After a little segue last time to check out the Dark Templar Legion Builder, today I’m headed back into the Poxxus Wave to open another figure from Mythic Legions most recent assortment. This time we’re going big with the Demon King Azahazzar! And just to show you that The Four Horsemen aren’t making up all the canon as they go along, Azahazzar and Poxxus were both name dropped all the way back in the original Kickstarter. When Poxxus summoned the Demon King, Azahazzar to the realm of Mythoss he was split into two twin demons, Azhar and Zazhar. But, when Poxxus returned to Mythoss, he used his power to join them together once again as Azahazzar! I only own one of the two twins, Zazhar, and I reviewed him back in 2021. He actually didn’t make the cut when I was budgeting my original preorder, but I grabbed him when he came back in one of the All-Star Waves. Meanwhile, Azhar still eludes me, and I’m OK with that, since he’s mostly just a repaint and my action figure dollars can only stretch so far. Anyway, let’s check out this big boy!
As a bigger figure, Azahazzar comes in a box, rather than the usual card and bubble. But, we’ve seen these larger boxes many times here, so there’s nothing really new. It is collector friendly and there’s a little bio on the side panel recounting most of what I already talked about. Azahazzar is part of the Ogre Class, which makes him considerably taller than the regular releases, but still not as big as the infamous Trolls.
And Azahazzar is indeed a gloriously evil looking and imposing beastie. From the waist up, he’s mostly in the buff, but he does have some beautifully sculpted shoulder armor and some purple bracers worn on his forearms. His chiseled demon physique is pretty impressive and I absolutely love what they did with the paintwork for his skin. It’s a chalky black with some green highlights suggesting that he is positively oozing demonic power. He also has jagged green fissures painted on his upper arms, neck and upper chest, depicting pulsing veins of power. Down below he has a chonky belt with plated hip armor and a softgoods purple sash and skirt. His lower legs are clad in plate armor and terminate in large hooves, also painted with an ethereal green glow!
The belt is dominated by a large visage of Poxxus himself, and this is a beautiful sculpt, painted over in bronze with red bulging eyes. The belt has all the little rivets and fixtures painted, along with the brown straps. As we’ve seen, TFH are really pushing the softgoods on these newer figures, and here the purple skirt and front sash are beautifully stitched and have some wire for posing or just giving them some weight to help fall more naturally.
And that brings us to the head sculpt, and this is just a superb piece of work! I can definitely see the design lineage trace back to the twins, only with a lot more detail, as it is a larger noggin. Some of the painted green veins are actually sculpted into deep fissures in his skin, particularly above the eyes and around the mouth. His deep set eyes are also painted in the same green and without pupils, giving him a piercing gaze. The top of the head tapers outward to accommodate the four ram-like horns that curve upward and outward majestically. These too are painted with more of that ethereal green. The neck and head are framed by those sweeping and organic shoulder armor pieces and if you look close you can even see some small runes sculpted into them and painted with more green.
Azahazzar comes with two translucent green magic effect parts, which can be attached to his wrists by popping off the hands and bracers. These can be fitted on with the flames pointing inward or outward for different effects.
And finally, he comes with a staff. The shaft of this is made up of two pieces that fit together, and these appear to be the same ones used for several of the past Ogre Class figure weapons. The top piece of the staff is made up of two large translucent spheres, one yellow and one blue, signifying the colors of the twin demons he was split into. I do have a bit of a problem with the top piece not fitting onto the staff all that securely. It will stay on, but it could get jostled off pretty easily. I will likely wind up gluing it to the staff.
And with Azahazzar, The Poxxus Wave has given us two very impressive Ogre Class figures, the first being the Dragon Man, Aracagorr. I do enjoy that this figure’s backstory ties all the way back to figures released in the very first Kickstarter, but even without that callback, he’s a magnificent piece of work. I actually couldn’t budget this big fella when I locked in my preorders for this wave, but luckily he was available after the fact and I was able to pick him up without getting beat up too badly on the price. I’m definitely glad I went back for him, because he’s going to be an imposing presence on my Mythic Legions demon shelf!
We started this week with the DC Multiverse Plastic Man Wave, so we might as well finish with it too. If you’re just joining me, feel free to click on back to Monday to get caught up, otherwise we have two more figures to check out and then we can cobble together the Collect-To-Build Plastic Man and put this whole wave to bed. Let’s go…
As I mentioned last time, this assortment is supposed to be JLA inspired, but it’s pretty inconsistent on that front. Aquaman was a perfect fit, but John Stewart didn’t belong here, and we’re kind of going to have a similar issue today, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The figures come in the usual big window boxes and while I love these packages, I don’t have the room to keep them, so they get recycled. And that’s just as well since you have to rip apart that beautiful blue backing to get at the figure stand and collector card anyway. As for the Collect-To-Build figure, we got the regular arms and legs with the last two figures, and this time we’re getting Plastic Man’s torso, two heads, and some extra arms. Let’s start with Superman!
I can’t say I was the biggest fan of the stories involving Superman divided into his Red and Blue suits, but I do think these make for some beautiful action figures, and that is certainly the case here. Supes’ blue energy suit is achieved entirely through paint and colored plastic, as this is just a generic figure buck, but boy does the deco really sell this one! The electric blue plastic is so vibrant and when you mix it with the super bright white paint and jagged S-shields, both front and back, you get a figure that can really demand attention on the shelf, even without any unique sculpting on the body. The paint lines are nice and sharp and you get the outer pins painted as they should be, which may sound like a strange thing to point out, but it’s something Hasbro often doesn’t get right in Marvel Legends.
The head sculpt is superb. I thought this one might be re-sculpted from Firestorm, but I haven’t opened him yet to really check. His skin is painted a paler blue than the suit with a shock of electric blue hair up top. The face has some wonderfully defined features, with the white cowl shaping the edges and accentuating his cheek bones, and a slight wrinkle to the brow. The white, pupil-less eyes give him an otherworldly visage. The eyebrows are neatly painted and there’s a slightly darker shade of blue for the lips. So far, this wave is definitely three out of three when it comes to the portraits.
There’s no surprises in the articulation and you only get the single pair of hands, both balled up into fists as they should be. You do, however, get four electric effect parts which are designed to attach to the figure’s limbs. I’m pretty sure these are recycled, perhaps from one of The Flash figures, only recast in translucent white plastic. I wouldn’t say these were necessary, but I think they’re a good inclusion and look very nice on the figure. So many of my effect parts wind up in a bin, but I may actually display these on the figure.
I missed out on Mattel’s DC Universe Classics version of this Superman, and while that’s bugged me for a while, I’m OK with it now. I just like the look of this one so much better. A flight stand would have been a nice inclusion but I don’t think we tend to get those in Collect-To-Build Waves. I’ll also point out how odd it is that the collector card doesn’t reflect this version of Superman in any way, but hey… McFarlane gonna McFarlane. And speaking of which, Todd decided to make the Red Suit counterpart a Platinum Exclusive and it’s going for crazy money on the secondary market, so thanks so much for that! Moving on to Batman…
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one disappointed to see that the JLA version of Batman included in this wave was just a straight repaint of The Three Jokers Batman. With early teased images hitting, I was hoping that we’d at least get some retooling and a new head, but nope… this is a straight repaint and that’s just crazy lazy on McFarlane’s part. And with that being said, it pains me to admit how much I dig this release. Don’t get me wrong, this really doesn’t work for me as the intended version, but I just love the way the black and brighter yellow looks on this figure. I have yet to review the previous release of this mold, but I will drop in a comparison shot at the end.
