Episode 1 of “2 Drunk Geeks + Ryan” was a blast! Check it out if you dare!
Star Wars Black: Snowtrooper Commander (3 3/4” Scale) by Hasbro’s
Now that I’m all caught up on the Black 6-inch line, I can start picking away at some more of the 3 3/4” figures waiting to be opened. This time it’s the newly released Snowtrooper Commander and I had a lot of trepidation over buying this one. The Stormtrooper and Biker Scouts that Hasbro released in this line were not all that great and so when this guy turned up at HasbroToyShop, I was hesitant to order a full squad without having him in hand first. I wound up ordering a couple along with some other figures and hoped for the best. Well, those hopes paid off because this is a really fantastic figure! Let’s check him out…
At some point in the near future, Hasbro will be re-branding the packaging on this 3 3/4” line. I don’t know that it will be much better, but I doubt it could be worse. The only good thing I have to say is that the white Snowtrooper stands out nicely against that hideous black card. Also, it’s worth noting that this is a Snowtrooper Commander! It’s been a long time since Star Wars was my number one nerd attraction, so I have no idea what the differences would be between a Commander and a regular old Snowtrooper who is likely to get shot in the face or torn apart by Wampas while storming Echo Base. That having been said, I’ll just be considering these guys my run-of-the-mill cannon fodder variety Snowtrooper.
And here he is out of the package and ready for action. I gotta say, I love this figure! I don’t know how much of this fella is new and how much is recycled. The only other recent Snowtrooper I own in this scale is from the VOTC line and that one is still carded and packed away in a storage tote. I’m pretty sure the pistol holster on his kama is new, and maybe that’s supposed to be one of the things that sets him apart as a Commander. Star Wars collectors feel free to weigh in and tell me how ignorant I am!
The sculpting on this figure is fantastic and it really drives home why I love this design so much. It goes beyond my general love of all things Hoth. I think it’s the hood that just makes these guys all the more creepy and sinister looking than your regular Stormtroopers. Also, and I’m not sure there’s any film evidence to back this up, but I always got the impression that these guys were just better in combat than the Stormies from warmer climes. The chest armor is part of the figure buck, but it’s executed well enough that I could have believed it was layered onto the figure. The shoulders are also designed so that the hinges don’t muck up the aesthetics of the armor like it did with the Stormtrooper and Biker Scout. Everything about this figure shows care and forethought and, at the same time, beautifully showcases all the bad decisions Hasbro made with those other two figures.
There’s obviously not a lot of paintwork here, but what there is of it is crisp and clean and so much better than the hack job they did on the recent Stormtrooper release. Look at his backpack and you’ll see two tiny hits of gold paint… there’s no other gold anywhere else on the figure. They busted out that color exclusively for those two little bits. That’s so cool!
The articulation here is pretty solid with my one gripe being the continued use of that pesky T-crotch, which in this case is less of an issue because the plastic kama inhibits the leg articulation quite a bit. Otherwise, it’s all good. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows and swivels in the wrists. You also get rotating hinges in the knees and ankles, a ball joint in the lower torso and again in the neck.
Snowy Commander comes with two weapons. First you get a little pistol, which looks a bit too much like Han’s blaster for my liking, but who am I to scoff at an extra pistol, eh? It also fits snugly into the holster. The other weapon is the newer version of the E-11 Blaster that includes the folding stock. It still impresses me that Hasbro was able to do that on such a small scaled weapon. Sure, it tends to fall apart at the hinges, but I’m impressed nonetheless.
And so the 3 3/4” Black line continues to be a total grab bag of wonderful surprises mixed with crap. Buying this line is like reaching blindly into your bag of Halloween candy and hoping to pull out an Almond Joy and not a handfull of razor blades. This figure is every bit as polished as the Stormtrooper and Biker Scout were sloppy and shameful. As you can see, I quickly picked up a couple more and I’m hoping that a simple squad of four will be enough to satisfy me. But if I ever see another one of these guys hanging on a peg in the wild, I doubt I’ll be able to walk by without tossing him in my cart. And if Hasbro can upscale this guy and give him a softgoods kama and a few more tweaks, I’ll be really happy to get him in the 6-inch scale too!
S.H. Figuarts: Sailor Moon by Bandai Tamashii Nations
Yes, Sailor Moon, folks! I’m a whiskey drinking, cigar smoking, gun-toting ‘murican, and I’m about to take a look at Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. Got a problem with that? It’s rarely the case that I feel the need to explain why I’m collecting something, but as I’m about to embark on a series of figures based on Sailor Moon, I didn’t want to just throw that out there without some kind of preface, so here goes… Sometime in 1996 I moved to South Florida to go to Grad School and work on my Masters. When I got here I no longer had any family or friends close by and by mere circumstance I latched onto anime as a means to pass the time and keep me company. It’s something that I wasn’t at all into beforehand so it gave me something to dive into with full force. I’m also a chronic insomniac, been one all my life, so part of my newly found lifestyle involved late nights with lots of booze and Sailor Moon, among other shows. I’d watch whatever I could get off of TV or from the Suncoast Video in the local mall. Even today watching the show takes me back to those nights and a pretty great and exciting time in my life.
And that brings me to the first in the S.H. Figuarts line of Sailor Scouts! S.H. Figuarts is a line that is highly revered by many of the collectors I interact with and a number of the podcasts that I listen to. I’ve been curious about the line for a while now, but I’ve never been a big fan of Super Sentai, so when the Sailor Moon line was announced, it peaked my interest as a way that I could finally get into these figures. Yeah, I already looked at S.H. Figuarts Nami from One Piece, but she was a one off purchase, whereas I’m all in for the Sailor Scouts. Obviously, we’re going to start right at the top with Usagi, Sailor Moon herself. To anyone who already collects S.H. Figuarts, a lot of this feature will be common knowledge, but line is still brand new to me, so pardon me my indulgences.
