Monthly Archives: January 2024

Jan 31 2024

Silverhawks Ultimates: Quicksilver and Tallyhawk by Super7

One of my biggest shortfalls in 2023 was not wrapping up my look at Super7’s Ultimates Silverhawks figures. I got sooo close, but fell one figure short. What’s worse is I promised myself I wouldn’t dig into any of the other Super7 Ultimates until I made good on this, so it’s kind of holding up a bunch of GI JOE and ThunderCats Ultimates reviews as well. So, let’s finally get caught up with the Silverhawks and check out the team’s leader himself, Quicksilver and his bird buddy, Tallyhawk!

When it comes to packaging, you know the drill by now! The figure comes in a window box with a slipcover, all done in a sumptuous silver and blue foil finish. The window allows you to see the figure and all the extras inside, and you get some character art and a little bio on the back panel. It’s all collector friendly, and I am trying to keep these boxes because they look so damn good. They also take up a lot of room, so I have since put the figure accessories in organization trays and put the empty boxes into storage for now. Yeah, that’s usually just a pitstop on the way to the garbage, but I’m going to put that off for as long as possible. Since it’s been a while, feel free to get caught up on all my Super7 Ultimate SIlverhawks reviews if you need to!

Quicksilver continues the use of a sort of satin to matte paint finish to convey the cartoon look, as opposed to the vac-metal finish of the original Kenner figures. It’s far from glossy, but not quite flat either. To me, it does a decent job at presenting the animated look, but to me the rest of the team’s blue came across as more pleasing to the eye than Quicksilver’s gray. I think the blue just gave them more to work with. With that having been said, you get the same minimalist detail for the animated style with some soft muscle definition, a few panel lines, and the belt buckle-type fixture center on his waist. The right arm is flesh tone, making up the partly real aspect of the tagline, while the left arm is completely gray. I dig it! Quicksilver has his communication bracelet, which is painted up in yellow with some additional paint apps to the controls. This is a separate piece, so it can be swapped out to the winged arms as well.

The head sculpt is a decent likeness for the animated character. I know there have been a lot of complaints about the basic level of paint on the faces here, but I don’t know how much more detail they could add and still keep that toony aesthetic. My figure has sharp lines around the face and helmet and the eyes and eyebrows are neat and tidy as well. You also get the masked head, but I found it interesting that we didn’t get a second unmasked head with this figure, since the others all came with three heads total, but I’ll hold onto that thought until the end.

As with all the Silverhawks in this line, the articulation probably looks better on paper than it actually is, and that’s because of the limited range of in many of those joints. You get a lot of rotating hinges and no double hinges, and neither the elbows or knees are capable of pulling off even 90-degree bends. Quicksilver also has a bit more limitation in the hips than his other teammates, which is odd because the construction looks about the same. The end result is something far better than retro but not quite up to the best modernity has to offer. That doesn’t bother me as much as it does others, but that may be because I knew what to expect from Ultimates going in. I will happily report no QC issues on any of Quicksilver’s joints, which was quite the relief after the nightmare that was Steelwill. As with the other figures, you get a nice selection of hands, which include fists, flying/chop hands, relaxed hands, and accessory holding.

As with the Steel Twins, Quicksilver comes with winged arms that can be swapped out at the shoulders. You can also swap out the shoulder pieces themselves to display the gun ports open or closed with or without the wings. Once again, I had no issues doing the swap here, which was quite refreshing and the wings look really good.

You get the same two laser effect pieces that came with the Steel Twins, and these plug into the shoulder ports. There’s been a lot of back and forth over whether the starbursts are supposed to represent the beam firing from the shoulders or hitting a target. Either one works, but I’m pretty sure I remember the official solicitation shots showing the starbursts as impact effects.

Of course, this set includes Tallyhawk, who was really the cartoon team’s only bird buddy until the others were finally created in Episode 24. You get two versions: One perched and one in flight. Both of these sculpts are very nice and they each include articulation in the feet and neck. The wingspan on the flight version is looks amazing!

And with Quicksilver under my wing, I’m finally caught up with reviewing the two existing waves of Super7’s Ultimate Silverhawks. I like this figure, but he feels rather light on the extras. He’s the only figure on the team to not come with a second head, and if you look at Bluegrass and Steelwill, they both came with a lot more stuff. Surely there were a few episode-specific accessories that could have been tossed in here to buff him out, because as he stands, he feels like the least value out of the whole team, and that’s not a good look for the leader!

As for the line as a whole, I freaking love these. Silverhawks was one of those franchises where I watched the cartoon but never had any of the toys and it’s damn cool to get an updated series like this. Granted, t I do think that this line has been a lot weaker than the ThunderCats, as that’s a line that tends to display more intricate sculpts and paint, with absolutely none of the QC issues I’ve had with this Silverhawks line. Yup, I’ve had some sort of QC issue on three out of the four Silverhawks, ranging from very minor to a critical break that led me to having to get a replacement figure. Meanwhile, the members of the Limbo Mob have been universally fantastic. I’m not pre-ordering the vac-metal repaints of the Silverhawks, because I don’t have the confidence that those finishes will hold up, especially around the joints, but I will consider it if they are well received when they ship. In the meantime, I do have the next wave of regular releases on pre-order, which will add Stargazer and Hot Wing to the good guys and Mumbo Jumbo and Molecular to the Limbo Mob. These figures all look great, but I would have happily traded Hot Wing for the Copper Kid and Molecular for Melodia or Hardware. Here’s hoping those two figures still get made.

By figurefanzero
2
Jan 29 2024

Masters of the Universe Origins (Cartoon Series): He-Man and Beast Man by Mattel

Here we go again! As the vintage-style MOTU Origins line winds itself down the Filmation off-shoot is just starting with more cartoon accurate versions of the characters. The last time we saw this phenomenon was when Matty Collector’s MOTU Classics gave way to the Club Grayskull’s cartoon style figures and eventually handed the whole shebang off to Super7. I really wanted to collect that line, but coming off of dropping untold amounts of monies on the superb and expansive Classics line, I just couldn’t bring myself to start all over again. Well, it doesn’t seem quite so daunting a task this time, as the figures are smaller and aren’t terribly expensive. Also, I’m not going to be aggressive about hunting down the remaining releases from the vintage-style Origins line, especially if they’re going to be Mattel Creations exclusives. So, I decided to dip in with the initial releases and see how deep I’m willing to go. The first two figures are He-Man and Beast Man, so let’s see what we got!

