Monthly Archives: March 2018

Mar 5 2018

Marvel Legends (Man-Thing Wave): Bullseye by Hasbro

It’s an especially glorious Marvel Monday because it’s the first day of my vacation and all is right with the world. It’ll be a week of toys, video games, comics, booze, and other expressions of geek debauchery. I’m also wrapping up the Man-Thing Wave of Marvel Legends with a look at the last packaged figure… Bullseye!

Damn, do I love me some Bullseye! What’s he doing in this wave? How the hell should I know? Why didn’t they save him for the Deadpool Wave? Again, you’re asking the wrong person. Alls I know is anytime Bullseye shows his ugly mug in one of my funnybooks, I’m a happy camper. Hasbro released two different versions of him in the 4-inch Marvel Universe line and I snapped up the both of them. Suffice it to say, his appearance in the modern Legends line is long overdue.

Every thing about this figure makes me happy, and that’s not just the good vibes of the vacation talking. The classic costume is achieved mostly through paint, white over very dark blue plastic. That’s usually not a good thing, as it often results in bleeding and drab colors, but happily that’s not the case here. The whites are bright and vibrant, there’s no evident bleed through from the darker plastic, and he has some crisp stripes painted on the boots, gauntlets, and collar. This is a great example of a simple painted costume done right.

The little bit of original sculpting comes in the form of his belt and holster rig. At least, I’m pretty sure it’s new. The white belt features three sculpted magazine pouches running across the front, a thigh strap to secure the holster, and a horizontal scabbard running across the back for his knife. Some great details include the tiny stitching on the ammo pouches and holster, as well as the sculpted wrap that holds the knife sheath in place.

Bullseye comes with two heads, and both are winners. The personality that Hasbro has been pouring into some of the villain sculpts has been one of my favorite things about this modern Marvel Legends line from the get-go. I just have to think back to Constrictor and Klaw and how much fun they must have had sculpting those portraits. The stock head features the dark blue hood-like mask with the big white bullseye on the forehead, and it’s absolutely perfect, right down to his broad gap-toothed smile.

The alternate head goes for that Dark Avengers look with no hood and the bullseye emblem carved right into his bald head. And oh boy just look at that expression! If this were a common figure around these parts, I’d definitely pick up a second to display the other head. As it is, I’ll be sticking with the hooded one, and it feels a shame to pop the other one into a baggie somewhere. The detail inside hte mouth really blows me away. The glossy paint they used for his tongue looks particularly good.

As for articulation, Bullseye is one of the proud few characters to be given the shoulder rocker treatment, which gives playing with him that extra bit of fun. The arms also include rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps, double hinges in the elbows, and hinged pegs in the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs and lower legs, and have double hinges in the knees. The ankles have both hinges and rockers. The neck is both ball jointed and hinged. Bullseye is a hard figure to put down, and I have a feeling he’s going to have a go against several of my other Legends figures.

In addition to the extra head, Bullseye comes with two extra left hands. One is a pointing finger hand, the other is an effects part hand throwing three knives. Both of these are welcome additions, but the knife-throwing hand really goes above and beyond. It just looks great. Would it be too much to ask to also get a playing card holding hand like the Marvel Universe version? Yeah, I don’t want to push my luck.

As for regular accessories, Bullseye also comes with a combat knife and a pistol. The pistol is one we’ve seen before. The design reminds me of a .22 target pistol and it’s cast all in gray plastic with some nice attention to detail in the sculpt. It fits pretty well in the holster, but it has a habit of popping out when I’m playing around with him.

The knife is a standard tanto-type blade with black painted grips. Bullseye’s right hand is sculpted with a trigger finger to hold the gun, while the left hand is sculpted to securely hold his trusty knife.

Bullseye is a great example of simple classic comic design being perfectly realized in plastic. When I really love a character, I tend to be pretty demanding when they get a figure, but I’ve got no complaints here. The extra articulation makes him loads of fun, and Hasbro really captured the character beautifully, from the execution of his classic costume to the wonderful personality that’s packed into both of the heads. I saved Bullseye for last, because I suspected he was going to be my favorite figure in this wave, and that certainly turned out to be true. And keep in mind, this was an all around very solid wave, so giving Bullseye the top spot is high praise indeed!

Oh yeah, I’ll be back tonight to have a look at Man-Thing Build-A-Figure!

