Oct 25 2023

Marvel Legends (Khonshu Wave): Zombie Scarlet Witch and Zombie Iron Man by Hasbro

How weird is it to have a Marvel Legends review turn up in the middle of Halloween festivities, eh? Well, I love comics and I love Halloween so I jumped at the opportunity. And who knows? Maybe this won’t be the only Comic-Halloween crossover this week! Anyway, I had already stopped collecting complete waves of Legends by the time this second What If? inspired assortment hit the stores, and to be honest the only reason I picked up these two were because they hit deep discount on Amazon. The Konshu BAF actually looks pretty cool, but there’s no way I’m buying an Agent Woo or another Disney+ Loki figure to build him.

These figures come in the windowless packaging and honestly I don’t mind it much for Marvel Legends. The images on the boxes tend to be pretty close to what you get inside and by now most people probably know what to expect from this line. Besides, I throw these boxes out anyway. As the front of the package boldly exclaims, these are based on the animated What If? series from Disney+. This was the last of the D+ Marvel shows I tried to watch in good faith, but I couldn’t get through most of the episodes. Let’s start with Scarlet Witch…

Oh wow, this figure turned out great! She’s got a wonderfully creepy Deadite vibe going on and while the eye is inevitably drawn to the magnificent hair sculpt as the stand-out feature, everything about this figure is really well done. While it’s based on an animated design, I think it toes the line well enough to work with the regular MCU or comic figures. The outfit includes a shredded version of Wanda’s MCU look with the red overcoat over a red corset, black trousers, and black boots. There are holes sculpted into the jacket and the sculpted sleeve arms have similar damage and even display some exposed bones. You could possibly argue that the costume looks a bit too clean, but I can’t deny how beautiful the colors are here. The red is gorgeous and looks great alongside the matte and gloss black.

But as great as the body looks, the portrait remains the real showpiece here. The crazy hair is absolutely superb as it flies in every which way. The head sculpt shows a Zombie Wanda with a fierce visage, her downturned mouth showing teeth, blood smeared on her face and her eyes all glassy and void of pupils. This has got to be one of my favorite Legends head sculpts in a long while!

The articulation is better than we see with many Legends gals, as the elbows are double hinged and complimented with swivels in the biceps. The elbows are pinless but the knees are not. She comes with one pair of hands, which are of the spell-slinging variety and you get two hex power effect pieces to snake around her wrists. Because Zombies are bad enough, but hex-powered Zombies will really ruin your whole day. Let’s shamble on over to Zombie Iron Man…

This figure looks pretty good, but Zombie Wanda is a hard act to follow, and Undead Tony ain’t quite up to the challenge. The suit has a bit of Extremis flavor to me with just a bit more bulk and organic curves from the MCU models. I like it a lot and the red finish has a beautiful new car shine to it with some splotches of filth sprayed very sparingly here and there. There’s a little sculpted damage to the suit, including a missing panel on the right side of his abs, showing some exposed ribs, and a piece taken out of the left forearm. A bit of gold and silver painted accents add to the figure’s sharp deco.

The head sculpt here is pretty good, but again not nearly as good as Wanda’s. This one looks a lot more animated, which is fine considering the source, but some of the details, like the sprayed on mustache, is wanting. Still, the rotted holes in his cheeks and the open mouth cavity are pretty damn cool. He also has a rotted out nose and two yellow pupil-less eyes. The hair sculpt is a bit chunky, but not bad at all.

Zombie Stark comes with two pairs of hands and two repulsor blast effect parts. The hands include one pair of fists and a pair of open repulsor hands, which have no articulation in the wrist. The effect parts are the same pieces we’ve seen before. Here they are cast in translucent blue and they plug into the holes in the open hands.

I picked up these figures at $13 each and I’m really happy I did, especially since I already had Zombie Cap from the previous What If? wave and these three look great together. Wanda is the stand out figure in the trio for me, but Iron Man and Cap are no slouch either. It’ll be interesting to see if Hasbro dips into this well again, and to be honest now that I have three of them, chances are I might not wait for clearance if any other Marvel Zombies turn up. Now, if only I had some DC Zombies to look at on Friday… hmm…

Oct 23 2023

Masque of the Red Death (Figura Obscura) by The Four Horsemen

It’s a week until Halloween, and I’m throwing FFZ into full on Horror mode to compliment the Thirty-One Days of Horror Review Reposts that I’ve been running on Twitter. In addition to this week’s usual three articles, I’ll be doing a couple extra for next weekend and of course one more on Halloween Day. And to kick things off, today I’m having a look at The Four Horsemen’s latest offering in their Figura Obscura subline. These one-off releases have been horror themed and I’ve skipped them all until this one, mainly because I’m a fan of Edgar Allan Poe and to a lesser extent a fan of the Vincent Price film based pretty loosely on Poe’s story, The Masque of the Red Death!

You get some damn fine premium packaging here. The figure comes in a window box with a heavy tri-fold cover that attaches to the sides with magnets. There’s some gorgeous character art on the front and the back has a parchment recounting a synopsis of the story the figure is based on. You also get a little booklet that reprints the entire short story, which is a great bonus and definitely worth a read this Halloween if you haven’t experienced it.

Remove the tri-fold and you get a standard window box with a window cut out on top to let some light in. The back of the tri-fold also has some excellent artwork to serve as a backdrop while displaying the figure, and I’ll include a shot of that at the end. The figure is positioned on the tray in rather tight quarters thanks to the Grandfather Clock taking up a good bit of the real estate in there. There’s a second tray nested underneath, which has a few more accessories. Everything is collector friendly and with a box this good, I plan on keeping it. Of course, the figure is scaled with TFH’s 6-inch Mythic Legions line and uses modular parts compatible with those figures, as well as Cosmic Legions if you fancy cobbling together a figure of SPACE DEATH!!!

Here is Death out of the box and ready to scare the willies out of you with a lesson on inescapable human fate and mortality. Softgoods is the name of the game here, which is definitely unusual for The Four Horsemen, who are generally regarded as some of the best sculptors in toyland. Although they seem to be embracing softgoods more and more in the upcoming releases of their other lines. Death is wrapped in layered robes with a hood that has two long flaps which hang down all the way to his feet. Besides the face the only exposed plastic is his arms and feet. I won’t be taking the robes off, and they aren’t meant to be removed, because what you get underneath is a pretty basic body.

The robes do look very nice, albeit a bit chunky in a few areas. It feels like there’s some underwire present, but it doesn’t really do a lot to hold the robes in any specific position. The two-tone red coloring looks very great and the tattered edges are a nice touch. The fully exposed right arm is textured and comes off as a mix of dead flesh and bone, while the feet are just nasty rotting skeletal feet. You get four sets of hands, which include fists, graspy hands, relaxed hands, and accessory holding hands. The robes are pretty forgiving when it comes to posing.