A new head sculpt would have helped, as the little bat nub ears don’t work at all and it could have used a lot less texturing on the cowl. I’m sure there’s another Bats head out there that would have worked better. But you would have to re-sculpt the arms and lower legs too, and I doubt any of that was ever on the table. I dig the sculpt on the lower half of the face, offering a very pouty and super serious caped crusader.
And to add recycled insult to repacked injury, you get the bat grapple gun that we’ve seen a bunch of times already bundled in with the figure. I feel like I have a dozen of these, but in reality probably only two or three.
I don’t hate this figure at all. I actually kind of love it, but I also don’t like the business practice behind it. It’s just a lazy way to toss a figure into the assortment with some new paint and pretend it fits the theme you’re going for. Plus, it probably means we won’t be seeing a proper JLA styled Batman in this line for a while. When you consider how this line butters its bread with Batman variants, it’s a shame McFarlane couldn’t have put some effort into this one. OK, onward to the real reason this wave had me all excited… Plastic Man!
My original love for Plastic Man didn’t come from his comic book appearances, but rather from the Ruby/Spears Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show. Granted, Plastic Man, and his smoking hot wife Penny, was only part of the show, as it also featured segments of Mighty Man and Yukk, Fangface and Fangpuss, and Rickety Rocket. And the real treat came when it hit syndication and you got surreal intros and outros featuring a live action Plastic Man. Like Blue Energy Superman, I missed out on getting Mattel’s DC Universe Classics version of Plastic Man back in the day, so grabbing this one was a big deal for me. And for the most part, this figure definitely scratches that itch. The edges between the suit and his skin is sculpted, as are the laces, and that’s the case both on the upper body and the abs. The feet are probably new too. I’m not sure how I feel about the break in the torso for the ball joint. It definitely improves articulation, but it messes with the flow of the chest sculpt. I might have been fine with him just having a ball joint in the waist to clean that up, but either way it’s a compromise. The flesh tone looks good, as does the bright red for the suit. He’s got some yellow striping on the black belt and the black laces over his chest are pretty sharp.
You get two heads to choose from and both are full of that patented Plastic Man charm. The first one offers a big toothy grin with his trademark white rimmed goggles. The black lenses have some stylized reflections painted onto them, which looks good. The hair is sculpted separately from the rest of the head, giving him a clean hairline. I love what we got here, but I don’t love the huge gap where the neck fits into the body. What happened here? Why is the neck hole so big? It just looks weird.
The second head has a crazy curvy neck and a pretty comical scowl on Plastic Man’s plastic puss. One of his goggled eyes is popped while the other is narrowed. It’s a wonderful caricature while also showing off his plasticky skills. And lest you thought the neck hole was big to accommodate this head… nope. The base of the neck is no thicker here and that gap is still there and as distracting as ever. I honestly can’t imagine what happened there.
Plastic Man features all the usual DC Multiverse articulation. The arms and legs assemble to the body easily and they stay put just fine. You get just the one set of hands to work with his regular arms, with the right being a fist and the left a grippy hand, despite him not coming with any accessories to hold.
But you do get a pair of swap out stretch effect arms. These are pretty cool and are really what justifies him being a Collect-To-Build figure. The right arm is formed into a makeshift lasso, while the left arm is stretched out and the hand is enlarged. These are fun to mess around with, although I can’t help but wonder if we’ll see this figure released with even more limbs as a stand alone somewhere down the road.
Obviously I’m a big fan of DC Multiverse, as I have a ton of these figures, but this wave is a great example of why McFarlane gets a lot of justifiable hate. Tossing a JLA Wave out there with a mismatched Green Lantern and a straight repaint of a Batman figure that doesn’t work as the version you’re portraying just reeks of lazy cash grab. It’s even more heinous when you make them part of a Collect-To-Build wave that everyone is going to want to complete. And sure, in my case it worked, partly because I absolutely needed this Plastic Man, and partly because I still genuinely like all the figures in this wave. Call me part of the problem if you must, I wanted better, but I’m still pretty happy with what we got here.
Storm Collectibles is without a doubt my premier go-to for video game figures these days. From Golden Axe to Mortal Kombat to King of Fighters, they are crushing it with their releases. And a short while ago they started digging into one of my favorite fighting franchises, Soul Calibur! I was first introduced to this series in the lobby of the local AMC movie theater, but I truly fell in love with it as a launch game for the SEGA Dreamcast. It was probably the first time I ever played a home port of a game that was actually significantly better than a current arcade release. The franchise has remained pretty consistent over the years with Soul Calibur VI hitting my PlayStation 4 in 2018. Wow, has it really been so long? Storm started this line with Taki and Mitsurugi, and today we’re checking out Taki!
Taki, the beautiful and heroic ninja warrior, has been with the series all the way back to Soul Edge, making her a good pick for one of the premier figures. Sure, I would have preferred Sophita, but that’s just because I really dig Sophitia. Taki comes in a collector friendly window box, which is pretty standard stuff for Storm’s game figures. The character art does obscure nearly a quarter of the window, but you can still get a pretty good look at what’s inside. It’s a little more compact than some of their other packages, and I appreciate that because I’ll likely be keeping this box!
Out of the box, Taki dons her modern look from the 6th installment, which definitely shares design beats from her earlier appearances, but also reflects the better detail in the costume that improvements in graphics allowed. So, let’s get the obvious out of the way first, Taki is sporting some fully erect nipples on her rather profound chest, and all I’ll say is that it was an interesting choice to go with. Yes, they are sort of there in the game’s character model, but I don’t remember it being quite to this extent. I’ll have to do some research this weekend and play some of the game to see. With that aside, she has her trademark skin tight crimson body suit with a brown leather half-jacket complete with boob window. She also sports some demon hunting armor bits on her shoulders, knees, lower legs, and left arm. On her back she carries her swords, Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru in their scabbards.
There is some absolutely gorgeous detail work in the armor pieces, as well as the ornamental work on the scabbards. The armor is mixed between silver and more tarnished finishes, all of which are dry brushed to give them some weathering. I really love the demon head shoulder pieces, as well as the one that clasps her jacket together under her neck. The jacket is a rich chocolate brown with some soft stitching in the sculpt, you also get some braided detail in the straps for her sandals. Other wonderful little touches include the gold band around her left bicep and the little studded bangles around her right wrist.
There are two heads included, one with a neutral expression and one with a shouty expression. Both of these are well done with immaculate paint for the eyes and lips. The hair is a separate sculpt and it falls beautifully down each side of her face, with some strands over her forehead and eyes. The back is tied into a ponytail, jutting out rather high off the back of her head, and secured with an adorable little devil horns fixture.
You also get the demon mask, which is cast in soft plastic and painted with a bit of silver dry brushing to show wear. This piece fits over the lower half of the face and is held on with friction. It works OK, but I find that it does slip a bit now and then. Because the mouth area is open you can still get the benefits of using it with either head and see the difference in the mouth. I haven’t decided whether I’m going to display her with or without the mask yet.
As for posability, well Storm delivers that in spades. Their bodies continue to feature one of my favorite systems of articulation in this scale. The jointing works smoothly and the double joints in the shoulders and elbows offer a great range of motion, as do the ball joints in the waist and under the chest. The ball joints in the ankles help to keep the feet flat on the ground, or you can use the articulated toe hinges for a more dynamic footing. The balance is definitely there too, as I had little trouble keeping Taki upright in any number of poses. She’s just an absolute pleasure to play aroune with.
Of course, Storm is big on hands. Lots and lots of hands! There are six pairs here total, which include fists, relaxed hands, gripping hands, and three different types of gesture hands. Getting some of these on for the first time can be a little fiddly as the wrist peg is super small, but ultimately it works fine. The bangles on her right wrist are separate pieces, so you do have to be careful not to lose them when changing that hand.
