Feb 20 2015

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Poison Ivy by DC Collectibles

A lot of this week’s Features have involved me revisiting with lines that I’ve been away from for a while, so I might as well keep that theme going with a new Cover Girls statue by DCC. Supergirl was the last time I looked at this line and that was way back in August of last year and I’m only now starting to get caught up. I figured Poison Ivy was the best place to start since I was totally blown away by the photos I’ve seen and have been looking forward to opening up this beauty for a long time. It’s worth noting that this is the second version of Poison Ivy since the reboot of the Cover Girls line. I didn’t care at all for the first one so I was mighty glad to see them take a second crack at her because the result is absolutey exquisite.

I’ve gone on record as being totally unimpressed by the package design DC Collectibles has adopted for this line. It’s mostly white and kind of bland, but it does at least offer you a good photo of the statue and a little blurb about the character on the back. Based soley on the aesthetics, I wouldn’t bother holding on to these boxes at all. However, the box is collector friendly and when combined with the brick of styrofoam inside, it’s a good thing to have if you ever need to store or transport the piece and so I do hang on to these. When you get Ivy out of the styrofoam the only assembly required is attaching the statue to the base via the metal pegs that come out of the bottoms of her feet. It was a little daunting as the holes were just a little too far apart and I had to pull her legs out a bit to get her in. Once the pegs went in, however, all was good and she stands perfectly on the base.

All set up, this statue is drop dead gorgeous. Ivy is caught in a sexy stride with a single rose held seductively in her left hand, at her side, and her right hand pinching at the top of her leafy one-piece. She’s got a pair of thigh high boots and long gloves, both topped with foliage trim. The costume design is pretty simple, but the attention to detail in the leaves is well done and the two shades of green combined with the wonderful skin tone all make for a striking piece. Yum! I certainly dig this look a lot more than the black and green outfit she donned early on in Birds of Prey.

Of course, what’s really striking is the portrait. I’m totally in love with the face sculpt here. It’s so soft and beautiful and perfectly painted that I think it totally transcends what we’ve been seeing in this line so far. Her eyes are perfectly straight and the paint work on her green eye-liner and parted lips is exceptional. Ivy’s breathtaking face is framed by her lush red hair, which is peppered with leaves and cascades down her back. It’s all simply stunning.

And it would be impossible to discuss this statue without talking boobs. Of course, all of the Cover Girls statues are sexualized to some degree, so boobs are certainly not new to this line. But, holy hell check these babies out! For once, I’m actually not trying to be an adolescent about the topic because quite frankly Ivy’s pair of lovelies are an amazing piece of work and they deserve better. Not only are they beautifully sculpted, but the coloring of the skin tone compliments them so well. I get the feeling that these were a labor of love and that the sculptor, Jack Mathews, had a good time doing it.

It’s hard to top Ivy’s chest, so let’s just wrap it up with a quick look at her base. After releasing just a few statues in this line, DCC began making the bases more or less uniform and so we get simple ovoid platform, which is personalized with a green paint job and a leaf etched into the side. The limitation information is on the bottom and the base rests on four tiny felt pads. I mention the pads because one of them fell off my Supergirl statue shortly after featuring it here and I hope that’s not going to be the case here.

Ivy has an MSRP of about a hundred bucks, but I was easily able to find her for $75, which certainly isn’t unreasonable. Sure, it’s no secret that this current Cover Girls line is considered to have lost some of the luster from the original Adam Hughes run of statues. There’s certainly some basis for that argument. I don’t think the statues have been as good, but I don’t think they’re bad either. I now have five of these ladies on my shelf and I’ve been satisfied with each and every one of them. Now, with that having been said, I think Ivy here is the first to come close to reclaiming the magic of the line’s former incarnation. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I like this one better than the original Cover Girls release of the character. I don’t know if this is an instance of DCC upping their game or just the stars aligning to produce an exceptionally nice looking piece, but she’s definitely going to be taking a front row spot on my Cover Girls shelf.

Feb 19 2015

Function X-4: Sigma-L by Fansproject

Oh, man. I’m so behind on this one that I’m even going to allow a Third Party Change-a-bot on today’s Transformers Thursday. Normally in February when I say something like, “I’ve had this figure sitting around since last year!” it doesn’t really mean that much. In this case, however, poor Sigma-L really has been hanging out for a long time and waiting for his day in the spotlight. It’s pretty crazy because I was anticipating this figure so much right up until it shipped and then it just kind of got lost in the craziness of my life that is The 4th Quarter. I was dusting my shelves the other day and saw him and it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t featured him here yet. So, by no means assume that the fact that I’m only now getting to talk about him reflects in any way poorly on my love of the Function series in general or this figure in particular, because he is indeed spectacular! Oh yeah, while some may say there’s a slight passing resemblance… Sigma-L is most definitely not Mindwipe, so don’t even think that.

~~Mindwipe~~ Sigma-L comes in a package that eschews the normal window boxes meant to approximate something you’d see on the toy shelves, Fansproject has been using this rather unique presentation for their Function Series since X-01 Code was first rolled out. It’s a colored, and otherwise blank, shoebox affair with an illustrated clear plastic sleeve around it. I wouldn’t like to see this package design used for everything but I rather like it in the limited confines of this series. It feels rather classy and special. My only complaint here is that the clear sleeve on mine got scuffed up in transit, but that’s not such a big deal to me.