The head sculpt is pretty damn fantastic and suitably creepy. The mask itself is a mix of skeleton with some interesting arcane patterns sculpted into the forehead. The wax-like melting effect coming off of it is excellent. There are two different shades of red paint here, with the base of the mask being a darker speckled paint and the upper teeth and some of the sculpted accents in a much brighter gloss crimson. The lower jaw is left as a purplish-gray color to suggest it’s part of the actual head and not covered by the mask. It’s a nice touch as the masks usually worn to these parties typically only covered part of the face.

The mask is indeed removable, as it pegs in to the head on either side near the temples. If you’ve read the story, you know that removing it reveals nothingness. Just a lower jaw and a hollowed out crater where the rest of the face would be. There is some creepy sculpted detail lining the back. It’s a very cool and unsettling effect.

Death comes with a medieval-style dagger, which I believe is a new sculpt. I don’t recognize it from any of my Mythic Legions figures, although it will fit right in if you choose to give it to one of them. Technically, I think this would count as an accessory for Prince Prospero, but you get hands so that Death can hold it. Either way, I’m a sucker for a good medieval dagger, and this is a really beautifully sculpted piece.

The other rather large accessory is the Grandfather Clock and it is a real work of art. It stands taller than Death himself and is beautifully sculpted with some ornate carvings, particularly a raven motif up top and a gargoyle head down at the base. The clock requires some assembly out of the package, which is basically just attaching the top and the base. The front piece does come off, but nothing inside is articulated so there’s not much reason to remove it. It’s also held on by some extremely thin and delicate pegs, one of which was already broken in the package, although it still stays in place fine, I may wind up gluing the front piece on permanently. For a one-off piece, TFH really poured the love into this clock.

Finally, you get a rather large effect piece of pooled blood leaking out of the clock. This has some pegs that attach to the feet of the clock to hold it in place and it looks suitably creepy.

I really love how this figure turned out and it’s clear that TFH put a lot of thought and love into the design. Of all the Figura Obscura releases (Krampus and Headless Horsemen) this one feels the most like a personal passion project. Granted, it did not come cheap, as with shipping he clocked it at over $80. Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to see where the money went, but I suspect a lot of it went into the one-time clock accessory which may be lost on some people looking at picking this up mainly for the figure and not for the story related trappings. All in all, this is definitely what I would consider an art piece, as opposed to a fun action figure. That certainly makes it rather unique and there’s nothing wrong with that!

Oct 20 2023

Transformers X G. I. JOE: Megatron HISS Tank by Hasbro

I’ve been taking stock of some of the toys that have been sitting around for a while and waiting their turn in the spotlight here, so you may see some older stuff turning up now and then. One of those woefully delayed reviews is this crossover between Transformers and G. I. JOE that I picked up almost exactly a year ago. I must have had a lot going on because I shelved it and kind of forgot about it. So, let’s take a look at one of those 80’s kids fantasies where Transformers and G. I. JOE meet! Where knowing is more than meets the eye but only half the battle!

The box is interesting as it’s basically a two-part slipcase that slides off each side to reveal a plain brown box with the Hasbro logo on it. The slipcase is gorgeous with the vintage style package design from each franchise represented and some amazing artwork for the vehicle and characters. The Megatron robot mode really downplays the HISS kibble we’re going to see on the actual toy, but even in that regard it’s still very much in the spirit of the vintage TF package art. There’s a fake window showing that the figure includes a vintage-style 3 3/4-inch Baroness, who actually comes carded inside the box. I’ll be honest, as a kid I was never really jonesing for this kind of mash-up. The Cobra Commander cameo in the the Transformers episode Only Human was a cool enough tease for me. Nonetheless, how could I resist something like this?

Here’s Baroness. Yes, she’s still carded and I’m going to keep her that way. All of my 3 3/4-inch JOEs are from the 25th Anniversary line or later, so she really wouldn’t fit in anywhere. I love the card art on this, but the card itself is pretty flimsy and prone to warping. The figure overall looks good, except for where they painted the skin around here eyes inside the glasses so it doesn’t match the rest of her skin color. It may not be all that noticeable in the picture, but it’s really obvious with the figure in hand. She comes with a backpack and rifle. It would have been really cool to give her a scaled down Megatron gun to make her really special to this set, but at least the back of the card has some art specific to this crossover.

And here’s Megatron in his HISS mode, and he looks fantastic. There are some telltale signs that this tank is More Than Meets The Eye if you know where to look, but for a casual observer, this really does look like a regular 3 3/4-inch scale HISS tank and that’s awesome. There’s a seam running down the center of the nose that doesn’t close up all the way, you can see the off-white panels under the cockpit, which are Megatron’s arms, and the most obvious is Megatron’s chest piece fully exposed under the rear platform. None of these really bother me at all, in fact I think they all add to the charm of the toy.

The bulk of the toy is cast in matte black plastic and there are printed red Cobra emblems, as well as some identification numbers. The treads are sculpted just like the regular HISS toys, but there are wheels under it to roll it into battle. Most of the sculpted detail goes into the tread system, but there are still some bolt holes and panel lines, which help draw the eye from the actual transformation seams. The turret rotates as it should and the cannon barrels can be raised and lowered, and they actually move independently from one another.

Here are some comparisons of Megatron HISS with the 25th Anniversary release, and damn they look pretty close. When viewed from the side, and ignoring the color/style changes to the markings, it’s virtually impossible to tell which is the transforming toy.

If you don’t like having extra pieces, you can plug Megatron’s fusion cannon into the turret to give it some extra firepower. On the one hand it kind of looks silly, but then again I kind of like the personalized Megatron touch it gives to the toy.

And here’s the tank with some of Super7’s ReAction figures manning it. These make for a good fit, although this vehicle is really designed for the vintage-style O-Ring figures and the foot pegs on the tailgate are not compatible with the Super7 peg holes. Despite splitting apart down the middle for transformation, the interior of the cockpit is still fully realized with a ton of sculpted detail. The ReAction figures fit fine, but the O-Ring figures would fit even better. Let’s get Megatron transformed and check him out.