Finally, Taki comes with her two swords, Rekki-Maru and Mekki-Maru, which we’ve seen fit easily into the scabbards on her back and work with the two gripping hands. The differences in the two weapons is pretty subtle, but they have great paintwork and sculpts on the hilts and the short blades are painted silver.
As one of Storm’s debut Soul Calibur figures, Taki really delivers on the whole package. You get a fantastic sculpt, great paintwork, and superb articulation. Even nipples! These figures feel so great in hand with smooth joints and that are easy to work with and make for a fun figure that’s hard to put down. She retails at $100 and is still available at the time I’m posting this review. I believe she’s still a Big Bad Toystore Exclusive in the US, as BBTS continues to be the only licensed distributor for their figures in America. We’ve yet to see any forthcoming releases, but I’m looking forward to digging into Mitsurugi in the next week or so. Hopefully Storm will be going deep on this line!
Talk about a fast turnaround! It feels like the Plastic Man Wave went from reveal to preorder to arriving pretty damn quick. I went with Amazon on this one and while they did wind up sending each figure individually, they all arrived within a week of each other no fuss, no muss. Which is more than I can say for the Superman and Krypto that I preordered the moment it dropped back in February. Every week I get another delay notice on that one, until it will likely eventually get cancelled. They even had the nerve to put up another preorder for him since then. What’s that? Oh yeah… The Plastic Man Wave is here! Let’s check it out.
I’ll do this wave in two parts and we’re starting with Aquaman and Green Lantern. The package is standard stuff, and as always I love these boxes with the blue backdrops behind the trays. The windows are large and show off the goods and you get some top and side window to let in more light. These packages are mostly collector friendly, but you know the drill, if you want the character card and stand, you gotta get to ripping! In addition to the Collect-To-Build parts, this wave is has been solicited as a 1990’s JLA themed assortment, which begs the question, why is John Stewart in there? Well, in fairness we did just get a Kyle Rayner with Kilowog, but that’s not really an answer. I guess the only answer is because… McFarlane! So, let’s start with John…
Both of today’s characters were last seen as different versions in the Endless Winter Wave. And while I have not yet reviewed either of those, I will include some comparison shots at the end. This release of Green Lantern features a pretty classic looking suit and I sure dig that. It is interesting seeing it with the modern texturing, but that’s also kind of cool. I also like that the boots and gloves are sculpted separately from the suit and these are not textured. The McFarlane diaper vibe is a bit strong here, and that’s not usually something that bothers me, but it’s just hitting me hard with this figure. Not ideal, but not enough to ruin the figure for me. Obviously, you get the power ring sculpted and painted on his right fist. His left hand can grip, but surprisingly there is no lantern battery for him to hold, which is kind of weird.
The head sculpt is exceptionally good. John has a strong jawline, a noble brow with a little furl to it, and a slightly concerned expression, as if he’s about to go into a serious fight. This is definitely one of McFarlane’s better portraits. The lantern symbol printed on his chest is a little odd. I’d love to know what the reference art for that was.
Articulation is standard McFarlane fare, and that’s mostly a good thing. I’ll always be salty about not having thigh swivels, but everything else is great. One of the great things about McFarlane is that I don’t think I ever had issues with any of their figures’ joints, and that’s something I can’t say about Hasbro. These guys handle great right out of the box and Stewart is fun to pose and play with.
You get two effect parts, and they’re strangely not constructs, but just energy effects. One fits over the fist and I like the way it looks a lot. The other is just a weird energy swoosh, that I think is meant to go on the bicep, but it really doesn’t fit well. I’m all but sure that at least that one is recycled from another figure and it doesn’t do much for me here. Both are cast in a nice translucent emerald green plastic.
This John Stewart is a decent figure, but if it weren’t for the Plastic Man parts, I probably would have waited until he hit discount. It’s just such a strange choice to take up one of the four slots in this assortment. Still, I like the suit design here better than what we got from Endless Winter, so he may wind up bumping that figure off my Green Lantern shelf, but I’m sure both will be represented somewhere. Let’s head under the sea and check out Aquaman.
There’s no doubt the 90’s gave Aquaman a badass makeover. I’ll confess the more classic look will always be my preferred design for the character, but that’s because it’s the one I grew up with. But nothing escaped the 90’s without being EXTREME, so Arthur grew a beard, donned some half-armor, and got his hand gnawed off by insane piranhas so he could replace it with a goddamned hook. And I’ll say that McFarlane’s figure does this version proud. Things are pretty classic from the waist down with the black and metallic green leggings and gold belt. There are some crisp scale patterns printed on the sides of the legs, and fins jutting out the back of his calves. And from the waist up we go all extreme with three quarters showing skin and the shoulder and sleeve of silver armor on the right side. The straps over and under the left shoulder are part of the body sculpt. I think these would have looked better painted brown or black for a little variety, otherwise it all looks good. There’s some great muscle definition sculpted into his abs, cut segments in the armor sleeve, and various dings and pitting sculpted into the armor itself.
As for the head sculpt, well we’re two for two in this review, because Arthur’s is another absolute banger of a portrait. The beard is sculpted and painted so well and they’ve even allowed for his hair to float a bit above the shoulders to allow for neck articulation. Normally, this might look a bit weird, but I can write it off to those strands just floating while he’s under water. This may be my favorite Aquaman portrait of any figure in my collection right now.
Aquaman is the only figure in this assortment that doesn’t come with any accessories or effect parts, but he does have his harpoon hand, so that’s pretty cool. This is also the only point of difference when it comes to the figure’s articulation, since there’s no wrist on that arm. The elbow is the usual double hinge and you get the bicep swivel, but you also get an added swivel where the harpoon socket meets the arm.
These are both solid figures, but Aquaman takes the prize as my favorite out of this pair. I honestly didn’t think I needed to pick up any more Aquaman figures since the Endless Winter version is such a solid and iconic look, but this version has grown on me a lot over the years, so having both represented on the shelves ain’t a bad thing. Indeed, even if the Plastic Man parts weren’t included, I probably would have preordered this figure. He looked amazing in the solicitation shots, and the actual figure absolutely delivers.
And with a set of arms and legs, that gets us halfway to building Plastic Man! Overall, I’m very pleased with both of these figures, and I’ll come back to this wave at the end of the week to check out Superman, Batman, and put together Plastic Man. Sure, John Stewart is the odd man out here, but he’s still a welcome addition to my Multiverse shelf, and I can’t recommend Aquaman enough, especially if you grew up with this version. These guys retail at the regular $24.99 and for the moment they seem to still be widely available at most McFarlane online retailers. They each also have Platinum chase variants, but I’m not getting into all that, but I will be bitching about it in the next review!
I am doubling down my commitment to get current on Super7 GI JOEUltimates, because I am seriously behind! And yes, doubling down means I’ll be doubling up on some of these figures to get caught up a little faster. Today I’ll be trekking back to the second wave, and since I’ve already looked at Flint and Lady Jaye, let’s have a look at the other half: Destro and The Baroness! Buckle up and try to pace yourself, this will be a long ride with over 70 pictures!
We’ve seen the packaging before and know exactly what to expect. The figures come in window boxes with sleeves over the top and these look fantastic. There’s a high gloss blue camo deco with a bold crimson Cobra emblem emblazoned on the fronts and everything is finished off with a deco that looks like the metal with paint that has been scraped off in areas down to the bare metal. Lift off the top and you get a good look at the figure and accessories through the window, and there are bio blurbs on the back panel with some character art from the Sunbow cartoon! Everything is collector friendly, but as good as these boxes look, I don’t have the space to keep them, so they are getting recycled. Let’s start with The Baroness!
