Aug 11 2016

Transformers Unite Warriors: Combaticons (UW-07) Box Set by Takara, Part 4: Bruticus Combined

Well, I’ve looked at all the individual Combaticon figures and their alt modes, so there’s only one thing left to do…

Combaticons…

Transform…

And Merge…

Into…

BRUTICUS!!!

Despite using a heavily remolded Defensor torso, Bruticus is definitely his own combiner, and that comes from the new chest pieces and having three out of four new molds for the limbs. The only clear connection I can make out to Defensor are the shared upper legs and helicopter arm. And while the slightly over-sized arms continue to be a defining feature of the CW/UW combiners, I think Bruticus looks pretty damn good, not only as a combined robot in general, but as an update to G1 Bruticus.

The head sculpt is absolutely fantastic and really invokes that G1 feel and Onslaught’s guns mount on the back to help drive home that iconic look. But the real draw of the Takara version over the Hasbro in this combined form comes in all that glorious new paint on the chest and pelvic pieces. The Hasbro version is just off-white plastic and makes him look bland and unfinished, although in fairness it does make him look a lot more like the vintage toy. Here you get some gorgeous brown, purple, and silver paint that makes the figure come alive!

The stability here is overall pretty solid, but he does have some issues. Onslaught’s arms don’t stay pegged into the top of the shoulder pieces, but thankfully this doesn’t effect the integrity of the actual shoulders. I can move Bruticus’ arms without the shoulder assembly coming apart all the time like it does with Defensor and Menasor. The chest piece does a fantastic job of keeping the shoulders tabbed into place. Vortex and Blast Off don’t always want to stay together, especially in the forearm areas, but I find if I articulate the arms while holding those together he makes out OK. Brawl and Swindle as the legs are perfect, but the ratcheting joints in the hips are as unforgiving as usual. They support the figure fine, but there’s no finesse in movement there. He frequently feels like he either wants to topple forward, or like he’s leaning too far back.

In the end, I have to give Hasbro/Takara very high marks for this one. I’d rank Bruticus as my second favorite CW/UW combiner, right below Superion. It’s crazy how far they’ve come since the combiners from Energon, Power Core Combiners, and that Fall of Cybertron Bruticus. The design is beautifully executed and while he can still be a little frustrating to play with sometimes, the good far outweighs the bad here. As for my decision to go Takara on this one, I think the advantages are hard to deny. My only other Takara combiner so far is Superion, and I’d argue that going Hasbro or Takara on that release was more of a toss up. Especially once the option to replace Alpha Bravo presented itself Stateside. Here, it seems highly unlikely that Blast Off in his space shuttle mode is going to get a US release. And even if that wasn’t the case, the additional paint on this guy’s combiner parts makes him the clear winner of the two for me.

On the next Transformers Thursday, I’ll finally get into some Titans Return figures, although I’ll eventually be swinging back to Unite Warriors for Computron!

Aug 10 2016

Mythic Legions: Knight Legion Builders (Silver and Gold) by The Four Horsemen

If there was ever any doubt that the runaway success of the Mythic Legions Kickstarter wasn’t just a flash in the pan, the pre-orders for Wave 1.5, 1.75 and a selection of All-Stars from Wave 1 have been going like gangbusters. Indeed, this is a line that has me seriously re-evaluating my collecting habits in an effort to divert funds to the amazing figures that have been revealed for Wave 2.0. But I’m getting ahead of myself, as I’m barely at the halfway mark of my ongoing look at the figures that I picked up from the initial Kickstarter, so let’s press onward! Today I’m going to delve into the Legion Builders and I’m looking at not one, but two of the knights!

The term “Legion Builder” refers to the figures that featured fewer paint applications than the regular releases. While the regular figures were in the $33 range at the initial offering, these originally sold for only $18 a pop. The idea here is that you could stock up on these guys as troop builders, or if you have customizing skills, you could use them to make your own unique creations. I only bought three of these, two of which are the Silver and Gold Knights that I’m checking out today. The packaging is right in line with what we’ve been seeing all along. The only difference here is that the bubble inserts are the same for both figures, as there are no bios on the side panels, nor is there anything distinguishing whether the package contains the Silver or Gold figure.

As always, these figures are packaged without wearing their shoulder armor, and despite some unsightly notches in the back, they display just fine without the extra armor pieces. From the neck down, these sculpts are identical to each other, as well as two other figures I’ve already looked at: Sir Owain and Gorgo. You get straight silver paint on one and straight gold on the other. The paint on both figures is gorgeous and really brings out the detail in the sculpt, particularly some of the ornate scroll work. They still look great, but it’s easy to see how the extra paint applications make the regular figures in this line look all the more special. I can’t help but think that these resemble what Mythic Legions might have looked like if it went through a major toy manufacturer and had to cost out for regular retail sale. It seems like the paint apps are always the first to go! Even so, these would still be the best looking figures in the toy aisles.

As we’ve seen these bodies before, there’s no surprises with the articulation. You get a hearty dose of rotating hinges, appearing in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, ankles, swivels in the thighs, and ball joints in the waist and neck. As the figures are modular in design, all the articulation points can be separated, making it easy to swap just about any part on the figure with any of the other figures in the line.

Each figure comes with a different pair of shoulder armor. Goldy has repaints of the same shoulders that were bundled with Sir Gideon and Sir Silver has the repaints of the pair bundled with Gorgo. And yes, we’ve seen these pieces many times since! They simply peg into the sockets in the back of the shoulders.

