Monthly Archives: October 2018

Oct 31 2018

Savage World (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre): Leatherface by Funko

The day is finally here, my week long Twitter #HalloweenCountdown has reached Halloween, and I haven’t managed to get through nearly as much new stuff as I wanted. How the hell did I used to find the time to do five reviews a week? Nonetheless, I’m not going down without a fight and I’m back this afternoon to check out another one of Funko’s Savage World Slashers. Who will survive? And what will be left of them? Let’s find out…

Yes, Funko decided that they weren’t filling up those landfills in New Jersey fast enough with all the Pop!s and WobblerZ and Dorbs and whatever the hell they make, so now they’re shipping horror movie slashers with He-Man figures. What idiot buys this stuff? ME!!! And here is the obligatory packaged shot. You get a good look at the figure if you want to hang him on the wall carded. Otherwise, it’s time to do some slashing of your own to get him out because this card-and-bubble is decidedly un-collector-friendly.

And despite the Masters of the Universe makeover, there’s no doubt who this is supposed to be! Funko took all the key points of old Leatherface and did some tweaking, but the results are pretty damn cool. His shirtless upper body advertises his impressive new physique that makes me wonder just what them boys are putting in all that chili he eats. He’s got a sculpted apron with some wear and tear, as well as stitching, and it’s accessorized with a hook on a chain that girds it around his pinched waist. Toss in some splattered blood and the result is c’est magnifique.

I’ve pointed out my appreciation for the little details on the other two Savage World figures I reviewed and the same holds true here. Leatherface actually has a sculpted furry loincloth layered under his apron, which is pretty cool. He also has the furry barbarian boots with the stitching up the backs, and his right left arm features a long leather glove.

While Freddy’s portrait was a bit of a reach, Leatherface falls more in the Michael Meyers camp in having a pitch-perfect head sculpt. The DIY human-hide mask is haphazardly stitched and his real skin is peeking out around the mouth and eye holes. I also dig his crazy black hair.

Leatherface’s right arm is fitted with a contraption that would make Ash Williams proud, and that’s a medieval-looking chainsaw grafted onto the end of his forearm. This is where most of the liberties are taken with this design, but it looks great and I really dig it.

There’s even an extra attachment in the form of this goofy wooden mallet. Hey, that people meat don’t tenderize itself, amiright?

While I’ve been enjoying all of the figures in this line quite a bit, I’m going to have to rank Leatherface here as my favorite so far. They really did a nice job adapting the character to this ridiculous format. Sure, he’s clearly Leatherface, but he also looks like some crazy medieval butcher out of one of those B-movie Sword-and-Sandals flicks. So, maybe this is just a nonsensical license-mashing cash-grab on Funko’s part, but it’s hard to deny that they’re putting some real love into it.

And that wraps it up for my #HalloweenCountdown, but I’m not quite done with the spooky stuff for the week, because tomorrow starts my #HalloweenAfterParty where I’ll try to squeeze in a few more horror-themed reviews before the end of the week!

Oct 31 2018

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Lucretia by The Four Horsemen

Happy Halloween, folks! You’ll note that I’m sticking with Mythic Legions for my Wednesday content, but I still tried to go for that Halloween connection by checking out a vampire! Carpathias was actually the first vampire to hit Legions as part of the original assortment, but he didn’t make my budget crunch for the first Kickstarter and I’ve been regretting it ever since. Fortunately, he was part of the later All-Stars Sale and I was able to pre-order him, but who knows when those are going to be shipping.

So while not the first Vampire, Lucretia is actually the first female vampire. She also happens to be the daughter of Baron Volligar, who was released as part of the Covenant of Shadows assortment. Her bio makes her sound like a nasty piece of work.

And she looks like one too! Lucretia’s body reuses something like 95% of Gwendolyn Heavenbrand’s armored body, with only two key differences. The first is the sculpted purple sash that hangs down from the front of her waist. The second is the tall and sinister, gravity-defying collar that frames her creepy head. Even the shoulder armor is the same sculpt as Ms. Heavensbrand’s. I won’t rehash all the gushing I did over this sculpt last week, but suffice it to say I love all the little details like the tiny straps “holding” the overlapping plates together, the individual rivets, and the exposed chainmail in the joints.

Of course the new deco helps a lot to set this figure apart and it is indeed a beautiful coat of paint. The primary color for the armor is a glossy black with matte purple running through some of the decorative panels. We’ve seen a similar deco on her dear old dad’s armor and it looks as great as ever. You also get a flat gray outlining those panels. Other little touches include metallic silver for the tiny rivets, as well as for the buckles of the brown-painted straps. As with Gwendolyn’s armor, this is an absolutely sumptuous paint job, making the already impressive sculpt sing, even if that song is a fear-inducing dirge of death.

I’ve been in love with the vampire head design since first seeing Carpathias, and that certainly carries over to this new female head. The pale bald head features a rather distinctive nose and brow, which is very familiar. And when coupled with the sharply pointed ears and severe look, I’d say this one is an effective cross between the bloodsuckers of Salem’s Lot and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The earrings are a nice touch and there’s some subtle shading applied to her skin.

Lucretia comes with a flowing black cape, which as always requires the use of the shoulder armor to equip it on her, as the pegs pass through holes on the cape to secure it. That’s no problem for me, as I almost always display these figures with their shoulder armor. But since they are optional, and the figure displays quite well without them, it’s still worth noting that the cape does only work with the shoulders. I love the way it looks on the figure, but it can get in the way of her wearing her sword. And speaking of which, let’s check out her weapons.

Her primary weapon is a two-handed sword, which is new to me. It’s a decidedly vampyric-looking weapon with an elegant hilt featuring an extended, textured grip and a curved crossguard with ends that terminate in a flourish. The black hilt also features a purple stone embedded in the center of the guard. The silver blade is roughly leaf-shaped with a swell about three-quarters of the way down to the point. The configuration of the blade means it won’t pass all the way through the loop in her belt, but the fact that it rides high makes it look like it’s slung across her back and I kind of dig that. I do wish T4H would have started producing some of these belts in black by now, because I think it would have looked better on this figure. Or perhaps even in red, like they did with the Black Knight Legion Builder.