This figure is designed to work based on the Marvel comic book or Sunbow cartoon. Obviously, The Baroness has had different costumes over the years, but in this case the blue and yellow suit references the original Sunbow Miniseries or her early comic appearances. Now, it’s probably been ten years since I read any of those comics, but I will say I liked this look for her in the cartoon even though it was short lived. The coloring here is really gorgeous with the blue and bright yellow playing off each other beautifully, plus the black of the boots and gauntlets and the pale blue stripes running down the legs. Other than a seam running down the center of the body suit and some rumples on the boots and gloves, the only other real sculpted detail is the quilting on the belt, collar, and shoulder straps. Yes, it’s a very simple look but it’s faithful to the toon appearance. The holster was worn by Baroness in the comic and it can be removed for more of a Sunbow look, but doing so leaves a hole in the leg. Fortunately, I dig the holster, so I’ll be leaving it on.
You get a whopping four heads to choose from. The first two have the green tinted glasses, with one being a neutral expression and the other with furled eyebrows and a smirk. I really like both of these and it’s a toss up as to which one I’ll go with the most. I think the neutral face looks slightly better, but the smirk gives her more personality. Yeah, this figure makes use of the flesh toned plastic as opposed to painted face. Personally, I think it looks fine on its own, but there’s definitely a disparity when displayed next to Duke from the first wave. The hair sculpt is good, but sadly it renders the neck articulation all but null and void.
The third head is a comic based portrait and I don’t like it as much as either of the previous two. It’s the glasses that are a mixed bag. The lenses just look too big. Not terrible, but not the look I’d be going for with display. The hair here has the same hindering effect on the neck articulation, but it does add some blue highlights, perhaps to evoke the comic book coloring. Either way, this one is not for me.
And finally, we get the gasmask head, which Super 7 states is a comic book reference, but damn it looks like it would fit right in with the Sunbow aesthetic too. This creepy pale gray mask has a pair of blue painted eye lenses, a filter off to one side, and a tube that runs down to an O2 tank that she can wear on the back, secured by a shoulder strap. It’s all sculpted as one piece and it looks awesome!
I’ve looked at enough Ultimates figures so I won’t run through all the articulation. As usual, what we get follows the formula of emphasizing clean cartoon aesthetics at the expense of posability. At this point you either accept it or move on. I’ve gone on record saying I mostly don’t mind what we get here, although I would have liked more range in the elbows. The joints on my figure all feel smooth and solid, and I’m surprised at how reasonably balanced she is despite having those high heels. The ab crunch hinge we get on most of the men is replaced here with a ball joint under her chest. Of course, you get a ton of hands, which include fists and plenty to work with the accessories. With that having been said, I would have liked a pair of relaxed hands or karate chop hands, but neither are included.
As with most GI JOE Ultimates, you get a lot of accessories, and it’s a pretty varied mix of extras inspired by the cartoon, comic book, and original toy. Starting off with the weapons, you get a dagger and a pistol. The pistol can be stored in the holster as well as wielded in either left or right hand. It’s a simple cartoony looking sculpt cast in dark gray plastic. The dagger is a stout straight blade and a grooved grip all painted in silver.
Next up is a laser rifle, which is supposedly inspired by the weapon released with the original RAH version of The Baroness. There are some similarities, but it’s not a great likeness. It does have the skeletal stock and a magazine, but the top just has a rail and is missing the scope from the RAH weapon. I’m not saying this is a bad looking rifle, I like it a lot, but it’s a pretty loose take on the original. It may have been better if S7 had not noted it’s inspiration in the solicitation info. There is a soft rubber carry strap included, which pegs in at the stock and base of the foregrip, but I can’t get it to peg in to the front properly so I just cast it aside.
The final weapon is based on the cartoon and I love this one. It has that lovely laser sub-machine gun design that was all over the Sunbow aesthetic. It’s cast in the same dark gray plastic as the pistol, has a very simple toony sculpt, and this one does have a scope mounted on top.
The final two accessories are comic based, so offhand I’m not really familiar with their context. The first is called a cameragun and I dig this one a lot. It looks like something that could have easily shown up in the cartoon. What does it do? Don’t know! But I’ll concoct some crazy Cobra scheme for it in my head. The other accessory is a tiny white syringe and I can’t show it to you since it’s disappeared… because, well it’s tiny. Crazy enough one of the hands is specifically made to hold the syringe, so I’m not sure why they didn’t just sculpt it as part of the hand. But I’ll claim responsibility for losing it and we’ll move on.
I really like how Super7 cast a wide net over this one to appeal to cartoon and comics fans, especially since this look was short-lived in the cartoon so there weren’t nearly enough cartoon-inspired extras that could be included. I’m sure a lot of collectors would have rather S7 went straight to the more iconic black-suited Baroness, but I’m really happy that we got this one as well. I watched the hell out of that first Miniseries, so for a long time this was my Baroness and I remember desperately wanting a figure of this design. OK, let’s move on to Destro!
Unlike The Baroness, Destro has had the same iconic look through the cartoon’s run and he didn’t look that much different from the RAH figure, either. And boy does he have a unique fashion sense! He has his black jumpsuit with ostentatious, red lapel-collar thing that plunges all the way down to his belt buckle, leaving his manly muffiny McCullen chest exposed. The amulet is sculpted as part of the body so it does stay put. His boots and belt are matte gray and he has a rather stylized M on the buckle. His gauntlets and arm bracers are painted in a beautifully premium metallic silver finish, as is his masked head. Two red straps encircle his right thigh, presumably to attach a non-existent holster. I gotta say all the sculpted muscles on his back are well done as well. This is a great looking Sunbow-styled figure!
Destro does come with weapons options for both of his gauntlets. You can go with rockets on both, or follow the RAH figure and place rockets on his right arm and a brace of grenades on his left. These are cast on soft plastic frames that clip onto the arm bracers. I don’t recall him having these all that often in the cartoon, so it’s nice to have the option to go without. But, I do remember him firing them off in the episode Skeletons in the Closet. We’ll see a few accessories from that episode, which explored Destro’s family heritage and was also remarkable for having Lady Jaye running around in a torn nightgown for at least half of it. Oh, and also nearly getting sacrificed to a Lovecraftian Eldar God. YO JOE!!!
There are no less than four heads to choose from, but only three are really practical. You get neutral expression, angry expression, and laughing expression. All of these are great, and if you’re wondering how a metal mask can make all these expressions, just remember that it’s a cartoon with a lot more inexplicable stuff going on in it than Destro’s mask. I really dig the black eyes with green pupils, which was so distinctive in the cartoon and like the gauntlets, the silver paint used on these heads is beautiful. I’ll likely go with either of the first two for regular display.
The fourth head is from covered in molten lava, recreating a scene from the second episode of The Pyramids of Darkness Miniseries. It’s more of a joke reference than a useful extra, because who is going to display the figure with this? And while we’re touching on this reference, they also included the hand sander that he used to get rid of the lava in the same scene. Yeah, I kind of get what they were going for here, but I feel like it’s just tossing in accessories as a reference, rather than something most collectors are ever going to display. It’s fun to have a laugh and say, “I remember that!” as you take it out of the tray, try it out and then forget about it forever. I would much rather have had a black briefcase as a reference to the RAH figure than this head and sander.
Destro’s articulation is smooth and works well with the usual points in the arms and legs. While most of the guys in this line get ab crunch hinges, Destro gets just a ball joint in the waist so as not to break up the sculpting on his chest, and I believe that was a good idea. He’s extremely well balanced, thanks to his big chonky boots, and of course you get a lot of hands to work with his accessories, as well as a pair of fists.