We’ve also seen these head sculpts before too! Goldy’s helmet was last seen way back in my first Mythic Legions Feature as the alternate head for Sir Gideon, while Sir Silver’s was last seen as recently as last week on top of Sir Owain’s shoulders. Both helmets have plumes that feature the only variation in paint on the figures. The Gold Knight sports a vibrant blue plume while The Silver Knight has a red one.

Both figures come with the same assortment of accessories, but T4H did a palate swap on them, so the Gold Knight got the silver and gray accessories and the Silver Knight got the gold ones. They each come with the usual brown belt, which can hold the sword and be worn on the waist or as a shoulder strap. The shield and spear should be very familiar, and the sword is the one that was included with Sir Gideon. I’m not totally sold on the gold painted accessories that came with The Silver Knight. They are stunningly beautiful, but they seem a garish for troop builders.

I think the Gold Knight made out better. The sword is left as unpainted gray plastic and it looks like a mass produced weapon that a rank-and-file soldier might have. The spear has a silver painted tip and the shaft is left unpainted. Ironically, I like this unfinished look better than the all silver painted spears we’ve seen with other figures. I just like having the different color to separate the spear head and the shaft. The shield here looks like it does have some paint work on the surface simulating wear. Like the sword, I think this works really well as just a utilitarian shield that your average troops might carry. Goldy’s weapons look like the tools of war, whereas The Silver Knights’ look like they’re ceremonial.

It’s amazing how great these figures look even without that extra paint work that T4H has invested in the regular figures in this line. I’m sure I’ve made mention to the old vintage Knights figures by Marx before and these single color figures remind me a whole lot of those older toys. In hindsight, I’m tempted to say that I should have passed on these and poured that money into one of the other figures that I skipped while trying to budget my selections. But that would suggest regret at buying these, and the truth is I have no regrets. These look great flanking behind the Hero Knights of the line like Gideon or Owain, and while I probably would have preferred both figures came with the gray weapons, I can’t deny that those gold accessories are an eye catcher!

Aug 9 2016

The Terminator: Ultimate T-800 (Police Station Assault) by NECA

Even as I finished the feature for the last Ultimate T-800 figure, I knew he’d be back. And sure enough, here I am ready to open up a another Ultimate T-800 from NECA. Today’s release is the third T-800 in this series and the second from the original movie. I already looked at the version from the “Tech Noir” Nightclub and today I’m checking out what in my mind is the most iconic version of this time-travelling killer cyborg… The “Police Station Assault” T-800!

I think “Police Station Assault” is the official name for this figure, but it doesn’t appear anywhere on the box. As always, the Ultimate figures come in window boxes with a front flap secured by velcro. These look like over-sized VHS tape sleeves and this one features some artwork on the front that I don’t recall ever seeing before. It looks like lesser seen promotional artwork for the film. The last release snagged the art from the poster I know best, so it’s nice that they tried to mix things up a bit with this package art. The side panels feature the title of the film along with a very 80’s style grid pattern, this time in blue. Obviously, everything is collector friendly and there’s even a J-hook on top if you want to hang it on the wall or a peg.

Like I said earlier, this is the iconic version of the T-800 to me. Leather jacket, sunglasses, a cold and calculating killing machine wrapped up in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s body. If you own the “Tech Noir” version, you’ll surely recognize some of the parts here. From the waist down this version is lifted directly from the previous release with just some natural paint variation to mark any differences. The leather jacket is new and packs some crazy detail. The collar and lapels are popped a bit to give the figure some lovely depth and it features the usual action figure jacket trickery where the jacket is sculpted as a vest and the sleeves are sculpted as the arms. Besides the detailed stitching and realistic texture of worn leather, you get some sharp silver paint apps on the zippers and buckles of the jacket and the same on the biker boots. The sculptors at NECA have become wizards at rendering clothing in plastic, and nowhere is that more evident than here.

The front and back of the jacket feature bullet holes too, with some bloody paint apps around the holes.

The previous two Ultimate T-800’s each came with three separate head sculpts, and NECA isn’t breaking with tradition here. This release comes out of the box with the classic head with shades. It’s another great likeness and the big glasses hide the fact that by this point in the movie, he’s had his eyebrows singed off.

The second head is sans glasses and eyebrows, and features the damage to his left eye. The organic part of the eye and and surrounding tissue has been blown away and you can see his mechanical eye showing through. This effect is so beautifully done, thanks to a solid sculpt and some great paintwork.

Last up, we have the severely damaged head. In addition to the exposed left eye, you can now see the inner workings of the skull where his left cheek has been blown off. Part of the skull plate is showing and there are abrasions on the right side of the face. Again, this is fantastic sculpting and paintwork on display here. I will note this third head was a bitch to get on. I had to go in with a razor and clean away some of the plastic before getting it to fit right. In addition to the three heads, the T-800 comes with an extra set of battle damaged hands. All four hands are designed to work with the guns.

If you’re keeping score at home, we now have six portraits of the T-800 from the first film!

The articulation here is identical to the “Tech Noir” T-800. The points are all there and it looks fine on paper, but there are a few instances where I wish there was a better range of motion. Here’s what you get: Rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles. The wrists are ball jointed, as is the neck. The legs swivel at the hips and have swivel cuts at the tops of the boots. Finally, you get a ball joint just above the waist. Once again, the elbows barely give 90-degrees, so getting him to hold a weapon raised and close to his shoulder isn’t going to happen. I have been able to get him to hold the shotgun in both hands, but it involves exploiting the fact that his right elbow is pegged in and has a little play.

