Monthly Archives: May 2021

May 31 2021

Spider-Man and Mary Jane Maquette (Exclusive) by Sideshow

It’s been a week, but I’m back and ready for action… and something a little different for this Marvel Monday! When Sideshow solicited their new maquette based on J Scott Campbell’s cover for The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1, I may have sprained my button pushing finger on that pre-order button. And then the waiting came. And I mean WAITING! My pre-order was placed in November of 2019, and about a year and a half later this statue finally showed up. I’ll concede that my patience has been wearing thin with Sideshow and pre-orders these days. When I first got into this game, it seemed like six months was the standard, and now over a year is not uncommon. With the exception of a Must-Have piece like this, I’m going to start rolling my dice and trying my luck with buying after release. But I digress! Let’s get to the goods!

You can dig around in FFZ’s past to find that my love for J Scott Campbell’s work runs deep, and I’m always happy to see him turn his talents to Marvel characters. I probably have at least a half-dozen of his Mary Jane covers, all signed, but sadly I don’t have the cover of Renew Your Vows #1 that this work is based on. I do, however, have it as a signed 7×11 art print, and I’m pretty content with that. Still, the front of the box also has a recreation of the art for reference, along with a rap-around red brick deco of the NY apartment, which looks quite nice! The box is absolutely huge, clocking in at close to Premium Format proportions, while the statue itself measures only about 12-inches tall, making the figures close to sixth-scale. The boxes large size comes from the fact that this statue comes spread out in a lot of pieces. Yes, there’s assembly required, but it’s all done with one connecting rod and a lot of magnets. In the end, I had not troubles fitting anything together.

And here is the piece all set up and I am absolutely in love. The composition sees MJ reclining on a comfy purple armchair, propped up on a couple of blue pillows, with one leg out and the other folded back under it. Meanwhile, Peter squats on the back of the chair, unmasked but still in his Spidey outfit. Their arms are intertwined, framing MJ’s face in the center. I was especially curious to see how they were going to engineer that web of arms, and the execution was quite clever, and the connections are for the most part fairly seamless. Spidey is secured to the chair with a peg, but MJ simply rests in molded indentations in the chair, and yet it still feels solid, even when I was transporting it from the studio to the display shelf. It is a satisfyingly heavy piece, mainly because the sofa is a solid block of polyresin.

The attention to detail in the costumes aligns perfectly with the art. MJ is wearing a long t-shirt, cut-off jean shorts, and a pair of Spider-Man themed knee socks, while Spidey dons his classic blue and red suit. Every detail, including the web pattern is incorporated into the sculpt and the paint lines are immaculate. They did a nice job applying some blue shading to MJ’s white top, and I really like the gradient colors in the chair. Indeed, everything about the colors here just pop like crazy! I’m particularly in love with the vibrant blue used on Spidey’s outfit.

Both portraits are a real triumph and a credit to the sculptor, Steve Schumacher. He also did the Abby Chase Premium Format, and I also own his Domino Premium Format Figure. It always amazes me when someone can take the very distinctive art stylings of Campbell’s and translate it so perfectly to three-dimensions. I love Peter’s wide, beaming grin. It’s almost smug in knowing that he has indeed hit the jackpot. Meanwhile, MJ is just looking as gorgeous as she always does when JSC sets to drawing her. The paint application on both portraits is just about flawless.

There’s no actual base for this piece, the chair serves alone in that capacity, and I think that was a great idea. It sits slightly off the ground on four stubby legs, and remains perfectly stable with no wobble to worry about. I do, however, recommend displaying this one toward the back of the shelf, as MJ’s one leg does reach out pretty far in front and it would be a shame to catch it on your arm when walking by. The bottom of the chair has an illustrated finish, along with the hand-numbered statement of limitation. Yeah, I really should have snapped a picture of that before putting this thing together, but I was just too excited to do it. Mine is number 244 of the 1200 piece Exclusive run. So before wrapping, up let’s take a look at what makes this the Exclusive!

The Exclusive includes the little stuffed tiger that’s depicted in the original art. It’s an adorable little fellow and it’s designed to just sit right between MJ’s rump and the chair’s arm. Lucky bastard! This tiger really hit the jackpot! In reference to the cover art, the absence of the tiger is a bit conspicuous, so I’m not sure it was the best incentive for exclusive. I would have probably rather the tiger be included with the standard edition and we got a metal art card with the Exclusive, but then the Exclusive is still available at Sideshow, so anyone jumping on this even after release will be able to get it.

It’s tough for a collectible to live up to a year and a half’s worth of anticipation, but this maquette managed to pull it off. The paint and sculpt are both absolutely sterling, and the quality control is positively above reproach. I don’t think there was a single month in all that time where I didn’t find myself on Sideshow’s site and drooling over the pictures. And on the positive side, the $525 price tag is a lot easier to swallow when amortized over eighteen months. It’s great to have another killer piece for my ever expanding J Scott Campbell display.

May 23 2021

Out of Town!

