Nov 19 2016

KanColle: Destroyer Shimakaze by Taito

It’s been more than a few Anime Saturdays since I last tortured you all with my Kantai Collection obsession, so let’s visit with another one of Taito’s Fleet Girls. This time, it’s the adorable Shimakaze! Yes, for a change I’m actually looking at a character from the anime series and not just the video game!

We’ve seen Taito’s packaging many times here, and there isn’t much different here. You get a fully enclosed box with some striping on the bottom half and lots of pictures of the figure inside. Despite Shimakaze kicking back in a life preserver, this release is not classified as one of Taito’s “Day Off” figures. I’m guessing that’s because Shimakaze is dressed in her uniform and not a swimsuit. Then again, some of the other “Day Offs” were in uniform. I’m so confused!!! Also, I know what you’re thinking. Hey, that looks an awful lot like the Submarine Ro-500 figure that you featured a few weeks back. Yes, there are certainly some similarities here, but it’s still an entirely new figure, preserver, and base.

So, as already mentioned, Shimakaze reclines on a red and white life preserver and decked out in her uniform, but minus her armaments. Her outfit features her cut-off top, long gloves, blue skirt, exposed g-string, candy-striped stockings, and rudder boots. It’s all beautifully sculpted here and the skirt and top are layered onto the figure, which is always a bonus. Even the collar and neckerchief pops up off of the top to give it some added dimension and credibility. The figure itself simply rests in the tube, just like we saw with Ro-500, so you can pick her up and check her out from all angles.

The life preserver sports a little less detail than R0’s, as it’s missing the rope running around the edges. And while I’m overall very happy with the sculpt here, I think the way the hair parts looks a little unnatural from the back. That having been said, it looks fine from the front and that’s the way I’ll be viewing the statue most of the time, so it isn’t a big deal.

The portrait is fantastic and depicts Shimakaze with her traditional rabbit ear headband and perturbed expression. I’m interpreting the expression as her being annoyed at being knocked out of commission, hence the life preserver and lack of armaments, although it doesn’t explain why her uniform isn’t shredded, so I might be reading too much into that. On the downside, the above closeup shot shows that the quality of paintwork on this piece is really disappointing. The white ares show a lot of dirt and smudging and even her face and hair is rather dirty. The lines on her stockings are rough in some areas and there’s scratching on the preserver too. To be fair, if I’m viewing this piece from a display shelf, it’s not that bad, but the closer I get, the more noticeable it is. This is easily the worst paint on any of my Taito prize figures, and considering who the character is, that’s doubly disappointing.

The base is very similar in design to Ro-500’s base. It’s a simple clear disc that uses three support poles to hold up the life preserver, which pegs in securely.

Of course, you can’t have a Shimakaze figure without her Rensouhous and in this case you get the largest of the gang. Rensouhou-chan comes in his own little life preserver with a propeller sculpted on the back. He seems happy enough, which further suggests that I’m off base on my theory that this is Shimakaze after she’s taken a crippling hit. Rensouhou-Chan didn’t escape the shoddy paint problem either. There’s quite a bit of dirt on the white parts of his preserver.

Shimakaze looks great displayed next to Ro. Now, I’m guessing she looks upset because she doesn’t have an ice pop, or maybe because her paint job isn’t as good. I’ve had my eye on this figure for quite a few months, waiting to finally find one shipping from inside the US. I also had to pay a little more for her, but she was still under $25 shipped, and I still consider that a great deal. It’s just too bad that the one I got has a sub-par paint job. If I had to choose, I would much rather have had rough paint on one of the Fleet Girls from the game, rather than one of my beloved characters from the anime series. Given the relatively low price of the figure and how much I love the character, I’d be tempted to roll the dice and try again for a figure with better paint at some point down the line. If I get around to doing that, I’ll likely post an Addendum here to report on how I make out.

Nov 18 2016

DC Icons: (#16) Firestorm by DC Collectibles

In case you haven’t noticed, 2016’s final wave of DC Icons figures has been trickling onto the pegs. I was able to get The Joker a little early and now I’m working on picking up the rest of this four figure assortment of comic book randomness. Today I’m checking out the one figure I was looking forward to the most, and a character that still eludes my DC Universe Classics collection… Firestorm!

Firestorm comes in the same style packaging we’ve been seeing since the launch of this line. You get a clean and collector friendly window box with the figures name and number on the side panel along with the comic he’s drawn from. In this case, Firestorm hails from “Trinity War,” his last hurrah before his matrix became a living prison for the Justice League in “Forever Evil.” As always, the package gives you a great look at the figure as well as all of his extra bits and pieces.

I’ve gone on record many times for holding the rather unpopular opinion of liking most of the New 52 costumes and that holds true for Firestorm here as well. Of course, this costume isn’t a radical change from his more classical looks. As a result, I’m going to guess there aren’t that many people hating on it. I will concede that I miss the flared shoulders on his older costume, but everything else here works just fine for me. As has been the case, just about every detail on the figure’s costume is part of the sculpt, from the panel lines to the chest emblem. DCC has definitely not been cheaping out on these sculpts by re-using a lot of parts.