The figure comes in a wonderfully compact and colorful box that is both glorious and emasculating all at the same time. The bright pink, yellow, and blue deco is cavity inducing in its sheer girly sweetness and it’s only because of my extreme confidence in my own masculinity that I’m able to proceed. Despite how compact the box is, it still servess to lay out the figure and all her goodies beautifully. The window box is just big enough to give you a peek at Sailor Moon inside and I really dig the way the die cut front of the box interrupts the window with the illustration of Sailor Moon’s hair. The back of the box shows off more pictures of the figure and some of the accessories. Everything is totally collector friendly and the box serves as a necessary storage for all the extra bits when you’re not using them.
With Sailor Moon out of the box, I was instantly impressed with the way the character is translated to her three-dimensional plastic form. None of the character’s anime aesthetics have been compromised and she just looks magnificent. I was expecting the jointing to be a lot more unsightly, particularly since the elbows and knees are jointed on what is supposed to be bare skin, but happily that’s not at all the case. While essentially the same system of jointing, I think it looks much cleaner here than it did on the Figuarts Nami release. The sculpting in the costume hits all the right points and then some. The pleating on the skirt looks great, as does her collar and bows, but it’s the tiny little touches like the crescents on her boots and the choker necklace that really drive the sculpt home.
While I’ll get to the various faces in a bit, the regular stock portrait that comes on the figure is perfect. You get a tiny smile and the beautifully painted eyes. The hair hair looks great and I love the way the bangs are sculpted so as to hang over the Moon Tiara, which is sculpted as part of the face. Her pigtails are cast in a slightly transparent yellow plastic and since they’re pegged into the hair, they offer some rotation articulation.
About the only place this figure stumbles ever so slightly is in the paint. Overall, it’s excellent. The slightly metallic sheen on the pink boots and bows looks great as does the pearlescent finish to her white gloves and top. The blue for her skirt and collar have a bit more of a matte finish to offer up a nice contrast. The minor issues involve the white trim on the tops of her boots not being as crisp as they could be and a little bit of visible brush strokes here and there. There’s also some transfer between the pink on her right glove and the skin on her arm. Keep in mind, I’m being ridiculously picky here only because so many people have been pumping this line up to be the end all and be all. On any other figure, I probably wouldn’t even have mentioned it.
Before I get to the accessories, let me give mention to the figure stand that’s included, since it has already been so notably featured in the pictures. The stand consists of a crystal clear heart shaped base and a clear grabby arm. The base has a nice deco and “Sailor Moon” printed on it in pink and I really dig the way the two bumps at the top of her heart are perfectly positioned for the placement of her feet. The arm pegs into the back of the base and features three strong hinges versatile enough to go from just propping the figure up to supporting her in some great mid-air action poses.
And that brings us to all the stuff that comes in the box… and it’s a lot. Let’s get the hands out of the way first, because while extra hands are a cool bonus, but I’m not someone who uses them a lot. Sailor Moon comes with a total of four pairs and one extra right fist for holding the Moon Sticks. You get a pair of fists, a pair where the fingers are just splayed out, and two pairs with her fingers doing various gestures taken from common poses in seen in the animation. The hands are on pegs and swap out pretty easily, although they’re also prone to popping off when working the hinges in the wrists. They’re also tiny, so good luck if you drop one. Next up, you get three additional portraits. You get one perturbed expression with her mouth open. I call this the “In the name of the Moon I will punish you!” expression. Next, you get a somewhat neutral expression without the cute little smile from the stock portrait. Lastly, you get a portrait without the Moon Tiara, which is important for use with the next accessory…
Moon Tiara Action! This piece is actually an extra hand with a pearlescent disc stuck to it meant to simulate Sailor Moon throwing her Moon Tiara at the Youmas of the week. This was a tough effect to pull off and all things considered, I’d say they did the best they could with it.
Naturally, you get Sailor Moon’s Moon Stick, or more accurately you get two, one of which is activated. These tiny little accessories are beautifully reproduced and it’s crazy that they included two of these pieces in the box considering the difference between them is so minor, but that kind of attention to detail is what sets these figures apart.
Of course, you can’t release a Sailor Moon figure without Luna. Not only is this a great looking kitty with some nice crisp tampo work on the face, but Luna also has some simple swivels in the neck and base of the tail. Awesome!
And with that, I think I’ve droned on long enough. I promise that my subsequent features on the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Scouts won’t be nearly as long winded. Suffice it to say I’m really impressed with just about everything about this figure. Tamashii Nations is dedicated to completing the line, at least as far as the core Sailor Scouts are concerned, and I’ll be all in. When next I revisit this line, we’ll check out Sailor Mercury!
Star Wars Black: Anakin Skywalker by Hasbro
I started out this week looking at the Star Wars Black 6-inch Clone Trooper and I wasn’t all that impressed with him. That’s unfortunate because apart from the extra Stormtrooper, that was the figure I was most looking forward to getting. The only other new figure in the wave is Anakin and the only reason I own him is because I bought the whole case and he tagged along for the ride. This guy has a couple of strikes against him from the get-go. One, he’s a Prequel figure, which aside from the Clones and maybe Jango Fett, I’m not actively collecting. Two, I expected him to heavily reycle parts from the Prequel Obi-Wan, another figure that I was not at all impressed with. I know, we’re off to a bad start here, so let’s take the high ground (so stupid) and just jump in and get this over with.
I’ve got nothing new to say about the packaging. It looks good and does a great job of showing off the figure and his extras. I love the way the lightsaber and extra head just seem to hover there in the package. Anyway, this should be the last time we see this box deco before the redesign in the next wave. Anakin comes with two portraits, so we’ll start off with the noggin he comes with out of the box.