Of course, we can’t do a T-800 figure review without talking about guns. This fella comes with three of them. First you get the dinky little Smith & Wesson Model 15. It has a chromed finish and painted natural wood grips. It also looks comically small in the T-800’s hands. That’s not a criticism of the accessory, it’s a nice piece and it appears to be scaled correctly. It’s just a little understated for what I want in my T-800 figure displays.

OK, now we’re talking. Next up is the SPAS-12 shotgun. Another fine sculpt cast in the sexy tactical matte black finish and with some lovely details.

Lastly, we get the AR-18 with folded stock and magazines taped together. This is another excellent sculpt also cast all in black matte plastic, but it is also a little bendy, particularly at the end of the muzzle.

As mentioned earlier, both his hands can hold the weapons, so you can have him dual wielding for maximum effect as he cuts his way through the police station in what was one of the more intense scenes from the film.

Now here’s the tough question. You’re in the market for a T-800 figure from the first film. Which one do you get? Well, this is certainly the definitive look for him as far as I’m concerned. And I’ll go ahead and say the two damaged heads in this box work very strongly in its favor. On the other hand, the “Tech Noir” figure includes the clean portrait from the beginning of the movie, as well as the swap-out damaged arm and three unique weapons. There’s no way I could choose, but my guess is that this one is going to be the one that appeals to most casual collectors. The Ultimate figures have been creeping up a bit in price by a few dollars, but this one still retails for under $25 and that’s a damn fine bargain for the craftsmanship and extras that went into this figure. Keep the Terminator figures coming, NECA, and I’ll keep buying them!

Aug 8 2016

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Kitty Pryde by Hasbro

It’s the third week of my romp through Marvel Legends’ recent X-Men Wave and today I’m checking out the first of the three X-Ladies in this assortment, Kitty Pryde! She’s always been a fun character for me, and it’s particularly intriguing to follow her growth as a student of Xavier’s back in the day to a full fledged Guardian of the Galaxy now. As a certain villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe once said, “You’ll. Never. See. This. Coming…” and he’d be right! It would have been impossible for me to predict the path that Kitty has traveled. She’s always made out pretty well in the comics, but not so much in the TV and Film world. I’ll bet she’s still bitter about getting shafted in the Days of Future Past movie.

Here’s the lovely Juggernaut Wave packaging. You get a branded X-Men symbol on the top flap and spiffy character art on the side panels. I like how nobody in this wave has to share a slot with others, hence every figure’s name appears on the bottom of the front panel. The tray here is absolutely packed with stuff, from the giant Juggernaut arm, that probably uses almost as much plastic as Kitty, to the Lockheed figure, and a very nice bonus head for your Red Onslaught BAF from a few waves back. I’m going to let Kitty phase herself out of the package and we’ll check her out!

So, I’ll say straight away that this is a fantastic looking figure and features her more contemporary look, which also happens to be my favorite. Granted, there’s a lot to choose from. Hasbro could do a massive boxed set based on Kitty’s gimmick of wardrobe changes. This one, however captures the feel of the original black and yellow design, with the added style of the V-neck and a modern belt. It translates beautifully into this figure thanks to some sharp paint and the original sculpting on upper torso and gauntlets.

The portrait is excellent. It’s become a common gripe that Hasbro can’t do female head sculpts any justice, but Marvel Legends has been proof positive that it simply isn’t true. Sure, you’ve got your Madam Hydras, but most of the 6-inch Marvel ladies have been great and Kitty here is another example of that. The face sculpt is pretty and I really love how they did her pony tail. The paint on the facial features is excellent, although the paint for the hair doesn’t always line up with the sculpt. Still, not too shabby overall.

The articulation here is everything you might expect in a modern Legends lady. That includes rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. There are ball joints in the legs, double hinges in the knees, and both hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles. You get swivels in the thighs, but alas, none in the biceps. Finally there’s a ball joint just under the chest and both a ball joint and hinge in the neck. It’s good, but I do have a few quibbles. The lack of swivels in the waist and biceps is annoying, and the elbow hinges don’t have as much range of motion as I would have liked.

Of course, Kitty comes with Lockheed and he is a fantastic little sculpt, cast in a beautiful metallic purple plastic. He’s basically just a squishy little guy and while I dig him a lot, I wish Hasbro had done a few things about him a little differently. His feet are flat as if he’s supposed to stand, but his tail curls down below his feet, so he can’t stand, at least not on his own. The idea here is that the tail is supposed to curl around Kitty’s neck so he can stand on her shoulder. It works OK, but I think they should have taken a page from Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo Kitty Pryde and made it so Lockheed could better clip onto the arm.

The other accessory in the package is the Magneto-style head that is meant to replace the Red Skull head on the Red Onslaught Build-A-Figure, and it is indeed a welcome inclusion. I can’t recall Hasbro ever bundling a piece to improve a BAF from a previous wave, but they were promising that this was coming since before the Red Onslaught Wave shipped and they sure did make good on that promise! The Red Skull head was a damn fine sculpt, but to be honest, now that I have this head, the old one will probably never see the light of day again.

Drax: “Quill, your new girlfriend is a liar. She is not a cat made of shadows.”

Three figures into this X-Men Wave and Hasbro has yet to falter as Kitty takes her place besides Wolverine and Cable as another top notch release. The Toy Biz Kitty was a solid enough effort for her time, but if I still owned mine, she’d be getting replaced right now by Hasbro’s sublime new effort. Is this the Wave that can do no wrong? Check back next Monday as I double down with a look at both Iceman and Havoc.

