May 5 2016

Transformers Combiner Wars: G2 Stunticons Box Set by Hasbro, Part 4: Menasor!

Here we are at the final installment of my look at Hasbro’s Generation 2 Stunticons. I’ve already checked out Motormaster and the four Deluxe figures, but before we get to Menasor, let’s take a quick look at the runt of the litter: Blackjack!

I was curious to see what they would do with the tiny Stunticon sports car, since Blackjack is the one figure that Hasbro didn’t have a G2 original to reference. They went for a purple and blue deco that matches Motormaster fairly closely and I think it looks fine. He sports a blue G2 Decepticon emblem on his hood and the windows are painted black. You can still plug his axe onto the back of the car to form a spoiler and what I like to think is a roof cannon, because… why not?

The transformation here is still as simple and clever as always. The robot mode balances out the color scheme by exposing more of the blue. I still like the way the wheels are angled back on his shoulders and the bulk of the car’s top becomes his backpack. He’s a great looking little Legends figure.

Plenty of ball joints makes for solid articulation and he can hold his axe in either hand. The only thing missing is a Decepticon emblem somewhere on his front. I like my Transformers to wear their faction symbols proudly. Based on the transformation, it’s easy to see why he doesn’t have one, and it was an issue common to the previous Blackjack.

For a mold that’s been around the block three times already, I think this guy still holds up well. I’d put this one tied with the original Blackjack release as my two favorites and Hot Rodimus bringing up a distant third. But enough about Blackjack… let’s form G2 Menasor!

So, some of you may recall that I wasn’t all that keen on Menasor’s combined mode the first time around and I’m sorry to say that this G2 version doesn’t do a lot to improve on that. Of course, my issues with Menasor had nothing to do with his paint job, so I wasn’t expecting a repaint to solve anything. With that having been said, this version feels slightly more stable to me. Just getting the previous release to stand beside him was a chore. Unfortunately, he still suffers from a host of problems, like the shoulders coming un-pegged every time I move his arms, and the fact that Blackjack will not peg into the chest on his own. I used heaping helpings of blue tack to get him to stick for the photos and even then he popped out a few times. This guy is just no fun at all to play with because he keeps falling down or falling apart.

As for the coloring… it’s brilliant! The fact that they matched the coloring between Blackjack and Motormaster makes for a good looking chest piece, at least while he stays in place. My preferred combination here is the same as the other Menasor with Dead End and Wildrider making the legs. It works for this deco pretty well as it gives the upper half a more uniform color and makes the legs really pop. It’s a striking deco to be sure.

In the end, I always knew this series of Features was going to be anti-climactic because Menasor remains my least favorite of the three Combiner Wars teams that I own (the others being Defensor and Superion). But just like the first time around, I bought these guys mainly for the individual modes and as a team, these figures did not disappoint at all. They look incredible on the shelf and owning them has convinced me to grab the G2 Superion set as well because I just really want a Generation 2 shelf in my modern Transformers display. With an MSRP of $99, the value here feels about right, figuring on four Deluxes at $16 a piece, a Voyager at $25, and a Legends at $10. I was able to grab these guys for $85 and that made the deal all the sweeter.

Next week, Transformers Thursday is going to go back into a short hiatus, so that I can work a three-parter into the middle of the week. It should return the following Thursday, but it’ll likely remain spotty throughout the Summer as I wait for Takara’s Unite Warriors teams to be released.

May 4 2016

Star Wars: May the 4th “The Force Awakens” 3 3/4-inch Figure Opening Special!

Strap yourselves in, kiddies, because it’s Star Wars Day and I’m celebrating by opening up the pile of 3 3/4-inch Force Awakens figures that I have slowly amassed and stacked in the corner. All eight of them! You’ve heard of speed dating? Well this is going to be speed reviewing. Quick and dirty. Let’s face it, while these figures are fun and all, they don’t require a lot of time. This will also help me to get caught up on the older figures so I can start hunting for some of the more recent releases that have been rather difficult to find.

Here they are in the packages… God, I still love these packages! If I had to do it over, I might have considered keeping all my TFA figures sealed, because they really do look amazing on the cards. The character art is fantastic and the coloring is bright and catches the eye. If all I collected was Star Wars, I would have definitely picked up a couple of each and hung these things all over my walls. But, I’ve got a lot of figures to cover, so let’s get right to it and start off with…

X-Wing Pilot Ello Asty! Asty was a bit more than a background character, as he actually had a couple of lines in the film, and boy did I hate his voice. He sounded like an obnoxious 80’s cartoon character. Also, this is another X-Wing Pilot to go into the Resistance X-Wings I don’t have. I’ll confess, I wasn’t too excited to get him because I was expecting this to be a recycled X-Wing Poe with a new head, but it’s actually a distinctly different sculpt, so color me surprised. On the other hand, this isn’t a huge improvement over the crappy Poe figure either. The white paint on the vest shows some chips and I still don’t like the painted yellow visors.

Asty comes with a little pistol that fits into the angled holster on his left leg and he can hold it in either hand. I’ve got to try to keep an eye on this one, since I already lost Poe’s. The Build-A-Weapon piece can peg into his back and double as a pretty cool winged jetpack.

Next up is General Hux. I haven’t been able to add him to my 6-inch Black Series collection, so I guess this little guy will have to do for now. He’s a really nice figure. The head sculpt isn’t a bad likeness for this scale, the hat looks good and he comes complete with those epic sideburns and his even more epic space lapels! The silver First Order emblem on his shoulder and striping on his sleeves looks sharp. I also like the way they worked the trench coat into the 5-POA style.

Hux comes with a tiny pistol, which can be held in either hand, but there’s no holster for it. His weapon piece is… surprise! Another jetpack! I actually dig this piece because it looks like it can double as a drone or flying droid. The next figure I opened is the Snowtrooper and it occurs to me that I already reviewed him a little while back. This is a second one I bought so that I could do this…

Yeah! Hux looks bitchin’ when flanked by a couple First Order Snowies. Also, I’d be totally lying if I said I was going to stop at just two of these guys. It’s a really great little figure.