The cardbacks get a complete redesign, and as much as I loved the vintage-style cards, these are even more spectacular. The logo is now reflective of the cartoon’s title as HE-MAN and the Masters of the Universe and you get some very colorful and Filmationy artwork. I’m guessing there was some licensing issues with putting FILMATION on the bubble, so they did a work around with the word CARTOON in the Filmation logo colors. These packaged figures look absolutely amazing and it’s almost a shame to tear into them. I may wind up doing what I did with the vintage-style figures and pick up an extra He-Man and Skeletor to leave carded. Each figure also comes with a comic book behind them, and it’s the same comic for both figures. Let’s start with The Most Powerful Man in the Universe…

He-Man’s redesign does indeed make him look like he ready to jump off the TV screen and spout pithy PSAs at the children of the Earth. And I’ll say straightaway that I did not expect this much difference between the vintage and cartoon versions of this line. You get a whole new body that’s designed to stand taller, eschewing the squat poses of the vintage toys, while at the same time simplifying some of the details found on the original figure in favor of animation accuracy. The boot sculpts look pretty close, minus the yellow fringe, but the belt and wrist bracers are now lacking the studs. The chest harness is also smoothed out, and the red panels on the upper straps are gone. The new figure comes with two grippy hands instead of the open slap left hand, and you get a brand new scabbard for the Power Sword on his back. The articulation points are identical to the regular Origins figures and these are still modular if that sort of thing interests you. And while the size change is quite notable, it isn’t enough to prevent these new figures from using the old Origins vehicles.

I really dig the new Filmation portrait. I thought Super7’s was pretty good, but I think this simpler version nails the animation look just a bit better. The expression is fairly neutral, which is great when you’re only getting the one head. He looks determined but not mean, just like cartoon He-Man should look. I think they could have added just a bit more sculpt to the hair, but it still looks fine the way it is.

Naturally He-Man comes with his Power Sword, but not his Axe or Shield, because he didn’t use those in the cartoon. I love the fact that this is the whole sword and not the ugly vintage-style half-sword. I’m pretty sure this is repacked from one of the exclusive Origins sets and that’s fine because it looks great with this figure.

What’s not great is that Mattel didn’t include a second right hand with a hinge that would allow him to hold aloft his magic sword and say the words. I mean, for crying out loud, how hard could that have been? Instead of being able to hold it pointing straight up it can only go at an angle. It’s not a complete deal-breaker for me, but the fact that it’s such a small thing to make the figure near perfect to me, I can’t help but be frustrated by it.

You do get a second accessory, which is The Sword of Ancients, which appeared in the episode Masks of Power. Now, this is a really nice looking accessory, and I love the idea that we may be getting episode specific accessories with each figure. But, I would have gladly traded this for an extra right hand so he could strike his transformation pose. It would have used less plastic, and would have probably been cheaper. OK, I’m done bitching about that. I promise. Let’s move on to Beast Man…

Put on your shades, everyone, because we’ve got some retina-scalding orange plastic coming at ya! The cartoon version of Beast Man didn’t really have any furry detail on most of his body, so Mattel was able to use regular He-Man parts for a lot of him, and that’s fair play. It’s kind of like how I was never sure if the ThunderCats were supposed to be covered in fur or not. He’s also got the same belt and wrist bracers devoid of studs and very simple boots. The shoulder armor sports less detail and his furry chest harness is all smoothed out as well with a simplified blue emblem in the center. I think the orange plastic used for the body should have been closer to the regular Origins version, but it’s not that bad. The added blue and yellow paint accents really make this figure pop even more. If I stare at him too long I can still see him when I close my eyes.

The vintage Beast Man will never not be funny to me, because I think that figure had one of the dopiest and ugliest heads ever put on an action figure. It actually looks like it’s a bootleg of itself, and don’t try to figure that out, because it doesn’t make sense. The cartoon design took the train wreck of a face they had to work with and made it look good and the sculpt is wonderfully executed on this figure. The colors on the other hand, needed a more fleshy tone for the face and ears. It’s there, but my eyes can barely make it out among all that bright orange.

Like He-Man, Beast Man comes with two accessories, the first of with is this bugle with a string on it. I kid… it’s his whip and I really hate this accessory. It’s just a recolor of the one included with the original Origins figure. I was willing to accept that as an homage to the vintage toy, but the accessory for the Filmation style figure should have been redesigned.

On the other hand, you also get the Hover Ray that Beast Man used to move dragon eggs in The Dragon Invasion, and I love this! I have a weird affection for Filmation-style tech, whether it be from He-Man, Flash Gordon, or even Ghostbusters. I just think it all looks so cool and I hope we get a lot more of it. I actually can’t wait to get The Stasis Ray bundled with Man-At-Arms. This device really isn’t a weapon, but rather an anti-gravity field for lifting stuff, so it’s probably not as exciting as it looks, but I sure do dig it!

I picked these figures up for $20 each and I have to say I’m excited to be starting this line. I have Man-At-Arms and Skeletor in hand and I think Teela and Trap-Jaw will be next. I think He-Man is the better figure in this pair, only because Beast Man could have used a little color tweaking, but I’m still really happy with both. As for the extra sword hand… Mattel can easily fix that by putting one in with a Prince Adam figure, so let’s hope they do the right thing.

Jan 26 2024

Ultra Street Fighter II: Chun Li by Jada Toys

Last year Jada Toys came out of left field with their new line of Ultra Street Fighter II figures and blew a lot of people away. This is a company known for making cars and metal miniatures, so I don’t think anyone expected them to toss out such exceptional figures with so little experience. And yet Ryu turned out to be one of the better 6-inch scale figures I reviewed here last year, doing a lot of things better than veterans like Hasbro and Mattel. After playing around with him, I quickly decided I was going to be collecting this line, although I probably won’t be all in on the variants. I picked up two additional figures last year, but they didn’t get the spotlight here, so let’s start remedying that today with a look at Chun Li.

The packaging here goes a long way to show how much passion Jada is putting into this line, as you get a window box recreating an arcade coin-op machine with some character art at the bottom left hand corner. The window shows off the figure from the knees up, as well as most of the accessories you’re getting. The illustrated backdrop has some pixel art from one of the stages in the game, although it’s rather obscured by all the stuff. I love the health bars up top and you get a recreation of the character select screen on the back. Best of all, these boxes are totally collector friendly, and you can bet that I’m keeping them all.

While I tend to play Street Fighter III: Third Strike on my Dreamcast more than any other game in the franchise, this look for Chun Li is still about as iconic as things get for me. And boy, Jada did a great job rendering it in plastic! Chun Li’s qipao is cast in a vibrant electric blue plastic with some very fine texturing. All the trim is sculpted as well as painted in some very nice gold leaf paint with some pretty sharp lines. The lower part of the dress is cast in soft plastic and hangs down the front and back, with wide cuts in the sides so as not to try to contain those magnificent thighs. As if anything ever could! The poufy shoulders include short sleeves, which are sculpted separately from the biceps, there’s some great sculpting in the lacings of her white boots, and her spiked bracelets are separate pieces, so keep an eye on them when you swap hands! From the coloring to the sculpt, this figure just looks absolutely superb!

You get two heads to display on the figure: One serious and one shouty-serious! Both of these look great and follow the stylized game art fairly well. Punching in with the camera doesn’t do them a lot of favors as some of the paint quality breaks down the closer in you get. That’s to be expected with most figures, and it’s not something that I notice at all with the figure in hand. I think the biggest problem with paint on my figure is slop around the yellow fringe against the white covering on her oxtails. Again, not that big a deal when viewed with the naked eye, but it looks pretty bad when zoomed in. I do have a dark spot on my shouty face’s right cheek, but most of that has managed to come off with a little wiping. Yes, I would have really liked a happy victory head too, but at this price point, I think two heads is reasonable. Also, I’m pretty sure I saw somewhere that a recolored variant will include that head and if that’s true, then I’m on board!

