish here. You just fold back one of the edges of the plastic front and slide the card back to remove the tray from the bubble, thus having your cake and eating it too. Some of the accessories come on the tray and others are bagged behind it. The packaging displays well standing, and there’s also a J-hook if you want to hang them on the wall.

The card art is colorful and customized to each character. The back of the card features a profile of the character. You also get a classic “Collect Them All!” spread of each of the figures in Waves 1 through 4. The Spartan Warrior is where this line began, so I will in turn begin with him. I do want to proceed with one caveat: The customizaiton aspect of these figures does not interest me at all, so I’m not really going to touch on it. I’ll just note that if you have a bunch of these figures, some custom skillz, and a Philips-head screwdriver, the sky is the limit.

So, I have to admit, after waiting so long, taking the Spartan Warrior and his accessories out of the package felt like an event. A lot of impressions came to mind as I started to play around with the figure. Let’s start with the good stuff first, and frankly it’s really almost all good stuff. The sculpting here is excellent. The figure is built on a nearly naked buck with some excellent definition in the muscles. Yes, that means that all the armor is removable, and while it looks like it would take a bit of work to get the grieves off, the armor on the torso just un-pegs and is worn like a vest. The chest plate also features sculpted muscle tone and the individual strips of the skirt are clearly defined, despite being one piece. From painted preview figures to final production, this guy remained consistent through and through.

The paint quality here is also solid work. I adore the bronze paint they used for the armor as it features just the right amount of sheen. The red and white paint on the skirt makes the deco pop beautifully. Each of the tiny straps on the sandals are painted and the paint on the head is absolutely immaculate. There are a few minor flubs here and there along the skirt, but these are hardly noticeable when you’re just viewing the figure in hand and with the naked eye.

While there’s obviously no likeness to be beholden to (although possibly inspired by Gerard Butler), I dig the head sculpt a lot. There’s a lot of sculpted detail in the hair and the somewhat larger eyes give the figure a distinctive, somewhat stylized, look that works for me.

The articulation is solid, but it’s missing a few key points I would have liked to see in a figure in this price range. What you do get: Lots of rotating hinges! They’re in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and have double hinged knees. There’s a swivel in the waist, a ball joint in the torso, and another in the neck. What’s missing are swivel cuts in the thighs and when you couple that with the grieves limiting the ankle articulation a bit the legs can sometimes look a little awkward when posed. That having been said, you’ll note the lack of figure stand in any of my action shots, which means he stands just fine on his own in almost any pose. It hardly even took much work on my part.

Moving on to the accessories, you get an incredible looking helmet that fits the figure’s head beautifully. I can’t remember a piece like this ever being designed to fit a figure this well in the 4-inch scale. It has the same gorgeous bronze paint as the figure’s armor and a bright red comb. This piece and the way in interacts with the figure is quite literally perfect.

Next, we have the scabbard and swords. The accessory is worn on a shoulder strap that’s pegged into the scabbard. Again, the fit here on the figure is exceptional when you consider the scale. It sits high on the figure, which I believe is historically accurate, and the fact that it’s pegged into the strap means that you can swivel it to get a nice position for the figure to draw the sword. The paint on the strap’s buckle as well as the fixtures on the scabbard and the red tassel all look great.

You get two swords (xiphos), one long and one short, with identical hilts. Both will fit the scabbard, but the longer one is a tight fit and a bitch to get out, so I’ve been keeping the smaller sword in there. It comes out easy and if you are only displaying him with the one blade, there’s no way to tell it isn’t the longer one. The swords are gorgeous, with leaf-shaped blades and bronze-painted hilts that match the armor and bright silver blades. He can either sword in either hand perfectly.

Next is the shield, and this is a real showpiece of his accessories. And rightly so as the hoplon is where the Greek Infantry’s name, hoplite, comes from. The front has a sculpted hammered look to it and a gorgeous bronze and red paint job. The reverse of the shield is fully detailed and features a grab bar and sleeve to accommodate the Spartan’s arm and hand. I’ll note that it was really tough for me to get the hand to hold the bar. Ultimately, I popped out the hand, got it in position and then fed the arm through the soft plastic sleeve and reconnected. Since the figure comes with an identical set of extra hands, I’m going to opt to just leave one grabbing the bar at all times.

