Monthly Archives: May 2017

May 13 2017

Figma “Fate/Extra” Caster by Max Factory

I do indeed love me some Fate/Stay Night. It’s one of those anime series that I’ll watch over again, even though I have a dozen new series waiting on my “to watch” list. That’s probably why I’m so far behind. Well, it’s only natural that love spilled over to Fate/Extra when it released on the Sony PSP. I thought it was a miracle the game was localized for US release and jumped on it right away. In the end, there was a lot I liked about it, and a lot I didn’t. Fast forward to now and Fate/Extra is poised to get an anime series treatment in the form of Fate/Extra Last Encore. Oh, and we also got this new Figma release of Caster from Max Factory!

As unlikely as getting a US localization of the game was, getting figures from the game is just mind-blowing to me. Caster comes in a pretty typical window box. It’s numbered as #304 on the front and features shots of the character on the side panels and plenty more on the back. Everything is collector friendly, and that’s a good thing because, as always, there are quite a few bits and bobs inside that you’ll want to keep track of.

And wow, I absolutely love how they recreated Caster’s outfit here. Granted, the character is rendered in 3D in the game, but I still wasn’t sure how this costume would translate to plastic form. Well, the answer is, beautifully! As one can imagine, it’s not exactly practical when it comes to character movement. For example, when you render those puffy sleeves in plastic, they tend to get in the way, but thanks to some strategic ball joints, I’m still pretty satisfied with how they’ve managed to salvage some decent arm movement, despite of such an impractical design. Even the flowing black flaps are set on ball joints to allow them to be posed out of the way as needed. And speaking of impractical designs, she’s sporting some crazy platform shoes.

And yup, she’s sporting her big and bushy fox tail, and it’s proven to be the most frustrating thing about this figure. It simply will not stay in place. Seeing as how the peg is mounted on a ball joint, I’m tempted to tip it in with a little glue. And while I’ve always found Figmas to be exceptionally well balanced figures, Caster’s tail makes her decidedly back heavy, which is no small feat considering that she isn’t exactly packing light in the chest region. I was able to get her to stand on her own, but it can be a frustrating affair. Thankfully, you get the usual stand, which sockets into the hole in her back. I should also note here that the coloring on this figure is absolutely gorgeous. The blues and black and gold leaf all go so well together. Toss in that orange fox fur and her warm skin tone and you get a figure that is most definitely pleasing on the eyes!

Caster comes with three different portraits, and these are all pretty standard Figma fare.  You get a smiley face, a worried face, and a super happy, playful face. These are swapped out the standard way, by removing the front of the hair. And yes, the adorable fox ears stay on as they are sculpted as part of her head.

You also get a bunch of hands, although this is one figure where I’ve found that I didn’t have a lot of desire to swap out the hands. Her stock hands are great for spell casting, and those are the ones I’ve left on her most of the time. You get a pair of fists, which are hard to even see buried in those sleeves, a pair of pointing fingers, which are useful, and then some that are designed to work with her accessories.

The first of which is one of her charms. It’s super tiny and designed to fit between the fingers of either one of two specialized hands. There’s printing on one side.

Far more impressive is her Noble Phantasm mirror, the Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu. This piece includes its own stand, plus an extra arm so that it can be attached to the figure stand and made to levitate around Caster to simulate her attacks. You do get some hands that look like they are designed to hold it, but they don’t work too well, and in fairness most of the time Caster is commanding the mirror she isn’t actually holding it. With that having been said, it’s a super fun accessory.

So yeah, it’s crazy that we’re getting Figmas from Fate/Extra, and doubly so that we’re getting them strictly off the game and before the anime even comes out. But I’m not complaining. I seem to recall seeing images of Saber from the game as well, but I can’t remember if she’s out already or yet to be released. I’d look into it, but right now, I’m more interested in getting the re-issue of Saber from Fate/Stay Night when she comes out, not to mention Archer as well. As for Caster, well it was more my love of her character design than than anything else that made this figure irresistible to me. Although I will say that playing around with her has made me want to pop in the Fate/Extra UMD and give it a spin again.

May 12 2017

DC Bombshells (DC Designer Series): Harley Quinn by DC Collectibles

After weeks of gushing, I’m finally at the very last figure in the initial wave of DC Collectibles’ Bombshells figures. I don’t think I’ve mentioned that these figures are numbered, but I didn’t go through them in that order. Instead, I saved my favorite one of the bunch for last, and yes it is indeed Harley Quinn! And that’s some high praise for Ms Quinn here, because this initial assortment has been rock solid all the way through. Let’s take a look…

We’ve already had Batwoman the baseball player, Wonder Woman the propaganda poster gal, and Poison Ivy the pin-up queen. Bombshell Harley represents the nose art that often showed up on WWII bombers and really epitomizes what this whole concept is all about. The package is the same as we’ve seen three times already, so I’m not going to dwell on it. I’ll just say that I’ve actually saved the boxes for these figures, which is something I hardly ever do.