Transforming the toy into robot mode is pretty easy, but I found that getting it locked back down into HISS mode can be a pain, even when I know what I’m supposed to be doing. In robot mode, it’s clear that Hasbro’s focus here was the HISS mode, because the robot mode has a lot of kibble. It’s like Megatron is cosplaying as a HISS tank. I think the toy manages the HISS parts pretty well when viewed from the front, but there’s a lot of stuff going on the back… like, oh I don’t know… the fact that he’s basically wearing half a HISS tank as a backpack. I was not fond of this at all when I first saw the toy, but it’s grown on me a little bit. It’s kind of got a powerful battlemech vibe going on, and I’m not hating it. Either way, there’s enough G1 Megatron beats to the robot mode to make it work.

I really dig how the design added the rocket packs to the tread pieces that land on his hips. Being able to launch off six rockets from your hips ain’t a bad thing. The fusion cannon pegs in on the back of the hand, but at least he’s not actually holding it. He can definitely get into a good firing pose with it.

During transformation the back plate of the HISS is removed. You can incorporate this as a shield, but it looks like exactly what it is… Megatron holding the backplate of the HISS. I wish they had just designed this piece to peg into the back somewhere. Then again, maybe he’s already got enough going on back there. As it is, I’ll just set this piece aside when displaying him in robot mode.

The head sculpt is pure money. I’d say this is one of the best G1 Sunbow inspired Megatron heads Hasbro has ever given us. The HISS turret lands directly behind the head and this serves as a firing position for a figure while Megsy is in robot mode. It kind of justifies the extra bulk on his back, or at least gives it a purpose. It also gives the included Baroness figure something to do when Megatron is in robot mode. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to believe Megatron would be fine with human vermin riding on his back.

If you’re looking for an Optimus Prime to square up against this figure, the Power of the Primes Powermaster Prime isn’t too bad. He comes up a little short, but I think they look good facing off against each other.

Overall, I like this toy a lot, but I fall just short of really loving it. As a kid, it was kind of a dream of mine to have a Transformers figure that could hold action figures in its alt mode, and this definitely scratches that itch. The HISS mode is so incredibly well done and it’s fun to load it up with figures and display it alongside regular HISS tanks. The robot mode isn’t all that bad, but the HISS kibble is definitely rather excessive. At least Hasbro leaned into it by giving him the turret on back so he can interact with figures even in robot mode. This thing was released at $90, which I still think is pretty damn excessive, but I got it on sale for around $60 and it can be had these days for even less than that price. Hasbro followed this up with a Bumblebee AWE Striker, which was a pass for me, because it should have been Hound. A third release has been up for pre-order, mashing Soundwave and the Dreadnoks Thunder Machine, and I couldn’t resist that one.

Oct 18 2023

G. I. JOE Classified Firefly (2.0) by Hasbro

The Classified figures are really piling up here, folks, and while I’d like to give every figure a go in the proper order they were received, I inevitably bump some of the new releases to the head of the line because they happen to be on my desk and ready to go. That’s the case with today’s review of Cobra’s demolitions expert… Firefly! Also, since I never did get around to checking out the first Classified Firefly figure, we’ll do a little comparison at the end.

I’m not sure why Hasbro chose this particular figure as a do-over, especially before Scarlett and Duke. I don’t remember any great outrage over the first one, although I think that figure left some people underwhelmed. Either way, Firefly was a prominent figure for me when I was a kid, and he was always crawling under JOE vehicles and planting tiny C4 charges that I made out of modeling clay. One time he blew up the APC full of JOEs. It was a horrific massacre with body parts and O-Rings flying everywhere. Only Gung-Ho survived to avenge his friends in a Rambo style one-man killing spree. He worked his way up the chain and eventually took out Cobra Commander himself. But, don’t worry… everyone was miraculously alive again and ready for action when I was playing the next day.

And unlike the first Firefly, this time Classified gives us a pretty close update to the original vintage figure, complete with gray camo fatigues, which in this case I think are colored a bit lighter than the figure I remember, but still looking great. The fatigues have all sorts of sculpted pockets and stitch lines, as well as knee pads, and there’s a red Cobra emblem printed on his left bicep. The chest rig, which was sculpted as part of the RAH figure is now a separate sculpt, as is the belt, holster, left thigh rig, and both the forearm bracers. This makes all of these pieces a lot more prominent on this version, and gives him a bulkier and more kitted-out feel. He really does look like a one-man demolition squad. The chest rig has some sculpted pouches, pineapple grenades, some canister grenades, and even some green paint on the explosive bricks down the lower left side of the chest rig.

The head sculpt features the balaclava style mask that I always associate with the character. It’s in camo gray to match his fatigues and you get some rather intense eyes peering out. The neck is encircled with a ribbed turtleneck that can be seen extending down into the opening of his fatigues.

Firefly comes with a pair of night vision goggles, which can be worn up on his forehead or down over his eyes. These are cast in soft plastic and fit the head really well in either position. These have a pretty cool sci-fi design to them with a honeycomb pattern over the yellow lens and red globe over the opposite eye.

The backpack is probably the most reimagined part of this figure, although it still conforms to the RAH pack in a general sense. It’s an open frame design with a carry bar and two sculpted pouches at the top. The opening tool box from the vintage figure has been replaced with some kind of electronic device with a digital display resembling a seismic monitor. There are some more sculpted gadgets in here, including a pretty big grenade. I can’t deny that it would have been cool to see the toolbox make a return, but I still like what Hasbro did with this pack design a lot. There’s a peg on the side to store his rifle and pegs on the angled lower panels to store two mines.

The mines are simple enough, but really cool accessories. They have painted red lights on the top and some decent sculpted detail. I love that they can be stored on the backpack for easy access.

As for more traditional weapons, Firefly is armed with an automatic pistol and a submachine gun. The pistol stores in the holster on his hip and can share the silencer with the submachine gun. Meanwhile, the larger weapon is patterned after the one included with the RAH figure and has a removable magazine, which I always really appreciate. On the downside, the box shows some green paint on the submachine gun’s foregrip, which didn’t make it into the final production. I thought it was a nice nod to the color of the RAH figure’s weapon and a great example of why if you’re going to do windowless boxes, you really should make sure the picture is accurate. Although, in fairness it is depicted as unpainted on the upper right hand corner of the box.

He also has a combat knife, which is stored in a sheath on his right forearm. Once again, this accessory is depicted on the box having some green paint that got nixed for production, so it was left all black.

And finally, Firefly’s arsenal is rounded out by his remote control explosive delivery system, aka RC Car. This fat-tired four-wheel delivery system is strapped with a brick of explosives and ready to be inserted under the nearest GI JOE convoy. It rolls along and can be stored by plugging it into the bottom of the backpack! The detonator is a nifty little device with a pistol grip and detonation trigger and a circular screen with the number 3, presumably showing a countdown. This sort of replaces the walkie-talkie that came with the RAH figure, and I’m cool with that.