Next is The Guavian Enforcer is one of my favorite new designs in the film. I don’t mind that they had short screen time. That’s all part of the fun of Star Wars and universe building with action figures! This is a fantastic sculpt with a crazy amount of detail all over his outfit. It’s hard to believe the X-Wing pilots and this figure are part of the same series because they vary so much in quality. The coloring here is great too. Not only does the deep red and black deco look great, but the paint is all sharp. He’s definitely one of my favorite figures in this line, and I’ll have to pick up some more to form my own little Death Gang.

The Enforcer comes with a short blaster rifle that he can wield in either hand. His weapon part is a large white and blue sniper rifle. He can hold it just fine on its own, and it can also combine with Hux’s drone.

Next is the Resistance droid PZ-4CO. I was very anxious to pick up this guy because a love collecting droids in this scale. Also, let’s face it. Apart from BB-8, this is the only other 3 3/4-inch droid we got out of the movie. 4CO is a delightfully bizarre design that’s basically a variant 3PO body with a long hunched neck. I love that the body is similar to 3PO’s, but still a brand new sculpt and the head is really cool. There’s some nice detailing all over this guy and the blue plastic with gray and red paint apps look great. 4CO comes with a pair of boosters that can attach to the figure’s legs. I hate them and immediately cast them into The Bottomless Tote of Forgotten Accessories!

And how about Goss Toowers? Like more than a few TFA figures, I had no idea who this guy was until I read the back of the package. Apparently, he’s a mechanic that worked at the Resistance Base. I’ll have to watch my Blu-Ray again and see if I can spot him. I have virtually nothing to say about him. He’s not a bad figure, just kind of a dumpy looking alien with a helmet and overalls. It features a decent sculpt and OK paint. The fact that you can only see his eyes reminds me a bit too much of Constable Zuvio. He comes with a small laser pistol, which may replace the one that belonged to X-Wing Pilot Poe’s, which I lost. Hey, if the Ugnaughts were good enough to get figures and stand on my shelf, than Goss Toowers can too. Oh yeah, his Build-A-Weapon part is a giant component with a tiny handle that looks ridiculous if he holds it. It too is getting banished to TBToFA!

Did someone say Constable Zuvio? Well, here he is! By receiving a figure and not actually being in the movie for more than a frame, he has probably garnered more attention than if he were to have been a co-star. I don’t care about his conspicuous absence. He’s a cool looking alien and I’ve already created an elaborate backstory for him in my head. His 6-inch Black Series release was a solid figure and this little guy is too.

Zuvio features a removable backpack and his staff-gun-poleaxe thing. His Build-A-Weapon parts are a pair of axes. I like these, mainly because you can shorten the handles into pegs and he can hold them pretty well. I think I have all the parts to build whatever it is they go to, but I’m not motivated enough to find out. How many figures is that so far? Seven?

Well, just to prove I can count to eight, I’ve got one more figure to open up. This is Poe Dameron in his Resistance outfit and also one of the boxed “Armor Up” figures. Unlike the carded figures, these packages are collector friendly. They feature the same great looking style of colorful character art as the carded figures, although they take up an awful lot of space for just a 3 3/4-inch figure and accessory, so I don’t plan on keeping it.

I’m not a big fan of this “Armor Up” gimmick, which explains why Poe is the first one of these I bought. Unfortunately, I believe this is the only way to get Poe in his Resistance outfit in this scale. The head sculpt is laughably goofy at certain angles, but passable at others. Either way, I think this is a better likeness than the 6-inch Black Series figure, and that’s kind of a sad commentary on how hit-or-miss that line is. Poe comes with an impressive blaster rifle.

I think it’s funny that Hasbro used separate sculpts and paints for the Poe and Finn figures, especially when these are supposed to be the exact same jacket. This is one of the few instances where it would have made more sense to reuse the jacket and arms and they blew it.

The Armor Up piece is some kind of space-suit jetpack thing. I’ll confess that I find this appealing in a goofy Expanded Universe kind of way. Not that I’d consider displaying the figure with it, or buying up any more of these.

Phew! And that wraps up my May the 4th Figure Openingpaloosa while happily emptying out a corner of my Toy Closet. When it comes to 3 3/4-inch Star Wars figures, I keep coming back for more. My need to collect these things was imprinted in me at a young age, and I simply have no choice. I genuinely don’t even mind the 5-POA style any more. I think I’ve finally accepted it as charmingly retro. Either way, every time I open a new one of these figures I find myself wanting to hunt down more. There are still plenty of background characters that Hasbro could make, and I’m hoping that we may still see some more releases before things turn over to Rogue One merchandising.

May 3 2016

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Series 2) by NECA

Fun fact: I saw E.T. a couple of times as a kid when it was originally out in theaters and I don’t think I’ve seen it all the way through since. Why? Because it freaking traumatized the living shit out of me! Even after all this time I still have that image in my head of white, half-dead E.T. lying like garbage on a creek bed with leaves stuck to him. My parents had to practically drag me out of that theater screaming. For some reason, they took me back to see it a little later and things went a little better. Oddly enough, I still loved E.T. and I had all the LJN toys and a whole bunch of stuffed E.T.’s, some of which were probably weird bootlegs. I can even remember one that was fashioned out of a leather-like material that felt like it came from a real skinned alien. Jesus! Anyway, I saw the Series 2 figures from NECA for a good price and they called out to me. I was in the mood for some nostalgia and NECA rarely ever steers me wrong.