And here she is! Harley sports a cool WWII-era bomber jacket, capped off with a fur-lined collar, red aviator gloves, and a skimpy red and black top. From the waist down she has a very short pair of shorts, red and black thigh-high stockings and adorable little socks and boots. The ensemble is finished off by a simple black choker and a re-purposed Batman utility belt with the pouches customized with red and black paint. I love this costume. It captures the feel of the era, while still preserving Harley’s signature look. The paint is pretty sharp too, the plastic used for the skin tone looks great, and the finish on the jacket and the boots looks particular fantastic.

There are some wonderful details here too. The front of the jacket features some painted metals, and you get some really cool “Joker’s Wild” artwork across the back of her jacket. She even has a playing card tucked into her right stocking. And yup, it’s The Joker!

The portrait is also excellent. Harley features yellow hair with fiery tips on her pigtails and a pair of aviators goggles perched up high on her head. Her face is painted white and she’s got beautiful green eyes and bright red lips. It’s both instantly recognizable as Harley, and yet still manages to feel like a fresh and original take on the character. The circles on her cheeks and the little diamond under her eye are nice touches.

The articulation here is pretty much identical to that of the other Bombshells, which makes Harley a super fun figure to play with. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, with swivels in the thighs, and double hinges in the elbows. The hips are ball jointed, there are swivels at the tops of the stockings, double hinges in the knees, and the ankles have hinges and lateral rockers. There’s an ab crunch hinge and a ball joint under the chest, and the neck is ball jointed. She also comes with three pairs of hands, which include fists, accessory holding hands, a right hand with two fingers up, and a left hand with relaxed fingers.

As for accessories, Harley comes with her trademark pop gun. I have a lot of Harley figures in my collection and a lot of them come with their own versions of this accessory, but this particular one is the best I’ve seen. The paint work is on point, with a silver, metallic finish and a very realistic looking cork in the barrel. It also has a Batman charm dangling off of the lanyard ring!

And it wouldn’t be Harley without a giant, obnoxious hammer! This one is basically a barrel with a handle on it. Once again, the quality of sculpt and paint on this piece is exceptional. The individual planks that make up the barrel are sculpted with some pretty realistic wood grain texturing. There’s even sculpted rope wrapped around the shaft where it meets the barrel. It’s a comically huge and heavy weapon, but Harley can hold it pretty well.

Harley is yet another outstanding figure in what has been an all around amazing wave of figures. I’ll confess that I’ve been looking forward to these ever since they were first solicited, but this is one of those cases where the final product exceeded my very high expectations. These figures manage to take all the great stuff about the Bombshells statues and effortlessly combines that recipe with the sheer joy of some wonderfully articulated action figures. The sculpt, the paint, everything about these gals have come together perfectly and I simply cannot wait until wave two finally ships. I’m still a little sore at you, DC Collectibles, for shit-canning so many of the DC Icons figures. But if you keep this line going, all will be forgiven.

By figurefanzero
2
May 11 2017

Transformers Titans Return: Flintlock and Sergeant Kup by Hasbro

Behold! For the long, dark night has ended and I have a new Converto-change-a-bot® to look at on Transformers Thursday! Yup, I’m pretty excited about it, especially since it’s part of the new wave of Deluxes, because I have been totally digging the Titans Return Deluxes! And it’s Kup! Oh, excuse me, Hasbro lawyers… Sergeant Kup! With how terrible Hasbro’s distribution is around here, I don’t even want to tell you what kind of backroom deals I had to do to get this guy in a reasonable and timely manner. …Best not to dwell on it. …Ebay. It was Ebay. But he was actually only a couple of bucks over retail, so I did good.

The card art features Kup’s properly perturbed and cranky looking head descending onto his geriatric-robo-body. Or is that Flintlock’s head? These Head/Titan Masters always confuse the hell out of me. Anyway, the last time we saw Kup was as part of the Generations line back in 2013. I thought it was a nice looking figure with some clever engineering, but it wasn’t really my G1 Kup so I recently sold him off in anticipation of this release. Shrewd move or hasty mistake? Let’s press on and find out. Kup comes packaged in his robot mode, but I’m starting with his alt mode.

Now this is an alt mode for Kup that I can get behind! My biggest issue with Generations Kup was that he was an Earth truck. Here we’ve got a pretty cool looking Cybertronian truck that’s certainly inspired by the original toy. The two-tone blue deco is very evocative of the original and I think it looks great in spite of the fact that there aren’t a ton of paint apps here. You do, however, get some nice sculpted details in the mold, which includes panel lining and a bunch of hatches on the sides.

The clear canopy that opens to reveal the driver’s compartment, and of course his Titan Master buddy Flintlock can fit in the driver’s seat.

Kup’s guns are designed to mount in the back of the bed, where they mainly just fill up that space. You can turn them around to have them fire behind him, or even combine them to form a gunning station for a Titan Master. There are also ports on the sides where they can be pegged in as well. All of these are pretty cool options. With the guns out of the bed, you can also make use of some of the tiny foot pegs and load up the back of the truck with Titan Masters.

And here’s a quick look at Flintlock. Still no paint apps on these little guys, but I like him. Articulation still consists of ball joints in the shoulders and neck. The legs are fused together, but have hinges in the hips and knees.

