Dec 9 2017

Star Wars Rogue One: Jedha Revolt 4-Pack by Hasbro

Welcome back to 5-POA’PALOOSA, a name I came up with because “Star Wars Three-and-three-quarter Weekend” just doesn’t roll off the tongue.  I’ve got more Rogue One coming at you, this time with the Jedha Revolt 4-Pack, which offers up a trio of 3 3/4-inch Exclusives, two of which were bewilderingly never released in the 6-inch Black Series.

You know I love the packaging on the two-packs, well this is just like two of those stuck together. It’s collector friendly, a big window shows off all the figures, and you get some lovely character art in the bottom right corner. The set includes… Saw Gerrara, Edrio Two Tubes, Jyn Erso in her Jedha outfit, and an Imperial Hovertank Pilot. This set kind of feels like they just needed to toss all the remaining releases into one box so that they could get on with promoting The Last Jedi. Let’s start with Saw!

Wow, this is a pretty ambitious sculpt for this scale and price point! Saw’s suit was pretty complex on screen and Hasbro did a damn fine job recreating it here for the 3 3/4-inch line. He’s got his various breather hoses, the robotic right leg, old man sandal, and I really dig the cape, that looks a bit like he re-purposed it from an old flag. When I first got this figure in hand, I must have spent a good five minutes just turning it over and checking out all the nice work they did on the sculpting and paint. Even the likeness is solid, and here was Hasbro’s big chance to actually paint a wonky eye on purpose! Sorry, Forest, I love you, man!

Saw comes with two accessories, his walking staff and his pistol. The staff is actually useful, because Saw can be a bit difficult to keep standing without it. The pistol features a cool and unique design, fits into a holster on his right hip, and he can hold it in his right hand. The staff can be held in either hand. Next up… Sergeant Jyn Erso!

I didn’t really get a good look at this set when I bought it, and I just assumed Jyn would be a repack figure that was thrown in just to fill out the set and so Hasbro could get some money back, but then I remembered the single carded release featured her Eadu outfit. I’m like 99% certain this figure is exclusive to this set, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong. [Edit: I’ll correct myself! Yes, this figure did get a single carded release… carry on!] In any case, this is a simpler sculpt than the Eadu one, but I think this is the better Jyn figure, mainly because the likeness is better. She comes with the sculpted head wrap on, but you can take it off without even popping the head.

In addition to the head wrap, Jyn comes with her blaster pistol, which fits into the holster on her right hip, and she can hold it pretty well in either hand. If you’re in the market for a 5-POA Jyn Erso figure, I think this is the one to get. Next… Edrio Two-Tubes!

Edrio was one of the aliens that seemed to get featured a lot before Rogue One hit theaters. I assumed he was just going to be another Constable Zuvio, but at least Edrio had some screen time and a few lines. I think he would have made a damn cool 6-inch Black Series figure, but this smaller scale consolation prize isn’t too shabby. Hasbro invested all the usual rumples and wrinkles into the sculpted outfit here and the grimy paint-wash is really well done. And while his name would suggest otherwise, he actually has three tubes, two coming off his face, and one running from the control box into his belt. The chest box is rather reminiscent of the ones worn by the various fighter pilots. Also, the paint and sculpt on his deep set eyes is particularly creepy. I love this figure!

Mr. Two-Tubes comes with his rather unique looking rifle. which is very long, very thin, and rather fragile. I gut a stress mark on mine just from having him hold it near the muzzle. And because it’s so long, and Edrio is just a 5-POA figure, he tends to look better holding it like a walking stick, than he does holding it like he’s about to fire it. On to our final stop… The Hovertank Pilot!

Crazy enough, the one character in this box that had the least screen time is the one of the two that also got a 6-inch Black Series release, but I’m just as happy to have him in this scale too, especially since it looks like we’re actually getting a 3 3/4-inch scale Hovertank at some point down the road.

Hovertank Pilot comes with his carbine. It’s a cool sculpt and has a nice silver wash on it, but there’s not a lot else to say about it.

For as good as it is, this set languished on Amazon at deep discounts for a long while. I think I paid $11 for mine, which makes it worth it just for the Saw or Edrio figures alone, but to be honest, there isn’t a bad figure in this set.  I seem to recall this one releasing fairly late in the game, so maybe a lot of collectors were already done with the Rogue One line. That was my mentality when I passed it over at full price a couple of times. It was already getting tough to find some of the last releases, like Bodhi Rook, at decent prices, and I was ready to give up. Whatever the case, I’m glad I picked it up.

Dec 9 2017

Star Wars Rogue One: Baze Malbus vs Stormtrooper… Plus Chirrut Imwe and Cassian Andor by Hasbro!

With The Last Jedi nearly upon us, I promised myself that I would get caught up on reviewing some of the past 3 3/4-inch Star Wars figures that I have piling up in the back of the closet. Why so many? Because as much as I enjoy them, the 5-POA figures don’t really lend themselves to exciting reviews or exciting pictures, so I usually save them up to do a wave at a time. Then I forget and it gets to me too much to deal with. The only way to go now is to do some speed reviewing! To that end, throughout this weekend, I’ll be dropping a bunch of reviews for the 3 3/4-inch figures that are lying around here. How many is a bunch? As many as I can possibly cobble together without going insane or dying from plastic fume inhalation, so between now and some point this afternoon, I’ll be dropping a new review every hour with some random figures, vehicles, or whatever. Then tomorrow, I’ll do it all over again. You’re going to get some Rebels, you’re going to get some Force Awakens, definitely some Last Jedi, and right now you’re going to get some Rogue One! Let’s get crazy…

I opened some of these backlogged figures a while ago, so I’m not doing packaged shots for all of them, but I will try to get at least one for each grouping or grab some of Hasbro’s official packaged shots. Here’s the delightful, compact window box for the Baze and the Stormtrooper. The box is collector friendly and features some fantastic character art. I love these little sets and I’m happy to see they’re continuing into The Last Jedi line, even if the initial offerings are underwhelming. The other two figures that I’m looking at today: Chirrut and Cassian were both single carded releases, but we all know what that looks like by now, right? I’m not going to cover articulation, because these are all standard 5-POA figures, so you know what you’re getting. Let’s start with Captain Andor…

Cassian features his Eadu outfit, which is the same version we initially got in the 6-inch Black Series line. The heavy blue jacket with the fur-lined hood certainly looks like cold weather gear, but much to my surprise they really never featured that kind of environment in the film. The sculpting here is fantastic for this scale, and I’d even go so far as to say that there isn’t much here that the 6-inch Black Series figure did better. You still get all the sculpted gear on his belt, as well as the little wrinkles and rumples in the jacket and trousers. The paint is very well done, with little hits of silver on the belt buckle and the gear. Even the likeness is probably on par to the 6-inch line, so really the only thing lacking here is the better articulation and the ability to remove the helmet.