I’m going to be Out of Town for the first half of the week, and since this was a working weekend for me I didn’t have time to front load any content. I definitely won’t be uploading anything Monday or Wednesday, but I’m hopeful for Friday! In the meantime, I’m handing the whole operation over to my cats. Enjoy!

By figurefanzero
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May 19 2021

Grimm Fairy Tales: Liesel Van Helsing Bishoujo Statue by Zenescope

If you’ve been a visitor to FFZ for a while, you no doubt already know that I have a special place in my heart for Zenescope comics. They were my safe haven when the Big Boys of Comics were playing politics, intentionally antagonizing their fans, and basically just turning out bad art and junk stories. As a contrast, Zenescope presented me with guilty pleasure and a means of escape that I look forward to a couple of times a month when my order shows up. They taught me to really enjoy comics again. By last count I have something like 850 floppies and trade paperbacks from The Big Z: A number that is enlarged by the amazing number of variant and limited collectible covers Zenescope turns out for most issues. Zenescope has dabbled with collectibles over the years, producing a few Sixth-Scale figures, and more recently a series of Bishoujo-style 1/7 scale statures by way of Kickstarter. Previous releases included Sela Mathers and Robyn Locksley, and this time around we’re getting Liesel Van Helsing!

There’s no denying that Zenescope took a page from Kotobukiya and their line of Bishoujo figures, many of which have been based on the characters of DC and Marvel comics, and that is immediately evident in the packaging. Liesel comes in a large window box with the figure itself nested between two clear plastic trays. The art that inspired this piece, by Jason Cardy, can be seen on the front as well as the side panels. The top panel has the Grimm Universe logo and the back panel has some copy about the character. Van Helsing tends to rival Robyn Hood for the title of my favorite Zenescope character, with the winner usually being whoever’s book I happen to be reading at the time. The statue comes out of the box fully assembled and ready to go, so let’s check her out!

And here she is… Van Helsing done up with a bit of Bishoujo cuteness. This Vamp-hunting Victorian out of time features a sculpted outfit that includes black knee-high boots, a pair of very tight, and very short black shorts, a red and black corset, white gauntlets, and a black long-sleeve jacket, with a red interior, that sweeps out like a cape. They omitted her trademark fishnets and I can certainly understand why, as they would be difficult to reproduce here. And even without them this outfit works as a very iconic look for the character. The pose looks like it’s straight off of a floppy cover, as Liesel stands with her feet wide apart, her crossbow drawn up in her right hand, while her left hand steadies her steampunk top hat. And while the pose is quite calculated and composed, Liesel’s wild hair and blowing jacket give it just the right bit of excitement.

While the costume is overall fairly simple in keeping with that anime style, there are still plenty of little flourishes of detail. Her boots have sculpted straps and buckles as well as rivets reinforcing the toes and heels. Likewise, her corset is secured with four sculpted belts, each buckled down the front. She has a brace of bolts for her crossbow lined up on her right hip, which is counterbalanced by a pouch on her left hip and another down on her left thigh. The coloring is a mix of matte and slight gloss for a bit of contrast, and the quality of the paint applications is quite solid. The skin tone is still a bit too waxy for my tastes, as opposed to the warm and more even plastic skin tone seen on the Kotobukiya figures, but it’s certainly not a deal breaker for me.

The portrait succeeds in painting Liesel with the pretty girl anime style, complete with large green eyes and small pouty lips. She has a slight air of determination as she sizes up her latest adversary. Her hair blowing wildly from under her stitched hat with the steampunk goggles. The crossbow has a great anachronistic look to it. From the modern pistol grip, to the old time wood finish, to the contemporary scope, it really characterizes Liesel’s steampunk heritage and practice of mating Old World thinking with modern technology in her inventions.

As with the previous releases, Van Helsing’s base is a simple black disk, which works well for this format. The statue doesn’t really need an environment for context, and the simple design doesn’t detract from the figure itself.

As I said when reviewing the previous two statues, these pieces are not in league with Kotobukiya’s own pieces, but Koto’s been in the game for a long time and the MSRP on their pieces have been ever on the rise. Zenescope, on the other hand, is still new to the game, and I think they’re doing a pretty bang up job on these. Last time, Van Helsing was teased on Robyn’s box, but there’s no such teaser here, so I’m hoping that this line will continue. I don’t see why it wouldn’t, as the Kickstarters have all well exceeded their goals, and Zenescope has been using the opportunity to merchandise a number of Add-On books and other extras. There are no doubt plenty of choices for the next one, from Mystere to Red Agent, Belle the Beast Hunter, Gretel the Witch-Slayer, Black Knight, or even Cinderella the Serial-Killer Princess! But to be fair, I think Skye Mathers really should be next, and it would be nice to display her next to her late mom, Sela.

May 17 2021

Marvel Legends (Mr. Hyde Wave): A.I. Tony Stark by Hasbro

Last week turned into a shit-show with work, so I wasn’t able to make it back with Friday content. The first half of this week is going to be no better, but I’ve managed to eek out a little bit of time for Marvel Monday. I needed to find something quick and easy, and the figure calling out to me from my pile of backlog was this very recent release of A.I. Tony Stark, a figure that I absolutely love for what it isn’t even meant to be!