As promised, here’s a quick look at both Classified Firefly figures together. I didn’t mind the first one so much, but boy does it come up short compared to this second release. And I mean that both literally and figuratively. Even with his bulky torso armor, he’s tiny compared to Firefly 2.0. I still dig the overall look of the first release, and the drone was a nice touch, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the new one will be my Classified Firefly. Old Firefly will either get relegated to a Tote or perhaps just be a generic Cobra saboteur. I think this comparison is a great example of how far Classified has come, and how much it’s been embracing the franchise roots more than ever.

And there you have it, another slam dunk for the Classified team. Firefly is a fantastic figure and a worthy addition to my Cobra forces for when something needs to go boom. I tend to have a special affinity for the Classified figures that have a more realistic military vibe and Firefly certainly fits that bill. I can’t wait to seat him in one of the Classified Trouble Bubbles I have waiting for him. Which reminds me, I’ve really got to spotlight at those Trouble Bubbles here in the next week or so.

Oct 16 2023

Star Wars: Kenner-Style Rebel Fleet Trooper by Stan Solo

It’s probably a pretty good indicator of my feelings about current Star Wars that I’ve regressed to working on filling out my vintage Kenner collection. And while that mostly involves hunting down the last Kenner figures I need, it also has me looking into some of the wonderful customs out there. And you can’t talk about wonderful Kenner Star Wars customs without mention of Stan Solo. I own a handful of his figures so far, but the only toy of his I’ve looked at here on FFZ so far was his Ubrikkian 9000 Speeder Pod. But he’s got a couple of new releases out, including a more screen accurate Greedo, and the focus of today’s review, the Rebel Fleet Trooper!

I’ve got no packaged shot, unless you want to see bubblewrap and a mailer box. This figure is offered as a spiffy carded release, but I went for the loose 4-pack. And now that these are in hand, they are so polished and refined, I have to say it’s hard to believe these are customs. The detail really walks that narrow line between something that is totally convincing as an unproduced vintage Kenner figure and something that’s just almost too good to be an unproduced vintage Kenner figure. And I mean that as the highest of compliments. The feel of the figure from the plastic to the joints is all dead on. There are some lovely touches in the sculpt here, like the rumples in the clothing and the way the vest hangs open. The matte blue and gray finish for the uniform feels perfect, and the boots and vest have a high gloss polish that looks super snappy.

The head is particularly well done, as the printing for the eyes and eyebrows look exactly like the Kenner style. The rest of the facial details are appropriately soft, and I love that he’s got that little kid friendly smirk, despite the fact that he’s about to be gunned down by Stormtroopers and all his friends will be dead. The chin strap on the helmet is painted very well and you even get the black strap painted underneath the white chin cup as it runs through.

And if all that weren’t’ cool enough, you even get a brand new sculpted gun, which is a Kennerized version of the DH-17. And oh man, is this fantastic! Sure, maybe if Kenner released this figure early in the line he would have just been packed with the Stormtrooper’s E-11, but we got a fair bit of new gun sculpts as the line progressed and I think this looks like a pretty credible example of what a Kenner Rebel blaster would have looked like.

It’s hard to articulate just how happy I am with these new additions to my Kenner Star Wars case. I know some collectors out there like to keep their displays 100% pure and vintage, but I just love the whole “what could have been” charm of releases like this. Especially when they’re executed so professionally. Of course, as customs they don’t come cheap and you’re looking at $37 for a loose single figure or $124 for a squad of four. I had a coupon which pushed me into the 4-pack for $114. You also have the custom carded option at $50, which looks absolutely amazing, but I talked myself out of because my Kenner Star Wars collection is strictly loose figures. All these options are still available at Stan Solo’s ETSY shop at the time I’m publishing this review.

Oct 13 2023

Star Trek: The Original Series Hand Phaser and Communicator by Playmates

Not long ago Playmates made a big announcement that they were doing Star Trek toys again. Well, the end result was pretty damn disappointing. I guess that’s my fault for setting my expectations too high and expecting a glorious return to the expansive 1990s toyline. In the end, we got a handful of Next Generation figures, a handful of Wrath of Khan figures, a couple ships, a couple roleplay toys, and I think some figures from one of those shitty Paramount+ shows. I bought some of the Classic Series stuff, but nothing really excited me enough to review it yet. But then the Communicator showed up, a year after the Phaser, and I decided to dig out that Phaser and go ahead and check these toys out.

The packaging is gloriously evocative of what Playmates was doing back in the 90’s. You get a fully enclosed box with some nice art on the front and a Try Me cut-out so you can get a sampling of the sounds. That strikes me as funny because… were these ever actually sold in any brick-and-mortar stores? If so, I’d be surprised. Target had a few of the figures, but that was all I ever saw. It’s funny to think that I have nostalgia for these box designs, as I was already a Senior in college when they were released, but what can I tell ya? I’m going to take a look at each of these pieces of standard issue Starfleet equipment and then we’ll compare them to some of the others I have in my Starfleet locker. And since these are heavy with the electronics features, I’ll include some videos running through the sounds. Let’s start with the Phaser!

While this Phaser is a bit on the chunky side, I think it still scales fairly well in my adult hand, and most of those chonks are located in the handle, which is odd since this is at least posing as a toy for kids. I think the two-tone gray and black look good, although I’m more fond of the darker gunmetal gray seen on some of the props. The silver bits feature a very nice quality matte paint, which sort of passes for steel. The profile of the weapon is pretty solid, and it isn’t until I sit it next to a more accurate reproduction that I can see the differences, so that’s a good thing. Sadly, the Type-I Phaser on top is not detachable, but I wasn’t expecting it to be since it was fixed in place on the 90’s release as well. The Dilithium Crystal Cell (that silver disk on the side) is used to turn the toy off and on or set it in the limited function Demo mode. Probably the most disappointing thing here is the plethora of screw holes scattered about the left side of the weapon. As we’ll see in a bit, it’s actually worse than the 90’s release, which is rather baffling to me. It’s a shame they couldn’t plug these up.

From the top view, the settings dial on the Type I unit is a sticker, which looks OK, but I worry about it, since the sticker fell off my 90’s Phaser a long time ago. Ah, but that was thirty years ago, and thirty years from now I’ll be long dead and gone, so no worries! The speaker holes in the screen on the Type I unit is a bit of an eyesore, and that’s a carry over from the 90’s toy as well. The thumb wheel on the Type I does not move, but the settings knob on the back of the Type II unit does, and this is what’s used to change from Stun to Kill to Overload.