Kup’s transformation features some cool engineering. I really dig the way the side panels of the truck fold to become his lower legs, and the way the canopy forms his chest with the front of the truck behind it. The robot mode borrows more from the original toy than it does the Sunbow character art, especially in terms of the squared off shoulders and arms. There’s not a lot of that rounded and more organic aesthetic that was introduced with the movie designs. Well, maybe a little in the legs, but even that is a stretch. I thought that was going to be a big sticking point for me and this figure, but it really hasn’t been. I credit that to how clean and well proportioned this robot mode looks.

Another cool feature about the figure is how Kup can store both of his guns on his back. It doesn’t add too much bulk to him and it actually kind of looks like a jetpack, albeit a hollow one. Also, thanks to that clever leg transformation that I mentioned earlier, Kup doesn’t suffer from hollow leg syndrome when viewed from behind. That’s always a plus!

The deco here is more of the same that we saw in his alt mode, but you do get the addition of some of that dark gray, which breaks up all that blue and blue. He also has some yellow paint accents and an Autobot insignia at the top of his chest. I’ll confess the arms below the shoulders strike me as a bit unfinished. A few paint hits there would have helped, but all in all I think the coloring here is pretty good.

The head sculpt is pretty sweet too. The rounded style of his “helmet” and the cranky, scowling mouth is perfect for him. He looks like he’s about to scream, “Hey you damn petro-rabbits… get off of my lawn!” In the shot above, you can probably see a little mold flashing on the edge just in front of his face. I could have done without that. but I guess you have to get in pretty close to really notice it.

Kup comes with a pair of twin guns and I love these things. They’re pretty short and compact and he looks great dual wielding them. You can also stick them together to form a double-barreled weapon with a place for a Titan Master to sit. Personally, I prefer them as separate guns, but it’s always nice to have options.

If you can’t tell by now, I’m extremely pleased with the way Kup turned out. Stylistically, there were certainly some compromises here, but I’m cool with that. He’s a great looking figure and I think he fits in quite nicely with Titans Return Blurr, Hot Rod, and even Generations Arcee. I’m getting into the mindset that Hasbro can do no wrong with the Titans Return Deluxe figures, and that appears to still be the case with this latest assortment. I’m actively hunting down Perceptor and Top Spin, and I’m even pretty stoked for Quake. To be honest, I’m even looking forward to getting Krok.

May 9 2017

Zenescope’s Robyn Hood Sixth-Scale Figure by Phicen Ltd.

There’s no better endorsement for a first purchase than following it up with a quick second. I had Phicen’s Mercy Dante in hand for just a few hours before I found myself clicking the Buy It Now button on another release in the Zenescope-Phicen partnership. I’ve had this figure for a while now, allowing myself some time with her and also waiting until I had enough time to do her justice, and I’ve finally been able to set aside enough time to do just that. So let’s dive in and check out Robyn Locksley, aka. Robyn Hood! But first… background!

Robyn Locksley was just your average everyday baby that was saved from a satanic ritual in a fantasy realm called Myst, portal-ed to another world called Earth, and left on the doorstep of what might as well have been a crack-house. Needless to say, Robyn had a rough upbringing, which included selling illegal drugs for her foster father to pay for her ailing foster mother’s medicine, getting kicked out of the house after her mother died, and then beaten within an inch of her life and having her eye slashed out by an underprivileged jock who’s father basically runs the town. OK, she did steal the guy’s car and total it, but that’s hardly an excuse! And just as things couldn’t get much worse for her, she was summoned back to Myst, where she adopted the guise of Robyn Hood and helped the downtrodden people of Bree overthrow their asshole tyrant of a king. She bounced between Myst and Earth a couple more times, but eventually she settled down back on Earth and opened up a detective agency/vigilante service, where she investigates weird doings and serves up justice at the point of an arrow. Robyn Hood is a fun read. The first three collected trades take you through her adventures in Myst, but her ongoing book, on which today’s figure is based, sees her plying her trade on present day Earth. She’s also appeared in quite a few of Zenescope’s crossovers and one-shots, but I better not get ahead of myself…

Like Mercy, the figure comes in a generic shipper box with the character’s name on it. Inside, you get a colorful, high quality box with a deco designed to match Mercy’s should you wish to line them up on the shelf. There’s colorful character art on the back and side panels, the character’s name on the other side panel, and a nice logo for The Grimm Universe on the front. Unlike Mercy’s box, which featured a wrap-around magnetized cover, this one has an illustrated sleeve and an opening front flap for the box. I really love the presentation here and I’d actually rate it higher than what we’ve been getting out of Hot Toys these days. Inside the box, the figure is nestled in a cut foam tray with a second layer beneath with more goodies hidden below.

Robyn comes out of the box wearing most of her outfit (hey, clothes are not something you can take for granted with Phicen!), but she does require a little bit of work to get her look complete. The base costume includes her stylish, midriff revealing top, tactical pants and high, buckled boots. The top and bottom garments are beautifully stitched and consist of a mix of the camo cloth and a black pleather material, which does a great job recreating the modern outfit that she wore in Legacy and her ongoing comic. She also has a very soft cloth hood that hangs down off of the back of her top.

