Monthly Archives: May 2018

May 30 2018

Star Wars Black (Solo): Lando Calrissian by Hasbro

As promised, I’m back for a Solo double feature. This morning I checked out the Alden Ehrenreich version of young Han Solo and this afternoon I’m looking at the Donald Glover version of young Lando Calrissian. I’ve already proferred my general feelings about the movie in the previous review (I liked it!) so let’s just dive right in and talk about Lando…

There were a few times in the movie where I had to remind myself that Ehrenreich was Han Solo, but that was never the case for Glover as Lando. I don’t think I’ve seen a re-cast this effective since Karl Urban stepped into the role of Dr. McCoy in the 2009 Star Trek film. His mannerisms were a little more fleshed out, but they still felt right and I have to say Glover’s was the standout performance for me in this flick. So how did his action figure turn out?

Pretty damn good! For starters, Hasbro did a fine job recreating young Lando’s flashy duds. He comes out of the package wearing a scupted plastic black cape, which clips around his neck, rests on his shoulders, and hangs down just a bit past his waist. The interior of the cape is painted blue, which hints a bit at the cape he wore in Empire. Yes, apparently Lando has a bit of a cape fetish and the movie took a few opportunities to point it out and have fun with it. The trousers are unremarkable, and he has a serviceable pair of glossy black boots. He also has a gun belt with a silver buckle and an open holster for his gun.

The flashiest thing about the outfit is the bright yellow high-collared shirt, which features a sculpted chest-flap that’s partially folded down to reveal the black interior. I suspected this shirt might be a reuse of Han’s, because both have a similar flap designs, but they appear to each be unique. There’s also a black bar on the left side of Lando’s chest, which I thought was a flap for a pocket, but it just seems to be there for ornamental purposes. Contrasting this yellow shirt is his long black scarf with a diagonal white pattern. This is the kind of outfit that I would see at The Gap when I was a teenager, but wouldn’t have the chops to wear it to school.

I’m a tad mixed on the head sculpt. It’s certainly not bad, but I think it leans a bit more toward caricature than a straight on likeness. It might be because of the expression in the brow. Also, I didn’t notice it in the film, but the dent in Lando’s coif is channeling a little Moss from The IT Crowd. Like the Han figure, Lando features the halftone printing for the facial features, and it looks good around the eyes, but I think the beard and mustache could have been a bit sharper.

Lando comes with a rather unique blaster and holster. The holster is open with three bands to secure it. The top two bands are open on one end and the bottom is a loop to stick the barrel through. It can be a bit tricky to get it seated right without the barrel looking like it’s bent and sometimes when I remove the blaster from the holster, the barrel will stay in, because…

The muzzle is detachable. We’ve seen a few modular weapons in Rogue One and even in Solo, Han’s DL-44 Blaster gets broken down from a larger gun before Beckett tosses it to him. I’m just not sure if this particular blaster was meant to come apart, or if Hasbro just designed the accessory that way. And if its meant to come apart, what does the longer barrel do for it? Is it a silencer? Does it make it more accurate? Honestly, I can’t even remember seeing this gun in the film, but I assume it’s the one he was using while escaping a certain mining facility. Whatever the case, I like this gun a lot. The sculpted detail is excellent and the silver paint job makes it look very snappy.

I’ll note here that Lando’s articulation here is identical to what we saw with Han Solo and since I just reviewed that figure this morning, I’ll take the lazy way out and refer you back to that review. The cloak does impede shoulder articulation, although the right side is billowed out a bit so he can draw and raise his blaster with the cape on.

No doubt about it, young Lando is a worthy addition to my SWB Collection. It’s a great representation of Lando from the film and I’m really glad I picked him up. The only thing I’ll really nitpick is, I wish he came with some Sabacc cards. They could have sculpted a hand of cards as a single accessory, or even included an extra hand with the cards as part of the hand sculpt. Oh well. Before seeing the movie, I was pretty sure I was going to be happy with just getting Han, Lando, and the Range Trooper, but now that I”ve seen it I’m going to go ahead and pick up Q’ira to finish out this assortment. I’m also happy to see that Hasbro has shown off pictures of a second Solo-themed wave and I’ll be all over that like stink on a Wookie.

May 30 2018

Star Wars Black (Solo): Han Solo by Hasbro

Solo, the latest Star Wars Story hit theaters last week and I have to say that while I was pretty apprehensive about this one going in, I ended up enjoying it very much. There were a few things here and there that I felt were a little off, but overall the movie generated enough goodwill to allow me to overlook those things. Yeah, there was one cameo that I think was a terrible idea and left a bad taste in my mouth, but I won’t go into anything spoilery just yet. But ultimately, Solo (in conjunction with Rogue One) gave me a well-needed shot of assurance, that if the proper episode-whataver saga movies don’t right themselves, I’ll have these Star Wars Story films to fall back on for my Star Wars fix. In the meantime, I’m doubling up on Star Wars Black reviews today, with a look at Han Solo right now, and Lando Calrissian later on tonight.

And here we have my first Han Solo figure based on someone else playing the character. Let me confess, I didn’t know who Alden Ehrenreich was before he was cast in this film, and I was pretty dubious about how this was going to play out. My main concern was that I’d go through the movie and my brain wouldn’t allow this person to click as Han Solo. Thankfully, that fear wasn’t entirely realized and I think Ehrenreich did a pretty damn good job. Let’s face it, he had some huge space boots to fill, and if I was an actor, that kind of pressure would have killed me. In most scenes I think he sold it entirely, while there were a few (very few) times where I had to remind myself in the back of my head that this was indeed supposed to be Han Solo. But this film was a fun and gripping adventure and I was willing to go along for the ride, and I would not at all be opposed to seeing Ehrenreich take on the role again.

And I’m happy to report that Hasbro did a fantastic job on this figure! Young Han wore a number of outfits throughout the movie, from Imperal uniforms, to disguises, to a big furry jacket, but this figure is based on the one he settled on for most of it and clearly this is supposed to be iconic young Han Solo. The outfit has plenty of nods to the Han Solo that we all know and love. Indeed from the waist down, the similarities are striking. He has the familiar blue trousers with the red striping running up the tops, the high boots, and even his iconic gun belt with the large silver belt buckle, low slung holster with leg strap.

