Monthly Archives: March 2023

Mar 31 2023

Transformers: Legacy Evolution Shrapnel by Hasbro

Last year, Hasbro gave us Kickback and the promise of getting the Insecticon band back together with new versions. I absolutely adore the Insecticons, and so this made me happy. Then Kickback came out and I absolutely loved him, and that made me happy. But as the old saying goes, fool me once! Because the last time Hasbro did the Insecticons, they started strong and we ended up with a team that didn’t really look like they belonged together. I was worried the same thing would happen here, and so I waited with baited breath for the second release, and here he is. Let’s check out Shrapnel.

We’ve seen the Legacy packaging before, and while I admit it’s rather eye catching in all it’s crazy colors, it doesn’t really scream Transformers to me. All I need in my Transformers packaging is a grid pattern, and either some purple or red to denote faction. Also, what’s this Evolution business? I still don’t know. Hasbro is still refusing to put plastic windows on the boxes, because of saving the planet or whatever, but I get my Transformers online, so there aren’t any kids to put their sticky fingers on my toy or wipe boogers on them. Now the Amazon employees do that. I am pleased to see that somehow Hasbro secured Shrapnel’s name again, as last time I think he was called Skrapnel. Also, the packaged shot showcases the thing about this figure that triggers me the most. Can you guess what it is?

Here’s Shrapnel’s beetle mode and it’s pretty good! But let’s get that one thing that triggers me out of the way first. Somewhere along the way, Hasbro decided to not paint the antenna-slash-pincers silver like it is in the solicitation photos. Instead they left them bare gray and it looks positively awful. I understand that if you read the fine print on the package it actually states that final production appearance may vary, but it still pisses me off, particularly when you look at the price hikes on these little Deluxes. I will give Hasbro credit on two points: First, it’s not a fully enclosed box so at least you can see what you’re getting if you buy him in the store. Secondly, they actually reflect the change in the official package shot online. Of course, I pre-ordered, so the first whiff I got of the change was when I took him out of the shipping box and looked at him.

Other than all of that bitching, I think the alt-mode here is fine. It locks together well and I like how the pincers will open and close without revealing the robot head. The translucent yellow chest plate with the silver plastic behind it and the Decepticon logo stamped on top looks fantastic. Plus, you get that most regal of all Decepticon colors: Black and purple. I also appreciate the use of gloss black paint on the body, as it resembles the diecast of the original toy. There’s some nice silver, red, and blue trim here and there and if it weren’t for that gray plastic, this little bug bot would be a total home run.

Shrapnel comes with two weapons, and you can peg them into his back to weaponize the beetle mode. And look, the G1-inspired gun is actually painted silver, making the ugly gray pincers stand out even more. Yeah, I know. I should get over it. Let’s get him transformed into his robot mode.

Hasbro didn’t muck up the rather simple transformation design from the original figures. Sure, it’s a bit more complex, but it’s still in the spirit of the original toy and it’s still quick, easy, and comfy. Like the beetle mode, Shrapnel’s robot form is a pitch perfect homage to the G1 toy only with better proportions and more articulation. Hey, did I mention how bad the pincers look without silver paint? Oh yeah. I did. Everything else here is just superbly done. You get most of the same beautiful colors on display in his bug mode, and that wonderful yellow chest plate is front and center. I could complain that the upper legs aren’t painted silver too, but that really doesn’t bother me at all. Just the pincers. See… I’m reasonable! From the back, he’s pretty well filled out, except for the hollow upper legs and backs of the pincers.

The head sculpt is also spot on perfect from his big red visor to his silver painted face. You had the silver paint out, Hasbro. It was on the table. You just had to use some more of it on those pincers, dammit!

The two guns are pretty cool, but I’ll mainly just be displaying him with the G1-inspired silver weapon. The purple one can be combined with it a couple of different ways, which is fun, but I don’t like how either of them look enough to go with it.

So, I was really pissed when I opened this figure and saw the pincers, but you probably get that from having read the same complaint over and over again. What I did not expect to happen was to get past it, but get past it I eventually did. At some point the rest of the figure’s merits won me over and I was willing to let it go. And since, Hasbro did something different with Kickback’s wings instead of painting them silver, the two figures do pair up pretty well and look great together. So all that’s left is to see what Hasbro is going to do with Bombshell. If they paint his head cannon silver it’ll make Shrapnel look worse, so I guess the only thing to do is to embrace the gray plastic. We’ll see. But for now, I’m actually really happy with these two, although I won’t be retiring my third party bug bots by Bad Cube any time soon.

Mar 29 2023

G. I. JOE Ultimates Snake Eyes and Timber by Super7

I’m keeping this Super7 train rolling along with the third straight Ultimates review! This time I’m digging into my first look at the initial wave of Super7’s Sunbow cartoon inspired figures. It’s crazy to think how long we’ve gone with absolutely no GI JOE toys to speak of, and now we’ve got Hasbro shooting out Classified figures and Super7 on board with the ReAction and Ultimates releases. It seems like it was a damn long wait to get these in hand, so let’s kick things off with a look at Snake Eyes!

If you have any Ultimates figures in your collection, the packaging will be somewhat familiar, as you have a window box with a slipcover that lifts off the tip. And oh boy do I love what they did waith the art design on this package. You get a green camo deco with some silver scuffing and scraping to make it look like a metal container. The GI JOE logo is printed proudly across the front, and you get a dog tag type graphic down at the bottom with Snake Eyes Elite Commando on the back. YES, COMMANDO… NOT NINJA! Sorry, but that’s been a sticking point with me since I was a kid. Lift off the slipcase and you can see the figure inside and all the goodies on a clear tray against the vintage Real American Hero style explosion for a background.

The colors! Yes, these figures are based on the 80’s cartoon appearances, more specifically from the original Mini Series, which means Snake Eyes is all decked out in his blue commando outfit with purple patches, black harness and boots, and no gloves. The colors here really pop beautifully, and they go a long way to make up for the fact that there is not a lot of sculpted detail on this figure, to convey the simpler cartoon design. The shoulder straps are cast in soft plastic and worn by the figure, while the purple arm bands are secured directly to the biceps. Hot damn… this figure looks outstanding!

The blue masked portrait is as simple as it gets, with some stitching lines sculpted along the top of his head, and some breathing holes in front of his nose. The visor is painted purple to match the pouches, and has a really nice glossy finish that comes close to being reflective.

An obvious sticking point on these figures is going to be the articulation, which follows Super7’s usual Ultimates pattern. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows, with swivels in the biceps and pegged hinges for the wrists. The pegged wrists allow you to swap out the myriad of hands, which include sets of: Fists, trigger hands, wide grip hands, tighter grip hands, and relaxed hands for a total of five pairs! The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have rotating hinges in the knees, and swivel hinges in the ankles. You get an ab crunch hinge and a ball jointed neck. All the joints on my figure feel great with none being stuck or too loose. These are clearly figures that are going for the cartoon aesthetic over being super articulated, and I’m actually fine with that, because I have Classified as the more poseable option.