These fellas come in sealed clam shells, which aren’t really collector friendly, unless you carefully cut across the back. Either way you’ll need a strong blade to get in and a stronger constitution to withstand the rush of plastic fumes that spray out. Mmmmm… Glorious!!! Series 1 consisted of “Galactic Friend” E.T. and “Transvestite” E.T. (with the second being my un-official name for him) whereas this one includes “Telepathic” E.T. and “Night Flight” E.T. Let’s start with the later…

As the name suggests, this version recreates the moonlit bike flight where E.T. is all bundled up in a towel in the basket of Elliot’s bike. As such, the figure looks absolutely spot on. The towel is flexible plastic with a cloth texture and plenty of realistic wrinkles. It surrounds the entire figure and only allows his adorable face to peek out. It’s a shame there isn’t a bike and basket to go with him. And that leads me to the reason I’ve passed this figure up a few times when I saw it on the pegs. I’m a dope, and I actually thought you were seeing all you were getting. But, nope…

The plastic blanket can be “unwrapped” and there is indeed a fully realized and articulated figure in there. You just unpeg the flap and unfold it. The E.T. that lies within is a fantastic figure with an absolutely spot-on sculpt. The wrinkles and creases in the skin alone are worth the price of admission and the color used here is right on the money. Even with all the E.T. figures and dolls I had as a kid, I would have killed for something this good.

Even from the back you can see his creepy back ribs and more of the effort that went into making the skin look super realistic. The articulation here is no slouch either, at least not considering E.T.’s rather limited nature. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The feet are also attached on rotating hinges. “I don’t like his feet!” SHUT UP, GERTIE!!! The collapsed neck is attached to the body with a ball joint and to the head with another. Remember that… two ball joints. It’ll be important later.

The portrait is superb. I don’t want to overdo it with my adoration of the skin texturing on this figure, but damn, there it is again in the face. The eyes feature a bit of a cartoony look to them, but I think it rather suits the figure. He’s also sporting his lovable, almost noble, expression. This is how I like to remember him most, rather than being dressed up like a crazy Aunt or dying on the bathroom floor. E.T. is just one of those timeless designs that walks the fine line between adorable and terrifying. I think that’s a big part of what made him work so well on the screen.

And so what we have here is a fantastic little all-purpose E.T figure for your shelf. The only way you can possibly follow up a figure this perfect is with E.T. in his bathrobe drunk out of his mind on Coors… so let’s do that!

While I would have voted for “Drunk E.T.” to appear on the package, NECA went with “Telepathic E.T.” and I can appreciate why. Obviously, this guy shares some parts with the vanilla E.T. we just looked at, but there’s plenty new here too. The body and feet are the same and that’s about it. The bathrobe uses that old trick we’ve seen out of Hasbro plenty of times, where the sculpted robe is basically a vest and the sleeves are part of the arm sculpts. It works well here and allows for full articulation in those shoulder joints. The baggy sleeves, on the other hand, do limit the range of those rotating hinges in the elbows a bit. It would have been interesting to see this figure attempted with a soft goods robe, but I still dig what we got here a lot.

The new head sculpt is absolutely hysterical. E.T. has had a few too many Coors and he’s starting to feel it. Ugh, I know exactly how he feels. Just looking at him makes me want to re-evaluate some of my life choices. His slack jaw and slightly exposed teeth are perfect.

This figure comes with a couple of neat accessories and one that I found too much to bother with. First up, we have the flowers that he brought back from the dead and then somehow went on to act as a barometer to his own health status. These look really good, both in terms of paint and sculpt, even if I didn’t fully comprehend the mumbo-jumbo surrounding their role in the movie.

Next up, you get the Speak n’Spell that he used to learn how to communicate with. Only he didn’t. That’s always how I remembered it, but he really just cannibalized it for parts and seemed to learn his communication skills from the television and Gertie. This is a decent accessory and I appreciate that they actually sculpted the damn thing, rather than just slap a sticker on a piece of plastic. Now, there is also an extended neck piece included in the box, but it is a nightmare to get the short neck to detach from the head. I did it once, but for a moment, I thought I had snapped off the ball joint. I wasn’t about to try it again. Sorry! In theory, though, it will work with either figure.

If I seem a little familiar with some particulars of a movie that I haven’t watched since I was a kid. That’s because I specifically cued it up before sitting down to write this and watched it all the way through for the first time in ages. My initial appraisal holds. This is a really weird film that drives home just how messed up a lot of kids movies were back in the day. I can see why it terrified and disturbed me so much, but I can also see why I fell in love with the character the way I did. In any event, these are fantastic figures and while I’ll probably never watch this damn movie again, I’m happy to have E.T. represented on my shelf. For good or for ill, he was a very influential character in my formative years and just maybe helped to plant the seeds that turned me into a hardcore horror movie junkie by the time I was in my teens.

May 2 2016

Marvel Legends (Red Onslaught Wave): Taskmaster by Hasbro

It took well over a month of Marvel Mondays, but I’m finally at the last packaged figure in the Red Skull/Onslaught Wave! And yes, I saved my most anticipated figure for last. Although with how great Demolition Man/Scourge turned out he’s going to be a tough act to follow. Let’s look at Taskmaster!

This is the last time we’ll be seeing the packaging from this wave, but I’ll bet you the next wave I look at won’t be much different. I know because I’m looking at them all stacked in the corner. Taskmaster comes in a standard window box and it is totally collector friendly. There’s a good deal of stuff packed in there, including the Red Skull head for the Onslaught Build-A-Figure. It’s also the last part I need to cobble that big boy together.

So, this isn’t my Taskmaster, but I knew that coming in. I do, however, think it’s a great looking figure. I had to do a little digging to find out that this design is based off of his appearance in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, a show that I have never seen. Obviously, I would have preferred something a little more classic in design, but there are enough common elements here to make this work for me. The buck feels a little slight to me for the character, but that might be because I’m used to seeing him with a large billowy cape. The figure includes a nice mix of painted buck and original sculpting. The legs are heavily armored and feature a silver plastic. There is a little of that swirly effect in the plastic, which I’m not overly fond of, but here it just looks like brushed steel, so I don’t mind it. Similar armor appears on the forearms, and you get sculpted elbow and knee pads, and some kick-ass boots. Literally. I mean, I think he kicks people in the ass with these boots.