The boots are actually boot feet and they look really great. They feature some nice, clean stitching, silver buckles running up the sides, and treads sculpted into the soles. The bottoms of the feet include chunky peg holes that work with any of Phicen’s stands, but more on that later. The ankles joints are pretty strong and capable of holding her in just about any pose I could think of.

Robyn’s outfit is rounded out by a belt and a pair of bracers on her forearms. The belt features a sculpted belt buckle and has four brown leather-like pouches on each hip. The bracers are basically pleather sleeves, which slide on the forearms and mate nicely with the painted, finger-less gloves that are sculpted as part of the hands. Each bracer is also fitted with a plastic armor plate with sculpted straps. Another extras includes a strap for her right bicep, which holds four throwing daggers. This is an amazing accessory, but oh boy is it flirting with danger by putting those sharp daggers near her skin. Care is recommended whenever manipulating that arm so as not to puncture anything!

Robyn also comes with an rig of hip pouches that clips into the rings to the left and right of her belt buckle, and again on the back of her belt. These pouches have opening flaps, which secure with velcro and can be used to hold all her extra arrow tips or whatever else you might want to throw in there. Extra bow string? Magic crystals? Sure, why not?

The beauty of her outfit is that it doesn’t restrict her movement hardly at all, and that’s a wonderful thing when dealing with the Phicen body, which is based off a stainless steel skeleton that claims to mimic 90% of human flexibility quite. The ultimate test was being able to get her down on one knee without fear of pulling any stitches in the clothing or popping any joints. I don’t know of too many of my Hot Toys that could do the same. Keep in mind that the only seams on this entire figure are at her wrists and her neck. Truly a work of art!

The portrait is very nice, although it’s worth noting that Phicen is still a ways off from reaching the mad head skillz of Hot Toys. That having been said, I think this is a great likeness for the character. Her left eye, which I’m pretty sure I mentioned was gouged out by an asshole with a piece of glass, has the mystical eye that she um… grew? in the Realm of Myst and helps her to see what her bow sees. Her remaining real eye has something pretty close to that spark of life that we see in Hot Toys’ figures, and the paint for her eyebrows and lips is immaculate. Robyn features long blonde rooted hair, which can be difficult to get under control. A little touch of gel helps, but I feel like there’s always going to be one or two fly-away strands.

The cloth hood is capable of holding all her hair inside it, or you can snake some of it around and off her shoulder. Again, the more you play with it, the more you can get the hair under control and tucked away. Either way, I think the hood looks great on her and I really dig the soft material they used for it.

Robyn comes with a nice assortment of hands, and here’s where one of the figure’s main flaws comes into play. These are an absolute bitch to change out. The sockets in the hands tend to grip tighter than the sockets in the skeleton, which means the ball joint is more likely to come out of the arm than the one in the hand. On a Hot Toys or Sideshow figure, this is no big deal, but on a Phicen it’s incredibly frustrating to get the ball back into the arm socket, because you have to be careful about stretching or damaging the skin. The alternative is to have a hair dryer handy to heat up the hand enough so that the ball joint is more likely to pull out of the hand. I’ve had success with this in the past, but I currently don’t own a hairdryer. As a result, you’ll note that all the pictures I shot use the same two hands. I got those in and I’m sticking with them for now! Anyway, the ones on her are designed for holding the bow and knocking an arrow. You also get two tight holding hands, and two pairs of hands in slightly different relaxed states.

Of course it wouldn’t be Robyn Hood without her trusty bow and quiver of arrows. The quiver is plastic and is slung over her shoulder with a belt and working buckle. The arrows all feature interchangeable arrow heads. You get standard heads for each one, plus a few specialized types. These include a bullet arrow and a syringe arrow. She even comes with a length of string to tie around a grapple hook arrows, although i haven’t messed with that yet. One issue here is that the arrow heads tend to fit loosely on the shafts. This makes it super easy to swap them out, but they also have a habit of dropping off in the quiver if you put them in with the quills up. Which is why you’ll see most of the pictures with the arrows stored in the quiver with the tips up.

The bow itself is a beautiful piece. It’s sculpted with sensual curves and cast in a beautiful pearlescent green and gray plastics with the fixtures painted gold. Phicen’s boxed figures can sometimes be a little lacking in the quality of their accessories, but that is certainly not the case here. Indeed, my only complaint with the bow is that the string doesn’t have enough give to pose her with the string drawn back. Seeing as how some sellers piece these figures out, I’m tempted to try to get a second bow for her and re-string it with something a little more pliable.

While I’ve had almost nothing but praise for this figure, there is one big oversight that’s pretty hard to swallow. Robyn Hood comes with no stand. Zip! Now, luckily I have a healthy supply of the generic Sixth-Scale stands that you see her resting on above. Indeed, the stands that came with my other Zenescope Phicens aren’t much to get excited about, which is why I swapped them out with these better ones. But still, it takes some balls of steel to release a Sixth-Scale figure at this price point and not even toss in a goddamn stand! It’s a good thing I’m so smitten with her, that I’m willing to overlook those kinds of shenanigans.