I already said that I was expecting a nearly straight repaint of the Obi-Wan figure and that’s not at all what we got so kudos to Hasbro on that. In fact, I’m really impressed that Hasbro practically did an entirely new sculpt for the Anakin body. Sure, there’s obvious differences, like the bracer on his right forearm, the belt, and the boots, but even the areas on the robes where shared parts would have been sensible have different texturing and fold patterns. After having scrutinized both figures side by side I’m still having a problem finding anything that’s directly recycled without some tweaking. There are also some cool and more subtle differences like the way Anakin’s shoulders crest upward a bit at the ends. I had some issues with the Obi-Wan body feeling a bit too bulky, but I don’t find the same issue here, but I think that’s mostly because Anakin had a bigger build.
The figure comes boxed with his regular head, which I think is a passable enough likeness. It’s certainly about on par with the Lukes and Han from past waves and I’d argue it’s better than the Obi-Wan portrait. I think my only gripe here is that since they included his “evil” Darth Vader head, they might have gone for a less angry looking expression for his normal noggin. The most notable difference in the Vader head is that the messier hair and the eyes, which are painted red. It feels like it needed a little something more to make it stand out. Maybe a paint wash or some dark circles under the eyes would have helped. Still, all in all it’s not bad.
Articulation here is pretty much the same as we saw with Obi-Wan. You get a limited ball joint in the waist and the neck features both a ball joint and hinge. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and the ankles feature both ball joints and lateral rockers.
As with Obi-Wan, Anakin comes with his trusty lightsaber with a detachable blue blade. The blade is a deeper blue than Obi-Wan’s and it’s also a bit thicker. The hilt is nicely detailed and painted and it’s also pegged so that it can be attached to the belt.
I was originally planning on unloading this figure, along with Obi-Wan to a more prequel minded collector, but much to my own surprise, I liked Anakin enough to convince me to keep him and Obi-Wan both. I can’t say as he’s all that much better than some of the 3 3/4″ treatments, so he still fails the “is the new scale living up to its full potential” test, but he still turned out much better than I expected. I think the plastic sculpted robes look better on him than on Obi-Wan and I really appreciate all the effort Hasbro made to make him a unique sculpt when they could have easily just recycled the Obi-Wan body. On the whole, I think the 6-inch Black series is still a win, but this most recent wave has really shaken my confidence, especially since the best two figures in it are from previous waves. But, we have a new assortment due to ship soon, so hopefully Hasbro can restore this line to a more solid footing.
Transformers Classics: Megatron by Hasbro
It’s Thursday and around these parts that means Transformers! As much as I’ve enjoyed my tour of the Generations Legends Class line for the past month and a half, I’ve sadly run out of figures. I am, however, still on the hunt, so I’ll be circling back around to it eventually. For the time being, I’ll be turning my optical receptors back to some unfinished business in the Classics and Universe 2.0 lineup. I was surprised to find that the figure I’m looking at today has escaped my feature spotlight these last four years and now that I’m doing it, I think that might have been an intentional oversight. Nonetheless, I’d say it’s long past time to dust off Classics Megatron and give him his due. Naturally, the packaging for this guy is long gone, so we’re going to jump straight in and look at his alt mode.
At the time, I don’t think anyone could have predicted that Megsy would be appearing in the Classics line as a gun and yet here he is. Sort of. He’s definitely a pistol, but Hasbro had to use their creative license to give us a design far from anything realistic. And so we wound up with what is often the bane of most nerds and fanboys… the dreaded compromise! Yes, Megatron is a gun again, and no he’s not a Walther P38 or even anything resembling any kind of real world firearm. Instead, what we got is something that resembles, more than anything else, some kind of Nerf blaster. Now, I can appreciate going for a sci-fi style weapon and I think the concept could have worked, if only the end result looked better than what we got.
About the only thing here vaguely reminiscent of Megsy’s old gun mode is the scope and the trigger. There’s a chamber, which vaguely resembles some kind of revolver and I’ll never understand the ridiculousness of having to put an orange plug on the end of a barrel of a toy gun with a design like this. Thank god for that plug in the barrel or kids would be holding up 7-11’s with old Megatron left and right. Yeah, it only adds to everything else that is unfortunate and wrong about this gun mode. I’ll also throw in the fact that the handle grip is way too small, not only for an adult hand but to look proportionally correct with the rest of the gun. It’s perhaps worth noting that you can pull the trigger and it clicks and you can actually look through the scope, but none of those “features” help to sell this alt mode to me. In fact, Classics Megatron would have to have one hell of an amazing robot mode to make up for this.
And sadly that he does not. What he does have is a fascinating transformation that at least has me respecting and admiring what Hasbro tried to do here. I’ll even go so far as to say that there are a number of things that I do like about this robot mode. The contours of the legs are nice and while only one of them form the grip for the gun, they are symmetrical to look like they might have split apart during transformation like the G1 toy. The way the scope becomes his fusion cannon is also spot on fabulous, even if it does have a hideous orange plug on the end. Wait… why does the toy need an orange plug on the end of the SCOPE?
The head sculpt is also pretty damn good. The shape of the helmet is very reminiscent of the G1 Sunbow look and while Hasbro has taken some liberties here with the face, I still like it a lot. The lightpiping effect in the eyes is also excellent, even if green was a strange choice to go with.
Unfortunately, just about everything else about this guy feels wrong to me. There’s nothing in the chest that nods back to the old days. Remember, this is the Classics line, Hasbro, give me something else to work with here. Also the asymmetry of the shoulders really bugs me, especially since the left one displays that ugly orange plug. And I’ve obviously saved the biggest gripe for last because those giant wings that form the two half shells of the gun mode are just a shame.