One of the things that impressed me most about Ryu was how great the figure felt in hand and how much fun he was to pose. Well, all that is definitely the case for Chun Li as well. All the joints on this figure are solid and easy to work with, and there was nothing stuck or problematic as she came out of the box. It’s sad to have to point that out, but I’ve had a lot of issues with stuck joints on figures these days, it’s great to see Jada getting it right. They’ve done an excellent job of balancing sculpt and aesthetics with lots of useful articulation. You need only go back and look at the SOTA Chun Li to see how far we’ve come!

Chun-Li includes two sets of hands: Fists and tight-fingered chopping hands. The pegs are pretty robust and these are easy to swap out without fear of anything snapping.

The final accessories are the effect part for Chun-Li’s Hundred Lightning Kicks, which comes with its own dedicated stand. The stand is hinged at two places and plugs into the bottom of the effect piece to support it. The effect piece itself is cast in soft translucent blue plastic and you just insert Chun-Li’s foot into on of the slots and it works really well. The stand can also be repurposed to support the figure for other action poses, even though it wasn’t really intended for that purpose.

Boy do I love this line! The retail on these figures remains about $25 each, which is great for people who don’t want to sink $100 a pop into Storm Collectible’s far more premium line. I’m not about to tell you the two are in the same league, as Storm’s figures are scaled bigger and tend to have a lot more accessories. But as someone who does collect several of Storm’s series, proportionally speaking, I think the value is far better on Jada’s figures. These are incredibly fun toys that pitch perfectly capture the spirit of the game characters and are tough to put down. The amount of extras feels just right and when it comes to sculpt and coloring and overall quality, Jada is absolutely eating Hasbro’s lunch when it comes to figures in this scale. The next time I pop a quarter into this machine, we’ll check out Fei Long!

Jan 24 2024

Transformers Legacy: Pointblank and Needlenose by Hasbro

I’ve made a commitment to myself to go back and take a look at some of the Transformers I missed spotlighting here last year, and there are quite a few of them! It’s also the only way I’m going to get much Transformers content, because I’m really not interested in too much Hasbro is doing with the brand right now. Anyway, I picked up Pointblank and Needlenose when they were first released and while I remember opening them, I guess I had something else going on because they wound up bagged and toted before I even spent any serious time with them. So let’s get these two Targetmasters out have a look!

The Legacy package design sure was something! I often gripe about how bland the package design got after the live action films, but I think this was a case of overcompensation. The colors are obnoxious and nothing about this look really screams Transformers to me. Also, these are the windowless boxes that expose the toys to the elements, meaning sticky kid fingers and boogers, so it’s safe to say I’m not a fan. And I still don’t know what the added Evolution moniker was all about. Anyway, both of these guys were G1 Targetmasters with Pointblank releasing in 1987 and Needlenose was out the following year. I would have been 16 and out of the Transformers game, but I did later own an original G1 Pointblank when I got into collecting Transformers in my 30’s. I never did own an original Needlenose, so let’s start with him!

Needlenose’s alt mode is a super sleek fighter jet with a fair amount of robot bits packed into his undercarriage. And that’s not a complaint, I always like to imagine these undercarriage constructs as just meant to be cargo pods or something. The dorsal section of the aircraft has some lovely sculpted panel lines and a pale gray and dark blue deco with some teal stripes and a Decepticon insignia printed on one of his stubby wings. The design sticks pretty close to the original toy with a horizontal stabilizer added to the tail fin and some short angled wings protruding from just in front of the cockpit. Also, the cockpit is painted orange, while I think the original’s was translucent orange plastic.

Not only is Needlenose a Targetmaster, but he comes with TWO little Nebulan buddies, Sunbeam and Zigzag. These are pretty standard stuff when it comes to these little fellas. There’s no articulation in the robot modes but these are impressive sculpts for such tiny figures and the paint is pretty damn good as well. The designs don’t stray too far from the original G1 Nebulans, and Sunbeam even has a gun sculpted in his hand, just like the vintage toy.

When transformed into their weapon modes, the Nebulans can be pegged in under Needlenose’s wings to give him some serious firepower. Sunbeam turns into a stocky purple cannon, while Zigzag becomes a black double-barreled gun. I’m not a huge fan of the asymmetry here, but it’s still plenty cool.

Needlenose’s transformation is a lot more clever than I was expecting. As always, I like to do these without the instructions and it was a tad confusing at first, but once I figured it out I think it’s pretty fun. The robot mode here is a fantastic update to the vintage release, recreating the general design of the chest plate, paying homage to the stickers down in the legs, and adding some great detail to the arms. Most of the deco translates from the jet mode but with some more purple added to the mix. The proportions are also perfect, and he has all the articulation I expect from a modern Transformers figure. Yes, he is basically wearing a jet on his back, but that’s been a favorite design trope of mine ever since the Aerialbots, and I love it here just as much. The jet does truncate a bit and I dig the way the wings angle back behind the shoulders in true Seeker fashion. The large phallic nosecone hanging down between his legs is maybe a bit unfortunate, though! Or maybe it makes him extra popular with the femmebots.

The head sculpt takes the likeness from the original toy and just polishes the heck out of it. I’m a big fan of the knight’s visor motif above his eyes. The yellow face is punctuated with red eyes and most of his face is dominated by a mouth plate. Hasbro did a great job on this one!

And of course, Needlenose can wield his Nebulan guns in his robot mode as well as his jet mode and he looks all sorts of bad ass while doing it. As far as I’m concerned, Legacy Needlenose is pretty much Deluxe Class perfection. He looks fantastic in robot mode, very good in jet mode, and he’s fun to transform and play around with. This figure represents the Hasbro design team firing on all cylinders! Now, let’s move on to Pointblank!

The Autobot Enforcer’s vehicle mode got a pretty big overhaul for this modern release, while still hitting most of the design beats from the original futuristic sportscar. I think the only things I kind of miss here are the spoiler/shield piece that filled in the gap in the back (more on that in a bit) and the flame deco on the sides, but otherwise I think this is a great update, that is more elongated and sleeker than his G1 version. The red plastic looks very sharp and the teal bits are a lot more vibrant than what I remember being on my original toy. There’s a good amount of sculpted detail in the body and the addition of the translucent blue canopy over the painted one on the vintage release is a huge improvement. Most of all, I just really dig how great this car looks parked along side some of the other recent Autobot cars updates like Kup and Blur.

Pointblank comes with the Nebulan Peacemaker who is the spitting image of his G1 counterpart only with a lot better sculpted detail and a few more paint applications. The black and red plastic looks great together and I’m really impressed at the paint on his tiny face and visor, as well as the panels on his shoulders and chest.