Captain Andor comes with his little silver pistol, which he can hold in either hand and use to murder panicking contacts in back alleys when they’re about to compromise his cover. It also fits securely in the sculpted holster on his right hip.

Of course, all of these figures still come with a big gimmicky weapon or accessory. Cassian’s is a zipline and it’s surprisingly cool. The main piece clips onto his arm and the string feeds through the two pulleys. Each end of the string has a grappling hook on the end. I get the feeling that there were a lot of zipline sequences pulled from this movie during edits. Either that or someone at Hasbro just really loves ziplines. Whatever the case, I imagine this accessory is pretty fun for the kids. Next up… Chirrut!

Chirrut Imwe features his sculpted robes, as well as a separate sculpted piece, which fits over his shoulder and includes a cape on the back and whatever that thing is supposed to be on the front. This extra piece gives his outfit a little more depth and complexity for a figure in this smaller scale. If you split his legs, you can see that Hasbro sculpted the legs and the inner details of the robes as well. There’s some ribbed texturing on his left sleeve and he also has the white guard on his left forearm. I think the likeness here is pretty good for this scale and the paint for the eyes and eyebrows is very clean and accurate.

Chirrut comes with his staff, which is sculpted to look like a gnarled old piece of wood. It also has a sculpted cap on the top and a grip, both of which are painted gray. He can hold it in either hand, but the articulation really limits what you can do with it.

Chirrut’s gimmick accessory is this bow-caster type rifle. I think it’s supposed to be the one he used to shoot the TIE Fighter down in the film. This thing looks more like a crossbow, than a rifle, but it’s not too bad as far as these things go. It did come with a red missile and I have no idea where it is. I’ve checked all the cat’s usual stashes. Onward to Baze…

Baze Malbus is part of the two-pack and as such he comes with the most stuff. The basic figure is very well done. He’s got his tan jumpsuit with the red and white armor bits. There’s some nice rumpling and texturing sculpted into the suit, and he has some pouches attached to his belt. The paint here is pretty solid as well and the likeness is fine for this scale. There’s a slot in his back so that you can attach his mega-blaster backpack.

The drum tabs in and secures pretty well. I haven’t had any issues of it popping out on me. It’s neatly painted with a red and silver deco, and it includes a sculpted black sash. The cable from the gun is permanently attached to the bottom of the drum and it’s flexible enough so that you can still move Baze’s arm a bit while he’s holding the weapon. The only issue here is that the drum makes him pretty back heavy. It looks like they tried to account for this by having his legs sculpted sculpted so that he stands with them slightly part. It helps a little, but getting him to stand with the backpack takes some finesse.

And then there’s this thing! Yes, Baze also comes with a big gimmicky missile launcher. These things are almost always terrible, but I have to confess… I love this one!  It attaches to the figure with a pair of shoulder pieces and can fire two missiles. There’s a cable that comes off of it and connects to a hand-held trigger. The cable is made to look like the one on his regular weapon and there’s some especially nice sculpted detail in the launcher itself as well as some silver dry brushing to give it a weathered look near the tubes. It looks like Hasbro really put some love into this thing, plus it really fits Baze’s role as a Heavy Gunner. Our last stop… The Stormtrooper!

There’s not much to say about this guy, other than the Rogue One Stormtrooper sculpt is pretty fantastic and I have a ton of them. This one doesn’t include the extra chest piece that came with the single carded release (which is no great loss), but he does have an orange pauldron. The paint is clean, especially on the helmet, and he comes with a standard E-11 Blaster.

As far as 5-POA figures go, I give all of these high marks. The sculpting on all the figures is well done, the paint is pretty solid, and they all come with the accessories I would expect to get. It seemed like it took a while to get a solid group of the Rogue One Rebels assembled, but Hasbro got us in there in the end, with more to follow. And now I can just sit back and enjoy this collection of characters that are all dead.

Dec 8 2017

DC Multiverse (Ares Wave): Wonder Woman by Mattel

Welcome back to another one-two punch of DC Friday content. It’s a strange thing to still be talking about a wave of Multiverse figures after wrapping up the Collect & Connect figure, but in this case, Toys R Us had two exclusive releases, which weren’t necessary to build Ares, but did give him some extra accessories. This morning, I had a look at Menalippe and this evening I’m checking out Wonder Woman.

As with Menalippe, there’s no specific TRU branding on the package, which is weird, because TRU loves to stick their foil Exclusive stickers on everything. The only other thing notable here is that this figure is added to the back of the box, where she wasn’t pictured on either of the four wide release versions. Makes sense. Target and Walmart don’t want packages advertising figures you can only get somewhere else.

And here she is, Wonder Woman in all her cloakless glory, and she is a damn nice figure. Yes, I still find it really odd that the cloaked version was the regular retail release and the more iconic one was an exclusive. This is mostly the same figure I looked at last week, obviously minus the cloak and with re-sculpted head and arms to remove the hood and sleeves. I don’t own the Superman V Batman WW figure, but I think it’s very likely that this is more or less the same one with a new (and better) head sculpt. I’m also all but certain that the Justice League version, which I have yet to open, will also be a repack.

The sculpting and paint on her outfit is fantastic. So much so, that it’s hard to believe this is a Multiverse figure. Yeah, I’ve said that about several figures in this wave, but it’s worth repeating here as well. Her outfit features sculpted lines, including some battle scarring, and a leather-like texture on the skirt. The gold, red, and blue all have a bit of a metallic sheen to them, and it’s great to see this outfit in all its vibrant glory and without it being shot through a depressing filter or overly saturated.