Next up, she has this stout-bladed dagger with a black hilt and purple stone in the center of the guard. It’s not a perfect match for the sword’s handle, but close enough to look good if she’s wielding them en suite. It would have been an especially nice parrying dagger, had they given her a single-handed sword.

Finally, Lucretia comes with a hooked dagger and sheath, and the sheath is something introduced in this Advent of Decay series. It’s plastic with a purple and silver deco and a clip on the back that hooks to the belt. The dagger fits in it quite well and is easy to draw out. It’s a great addition to the Mythic Legions armaments and it makes me wish even more that they will one day tackle scabbards for the swords. Hey, they could easily release a scabbard pack with different decos for the existing swords. I’d buy it!

Is this the part where I say Lucretia may be my new favorite figure in all Mythic Legions? Well, I’m trying not to throw that word around as much this time, but she is simply awesome and well worth a consideration as one of the better figures in this line. The black and purple deco of her armor really sings to me, the quality of the paintwork is gorgeous, the weapons are well-curated, and all in all this figure has a lot of personality. She makes me excited to know that I have two more vampires from Advent of Decay waiting to be opened and that Carpathias will eventually be on the way.

Oct 29 2018

Savage World (A Nightmare on Elm Street): Freddy Kreuger by Funko

My #HalloweenCountdown continues on Twitter, which is why I have random spooky content cropping up here at FFZ. Today I’m tearing into another one of Funko’s Savage World Slashers and it is none other than the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs!

The figure comes in a decidedly un-collector-friendly card and bubble. Unlike Michael Meyers, who was attached to one of the later, shittier Halloween films, this is just plain old Freddy from the original. Or Kreug-Or, if you prefer a more Masters of the Universe style name. Because this is indeed Freddy re-imagined as an 80’s Mattel figure. It’s an insane idea, but I was surprised how good Michael Meyers turned out, so let’s see what’s up with Freddy.

OK, so I’m really divided on this figure. On the one hand, the stylized design they went with here feels like a lot more of a reach than it did with The Shape, but I can’t deny that this is a pretty bad ass sculpt and it does certainly incorporate a lot of Freddy’s most iconic points. His red and green sweater is torn to shreds and hanging like a sash over his horribly burned skin. Likewise, his brown trousers are slashed showing more horrible burns. I really do love the way they did the skin! He has a belt and a bit of a skirt around his waist and furry barbarian boots, because… Savage World! And once again, I’ll point out that Funko invested some really nice detail into these sculpts. Just look at the stitch marks on the boots and bracers.

The head sculpt is also a bit of give and take. The quality of the sculpt is great, and I can see a little Freddy in there, but it’s the hood that throws it off. Yeah, in keeping with the theme of the line, they traded in Freddy’s dirty brown fedora for a brown hood. It’s probably the best solution, but it does compromise the look quite a bit, whereas Meyers’ noggin was able to remain fully intact for his figure.

The articulation here is a simple six points. You get swivels in the neck, shoulders, and waist, and ball joints in the hips. He can balance pretty well, despite his squat pose, and the quality of the plastic used is remarkably solid. He’s not going to win any contests for posing, but there’s enough articulation here to have some fun with him.

Freddy comes with one accessory and that’s his famous glove, or at least Savage World’s interpretation of it. It looks like a cross between his traditional glove and some kind of barbarian weapon, and it snaps right over his hand and holds on pretty well. I dig it!

I wasn’t sure about this guy going in, but I’ll admit that Savage World Freddy won me over in the end. The design may not be as tight this time around, but he’s got a ton of personality, a great sculpt, and some decent paintwork. At $12.99, the price still feels a couple bucks too high, but I won’t quibble too much about it. I’m going to try my best to get a couple more of these opened and reviewed before Halloween on Wednesday, but right now Freddy and Michael Meyers are having a great time battling it out on my desk.

Oct 29 2018

Marvel Legends: AIM Scientist and AIM Trooper by Hasbro

Once again, I’m setting aside random chance and bumping some new Marvel Legends figures to the head of the line. Why? Because I just couldn’t wait to open this set, and it’s nice to be current and topical every now and then before going back to opening figures from four waves ago that no one is interested in anymore. Not to mention, I’ve been carrying a little grudge against the AIM Trooper ever since he was first released and absolutely impossible for me to find and now I can finally set all that ill-will to rest.

Behold… the AIM two-pack! If you remember the Hydra two-pack from not that long ago, then the idea and format behind this set should be familiar. Like the Hydra set, this one re-packs a popular troop builder and sort of kitbashes another one, while tossing in a whole bunch of recycled stuff to buff out your forces. The packaging features a large window that shows all the goodies laid out over an illustrated backdrop, and boy does it show off a lot of stuff! Is it a shameless cash-grab, or an opportunity to build up your AIM forces? Well, why can’t it be both? Let’s start with the AIM scientist.

Keep in mind, the AIM Scientist isn’t a straight repack of the 2014 figure. The sculpt appears to be the same, but there are some paint differences. And since I don’t have the previous release for comparisons, this figure is basically all new to me and I am absolutely in love with this figure. I don’t know if it’s because of how much I dig the crazy concept of AIM, their goofy beekeeper costumes, or that I’ve built up so much anticipation over this figure in my mind. Maybe it’s a combination of all three. Whatever the case, the AIM Scientist features a yellow jumpsuit with a sculpted button down front flap on the chest, a stylish black and yellow belt, high black collar, tall black boots with buckles and pointed toes, and black gauntlets that reach up to his elbows. It’s a sharp looking suit, and I’m not ashamed to say I dig the yellow and black deco. After all, why do all evil organizations need to dress in dark and sinister colors?