The coloring on this figure is absolutely fantastic. DCC uses a gorgeous, deep metallic crimson for the pants and sleeves and a pearlescent yellow and white for the rest. You also get some neon orange paint in the panel lines. There’s a slight variation between some of the painted yellow bits and the actual yellow plastic, but it’s really not that bad. I particularly dig how they used translucent red plastic discs for his chest emblem and the larger one on the back. On the downside, my figure has some scuffing on his chest, which is pretty unfortunate. These are the pitfalls of having to buy these figures online and sight unseen.

From the neck up, things are just fine. This is one of my favorite portraits in the Icons line so far and the translucent yellow and orange plastic used for his hair/flame effect looks great. You get more of that snazzy metallic crimson for his helmet and the paint lines are pretty crisp and clean.

The articulation on this line has remained consistent throughout and there are no changes here. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, with double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps and forearms. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, with double hinges in the knees and both hinges and rockers in the ankles. There’s an ab crunch hinge near the waist, a ball joint in the chest, and another ball joint in the neck. Still no thigh swivels, which remains my only gripe about these otherwise excellent figures.

Firestorm includes some pretty spiffy effect parts. These replace part of his forearms and the hands attach on to the end. I love the look of these and may actually keep them on the figure for everyday display. As someone who is generally pretty indifferent to effect parts, that’s some high praise, folks.

You also get an extra pair of hands, which are cast in translucent yellow plastic.

This line continues to scratch that itch left behind by the absence of DC Universe Classics and I find myself excited every time a new wave drops. It’s hard to believe we’re at sixteen figures already! Firestorm and Joker are both high points of this assortment for me, but I’m still on the hunt for Static Shock and Jon Stewart before the end of the year. I don’t want to venture into 2017 behind on my Icons, because it looks like DC Collectibles is going to be putting out a ton of these next year and the pre-orders are already beginning to pile up like crazy!

Nov 17 2016

Transformers Titans Return: Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro

Having been with Transformers since the beginning, you’d think it would be hard for me to name my favorite Optimus Prime toy of all time. Nope. It’s Powermaster Optimus Prime. Or, to be more specific, the Commemorative Series Re-Issue of Powermaster Optimus Prime with the Apex Armor. It may not be the best looking or most articulated Prime figure, but in terms of sheer fun, it can’t be beat. Can you even imagine my delight when Hasbro decided to take an crack at updating that toy with a Leader Class Titans Return release? I’ve pretty damn excited, so let’s jump right in and check this big guy out!

This is my first boxed figure from the Titans Return line, but it’s not all that different from the Leader Class Combiner Wars boxes. I don’t have a lot to say about the packaging, other than it is collector friendly and Prime comes in his robot mode. The top corner points out that he’s a Triple Changer, but the third mode only refers to his base mode. Thank Primus for that. I’m probably going to wind up passing on the Voyager Class G2 Prime because I don’t want my Prime’s having a third jet mode. Anyway, I’m going to start with his vehicle mode, then jump to his base mode, and end up with the robot. It’s worth stressing that this toy is mostly an homage to the original Hasbro release of Powermaster Prime and doesn’t include the Apex Armor found in the Commemorative release. Yeah, it’s the Apex Armor that makes me love that toy so much, but I still have high hopes for this one.

In keeping with the original toy, Prime’s alt mode is his original truck mode only beefed up into a sort of battle wagon. The whole thing is a little more compact than the original toy’s alt mode, but I think they handled the design pretty well. Doubly so, when you take into account that this toy is remolded from the CW Ultra Magnus figure. The base plastic used for the trailer is closer to tan than the gray used for the original toy, but I think it still looks pretty good. The jagged blue and white stripes and Autobot emblems on the sides of the trailer are instantly familiar as are the double barrel guns on the front corners of the trailer. You also get all sorts of texturing and sculpted detail all over the toy. This thing is great!

The cab is the biggest departure from the original toy. G1 Powermaster Prime’s cab was fairly close to his regular G1 cab, whereas this one looks like a beefed up, armored version, thanks to the narrow window slits and the prominent grill. The coloring on the cab is also very nice. The red plastic is bright and vibrant and the silver paint used for the grill, pipes, and other accents looks fabulous. The deco is rounded out with some blue. The cab does pivot where it links to the trailer, but it’s also permanently attached, so unlike the old Powermaster Prime, this toy has no independent transforming cab mode.

The trailer is basically a hollow shell, which makes sense when you consider that this toy started life as Ultra Magnus. The tail gate can drop down to form a ramp and you can indeed drive a Deluxe car into him. I tested it out with Chromedome and while it’s a tight fit, he will fit inside and allow you to button up the tail gate.

Prime’s little Titan Master buddy is called Apex. Sadly, he doesn’t have any paint apps to speak of, but he is comprised of all the different colored plastics that make up the bigger figure. Just a little paint on his face would have helped a lot and I don’t think its unreasonable to expect it on these more expensive toys, but I think Hasbro is done with splashing any paint on these little guys. Anyway, Apex can ride in the cab, which is pretty cool and he can also use Prime’s front trailer guns. On to the base mode…

The base mode is what it is… mostly a mis-transformed mess. I’m not a huge fan of these, but I understand that they can add a lot of play value for the kids and at least they give you playsets to use all your little Titan Masters with. In this case, you have a control area in the middle, a couple of towers on each side and ramps leading up to the two gunner stations. It’s OK, but I think the base mode for the G1 Powermaster Prime was a little better.