Taskmaster features both a waist belt and a shoulder rig, each of which are separate pieces. The belt has sculpted pouches and a sweet little belt buckle. The shoulder straps have sculpted guns in the holsters. Usually guns sculpted in the holsters piss me off, but in this case, it would have been tough to do removable guns in the shoulder rigs without it looking too big and awkward. The paint here shares a similar deco with Scourge of black, silver, and white only here it’s more evenly balanced out. Everything is pretty sharp and clean, and I especially like the silver painted fingers.

You get two portraits for the figure. The stock head is closer to the classic Taskmaster with only with the skull silver with a little gold mixed in, instead of white. The skull mask is a brilliant piece of sculpting and the hood is sculpted separately from soft plastic and permanently attached to the head.

The other option is the Udon designed head. This is also a really nice looking piece, and while I prefer the workmanship and look of the classic head on it’s own, I have to sadly admit that to me, the Udon head’s style fits this body much better.

The articulation here is top notch. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the knees, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have double hinges in the knees, and swivels in the biceps. The ankles are on rotating hinges, but also feature lateral rocking movement. The torso has a swivel at the waist and an ab crunch hinge in the chest. Lastly, the head is ball jointed and hinged.

In addition to his extra head, Taskmaster comes with his shield and an energy sword. I assumed the shield would be a repaint Cap shield, but it’s totally smooth on the back, so I think it’s new. The paintwork on the front is damn near perfect and you get the familiar hinged clip and peg on the back so he can wear it on his back or equip it on his wrist.

The sword has a sculpted black hilt, and while the orange blade is rather soft and gummy, it does catch the light quite nicely.

Like his fellow “Mercenary of Mayhem,” Scourge, Taskmaster is a figure that really makes me stop and realize what a great time it is to be collecting Marvel 6-inch. As solid as many of the Legends figures are, it’s easy to take them for granted, especially when the pegs seem to be getting flooded with new ones every couple of months. But Scourge and Taskmaster are figures that just come together so beautifully, and are so damn fun to play with, that I need to just smile and say, “Thanks, Hasbro. You guys make a lot of stumbles, but you’re really kicking ass when it comes to Marvel Legends. Please, don’t ever stop.” Next Monday, I’ll finally put this wave to bed with a look at the Red Skull/Onslaught Build-A-Figure!

Apr 30 2016

League of Legends: Jinx 1/10 Scale Figure by Xin Hao

I buy figures from games I don’t play. Wow, it feels good to get that off my chest! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an intentional collecting trend, but there are just times when I’m having a couple of drinks, feeling fine, browsing some e-tailers late at night, and I see stuff that I dig despite never having spent any time with the game its based on. League of Legends… I know what it is, I’ve seen people play it, I don’t have any interest in it, but the character designs sure seem fun and my Twitter feed is usually graced a couple times a day with pictures of chicks cosplaying as Jinx. So when I saw this statue, I pulled the trigger.

So first off, who the f’ck makes this thing? Seriously, I had to flip the thing over and see it printed on the bottom as Xin Hao, a company that I never heard of. The website listed is Xinhaowanju and trying to visit there lit up all sorts of warnings on my browser. And why the hell is there a God Eater 2 logo on the back of the box? That’s an entirely different god damn game from Ban Dai. This is also the cheapest feeling box I’ve ever encountered… and check this shit out…

All of this, plus the fact that this figure was dirt cheap spells horrible piece of crap Chinese bootleg to me. The funny thing is I couldn’t find anyone selling the same statue from a familiar company that this would be a bootleg of. It’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle and stuffed inside a mystery. So let’s get her opened up and find out what horrible piece of shit I just bought.

OK, so despite the shady box and unknown manufacturer, this is actually a damn nice figure. I’ve been stuck with bootleg figures before and the one thing I’ve noticed is they’re never subtle in the shitty-ness of their quality. Jinx, who strikes me as the video game equivalent of Harley Quinn… unless you count the Arkham games and then Harley Quinn is the video game equivalent of Harley Quinn… strikes a pose that I’ve seen before on art work proliferated around the Interwebs. She has a wide stance with her right hand sliding back through her hair and her left hand resting on her sidearm. She’s loaded with her signature weapons and her long braids snake down her back to the base. She stands about 9 1/2-inches from the bottom of the base to the top of Fishbones.

This young lady is beautifully sculpted, suitably hefty (at least for a PVC piece) and the paint is quite good, with only a few minor stray marks. The flesh tone has a very slight waxy sheen to it, which is something that you don’t usually see in the legit imports, but it’s not bad at all. The last bootleg I got stuck with looked like it was sculpted from human earwax. The skin here is smooth and even. There is, however, a seam running down the middle of her hair, which would probably have been avoided by one of the better figure producers out there. The coloring on this figure is wonderfully vibrant and beautiful. From the bright blue of her hair to the metallic pink of her stocking and BFG, both balanced out by some black.

I really dig the blue printed tattoos running down her right side and arm. They’re a little more subtle than they look under the studio lights. You can see some of the nice sculpted quilting on her leg strap and the pink short-shorts peaking out from under all that gear. Each of the tiny bullets and fixtures on her belts are painted and I love the little loving touches like the band aids on her left knee.

The portrait is pretty simple. She’s winking and her hair is partially covering up her right hand. The paint on the eyes, eyebrows and lips are all nice and sharp. All in all, it’s a pretty subdued look for a bat-shit crazy chick, but I still like it. And speaking of crazy… this chick sure loves her weapons and this figure doesn’t disappoint.

First off you have Fishbones, her shark-themed rocket launcher. This mammoth piece of killing hardware tabs into her left shoulder and holds in place very well despite it’s size and weight. Fishbones has a nice metallic silver and gray finish with some additional paint and details and a translucent red plug inside his mouth.

