Jun 26 2013

Man of Steel: Movie Masters Superman by Mattel

I’ve scrapped the intro to this feature twice because both times it deteriorated into a rant on the new Man of Steel movie. Kicking movies that I don’t like is not something I enjoy doing, so I’m happy to abstain from it. The film is obviously a unique take on the character and one that doesn’t jive with what the character means to me. Fair enough. In the multiverse of Infinite Earth’s I’m perfectly fine setting aside one for the Zack Snyder Superman to reside on, so long as I don’t have to visit it ever again. Anyway, if there’s one thing I did like it’s the design of Supes himself, and so I still wanted a figure for my collection, and that’s what we’re here to talk about, so enough said about the movie… let’s talk toys.

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Mattel went with a very cool presentation for this line. The “Man of Steel” title is seriously underplayed. It’s type is even smaller than the “Adult Collector” label on the top of the card. The rest of the card features a large “S” Shield, making up the back of the bubble and a flowing red cape motif. The bubble is large and shaped like Superman’s shield crest. The insert follows along with the cape motif and has “Superman” printed across it in large lettering. The package certainly works for Supes, but I think the diminished title of the movie may be a little odd for the Jor-El and Zod figures. Whatever the case, this is an attractive package and it certainly draws one’s eye to the pegs.

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As I already mentioned, I really like the movie version of Supe’s costume. It draws a bit on the “New 52” design in that he isn’t wearing his red undies. On the other hand, instead of the panel lined light blue suit, we get a darker blue suit with a basketball like texture. There’s also some dark grey piping that runs along the sides and the back. I like it, as it gives the suit a little bit of an alien motif, although most of it is concealed by his cape. The “S” Shield on his chest is actually sculpted into the figure. It’s textured like the rest of the costume and features some nice metallic gold paint. The cape is especially well done. It attaches over the front of his shoulders and flows wide behind him. I do miss the “S” Shield on the back of the cape, but I can live without it.

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The portrait is surprisingly good for a figure based on a real-world likeness. I may have a number of issues with the movie, but one thing that I can’t deny is that Cavill looks good in the suit and Mattel’s sculptors did a fine job reproducing his likeness in the head sculpt. It’s not the spitting image of the actor, but it’s closer than I would have expected. I’d dare say it’s one of their best.

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The articulation here is very close to the DCUC style, with just one real notable omission. There are ball joints in the neck and shoulders. The arms feature swivels in the biceps and wrists, and have hinged elbows. The legs have the usual DCUC style hip joints, swivels in the thighs, and hinges in the knees and ankles. Superman can also swivel at the waist. The missing POA is the chest ab-crunch. It was probably sacrificed in favor of the added sculpting detail of the suit, and I’m fine with that.

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Superman comes with an “S” Shield figure stand. I’m always happy to get a figure stand, but I’m not sure that I’ll use it, as he stands just fine on his own. There are no other accessories. If you want a motorcycle for him to rip apart, you’ll need to look to the 3.75” line.

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If you want a Man of Steel figure for your shelf, you can’t go wrong with Supes here. He is an exceptionally nice figure with a great sculpt, excellent paint apps, and no QC issues to speak of. Can this really be a movie toy? From Mattel? Well, in fairness Mattel’s Movie Masters figures are usually solid efforts and Superman raises the bar a little higher. That having been said, this is probably the only figure I’ll buy from this line, because I’m not at all keen on the other character designs. Ok, maybe I’ll pick up Zod, just so I can have Superman punch him through a city block and thoughtlessly murder hundreds of human bystanders.

On a side note, while buying Superman, I also thought I might as well get a movie version of Batman to go with him, so I picked up the Movie Master version of Batman from The Dark Knight Rises… we’ll check him out tomorrow.

Jun 25 2013

Transformers Classics: Optimus Prime by Hasbro

A couple of weeks ago, I looked at Classics Jetfire and realized that there were still quite a few Classics in my collection that have escaped being featured here on FFZ. Most notable of all is the big cheese himself, Optimus Prime. However, in Prime’s case, I think the omission may have been by design. I was hooked on the Classics line from day one, but I was never entirely smitten with this version of Prime. Let’s see if he’s grown on me any after all these years…

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The packaging has been gone for a long time, so let’s jump right into Prime’s alt mode. Yep, he’s still a red semi-truck cab which offers a solid homage to the original character toy, but Hasbro certainly went off the reservation on a few significant points. He’s less boxy and more rounded at the edges, and his windows in particular are pretty stylized. It’s a slightly sexier and modern look and I’m cool with that. If I had to pick one thing that bothered me the most, it would be the windows. They just don’t seem to fit with the rest of the design and it’s obvious the discrepancy has to do with the transformation engineering. We’ll come back to that in a little bit.