Also included is the Timber companion figure, and I’m pretty lukewarm on this doggo. Overall he looks OK. The sculpting is pretty smooth in a lot of areas, which makes the fur a little less than convincing. The head sculpt is OK, but I would have liked to have an alternate growling of Cobra-chomping head. Maybe that’s asking for too much. The articulation here is really off, though. The neck has two points of articulation, but it doesn’t feel like it’s designed to give all that much. The front legs have a little lateral movement for a wider stance in the front, but the back legs just rotate, and the paws don’t really seat well on the ground. The body also appears to be hollow, giving him less heft than he feels like he should have. I don’t have Hasbro’s Classified Timber on hand to compare (I’m not even sure I ever got around to opening that Snake Eyes), but I suspect that one is going to be the better wolf.

Snake Eyes comes with the iconic Sunbow-style laser rifle, which is a design I really dig. As a kid, I used to wish Hasbro would release an accessory pack with like ten of these for my RAH figures. It’s a great looking sculpt with a bit of paint, and the trigger finger and tight or loose grip hands work well with it. I’ve seen some reports of these rifles coming out of the package warped, but this one is straight as an arrow. Hopefully Duke’s will be too.

He also comes with a little walkie talkie, which has a frequency display and a dial on the bottom. It’s a simple accessory, but it looks good, and works perfectly with the wider grip hands.

Next up is the Cobra cannister, which contains the radioactive crystals needed to power the MASS Device. It has a Cobra emblem printed on the top, and it does not open or contain any crystals. Which is a good thing, because if it did and you opened it, you would die of radiation sickness, unless you had some bullshit leaves that somehow absorb the radiation and doesn’t spread it when you burn them and… WHAT????

Snake Eyes’ final weapon is a laser pistol. I actually don’t remember this one at all from the cartoon, but it has a cool design with a winged back. It’s cast all in black.

And last but not least you get a big purple jet pack which is pretty damn sweet.

Ultimates Snake Eyes turned out great! It seems like he doesn’t come with nearly as much stuff as the other figures in the wave, but considering that Timber is somewhat articulated figure and the jet pack is pretty big, I think Super7 went for the less is more strategy on this release. And to be fair, there really isn’t anything conspicuously absent. And while I have no complaints about Snake Eyes himself, I think Timber could have been better. He’s not awful by any means, but he doesn’t feel as polished as he could have been!

By figurefanzero
0
Mar 27 2023

Silverhawks Ultimates: Mon-Star and Throne by Super7

I was positively giddy when Super7 announced they were doing Silverhawks figures! While admittedly nowhere near as solid as its younger toon cousin, ThunderCats, Silverhawks was one of the last cartoons I really got into before succumbing to the “I’m too cool for cartoons” teenage years. And it’s rare that I have an excuse to gas on about this cartoon, so pardon me if I get a little longwinded. The series featured the same amazing level of animation as ThunderCats, some even more colorful and bizarre characters, and a lot of the same voice actors. Larry Kenney, Lion-O himself, even narrates the opening of the pilot episode and introduces us to the characters. It follows a very similar formula to its catcentric cartoon cousin, and I’ve even read somewhere that it was intended to take place in the same universe. I’ll get more into the Silverhawks themselves when I have a look at Bluegrass next week, but today we’re looking at the reason the Silverhawks have jobs, and that’s the evil Limbo Mob Kingpin, Mon-Star!

Technically, we’re starting with the second wave, because the planned first wave was delayed. Mon-Star comes in an elongated window box to house all his extras, but the package design is similar to what we saw for the ThunderCats Ultimates, with a slipcase that lifts off to reveal the goods. The slipcase and box have a beautiful crimson foil finish and the front of the slipcase has Mon-Star’s ugly mug in his powered-up form. Much like Mumm-Ra, Mon-Star had a regular form and a powered up form, which he attained by absorbing the power of the Moon Star and reciting the incantation… “Moon Star of Limbo, give me the might, the muscle, the menace of Mon-Star!” He’s also the leader of the Limbo Galaxy’s most notorious mob of gangsters. Today we’re looking at his regular form, which unlike Mumm-Ra is pretty damn impressive all by himself! Inside the box, you get the figure, two additional heads, no less than five pairs of hands, and two versions of his buddy Sky Shadow. Also included in this wave is his throne, which is packaged separately.

Here’s Mon-Star out of the box, and like I said, he’s pretty intimidating before he even gains that might and muscle of the Moon Star! This is also the very first time we’re getting an actual figure based on this form, as the original Kenner figure was based on his powered up form, with only a changeable face to show the transformation. Mon-Star is quite literally a beast of a figure, content with waring very little in the way of clothes. He has a furry diaper to protect his mon-star modesty, although, I suppose that could just be his natural hair, because has some similar fringe coming off his forearms. And if true, that’s kind of gross. He also has some armor on his upper chest, and two shoulder pieces with spikes angled outward. He’s a savage looking creature with some chiseled muscles, all brought out in what is a solid, albeit basic sculpt. He does, however, have some pretty good detail in them monster feets. His skin is mostly black with some maroon wash here and there, a maroon finish to his armor, and some flame red touches on his furry bits.

The portraits are huge, mainly because of his wild and copious coif of lion-like hair, and it is a glorious mane. The plastic pouf radiates outward from his face with alternating red and black strands. Mon-Star also has a long tuft of red hair protruding from his chin. He’s an ugly sonuvagun with a squished nose and jagged teeth protruding from his closed lips. One piercing eye gazes forward while his left eye is covered by a patch, and bares the Light Star, one of his fiercest weapons.

The second option gives us an even wilder hair sculpt and his mouth slightly parted. I never knew what was up with that middle tooth that looks like it’s growing up out of the top of his jaw, but it sure is faithful to the cartoon. There’s a sharper angle to his right brow on this head, showing that he is more than mildly displeased.

And finally you get his Oh, shit, he’s really pissed head. The hair is even wilder, and you get a little more black wash in the red areas. His mouth is further agape, his exposed eye is wide with range, and the Light Star on his patch is clearly active. In the cartoon, the Light Star was a beam weapon, which had the power to immobilize or even take control of his targets. All three of these heads are excellent, and with the bulk of the figure being a little plain, it’s nice to see Super7 poured the sculpted detail into these portraits. As for which one to display on the figure? That’s a tough one, but chances are I’ll mostly go with the second one.

The articulation here should hold no surprises if you’ve handled any of Super7’s Ultimates. It’s not exceptional, but it gets the job done. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows with the wrists on hinged pegs so you can swap out the hands. The legs are ball jointed up in the hips and have rotating hinges in the knees and ankles. There’s a ball joint under his chest and a ball joint in his neck. The joints all feel great and while it would have been nice to have a better range of motion in the elbows, I can still have plenty of fun with him.