Destro is a weapons dealer so he definitely needs to come with some weapons! Let’s start with a couple of pistols. The first is a fairly realistic looking automatic pistol, which is absolutely huge, almost to a point of looking silly. I don’t know where S7 pulled this design from, but it’s too oversized and generic to be much use to me. The second has more of a sci-fi element to it. It’s very simple and while I don’t recognize it, it looks like it could be based on a Sunbow design. Both are cast in dark gray plastic and neither of these are all that impressive.
He comes with a third pistol, which is taken directly from the previously mentioned episode, Skeletons in the Closet. He uses this to fire at Lady Jaye and Flint while they’re escaping. I dig the design on this one, it’s very much in line with the cartoon aesthetic, and this is the one I will likely display him with.
Moving on to the heavier artillery, you get a missile launcher and missile. The launcher is just a big black tube, which looks like it’s designed to telescope for easier carry. There’s a fin on the top and a handle and trigger on the bottom. The missile is dark purple with a black warhead and it will slide all the way inside the launcher tube, but I like to have it peeking out the front a bit so you know it’s there.
The final weapon is the Molecular Reducer and Enlarger, which isn’t really a weapon, it’s just a gun that fires a beam that, well… does exactly what the name says. Cobra used it to shrink down its forces and sneak them into GI JOE HQ inside toys that were meant to be Christmas presents for a Toys For Tots program and yes, that’s all something that really happened in the episode Cobra CLAWS Are Coming To Town.
Moving away from the weapons, Destro comes with a pair of binoculars, which are pretty lame. It’s just a blue box with lighter blue paint on the front and back lenses. Totally forgettable. On the plus side, he also has the joystick controller he used to make the gladiators fight in The Arena of Sport, seen in the very first Miniseries. I love this thing! It’s clearly designed to look like an Atari 2600 joystick and it has some nice paint apps on the red button and top ball of the stick, as well as some paint to reflect the glowing panels on the sides. The hands provided work really well with it.
The final accessory is again drawn from Skeletons in the Closet and it’s the iron mask that they made Destro’s ancestor wear after he was found guilty of witchcraft. It’s a really nice recreation of the cartoon version, and while he never actually wore it in the cartoon, you can put it on the figure. I think this would look great mounted on the wall of a diorama of Destro’s office or even just sitting on a desk.
As a figure, I think Destro turned out great. As for the selection of accessories? Well, there’s a few real bangers in here, but then some of it feels rather useless. The joystick is fun, the mask is great, and I love how they did his arm weapons. I dig the one Sunbow gun and the Molecular Reducer too. But stuff like the lava head and hand sander are just joke references that don’t really add much value to the package. Also, two of the pistols and the binoculars are just kind of lame and forgettable. I feel like his briefcase and maybe a rifle would have been better. Or how about three canisters of rare elements for The MASS Device or a component from The Weather Dominator?
It’s a pretty good gauge of how much I liked figures when I can’t stop taking pictures of them, and that was certainly the case here. These are tons of fun to play with, and finally getting Sunbow stylized GI JOE figures like these is like a dream come true. And while this review definitely went long, I think it was worth it, because now that I’m completely through Waves 1 and 2, I can work on knocking out the rest of Wave 3, and get myself current to 4, all hopefully before Wave 5 comes out. Obviously, Destro and Baroness were heavy hitters to add to this collection, although Baroness has since been updated to her black outfit in the most recent wave. And while I had issues with some of the accessory choices included with Destro, I think both of these figures turned out great! As for moving forward, I may tackle some of the next figures solo, or double up some from different waves. But, I also need to keep chipping away at GI JOE Classified. So many great GI JOE toys to enjoy and so little time! Either way, I expect to get back to this line at some point next week!
When it comes to Mythic Legions, I’ve mostly been pushing through the most recent Poxxus Wave, but I was doing some organizing last weekend and found a box filled with more unopened figures from previous waves. So, I thought I’d mix things up and check out one of those before getting back to Poxxus! I’m not exactly sure which assortment today’s release belongs to, but we’re going to have a look at The Dark Templar Legion Builder!
As a Legion Builder, this figure does not represent a specific character, but rather a way to bolster your armies as nameless battle fodder. And that means no bio either. These Legion Builders also tend to be priced a bit less than the regular releases and have less paint applications, allowing customizers to do their thang. But, alas, I have no such skills, and the figures are still finished enough to display fine on their own. I will note, that this guy is classified as a Deluxe, which confused me, because I thought the Deluxe Legion Builders came in the extra large trays with a lot more extras. Nope, he comes in the regular sized card and bubble and a price that reflects a normal Legion Builder. I’ll have a bit more to say on that at the end when we do a comparison with the regular Templar Legion Builderthat I checked out way back in 2018! It’s no secret that the Templars have been among my favorite Knights in this entire line, so I was intrigued to get an EVIL version. Let’s check him out!
Straightaway, this figure leans more toward the old than the new, with most of the body lifted directly from the regular Templar LB and most of the parts being even older than that! From the neck down, the only differences are the belt and hip armor, the shoulder armor, and the lack of any kind of neck armor. All of the armor is painted in a dark charcoal, which looks very nice, especially when coupled with the pitch black tabard and white cross. As mentioned earlier, the figure lacks all the lovely little paint flourishes found on the regular figures, so there are no silver paint hits to the rivets or buckles, giving the figure a very utilitarian appearance. Still, the detail in the sculpt still manages to shine through even without the premium paint job. These early figures can come across as a bit chunky when compared to the more slender offerings that have come since, but I think these old bodies still look great.
The helmet is the same basic Great Helm design we saw on the regular Templar, but the reinforced plating around the visor is slightly different as is the pattern of the breathing holes. And the biggest difference is the removal of the top socket, which allowed for an adornment or spike, in place of side sockets, which in this case are populated with black pointed horns and segmented fins, almost forming a full circular. The horns are painted in glossy black with the fins matching the armor’s charcoal. The whole thing makes for a distinctive and delightfully sinister presence.
I believe the sword debuted a couple years back in the Arethyr Wave. I’ve only seen it a few times, most recently with Hadirana. This was a big deal to me as it introduced scabbards instead of just thrusting the sword’s naked blade through the belt. Sure, that works fine, but adding a scabbard is just neat! The scabbard and hilt are cast in the same dark charcoal as the armor and the blade is painted silver. You get a standard issue brown sword belt to hook the scabbard onto. The only downside here is that T4H seem to have only designed one sword so far to work with the scabbard, as the blade has to be thinner. They did, however, take the opportunity to add a central fuller to the blade rather than just the usual diamond cross-section found on the standard sword. I do like the hilt, and since this one is left unpainted it isn’t completely obvious that it’s the same as Hadirana’s brightly painted version.
The shield is super old school, dating all the way back to that first figure assortment where just about everyone had one of these. The face is painted black with a white cross to match the tabard and the rim is painted in silver. It has the standard 90-degree angled grip that pegs into the back and allows for a lot of adjustment to orientate the shield while posing the figure.
And finally, you get the same poleaxe that was included with the regular Templar Legion Builder. Here it’s painted all silver, while his predecessor had a gold shaft and silver blade. As usual, the blade is a separate piece from the pole and can be removed.
I like this figure a lot, but there’s a definite discrepancy between what the regular Templar Legion Builder came with and this guy’s inventory, namely the large standard flag. Maybe TFH felt the new sword and scabbard was the equivalent, but the accessories here still feel wanting for what is called a Deluxe. They could have at least tossed in the two optional neck armor pieces. On the other hand, it was a real treat to play around with a new figure based on the older style bodies. These guys feel so good in hand, with smoother joints and just a satisfying chonkiness to them. That’s not to disparage the newer figures, but there’s just something that feels simple and streamlined about these earlier style releases. Next time, we’ll turn back to one of the newer figures from the Poxxus Wave!