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Initially, I wasn’t a big fan of the cap on the roof, but that’s grown on me a little bit. My main issue with the cap is that it’s basically there to hide the head and create an extra gun. I think the head could have been hidden with something a lot less cumbersome, and as we’ll see the gun that it forms isn’t a great pay off.

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I do like the deco used here quite a bit, as it’s fairly faithful to the original toy colors. He’s mostly red and blue, with some added silver. The grey used for the bumper and grill is a little jarring to me. I think it should have been painted closer to the side striping with a little metallic silver finish. My only other gripe here is the lack of a regular Autobot insignia. Prime does have a rub sign sticker, but I’ve never been a big fan of these. Still, combine this deco with the new design and I can appreciate Prime’s cab mode well enough. There are no miss steps to the reimagined design that I can’t forgive. Let’s transform him and see if the same holds true for his robot mode.

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Prime in robot mode is a damn frustrating figure. He’s got so much great stuff going for him, but a couple points of lazy design detracts from him a lot. The first thing worth mentioning is that his transformation relies on a bit of fakery. The lower part of his torso is meant to look like his truck grill, but the real truck grill winds up on his back. I’m not a big fan of that kind of hocus-pocus in my Transformers engineering, but it isn’t a deal breaker for me if it’s done right. If we’re talking about Prime’s torso and legs… he’s done very right. There’s a great stylized design to him that makes the fakery well worthwhile. He looks fantastic and very much like the Prime toy that I’ve always wanted. The head sculpt isn’t among my favorite Prime heads, but it’s not at all bad. So what’s the problem?

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First off, the horrible truck shell pieces that hang off his arms. They hang there, they flop around and get in the way. Basically, they’re ugly and awkward. An extra hinge to help them wrap around the arm may have helped. Maybe if they actually looked like armor and not just truck pieces hanging off of him. But whatever the case, he always looks like he’s mis-transformed or missing a step somewhere. It looks like the designers kept thinking, “Yeah, the arms… we’ll worry about them later” only later never came. I’m not a fan of parts-formers, but in this case, I would have been perfectly fine if you could have just pulled these pieces off, because they practically destroy the figure by being there.

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Less of a problem is his backpack. It’s awkward and ugly, but I’m far more forgiving of a cumbersome backpack on a Transformer than the god-awful hideous limb kibble. Of course, you can also pull the backpack off, which brings me to Prime’s two transforming weapons…

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Prime’s main weapon comes out of his smokestacks. It’s not his traditional looking rifle, but I do like it a lot. It’s a clever use of the smokestack part and I think he looks pretty good holding it. The cap/backpack gun is slightly more complex in transformation. It’s an ok gun, but rather unwieldy and I don’t like that it’s the same deco as Prime himself. Like I mentioned above, it isn’t worth the payoff of having the big cap on the truck cab.

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Classics Prime is a fun toy, and he’s definitely one of the better Prime figures that Hasbro has put out since. I’ll concede that’s a bit of a loaded compliment, but I do think he deserves more kudos than scorn. That having been said, it’s hard to overlook the truck kibble on his arms. I can remember the first time I transformed him, I kept looking back at the instructions to see what I was doing wrong, only to find out that there was nothing wrong, that’s what his arms look like. If I’m blowing them out of proportion, I think the problem here was that I was so excited about Hasbro doing updates to G1 characters, my expectations were too high. In the end, I’m far more willing to dismiss a terrible figure than forgive one that mingles with greatness but falls flat because of one or two major flaws. Prime is sadly one of those figures that could have been close to perfect, but missed the mark because of some lazy design elements.

Jun 24 2013

Marvel Universe: Jubilee by Hasbro

Ah, Jubilee… I don’t like her. I’ve always thought she was an annoying character with lame powers. I wasn’t reading X-Men at the time of her debut, and for a while, I actually thought she was created for the X-Men animated series to replace Rogue as someone the audience of kids could relate to. Why is it every time a film or series creates a character for the audience to relate to, they suck? Jubilee Fans, attach your hate mail to the comments section below! Later, when I got back into comics hardcore and spent a lot of time in back issues, I obviously learned otherwise. Anyway, like her or not, I can’t help myself from buying any X-Men figures Hasbro puts out in the Marvel Universe line, and so here we are… welcome to Marvel Monday!