Inside the box, Sigma-L comes sandwiched between two clear plastic sleeves. You also get his weapons and a folded instruction sheet. Did I mention how much I love the smell of Fansproject’s figures when they come out of the box? I’m not sure if it’s the paint or the plastic or a combination of both, but that’s good stuff! I’m going to break with convention and actually start with his robot mode because I’m feeling just that crazy today.

Holy hell, this is one hot and sexy looking robot! Yeah, I said it and I’m not ashamed. There’s something about the aesthetics of Fansproject’s Function line that really just gets it. The figures manage to look modern and interesting and yet somehow still capture a bit of the boxy G1 designs. In this case, Sigma-L looks like he belongs to the whole Post-1986 movie aesthetic where the robots were getting a little more contoured and organic in their style. What I’m saying is that Sigma-L hits the sweet spot between those two style books that totally scratches my itch. This figure is also oozing personality from his sharp silver claws to his bat wings, which are fully accessible in robot mode, but can also be folded in for a more streamlined look. I honestly can’t decide which I prefer more, so I’d just like to think he deploys them when he’s ready to attack.

Will ya just look at that head sculpt. It’s so damn gorgeous! I want to take that head sculpt out for a lobster dinner, bring it home and make sweet passionate love to it all night long. The detail in the face makes it quite possibly some of FP’s best work and yeah that’s saying a lot. It’s not a big noggin and yet they managed to pack plenty into it. The crown-like aspect of the helmet is pure love, the paint is crisp, and I’ll be damned if Sigma-L’s clear visor doesn’t raise and lower to give you the look you want. I am not being impulsive when I say this is undoubtedly among my Top Ten Transformer heads since I can remember. It really is that damn good! The fact that it also happens to be a Headmaster, which transforms into a tiny little robot makes this pudding all the more sweeter.

Hell, even the Headmaster (don’t call him Vorath!) is a tiny little work of art that makes me wonder if Fansproject doesn’t have some kind of shrink ray to make these teeny bots. Not-Vorath sports a stylish silver bat symbol on his chest and he has points of articulation at his shoulders, hips, and knees.

Sigma-L’s coloring takes what is an amazing sculpt and elevates it even further. You get those great traditional Decepticon colors of black and purple complimented by some beautiful silver paint, some redder purple plastic and a surprising bit of minty green trim, all capped off with translucent plastic on his legs. A lot of the coloring comes from the plastic itself, which is always a plus in my book, but what paint is here is precise and crisp making the colors look unbelievably good.

That which shall not be called Mindwipe comes with two weapons and they are indeed the Cybertronian equivalent of pump-action shotguns. I have only two things to say to that. Hell and Yeah! They’re simple enough guns, which fit comfortably into his hands and he looks mighty wicked when wielding them akimbo! And that brings us to…

Beast Mode! I love them mechanical beasties and Sigma-L pulls off his Cyber-Bat mode quite nicely. Unlike all the other Function figures I own, there’s nothing specific in Sigma’s transformation that wowed me as being super clever, but it is nonetheless a pretty fun and worry-free change. I suppose the coolest thing about the engineering is that it actually allows room for a cockpit that will fit Not-Vorath with the canopy splitting in the center to open up.

FP designed this bat mode to work either standing up or in flight with a simple adjustment to the head and both modes have their good points. Sigma-L’s little bat mouth is also hinged so that it can open. When standing on his little bat feetsies you can clearly make out the speakers that Sigma uses to beam hypnotic waves at his foes. So good! On the other hand, when in flight Sigma shows off his two shotguns quite nicely. Yes, we have here a robot bat with dual shotguns mounted to his wings. God, I love this toy!

At $70 Sigma-L is certainly pricey for what is essentially a large Deluxe, but that’s all part of being a Third Party Convertobot collector. Besides, when I have him in hand it’s easy to see where the money went, not to mention he’s notable larger than previous Function figures. I make it no secret that I think Fansproject is one of the best 3P makers of robo-changers out there right now and Sigma-L is another prime example of why. He’s an absolute exquisite looking figure and everything about him reflects quality, care, and love. His transformation may not be as insanely clever as Code, Quadruple-U or Smart Robin, but there’s no shame in hat because it still works beautifully. It’s been a little while since we’ve seen anything new from this line of Not-Headmasters, but I’m looking forward to whatever FP has in store for us next.

Feb 18 2015

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Series): Liliana Vess

Alrighty, today I’m checking out the final gal in Funko’s Magic The Gathering Legacy line. The first two figures, Chandra and Nissa, not only impressed me, but they’ve put almost all my fears to rest about quality issues in the Legacy Collection Firefly and Rocketeer figures that were shown off at Toy Fair this week. Hell, at this rate I may even take my chances with some more of their Game of Thrones figures. But today we’re here to talk about Liliana Vess, so let’s do it!