Aug 6 2016

KanColle: Takao Class Heavy Crusier Maya (Day Off Figure) by Taito

It’s Saturday morning and around these parts that means it’s time to pour a big cup of coffee and open up another anime figure. And surprise, surprise… it’s another Fleet Girl from Kantai Collection. Not only that, but another “Day Off” figure from Taito! Let’s check out the adorable Maya, she’s a Takao Class Heavy Cruiser and we’re catching her in between skirmishes with the Abyssal Fleet and enjoying her downtime.

As we’ve already seen many times, Taito’s prize figures come in these colorful, fully enclosed boxes. You get virtually no English at all on the package, but you do get some nice pictures of the figure inside and the KanColle logo. The figure comes in plastic bags and requires just a little assembly to set up. Actually, in this case, it’s not even really assembly, you just rest the girl on the base and put her extra gun mount wherever you want it. Maya hails from the Kantai Collection video game, as opposed to the anime series. I’m not nearly as familiar with the girls from the game, so let’s just let Maya introduce herself in her own words… “I’m the awesome air defense cruiser, Maya! Anti-aircraft warfare? You can count on me! Just hide behind me!” She sounds spunky. I like spunky. And since is a “Day Off” figure, perhaps this quote is more appropriate: “All right! It’s summer, summer! Feels good huh? Hey, Admiral, take off your clothes and stuff and let’s go swimming!”

Out of the box and all set up, Maya rests cross-legged on the floor, cradling one of her twin gun mounts in her lap and adjusting the adorable little cap that’s angled on her head. Despite being a “Day Off” figure, Maya is still wearing her usual outfit for the game, which retains some of the school uniform appearance, but is also one of the more revealing outfits, as it consists of an abbreviated top and a short skirt.

Maya is also still all kitted out in her gear, which includes her rudder boots, her arm bands, which I believe are her AA guns, and her Type 21 Air Radar antenna protrudes from the sides of her head. You also get a spare twin gun mount, which you can place anywhere on the base. The detail in the armaments is all pretty good, but my one quibble here is that the guns are very soft and bendy and tough to keep straight. It makes her equipment look more like it belongs in one of the “Half Damage” figures, rather than a “Day Off” figure. Then again, maybe she’s taking some downtime after taking some damage in a tough battle.

The portrait here is among my favorites that Taito has done for this line. Maya is adorable with her large, perfectly printed blue eyes, and her cute little smile. The hair is pretty short and tame, maybe a little chunky, but it looks fine.

The paint quality on this figure is excellent. You get some nice sharp lines on the red borders of her collar, and the white piping on her gloves and top. The whites are nice and clean, and there’s a little gradient to her skirt as it becomes light blue toward the hemline. The plastic used for the skin can look a little waxy under bright lights and there are some faint seams showing on her legs, but neither is something that I’m going to get worked up about considering the price point here.

The base takes up a fair amount of real estate, but it doesn’t feel as if it’s a lot bigger than it needs to be. It’s cast in brown plastic and sculpted to simulate either a wood floor or the deck of a ship. It’s not quite the exotic environment that I-401 had, but it’s certainly more distinctive than the plain black disc we saw with Akashi.

Maya set me back a whopping $16 shipped from Amazon and she may be my favorite of the three KanColle “Day Off” figures I’ve opened, and that’s saying something because I really do enjoy them all. They did a beautiful job on her and she makes for a very distinct presence on my ever expanding KanColle shelves. I had originally planned to keep my collection focused on characters from the anime series, but some of the video game designs are so much more interesting that I just can’t resist them and while the language barrier will probably forever prevent me from playing the game, it’s been fun digging in and learning about some of these characters.

Aug 5 2016

DC Icons: (#11) Aquaman by DC Collectibles

Apologies that today’s DC Friday Feature is going up so late. It’s been a bitch of a week and I’m glad to put it behind me. But after a detour last week, I didn’t want to delay wrapping up Wave 3 of DC Icons any longer. Yes, today’s figure is Aquaman, and while he tends to take a lot of guff from a lot of people, I’ve always had a soft spot for the guy. I was happy to see him getting a slot in the DC Icons line, as the series continues to alternate between classic versions of cornerstone characters and more fleeting appearances of back-benchers. And so some may shake their head when a wave goes from Harley Quinn and Superman to Atomica and back to Aquaman, but scoff if you will, this is what Universe building is all about.

We’ve seen this packaging many times over by now. It’s clean, attractive, and collector friendly. Aquaman’s box is branded with orange coloring, indicates that he is the 11th figure in the line, and the side panel notes that this figure is taken from the pages of “The Legend of Aquaman,” a limited run origins story that was published in the late 80’s. I actually remember reading that one way back when, it was probably one of the last comic series I read before the 90’s hit and I started drifting away from comic books for a time. I revisited it after getting this figure, but unlike my re-reading of “Man of Steel,” it completely failed to capture my interest.

Nonetheless, the book features a very classic look for Aquaman and a great basis for this figure. But is there really a lot to say about this guy? With a few exceptions, his costume has changed the least out of anyone over the years and whether I’m looking at the original DC Universe Classics version or the New 52 Justice League version from DC Collectibles, there’s not a lot new here to talk about. You get the gorgeous gold fish-scale patterned top and dark green gauntlets and legs. From the back you can see the sculpted fins on the back of his lower legs. This is a fine treatment of the character, but I don’t think it’s really anything we haven’t seen before plenty of times.