The coloring here is also really inappropriate. I’m normally a big fan of purple in my Decepticon decos, but when you mix it with the neon green and orange, it just doesn’t work for a Classics style Megatron. The coloring on the Japanese Henkei version goes a long way to save this toy and I’d dare say that had Hasbro used that deco I would have been a lot more forgiving about the rest of this figure. For a while I considered picking up that version, but then I didn’t really want to invest more money in this mold.
And so I’m left with a real love-hate relationship toward this figure. I appreciate what Hasbro tried to do here and I understand that they had some unreasonable limitations working against them vis-a-vis the alt mode. Plus, I can’t deny that I’m able to pick up this figure and have some fun with him. He can still strike some pretty cool poses. On the other hand, there are just so many unfortunate design elements here that make him fail as a Classics style Megatron. And the fact that it is a character as important as Megatron makes that fail all the more epic. Ever since this guy was released, I’ve been on the hunt for another version of the character to stand in for my Classics Megatron, and the search still goes on. My War For Cybertron Megsy comes close, but then he doesn’t scale with Classics Prime. I’m anxious to see how Hasbro’s upcoming Generations Megatron turns out. Even if he isn’t a gun, I think the robot mode on that big guy has a lot of potential. Of course, I’ll still have that scale problem.
Warbotron: Sly Strike (WB01-C) by Warbotron
Lest anyone forgot, I’m currently in the middle of collecting two third-party combiner teams. MMC’s Feral Rex (Not-Predacons) seems to have stalled after the third release with Talon trickling in to almost every e-tailer but the one I pre-ordered him from. Dammit! Fortunately, on the other side of the fence, Warbotron’s homage to the Combaticons has been going full guns (pun intended!) and the third entry in that team, Sly Strike, just showed up on my doorstep. Sly is the figure in this series that I was most excited for, as he is an homage to one of my favorite Decepticons, Swindle. In fact, it wouldn’t be totally off base to say that this figure is the reason I decided to collect this team in the first place. Let’s see how he turned out…
Once again, Warbotron’s presentation is absolutely superb. The figure comes in a satisfyingly large box with a snazzy silver sleeve that’s decked out with some nice line art and the name “Warbotron.”
Lift off the sleeve and you’re treated to a colorful window box with a G1-inspired grid pattern and some truly gorgeous character art of Sly. The half window lets you see the figure, packaged in robot mode, and conceals his guns, which are off to his left. In addition to the figure and the two weapons, you also get a colorful profile card and a folded instruction sheet. Yes, it seems as if Warbotron has abandoned the comic book and instruction combination that they included with the first two figures. I’m generally not a fan of companies mixing things up in mid- stream, it musses with my OCD, but I can’t say that we’re losing much with them dropping the comic. It was mainly unintentionally entertaining because of the poor translation. Alright, y’all know the drill by now. I’m going to start off with Sly Strike’s alt mode.
Of the three figures released in this team so far, Sly Strike’s alt mode represents the biggest departure from the original Transformer toy. Like Blast Off, Air Burst was a space shuttle and like Brawl, Heavy Noisy was a tank. No longer an army Jeep, Sly Strike has been upgraded and modernized to an desert-style armored Humvee. I can’t say I was entirely in favor of the change at first, but I’ll concede that this design gave them a lot more to work with in order to deliver a better looking robot. But we’ll get to that in a bit. First let’s take a further look at this alt mode…
Warbotron has been delivering some pretty nice, realistic styled alt modes and Sly keeps that trend going. In fact, I’d say in terms of sculpted detail Sly Strike comes out tops so far. There’s not much area on this vehicle where there isn’t some kind of added detail. Whether it be the vents on the hood, the armored plates on the doors, the grab rails on the back, or even the suspension in the wheel wells. Some of the finer points, for example the lights on the roof, are little more than painted nubs, but they still get the job done. As many know, I’m not generally a fan of painted windows, especially on realistic alt modes, but in this case I don’t think Warbotron had much of a choice due to the engineering at play and I’m prepared to cut them some slack.
Aside from the windows, Warbotron uses paint hits sparingly and mostly lets the colored plastic carry the day. I’m a big fan of this practice, especially for military style vehicles where decos tend to be drab by nature. The tan plastic looks great and you do get some silver and red apps here and there along with a little blue and black. All the paintwork is applied with precision.
There are a number of visible seams and hinges on the Humvee, but because of the rather utilitarian nature of the vehicle’s design, I don’t think they mar the aesthetics of the toy at all. And while we’re on the subject, I really appreciate the way this alt mode locks together. The doors alone, for example, have three hinges in them, but the entire assembly either pegs or tabs comfortably in three different places. Just about every shifting part ultimately secures itself in one way or another.
Sly Strike features two ports on top to peg in his weapons. The only real customization here is which one you want on the right or left, or whether you want to leave them off entirely.The guns certainly detract from the realism here, but I can’t say as I don’t like the look of them.
Transforming Sly Strike for the first time was pretty challenging. I was able to convert Air Burst and Heavy Noisy without even looking at the instructions, but that wasn’t the case here. Sly is easily the most complex of the three figures so far and the engineering does some interesting things. I’ll note here that once again the plastic has a high quality feel to it. The parts move quite well with the only exeption being the hinge in the torso, which requires a bit of force to unpeg. The only piece that feels somewhat fragile is the ramming bar and it’s thankfully designed to unpeg from the front rather than break. It’s also worth noting that Sly Strike is the first in this line to not have vehicle parts removed during transformation. Only his guns come off. When all is said and done we get a robot mode that nicely straddles the line between originality and G1 homage. But before I get too deep into his robot mode, check this out…
One of the coolest elements of the design allows you to actually choose two different looks for his robot mode. You can leave the front of the vehicle as his chest, in a very traditional Autobot manner, or you can go the official route and fold it back behind him. I’ll likely display him with the official look, but I really like the other option quite a bit as well. It reminds me a bit of Alternator Swindle!