Next up, Jinx has Pow-Pow, her hot pink Mini-Gun slung over her shoulders and worn across her back. This piece is actually supported by her shoulder strap, but it’s also attached to the back of the figure to keep it in place.

Finally, her left hand wrests on the grip of Zapper, her shock pistol. It’s a combination of gold paint and translucent turquoise plastic.

Not to be outdone by Jinx’s wild outfit and colors, the base is a large oval with white crackling energy patterns across a black backdrop. Her name is graffiti-ed in hot pink paint between her feet along with “The Shooter.” The figure actually comes off the base when you open her, but she pegs in very securely.

Jinx was one of those, “Click Buy-It-Now And Hope For The Best” scenarios. At $30 shipped, I was all but certain that I was going to get ripped off by some piece of garbage. I even searched around to try to find a “legit” version of this piece and I probably would have paid twice as much for. As it turns out, this seems to be the Real McCoy and I’m absolutely delighted with what I got. Yes, she has a few minor paint flubs that wouldn’t have been acceptable on a Kotobukiya piece, but there’s nothing even remotely bad here and at this price it’s hard to argue. Jinx is a great figure of a very colorful character design (from a game I’ll never bother to play) and she’s going to look fantastic on one of my import figure shelves.

Apr 29 2016

DC Icons: (#05) The Flash by DC Collectibles

It’s DC Friday and time to open another figure from the second wave of DC Icons. This time it’s Barry Allen as The Flash. I was especially excited to get this figure, not only because it’s The Flash and he comes with a damn cool accessory, but it’s a very classic 80’s Flash, which is something I haven’t seen in a while in action figure form.

The package is the same thing we’ve been seeing all along. It looks great, it’s fairly compact, and it shows off the figure beautifully. A quick glance may have some scoffing, “What? All he comes with his a couple of hands?” But that’s just because the Cosmic Treadmill isn’t prominently displayed in the package. The package denotes that this is the fifth figure in this series and that Flash comes from the late 80’s “Chain Lightning” Arc. I was about 15 at the time, and this one was a stand out story for me, particularly because I love the time travel elements so much.

The best way to describe this figure is basic, classic, goodness. DCC could have gotten away with just painting most of the costume, but they went that extra mile and gave us a decent amount of unique sculpting here. The boots feature sculpted lightning bolts on the sides and treads on the feet. The lighting bolts around his waist and arms are sculpted as well as painted, and the chest emblem is also sculpted. The build feels exactly right for Barry, in other words not terribly buff, and while the red plastic is a little duller than I would have liked (it looks a lot brighter under the studio lights) I still think the coloring here is overall very good.

The head sculpt is solid, but not exceptional. In addition to the “wings,” the contours of the mask around the face is part of the sculpt, which is nice, and the exposed lower half of the face looks good. The eyes are very squinty and while the paint looks fine with the naked eye, it breaks down as you get in really close. The portraits have never been one of this line’s greatest points, but I’m fairly happy with what we got here.

Articulation, on the other hand, does continue to be one of this line’s better points and if you’ve played with any of the Icons figures then you know what to expect out of the rest. Flash features rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and double hinged elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, the ankles have hinges and lateral rockers, and you do get swivels at the tops of the boots. There’s an ab crunch hinge in the torso as well as a ball joint under the chest. Finally, the neck is ball jointed.

Ah, and then you have the accessories. For starters… HANDS! Oh, y’all know how much I love getting extra hands in with my figures. I poke fun, but truth be told, I’m warming up to the idea of having to swap out the mitts on my figures. Flash comes with a pair of “running” hands, which are basically fingers together and straight out so he can cut through the air. The other pair features a graspy right hand and a left fist. Not bad.

And then we have the piece that I was really excited for… The Cosmic Treadmill. Truth be told, in execution it’s a wee bit disappointing. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice sculpt and with some decent paint apps, but it feels just a tad small. I applaud the fact that DCC was able to pack it in with a regular priced figure, but I think they missed an opportunity to bump Flash up to a Deluxe (Like Green Lantern, which I’ll be looking at next week) and put a little more effort and plastic into treadmill. Now I feel bad for nitpicking. It really is a nice little pack-in.

Simple and effective is exactly how I would characterize the Icons version of The Flash. He’s as solid a figure as they come and that lovely Icons articulation makes him as fun to play with as any of the figures in this line. He’s also a great example of how this line is not playing favorites with any one particular era or cross section of the DC Universe. You’ve got New 52 version’s like Mister Miracle and Lex Luthor sharing space with classic versions of Batman and Flash, and I think that’s just great. And while I still maintain a Deluxe version of the figure with Treadmill would have been cool, I don’t want to dismiss the fact that they were able to get us such a cool accessory at the regular price point.

Apr 28 2016

Transformers Combiner Wars: G2 Stunticons Box Set by Hasbro, Part 3: Dragstrip and Breakdown

Transformers Thursday continues to chug along thanks to this multi-part feature on Hasbro’s Generation 2 Stunticons Boxed Set. Today I’m checking out the last two limbs in the box, Dragstrip and Breakdown. As I mentioned last time, these are straight repaints of the Combiner Wars Stunticons that I looked at when they came out, so we’re going to be focused mostly on the new coloring. We already looked at the packaging a couple of features back, so let’s dive right in and start with Breakdown and his alt mode!

Awwww, yeah! This is the type of thing I think of when I think G2. Breakdown’s previous off-white and blue deco has been replaced with a glorious teal, accompanied by a black hood, purple trim, and gold painted windows. You also still get some nice silver paint hits for the headlights, front bumper, and wheels. The hood features a G2 Decepticon emblem and the windshield is engraved with “94 Racing” as opposed to the “15 Racing” of regular Breakdown. This is one rad looking ride that looks like it was plucked right off the streets of Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto.