The number of hands here is absolutely ridiculous! You get five sets: Fists, accessory holding hands, pointing finger hands, grasping hands, and somewhat relaxed hands. It’s pretty luxurious to get a full pair of pointing fingers, and I’m not entirely sure what the accessory holding hands are for, but it’s nice to cover all the bases. He also comes with a single right trigger hand. Again, he has no weapon, but I suppose he can borrow one from his cohorts, so that’s cool.

The only accessories here are the two versions of Sky Shadow. This companion beast was introduced in Episode 9, when Mon-Star asked one of his cronies, Hardware, to make himself a cyborg bird capable of thwarting the Silverhawks spy, Tallyhawk. In the toy line, and eventually the cartoon, each character had their own bird-buddy. Sky Shadow was a sort of space dragon that was captured by Hardware and converted into a cyborg, which is just a sample of the kind of body horror that this cartoon flippantly engages in. The first version depicts Sky Shadow before getting all borged up. He’s a little bit cuter here than he was in the cartoon and looks more like a baby dragon than a vicious bird creature. It’s a nice bonus, even though he was only seen in this form briefly before he had the horrific surgeries forced upon him.

The second version is Cyborg Sky Shadow, but he’s closed up in his perched mode. It’s not the Sky Shadow that everybody wants, but that one will be included with the powered up version of Mon-Star. Indeed, this isn’t much of an accessory, as it’s kind of just a jumble of cyborg bird parts all rolled up with two lobster claws showing through. And that brings us to the throne!

This throne comes in a window box without a slipcase cover. It’s called the Transformation Chamber Throne, but I don’t remember him having to be in it to change form. Indeed, I pulled out my DVD set and watched a bunch of episodes since these figues came in and I only recall seeing the throne a few times.

And it is indeed just a big chair, but a pretty nice one. The sculpt has some granite-like fissures throughout the surface with some cutouts running up the inside back and fronts of the armrests. The back has ribbed cable-like tubes coming off and ending on the floor, presumably connecting the chair to the Transformation Chamber. It’s a cool design with a very organic and almost HR Giger feel to it. The color has a nice stone and light blue swirly look to it.

Mon-Star fits in it pretty well, with his feet firmly planted on the ground and his hands stretched out to the arm rests looking like he’s ready to start berating Yes-Man or crying about how the cursed Silverhawks defeated him yet again. For some reason, I think he looks really good seated in it with his angry head and pointing hand. Is the chair worth it? Well, at $45, I’m kind of iffy about that. It’s not nearly as iconic to me as say Mumm-Ra’s tomb, and while it is a very solid piece and looks great, I’m not sure that there’s really $45 of value here. I mainly got mine because I just pre-ordered the whole wave, which I think knocked ten bucks off of it. I’m not sorry I got it, but I wouldn’t have hunted one down if it wasn’t included in the assortment.

And while the throne is simply OK, I couldn’t be happier with how Mon-Star turned out. I’m really thrilled to finally have a figure of this version of the character, since the cartoon features him like this a lot. Not having this Mon-Star seemed like a huge gap in the original figure line. This is a beautiful figure that comes close to rivaling powered up Mumm-Ra in size, which makes me extra excited to see how big his powered up version will be when the intended first wave actually ships in a month or so. So far this line is off to a great start! I’ll try to carve out a slot for next week to take a look at the first of the Silverhawks, starting with Bluegrass!

Mar 24 2023

The Worst: Captain Deadstar by Super7

You’re going to see a lot of Super7 reviews coming down the pike in the weeks ahead, as I just got in new waves of their GI JOE, Silverhawks, I still have ThunderCats to cover, and somehow I’m going to find a way to photograph the ThunderTank for a review, but not sure how yet. Anyway, I believe The Worst is an original concept property by Super7, which started as ReAction figures and have since been bumped up to the Ultimates treatment. I think it’s a great idea for action figure companies to produce some of their own stuff, as it lets their imaginations fly and they don’t have to pay out licensing fees. I pre-ordered a couple of these because I liked the character designs, and the first one to arrive was Captain Deadstar!

The packaging here is very similar to the ThunderCats Ultimates, with a window box concealed by a sleeve that lifts off the top. You get some really bitchin character art on the front of the package, which frankly I think is frame-worthy. The coloring and tone here reminds me of some of the old Hammer Horror posters in the 70’s. I freaking love it! The back panel has the same art, because it’s so nice, gotta use it twice! It also has a blurb about Deadstar, who is the proclaimed Cosmic Ghoul Renegade! He’s a SPACE pirate, and them thar is the best kind!

Here’s Deadstar out of his box and adorned with his softgoods cape, which I’ll have on and off throughout the review. The aesthetic here is very simple and cartoony, making him look like he’s the lead villain from a forgotten Saturday morning cartoon, and oh boy do I dig that! The uniform is black and gray with gold braid on his right shoulder and four aiguillettes running across his chest. A pistol belt with a simple gold buckle supports a holster on his right hip, gold bracers adorn his wrists, a gray buccaneer boot on his right foot, and a high-tech peg leg in place of his left foot. What makes a peg leg high tech? Panel lines and gold circuitry what else?

The red cape is crafted of a rather thick and luxurious material, with thick reinforced stitching along the edges and a wire running throughout to give it that windswept look. It has a popped collar around the neck, and it secures onto the figure with velcro across the front. It’s a little puffy in the neck area, but I think it looks good, and it can be dramatically cast off when Deadstar is ready to pull his pistol and blade and get down to the business of pirating!

You get no less than three portraits with the figure, all skulls wearing a traditional three-point hat with the skull and crossbones sculpted into the top. I’m not sure if that’s thematically redundant, but it looks good. All three skulls have a really nice chalky finish to the paint that is pretty convincing as old bone, with some flakes here and there that suggest remnants of peeling rotted flesh. There’s also one gold tooth front and center, and two of the three heads have an eyepatch over the left socket. There’s no articulation in the jaw, but if you want an open mouth, the second head has you covered…

That’s pretty much the only difference here, but I love how weirdly expressive it is. I’ll probably end up displaying him with this one a lot more than the first.

The third option has closed mouth but no eye-patch, and subverts expectations by revealing a gold cybernetic eye in that socket, with a red iris. This one is pretty badass too, and it’ll probably spend a lot of time displayed on the figure. I will note that the head is mounted on a double ball jointed dogbone piece and you have to be really careful not to pull it out of the neck, because it is not meant to come out, and getting it back in took a lot of effort and frustration. I really recommend squeezing the neck closed with your fingers when you pop the head.