Clearly, Warbotron modeled most of Sly Strike’s robot mode after the G1 Swindle toy and not the animated version. The biggest giveaway is the purple chest rather than the windshield. While I certainly have a soft spot for the Sunbow version of Swindle, I can’t argue with the results here. He’s a fantastic looking robot with a few of Warbotron’s own flourishes, like the wheels on the shoulders, thrown in for good measure. The legs fill out nicely thanks to the addition of some hinged plates, and the ball jointed ankles let you get all sorts of wide stances without compromising Sly’s stability.
I’ve been pretty happy with the head sculpts in this line so far. Air Burst and Heavy Noisy weren’t exactly brimming over with personality, but they certainly looked the part. That having been said, Sly Strike’s is easily my favorite portrait in the series. Just look at that face. He’s a smarmy asshole through and through and it’s perfect. And that light piping? Magnifcent!
Naturally, Sly’s roof mounted weapons become his guns, which he can hold in both hands. The pictures on the package show the pistol worn on his shoulder, but it’s rather misleading. There is indeed a screw hole on each of his shoulders and the peg on the pistol does fit it, but it doesn’t feel like it was meant to and it’ll fall right out without much provocation. I’ll also mention here that I think it was a HUGE missed opportunity to not have a way to mount his rifle as an arm cannon. I know they’re doing their own thing with the design. And I know they’re modeling more from the toy than the cartoon, but animated G1 Swindle’s arm cannon is rather iconic to me and it would have been really easy to pop a tab or something on there to make it work. Ah well!
I had very high expectations for this release and in the end, I’m extremely pleased with how Sly Strike turned out. The Humvee mode totally wins me over and while I still would have liked a figure based more on the Sunbow design than the original toy, I can’t argue with the results. This toy feels solid, has great engineering, and is lots of fun to play with. What’s more he looks fantastic when displayed beside his two Not-Combaticon comrades and he scales quite well with the Masterpiece Transformers too!
At about $90 each these chunky Voyager sized figures continue to feel like decent values, at least in the Third-Party Transformer market. I’ve yet to have any regrets about investing in this set and with only two more releases to go, Warbotron would have to stumble pretty badly to blow it now. Releases have been a bit erratic, but Warbotron’s Not-Vortex (I don’t think we’ve seen his official name yet) should be hitting sometime in the next month!
Marvel Universe Infinite: Ares by Hasbro
Today I’m continuing to open my stack of Marvel Infinite Series and so I did a random grab into the pile and came up with Ares. Cool! While I dig the character well enough in Siege and Age of Ultron, for me Ares is a figure that sells me more on his merits as a great looking figure than as a must-own character. Sure, in the comics he’s an Avenger, but at this point not being an Avenger is practically a club with more exclusive bragging rights. I don’t run into him all that often in my current comic reading selections, but one look at this guy in the package and I was anxious to get him open.
And here is that package. I’m not going to spend a lot of time ragging on it. Suffice it to say, I still don’t like it. What I do like is how well Ares and his massive weapons fill up that bubble. One of the cool things about buying a case of these figures is you can better see the cost offset from one figure to another. For example Ant-Man, while still a great figure, is just a painted scrawny buck with a new head sculpt and a tiny throw away accessory. $10 to $12 bucks for him doesn’t seem like such a great deal. But when he comes in the same case as this bad boy with tons of new sculpting, huge weapons, far more complex paintwork, and just a lot more plastic, everything evens out nicely.
Hot damn, this is an awesome looking figure! I hate to start out with comparisons by dragging another property through the muck, but… aw hell, no I don’t… it’s fun! Let’s do it! Let’s take a moment and look at Mattel’s Multiverse 1989 Batman figure. Here, take a look! Roughly same scale, roughly same price point. That piece of crap is Mattel representing one of DC’s main trinity of characters. Sure, he may be 25 year old Batman (and I do respect the idea that Mattel put an older version on the pegs), but he’s still Batman and a totally half-assed attempt at a figure. Now look at Ares. I don’t want to insult the big guy, but he’s hardly an A-lister and yet as I continue to look at this figure the one thing constantly in the back of my mind is that whoever was in charge of producing him didn’t give two shits that he’s not an A-lister. Nope, they treated this figure as if he’s one of the most important characters in the entire Marvel Universe. Or to put it another way, they just poured on the love.
The sculpting here is an absolutely fabulous mix of old and new. Hey Ares, got a little Hercules in you? You sure do! Most notably those arms and upper legs. Ares sports two wonderfully chiseled slabs of muscle for arms that hang off an impressively large buck and features original sculpting for his belt and grieves and chestplate. Zoom in closer and you can see all sorts of scrapes and cuts on his armor from past skirmishes. Always a nice touch! The head sculpt features a full Greco style helmet with a mowhawk brush and a sculpted ponytail coming out the back. Ares’ portrait is grim and surly. When you take it all in, the costume isn’t terribly complex, but all this attention to detail in the sculpt elevates it to something greater.
The paintwork here is also crazy good. The grieves alone are worth careful study. The weathering is beautiful and the overall finish is totally convincing as battle worn metal. His belt buckle is neatly painted and there’s a wash on it and the leather strapping above it to make it look like actual worn leather. The bronze paint on his helmet looks particularly nice and the whole ensemble is capped off with a crisply printed tampo of a skull with cross swords on his chest.
Ares also shines in the articulation department, offering all the great points I expect to find in these modern MU bucks. The shoulders are rotating hinges, the elbows have single hinges, there are swivels in the biceps and the wrists feature hinges and swivels. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have double hinges in the knees, swivels in the thighs and hinged ankles. Ares sports a ball joint in the torso and again in the neck. The fact that Ares is a big and chunky figure makes his joints work beautifully. He is tons of fun to play with!