While Phicen’s generic figures still tend to be pretty affordable, the boxed and licensed figures are slowly creeping up there in price. Previous Zenescope Phicens like Mercy Dante and Van Helsing ran around $159, while Robyn here jumped to $179 and quickly sold out at most retailers. Oh, I’m not complaining, mind you. She’s still clocking in at well under even what Sideshow is charging these days. The fact that someone is producing high quality collectible figures based on my beloved Zenescope books is reason enough to get me to open up my checkbook before even asking “how much?” And besides, there’s a lot to love here and it’s pretty easy to see where the money went. The body is killer, the head sculpt is solid, and the costume and gear are both fantastic. Sure, there are a few little design hiccups here and there, but it’s sometimes easy to forget that Phicen is a pretty small fish in a big ocean of accomplished Sixth-Scale figure companies. I’ve still got one more release in Phicen’s Zenescope partnership to look at, so probably sometime next month I’ll swing back and check out Liesel Van Helsing!

May 8 2017

Marvel Legends (Titus Wave): Yondu by Hasbro

Guardians Vol 2 is in the theaters, and what a fun ride it is! It’s got action, laughs, and some wonderful characters, and a soundtrack that’s so cool it has no business being in a modern Hollywood flick. I’ve only been to see it once so far, but I’ll likely be back when I can find some time next weekend. And as careful planning and professionalism luck would have it, I’m also in the process of checking out the new Guardians themed wave of Marvel Legends. Last week I looked at the new Star-Lord figure and today I’ll be checking out Yondu!

No spoilers here, but I will say that I was happy to see Yondu play an expanded role in the new movie and Michael Rooker was fantastic in it. Of course, I was disappointed last time that Yondu didn’t get a Legends figure, but all is forgiven now, as thanks to the inclusion of two head sculpts, this figure can really work for either movie. I’ve got nothing new to say about the packaging, so let’s dive right in!

Captain Udonta’s outfit features his long duster and other Ravager garb, and boy did Hasbro go nuts on the detail here. The jacket itself is replete with rumples, stitching, reinforced patches, textured areas, and even a bit of wear and tear. For all the times that Legends gets by with a simple (and perfectly suitable) painted buck, it’s figures like Yondu that show Hasbro can really shine when dedicating themselves to an entirely new sculpt. Under the coat, you get more of the same, including texturing on the vest, individually sculpted buttons, as well as all sorts of buckles and straps. As soon as I had Yondu out of the package, I spent a good deal of time just turning him over in my hands and getting lost in all the amazing minutia of his outfit. All around, this is nice work!

Ravager outfits aren’t the most colorful costumes, so Yondu gets by without a whole lot of paint. Still, what’s here is pretty good. You get some gold fixtures on his coat, including the Ravager emblem, which turns out to be pretty critical in one hilarious little movie sequence. The shoulder strap is painted a lighter brown to distinguish it from the coat. Under the coat, you get some additional paint for the buttons of his vest and the harness he’s wearing over it. Of course for some great added color, we can look to the portraits!

The stock portrait features Yondu with the crest we saw in the first film, and part of the second. Overall, I think this is a really solid sculpt and a pretty good likeness to Rooker. The paint for the eyes is applied clean and straight, and while the paint for the teeth is passable, it could have been a tad sharper at the corners of his mouth. I’m also considering taking a silver sharpie and coloring a little silver on his teeth. Still, I’m nit-picking on a figure that has very little to complain about.  I like the grimacing expression and the fact that the whiskers are part of the sculpt is pretty cool.

The second head features Yondu with his fin. This is something of a plot point in the film, but I mainly like it because it nods back to the look of the character in the comics. The sculpt and paintwork on the fin are both particularly good. You can also see here that he has the scarring sculpted into the side of his head, which is actually present on both head sculpts. This sculpt also features Yondu’s lips pursed up into a whistle, which makes this portrait work particularly well if you plan on displaying him with his arrow in action.

And speaking of action, the articulation here is identical to what we saw last time with Star-Lord. In case you missed that review, here’s a rundown… You get rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips. have double hinges in the knees, and swivels in both the thighs and the boots. The ankles are hinged and have lateral rockers. Yondu wasn’t exactly super agile in the films, as he lets his arrow do most of the work for him, so I think the pose-ability here is far more than adequate.

In addition to the extra head and the Titus BAF part, Yondu comes with his deadly arrow. The arrow here actually features an effect part so that you can display him with the arrow flying out of its sheath on his belt. The effect works surprisingly well, but I do think it was a little cheap of Hasbro not to drop a second arrow in the package, so you could put it in the sheath for when he isn’t using it. Ah, but considering all the work they put into the figure, I’m inclined to give them a pass on that.