Pointblank can equip Peacemaker in his auto mode and this does help fill out the gap left behind by the absent shield piece. It looks very good and even allows for Peacemaker’s gun barrel to angle up so he can try to take out Needlenose or any other Decepticon fliers. But, it does make for an aesthetic departure from the look of the original toy, which may irk some people. In the end, I’m fine with it.

I did not find Pointblank’s transformation to be nearly as fun as Needlenose’s. There are some fiddly things to the engineering here, not to mention the pair of ball jointed door panels that seem to pop off so often, that I resort to just popping them off on purpose to get them out of the way until I’m ready for them. Still, when all is said and done, the final robot looks fantastic… at least from the front. The translucent blue cockpit cockpit looks great on his chest, the bold shoulders with forward facing wheels is a great design, and you even get the blue kneepads present on the original toy. But, he’s kind of flat when viewed from the side and he’s quite the eyesore from the back. You get hollow leg syndrome, unfinished panels with screws in the shoulders, and just a lot of rough stuff back here. It kind of reminds me of those old Hollywood studio sets where the buildings are only finished on the side facing the camera.

The portrait is fantastic, giving the Autobot Enforcer a stoic expression. The visor is a very pale blue, which was a good choice as the coloring on the original toy often struck me as not having a visor at all. The silver face paint pops nicely and he’s got a single fin cresting from the top of his “helmet.”

Naturally, Peacemaker becomes Pointblank’s weapon in robot mode as well as car mode, and while he is a tad chunky, he gets the job done. Even with all that nasty business in the back, Pointblank is still a very cool figure and a superb update to the G1 toy. He does suffer from a fiddly transformation, and those door panels popping off gets really annoying, but his two very solid modes help smooth things out with me.

Wow, I’m glad I dug these guys out and finally gave them their due, because these are both really great figures and just lovely updates. But, if you want me to pick favorites, I’m going to give Needlenose the nod as the better of these two figures. Overall, he seems a bit more polished and comes with two Nebulans instead of just one. I also like transforming him a lot more than I do Pointblank. But I’d still recommend Pointblank as a pick up, and these two have been chasing each other around my desk for the better part of a week now.

Jan 22 2024

DC Multiverse (Mr. Freeze Wave) Batgirl, Poison Ivy, and Mr. Freeze by McFarlane

As promised on Friday, I’m back to finish up with McFarlane’s send up to the 1997 schlock classic, Batman & Robin. I already checked out The Dynamic Duo, so let’s jump right in and have a look at Batgirl, Poison Ivy, and the Collect-To-Build Mr. Freeze!

The packaging is the same as what we saw last time, and standard stuff for the DC Multiverse CTB Waves. Each figure comes with a standard black disk figure stand, a collector card with a promotional image from of the character from the film, and parts to build Freeze. Batman & Robin came with Freeze’s limbs, while Ivy comes with the torso and Batgirl comes with the head, shoulders, and freeze gun. There were also some icy effect parts scattered throughout the wave. Let’s start with Batgirl!

Batgirl’s one-off appearance in these films was portrayed by Alicia Silverstone and I think I would have been a lot happier with that if they at least made her a redhead. Oh yeah, and she was Alfred’s niece for some reason. I wasn’t a fan of any of this, but she sure did look good in the suit. And I do indeed love this suit! The sculpt here is really good, but there are some minor unintentional color variances because of the different materials used. As a result some parts are glossy while others are very dull matte. The only thing about this that is off-putting is how it makes the diaper-piece stand out more than it should, otherwise I dig what we got here. The cape is sculpted exceptionally well and I love the way all the folds and rumples look in it from the back.

The head sculpt is passable, but I think it’s let down the most by the flat paintwork. Honestly, I’d have no idea who this was supposed to be without the context of the mask and suit. Like Robin, the mask is sculpted separately which makes for some clean lines between it and her face, but the same can’t be said about her collar, where there is some overspray of flesh tone on the suit. There’s also a bit of black smudging on her neck. The hair is also sculpted as a separate piece and looks good, but it does inhibit her neck articulation quite a bit and sort of just hovers over the front. It’s a far cry from what Hasbro is doing with their Legends portraits, but I think we can all agree that DC Multiverse is at it’s best with comic based portraits and not actor likenesses.

You do get the same level of articulation here as with the Dynamic Duo and I always love that this line doesn’t discriminate when it comes to poseability, unlike Hasbro’s Legends. They added a bit of chonk to Batgirl’s heels to help her be a little more stable and that helps, but she can still be a little tough to keep standing in dynamic poses, especially with the weight of the cape pulling her back. This is definitely one that will need her stand to keep her upright on my shelf. As with Batman and Robin, she comes with fists attached and no other hands. I like her a lot, but I think the other two Caped Crusaders turned out better. Moving on to Ivy..

I’ll start by tossing out an unpopular opinion bomb and stating that I’m not a big fan of Uma Thurman. Part of that is me just not liking a lot of film’s she’s been in, but also I just don’t find her to be that charismatic or appealing. With that having been said, she seemed to have a good time playing Ivy in this flick and she sure put a lot more energy into it than Silverstone did Batgirl, so I’ll give credit where it’s due. She had a bunch of different looks in the film and if I know Todd, he’ll find a way to capitalize on that, but for now we get the one that’s most like her more iconic comic appearances. She’s wearing a one piece which is beautifully sculpted out of leaves and given a nice wash to bring out the detail. The outfit also features a pair of light green sleeves, and tights that start out dark green and gradually go to black when they reach her high heeled boots. There’s some ivy sculpted onto her left leg and I think this outfit turned out looking great!

This portrait is easily the best of the wave and while that may sound like a loaded compliment, it really is just all around excellent. The bright orange hair features a really nice sculpt and the ivy half-mask over her eyes are separate sculpts giving this portrait some nice depth. The paint for the eyes and lips are also sharp and clean. This may be some of McFarlane’s best work when it comes to action figure portraiture.

And once again, we get standard DC Multiverse articulation, although the hair really gets in the way of her head movement. Her heels have less chonks than Batgirls, but she has no cape dragging her back, so it’s possible to get her to stand, but it can still be tricky so she will also be using her figure stand to stay up on my shelf. Ivy is the only figure in the wave to not have two fists, instead she has an accessory holding hand on the right and an open hand on the left. I dig that they sculpted a leaf into her open hand, that’s a cool little touch. This figure turned out great, and I wasn’t surprised to see her sell out fast at some of the online retailers that I usually frequent. And now… The Iceman Cometh…

It’s safe to say that Schwarzenegger’s Iceman is the main reason I ever re-watch this film. It’s so stupidly over the top it just screams 1966 Batman with a budget. Beyond that Arnold seems like he’s having an absolute blast and his suit and makeup are both works of art. I honestly think you’d need Hot Toys working at the top of their game to really pull off anything that comes close to this on screen glory in action figure form, but for a 7-inch entry, what we got here ain’t bad at all… but I’d fall just short of calling it great. The sculpting is excellent and there is a lot of detail packed into this suit. I also like the proportions of the body, especially the big shit-kicking boots. The head seems a little small, but it is a guy in a power suit, so it’s permissible. What’s really missing here is the paint. You get a vibrant blue on the panels that were lit in the movie, located on his lower and upper legs, biceps, and chest, but everything else is cast in silvery plastic. It has a decent finish, but would have looked so much better with some silver foil paint, or even just a wash to bring out more of that wonderful detail.