As I already mentioned Prime’s cab doesn’t feature an independent robot mode, so this toy jumps straight to the big and beefy Prime robot mode, and I absolutely adore this guy. There’s some really clever stuff here, like the way the trailer panels wrap around to fill out his legs and the torso still looks like it’s something you plug the cab into, even though it’s all an integral part of the transformation. He’s a lot better proportioned than the old toy and he obviously features better articulation as well. The coloring is still plenty nice, even if it is missing some of the paint pictured on the box images.

He even looks pretty good from the back. You get a little cab kibble, but for the most part everything else is just solid plates. I really wish he had some lateral rockers in those ankles, though. He’s perfectly stable as he is, but it would have made the wide stances look a lot better.

The Headmaster gimmick here is a little strange in that Apex transforms into a head that sits inside Prime’s head. It’s sort of like what we saw with Voyager Galvatron, only much, much better. Apex’s head mode looks a lot like an Orion Pax homage, although maybe they were going for something like the Apex robot mode from the G1 toy. Either way, once you close down the Prime head, the only thing that shows through from Apex are the eyes and while they are deep set, I think they look fine. The head still turns, so I’ve got no problems with any of this.

The two black guns that mount on Prime’s trailer become his rifles in robot mode and the others peg into his shoulders. While Prime’s hands are hinged, there are also tab slots in the plate under his hands that the gun handles will plug into. Closing the fingers around the grip make it look like he’s holding them, but you’re also getting that added degree of stability, which is nice.

I’ll freely admit that I’m biased when it comes to this Powermaster Prime homage. I love the original so much and this release is such a wonderful love letter to that toy. He looks great, he’s surprisingly quick and easy to transform, and he’s so much fun to play with. He also scales nicely with the Combiner Wars Leader Class figures, so I finally have a Prime that can stand up to that Megatron. Never in a million years would I have guessed Hasbro would give us something like this and yet here it is, proudly standing on my desk. For budgetary reasons, I decided that I was going to go Hasbro straight down the board for Titans Return, but I love this toy so much, I’m tempted to double dip and spring for the Takara version when its released. It’s just one of those figures where I need to know that I own the best possible version of the mold. I’m also seriously considering going back and grabbing that Ultra Magnus, just so I can appreciate this toy even more.

Nov 16 2016

Gothitropolis: Eagalus by The Four Horsemen

Well, it’s not exactly Mythic Legions, but the big sale this past Monday on StoreHorsemen got me remembering that I had a one-off purchase of the T4H’s Gothitroplis line hanging around for quite a while now and I think it’s long past time that I opened him up and gave him a look. So let’s keep the Wednesday Four Horsemen love going with Eagalus!

BIRDS! The Gothitropolis series is all about humanoid avian warriors. It’s an idea that is sort of hit and miss with me depending on the bird the figure is based off of. Some of these work extremely well and others not so much. I was never going to go deep on this line, but I frequently regretted not picking up Eagalus as a stand alone figure. Some time later one of my Twitter buddies and fellow Toy Hound offered his up for sale and I took the bait. The packaging here is very similar to what I’ve been showing from the Mythic Legions line, in other words, it’s simple, serviceable, and collector friendly. The back of the card just slides off of the bubble allowing you to get at the goods. The cards are all the same and feature shots of the different figures in the line on the back panel.

Eagalus is an unbridled testament to T4H’s sculpting and painting chops. I mean, we’ve become accustom to seeing their stuff from Mattel, but lines like Gothitropolis (and Mythic Legions) leaves them unconstrained by corporate costing and limitations. What’s that Mr. Corporate Bean Counter? We have to cut out three paint applications to bring the project in under budget? Nope, there are no such handicaps here, and what we get is a masterpiece. I mean just look at this beautiful sonovabitch and tell me that this isn’t the most beautiful Eagle Man Warrior that you’ve ever seen.

In addition to the individually sculpted feathers that make up most of the body, Eagalus is showing off some incredible detail in his outfit. Just look at all the intricate decorations on his sash and all the great Revolutionary War-styled gear that’s sculpted onto his belt. And the paint! There are so many colors and the quality of the paintwork on this figure just blows my mind. There’s more paint operations and attention to detail on this belt and gear alone than we get on an entire figure from those other guys. Not to mention the paint on each of the individual sculpted feathers. I particularly like the metallic purple paint used on the armor with the red trim.

From the back we can get a better look at his intricate armor and more of his handsomely feathered body. Even the scales on his feet are individually sculpted. Also, check out those little wing nubbins on his back. I’ll come back to those in just a bit. Like Mythic Legions, the articulation on this figure includes lots and lots of rotating hinges and the figure is largely modular, so Eagalus can be taken apart at the joints and mixed and matched with other Gothitropolis figures.

The head sculpt is also worth gushing over. It’s teeming with patriotic nobility and bird bad-assery. The paint on the beak looks especially good and I love all the detail they sculpted inside his mouth. From top to tail, this guy is high art and I haven’t even let him spread his wings yet!