As if all this weren’’t good enough, Ares comes with two bitchin weapons: A sword and an axe. The battle axe is massive with a black head and two silver edges. The shaft has a sculpted grip with painted brown wraps. The sword has a bronze colored guard and pommel and a sculpted brown grip. The broad edge is painted silver and pitted with dings and cuts to show its age and that it’s been well used. Both weapons can be wielded in either hand and the sculpt and paintwork on these pieces are good enough that Hasbro could easily upscale these for 6-inch Legends figures and they would look better than some of the past weapons we received in that line.
Even if you never read a comic with Ares in it, I’d still recommend checking out this figure. He represents a wonderful piece of craftsmanship on Hasbro’s part, made all the more impressive by who he is. I’ll refer you one more time back to the Batman and Mattel analogy. It’s an example of Hasbro setting out to make an exceptional figure regardless of the importance of the character its based on. And while I would definitely recommend him as a wonderful figure straight out of the package, I have a feeling this is one that may get a lot of use by the customizers out there. I’m actually quite excited to put him up against my Boss Fight Studios Vitruvian HACKS Medusas when they arrive around the end of the year.
Star Wars Black: Clone Trooper (Phase I) by Hasbro
The new wave of Hasbro’s 6-inch Star Wars Black has arrived, but those of you expecting all new characters will be disappointed. This new case only adds two new figures to the mix: The Phase I Clone Trooper and Anakin Skywalker with the other two slots in this case occupied by re-releases of the Stormtrooper and Boba Fett. Normally this is where I would get all up in Hasbro’s grill, but reissues of the hard to find Boba Fett and the hotly demanded Stormy were actually a cool move on Hasbro’s part to help get these figures into the hands of collectors. I know I was happy to get another Stormtrooper, even if it meant having to suck down an extra Boba Fett. He’s a great figure and I don’t mind having an extra one boxed. Anyway, today we’re going to check out the Clone Trooper, another army builder that should be in rather high demand.
Hasbro has revealed a redesign for the Black packaging, but it won’t come until the next wave so what we get here is the same old stuff. It’s a very simple window box that shows off the figure pretty well and offers very little else. I’ve complained about the lack of artistic flair in much of Hasbro’s current package design, but the 6-inch Black series is the one line that I think suits it pretty well. I’ve gone on record saying that I was going to be very choosey about what prequel figures I buy, but this figure was a no brainer. I like the clones and the Phase I helmet is my favorite of the designs. It was also a no-brainer on Hasbro’s part as they’re now free to unleash an unending tide of repaints onto us.
So before I get to the actual figure, let me say that there are some aspects of the QC here that is pretty disappointing. My Clone has black marks scattered on his left leg and some on his left shoulder. The shoulder marks eventually rubbed off, but the marks on his leg haven’t. I’ve yet to try a Magic Eraser, but these are $20 collector figures Hasbro, I shouldn’t have to be trying to clean them up when I take them new out of the package. I’ll also note here that the hinges on this guy feel pretty mushy and even the finish on the overall plastic feels like I could easily scar it with my thumbnail. Sigh… it looks like Hasbro has been dipping into the economy plastic again.
I think the sculpting here looks pretty good. While most of the armor is sculpted as part of the buck, the black paint in the joints gives some credibility that it is indeed a suit of armor. The effect may not be as good as we saw with the Stormtrooper, but it’s passable. Overall the black paint is pretty clean, although the pins for the lower pins for the elbow hinges are right in the middle of the black undersuit and they are left white, which is obviously not optimal, especially for a figure in this larger scale. The paint apps on the helmet are not as crisp and straight as I would prefer and it sure would have been nice if they could have gone with a glossy black for the visor.
The articulation is satisfying, at least on paper. The arms feature swivel hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels at the biceps. The legs have ball joints with swivels in the hips, double hinges in the knees, and hinges in the ankles along with lateral rockers. There’s a pretty generous ball joint in the lower torso and the neck is ball jointed.
For the most part the jointing works fairly well with the armor. The big exception to that is the shoulder armor, which severely restricts the lateral movement of the arms. There’s absolutely no clearance so once the tops of these plates butt up against the torso armor, that’s as far as they’ll go. So granted, the Stormtrooper had a similar problem and I gave him a pass. But, the first time I tested the range of movement on the Clone Trooper, his left shoulder piece popped off with very little pressure and almost no warning. And no, it’s not meant to do that, so I had to glue it back on. Hasbro has done a much better job getting shoulder plates to work with articulation on some of their recent Marvel Legends. It’s a shame they didn’t do it here as well.
The Clone Trooper comes with two accessories, both guns. You get a blaster pistol and a rifle. Both are decent sculpts and while the pistol is a tad soft and rubbery, the rifle is surprisingly firm and stiff. Both of his hands are designed to hold weapons, so you can get some nice action poses with him and his little arsenal. It may be a valid complaint that Hasbro didn’t pack a Phase II head into the mix, but I’ll not take issue with it here.
One point that I will always come back to when looking at these 6-inch Black figures is whether the new scale is justified. Sure, Hasbro’s goal here is to squeeze more money from collectors by introducing a new format. But from the collectors’ point of view, the larger scale should only be justified because it can produce more detailed sculpts, better articulation, better accessories, and better paint. In short, the figures should be better than the 3 ¾” figures, otherwise why bother? In this case, the Phase I Clone Trooper has been done at least as well, and probably better in the smaller format and with the smaller version, you don’t have to sacrifice his interactivity with ships and vehicles.