To me, McFarlane’s DC Super Powers revival continues to be one of the coolest things in toys introduced last year. I’d go so far as to say this series is near perfect, or would be if it weren’t for the occasional exclusive that seems to be impossible to find anywhere at reasonable prices. Yeah, Black Manta and Reverse Flash are on the top of that list. Because why make them obtainable, right? But, as I get older I’ve learned to let things go and not obsess over a figure missed here and there. Beyond that, I’m loving this line so much and today I’m rolling out another reason why… Brainiac and his High-Tech Space Craft, The Skull Ship!
Here are the figure and vehicle in their packages and the presentation is still as gorgeous as ever! You get the bright blue and yellow deco with red stripes and the Super Powers logo with exploding stars that evokes the Kenner line and milks that nostalgia for all it’s worth. This is retro-style packaging done right! Well, almost… the cards and bubbles used for the figures are not collector friendly, so I’ll have to tear Brainiac out of there. Fortunately, most of the vehicles can be returned to their packaging, and I’ll definitely be keeping all of those boxes. Ironically, if it weren’t for the vehicles, I probably would have been collecting this line mint-on-card, but because we’ve had so many fun vehicles, I’ve gotta open them up and play with them! Let’s start with Brainiac…
Kenner’s Brainiac was all chromed out and undeniably cool, but here we’re getting something more akin to his original appearance in Challenge of the Superfriends before he got the metal makeover. And I’m not complaining, as this is indeed my preferred version of Brainiac. The colors aren’t an exact match, but I really dig what we got here: Green skin, pink shirt with preppie collar, white belt, boots, and arm bracers, and black undies. The sculpt is fairly simple and lets the vibrant colors do the talking, but you do get some nice attention to detail on the belt, the portrait is excellent, and he has his neural network sculpted onto the top of his head. This figure looks great!
Brainiac has the standard articulation for the line, which includes your basic 5-POA plus hinges in the knees. The feet have peg holes and these figures work really well with any Kenner Star Wars compatible stands you may have lying around to help with running or action poses. The Kenner action gimmick where you squeeze the legs or arms to throw punches or kicks has not been brought over to this new line, and that’s fine by me as it probably helps to keep costs down. There are no accessories included, which I think is this line’s only real drawback, but Brainiac has both hands balled up into fists, so he couldn’t hold anything anyway.
The Skull Ship is a thing of ridiculous beauty and really captures the somewhat goofy concepts of the Kenner line’s vehicles. There is a little assembly required here, as each of the tentacles have to be snapped on, and each one is designated for a specific location. This version of the Skull Ship takes the much, MUCH larger and rather iconic design from the cartoon and shrinks it down into a more manageable and toyetic one-man ride. More like a Skull Shuttle, or a Skull Mini-Rig, to keep the Kenner analogy going. The bulk of the toy is cast in some very nice glossy silver plastic representing a giant robot skull octopus, with the cabin cast in a white plastic frame all set on a purple base. The side panels are kitted out with some beautiful light blue translucent plastic with a sculpted hexagonal pattern making it look like some kind of energy forcefield. Under the right light, it actually looks like these are lit up! The black eyes have two horizontal red slits, which I would presume are capable of firing laser blasts. I also really dig the exhaust pipes that flank the mouth grill and also sweep around to the back of the little ship.
While it’s supposed to be a space ship, the toy is designed to roll along the ground, which causes its chubby, segmented tentacles to wiggle back and forth. It’s a simple action gimmick that manages to look both silly and creepy at the same time! The control panel is represented by a colorful and nicely detailed pre-applied sticker.
There is a peg inside the cockpit to secure Brainiac, so this is something that he flies around while standing, despite the art on the side of the box showing a silhouette of a figure sitting inside. He looks really cool manning the controls, although he does need to bend down a bit to reach them, so it’s a good thing he has those knee hinges. And if he gets tired he can rest his butt against the back rim of the vehicle like a seat. I’ll confess, this thing would look pretty silly creeping across the ground, but whooshing it around the room firing pretend lasers at Superman has me feeling like a kid again!
Just seeing this figure and vehicle together puts a huge smile on my face! I seem to recall that a Skull Ship was originally planned to be released in the Kenner Super Powers line, but it never happened, so this is an extra special release for me. And just like nearly all of the vehicles released in this line, I think McFarlane’s version captures every bit of the spirit of that vintage Kenner goodness. It’s much smaller and simpler than Blue Beetle’s Bug Ship, but I like that we’re getting a couple different size classes in this line as well. It looks like the next vehicles will be black repaints of the Whirly-Bat and Bat Wing, but I’m really hoping to see a release of Lex Luthor and the the Lex-Soar 7!
Well, we all knew this was coming! When the HasLab HISS arrived I had fun speculating over that little tow hitch on the back and how long it would be before we got something to tow around with it. And here we are less than six months later and Hasbro delivered with the Cobra HMS! This mobile missile system is based off of the 1985 Sears Exclusive mobile missile platform that was towed by a red HISS. Of course, that toy in turn was a repaint of the original 1982 Mobile Missile System, which was part of GI JOE’s arsenal and towed around by the VAMP. But, the direct lineage can be traced back to the 2009 Rise of Cobra release of the Heetseek Missile System, a repaint and retool of the previously mentioned toys. I never owned Cobra’s version of this weapon system, and I was eager to make my HasLab HISS even more formidable, so picking up this one was a no-brainer for me!
The HMS comes in a box designed to match the one used for the Classified HISS with more of that bitchin red and black deco that makes it look like you’re viewing the art through a Virtual Gameboy screen, only without the crippling headaches and nausea. In addition to the weapon platform you also get a Techno-Viper repainted to match the deco of the figures that make up the HISS support teams, which reminds me I still need to review that HISS Fire Team set! And speaking of things I haven’t reviewed yet, I’m in a sticky situation here, because I have yet to check out the regular release Classified Techno-Viper here, and I don’t usually like to review repaints before the originals, but I’m going to have to let that slide here. So, I’ll just be treating the Techno-Viper like a brand new figure, and I’ll do comparisons when I get around to looking at the single boxed release. So, let’s start with the figure!
The original RAH Techno-Viper was released in 1988. I was a few years out of JOEs by then and he wasn’t in the cartoon, so I didn’t know these guys even existed until I returned to GI JOE as an adult collector. And that’s a shame, because I love the concept behind these fellas. These are fully combat-trained Vipers, capable of fighting their way through the battle lines to ask if you if you’ve tried turning off your weapons platform and turning it back on again. I kid, but it makes perfect sense to have these guys capable of on-site repairs of everything from HISS Tanks to Weather Dominators. And of course, I’m sure this guy is well versed in HEETSEEK Missile Systems. This is a straight repaint of the single release and I think he looks great in the gray, black, and red color scheme Classified has adopted for the HISS crew, particularly with the silver hoses and trim.
And oh boy do I love this helmet design! It’s got a little bit of Stormtrooper-Cylon vibe going on, but manages to be all its own thing at the same time. I dig how deep set the eye lenses are in the mask and the way the helmet and mask are all layered. It looks like the visor piece is designed to be removed and it all adds a lot of depth and credibility to the head sculpt.
