Sep 14 2016

Mythic Legions: Urzokk by The Four Horsemen

Holy crap, it’s Wednesday again and time to check out another figure from The Four Horsemen’s magical, mystical, and certainly mythical line of kickstarted 6-inch scale fantasy figures. Phew, that was a mouthful. What do you say? Time for another Orc? Yeah, let’s do another Orc…

After looking at well over a dozen figures, I’ve said all there is to say about the packaging in this line, so let’s take a quick look at the bio. Urzokk is what you would call an Orc success story. He buckled down and gave it his all, killing lots and lots of humans. Eventually he rose through the ranks of the army to not only hold a command position among his fellow Orcs, but he also became a trusted colleague of the evil Gorgo Aetherblade. See, kids? If you truly apply yourself and there are no limits!

Urzokk comes fully armored, and boy do I love this armor. It’s grimy and functional, and just the sort of thing I imagine that an Orc General would wear. This is also another brilliant reuse of a lot of parts we saw before in a brand new combination that makes it work as an entirely fresh figure. The torso, upper arms, and upper legs are pulled from the line’s standard knightly armored figures. These pieces are mated with the cruder, bulkier, and more angular Orc armor for the lower arms and legs. The paint here is absolutely phenomenal. The same armor pieces that looked so majestic and noble on the Hero Knights now looks old, worn, and caked in mud. This magnificent new body is capped off with the leather scale style groin piece.

Of course, if you want to bulk Urzokk up, he comes with a pair of the heavy and angular Orc shoulders, which peg into the back of the figure. There is also one piece on this guy that we haven’t seen before and that’s the rather sinister looking neck guard. Both the shoulders and neck guard feature some wonderful nicks and wear in the sculpt and that same amazingly weathered paint job really drives the worn and used look of the armor beautifully.

The standard head is a fantastic sculpt. I’ve been a little underwhelmed with some of the human faces in this line, but the Orcs have been superb. This portrait is just packed with grim personality from the tusks protruding out of his bottom jaw to the pointed ears and the veins sculpted in on the sides of his head. The piercing yellow eyes are creepy and I love the deep shade of green they use for the Orc skin. Urzokk also features some white war paint to set him apart from the rank and file soldiers. If that’s not enough, the figure also includes a spare head without the war paint, which is a great bonus if you want to swap it with any of the other Orcs to make a new style of foot soldier, or just stick it on the end of one of the hero’s spears.

While the extra head is a nice surprise, the other accessories are all things we’ve seen before. The sword is the longer two-handed version with the stylish crossguard and slight swell toward the end of the blade. I love this sculpt, but I do wish they had weathered Urzokk’s a bit. It looks a little too clean for this guy, especially in contrast with his armor. I really liked the patina of rust they put on Urkku’s sword and something like that would have been welcome here. Of course, you also get the standard brown belt so that the figure can wear the sword on his waist or across his back.

Urzokk comes with the same style of shield we’ve been seeing all along. There’s a wrist clip that pegs into the back and it holds quite well. This shield has a unique painted crest, in this case a black skull emblem against a crimson field. While the sword was clean, this shield has some nice distressed paint effects to make it look battle worn.

Finally, it’s our old favorite, the axe, this time with a bronze painted shaft and the usual ability to change it from a single to double bladed weapon. Like the sword, I think the axe is a little too clean for this figure, but it’s still a great piece.

Urzokk was one of those figures that didn’t make my original cut, when budgeting the add on’s for my Kickstarter Backer Rewards. Luckily they later extended the pre-order period and I was able to find some money and add him and a few other figures. He is no doubt a fantastic looking figure and while I’m sure I say this almost every time, this one is very high up on my list of favorites. The new combination of armor pieces works wonderfully and the weathered paint effects are flawlessly executed. And that leaves just three more figures to check out before I’m all caught up. I’ve got a Dwarf, a Knight, and one more Orc left and I think I’ll take them in that order. T4H are expecting new figures to be shipping out in about a month, so I may even have some more to look at by the time I wrap this up.

Sep 13 2016

Masters of the Universe Classics: Crita by Mattel

The news has been out for a while now that Matty Collector’s days are numbered. The site as we know it will close up shop at the end of the year and the rest of their stock is now up for grabs. Sadly, it’s mostly the late-game figures that don’t garner a lot of interest. That reminds me, I do need to get me a new Flogg, since the crotch on mine inexplicably exploded while it was sitting bagged in a tote. And in all this turmoil, I completely forgot that I still have a Masters Classics figure from last month waiting to be opened. I better open this one up now, because September is going to be a big month with quite a few figures rolling in.

Her name is Crita and she dances on the sand… no, wait… that’s Rio from Duran Duran. Let’s try that again. Her name is Crita and she hails from the New Adventures cartoon series. I have no idea who she is, other than one of the evil Space Mutants, and since there are no bios on the backs of the packages anymore, I’m no more the wiser. But not knowing a particular character has never stopped me from enjoying any figure in this line before. I just have to do some research. Thanks to the magic of The Yootoobs, I’m off to watch an episode of the cartoon that she appeared in called “Escape from Gaolotia.” BRB!

…And NOPE! I couldn’t get through it, but I saw enough to know that Crita and Skeletor might have had a little sumthin-sumthin going on and she talks like she smokes 30 packs of Marlboros a day.

And here she is in all her glory. I don’t get what they were going for with her design. Most of the Space Mutants each had their own crazy thing going on, but I can’t figure out what that is supposed to be with Crita. She’s a lavender skinned lady in a purple dress, purple boots, and a blue half cape kind of thing that is permanently attached to her arm bracers. At the risk of dropping two 80’s music references in one MOTUC review, this looks like Space Stevie Nicks. Holy shit, now I can’t unsee it. Some of the finer details of her ensemble include a gold belt, a gold amulet around her neck, a sculpted ring on her right hand, and what appears to be a bone necklace. Seriously, what’s going on with this chick?

Have I mentioned this cape thing? Yeah, I did, but it begs further study. Never sacrifice agility for fashion, especially if you’re in a career that demands you fight people for a living. I would have been a whole lot more forgiving of this thing if you could un-peg it from the arms, but you can’t. It’s like some kind of bizarre fashion bondage accessory designed to inhibit her arm movement. Apparently Space Stevie Nicks is a little kinky!