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There’s the packaging. I do dig the character art and despite her rather demure size, Jubilee fills out her bubble fairly well with her effect part beside her on the tray. You get the usual “Comic Shot” which is an issue of X-Factor featuring Jubilee in a completely different costume. Excellent! Great job, Hasbro! At this point you might as well just grind up the Comic Shot into dust and pour it into my eyes.

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The back of the card has a little bio blurb and a shot of the other figures in this wave. I haven’t found Professor X yet, but next week, we’ll be looking at Blastaar. The collecting message of the wave comes from Dazzler. I would dig me a Dazzler figure, but if that ever happens, I’m sure she’ll wind up in some overpriced exclusive set. Boo!

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With Jubilee out of the package, I continue to be impressed with the current crop of MU figures that Hasbro is churning out. Obviously, the most distinctive thing about her is the soft plastic yellow trenchcoat. The coat is executed in traditional Hasbro style by making it a vest with figure’s arms sculpted to look like the sleeves. It works fine for me, especially in this scale. Her body and legs are free of any sculpted detail and painted completely black. Her belt is a separate piece, but it’s glued into place instead of just hanging on her hips. I would have preferred her red top and blue shorts under the coat, but maybe that will be a quick-and-dirty variant later on down the road. Hasbro did a nice job with the head sculpt. Yes, she’s a bit wall-eyed, but that’s mostly thanks to the paint. The rest of the face is great, the hair is fantastic, and she has her sunglasses nestled into her hair and a pair of earrings.

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Jubilee’s articulation is pretty solid. Her neck has a ball joint in addition to a hinge, which gives her head a lot of movement. Her arms have ball joints in the shoulders and elbows and swivels in her wrists. Unfortunately, the sculpted sleeves works against the range of motion in her arms. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, swivels in the thighs and boots, and double hinges in the knees. Her ankles have hinges and rockers too! The torso has a ball joint just under her chest.

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In addition to the crappy Comic Shot, Jubilee comes with a purple effect part for her hand. It looks like the same piece that came with Scarlet Witch. Either way, it’s already gone straight into the Bin of Forgotten Effect Parts, never to be seen again.

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So, Jubilee may not be one of my favorite characters, but Hasbro did her proud with this figure. They managed to take a very crappy 90’s distinctive character design and translate it into plastic perfectly. I’ve only seen her a few times on the pegs, and one of those times two middle aged guys were fighting over her. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice what little self-respect I have by jumping into that fray, and my patience paid off because she showed up again a few weeks later. Considering the abysmal Hasbro distribution in my area, finding any Marvel Universe figure in the wild is a rare treat, let alone one from a recent wave.

Jun 22 2013

DC Universe Signature Collection: Red Hood by Mattel

It’s been a long week, I’m coming down with something, and I just want to flop onto the sofa and do very little of anything. It’s no coincidence that today I’m going to look at a figure based on a character I don’t care a hell of a lot about: Red Hood! Yeah, for the most part, I’ve been lucky with my Club Infinite Earth subscription. My interest in the DC Universe runs pretty broad and deep, but sooner or later I was bound to get a figure that I could have done without. And so, this guy arrived on my stoop this week in complete disregard for my apathy toward most Batman comics. Let’s get this over with, so that I can pop in a DVD and go back to being horizontal again.

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There’s the packaging we’ve all come to either love or tolerate from DC’s Signature Collection. I still dig it. You get a nice window box that shows off the figure quite well and is totally collector friendly. The character art is usually excellent on the DCSC packaging, but in this case, it seems off. There’s just something about the character likeness that doesn’t work for me. Maybe it’s the head sculpt? I kid, I kid… Red Hood’s head is a giant Tylenol gel capsule. It’d be hard to screw up the likeness on the box art. It’s fine.

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And here he is in all his glory. Red Hood is a f’cking terrible character design. It’s possible that he’s more credible in the comics, but as an action figure, he looks like he could have been one of the MOTU designs that lost to Fearless Photog back in the 80’s. But he is what he is, so I’m going to try to not beat up on the figure too badly. Oh, who am I kidding? Yes I am.