The backpack is quite similar to the original RAH design. It has a pair of red tanks up top, containing who knows what. The lower half is designed to hold three repair tools, which simply slot in. There’s a grab bar on the bottom, which can also be used to secure the rifle by the handle, although I don’t think that’s intentional, rather just a place you can tuck it. The included hose can be attached to either of the pegs on top of the tanks with the other end pegging into either the rifle or any of the other tools. Frankly, I don’t understand what’s going on with this system of tanks and hoses. Why could you possibly need to connect spanners to the same tank as a rifle, and what’s any of it for? Don’t know, but it looks cool!
The rifle is an interesting sci-fi design with a prominent scope and a skeletal stock. There’s a hole in the barrel to take a blast effect part, if you have some lying around, although I have no idea what it’s supposed to shoot. Lasers would be my guess. The hose could use a little more slack to work with as some poses with the rifle will cause the hose to come unplugged and that can’t be good, because I’m guessing it needs that to fire.
As for the spanners, there are two claw-like wrenches and a hammer. These are no doubt used for the fine, precision work needed to keep Cobra’s equipment running well. Banging things with a hammer usually works! They look like they would be equally useful for taking swings at JOEs.
The Techno-Viper also packs an automatic pistol. It’s an interesting design that looks plausible with just a bit of sci-fi flavor. The detail in the sculpt is excellent and it looks like it’s got some optics mounted below the barrel. And like the rifle, it has a socket in the barrel for blast effects. The sidearm has a home in the holster strapped to the Techno-Viper’s left leg.
And the final accessory is a holographic readout that plugs into either of his wrist computers. The piece is cast in translucent orange plastic and has some schematics and information sculpted into it. It reminds me a bit of the holographic images that The Four Horsemen have been releasing with their Cosmic Legions figures. It’s a neat idea and well implemented here. All in all, this is a great figure, but do I like it better than the regular release? Well, I’ll reserve judgement until I get to do a proper comparison. Hopefully in the near future. Now, onto the HEETSEEK Missile System…
Here is the HMS with the stabilizers down and ready to fire! The four legs lock into place and hold the platform with the wheels suspended off the ground. In addition to a lot of great sculpted detail, the HMS is absolutely littered with cool markings, stenciled warning labels and general information. The missile cradle can rotate 360-degrees and elevate to adjust the targeting range.
And holy crap, these missiles are absolutely huge! And yes, the curious spelling of HEETSEEK is pulled directly off of the vintage toy release. These red bringers of destruction have white lettering on the sides, along with a black Cobra emblem near the tip. The missiles tab onto the cradle and remain secure, but can be removed and hurled across the room at that approaching VAMP. There are sockets in the back of the missiles for effect parts, and I really wish some smoke trails were included with these as it would have added a lot more value to the set.
There is an access panel on the side of the platform that can be removed to access the programming and launching console. On the original toys, this was a remote pedestal with a cable that connected it to the platform. I guess it’s more convenient to have it integrated into the platform itself, but considering the price of the set, it would have been nice to get an optional remote console as well.
The hitch folds up into the platform, but still has the connection bar hanging out. It seems like there could have been a way to make this retract all the way and be more flush with the device, but at least they added a little articulation to it so it’s not just hanging on the ground for people to trip over, because than you have to get the OSHA-Vipers on the scene and nobody wants that. If you are buying this as a stand alone piece, it definitely works for play or display all by itself. But, the real draw here is getting it all hooked up to the HISS. Unfortunately I don’t have a backdrop or lighting rig for something this big so I’m going to have to shoot these pictures in the Classified Room under less than ideal conditions.
Oh, hell yeah! And if this doesn’t look like enough obscene overkill, I might remind you that Classified HISS has rocket pack saddlebags that I don’t have installed at the moment. With the stabilizer legs flipped up and the HMS hitched up, the missile platform rolls along on it’s two wheels and pairs perfectly with the High Speed Sentry. The matching colors make this look like a natural extension of the HISS rather than an Add On. And setting it up to fire beside the HISS with a full compliment of HISS Crew makes for a great display.
I’m extremely happy with this set! It takes an already epic toy like the Classified HISS and adds even more wow-factor to it. Plus, I just love the idea of getting a Techno-Viper dedicated to HISS and HMS maintenance. It really rounds out that crew nicely. Personally, I think it really needed some firing effect parts for the back of the missiles and a pedestal console certainly would have been nice. I’ve seen a fair amount of complaints about the price on this set, which retailed at $79.99, but I don’t think the asking price is all that out of line, when you consider the Trouble Bubble and Ferret both retailed at $59.99. As with those sets, you get a figure and with the huge missiles, this beast definitely involves a lot more plastic than those other small vehicles. Is it $20 more? Well, that’s up to you. I will say that if the price on this one is goosed a bit, I have to imagine it’s because it’s really an accessory for an expensive vehicle that is no longer on the market and fewer collectors will own. I mean, it does display just fine on it’s own, but you’d be missing out on the connectivity feature, at least until the inevitable release of the Cobra Stinger. The HMS is a Pulse Exclusive and at the time I’m publishing this it is still available for purchase.
Hasbro continues to drift outside my area of interests with their current crop of Transformers, and as I’ve said before, I get it, and I’m fine with that. The kids who grew up on The Unicron Trilogy are the new nostalgia market with disposable income waiting to be farmed and it’s time to let them relive their childhoods as adults buying toys. Still, I’m thankful that we older fans are getting a bone thrown our way now and then to pick off those few G1 stragglers still waiting for an update. And to be honest, I don’t have a whole lot left on my list. But, Gears was certainly one of the old Mini-Bots waiting for an update, and while grumpy Gears would probably groan on about how it’s never going to happen… well, it finally happened.
Like many of the previous Minibot updates, Gears arrives as a Deluxe Class, which I think is the way to go with these guys, as I like them to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of The Datsuns and the other Autobot cars. I don’t recall owning Gears as a kid, I think he just never turned up on the pegs around my parts. But, I did enjoy the way the cartoon portrayed his character as kind of a polar opposite of Hound. Where Hound found beauty to appreciate on Earth, Gears hated the planet and longed to return to Cybertron. I also imagined Gears and Huffer just sitting in the back of Autobot briefings griping about how the mission was doomed to fail, and Ironhide leaning over and telling them to shut the hell up or he’d give them a nickle-plated knuckle sandwich. These guys must have been dangerous to morale whenever they got together. The Legacy packaging is similar to we saw last time when I checked out Pointblank and Needlenose. It’s colorful enough, but I’m not a big fan of the design. It’s too loud for my taste and doesn’t really convey the brand. Also, the toy is exposed in the box, so remember to check your figures for dry boogers and gum before you take it home! On a related note, Gears comes with his chest piece needing to be attached, which I assume is so that it doesn’t get pulled off through the hole in the box. Let’s start with the alt mode!
I was never sure exactly what Gears’ alt mode was supposed to be, but I’ve settled on a pickup truck with some kind of storage cap over the bed. This update is kind of rough with a lot of seams, pins, and obvious joints, particularly on the sides. It’s not something that really bothers me, partly because I don’t expect vehicle perfection from a mainline Deluxe, but mostly when I see this stuff I know it’s because Hasbro is making compromises for a really good robot mode. And while I do like me a solid alt mode, I’m always here for the robot mode first and foremost. And unlike some other releases, like Studio Series Brawn, this is an alt mode that locks together easily and perfectly, something that also makes me happy.
And that’s not to say that this alt mode is terrible. For starters, it really nails the colors perfectly. G1 Gears was such a colorful toy with it’s bright red and blue deco making him pop on the shelf, even when parked beside his Minibot chums. Here we get all of that pretty plastic, plus some snappy silver paint on the front grill, the back grill, the wheels, and there’s some yellow light his to the headlamps. Even the red paint on the front bumper is exceptionally nice. The windows are painted in a pale blue, which looks good and makes him display well beside the likes of Studio Series Brawn. On the other hand, it can look off next to some of the tinted translucent windows of past releases like Kingdom Huffer. They still display together fine, but the disparity is there. I’ll throw up some comparison pictures at the end.