Crita may be a product of the 90’s, but she’s got hair straight out of the 80’s. Forget Space Stevie Nicks, she looks like she should be a backup vocalist for Jem and the Holograms. Or maybe The Misfits, since she’s a bad girl. My point is she’s got a whole lot of hair. The portrait is pretty standard stuff for this line. She’s pretty, but nobody ever sat her down and told her that too much eye makeup makes her look like a whore. The gold tiara is a nice touch.

By now we all know the standard articulation for the MOTUC female bucks, but I’ve only got so many of these figures left, so let’s run it down for old time’s sake. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. Of course, the range of motion is limited, so if you want one arm out the other arm needs to be close to her side, and even then, you don’t get a lot of range of motion here. The legs feature ball joints and swivels in the hips, and hinges in the knees and ankles. Here too, Crita suffers some limitation, this time because of her skirt. Finally, you get a swivel in the waist and a ball joint in the neck.

Crita comes with three accessories. First, you have her gold wand with a rose-colored opaque stone embedded in it. I didn’t watch enough of the episode to figure out what her powers are, but I presume she’s some kind of spell-slinger. Either that or she just hits people with this wand. Actually, it does have a more conventional use…

It transforms into a whip. No, it doesn’t really transform, this is a second accessory presenting the wand in whip form. I kind of like it. It’s different. I mean, rocker chicks from space with magic whips? I can dig that.

And lastly, she comes with what I believe is a fear gas gun. I hate this thing. It looks like somebody 3D-printed it. Seriously, not a single lick of paint on an accessory this big is inexcusable when you consider the price of these figures and getting her to hold it in any convincing manner is all but impossible. Also, I kind of hate that it’s not a keytar.

And that’s Crita, folks. Contrary to how it may sound, I don’t really dislike this figure at all. I kind of hate that I paid about $35 for her when you factor in shipping, but whatever. The rest of this Collectors Choice Sub has been rock solid, and if Crita’s the worst of the bunch, that’s still not too bad. I know quite a few folks were complaining about the QC on this one, like maybe it’s getting worse as the line gets closer to the end, but I don’t have any issues with mine, other than a stray spot of paint or two. Really, in the end my main gripe here is that her outfit is restricting, and she’s just not a lot of fun to play with. But in the end, it’s just nice to have a chick on hand to spruce up my Space Mutant shelf.

Sep 12 2016

Marvel Gallery: Spider-Gwen (SDCC Exclusive) by Diamond Select

What’s this? Marvel Monday without Marvel Legends? Yeah, since I’m between waves of Legends, I’m taking the opportunity to look at something different before engaging on a month-and-a-half long expedition into the Civil War Giant Man Wave. Marvel Gallery is DST’s extension of the Femme Fatales line of PVC statues and while all of the Marvel editions so far have been ladies, they will be including some dudes in both this line and their DC Animated series, hence the change in name. Today I’m checking out the SDCC Exclusive Edition of Spider-Gwen, which features an unmasked head.

I really like the packaging for these statues. The boxes are fairly small and feature windows on the front, sides, and top to allow you to get a good look at the piece before you buy it. That is assuming, you’re lucky enough to have a comic shop in your area that sells them! And despite all the windows, the boxes are still quite sturdy. The Femme Fatale boxes have mostly been rather dark and bland, but these Marvel ones are bright and colorful. I especially like the printed insert. Everything is collector friendly, although Gwen here requires one bit of assembly. With over a dozen of these statues in my collection, this is the first time I’ve come across that, but all you have to do is attach her left arm, which is quick and easy to do.

There is an SDCC Exclusive logo printed on the front of the box as well as “Unmasked Edition” lettered under the main window. Previous exclusives in this line have only been denoted by a piece of tape on the flap. You still get that here, with the limitation number printed on it. Mine is 2,847 of 3,000. Here’s where I point out that putting a number limitation on the tape that secures the flap of the box is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of, even if there is a flap on the bottom to go in through. Also, not putting a limitation on the statue itself sucks. Just saying, DST. If you’re going to limit your runs of these at least have someone write it on the bottom of the statue with a Sharpie.

Once you get Ms. Stacey’s arm plugged in she’s all set to go and looking pretty damn nice. The pose features Gwen sticking to a wall via her right hand and the soles of her feet with her left arm stretched out and her hand getting ready to thwip out a web. I like this pose a lot and the paint and sculpted detail on the wall itself is very well done. You get a lot of texturing in the bricks and a goblin-style gargoyle head that looks to be glaring specifically at Gwen. A little bit of ivy here and there adds to the character of the setting. It’s nice to see DST learned their lesson. A little while back, they solicited a Star Trek statue of Seven of Nine in the Femme Fatales series with a sculpted plastic wall behind her and in the final release that was changed to cardboard. Even now, if you go to order that statue through most e-tailers, they’ll show the deceptive picture of the plastic backdrop.

Gwen’s costume is recreated here mostly with paint, but all the paint lines are part of the sculpt as well, which is always nice to see. Some of the paint lines could have been sharper, but the black and white areas are clean. I was worried about the consistency of the white on this piece, but with the exception of a few visible brush strokes, the white is bright and vibrant. The black has a scuff mark here and there, but nothing major. The red web patterned areas under her arms and inside her hood look great, and her ballet-style slippers are painted blue. The designer even made sure that the left arm connects where there was a seam in the costume, so as to match it to the other arm.

That brings us to the portrait, which is the only difference between this exclusive and the regular retail release. Here we get Gwen unmasked and I have to say they did a nice job on the sculpt and the paint. As much as I enjoy the Captain Marvel statue they did a few months back, there was something a little off about Carol’s face. Here, I think they nailed Gwen Stacey quite nicely. The skin tone is clean and the paint for the green eyes and red lipstick is precise. Even her familiar hair style and headband are recreated wonderfully here. I do wish they had sculpted the exclusive with the hood down, but I still like what we got.

The base consists of a plain black disk, which supports the wall. With all the weight of the figure on the wall, I am a little concerned that over the course of time the statue may begin to lean forward a bit. Then again, I could be worrying about nothing. I may rig up a hook on the back of my shelf or wall where I display her to take up some of that weight just to be sure.