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Red Hood uses a standard DCUC style buck molded in pale grey plastic. His gloves are sculpted, but his boots are just painted on, as is the chest emblem. None of the paint lines are particularly sharp and there’s some mold flashing on the arms. The cape is plugged into a hole in the back of the buck and the head is just a big pill painted red. At the very least, Mattel could have used a clear dome for the head and painted the inside red to give it a little illusion of depth. What’s here looks like the quickest, cheapest, and dirtiest of cash grabs. On the bright side, at least you get two pistols. Too bad they’re so thin that they’re almost two-dimensional. Functional holsters might have helped nudge the figure up a notch in my eyes, but no. On the contrary, only one of his hands is sculpted with a trigger finger to hold the gun properly.

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Articulation is the standard DCUC affair. The arms feature ball joints in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinged elbows. The legs have the usual DCUC style joint in the hips, hinges in the knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. The torso has a waist swivel and an ab crunch hinge. And yes… the dome will turn from side to side… brilliant!

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And that’s it… I’m spent. If you’re a big Jason Todd fan, then this figure might scratch your itch, but it’s the first one in the CIE sub that I would have preferred to have opted out of. In fact, he may still find his way onto Ebay. Despite acquiring a renewed love for the character, I hate this appearance. It just feels like  lazy character design, and the figure feels like a slop job. In the congested shelves of my DCUC display case, I’m not sure I even want to spare him any standing room. $28 for this guy?  Blah!

And that’ll do it for DC Week. I’ll try to mix things up a bit more next week, but I have a feeling the pendulum is going to swing the other way and we’re going to be in store for a fair amount of plastic Marvel tat. See ya’ll on Monday!

Jun 21 2013

Cover Girls of the DC Universe: “New 52” Harley Quinn by DC Collectibles

Ok, folks, let me explain what’s going to happen here today. I’m going to say a lot of nice things about a statue that most people will automatically hate on principle. I get it. The New 52 ruined your precious Harley Quinn because you hate her new costume. And this statue practically rubs your noses in it by its very design. I’m not being sarcastic… I really do get it. I hate what DC did to Zatanna in Justice League Dark. If DC Collectibles comes out with a statue of her wearing her new biker-chick pants and trampling on her old magician hat, I’ll be irked too. It is what it is. However, as someone who tends to not read many Batman books, Harley has never been a sacred character to me, and it isn’t until Suicide Squad that I actually adopted a book that she’s in as regular reading. I really love that book, and this is how she appears in it. Hence I really wanted this piece on my shelf. If hearing nice things about New 52 Harley is going to cause you distress, you might want to get off the train here and come back tomorrow. You’ve been warned!

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The statue comes in a pretty standard and boring box, similar to what we saw a few weeks back with the Cover Girls Catwoman statue. I’ve said my piece about how little I like DC Collectible’s package designs, so I’m not going to dwell on it here. Inside, the statue is wrapped in plastic and nestled between two styrofoam trays. The packaging is collector friendly and is handy to keep on hand if you ever want to put the statue into storage.

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Starting off with the pose… I really dig it. Harley is standing on one foot, bent forward a bit, while using her other foot to proffer a giant hammer to an unseen opponent. All the while she’s got a pair of blades in her hands and behind her back. I think the pose captures the spirit of the character pretty well. She’s playful, she’s crazy, and she’s going make a game out of killing you. The pose also helps to accentuate Harley’s assets… and her frontssets too!

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I find the sculpt here to be excellent. It probably helps a lot that I dig Harley’s stripper costume and it’s quite well executed here for a porcelain statue. Little touches include the loose straps on her pistol holsters, the bullets in her belt, the knit striping on her socks, and the loose lacing on her top. I’m particularly fond of the way her bangs hang over her face. A lot of the statues done in this media seem to have a problem with hair, but this one gets it right.

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The paint is competent enough, with just a few little flubs. There’s a little bleeding between the flesh and outfit, but a lot of the little details, like the bullets, look great. Her eyes are a little off, (what’s with DC Collectible’s inability to paint a pair of straight eyes?) but only a little, and the fact that the bangs hang down the way they do keep it from being a major problem. The rest of the paint on the face is quite sharp and looks nice. The red and blue used for her hair and costume is suitably vibrant and I appreciate the use of both matte and gloss in the appropriate places.