And that brings us to the final piece of the Spartan’s arsenal, the spear (doru). Like everything else about this figure, Boss Fight spared no expense on the detail and paint on the spear. It has a sculpted tip and butt cap and a sculpted grip, all beautifully painted. It’s a solid piece too, with no warping at all, and both the head and butt are super sharp and pointy.

The Spartan Warrior also comes with a sculpted Boss Fight Studio stand, which is included with all the figures. It’s a functional little piece that pegs into the figure’s feet and is perfect if you’re lining your figures up for a museum-style display. But as I said earlier, the figure’s balance is such that stands really aren’t needed for most of the poses.

If you can’t tell, I am absolutely delighted with this figure. Even the one minor issue I have with the legs is easily forgiven by the care and attention to detail that went into everything about this guy. The base figure is solid and the accessories are among the best I’ve ever seen executed in this scale. If you missed out on the Kickstarter, the Spartan Warrior is currently available for Pre-Order through Boss Fight Studios’ online shop at $20. However, they’re still processing and shipping Kickstarter orders, and made it clear that they won’t be processing the Pre-Orders until all the KS business is taken care of. While $20 may sound like a premium to pay for a 4-inch figure, it’s not a whole lot more than you’ll pay for Hasbro’s 4-inch Black Series right now. And you’re also getting a premium quality product to go along with that premium price. While I’ve only opened the one figure so far, I have to say I’m very glad I backed this KS, and it was worth the wait.

And since I intended this to be a Double Feature, I’m going to run off and recoup a little and I’ll be back later this afternoon with a look at the Cursed Stone Spartan.

Mar 21 2016

Lego Minifigs Series 15 Crapshoot #1

It’s been forever since I last looked at some blind bag LEGO Minifigs. I don’t know why I keep forgetting about these when I should be throwing at least one or two in the cart every time I go for groceries. I actually Tweeted these first, because quite frankly I think that makes for better suspense. So, let’s just take a look at what I got.

I went in here double blind, because I actually had no idea what was in this assortment. I mean, apart from what’s printed on the bags. I didn’t look at them. I didn’t eve know what Series they were. I just know that yesterday was the end of a particularly shit work week and I needed some Minifigs in my life today to cheer me up.

So, the first one I got was the Shark Suit Guy and I was thrilled. The novelty animal suit figures have been my favorites. I was fortunate enough to get a pair of Chicken Suit Guys back when I did the Series 9 Crapshoot. I really need to find what I did with my others. I fear they’re mixed into one of the thirty or so bins containing my broken down LEGO sets. Anyway, this guy is pure love, and he has a worried/scared face printed on the other side of his head.

Next up was the Wrestling Champion and yeah, I actually got two of these. I’ll confess that I haven’t been a Wrestling fan since the 80’s, and even then it was just something goofy to watch when the cartoons ended. That having been said, I like this guy. There’s some particularly nice printing for the belt and muscles and I love the mullet hair piece and the colorful eye make up. I’d say I’m disappointed at getting two, but then I realized they could be a twin tag team, so it’s all good.

Finally, the Astronaut. I was pleased to get this guy because other than the sci-fi space sets, I don’t have any realistic LEGO Astronauts, so he fills in a nice gap. He’s also a wonderful little figure, featuring some of the best printed detail I’ve seen on a Minifig in a while. He has two faces and the gold visor is really cool. I wouldn’t mind getting another of these as I continue to pick up more bags.

So, all in all, not bad. Now that I’ve had a look at the checklist, I think this is a damn strong series. I’m really jonesing for the Laser Mech or the Frightening Knight, so I know I’ll be grabbing more Series 15 bags over the next couple of weeks. Before then I’m going to try to hunt through some totes and see if I can’t find what I did with all my other blind bagged Minifigs.

Mar 21 2016

Marvel Legends (Red Onslaught Wave): Cottonmouth by Hasbro

It’s time for Marvel Monday to get back to the Legends line, and boy do I have a lot of catching up to do. I’m actually going to leap clear over the earlier Rhino BAF Wave to look at the Red Onslaught Wave only because I actually have all of these figures, and I’m still hunting some from the previous assortment. Let’s start things rolling with Cottonmouth!