Spider-Gwen seems to be the new go-to girl when it comes to marketing and as a fan of the comic and character, I’m glad to see it. I’m really happy with the way this piece turned out and I’m glad I went for this exclusive version. Gwen set me back about $45 shipped, which isn’t that much more than these statues usually cost. In fact, it can still be snapped up at a number of online retailers for around that price. Whether or not I’m going to double dip and pick up the regular masked release remains to be seen. I’ve actually already got Spider-Gwen from DST’s Marvel Premier Collection on pre-order, so I may just stick with one version of this release.

Sep 10 2016

ThunderCats Classics: Wilykit and Wilykat (SDCC Exclusive) by Mattel

Yes, folks, I’m sort of cheating on this fine Anime Saturday morning. Obviously this day is set aside for figures based on proper anime, but today I’m bending the rules so I can finally look at this set based on the Thundercats cartoon, which at least counts as animation, and a tenuous hook on which to hang today’s Feature. I was so excited for this set when it was first revealed. I cursed it for being a convention exclusive, but I vowed I would pay whatever price was needed. In the end, I was able to get it off of the soon to be defunct Matty Collector site with little difficulty and since then it’s been sitting in the corner silently mocking me. I should be cherishing this Feature, but I’m more in a mind of just wanting to get it over with…

Of course, the reason for my onset of Thundercats induced depression is because the line may already be dead. With Matty Collector going under at the end of the year and transferring their licenses to indie toy company, Super7, it seems unlikely (albeit not impossible) that Thundercats Classics will survive the switch. That means that after two false starts from Bandai, the dream of getting a full set of Thundercats figures based on the classic cartoon may still be only just that… a dream. With that rousing introduction out of the way, I’m going to try as hard as I can to not let any of the behind-the-scenes politics to cloud my opinions on these Thunder Kittens.

The packaging for this set sure is nice. I don’t know whether it was ever really an SDCC exclusive, few things are these days, but the presentation sure points to it being something special. The set comes in an illustrated black shipper box with the Eye of Thundera logo and the figures’ names below it.
Inside, you get a fantastic looking window box that shows off the figures and their accessories beautifully. The back and side panels feature some rather pretty character art, and the whole thing unfolds into an illustrated display stage with The Cat’s Lair in the background. Getting the figures and all the accessories out can be a pain, thanks to those terrible plastic ties that all these companies seem to be using now. Also, you’ll want to be super careful opening up the stage, which serves as a storage for the hoverboard display stands. Ultimately, Matty went all out for the presentation here and I absolutely respect and appreciate that.

And here are WilyKit and WilyKat out of the package. The figures themselves are special for being really the first time we’re getting proper figures of the Thunder Kittens. I believe LJN originally released them as static PVC figurines. They later got better releases, but still felt a little wanting. Even the 2011 reboot figures were rather insubstantial in the 3 3/4-inch scale and not released at all into Bandai’s 6-inch scale. The sculpts on these kittens are pretty solid. They do a nice job capturing both the character portraits as well as the classic costumes. Kat features his two-tone brown belted tunic and buccaneer boots. Kit features her ragged-cut dress and spats. Both figures have places on their belts where you can peg in the coiled versions of their weapons. Overall, there’s a very nice balance here between detail and adhering to the simple animated look.

The articulation here is identical on both figures, and it’s safe to say these are the best articulated versions of the kittens we’ve yet to see. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. The ankles are hinged, the waists and wrists have swivels, and the necks are ball jointed. Hinges in the wrists would have been nice and the tunic and dress do inhibit the hip movement a bit, but otherwise I really have no complaints when it comes to the pose-ability here.

Unfortunately, the paint quality runs hot and cold. Most of the paint on these are fine, but there are some flubs that have no business being on a pair of $60 figures in this scale. Oddly enough these mostly appear on my Kat, while Kit has escaped largely unscathed. The biggest offender is on my Wilykat’s face, where there’s a large glob of paint on his left cheek just beside his nose. There’s also a lot of paint chipping on his right arm just below his wrist bracer. Some of the lines could also be sharper.

Each of the kittens come with some extra hands. These are all pretty standard with the exception of the one sculpted with an effects part for Kat’s smoke bombs. The sculpt and paint on this piece are fantastic, but if memory serves, the purpose was to throw these and have them burst into a smokescreen, so why would they already be smoking in his hand? Am I missing something?

You also get deployed versions of each kittens weapon. Kat comes with his whip and Kit comes with her pink lasso. It’s worth pointing out that on the back of the box, it mentions Wilykit having a hypnotic flute as one of her weapons. It’s not included with the figure, but then unless I’m mis-remembering the flute was something they introduced in the 2011 reboot. Granted, it’s been a while since I’ve watched my original Thundercats DVDs, so I could be entirely off base on that one. Either way, it probably shouldn’t have been mentioned on the box.

The hoverboards are nice pieces, but the paint on these could have been better. Again, the issue seems to mostly affect Kat’s board and not Kit’s. Kat’s board just looks dirty on the top surface with all sorts of scratches and stray paint marks, and the edging lines aren’t really that sharp. Someone at the factory really had it out for WilyKat that day. If this set were a regular release that I had picked up through a regular retailer, I would have demanded an exchange for another one.

The clear stands secure pretty well to the bottoms of the boards and they hold them beautifully thanks to a pretty strong ball joint. Each stand features a sculpted Eye of Thundera. The figures attach to the boards via standard foot pegs and they look great riding them.

Finally, we have the stage, which folds out from the packaging. Even better, it can be folded back together so the figure can be returned to the packaging without any issues. I absolutely love when companies do this sort of thing and in this case it goes a long way to help justify the price point here. The artwork is beautiful and the figures look fantastic displayed on it. It’ll look fantastic at the back of a shelf with the kittens on the stage and whatever other figures we manage to get posed standing in front of it.

Also, if you’re wondering, the kittens scale pretty well with Bandai’s first pair of Thundercats Classics, Lion-O and Tygra.

If I set aside all the ill will I’m feeling toward Matty and their Thundercats Classics right now, this set really only suffers from some piss-poor paint QC, and I’m willing to concede that issue might be isolated to my particular set. If the paint on my Wilykit figure and board wasn’t such an issue, I’d be free to gush on about how much I adore these figures, the accessories, and the overall presentation. Even if we never do wind up with a complete set of Classics out of this line, it’s nice to finally have decent figures of the Thunder Kittens and knowing that I’ll at least have some of the core team to display them with. Indeed, I’m smitten enough with this set that I’m seriously considering rolling the dice on better paint and picking up a second one. And just because there aren’t enough Uncle Buck references in Thundercats action figure reviews…

“Hey Wilykat… Here’s a quarter. Go downtown and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face.”

Sep 9 2016

Justice League (New 52) Box Set by DC Collectibles, Part 2: Aquaman and Green Lantern

It’s been another killer of a week for me at work, folks, but the show must go on here at FFZ. Fortunately the figures I have on tap for today won’t require a lot of time from me, so I can crawl back into bed with a bottle of Jameson and some comic books. On the last DC Friday, I started checking out DC Collectibles’ New 52 Justice League set with Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. Today, I’m pressing on with a look at Aquaman and Hal Jordan. If you want a refresher on the packaging, have a look back at Part 1, otherwise, let’s start with Aquaman…

It may be the New 52 look, but Aquaman’s costume still retained much of its classic and timeless design. The figure features the scale armor tunic with some gorgeous metallic golden-copper paint, a stylishly sculpted belt, green gauntlets, and the green leggings with sculpted fins on the backs of his calves. As far as the costume itself goes, there’s nothing really groundbreaking here, but when it comes to this costume, I always love the contrast between the dark matte hunter green and the glittery top and this figure showcases that perfectly.

There are a couple of nice touches that make this figure rather distinctive. First, he has a pretty cool necklace hanging around his neck. Secondly, his trident is attached to his belt with a gold chain. The trident itself is nothing special, just a simple sculpt cast in gold plastic, but the chain is a cool addition, that is unless you want to display the figure without the trident, because it’s clearly not meant to be taken off.

The portrait here is fantastic, somewhat unconventional, and easily one of the best looks for the character I’ve seen in action figure form. I just love the scruffy beard and sideburns over his usual clean shaven look. He has a fairly pissed off expression. the paint used for the skin tone is excellent, and I really love what they did with his hair. Moving on to Hal…

Green Lantern features one of the simpler sculpts in this set. He does feature some cut panel lines in the shoulders as well as his chest emblem being sculpted. Other then that you mainly just get some nice muscle definition. The costume features a mix of matte black, metallic green, and some lovely pearlescent white for the gloves and face of the chest emblem. The metallic green paint on this guy is quite the eye catcher and it reminds me a lot of the finish Kotobukiya used on their excellent ArtFX+ Hal Jordan only not quite as brilliant.

They did a particularly nice job with his ring. It’s both well defined and neatly painted.

The head sculpt here doesn’t impress me as much as Aquaman’s, but it is very good. It features a rather stern expression, the mask is part of the sculpt, and the paint is all on point. I like the stray wisps of hair over his forehead and more of that lovely green paint on the mask.

The articulation is identical for both of these figures. You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps, hinges in the elbows and knees, ball joints in the necks, and t-crotches for the hips. These aren’t super pose-able by any means, but I can still have a little fun with them.

So, overall there aren’t a lot of surprises with this pair, but what’s here is exceptionally well done. The sculpts are solid, the portraits are excellent, and while they aren’t going to feature the play value of DC Icons or even Mattel’s 6-inch DC lines, they look fantastic up on my shelf, especially when displayed with the rest of the Justice League. I believe these are pretty much the same as the individually boxed releases, but I have yet to see those in person, so there may be some variations at work. On the next DC Friday, I’ll wrap up this set with a look at The Flash and Cyborg!

Sep 8 2016

Transformers Titans Return: Grax & Skullsmasher by Hasbro

It’s another Transformers Thursday here at FFZ and today I’m checking out the final figure in the first wave of Deluxe Class Titans Return figures, Skullsmasher and his little head-forming buddy, Grax. Yes, somewhere along the way Hasbro must have lost the Skullcruncher trademark, but it’s close enough. Let’s see if I can make it through the whole Feature without calling him Skullcruncher by force of habit! As for Grax, well, apparently they managed to hang on to the name of the original G1 Skullcruncher’s Nebulon, because it remains unchanged.

Here’s a quick look at the package before I tear it open and have to deal with those goddamn plastic wires. I got nothing new to say about the package itself, other than it keeps the figure minty fresh until it gets to me and I guess that’s really all I’m looking for here. Skullsmasher is packaged in his robot mode, but crikey, we’re gonna check out his croc mode first!

So, allow me to go on record, probably not for the first time, by saying how much I love whenever G1 did animal alt modes. They always had that appropriately cybernetic look to them like a machine approximation of an animal form, rather than the creepy and off-putting real animal forms of the Beast Wars era. In a lot of ways Skullsmasher here captures that beloved aesthetic, much like the G1 figure he’s based on. The croc mode is very angular, it’s covered in panel lines, and it features some great spikes and ridges all over. The deco relies almost entirely on colored plastic, from the pleasingly rich and slightly metallic green to the cheaper looking and almost neon red, and the the odd gray pieces. There are some painted panels on the sides and a Decepticon emblem on top of his head. It’s an uncharacteristically garish deco, but one that should satisfy the G1 purists. Overall it works just fine for me.

I really dig Skullsmasher’s croc head. The diamond shaped eyes are reminsicent of Dinobot eyes and I really dig the way some of his teeth mate with the opposite jaws when the mouth is closed. Open up the mouth and you get treated to a full display of teeth and a segmented tongue.

When Skullsmasher is just sitting there in croc mode, I think he’s great, but picking him up and playing around with him reveals a lot of problems. The plastic here feels super cheap to me. Like knock-off cheap. Especially the red stuff. The way the tail pegs onto the body is a tenuous connection. If I try to pose it to the left or right, it usually pulls out. The two halves of the croc’s hind quarters don’t like to stay tabbed together at the top either. The rest of the figure features some decent articulation. The hind legs are attached to the body with ball joints. The front legs swivel where they meet the body and again just below the hinged elbows. Unfortunately, if I swivel the lower part of the leg enough, it’ll pull right off. Finally, the head is ball jointed, and of course the jaws are hinged.

Grax is a pretty cool little dude with a black and green deco and some nice paint on his tiny face. These guys all have the same articulation, which includes hips, knees, shoulders, and head. He’s an expressive little guy and of course he has that ubiquitous exposed screw right in the middle of his chest.