I may only be two figures into this wave, but so far Hasbro is really nailing it with these Guardians Legends. Like Star-Lord, Yondu is a great figure and hits all the right points from sculpt to paint to articulation. I’ll confess that I will very likely be picking up a second Yondu, just so I can display one from each movie and an extra arrow to snip the effects part off of. And while I know it’s just a pipe dream, I really wish there was some way that Hasbro could get us a figure of Kraglin in the Legends scale. Hell, even if they boxed him with a repacked Yondu, I’d still buy that in a heartbeat. Anyway, on the next Marvel Monday, I’m going to finish off the MCU Guardians in this wave with a look at Drax.

May 5 2017

DC Bombshells (DC Designer Series): Poison Ivy by DC Collectibles

After a little mid-wave sabbatical last week, I’m back on target to work on finishing off this amazing assortment of action figures based on the DC Bombshells art and statues. The third figure up on deck is Poison Ivy!

If you’ve been on board since the beginning of the wave, then you already know all there is to know about the packaging. It shows off the figure wonderfully and it is totally collector friendly. You also get some nice character art on the side panel so you can identify who is who when the boxes are lined up on a shelf. I have to be honest, Ivy was probably my least anticipated figure of this wave, so let’s see how she ranks among some pretty stiff competition.

Batwoman was aimed at America’s Greatest Pastime, Wonder Woman referenced WWII Posters, and Poison Ivy here is squarely targeting the cheesecake pin-up style of the 1940’s. As such she comes wearing not much at all, just her chlorophyll-infused skivvies: Bra, panties, stockings, and high heels. All of her outfit is integrated into the sculpt, so the only thing on this figure that’s achieved by paint alone are her amazingly cool tattoos and the vine patterns on her legs, which I assume are supposed to be part of the stockings, but this is Poison Ivy, so you never know! Particularly nice touches include the sculpted bow in the center of her bra and her garter belts. I’ll also note that this is one of the few times I can remember where a figure in this scale had high heeled shoes that didn’t come out looking like granny shoes. Ivy comes out of the box with a pair of fists, which I don’t find a lot of use for with this figure. Luckily, she does have two other pairs of hands to choose from.

The portrait definitely has the whole pin-up style down pat. I don’t think they were going for any specific actress, but the hair style feels influenced by the famous pin-up artwork by Alberto Vargas. The paint applications for the eyes and lips is quite good, and the sculpted rose in her hair is a very nice touch. This shot also provides a better look at her lovely tats… and by that I mean tattoos!

The articulation here is right in line with what we saw for the last two figures and as such it’s some of the best pose-ability I’ve seen in any of DC Collectibles’ lines. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, with swivels in the thighs, and double hinges in the elbows. The hips are ball jointed, but also seem to have a sort of hinged dog-bone up in there, that allow for even more range of motion. Further down we get swivels at the tops of the stockings, double hinges in the knees, and the ankles have hinges and lateral rockers. There’s an ab crunch hinge and a ball joint under the chest, and the neck is ball jointed. My figure’s left bicep swivel was stuck, but a little warm water fixed that. I should also note that while those heels look great, Ivy is a difficult figure to keep standing!

If Poison Ivy stumbles a bit where the others excelled, it would be in the area of accessories. Now, don’t get me wrong, the accessories she comes with are definitely on point for the character, but by their nature, I didn’t have quite as much fun using them with the figure as I did with the previous two releases. It might also have something to do with the fact that the other figures were kitted out more for action, whereas Ivy is in her underwear. I wouldn’t call these complaints, she just has a different feel to her in that sense. With that having been said, the first accessory is a simple rose.

The other accessory is a little more interesting and also a tad frustrating. It’s a coil of vine with a snapping head on the end. I like it. It’s a cool looking piece, but it’s hard to figure out exactly what she’s meant to do with it. None of the official photos of the figure that I’ve seen have her interacting with hit. I managed to come up with some OK things for her to do with it, but I still feel like I’m missing out on exactly what was intended here.

I feel as if I’m more critical of this figure than the others and I’m not sure why. The truth is she’s a fantastic sculpt with some beautiful coloring, and a superb level of articulation. It’s true that Ivy is my least favorite figure of the three I’ve opened so far, but in this assortment of figures, that’s not something she should be ashamed about. On the next DC Friday, I’ll wrap up the wave with a look at Harley Quinn. Was I saving the best for last? The worst for last? Come on back and find out!

May 4 2017

Robot Vinyl Collection: Vehicle Voltron by Toynami

I almost wasn’t going to do an update today. This week has been craaaaazy and time has been so short. Also, I am still without any new Transformers to look at on this increasingly inaccurately named Transformers Thursday. I will, however, promise here that I’ll have a new Transformer for next week. Cross my heart and swear to Primus! Anyway, at the last minute, I looked at my pile of shit unwanted treasures, that I’m slowly getting around to listing on Ebay, and realized there was something in there I hadn’t reviewed here… and it’s a combiner robot, so it sort of fits the Transformers Thursday theme! So, let’s take a look at Toynami’s Vinyl Vehicle Voltron! Holy cats, say that five times fast!