Her gold and silver bracers include some sculpted panel lines and she has brown wraps for her hands, while her red and gold boots feature sculpted straps and some more scrapes from battle. Everything about this costume really shines!

Except maybe the shoulder rigging, which I’m still very torn on, and is permanently attached to her back. It was a little less bothersome on the cloaked figure because it was partially concealed, and it looked less bulky with the big cloak over it. But here it does get in the way of my enjoyment of the outfit. At least it serves a purpose, with a pegged loop on the right hip for her lasso and an enclosed loop on her left hip for The Godkiller. I guess I just wish it fit the figure a little more snugly.

The head sculpt is also excellent. There’s definitely some Gal Gadot in there, but I’m willing to be forgiving because it is generally a very good looking portrait. She’s pretty, the paint is applied with precision, and her the detail in her hair is very well done. The fact that part of the hair is sculpted to spill over her right shoulder doesn’t even hinder the neck articulation as bad as I thought it might. As far as 6-inch scale portraits go, it’s not up to Hasbro’s MCU standards, but I’d say it’s better than some of the Star Wars Black Series in my collection.

Wonder Woman sports some excellent articulation, but nothing we really haven’t already seen in this wave. Her arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows, and swivels in the wrists and elbows. The legs have rotating hinges in the hips, hinges in the knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso features a swivel in the waist and she has a ball joint in the neck. The only thing really missing would be some lateral rockers for those ankles.

Both the sword and lasso are the exact same accessories that came with Cloaked Wonder Woman, so I won’t spend much time on them here. The lasso is sculpted in a coiled configuration and the sword is still a great looking sculpt and nicely painted. It would be nice if Mattel would toss in a piece of gold string to double as an uncoiled lasso, but I suppose that shouldn’t be too hard for me to find.

The new accessory is the shield and it’s a fantastic piece. This is definitely the more ornate version that she had in her own movie, as opposed to the blander one she carried in Batman V Superman. It features some sculpted geometric patterns, which make it look more Art Deco than Greek to me, but I don’t care, because it just looks fabulous. The shield itself is dark gray with bronze paint on the sculpted lines. The back of the shield features two soft plastic straps, which slide over the figure’s arm. I couldn’t really get her to grip the second one, but it works just fine without it in her hand. And speaking of shields…

Wonder Woman comes with a shield for Ares too, and it is an absolute work of art. I mean, just look at this thing! It’s got some insane sculpted detail decorating the front and a beautiful silver-blue finish, which matches the painted parts of his armor. It works the same way as Wonder Woman’s shield, with two straps on the back that slide over his arm. I’m definitely going to have to give his flaming swords to another figure, because there’s just no way I’m not going to always display him with this shield and his sword.

While I’ve enjoyed this assortment from the beginning, I have to say that this particular figure is a total home run. It’s a great sculpt, beautifully painted, and she’s lots of fun to play with. The only downside here is that it really should have been the wider release instead of the cloaked one. There are no Toys R Us stores near here and I wasn’t able to get her through their website. Nope, I had to hunt her down through a secondary seller. I didn’t get beat up too badly on the price, as she was just a couple of bucks more than she would have been at retail. But even with that having been said, this Gal is worth hunting down. On the next couple of DC Fridays, I’m going to switch gears to some DC Collectibles figures and then I’ll come back to Mattel to check out their DC Multiverse Justice League movie figures.

Dec 8 2017

DC Multiverse (Ares Wave): Menalippe by Mattel

YES! DC Fridays are still alive and well, and should be going strong well until next year! Last week, I wrapped up the core figures in this Ares Wave of DC Multiverse Wonder Woman movie figures as well as had a look at the Collect & Connect Ares figure. But the wave doesn’t end there. Toys R Us had two exclusive figures for this wave, each of which came with extra accessories for Ares, making them completely optional for the C&C build, but still worth checking out. I’m going to have a look at both of those today, starting this morning with Diana’s friend, Menalippe.

There’s nothing on the box that states this is a TRU Exclusive, which is pretty weird, because The Giraffe House usually loves to plaster foil stickers on these releases. Nonetheless, you still get photos of the character on the front and side panel, and the only other difference is that where the back used to show only four figures in the wave, here Menalippe has been added as #1. As always, the box is collector friendly, but I’m about to tear the crap out of it to get at my goodies.

So, I can’t say as I actually remember Menalippe in the movie, but I’ve still only seen it once and I was pretty well sauced. I hope to remedy that sooner or later. But despite being a specific character, I think this figure could probably work just as well as a generic Amazon army builder. She features a very handsome suit of maroon, black, and bronze armor with some cut lines running in a “V” pattern on the torso and some additional pitting sculpted in. Her arms feature shoulder pads and wrist bracers. The ensemble isn’t as flashy as what we saw on Queen Hippolyta or Wonder Woman, but it makes for a great rank-and-file soldier.

The bronze belt looks like it’s supposed to be an eagle motif, with the wings reaching out and back around her hips. Below the belt Menalippe has a soft plastic brown skirt, which is sculpted to resemble strips of leather. Under that she has sculpted high boots with grieves and knee armor. My only real gripe here is that the color of her flesh tones doesn’t match too well between her upper biceps and lower arms. The upper biceps are painted, but the bottom arms are bare plastic.

The head sculpt is good and I can see a little bit of the actress likeness in there, but then again, she’s got her helmet on, so some of the features are concealed behind the sculpted cheek guards. There’s a lot of detail in the hairstyle, and the paint on the face is basic, but all around solid. The seams running up the sides of her neck are a little f’ugly, though.

The articulation here is identical to what we saw with the previous female figures. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, bicep swivels, hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the wrists. The legs have rotating hinges at the hips, hinges in the knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. She also has a swivel in the waist and a ball joint in the neck. The skirt is designed so that it doesn’t hinder her leg articulation too badly at all.