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So the base… yeah, that base. As already mentioned, it has Harley trampling her iconic costume. I think I get that DC was going for here. It’s a rebirth kind of thing In with the new Harley and out with the old. On the other hand, they really must have known that this was going to piss off a lot of fans. And let’s face it, Harley Quinn has a lot of fans. I can’t imagine there are many people like me who are following Harley for the first time in the New 52 and wouldn’t take this as a slap in the face. But hey, now I feel special… DC Collectibles designed a statue just for me. To add insult to injury, the trampled costume effect isn’t pulled off very well at all. It’s not terribly convincing and easily the weakest thing about this whole piece. Any way I look at it, I think it would have been best left out.

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The last Cover Girls statue I featured, Catwoman, was decent, but decidedly average. I’m a lot more pleased with this one. It’s a shame that it’ll be so controversial to fans because from a technical standpoint, I think DC Collectibles did a fine job on her. I was able to pick her up for around $70. That still seems a bit high, considering I can get something fairly comparable from Kotobukiya for less, but I’m guessing that’s the difference between cold-cast porcelain and PVC plastic. Obviously, this statue isn’t for everyone, but I’m glad to have picked it up and she looks damn fine on my shelf.

Jun 20 2013

Crisis on Infinite Earths: Psycho Pirate by DC Direct

Pushing forward on my effort to fill in some of the missing characters from my DCUC shelves, I delve once again into the DCD offerings with Psycho Pirate. Seriously, how the hell is it possible that DC Universe Classics went twenty waves without giving us Psycho Pirate? Well, I guess you could say that about a lot of DC characters. This poor guy has been hanging on a peg at my local comic shop for ages, and since guilt over buying some comics online forced me to spend some money there, I decided to liberate him and give him a good home. It feels like a Pub Night, so let’s see if I can run through this pretty quickly.

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Before going to sealed clamshells, DCD delivered their figures on cards and bubbles. I like this better because I can just rip the bugger open, although I’ll concede that I miss the heady hit of plastic fumes from the clamshells. The package is utilitarian at best, although I enjoy the way many of the DCD series used to use the figure stand in lieu of putting the title of the series on the package. It’s an economy of cleverness… or a cleverness of economy… it’s one of those things. Anyway, the package gives you a good idea of what you’re getting. Sadly, there is no included effect part of Psycho Pirate’s head being caved in by the rage of Black Adam. Oh wait, that’s Infinite Crisis.

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DCD did a fine job with the sculpt. They really nailed the portrait. Roger looks pissed and his fingers are clutched in anger. He’s kind of lean and scrawny and the details in his costume are all part of the sculpt, rather than just paint. The cape looks great, complete with the high cowl.

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The paint on this guy is crap. The borders between the red and black are little sloppy. There’s also black smudging on the red and there’s a black gluey mess on his right shoulder that transferred from the cape lining. I do like that they bothered to use glossy paint for the boots and the interior of the cape and the mask tampos on his chest look good. It’s amazing how far DCD has come.

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Psycho Pirate’s articulation is competent enough. You get ball joints in the neck and shoulders. The arms feature hinged elbows and swivels in the wrists. There’s a T-crotch, hinges in the knees, and swivels at the top of the boots. There’s no torso articulation. It’s certainly not DCUC standards, but at least you can do a couple things with him. He can even sit down!

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The accessories include the Medusa Mask, which fits pretty nicely over the figure’s face and the figure stand. The features the Crisis on Infinite Earths logo. It’s a nice stand, but since he’s going on my DCUC shelf, I’ll probably make due without it.

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Psycho Pirate’s an ok figure. The sculpt is fine, the articulation is passable, but I’ve found the quality of the paintwork has been a problem with many of the Crisis on Infinite Earth figures and this guy is no exception. Nonetheless, he was only ten bucks and he makes for a decent place holder on my shelf until Mattel decides to do this guy better, possibly through Club Infinite Earths.