There are several sockets on Gears’ alt mode to allow him to arm his gun while rolling out. I’m partial to mounting it on the roof or on either of the slots near his pickup bed. The front fenders are an option too. Tacking guns onto the alt modes is generally hit or miss with me, but I like it here a lot.
Transforming Gears is pretty intuitive and the engineering involves just the right level of involvement I look for in a Deluxe without being overly fiddly. And the resulting robot looks great! The design is full of boxy G1 goodness with a lot of detail in the sculpt. The red and blue deco transfers over from the vehicle mode with some added gray plastic and more of that silver paint showing. The proportions make him look like a compact clobbering machine with a lot of the truck kibble packed away in that backpack. I really dig how the wheels are concealed, but you can still see a hint of them folded in behind his chest. The articulation is superb, right down to the ankle rockers to keep his feet flat on the ground.
Gears always did have a strangely shaped head. A lot of the G1 Minibots did, and in this case it survived into the cartoon design and is well represented here. The face has more of that lovely silver paint and the eyes are painted blue. But in spite of having a slab of a head, he can still turn it from side to side and look up a bit. His expression is one of abject disappointment punctuated by a permanent bad humor, unless that is, someone pokes around under his hood and alters his circuitry.
Yeah, that very cartoon specific play feature is reproduced here, where you can open up his chest and give him the robot equivalent of an emotional lobotomy, like the Decepticons did in the episode Changing Gears. There is some sculpted detail in his chest cavity, but no additional paint. I’m tempted to have a go in there with a few different metallic Sharpie pens. Either way, this is a fun feature and I’m glad they put it in there.
As we’ve already seen, Gears comes with a short black rifle and it’s a great design with a magazine and both a peg for the grip and a side peg to help attach it to the truck mode.
And thanks to a couple of those peg holes on the alt mode, he can even store his rifle on his backpack, which is just the greatest thing ever! I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but bravo!
Gears has had precious little love from Hasbro since the G1 days, so to say this update is overdue would be quite the understatement. But this is a case where the wait paid off, because this figure came out great! Sure, the alt mode could have been more polished, but I’m willing to take the compromise when the result is a robot mode that looks this good, and a transformation that is quick and fun. There are still a few more Minibots that need some updated love, but the one I’m wondering about most is Beachcomber. I pre-ordered him over a year ago, and still nothing!
Folks, I have officially stopped collecting Star Wars figures. Between the dismal state of the franchise and the emphasis on releasing figures from the new content rather than The Original Trilogy I just have zero interest in any of it anymore. I only reviewed two Black Series figures since the beginning of LAST year, and that pretty much reflects how little I’ve been buying. I still hope to review some of the Hot Toys I picked up last year, but right now the only Star Wars I’m still actively collecting is Jazware’s wonderful Galaxy Squadron line. And even there I’m being pretty selective. I haven’t been picking up any of the Prequel stuff, and passing on a lot of the ground vehicles. Of course, anything from my beloved Rogue One is still on the table, and today I’m checking out the U-Wing Starfighter! Although, frankly I don’t know why they call this thing a starfighter as it’s more of a gunship and troop transport, but whatever!
The ship comes in the same style window-box as the larger ships we’ve seen in the past. As always I dig the use of the snappy foil on the packaging. The included figures come in a tiny little self-contained tray and the toy itself is displayed against an illustrated backdrop. There’s a bit of assembly required here as you have to clip the wings onto the ship. The packaging is collector friendly and the wings are probably removable again, but I didn’t want to try it for fear of stressing the clips. Let’s start with a quick look at the figures!
The ship comes with three figures, which seems to be the standard for this price point. Included are Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, and K-2SO, so no surprises there. Let’s face it, the figures aren’t the main attraction here, but with that having been said, I’ve been really impressed with the sculpt and paint on the tiny fellas in this line and this trio is no exception. The facial features are solid, and you get some great detail on the costumes like their gun belts and pockets. K2 looks a bit thicker than he should, but that’s fine. There was no way they could have done his spindly limbs in this tiny scale without adding a little bulk. As usual, these figures have four points of articulation, found in the hips and shoulders. I also love the subtle differences in size with Jyn a little shorter than Cassian and K2 towering over both of them.
And here’s the U-Wing with the wings retracted, and let me start by saying that I really love this ship design. It reminds me a bit of the Buck Rogers Thunderfighter only a lot bigger, while the cockpit and rear grill is evocative of the Snowspeeder, and the quad engine mounts recall the X-Wing. And yet, it avoids the trap of looking too kit-bashy as some of these designs can turn out when borrowing from other ships. As always, Jazwares has invested a lot of detail in the sculpt with some deep cut panel lines and tiny grills and access compartments. The bottom of the ship has a transparent panel under the cockpit, reminiscent of those found on Huey Gunships to allow the pilot to see the terrain and landing zone below. You also get two blaster cannons jutting out on the front.
The paintwork includes some blue and yellow trim, which I presume are squadron markings. The rear engines are scorched and blackened from heavy use and there’s dark silver around the engine rings and also behind the cockpit. I think Jazwares is really good at the weathering aspect on these ships too, giving the hull a little bit of that “used future” look that made Star Wars aesthetics so distinctive. It’s definitely not overdone on this ship. If anything maybe it could have used a bit more on the undercarriage, which looks a little too clean.
Each wing folds back manually giving this ship a really impressive presence with a massive wingspan. I’ll confess I don’t fully understand the purpose of the wing articulation on this ship. It makes sense that they would be held in tight when going to hyperspace, so why extend them? I’ve poked around a bit in the lore and the key takeaways were that it uses them extended for atmospheric flight, while having them extended provides better shield coverage. That makes sense, but when the gunship was taking off from Jedha and later deploying troops on Scarif, it still had the wings tucked in, so I don’t know. I’ll just settle for it looks cool with them extended and leave it at that.
The ship opens up in four ways. First, the canopy hinges forward to give access to the cockpit, second the back panel lifts off to expose the passenger cabin, and finally the two side doors slide back to allow troops to deploy as well as allow the mounted laser cannon to be manned and fired. I like how removing the top panel also reveals some inner workings on the top rear of the ship (possibly the reactor?) and that it’s even been painted. Unfortunately, it wasn’t easy for me to get shots of the figures in the interior, because everything is so tiny, but there’s room for two figures in the cockpit, one figure clipped behind the laser cannon, and six more seated in the benches. The cockpit is a little crowded, especially with K2 in there, but it’s mostly an issue with elbow room, as the canopy can still close with plenty of room. The attention to detail inside the ship is very impressive, with textures on the seats, tiny control yokes in the cockpit, and even details on the bulk plates and deck plates.
Finally, you do get four flip-down landing gear to, well… support the ship on landing. One set folds down from under the cockpit area and there’s one located below each of the engine clusters.
I was exceedingly pleased to see this ship get released in this line, because the Hasbro 3 3/4-inch scaled release was a pretty piss-poor effort. Yes, even taking into account it had to be scaled down into what was essentially a one-person fighter, the detail and paintwork on it were just too lazy for me to justify buying it. Here we get to see the ship fleshed out pretty well, thanks to the tiny figures and some great work by Jazwares. The U-Wing was released at the same $29.99 price point as the Imperial Shuttle, and the two do indeed seem quite comparable in value and complexity. It’s a great addition to my fleet, and I’m happy to finally have this ship represented in my collection!
FigureFan Zero 