Behold, the first, and probably last, figure that I’ll be reviewing in the Mr. Hyde Wave! I actually really do want that Hyde Build-A-Figure, but I have zero interest in the Shang-Chi movie, and I’m sure as heck not buying all those figures for the BAF parts. Based on how they’re clogging the pegs at Target here, I may get the opportunity to scoop them up on clearance for the BAF, but for now I’m sadly writing Mr. Hyde off. And while we’re on the subject… Why is A.I. Tony Stark even in this wave? It’s kind of weird because we’re actually getting Riri Williams in another wave, so why not put them in the same assortment?

And speaking of Riri… I’ll go ahead and clarify that I bought this figure as beautiful classic Iron Man and not as A.I. Stark from Invincible Ironman, a book which is a prime example of why I don’t read Marvel these days. I tried the first couple issues to see if I was missing anything, but it was pretty damned insufferable. But don’t get me started on that… look! Look at this beautiful figure! The smooth contours, the sexy curves, the immaculate look. There’s no complex panel lines or impossible sequences of shifting plates! Oh, I still dig Tales of Suspense Iron Man, but to me, this was the look I was first introduced to, and for me it will always remain his most iconic design.

We got a Classic Iron Man back as part of the 80th Anniversary releases, and this one looks to be a lot of the same figure. I’m ashamed to say that I have that one, but still haven’t gotten around to opening it. That previous release has extra effect parts, two variant helmets, and an unmasked Stark head, but what it doesn’t have is this lovely ketchup-and-mustard paint deco. Yeah, they went for gold instead of yellow on that one, and it’s certainly a great looking figure, but I’m always going to favor the yellow here. Besides the one-two punch of condiment colored deco, you also get the baby-blue arc reactor and a little more of the same on those upturned restraining-bolt-looking nipples! This figure is quite simply a feast for my eyes and takes me back to my childhood.

The helmet sculpt is excellent, with the face plate being sculpted separately from the rest of the helmet. That not only makes it look like it could come off, but it adds some wonderful depth to the eyes and mouth, which are painted as part of the head beneath it.

The A.I. Stark head is pretty nifty for what it is, basically a previous Stark head sculpt cast in translucent blue plastic. I don’t know that I’ll get any use out of it, but given MCU Stark’s pension for using armor as puppets, I kind of dig that I can use this head to retcon that into this suit design.

You do get a couple of repulsor blast effect parts, also cast in translucent blue plastic. These are actually four pieces, with the projection being separate from the blast. Naturally, you also get two extra hands to work with the effect parts. My only gripe here is the repulsor hands aren’t hinged at the wrists, which feels kind of cheap on Hasbro’s part. But, whatever!

The 80th Anniversary Iron Man can be a bit pricey these days, so if you missed it, this release should be a welcome one. It’s not as complete as that one when it comes to extras, but I can’t fault the figure for that, because it’s based on a very specific version of Tony from a modern book. And hey, if you happen to be a fan of Invincible Iron Man, then you’ll definitely want to pick this one up to go with your upcoming Riri Williams. Not judging! As for skipping this wave, I fear that may be happening a bit more frequently in the years ahead. I know that Hasbro has an Eternals wave coming down the pipe, and I’ll likely be skipping those too. Unless, they decide to mix them up with comic versions, and then I’ll be all over those!

May 12 2021

Masters of the Universe Origins: Castle Grayskull by Mattel

Yup, I sure did tell myself I wasn’t going to collect this line! Nope. Got a nearly complete MOTU Classics collection taking up a lot of room over here, and I’m not starting all over again. And then it was, “Well maybe just a couple more figures. Maybe just a couple of vehicles. Maybe just one more Wave.” And then, “Aw Shit. I got Grayskull coming!” This would have been the rational excuse to stop. I already have Classics Grayskull, which takes up an entire corner of my spare room. Surely, I don’t need another. And yet here we are. I really think I may be overcompensating for the fact that I didn’t have any of these toys as a kid, because I don’t seem to have any plans on stopping.

I was seriously worrying about whether I was going to have Buyer’s Remorse when this showed up. I knew it wasn’t going to be as big or well made as the Classics behemoth, but how could I deprive all my new Origins figures of a legendary mystical fortress to fight over? The box is suitably large and features some kick ass vintage-style artwork on the front, while also advertising the included Sorceress figure. There are some shots of the toy on the flipside, and the rather long and thin box suggests that the Castle is inserted in the open position, so you can get a good idea of the size just by holding the package. Give me a minute to slide the castle out and get it all set up.