Jun 19 2013

Blackest Night: Red Lantern Mera by DC Direct

I warned y’all that I was backfilling my DCUC shelves and would have a number of older DC figures to feature, but not all of them are going to actually be DCUC figures. I’m at the point where I’m willing to concede that it’ll be a while before Mattel gets around to doing certain characters (if ever) and so I’m willing to incorporate some more of the DC Direct figures onto my DCUC shelves. Today we’re looking at Red Lantern Mera from the Blackest Night, Series Seven. I’ll confess, I didn’t have a burning need to have her on my shelves, but I picked up my last bunch of comic TPBs from Amazon and I’ve been feeling a little guilty about not supporting the local comic shop. So, I took a trip the day before yesterday and picked up a couple of the DCD figures he’s had on the shelves for a long while. Today, we’ll check out Mera and tomorrow we’ll look at the other one.

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There’s the packaged shot… mine is pretty bent, but I care not! Soon, it will be ravaged by scissors! The package is the usual DCD affair with a sealed clamshell and a printed insert. The presentation is nice enough and the back panel shows the other figures in the series and little bio blurbs for all of them. Obviously, this isn’t collector friendly packaging, but it does give you a nice hit of plastic fumes when you open it.

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Wow, she’s gorgeous. I mean, I’m no newcomer to DCD’s sculpts. I have a bunch of their figures, but still… Wow! Of course, I don’t mean gorgeous in the traditional sense. She’s got demon eyes and she’s clearly preparing to barf napalm right into my face, but this is really nice sculpting for a figure in this scale. Where to begin? Let’s start with the portrait: A masterful blend of beauty and evil. Beavil? Whatever you call it, I love what they did with her. Beside the great expression and free tickets to the boob show, the wild, blown hair looks fantastic and I really dig the way her briny shoulder armor frames her face. The tiara appears to be sculpted from a separate piece and sports a gorgeous metallic red paint job. Spendid!

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Mera is clad in skintight red scale armor, with every tiny little scale lovingly recreated. It not only looks amazing, but it gives the figure a wonderful texture when you handle it. She has red withered fins on her calves and more briny armor bits protruding from her arms and her cuffs. The outfit is topped off with a Red Lantern disc attached just under her chest. It’s a simple enough costume design, but the sculpted scales and the gorgeous red metallic finish make it appear to be so much more.

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Articulation? Uh oh… here’s where the barnacle crumbles. It’s DC Direct, so you know things are going to be limited. In this case, you get ball joints in the shoulders, swivels in the hips, and hinges in the knees and elbows. Is the neck ball jointed? It seems to be, but my figure’s head won’t move, and I’m not forcing it. It seems like there isn’t much room to move with the sculpted hair anyway.  Swivels in the biceps and/or wrists would have helped a lot, especially for posing her with her trident. And speaking of her trident…

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Accessories! Mera comes with a cool assortment of goodies. The trident is a nice and simple piece, and she also comes with her Red Lantern battery. And Dex-Starr! She comes with the most hate-filled cat in the universe. He’s a completely static piece and smaller than the one that came in the Green Lantern Classics 3-pack and he’s sculpted specifically to be propped up against a figure’s leg. On the other hand, the sculpt is superb. From his crazy ass expression to the little pads on his feet, the guys at DCD went all out on him, and It’s much appreciated. Mera also comes with a Red Lantern disc stand.

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Compromise! Why does everything have to be a compromise? If only we could get this level of sculpting and paintwork on a figure with the DCUC level of articulation, it would start raining puppies and lollipops, and all would be right with the world. Sadly, that’s not likely to happen. So, she may not be well articulated… Mera is still a fantastic display piece, and while she’s just a smidge too tall (she’s a wee bit taller than my Signature Series Atrocitus), she still makes a nice compliment to my Red Lantern ranks. Tomorrow we’ll check out a character that is long overdue for the Mattel lines…  Psycho Pirate!

Jun 18 2013

DC Universe Classics: Etrigan the Demon by Mattel

Ok, let’s kick off this DC Week… Jack Kirby and 1972: Both are awesome. 1972, because that’s the year I was born, and Jack Kirby because… well, he’s Jack friggin Kirby… architect of so many of the fictions and characters that I have consumed and loved since I was a child. Of course, 1972 was the year that Kirby created Etrigan, a great character, albeit one that Kirby reluctantly nurtured. He’s been missing from my DCUC shelf for far too long. These past few weeks, I’ve been filling the holes on my DCUC shelf via the Ebays, and Etrigan was one of the first characters that I went after. And so, for today’s feature, we part the veil of time itself and journey into the past… taking us all the way back to the beginning… DC Universe Classics… Year One… Wave One… Insert dramatic lighting crack here!