In addition to the stock costume, the Scientist features a brown shoulder strap with some sculpted pouches on the front and back and some silver canister grenades. The stock head features the iconic flat-topped bee-keeper’s hood with a textured screen pattern over the visor. There are other head options, but I’ll come back to that a little later. Also, the articulation here is standard stuff, and since I have so much to cover today, I’ll just be lazy and refer you back to any of my other 200+ Marvel Legends reviews where you’ll get a good idea about what to expect. Suffice it to say, the poseability is great. Now, let’s check out some weapons!

I’m pretty sure we’ve seen this rifle before, and I think I remember throwing some shade at it in the past, but I think it fits in pretty well with the AIM crowd. It looks futuristic and like something AIM would have cooked up. I also absolutely love it in the yellow and black deco. It brings out the details in the sculpt beautifully and the blue paint applications show that little bit of extra care that Hasbro doesn’t always show toward the Legends weapons. It’s also branded “AIM” on the side. I love that!

Next up, you get this crazy pistol and I’m not as big a fan of this one. I guess I can give it a pass because, again it’s unconventional design works well for an AIM weapon. Here the blue paint on the end of the barrel makes it look a little toyish, similar to the orange plugs they put into toy guns these days. Not bad, but not my favorite.

And that brings me to my least favorite weapon in the box, and that’s this little shotgun with the drum magazine. Once again, I do appreciate that Hasbro actually branded it, “AIM,” on the drum, but mine came right out of the package all warped and with a droopy barrel. I also don’t think the yellow works as well on this weapon. Maybe if they had added some black, but as it is, this little gun is getting tossed into The Tote of Forgotten Accessories™. Before moving on to the next figure, let’s take a look at just two more accessories…

The set includes this backpack and brown shoulder straps. The straps are a separate piece and fit onto the figure pretty easily, while the backpack simply pegs into the back through a hole in the shoulder rig. You can, of course, use the backpack without the shoulder rig, but I think it compliments it very well. Also, while the rig will work with the shoulder strap, I found it’s better to take the shoulder strap off. In case you don’t recognize it, this backpack is recycled from the fairly recent Deathlok figure, and I have to say the deco does a decent job of obscuring that fact. It’s cast in yellow plastic, and in keeping with the AIM equipment theme, it has some blue paint apps, as well as silver paint on the central piece. Pretty cool! Now lets move on to the AIM Trooper…

Or AIM Shock Trooper, as he’s referred to on the back of the package. From the neck down, this fellow is a straight repaint of Paladin from the Sasquatch Wave and, while some may scoff, I wholeheartedly approve. Paladin’s tactical suit works brilliantly here in it’s new black and yellow deco, complete with the molded holster on his left thigh and the integral sheath on his right leg armor. Nope, Hasbro didn’t tweak a thing here when it comes to the sculpt, but there’s some great stuff here and I still really dig the texturing on the armor plates. The color scheme favors black a lot more than the traditional AIM Scientist uniform but I think it’s faithful enough to still conform to AIM dress codes. Some extra paint hits include the sculpted straps and buckles that hold on the chest and back armor, as well as some silver paint on the holster’s thigh straps. And hey, at least they didn’t repack the figure with the Paladin head, right?

Oooh. Oh no. That’s a bold move, Hasbro! The Paladin head is indeed included with a AIM-ified black and yellow paint job and some light blue for the goggles. It works OK, but I think it works better as an unmasked head for the Scientist.

Yeah, that looks good and it’s not quite as “on the nose” as using it with the Paladin body. Until I get at least one more of these sets, I won’t be displaying this head at all, but I’m not going to totally dismiss the idea of using it once I have some more AIM Troopers. Besides, the AIM Trooper comes packaged with a much better choice, if you ask me.

The stock head is from the 2016 release of Scourge/Demolition Man and I think it looks pretty damn cool with the AIM deco and it looks especially appropriate for the Paladin body. This is very likely the head I’ll go with for this figure, but you do get one more option.

And that’s the second Beekeeper head. To be honest, I didn’t think this head was going to work at all on this figure, but I’m not hating it. Not at all! OK, so enough with the head talk, let’s check out this guy’s weapons…

I’ve already mentioned that he has Paladin’s holster and sheath, so obviously he comes with Paladin’s pistol and combat knife. No complaints here, as these are both great little weapons. The knife’s hilt is painted yellow while the pistol’s receiver is painted yellow. It’s all part of pushing that AIM brand!

The AIM Trooper also comes with a rifle and this is one we’ve seen before and which I’ve never liked, but I’m not really hating it here. Once again, it’s the odd design that works pretty well as some kind of strange AIM invention. And like the AIM Soldier’s rifle, this one is also branded with AIM on the side. With a few of these rifles consigned to the Tote of Forgotten Accessories™, it’s nice to have one version that I actually like. And obviously, while I refer to some weapons belonging to the Trooper and some to the Scientist, that’s just based on their proximity on the tray. Sure, Paladin’s knife and pistol are meant to go with the Trooper, but the rest are free to be mixed and matched as you like.

And before wrapping up, the AIM Trooper also comes with his own shoulder rig to work with the backpack. I’ve got to say, I think it looks much better on this guy and it was probably intended for him from the start. Still, it’s nice to have the option to put it on either figure.

I remember an odd amount of collector backlash over the Hydra set and I’m not sure if the same will be the case here. Personally, I couldn’t be happier with this release. Not only did it finally get the AIM Scientist into my collection, and not only does it give me an opportunity to get a few more, but Hasbro created a pretty cool original design for the AIM Trooper. I try not to do a lot of troop building these days, because I’m so tight on space, but I’m definitely going to be on the hunt for more of these. Besides, the $43 I paid for this set ain’t too far off what the original AIM Scientist was going for when I was hunting him.