Looking as iconic as ever, Origins Grayskull does a great job of recreating the original magnificent example of skull-faced green stone architecture. It’s nearly tiny when compared to the Classics version, but still scaled perfectly fine with the Origins figures. The sculpting is a little soft in places, but you still get plenty of jagged, craggy stone in pale green plastic. There’s some bright green wash in a few areas and black paint inside the eyes and nose of the skull. The closed jawbridge is sculpted in brown with a wood pattern, has silver painted fixtures, and a green heraldic motif. The back of the Castle has shingled roof areas, which are painted brown and there are several open windows to peek out of. The only thing I’m not too keen on here is the weird white speckling Mattel put in the plastic. It’s hard to see in the pictures, but fairly visible when the Castle is in hand. At first, I thought it was some kind of unintentional spray of an unspecified substance, but turns out it’s part of the plan. What was the purpose? I have no idea, but I could have done without it. The back of the castle has a handle, so you can pick it up and take it to your friend’s house, and this thing is a lot easier to lug around than the Classics Castle.

If you’ve owned the Classics or Vintage Grayskull, you’ll be pretty familiar with the play elements here. There’s a hinge on one side and too hook-latches on the other. Open it up and you reveal the playset inside! When you first set up the Castle, the floors need to be slotted into their appropriate places and some stickers need to be applied. You also have to attach the floor plate to the elevator, position the computer components, and plug the flag and laser turret into the top towers. Finally, there are two banners that can be plugged into the ceiling of the Throne Room area. It’s all quick and easy to do, and while the Castle will close up with all this stuff in place, you can remove it all if you want to return the Castle to the box for storage. As far as build quality is concerned, nothing seems fragile, but the plastic used here is pretty soft, which is good for kids, as it means things will bend and not break under the rigors of play. Let’s start in the basement and work our way up!

Most of the extra bits and bobs go in the basement area, although in fairness you can put them anywhere you want! Here we get two weapons racks and a handful of weapons to put in them. The one on the left is just like the Classics one I have only smaller, and I was surprised to find the extra one on the right, which is pretty cool. You also get the sparring device so the Heroes can brush up on their combat skills. The weapons include a mace, a sword, a rifle, and a halberd, all of which are cast in an off-white plastic. The basement also has a sticker showing the dungeon and all sorts of bizarre creatures trying to escape from it.

Access to the upper level is gained via the working elevator. There’s a foot peg on the base plate and a string is used to raise and lower it.

The upper elevator room also has a large computer with a viewscreen showing some planets and stars. The computer bank has all sorts of sculpted panels and cables, as well as some red, green, and blue paint applications to the controls. There’s a smaller computer bank in the Throne Room.

The Throne Room features the ubiquitous trap door gimmick, which is activated when the Throne is turned to the left. The Throne itself is surprisingly well suited to fit the figures and even has foot pegs at the bottom to secure the figures into it. Oh yeah, there are two notches in the floor in front of the Throne designed for the scaling ladder, which I completely neglected to photograph for this review and didn’t realize it until everything was put away. And that’s why I shouldn’t coif so many Jamesons when I’m working on these damn reviews!

The tower features a laser turret, which can only be comfortably manned when the Castle is opened. It’s weird, because the Tower with the flag actually has room for figures when the Castle is closed! Anyway, the turret pivots left and right and will raise and lower, so the Castle can be defended against enemies on the ground or in the air. Will there be a Point Dread that fits atop this Castle like we saw in the Classics line? Only time will tell, but I wouldn’t bet against it.

Our last stop on Castle Tours is the Jawbridge, which can only be opened by inserting The Power Sword into the slot. Or another sword, or a toothpick, or whatever else you have lying around… BUT DON’T TELL SKELETOR!!! I word of caution…. at first I could not get my Castle’s Jawbridge to open at all. The mechanism was unlocking, but it seemed stuck. I eventually had to use a scary amount of force to pry it open and now it works just fine. Anyway, the Jawbridge and doorway are scaled well, so the figures can pass through them without bumping their heads. Except maybe Mechaneck if he forgets to go down scope before going in. Before wrapping up, let’s have a look at The Sorceress!

As the packaging points out, this is The Temple of Darkness Exclusive version of The Sorceress, meaning that she’s based on the all-white costume depicted in the titular Mini-Comic. I suppose that means that we’ll eventually be getting a regular Sorceress in this line. Yeah, I probably would have preferred to have the regular Sorceress bundled with the Castle, but I guess this was a better move for collectors who are only buying the figures and not ponying up for the Castle. With that having been said, I do like this figure a lot, as simple as it is. I expected the boots to be recycled, but they lack the detail seen on Teela’s. Sorceress’ one-piece has some bird feathers sculpted in, but not much else noteworthy detail. The head sculpt and bird hood are excellent, and she does come with her staff.

I really like the way they did her wings! They’re cast in semi-transparent plastic and and feature overlapping hinges so that they can spread and contract, both independently of her arms. Alas, no all white Zoar is included. Still, I look forward to seeing this figure all decked out in the Sorceress’ regular colors.

It does my heart good to see a playset as iconic and majestic as Castle Grayskull in the toy aisles again! Well, truth be told I haven’t actually seen it in a brick-and-mortar store, as mine came by way of Walmart.com. Still, it’s good to see pictures of other collectors spotting it in the wild! In the end, this version of Grayskull holds few surprises, as it hits all the key points we’ve seen before, while not really introducing much new. And that’s not a criticism, because this is an excellent recreation of the Vintage playset for the Origins figures. It’s fun to play with and it makes for a great display for my figures. And while it was impossible to find the space to display my Classics Grayskull the way I wanted because of it’s insane size, it’ll be a lot easier to build an epic display around this one.