So, let’s talk articulation. If you’ve played around with any of Super7’s Ultimates figures, you should know what to expect, but here’s the rundown. The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders and elbows, swivels in the biceps, and rotating hinges on pegs for the wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have rotating hinges in the knees, and a hinge and lateral rocker in his one foot. There’s a swivel in the waist and a ball joint under the chest. The elbow joints will do about 90-degrees, and you get a little swivel up in the thighs. It’s all decent, but I wouldn’t call this super articulated. On the downside, the joints on this figure are crazy loose, especially in the elbows and wrists. I haven’t run into this problem with any of the ThunderCats Ultimates, and I was frankly shocked to see how bad it is here. It’s not quite bad enough to ruin the figure for me, but it is disappointing. Deadstar comes with three sets of hands, which include fists, open grip, and slightly closed grip. The later two are intended to work with his various accessories. And he does come with a butt load of accessories, so let’s run through them…

First up you get two versions of Deadstar’s parrot, one with wings closed and one with them open. I’m not sure if this guy has a name, but it isn’t listed in his bio. The parrots peg into a slot on Deadstar’s left shoulder and it holds pretty well. The sculpt is pretty good, and I love the X’d out eyes that reinforce the cartoony style. The head is also painted all white to signify a parrot skull, I guess? These are definitely fun accessories, with the one drawback being that you have to remove the cape to display it on him.

Next up we get Deadstar’s Shit List and a quill pen to cross people’s names off of it, or perhaps add more. The sculpted spiral-bound notebook shows a great sense of humor, even if it isn’t the most practical of accessories. He really doesn’t have a hand suited for the pen, but I was able to make it work. It also looks like he might have plucked that quill from his own parrot’s arse. He really is the worst!

You get this thing, which looks like a thermal detonator, but may be meant to be a space cannonball. I’m really not sure. It has a little sculpted detail and a painted red light on it.

Even a dead pirate needs his rum, so you get a bottle of booze, and a turkey leg to go with it.

You get a gold skeleton key. But what does it open?

Well, presumably this chest. And no, the key doesn’t actually fit in the lock. The chest is big enough to hold most of the accessories, which is pretty cool.

You also get this space pirate map, which is printed on some kind of stiff paper and can be folded to help Deadstar hold it by the edges.

And last, but not least, let’s talk weapons. Captain Deadstar comes with a laser pistol that fits into his holster and can be wielded in either of his hands. The pistol is cast in gray plastic and has some really nice detail in the sculpt. The design has a great retro Flash Gordon kind of feel to it.

And finally, he comes with a flaming cutlass! The hilt is cast in gray plastic and the flame effect is very cartoony to match the rest of the figure. I’m not sure if this is supposed to actually have a blade, or maybe it’s just a hilt that generates an energy blade. It looks cool, but I wish there was a way to wear it. It does have a loop, so I guess I could attach it to him with some string.

Captain Deadstar has a lot of great stuff going for him. The character design is fantastic and toony, the head sculpts are excellent, and a lot of imagination went into his massive assortment of fun accessories. All in all, I’m happy to have him in my collection. But, at $55, there is simply no excuse for the loosey goosey jointing. He has no problems standing up, even with the peg leg, but half the time his elbows can’t even hold up his weapons. If I weren’t already being selective in this line, the loose joints would make me think twice about going all in. And that’s me done for the week… come on back on Monday, when I’ll be looking at the first of the Silverhawks, and we’ll make it a Super7 trifecta with a GI JOE Ultimates figure on Wednesday!

By figurefanzero
0
Mar 22 2023

DC Multiverse (Rebirth): Lobo by McFarlane

As promised, the DC Multiverse reviews are going to be ramping up, as I have spent the last month or so plunging head first into this line and grabbing a bunch of figures on clearance. And it seemed like the perfect time to get into the line as Todd put up the very impressive looking 89-style Batmobile for pre-order just last week. But for now, I’m delving back into the Rebirth era with a look at everyone’s favorite cigar-chomping, genocidal asshole bounty hunter, Lobo.

Here he is in the package, and boy do I have a lot of these big and beefy Multiverse boxes stacking up around here. Storing all of these figures in their packages is sheer folly, as I will eventually fill up an entire bookcase, but for now that’s what I’m doing to make it easier to see what I’ve picked up so far. I like these boxes, even if they aren’t all that visually striking. The blue behind the tray looks nice, you get some artwork on the back panel, and while removing the figure itself is collector friendly, you have to rip the backer to get to the figure stand and trading card. For now I’m leaving those be. I never did pony up for any of the Mattel versions of Lobo, so I’m pretty excited to get this guy opened!

Generally speaking, I like the costume designs that came with Rebirth, and Lobo is no exception. Indeed, while I was largely fine with The New 52, its depiction of Lobo was a huge wrong turn, something which Rebirth set right again. Here, Lobo is quite a beast of a figure sporting a suitably chonky build and lots of great detail in the sculpt. He’s got a ribbed tank top worn under a leather jacket, with the sleeves absolutely shredded off of it, revealing some jacked up arms with some bulging veins. The texturing on both the shirt and jacket is superb, with some tears, and what look like bullet holes in the shirt. He’s got a studded belt with a skull belt buckle, and super tight blue jeans with sculpted pockets, tailoring and all the little wrinkles and rumples to make them look great. The lower leg armor has forged skulls protecting the knees and sharp spikes running down the sides. These grieves are sculpted all around the leg and with straps, but the backs and straps are just painted blue like the jeans. Yeah, these would have looked much better if they were painted all around. I mean, that steel paint on the fronts really is nice. Finally, he has a pair of fingerless gloves painted onto his hands, and some massive shit-kickers on his feet with steel plated toes for kicking that shit!

The head sculpt is solid, and different enough from Mattel’s versions to make comparison’s kind of tough. This one is a bit more stylized, with some exaggerated wrinkling in the forehead to make him look more like a proper alien, and even a bit evocative of a vampire. I love the way his red eyes are partially shrouded under that plunging brow line, and even his nose is wrinkled into a permanent snarl. His sculpted beard follows his jawline, jutting out with a prominent chin, and his teeth are on full display through his wicked grimace. The blue highlights to his wild hair is an interesting choice, at first I was a little iffy on them, but they’ve grown on me. All in all, this is great stuff!

The back of the jacket is a fun nod to the 1992 cover of Lobo’s Back with the “BITE ME FAN BOY” winged skull logo. This stuff is partially sculpted into the jacket as well, and it looks great. If this extra paint is why the paint on the backs of the leg armor didn’t cost out, than I’m totally fine with that. Once again, the texturing and detail on the jacket is superb, and those spikes on his epaulets are pretty sharp!

Despite being a powerhouse, Lobo’s articulation is pretty much in line with the DC Multiverse standards. Granted, because of his bulging muscles, those double-hinged elbows don’t get quite the range of motion as normal, but they can do a bit better than 90-degrees. Everything else is solid, with some especially wide stances up in them hips, double hinges in the knees, and a ball joint under that chest. All these joints feel super solid and are fun to play around with. I don’t know if it’s still the thrill of a new figure line, but I think these Multiverse figures feel fantastic in hand.