Menalippe comes with three accessories: A bow, an arrow, and a spear. The bow is brown with a gold grip and additional gold fixtures. There’s no string, and it doesn’t look like one could be easily attached, so you just have to use your imagination. The arrow is also brown and gold. Mattel designed the figure to have a socket in the right hand to plug the arrow into. The downside, it renders that hand useless for anything else, but it does mean you can actually get her to hold the arrow well and even pose as if she’s knocked it and is ready to shoot. A swap-out hand would have been nice, especially since it’s a common thing to see in Hasbro’s 6-inch Marvel line, but let’s face it, DC Multiverse isn’t working at that level yet.

The spear is a completely different sculpt than the one we saw with Hippolyta. This one has a plain elongated gold point, and looks more like the weapon of a soldier. I dig that. Her left hand is clearly sculpted with the intent to hold the bow first and the spear second, as a result the spear can be a little loose in her grip. Before wrapping up, let’s see what this box has for Ares.

HOLY SHIT! The Ares accessories are a pair of flaming swords and these are some bitchin’ looking weapons. If this guy didn’t already look like he belonged on the front of a Metal album cover, he sure as hell does now. The underlying sculpts are meant to resemble the sword he came with, so I guess he just ignites that bitch and splits it into two swords.

These are each cast in an orange-yellow translucent plastic and there’s some paint spray to bring out the swords which are supposed to be at the heart of the flames. The effect isn’t bad, and I’ve got to appreciate how much plastic went into crafting what are essentially a couple of bonus accessories for a Collect & Connect figure. Indeed, considering I didn’t pay a lot more than ten bucks for Menalippe, these swords were almost worth the price of admission alone. And Ares doesn’t know it yet, but he may be lending these puppies out to some of my Mythic Legions figures.

I think Mattel made some solid character choices for this wave, beyond the obvious ones, and I’m really happy that they leaned heavy on the Themyscira stuff, because that was my favorite part of the whole movie. The fact that I hunted down Menalippe just goes to show how happy I’ve been with this wave, and she displays quite nicely with the other Themyscira-based figures. Later on tonight, I’ll come back and check out the last figure in the line… Wonder Woman!

Dec 7 2017

Transformers “Power of the Primes:” Slug by Hasbro

Let’s all take a moment to bow our heads and mourn the passing of Titans Return. I think it was one of the best modern Transformers lines Hasbro has ever done. Bold statement? Yes. But that’s how I feel. Oh, I’ve still got more reviews coming from that line, but as far as Hasbro is concerned, it’s done and its replacement, Power of the Primes, has arrived. I thought I should at least check some of these new figures out while they’re still fresh, and where else better to start than with the Dinobots, Slug and Swoop!

Behold, the Power of the Primes packaging! The presentation is nearly identical to Titans Return and to Combiner Wars before that, which suggests just how much Hasbro is trying to tie these lines together.  This deco has never been my favorite, but then I don’t save the packaging, so it’s not a big sticking point for me. I do, however, really dig the character art on the card, and in case you haven’t guessed, Slug is the new name for Slag. We’ve had some modern Dinobots over the years, and plenty of Grimlocks, but never has Hasbro given us a full on team of G1-inspired Dinobots until now. We’ll see them all released in Power of the Prime, and like it or not, they will be a Combiner Team.

With that said, it’s time for full disclosure: I was thrilled when these Dinobots were first revealed, but a lot of that exaltation burned off when I found out that they were going to be a Combiner Team of Deluxes with Grimlock as the torso/Voyager Class. Now, I’m not inherently against making the Dinobots into Combiners. I respect Hasbro for trying new things. But by making them combiners, they were locked into these size classes, and that’s the root of my disappointment. In my opinion, proper Dinobots should have been Voyager Class figures with Grimlock as a Leader Class. Obviously, I knew this going in, but it’s still going to color my reviews. OK, let’s start with Slug’s dinosaur mode.

Well, this is pretty damn good! Just one look and there’s no doubt who this cybernetic Triceratops is supposed to be. Aesthetically, Hasbro did an admirable job giving us a proper update to G1 Slag. Hell, I’d even go so far as to say that this is one of the best sculpts we’ve seen in a Deluxe Class figure in a while. Just look at how much detail they packed into this little guy. There are panel lines, little hatches and vents, segmented joints in the legs, and the pattern in his collar looks fantastic. I also really dig the sculpted circuitry that can be seen through the translucent plastic discs in the hind legs and in the tail. You even get some pegs to put some Titan Masters or Prime Masters on his back.

The deco is also pretty spot on to what I would want in a modern Slag. Much of Slug’s coloring is derived from his rich gray plastic, but you also get some black and gold paint, as well as the previously mentioned yellow-tinted clear plastic. A little red can be glimpsed from his undercarriage and his horns are red as well. There are even a couple stickers near the base of his tail. The only thing I would have added would be some silver paint to his collar, but I guess you have to leave something for Takara to do in order to tempt the importers.

The articulation here is very basic, but not too bad. The front legs are ball jointed at the top and have ratcheting hinges in the middles. The back legs rotate at the tops and have hinges in the middles as well, but these middle hinges can only work backwards. His mouth can also open thanks to a hinge in the lower jaw that is also part of the transformation. In truth, there’s not a whole lot to work with here, but at the same time, it doesn’t really feel like he’s missing a lot, except for maybe a swivel in the neck.

Slug comes with two accessories: His gun and his Prime Armor. I’ll get to the Prime Armor at the end, because it involves this line’s running gimmick, and is not something I’m going to focus on in any reviews after this one. I mention the rifle now, because you can plug it into his back if you want your Triceratops to have some added firepower. Before moving on to his robot mode, let’s do some size comparisons…

Aaaaand, Yikes! Not only is Slug a Deluxe Class figure, but in his Dino mode, he’s a damn small Deluxe Class figure. He’s barely bigger than Legends Class Bumblebee and Deluxe Class Hot Rod practically dwarfs him. And here’s where the disappointment sets in. Now scale has always been a funny thing when it comes to Transformers, but The Dinobots are supposed to be giants and this scaling just doesn’t work at all for me.