Obviously, I’m not blown away or even impressed by this figure. Keep in mind, I’ve got about a dozen figures in this series that I’ve opened so by now I’ve set my expectations on what this line will offer and this Clone just falls short. The black marks on his leg armor are annoying, but not devastating. I may still be able to get them off and even if I can’t, well… Clones get dirty in action. I was, however, hoping for firmer joints and that I wouldn’t be reaching for the glue right after opening him. Is he terrible? No. But, in the end, he’s a decidedly average figure and doesn’t match the quality on display in either of my 6-inch Black Stormtroopers or my Sandtrooper. It’s possible I got a lemon, and yes, given the opportunity I will take a chance on a second one, but all in all I was hoping for better.
Marvel: Spider-Woman Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya
It’s Bishoujo time again! Those nefarious money vampires at Koto have been especially prolific lately and it seems like at least once a week we’re seeing artwork or prototype pics of new and upcoming statues. It was just a couple weeks ago that I looked at their new Bishoujo Wonder Woman and hot on the heels of her arrival comes Spider-Woman. Jessica Drew has been sitting in my Pile of Loot for a little while and now she’s here and waiting to be opened. Let’s do it!
The packaging here is right in line with what we’ve been seeing from all the Marvel and DC Bishoujo statues. You get a white window box with some gorgeous character artwork by Shunya Yamashita. Collectors may be surprised to find that the box is a lot smaller than those used for most of these statues, but that’s because of Spider-Woman’s pose, but fear not. She’s still crafted in the same 1/8 scale as Koto’s other Bishoujo offerings. The back of the box teases us with Jubilee, another great character choice for the line and we’ve already seen some pictures of that statue from Koto online and yes I’ve already got her pre-ordered, dammit!
As usual, the statue comes wrapped in plastic and sandwiched between two plastic trays. You can get a good peek at her through all the windows in the box, but you’ll have to get in there and unwrap her to really appreciate what you’re getting. She comes separated from her base, and while the pegs are a bit of a tight fit, I got her in without too much trouble. Giggity.
And there she is out of the box and ready for display and oh man is she gorgeous! And yes, as the box suggests, she is small. Again, it’s not because she’s scaled any smaller, but because the composition here has her in a compact and low profile squat. Still, if you own Koto’s Bishoujo Mystique you should know what to expect here. It’s interesting to note that I’ve seen some critics of the original artwork and prototype of this piece suggested this pose was too suggestive or just downright vulgar and inappropriate. It’s certainly sexual, but that’s nothing new to this line and, indeed it’s the whole damn point. Besides, Spider-Woman here is definitely one of the most clothed Bishoujo statues in the entire line. With the exception of her face, she’s literally clad from head to toe, but that doesn’t stop this statue from leaving little to the imagination. And yet, her squat, with right fingers touching the base and her left fingers reaching out, mimics the kineticism of Jessica’s spider-like acrobatics remarkably well for a static piece. I not only think the pose here is appropriate, but totally in character for her, and while it may be no surprise to everyone who knows that I’m a shameless champion of this line, I think it’s absolutely exquisite.
And speaking of exquisite… let’s talk about the paintwork. Even though I started with the composition, the truth is that it’s the colors on this piece that first caught my eye. That’s saying a lot when you consider how alluring the sculpting is. The high gloss candy apple red that Koto used for her costume has to be seen in person to be believed. It’s so sumptuous that it’s almost like all this time I thought I was seeing the color red, but it’s always just been some dingy knock-off and only now am I seeing red in its original, brilliant form. And when you combine that with an equally impressive glossy luster in yellow, you have what is easily the most breathtakingly colored statue in my Bishoujo collection. Quite often, one of my favorite things about the coloring on these pieces is the contrast between the soft matte finish of the flesh tones and the sheen of whatever latex or leather the ladies happen to be wearing. Here that contrast is barely present. You get a little of it with the face and the hair and her translucent wings, but basically that red and yellow paint is carrying the day all by itself, and it carries it quite splendidly.
Jessica actually has two portraits with the change achieved by switching out the face. The stock portrait has her masked and you get that same beautiful red and yellow high gloss on her mask, with some heavy black outlines and white eyes. The windblown hair effect is pretty much a staple in this line, but here it feels like Koto went that little extra mile. The hair just feels more chaotic and complex and that extra effort pays off because it looks smashing right down to the semitransparent edges.
The alternate unmasked head is swapped in by removing the head from the neck post, taking off the bangs, and then pulling off the face. It’s quite similar to what I’ve seen with the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figures. My first instinct was to dismiss the unmasked head because the masked version is just so iconic, but I think I’ve fallen in love with Jessica’s unmasked face. She has an almost wistful expression and yet a hint of a smile on her tiny mouth. She’s also got a set of beautiful green eyes and it’s almost a shame to cover them with that mask.
Most of the time when I get a Bishoujo statue with variants, I have a clear preference on which way I want to go with it. With Black Widow I always prefer the rifle over the knife; with Storm I opt to leave the effects parts off; And Kitty Pryde is always displayed with Lockheed perched on her arm. In this case, I’m not sure which way to go and I’ll likely be swapping the heads out every couple of weeks to enjoy them both.
Of course, with the Bishoujo line, you never know what Koto’s going to do for a base. In this case you get a simple black raised disc with a white spider-web pattern sculpted and painted onto it. It works perfectly for the character and the black really helps to accentuate the beauty of the costume’s red and yellow paint. Every time I decide that I want Koto to just standardize all of these damn bases, they pull something exceptional and unique like this and I back away from my argument. Another very cool thing about the base is that there’s a hidden compartment underneath where you can store the extra face. That’s plenty cool!