The head sculpt is very good, and the use of that translucent blue plastic for the helmet looks exquisite. It’s a shame we couldn’t get more of that effect for the lit panels on the suit. The flesh tone of the face doesn’t quite jibe with the on screen makeup, as Freeze had more of a sparkly face, but it still looks good. I will note that if you look closely, the paint on the lips doesn’t really match the sculpt of the mouth, but that’s not something that’s really obvious when viewed with the figure in hand. The shoulder pieces are cast in a softer plastic and so the silver there doesn’t look as vibrant as the rest of the suit.

The articulation here is fairly similar to a regular packaged DC Multiverse figure, although you do only get single hinges in the knees and elbows. Everything else is textbook right down to the hinges in the feet. The arms can just about do a 90-degree elbow bend, and the shoulders plates are designed to hinge up and down to allow for decent range of movement there. I initially had some problems with the legs detaching, but I don’t think they were in all the way. A little heat and pressure got them seated better and they stay put pretty well now.

Freeze comes with two accessories: A freeze gun and an ice blast effect part for it. I have absolutely no idea what happened to my effect part. I can see it in the packaged shot, but I haven’t seen it since. It’s possible one of the cats carried it off to their Treasures Den under one of the sofas. The gun sculpt is excellent and his right hand is designed to hold it perfectly, along with the foregrip for the left hand. DC seems to be giving McFarlane a little slack lately when it comes to including sci-fi themed guns. Overall, I like this figure a lot. There are certainly opportunities for improvement, and who knows? Maybe McFarlane will release him as a Gold Label with a better deco, like they did with Collect-To-Build Bane and the coat. Part of me would like to see what a Gold Label version would look like, while part of me doesn’t want to endorse that kind of scummy business practice.

Oh yeah, you also get a four other ice effect parts, which I think are meant to go on the other figures to make it look like they have been frozen. Two of these are obviously meant to go over the hands, the other two are a little more nebulous in their intent. I really need to hunt around and see what some other collectors have done with these.

And that’s the DC Multiverse Batman & Robin wave! All in all this is a nice set of figures, and I’m really glad McFarlane took a risk on these, and even happier that the risk seems to have paid off. While these have been going in and out of stock at some retailers, you can probably still assemble the wave at retail cost if you hunt around a bit. At the time I’m posting this, Amazon has them all available for just a few dollars above retail each. A lot of the Ebay listings I have seen seem to be without the Freeze parts. More than half the time I’m willing to play the waiting game on DC Multiverse, but this was one assortment I pre-ordered and I’m glad I did. I would love to see a Gold Label Ivy, repainted as one of her other outfits in the movie, and I’m hoping to see some more figures from these wacky films.

Jan 19 2024

DC Multiverse (Mr. Freeze Wave) Batman and Robin by McFarlane

A lot of people sure hated the 1997 comic book extravaganza that was Batman & Robin. On one hand, it’s easy to see why. Batman just came off of two excellent grimdark films and then completely flipped the script on the third and fourth. On the other hand, it’s basically a case of “What if we did goofy 1966 style Batman with a big budget and lots of stars?” And yeah, I was all for that, so screw the haters. It’s a terrible movie on so many levels, and yet I adore it. Heck, I probably love it even more because so many people hate it. And can I say that I will forever mix up the titles of the third and fourth movies. Is it just me, or does it seem more natural to go from Batman & Robin as the film that introduces Robin and then go to Batman Forever for the next installment? Anyone else with me on that?

Normally, the idea of this film getting a toy revival would be insane, but welcome to the 2020’s where nostalgia driven adults drive toy sales and literally anything is fair game. Enter McFarlane Toys with a wave of four figures and a Collect-To-Build Schwarzenegger Freeze, and we’re in business! And much to my surprise, the collectors were on board for it and these figures sold out fast at a lot of online retailers. The wave consists of four figures, which include Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Poison Ivy, and each contain parts for the Mr. Freeze figure. These come in your basic DC Multiverse packaging, enlarged to contain the CTB parts and each figure comes with a standard black disk stand and a trading card with a movie still of the character. Let’s start with Batman!

You know the deal: Keaton skipped out after the first two, Val Kilmer was on board for just the one, so George Clooney was hauled in to don the cowl for the 1997 film. I think he played a better Bruce Wayne than Batman, but he certainly isn’t one of this film’s biggest problems. The suit got a redesign with more black, less yellow, and the nipples are still here from Batman Forever’s first suit. Even with the Batnips, I like this suit a lot. From the chiseled abs to the sculpted bat symbol in the chest, McFarlane did a nice job bringing out the details in it. I’m not sure I ever noticed the sculpted bat shields on the front of the boots before, but they make for a nice touch. The cape flows well off the shoulders and spreads out a bit as it reaches the floor, looking full but not too obtrusive.

The portrait is solid, but not exceptional. Honestly, that could be anyone under that cowl, but with rotating actors playing the role at this point, I’m not that hung up on the likeness. I do like the way the sculpt distinguishes the holes around the eyes and where the face is painted to maintain the continuity. The ears bend in at the tips more than they should, which is probably more a side effect of them being bendy, rather than an intentional design choice. The biggest detractor here are the seams running up the sides of the head, which aren’t nearly as apparent when not punched in with the camera.

Standard McFarlane articulation is the order of the day, and while that’s mostly good, I will forever gripe about the lack of thigh swivels. The ball joints in the ankles are usually a problem for me too, but because of the all black suit, they aren’t as big of an eyesore here. Everything else is fine, and I found this figure to be lots of fun to play around with. There are no extra hands, so Batman gets by with his punchy fists and that works. So, how about that Boy Wonder?

Holy Holdovers, Batman, Christopher O’Donnell survived the shakeup and returned as Robin for the 1997 film, and he got treated to a very Nightwing inspired suit. I didn’t mind his look in Batman Forever, but I really prefer this one. A lot of it is sculpted to match Batman’s from the belt buckle to the Bat shields on the boots, but here we get a splash of color in the crimson bat symbol on the chest, which carries over to the shoulders. The cape is more understated than Batman’s with it dropping only about to the knees and giving a little swish to the left.

The head sculpt isn’t bad. I think they got his lower face down pretty well, especially the jaw structure. The eyes are let down by some very basic paint. I do love that the mask appears to be sculpted as a separate piece making for a sharp outline against his face. The hair is also separately sculpt and sports some nice detail and a clean hairline. I’ll rate this one higher than Batman’s, but they’re both fine.

Robin’s articulation is identical to his partner, making him equally as fun to play with. He also only comes with the attached fists, so no extra hands. The joints on both figures worked well straight out of the box, but I don’t usually have issues with stuck or loose joints on McFarlane’s figures, so no surprises there.