Transforming Slug into his robot mode is pretty easy and mostly involves just folding the back half into the legs. It’s not that dis-similar to the G1 toy, assuming I remember that correctly and the result is that this damn fine little Dino turns into a damn fine little robot. Like the Dino mode, Slug’s robot mode hits almost all the right points that I’m looking for in my updated Slag. The rear Dino legs land on the lower legs, the lower jaw becomes the chestplate, and the top part of the Dino head frames the robot head. It all looks great, and the deco matches almost perfectly. His proportions are fine, although I think he could have used some more bulk. It’s almost like something is missing.

Oh yeah, it’s his wings, and this is my only real sticking point with the robot mode design. The Dino mode’s back actually looks like it’s sculpted with a fake hinge, which is kind of like a big tease. I think if this part did hinge open and press in closer to the back, it would have made this robot mode perfect, instead of just really close to perfect. Maybe that was too much engineering for a Deluxe Class, but considering how relatively simple everything else is, I don’t think that’s really the case. Oh well.

The head sculpt is fantastic and the red painted eyes look especially nice. They’re so bright and vibrant it actually looks better than a lot of the light piping effects I’ve seen int he past. You can actually turn Slug’s head, which is something I wasn’t counting on, but I’ve only been able to get it to turn a bit and I really need to get your fingernail in there to do it.

As already mentioned, Slug comes with a rifle, which e can hold in either hand. Alas, he does not come with a sword, which is a real bummer. I’ve been trying to swear off Third Party Transformers and kits lately, but if someone out there cares to make a weapons pack for these Dinobots, I’d probably pull the trigger on that.

Unfortunately, size is an issue in robot mode as well as in Dino mode. It’s not quite as egregious here, but still an issue nonetheless. At least he’s bigger than a Legends Class now, but as you can see, he’s roughly the same size as Deluxe Class Hot Rod. If he were a little bulkier, I might have been a bit more forgiving, but he still seems really puny for a Dinobot. OK, our last stop is going to be a quick look at the Power Armor, because it’s the key to unlocking the entire gimmick behind Power of the Primes…

And as gimmicks go, it kinda sucks. This giant plastic albatross plugs into the chest and yes, it is as unwieldy in person as it looks in this picture, if not more so. The idea is that you take the clear plastic cover off and plug one of the Prime Masters into it. That’s supposed to give him enhanced powers based on whichever Power Master he bonds with. The powers are outlined on a card that comes with the figure. Unfortunately, this is more of a pretend kind of thing, whereas the Titan Master gimmick was a practical part of the design. Yes, these are toys for kids, and that’s great, but I’m not getting anything out of it. It’s worth noting that the Power Armor will double as Combiner parts as well. The other bummer is that unlike the Titans Returns figures, which each came with a Titan Master, here the Prime Masters are sold separately. I haven’t picked up any of those yet, but in a fine example of Transformers Body Horror, the Titan Masters are also compatible with the Power Armor.

And holy shit! It’s like, hey “Hot Rod, let me borrow Firedrive, so I can get some of his powers. Also, I’m going to use your face to deflect laser blasts aimed at my chest! Sound good?” Oh wait. This is supposed to be Slug talking. “Me, Slug use your face as shield!” OK, this isn’t really the intended use, because Prime Masters turn into chips and not heads, but I’ll still happily choose to ignore this gimmick. On the plus side, it doesn’t really effect the toy itself if you just choose not to use it. Also, the Prime Masters come in G1-style Pretender Shells, and that makes this nonsense all worthwhile!

Wow, that seemed like a really long write-up for a Deluxe Class Transformer, but I had a lot to say. And in the end, Slug turns out to be quite the mixed bag for me. Taken on his own, he’s a great figure and a superb homage to G1 Slag re-imagined as a Deluxe Class release. And that’s what makes the downside all the more of a bummer, because his size really is a deal-breaker for me. No, I’m not sorry I bought him, because it’s going to be cool to have a cohesive G1-style team of Dinobots, but they just don’t interact all that well with the other figures. It’s a case of Hasbro coming sooooo close, but not quite. Next Thursday, I’m going to double down and check out not only Swoop, but we’ll also see that the Power of the Primes Dinobots can get even smaller with Legends Class Slash!

Dec 5 2017

Terminator 2 “Judgement Day” 3D: T-800 by NECA

I’m a little pressed for time today, so I’m checking out something from my pile of new arrivals, that should be quick and easy. It’s NECA’s T-800 from Terminator 2 “Judgement Day” 3D!!! What does the 3D have to do with it? Nothing really, but it was a great excuse to get this figure back on the pegs again. Or at least most of it.

The T-800 comes in an attractive and collector friendly window box, which features that iconic shot of The Terminator on the motorcycle in the front and lots of photos of the figure on the back. You also get a cool flame motif on the insert behind the tray. And yes, the package is indeed branded to match the 3D re-release of the film. If the figure looks familiar, this is essentially a minor repaint and re-issue of the Ultimate T-800, released back in 2015. What’s different? Let’s open him up and find out!

So, as far as the figure goes, this is the same sculpt as the Ultimate T-800, which I reviewed a couple of years back. It features the T-800 in his motorcycle jacket, leather pants, and black boots. Yes, there’s a whole lot of black in this outfit! The biggest difference between the two figures is the color of the shirt. The Ultimate had a gray shirt and this one has a black one. This version also isn’t wearing gloves, doesn’t have the bandoleer strap of grenade rounds, and the pants have more of a leathery sheen to them. Both jackets have the bullet holes in the front and in the back. Obviously, the articulation is the same, and I’ll refer you back to my review of the Ultimate for the rundown of the points.

This version comes with two heads: One with sunglasses and one without. They appear to be the same sculpts as the heads that came with the Ultimate T-800, although I think the paint on these are a little better. The Ultimate also came with a third damaged head, and this one does not.

This T-800 does come with the M1887 lever-action shotgun. It’s the same accessory that we got with the Ultimate. It was great then and it’s still great here. His right hand is perfectly sculpted to hold it and he can cradle the front in his left hand.

And he also comes with the automatic pistol. It has a painted silver finish. And that’s it for the guns. Absent is of course the M79 grenade launcher and the minigun that came with the Ultimate version. But, you do get one accessory that’s exclusive to this release.