All of those colors translate well to his robot mode. The teal is more balanced out with purple and that lovely silver. To be honest, this mold hasn’t really held its appeal to me all that well, but I will say the crazy color palate here is at least a lot more interesting than the mostly off-white of his former incarnation. My only complaint here is that the tiny teal G2 Decpticon emblem on his chest is rather awkwardly placed and tough to make out. Breakdown comes with the same sword-gun combo, only this time painted maroon and silver. Moving on to Dragstrip…

Hooooly shit is this some kind of awesome! To say that I was never a fan of the first Dragstrip’s coloring would be a Unicron-sized understatement. But this? The black and blue coloring on this car shouldn’t work, but it’s really tickling my retinas in every good way imaginable. Toss in the yellow interior of the cockpit and the touches of silver on the wheels and suspension and I am in love. Granted, the Mirage repaint of this car swayed me on the mold already, but this one does it again with a much stronger intensity.

And that goes for the robot mode too! A figure that was mostly “blah” for me has been elevated to greatness with this new deco. The black and blue just looks so good together and the extra pop of that yellow from the cockpit is carried over in the form of his combiner port. Even the head sculpt, which I didn’t care for at all is now a thing of beauty. Dragstrip comes with the same gun/sword combo as his previous version. It’s not as cool as Breakdown’s but it’s not bad.

So, I’ve looked at five figures in this set and each and every one has justified the purchase. These two, in particular, were my least favorite of the CW Stunticon molds, but a fresh coat of 90’s paint works wonders for them. I absolutely love the way these vehicles and bots turned out. Now, if you remember my look at the first releases, I loved these guys as individual bots, and not so much for the combined Menasor mode. Can these new paint jobs win me over on the big guy as well? Well, we’ll find out next week when I look at the last figure in the set, tiny Blackjack, and then put them all together and see what we get!

Apr 27 2016

Avengers “Age of Ultron:” Vision 1:6 Scale Figure by Hot Toys

Yes, we already had Marvel Monday, but I didn’t want to interrupt my progress getting through the stacks of Legends figures in the corner. So, I decided to double up on Marvel content this week, because I’m also starting to fall behind on featuring my Marvel Hot Toys. Vision just turned up at my door this past weekend, and I’m pretty excited to check him out. I really dig what they did with the character in the film, although had they managed to keep him a secret, it would have completely blown me away when I saw it. Seriously, when he emerged from the casket, I probably would have screamed like a girl and rabbit kicked the seat in front of me in sheer delight. On second thought, probably better that they spoiled it.

I have very little to say about the box, other then it’s the same window box with a sleeve around it that we saw with Age of Ultron Hawkeye. You get the usual character art, in this case a great shot of Paul Bettany looking every bit the part, and I like that the deco matches the packages for the other figures in this series. So, yeah, it’s attractive and serviceable, but it doesn’t feel up to par with the kind of presentation that a $220 figure warrants.

Vision comes out of the box and ready to go. This is a relatively simple, but beautiful figure through and through. The rubbery body suit looks similar to what Hot Toys did for Man of Steel Superman, a figure which I admired a lot, but couldn’t bring myself to buy because I despised the film so much. The suit fits Vision perfectly and it strikes a nice balance between allowing for a surprising amount of articulation and still being tight enough to show the anatomy of the figure beneath it. The stitching is well concealed and while it can require some adjusting after re-positioning the arms and legs, it’s easy to get back into it’s natural state. You get some nice piping throughout the suit and the coloring, along with the different tones of red patterns, looks perfect to me. The texturing on the suit is also quite striking.

In addition to the suit itself, you get the plastic gorget around the neck, along with the wrist bracers, all of which are cast in plastic and painted with some sumptuous gold and a vibrant, metallic shade of… I’m not sure what to call this… magenta? Either way it’s beautiful. The boots are similarly colored, although a little closer to maroon and since the feet peg into the legs, and the upper part of the boots are sleeves, they allow for a decent amount of articulation in the ankles.

The cape… oh boy, am I torn on this cape! Taken on it’s own It think it looks great on the figure. it has an interesting, almost Art Deco pattern printed throughout and it’s pleated where it attaches to the figure so that it’s natural state is almost entirely collapsed behind the figure. Overall, I like it. On the other hand… as a recreation of the cape we saw Vision wearing in the film, it’s a complete failure. Now, I’m pretty sure that cape was CG, so I’m willing to cut Hot Toys some slack here, but given the price of this figure, I think they could have gone for a material more like silk, which would have better approximated the on screen look. With all that having been said, this cape features some wires running through the edges that does allow it to work with some dynamic poses.

While I may take issue with the cape, I’ve got no such qualms about the portrait. I was really interested to see how this one was going to turn out, as Hot Toys have more or less nailed the human element and skin tones of their figure portraits, but here was something entirely different. I’m not sure whether this qualified as being easier or more difficult, but whatever the case I am very pleased with the result. This is most definitely Bettany in the make up. The sculpt is beautifully realized from the panel lining right down to the subtle texturing around the eyes. And those eyes definitely contain that eerie Hot Toys spark of life. As for the rest of the head, you get more of that gorgeous magenta paint along with some green to match the suit. I would have really liked to see a light up feature in the Infinity Stone. At a price like this, I think that was warranted.

In terms of accessories, well… we aren’t talking a heck of a lot. You get the usual parade of hands… four pairs total. In this case it’s a pair of relaxed hands, a pair of splayed hands, a pair of fists, and a pair to hold Mjolnir… which conveniently brings us to the only other accessory…

Mjolnir is most likely re-purposed from one of the recent Thor figures, presumably the most recent Age of Ultron release. I only own the original Avengers Thor release from way back when and it has some notable differences from the hammer that came with that figure. It’s still diecast and it still has the lanyard. The biggest differences are in the handle sculpt. I won’t say it’s better or worse, just different. I love that Hot Toys included Mjolnir with the figure, particularly because of the way it was used in the film. The early scene where they’re establishing the link between worthiness and being able to lift the hammer seems to be played for laughs, but then it cleverly comes back to establish trust in Vision later on. Brilliantly done and to be honest, I can’t think of any other accessories that could have been included here.