The packaging identifies this as a Captain America themed wave, although some of the characters here make for a tenuous connection at best. Nonetheless, I’ll be the first to complain that the Legends line doesn’t engage in enough team building and I’m hoping that Cottonmouth here (Burchell Clemens, not Cornell) is the first of many members of The Serpent Society to come to the pegs. Billed here as one of the “Forces of Evil,” Cottonmouth shares this slot in the assortment with Whirlwind. Considering there are no longer running changes in these cases, and they each have unique BAF parts, I wonder why Hasbro still pairs up figures like this. Do they save that much by printing a few less packages per wave? In the end it matters not to me, as I’m about to bite right through this package to get at my figure. Actually, I think I’ll just use scissors.

Cottonmouth’s costume is all paint with no original sculpting. In fact, the only thing really distinctive about his suit is the rather abstract snake face on his chest. From the neck down he’s built straight off of the Tigershark buck right down to the big graspy hands. As a result, he’s a pretty big dude. He positively dwarfs fellow snake fanatic Constrictor and he’s a pretty tall order for any of the previous Captain America’s to take on as well. While I dig the purple and yellow deco, the paint on my figure is pretty sloppy. The edges around the glove of his left hand are rough and there’s yellow paint splatter on his chest. This is also one of those instances where the paint on the leg just below the knee is supposed to match the plastic on the boots, but the darker purple bleeds through.

While Hasbro took the easy way out on the body, they obviously put some extra work into the head. The open mouthed snake hood is textured and the portrait here is pretty fantastic. Hasbro has been pretty good about giving their Legends villains’ faces a little extra personality and Clemens here is no different. I love his expression, the detail in the facial structure and the teeth is excellent and the blank pupil-less eyes make him rather creepy.

Since we’ve seen this body before, the articulation should hold few surprises. The arms have 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, have swivels in the thighs and lower legs, and the ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist, an ab crunch hinge in the torso, and the neck is both ball jointed and hinged. The joints are all solid, no mush here, making Cottonmouth a lot of fun to play around with.

If you’re in this line for the universe building like I am, Cottonmouth should be a welcome addition to your shelf. I’m always up for more villains and while I would have liked a little more effort put into the quality control on the paint, this is still a decent figure in my book. I certainly would have happily picked him up even if he didn’t come with one of those precious Build-A-Figure parts. Now let’s hope that Hasbro keeps the ball rolling and starts delivering on some more Serpent Society figures!

Mar 18 2016

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Talia Al Ghul by Diamond Select

DST continues to work overtime churning out the statues from their new Femme Fatales and DC Animated Series partnership. I’ve been enjoying this line a lot, but I’ll confess it’s getting a bit exhausting to keep up with it since the line launched late last year. The modest little nook I set aside for the initial releases has now grown to a full shelf. Not only are they up to a half dozen regular releases, but there have already been a pair of Exclusives. The first was the 2015 SDCC Supergirl variant and now we have the first completely original Exclusive via e-tailer, Entertainment Earth… Talia Al Ghul!

The box features the lovely deco based off Batman: The Animated Series and with windows positioned front, top and both sides, you can really get a great look at the statue before even removing it from the box. The front window has an EE Exclusive sticker and the top flap is sealed with a strip of Exclusive foil tape denoting that this is #1369 of 2000. There is no statement of limitation on the statue itself. Looks like I’m going in through the bottom! Talia first appeared B:TAS in the S2 episode “Off Balance” and later in the S3, two-parter “The Demon’s Quest” and this statue is an amalgam of both appearances. These were solid episodes with the unexpected Helen Slater voicing Talia and the great David Warner (always a favorite of mine) voicing Ras. Ah, Ras. “Have sex with my daughter or I’ll kill you!” Those are the kinds of arch villains I want if I ever get to be a superhero.