Mar 3 2018

Figma: “Kill la Kill” Ryuko Matoi by Max Factory

Much like this figure, I almost let the anime series Kill la Kill pass me by. The first time I tried watching it, I was exhausted from working too many hours, and I just wanted to find something to watch while I relaxed and was winding down. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WATCH WHEN YOU WANT TO RELAX AND WIND DOWN. Luckily, I gave it another go under more agreeable circumstances and quickly fell in love. It’s batshit crazy and it really demanded my full attention, not only to follow the overall story and endless explosions of character introduction text, but also just to keep track of the frantic action. And after running through the series one thing was certain: I wanted a Ryuko figure badly. The Figma line promptly stepped up and I foolishly did not pre-order so when she was finally shipping, I clicked my way to my regular online purveyor of plastic with debit card in hand, only to find out that she had long sold out. I was left high and dry and looking at crazy secondary market prices. It’s an old story, but a lesson was learned and I pre-order most of my Figmas now.

Fast forward to now and the good folks at Max Factory/Good Smile took pity on those of us have nots and reissued Ryuko. The figure comes in the standard compact Figma window box with a red and black deco to match the character design. There’s also some great shots of the figure on the back panel as well as both side panels, which makes these boxes look great when lined up on a shelf. As always, everything is collector friendly, but if you want to ditch the box, they’ve provided a Figma branded Ziploc bag to keep all the bits in, or at least the ones that will fit. Well, I’ve waitied for this figure long enough… let’s get her out of the package and check her out.

Naturally, Ryuko comes all decked out in Senketsu, her living, and suitably outrageously designed, uniform. I had a hard time envisioning how well this design was going to work when transferred to a fully realized three-dimensional plastic sculpt, but it turns out I needn’t have worried, because she looks fantastic. The bulk of her uniform is comprised of the dominating, and gravity defying, scarf that forms Senketsu’s eyes. Well, really just the one eye, because the other is just a giant red scar. The good eye features some vibrant paintwork, and both pieces are hinged so you can adjust them a little bit to work with the shoulder and arm articulation.

There’s not much covering up the rest of Ryuko’s upper body. Indeed, Ryuko has more covering her extremities than the rest of her body, because… ANIME DESIGN! She does have sleeves, with squared off wrist cuffs, and a pair of suspenders, revealing some major under-boob. Below the waist she sports a rather frilly looking black skirt and thigh high boots, with straps that look like extensions of the suspenders. The top of her outfit and the skirt are designed to look like Senketsu’s jaws with the “teeth” at the top and bottom of the suspenders. I really love how the outfit came out, not only in terms of the way they sculpted it, but also the coloring is quite striking. If only she came with a whole bunch of swap out hands and faces… Oh wait, she does!

There are three different faces and these are swapped out in the usual manner, by removing the front piece of her hair to remove the face. She comes out of the box with a somewhat neutral face, with just a faint hint of a smile. The printing on the eyes is quite sharp, distinctive, and beautiful. That’s actually the same for all of the faces. I’ll also note that her spiky hair has some great crimson highlights in the back that match the red in her uniform.

The second face is her shouty action face, and it’s so perfect for her. The mouth is open and showing off some teeth, and I’ve got to say this one is likely going to be the face that I go with the most. After all, this is a figure that just begs for action poses.

Finally she comes with an “exasperated from combat” kind of face. She’s a bit flushed, she’s gritting her teeth, and she’s got one eye closed. I like this expression a lot too. It’s got that “I’m done screwing around and now I’m gonna really kick your ass” look about it, which goes really well with some poses. Some of the recent Figmas I’ve picked up didn’t have a lot of variation between some of the extra expressions, so I really appreciate what they did for this figure. Of course, you also get the usual sprue of extra hands. Included are a pair of fists, open hands, hands making what look like claws with the fingers. Finally, there are two pairs of hands for holding her weapon, one regular and one angled a bit forward. Some of my recent Figmas have had issues with the pegs pulling out of the arms, rather than just the hands detaching. That’s the case here with Ryuko. It’s not a big deal, but it can get a little annoying at times. Beyond hands and faces, Ryuoko does not come with a lot of accessories, but she does have the two essentials, and I’m sure you can guess what they are. Well, they’re actually the same accessory in two forms. Yup, the Scissor Blade!

The regular Scissor Blade fits perfectly in any of the accessory holding hands, and she looks absolutely fantastic holding it. I was happy to see that despite how big it is, her shoulder and elbow joints are up to the task of supporting it’s weight. Otherwise, it’s a simple accessory and there isn’t much more to say about it.

The final accessory is the Scissor Blade in its extended form, and this is absolutely enormous. She can wield it in either one or both hands, and again I’m impressed that the joints can take the weight without any problem. How long will that be the case? I guess I’ll find out eventually!

And while it should go without saying, I’ll mention that Ryuoko does come with the standard clear Figma figure stand along with an angled adapter for the end. It plugs into the hole in her back and as always, these add so much fun to playing with the figure.