We’ve already seen the packaging for this line twice, so I won’t dwell on it much more. I like it a lot as it identifies the figure on the side of the box, shows off the goods inside pretty well, and is totally collector friendly. Once again, I will humbly suggest that putting character bios on the boxes would have been a nice idea. I can’t be the only one buying these figures who knows nothing about MTG. Or maybe I am. Either way, a consultation with Wizards of the Coast told me a little bit about our gal Lil. Apparently she’s a century old Necromancer, charismatic, charming, and witty and likes making deals with demons. Wooo hooo.. witch-ay woman… let’s see how high she flies.

And there she is in all her dark beauty. As great as the other two figures were, I’d say straightaway that Liliana is the most impressive at first sight, mainly because of the tattoo scroll work that is etched all over her visible skin. It’s not only a very cool design for the character, but it’s implemented very well on the figure. Ms. Vess’ mostly purple outfit has a bit of a gypsy flavor to me. She’s got a flowing skirt that’s slit up the side so we can see a little leg, and a top that exposes her midriff, (wow, Wizards of the Coast love their bare midriffs!) and a sash over her left shoulder that hooks at the back of her skirt and connects to each of her sleeves at the wrist. She’s also wearing greaves, which are painted with a metallic purple and a gold ram’s horn style tiara.

The portrait here is more complex than what we’ve seen with Chandra and Nissa. Besides the scroll work tatts on her face, Lil is the first of these ladies to have pupils in her eyes and they’re painted nice and straight. The paint used for her lips and eye brows is also crisp and expertly applied. I actually get a little Marina Sirtis vibe off of her,which ain’t a bad thing. After three figures, it’s safe to say that the guys at Funko (or in this case Gentle Giant) know how to craft a pretty female portrait in this scale.

Lilian’s articulation is identical to what we saw with Nissa, but I’ll run through it anyway. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps and hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed with swivels at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have rotating swivels and lateral rockers in the ankles. She has a ball joint just under her chest and another in her neck. Once again, I had absolutely no troubles with frozen joints or breakage, although it’s worth noting that Lil’s magnificent mane of hair hinders her neck articulation.

If Liliana has a downside, it’s her total lack of accessories. So far none of the ladies in this line have been over-encumbered with extra goodies, but Nissa’s staff was nice and at least they threw in a fireball with Chandra. Some magic effect parts would have gone a long way to make this feel like a more complete package. I suppose you could argue that Lil’s costume is a bit more complex and uses more plastic than the other two. Either way, it’s not a deal breaker for me.

Well, that’s it for the three figures that I picked up from this line, but if you’ve liked what you’ve seen then fear not, I’ve already ordered the rest of the wave so there will be more Magic The Gathering to come. I mentioned at the start of these Features that I got these three figures for a deal, around $11 each, but I would have been pretty happy even if I had shelled out full retail. Indeed, two of the remaining figures ran me a lot closer to retail and I have no worries. If Funko can keep showing the improvements they’ve been making in the Legacy line, I look forward to having a lot more of these figures on my shelves. In fact, with how proficient they are at grabbing up licenses, I’m rather excited to see what the future holds for this line.

Feb 17 2015

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

Let’s see… by my reckoning it was way back in November that I last checked in with the Figuarts Sailor Moon line. I made my way up to Sailor Mars and then things just got lost in the shuffle. My pre-order for Sailor Uranos recently dropped and so I thought I’d better get cracking on getting caught up because I currently have two other Sailor Soldiers waiting to be opened. And that brings us to the next Sailor Scout to appear… Makoto. Cue transformation… JUPITER POWER MAKE-UP!!! The addition of Jupiter as the fourth Sailor Scout added another flavor to the ensemble. In addition to Sailor Moon we had brainy Mercury and the fiery Mars and to this we now add a little muscle to the mix. I like Jupiter, particularly her noble sense of justice and her willingness to dive into a scrape when the cause is right, (plus, I remind her of her old Sempai!) but I never quite bonded with her as I did Mercury or Mars. That’s not to say she’s not a great character and I was certainly looking forward to getting her figure on my shelf. I also totally dig the way she calls down the lightning with her antenna and fries her enemies with SUUUUPREME THUNDER!

The package is the same compact little window box that we saw with the previous releases. It’s colorful and each box features a deco that is tailored to the Sailor Scout inside. In this case we get a lot of green. There’s a nice die-cut image of Jupiter on the front that obscures part of the window, but you still get a peek at the figure inside. The rest of the box is littered with pictures of the figure in action poses. Inside, a clear plastic tray holds the figure in the center and a secondary tray holds her extra bits off to the side. As always, the package is totally collector friendly, which helps a lot with keeping track of everything when you’re not using it.

Straightaway, one of the things I love the most about this figure is that it accurately reflects Jupiter’s height. A lot of toy companies would have been happy with a straight repaint of the body and hope nobody noticed, but not these guys. Jupiter stands about half a head taller than Sailor Moon and most of her added height comes from her longer torso. The rest of the costume is similar in sculpt to the other gals, complete with pleated skirt, large bows front and back, ruffled shoulders, and the sailor-style collar. The biggest difference in the outfits is found in the footwear, as Jupiter is sporting a pair of low boots laced up in the front. I really dig how they did Jupiter’s hair with the two loose strands hanging down either side of her face and an articulated pony tail.