Lobo comes with one accessory and that’s his coiled chain blade. The chain is sculpted to be coiled around his wrist when he holds it, and it works OK, but the Mattel figure wins this round for having an actual chain attached to it, which would have been a lot more fun. Still, this looks pretty good in his hand, and the sculpted weathering on the hook is a nice touch.

McFarlane has to abide by Warner Bros’ no gun policy, but you can pick up one of the weapons packs to skirt that silly regulation and give Lobo some firepower. I only have the second weapon pack, and to be honest, most of the shooters are too small for Lobo’s extreme manly meathooks, but this one looks OK.

Lobo was one of the first McFarlane figures I picked up, after getting that Booster and Beetle two-pack, and it was spending some time playing around with this guy that really affirmed my decision to start collecting this line hard. This is a big and beefy badass of a figure, that I managed to pick up for about $17 and that’s a deal that you can’t shake a Czarnian stick at. This brute has been on my desk for weeks, and he is just loads of fun to pick up and play around with, even if you do have to be careful with some of those sharp spikes!

Mar 20 2023

Transformers (Studio Series 86) Sludge by Hasbro

How about we start the week with some Transformers, eh? Seems like a little while since I checked back in with Hasbro’s Change-o-Bots! With Hasbro’s reveal that Snarl is coming, it has occurred to me that I am not current on reviewing the previous giant metal dinosaur convertobots. I have checked out Grimlock and Slag (SLAG, I SAYS!), so let’s get caught up with the last of the original Dinobot trio and have a look at Sludge!

The packaging has changed a bit since Slag’s release. The window is gone and Sludge comes in a fully enclosed box with some fantastic character art on the front showing Sludge battling it out with some Sharkticons in his dinosaur mode. It’s kind of interesting that they went with the dino mode on the front, seeing as how the window boxes used to show off the figure in the robot mode. Either way, this works fine. Also worth mentioning is that Sludge does not come with a companion figure. Grimlock came with a semi-articulated Wheelie and Slag came with Daniel in his Exo-Suit. And that’s fine, because I didn’t particularly care for either of those figures and they quickly got pitched into the dreaded Tote of Forgotten Accessories. But naturally Hasbro used the plastic saved here to include swords for everybody, right? No! No, they didn’t. Let’s start with Sludge’s dino mode.

Naturally, Sludge’s alt mode is still a Brontosaurus, or whatever they call this type of dinosaur nowadays. Them science types have been up to a lot of revisionist history since I was in school. Straightaway, I’m going to say that I think Sludge has the best looking alt mode of any of the Studio Series Dinobots so far. They’ve all been good, but Grimlock had some proportion issues and Slag had a bit of a patchwork look to him, but Sludge here is mostly comprised of a really nice and well-rounded shell. He’s got a lot of dark gray with some silver panels making up his hump and tail, a little red showing near his hind legs, and some beautiful satin gold paint on his back, undercarriage and finally his head. Slag let me down a bit with that cream colored plastic they used for his cowl, but all the coloring on Sludge just looks fantastic. The panel lining on Sludge’s hide is especially nice, with all sorts of cybernetic bits and bobs. Almost every inch of this guy has some detail to take in.

The head sculpt is also superb. There’s so much personality in that snap-dragon of a head! I dig the narrow blue eyes, and the nasty looking serrated teeth. With the past Dinobots, I have lamented Hasbro abandoning the translucent yellow plastic of the G1 toys, but I honestly don’t miss it here. I think the satin gold used for the head and upper neck just looks so beautiful in its place. You also get a decent amount of articulation here with not only the hinged jaw and side to side rotation, but the ability for the head to look down. The legs rotate where they connect to the body and have hinges midway down, giving him just enough poseability that I would expect.

I guess if I had to nitpick something with Sludge’s dino mode, it would be the seam on his back can be a bit tough to keep closed, and even when it is closed up, it’s designed to still look like there’s a bit of a gap there. His belly hangs really low to the ground too because of his golden bot-mode toes being down there. But that’s not a big deal. There’s a compartment under there to store his weapon, since unlike Slag, it isn’t incorporated into his dino mode. And while I’m still nitpicking, last time I commented about how I thought Slag’s transformation was a bit needlessly complex. The original Dinobot designs had some elegant engineering, which I would argue could be modernized without messing with them all that much. Sludge here still feels like they went out of their way to make his transformation more complex. Now, I know that some people expect more complex engineering with the bigger and more expensive figures, so that’s not necessarily going to be a sticking point for a lot of people. And to be fair it isn’t really that big of one for me either. After a few goes, I was able to do the transformation without any difficulty.

Getting Sludge converted, reveals a robot mode that is as faithful as the previous two Studio Series Dinobot releases. Sludge is an absolute tank of a robot, very befitting of the original design. In fact, I’d say this one cleans up the best as far as modernizations go. The proportions are all smoothed out, and his wings are a more full and robust than the G1 toy. There’s some impressive packing going on in the lower legs, but I am glad they left the tail sections on the outside of the legs, as it beefs them up. Unfortunately, Sludge does still have the weird elbow hinges, where the hinges are all the way to the front. There’s something about that design that doesn’t sit right with me, but it’s certainly not a deal-breaker. The backside is just a solid slab of robot, with the dino head and neck hanging straight down. It looks very nice and finished, making for a solid and highly playable figure. As for the coloring, it’s all most of what we saw in the dinosaur mode, only with more red revealed in the torso. This is just a fantastic looking figure all the way around!

The portraits have been great in this group so far, and Sludge is no exception His “helmet” is black with the two little angled slats on each side and a large silver coffin-shaped plate on his forehead. The silver paint looks good, but mine has some wear on the forehead plate, giving him an unintentionally weathered look. His blue eyes came out really nice, and makes me wish there was some light piping on these. I also love the bold and crisp Autobot emblem stamped on his chest.

I’ve already established that there’s no sword, which continues to be a huge oversight by Hasbro, leaving third parties to pick up the slack. Sludge does, however, come with a gun and it’s pretty damn nice. It’s cast in black plastic with some gold paint on the barrel and ont he scope.

I’m pretty sure I said this last time, but it still confounds me that Takara never produced a full set of Masterpiece Dinobots. Grimlock’s MP figure went through a whole bunch of releases and seemed like he was always in demand. I can’t imagine that Slag and Sludge would have done any worse. Then Power of the Primes came along and gave us some nice looking versions, which were way too small and sacrificed way too much for what I thought was a terrible and unnecessary combiner mode. So, thank Primus for these Studio Series releases. Sludge marks the first time since G2 that we got a solid set of this trio from Hasbro based on the original designs, and I am extremely pleased with how they all came out. They are appropriately sized, look great in both modes, and having all three together on the shelf makes for an absolutely awesome display! Now bring on Snarl and Swoop!