Oct 26 2018

Savage World (Halloween Resurrection): Michael Meyers by Funko

If you follow me on Twitter, than you know I’m doing a #HalloweenCountdown by featuring some of my past horror-themed figure reviews. I’ve also promised to pepper in some new content for the Countdown and that’s exactly what I’m doing right now with my first look at Funko’s Savage World series of 5 1/2-inch action figures. And since I’m going to check out the new Halloween flick tonight, I thought I’d kick it off with The Shape himself, Michael Meyers!

This wave of Savage World figures answers what is possibly one of the best examples of a question nobody has ever asked: What do you get when you mix the vintage Mattel Masters of the Universe style with 70’s/80’s horror film slashers? This is a concept so bewilderingly weird and yet so intriguing, I simply had to pick up this assortment. The figure comes on a very basic bubble-and-card affair and I’ll note that this version of Michael comes from Halloween: Resurrection. The best thing I can say about that mess is that at least it actually had Jamie Lee Curtis in it. Anyway, this package is most definitely not collector friendly, so let me grab a nice sharp knife and slit it open.

And here he is out of the package and all ‘roided out! The first thing I noticed once this figure was in hand was how solid it is. I was expecting these to feel like some kind of cheap rack toys (because… Funko!), but the plastic quality is actually great. Michael has traded in his jumpsuit for a medival-looking belted tunic. Actually, it looks like the tunic could have been fashioned from his more traditional jumpsuit as it’s still got the outlines of stitched pockets sculpted on the chest and the bottom is ragged enough to look like it was torn in half. The sleeves have also been torn off to display Michael’s impressive guns, and he’s got a pair of sculpted wrist bracers. Below the belt, he’s got some simple leggings with sculpted bands wrapped around his thighs and a pair of buccaneer style boots. The stitching up the back of the boots is a great little touch.

While I think the body is fine, the real high point of this figure is in the head sculpt. Funko did an excellent job recreating the white Shatner mask with great attention to detail. You get some sharp facial contours as well as some spots of wear sculpted into it. The shock of hair and the black voids he has for eyes are also both perfect. I’d almost argue that the head isn’t stylized enough to go with the body. It really is that good!

The articulation here is as basic as it gets. You get swivels in the neck, waist, and shoulders and ball joints in the hips. No one is going to get any great poses out of this guy, but there’s just enough articulation to have a little fun with him.

Meyers come with two accessories, which are two of the same kitchen knives. It’s a pretty iconic weapon for him, so I’m cool with that. What’s not so cool is that his right hand is way too big to hold either one. He can, however hold one in his left hand fairly well.

Surprisingly enough, Savage World Michael Meyers is just what I needed to hold me over until NECA can get their version from the new film onto toy shelves. Sure, this figure is goofy and it doesn’t make any sense, but I can appreciate that being part of what makes him so much fun. Plus, when I eventually get around to opening my Savage World Mortal Kombat figures, I can get some epic crossover battles going! I’m not sure what the official retail on these actually is, but I picked up Meyers here for $12.99. It’s a tad more than I wanted to spend. I think the sweet spot on these would be around ten bucks, but then I’m also pretty surprised at how good the quality is.

Oct 26 2018

Masters of the Universe Classics: Granita by Super7

I was supposed to be opening my fourth and final figure in Super7’s most recent Collector’s Choice wave today, but I got side-tracked last week and forgot to include these in the rotation. Yeah, sorry about that. But today I’m putting things to right by getting back on track and opening up Granita, the “Heroic Comet Combatant!” And I have to be honest, this is going to be a rough ride…

At some point in the 80’s, toy company execs crumbled under the enormous pressure (and probably copious amounts of cocaine) to come up with new ideas… and the rock transformers were born! For the Go-Bots it was the Rock Lords and for Masters of the Universe, it was the Comet Warriors, Rokkon and Stonedar. That pair got updates in Matty’s MOTUC line, but their among the few figures I never hunted down (and yet, I bought the Star Sisters, so… go figure!). I probably wouldn’t have bothered with this third Comet Warrior, Granita, either, but she was in an assortment with three other figures I wanted real bad, so let’s check her out.

As a Comet Warrior, Granita comes with her rock armor, but we’ll start with the base figure. She looks good and I get a strong Filmation vibe off of her, despite the fact that I don’t remember ever seeing her in the cartoon. She’s got light blue skin and a somewhat futuristic looking red and pink one-piece as well as some matching knee and elbow pads that make her look like she should be wearing roller-skates. But nope, just some low boots. She also has a gold belt with sockets in the front and back, and we’ll come back to those. Granita’s design is simple enough, but I like it, and the coloring and quality of paint are all up to snuff to make for a nice looking figure.

I also dig her head sculpt a lot. She’s pretty and has a somewhat distant and serene expression that makes her look alien, and a dome of green “hair” which is supposed to be rock, but honestly looks more like hair… unless you attach the rock piece to her back and here it looks a bit more like longer, stone hair. It does mess with the ball joint under her chest, but I could still see myself displaying her with this piece on. And believe me, this is the only one of her rock pieces that works reasonably well. I say, reasonably because the color doesn’t quite match and no matter how hard I adjust it, there’s always a big gap between her hair and the lower back piece. Also, I’m not really sure how stone hair works. Does she get gravel instead of dandruff?

Granita’s other rock pieces consist of a shell piece and four pieces of rock armor that clip onto her arms and legs… well, in theory they do. To be fair, I can get these to stay on well enough if she’s just standing in place, but as soon as I pick her up or try to pose her they fall off because the clips are just way too loose. I can’t even begin to articulate how frustrating this is. Get one three pieces on and another falls off. It’s a shame because they did a nice job sculpting the stone and I love the circuitry printed on the interior of the pieces. It’s even painted over with a metallic silver to bring out the detail. But what befuddles me is: How could they not get these clips to work right? It seems like a simple enough concept. And hell, if they couldn’t get the clips to work, they should have just had them peg into the figure. Of course, all of this gets pretty problematic when I try to transform her into her rock mode.