From the waist up, the costume mixes things up a bit. He still wears a jacket, like he did in Empire Strikes Back, but this one is a deep brown with black shoulder patches and a badge or some kind of ID shingle on his left side of his chest. Besides the usual sculpted rumples and wrinkles, Hasbro did some nice work with the sculpted seams and stitching, as well as a pleated effect on the flaps. The coloring on the jacket is also particularly nice, with a glossy finish making it look like well worn leather. Of course, the jacket is the usual soft plastic vest with sleeves sculpted on the arms, and it works quite well here. Under the jacket, Han wears a black t-shirt, with a sculpted flap on the front, somewhat similar to the one Luke wore in Return of the Jedi. 

It’s no secret that Hasbro hasn’t always been on point with their likenesses in the Black Series. Most would argue that the sculpts are there, but the basic paint the portraits get is where things go pear-shaped. Whatever the case, Hasbro did a bang-up job on this one. I think the likeness to Ehrenreich is pretty solid, and I particularly like the way they sculpted his coif. The facial detail uses the halftone printing that we’ve seen with many of the recent MCU figures in Hasbro’s own Marvel Legends line and the improvement is certainly there. It’s not perfect, but it’s come a long way from what Hasbro was doing for this line in the past. And don’t think it’s lost on me, the fact that this Han Solo figure features a much better likeness of Solo as played by Ehrenreich than any of the previous figures based on Harrison Ford.

As expected, Han features a functional holster on his gun belt and he comes with his trusty DL-44 Blaster, although I guess it’s a little too early to refer to it as his trusty weapon in this film since it was newly acquired. Nonetheless, the sculpt on this Broom-handled Space-Mauser is excellent and Hasbro spared a lick of brown paint for the handle.

While the movie may have had a few surprises about Han, the figure’s articulation comes out right where I expected. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have double-hinged knees, swivels in the thighs and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. The torso features a ball joint under the chest, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed.

I haven’t always been terribly kind to the 6-inch Black Series, and it’s track record of hits and misses has really made me lose some of my enthusiasm for this line. Hell, almost all my SWB figures from The Last Jedi still sit unopened, but that could be blamed more on the film than the figures. But would I really be interested in buying a figure of Han Solo not played by Harrison Ford? Apparently, yes. Because, after seeing Solo the film, and getting this figure in hand, I’ve been pulled back in. Indeed, I was a little surprised at how excited I was to grab this figure off the peg, along with Lando and toss them into my cart. Both the movie and the figure turned out great, and I’m ready for more. So, come back later on tonight, and I’ll have a look at Lando Calrissian!

May 28 2018

Marvel Legends (Sasquatch Wave): Deadpool by Hasbro

It’s a crazy summer for movies. It seemed like Infinity War was just pushed out by Deadpool 2, and now it’s already getting brushed aside with the release of Solo last week, but I’m still riding high from the great time that El-Poolio’s sequel delivered and I’m anxious to see it again while it’s in theaters. Alas, because of toy-movie-comic-business-politics, Hasbro won’t be including any Deadpool 2 movie-based figures in the Legends line, but we did get a wave of Deadpool-inspired comic book figures and today I’m here to check out the chimichanga-muchin-mo-fo himself, Deadpool. Who? DEADPOOL!!! Can I hear it one more time? Nope, we did that last time. I’m not doing it again. We actually get two versions of the Merc With A Mouth in this wave, both X-Force and regular flavor, and today I’m checking out Redpool.

What the shit-balls is this? Look at how empty the tray is! The last Legends Deadpool came so packed with extras that they couldn’t even fit a BAF part in there. And they didn’t bother with one here either. Yeah, I know, it’s because he’s Deadpool and everyone is going to buy him anyway, but at least the last time I didn’t miss it amidst all the cool accessories. When I first saw this package, I practically did a double-take because the tray is so vacant. I almost thought one of those scalper assholes raided the cookie jar and took all his weapons. Cripes, what a bummer. I wonder if the figure is any good?

Lucikly the figure itself is excellent. The Juggernaut Wave Deadpool (see link above) gave us a more modern take, whereas this version takes us back a bit. Everything about it looks more clean and classic. Gone are the armor pieces on the arms and legs in in their place we get a more streamlined bodysuit, with a red-and-black mix that favors the red. The bulk of the costume is achieved through black paint and some beautiful red plastic that looks like it popped straight out of the comic panels. You also get a good deal of added parts, which include black cuffs for the wrists and ankles, a ring of pouches on his right thigh, a ring of pouches on his belt, a shoulder strap, and the rig of crossed scabbards to store his swords on his back.

I will concede that the added pieces could have used some colors. The belt pouches are left red, which does give him a more streamlined look, but I think these would have been better brown, as would the pouches on his thigh. They did, however, do a nice job painting in the emblem on his beltbuckle, and the buckles on his shoulder rig are neatly painted silver, so it’s not like Hasbro didn’t try. The sculpted detail on these pieces is quite nice, as all the pouches have their little flaps and buttons, and the shoulder straps are studded with tiny sculpted rivets. Again, this is a great looking figure, and I’ll concede that my minor gripes with the coloring of his gear is just my personal preference.

While the last Deadpool came with two heads, masked and unmasked, I’ve already established that this package includes the bare minimum, so we gotta make due with just the one masked head. Hasbro went with a much more serious, kick-ass expression here, and that works for me. The black eye cut-outs are actually part of the sculpt, and there’s some nice wrinkling inbetween the eyes to show Deadpool is not happy about something. Instead of the comical one eye-popped, this Deadpool is kind of squinting as if he’s about to issue a serious beatdown. Or maybe he’s mad because someone took away all his guns.

Deadpool features the lateral shoulder crunches in the torso, which was a very pleasant surprise. Otherwise, the articulation is pretty standard stuff for a modern Legends figure. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in both the thighs and lower legs, double-hinges in the knees, and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders and wrists, double-hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The torso has an ab-crunch hinge, a swivel at the waist, and the head is both ball jointed and hinged. This is very fun figure to play around with, and I imagine he’ll be hanging out on my desk for quite a while.