You get two portraits with the figure. The regular head is one of the better ones I’ve seen in the DC Icons line. At the risk of overusing the word here, it just looks very classic Aquaman. The paint is very clean and the figure features a strong jawline.

The alternate head features a hole in the forehead to insert his telepathy effect part. I like the look of this piece and I’m glad DCC included it, as it’s one of the few things that makes this figure truly stand out as something genuinely new and different. The head sculpt is virtually the same, and I’m not sure why they bothered to make the effect piece removable. It’s not like anyone is going to use the head without the cone telepathy cone pegged into it. Maybe it was just cheaper to do it that way.

If you’ve been collecting this line, or reading my Features on it, the articulation here should present no surprises. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, double hinges in the elbows and knees, hinges and lateral rockers in the ankles, ball joints in the hips, an ab-crunch hinge just above the waist, a ball joint under the chest and again in the neck, and swivels in the biceps. It’s all pretty good stuff, but the lack of a waist swivel in this figure really irks me, as does the lack of thigh swivels. The wrists are on hinged pegs, allowing for swappable hands. Aquaman comes with a total of three pairs, including fists, relaxed hands, and trident-holding hands.

And conveniently, you also get a trident for those-trident holding hands to hold! I have my share of Aquaman figures and I can safely say this is the best trident that’s come with any of them. The prongs are super thin and fragile, but I think that’s what makes it look so good. The head will pop off the shaft to help slide it through his closed grips.

If you’re in the market for a very classic and solid Aquaman figure, you can’t go wrong here, and thanks to the timelessness of this look, he works fine as a modern version of the character too. I should also note how cool it is that Icons has so far been pulling the core Justice League characters from appearances published in the 80’s and that gives me a very classic and cohesive looking team so far. And this Feature also gets me current on DC Icons, but I’ll be anxiously awaiting Wave 4 to ship with Firestorm, John Stewart, and The Joker. Unfortunately, it looks like they’ve been delayed well into 4th Quarter.

Aug 4 2016

Transformers Unite Warriors: Combaticons (UW-07) Box Set by Takara, Part 3: Swindle and Brawl

Folks, it’s been a loooong and thankless week at work. I’m exhausted, and I almost didn’t have it in me today, but the show must go on, and so here we are with another Transformers Thursday Feature. I also just spent a shit ton of money on new sneakers for my car and no small sum at the bar around the corner while I was waiting for the work to be done. I am quite tired, fed up, and most definitely inebriated. I picked up the car and literally screamed at the new tires, “I HATE YOU, YOU’RE MONEY I COULD HAVE SPENT ON TOYS!” Anywho…. today, I’m continuing my leisurely (now going on three weeks!) stroll through Takara’s big imported box of Combaticon goodness. So far, I’ve checked out Onslaught, Blast Off, and Vortex. Today I’m finishing up the individual bots with a look at the Deluxe figures that will form my Bruticus’ legs: Swindle and Brawl. What’s that? You can make them into arms too? UNACCEPTABLE!!! Once again, I’m looking at the alt modes first, so let’s jump right in and start with one of my favorite Decepticons of all time… Swindle!

Oh, Swindle, what have they done to you? G1 Swindle was originally a yellow and purple military jeep and now he’s ahhhhh… well, I guess a modern yellow and purple military sort of jeep looking thingy? With no place to sit? Yeah, there’s a little half sculpted blob in there that’s supposed to be a steering wheel, but I have to be honest here, this alt mode is a goddamn ugly mess. Some of you may remember me looking at Warbotron’s version of Swindle a while back and being content with them making him into a Humvee. Granted, that was an $80 Third-Party Voyager scaled figure, but I still think a Humvee might have worked better here. How could it have been worse?

In fairness, there’s a decent amount of sculpted detail here. You get shock absorbers inside the wheel well, pouches along the sides, and some vents and panel lines. Swindle gets by with minimal paint apps in this mode. His roll bars are painted silver, as are the wheels, and the conspicuous robot hands inside what would be the cabin. You also get some rather striking purple paint showing on the hood and the tailgate.

Swindle comes with a gun that can be mounted on his rear section, either left or right. You can also mount his combiner hand/foot on his roof to make a formidable double barreled cannon. Normally, I’m not a fan of using these pieces with the alt modes, but it worked alright for Vortex, and I think it works fine here. I mean, Swindle’s alt mode is already f’ugly enough, might as well stick a big foot cannon on top of it, right? Look, it sounds like I hate this thing, I don’t. It’s a passable Deluxe alt mode. It does what it needs to do. But as a devotee to my main man, Swindle, this alt mode could have and should have been better. Let’s see if Brawl’s alt mode fares any better…

Yes it does! It’s Brawl. He’s a brown tank. It doesn’t take rocket science to make this alt mode work. You get sculpted treads, some decent detailing, which includes hatches, vents, and, bolts, panel lining. Other than some black, a little silver, and Decepticon insignia on the sides, there’s nothing in the way of paint apps. The turret does not turn, but the gun can be raised a bit. It’s frightfully simple, but it works for me. It is clearly Brawl.