Kill la Kill is one of those perfect one-and-done collecting licenses for me. Figma did release Satsuki Kiryuin from the series as well, and while she looks like a great figure, I’m going to be content with Ryuoko here. This figure is a perfect translation of the character and just what I need to represent the series on my shelf. OK, sure I wouldn’t mind owning the Sixth-Scale Real Action Hero version, but I’m not going down that rabbit hole! The second release of this Figma seems to have filled much of the demand, as she’s still readily available through many online retailers, some of which are coming in a bit under retail. I do hope she sells well for them, so Max Factory will keep reissuing Figmas that sell out early. I know some collectors claim it devalues their originals, but I’ve been on both sides of that fence and I’m always happier to see those who missed out get a second opportunity.

Mar 2 2018

Marvel Legends: Mr. Fantastic by Hasbro

Welcome friends… It’s DC Friday and… oh. Sorry about that. Force of habit. DC Friday is still on hiatus and just to rub a little salt in the wound, I’m checking out a Marvel Legends figure on DC’s turf. I’m not trying to be a dick about the fact that DC doesn’t have a comparable action figure line, honest! If they did, DC Friday would still be going strong. As for today… well, I happened to find Mr. Fantastic while running into Walgreens for a frozen pizza and I really want to open him up without cutting into my already over-booked Marvel Monday slots. And like I said, it’s not like I have any new DC stuff to look at here yet. The DC Multiverse pegs in my area are all still full of the Wonder Woman movie wave. And unlike Marvel Legends, the recent DC Multiverse releases sell for scalper prices on Amazon. Maybe I’ll pick up one of the many DC statues on my want list, but for now let’s thank to Reed Richards for stretching his way in to save the day!

If you’re keeping score at home, Mr. Fantastic is the third member of Marvel’s First Family to get an exclusive Walgreens release in the Legends line, right behind Sue Storm and her brother Johnny. And now that we finally saw some production shots of The Thing, we know Hasbro and Walgreens are riding this one to the end. Unless, you wanna give us The Amazing Bag-Man, Hasbro, because I’ll happily take that figure too! To say I love The Fantastic Four would be an understatement of epic proportions. It’s one of a handful of comics that I’ve been reading since I was a kid, it’s one of my overall favorite Marvel Comics series of all time, and well… I miss it a lot. I’m misting up a little right now. These figures do help, though.

As far as the body goes, Reed is more or less exactly what I was expecting: A painted costume on a generic buck. That’s not a knock on the figure, as it fits the bill perfectly. The blue matches the shade used for Sue Storm pretty closely, but it might be a shade darker here. Naturally, you get black paint for the boots, gloves, and belt. The “4” emblem is printed neatly on his chest, and you get more black around the collar. There isn’t really any unique sculpting needed to make Reed stand out, and the costume looks… well… fantastic.

The head sculpt is also a winner. The definition in the facial features is very well done, his eyes are straight and sharp, and I really dig the one raised eyebrow suggesting that he was fascinated by something while doing the science. The sculpted hair features a few stray licks over his forehead and his trademark gray wings look spot on. My figure does have a birthmark just off to the side and below his left eye. It’s actually a flub in the paint, but I’m choosing to call it a birthmark, dammit! I think this is an all around excellent likeness to the character that I know and love. And sometimes hate to love. And other times love to hate.

The articulation holds few surprises for a modern Legends figure. The legs have ball joints in the hips, double hinges in the knees, swivels in the thighs, as well as both hinges and rockers in the ankles. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, there are swivels in the biceps, and double hinges in the knees. The torso features a waste swivel as well as an ab crunch hinge. The hinge is placed a little awkwardly, and while I don’t think it would have worked on any other character, it gives Reed a very little bit of an elongated look that fits his special abilities. Lastly, he has both a hinge and ball joint in the neck.

Reed does come with one accessory and holy crap, it’s The Nullifier! I remember bitching about getting Phlish instead of The Nullifier back when Nova came out. Now I can’t remember why I was so hell bent on getting this little lump of gray plastic. But hey… Nullifier!

Of course, the big draw in the package are the swap out stretchy arms. When I heard that the FF were going to be Walgreens exclusives, I was really worried about Hasbro cheaping out on these and I honestly wasn’t expecting to get any stretchy parts with Reed. Oh boy, am I glad to be wrong on that one. The regular arms just pull right out at the shoulders and the stretchy arms pop right in, easy-peasy. They do have a bit of bend-ability to them, but nothing too crazy. They do, however, make the figure loads of fun. I bought every version of Reed that Hasbro put out in the 4-inch Marvel Universe line, but it’s so cool to finally get him with some stretchy parts.

Seeing just the three of the Fantastic Four assembled on my Legends shelf gives me the warm and fuzzies. It’s not lost on me how many things about these figures feels like a miracle. The fact that we’re getting toys at all with the comic having been cancelled is one thing, but actually getting them as Walgreens exclusives is also pretty crazy. But frankly, this whole Walgreens partnership has been working out wonderfully for me. I have some chance of finding Target Exclusives, almost no chance at Walmart Exclusives, zero chance at Toys R Us Exclusives, but I’ve never had a problem finding any of the Walgreens ones, and I don’t even have to hunt. Indeed, the one right around the corner has been a goldmine for all kinds of Marvel Legends waves.

Mar 1 2018

Battlestar Galactica: Cylon Centurion by Bif Bang Pow

Yup, Transformers Thursday’s hiatus continues. It’ll be back soon. I promise! In the meantime… A while back I picked up a whole bunch of Bif Bang Pow’s Mego-Style figures from the original Battlestar Galactica series. Oh yeah, I love how I’ve lived to be so old, that I have to preface every goddamn thing from my childhood with either the words “classic” or “the original” because it’s all been recycled. Anyway, I opened Starbuck and Apollo and then got sidetracked by something else and the rest of the figures wound up in a box in the corner of the closet. UNTIL LAST WEEK, when I uncovered them and opened up Lt. Athena. Today I’m continuing to open the line with the Cylon Centurion!

It rarely ever bothers me to tear into an action figure package, but opening these gives me a few pangs of regret. The presentation is so good, and these figures look absolutely amazing on their cards. All the Mego figures I had as a kid were hand-me-downs from my uncle, so I don’t think I ever actually got to open a new one, so the experience is kind of neat. Also, the Battlestar Galactica license works perfectly here, right alongside the vintage Space 1999 and Star Trek figures as well as BBP’s Mego-Style Doctor Who releases. The card is generic with a giant Cylon head on it and a sticker to denote the character. The back has a “Collect Them All” style layout with some of the other initial releases in the line.

I can’t put into words how much I love the original Cylon design. I think it’s better than or at least on par with anything that came out of Star Wars, and there are at least several episodes of the Classic Battlestar that I would put up against Star Wars any day. FIGHT ME!!! And in terms of blending that cool design with the Mego style, I’d say BBP did an fantastic job here. This is a fairly complex figure with a lot going on and I think it’s pretty obvious that they poured a lot of love into it. Unfortunately, I’m going to have a lot of stuff to pick at.

But before I get all nitpicky, I’ll say that the costuming is a thing of beauty. It starts with a standard Mego-style buck wearing a black bodysuit, and then come the layers. The legs feature plastic boots with vac metal shin guards and the thighs are wrapped in a black leather-like material. Next comes the enormous chest torso covering, which incorporates the sculpted belt, a ribbed covering over the pelvis, the chest and shoulder armor, and the backpack. Again, all done in one piece and served up with some beautiful vac metal goodness.

The backpack has a little paint detailing and he has a cloth butt flap with silver discs attached to it to make a pretty cool effect. The arms have plastic bracers on the forearms with a combination of vac metal armor and black ribbed areas, and there are two silver rings around the elbows.

The head sculpt is excellent, but because it’s made of softer plastic and sprayed silver, it doesn’t match the shiny lustre of the rest of the armor. It’s kind of a shame, but I have to imagine that it’s similar to what we might have gotten from a Mego Cylon. As for the visor strip, I’m not sure what they were shooting for here. The bulk of the visor is painted black and there’s a thin red strip running across all the way at the top, but it doesn’t really convey that there’s just supposed to be a single red eye travelling back and forth. I would have much preferred if they had just painted the red eye onto the visor.

OK, so notice how all of my shots have been just the figure from different angles and not in any cool poses? Well, one of the big bummers about this guy is that all that armor renders the articulation almost entirely useless. The only joints that can be fully utilized are the neck and the rotating hinges in the wrists. I can get his arms and legs to move a little bit, but they won’t move enough to hold a pose. It’s a good think he looks so good just standing there.

The Cylon comes with two weapons, his rifle and sword. The rifle is a simple, but decent, recreation of the ones they carried in the show. I really loved the bayonets they had on the ends. The sword is pretty simple too. I don’t recall them whipping these out all that often, except once when they were going to execut Baltar. So here’s the other big bummer… The Cylon can barely hold his rifle. The hands are definitely not sculpted to do so, but I was able to make it work… just barely. The hands themselves are hard plastic, so I just had to push it in there really hard and hope that the finger didn’t snap. The sword worked a bit better, but only because the grip is thin. Obviously, the hands are original sculpts for this guy, so why not mold them to hold his weapons? WHY NOT???

There’s a lot to love about this Cylon Centurion, and a lot to feel let down over. In the end, this is one figure that might be better off left in the package, but who knew? The Colonial pilots featured great and useful articulation and are tons of fun to play with. Good thing I have an extra Cylon that’s still carded! But even if I didn’t, I’m not unhappy that I opened him, because I need a loose one to display with my other Galactica figures. Oh yeah, and BBP also released two variants of this guy, a gold Commander, and a tarnished “battle damaged” version. I’ll get to checking those out eventually.