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I picked this guy up loose, so there’s no packaged shot, but DCUC’s packaging has only gone through superficial changes throughout its twenty wave lifespan, so we aren’t missing much. He was packaged with a Collect & Connect part for Metamorpho, but mine came without the part. Metamorpho will have to be one of those C&C figures that I splurge on as my collection nears completion.

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Etrigan has a face that even Jason Blood’s mother couldn’t love, and while that may be a slam against Etrigan, it’s high praise for the figure. The head sculpt is definitely up there among my favorites in the DCUC line. They really captured his scowl perfectly, along with the heavy brow and piercing red eyes. I also really dig the glossy paint, which gives him a bit of a slimy look. Is Etrigan supposed to be slimy? I don’t know, but it looks great on the figure.

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Etrigan’s top half is mostly standard buck, although keep in mind, this was the first wave, so there really isn’t a standard buck yet. The combination of jagged cut sleeves and wrist cuffs give him a nice medieval look. The bare legs are sculpted with nasty demon skin and veins, right down to his little medieval booties. His whole ensemble is tied together by his ragged, blue cape. Mattel certainly nailed Etrigan’s iconic look here. Brilliant!

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Of course, you get what will become the standard DCUC buck. He has ball joints in the neck and shoulders. The arms have hinged elbows and swivels in the biceps and wrists. His legs have the usual DCUC style hip joints, swivels in the thighs, and hinges in the knees and ankles. He also has the ab crunch in the torso.

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And so, Etrigan joins the ranks as addition number 160-something to my DC Classics/Unlimited/Signature/Etc. shelves. He’s a great indication of the awesome figures to come in future waves and it’s nice to finally have the character represented in my collection. To celebrate, I think I’ll go watch the excellent Justice League episode, “A Knight of Shadows” and maybe even finally get around to reading some of Paul Cornell’s Demon Knight books. Tomorrow… we’ll check out some DC Direct goodness.

Jun 17 2013

Marvel Legends: Ultimates Captain America by Hasbro

It’s Marvel Monday again! I’ve got some new MU figures on their way to me, but until then, I’ll just have to substitute a Marvel Legends figure for today: The Ultimates version of Cap! Captain America has already had his share of love from the new Legends line, with Steve Rogers and Bucky Cap, but I’m not complaining, because I do love Captain America, and as it turns out this figure is pretty fantastic.

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There are no real changes to the packaging since the last wave. It’s still as delightfully obnoxious and in-your-face as a comic book figure package should be. The character art is a little wanting, but that’s ok because the huge bubble displays the figure well, and draws in the eye. Cap comes with his shield beside him, and despite the package exclaiming that Cap is part of the “Hit Monkey Series” there is no BAF part included with this one. My guess is that Hasbro knew this guy would sell by himself, and in my case they were absolutely right.

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Out of the package and oh, shit, this guy is all sorts of awesome. I’m not a big fan of the Ultimates books. I tend to turn to them when I have nothing else to read. That having been said, I do tend to like the character designs a lot, and Cap here is a perfect example of why I do. It’s the magnificently rugged, battlefield look that I love so much. It made perfect sense that the movie costume drew so heavy from the Ultimates design, because this looks like proper WWII Cap, thanks to all the added gear.

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He’s got a softer plastic vest with pouches and a painted buckle, and his belt has sculpted ammo pouches, grenades, a combat knife, and canteen. It all looks outstanding! It’s a shame his gun is not removable, but it’s sculpted and painted well enough that I thought it might be. All of the gear is cast in soft brown plastic with some bright silver paint apps.

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All that gear is placed onto an excellent body. The gloves and boots are slightly oversized to keep the chunky Ultimates aesthetic going, and the head sculpt conveys a delightfully self-righteous and pissed-off Rogers. The paint on the figure is also executed quite well. Yes, there’s a little chipping and bleeding on the white, which is clearly not intentional, but I think it adds to the weathered look of the character design.

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Naturally, Cap comes with his trusty shield, which is the same sculpt as the one that came with last year’s Steve Rogers. It does, however, have a fresh coat of paint, which includes a slightly more metallic finish to the front and the back is painted grey now, instead of red. The shield can clip onto his arm, or peg into the hole on his back.