Brawl doesn’t come with a gun, but you can stick his foot/hand part on top of him for added firepower. I can’t say as I’m a big fan, but it’s not terrible. Also, so long as we’re looking at him from the front, his combiner port sort of looks like a third middle tread. Just saying. If this were a contest between the two alt modes, Brawl is the clear winner for me. He looks a lot more like what he’s supposed to be than Swindle does. He’s a tank, not some modern abstract realization of a tank. Maybe Swindle’s Jeep mode has a little more play value, but that’s about it. So, how about them robot modes? Well, let’s turn our attention back to Swindle…

Now we’re talking! The only think keeping this from being the Swindle I know and love is the lack of arm cannon, and you can always plug one of Onslaught’s guns into his shoulder to try to make it work. Otherwise, this figure hits all the right points. He’s got a pretty clean robot mode with loads of sculpted detail showing in his legs and arms. The upper chest is made up of his actual alt mode front, while a faked out Jeep front is situated in his pelvic region to drive home that G1 homage. And speaking of G1 homages, just look at that head sculpt! It’s love. G1 love. I love it.

From the back, we can see the hood and roll bars of the alt mode peg in firmly to his back. The whole assembly sticks out a bit behind his head, but it’s not terrible as far as kibble goes. If it really bothers you, you can drop it down to form a butt flap, but I’d rather not. I also really like the wheel placement on this figure. Two wind up in his armpits, without being cumbersome to the articulation, while the other two wind up on his ankles. The deco here is perfect. You get all that lovely yellow-tan Swindle-y plastic with a little more purple and silver paint showing. Was it worth getting a ho-hum alt mode for this kind of robot delight? Yessir, it is. But I’d still argue they could have done this with a cleaner and more accurate Humvee alt mode.

Swindle comes with a very sweet gun with three barrels. This is the first time I’ve seen this gun in the CW/UW line and I absolutely love it. Let’s move on to Brawl…

OK, so I sense a flipping pattern going on here. Swindle had an iffy alt mode and a rock solid robot mode. Brawl had a decent alt mode, and this as his robot mode. I’ve been playing with it off and on for an hour now and I still can’t make up my mind. Like Swindle, he’s a pretty solid representation of the G1 alt mode. You’ve got the treads facing front on his upper arms, you’ve got the turret on his back with the cannon sticking straight up. You even have those circular hatches sculpted into his lower legs like the Sunbow model showed.

On the other hand, those puny little forearms! Oh, how I wish they could have fixed those. If only they could have cut the arm hinge a little higher. And then there’s that mid section. It’s sort of just a big hinge above his pelvis. It doesn’t really ever lock in securely enough for my satisfaction, especially when I pick him up from the chest and his lower half flops down a bit. It’s not something that really bothers me until I start playing around with him and then it just doesn’t feel right. But… all these quibbles, and I’m still nowhere near to saying I dislike this figure.

The deco here is mostly what you get from his tank mode. There’s a lot of brown and black with a little more silver exposed. The deco is drab and dreary and looks perfectly suited for Brawl… until I get to the head. A fantastic head sculpt, but that neon orange paint is a bit much. I wish they could have toned that down a bit. Here’s an instance where I prefer the Hasbro paint to this one. With all that having been said, when I stand Brawl on the shelf beside Swindle, he looks just fine.

Brawl doesn’t have a gun, although you can angle that turret cannon over his head into a firing position. You can also attach his hand/foot part to either arm to give him a weapon. It looks about as good as one might expect it to look.

Both of these figures get a passing grade from me. Where Swindle stumbles in his alt mode, he soars in his robot mode and becomes my official Generations-Classics-Whatever version of the character. And Brawl sports as solid an alt mode as I would expect, but experiences some design hiccups in his robot mode. It feels like these could have used another trip across the designing board, one for alt mode and one for robot mode, but then if you count the limb modes, these are essentially Deluxe Class Triple Changers, so sacrifices are going to be made. In the end, these compliment the rest of the team nicely and I’m rather excited to get them cobbled together into Bruticus. And I’ll do just that next week in Part Four!

Aug 3 2016

Mythic Legions: Sir Owain by The Four Horsemen

It’s Wednesday and time for another look into The Four Horsemen’s Kickstartered line of amazing 6-inch scale fantasy figures. I began my look at the Mythic Legions line two months ago with the brave knight, Sir Gideon, and after nearly ten figures, today I’m returning to the knights of the line and checking out Sir Owain!

Here is a quick, obligatory look at the figure in his packaging. You get a generic card with a little of the line’s fiction on the back. The bubble insert has “Mythic Legions” printed across the front and a little bio of the character on the right panel. The card is designed to slide out of the plastic bubble front, so everything is collector friendly!

Oh yes, Sir Owain is as classic a knight as you can get. This guy really takes me back to those wonderful Marx Knights that I used to play with at my Uncle’s house way back when. We’re almost ten figures in and by now we’re going to start seeing a lot more familiar parts, but this is as close to a straight repaint as I’ve shown thus far. From the neck down, Sir Owain is just a recolor of Gorgo Aetherblade. The sinister black and red deco has been replaced with a simple yet gorgeous silver and gold color scheme, keeping just a little bit of black. The resulting transformation from evil bastard to noble and heroic knight is impressive. Seriously, the quality of paint on this figure is just breathtaking.

As always, the shoulder armor arrives off the figure in the package. Owain looks totally complete without these pieces, but pegging them into the shoulders gives him some lovely bulk. As with the rest of the body, these shoulder pieces are also repaints from Gorgo. You also get the ubiquitous brown belt, which can be worn around the waist or as a shoulder strap.

While the bulk of this figure is recycled, this is the first time we’re seeing this head sculpt. Known as a Burgonet and popular in the 16th Century, this helmet really captures that classical romantic feel of the chivalrous knight as depicted in the Renaissance Period. The silver, black, and gold deco matches the rest of the armor and he does have a large burgundy plume spilling out the top from behind the crest.