The coloring and paintwork on this figure is top notch. You get the same pearlescent white on the blouse and gloves, a striking metallic green paint for the skirt, boots, and collar, and a shimmering pink for the bows. The paint on these figures has been pretty good throughout and Jupiter is right in line with the best of them. I can’t spot any splotches or flubs.

I expect a lot of extra bits with my Sailor Scouts, and Jupiter isn’t one to disappoint. You get a total of five extra pairs of interchangeable hands and three extra swappable faces. Some of the hands are familiar, some are new, and they really do help to hammer home that special pose you might be looking for. The extra portraits include delighted Jupiter, slightly perturbed Jupiter, and shouty perturbed Jupiter. As always, the faces are swapped by removing the front of her hair.

Speaking of which, Jupiter comes with an extra front hair piece that has her antenna extended. It looks great, but it’s not as rubbery as I would have expected. This means it doesn’t warp, but it also demands caution because I can see it snapping rather easily.

And lastly, Jupiter comes with the same style stand we’ve been seeing since Sailor Moon was released. It’s a clear, heart-shaped base with an arm the pegs in to the back. The base is printed with Jupiter’s name and some stars and scroll work patterns, all in green. The arm is hinged in three places and has two little grabber arms. I’m still on the fence whether I prefer these to the peg-in-the-back style that Figmas use, but it’s still a nice, serviceable stand and it certainly comes in handy as it can be tricky to get Jupiter to stand on her tiny feet without it.

Jupiter ran me about $44 on Amazon, which is about average for what I’ve been paying for these figures. Even with four of these gals now on my shelf it still feels like a good value for what you’re getting. The quality is there, she’s got excellent poseability, and all the extra bits and bobs make me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth. I was wondering whether I’d get tired of this line a few figures in, since they do mostly share a lot of the same design elements, but so far that hasn’t been the case. I was just as excited opening Jupiter as I was her predecessors and I’m rather anxious to get to the next one.

Feb 16 2015

The Avengers: Hawkeye ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

I started collecting Kotobukiya’s Avengers ArtFX+ line back in April of last year with The Hulk and now with only two more statues to go, I’ve reached the home stretch. I’ve been putting off looking at Hawkeye until the release of the final statue, Iron Man, drew closer and now that Mr. Stark has hit my Pile of Loot, I figured it was time to get Hawkeye his due. No disrespect to Hawkeye, but this was the statue in this line that I was least excited about. I don’t mind Hawkeye’s Marvel NOW! Look, but compared to the likes of Hulk, Thor, or even Black Widow, it isn’t the most exciting thing in this lineup to me. Still, there was never any doubt that I would get him to complete the set. Let’s see if this statue can hit my mark.

The statue comes in a completely enclosed box with some great shots of the piece itself set against a monochrome collage of comic art. I’ve been a big fan of these boxes as they’re not only collector friendly, but they display really well too. On the downside, each box has been individually sized to fit each statue, so they don’t really stack evenly or line up all that well on the bookshelves. But hey, they’re sturdy and I can rely on them for storage if I ever move or have to rotate these pieces out of my current display and that’s mostly what I’m looking for in my statue packages.

Inside the box, Hawkeye comes pressed between two clear plastic trays and does indeed require some assembly. You have to connect the top and bottom half together at the waist, his left arm at the bicep and equip him with his bow, quiver, and arrows, all of which are separate pieces. Yes… I was delighted to see that each arrow (eight in all) is separate rather than just having the ends molded into the top of the quiver! I may have underestimated just how cool you’re going to be, Hawkeye. The assembly here is a tad more involved than any of the others, mostly because of the bow, but everything still goes together easy-peasy.

With Hawkeye all set up I’ll confess to being surprisingly impressed with the Koto’s execution of this statue. I think what really makes it stand out is the way they did all the gear. The pistol actually looks like it could be removed from the holster (even though it can’t) and the way they designed the bow to peg together in his hand is rather clever. It reminds me of the way they did the lariat for the first Bishoujo Wonder Woman statue. Had they gone with one single assembly for the bow, arrow, and draw arm I don’t think it could have possibly came out as credible looking as it did. Even the way Clint is knocking the arrow (any one of them will do) works beautifully. Hawkeye’s pose has him on the move as he’s preparing to shoot. It’s nothing original, but it works well for the character. At this point, I’d dare say it’s an iconic look for him, and it displays beautifully from virtually any angle.

The portrait is clean and definitely represents a little Marvel NOW! And a little Jeremy Renner. The sunglasses are part of the sculpt and the texturing in the hair looks great. My one complaint here would be the back of the neck where it’s pretty obvoius that the hair is a separate piece as there’s a channel running between hair and skin making it look artificial from the back. Also, as good as the head sculpt looks, I still can’t help be reminded of Albert Wesker from Resident Evil whenever I look at it. That’s not really a criticism of the sculpt, but rather the character design.

The coloring here is mostly black with a little purple to pay fleeting respect to Hawkeye’s classic comic outfit. While the potential was there for the costume to be rather drab and boring, Koto mixed up the black with a matte finish for the outfit itself and a glossy finish for the pouches, belt and holster. You also get a little gray on the buckles and straps. The paint lines are sharp, even around the fingerless gloves and the hairline.