Obviously, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this pair in plastic, as Hasbro pumped out toys for the film back in the day. But it is cool to see them getting released as more detailed and better articulated figures for the collector market. And obviously there was a market for these, with some retailers beginning to restock them, so there should be enough to go around. It will be interesting to see if McFarlane capitalizes on that with some more suits from these films. In the meantime, I’ll be stopping back on Monday to check out the second half of this wave: Poison Ivy and Batgirl, as well as the Collect-To-Build Mr. Freeze! Have a great weekend!

Jan 17 2024

Cosmic Legions (Gravenight): Aius Cyppiteon by The Four Horsemen

I really wanted to finish up my review of the second wave of Cosmic Legions last year, but there were a lot of distractions arriving in November and December and in the end I came up two figures shy of that goal. I’m going to try to remedy that as early as possible so I can sneak in a few Mythic Legions figures before new stuff starts to arrive so let’s dig in today with the second to the last figure from Gravenight… Aius Cyppiteon.

By now these window boxes should be familiar. I like them well enough, but I have decided that I’m going to pitch the trays, flatten out the boxes and tuck them somewhere until I eventually toss them out. When it comes to storage space, the struggle is always real, and I’d rather conserve space for more figures than empty boxes. According to the narrative, Aius Cyppiteon is another one of the hapless alien gladiators made to fight in the bowels of Hvalkatar Prison, and while he may not look like a viable combatant, his race have a telepathic advantage. Let’s get this Grayborn out of the box and check him out!

Straightaway, if you’re a fan of the whole Area 51 Gray Alien aesthetic, this guy should be right up your alley. He’s got the lanky gray bod and the bulbous head with giant black soulless eyes. The body is nicely textured all over, giving his skin a realistic look, and there’s some brown and purple wash in there to bring out some of the sculpt and make all that gray a bit more dynamic. With that having been said, the figure’s coloring still looks a lot flatter and less interesting than what was shown on the solicitation shots. There’s not a lot of costume going on here. He has a softgoods skirt that’s held up by a pair of sculpted brown belts. These have some copper disks and a little silver paint hits to the buckles and fixtures, and remind me joust how good TF4 are at sculpting and painting plastic to look like seasoned leather! He has a pair of gray grieves on his lower legs, and a single forearm bracer on his left hand.

The figure comes with two shoulder pieces, and I’m not a fan of these. They plug into the back as usual, but since the figure is bare chested, what’s supposed to be holding them on? Well, similar to some Mythic Legions figures, you get a shoulder strap to make it look like it’s securing one of them, so I guess the other is supposed to just stay in the package? Yeah, that’s weird. Also, the figure has such narrow and downswept shoulders the armor piece still just looks like it’s awkwardly floating there. Beyond that the piece itself is nicely done, and looks like it’s fashioned out of some sort of alien crustacean shell.

The head sculpt is very nice and really hammers home that Area 51 look. The eyes are just beautiful and creepy at the same time, and the purple paint around the eyes looks great. There’s some scarring on the figure, no doubt from fighting matches in The Gravering, some of these are just painted on while others are in the sculpt. But, there is a jagged cut through the head over the right eye that looks more like damage to the mold than it does an intentional scar. Aius comes with a security key that hangs around his neck on a very thin piece of string. It tends to get twisted when I hang it under the shoulder strap, but looks awkward if I hang it over the strap.

The articulation is standard stuff for the line, although there was a slip of paper included in my case that warned about heating up Aius’ chest joint before working it as it might snap. Mine was indeed frozen right out of the box and while heating it up seemed to help a little, it still feels like moving it too much will twist it off, so I’m just going to let that joint be for now. You do get a decent number of extra hands here, which is fortunate, because the figure isn’t exactly laden down with accessories.

The first of those accessories is a staff that we saw all the way back in my very first Cosmic Legions review of Thygar. The official canon calls this a Metor Hammer Staff. I wasn’t terribly impressed with this piece then and seeing it again isn’t helping any. Thygar’s Staff came with a second version to suggest that it can convert to a flail, but you don’t get that here. I will say, it does suit this figure more, as I can see him trekking across a lonely alien landscape with it. The staff is painted gold and has some green wash to give it an aged patina, or perhaps a hint of energy contained within.

The second and last accessory is this riot shield, which I don’t think suits the look of this character at all. Hey, I know it’s not my narrative, but this shield looks like it would weigh about as much as Aius himself and the figure agrees, as the spindly hinges in the elbows can’t support its weight for long before it drops to rest on the ground. The accessory looks really good, with The Gravering emblem crudely spray painted on the front and I’ll likely wind up giving it to one of the other figures because it certainly won’t be displayed with Aius.

On a side note, you can disassemble the shield to make it smaller and a little more appropriate for Aius’ build. it’s a little better, but I’m still going to be giving this shield to someone else.

If you can’t tell, I found Aius Cyppiteon to be a pretty underwhelming figure, and easily the most disappointing release in the line so far. Which isn’t too bad, because he’s really the only disappointing release. The base body is fine, I like the aesthetic, but there’s just not a lot going on here to win me over. In fairness, he didn’t seem like a good value at the time of the pre-orders either, but since I was going All-In, he came along for the ride. I’ll probably end up keeping him, unless he starts going for crazy money on the secondary market. Either way, I’m glad I didn’t save him for last, because I didn’t want to end these reviews on a downer, and I have a feeling the next and last figure is going to be a lot more interesting.

Jan 15 2024

Star Trek (Deep Space Nine) Quark Sixth-Scale Figure by Exo-6

From the original series up through Enterprise, if you asked me what my favorite Star Trek is, the answer would probably be whatever one I happen to be watching right now. OK, maybe not Voyager, but there’s some love to be had there too. But, if you really pressed me for one definitive answer, it would probably be Deep Space Nine. It’s a series that clicked for me right from the beginning, has very few episodes that I would consider bad or skippable, and most importantly, I just love the characters so damn much. Exo-6 is giving us sixth-scale versions of the station crew with Captain Sisko already on my shelf, Odo and Kira on pre-order, and our friendly neighborhood barkeep and swindler, Quark arriving just a short while ago. There’s so many reasons to love Quark as a character. He represents a side of the Trek Universe that we rarely ever saw, and never before in a main character: The dark and smarmy underbelly. It would have been easy to write him as the crook with a heart of gold, but they didn’t go that lazy route. Yes, he’s a crook that usually does the right thing in the end, but it takes a lot of kicking and screaming to get him there. And he’s the perfect payoff for The Ferengi, a race that was introduced way back at Farpoint Station to be the main adversary of The Federation, an idea was abandoned after the first season. Not to mention Quark and Odo make up one of the best double-acts in history. And boy did I come very close to not pre-ordering this figure.