May 10 2021

Marvel Legends (Dude Thor Wave): Iron Patiot by Hasbro

Today’s Marvel Monday figure may seem like I dug deep into the backlog, but I actually just got him last week. The only figures from the “Dude Thor” Wave that turned up in my area were the Cap and Iron Man, and I decided that I didn’t really need another MCU Cap or Iron Man in my collection. I also wasn’t really all that interested in this Build-A-Figure either. As for the rest of the Wave, they were going for well over retail when I could find them online, and so I decided I was just going to sit out this Wave entirely. It was possibly the first time I skipped any Marvel Legends releases.

Well, fast forward to a month ago and pre-orders for Iron Patriot started showing up on some online retailers. Not the whole Wave, mind you, just Iron Patriot. Now, I don’t know if this was found stock or an actual re-issue, but I didn’t ask questions. Instead, I plunked down my pre-order and I’m so very glad that I did. So, I’m just going to go ahead and say it. I think this may be the most gorgeous Marvel Legends figure yet. If not, it’s certainly in my Top 5!

I mean, just look at this amazing amalgamation of piece of plastic! After Iron Man 2, I certainly didn’t expect Iron Patriot to show up again in the MCU, so it was a pretty cool surprise when Rhodey rearmed for the final battle. The Endgame Iron Patriot Armor shares some parts and design elements from the War Machine armor, which is reflected in this figure. There are a lot of common threads in the design, but they aren’t all recycled parts. As a result, this one feels pretty fresh! And while I was a big fan of the War Machine figure from the Banner Hulk Wave, I think I’m even more smitten with this one!

For starters, I love the bulked up look of this suit. Iron Man is all about better and better tech with a lot of the suits getting slimmer and more advanced, to the point where they are almost like a second skin for Tony. That’s not War Machine! This guy is literally a walking tank and he looks it! I particularly dig the larger upper body and those big forearms. I’d also swear I see some nods to MechWarrior design in the torso. About the only thing I’m not so keen on here is the redesign of the feet, which are smaller. Maybe they’ve been redesigned with flight in mind, but I think they should be big and clunky like we saw on War Machine. But enough with the negativity… back to gushing! I can’t deny a big part of what makes me tear up with joy here is the coloring. There’s something to be said for the cold and utilitarian military black and gray of the original War Machine, but when you recolor in this drop dead gorgeous metallic red, silver, and blue, I just lose my shit, because the result is so damn beautiful! To me, the quality of the coloring here is just above and beyond for a $20 mass produced figure.

Of course, Iron Patriot is sporting some major weaponry, even when he isn’t powered all the way up. His forearms feature static machine gun barrels, which are a lot more elegant than what we saw on War Machine. He also has rocket launchers mounted on each of his outer thighs. These are actually removable in case you want to display him with them retracted, but they don’t really get in the way so I prefer to leave them armed. On a side note, the articulation here is pretty decent, in that he can make some nice wide stances and point them guns in any direction. With that having been said, the bulky nature of his armor means that his range of motion in some of those articulation points aren’t as good as what we’re used to seeing in Legends. But I have no complaints!

If you really want to gear up Iron Patriot for battle, he comes with two sets of additional weapons to attach. These include additional guns and rocket packs, which position over his shoulders. In the movie, through the magic of CG, these deploy from inside his suit, but here they simply peg into holes in his back. They’re each separate pieces so you can deploy one set or the other, or one of each, or whatever you like. These added weapon pods are ridiculously awesome and stay put pretty well too! I’m just not sure how he fires those without falling over.

While I’d eventually still like to pick up Heimdall and Valkyrie from this Wave, Iron Patriot here was the one figure in this assortment that I wanted the most. And I’m damn glad to have had a second chance without having to pay double or triple. He is an absolutely gorgeous figure and a worthy addition to my collection, even if this particular Stark Armor didn’t have a big presence in the film.

May 7 2021

Transformers (Studio Series 86): Grimlock by Hasbro

As you can probably tell, I’m on a real Transformers kick lately, and why not? The figures are coming out in rapid succession, and they are all pretty damn great. The original animated film is getting a lot of attention, and I’m here today to check out another of the Studio Series 86 figures. This time it’s Leader Class Grimlock!!! Oh, and Wheelie too. I guess.

We saw the Studio 86 packaging back when I reviewed Scourge, and I don’t have much more to say about it, other than making Grimlock share the title card with Wheelie might have been a little excessive. I’m tempted to gripe here about how many do-overs we’re getting lately. After all, it was only a few years ago that we got the Power of the Primes Grimlock, along with the rest of the Dinobots, but since those were a collective mixed bag, I’m all in favor of it this time. As I recall, I wasn’t terribly thrilled with PotP Grimlock’s T-Rex mode and while I was a bit warmer toward his robot mode, it wasn’t really ideal either. Of course, that Grimlock sacrificed a lot in favor of an ill-conceived combiner gimmick. Let’s take a look at this new Grimlock’s T-Rex mode.