As always, the statue comes with a plain black metal square base that interacts with the magnets in the statues feet to keep him secured while on display. This comes in handy if you want to put all the bases together to make one large platform and have the statues overlap on different bases.

So, yeah, I wasn’t expecting much from this one. I bought Hawkeye mainly to complete the Avengers team, but he turned out to be a very pleasant surprise in the end. In fact, right now I’d probably even rate him in higher standing than Thor, even though I think both are great pieces. The wizards at Koto obviously looked at what made Barton unique and put a lot of their efforts into that aspect of the statue, meaning his bow and arrows. Hawkeye would have been an easy one to phone in, but instead they turned it around and delivered something special. He set me back just a smidge over $40, which makes him a little bit on the low end of what I’m averaging for these pieces and he was well worth every penny. And that brings me to the last release in the ArtFX+ Avengers series. Next week, we’ll check out Iron Man!

Feb 13 2015

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Collection): Nissa Revane

Last week I dipped my toe into Funko’s Legacy Collection Magic The Gathering figures with a look at Hot Pyromancer Chandra and I was mighty impressed. Today I’m pressing onward with Nissa Revane. In case you missed the first feature, I’ll point out once again that I know next to nothing about Magic The Gathering, but these looked like some nice fantasy figures and I’m always up for that. So let’s see what’s in the cards for Nissa. See, I said “cards” because these figures are based off a card game. Cards. Funny? No? Little bit? Ok then, moving on…

The package consists of a window box designed to stand on a shelf or hang on a peg. It’s all the rage with 6-inch figure lines these days and it certainly gets the job done. The box identifies the figure, lets you get a good look at what’s inside, and it’s totally collector friendly. I really dig how Funko puts the figure’s name and portrait on the side panel so you can line them up on a shelf and still know which is which without having to pull them off. If Hasbro had done that with the Star Wars Black boxes, I might have hung on to them. Anyway, the one thing the package is missing is a little bio about the character. And because I know nothing about these characters, I quickly buggered off to Wizards of the Coast to find some information about Nissa. Apparently she’s a rather proud Elf that wields nature magic. Her biggest turn-on is flowers and her turn-off’s include both vampires and snakes. Let’s get her out of the box…

Nissa Refane is clearly one of those hot chick tree-huggers. You know, the kind you pretend to like soy milk for so they’ll go out with you and then they wind up leaving you for a botanist after you paid for her BA degree in Ecology. Yeah, you know the type. She’s the epitome of a classic fantasty wood elf and I mean that in every good way possible. The green and brown motif really invokes the feel of the forest and the paint on this figure is pretty near flawless.

I totally dig the way Funko constructed Nissa’s outfit. It’s quite complex and layered for a figure in this scale and price range. The boots and leggings are part of the sculpt, but skirt and sash are sculpted of softer rubber and permanently attached around the waist. The top of the outfit is part of the figure buck with extra pieces of soft plastic attached to make the high collar, cape, and the loops that hang free around her arms. The arm loops are pegged in, so if you pull them too far, they just pull out and you can pop them back in. The lacing for the top piece is also sculpted into the buck and painted. The detailing in her wrist bracers is quite good too and her taut exposed midriff reveals some painted tattoos.

Funko certainly seems to know how to sculpt a pretty female face because the portrait here is every bit as good as Chandra’s. Nissa has somewhat of a slightly concerned expression, or possibly its a hint of sadness. She sports green, pupil-less eyes and those extra long Elf ears that usually turn up in anime, mangas, or games by Blizzard. She features shoulder length brown hair, complete with a very thin gold chain painted in and some tattoos on her face that match the ones on her tummy.

Ah, but Funko has made great looking figures before only to have them snap apart in my people’s hands. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case the articulation. I’m happy to say that my figure has absolutely zero issues with frozen or brittle joints. And while Chandra did have a restricted ball joint in the chest that I wasn’t willing to force, Nissa’s got complete movement in hers. The articulation here is pretty much the same as Chandra’s, but let’s run through it anyway. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have rotating hinges in the ankles. The neck has a ball joint, which is somewhat restricted by the sculpted hair, and that ball joint under the chest allows for swiveling and leaning forward or back. Nissa is one limber little Elf!

Nissa comes with one accessory and that’s her magical staff. It’s a sculpted to look like a twisted piece of wood and she can comfortably hold it in her left hand.

So far, Funko’s MTG line is two for two, and hot damn, I’m loving these figures. The quality and craftsmanship here is right on par with some of the better efforts of DC Collectibles or even NECA. Nissa features a superb sculpt, great paint, and wonderful articulation… what more can you want in a figure? I’ve got one more of these ladies to open before I decide whether or not to pick up the other half of the line, but the next figure would have to be a disaster to make me stop collecting these now. I’m certainly getting more and more confidence in Funko’s 6-inch action figure chops and anxious to see what they’ll have to show us at Toy Fair this week.

Feb 12 2015

Transformers Combiner Wars: Legends Class Thundercracker by Hasbro

It’s Transformers Thursday again and I’m spending it looking at the final figure from Wave 1 of the Combiner Wars Legends Classes. The Legends line has been a bright spot for me lately as I opted out of the Age of Extinction toys and now I’m doing the same with Robots in Disguise. So far, this Wave has been pretty solid with two excellent figures (Bombshell and Powerglide) and one that just squeaked by (Windcharger). Today’s figure is Thundercracker and it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that he’s a repaint of the Generations Legends Class Starscream. I’m a sucker for Seekers and Thundercracker was one of the first Transformers I got as a kid, so he has a special place in my heart.