Yes, you can pull out those two wing nubbins from his back and pop in his real wings. If you own the DC Universe Classics Hawkman or Hawkgirl, you’ll likely find these familiar. They attach with the same style of rotating hinge peg and are jointed about midway through each wing to allow them to spread or fold up. The sculpting here is every bit as detailed as what we got on the rest of the figure. They are, however, a bit heavy, and the joints are sadly not always up to the task of holding themselves up. In addition to the wings, you also get three pairs of feet. One set is designed to stand on, one set are grasping feet, and the others are perfect for when you want to pose Eagalus in flight.

Eagalus also comes with this bitchin’ cloak patterned after the American Flag and with a bird-shaped starfield. It’s beautifully tailored, with a ragged cut bottom edge, and some additional holes for weathering. It fits right over his head and fits him pretty well.

And lastly, Eagalus includes a mace-spear pole weapon. It’s so damn long that it comes broken down into two pieces in the package.

Like most of the Gothitropolis figures, Eagalus was originally priced around $35, but quickly sold out. For a while he was going for a ton of monies on the second hand market. I bought mine for about $60 and it was worth every penny. T4H have since re-released him, which made the prices for this guy more palatable, but only for a short while. Last time I looked for him there weren’t any on Ebay and most of the big toy e-tailers had sold out even with prices in the $70 range. Yes, he was part of Monday’s StoreHorsemen sale, but as you probably guessed… he sold out there as well. So, if you want a majestic eagle-human-hybrid warrior for your action figure collection and you see him for a reasonable price, don’t hesitate. Personally, I may wind up displaying him with my Bioshock Infinite figures. I think he looks great with the Motorized Patriot’s flags and mini gun.

Nov 15 2016

ThunderCats Classics: Jackalman by Mattel

Hurray! It’s time for another depressing look into Matty’s still-born ThunderCats Classics action figure line. The second figure in this very short-lived line is none other than Jackalman, and that’s great, because why spend the slots getting us an entire team of ThunderCats when Matty can give us little bits and pieces of an incomplete line? Why not just kick me in the dick with a steel toed boot while you’re at it, you assholes! Anyway, in addition to being cut short, these figures have also been arriving really late. Jackalman is October’s release and mine only just arrived a few days ago.

Here’s a look at the packaging, which is mostly the same as we saw with Lion-O. You get a black mailer box, this time with Mumm-Ra’s logo on the front and some nice monochrome art on the side panels. Inside, the figure comes in a colorful window box with a trap door in the bottom to slide out the tray. You get a great look at the figure from the front and the back panel has some rather colorful and unconventional character art, as well as a blurb about the character. In a nutshell, the presentation here is absolutely superb and it’s totally collector friendly. Jackalman has the dubious distinction of being the first and very likely the last of The Evil Mutants to be released in this line, unless of course Super7 can work licensing miracles. Yeah, that isn’t going to happen.

And that’s a crying shame because this figure is fantastic! Jackalman makes use of a fair bit of the MOTUC Beastman buck. I never thought it would work as well as it does here. And yet, Jackalman feels even less like an MOTUC-styled figure to me than Lion-O did. Part of the illusion of newness comes from the clever way Matty layered the neck and additional shoulder fur onto the buck by sculpting it as part of the left shoulder armor and chest straps. Jackalman is still wearing a belt and furry diaper, but these are both new sculpts and are very distinctive. The minimalist detail on the shoulder armor really lends itself to an animated look, and I dig the leopard print armor plate strapped to his forearm.

The coloring on this figure is nice and vibrant. The orange-brown fur is pretty close to Beastman’s coloring, but I think this figure still manages to carry a unique look without feeling like a glorified custom. I will concede that the paint could have been cleaner in some areas. For example, there’s a little chipping to the gray borders on his ankle cuffs and the white paint on my figure’s right fang is sloppy. I’d say that the paint QC is in step with the recent MOTUC figures I’ve been getting, which is to say not terrible, but not as good as it was in the earlier days of the line either.

If there’s any one thing that really sells this figure for me, it’s the head sculpt. They’ve really managed to capture the personality of this particular Mutant in the portrait. It’s so good that it just reinforces what a damn shame it is that we’ll never get to see them take a stab at Vultureman, Monkian, or Ssslithe.

The articulation here is very similar to the MOTUC line. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps, and hinges in the elbows. The legs have rotating hinges and swivels in the hips and hinges in the knees. There’s a swivel in the waist and an ab crunch hinge in the chest. The neck is ball jointed. The improvements include hinges and some rather generous lateral rockers in the ankles and the wrists are on rotating hinges. Jackalman comes with an extra set of hands that offer a little more versatility with the accessories, but I found them to be unnecessary.

Speaking of accessories, Jackalman comes with two weapons. First off, we have this pretty cool club with a spike in it. It’s a wickedly gnarled sculpt with a lot of personality for a simple club.

Even better, you get this amazing axe. It’s a two-handed pole weapon with a wood grain pattern sculpted into the shaft. I love the crude, hammered look to the axe head.