And there’s why. The solicitation photos for this figure looked absolutely awful and they even used a really bad one on the front of the box. The likeness is terrible and to me it just looks like one of the generic Ferengi from the first season of Next Generation. I held off pre-ordering until it started selling out everywhere and then I hit the panic button at a retailer that just happened to have a few pre-orders left. When I got the box in hand, I winced and regretted what I had done, but then I opened it and regret was replaced with delight…

The final release looks so damn fantastic! Quark comes out of the box all ready to pour you a drink and cheat you at the Tongo table. For a show that has a tailor as a regular character, I don’t really regard the costume designs on DS9 to be all that memorable, but Ferengi fashion is so gaudy and fine! Quark features his stained-glass style jacket with latinum clasp holding it closed over his multicolor vest, while green trousers disappear into his matching green rubber boots. The tailoring is immaculate and one of the things I love about these figures is it gives you a chance to see details you don’t always notice in the show. Like, I never realized Quark’s trousers had those narrow flaps running down the outside of the legs. On the downside, the suit has a snug fit around the Ferengi’s groin, making those wide stances a risk to popping stitches, so I wouldn’t try it. Also, the plastic boots hinder what ankle articulation is hidden down there. I suspect that will be an issue with Odo and Kira too, as they wear similar boots.

The portrait is such an unbelievable surprise, as I think it is an absolutely spot on likeness for Armin Shimerman in his makeup. You get a little part to the mouth showing off his sharpened teeth, his bulbous nose and darkened eyes, and a prominent brow that transitions into those magnificent lobes! It’s rare that you see improvement between the solicitation shots and the final product, actually its often quite the contrary, but in this case it looks like an entirely different head sculpt. I’d question what EXO-6 was thinking going with those original photos to sell the figure, but it did sell out rather quickly, so I’ll keep it to myself. Normally I’d say this portrait was a home run, but it’s more appropriate to say it’s like hitting it big at the Dabo table!

You get an interesting assortment of hands in that just about all of them are designed to work with accessories. And yes, that means no fists or generic relaxed hands. I can’t say the omission of fists really bothers me, as they aren’t really in character for Quark. You do, however, get a pair of hands designed to perform the traditional Ferengi gesture of greeting. Technically, the base of the hands should touch, but I wasn’t quite able to make that happen because of the padding in the suit. I feel like if I worked the material enough it could happen, but it would be a lot of effort to get him in a pose I don’t plan on using much. In any event, each of the hands have painted black fingernails, and I was never sure if Ferengi painted their fingernails or if that was the natural color.

Moving on to accessories, Quark comes with a lot of latinum. You get a big ingot, as well as some bars, strips, and slips. These are cast in a pleasing gold finish and have sculpted markings on one side and rough cut edges on the bars, strips, and slips. The opposite sides are left blank, and I’m not sure if that’s how they’re supposed to look in the show or if EXO just decided to detail one side. Whatever the case, they look great in his hand.

Next up, you get a Ferengi PADD. This is a nicely detailed recreation of the prop with a gold finish, raised Ferengi insignia on the back, and a sticker to depict the screen. He has a hand perfect for holding it, but as a word of warning, don’t let Quark convince you to put your thumb print on the screen without reading it first!

And finally, you get a bound copy of the Rules of Acquisition, along with a stylus. The book is a really impressive piece with a bronze sculpted cover that opens to reveal a bunch of individually printed pages inside. There are also two illustrated stickers on the inside of the front cover, I believe one of which is the Seal of the Ferengi Trade Authority. EXO went above and beyond on this one!

Quark comes with a left hand that is designed to cradle the book and it has a peg on the hand that fits into a peg hole on the back of the book. It’s not a terribly secure connection, but it does work, and a a few of the other hands are useful for holding the book in various ways. It’s hard to quibble about the accessories here, because you get a lot more than what came with the basic release of Sisko, and everything is well done. Still, I would have liked to see at least one bottle of booze thrown in. I do have an assortment of liquor bottles in this scale, but they’re all stupid hooman drinks and I’d like to get some futuristic space bottles for him.

As always, our final stop is the base and figure stand. EXO is going with the same stand for all of these figures, so you get a hexagonal transporter pad style base with a crotch cradle to support the figure. There is no name plate, but you do get some clips and a replacement base cover if you want to connect a bunch of stands together and make one big transporter base.

Wow, did this figure turn out great! Considering how EXO-6 has been nailing just about every one of these Trek figures, I probably shouldn’t have doubted them, but I’m glad I took a chance and was able to get that pre-order in before getting shut out. The retail here was $220, which is what I would consider the lower-middle end of sixth-scale figures these days, and considering the quality on display here, I’d say it was well justified. It would have been really cool if they did a Deluxe release with a lot more accessories, because there’s so much more that could have been tossed in, including the previously mentioned alien bottles, his hacking kit of isolinear rods, or one of them lovely Dabo Girls. OK, that last one is asking too much, but still! Right now I can’t wait for Odo to ship so I can have those two on the shelf together!

“I’m going to make a fortune selling cheap, unlicensed replicas of the station to those stupid hoomans!”

“QUARK!!!!”

Jan 13 2024

Legends of Laughter: Joan Rivers by Nacelle & Stand Up! Records

The Nacelle Toy Company has been making their mark with some interesting licenses lately, among them a reboot of Robo Force, Biker Mice From Mars, and Sectaurs. But they’re also producing a series of figures showcasing some of the legends of stand-up comedy, one of them being a veritable National Treasure of one-liners and comebacks: The one and only Joan Rivers. And what’s even cooler is the figure received an Exclusive edition from Stand Up! Records to commemorate her second album release in 1969, The Next to Last Joan Rivers Album. I know I’m dating myself, but back in the day my brother and I used to listen to our parents’ stand up comic records, and I have fond memories of running down the grooves in many of these albums, particularly Bob Newhart, Jonathan Winters, and yes Joan Rivers! So, naturally as a fan of classic stand up and a vinyl record collector, this was right up my ally. This exclusive edition is limited to only 500 figures and the folks at Stand Up! Records were kind enough to send one along for a look!

The figure comes in a collector friendly window box, completely redesigned for this limited edition with a red carpet and velvet ropes illustrated on the box and some curtains on the card behind the tray. It makes for a fantastic presentation and the figure displays very well in the package. As someone who grew up with major insomnia, I used to watch a lot of the late night talk shows, and over the years, Joan Rivers has put in some masterful appearances on them. I definitely recommend hitting Youtube for some of these appearances, because they are still as funny as ever. Later, I would get my fill of Rivers on her own talk shows in the late 80’s and early 90s. Younger folks, or just those who are more into pop culture than classic comedians, may better remember her as the voice of Dot Matrix in Spaceballs, not to mention Rivers becoming an official member of the MCU with her cameo in Iron Man 3. Yup, she’s canon! Joan could dish it out, but she also had a special brand of self-deprecating humor as well, and was all too willing to point that rapier wit back upon herself. I think that was a big part of what made her comedy work so well. In the end, she would point out that comedians were “here to make you laugh. If you don’t get it, then don’t watch us.” And with that having been said, let’s welcome our next guest of the program… Joan Rivers!