Here you can see that her rock mode is just her bending over into the extra rock piece with her armor forming a shell. I left two of the pieces off in the above shot to show what’s going on in there. But forget about actually getting her to transform into her rock form without the armor falling off. I found the only way to go is to bend her over and then put all the pieces on afterwards, and even that is an exercise in frustration, not to mention when you’re done you just have a lump of green plastic rock, so I’m not sure the ends justify the profanity-enduing means.

“This is fine!”

In addition to her dubious rock parts, Granita also comes with a little blaster pistol and I do dig the design of this thing. It’s got a cool retro vibe to it, with a big gold disk on the end. And as a nod to the vintage toy, you can even plug it into the hole on her belt. On the downside, her hands with the outward pointing thumbs, aren’t the best choice to go with this weapon.

When I set out to open this figure and write this review, I had no idea how dire things were going to turn out. No, I’m actually not disappointed to have Granita in my collection. The figure itself looks good and she displays fine with the rock pieces on, but this is a case where the gimmick fails so miserably that they would have been better off working around it. I would have been much happier to get the figure with stylized and permanently attached rock armor while not being able to transform her into a lump of space rock. Honestly, it’s not a great gimmick to begin with. Maybe I would probably be a lot happier if I had Stonedar and her brother Rokkon to display with her, but I’m not likely to hunt those down and so Granita will have to remain the sole (and highly mediocre) Comet Warrior in my collection.

Oct 24 2018

Mythic Legions (Advent of Decay): Gwendolyn Heavensbrand by The Four Horsemen

If you follow me on Twitter, than you know I spent this past weekend absolutely obsessed with Mythic Legions! It was back in February of 2017 that I backed Advent of Decay, The Four Horsemen’s second Mythic Legions Kickstarter. With something like 43 figures offered, this project was even more expansive then the first, and it introduced some new elements to the mix, like female characters, as well as Elves and Goblins. I gladly forked over my entire 2017 tax return (and maybe a little more) in what was the largest sum I had ever spent on a single toy purchase. Yeah, it was 34 figures, but still all in one lump sum. And then the long, hard wait began. The figures were originally planned to arrive in April of this year, but if you’ve Kickstarted anything, you know that delays are nearly inevitable. And that was fine with me. You can’t rush art, not even in 6-inch action figure form. And art is exactly what we got.

That’s not to say I got everything yet. The figures finally started shipping last week, and I got my first box this past weekend with 24 figures. T4H are shipping some larger orders separately, which isn’t a bad thing because it’ll give me time to really enjoy these before getting more. It took me quite a while just to open these figures and give them a once over for QC purposes. And while I admit, I’ll rest easier once I get that second shipping notice, I’m content to wait so that everyone can start getting their figures in a timely manner. Anywho… I thought I’d kick things off with Gwendolyn Heavensbrand, since she was the figure I chose as my backer reward, before adding 33 more to the Backerkit. I’ll note here that the above is the last packaged shot I’ll be doing for this series. These packages take up a lot of space and I’m going to be putting them away in storage for the time being, and probably eventually getting rid of them. Suffice it to say, the packaging hasn’t changed much since the previous series. It is collector friendly, there have been some minor art changes on the card, and you get a character bio printed on the side of the bubble insert. All you really need to know is that she’s Sir Gideon’s sister, so let’s get Ms. Heavensbrand out and see what we’ve got!

I have a running gag with my other Mythic Legions reviews, where each one I open is my new favorite. Here’s a case, where it may be true. No, I’m serious! Well, if she isn’t my favorite, then I have to say Gwen is one of the most visually striking figures I own in any line that I collect. The new female armored buck easily rivals anything we got in the first assortment, and nudges that bar up just a tad. The armor is just bulky enough to be convincing, and yet still keeps all of Gwen’s curves in tact. At the same time the sculpted detail here is just insane. Every over-lapping plate, every segmented hinge, every little rivet, strap, buckle, fastener, even the glimpses of chain mail exposed at the joints, it’s all lovingly crafted on this figure. To say nothing of the etched ornamentation present on the center stripe running down the chest plate. This is a fine example of T4H at the top of their game, and that’s really saying something, because their worst is on par with most other companies’ best.

Likewise, the paintwork on this figure has all the chops needed to compliment the sculpt. The sumptuous gold leaf paint used on the armor is rich and satiny with just the right amount of sheen. This stuff makes Sir Gideon’s gold armor look rather flat by comparison. Add to that the metallic purple used on the secondary panels, and you have a deco that really pops beautifully. And then we come to the finer details, like the individually painted silver buckles on those straps, the tiny silver painted rivets, and the slightly more gray finish of the exposed chainmail. The choice of colors, the quality of paint, and the precision of application are all excellent. One thing that’s different this time around is the joints on the figure are left unpainted. I think this was a good idea, as the painted joints in previous assortments would sometimes cause stuck joints and the paint would usually just rub off anyway as the joints were worked. In some areas, like the backs of the knees, it looks OK as the gray plastic sort of matches the chainmail. It’s a lot more obvious on the shoulder hinges, but only if you choose to display the figure without the shoulder armor.

Gwen comes out of the package wearing her helmeted head and it is a lovely portrait. The previous assortments of Mythic Legions didn’t feature a lot of human head sculpts, and I think that was a good thing, because I didn’t find any of the human portraits to be exceptional. Here, it feels like T4H upped their game a lot. Gwen is quite the looker, and I’m particularly impressed with the paint on display here. Both the eyes and lips have a really nice glossy finish to them and there’s a bit of rosiness to her cheeks. The form fitting helmet features the same luscious gold paint as the rest of her armor with a little of that metallic purple carrying over to the chin. And you can’t miss that monstrous purple plume spilling out of the back and flowing down the back of her head. It’s a separate piece that plugs into a socket at the back of the helmet.