While the paint could have been a little tighter on my figure, I still think Jackalman is a fantastic release and yet another example of how great this line could be if it were ever allowed to go the distance. At the same time, I can’t help but feel a little resentful that with so few different figures being made, one of them is Jackalman. Yes, I realize that the releases were planned out before the line was shit-canned. And yes, it’s bad form to blame Jackalman for not being Cheetara, Tygra, or even Ssslithe. But it’s hard not to think that way.

Nov 14 2016

Marvel Legends (Rhino Wave): Kraven The Hunter by Hasbro

Another Marvel Monday, another Marvel Legends figure, and I’m continuing my slog through the old news that is the Rhino Wave. But I’m rather excited today, because I finally get to open one of my most anticipated figures in this wave… Kraven The Hunter! Hasbro did an incredible job on the 3 3/4-inch Marvel Universe version and ever since getting that figure I’ve been hunting (HA!) down as many comics as I could find in which he makes an appearance. I even went back and re-read Kraven’s Last Hunt earlier this year. That’s one of the cool things about collecting comic figures. Sometimes they make me take a second look at a character I didn’t give two shits about and suddenly my universe is expanded. Suffice it to say, I’ve subsequently grown pretty fond of Kraven and I have some pretty high hopes for this 6-inch Legends release.

The box is branded for Spider-Man at the top, along with a web-pattern illustrated on the tray behind the figure. This is another one of those instances of slot sharing and in this case the “Savage Force” consists of Kraven and Chameleon, which is certainly appropriate given their relationship. Indeed, this is one of the less tenuous character connections for one of these split slot packages that Hasbro has done in a while.

I’m not going to mince words, Kraven is absolutely freaking amazing. Thanks to his outrageous costume design, Hasbro had a lot to work with here and quite frankly they knocked it out of the park. About the only things really plain here are the upper legs and the bare chested buck and upper arms. Those legs get by with just brown paint for Kraven’s pants and the biceps have his animal print straps painted on. Everything else here is represented by beautiful new sculpting.

Kraven is sporting a pair of boots with sculpted wrappings and some wicked looking human skulls as knee pads with sculpted fringe around the legs.

The bare chest is covered by Kraven’s iconic lion head vest, which is basically a lion head split straight down the middle with the mane forming a rather large and regal looking collar that spills onto his shoulders and down his back. While I haven’t tried it, the vest appears to be pretty easily removed. Kraven’s forearms feature sculpted leather wrappings and fingerless gloves and he has a tribal necklace hanging around his neck. His belt is a separate piece that pegs together in the back and features enough pouches to make Deadpool jealous, as well as some sculpted sashes hanging down from his hips.

If all this wasn’t good enough, Hasbro ponied up for one of the better head sculpts that I’ve seen in any recent Legends releases. The detail in Sergei’s face is sharp, the skin tone is perfect and the paint… well, the paint looks fine until you get up really close and it starts to break down a little. Still, it’s fine.

The articulation on this guy is fantastic. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, there are swivels in the biceps, and the elbows are double hinged. THe legs are ball jointed at the hips, there are swivels at the thighs and tops of the boots, and the knees are double hinged. The ankles feature hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist, a ball joint in the chest and the neck has both a hinge and a ball joint.

Besides one of Rhino’s gams, Kraven comes with a pretty cool spear accessory. It features a sculpted wood texture on the staff, a bronze painted tip, and some sculpted feathers strung around the base of the tip just to make it look pretty. His hands are sculpted so he can wield the spear in either hand or both.

Legends is a line that gets a lot of mileage out of simple painted bucks, but every once and a while a character like Kraven here give Hasbro a chance to shine.

Nov 12 2016

S.H. Figuarts: Sailor Venus by Bandai Tamashii Nations

I’m slowly wrapping things up with the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon line with just a few more figures to look at. In fact, today’s Feature will be the last of the Sailor Scouts! I’ll confess that I’m still considering Sailor Chibi Moon and I’ll most definitely be adding Tuxedo Mask to my Sailor Moon shelf at some point. And no, right now I have no plans to double dip by getting all the Super Sailor Scouts. Black Lady? Hmm… maybe. So, let’s press on and check out Pretty Guardian Sailor Venus… VENUS POWER… MAKE UP!!!!

I’ve showcased this packaging enough times over the last two years that we should all know what to expect by now. It’s compact, colorful, and collector friendly. In other words, it’s pretty much perfect. The character art on the side panels also make these look fantastic when they’re all lined up on a bookshelf. I’ll be honest, I was not planning on buying Minako, because I had a weird love-hate relationship with her in the anime. But once I had all the other Sailor Scouts, her absence from my collection was just too much for my OCD to handle.

Venus’ outfit is basically just a direct repaint of Sailor Moon’s, with the exception of her wearing shoes instead of boots. As a result, this is a pretty familiar figure to anyone who already owns Usagi, and even more so to those like me who saved Minako for last. The skirt and collar are painted with a very attractive metallic orange, as well as her shoes and the fringe on her gloves. The bow on her front is blue with a gold button and the rest of the outfit is the same pearlescent white that we’ve been seeing all along. Paint quality is generally not an issue with these figures and in keeping with tradition the paint here is exceptionally good and probably among the best out of all of my Scouts. I initially thought that Venus’ head sat unusually high on the neck, but it turns out I didn’t have it pushed all the way in for some of these shots. D’oh!