And yes, it is indeed a cardboard flower box. It’s also the best damn 7-inch scale cardboard flower box I’ve ever seen and it’s just big enough to conceal the shotgun inside. Look, I’m not going to say this one accessory is worth buying the figure again, but it sure does let you recreate one of the coolest scenes in the whole damn movie.

As I mentioned on the outset, this release is really just a great opportunity to pick up the T-800 if you missed out on the Ultimate version and don’t want to pay the $50-60 that it seems to be going for these days. Sure, it’s a stripped down release, but it’s still a great figure and a worthy addition to any action figure collection. I think it’s MSRP is around $20, which granted isn’t a lot less than the Ultimate version released at, but I was able to pick mine up for a couple dollars under that. Truth be told, there are so many different display options for the Ultimate version, it doesn’t hurt to have a second one on hand to display with that extra head or different weapon load out. And I’m always happy to throw my support at NECA.

Dec 4 2017

Marvel Legends (Gladiator Hulk Wave): Thor Odinson by Hasbro

Welcome back to my trek through the Gladiator Hulk Wave of Marvel Legends! I’m nearing the home stretch, with just two more comic based figures to look at until I can build the Incredible Champion of Sakaar! Today I’m checking out Thor, or as the package calls him, Marvel’s Odinson. Call him Odinson, call him Unworthy Thor, but he’s still Thor. Because my friends, Thor is still Thor even if unworthy to wield Mjolnir. But that’s a subject on which I will vent a little more next week when I look at Jane Foster Thor. Or maybe I’ll just let it go. We’ll see. I actually loved the idea of an unworthy Thor storyline, but I didn’t feel like Marvel did anything interesting with it. Will new Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski haul Marvel Comics out of the dumpster fire it’s in? I guess we’ll find out. Can it get any worse? I genuinely don’t believe so.

Odinson shares the same slot with Ares as the two “Nine Realms Warriors,” and like Ares, there’s a lot of plastic in this box. Thor himself ain’t no lightweight and when you add in his accessory, Jarnbjorn, and the massive Gladiator Hulk torso, you get a pretty full tray crammed in there. I should note that I might have skipped this figure if it weren’t for the BAF parts, because a variant is included in the SDCC “Battle for Asgarde” set, which I still have sitting unopened in the corner waiting for me to do another Marvel Week. There are, however, some pretty big differences between the two figures, so in this case having to double-dip isn’t too bad.

And the figure isn’t too shabby either! While a good chunk of this costume is just painted buck, Odinson features enough unique sculpting to satisfy me. The black sleeveless shirt is just painted onto his chest with a little cutout up top. See, dudes can wear boob windows too! Eat your heart out, Power Girl! I love how the tops of the trousers are sculpted and tied off with a piece of rope, because down-on-his-luck Thor can’t afford proper pants that fit, nor a belt to hold them up! I jest, but it’s a really nice touch. The boots feature sculpted flares at the knees, and sculpted brown straps tying them in place at the tops and down near the ankles. He also has a pedestrian pair of wrist bracers, which are sculpted as separate pieces.

The cape is really nice! It’s cast in bright red plastic with a silver painted fastener off-set near his left shoulder. The back shows it all tattered with a rough bottom edge and various holes. Still, it’s very thick which eschews realism and gives it a decidedly comic book look. Of course, if you’d rather go without it, you can just pop the head and remove it.

Speaking of heads, this one is a bit of a poser. It genuinely looks fine to me with the figure in hand, but then I take pictures up close and this happens. YIKES! It looks like someone pinched the middle of his face and his eyes are popping out. You ain’t unworthy, you just too ugly! It’s a shame, because the face is very chiseled and angular with some beautiful definition in the sculpt. It looks a little more gaunt than normal Thor, which is a nice touch for hard-luck Thor. The hair is sculpted so that it’s blowing off to the side, which is admittedly a rather singular look, but it works well enough for me. Bottom line is that if you keep a safe distance, it’ll look fine. You’re just going to have to trust me on this one.

The articulation holds no surprises, but we’ll run through it anyway. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs, double hinges in the knees, and the ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. The torso features both an ab crunch and a waist swivel, and the neck is both ball jointed and hinged. The hinges are all solid, and he’s an all around fun figure to play with.

Odinson comes with one accessory and that’s his trusty axe, Jarnbjorn. For a substitute weapon, this thing is beautiful! Hasbro decorated out the axe head’s socket with some lovely scrollwork and an ornate, spiked tip. The curved handle has sculpted wood texture running through it, and grip is ribbed with silver rings at each end. This is one of the most beautiful weapons Marvel Legends has given us in quite a while!

Whatever my feeling about the particulars of the comics, and they’re not all bad, Unworthy Thor is a great idea for a storyline and I’m glad they did this figure. There was a little while where I thought it was going to be totally exclusive to the SDCC set, and while I did wind up getting it very easily, that’s not always the case. It’s probably a good thing that the figure made it to regular retail too, making it available to the collectors who were unable to get the exclusive set, or maybe just didn’t want all of those figures. Next week, I’m going to put this wave to a bed with a look at the last boxed figure, Jane Foster Thor, and the Build-A-Figure, Gladiator Hulk!

Dec 2 2017

Figma: “Kantai Collection” Destroyer Fubuki (Anime Version) by Max Factory

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve done an Anime Saturday feature and I feel bad about it. Not least of all because I’ve got a lot of stuff piling up and waiting to be reviewed. What can I say, other than this is a crazy time of year for me, I don’t have as many weekends off, and time is more than a little tight. Nonetheless, I’m off today and had some time to enjoy a leisurely morning with a pot of coffee and time to open up a Figma. And wouldn’t you just know it… it’s another one of the Fleet Girls from Kantai Collection!

And it’s Fubuki! It’s crazy to think that with five or six of the Fleet Girls already on my Figma shelf, it took this long to get to the main protaganist of the anime. In this case, however, she hasn’t been sitting around waiting to be reviewed, but rather she’s a fairly recent release. I’ll also point out that this is the Animation Version, with a regular version releasing very shortly. I’ve looked at pictures of both figures and I can’t for the life of me see any difference. But seeing as how I’ve never actually played the game, I’m content with the version tied to my beloved anime series.