Mar 17 2023

Star Wars “The Mandalorian:” Slave-1 (#75312) by LEGO

Yeah, that’s right, the box may say Boba Fett’s Starship, but it’ll always be Slave-1 to me. Fight the power!!! Since I’ve been on a LEGO kick this year, I thought I’d take a break from the LEGO City Space stuff and switch over to The Mandalorian. These have been the only Star Wars sets I’ve been buying, not because the others don’t look good, but I have to try to set limitations where LEGO is concerned or I’ll be broke. I saw this set the last time I was at Target and the price seemed right, so let’s see what we got!

The set is a tad bigger than any I’ve built in a while, weighing in at 593 pieces, which come in four numbered bags. BUT… For some reason it only comes with one big instruction manual, whereas the last bunch I assembled had a booklet for each bag. Now, I’m not saying that has anything to do with anything, but I did find this build to be a little more challenging than any other recent LEGO experiences. So, I gotta call foul on that 9+ rating. I’m more than five times that age, and I had to backtrack a few times to see what went wrong. Needless to say, this was a pretty dense build with some neat stuff going on, and there were a few times where I honestly didn’t know why I was building something. I love that, because it creates a real gee-whiz moment when you place it on the model and see what’s going on. Anyway, in addition to Slave-1, the set builds two Minifigs, a Carbonite Prisoner, and a Transport Sled. As always, let’s start with the Minifigs!

The figs are Boba Fett and Mando, and these are pretty straightforward. Boba has his jetpack and Mando has a cape. Both have articulated range finders on their helmets, Boba comes with a blaster carbine, Mando has his spear, and there’s an extra blaster pistol if you want to give it to Mando. Only Boba comes with a jetpack, but Mando comes with a cape. Boba has a printed face, so you can display him with his helmet off if you want, whereas Mando just has a blank head under there, which feels kind of cheap. I know he rarely takes that bucket off his head, but he has in the show, so I think we should have had a printed face on there. But, it’s no biggie. I am particularly happy to have the Beskar Armor Mando, since the one I have that came with the AT-ST set is in his original armor. I also have to give props to the beautiful printing that makes up Boba Fett’s armor. It’s crisp and colorful and looks fantastic.

The Carbonite Prisoner is just a slab with a vent piece on the bottom and a sticker of a Gamorrean Guard. It’s OK, but the slab is really thin, which seems doubly out of place for a portly Gamorrean.

Here’s “Prisoners-With-Jobs-1” all assembled and looking pretty cool. So straightaway, if the size and cost of this set didn’t tip you off, don’t come into this one expecting a full scale model of Slave-1. It’s a substantial build, but as you can see, it’s scaled down a bit when compared to the Minifigs. The build is completely solid, which means the back doesn’t open up or anything beyond there being a sliding ramp with a slot to stow the Carbonite slab. And that’s fine, given it’s size. The fact that it is a solid build means the ship is pretty hefty and takes to being handled well. I ran into some difficulties assembling the side pieces, but I’m going to chalk that up to the way it was illustrated in the booklet and the few drinkys I had while building. As for aesthetics, I think it’s a good looking model, but I have two nitpicks. The canopy is a little flimsy the way it closes up and obviously doesn’t seal shut, and the guns on the tail boom are rather oversized. Neither are deal-breakers for me, especially given the size of the set.

There’s only room for one Minifig in the cockpit, and as you may have guessed, there’s no gyroscope articulation to the pilot seat. As a result, the Minifig is designed to sit in it as if it’s always in flight. There is, however, articulation in the wing stabilizers, and these will remain horizontal to the ground as the ship is maneuvered, just like the old Kenner toy, and that’s pretty cool. There are two cannon that fire red studs, and there’s a flip out handle hidden in the undercarriage to hold while you’re whooshing it around the room.

The Transport Sled is designed to move Slave-1 along the ground, but it can also be used to transport the Carbonite Prisoner, and it even doubles as a stand for displaying the ship at an angle, which is a really nice bonus.

Considering I recently paid a little extra for a pair of discontinued LEGO sets, this one actually felt like a decent deal at $40. Well, at least it felt like a decent deal by LEGO standards. Despite a few frustrations, I found the build to be very satisfying and while the ship is definitely scaled down, I think I’ll be content with it as my sole LEGO representation of Slave-1 in my collection. Especially since the bigger Slave-1 runs for hundreds of dollars. If you’re hankering to build something while you’re watching the next episode of Mando, and you want another cool little Star Wars ship for your LEGO shelves, you could do a lot worse than this one!

Mar 15 2023

Star Wars “The Mandalorian:” Life-Size Grogu Figure by Sideshow

Sideshow ran a whole lot of good deals back around Christmas time, which is pretty dangerous for me. It’s a bad time of the year, and it doesn’t take much to make me dive into retail therapy to stave off holiday depression. One of those deals was Sideshow’s own life-size version of Grogu, which is probably one of the most expensive impulse buys I’ve ever made. Was it worth it? Well, let’s find out…

Baby Yoda comes in an enormous fully enclosed box with some nice wrap-around artwork from the show. I’m guessing this was released before the big name reveal, so the box refers to him merely as The Child, which Disney seemed to like better than Baby Yoda. The figure comes out of the box pretty much ready for display. You just have to peg him onto his base and pop his favorite shifter-knob into his right hand. While Grogu is pretty tiny on the show, a life-size version still puts him at just under 17-inches, which means he’s considerably bigger than Sideshow’s Sixth-Scale figures, which are about as big as my photo staging area can go. So give me a couple of minute to improvise something bigger and we’ll check him out!

Well, isn’t he just adorable! This little bugger comes clad in his fabric frock with a wooly-type material used for the collar and sleeve cuffs. It’s got that rough and shoddy tailoring like it does on the show, which makes me wonder why Mando hasn’t invested a little of that Beskar in a proper onesie. While Grogu is advertised as a figure, it would be more accurate to call him a statue, as the only articulation here is in the neck, and even that only allows for a little bit of tweaking. Hot Toys did put out a proper life-size Grogu figure with more articulation, and while I don’t own that figure, I will make a few comparison comments based on pictures that I’ve seen. The pose is about as simple as things get, with his arms more or less down at as his sides and his head looking upward. It’s perfectly in tune with what Grogu is usually doing in the show, so no complaints there. It is worth mentioning, that this is a piece that is best displayed below eye level, so he can be looking up at you.

Because Grogu’s frock covers most of him, the only real sculpt and paint are invested in the portrait and hands. In terms of sculpt, I think the head is spot on. The wide-eyed expression is designed to tug at heart strings and sell toys, and it definitely succeeds at both. The eyes are simply stunning, with a lot of complexity behind those lenses if you get up and personal. The downturned mouth suggests he was just chastised for eating lizard people’s babies. There’s a nice compromise between smooth skin and rumples and light creases, and the top of the head is graced with a field of white peach-fuzz hair, which is strangely satisfying to pet. The Hot Toys version had a little part in the lips to show some teeth, which is definitely a more complex sculpt, but I think I prefer the closed lips on this one for being a little less creepy.