I gotta be honest, I was a little iffy on this Dino Mode when I first opened the figure, but it’s been growing on me quite a bit. It’s not the homerun I was hoping for, but it’s pretty solid. Grimlock has a bit of a Dino Pot-Belly, but it gives him a powerful look and some charming character. The arms feel like they’re a little too big, but they’re still fun to pose and have articulation in the shoulders and elbows. I do really wish they were painted silver, though, because the bare off-white plastic looks unfinished compared to the rest of the toy, and we get more of it at the tip of the tail. The rest of the plastic coloring is a satisfying deep gray, and I think they added just the right amount of sculpted panel lines and bits and bobs to his skin. It’s not as hyper-detailed as the PotP Grimlock, but I think that what we got here works well for the movie aesthetic.

His legs are big and powerful, but don’t add an unnecessary width like they did with the PotP version. No need for a Wide Load bumper sticker here. Grimlock looks great when he’s sitting up with his tail resting on the ground. And while he’s a little back heavy, he can stand with the tail off the ground as well. When viewed from the back, he’s got a case of beaver tail going on. It’s really not terrible, but a little too flat and wide for my liking. At least the red, green, and blue painted panels look nice.

The head is pretty good, but he has no front teeth, which is really weird. A big strike against him is that they nixed the translucent plastic on the neck in favor of a satin gold paint job. I probably wouldn’t have noticed, but the toy’s neck on the back of the box had it and it looks so much better than what we got. Also, the exposed screws on the right side of his head and neck are a real shame. How much could it cost to throw some plugs into those? They went with the blue eyes here, and I dig them. All in all, this T-Rex mode is loads better than either the Power of the Primes or the Fall of Cybertron toys, but I’d still take the original G1 toy’s Dino Mode over this one as being more polished overall. Let’s move on to robot mode!

The transformation is based on the original toy, but with some tweaks that make it a little less elegant, but not at all too fiddly. And the result is an absolute tank of a robot! The T-Rex mode might not have been a homerun, but this robot mode sure does the job! The proportions here are fantastic and he hits all the right points for me! Some of my favorite nods are the T-Rex claws protruding from his wrists, and the Dino Hide Wings coming off his back. These are even hinged so they can be angled up a bit more if you prefer. The Dino head hangs close to his back, just like on the original G1 toy, and there’s no hollow leg syndrome on this guy at all. He even has some really nice ankle tilts for those wide stances. Furthermore, he’s solid and lots of fun to play with. I actually prefer posing and playing with this robot mode than I do my Masterpiece Grimlock, which tends to be pretty floppy in the groinular region.

If I’m going to nitpick anything, it would be that I wish the translucent plate on his chest was a little less smoked so you could make out the Autobot emblem under it a bit more clearly. Yeah, it’s a tiny gripe, but it’s really all I’ve got. The head sculpt is pretty much perfect, and like the T-Rex eyes, they went with the blue visor here. I don’t really have a preference between the red or blue, but I will say the blue here looks rather pretty.

Grimlock comes with his rather iconic double-barreled blaster, which is suitable large and hefty. Alas, we’ve been cheated out of a sword for the second release in a row. Sure, he’ll end up with my Fall of Cybertron Grimlock sword, but I Still can’t understand why Hasbro couldn’t give him one. I would have much rather had a sword than the other accessory he came with…

And that’s Wheelie! Wheelie is more an accessory than a figure. He doesn’t transform and his articulation is limited to his hips, shoulders and neck. He’s meant to sit on Grimlock’s shoulder and pose like he’s firing off his slingshot, although you can actually get him to stand in a decent action pose. It’s a great sculpt, and he looks good sitting on Grimlock, but I’ll stick with my Titans Return Wheelie, thank you very much.

If it felt like I picked on this figure a bit, that should be a testament to just how great Hasbro’s Transformers releases have been lately. This Grimlock is a great figure, but my expectations have been so high lately, I turned my spotlight on him extra bright. The robot mode is definitely this figure’s strongest point, but the T-Rex mode ain’t bad, it’s just not as polished as I had hoped. What I’m really happy to see here is Grimlock scaled properly. The Dinobots are supposed to be huge, and the Power of the Primes Dinobots were ridiculously tiny. It’s nice get a Grimlock that even towers over Optimus Prime. And thanks to some leaked images, we know more similarly sized Dinobots are coming!

By figurefanzero
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May 5 2021

Legacy Series: Lady Death by Coffin Comics

Brian Pulido and Coffin Comics have done a bang up job bringing back Lady Death in a series of some of the most successful comic-based projects on Kickstarter. Not only does each new volume gets funded immediately, they all seem to set new records, showing that the Legions of Sworn are in no short supply. I look forward to each and every one of these, as the books are unbelievably high in quality, feature drop-dead gorgeous art and colors, and are just so damn fun to read. It’s great to see that Lady Death has come so far since being introduced as arm-candy for Evil Ernie back in the day. Meanwhile, Meanwhile, she’s seen a decent amount of merch and collectibles in recent years, including an amazing Sixth-Scale figure from TBLeague, and a damn fine Gallery Statue from Diamond Select Toys! And now, taking a cue from Hasbro’s Marvel Legends, Lady Death gets the 6-inch action figure treatment thanks to a pre-order campaign run by the folks at Coffin Comics themselves.