I’ve said my piece about this new packaging. I don’t love it, but at least its not bland and totally black like a lot of Hasbro’s other lines of late. It looks like the art department actually spent some time on the design and ‘Cracker’s character art on the card is pretty damn sweet. This new method of securing the figures, on the other hand, well this shit has got to go. They aren’t rubber bands, they aren’t twist-ties, they’re just these insufferable little plastic wires like the ones often used to attach tags on clothes. They’re a pain in the ass and I hate them. Anyway, Thundercracker comes packaged in his robot mode, albeit a bit mis-transformed, but let’s kick it off with his alt mode first.

What was a great jet mode for Starscream is still a great one for Thundercracker. If you turn the jet over you can still see the arms and hands pretty clearly, but they aren’t obvious from the top. You still get a flip down front landing gear and there’s still a peg hole on top of the jet if you want to plug one of the Targetmaster Mini-cons into him. Starscream’s gray and light blue plastic has been replaced with dark navy blue and black and some of the red paint with silver. The cockpit is still gold and the paint on the wings is more or less the same, just a little more metallic this time around. Thundercracker’s Decepticon insignia are slightly bigger and shifted a bit closer to the main body of the jet. All in all, good stuff.

Thundercracker has the same easy transformation as Starscream, but it makes for a fantastic robot mode. The proportions are great and little touches, like the way the tail fins fold back really help streamline the design. I love the detail sculpted into the intakes on his chest and the head, which appears to be the same as Starscream’s, features an equally impressive and sharp sculpt. If I had one complaint, it would be that I wish the wing piece pegged into the back, but even without a peg, it holds in place pretty well. The deco in robot mode is very close to what we saw in jet mode only with a little more silver paint showing.

Articulation includes ball joints in the shoulders, elbows, and hips, and hinges in the knees and ankles all of which add up to a fun figure. The guns on his arms are pegged in so they can be positioned facing up or down, used as hand held guns, or removed entirely.

Hasbro did a great job with this mold the first time around, so it’s no surprise that Thundercracker makes me a happy Transfan aswell. This figure represents everything that I love about the Legends Class figures these days. He’s simple and fun and I’m mighty tempted to just carry him around in my pocket all day for when I get some down time. It really feels like Hasbro is pouring that extra love into this line and I hope it continues, because lately these little guys represent my only outlet for new Transformers outside of Masterpiece and Third Party stuff. Now, Hasbro, bust out that paint and get us a Legends Skywarp!

Feb 11 2015

Star Wars Rebels: Ezra’s Speeder Bike (#75090) by LEGO

One of the biggest disappointments out there right now in the toy aisles for me is Hasbro’s total failure at getting their 3 3/4” Rebels figures out to the pegs. I’ve yet to see one in the wild and, while that’s not uncommon in my area, the fact that the figures are still selling for around $25-30 each on Amazon leads me to believe that the distribution problem is universal. And so, I fall back upon LEGO to get me my Rebels toy fix. Way back in September, I looked at LEGO’s Phantom and this time I’m going to check out Ezra’s Speeder Bike set.

There’s not much to say about the box, except the deco is pretty cool. I like the use of the Stormtrooper helmet in the corner a lot more than a giant Darth Maul or Yoda head. It’s going to be hard to get used to new Stormtrooper helmets when Episode VII comes out. Anyway, the box let’s you see exactly what you’re going to be building. Inside there are two baggies of bricks, one small sticker sheet, and one instruction booklet. There are 253 pieces total and when you’re done you get two Speeder Bikes and three Minifigs. As always, let’s start with the Minifigs!

The Minifigs include Ezra ~~Brooks~~ Bridger (Yeah, I seriously typed Brooks first. I obviously have cheap whiskey on my mind!), Sabine Wren, and a Stormtrooper. Ezra is unfortunately the same Minifig that came with The Phantom only without the Imperial Pilot Helmet, so I don’t have much use for him. I’m not going to complain, though, since the set is called Ezra’s Speeder Bike, I knew what I was getting into. He comes with a lightsaber and a wrench. Sabine seems like an odd choice for this set, but she’s a great figure and I’m glad to get her. On the downside, the fact that she doesn’t come with her Mandalorian helmet is unforgivable and an obvious ploy to get you to buy another set where it will most certainly be included. She comes with two blaster pistols. The Stormtrooper is another great figure. The sculpt on the helmet is fantastic, even though he looks more like a regular trooper than the stylized ones that appear in the cartoon. The printing on him looks great and he comes with an E-11 Blaster. Ezra and Sabrine each have double printed faces and the Stormtrooper a single.

The Speeder Bikes are great builds and they’re actually a bit bigger and more complex than I was expecting. They are, however, identical builds so if you aren’t a fan of redundancy in your LEGO sets, this one might disappoint from that aspect. The only differences between the two bikes are the color of the bricks and some extra stickers on Ezra’s bike. Some of the play features include articulated front stabilizers, a clip to hold a weapon behind he seat, two firing launchers slung under each bike, and the front stabilizer assembly can extend outward. Both decos are plenty cool and if you want I suppose you could easily use the Stormtrooper and his bike with your regular Star Wars LEGO sets.