Despite not being a conventional vehicle, Skullsmasher has a compartment inside him for Grax to ride in. The door is made of a weird rubbery plastic and blends into the croc’s back pretty well.

The instructions don’t really outline any other modes, but if you pull off his tail and flip it upside down it forms a little gunner station with a seat. This can be pegged back into the croc’s ass if you want to make Grax a… wait for it… tail gunner! There are also some tiny foot pegs on Scullsmasher’s front legs for the little guys to ride on rather awkwardly.

Transforming Skullsmasher holds few surprises and his robot mode even less… unless you count his legs constantly popping off at the hips a surprise. In keeping with the three figures that preceded him in this wave, he looks pretty damn good. He’s nicely proportioned and very reminiscent of the original G1 version. You even get the hatch on his chest that flipped down on the original figure to show the stats when you plugged in the Headmaster. I do like the way the croc legs on his lower legs serve as heel spurs to stabilize him. The deco doesn’t change much from the croc mode. You just get a little more gray showing and some paint details on his chest. The lack of Decepticon emblem on his chest, however, irks me to no end. I might have to go into my stash of stickers to give him one.

From the back, Skullsmasher includes the expected croc head kibble backpack, which really isn’t too bad. On the downside, the tail is just sort of an extra piece. You can actually peg it into his back, but than the bulk of the kibble becomes ridiculous.

He can hold it as a shield or sword or bludgeon, or whatever you want to call it to pretend it isn’t just a left over tail. Also, if you leave the gun in it, it can serve as an awkwardly large gun tail thing. None of these options are really ideal for me, so I just plan on putting it behind him when I display him. Thankfully, the gun comes out and can be used as a stand alone weapon.

Grax forms a fantastic head and holds his form quite well. Once again, you can plug any of the heads into him. Head swapping isn’t a gimmick I’m fond of and my other little head guys are buried in the other room so pardon me if I don’t actually show it this time.

Now, when I first started playing with him, I thought I was going to be able to make it out of this review without having to comment on my figure being all loosey-goosey like so many others seem to be. In truth everything on mine is actually pretty solid, except for those ball joints in the hips. They’re not completely useless, he can hold himself up, but if you give him too wide a stance, he’s likely to crumble. Also, the red plastic on this guy still feels rather cheap.

There’s no denying it. Skullsmasher is the only disappointing figure in this wave for me. I think it comes across in how brief this Feature is compared to the others. I didn’t have nearly as much fun shooting him as the other offerings of this wave. But, he’s not a terrible figure by any means. It’s just that when compared to the three shining examples that came before him, he’s just weakened from too many nagging little issues. I’m certainly not sorry I bought him, but I am glad I didn’t lose my patience and pay a premium for him, because he wouldn’t have been worth it. And even after ending this assortment on a slightly sour note, I’ll still say that this is one solid wave of figures and I’m really excited to get my hands on some more. Thanks to a nice score at the local Wally World, which typically has the most poorly stocked toy aisles I’ve ever seen, I was able to grab the entire second wave yesterday. So come on back next Thursday as I start digging into those with a look at Chromedome.

Sep 7 2016

Mythic Legions: Attlus The Conqueror by The Four Horsemen

If it’s Wednesday then you know I’m pulling out another figure from The Four Horsemen’s Kickstarted line of 6-scale fantasy goodness. It feels like I’m in the home stretch of covering all the initial figures I got as my Kickstarter add ons, which is bumming me out, but at least I know more are on the way. Today I’m having a look at another of the more distinctive characters in the series, Attlus The Conqueror!

Here’s the mandatory packaged shot. It’s serviceable, it’s collector friendly, and you get a little bio blurb for each character on the right panel of the bubble insert. As you may know, I don’t invest a lot of time in the official fiction of Mythic Legions, but every now and then I read something that I really dig. In this case, it turns out that Attlus is the rival and older brother to Attila Leossyr. It seems odd that they call him The Conqueror, since his brother laid claim to his own army and seems to be doing the best out of the two siblings.

If you remember my look at Urkku from a while back, than you’ll see a lot of familiar parts in Attlus. From the waist down he’s a straight repaint. Obviously, the bare legs are repainted from green to a caucasian skin tone. The heavy boots and jagged lower leg armor is cleaner this time around as well as being a bit of a deeper shade of gray. The belt is the exact same sculpt but with a palate change to freshen things up. I commented at how much I love the detail in this belt sculpt the last time and I still do. It’s just gorgeous. The torso is the same as Urkku’s, again, repainted to a caucasian complexion. He features a rather clean and knightly gauntlet on his right hand, taken from any one of the knights, while the left arm is completely armored with the gauntlet borrowed from Urkku and the rest of the arm taken from the knights.

As always, the figure comes with the shoulder armor unattached and while all the figures can be displayed just fine without the shoulders, Attlus looks a little odd this way because the armor appears to disappear into his torso. It actually looks kind of like it’s the medieval version of a mechanical arm, which is a concept I find myself digging quite a bit. Yeah, I think I’m going to go with that. But, if you prefer, pegging in the shoulders will make the arm more convincing as an armored sleeve.

Attlus actually comes with a mismatched set of shoulders. We get a left one that was included with Urkku and the right one taken from some of the Hero Knights. I’m not a big fan of them asymmetrical shoulders, which is fine, because I actually prefer to display Attlus with just the left shoulder paired with the belt as a cross strap, much like the way I display Urkku. Plus, by losing the other shoulder, he can also store his sword on his back.

Attlus is made distinctive by being one of the few human characters in this line to have an un-helmeted head. It’s a decent enough sculpt, but I think I’m at the point in this line where I’m prepared to admit that the human head sculpts is not one of Mythic Legions’ strong suits. The details are a little soft and the paint is rather flat. I do like that Attlus has the one damaged eye with the scar running above and below it. I mean, I think it looks cool, not that I’m glad the poor dude got his eye messed up. The mane of hair and the beard are sculpted fairly well and I like the little blue bands around his beard pigtails. What? What are you supposed to call those things? I do, however, find it odd that his eyebrows don’t match the rest of his hair. Which is his natural color, brown or black? Well, we can all keep wondering. because I ain’t peaking down his loin cloth to solve that mystery.

How about that articulation? Yup, it’s identical to every Mythic Legion figure I’ve looked at. Here’s the rundown… You get rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles. There are also ample rockers in the ankles to steady him for those wide stances. He’s loads of fun to play with and these figures are designed to be modular, so you can pull the figures apart at most of the joints and mix and match if you want. I will note that the left wrist on my figure likes to pull out without much effort.

If you’ve been following my Mythic Legions Features from the start, than you’ve already seen all the weapons this line has to offer. Attlus comes with the large two-handed sword and the dagger. There’s a loop on the right side of his belt to store one of the edged weapons, but as I’ve already shown, I like him to wear his sword on his back, so I just tuck the dagger into the belt.

And then there’s the axe that we’ve seen quite a few times. As always, it can be modified to have either one blade or two. Either way, I think the weapon really suits this guy beautifully.

I like this figure a lot, but truth be told, if I had to do it all over I would have probably forfeited him in favor of Malleus the skeleton or perhaps Carpathias. There’s nothing wrong with him at all, but he’s the first figure that made me very much aware of the parts recycling. I know, that probably sounds crazy since almost all of these figures share parts, but in this case there’s not a huge difference in the way their arranged from Attlus to Urkku. The repaint certainly helps, the head sculpt has a lot of personality, and I like the one armored arm, but still… there’s that feeling of been here and seen this. On the other hand, the fact that I’m nitpicking a figure this great looking really shows just how wonderful a line this is!

Sep 6 2016

Star Wars “The Force Awakens:” Sidon Ithano and First Mate Quiggold by Hasbro

It’s been a little bit since I looked at anything from Star Wars here on FFZ and even longer since I revisited the 3 3/4-inch line. Yes, I still pick these figures up now and then, and I still have a bit of a backlog waiting to be opened. The truth is it’s been a crazy week at work already (and its only Tuesday!), so I needed something quick and easy for today. Hey, I did a double feature yesterday and the length of that Deadpool review got completely out of control. Anyway, this pair should do nicely for a quickie, and besides, everybody loves Space Pirates!!!

I do believe Hasbro is still referring to these boxed two-packs the Mission Series packs. I really love these window boxes. The branding is colorful and the character art is fantastic. The window gives a great look at the figures, you get a little blurb about each character on the back, and everything is collector friendly. For a couple of 5-POA figures, the presentation here borders on premium. If you don’t recognize these fellas from the film, they’re the aliens at Maz’s Castle that Finn was trying to get a lift from to escape the inevitable spread of The First Order. Let’s start with a look at Sidon Ithano…

I loved the look of this guy in the film, particularly his mask, and it should come as no surprise that he’s got a full Wookipedia article about him. I won’t go into it all, but I will relay that his species is called Delphidian and he has a series of alias’ which include, The Red Raider, The Crimson Corsair, and The Blood Buccaneer.

Hasbro did a nice job recreating Sidon’s distinctive finned helmet. They also packed some nice detail work into the costume. There’s sculpted texturing in both the tunic and the pants. His lower arms and legs have armor plates, which are “secured” by tiny sculpted straps and buckles. There’s even some sculpted pitting and wear on the armor. Sidon has a shash tied around his waist with a holstered pistol on his left hip. Sadly the gun is not removable. The cape, however, is. All you have to do is pop off his head to take it off. The coloring on the figure is a mix of reds and gray with some nice high gloss paint used for the helmet.

The Crimson Corsair comes with a carbine, which he can hold in either hand. There’s a peg on the side, which I had hoped meant you could attach it to his belt or back, but I think it’s just supposed to be part of the weapon. At least there’s nowhere to peg it into that I can see. Moving on to Quiggold…

First Mate Quiggold is perfectly named. I mean, even if I didn’t know which figure in the package was which, I’d lay my money on this one being named Quiggold. He too has an extensive Wookipedia page, but I’ll just note that he’s a Gabdorin and First Mate of Sidon’s crew.

While Quiggold is the opposite of the dashing Sidon in every way, I still love this figure. He’s a portly pug-faced guy wearing a sloppy tan tunic and hood and he even has a peg leg. The Wookipedia denotes his peg leg as being cybernetic, but I don’t see how a peg leg qualifies as cybernetics. In fact, the same article claims that the appendage is fashioned from an old fuel funnel. It’s just a piece of junk fitted to his stump. Anyway, there isn’t a whole lot of detail in this guy’s outfit, mainly just wrinkles and some light texturing. They did, however, do a great job on his face with his beady eyes and his nose slits up in his forehead. His species reminded me a bit of a Krogan from Mass Effect until I went and refreshed my memory on what they looked like. Nope. Close, but not quite. I’ll note here that both figures feature the standard five points of articulation, which include points on the shoulders and hips. Sidon’s head turns, whereas Quiggold rotates at the waist.

The set also comes with this bitchin’ missile launcher. I’m not usually into these, but this happens to be a really cool looking weapon. And while it’s ridiculously over sized for this scale, I’ll happily hand it off to some of my 6-inch scale figures. Funny enough, it’s almost too big for the Star 6-inch Black figures too!

I don’t think I’ll ever get away from buying 3 3/4-inch Star Wars figures. And while fans may bitch and moan about the 5-POA style, I honestly find these charming and nostalgic. These guys set me back a whopping ten bucks, which is a pretty sweet deal, and nowadays you can find them for even a little less online. To me, this set is what Star Wars figures are all about. A pair of cool alien characters that had barely any screen time. I’m not being sarcastic either. As a kid, some of my favorite vintage Kenner figures were dudes like Weequay or Squid Head, where I had to make up my own stories for them and give them inflated roles to allow them in my playtime. I love having this pair and imagining what kind of crazy adventures a couple of Space Pirates could get into in the Outer Rim. In fact, I wish there were more figures of their never seen on screen crew… and their ship. And with so few characters to choose from, I think it’s a shame that Hasbro didn’t give this pair the 6-inch Black treatment.

Sep 5 2016

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Juggernaut Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

As promised, I’m back to wrap up this X-puppy up. If eight amazing figures weren’t enough, the conveniently named Juggernaut Wave also includes all the pieces you need to build Cain Marko. The Toybiz version of Marvel Legends Juggernaut was one of my favorite figures in that collection, and I hung on to it right until the end. It became one of the last Toybiz Legends figures that I sold off, and even then it was a painful decision. Fast forward to now, and I sure am happy to be getting this character back onto my Legends shelf. Never leave me again, Juggsy.

As you already know, Juggernaut’s parts were spread out across seven figures in the wave, with only Deadpool being left out. Those seven pieces included the two arms, two legs, torso, pelvis, and head. Slapping him together is pretty standard stuff.

Once together, Juggernaut is big and menacing. The costume features sculpted buccaneer boots with heavy treads on the bottom and a heavily pitted and worn belt. The legs are heavily muscled with brown painted pants and the torso features the red and black striped abdomen with the brown painted chest. Alas, my figure has some paint issues on the left part of his chest. It’s just a little scraping and dribble. I’m going to chalk it up to battle damage.

The head sculpt here is outstanding. Hasbro sculpted a full face underneath the domed helmet, making it look like the helmet is actually removable. This adds loads of depth and credibility to the sculpt, which is very welcome in a figure this big. The broad nose, wall of gritting teeth, and wild eyes give Cain a wonderful look of deranged rage. The helmet itself features a glossy brown paint job and some lovely pitting all over to make it look battered. There are also sculpted bolts running along the circumference of lower edge.

The bare arms feature his wrist bracers, as well as the bands around his biceps and knuckles. Those knuckle wraps have always been my favorite thing about Juggernaut’s design. They look simply devastating. All the bands have the same brown gloss paint and sculpted pitting as the helmet. You also get some sculpted veins running throughout the arms.

Despite being a BAF, Juggernaut features most of the articulation we’re used to seeing in the regular Legends figures. The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and hinges in the elbows. The legs have rotating hinges in the hips, hinges in the knees, and the ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist and an ab crunch hinge in the torso. Lastly, the neck is ball jointed. As a bulky figure, some of these joints don’t have a really wide range of motion, but what’s here definitely gets the job done.

I certainly didn’t need any incentive in the form of a Build-A-Figure to collect this wave, so Juggernaut really feels like a superb bonus. I don’t think there has been an assortment of Legends figures as solid as this one, both in character selection and execution, since the line returned. And that’s saying a lot, because Hasbro has been knocking it out of the park with this line lately and it seems like there’s no end in sight as wave after wave continues to crash against the toy aisles and threaten to drown my poor wallet. Now that I’m finished with this assortment, I’m going to take a detour next Marvel Monday to check out a statue, and then I’ll be turning my attention back to the Civil War Giant Man Wave.

Sep 5 2016

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Deadpool by Hasbro

Alrighty, folks, it took a whole lot of Marvel Mondays, but I’m finally opening the last figure in this fantabulous X-Men wave. And it’s Deadpool! Who? DEADPOOL!!! One more time? MUTHAF’CKIN DEADPOOL!!!!! And that’s regular red Deadpool, not some bullshit X-Force Deadpool like we got a few years back. I’m just kidding, I love me some X-Force, but seriously, Hasbro, we shouldn’t have had to wait so long for regular flavor ‘Pool. And just so I don’t have to stretch this wave out any longer, I’m going to come back tonight with a look at the Juggernaut Build-A-Figure. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s have a look at Wade’s package. I mean his box. I mean the receptacle he came in. Oh, god. I can’t stop.

It saddens me that this is the last time I’ll set eyes on this delightfully snappy packaging. It also saddens me that I didn’t have the room to keep them all. Thankfully, I’ve snapped pictures of all of them, so from time to time I can pour myself a Jameson and admire the pictures of these figures from before I tore them open like a goddamn savage. There are a few nice personal touches, like the X emblem on the top being replaced by Deadpool’s insignia. As you can see, Deadpool’s tray is absolutely packed with stuff. So much stuff, that there wasn’t even room for a BAF piece. That’s right, Hasbro made it so that you don’t have to buy Poolsy in order to build Juggsy. Why? Because they knew he’d sell anyway. Why? Because he’s Deadpool! Who? ENOUGH ALREADY!!!! Let’s tear open this chimichanga-munchin-mo-fo and see how he turned out.

Deadpool comes to us donning his familiar red and black costume with sculpted wrist bracers, shin armor, belted boots, and a whole bunch of added belts and pouches. This figure is a great example of a measured mix of costume-painted-on-buck with just the right amount of new sculpting and extras to make it feel like a fresh and new figure. The coloring is gorgeous, with a mix of matte and gloss black and some vibrant red. Yeah, I would have liked a little more paintwork on the belts. They sprang for silver paint on the boot buckles, which makes it a little jarring that we didn’t get any on the belt straps and pouch buttons. But hey, this ain’t NECA, it’s Hasbro, and in the end the figure still looks damn great.

From behind we can not only check out Deadpool’s fine caboose, but also the functional double-scabbard harness for his katana swords. There’s also a lot going on around Deadpool groin-ular area, so let’s have a gander at what he’s packing around his nether regions!

Oh, baby! As I said before, you get plenty of pouches, along with Deadpool’s signature belt buckle. The rest of the belt (and pouches) is all cast in one piece of brown plastic. You do get some green paint on the two grenades. I think it would have been cool to have these painted up in the Deadpool style, like Sideshow did with their Sixth-Scale figure, but I suppose I should be happy they weren’t left brown.

On the other side, we can see many more pouches, as well as get a good look at the two functional holsters for his automatic pistols. One is slung across the front of his waist, so he can draw across with his left hand. The other is positioned on his right hip so he can draw with the right arm. Y’all know I love me some functional holsters, so these make me a happy camper.

There are two portraits with this figure. The first is his regular masked noggin and I think Hasbro did a solid job on this one. It’s just expressive enough with the one eye popped and the other squinting, going for a very singular Deadpool look, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s so specific that it doesn’t work as a head for every occasion. There’s some nice sculpted stitch lines in the mask and you can see his furled brow sculpted in there as well. The paint here is sharp and clean.