There’s not as much to see from behind because of her copious mane of blonde hair that fans out behind her. She still has a bow on her back, under all that hair, and the more visible one up on the back of her head. The sides are connected by ball joints, so you can fan the hair out more or less depending on the look you’re going for. It also helps when you’re trying to sneak the arm of the stand in somewhere behind her. Despite all her hair, the balance on this figure isn’t bad at all and I’m actually surprised at how well she stands on her own most of the time, even with her tiny feet. In addition to the usual gaggle of extra hands, Venus comes with four faces with different expressions, each one more adorable than the last…

You get the smile face, the stoic and serious face, the shouty face, and the delighted face. This is pretty standard stuff for an SHF release, but it gives you plenty of different display options. Each face is swapped out the usual way by removing the front of the hair. The printing for the eyes is nice and sharp and each face includes the detailed gold tiara and the tiny earrings.

Two cool additions here are the extra hair piece with her glasses attached and the hand holding them. These are very welcome bonus pieces and go along way to give this figure a lot of personality. I particularly like the way they made the glasses part of the hair so you can use them with any of the different expressions.

The articulation is pretty standard stuff for an SH Figuart and as always I was able to pull off most of the moves I was looking for. The joints can be a little finicky sometimes, but in the end these figures are so much fun to play with and really hard to put down. The clear heart-shaped figure stand features Sailor Venus’ name and symbols in orange and matches the stands from the other Sailor Scouts. It’s not always easy to make it work with the hair, and I’ll confess that more and more, I’m finding these a lot more clunky than the peg system on Figmas.

And naturally, you get Artemus the cat. This is more or less the same as Luna, the plastic kitty that came with Sailor Moon. She has articulation in the neck and tail and with a little coaxing he can usually stand on his own.

In the end, I’m sure glad I didn’t skip this one. I wound up buying Venus from the Points of Articulation Podcast‘s Ebay page, which they use to offset costs of their production. If you aren’t a regular listener, I highly recommend becoming one. Phil and Justin have roots in both toys and gaming, and POA is the perfect dose of light-hearted toy banter, especially since the shows rarely go longer than an hour. I can always fit it in and I never miss an episode. They also tend to do more LEGO talk than the other toy Podcasts I listen to and that’s always a treat.

Nov 11 2016

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Wonder Woman (Ver. 2) by DC Collectibles

Back when Cover Girls got rebooted, Wonder Woman was one of the first statues out of the gate. That initial release remains one of the very few of these ladies that I don’t own. It’s nothing against that particular statue, I just never got around to going back and picking her up. Well, now DCC has done a second version of her, and it’s spectacular, I doubt I’ll have any desire to revisit the first.

There’s nothing new to say about the packaging. It’s the same fully enclosed box that houses a brick of styrofoam with the statue inside. The back of the box has photos of Bleez and the second version of Harley Quinn. Wonder Woman comes wrapped in plastic and measures at just around 9 1/2-inches tall. All you need to do is plug her into the base via a pair of metal rods and she’s all ready for display.

There’s so much I love about this piece, I’m not sure where to begin. Yes, it’s a very conservative and conventional pose. Diana is standing with her left hip to the side and her hand resting on it. She holds her golden lasso in her right hand and her right foot is behind her with the toe of her boot touching the back of the base. It’s not action packed. It’s not even all that original. But, I think the composition here just captures the character so well. It’s heroic, it’s noble, and perhaps most of all it’s confident. And those are all qualities that I associate with this Amazon goddess.

The costume here is most definitely the New 52 look and I’ve never had a problem with it. It pays respects to her traditional look with just a little extra oompf. Her one piece features the red segmented middle with the reinforced silver border on the top, an integral silver “belt” and finishes at the bottom with the blue “undies” with white stars. She has her simple blue boots with the white border at the top that points in the front, her silver arm bracers and the silver band on her left bicep. The muscle tone in her arms is particularly well done and she’s certainly packing some assets up front.

As good as everything is from the neck down, the portrait is even better. In fact, I’d say this is one of the best since the line rebooted. Not only is Diana beautiful, but I’m in love with her eyes and her little grinning smirk. Again, she just exudes confidence. She looks like she’s about to get into the fray and is thinking, “this is going to be fun.” The fine details on her choker and tiara are fantastic and I just love what they did with her hair as it cascades down and behind her right shoulder. She’s just plain dreamy.

I’ve had a few slight issues with paint on a couple of my recent Cover Girls, but where they fumbled, Wonder Woman grabs the ball and goes the distance. In fact, I might as well start by pointing out the only issue on the whole piece and that’s a tiny stroke of stray silver paint near her left elbow. The rest of this piece is meticulously painted with sharp edges and barely a brush mark to speak of. The red and blue are both rich and the silver is bright and beautiful. I also love her skin tone. It’s soft, warm, and appropriately tanned.

So, if I had to pick something to gripe about, I’ll go with the translucent yellow plastic they used for her coiled lasso. I get what they were going for here, I don’t think it looks bad, but I think it would have looked better had they just painted it with a nice gold leaf paint, like the kind they used on the base.