Talia dons her “all business” black catsuit from “Off Balance” as opposed to her “all pleasure” temptress harem garb from “The Demon’s Quest.” While there was certainly something to be said for the later, I’m glad DST went with this look. Talia’s character started out strong only to get neutered somewhere between the two episodes and I think this version is a much better fit for the line. But, hey… if they want to do the other version somewhere down the road, I’d be on board. Since this is an animated style statue, the amount of sculpted detail is limited. I really like the way the edges of the gloves and boots are sculpted so as to look real and not only achieved with a shallow cut and paint lines. The portrait is well done, particularly the way her hair covers half of her face. The belt, holster, and thigh strap are all also part of the sculpt and look good. At about 9-inches tall, she scales perfectly with most of her fellow Femme Fatales.

With these simpler animated style statues, the paint is all the more important in order to carry the day and Talia here sports some of the best quality paint I’ve seen in this series so far. There is virtually no slop to speak of here and the gray and purple on her outfit are very clean. The paintwork on her face looks especially crisp, which is a nice change after having a little flub on the right eye of my Wonder Woman statue. If I had one complaint here it would be the paint on her pistol isn’t as sharp as it could be, but I can live with that.

Speaking of the pistol, it’s one of the two “accessories” that Talia is holding, the other being the Mask of Anubis. This is one of the points in which this statue straddles Talia’s first two appearances in the series, as the mask appeared in “The Demon’s Quest” and was worn as a disguise by her father.

The other nod to “The Demon’s Quest” is the base, which depicts Talia standing on rocky ground at the end of a Lazarus Pit. It’s a great choice for a base and it looks pretty good. The bubbles added to the life-restoring soup are a nice touch. This contextual liberty that draws aspects from both episodes doesn’t bother me at all, but it might irk some purists out there looking for a statue from a definitive episode.

Talia is another solid release in this line, and quite possibly one of my favorites so far. It’s great to be able to get all the animated styles of DC’s ladies together in one place and scale, especially for someone like me who hasn’t bought into DC Collectibles Animated figures… yet. Of course, the other big draw here is the price. With MSRP’s in the forty dollar range, these pieces really are some of the most affordable statues on the market and perfect for collectors who want to add some statues to their shelves, but not break the bank on higher end pieces. Talia is still available from EE at $45 plus shipping, but even as a limited store exclusive, this one can currently be had at a better deal elsewhere. I picked up mine from Amazon at $35 shipped, which is a solid deal for a regular edition, but even better for a limited piece like this one.

Mar 17 2016

Transformers: Masterpiece Ironhide (MP-27) by Takara

I can still remember the crushing disappointment that set in when I got the original Ironhide for my birthday. Sure, I’d seen pictures of him in the catalogs, but something told me that they couldn’t be right. I mean, very few of the G1 Transformers were perfect representations of their Sunbow counterparts, but Ironhide was just plain weird. In his own way, he might have been a cool toy, but my expectations were set and he didn’t live up to them, and so I rarely ever even played with him. The subsequent decades would bring us tons of G1 homages and many of them would be on point, but poor Ironhide never quite got his due. Maybe this was an instance where the magic of animation just couldn’t be translated into a physical toy. The Masterpiece line seemed like our last hope. Thank Primus, it paid off.

This unassuming little box feels right in line with the other MP Autobot cars that have come before it. It’s fully enclosed, features a lot of Japanese text and quite a few pictures of the toy in both forms. As always, this is a licensed product, and holding this box in hand is the first time I’ve actually known the make and model of Ironhide’s official alt mode: A Nissan Cherry Vanette.

Inside the box you get two clear plastic trays containing a hell of a lot more goodies than we’ve seen included with any of the MP Cars. You get Ironhide in his vehicle mode. You get the sled that was part of his G1 toy abomination. And you get a whole slew of extra bits and bobs that make this package feel less like a regular MP Car release and more like a mini MP-10. You also get a folded instruction sheet, an ID card, and an insert for the windshield. There’s a lot to cover here, so let’s get started with the alt mode.

The MP line has been spot on with their alt modes, and Ironhide is no different. This red box on wheels is the perfect homage to the original figure’s auto mode. The red paint looks fantastic, with no discernible slop or QC issues and the simple deco is made complete by the familiar stripes running along the sides of the van. The clear windows are tinted blue with the interior mostly obscured by panels on the other side and the windshield advertising a familiar goofy robot face within.