Everything else on this piece looks pretty good. I’m glad that Playmates didn’t try to put a belt clip onto it, but I may wind up putting a piece of velcro on the handle to attach it to my official Starfleet issue slacks. Let’s check out the electronics!

All three settings sound great and boy is it loud! The emitter lights up blue or red depending on the setting and even the selector knob lights up when firing, although it only lights up blue. All in all, I’d say the electronics on this one are vastly improved over the 90’s one, but given the march of thirty years of technology, I’d say that was expected.

And here are some comparison shots, and while these are very similar toys, I think most of the subtle differences come down to just personal preference. The props used in the series varied a bit and I can write off the changes here to revisions Starfleet may have made to the design over the years. The electronics are definitely improved, but , if we’re going by the aesthetics alone, I have to give the nod to the older release simply because it has less exposed screws on the one side.

And here’s a quick comparison of the new Playmates Phaser with the Diamond Select version from a little while back. DST’s version is an absolutely beautiful toy and a much more faithful reproduction of Starfleet’s sidearm. It’s proportioned much better and you just can’t beat having the removable Type I unit with it’s own electronics. I also greatly prefer the blue-gray finish to the body of the Type II housing. It’s a shame these aren’t still on the market, and I’d love to see DST reissue these. OK… Let’s move on to the Communicator.

So, the first thing I noticed about the Communicator when taking it out of the box is the dull gold finish on the antenna cover, and boy did that disappoint me. It just looks incredibly cheap and wrong. Once I got past that, I found that the toy is pretty well sized with the correct texturing, and two side buttons just like the 90’s version. There is a belt clip on this one, just like the previous release, and that really doesn’t bother me at all. On the back you also get the switch that turns the toy on and off, or sets it into Demo mode. They could have done a better job concealing this, but it’s not a big deal to me.

Pressing the lower side button will activate the incoming call signal, while the upper side button will spring open the antenna cover. That’s definitely an improvement over the old one, which had to be flipped up or opened manually. I’ll be honest, that never bothered me too much because the actors used to have to flip open the prop manually on screen most of the time anyway. The interior panel of the toy looks great, with the yellow “light” just a painted dummy and the other two being actual lights. Pressing the left silver button produces a sound clip and the right button cycles through some voice clips from the show.

Like the Phaser, the audio is really loud and sounds crystal clear. My only real complaint here is the choice of clips. Most of them are taken from clips of Kirk talking to the ship on the Communicator. As a roleplay toy, I really would have preferred all the clips being the Enterprise communicating with you. You only really get that with the two Spock clips. Sadly, my older Playmates Communicator stopped working and I really don’t remember what it had to offer, so I can’t offer my preferences between the two on that front.

But aesthetically, the older one is the clear winner, thanks mostly to the use of the gold foil paint on the antenna cover. It’s weird how such a small detail could make such a big difference. I also like the hologram sticker used for the screen. It just gives the toy a bit more flash. There are some subtle changes to the size and contours, but I don’t really have a preference on either of those details.

Both of these toys retail for $24.99, which I think is pretty damn good for what you’re getting. Although, the Phaser has been out for a while, so it seems to be selling for closer to $30 these days. Both are really good toys and even decent accessories to complete your Cosplay for the next big convention. But with that having been said, they aren’t a substitute for higher end, or even middle of the road prop replicas or the old garage kits. I would rate the Phaser higher than the Communicator because the flat gold paint really does bug me a lot, but maybe that’s just me. If you’re looking for something better and don’t want to invest in a prop replica, the DST stuff is definitely the best bet, although those are getting a little pricey these days too. If you’re in the market, I’d say pick these up, because who the hell knows when we’re likely to get official releases of these again.

Oct 11 2023

Silverhawks Ultimates: Buzz-Saw by Super7

It’s taken me a bit of time, but I’m closing in on spotlighting the final two Silverhawks figures by Super7! I’ve vowed to finish up this line before moving on to more ThunderCats and GI JOE Ultimates, and here we are at the penultimate review from the second wave (originally intended to be the first). Gosh, that’s still so confusing. Anyway, so far this wave has given us Powered Up Mon-Star and Steelheart, and today I’m checking out the second of Mon-Star’s evil henchmen… Buzz-Saw!

Once again, Super7 is killing it with the packaging. All the evil Limbo Mob come in crimson foil window boxes with a slip cover that lifts off the top. You get a little blurb about the character on the back and the window shows off all the goods. Buzz-Saw is a big boi and his oversized box reflects that! There’s not a lot to say about this guy’s backstory other than he’s a hulking robot with buzzsaws and claws for weapons and not really the huggable type. As a kid, I freaking loved him in the cartoon and was a tad disappointed when one of my friends got his action figure and it looked so different.

As you can probably imagine, this fella a hefty hunk of plastic! Buzz-Saw’s animated design is just so damn cool with his hulking proportions and his mix of hard angles and smooth surfaces. Super7 nails the animated style so well, and I think the figure even gives him a slightly more imposing build. Besides the obvious color difference, going from green to yellow, this cartoon look puts his shoulder-based saw blades coming out of his shoulder armor at a stylish angle, whereas the Kenner toy had them positioned between his torso and the arm connection, and to me this just looks so much better. The coloring looks great, all the joints worked well right out of the box, and I’m happy to report that I had no QC issues on this figure at all. It really seems like The Limbo Mob made out so much better than the Silverhawks when it comes to joint issues in this line.

The buzz saws positioned on his shoulders and arms all spin and it’s fun to give them a flick. His joints all feel great and the legs do a fine job holding up his upper bulk, although if you put those giant buzzsaws out in front of him too far, he’ll want to topple over. The elbows are limited and can’t do 90-degrees, but that’s not a big deal to me here as he is a hulking robot and it’s understandable if his agility probably isn’t that great.

You get three heads, although I think only two were necessary. The only difference between the first two is the sawblade in the head is sculpted to look like it’s spinning on one of them. I think this same effect could have been pulled off just by swapping the sawblade piece. Either way, I prefer the jagged blade look so I doubt I’ll be using that second option at all. Both of these heads look OK, but the facial details could have been a lot sharper. It’s just a really soft sculpt.

The third head is the undoubtedly the winner as it has both the jagged sawblade and an open mouth. The expression is either a battle shout or his mouth is agape with glee over the prospect of sawing up some Silverhawks. You can decide! Sure, the eye sculpt is still pretty soft here, but this is the head that I’ll be displaying on the figure pretty much all the time.

Buzz-Saw has some cool accessories and options. For starters, he has elongated versions of the two pull levers in his chest. These are swapped out to make it look like he’s yanked them to activate his berserker buzzsaw attack. Nah, I won’t be using these much, but it’s nice to have the option I guess.

Just in case having five buzzsaws embedded in your body isn’t enough attack power, Buzz-Saw also comes with a pair of guns. The first is a traditional rifle, which he can hold by swapping out his lobster claws for the set with a slightly larger gap in them. I’ll confess that I don’t remember him using this in the cartoon, but I love still this thing. It looks like a chibi Gatling Gun and has such a lovely toony design to it. I’m also pretty impressed at how well he can hold it with those swap-out claws.

His other load-out option is a blaster cannon that replaces one of his claws, as if he is able to extend it from his arm. It looks cool and he still gets to keep his saw blade on the arm that he’s using it with. The blaster connects with a hinged peg, and I’m not sure why because there’s really no room for articulation in there, but whatever.

Buzz-Saw comes with his own special bird buddy, who happens to have the greatest name ever… Shredator.  He’s absolutely adorable and like his Papa he has a tiny spinning sawblade in his head and a yellow deco to match. This guy has hinged wings and can rotate at the head and tail, giving him a bit more articulation than some of the Super7 bird buddies. He’s definitely up there as one of my favorites.

Buzz-Saw is just such an awesome figure. He’s big and imposing and yet so bright and beautiful. He really captures everything that is great about the cartoon’s aesthetic and he’s loads of fun to play with as well. And while I’ve sworn off double-dipping on most of the toy-based repaints Super7 is doing, I’m really tempted to get green Buzz-Saw. He’s cool enough to warrant buying again and I’d be happy to throw him into the display and just pretend he’s another character. And that, friends, leaves me with just one more figure to check out and I’ll be all caught with Silverhawks. So, stay tuned for Quicksilver and Tallyhaaaawk!

Oct 9 2023

Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron Imperial Shuttle by Jazwares

I was kind of surprised when I looked back and saw that I hadn’t spotlighted any of Jazware’s Micro Galaxy Squadron vehicles here since the Millennium Falcon back in January. I was even more surprised to find that I’ve only actually reviewed four of these little buggers. I actually like this line quite a bit and I’ve been buying it when I find it, but I feel like a lot of them are getting past me because they’re exclusives or just tough to find. At this point in my life, hunting down toys isn’t an appealing aspect of collecting and I’ve got enough to spend money on without having to do that. Anyway, I hope to catch up on my backlog of these vehicles a bit in the months ahead, but I’m bumping today’s fairly new release to the head of the line, because it’s one of my favorite ships in the Star Wars Universe.

The shuttle comes in a window box with some snappy foil deco and while the box is collector friendly, the toy does indeed require some assembly. Both the top fin and the side wings have to be plugged in and it’s a one-time assembly deal meaning this is one of those toys that isn’t going back into the box once it’s put together. That’s a little disappointing to me as I like to display these in the boxes, but maybe this will be what makes me decide to just pitch all the MGS boxes and save me some space. The figures included are The Emperor and two of his Royal Guards, and I wonder if Jazwares will do a re-release of this ship with the Endor assault team as a store exclusive. I’d love to have Endor Han, Luke, Leia, 3PO and R2 in the cockpit and a bunch of Endor Commandos in the back. OK… Let’s take a quick look at the figure first!

I continue to be pretty impressed with how decent these have been for such tiny 1-inch figures, and that holds true here with The Emperor and his posse. I mean, they aren’t mindblowing, but they’re damn good for the size. They can bend at the hips to sit down and their arms swivel, making them arm chair friendly. The paint is basic, but certainly competent and the guards have their batons sculpted into their right hands. I would have liked to get a couple of pilots too, not only to occupy the seats, but also so I can find out once and for all what the Imperial Shuttle pilots looked like. As a kid, I used to alternate between having TIE Pilots and AT-AT Drivers fly my old Kenner shuttle.

The ship is designed for two display modes: Landed and Flight. When it’s landed the wings fold up and landing gear fold down. Actually, one of the landing gear is really the boarding ramp which drops down from under the cockpit to hold the nose up. Like the Micro Galaxy Falcon, there isn’t enough clearance there to get a figure in and out, so they made it double as a landing support, which is pretty clever. The two rear landing struts simply fold into the ship, while the ramp has a button that needs to be pressed to retract it.

I have to say the detail on this ship is absolutely fantastic, from the sculpted panel lines to the weathering, this is such a great looking toy and definitely one of the better representations of this ship that I’ve seen. The scale really works wonderfully, as it’s a decent sized toy and it allowed Jazwares to do a lot more with it than some of the smaller versions I’ve owned over the years. It’s also a lot easier to inspect the detail in hand than my big Hasbro version. I think the paint wash on this toy is near perfect. It’s just enough to give it a grungy well-used patina, but not too heavy handed.

There are two interior compartments to access, the cockpit hinges open similar to the old Kenner toy, while the back area compartment lifts off entirely. And holy crap, there is a lot of room for figures in this thing. The cockpit alone has room for six figures, and there’s a peg in there which might be intended for an Astromech Droid? I’m not sure. Each of the seats have arm rests that double as clips to hold the figures in place. There’s some excellent sculpted detail in here, although I wish they had left an open hatch leading to the back compartment.

And if you thought the cockpit was roomy, the rear compartment not only houses a throne for The Emperor, but eight additional seats. The throne is patterned after the one on Death Star II and there’s even a detailed engine compartment behind the chamber that is revealed when you remove the cover and another strip exposing the inner workings of the ship that’s painted as well sculpted

Getting the Shuttle ready for take off means folding up the landing struts and ramp and folding down the wings. The wings are geared and synched so that they will both fold down together at the same time just like the old Kenner toy. The only downside of this is that the gears are visible on the ship and really that’s the only thing I can complain about when it comes to the aesthetics. It also really doesn’t bother me, but my guess it will irk the hell out of some people.

The guns are all represented, including the aft cannon, which I remember becoming intimately familiar with when playing the old X-Wing PC game, as the Lambda Shuttles would love to take pot shots at you when you were trying to run them down. All of the gun barrels are a bit soft, so this is one to be careful with when storing it so they don’t get bent out of shape. The paint on the rear thrusters looks good, but I do kind of wish they had included electronics in this one to light these up and maybe provide some engine sounds.

And I couldn’t resist taking a shot of it parked next to my 3 3/4-inch scale Shuttle. It looks pretty damn good in comparison despite it’s much smaller size. Yeah, I still like the big boi better, but this little one is a lot easier to whoosh around the room.

This is an absolutely beautiful ship and it definitely has loads of shelf presence. The biggest strike against it for me is that there’s no flight stand in there, as it really could have used one. I’d always rather display this ship in flight than resting on a landing bay. I imagine some intrepid sellers on Etsy will make a few bucks selling stands for this ship and maybe I’ll hunt one down. At $29.99 I think this one is a pretty fair value. It feels at least as substantial as the Falcon and every bit as fun to play around with.

Oct 6 2023

Indiana Jones Adventure Series (The Last Crusade): Indy, Henry Jones Sr., and Grail Knight by Hasbro

I don’t think anyone was really surprised that Indiana Jones didn’t get a spot at the PulseCon a couple weeks back. With the Dial of Destiny flopping hard Hasbro seems content to push out the figures already revealed and sweep the rest under the rug. I really have to wonder what liability Disney has when they sell a license to a franchise and then run that franchise into the ground. The Ollies and the Ross stores around here are like a graveyard of Hasbro-Disney product all stacked high and on deep discount. Maybe this stuff will wind up there, but I was willing to support the line with pre-orders. And I for one am glad we got what we got, as this is probably the last time we’ll see Indiana Jones toys in my lifetime.

The last time I checked out the the 6-inch Adventure Series, we looked at three figures from The Last Crusade, and we’re doing it again today. The figures come in the same style of fully enclosed boxes and I like these quite a bit. The character art on the side panels looks great, especially when they’re all lined up on the shelf, and there are little scenes from the film down below. This is another Build-An-Artifact Wave, allowing you to build the table that held the various grails. I won’t be building it, because it requires you to buy two figures from Dial of Destiny and even when they do hit clearance, it’ll be too much to pay for figures I don’t want just to build the table. Thankfully, the three figures I’m looking at today come with some grails, so I’m happy to have those. Elsa Schneider is in this wave too, but she appears to be shipping later. Let’s start with Indy…

I won’t spend a whole lot of time with Indy, as he’s mostly recycled from the Raiders of the Lost Ark figure we got in the first wave, right down to his accessories. But hey, I liked this figure body the first time and I like it now too. The main difference is the re-sculpted collar and the necktie. As near as I can tell any other slight differences in the body and clothing are just variances in the molding process. I will say that the tab on the whip loop actually works this time, so I’m not sure if that’s something they changed or I just got lucky, but it’s a nice surprise. If it weren’t for the necktie, I’d happily take this figure as my all-purpose Indy figure.

The portrait is new and it’s rather perplexing. It has less paint, less sculpted detail, and yet somehow manages to look better to me than Raiders Indy. Now, I wasn’t completely down on the first portrait, but I wasn’t in love with it either. This one is a much better likeness to me, but it lacks some of the detail, like Ford’s ubiquitous chin scar. The hat is also actually removable this time, but I’m not sure why because if you take it off you just get a baldy head with a tab coming out of it. All in all, this is a big improvement if you weren’t keen on the first head.

You get the same three accessories that came with the Raiders release, which includes his revolver, a coiled whip and an uncoiled whip. They’re all identical and overall pretty good. The uncoiled whip doesn’t seem long enough at all, but that was a problem with the first release too. Pity they didn’t fix that.

The one new accessory here is the MP-40. It’s not up to GI JOE Classified weapons quality, but it’s a decent sculpt and looks great in his hands. So, overall I’m really happy with this figure and it’s a solid representation of Indy in the third film. It was definitely worth it to me to double-dip on the character. Moving on to the the senior Jones…

I didn’t have a lot of expectations for this Henry Sr, but boy there’s a lot to like here. The suited body is has some nice detail, but they could have done a better job matching up the sculpted sleeves with the vest part of the jacket. It can be finessed to look better, but it’s also going to have gaps which just seem extra obvious on this figure. For some reason I really love how prominently the bowtie pops. The vest also looks really good with the sculpted cinching around the buttons. I realize that a suited figure isn’t the most exciting thing around, but it feels like Hasbro poured some extra love into this body and I can appreciate that.

The portrait is excellent and I can’t believe that Hasbro pulled off removable glasses that look this good in this scale. Not only do they hook behind the ears and stay put, with the hat helping to keep them secured. On top of that I really dig this likeness a lot. I think it’s a tad stronger with the hat and glasses off, but it works for me either way. I think this is probably my first Sean Connery figure, so it’s nice to see they did him justice. Just a wonderful job all around!

Henry Sr. comes with three accessories: His suitcase, his umbrella, and his diary all of which are very well done. The only thing I’m going to gripe about here is that i wish they made it so you could pass the umbrella through the straps of the suitcase like he did in the movie. Big deal? Nah. I’m just looking for things to nitpick. Once again, the sculpts on all of these make it look like Hasbro put some love into them and the weathering on the briefcase is especially nice. Let’s wrap things up with The Grail Knight…

I was particularly excited for this figure, not just for the character from the film, but because I love collecting figures of knights in general. So, I would have bought this guy even if I wasn’t collecting this line and as it turns out he may be my favorite figure in the Adventure Series so far. Hasbro did a really nice job sculpting his quilted tunic, making it look sufficiently puffy to hide the chain mail hauberk that no doubt lies underneath. Even the symbol of The Knights of the Cruciform Sword on his chest is sculpted as well as painted. The exposed chainmail on the hands and lower legs looks amazing and has a nice silver finish. The belt is sculpted as part of the lower half of the tunic and has a peg hole to attach the sword scabbard to.

The cape both hangs off the neck and pegs into the back and it fits the figure well, hugging the shoulders tightly. Of course, that means that it also curtails the range of motion in those shoulders, or at least the right one in particular. Fortunately, if you want to go with some action poses, you can just take the cape off. The plastic has a cool texture that makes it look very cottony and you get another sculpted Cruciform Sword symbol on the left shoulder of the cape and also painted red.

The likeness to actor Robert Eddison is really spot on. This may be the strongest head sculpt Hasbro has produced in this line. The chainmail hood is sculpted as part of the head and frames his face perfectly, and they nailed the rather distinctive contours of his cheek bones. Even the printing and sculpt of the beard is terrific.

The sword fits easily into the scabbard, which pegs into the figure securely. The hilt is silver and looks to be strongly influenced by one of the hilt patterns attributed to Richard the Lionheart. It’s a nicely detailed sculpt, I just wish the blade was painted as well instead of left as gray plastic. Unfortunately, the hilt is rather loose in his gripping hand and that’s weird since it’s the only accessory he comes with that’s meant specifically for him to hold, but you can still make it work.

As I mentioned earlier, I won’t be building the table for this wave because I don’t want to pick up the Dial of Destiny figures, but the various Grails are a nice bonus.

This is a great assortment of figures and it really feels like The Last Crusade is getting most of the love in this series. I’m glad I double-dipped on Indy, because he has some improvements over the Raiders version. As for Henry Sr and The Grail Knight, well they’re both excellent figures in their own right with some superb head sculpts. It’s a shame that Dr. Schneider will be arriving late for the party, but I’ll be sure to check her out here when she arrives. In the meantime, I also have a Raiders of the Lost Ark based two-pack waiting to be opened, and I’ll check that out when I return to this line in a week or so.

Oct 4 2023

Cosmic Legions (Hvalkatar Book One): Sphexxian Prison Guard and Sphexxian Block Commander by The Four Horsemen

It’s been quite the trek getting through the first wave of eleven Cosmic Legions figures, but we’re finally here looking at the last two figures in this assortment. And they’re a couple of disgusting bugs! The Sphexxians hail from the planet, V’zapir and serve as a security force throughout the Cell Blocks of the Hvalkatar Prison. I was especially excited to get these because they remind me a bit of the Veloxi race from the old StarFlight game. If you get that deep cut, then congratulations, you’re probably old like me. Anyway, let’s jump in and see what we’ve got!

This is our last look at the packaging for this assortment and overall I still like it a lot. The window boxes feel more professional than what we’ve been seeing in Mythic Legions and while I still think the side tray of accessories is awkward, these are overall nicer to look at. You get blurbs on each of the side panels spotlighting the story of this first wave along with the specific character. These bugs require a bit more assembly than the previous figures we’ve seen with a lot of their bug parts having to be plugged into their bodies, which creates some bumpy times along the way. I’ll start with the Prison Guard…

This guy looks amazing, and it wasn’t until I got him in hand that I realized a lot of what we’re seeing on him is intended as armor. I initially thought they were going for an iridescent bug shell, but basically only the brown bits are supposed to be the actual bug. The metallic turquoise finish for the armor suit is gorgeous and has some purple and blue accents painted on the textured screen plates. The colors in most of this assortment have been off the charts, and I love that! The detail in the armor is pretty mind blowing and I had a great time just turning the figure over and over again in my hands to take it all in. The sculpted gear on the utility belt alone is way more than we get on most figures these days. The extra set of smaller arms are fully articulated, but these are unfortunately a huge pain in the ass. They were very tough to get pegged into the body and they tend to fall out a lot, so I try to position them out of the way and leave them alone. There’s yet another set of vestigial legs higher up in the chest, but these are static.

The semi-translucent wings plug into the back with pegged hinges, exactly how the wing pieces in Mythic Legions have worked, with all the advantages and disadvantages of that system. The attachment gives you the ability to swivel them and angle them, but the friction from the peg isn’t always enough to keep them in position so they drop quite a bit. And I suspect this will get worse the more they’re handled. There’s also no joint between each of the wings, so you can’t spread them. Apart from that these look really good. I love the serrated backs and the brown tint to the clear textured plastic, making them both beautiful and gross at the same time. I really love how you can see more of the bug anatomy through the back of the armor including the back of the thorax and the abdomen hanging down with a stinger attached.

The helmeted head is a work of art. The multi-faceted eyes are actually supposed to be part of the helmet and not the actual bug eyes, which was surprising to me. You do, however, get more bug parts like the antennae and pincers sticking out. The pincers stay in pretty well, but the antennae have a habit of dropping out, especially the one on the right. Since there’s no articulation on these, I may wind up gluing them in place.

The Prison Guard comes with one brand new weapon, a Sphexxian Blaster Rifle, which is an extremely cool design and it’s painted to look like scrimshaw, which I dig a lot. Unfortunately, the articulation and overall design of the figure doesn’t make really make him all that adept at wielding such a large weapon. I really couldn’t get him into a pose where he’s supporting the front of the weapon with his off-hand and when I tried I usually wound up knocking out the smaller arms leading to endless frustration. He can, however, hold it pretty well in his trigger finger hands, but it looks like too large a weapon to be fired one-handed. And while on the subject, this guy comes with five sets of hands, which seems really excessive, as I only wound up using two different sets for all the pictures in this review.

Next up is his Electrostaff, which we saw last time included with the TU5CC Engineer. I really like the look of this piece and I’d like to imagine it’s capable of shooting projectiles as well as for melee combat. The worn silver paint on the blades looks fantastic here and there’s a hint of purple to give it something of an eerie energy glow. All in all a great looking weapon to give to a guard.

And finally, he comes with a set of the arm blasters, which we’ve seen several times in this assortment. At first I thought these were an odd inclusion for the bugs, but now I can picture them flying around blasting the shit out of things with these and I wholeheartedly approve. OK, let’s move on to the Block Commander…

I won’t have to be as long winded here, because the Block Commander is basically a repaint of the Guard with a new head and all the same accessories. The armor is repainted a metallic orange with some metallic pink and silver hits on some of the plates. It looks good, but not as flashy as the Guard. It’s also a bit closer to the brown bug parts, so the contrast between the two isn’t as dramatic. Everything I said about the jointing pitfalls on the first figure apply here, although the smaller arms on this figure drop out even more frequently to the point of being irritating when I am posing him. The green tint given to the translucent parts iof the wings looks really nice.

The head is the only new bit of sculpting here, and it’s cool that we get to see what these guys look like without the mask. The fact that the compound eyes are part of the helmet and the bugs themselves only have tiny beady blue eyes is a cool subversion of my expectation. The rest of the sculpt is excellent with with some deep cuts between the carapace and even some little jutting horns. The antennae fit into this head better than on the Guard’s and I haven’t had any issues with them popping out.

The Blaster Rifle here is repainted in purple and while I think it looks good, I like the Guard’s version better. It brings out the detail in the sculpt a bit more and looks more exotic to me, as if the weapon is actually crafted from bone. Once again, it’s a cool design that the figure just cannot hold all that convincingly.

And you also get the arm blasters and the Electrostaff. The Sphexxians are gorgeous figures and extremely cool alien designs, but they do have more problems than any of the other figures in this assortment. Some of those problems may vary from figure to figure based on the varying tolerances, but some of them are just less than stellar design choices. For example, I would have happily sacrificed articulation in the smaller arms to have them not drop out whenever I mess around with the figure. None of these issues are catastrophic, but I’m going to call them out nonetheless. As for this line in general… For me, Cosmic Legions really has succeeded in taking the wonder and imagination of the Mythic Legions formula and moving it into outer space. I was pretty dubious about the prison backstory for the first assortment, but I can’t deny it served to deliver some great looking figures and imaginative characters. I’m looking forward to the next assortment, but now that I’m finished with this one maybe I can get back to some unfinished business I have with Mythic Legions!