A lot has been made about the rosy cheeks, and I can confirm that it looks a lot more obvious under studio lights than it does on display under normal lighting. Even the official Sideshow shots don’t really show you what you’re getting and that’s to the figure’s discredit. I’ve even seen people do comparisons between the actual prop and this portrait to show that the paint here is pretty much spot on to the physical prop, but a bit at variance as to how it looks on screen. Personally, I’m happy with the way the paint came out on this one, but I think the Hot Toys version comes a little closer, at least in the pictures. Whether that’s the case in hand, I can’t really say since I’ll never be able to make that direct comparison. I do think the ears on the Sideshow figure are painted better, as the Hot Toys’ version looks a little too glossy and fake to me.

The only accessory here is the shifter knob, which attaches to the right hand via a pretty strong magnet. This is a simple silver painted sphere with a blue stripe across the middle. It’s a nice touch, but it kind of gets lost in all the fabric when on display. It’s almost looks like Grogu is trying to hide that he has it.

If you’re wondering how much sculpt and paint is going on under that frock, it’s just the hands and feet. The fully realized feet are a nice feature, since you really can’t see them at all under the cloak when the figure is on display.

The base looks like it’s intended to be the deck of a ship, possibly the Razor Crest, and it looks good, but the cloak does cover most of the surface. Unlike most Sideshow statues, which use a metal rod to attach the figure, this has a simple foot peg, which is pretty charming, as it looks just like the kind of foot pegs used on playsets for the old Kenner Star Wars figures. I also like that the peg is on the base and not on the figure, so you can stand Grogu wherever you want without using the base. Either way, it does a good job of securing the figure, while making it easy to pick him up and put him back on it again.

The bottom of the base is fully illustrated with some colorful, stylized artwork. it always impresses me when Sideshow does this, as it will almost never be seen, but it adds a bit of value to the piece. The base does state that the figure is a Limited Edition, but it’s not hand numbered like the Premium Formats, and there’s no statement of limitation anywhere on the box or base, nor could I find one on the website.

Sideshow’s Grogu retails for $375 and at the time I’m publishing this review it’s still available to buy. I got him at $100 off and threw in $60 worth of reward points to knock it down to $215. That still makes it a pretty expensive impulse buy, but I was surprised at how delighted I was when he showed up and I got him out of the box. The Hot Toys version is probably the more desirable as it does have articulation and some might argue the better paint, but it’s also a lot more expensive, so I’m pretty satisfied with this guy on my shelf. One of my biggest pipe dreams has been to one day own a life-size Star Wars character, preferably R2 or 3PO, but I just haven’t been drunk enough to pull the trigger yet. At least now I can say I have one. As of now, Grogu is standing right by the light switch in my TV room, and I get to give him a pat on the head each night as I shut out the lights to go to bed.

Mar 13 2023

Dungeons & Dragons: Ultimate Warduke by NECA

It’s crazy how you can go ages without any real D&D licensed toys and then all of the sudden, they’re dropping all over the place, like slimy guts out of a slain Beholder. Hasbro has been using the license to make figures based off the old 80’s cartoon and the upcoming film, Honor Among Thieves, but now NECA has stepped into the ring with the license to do modern versions of the old LJN Advanced Dungeons & Dragons figures. The first two releases are Warduke and Grimsword, and I’m starting my look at these today with Warduke!

To me, Warduke was the Boba Fett of the AD&D world: A mysterious masked warrior with waves of badassery wafting off of him. He was easily my favorite figure in the LJN line, and he would always be waging some epic battles with the heroic Strongheart. NECA’s version comes in their standard Ultimate style packaging. You get a window box with a flap covering the front and a mix of artwork and actual photos of the figure all around. And that’s a hell of a piece of character art on the front of the box! I’m really excited to check this guy out, so let’s just dive right in!

Even before I got him out of the box, I have to admit that I was in awe of this figure while still peeping at him through the window. NECA took the original toy design and just ran with it, turning everything up to the hyper-detailed and realistic max. I’m actually a bit speechless and not sure where to begin, because this figure looks absolutely stunning on just about every level. The network of belts and straps crisscrossing his torso are all sculpted separately, giving up a lot of depth to the figure in general. The yellow belt from the original figure is now painted in gold with a demon-head motif and a more pronounced brown furry sash dipping down between his legs. He has one buccaneer boot on the right foot with red oval stones and his left boot is fortified with a sculpted, spiked armored plate and straps. Warduke’s right side is far less heavily defended and showing a lot of skin, while his left arm and leg are clad in sculpted chainmail, with a gorgeous metallic blue finish. His right arm also has an armored bracer and gauntlet with individually sculpted straps, painted right down to the tiny silver buckles. The eclectic costume is rounded out by a spiked left shoulder guard and an amulet hanging around his neck, strung with what looks like golden fangs. Warduke may not be a fan of symmetry, but he sure knows how to look intimidating!

The mysterious helmeted head is painted in the same sumptuous metallic blue as the chain mail, with the exposed area inside the helmet left black and featureless, except for two piercing red eyes. The package suggests there is just a man under there, by as a kid my imagination went with something more dark and demonic. He has some red ornamental stones on the forehead and back of the helmet, as well as stubby horns on top. The wings on the helmet are a bit more refined than the ones on the original figure, and they’re even pretty damn sharp at the tips! Part of me would have liked to see a little more in the way of facial contours inside the helmet, but it almost looks like he’s meant to be wearing a mask under it, and that’s fine.

Warduke wears three blades on his person, carried in varying styles of scabbards and sheathes. The most notable being his broadsword, which resides in a scabbard across his back. The scabbard is smooth and without texture, but does have some sculpted straps and a copper painted throat and tip. The second largest is a blue scabbard with ornamental gold throat and tip, as well as some bands, and hangs off his belt by a real gold chain. He also has a sculpted red pouch hanging between this scabbard and the one for the larger sword. And finally, on his right hip he has a brown sheath with some black wraps, sculpted stitching along the edges, and a red diamond-shaped jewel with some ornamental beads hanging. The detail on all of these pieces is fantastic, and they contribute to his eclectic look. Campaigns in AD&D are always about improving your gear through loot, and all of this stuff certainly looks like it was acquired and added to his arsenal along the way.

The articulation here is pretty solid, with rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles. The neck is ball jointed, and you get another ball joint down near the waist. The hips are ball jointed, allowing for a bit of swivel up there, and the ankles ensure his feet can stay flat on the ground in wider stances. The wrists are hinged pegs, allowing for the hands to be swapped out. You get two pairs of accessory holding hands, and a right hand with a pointing finger. I had no issues with any of the joints on this figure, and I think the range of motion is really good. The elbows can pull of 90-degrees, which is not bad for this type of joint, albeit double hinges would have been preferred. I think my only nitpick here would be that the arms hang a little far from the body, but I guess that gives him a readiness stance, which works for the character. OK, let’s look at the weapons, and we’ll start small and work our way up!