Just in case this is your first of my Mythic Legion Features, I’ll give a quick run down on the articulation for the line. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles, as well as lateral rockers in the ankles to steady him for those wide stances. The waist is ball jointed, as is the neck. The neck guard is soft plastic and is designed to shift if need be to accommodate movement in the neck. Truth be told, Sir Owain is probably a little more limber than a dude in full plate armor should be, but that’s what helps make him such a fun action figure. Also remember, these figures are designed to be modular, so if there’s a joint, then chances are that joint can be separated and another part swapped in for easy customization.

Like Sir Owain’s body, we’ve seen his weapons before. First off, he comes with a sword and shield. All the shields we’ve seen in the line so far have been the same basic accessory, but with a unique coat of arms painted on the front. In the case of Sir Owain you get a large bird with a sword in the center set against a black backdrop. The shield clips onto the figure’s wrist and the clip is pegged into the shield. The sword is the same one that came with Sir Gideon. It’s a single handed weapon with a newly painted deco for the hilt.

He also comes with the silver spear that we’ve seen several times.

You will no doubt have noticed that most of this Feature is pointing out how much of this figure is based on reused parts and accessories. Keep in mind, that is in no way intended as criticism. The fact is that T4H developed this line based on a selection ofparts that could be interchanged into different combinations to create new figures. And in this case, they show that even the right repaint can turn the same body into a figure that still feels fresh when standing next to the original. The repaint here is so well done and each figure owns it so well, that Owain doesn’t at all feel like a rehash of Gorgo to me. With all that having been said, anyone looking for just a beautiful 6-inch scale classical knight would be well served hunting this guy down. He’s a gorgeous figure even as a stand alone piece.

Aug 2 2016

Rocky III: (Series 1) Rocky Balboa (1st Fight) and Clubber Lang (2nd Fight) by NECA

You have to hand it to NECA, they know how to harvest that 80’s nostalgia and use it to exploit us action figure collectors. Sure, they usually do it with sci-fi films like Alien, RoboCop, Terminator, or Gremlins, but landmark 80’s films are not bound to any single genre and the Rocky franchise is proof positive of that. For my money, they are Stallone’s finest body of work (although, I’m very partial to Copland as well). Rocky is quite simply the role he was born to play and it saddens me to think that eventually Hollywood will get to rebooting it starring someone else. Nonetheless, these films will always have a place in my heart, and that’s coming from someone who probably wasn’t these films target demographic. Needless to say, when NECA stepped up to produce figures for the 40th Anniversary of the franchise, you bet your ass, I was up for it. The first series consists of two versions of both Rocky and Clubber Lang from Rocky III and today I’m looking at one of each.

While not quite equaling the decadent packaging of the Ultimate Series, the presentation here is not at all shabby. The figures come in window boxes with some handsome gold foil work on the front portraits and on the spines. The side panels identify the character and the series, so you can line these up on a shelf and always know who you’re reaching for. This is simple, elegant, and collector friendly packaging at its best. Let’s start with Rocky!

This is Rocky as he appeared in the first fight with Clubber Lang, where he got his ass kicked. I can still remember the first time I saw that fight in the movie. I was young and I recall feeling scared shitless for him because Clubber was so intimidating. Rocky sports his yellow/gold trunks, gloves, and high tops and dammit, there is some really fine detail going on here. The gloves and shorts look like the real thing thanks to a beautiful coat of paint and some sculpted stitching and wrinkles. From his name on his shorts to the elastic waistband, this is great stuff. The same goes for his footwear, which feature the same amazing gold paint and “ROCKY” printed across the backs of the high tops.

Naturally, a good portion of this figure is showing skin and NECA did a fabulous job sculpting the intricate musculature. For a company that has practically built an empire off of Xenomorphs and Predators, it’s genuinely satisfying to see them turn their attention to something as simple as human anatomy and show off how well they can do it. Now, to know me is to know how much I usually hate when companies use this type of waxy plastic for flesh, but here it works for me. The glossy sheen just communicates sweat and stress and adrenaline and fear. I love it.

The portrait here is solid enough, although I’ll confess it leans a bit into caricature territory. Or maybe it’s just the way Stallone naturally looks. Yes, part of it is the waxy plastic, which doesn’t allow for some of the nuances of paint to bring it out. The paint could have been a little cleaner on the eyes, but it also gives him that certain “just took a blow to the head” kind of look. That all having been said, I think it’s fine. It’s most definitely Stallone.

The articulation is everything I could want for a Heavyweight Champion of the World. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, and knees. The hips appear to be ball jointed, but it’s hard to tell because the legs actually connect inside the shorts. The ankles have rotating hinges as well as lateral rockers and there’s even a hinge midway through each foot. Finally, you get ball joints in the chest and in the neck. Moving on to Clubber…

As far as 80’s film antagonists go, Clubber Lang is surprisingly high up on my list. That’s a testament to the script writers and Mr. T’s performance. I really hated this guy. He was an animal and he showed absolutely no respect to The Italian Stallion. Everything I said about the Rocky Balboa figure can be applied to this one. The colors may not be as flashy, but the black and white shorts and white and black footwear look great. He has “CLUBBER” printed across his waistband and his initials printed down on the left leg of his shorts. I really love his gloves. The red paint here is so vibrant and like Rocky’s they have “TUF WEAR” printed on them.