Here’s a shot of Deadpool not holding the pistol that he does not come with in his right hand, which is clearly sculpted to hold a gun, and even has a trigger finger for said gun. In case you missed it earlier, there’s no gun. It is absolutely impossible for me to overstate how ridiculous it is that Hasbro couldn’t have taken one of the dozens of pistols they’ve used for this line and tossed it into this goddamn package. Yes, I have plenty of guns that I can give him, but the omission of a simple handgun just reeks of cheapness and penny-pinching. I mean, OK, so a full arsenal of guns didn’t cost out? Fine, whatever. Give him a goddamn pistol!!! Legends is rarely stingy on the accessories, so on those few occasions when they are, it stands out like a sore thumb.

Deadpool does at least come with his swords, but I can’t say as I’m all that happy with these. I’m certainly no expert on Japanese swords, and I’ll grant you that Deadpool’s swords have changed a bit over the years, but I’m not a fan of these shorter straight blades. The long katanas we got with the last Deadpool were more to my liking.

I’m not going to harp on it too much, because they fit well in the scabbard and they did a nice job sculpting and painting the hilts. The blades are left bare gray plastic and would have certainly benefited from some metalic silver paint, but whatever. He’s definitely fun to pose with them in his hands, but ultimately they still feel a bit underwhelming to me.

And so, I’m in a weird place with this figure. The figure itself is excellent and loads of fun, but I’ll say it again for the umpteenth time: I’m beyond disappointed by the lack of extras. I’ll admit that Hasbro went above and beyond with the Deadpool from the Juggernaut Wave, and they can’t do that with every figure, but there’s a chasm between what we got with that figure and what we got with this one. In the end, I’m probably going to go back and take the weapons away from the 2012 X-Force Deadpool (since that figure has not aged well, and he’s getting replaced in this wave anyway), and give those guns to this figure. It’s not like I don’t have enough extra armaments for him, but it’s the principle of the matter.

May 25 2018

Vitruvian HACKS: Eurayle (Youngest Gorgon Sister) by Boss Fight Studio

My last bunch of Vitruvian HACKS reviews have been focusing on the Series 2 sword-and-sorcery fantasy figures, but I still have plenty of unfinished business with the Series 1 and all it’s Greek Mythology goodness. Indeed, I’m pretty sure that the last few times I reviewed HACKS, I promised to go back to Series 1 for a while, and so I’m going to start making good on that now. Today I’m checking out Eurayle, the youngest of the three Gorgon Sisters.

As usual, the figure comes on a landscape-orientated card and the bubble is part of a clear plastic piece that covers the card and folds around it at the edges. As a result you get all the classic presentation of a carded figure, while still being totally collector friendly. The front of the card features some great character art, and the back has the “Collect Them All” layout with head-shots of all four waves of Series 1. There are a total of 16 figures in all, but that doesn’t count the exclusives, and I think there have been some new releases since then. And if you haven’t collected them all yet, be prepared to pay top dollar for some of these. But more on that later.

Eurayle hails from the third wave of Series 1 and she’s a standout figure, not only because she’s really well done, but because she’s one of the few figures from Series 1 that isn’t a variation of a Greek Hoplite or a Gorgon. Well, technically she is a Gorgon, but not in the half-snake, half-lady sense of the term. It’s complicated. The bio tells us that instead of turning her victims to stone, she brainwashes them to join her army of disciples. Either way, on the surface she’s just a scantily clad Greek babe. One of the many cool things about Series 1 is that the outfits are sculpted in separate pieces and actually worn by the figure. In this case that includes a white top and white sash, both held on with some electric blue snake straps. These fit the figure pretty well and I’m still amazed at how well BFS makes this work so well at the 4-inch scale.

I really dig what they did with the head sculpt here. Eurayle isn’t overly beautiful, but she’s not ugly either. The facial features are very well defined and she sports a lot of character. The paint applications on the face are done with precision and she even has some blue lipstick to match the blue snake motif on her outfit. But the real distinctive feature of Eurayle’s portrait is her snake hair. She may not have gone full-on half-snake like her sister Medusa, but she still shares the family resemblance in her slithering green coif. The tangle of snakes blows (or slithers) off to the side behind her and I love how they sort of turn into cornrows as they get to her scalp. Finally, she has a blue hair band that looks like… you guessed it! Snakes! Overall, the portraits in this line have been pretty solid, but I’d rate Eurayle’s up with some of the best of them.

While Eurayle doesn’t sport a whole lot of clothes to hide her modesty, she does know how to accessorize, as she comes with four different coiled snakes that she can wear on her arms and legs. These are painted to match the blue snakes on her outfit. These are all held on simply by tension and some work better than others. I wound up putting one small one on her right wrist, one small one on her left ankle, the biggest one on her right thigh, and the middle sized one on her left bicep. The only one that really gives me trouble staying put is the one on her bicep. It has a habit of sliding down to her elbow, although trying to hook it onto her shoulder seems to help.

Other than her snake accessories, Eurayle comes with an extra pair of accessory-holding hands, so you get one pair that’s hinged to angle forward and one hinged to go side-to-side. She also comes with two matched sets of katar-style push daggers, although I suppose these are long enough to be called swords. Both of these are painted to match her electric blue theme. The first pair have some really cool looking solid blades.

The second pair feature more of a snake motif and these look especially wicked, but I’m not sure they’d be quite as effective as weapons. They don’t seem to have edges, so these would be primarily stabbing weapons, but I guess that was largely the point (no pun intended) of the katar anyway. Besides, I don’t want to criticize these weapons by overthinking them, because I think the designs are awesome and these are the ones I’ll be going with when I display her.

And as always, the figure comes with a standard issue black Boss Fight Studio embossed stand. I’ve had some issues using the pegs on these with some of the previous barefoot figures because the foot pegs are more shallow, but Eurayle’s work just fine. Although she is a surprisingly well balanced figure on her own.