Starting out with the base figure, Fubuki features here school uniform, including her sailor-style white top with a blue collar and blue sleeve cuffs, and a perfectly sculpted neckerchief tied below her neck. The top is just short enough to show a little midriff, and below that she has a pleated blue skirt. The outfit is topped off with a pair of blue socks, each with a tiny white stripe around the top, and crisp white anchors printed on the sides. While you can strip most of Fubuki’s armaments from her, the leg straps for her torpedo mounts, and her rudder boots are permanent fixtures. This could be disappointing to some collectors who would have preferred the ability to display her completely off duty, but it’s not such a big deal for me. The boots do feature some really nice detail.

Of course, this is a Figma, so you can expect all sorts of extra facial expressions and hands. Fubuki includes three expressions, one normal, one extremely happy with eyes closed, and one serious battle face. Swapping them out involves the usual easy step of popping off the front of the hair. My little gripe here is that the normal face and the battle face are a little too close in my opinion. I think the fault lies with the normal face, which looks more surprised to me. I would have liked something a little more neutral there.

The collection of hands offers no real surprises. If you own any Figmas, then you should know the drill. Fubuki comes with fists, accessory holding hands, splayed finger hands, relaxed hands, and one pointing right hand. OK, let’s get our Fleet Girl all geared up…

For starters, Fubuki comes with her two 61cm triple torpedo mounts (oxygen powered, of course!) attached to her thighs with somewhat restricted ball joints and some sculpted faux straps on her legs to simulate holding them on. You can easily swivel each torpedo mount from pointing up when they’re not in use to facing forward for firing. There’s a little bit of motion left and right, but not a lot. As already demonstrated, these are easy to pop off the figure if you want to display her in her down time.

Next up are her 12.7cm twin gun mount and her backpack. The backpack attaches with a ball jointed peg, which keeps some space between it and her back to allow it to not interfere too much with her posing. Subsequently, there’s another peg hole on the back of the smokestack to plug in the Figma stand. It certainly helps, but I’m surprised to see that even with the backpack, Fubuki is balanced enough to stand on her own. The backpack itself is a nice piece of work with all the detail I’ve come to expect out of a Figma sculpt, right down to the twin anchors and antenna. The piece is cast in battleship gray plastic and there’s a little black and red paint added. I’ll note here that the peg for the stand is a tight fit going into the backpack. Normally, Max Factory includes an adapter piece with a narrower peg, but that wasn’t the case here. It does work, but not as well as if they had included the extra piece.

The twin gun mount is designed to hang on a shoulder strap at her right hip for easy access to it. The strap itself is a little bulky, but not too bad considering the scale. The gun mount attaches to it with an open ended clip, so it’s really easy to take it off the strap so she can hold it and then put it back on again. As mentioned, she does have a pair of accessory holding hands, but she only fires this thing from her right hand in the anime, so one would have been fine for me. The grip on it is a little loose, but for the most part I didn’t have much trouble getting her to hold it straight.

Fubuki isn’t the most complex Figma around, but she sure does hit all the right points and she’s a lot of fun to play with. But that doesn’t come as any surprise to me. The base figure is just about perfect and by now Max Factory has become experts in fashioning Fleet Girl armaments. The only kicker here is that with an original retail of around $60, these figures are approaching that ceiling where I’m beginning to think twice before buying. When it comes to the KanColle figures, I’m probably always going to crumble, but as for those franchises that I’m a little less enthusiastic about? I might have to start getting pickier. As for now… I can’t help but notice the two empty spaces on each side of her and wonder if Figma is planning on getting her fellow Destroyers, Mutsuki and Yuudachi out eventually.

Dec 1 2017

DC Multiverse (Ares Wave): Collect & Connect Ares by Mattel

It’s Friday evening and I’m ready to collapse after a long work week. But before I dive head first into a bottle of Jameson, let’s wrap up DC Friday with one more review for today. If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve peppered my other reviews of this assortment of Wonder Woman movie figures with my general feelings about the film, but to sum it up here: I loved the first half, didn’t care so much for the second half, and felt that the final act really let the whole film down. It started with such lofty goals and excellent character presentation only to fizzle out with a disappointing and shitty CGI mess and it deserved so much better. By the time the final battle with Ares came, I was pretty drunk, very sleepy, and barely even paying attention. And so I give you the star of that disappointing denouement: Ares.

Ares is the first Collect & Connect figure from the DC Multiverse line that I’ve actually completed. Oh, I’ve done plenty from DC Universe Classics, and as such this one felt very abbreviated. Only four figures? Really??? That’s easy enough. Yes, despite still consisting of seven parts and a sword, Mattel doubled up on a lot of them to give us the whole figure in just four installments, with extra accessories coming bundled with the two Toys R Us Exclusive figures, which I’ll review next week. Putting this guy together is pretty simple, and the pieces fit tightly enough that I wouldn’t want to have to take him apart again.

As for the design, well… it’s certainly interesting. He looks like an armored terror that stepped right out of the pages of an AD&D manual, and that’s cool. But he’s also a far cry from how I’m used to seeing DC’s Ares depicted. This guy is a mix of human, demon, and armor, all blended together. He’s got regular looking hands and feet, as well as normal musculature running through the bare parts of his arms, but all cast in dark plastic. The chiseled chest features a bit more of metallic blue sheen to it, making me uncertain as to whether that’s supposed to be him or just armor, or maybe the armor is part of him. He has a similar finish on his grieves, arm bracers, and shoulder plates, as well as a sculpted black pelt thrown over his shoulder and secured with a strap. It looks as if there are sculpted keys hanging on the cross strap. Overall, the painted blue metal effect is cool, and there’s some nice pitted texturing on some of the armor, but I don’t find the design to be terribly compelling. The proportions are also a little wonky, like his legs seem a little weak and atrophied for his upper body.