The figure comes out of the box all ready for display and looking great! Seeing her immortalized in plastic reminds me of her quip, “I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware.” Solicitation photos for the standard release show her in a black evening gown and a white boa, whereas the Stand up! Records limited edition presents her in colors to match her 1969 album cover. And I have to say I dig the combination of midnight blue dress and bright mauve coloring on the boa for this edition as it really makes the figure pop on the shelf. The dress is all one solid color, but you get some expertly sculpted stitching, wrinkles and rumples, especially around the bottom where the plastic garment pleats around her feet. I’ll spare Joan the indignity of being flipped upside down, but she does have fully sculpted high heels under there and she has no trouble standing on her own.

The head sculpt depicts Joan in her heyday and I think Nacelle has done a great job on this portrait. The painted skin tone is warm and even, and the painted detail on her eyes and mouth are both absolutely immaculate. The hair is sculpted as a separate piece from the head, giving the portrait a lot of depth and allowing her bangs to hang over her forehead, while it also sweeps away at the bottom so you can even see her sculpted ears. It’s very nicely done without any of the flubs I’m used to seeing in some of the larger figure companies’ releases. As Joan would say, “My makeup team was nominated for Best Special Effects.”

Ms. Rivers sports several points of articulation, including rotating hinges in her shoulders and pinless double hinges in her elbows. I’m just going to let that sink in, because Hasbro has only recently been doing pinless double elbows for some of their 6-inch female figures, and here’s Nacelle giving them to Joan Rivers right out of the gate. She also has swivels in her neck, waist, and wrists. There’s no leg articulation (well, technically there are no legs!) as only the feet are sculpted, but the plastic dress wouldn’t have supported much movement in the legs anyway, so I’m fine with that. Joan said it best: “If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.”

Does she come with accessories? You betcha! Sure, we’re used to seeing a lot of guns and swords with figures around here, but in this case you get a microphone and a stand: The perfect arsenal for a warrior of wit! The mike is painted in silver with a black grip and can sit in the cradle of the stand or she can hold it in her right hand for that perfect pose!

It’s surprising to me that the great Joan Rivers has not been immortalized in plastic before now, especially with how many companies are doing more and more focused and unique licenses. Still, it seems like a no-brainer for MEGO or even NECA, who has turned out their fair share of musical performers and TV personalities. Heck, how has Mattel never made a Joan Rivers Barbie? Well, whatever the case, it’s cool to see this Queen of The Salty One-liners finally get her due. Likewise, it’s great to see Nacelle executed this figure with such panache. She may not be super articulated, but the quality of the sculpt and paint are top notch and definitely sets her up to stand proud with the big boys of the action figure market. And while the regular retail release looks great, I think the colors and presentation of this Stand Up! Records limited run shines a bit brighter! And at the time of writing this, she is still available for purchase on their website!

Jan 12 2024

DC Multiverse (Collector Edition) Alan Scott Green Lantern by McFarlane

Just last year, McFarlane unleashed the new Collector Edition figures onto the market with a hefty $10 price jump over the regular DC Multiverse releases. I was all ready to make my first foray into these pricier figures to see if they seem worth it when McFarlane goes and drops an online store exclusive Infinite Crisis wave for $40 a pop, and I was like holy heck, what are they smoking over there? I mean, I’ll admit that I’m the king of dropping too much money on toys, and even I am not tempted by these kinds of figures at that price. Were they hoping to make these Collector Edition releases seem cheap by comparison? I honestly don’t know, but I’m really interested to see what the collector backlash is going to be like. But for now, let’s get back to the Collector Editions… These seem to be based on more classic or essential versions of characters in the DC Multiverse for an added premium. I was skeptical about how this whole thing was was going to turn out, but decided to give it a try with the first character that really tempted me… Alan Scott! Growing up on Hal Jordan, I can still remember when my uncle blew my little mind by telling me there was another Green Lantern before him and giving me some of his ratty old comics and I devoured the hell out of them. In retrospect, that was probably one of my first realizations that a whole DC Universe had existed for decades before I discovered it. What can I say? I was still really young and dumb and relatively new to reading comics that weren’t Spider-Man or The Fantastic Four.

The packaging is similar to the regular DC Multiverse releases, what with the black box and blue insert behind the tray. “McFarlane Collector Edition” is printed in silver foil lettering up the left side of the front panel and the collector card is now displayed on the tray in its own display stand. On first inspection, that card display is the only thing that really seems to call out that this release is anything special that should make it pricier, and I’ll talk about at the end.

Out of the box, is there anything that really sets this figure apart from the regular releases? Nope. You get the same basic body type and articulation that we’ve been seeing all along. Now, that’s not to say this isn’t a very nice figure, because it certainly is! Apart from the boots, belt, and cape, the figure uses a generic body, but you do get his ring sculpted on his right hand. The colors are beautiful with a deep red for the top and boots, a hunter green used for the pants, and some gold paint for the trim on the boots, belt buckle, and cape clasps. The lantern emblem on his chest is just printed on, but it’s nice and sharp. Factor in the purple and lighter green on the cape, and you have a dazzling deco straight from the comic panels of the Golden Age.

The portrait is very solid, giving Scott some well defined facial features and a rather determined expression. I love the way the high collar on the cape frames his face with one corner licking over a bit more than the other. The mask is sculpted with lots of depth, and the hair is separate from the head giving him a clean hairline. There’s a bit of overspray of the mask’s purple paint onto my figure’s left eye, which is ironically a bigger paint gaff than I’ve had on any of the regular releases. It’s not terribly noticeable unless I punch in close, but still pretty unwelcome for a higher priced Collector figure.

Alan comes with two accessories: His lantern and a power effect part. The lantern can be held in his left hand, while the effect part fits over his right fist. There are no additional hands included, which seems a bit weak for a pricier collector figure. With that having been said, the accessories are quite nice and are cast in a bright neon green semi-translucent plastic.

And then you have the collector card with the stand and as I said earlier, this is the only thing about this whole package that feels really different than a regular Multiverse release. Was anyone asking for this sort of thing? I certainly wasn’t. My cards go into sleeves in a binder and get forgotten about. And quite frankly I’m betting that a lot of these cards just get thrown away with the packaging by figure collectors who just don’t care about them. The cards are cool bonuses, but putting them on a stand takes up about as much shelf real estate as another figure, and like a lot of collectors, I can’t spare that room. Now, I will say that I think Alan Scott is one of the nicer DC Multiverse figures I’ve picked up last year, but there is simply nothing about the figure itself, be it additional paint apps or sculpting, that would justify being sold at a premium. And since I tend to pick up a lot of my regular Multiverse figures on sale, I’m not willing to put up $30 a pop for these unless it’s a figure that I really can’t live without. My biggest concern is that Todd will be using these premium editions for the classic and iconic versions of legacy characters that a lot of collectors have been asking for from this line, when they really should be done as regular releases. I have no doubt you’ll see a few of these Collector Editions land on FFZ in the future, but they will probably be few and far between. And you sure as hell won’t be seeing any figures from that $40 each wave until they hit deep discount bundles on Todd’s site.