Back when I was crunching numbers for Add On’s for the HACKS Kickstarter and trying to stay within some semblance of budget, I very nearly nixed Eurayle in favor of another warrior variant, but I finally convinced myself that I wanted all three of the Gorgon Sisters and so she ultimately made the cut. And it’s a good thing too, because for reasons unknown to me, she goes for all the monies now on the second-hand market. I mean, sure, some Series 1 HACKS can go for double what they originally cost, but lovely little Eurayle here seems to go in the vicinity of $150-200, and that’s if you can actually find her for sale. To be honest, a little piece of me was hoping that I was going to be unimpressed with her and willing to let her go for that kind of money, but as it turns, out I’ll be keeping her. And next time I revisit the HACKS line, I’ll check out the final Gorgon Sister, Stheno!

May 23 2018

Mythic Legions (The Coliseum): Black Knight Legion Builder by The Four Horsemen

The remaining stock from Mythic Legions: The Coliseum went on sale earlier this month and it reminded me of the old Matty Collector days. There were endless loading screens and in the end I got shut out. Now, I wasn’t all that upset, because I pre-ordered the figures I wanted the most, but with funds replenished, there were a few more I wanted to pick up. Luckily, a friend of mine double dipped on a few of them and instead of unloading them on Ebay at crazy prices, he sold me a couple at cost… one of those was the Black Knight Legion Builder!

I won’t dwell on the packaging, because it hasn’t changed at all. Instead, I’ll clarify for people new to Mythic Legions that the “Legion Builders” are basically figures with less paint apps that sell for a little less than the regular figures. These are designed as troop builders for people like me, or for customization fodder for people with talent in such things or, in other words, not me. I reviewed the Silver and Gold Knight Legion Builders way back in 2016, and what we’re dealing with here is more or less another repaint, this time in… you guessed it! Black!

Yup, from the neck down, Black Knight features the exact same body as each of the previous Knight Legion Builders, only this time covered in a rich and beautiful coat of shiny black paint. Despite being awash all in one color, I think the figure looks great, and that’s a testament to the incredible detail in the sculpt. You get sculpted chain-mail visible in the joints, panels of scroll work etched into the armor, and even all the little rivets and buckles and straps meant to be holding the plates on. I’ve considered having a go at his exposed chain mail parts with a silver Gundam Marker, but I’ll probably just leave him be and not risk messing him up.

As is always the case, Black Knight comes out of the package with his shoulder armor off, and honestly, he displays just fine without them if you choose to leave them off. Me? I like my knights with a little bulk to them, so I always display them with these pieces on. These pieces peg into holes in the back of the shoulders and can be angled a bit to allow for shoulder movement. To add a little pop to the all black deco, this fellow comes with a red plume for his helmet and a red sword belt. Yup, red! This is the first one of these that I got that wasn’t brown.

While the previous Knight Legion Builders came with only one head each, Black Knight comes with both styles: A Great Helm and a Renaissance-style Closed Helm. You only get one red plume, but it can be transferred to whichever helmet you choose to display him with. I adore both helmet sculpts, but I think the Great Helm works best with this black deco.

The Black Knight comes with two swords, a two-hander and a single-hand, and obviously we’ve seen these many times before. The two-hander has what strikes me as a very Tolkien-esque design and the other is just a stout and trusty cruciform broadsword. Typically, the Legion Builder weapons don’t have paint apps, and in this case, these swords are both silver. That works fine for me, although once again, I’m tempted to color in the grips.

As always, the belt can be used as a waist belt, to carry his sword on his hip, or as a shoulder strap to carry his sword (or swords) on his back. In fact, if you choose the shoulder strap, you can comfortably fit both swords in the belt slit. The downside here is that you have to remove the shoulder on the side that the hilts will be behind. It doesn’t look bad, and I’ve done this with some of my Orcs and Gladiator-style Legions figures, but I prefer my knights to have some symmetry.

The Black Knight also comes with a spear. Previous Knight Legion Builders came with shields, but this fellow does not. I’m guessing that’s because he came with the extra head instead. I’m cool with that. I’ve got plenty of shields in this line already.

I think this is a great figure, even if it is yet another recolor of the same old knight. I like that T4H mixed things up a bit this time by giving him an extra head instead of the shield, but with so many Mythic Legions figures dropping in each new offering, I wouldn’t be surprised if this fellow gets overlooked in favor of fresher characters. Indeed, Black Knight didn’t strike me as a “Must Have” when I was budgeting my pre-orders for The Coliseum, and as good as he is in hand, I still mostly feel that way. The main reason I wanted to add him to my collection was because I had the previous two Knight Legion Builders and it was bothering me that I wasn’t going to have a complete set. As it turns out, he’s probably my favorite of the three, or at the very least tied with Silver as my favorite. I’m certainly glad I was able to pick him up in the end.

May 21 2018

Marvel Legends (Sandman Wave): Ms Marvel (Kamala Khan) by Hasbro

Oh boy, have I been dreading this review! Kamala Khan is the first Marvel Legends figure in a long while that I was tempted to skip and hunt down the BAF part separately on the Ebays. Why? Because I’m really not a fan of this character or what I’ve read of her books. I also think it’s unfortunate that Marvel decided to go with her as their first major Muslim lead character, doubly so when it feels like a “Us Too!” effort after DC introduced Simon Baz to their Green Lantern lineup a few years earlier. Granted, I didn’t warm up to Baz right away, but I gave him a shot and by the time he teamed up with Jessica Cruz, I was on board. Well, I gave Kamala a shot too, but her books were another brick in the wall between me and what Marvel’s been churning out lately. At least this review has a happy ending, so read on!

I really don’t want to spend a lot of time bitching about the character, but I feel like I should at least clarify why I don’t like Kamala. To me, she’s the epitome of a lot of that’s wrong with Marvel Comics these days. She comes off as a vacant-headed, “OMG, TWITTER AND SELFIES!!!” stereotype fangirl, who to me just isn’t worthy of the Ms. Marvel moniker. It’s another example where Marvel should have allowed the character to strike out on her own with a new super hero identity instead of once again co-opting an existing one. Hell, I would have had a lot more respect for her had they given her her own identity first, allowed her to prove herself, and then passed the baton. Just look at how much angst and maturity Carol Danvers exhibited over taking on the Captain Marvel name. OK, yeah, he was dead, but still. There was a gravitas to about the name that the comic paid respect to. That wasn’t so much the case here. But hey, the initial run of Kamala’s book won a Hugo, so I guess I’m in the minority here! And yes, that was sarcasm. Anyway, let’s take a look at the figure…

And here’s where things turn around, because my dislike for this character lies squarely in the way she’s written, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m not going to like the figure, because I actually do. The costume, which consists of a blue dress worn over what I assume is a red bodysuit is fresh and interesting, and Hasbro did a great job recreating it for the figure. The lower part of the dress is cast in soft plastic with slits up the sides so as not to hinder the hip articulation too badly. Her blue boots are painted on, she’s got a gold arm bracer on her left wrist, and a long scarf, which streams down her back, and is slightly reminiscent of Carol’s waist sash. The coloring makes for a very pretty looking figure, I love the combination of the blue and vibrant red and the additional gold used for the edges, bracer, and lightning bold on her chest really make the figure pop. She even has gold designs at the ends of her scarf.

The head sculpt is fairly solid. I appreciate that the mask is part of the sculpt and not just painted on. The hair looks very much on point and the paint is all fairly solid. I will throw out there that Kamala looks a lot prettier in most of the panel art than she does here, so the resemblance isn’t quite a slam-dunk, but it’s not bad either. I do wish the plastic used for the face wasn’t as waxy looking, but now I’m really looking for things to complain about.

The articulation is right on par with most of the other Legends ladies. The legs feature ball joints at the hips, double hinges in the knees, swivels in both the thighs and the tops of the boots, and the ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. The torso features a ball joint under the chest and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Here’s where I usually complain about the arms not being double jointed at the elbows, but here there’s actually an excuse for that, as the arms are designed to pull out at the elbows so they can be replaced with her stretchy effect arms.

I’m a big fan of characters with stretchy powers. Plastic Man, Elongated Man, Mr. Fantastic, so I’m at least a fan of Kamala’s powers! The arms consist of an enlarged right grasping hand and a left fist. These pieces pop-and-swap very easily, although I’ve seen quite a few reports of the pegs breaking on this figure, so a modicum of care is recommended. There’s no other points of articulation in these pieces beyond the elbow joint, and while I would have really appreciated some wrist swivels, I can understand why they were omitted. The effect isn’t as well done as the recent Reed Richards figure, but it’s not bad.

All in all, this is fun figure of a character I don’t care about. And just to be clear, I don’t want to just pick on Kamala. As a character, she’s probably fleshed out better than most of Marvel’s recent efforts. But like I said earlier, she’s an example of a wider problem in Marvel’s books which has been keeping me out of the comic shops and diving into my backlog of trades and floppies. When the inevitable shake up at Marvel comes, maybe Kamala can get turned around. Or maybe they don’t need to, because her book seems to be selling fairly well in collected editions. In the meantime, at least I got a pretty cool figure out of it.

May 18 2018

Spider-Man Versus The Sinister Six by Hasbro

Cards on the table time: This week has kicked my ass and I did not find a lot of time for blogging. Remember when I cut down to just three updates a week because I was going to be so crazy busy? Well, I’m glad I did that, because things have indeed been crazy busy. And yes, I did find the time to go see Deadpool 2 last night, so go ahead and say it. “Oooooh, he doesn’t have time to do a proper review, but he has time to go to the movie!” Yeah, that’s right. I regret nothing!!! Anyway, with time being limited, I wanted to do something a little different and check out an unopened set. Yeah, I spend most of my time opening toys to review here on FFZ, but here’s one of the few ones I’ve decided to keep sealed. Originally, I wasn’t going to review this set at all, because I wasn’t opening it, but ultimately I decided it would be a good alternative to having nothing at all today. So, let’s end the week with a little more Marvel and check out Hasbro’s 4-inch Spider-Man Versus The Sinister Six figure set!

And the packaging here really is the star of this show. I don’t want to knock the figures. These are universally excellent figures, nearly all of which are repainted re-issues from Marvel Universe. And since I already own almost all of these all from when they were originally released, this is a set that I bought specifically for the awesome presentation. So, what we have here is a collection of seven carded figures folded up accordion-style with a sleeve placed over it and it is a goddamn brilliant piece of package design. The sleeve features a cut-out on the front to allow Spidey’s bubble to show through and it features a background of muted comic panels and a deco meant to invoke the vintage Marvel Super Heroes line complete with the blue border on top and yellow stars. The character art and lettering on the front is colorful, and it just looks fantastic up on the shelf.

The left side panel has an image of an original comic cover with Spidey fighting The Sinister Six, while the ride side panel has head shots of all the figures along with some brief bios in multiple languages. In addition to Web Head himself, the box includes Doc Ock, Mysterio, Kraven The Hunter, Vulture, Electro, and Sandman, all in their classic costumes.

The back panel has more of that vintage packaging charm along with a shot of all the figures lined up in a “Collect Them All” style picture. But you don’t have to collect them all, because you already did by buying this set!

Lift off the sleeve and you can get an idea of how the whole thing is folded up. It’s so damn clever! It’s also really, really long when you unfold it all the way. The only knock I have against this set is that it isn’t at all collector friendly. Even if I didn’t already own previous releases of these figures, I think I’d be torn over whether or not to open it. Let’s take a look at each of the carded figures so I can get out of here and get on with my weekend!

Spidey has been released countless times in the Marvel Universe line. I first got him back in 2010, but this is a completely different figure then the one I picked up back then. The paint is especially nice on him with a nice bright and flashy red, pale blue, and some sharp lines for the costume’s webbing. His left hand is thwipping and his right hand could be used to hold something, but he doesn’t come with any accessories. The deco for the card is identical to the front of the sleeve.

Second in line is Doctor Octopus. This figure was last released in 2015 as part of the Marvel Universe Infinite line, only back then he had a green jumpsuit with a yellow belt and yellow boots and gloves. Here he’s been repainted in all purple duds and his manipulator arms have been repainted from silver to a darker gray. Given my druthers, I think I prefer the previous release, but this one sure isn’t bad and I think he matches the character art quite well. And speaking of character art, the presentation here is so much better than the dreadful black cards `Hasbro was using when they re-branded that line to Infinite.

Electro is the one figure in this set that I did not previously own. He was released in the Marvel Universe line and I could never find him on the pegs. At one point I was considering dropping $25 on him online, but I never did get around to pulling the trigger. Either way, this is a great looking figure and the green and yellow deco really makes him pop. I also love the head sculpt and the way they executed the mask. Just beautiful!

The fourth slot is occupied by Kraven. This is a pretty damn impressive sculpt when it was released back in 2013 in Marvel Universe, and this release is not just a simple repaint, but has a few changes to the sculpt. The biggest of the changes are the lack of his boots with the cool skull kneecaps. He’s also missing his belt. The rest of the changes lie in the more comic-orientated paint. I have to say I definitely like the previous release better, but this is still a pretty cool variant and both the head sculpt and the lion head jacket are still really well done.

The Fifth figure is Vulture, and this guy was released in the same 2015 wave of Marvel Universe Infinite as Doc Ock. I’d say this is the weakest figure in the bunch, mainly because of the way they did his wings. They tab into the arms and are basically designed to be displayed with his arms raised over his head. Anything else looks weird. This version has a clean white collar and there are some black lines to add some definition to his costume. I do like the head sculpt a lot, but all in all, this is one figure that I think looks better sealed in the bubble.

Number six is the set is Mysterio and this one is a straight repaint of the figure released back around 2014. The gold boots and gauntlets have been repainted with a lime green and the bodysuit features a grid pattern printed over the green. The cape is now lavendar with pink clasps and the helmet is less a little less of a smokey transparent as it a pearlescent finish. I liked this figure a lot back then and I like this version quite a bit too.

And the final member of the Sinister Six in this set is Sandman. Released as recently as 2016 in the Marvel Universe Infinite line, Sandman saw two variants in that wave, one normal and one all sandy. This version is similar to the normal release but with smaller striping on his shirt. He’s pretty cool, but there isn’t that big a difference from the previous release to make him terribly exciting.

And that’s the Sinister Six set in all it’s glory. I picked this up a while ago when Amazon was blowing it out at $15. FIFTEEN BUCKS!!! How could I not? It would have been well worth that price if it included only half the figures, and those were just wrapped up in a garbage bag and thrown into a shoebox. I’m not a Mint-In-Sealed-Box kind of guy, but even I couldn’t resist presentation this good and at a price so low. I’ll confess, this set also makes me a little sad for the demise of Hasbro’s 4-inch Marvel line. Sure, it’s kind of redundant as Marvel Legends has stepped up to be the Universe-building line that we fans wanted, but there was a time when this smaller scaled collection was the way to go. It still lives on in various multi-packs and the local big boxes still have some of the single carded figures swinging on the pegs, but let’s face it, the heyday of 4-inch Marvel has gone, and I can’t help but miss it sometimes.

May 16 2018

Predator: “Concrete Jungle” Scarface by NECA

I’m slowly getting caught up on my NECA reviews, and that’s a good thing because I have a bunch more figures coming in the next week or so that will start filling up the hopper again. Today I’m checking out Scarface from the game Concrete Jungle. I originally played it on the PlayStation 2, but a little while ago I picked up a copy for the Xbox, since my OG Xbox is now rigged for HD. Alas, my poor old girl died on me shortly afterwards and I’ve only recently been able to do the surgery required to get her running again. If I’m being honest, Concrete Jungle is a decent game, but not a great one, although I’ll confess that I’ve enjoyed playing it a lot more than I enjoyed watching any of the films that followed after Predator 2.

I don’t know if NECA classifies this figure as one of their Ultimate releases, but the packaging suggests that it is. You get an extra thick window box with a folding front flap, and there are a lot of goodies inside. The box has plenty of pictures of the figure and accessories and, unlike NECA’s regular Predators, this packaging is totally collector friendly. Let the gushing begin!

Getting Scarface out of the box, I’m immediately greeted by a sense of awe that I rarely encounter with figures in this price range. Seriously! He’s big, he’s beefy, and he’s absolutely gorgeous. Sure, NECA knows their way around a Predator better than anyone other than Stan Winston. They’ve been sculpting these deadly interstellar hunters for ages now and they bring with it a passion that can be seen in the craftsmanship. Scarface features the same familiar body type as previous releases, with the creepy yellow-and-black skin and all kitted out with a sculpted body net. The outfit, on the other hand, is new and distinctive among previous Predator releases, and almost has a medieval flavor to it. For starters, you get some ragged chain-mail protecting the upper part of his torso and his groin. Segmented plate armor covers his shoulders, arms, hips, and lower legs. All of the plate armor is sculpted with pitting and wear, making it look like this dude has seen some major action in his day and the paint is totally convincing as weathered metal.

Some nice extra touches to the outfit include two human skulls, one mounted on his right shoulder and the other used as a belt-buckle. Both are missing their lower jaws and feature a realistic bone finish with a wash to bring out all the details. Additionally, he has a traditional bone sash hanging off his right shoulder and crossing his chest. Scarface also likes his spikes, as his armor is literally studded with them. He’s got some real sharp ones on his right shoulder, hip plates, and knee guards, and some more blunt and knobby ones running around his belt. He ties the outfit together with a ragged brown sash that obscures some of the chain-mail protecting his unmentionables.

As is often the case with NECA’s Predators, Scarface comes with both a masked and unmasked head, and both of these are works of art. The mask is a lot more intricate than what we saw on the City and Jungle Hunters. The configuration of the forehead is similar, but Scarface again sports some spikes on a short ridge that rises up from between his eyes. The almond-shaped eyes are black and soul-less as ever, but the biggest difference here comes in all the detail in the area that covers his mandibles, which looks damn cool and adds to the intimidation factor of the mask. The surface of the mask features the same worn and pitted look as the rest of his armor, and as always, I’m impressed by the individually sculpted dreadlocks. The final touch comes with the splash of red paint that covers the damaged side of his face.

A simple pop-and-swap gets you the unmasked look, and once again I’m faced with the impossible decision of which way to display this figure. Scarface’s naked visage features his mandibles open in full, bloodcurdling scream, allowing for quite the view of his alien oral cavity. Above, you can see his yellow, beady right eye as well as the vacant socket to the left where his horrific wound was suffered, granting him his nickname. I really need to invest in one of those packs of head stands that NECA has on the market, because not displaying both of these noggins is nothing short of a crime. Let’s move on to Scarface’s various instruments of killing…

No Predator feels complete without a shoulder-mounted plasmacaster, and Scarface’s is quite a doozy. The entire assembly tabs easily into the notches on his back and the weapon itself has a track that allows it to be slid forward and hinged into a firing position. NECA did not include a firing effect part with this figure, and I can’t say as I really miss it. If you absolutely must have one, you might be able to borrow from one of the previous releases. As usual, it’s a tight fit between the weapon and the head, but I’m used to that by now.

Next up, Scarface comes with this speargun. I’m pretty sure a version of this thing was seen in Predator 2, but it was really given its due in the Predator video games. The Concrete Jungle version is a bit more compact, not quite a rifle and not quite a pistol. I really dig the design of this thing, and the right hand is sculpted to hold it quite well.

Scarface also comes with this rather distinctive curved sword to hold in his left hand. The handle works so that it is above the blade, allowing for slashing moves with the serrated edge that rests past his elbow as well as downward swipes with the hooked edge that protrudes past his wrist. The exotic shape of the blade reminds me a bit of the Klingon swords from Star Trek and that’s not a bad thing. It’s a very utilitarian looking weapon, without any real ornamentation, save for the artistic curves of the blade.

And for added slicing, dicing, and skewering, Scarface has the retractable blades on his right gauntlet that we’ve seen with most previous Predators. As usual, these don’t actually retract into the gauntlet, but rather tab into the slots when you want to display him with them deployed. There’s also an open right hand that can be swapped out for when he’s not holding his spear gun.

And last, but not least, Scarface includes the opening wrist computer on his left gauntlet. The hinges on this one are a lot sturdier than they’ve been on some previous releases.

Generally speaking, I’ve been pretty good at resisting going nuts with NECA’s Predators line. It’s not that I don’t want to own them all, but I’m at that stage with my collecting, where I really have to think about how much space I have and how deep I want to go into any particular line. So far, I’ve restricted myself mostly to the boxed releases, and one or two of the carded ones. Whatever the case, I’m so very happy I decided to pick up Scarface, because he is a stand-out figure in a line populated almost entirely by stand-out figures. NECA worked their magic with this design and created a masterpiece of a figure that is far better than the rather average game deserved. I’ve had this one sitting around waiting to be opened for a while now, and I was actually surprised to see that he’s still available at the original MSRP of about $25, give or take a little, depending on where you find him. In terms of iconic designs, I’d say that the City and/or Jungle Predators are still the must-haves for any collection, but beyond that, you can’t go wrong picking up this bad boy. He’s quite simply a stunning figure.

May 14 2018

Marvel Legends (Sandman Wave): Shocker by Hasbro

I’m going to let one more week go before including the Infinity War figures in my weekly mix, so I don’t have to worry about dishing out spoilers. Yeah, most everyone has probably seen it by now, but I just don’t want to be that guy. In the meantime, I’m continuing to spend Marvel Mondays bouncing between the insane number of Legends figures that make up shameful stack of boxes in the corner. And this week it’s back to the Sandman Wave with a look at Shocker.

It’s been hard to let this wave sit around for so long before digging into it. It sports some solid character selection, and I’ve been more than a little anxious to build Sandman. Hell, pretty much all the Spidey waves have been great in my book. And Shocker was certainly a long time coming, and with how many waves of Spider-Man themed figures we’ve had, it’s surprising Hasbro only got around to him here. I guess that’s a testament to how many versions of Web Head they’ve been doing. I’m sure Hasbro thank god every day for Spider-Verse.

I don’t know what it is about Shocker’s costume, but boy do I love it. The brown and yellow body suit with the brown criss-crossing diagonal lines just does something for me. This was a figure where Hasbro didn’t need to bust out a lot of new sculpting to make it work, but he does have newly sculpted “metal” strips for his gauntlets and ribbed knee-pads. The reinforced pieces on his gloves have a cool used and pitted finish to them and I appreciate that attention to detail.

The rest of this figure makes a lot of use of paint for detail and here’s a costume where a lesser paint job could have really ruined the suit. Thankfully, Hasbro brought there A-game, as the brown net-like lines are pretty sharp and clean. Shocker also sports a gold lightning bolt emblem stamped right where his belt buckle would be. And no, Hasbro didn’t paint in the pegs on the inside of his elbows and knees, so you have brown pegs showing through amidst the yellow on his arms and vice versa on his legs. The same holds true for the hinges visible in his armpits. I know that bothers some people a lot, but I can’t say as I’m one of them.

The head sculpt is pretty simple, without a lot of facial features showing through the mask. There’s just a bit of a bump where the nose and ears are. I do get a bit of a Deadpool vibe from his eyes, as one is slightly popped and the other squinting. The brown skull-cap style piece on the top of the mask is actually part of the sculpt.

At some point I feel like I should just stop going through the articulation points on Marvel Legends, because apart from the differences between the guys and gals, and an occasional surprise, we all know what to expect by now. But here we go anyway… Shocker’s 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 the thighs and at the tops of his boots. The ankles have hinges and lateral rockers, there’s a swivel in the chest, an ab-crunch hinge in the torso, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed.

Shocker comes with two accessories and… Heeeeey, we’ve seen these before. We’ve seen these like a dozen times before. Yup, it’s the old swirly circle effect parts that clip onto the wrists, and this time they’re sculpted in orange. Not to be confused with the swirly circle effect parts they use for magic and hex powers. I generally like these pieces, but I think they’re a bit of a reach as a visualizing of Shocker’s powers. But they look good on the figure, so I’m not going to complain too much.

And so I can chalk up another member of Spidey’s enemies for my Legends shelf and that always makes me a happy camper. I have no idea why, but this figure was stupid hard for me to find. Actually, that was the case for a few of the releases in this wave. Normally when that happens, I just hit up old Amazon, but he’s been listed in the high $20’s there for a while now, so that wasn’t an option. I mean, I love this figure, but not quite that much. Luckily, I eventually found him at a Target long after the rest of this wave was gone from the pegs, and even for a bit under regular retail.

May 11 2018

Vitruvian HACKS (Series 2): Lord Vehemous by Boss Fight Studio

Last week I got a new box in from Boss Fight Studio with some figures from the newest wave of Vitruvian HACKS, Series 2. I’m quickly getting backlogged with this line, as I still have plenty of figures from Series 1 to review, but when these showed up they just looked so damn good that I decided to bump a few of them to the head of the line. Today, I’m checking out Lord Vehemous, the self-proclaimed Dragon Cult Warrior Priest.
If you’re new to V-HACKS, Series 2 is all about a fantasy-style theme somewhat inspired by the likes of AD&D and other sword-and-sorcery type franchises, but the characters and designs are all original.

As always, the figures come on a landscape-orientated card with some colorful character art on the front and a “Collect Them All” layout on the back showing the figures from this wave, which I believe is the third, and the previous one. You also get a bio that tells us Lord Vehemous and his followers not only worship dragons, but gain supernatural powers by drinking their blood. F’cking-A hardcore! As you can see from the bubble, this figure comes packed with a ton of extra goodies, so if you’ll give me a minute to get him all geared up, we’ll check him out!

Vehemous sports a half-suit of armor, with full plate from the waist up and a long medieval-style skirt (for lack of a better word) covering his legs and most of his boots. The armor reuses some parts from the Knight of Accord, like the legs, arms and lower torso. He even has the slots on the outside of his thighs to tab in armor pieces, even though he doesn’t come with any. The chest armor, on the other hand, is different, as it features a well-worn, pitted finish and even some nasty looking cracks. Indeed, all the armor is colored to look like it’s old, possibly made out of bone, and has seen better days. I really dig the sculpted detail in the robes and belts, and there are peg holes on his hips to attach some of his gear. The various buckles and studs on the belt are all painted gold.

The optional parts for the armor include a pair of sculpted fur shoulder pads and a matching half-cape, the last of which we’ve seen a few times before, but most recently with the Orc. I say these pieces are optional, but Vehemous does have some pegs sticking out of his shoulders to attach them, so if you don’t equip the shoulders, these look exposed and awkward. Of course, you could always borrow different shoulders from one of your other HACKS figures, as mix-and-match is a big part of the charm here.

The head sculpt is excellent. Vehemous is a distinguished old and gray fellow with a rather nasty scar running down his left eye. They’ve even painted that eye gray to show that the damage isn’t just superficial. I’d say this is easily one of my favorite head sculpts in the entire HACKS line. It really is excellent. It seems a shame to cover it up, but you can do just that thanks to the included helmet…

The helmet is made of soft, pliable plastic and fits over the head quite well. It’s cast in the same color plastic as the rest of the armor, giving it an ancient bone-like finish and the design is just superb. I just love the configuration of the horns and the way the figure’s eyes line up with the eye holes in the helmet. This piece certainly adds a lot of intimidation factor to the figure, while also allowing some display variety. I could easily see picking up a few more Lord Vehemous figures, put the helmets on two of them and just display them behind the unmasked figure as his fellow cultists. Damn, I think I’ve just talked myself out of another forty bucks. But if you really want to go nuts, you have one more noggin option…

And that’s the skull. I’m not sure where or how skeletons fit into the whole Dragon Cult business, but this is a beautiful skull and it sure looks great on the figure. The sculpt is incredibly well detailed for a figure in this scale, but I shouldn’t be surprised as the folks at BFS have been sculpting these skulls plenty of times and have had a lot of practice. The skull is cast in a creepy yellowish-green and features some wash to bring out all the little details. Seeing as how the skull still features the red gash running down over the left eye, I’m guessing this is some kind of magical transformation. Alright, so we’ve looked at the figure and the heads, let’s check out the accessories.

For starters, Vehemous comes with this cool book, no doubt an ancient tome dealing with dragon lore and spells that you can do with the blood of the Great Wyrms. I’m pretty sure this is a repaint of the book included with Felonious from Wave 2, but I haven’t opened or reviewed that figure yet, and he’s out of bounds for comparison until I do. Sorry, but thems the rules! Either way, the book features a blue binding with a leather-like texture as well as sculpted gold fixtures and an ornamental piece on the front cover. As a reformed antiquarian book collector, I really dig this accessory a lot. It even has a sculpted chain that you can use to attach it to his belt. Of course, knowledge is power, but nothing beats cold hard steel, so let’s move on to some of Vehemous’ many weapons.

You can’t go wrong with a sword and dagger and Vehemous comes with both, each in their own scabbard and sheath, and each with pegs to attach them to his belt. The scabbard and sheath are a bit on the chunky side, but I’m willing to forgive that in this scale. Both are painted blue to match the shirt that peeks through the armor, you get some sculpted brown “leather” straps and the throats and tips are painted gold. The blades fit in well and can be drawn without much effort. I like that the peg hole for the dagger is angled a bit to the back so I can have him wear it horizontally. The gold hilts are matched (or “en suite” as they say) with pointed pommels and simple cross guards. Both have sculpted ribbed grips painted blue. The blades have a nice silver paint finish and Vehemous comes with two pairs of hands to hold them, one pair is hinged to angle forward and the other to bend side-to-side.

Next up, Vehemous comes with this bitchin’ spiked flail. The handle has sculpted “leather” wrappings and a pretty sharp spike capping off the end. The spiked ball hangs from a chain with gold painted loops securing it at both ends. I’m a sucker for a good flail, and I’m actually surprised that the Vitruvian HACKS 4-inch line beat the Mythic Legions 6-inch line, by doing a flail first. And they did a damn fine job with it.

Lastly, you get a spiked mace with a really long handle, making it look more like a staff than a practical weapon. Not that you couldn’t do some crazy damage with this thing if you were to swing it at the busy-body knights who show up to crash your Dragon Blood Rituals. The spiked ball looks like the same one used for the flail, and the shaft is white with some gold fixtures.

The best compliment I can pay an action figure line is to say that every time I open one, I want to buy another. That’s high praise, especially when we’re talking about 4-inch figures that run me about $25 each. I’ve been suitably impressed with Vitruvian HACKS ever since the first Kickstarter, but damn, Lord Vehemous really ups the ante. This figure is a 4-inches of masterpiece. This is an example of a fantastic original character design that has been executed it brilliantly, and the generous dose of extras and accessories make him a well-rounded package. Next week, I’m going to commit to going back and reviewing another figure from Series 1, before pressing on with more of the Series 2 figures.