Speaking of which, the base is the standard Cover Girls oval with a gold surface and accents and the edges painted white. There are tiny WW emblems at the cardinal points, all painted gold. As usual, these statues are limited to 5,200 pieces and hand numbered on the bottom of the base. Mine is 2,504.

I was looking forward to getting Wonder Woman on my Cover Girls shelf ever since they revealed this second version and I’m happy to say she did not disappoint. In fact, she’s instantly become one of my favorite pieces in this line. Everything about this piece just comes together so beautifully and the quality of craftsmanship on display here should be the standard they look to. To make things even better, I got a ridiculously great deal on her. While I would have been perfectly happy paying the MSRP of a hundred bucks, I was able to pick her up for $60. Not too shabby at all.

Nov 10 2016

Transformers Universe 2.0: Skyfall by Hasbro

It’s Transformers Thursday and still no new Titans Return figures for me to look at this week. I do have that G2 Superion set kicking around, but I’m saving that for a real dry spell. Luckily, I have an older figure to gush over today, thanks to a fellow collector on Twitter who posted a picture of this fella in their collection and making me realize that I needed him. This was a loose Ebay grab, so I’ve got no in package shot to offer. So, let’s have a look at Skyfall from the Transformers Universe line and jump right into his alt mode.

SEXY! This alt mode might look a little familiar. If so, that’s because Skyfall is a straight repaint of Silverbolt. Yeah, for some reason Hasbro decided to make a one-off, non-combining Aerialbot for their Classics/Universe/Generations line. I always thought that was weird. I owned Silverbolt, he was a great toy, but I eventually traded him away when I started collecting TFC’s Not-Aerialbots. He seemed superfluous. The fact that he got a Decepticon repaint gave me a great excuse to get the mold back into my collection again and as a brand new character. In his original G1 colors, this mold had a passing resemblance to Silverbolt’s old Concorde alt mode, I suppose, but with the back-swept fixed wings and the jagged cut rear, this fresh coat of paint really goes a long way to make it look like a lean, mean, Decepticon fighting machine.

Besides being a great alt mode, it’s the colors on this toy that really sells it. The new deco features some lovely high-gloss black plastic with gorgeous red and gold paint apps, all of which conspires to bring out the stealth fighter in this mold. Toss in some silver Decepticon logos and registry numbers and this is one gorgeous aircraft. There’s also some translucent red plastic on the windshields, the back of the engines, and set into the intakes. Because Skyfall is an Ultra Class he has some added electronics. You press the button on his back to cycle through the different effects. The first press offers a flyby sound, the second press is the engines starting up and flashing, the third press are the guns firing with those intake lights flashing. I’m not usually a big fan of electronics in my Transformers toys, but here’s an instance where I think they work great.

Skyfall also features a large missile launcher slung under the nose and canopy. It incorporates the black, red, and gold color scheme of the rest of the aircraft and it fires pretty well. There are three sets of hinged landing gear and yes, because this is a Silverbolt repaint, there’s plenty of boxy robot kibble hanging off the bottom of the plane. Thankfully, it all tucks away pretty neatly. There isn’t a whole lot to transforming Skyfall. You just fold out the arms and legs and fold the aircraft onto his back. Those lights and sounds come into effect for the head reveal. When you push his legs up into place the head pops up and you get that wonderful transforming sound from the G1 cartoon as well as flashing eyes.

If you didn’t recognize Silverbolt in the alt mode, than surely you can see him here, as Skyfall is just Silverbolt with a more sinister paint job. I absolutely adore this robot mode. The entire torso is so evocative of the G1 aesthetic and I really dig the way the landing gear hatches sit on his shoulders. How cool would it have been if they could have converted these to opening rocket packs for Skyfall! Anyway, the deco retains the same black and red palate with a little gold and silver and once again the coloring on this figure is gorgeous. My only complaint here is that I think the empty gold square in his chest is an odd choice. They should have just moved the Decepticon logo from his right shoulder to there. But, now I’m really nitpicking.

As mentioned, Skyfall wears the entire jet mode folded it up on his back. It packs away pretty well and isn’t nearly as kibbly as one might expect. It also doesn’t make him too back heavy. I think it looks fine, but it would have been even better if there was a way to rotate it so the nose was pointing down and the wings swept out like a cape.

The head is the same Silverbolt sculpt and it works surprisingly well as a Decepticon. What was a noble hint of a smile as an Autobot becomes a slightly smug smirk for a Decepticon. I dig the gold paint used for the face and those eyes look fantastic for that brief moment when they’re flashing after the transformation. In this mode you can still press the button on his back to get the firing sound effect.

The articulation here is nothing special by today’s standards, but not bad for a 2009 release. The arms and legs feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and hips and hinges in the elbows and knees. You also get swivels in the biceps and thighs and the head swivels as well. Nearly all the joints on this guy are strong ratchets and heel spurs help stabilize him. He’s a solid figure that can really hold a pose.

Naturally, the gun in his aircraft mode becomes his rifle in robot mode and he can hold it in either hand.