They certainly did a bang up job with the packaging! Lady Death comes in a collector-friendly window box with an illustrated inferno backdrop, the Coffin Comics logo at the bottom and her name up top. The figure itself is nestled in a clear plastic tray with a top cover over it, and she displays really well in the package. The flipside has a picture of the figure in a fantasy setting, along with a little blurb about the character and some highlighted features about the figure. On the bottom we have a tease of four future figures. I sincerely hope this isn’t just a mock up, and that Coffin is actually planning on releasing them, because I sure as hell am down for each one.

The side panels feature some beautiful character art with Lady Death sporting a couple different variants of her costume. I love this art, and I wish they had credited the artist on the box. I happen to collect quite a few art prints of of Pulido’s characters, and I wouldn’t mind picking up prints of these, particularly the one on the right. Lastly, the box does feature a J-hook, in case you want to hang the box on the wall, or maybe you have a wall of pegboard for displaying your packaged figures!

Here’s Lady Death out of the package and straightaway I am very impressed with the quality. With a first attempt figure like this one, you can never be quite sure what you’re going to get. Case in point, I had a Cassie action figure from Hack/Slash on pre-order, but wound up cancelling before it shipped, and after seeing the final product, I really dodged a bullet. Thankfully, this figure feels like a professional effort through and through, and I’ve got very few nitpicks. The sculpt is very nice, with the costume design taking the middle ground between her very simple style and the hyper-detailed one. I think it was a good choice. She sports a sculpted bra-top and G-string with golden skull fasteners in all the key places. Her thigh-high boots have sculpted belts connecting to the G-string, and she has a plastic cape, which hangs around her neck and stops just a bit below her knees.

The coloring on the figure is quite well done. Her skin consists of a chalky white plastic, which contrasts nicely with the black costume. The black also has some blue shading to give it that comic-panel style coloring, which makes for a very cool effect. The skull fixtures are hit with gold leaf paint, and her fingernails are painted bright crimson, as is the interior of her cape. The quality of the paint application is overall very solid. There are some examples of very minor overspray between her costume and skin, but you have to get in pretty close to see it, so it’s hardly worth mentioning.

The portrait is right on target, even if it is a rather soft sculpt, it still manages to capture Lady Death’s powerful beauty. Her lips are painted bright crimson and she has black eyebrows as well as black liner around her pupil-less eyes. All of these applications are razor sharp. Her flowing white hair is sculpted as part of the head and features some black wash and blue highlights. It’s also sculpted slightly above the shoulders so that her copious coif doesn’t curtail her neck articulation. Would I have liked an alternate head with a fierce expression? Sure! But given that we only had one, I’m very content with the more neutral tone.

Oh yes, the cape is removable, simply by popping off the head, which frees up the figure’s range of motion and allows you to better appreciate the view from behind.

Speaking of movement, I was very curious to see how this figure would articulate in hand, and I’m happy to report that the designers made some excellent decisions. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, single-hinges in the elbows, swivels in the biceps, and the hands are attached with hinged pegs to allow them to be swapped out. You get one pair of relaxed hands and one pair of accessory holding hands. The legs are ball jointed in the hips, have double hinges in the knees, swivels in the thighs, and hinges and rockers in the ankles. There’s a ball joint under the chest, and the head attaches to the body with a swiveling peg and a ball joint up top. The joints are a tad more loose than I’m used to seeing in Hasbro’s 6-inch figures, but it’s not an issue with her holding her poses. Indeed, all the joints feel sturdy. The balance on this figure is also exceptional, especially when the cape is removed. Even with her high heels, I didn’t have to resort to using a figure stand for a single shot. If pressed, my one gripe with the articulation would be a greater range of motion in the ball joint under the chest. It swivels fine, but there isn’t a lot of room for her to bend forward or back. Let’s have a look at her accessories!

First off, she comes with her trusty sword, Deathbringer, and it’s quite the beautiful weapon! The quality and attention to detail make this look like a sixth-scale weapon that’s been shrunken down. Besides the intricately sculpted hilt and guards, it has a two-tone paint job with the hilt painted in bronze, the blade in silver, and bronze again in the central channel that runs the length of the blade. It also has an extended grip for two-handed wielding, and the figure’s articulation certainly allows it.

And she also includes her Hell Scythe, which isn’t quite as ornate as the sword, but it’s a mighty impressive accessory due to its formidable size. The long shaft has some sculpted wraps for a grip and the head and blade are painted bright silver.

And before wrapping up, here’s a quick comparison shot of Lady Death with Hasbro’s Satana Hellstrom from their Marvel Legends line. They scale closely with one another, and I think Lady Death stacks up pretty damn well, although you could argue whether or not it’s a fair comparison. Marvel Legends are mass produced figures, which sell for about $20-22 at retail, whereas Lady Death is a collectible produced in a smaller quantity and sold for $50. Still, as I pointed out with the example of the Hack/Slash figure, these things don’t always work out. Hasbro’s figure may be less expensive, but they also have infinitely more experience under their belt. Either way, I think the comparison favors Lady Death!