The unmasked portrait is an absolute work of art. It features all the craters, nooks, and crannies in Wade’s troublesome complexion with a wonderful paint job to back it up. Seriously, the shading and variations in paint that make up the skin here feels totally beyond what Hasbro has ever been capable of in this line. Here, Deadpool offers a maniacal toothy grin with pupil-less yellow eyes. I will note that this head was an absolute bitch to get on, and I may have to go in there with a blade and clean out some of the plastic around the socket. You’ll also see that I rarely used this head in any of the pictures for this Feature. That’s in no way a slight against it. I think it’s magnificent, but it also goes for a very specific look. That having been said, I’ve already pre-ordered another Deadpool so I can display him with this head.

Wade Wilson is a nimble guy, so articulation here is important, and I’m happy to say that the figure delivers quite a bit. The arms feature 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 double hinges in the knees, and swivels at the thighs and lower legs. The ankles are hinged and have lateral rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist and an ab crunch hinge in the torso. And lastly the neck features both a ball joint and a hinge. It’s pretty standard stuff for the modern Legends body.

Now, before I get into the accessories, I do have a couple of bones to pick with Mr. Pool and I feel bad doing it because this really is an outstanding and fun figure and Hasbro packed a lot of stuff into this package. Firstly, this is a figure that really needed more hands. If you read enough of my Features, you know that I’m not big on swapping out hands, but here’s a figure that could have used it. He can interact well enough with all his accessories. I’m surprised at how well the gun holding right hand can still work with the taco. But that same hand kind of looks like he’s drinking tea with his pinky out. It sort of works for Deadpool, because he’s a goofball, but at the same time, a more conventional right hand would have been nice.
Secondly, I certainly appreciate all the weapons, but at this point in the game, getting 6-inch scale guns without any paint operations feels super cheap. Take the pistols shown above. The lack of paint there is really obvious to me. Sometimes, it isn’t warranted, many guns look fine just left all black, but the decision to cast these in gray-silver plastic as opposed to black might not have been the best one. I could see leaving off the paint on 3 3/4-inch scale weapons, but not here. OK, enough griping, let’s take a look at Wade’s impressive arsenal…

We already saw the pistols. Great sculpts, nicely sized, needed some paint. Moving on…

The grenade launcher is nice. Pretty good sculpt. I would have been happy with this cast in black plastic. As it is… it needs more paint.

Deadpool: “When it comes to guns, it’s not what you do with it, it’s the size that matters!”

And then you’ve got this thing. I have no idea what it is. If it’s intended as a specific design, I don’t recognize it. It looks like a Cosplayer made it out of cardboard and then spray painted it silver. But hey, it’s a big goofy gun, so I’m fine with it. And speaking of goofy…

Deadpool: “Here’s the part where I hit em with the punch line!”

Yes, it’s a bazooka with a giant comical boxing glove at the end. This reminds me a lot of an accessory that came with one of my Movie Masters Joker figures from Mattel. I think it’s great, but if you want something a little more conventional, the glove on the end is removable and you’re left with just a big bazooka, and who doesn’t love that? And that’s all the guns out of the way, but this is Deadpool. He slices, he dices, he likes him some edged weapons…

First, we have this lovely tanto-style combat knife that can be stored in the sheath sculpted into his right leg. And look! They painted the grip black! Marvelous!!!

And, of course, Deadpool comes with his trusty twin katanas, Bea and Arthur. These appear to be repaints of the ones that came with Hasbro’s X-Force Deadpool from a while ago. They’re nice accessories, and here too we get some paint on the grips. The interior is red and the wrappings are black, because Deadpool likes to accessorize, bitches. Weapons are all well and good, but sometimes you gotta take a snack…

And so Wade comes with a glorious plastic taco. Hey, if Hasbro can bundle a slice of pizza with Spider-Man, than getting Deadpool a taco is a no-brainer. Is this the first time an action figure has been bundled with such a scrumptious looking Southwestern snack? I would have to imagine so. There’s just one more thing to point out before I wrap this up…

Yeah. Remember how I chastised Hasbro for not getting us the traditional red Deadpool along with the X-Force one, since a repaint was such a quick, easy, and obvious cashgrab? Well, sometimes it’s better to wait. I really loved that figure when I got it and I can remember reviewing him quite favorably. But just looking at the two together shows that X-Force Deadpool has not aged well. He’s short and scrawny, and he’s got those terrible ball hips. Damn, it’s crazy what a little time and perspective can do to an action figure. Now I just find myself wanting to repaint this one into X-Force Deadpool. I think that’s irony.

“Everybody wants some!”

Deadpool: “Take him out, but don’t mess up the cape. I want the cape.”

Sinister: “I can hear you. I’m standing right here.”

Deadpool: “Excelsior!!!”

When I read back through this Feature, I thought it sounded like I came down a little harder on Deadpool than I usually do with Marvel Legends. I think that’s mainly because the figure is so good, and I love the character so much, that it just needed those few little more tweaks to elevate it to truly amazing status. A little paint on the weapons, and a couple of expressive hands, and this would have been all the better. But really, I’m talking out of my ass, because this is a still a great figure as is. He’s so great a figure that even after looking at the seven fantastic figures that preceded him in this wave, I’m still ending on a high note by featuring him last. Indeed, you can tell how much fun I’m having with him just by the number of pictures that I snapped, and trust me there were plenty more. This is a figure that will reside on my desk for a long time, because I want him to always be within arm’s reach. And that finally wraps up my look at the packaged figures in this wave. Come on back later this evening and I’ll have a look at the Juggernaut Build-A-Figure! But not before I do a hack job of emulating one of my favorite Deadpool pages (Deadpool #27, 1997).

Deadpool: “You smug little… Speaking of games, ever play Street Fighter?”

Logan: “Kitty!”

**SNIKT!**

Deadpool: “Yay! Now is fighty time! fighty time!”

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Mythic Legions: Urzokk by The Four Horsemen

Masters of the Universe Classics: Crita by Mattel

Marvel Gallery: Spider-Gwen (SDCC Exclusive) by Diamond Select

ThunderCats Classics: Wilykit and Wilykat (SDCC Exclusive) by Mattel

Justice League (New 52) Box Set by DC Collectibles, Part 2: Aquaman and Green Lantern

Transformers Titans Return: Grax & Skullsmasher by Hasbro

Mythic Legions: Attlus The Conqueror by The Four Horsemen

Star Wars “The Force Awakens:” Sidon Ithano and First Mate Quiggold by Hasbro

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Juggernaut Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

Marvel Legends (Juggernaut Wave): Deadpool by Hasbro

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