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POA Roll Call! There’s nothing new here in articulation. You get ball joints in the neck, shoulders, hips, and ankles. The arms feature swivels in the biceps and gloves, and double hinges in the elbows. The legs have swivels in the thighs and boots, and double hinges in the knees. The torso swivels at the waist and has an ab crunch hinge. Apart from the usual annoying qualities of those Hasbro hip joints, the articulation is fab.

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Hasbro has delivered a number of 5-star figures in the new Legends line. Well, for my money, this version of Cap certainly takes his place alongside the likes of Thor, Punisher, and the first Steve Rogers figure, as one of them. He looks fantastic and he’s so much fun to play with, he’s probably going to land on my desk for a week or so before getting put up on the Legends shelves. Yes, a removable gun would have really sealed the deal, but even still, this figure has nothing to apologize for. He’s a fine example of everything I want out of this line… aside from good retail distribution. That still sucks.

Ok, with Marvel Monday out of the way, it’s going to be a DC theme up through to the end of the week. I may deviate Saturday for something different… we’ll see!

Jun 16 2013

Sunday Funday: Time Bandits Blu-Ray!

I love time travel fiction, Monty Python and British sci-fi… Time Bandits was practically made for me. It was released in 1981. I was nine, and my parents took me to see it. I loved it and it went on to become one of the VHS tapes that I rented the most in my youth, right next to Ghostbusters and Strange Brew. I was an odd child.

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One night last year at the corner pub, Time Bandits was the topic of discussion among some friends and some people we had just met. That night, I made the mistake of lending my DVD copy to a girl that was at that gathering and I never got it back. I don’t usually lend out my coveted DVDs, but when I’m drunk and a nice-looking pub girl wants to come home with me and borrow a copy of “Time Bandits,” I’m not likely to hesitate. That’s not the sort of thing that happens every day. Anyway, about a week ago, I wanted to watch it again and when I went to the shelf for it, I suddenly remembered it was gone. I took the opportunity to upgrade to a Blu-Ray copy and kicked back with it this weekend along with some scrummy Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.

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Time Bandits can be summed up fairly simply. It’s about a gang of “little people” who work for God and steal a map of all the time holes in the universe in an effort to get rich by robbing their way through history. Oh yeah, and David Warner plays The Devil, who is obsessed with computer technology and he wants to get it from them. That right there is about as epic as a movie concept can get. But beyond that, what I really love about this movie is the way it looks. The time-bending costume designs for Randall and his band, the look of the map itself, that crazy medieval ship that the giant winds up wearing as a hat, even David Warner’s costume, complete with Giger-inspired headgear, is friggin fantastic. There’s also a lot of cool and more surreal imagery at play. I love the void of hanging cages in the Fortress of Ultimate Darkness, the way the final battle actually takes place in the lego-strewn floor of Kevin’s bedroom, and those freaky skull-headed, hook-handed minions. Those things freaked me out as a kid… and they still kinda do! This movie is replete with fantastic and imaginative imagery.

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The other awesome thing about Time Bandits, as with all of Terry Gilliam’s films is that there are always tons of unanswered questions, which are really wonderfully conducive to drunken speculation at pubs. You take a lot at face value and you’re challenged to fill in a lot of blanks. In the case of Time Bandits, the ending alone has been the subject of many a night of slurred ranting and arguments among my regular drinking group. I also would have loved to know more about Horseflesh. Who was he and how did he die? Just the fact that his name was tossed out a couple of times gives the movie an intriguing untold backstory.

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The Blu-Ray itself is a rather mixed bag, with bare bones extras that include only a theatrical trailer and an interview with Gilliam. This is a film that demands a rich commentary track and its absence is highly disappointing. Furthermore, the quality of this film’s print hasn’t aged well and really screams for a professional restoration, which obviously didn’t happen here. As a result, the DVD never looked all that better than the VHS, and there are times when the Blu-Ray doesn’t look much better either. There are still episodes of distracting noise on the print from time to time, and the darker scenes don’t benefit much from the HD transfer. On the other hand, the scenes in Sherwood Forest and in Ancient Mycenae do look rather crisp and clean. The Blu-Ray is an improvement, there were times when I said, “Ooooh, that looks nice!” but it isn’t the polished overhaul that I would have liked.

While the quality of the Blu-Ray is disappointing, Time Bandits remains one of my childhood favorites and to this day I never tire of watching it. It’s quirky and fun, it’s flippant and yet incredibly dark, but most of all it’s pure imagination running wild.