For a $20 set, this one feels like a pretty good value. Three Minifigs and two vehicles is certainly nothing to complain about and I had a good time building everything, even with the redundancy. The bikes are excellent and all the Minifigs are quite good. Still, I take serious issue with Sabine’s helmet not being included. I consider it a necessary part of her outfit and the omission smacks of serious money-grabbing tactics on LEGO’s behalf, although currently I haven’t seen any of the Rebels sets that includes her with the helmet, which kind of makes the situation suck all the more. Either we have to buy another set to get it, or we aren’t getting it at all. Ah, but I can’t stay mad at you LEGO and with Hasbro dropping the ball on getting their toys to retail, I intend to pick up more of these Rebels sets.

Feb 10 2015

Disney Infinity 2.0: Captain America, Hawkeye, and Hulk

I’m a little pressed for time today, so I thought it would be a good day to try to get caught up on looking at my Disney Infinity figures by finishing off The Avengers. I’ve had Cap and Hawkeye since the line first launched and Hulk was a delayed release, as prior to that he was an exclusive included with one of the limited pack releases. Disney’s been pumping out a lot of new Marvel figures for the Infinity 2.0 software lately, so I’m starting to get the bug and get back into collecting these.

I don’t have much to say about the packaging. The figures come on a simple carded blister pack with their character art dominating the card and a symbol showing which Playset they are designed to work with. It’s important to keep in mind that any 2.0 figure can be used in the Toybox Mode, but you can only use specific figures in specific Playsets. If you care about the packages, I’d avoid getting them at places like Gamestop. That’s where my Cap came from and you can see what they did to his card. In addition to the figure, each package contains a collectible art card that doubles as a web code to unlock the character in the PC version of the game.

Captain America sports a pretty classic pose with his shield out in front of him and his other hand balled into a fist. Cap is also the only figure in the line where I have some paint issues. There’s some overspray between the blue and gray on his right bicep and a little bit of rubbing on the white star on his chest. It’s nothing terrible, but worth pointing out because the paint on the rest of my Infinity figures has been absolutely solid work. At least the paint on his shield is immaculate.

Cap also happens to be my favorite of these characters to play in the game, and overall second only to Iron Man. They really nailed the play mechanics of his shield beautifully. I love whacking Frost Giants with it by doing combos and it’s a very satisfying to hurl it, strike an enemy, and watch it arc back to me. Pure arcadey goodness!

Next up we have Hawkeye, who is styled very much like a cross between the Marvel NOW! look and his Marvel Movieverse appearances. Hawkeye is relatively simple looking, but it’s the pose on this figure that really does it for me. He’s reaching for an arrow from his quiver and has his bow held out in front of him. The position of the legs is very dynamic and he looks absolutely fantastic when displayed beside Black Widow. I didn’t expect much from playing the game as Hawkeye, but it was a surprisingly fun experience, particularly after unlocking some of his advanced bow skills.

Lastly, we have The Hulk. He was the one Avengers character that was delayed from launch to entice early adopters to buy the super expensive complete set. I thought he was going to be tough to find, but I was able to pre-order him as a single-pack through Amazon with no fuss or muss. He’s pretty much a perfect little stylized and cartoony Hulk. I love his angry little face and those big honkin’ nipples. He’s also sporting a fantastic “come at me bro!” pose. The green they used is a tad washed out, but otherwise the paint is neat and clean. He probably needed to be a little bigger, but I’m sure they were under constraints to keep him within the price point and to work with the Infinity Portal.

Hulk is the only one of the Avengers characters that I haven’t beaten the game with. In fact, I haven’t actually played him in the game at all. It’s nothing against Hulk, but after going through The Avenger’s Playset five times with the rest of the gang, I needed a break. If Hulk had been available at launch, I’m sure I would have played him by now, but either way, I’ll get back to him sooner or later.

And that (finally!) wraps up The Avengers from Infinity 2.0. I like these little figures a lot and they look great all lined up at the top of my entertainment center. The next set I’ll be working on will be The Guardians of the Galaxy. I already have Rocket Raccoon, as he is the only Guardian that can be unlocked for use in The Avengers Playset. I’ll probably wait until I have a complete set and have played the Guardians Playset through a bunch of times before I feature them here on FFZ. The new figures that have been hitting the shelves this past month look great, but I only wish they could interact with the Playsets and not just the Toybox.

Feb 9 2015

DC Comics: Batgirl Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

I’ve only been into statues for about four years now. It’s an aspect of my collecting that still takes a back seat to action figures, but it’s been a growing percentage of my collecting budget ever since. I didn’t pick up my first Bishoujo statue until sometime in 2011 and after I got hooked on this buxom plastic crack, I suddenly realized that there were a number of statues in the line that had come and gone and were now only available at crazy high prices on the secondary market. It’s an old story for collectors, getting into a line late and regretting those pieces that you’ll likely never own. And man, the Bishoujo line has a lot of them: Emma Frost, Rogue, Psylocke, Scarlet Witch, and Phoenix, to name a few. And also Batgirl. While I don’t recall Batgirl ever reaching the crazy prices of Rogue, she still commanded a price that was beyond what I was willing to go for. And now Kotobukiya has re-issued her and she’s finally on my shelf.