While it’s a shame to mask all that beauty, the visor on Gwen’s helmet can be lowered into place to protect her from messing up her pretty face in the heat of battle. Between the classical design of the helmet and the gold paint, I’m instantly reminded of the vintage Marx Knights, and that’s not at all a bad thing. The protective bars on the visor are wide enough that you can easily see her face through the visor, and I really dig the pierced breathing holes down around the lower face. And since apparently two display options for the head aren’t enough…

We also get an un-helmeted head, and… Wow! Everything I said about the Gwen’s face on the helmeted head goes double here. I love the paint on her eyes and lips and I really dig the sweeping motion of her hair and the way it partially obscures the left side of her face. It adds some wonderful depth to the portrait, and I’m not even concerning myself with the fact that there’s no way she could get that coif contained within that form-fitting helmet of hers. I’m worried that deciding which head to display this figure with is going to keep me up at night. But then these are good problems to have. Let’s talk swords and belts…

Gwendolyn comes with the ubiquitous brown sword belt that we’ve seen with every Mythic Legions figure since the line began. Part of me wishes T4H had tweaked this design a bit, and maybe even worked on some proper scabbards, but then these belts work fine and I’m happy to keep them for aesthetic continuity. The belt rests loosely on her hips and the sword passes through the loop where it can rest on her hip, down the front, or as I like to do it, a little behind the hip. Any of these configurations work fine for her standard single-handed sword.

The sword itself appears to be new, but it’s extremely similar to the one included with her brother, Sir Gideon. Mythic Legions is a line that’s all about the economy of parts sharing and sometimes that’s more evident in the accessories than the actual figures. With that having been said, I like the no-nonsense design of the weapon. It’s got a classic cruciform hilt with a straight crossguard and a disc pommel. Gideon’s sword had a grip that swelled in the middle, whereas this one tapers toward the pommel. The hilt is all in gold with the blade painted a bright silver. Of course, when Gwen wants to make more of a statement…

She also has a much larger two-handed sword. As always, you have the option to use the belt as a shoulder strap to sling the sword diagonally across the back, which is great for Gwen’s larger sword. On the downside, this method works best when you remove one of the pieces of shoulder armor, and if you’re a fan of symmetry like I am, this may not be the look for you. It’s also worth noting that Gwen’s copious plume gets in the way a bit, but it will work.

This sword is a beautiful piece, with a golden hilt, extended grip, fluted pommel and down-sloping crossguard. There are even a pair of red painted crystals in the hilt. The long double-edged blade even features a pair of parrying flukes extending from the blade. One of the things about this line reusing so many weapons: When you get a new one like this, it sure is a treat!

Gwen also comes with a shield, and here we see some old and new. The shield itself is the same configuration we’ve seen dozens of times over. This one is even painted to match her brother’s although the size and placement of the crest is a little different. The edges are painted silver and the face is gold to match her armor. My shield has some notable scuffs and brush marks on it, which I’m going to assume is not intentional, although it does look like it could easily pass as weathering. So what’s different?

The grip! Gone is the plastic clip and in it’s place is this L-shaped grip, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, the old clips could be at risk of stressing and snapping the more you take them on and off the figure’s arm. Granted, I haven’t had that happen with any of mine, but it has happened with one of my Marvel Legends Captain America shields, and that works on the same design. Also, I sometimes worry about the clip scratching the paint on the figures when putting it on and taking it off. This new system definitely sets aside either of those concerns, and it certainly works, but it feels a lot more unwieldy. It looks fine when viewed from the front and you can still position the shield in almost any orientation, but when viewed from behind or the side I think it can look awkward. Of course, the peg it attaches to is the same, so you can feel free to swap it out with any of the shield clips from the older Mythic Legions figures.

I’d apologize for all the gushing, but when it comes to my Mythic Legions reviews, everyone should expect it by now. It seemed only right to start out with Gwen, since I started with her brother back when my Mythic Legions reviews began, and I think it was cool they offered another one of the Heavensbrand clan as a Backer Reward this time around. And thus begins what will be a long stretch of Mythic Legion Wednesdays as I work my way through this amazing collection of figures. I’m even going to do my best to squeeze another one in on a Tuesday or Wednesday when time allows. I know there have been smaller assortments of figures leaking out since the last Kickstarter, but damn it feels great to have a whole box of brand new Legions again!

 

 

Oct 22 2018

Marvel Legends (Cull Obsidian Wave): Thor by Hasbro

It’s Monday again and that means it’s time for another random Marvel Legends review here at FFZ. This week my sticky fingers caught hold of another figure from the Cull Obsidian Wave, and it’s Thor from Infinity War! I’ve already checked out Ant-Man, Wasp, and Black Widow from this wave, so I’m finally more than halfway done. But with opening only one of these a week, it feels like Avengers 4 will be out before I even finish with the Infinity War figures.

And here’s the beautiful Pirate-Angel himself in the package, and between the figure, accessory, and BAF part, this tray is pretty damn full. This is actually the second version of Thor that Hasbro has released from Infinity War. The other is part of a three-pack with Rocket and Groot, and don’t worry I’ll get around to opening that one eventually.

Thor’s look has changed a bit throughout the films, and for me, I don’t think anything has surpassed his look in the original Avengers. That suit is so colorful and regal and it’s the one version of the character I display on my Hot Toys shelf. But I get the reason for costume changes. It not only sells new toys, but from a tonal standpoint, bright and colorful Thor would not have looked right in a film like Infinity War.

With all that having been said, this suit is fine, it’s just a little drab and boring to me. The chest armor is black, the trousers are black, the boots are black, the wrist bracers are black. The only real color being expressed here is the metallic silver used for his armored sleeves and the bit of red trim around the shoulders of the cape and the discs where they attach. And of course the cape itself. What’s a little frustrating here is that even though there’s so little paint on the figure, they still managed to get sloppy with the red around the trim of the discs where the cape attaches. There is, however, a nice little metallic sheen around the armor and the boots have a bit of a dark coppery wash to them.

The head sculpt here is excellent in terms of detail and realism, and I think it hits the mark pretty close on likeness. Here, Thor looks a tad older and more haggard, but it’s close enough for me. Indeed, I think it’s impressive how much Hasbro’s Hemsworth sculpt has improved in the short time since the Ragnarok figures were on the pegs. The painted skin tone is so much better than the waxy bare plastic we’ve seen in the past, the hair sculpt is extremely well done, and you even get a little bit of scar showing over the right eye. And yes, this is Thor after Rocket gave him a replacement eye.

Articulation holds few surprises, but let’s run down the points anyway. The legs have ball joints in the hips, swivels in the thighs, double hinges in the knees, and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. There is no swivel in the waist, but you do get a ball joint under the chest. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and double hinges in the elbows. The neck is both hinged and ball jointed.

Thor comes with his brand new weapon, Stormbreaker and it is a beautiful accessory. The blade is cast in a satin-metallic silver and I really dig the way the handle (Groot’s severed arm) weaves itself around the head. I think this is one of the best looking accessories I’ve seen out of Legends in a long while.

Stormbreaker also comes with a lightning effect part, cast in soft blue translucent plastic and molded so that it can be snaked around the weapon. Some of you may know that I’m seldom impressed with the effect parts that Hasbro occasionally bundles with these figures, so it’s probably no surprise that this one will be going into the dreaded and bottomless Tote of Forgotten Accessories™. Hey, it’s fine and I’m never going to argue about getting something extra with a figure, but I just don’t have a lot of use for these things.

I like this figure a lot, but I’m mainly coming away really wishing that Hasbro would take another crack at The Avengers Thor. They’ve upped their game so much since the days of that Walmart Exclusive wave, I’d like to see my favorite version of The Mightiest Avenger get a re-do. Then again, I’m not sure I want to open the can of worms where I’m re-buying all these characters again. I mean, I’m already so hopefully behind on buying and opening this line of figures, that maybe we should just leave things well enough alone. Suffice it to say this is a solid enough figure and he’ll look great alongside the rest of the Infinity War crew when I finally get them all together and set up.

Oct 19 2018

Vitruvian HACKS (Series 2): Female Orc Conqueror by Boss Fight Studio

It’s been a while, since I last looked at some Vitruvian HACKS figures here at FFZ. My original plan was to get through all my backlog of this line before Mythic Legions: Advent of Decay started shipping. But guess what’s showing up at my door later on today! Yup, a big chunk of my Mythic Legions figures. And while it’s too late to make up for lost time now, I thought I’d sneak one more HACKS figure into the mix before I have to give up one day a week to Advent of Decay for the foreseeable future. And yeah, I know I was supposed to do another Super7 Masters Classics review this week, but I’ll come back to those next week. Anywho… today I’m dipping back into the fantasy inspired Vitruvian HACKS Series 2 and opening up the female version of the Orc Conqueror!

As always, these 4-inch figures come in a collector friendly card and bubble with some solid artwork on the front and a “Collect Them All” style layout on the back. You also get a bio on the back that tells us a little about the She-Orc. While the male Orc was dubbed a “Savage Warrior,” the female appears to be the brains of the Orc outfit, as her title is “Female Orc Strategist.” In case you missed it, I reviewed the Male Orc Conqueror way back in April.

From the waist up, this green femme fatale is built off of BFS’ regular nude (but green skinned!) female buck, which means all the costume bits on her upper half are separately sculpted and actually worn on the buck. These include her shoulder armor, the bracers on her biceps and forearms, and her battle-bra. All these pieces are painted in a nice gold finish, and they each feature some great sculpted details. Some notable touches include the spikes on her shoulder piece and the tiny spiked rivets on her bracers. It never ceases to impress me the way BFS are able to craft removable armor pieces at this 4-inch scale and have them fit so well and look so good.

Alas, I have to point out a little QC problem on my figure, where the shoulder strap for the armor was separated from the cross strap on my figure. It looks like it just pulled apart and it can probably be glued back into place, but it’s worth noting nonetheless. It’s also the first time I’ve encountered any kind of QC problem on any of my HACKS figures, and I’ve opened and reviewed nearly twenty of them so far. That’s not a bad track record, but at about $20 a pop, I’d just as soon not have any issues. Anyway…

Below the waist, her legs are sculpted with trousers and high boots, so nothing removable down there, ya pervs. She does, however, have armor for her hips, as well as the front and back of her groin, which is sculpted as a separate piece and painted in the same sumptuous gold as the rest of her armor. The belt and hip armor fits well, but it tends to ride up when posing the figure in wide stances. And while the coloring is quite nice on this figure, the paint feels a bit more basic than what I’ve seen on other figures in this line.

This Fem-Orc comes with two different head sculpts, the first of which is a regular unmasked head. This is a solid head sculpt, but not really extraordinary. I think they tried to go for an attractive look, and I would have preferred something a little more savage. Her dainty little tusks protruding from those full and pouty lips is a tad weird to me. The red eyes are a nice touch, and she has a well-defined nose as well as strong contours to her face. I also think the hair sculpt is a bit of a strange choice. It reminds me a little of something I’ve seen actresses from the 1940’s wearing. So, all in all, not a bad portrait, but maybe not the direction that I would have gone.

The other head sculpt features a really cool skull battle mask, and this one I dig a lot. The detail and paint on the skull are both superb, and I love how clearly they sculpted the area around her eyes that can be seen through the mask. The skull piece covers up most of the mouth, as well as the front part of the hair, and just looks a lot more savage and warlike. I also like the option of using this head for potential troop building. If these figures were a little cheaper, I’d definitely pick up another pair of these, remove the shoulder pieces and have them wearing the masked heads and flanking an unmasked She-Orc as her personal guards.