Voltron comes in a clear plastic box, on a clear plastic tray, and this presentation works very well for display purposes if you don’t want to take him out. In fact, as we’ll soon see, he’s probably better off left in there. I think I’ve only had this guy out of the package twice and one of those times is right now. Anyway, the packaging is very nice, albeit very fragile. You may note that the bottom of the box proclaims this release as Volume 3 in the Vinyl Robot Collection. I know that they did a Lion Force Voltron before this one, but I had no idea that there were other releases, including a Zentraedi Heavy Artillery Battlepod, which I kind of wish I knew existed before it hit an approximate value of all-the-damn-monies on the secondary market.

The back of the package features a nice write-up about the series and has a picture of the toy inside. Other than my forever undying love for Vehicle Voltron and the lack of associated merch, I can’t for the life of me remember why I bought this. I’m not a huge fan of vinyl toys to begin with and while this figure is not without its merits, it really never had any place in my collection. I do remember it was on clearance, so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it. And with that resounding vote of confidence, let’s open him up and check him out!

Standing about seven inches tall, this figure is every bit a vinyl toy. The sculpt is soft, but honestly I think it works well with the animated design. And make no mistake, this sculpt is a very animated look. The details are simple, and you’ll note he’s missing some pretty obvious features, like the propeller blades on his shoulders. The simplification of detail is particularly apparent on the back, although they did keep the tank treads for some of the vehicles. Keep in mind, none of this really bothers me, as its a stylistic choice, and one that certainly sets him apart from the other Vehicle Voltron figures that have been on the market. What does bother me is that for a figure that doesn’t do much of anything, he really can’t even stand straight. I want to say it’s from the legs warping in the package, but as I take a good look at the legs, it seems like they aren’t even and that causes the figure to lean a bit to one side.

The coloring on this figure is absolutely fantastic. Yes, if you get in close enough you can see some less than crisp paint lines, but just viewing the figure in hand with the naked eye it looks really good. The blue and red paint are both vibrant and when coupled with the immaculate white, and the silver and yellow, you get a figure that really pops on the shelf. Voltron has always been about bright and attractive coloring and this figure conveys that very nicely.

As a vinyl toy, one shouldn’t expect much in the way of articulation, and that is certainly the case here. The shoulders will rotate, the head will turn, but the rest of the articulation consists of various swivel cuts, which are probably more a byproduct of the figure’s assembly than actual intended points of articulation.

And that, my friends, is all there is to say about Vinyl Vehicle Voltron. If you’re a fan of vinyl toys, this may be a nice piece to have in your collection. I’m not, and to me this figure really misses on all points. Voltron toys are fun because you can either combine and separate them, or because they can be posed and played with, and this one does neither. I understand that isn’t the point of this release. But, if you’re going to make a figure that’s designed to just stand there and look pretty, well I think you should at least make sure it’s capable of standing straight. Since it’s release many years ago, these figures seem to be fairly collectible, so I’m hoping I can get back what I paid for him on Ebay and that’s where he’s going!

May 2 2017

Star Wars Black (Rogue One): Director Krennic by Hasbro

I’m really pressed for time today (and that may be the case for the rest of the week), so I decided to dig into my stack of unopened 6-inch Black Series figures and find one that I could do justice to in fairly a brief amount of time. I ended up with Director Krennic! Did I mention I’m pressed for time? So, let’s go!

Now, to be clear, picking Krennic for a quick-and-dirty review isn’t meant as any slight against the character. Truth be told I was captivated by this guy from his very first scenery-chewing appearance. Part of my love for Krennic has to do with the way his character was written, but a lot of credit has to go to Ben Mendelsohn, who was absolutely fantastic in the role. As great as it is, Star Wars has not been a saga I look to for deep and complex villains, but Krennic actually felt more like a fleshed out character as opposed to just a foreboding guy in a suit. GO AHEAD, FIGHT ME!! In fact, of all the characters in Rogue One, I’d say that I enjoyed Krennic and Bodhi Rook the most, because they felt the most like real people to me.

Hot damn, do I love the Imperial uniforms! Krennic dons his very smart looking, and rather uncommonly seen, white Imperial officer’s tunic and jodhpur-style trousers. It’s a fairly simple sculpt, but it looks absolutely fantastic. The insignia on his chest is sharp and there are some subtle rumples on the tunic to replicate the look of cloth. But if we’re talking great looking plastic cloth, kudos has to go to this cape.

At first, I’ll confess to being a little disappointed that Krennic didn’t come with a cloth cape, but the sculptors did a really fine job on this plastic one. Between the wrinkles and the tailored seams, I’d be hard pressed to tell that it wasn’t actually made of cloth if all I had to go on was some pictures. It’s also very easy to take off the figure, as it just rests on his shoulders.

As for the portrait, it’s pretty damn great. Wow, did I just say that about a 6-inch Black figure? I did! Of course, it’s still a fairly soft sculpt with some very basic paint, but the likeness is undoubtedly there.

Removing the cape allows for a better look at the functional holster on his belt, which holds his rather unique looking gun. Both of his hands are sculpted to hold it fairly well.

The articulation here is pretty standard stuff for the Black Series. You get rotating hinges in his shoulders, elbows, wrists, and hips. He’s got double hinges in his knees, and his ankles have hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a ball joint in his waist and both a hinge and ball joint in his neck. I really wish we could get some bicep swivels on these figures, although in the case of Krennic here, I guess he doesn’t need to be super-pose-able.