You get a little chrome on the front and rear bumpers, which look good, but I’ll concede that the bumpers on mine are a little scratched up. There’s an Autobot emblem proudly tampo’ed between the front headlamps and silver painted door handles on the sides. The sculpted windshield wipers, front and back, are painted black and while there are a fair amount of seams on the sides of the vehicle, they don’t look terribly unsightly. I think the only thing missing is a rear license plate, which is oddly enough left empty.

While I’ll get to the accessories in a bit, I will point out here that his Static Laser Rifle can tab into the top of the van, allowing Ironhide to blast some Decepti-creeps while cruising on the highways. Transforming Ironhide is something that needs to be experienced to be truly appreciated. The first time I found it rather intimidating and complex, but the further I went the more delighted with it I became. There’s some amazing stuff going on here, and while changing him felt a lot more involved than any of his predecessors, it doesn’t feel like a chore or something I would dread doing. In fact I only needed the instructions to take me through it the first time and by the second time it already felt natural… And the results are quite astonishing.

Hot Damn is this an amazing figure! To be clear, the sled that comes with Ironhide is a bonus accessory and, while I’ll talk about it in a bit, it has nothing to do with the transformation of the figure. Ironhide’s beautifully proportioned humanoid robot form is all unbelievably contained within that van shell and if they awarded Nobel prizes for engineering cars that change into robots, whoever designed this one would be a sure winner. Not only is everything packed away so brilliantly, but even though Ironhide’s alt mode is in scale with the regular MP cars, his robot mode comes all the way up to MP-10’s shoulders. Impressive!

Nitpickers can have their way with this guy. Feel free. Yeah, he’s got wheel butt. Yeah, he’s got panels on his hips that aren’t supposed to be there. And yes, he has windows on the bottoms of his forearms. I’m happy to point out all the little issues that I’ve heard collectors voice over this guy, because in the grand scheme of things, not one of those things bother me in the slightest. Not only does he look amazing, but his robot mode has all the articulation I could ask for. The shoulders rotate and feature lateral movement. There are swivels in the biceps and wrists, and the elbows are hinged. The hips are ball jointed. The legs feature swivels and hinges in the knees, and some great lateral rockers and hinges in the ankles. He can pivot at the waist and his neck is ball jointed. He even has a pair of hinged flaps in his pelvis to accommodate the hip movement.

And look at that mug! That’s the G1 Ironhide that I know and love. The paint on the face is immaculate, as are the blue eyes. He’s got his familiar “helmet” with the mohawk crest, and by pressing the back of the crest and popping off the face, you can do a quick swap to his alternate portrait.

Shouty Ironhide! Swapping face plates is nothing new for the Masterpiece line, but Ironhide’s faces are so easy to swap out, I may actually do it from time to time. I love this face. It looks like he just walked in on Prime during his special alone time.

The sled is a nifty throwback to a figure best forgotten. It doesn’t actually have any treads on the bottom. It’s just a piece of plastic that’s useful for holding all of Irionhide’s accessories if you want easy access to them on the shelf, rather than keeping them in the box. It’s going to take me long enough to get through all the extra bits, so I’m not going to dwell on the sled itself any longer. Let’s start with the hand replacements…

In the Sunbow cartoon, Ironhide had a lot of tricks up his sleeves. Literally. He had more retractable gadgets than any other Autobot I can think of. Now I’ll be honest, I could quote a lot of the cartoon from memory and I still bust out my DVDs rather frequently, but I can’t remember which hand gizmos did what. I do know he could shoot all sorts of fluids, including liquid nitrogen from these various pieces. Anyway, you get a pair of what look like hands, but they have nozzles in the fingers, you get a pair of circular red shooters, and a pair of rectangular gray ones. All of these are attached by folding Ironhide’s hands back into his arms and pegging the pieces onto the stumps. These are neat extras, but I’m not sure I’ll get much use out of them.

Next up, you get his Sonadar dish. It attaches to the socket in either of his forearms. In the cartoon he used this to see through rock and Ironhide comes with a cardboard insert for his chest to recreate the scene quite nicely. Now, these I dig a lot!