It’s been a while since I was able to gush all over an older Transformer, but Skyfall is definitely worthy of the attention. I think he scales really well with the Leader Class Decepticons, especially Combiner Wars Megatron and the Seekers. The aesthetics of both his alt and robot modes still hold up splendidly and while he’s a relatively simple toy for his size, he makes up for it with some value added electronics. He’ll serve my Decepticon forces well as a long range aerial spy. I mean with a name like Skyfall, he’s got to be a spy, right? I seem to recall these Ultra Class toys selling for around $30 new. I was able to pick up Skyfall in beautiful condition for $20, but half of that was shipping, and well worth every penny to get this mold back into my collection.

Nov 9 2016

Mythic Legions: Pixxus by The Four Horsemen

OK, here’s what’s really going to be the last Mythic Legions Wednesday for a while. No, for reals. I don’t expect my Troll or any of the Wave 1.75 figures to ship until next year, so this will really be it. What’s that? Some figures I might have missed are going up for order this Friday? Well, damn… maybe I’ll get lucky. In the meantime, let’s check out Pixxus!

Obligatory packaged shot! Although, I don’t know why I bother anymore. Even though this is a Wave 1.5 figure, these are all pretty much the same package with just a different bubble insert with the character’s bio blurb on the right hand panel. These packages look good, they’re collector friendly, but I’ve broken all mine down and put them into storage. Pixxus is one of the two figures in the Wave 1.5 collection that I couldn’t live without, even though my bank account was still smarting from my Wave 1 excesses. And so for now he and the Templar, Sir Godfrey are the only representations I have from this Wave.

And hooooly crap is this a gorgeous figure. Just because you’re a skeleton warrior doesn’t mean you have to wear dreary old armor. Pixxus is living proof, er… living dead proof of that, as he’s kitted out in what is easily one of the most striking armor decos of the entire line. In case you haven’t noticed, he re-uses a majority of the parts from Vitus, with only the arms and upper legs swapped out from flesh for bones. The armor is now painted with an outrageous metallic blue and all the trim is decked out in gold. The combo is a feast for the eyes, so much so, that I choose to believe this armor is somehow meant to be enchanted, because nothing that’s not magic should ever look this good.

Just check out that detail in the gauntlets and belt. Yeah, this belt continues to be one of my favorite pieces in this collection. It’s not just that it looks so good, but it’s so versatile. T4H have made it work as a tribal looking folksy Orc belt and here it looks like a regal piece of gladiatorial garb. Here we can also see that they used a slightly darker blue, almost purple, to fill in some of the patterns. And yes, even the tiniest rivets on the gauntlets and boots are individually painted gold. There’s also a sword loop on the right hip should you want to make use of it.

The helmet also looks incredible in these colors, as does the segmented armor that’s sculpted as part of the skeleton upper arms. Again, you get more of the wonderful gold trim, including all that painted scroll work on the cheek protectors. Damn, this guy looks so good!

While I don’t recall it being advertised as coming with the figure, Pixxus includes a skull head, so you can display him with the helmet off. It’s a highly detailed piece of work with some wonderful paint to back it up. All the little crags and fissures are there in the bone to make it look aged, and the jaw is even articulated. Fabulous!

It’s time to talk weapons and Pixxus comes with some stuff we’ve seen before and one brand new piece. First off, you get the two-handed sword, which we’ve seen many times before, this time with the hilt painted copper. You get the usual brown sword belt too, and since Pixxus doesn’t come with shoulder armor pieces, it makes for a great cross strap so he can carry the sword across his back.

Next up is a new piece to me and that’s his circular bronze shield. This is a welcome alternative to seeing the same shield over and over again and I think it fits the gladiator style of this armor better than the more conventional knightly shield. The border has a notched pattern running around the edge and you get some runes sculpted just inside of that. The inside uses the same pegged clip as the other shield. I wish we got this shield with Vitus too. He may have to borrow this one from Pixxus from time to time.

And lastly, you get the spear, this time with some actual paint variation. The tip is painted silver and the shaft is painted the same coppery color as the sword hilt.

Pixxus is yet another fine example of how well T4H designed the components that make up this line. A nip here and a tuck there, a fresh coat of paint and you really do get what feels like a brand new figure. There were a bunch of great looking figures in Wave 1.5 and I wish I could have picked up all of them, but I do try to maintain a modicum of fiscal responsibility now and then and so I had to go with the two that stood out the most to me. For Pixxus here it was partly that I wanted another Skeleton, but mostly because of that heavenly paint job. In a line of fantastic looking figures, he manages to be a stunner!

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

KanColle: Destroyer Shimakaze by Taito

DC Icons: (#16) Firestorm by DC Collectibles

Transformers Titans Return: Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro

Gothitropolis: Eagalus by The Four Horsemen

ThunderCats Classics: Jackalman by Mattel

Marvel Legends (Rhino Wave): Kraven The Hunter by Hasbro

S.H. Figuarts: Sailor Venus by Bandai Tamashii Nations

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Wonder Woman (Ver. 2) by DC Collectibles

Transformers Universe 2.0: Skyfall by Hasbro

Mythic Legions: Pixxus by The Four Horsemen

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