The head is nearly featureless and hidden under the large demonic skull. Again, this is a pretty cool effect and I dig how at first glance it looks like the skull is actually his head and not just a helmet. The skull itself features a chalky blue paint job with white teeth and a pretty intricate sculpt showing all sorts of crags and bumps. It certainly makes for an intimidating look.

The articulation has all the right points. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows, as well as swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, hinged at the knees and ankles, and have swivels at the thighs. The torso features a swivel at the waist, a ball joint in the chest, and a ball joint in the neck. It’s all pretty good, except for a super loose swivel in my figure’s right thigh. It’s bad enough that it will sometimes give way, especially in wide stances.

Ares includes one accessory (so far), and that’s his sword and I really dig it a lot. It isn’t ornate or gaudy, nor does it look ceremonial. Instead it looks like a utilitarian rank-and-file tool for butchering enemies, just like I would expect the God of War to wield. The hilt looks like it’s meant to be forged out of simple iron, with a turned grip and a down sweeping cross guard. The blade features a fairly sharp taper and most of it is washed in red paint. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be blood, or maybe it’s glowing with heat, but either way it looks pretty bad ass. Of course, there are some more accessories to give him, but we’ll have to wait until I open up this wave’s two TRU Exclusive figures next week to look at those.

Despite my feelings for the DCEU version of Ares and that final battle in Wonder Woman, I have to say that I still dig this figure. Of course, individual mileage may vary based on personal opinions about the character design they went with. It’s also only fair to note that the DC Universe Classics Ares figure is one of my all time favorite releases in that line and was a very tough act for this Ares to follow. I can’t say that he would have been worth chasing in order to build on his own, but luckily I was pretty happy with the figures in this assortment, so Ares was just a cool extra.

Dec 1 2017

DC Multiverse (Ares Wave): Steve Trevor by Mattel

I was originally going to save the second half of my DC Friday content for later in the day, but I decided to just unload it all at once this morning before heading off to work. So, if you happen to be checking in today, don’t forget to scroll down and read the review for the Wonder Woman figure as well. This way I’ll be freed up to come back later tonight and have a look at the Collect & Connect Ares figure as well! But for now… let’s check out Steve Trevor.

There’s nothing new to say about the packaging, so let me just go on record by saying, I like Chris Pine a lot. He’s a damn charismatic fellow and based on some of the behind-the-scenes stuff I’ve seen, he seems like he’s fun to work with. I’d even dare say that some of the interviews I’ve seen with Gal Gadot and Pine promoting Wonder Woman have shown more chemistry between the two than between their characters on screen. But maybe that’s just me. With that having been said, Pine didn’t always work for me as Steve Trevor. Maybe it was the way he was written, but I just didn’t see it. Nonetheless, he wasn’t necessarily bad in the role and I was happy that Mattel gave him a figure.

And it’s a damn nice looking figure as well! Steve features his WWI-era garb, which consists of boots, sculpted wraps for his lower legs (socks?), some baggy trousers, a belted tunic-like vest, and a heavy knit shirt with a turtleneck. It’s a strange attire, and that’s coming from someone who has made reading the history of the period a hobby for a while now. I’m not saying it isn’t authentic, but it’s far more of a swashbuckling adventure garb than a straight on uniform. Then again, in the DCEU Trevor is an American Pilot who attaches himself to a British Army Unit as an Intelligence Agent, so it makes sense that he wore whatever was on hand and suitable. In any event, the sculpting here features some decent texturing on the wool socks and the the vest, as well as the knitted pattern on the shirt. I think the vest is supposed to be leather, which is why they went with a glossy paint for it, but I think it would have looked better in matte. Still, the recreation of the underlying costume is not bad at all!

Steve also wears a coat over his duds, one which I would say is like a cross between an aviator’s jacket and a trench coat. Yes… after all the figures I have wearing trench coats, I finally have one wearing an actual TRENCH coat. How exciting! The coat consists of the usual soft plastic vest with arms sculpted to look like sleeves. The arm holes are a little bigger than they needed to be, which sort of dispels the illusion that it’s all supposed to be one garment, but it still works pretty well. The jacket features sculpted stitching and buttons, wide lapels, a sculpted fur collar, and even the buttons on the sleeves are sculpted and painted gold. Again, nice attention to detail!

The head sculpts in this assortment haven’t been the best, but Mattel sure hit all the right notes when they did this one. It’s an excellent likeness to Pine, and I’m guessing that’s not an easy thing to do, because Playmates sure as hell couldn’t make it work when they were releasing the Kirk figures from the 2009 Star Trek film, and they sure tried in every major scale. The paint here is a little basic, especially the wash on the hair, but I’m confident that I could recognize who this was supposed to be, even if the figure was taken completely out of context. It’s not quite up to snuff with some of Hasbro’s best MCU portraits, but it’s still good work.

Despite being the first male character in the assortment, Steve features close to the same articulation we saw with the ladies, but in an ironic twist, there’s actually a few points less here. His arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows, and swivels in the wrists, but not in the biceps. The legs have rotating hinges in the hips, swivels in the thighs, and hinges in both the knees and ankles. After years of complaining that Hasbro omits the bicep swivels from their Marvel Legends ladies, it’s kind of funny to see this mostly female assortment from Mattel go the other way around. He does make up for it, however, by adding a ball joint at the chest, in addition to the swivel waist and ball jointed neck.

Trevor comes with one accessory and that’s a shotgun. It’s a fairly bland sculpt and the trigger and guard are both one piece of solid plastic, but at least the forestock is ribbed. The weapon has a blued finish with brown paint for the stock. I was able to get some decent poses of him holding it, but since the trigger guard is a solid piece, and he doesn’t have a trigger finger, you can’t really have him firing it.

All in all I think Mattel did a really nice job on this figure. Yes, he’s relatively simple and the colors are bland, but both fit the source material pretty well, there’s some nice attention to detail on the costume, and the likeness is exceptionally well done for a DC Multiverse figure. He also looks great next to Wonder Woman, and that’s really what counts. Not to mention, he comes with the final pieces I need to cobble together my Collect & Connect Ares figure. So, come on back tonight and I’ll wrap up an ultra-rare DC Friday Triple-Play by checking out Ares.