Ironhide also comes with a nice piece of artillery for his back. Again, this is one of his gadgets seen in the cartoon. It’s perfect for blasting Decepticon Seeker Jets out of the sky.

And lastly, before we get to the guns, Ironhide includes his jetpack and effect parts. The jetpack features a nice satin silver finish and it’s unobtrusive enough that I just might leave it on him all the time. The effect parts are pretty neat, but as y’all probably know by now, I’m not a big fan of effect parts. They’ll likely stay in the box or on the sled, or wherever.

And that brings us to the guns. Ironhide comes with his Static Laser Rifle, which is an homage to the original G1 toy. It’s the gun that was positioned in the front of his sled. This piece has a shiny chrome finish and can be held in either hand securely thanks to a tab on the grip and slot in the hands.

Finally, you get a pair of pistols. These have the same satin finish as the jetpack and like the Static Rifle, they have tabs to help him hold them securely. My guess is that I’m going to go with these babies most of the time for display. Or maybe just one.

It’s no revelation that the Masterpiece line has been an absolute delight. When fans are nitpicking a solid figure like Tracks, you know we’re getting spoiled. But with all that having been said, Ironhide feels like a whole new level. A lot of that has to do with how much Takara packed into this box, but it also has to do with the brilliant sorcery that makes up this toy’s engineering. The transformation feels nothing short of miraculous and the robot mode is rock solid and so very hard to put down. It’ll probably be a couple of weeks before Ironhide joins my Masterpiece shelves, because I’m going to want him on my desk and within reach. Do I even have to say how excited I am to get my hands on Ratchet?

And now on a more somber note, I’m going to be retiring Transformers Thursday for the remainder of March because I’m in a holding pattern with buying new Transformers right now. I’m passing on the current Autobot combiner limbs that are clogging the pegs and I’m also passing on the Hasbro Combaticons and waiting for the Takara versions. I am still hunting Sky Lynx and Leader Class Skywarp, and I will be picking up the G2 versions of Superion and Menasor in the weeks ahead. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be using Thursdays as a regular rotation to get caught up on other stuff. That having been said Transformers Thursdays will return next month with plenty of new goodies!

Mar 16 2016

Star Wars Black: Luke Skywalker (Tatooine) by Hasbro

It seems like a while since I had some new 6-inch Black Series figures in hand. I think a part of the problem has been distribution problems in the last wave. I’ve still yet to see a General Hux or X-Wing Pilot Asty, and seeing as they go for $50+ on Amazon right now, I’m guessing that I’m not alone. I was only able to get the Flametrooper all by his lonesome. But now I finally received my case of 2016, Wave 2 figures and while the breakdown wasn’t what I was promised (I got two Lukes and no Ahsoka Tano and I’m still working on rectifying that) I’m happy to finally have some new figures in this line to look at. Let’s start with Luke…

Luke comes in the same style of package that was revamped for The Force Awakens. I like this presentation a lot. It augments the othewise dull black box by adding a red backdrop to the tray and a red side panel. On the downside the front features some of the worst character art I’ve seen in a while. I mean, holy shit, is that really supposed to be Luke? The figures are also numbered and Luke here is #21, which seems like a lot. I’m going to have to consult a checklist and see if I’m missing any that I don’t know about. Anyway, if I had one complaint about the Black Series is that I wish it had focused more on A New Hope way back when it first launched and it seems like “Farmboy” Luke here is a long overdue release.

Straightaway, the most noticeable thing here is the use of soft goods for Luke’s tunic. Fabric costuming seemed like a no-brainer for this larger scale line, and yet Hasbro has been avoiding it left and right. We got little bits of fabric to accentuate Boba Fett, Obi-Wan, and Slave Leia, but it’s been very little. They even omitted a fabric cloak for Jedi Knight Luke, which was something even Kenner gave us in the vintage 3 3/4-inch original. Well they went balls out with it here and I think that’s going to be a polarizing point for collectors.

Now, I get it, it’s hard to make fabric costumes work in this scale. The garments don’t have enough weight to sit properly on the figure so you need to do some really deft tailoring or use very special fabric. It succeeded brilliantly on the Kylo Ren figure and while I don’t think it’s that successful here, I’m still happy with the results. I was not a fan of the sculpted robes on the Prequel Obi-Wan figure in this line and I think this looks better. It’s a bit more billowy than it should be, particularly around the arms, but it’s a nicely tailored piece and with the right futzing, I was able to get some decent results.