Vision comes with the new(ish) type of stand that was introduced to the Marvel figures with Guardians of the Galaxy and Age of Ultron. These are bigger and classier looking than the old style, which is both good and bad. From a presentation standpoint, I feel these offer more value. They’re sturdier, have nicer name plates, and while some have balked at the stickers, I think they look fine. On the downside, these do take up more real estate on my shelves and my OCD doesn’t like that they don’t match the older figures. This one, however, has the nice bonus of offering a swap-out flight stand with waist grabber…

This is similar to the one that came with my Winter Soldier Falcon figure only not quite as long. The stands are easy to swap out from the base and yet they hold very firm. Considering how light the accessories are with this figure, I’m glad Hot Toys decided to include this. It does help justify where some of the extra money went.

I really am in love with this figure, even though the cape keeps it from being perfect. Granted, there have been third-party capes produced for Hot Toys figures before and here would be a great opportunity for another. Then again, I’m usually too much of a pussy to try even simple custom jobs on these figures, so I’m happy to leave it the way it is, because I truly don’t mind the way it looks on the figure, only that it doesn’t look screen accurate to the film. Everything else about Vision is beautifully crafted and he really pops on the shelf even when surrounded by his fellow Avengers. As for the price, Vision retails at $220, which is pretty much the low end of the spectrum for Hot Toys pricing these days. Unless your Quicksilver, in that case they knocked another ten off because he’s Quicksilver. I shouldn’t poke fun at it, because I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t considering him as a purchase, if nothing else as a companion piece ot the next Hot Toys figure I’ll be looking at… Age of Ultron Scarlet Witch. Hopefully next week…

Apr 26 2016

Aliens: Xenomorph Warrior and Sgt. Craig Windrix by NECA

Star Wars has May the 4th and now Alien has April 26th… as in 4/26… as in LV-426. Was this a thing last year? Because I honestly have no memory of it. Anyway, what better way to celebrate then by checking out some Aliens figures from NECA? Today I’m opening up the Alien Warrior and Sgt. Windrix…

The figures come in sealed blisters very much like the ones used for the figures based off of the original Alien film. In fact, the only real difference is that the inserts here are branded for the sequel Aliens. The packaged figures look outstanding, but they’re not really collector friendly, as you’ll need a plasma cutter, blow torch or a vile of alien blood to get into them. Also, scissors work too. Let’s kick things off with the Xenomorph Warrior.

Of course, the Xenomorph received a cosmetic makeover between the original film and Aliens and this figure reflects all the design changes. The majority of the buck is the same as the one we saw from the first film and in the AvP Two Pack, but there are significant changes as well. The hands and feet are brand new, featuring longer and creepier fingers on the hands and an extra toe jutting out on the feet that gives the creature a bit of a simian look. You also get the weird “handles” added to the forearms.

The head sculpt is also brand new. Gone is the smooth and shiny dome of its cousins and in its place is one that better reflects the bio-architecture of the rest of the body. You get some disgusting sinewy bits around the jaws and the inner mouth seems to project out a lot further in this one than my other Xenos. So which Alien head is my favorite? Pfft. That’s like asking me what my favorite ice cream is. I happen to love whatever is in the bowl in front of me. They all have their charms. I happen to find the smooth head a little more creepy, but this one has a lot more cool Giger stuff going on.

The paint features a blue-gray wash over the lovely high gloss black, which nicely picks out all those incredible details in the body sculpt. I’ve opened three different Xenos from NECA now and I fall in love with this mold each and every time.

The articulation is the same as we’ve seen on the previous figures. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, with some nice ratcheting action. The elbows are hinged and have swivels, and the wrists have rotating hinges. The legs have rotating hinges in the hips, double hinges in the knees, and rotating hinges again in the ankles. The toes are even hinged! The head is ball jointed on the neck and has a hinged mouth. Finally, the tail has that lovely bendy wire in it that lets you pose it in a myriad of ways. The Xenomorph is fun to pose and he’s balanced enough to maintain a surprising number of poses. I don’t think I’m engaging in hyperbole when I say that NECA’s Xenomorphs are among the finest figures to ever swing on a peg at this price point. And thankfully, we’ve got a brave Space Marine to fight him…

If you aren’t already familiar with the both heartwarming and heartbreaking story, Marine Sgt. Craig Windrix is a loving nod to real life Craig Windrix who the world lost to cancer back in 2014. He is the brother of Kyle Windrix, lead sculpting wizard at NECA Toys. Craig was immortalized in plastic form by NECA’s Randy Falk and the rest is history. As if it wasn’t enough that the folks at NECA make some wonderful toys, they seem like a bunch of wonderful human beings as well. It’s a beautiful story and I actually had to stop typing this paragraph about halfway through and collect myself, because… well, you know.

Besides the great story behind the figure, I really wanted to get Sgt. Windrix, because quite frankly, I’m not fond of any of the Marines in Aliens. I find them all to be incredibly annoying. So Craig is, and will likely continue to stand as my one and only human representative in the war against the Xenomorphs. Having no others in my collection, I’m going to assume this is built on the same body as Hicks and Hudson. The majority of the buck is a beautifully camouflaged set of fatigues with sculpted knee pads and shin guards. The patches on the shoulders are actually part of the sculpt too!

Wrapped around the torso is a soft plastic vest, which includes a harness and all sorts of sculpted gear, as well as a removable shoulder light. Windrix’s name is printed across the front just under the neckline and he has all sorts of lovingly painted graffiti, which are references to real life Craig’s girlfriend and his other favorite things.

The articulation on the figure is quite good, especially when you consider how much gear and armor he’s wearing. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have ball jointed ankles. There’s a ball joint in the chest under the armor vest and the neck is ball jointed.

No Marine can go into battle without his gear and Sgt. Windrix has some cool stuff. For starters, he comes with a cutting tool that attaches to his belt. This is a very simple accessory that actually looks like part of the web gear, but it can indeed come off and be held by the figure. It’s also worth noting that the shoulder light can come off and be held by the figure.