The brown sheath holds what looks like a miniature fachion. It has an angled blue hilt that matches the color of Warduke’s chainmail and helmet. The blade is painted silver and has some notable wear on the blade. I’m actually not sure if this is intentional or not, but it really looks great for weathering. The grip has some deep sculpted scrollwork patterns and two silver painted rivets.

The dagger is probably big enough to be considered a short sword. It has a long, thin blade, almost like a stiletto. The hilt is gold with some red painted jewels and not much of a guard. It’s not a perfect match for the broadsword, but the two do go together fairly well.

The broadsword is certainly an imposing piece of cutlery, with an extended grip that could work as a two-hander. The grip is painted brown and the guard and pommel are both gold, with a painted red jewel in the center of the guard. The blade thins near the blade and then swells out just a bit for the remainder of its double-edge. Unlike the smaller weapons, the silver finish on this blade is immaculate.

Of course, Warduke also comes with his rather iconic skull shield! It never occurred to me as a kid playing with the figure, that Warduke’s armor was designed with his left arm intended as his sword arm, and the shield carried in his right to protect his less-armored half. I don’t think I made that connection until I was a teenager studying arms and armor in my spare time. The shield looks amazing with a beautiful dark steel finish and a lumpiness to the sculpt that makes it look like it was forged with a bit of crudeness. It’s an absolutely intimidating piece with the horned skull and dark voids for eyes. The reverse side has a grab bar and a sculpted arm strap textured like leather with rivets holding it into place.

And finally, Warduke comes with a flame effect for his sword, which really elevates the display quality of what was an already amazing figure. The piece is cast in soft orange translucent plastic and it fits rather snugly around the sword. Because clearly this guy didn’t look badass enough without igniting his blade. I mean, holy shit!

I’m well aware that I tend to churn out pretty positive reviews on the stuff I look at here. What can I say? I don’t buy stuff that I don’t think I’m going to like, and as a result I’m not usually disappointed. But when I say that Warduke here is one of the best figures I’ve handled in a long while, I hope that comes across as genuine and not just some hyperbole. This figure is absolutely stunning to look at and loads of fun to play with, and while some would demand more in the way of articulation, I think this is a perfect blend of sculpt and poseability. But in the end, it’s the modernized design, the detail in the sculpt, and the quality of the paint that sells it so well. It is indeed the ultimate version of the character that I could have only dreamed of owning as a kid. And with so many excellent Mythic Legions figure reviews under my belt, I’m still willing to say that this is probably the best fantasy-themed figure I’ve ever looked at here. I’m anxious to check out Grimsword, and I can only hope that this line continues to cover as many of the LJN figures as possible.

Mar 10 2023

G.I. JOE: Profit Director Destro Statue by Diamond Select

Oh, Diamond Select PVC Statues, why can’t I quit you? It’s probably because they almost always go on deep discount and become some of the best value statues out there. But it’s usually the Marvel and DC Galleries that trap me, and now they’re doing GI JOE. I’ve had my eye on Destro for a while and was about to pull the trigger, but when I found the Limited Edition variant version was going for even less, I decided to go for Pimp Daddy Destro instead of the regular flavor.

DST does a nice job with these boxes, giving you windows top, front, left, and right to let plenty of light in. Combine that with the figure being in a clear clamshell tray and these display pretty damn well in the box. The front has the GI JOE logo, along with the explosion background and “COBRA ENEMY” logo from the vintage toy packages. This one is a PX Exclusive, and I have no idea what that means, other than it’s limited to 3,000 pieces and has foil tape on the top flap to indicate such. But all in all, this is just a recolor of the regular retail release. Everything here is collector friendly, and Destro just requires his rocket blast part to be attached to his arm to get him ready for display!

Destro’s Pimp Daddy look will never replace his more iconic costume as my favorite, but I still like it a lot. His black costume is switched out for a maroon one with some bitchin leopard skin panels on his hips and the interior of his collar. Also, the head is gold instead of silver, the briefcase is gold instead of black, and while the original statue had him splashing through blue water, it’s now some kind of contaminated green sewage water. But putting aside the new coloring, I think the pose and composition of this statue is just absolutely fantastic in the way that it tells a story. Destro’s secret meeting place has been discovered by the JOEs, and he’s escaping through the sewers. JOE fire stirs up the water as he returns fire with one of his wrist rockets. But at least he secured the case with the payment! This piece just has so much energy, and it looks like it’s ripped straight off the cover of a comic book!

The sculpted detail is quite nice, with Destro himself being fairly ripped, and showing off some great muscle definition under his suit. Close scrutiny shows stitching in the pouches, clasps on his boots, and even tiny screws securing his holster, and his blinged out pistol which looks so good I would have sworn it was removable, even when it isn’t. The paintwork is also really sharp, with the gold having a quality satin finish, and there’s a bit of a wash on the holster.

The head sculpt is also admirable, with Destro pulling a face that reflects how displeased he is at being interrupted. This dude is clearly just having the worst day. There’s an intensity to his furled brow and wrinkled nose that combines perfectly with the piercing black and green eyes. You get the heavy bolted collar around the bottom of the mask, and his large red ruby hanging askew around his neck with sculpted gold chain. There’s a little overspray of red paint on the silver border of the necklace, which is the only real paint flub I can see on the statue.

The rocket effect is nicely done, with the translucent orange combustion effect tabbing into the arm. It explodes from the launcher and forms a serpentine trail of thrust behind the little gold rocket. This is an example of an effect part done extraordinarily well.

Another equally amazing effect is the translucent base of toxic green water. The sludge flows from a grate in the wall causing some ripples, and the splash effects of the JOE machine gun fire and Destro’s boot are beautifully done. You also get a severed Battle Android Trooper head, suggesting that the JOE team took care of Destro’s backup, which is another wonderful little touch to the base.

The piping is painted with a decrepit rust and there are sculpted brackets and bolts holding them to the wall. The wall itself features some great paintwork and more detailed sculpting, even to the back side, which will probably never be visible when this statue is displayed. DST uses the term PVC Diorama for their Gallery statues, which I always suspected was a way to get around licensing with Marvel and DC. Most of the time they really aren’t anything close to a diorama, but Destro here is the exception to the rule, and a lot of thought and effort went into this base.

The MSRP on this piece was $49.99, but playing the waiting game on most of DST’s Gallery Statues almost always pays off. In this case, I was able to get Pimp Daddy Destro for $25. It’s crazy that the limited release is currently selling for about $10 less than the regular retail release, but I’m chalking that up to there being a higher demand on the more iconic outfit version. Indeed, the Exclusive moniker tends to be the kiss of death for these statues on the secondary market, even with the Marvel and DC releases, which still strikes me as odd given the stricter limitations over the retail releases. Either way, I’m happy to add this one to my collection, and I like it enough that I will probably grab the regular version as well before moving on to The Baroness!