And there we have Krennic, a great character and a great figure! I love this guy so much that I picked up three extra Death Troopers (before I even had Krennic), just so that I could set him up on the shelf behind him. The only sad thing is that Krennic is probably the last of the 6-inch Black Series figures from Rogue One I have to look at. It still kills me that we didn’t get Bodhi or Saw, but then I’m still trying to hunt those down in the 3 3/4-inch versions. In the wake of Krennic’s release, we’ve already seen images of the up and coming 6-inch Black Admiral Thrawn. I’m hoping that these releases have broken the seal and we’re going to start getting some more Imperial Officers, because I’ll army build the hell out of some of them once Hasbro starts releasing them.

May 1 2017

Marvel Legends (Titus Wave): Star-Lord by Hasbro

It may be Marvel Monday, but I already have my sights set on Thursday, because I have my tickets to see Guardians Vol 2 at the local CineBistro, where I’ll be sitting in a recliner made of rich Corinthian leather and sipping on a spiced bourbon while a space-raccoon cracks wise and kills things on the big screen in front of me. It seemed only fitting today to kick off the Guardians-themed wave of Marvel Legends, so let’s do just that with the second Marvel Legends version of the MCU’s Peter Quill.

While this is a Guardians Wave, Hasbro has populated it with a mix of figures from both the comics and the MCU. Indeed, only three of the seven figures (eight if you count Titus) here are from the film, and that’s something that I absolutely love about what Hasbro is doing with Legends these days. The comics are actually getting a bigger focus than the soon to be billion dollar blockbuster. How cool is that? And don’t worry, the rest of the Guardians Vol. 2 team is still coming, split into another assortment. Let’s bust Quill out of here and check him out.

Hasbro last took a crack at MCU Star-Lord back in 2014 with the release of the original film… and what a difference a few years makes! I’m not going to shit talk that original figure, because I do still like it a lot, but I’ll be happy to point out the improvements when we get to the portrait. In the meantime, here we have Star-Lord in his updated look for the sequel.

His costume isn’t all that different from the first film, but I really like that he has the shorter coat now. He wore both the duster and the jacket in the first film, and since we only got the duster version last time, it’s nice to get the other option this time. There’s a good deal of sculpted detailing in the jacket, and that includes texturing, some reinforced areas, and piping. As is often the case, the jacket is basically a separate vest with sculpted sleeves to create the illusion that it’s all one piece. This allows you to pull back the flaps and get a better look at the shirt underneath.

His t-shirt has the printing across it that we’ve all seen in the trailer. Pratt himself has explained that this is some kind of licensed merch from the Guardians Universe and even suggested that it’s the brand name for some kind of candy. I really love that idea. From the waist down, things are pretty simple and straightforward. There’s a lot of sculpted detail on the trousers and boots, but nothing extraordinary or worthy of mention. I did notice that his thrusters are conspicuously absent from his ankles and I’m wondering if there’s a reason for that. If there is, I guess I’ll know soon enough. Star-Lord also includes pegs on his hips so he can wear his guns. These work quite well if he’s standing with his legs straight, but the guns tend to pop out when you give him wider stances.

The portrait is such a huge improvement over the original Legends Star-Lord. I think the first one works as maybe an animated version, but this one actually bears a decent likeness to Pratt. The facial hair is part of the sculpt and not just painted on like last time. I really couldn’t be happier with how this head turned out.

He also comes with an alternate masked head. This sculpt reflects some changes in the actual movie mask as well as some overall sharper sculpting. There are some new gold detailing on the back and overall, I’d say the paint here is much sharper, particularly on the eyes.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the new head does fit perfectly on the 2014 figure. There is a slight difference in the skin tone, but it’s close enough to work for me. And that means I’ll definitely be picking up a second Guardians 2 Star-Lord and retiring that old head.

The articulation here is pretty much the same as we saw on the last Quill figure, and that’s not a bad thing. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips. have double hinges in the knees, and swivels in both the thighs and the boots. The ankles are hinged and have lateral rockers. There’s a ball joint just under the chest, and both a hinge and ball joint in the neck. I’ve had this guy on my desk for days and I’m still not tired of playing around with him.

If this figure comes up a little short anywhere, it’s in the accessories. Star-Lord doesn’t include a BAF part, and doesn’t come with his Walkman like the original Quill did. Sure, I could always borrow that one, since I have two of those figures, but I’d say it’s odd that they didn’t at least repack that one in this box. As we’ve already seen, he does come with his twin blasters, which are beautiful sculpts. I love the designs of these guns.

While a few more accessories would have been welcome, it’s hard for me to find any other faults with this figure. Hasbro did a fantastic job on all fronts, but it’s the improvement in the likeness that really hits home. I won’t be double dipping on the Hot Toys Star-Lord, I’m still happy with mine from the first movie, so it’s nice to be able to have Quill from the sequel represented on my Hasbro 6-inch shelf. Next week, I’m going to be pressing on with the MCU figures, while the hype for the movie is still high and after I’ll be digging into the comic based figures.