Next up, you get the motion tracker, which includes a shoulder strap for easy carrying. The sculpt on this thing is fantastic and the tiny screen even has a detailed instrument panel, because being you have to be well-informed when you’re on a bug hunt.

Finally, you get the military grade flamethrower. It’s another excellent accessory with great sculpt and paintwork, but it’s a little tough to get him to hold it convincingly. The way the handle is shaped doesn’t jibe all that well with Windrix’s gun-toting hand forcing him to hold it rather awkwardly. Having him cradle the barrel in his off hand does help things a bit. I’m guessing that the right hand on the figure came from Hicks and/or Hudson and was designed to hold a different kind of weapon.

I’ve had this pair waiting to be opened for a while now, so I’m glad Alien Day came up and gave me the motivation to do it. NECA has really made this franchise (along with the Predators) into their bread and butter and it’s easy to see they have a deep love and respect for the property. Opening up this figures finally catches me up on the Alien figures that I own. My next acquisitions from this line will likely be the figures based on the Alien: Isolation game as well as the Kenner-inspired Ellen Ripley that I just pre-ordered. Beyond that we’ve got another killer wave coming up soon inspired by Alien 3, a film that many people hate, but I hold a lot of affection for.

Apr 25 2016

Marvel Legends (Red Onslaught Wave): Demolition Man by Hasbro

Another Marvel Monday, another Legends figure. I’m in the home stretch with my look at the Red Skull/Onslaught Wave and down to the very last slot of shared figures. These are the “Mercenaries of Mayhem” and if you haven’t guessed yet, I’m saving my most anticipated figure of this wave for last… so until then let’s check out Demolition Man.

Package Shot. Nothing new to say about it, so let’s take a minute to qualify who this figure really is. Yes, it’s Dennis Dunphy who was Demolition Man, but this is the character under the control of Hydra in the guise of Scourge in the pages of Captain America. Why they didn’t just name him Scourge on the box is beyond me, because I’d be pretty surprised if Hasbro let the name Scourge fall out of trademark what with it being the name of a character in their line of change-o-bots. I’d argue that having the name Demolition Man on the package isn’t even correct, but hey at least it only appears on the back. Also, Hasbro… make us a proper Legends Demolition Man! But hey, don’t take any of that Jameson-fueled ramble to mean that I’m not happy to get this figure. My Vol. 3 TPB of Brubaker’s Captain America is well read…

… and besides, just look at him! He’s pure 100% concentrated mercenary badass! After getting so many painted bucks, it’s always a treat to get a figure with some fresh sculpting and this guy has it plus layers of tactical gear. The buck looks all new to me, but then I’m terrible at spotting this sort of thing. He’s loaded with detail from the texturing on the torso to the segmented elbow pads, down to his distinctive looking boots. And while Scourge’s deco is derived mostly from black plastic, you do get some really sharp looking white and silver paint to spruce things up a bit.

Over that brilliant buck, Scourge is toting a tactical harness with enough pouches to make Deadpool jealous. You also get some nice gold paint on the shotgun shells he has on the cross belt. The main harness has a sheath for his combat knife and he’s got a second thigh strap holding a great looking molded holster for his automatic pistol. This is great stuff!

The head sculpt is an imposing mask, which would scare any villain straight. It features narrow red eyes and slits for a mouth flanked by two breather canisters. The only thing not armored on this guy are his ears. Again, the metallic silver paint on the mask and shoulders really pops against the black of the rest of the figure.

Scourge is loaded with great articulation. The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have swivels both at the thighs and tops of the boots. The ankles are hinged and have lateral rockers. There’s a ball joint in the chest and both a ball joint and hinge in the neck.

You get three weapons with Scourge and they’re all excellent. First up is the combat knife that fits into the sheath. This is a sweet little military style combat knife with a sculpted brown grip and a black tanto-style blade. He can hold it beautifully in his left hand.

Next up, is the automatic pistol. The maroon and orange color scheme is certainly distinctive and the sculpt is spot on. Hasbro has gotten pretty funky with some of the pistols in this line now and then, but this sidearm is sized right and looks great in his hand. It also fits into the holster on his thigh.

Finally, when things get serious, Scourge can bust out his combat shotgun. This weapon features a solid sculpt and a deco that matches the pistol. It has a hand grip for the pump and some painted shells along the side of the receiver.

I started this feature with a little dig against Scourge saying I was saving my most anticipated figure for last, but I have to say, this guy is going to be a tough act to follow. He features an amazing sculpt, great paint, fun articulation, and some damn fine weapons. Scourge is an absolute home run in every category and he may indeed be the surprise breakout figure of this wave for me. He’s also a perfect example of why I think Hasbro needs to bring GI JOE to the 6-inch format. I think about the amount of fun I’ve had playing with this guy and I can only imagine a Real American Hero line getting the same style of treatment in this scale. I’d even be willing to full on subscription service for something like that, Hasbro, so long as the figures turned out as good as Scourge here. Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see if the last figure of the wave can beat this guy. I’ll find out next Monday when I finally open Taskmaster!

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Category Uncategorized

Transformers Combiner Wars: G2 Stunticons Box Set by Hasbro, Part 4: Menasor!

Star Wars: May the 4th “The Force Awakens” 3 3/4-inch Figure Opening Special!

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (Series 2) by NECA

Marvel Legends (Red Onslaught Wave): Taskmaster by Hasbro

League of Legends: Jinx 1/10 Scale Figure by Xin Hao

DC Icons: (#05) The Flash by DC Collectibles

Transformers Combiner Wars: G2 Stunticons Box Set by Hasbro, Part 3: Dragstrip and Breakdown

Avengers “Age of Ultron:” Vision 1:6 Scale Figure by Hot Toys

Aliens: Xenomorph Warrior and Sgt. Craig Windrix by NECA

Marvel Legends (Red Onslaught Wave): Demolition Man by Hasbro

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