I think the key difference here is while I found Rocky’s portrait to lean a little toward being a caricature, there’s absolutely no equivocating on this one. It is an incredible likeness to the great Mr. T. The expression is spot on and pretty damn terrifying. This is quite simply top notch work on NECA’s part.

The articulation on Clubber is identical to Rocky, although it’s worth mentioning that they are most definitely separate bucks. Clubber is appropriately larger and beefier.

Hot damn, do I love these guys! When I purchased these, I was pretty deliberate about the ones I bought because I hadn’t planned on getting the whole Series. Getting two of each character just seemed like double dipping. Now that I have them in hand, I’m certain that I’ll be getting the other versions as well. These look so amazing in hand and on my shelf and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming figures, particularly Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago. Now, I just need to get me a 6-inch scale boxing ring. TO THE EBAYS!!!

Aug 1 2016

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Cable by Hasbro

It’s Week Two of my jaunt through the new X-Men Wave of Marvel Legends and for this Marvel Monday, I’ve decided to rip open Cable. Now, what we have here is one of those Good News, Bad News, Good News scenarios. The Good News? He’s Cable! And at last in the Legends scale! The Bad News? It’s not really the version of Cable I would have preferred. The Good News? He’s still an excellent figure! But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with a quick look at the packaging…

I commented last time about how much I dig these boxes with the matching yellow accents and boy do I! Along with the snazzy coloring, the character art on the side panels really make them pop and they look amazing collected together as a set. If I weren’t so hard pressed for space as it is, I would probably display this set packaged and on the wall, but alas my walls and closets and shelves are busting at the seams, so I’m going to have to be content admiring the boxes in these pictures after I toss them all. But before I sadly toss the packaging, let me get the stuff inside out first!

So, yeah, this isn’t really my Cable. This Cable does not scream “bodyslide by two” hijinx with Deadpool to me. This Cable hails from a mini-series from about four years ago. It’s an odd choice to be sure, but knowing Hasbro’s need to recycle parts in this line, they may have been going for a look that they could work with. And while I haven’t looked at the Civil War Wave yet, I’m seeing a bit of the Nuke figure in this one. Ideal? No! Am I OK with it? Yuppers! Because Cable here, no matter the version, is a damn nice figure. One of my favorite things about him is the bulky armor, which features some lovely texturing and scattered bullet holes. Also the segmented metal arm is just gorgeous!

This is also a suitably bulky buck. Even without the barrel chested armor, he’s got a nice presence to him. There’s plenty of detail in the pants and boots. He’s packing dual thigh pouches, a slew of belt pouches. POUCHES! He’s clearly trying to make Deadpool jealous. The shin and knee armor is colored to match his chest armor and also features some dings and bullet holes. The deco on him is nothing outrageously special, but the quality of the paint is superb. That silver paint just can’t be beat. I also love the tat on his right shoulder.

And the portrait!!! Hasbro wasn’t fooling around when they sculpted this noggin. This is clearly a character that offered plenty of opportunities for them to shine and they stepped up to the challenge. The stern jaw, broad nose, and grim expression says it all. The paint apps on the scarring and his one organic eye are sharp and clean, and the exposed cybernetic portion of the head is absolutely killer. Again, some great silver paint and amazing detail work in the segmented lining. What’s particularly cool is the detail on the neck goes all the way down into the armor. I have nothing but admiration for the work here.

Cable’s articulation is a little better than I would have expected from such a substantial buck. I was particularly pleased to see the double hinges in the elbows. The arms also feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have swivels in the thighs. The ankles are hinged and feature lateral rockers. The torso has a swivel at the waist and a very generous ball joint buried under the chest armor. The neck has both a hinge and ball joint. The jointing on this figure feels great and he’s been pretty hard for me to put down.

Weapons! It wouldn’t be Cable without an arsenal and this figure comes with two sizable, futuristic guns. The smaller of the two appears to be a new sculpt. If it isn’t, I can’t place where we’ve seen it before. The larger gun is, appropriately enough, the same gun that came with Hope Summers all the way back in the initial wave of the Legends relaunch. This one, however, has the added bonus of an ammo belt that plugs into the bottom of the stock.

In case you can’t tell, I absolutely adore this figure. And that sentiment shouldn’t be taken lightly, as I’m even surprised at myself how the disappointment of this not being Cable’s more conventional look hasn’t overwhelmed me here. The truth is, this is such an amazing looking figure and so much fun to play with, that I’m easily able to overlook what could have been and just really admire the beautiful work that went into what we got. And for the time being, at least I still have an excellent 3 3/4-inch version of proper Cable from the Marvel Universe line a few years back. So far, this Wave is batting two for two. As much as I’m tempted to go with Deadpool next, I think I’ll check out one of the X-Ladies on next week’s Marvel Monday.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Category Uncategorized

Transformers Unite Warriors: Combaticons (UW-07) Box Set by Takara, Part 4: Bruticus Combined

Mythic Legions: Knight Legion Builders (Silver and Gold) by The Four Horsemen

The Terminator: Ultimate T-800 (Police Station Assault) by NECA

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Kitty Pryde by Hasbro

KanColle: Takao Class Heavy Crusier Maya (Day Off Figure) by Taito

DC Icons: (#11) Aquaman by DC Collectibles

Transformers Unite Warriors: Combaticons (UW-07) Box Set by Takara, Part 3: Swindle and Brawl

Mythic Legions: Sir Owain by The Four Horsemen

Rocky III: (Series 1) Rocky Balboa (1st Fight) and Clubber Lang (2nd Fight) by NECA

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Cable by Hasbro

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