And so, it should come as no great surprise that I’m in love with another of Koto’s Bishoujo statues. With 17 of these beauties now under my belt, Spider-Woman here is just another example of why I’ll follow this line until Koto decides to kill it or I happen to finally succumb to alcohol poisoning. She may not be as big or imposing as some of the other statues in my display case, but she makes up for it in every other way. And even with the diminished stature, at $55 I still think she was a bargain. Jubilee or Starfire will likely be next, and after that we can look forward to She-Hulk, Wasp, and Zatanna, not to mention what Koto has in store for the Street Fighter and Tekken sub-lines. Life is indeed good!
Transformers Generations: Legends Class Skrapnel by Hasbro
It’s Transformers Thursday again, and I’m still pressing on with my look at the Generations Legends Class figures. Today’s feature has a place near and dear to my heart because it’s Skrapnel. Who? Just consider him copyright-challenged Shrapnel. Yes, that’s Shrapnel as in the leader of the Insecticons. Man, do I love the G1 Insecticons and the fact that Hasbro brought them back in this size assortment is really one of the main reasons I decided to start collecting the Generations Legends in the first place. The only way this release could be any better is if Hasbro did something crazy like… oh, I dunno, maybe bundle a totally random tiny homage to Reflector in there too. Oh wait… THEY DID!!!
The figure comes on the now familiar and extremely cool G1-inspired cardback, complete with that retro grid pattern and some great character art. Damn, that’s some purdy presentation! The only way Hasbro could have possibly improved these cards is if they made the Decepticon grid deco purple like back in the old days. Skrapnel is packaged in his robot mode and so is his buddy Reflector. That’s a first, because all the other Targetmasters were carded in their alt modes. I’m guessing Hasbro didn’t think a camera would be that exciting. Fools! Learn to cater to your fanbase, Hasbro! Who cares if kids don’t like it… they don’t got no monies and they can only beg so much from their parents. I’m an adult with a great paying job. Give me a Deluxe Class Reflector and I’ll buy it! Alright, enough of that… let’s start with Skrapnel’s bug mode…
Just like the original G1 character, this Skrapnel’s alt mode is a cyber-stag-beetle. I don’t usually start out by talking about the deco, but a huge part of the appeal of the original Insecticons has always been their awesome colors. The black, purple and yellow looks so striking and Hasbro recreated it here for this homage quite beautifully. Sure it’s missing the translucent yellow chest plate and the chromed out pincers, but it still looks amazing. These will always be my favorite Decepticon colors, which is probably why I also love Skywarp so much.
As far as robotic beetles go, this version of Skrapnel is a bit sleeker than the G1 original design, and that ain’t a bad thing. I also dig how high he stands on his legs. There’s quite a bit of clearance between his body and the ground and I think that gives this mode a lot of credibility. There isn’t really a head on this critter, but seeing as how he’s a cyber bug, I guess he doesn’t really need one. There’s really no articulation in the insect legs, but you can open and close his giant pincers, which is certainly cool. One of the pincers on mine is a little droopy, but not too bad.
Skrapnel’s transformation has some cool things going for it. The way the panels on his back shift to the sides to become his legs and the flip that the torso does are both pretty surprising for such a small figure. The result is a fantastic little representation of the Insecticon we all know and love. Sure, he’s got some insect leg kibble hanging off his arms and more on his back, but I actually think it works for the aesthetic rather than against it. Skrapnel is a bug bot and he’s proud of it. Unlike a lot of Transformers, Scrapnel’s deco is identical in robot mode to the alt mode, and in this case that’s not a bad thing at all. He’s gorgeous!
He’s also lots of fun to play with thanks to his copious amount of ball joints. You get ball joints in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees. His articulation is actually so good it kind of stands out that his head doesn’t turn. That’s been the case for me wtih most of these Legends Class figures.
And then there’s Reflector. I want to love Reflector, I really do. I appreciate Hasbro trying here. I mean, what other chance do we have of getting a camera Transformer from Hasbro? None! And yet, he’s really not that impressive. His camera mode just barely passes as a camera. I mean, it’s obvious if you know what it it’s supposed to be, but maybe not so much otherwise. As for his transformation… let’s face it none of these Targetmasters are terribly complex, but Reflector’s bot mode is literally just the camera standing up on his lens. But what the hell, it’s fine.
The gun mode is a bit better. You can plug it into Skrapnel’s alt mode for a pretty cool looking cyber-beetle-tank. It’s also not too oversized for Skrapnel to wield in his robot mode. Still, like most of these Targetmaster guns, I think they work best in the hands of a Deluxe or Voyager Class figure.
Last time, when I looked at Swerve, I went on about his scale and that he was clearly intended to interact with the regular Classics/Generations figures over his own Legends Class. Skrapnel actually falls awkwardly inbetween classes. If you stand him up next to Legends Megatron he’s taller because of his antenna, but otherwise stands shoulder to shoulder to him, which makes him a tad too big. Now, if you stand him with some Generations Deluxes, he’s pretty small, but I actually think this pairing works better. Hey, they’re Insecticons, why not have them be a little smaller? In the end, it’s a compromise either way, but I think I’ll be displaying Skrapnel with my regular Generations figures and not with the Legends. Oh yeah, so long as we’re on about scale, it’s worth pointing out this…
Legends Skrapnel is almost the exact same size as the original G1 Shrapnel. Cool!
It’s probably a given that my first choice would still have been to get a set of G1 inspired Insecticons as Deluxe Class figures. And sometimes I burn my arms on the stove as punishment for not picking up Fansprojects’ Not-Insecticons when I had the chance. So in a sense, Skrapnel here is a consolation prize. The fact that he’s a Legends Class figure is not ideal, but Hasbro still did a beautiful job on him and I love him all the same. What’s even better is that Hasbro recently showed off Legends Class Bombshell and confirmed that Kickback will be following not long after and it’s going to be mighty cool to have a complete set of updated Insecticons, even if they are little guys.
FigureFan Zero 