The base figure is just bare from the waist up. The sculpting on the pants and boots is decent enough. Articulation is right about what we’ve been getting all along. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, and double hinged elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have swivels in the thighs. The ankles are hinged and have lateral rockers. There’s a ball joint in the torso and a hinge and ball joint in the neck.

The portrait is passable. I’ve been arguing that the Luke likenesses have been getting worse as this line moves on, but this might be the first one to buck that trend. Or at least it might if not for the waxy plastic that’s used, which doesn’t hold the details all that well. Mine also has a splotch of yellow paint on his cheek. Granted, I have to get in pretty close to find these things bothersome. The expression is a little too dour for me, but then Luke on Tatooine was a sulky little sot, so maybe it actually fits.

The belt clips pegs around the waist and is easily removable. It features some particularly nice paint hits on the buckle and the brass fixtures. You also get two accessories here: His binoculars and his lightsaber. We’ve seen this lightsaber over and over, so there’s nothing new to say about it. The blade is removable and the hilt can hang on the belt. The binoculars are a pretty nice sculpt and he can hold them fairly convincingly. They can also clip to the belt. I would have liked to see one more accessory in here, preferably his rifle.

While I’m happy with the soft goods, there’s certainly room for improvement, so I soaked the tunic and let it dry on the figure overnight. It’s a trick that sometimes works for iffy looking 1:6 scale outfits…

It’s still a little damp in the above picture and to be honest, there isn’t a dramatic improvement, other than it fits a little closer to the chest now.

All in all, I’m rather pleased with this figure, but I suppose I could understand if it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea… or in this case blue milk. I’m rather anxious for Hasbro to cover the original twelve from A New Hope and this brings us one step closer. We know Leia is coming, but I’m really excited to get a couple of Sandpeople for Luke to fight. It’s a fun figure and I’m in the camp that is very glad they went with the soft goods tunic over a sculpted one. I think the biggest room for improvement here would have been a few more accessories. Considering we got the desert hat and rifle in previous 3 3/4-inch releases, their absence here feels rather stingy.

Mar 15 2016

Alien: Dallas and Kane in Compression Suits by NECA

Today I’m polishing off NECA’s 35th Anniversary tribute to the original Alien film with the final two figures in Series 4 of their Aliens line. Last week, we got a good look at the magnificent sculpt NECA did for the Compression Suits used on the Nostromo. This week we’re going to see it again featured on two new figures. And yes, while these figures are largely the same recycled body as that Ripley, each of these releases have their own special charms.

The packages are right in line with what we saw for the last three figures in Series 4. You get sealed clam shells designed to keep the figures fresh and tasty. It’s attractive, but not at all collector friendly. The fact that Dallas has (Compression Suit) pointed out on his insert makes me wonder if they had planned to do a jumpsuit version of him like they did Ripley. NECA has recently shown off a new sculpt of Lambert from the film, so it’ll be interesting to see how they fill out the rest of that figure’s wave. Anyway, let me go ahead and slice these open and we’ll start off with Captain Arthur Dallas.

Dallas is a man who is comfortable in his own sexuality, as evidenced by his pink suit. This sculpt was amazing enough when cast in Ripley’s all white version, but now that it’s got some color to pick out all the details, it looks even better. The only difference in the sculpt from the neck down is the addition of a strap on the right hip for a holster and all the same points of articulation are here as well. I can’t say enough about how impressed I am with the detail on this suit. The wrinkles in the padding under the traps, the cross-laced sections, it’s all so impressive and the work put into it strikes me as a clear labor of love. Besides the pink deco, there’s also a lot more weathering to this one over Ripley’s, so you get some nice yellowed stains on the lower leg pads and around the collar insulation. Little touches like this really drive home the whole “used future” aesthetic. Dallas also has his name on the chest plate, which might as well read: Hands off, bitches, the pink suit is mine!