If you can’t tell, I’m thrilled with how this figure turned out! Sure, fifty bucks is no small amount for a 6-inch figure, but in the end, I think it was well worth it. I’m not sure how the partnership works, but the box has Executive Replicas credited, and they are the same company that Phicen teamed up with to release their Sixth-Scale Lady Death. Whatever the case, somebody really knew what they were doing. The result was a top-notch action figure, that is doubly impressive for a first effort. And as I said, I really am all-in on whatever other characters they make, but I’m certainly rooting for Hellwitch being next!

May 3 2021

Marvel Legends: M.O.D.O.K. by Hasbro

Many years ago, when I sold off my Toy Biz Marvel Legends figures, I had planned to keep some of the Build-A-Figures, particularly MODOK and the Sentinel. But when I boxed them all up to ship them out, MODOK wound up in the box and I didn’t think it would be in good taste to ask for him back. Over the years, I worked on getting some of the BAF parts to put him back together, but here I am still two pieces short and now I can finally stop trying.

Behold, Deluxe MODOK!!! It sure took Hasbro long enough! And much to my surprise, he comes to us not as a Build-A-Figure, but as a boxed Deluxe. And I’m perfectly fine with that. The box shows the figure on the front as well as the flipside. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to finally have this guy in hand. It seems to me like MODOK has been played for laughs a lot lately (don’t get me started on the trailer for that Hulu series), but he seriously creeped me the heck out when I was a kid. He’s a horrible looking abomination with a messed up history of body horror, and I’ve grown to dig him a lot over the years. Besides, my AIM troops were in desperate need of a giant demented brain to lead them. Based on the slender package, I’m guessing there’s going to be some assembly required, so let’s bust him open and see what we got!

OK, so here’s why they didn’t go the BAF route. Even though MODOK requires a fair bit of assembly, Hasbro would be hard pressed getting some of these pieces into the regular Legends boxes. Heck, the back probably wouldn’t fit even if you left the figure out! Needless to say, I’m glad they went for a Deluxe release because they didn’t have to skimp on MODOK’s size, and they were even able to toss in an extra face plate. Anyway, putting him together is pretty straightforward. The pieces go together just fine, and he can easily be taken apart again in case you want to store him in his box.

Is is possible for something to be horrible and gorgeous at the same time? Today the answer to that question is a resounding YES! I am equally in awe of both how beautiful this figure turned out, and how creepy and off-putting MODOK’s giant mug is. The chair is cast in a rather sumptuous looking gold plastic, with plenty of deep-cut panel lines, vents, tiny sculpted rivets, and other bits and bobs. I particularly love the Kirby-style zig-zag circuit pattern that runs along the back! You get a control panel for his right hand and an articulated joystick for his left hand. There’s even a little painted oscilloscope screen with a green sound wave pattern painted onto it. Everything about the chair is just wonderfully executed!

MODOK’s undersized legs hang down from the front of the chair, and even though they aren’t very functional, Hasbro still endowed them with full articulation, including double hinges in the knees and hinges in the ankles. The arms are a little more useful and are also fully articulated. You also get two sets of hands: One pair has open hands, while the other features a right fist, and a left hand designed to clutch the joystick on the chair. I would have liked a pointing finger hand, but there’s already quite a bit in this set. His limbs are decked out in bright blue plastic, which really contrasts nicely with the gold of the chair. Meanwhile, the chair itself is suspended on a plastic beam of propulsion energy, cast in a translucent red and orange. It holds the figure quite well, and there’s a little room for tilt and adjustment.

And that brings us to this beautiful face and holy crap that’s some nightmare fuel. From his broad fish-lipped mouth to his tiny nose set directly between his pupil-less eyes and overpowering brow. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but if I saw him in real life, I’d most assuredly crap my pants. Naturally, he also has his headband, with more of that zig-zag Kirby-style circuit pattern and a large beam emitter so he can blast his foes with a beam of pure mental energy. This face is some of Hasbro’s finest work on the line. It can also be pulled off and substituted for a second face!

This second face has his mouth agape, showing off his giant teeth and a bit of the tongue inside. I think expression works for a few different moods. He can either be barking orders to his AIM troops or monologuing. It also kind of works as a surprised, “WHAT??? HOW DID THE AVENGERS FIND MY LAIR???” kind of vibe. Luckily it is easy to swap them in and out, and this may be one of those rare cases, where I actually do switch portraits every week or so, because they are both so damn good!

MODOK here is going to be tough to beat as my favorite Marvel Legends release of the year. The Toy Biz version was excellent, and this one still blows it away. Not confining him to the constraints of a Build-A-Figure was a smart way to go, and I really appreciate all the articulation they kept in his arms and legs. Of course, now I’m wishing I had loaded up a bit more on that AIM Soldier 2-pack, but at least I have a couple to display on each side of him.