The HACKS line has been pretty great about including loads of extra accessories, but Ms. Orc here comes up a little short in that department. In addition to the ubiquitous Boss Fight Studio themed figure stand and the extra set of hands with the differently aligned wrist hinges, she comes with two weapons and a shield. The first weapon is this big and beefy knife. It looks like it was forged out of a single piece of metal with some leather wraps to make up a grip. I like the nicked edge and the scrapes on the face of the blade. It looks crude and well used, just like any Orc weapon should!

And then we have the club and the shield. The club is even more crude looking than the knife, with a twisted head and spikes that look like they’re made out of claws or teeth woven into it. The grip is sculpted to look like it’s wrapped and there’s a hooked talon protruding from the end. It’s just an ugly tool for killing and I dig it a lot.

The shield is the same one that came with the Male Orc Conqueror and that’s fine by me because I absolutely love this thing. The surface is sculpted to look like it’s made from wooden boards and the sculpted metal rim and central boss are pitted and worn, with several nicks and pieces missing around the edge. It’s got a ton of personality. The reverse side is equally detailed with two sculpted “metal” strips reinforcing it and a grab bar running down the middle. There are also a pair of loops if you want to attach a string so she can wear it on her back.

I like the Female Orc Conqueror a lot, but there are a few minor hiccups here, which places her a notch or two below what I’m used to seeing in this line. The QC issue on the shoulder strap is certainly disappointing and I’ll also toss in here the fact that I had to shave some mold flashing from around her elbow joints to get them to work. And while I’ll admit two weapons, a shield, and an extra head is not too shabby, the package still feels really light on the accessories, especially when compared to the Male Orc Conqueror’s vast inventory of goodies. That’s not to say I’m in any way sorry I picked her up, and if BFS ever happens to have a sale, I may find myself with a couple more!

Oct 17 2018

Star Wars Black (Solo): Moloch by Hasbro

Solo may have had disappointing returns at the Box Office, but I enjoyed the hell out of it, and Hasbro is still supporting it with their 6-inch Black Series. Not only are we getting a second wave of figures hitting soon, and not long around the film’s home release, but Target is offering a Deluxe Exclusive of Moloch, the Grindalid Enforcer of the White Worms!

Like Target’s other Black Series Exclusive, Moloch comes in a larger, bulkier version of the standard Black Series box. As this is an exclusive, there’s no number on the side, but you do get a little bio blurb on the back and the package is totally collector friendly. The wider box allows this larger figure to be viewed through the window beside his accessories and I think he displays great in the package. I may actually keep this box!

And he’s not too shabby out of the box either! I thought this Moloch had a cool design in the film and Hasbro has translated it to action figure form quite nicely. He has sculpted plastic robes with a an additional layer cast in a sleeveless soft plastic with the sleeves sculpted onto the arms. It gives the figure’s outfit a lot of depth and the robes themselves feature some texturing as well as sculpted stitch lines. You can even see his sleeves protruding from the shorter sleeves of the robe. He’s also wearing sculpted gloves with reinforced leather-like patches on the backs of his hands.

Moloch looks like a humanoid, but looks can be deceiving. He’s apparently the same species as Lady Proxima, and that means that he’s really just a big worm with arms. If you peek under the robes, you won’t see legs, but just a big, bloated worm body and I really dig that. The stubby worm legs actually run all the way up his body. Here’s a case where I really wish Hasbro had gone for softgoods for this Moloch’s robes. It would have allowed me to get a much better look at the worm body under there, but I suppose you could argue that the costume wouldn’t have looked as good. Either way, being a worm means that there aren’t a lot of points of articulation on this fellow. The arms have the usual rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, but apart from a ball joint in the waist, that’s all you get.

The figure comes unmasked in the package, but I started out with his face all closed up. The covered worm body protrudes out of the robes and hunches over to have the “head” encased in a giant ring and mask with breathing apparatus. There’s some particularly nice attention to detail here in the sculpt. The surface of the mask looks pitted and old in some areas, there’s further detailing on the flat “nose” piece, and the segmented tubes that come out the sides are a nice touch. The bulk of the mask is not removable, but the face plate can be taken off to get a look at Moloch’s real mug inside.

And it turns out he’s a blue-eyed slug. Hasbro did a fantastic job with the sculpting and paint on the worm head. He’s got some cool wrinkling around his eyes and a pair of slits for nostrils. The skin tone has some different shades and there’s a slightly glossy finish, which makes the plastic look like honest-to-god alien worm skin. Obviously, the removable mask isn’t a surprise, since the figure comes packaged with it off, but this feature still delighted me to no end and goes a long way to make this figure feel like it’s worth the Deluxe price tag.

In addition to the removable mask, Moloch comes with two more accessories. The first is this staff. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a weapon, like a mace, or just some kind of badge of office, and I’m not even sure what the disgusting mass is supposed to be at the end. He may just run around threatening to touch people with it. Either way, he can hold it well in his left hand.

The second accessory is his blaster pistol, which can be worn on the holster on his belt. I’ve been a big fan of the blaster designs in some of the new Star Wars movies in general, but definitely in Rogue One and Solo in particular, and this little gun is a good example of why. It’s not what I would consider a conventional Star Wars design, but it has that same sense of a realistic looking firearm modified with sci-fi bits. I also really dig that they actually painted the wood grips.

Unlike the other Deluxe Target Exclusive in this line, Moloch was really easy for me to find. My Target had three of him on the shelf and he’s still been there the last few times I’ve been through the toy aisle. Granted, he’s not an army builder and maybe not as iconic a character as that Green Space Pig, but he is in excellent figure and I’m very glad I picked him up. The extra $10 he runs is somewhat justified by the larger size of the figure, although I can’t help but think that if this was a Marvel Legends he would have been the same price as a regular figure. I think the biggest missed opportunity is not giving him a Corellian Hound. I would have happily ponied up a little extra to get one of them!