The backpack on mine is actually missing one of the furnace knobs. I may have to steal one of Kane’s and just say his was knocked out in the Facehugger attack. The pitting on the backpack is more defined thanks to the copper paint. You also get some additional paint hits on the lights and two tampos on the tanks that were absent from Ripley’s suit. The butt cheek patch is still there. The brown paint on the straps really bring out the subtle sculpted stitching around the edges.

I don’t think the likeness here is quite as good as Ripley’s, but it’s not bad. The paint is a little rough in a few areas, but this guy is going to spend most of his time with his helmet on, so that’s not a big deal.

The helmet works exactly the same way as Ripley’s. It splits into two halves. You pop the head off the figure and put on the bottom half, reattach the head and position it to your liking and then pop the top half on. The hoses then plug into the sockets on the back of the helmet. The only change to the helmet from Ripley’s is the addition of the light piece on top. Again, the coppery finish makes all those wonderful little details easier to see and appreciate. I particularly love the relief work done on the shoulder pads and the helmet. A subtle green wash on the coppery bits gives these parts a nice worn patina.

The accessories include the pistol and the flashlight. The pistol is a great sculpt of a pretty cool and distinctive design and features some red and silver paint hits. The holster, on the other hand is pretty wonky. Since it’s just a loop you have to basically hook the grip and scope on it to get it to stay put. I would imagine that you were pretty screwed if you need to quick draw this baby.

dalkane11

The light is the same cumbersome design used in the film. It’s basically just a box with a handle on the top. This reminds me of the terrible “palm beacons” the Away Teams used in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Why is it that people think in the future something as elegant as the flashlight is going to become all awkward. It’s still a welcome accessory, although I would have liked the cobbled together motion tracker from the original film. And that brings us to poor Kane…

Yes, straight from the egg field and experiencing a full-on Facehugger attack, Kane is having a very bad day. He’s a straight repaint of Dallas from the neck down, this time rendered in yellow and with his name on the front of the chest plate. Overall, Kane’s suit looks like it’s in a bit of a better state than Kane’s, apart from the added ventilation in the helmet visor, of course. The helmet, backpack, and other plates are a little brighter copper, although they still have the same amount of green tarnish. The belts and straps are painted a little darker brown on this suit as well. Otherwise, the key differences are from the neck up.

The broken visor effect is magnificently done. The plastic is melted and pushed in leaving a hole where the little bugger got inside. Now, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have liked a John Hurt portrait to go along with this figure. Given how generous NECA usually is with extras, I’m guessing that they had problems securing the likeness and this was a very clever way around it. Although, considering Character Options was able to get his likeness for their Doctor Who line, it could be that it just didn’t cost out for this line. Either way, the effect here is brilliantly done. And yes, you can still remove the helmet.

The un-helmeted head is pretty ghastly. It almost really does look like they sculpted a head and then attached a Facehugger to it. It has a suitably glossy sheen to it and the tail is sculpted around Kane’s neck.

Kane comes with the same accessories as Dallas; A pistol and flashlight. For all the good they did him!

It was my adoration for the original movie, as well as my overall respect for NECA’s great work that compelled me to buy this assortment and I’m certainly glad I did. Display space is a premium around my place, but I’m actually pulling down a shelf of other figures to make room so that I can prominently display these. On the downside, I’ve already picked up a handful of more Aliens figures and even a couple of Predators, so I have a sinking feeling that I’m hooked. In fact, I’ve even ordered a carton of Free Range Alien Eggs, so look for a lot more NECA Aliens Features in the weeks ahead.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Yearly Archives: 2016

Star Trek: Klingon Disruptor by Diamond Select

Star Wars Black (Rebels): Kanan Jarrus by Hasbro

Vitruvian HACKS: Cursed Stone Spartan by Boss Fight Studios

Vitruvian HACKS: Spartan Warrior by Boss Fight Studios

Lego Minifigs Series 15 Crapshoot #1

Marvel Legends (Red Onslaught Wave): Cottonmouth by Hasbro

Femme Fatales “DC Animated Series:” Talia Al Ghul by Diamond Select

Transformers: Masterpiece Ironhide (MP-27) by Takara

Star Wars Black: Luke Skywalker (Tatooine) by Hasbro

Alien: Dallas and Kane in Compression Suits by NECA

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