Batgirl comes in a window box that should be readily familiar to any collector of this line. You get a large window in front and smaller ones on the top and side to let some light in. As always, this arrangement gives you a glimpse of what you’re getting, but she’s wrapped in plastic, so you really need to bust her out of there to get a good look. The box is mostly white and includes some great full color art from Shunya Yamashita. I particularly like the image on the side panel where Batgirl’s cape is illustrated in the foreground and obscures some of the text in the background.

What’s bugging the hell out of me is the Coming Soon: Catwoman thing on the bottom of the back panel. Of course, Koto always has a look at an upcoming release here, but in this case what we’re seeing is most likely because of a reuse of the Batgirl box. I’m pretty sure Koto has gone on record a few times that they have no plans to re-release Catwoman, but then I never thought we’d see Batgirl again, so maybe it’s still possible. Anyway, I believe Batgirl was the 6th statue released in this line, if you don’t count variants, and I think she may been the first DC Comic character to get Koto’s Bishoujo treatment. She was also available in a black costumed variant, which followed the original blue. The statue comes out of the box fully assembled and ready to go, so let’s check her out.

Dear God, I love these statues! One of my favorite things about a lot of Koto pieces is their ability to convey energy and movement in a static form and that’s certainly the case with Batgirl here. Her pose is pretty simple, she’s got one foot up on a very “Gotham-Style” gargoyle, but it’s the spectacular twirl of her cape that makes the composition here stand out. It’s fanning out all around her and it just looks absolutely stunning. Standing fully erect (ahem), Batgirl stands roughly shoulder to shoulder with most of the other statues in the line, although you could argue she looks a wee bit more demure when displayed next to the likes of Huntress or Power Girl.

Newcomers to the Bishoujo line may find this Batgirl rather tame by comparison to more recent releases. The line has always been about pretty women in tight outfits, but it’s become quite the gratuitous T&A show in recent years. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but Batgirl certainly represents a time when the line conveyed a lot more subtlety. Don’t get me wrong, this Batgirl is still dead sexy and her costume still looks like it’s painted on, but it’s not as overtly in-your-face sexualized as say a Starfire, or Spider-Girl, or Powergirl. There’s also a lot less skin than some. Indeed, the motion that Barbara is making with her cape actually obscures her chest almost completely. Although it’s a nice counterbalance that the same motion also serves to showcase her fabulous butt.

The bulk of Batgirl’s outfit is pretty simple, at least the bodysuit part of it, so most of the sculpting here went into the motion of her cape, as well as the belt, gloves, and boots. And, of course, let’s not forget the portrait. Barbara has her head slightly lowered with her red hair escaping from her hood and flowing about her. It’s a pretty simple face sculpt, although the eyes are more defined on this piece and given a bit more depth and I like it a lot.

Batgirl’s costume is predominantly painted with a charcoal paint that somehow manages to be both metallic and matte at the same time. There’s a dull sheen to it that contrasts nicely with the slightly richer gold and the brilliantly blue glossy cape and cowl. And oh god, is the blue on this statue gorgeous! I think the last time I was this impressed by a shade of paint was the red used for Bishoujo Spider-Girl’s outfit. The blue here is so rich and vibrant and manages to capture that new car finish level of brilliance. As is usually the case with Koto’s pieces, the paint on this statue is absolutely flawless. The lines are sharp and there’s no slop to be found anywhere.

The base is a simple black disc with the gargoyle for Batgirl to practice her best Captain Morgan pose on. It’s a hideous little beastie with its tongue sticking out and some really detailed sculpting, especially on the backs of its wings. It’s pretty convincing as a piece of granite done in plastic and it contrasts quite nicely with the smooth sheen of Batgirl’s attire.

This one was a long time coming and after a long time scouring Ebay and Amazon and hoping against hope I’d find a deal, all to no avail, it’s awesome to finally have Bishoujo Batgirl on my shelf. She’s absolutely gorgeous and I’d rank her among some of this line’s best work. What’s crazy about this release is that with an MSRP of around $50 she’s hitting most retailers a good ten to fifteen dollars under what most current releases in this line are starting at. It’s still kind of early to hope that his release will open the floodgates to reissues of the other expensive early Bishoujos, but it certainly does present some possibilities. And even if this is a one-shot deal, it’s still nice to have a statue in my collection that I probably would not have otherwise gotten hold of.

FigureFan Zero

Action Figure Reviews, Toys & Collectibles…

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: Poison Ivy by DC Collectibles

Function X-4: Sigma-L by Fansproject

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Series): Liliana Vess

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

The Avengers: Hawkeye ArtFX+ Statue by Kotobukiya

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Collection): Nissa Revane

Transformers Combiner Wars: Legends Class Thundercracker by Hasbro

Star Wars Rebels: Ezra’s Speeder Bike (#75090) by LEGO

Disney Infinity 2.0: Captain America, Hawkeye, and Hulk

DC Comics: Batgirl Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: