Jan 5 2013

World of Warcraft: Sindragosa and The Lich King by Mega Bloks

I have returned from my Odin Sleep, it’s back to business as usual here on FigureFan and I’ve got some Christmas presents to look at this week! The last time I featured one of Mega Bloks’ WoW sets, I wasn’t terribly impressed and I decided that I was going to back away from these for a little while. Nonetheless, I got a couple for Christmas and I was surprised at how excited I was when I saw this one: The Sindragosa and Lich King set. Obviously this set has some serious gravitas in WoW lore so I thought it would be cool to have these big baddies in my collection. How’d they turn out? Can this set wash out the bad taste of the last one? Well, let’s see!

The box is pretty glorious and it’s absolutely huge. A Lego set in a box this big would run you around $150 and have a zillion pieces. This one only has 150 pieces, but as we’ll see in a bit, some of them are pretty damn big. The artwork on the front of the box is gorgeous with really nice colors. The box alone has tempted me to pick it up in the store and gawk at it more than a few times. The artwork is also slightly embossed on the front, which is a cool little touch but one which hardly anyone is likely to care about. The back of the box shows you the completed set, but instead of showing you actual photos, you get CG models. That’s hokey, Mega Bloks. It feels like you’re trying to hide something. Why won’t you show the actual product? Well, hang on kiddies, we’ll see why they don’t do that before this feature is over.

Open the box, spill out the contents, and you get a large, but thin, instruction booklet, a small mystery bag containing your random piece of loot, six un-numbered baggies, and a lone, loose brick that looks like it was either thrown in there by mistake, or Mega Bloks suddenly realized they left it out and tossed it in before the box was sealed. I guess we’ll find out which! (Hint: It was thrown in there by mistake!) All told, the 150 pieces make up the dragon Sindragosa and The Lich King and his Frozen Throne. Cool! Let’s start with The Lich King.


The Lich King comes fully assembled with his sword in his own bag. I can understand why Mega Bloks has the individual minifigures pre-assembled, because they wanted to go with a window box package, but I think including the figure assembled in a set like this is a mistake. I buy these things because I like to build them and when you take away from the build time, I tend to feel a little cheated. Nonetheless, Lich King is a great figure with tons of sculpted detail on his gorgeous armor. It really is stunning how much work went into this little guy. He has a removable cape, so you can plug in the weapon clip and have him store his sword, Frostmourne, on his back. The sword is an exceptionally cool piece. It’s so detailed it even has the runes sculpted and painted on the blade. I’ve been blown away by every WoW minifigure that I have, and The Lich King continues to hold that standard if not raise the bar a little higher.

The Frozen Throne makes up a big part of this set’s assembly. It consists of a large white base with translucent blue bricks used to make the ice throne and some of the other ice formations. The build itself is well designed and it even includes a piece to hold Frostmourne while The Lich King is on his throne. The problem here, however, links in to the reason why Mega Bloks won’t show the actual set on the box. Some of the ice bricks are painted with white and blue paint to give them a frosted look, but in truth it just looks like crap. The paint is slathered on some, drizzled on others, while some bricks have none at all. I suppose if you carefully sorted them all out you could get something that looked fairly consistent throughout the build, but it would be pointless since the actual brushwork just looks like someone tried out a shitty custom paint job. It was a terrible idea, as I think the set would have looked just fine without the paintwork at all. In fact, it would have looked a lot like the CG image on the back of the package!

Moving on to Sindragosa… I should forewarn that I am not usually a fan of beasts in the Lego and Mega Bloks lines because they turn out looking too mechanical. It’s just the nature of the build and I try not to hold it against the designers. In the case of Sindragosa, the design of the finished build looks pretty good and makes for a solid, well-articulated, and overall fun toy. He has ball joints in his legs, neck, tail and the base of his wings, so you can get good poses out of him, and he’s big enough to pick up a minifgure in his hinged jaw. The bulk of the bricks used for this build are brown and blue, which is all well and good, but it still makes use of some of the badly painted ice bricks, which is very unfortunate. Again, you can try to pick some of the better looking ones for his back, but I just resent having to do that.


I think my biggest problem with Sindragosa is that too many of his pieces are complete right out of the box. If this were a Lego set, his wings would have probably been made out of 50 pieces each. Here they just come right out of the baggie as two large molded pieces. On the other hand, a lot of the pieces that go into the dragon are just stacked bricks used to make up his belly. You can barely see these, and they’re completely unnecessary for the build. Seriously, you can completely leave them out and it will barely even be noticeable!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot my loot. It’s a pair of shoulders. I like this idea of mystery loot, but there’s nothing special about these pieces and I can’t imagine ever swapping these out onto any of my figures. I guess I’ll just have to put them up on the Auction House when I get back to port back to Ogrimmar.

This set was a gift, so value isn’t really a concern for me. Nonetheless, it looks like the set sells for around $35 at Walmart. That’s a pretty good deal for the number of pieces and the complexity of the build. In the end, I think the Lich King figure is absolutely fantastic and Sindragosa is certainly cool enough, but I’m really soured on the whole crappy paint job on the ice bricks. It’s completely unnecessary and only serves to ruin a major part of the set for me.

I’m taking Sunday off… I know, I just had a week off, but I’m going to be taking Sundays off for good from now on. I’ll be back on Monday and Tuesday to check out last month’s Club Infinite Earth offerings and then I’ll swing back and take a look at the other Mega Bloks set that I got for Christmas. Then Thursday and Friday I start my treacherous journey down the dark path of third-party Transformers.

Jan 4 2013

FigureFan’s Disappointments of 2012, Part 2

Thought yesterday was depressing? Oh no. Don’t pass out on me. Not yet… Here’s the last five.

Thundercats: 6-inch Classic Lion-O by Ban Dai… Make no mistake, I don’t think this is a bad figure. It certainly has issues, like unpainted joints and an unfortunate head sculpt, but it’s still a solid figure. So why does it appear here? Because it was completely unnecessary. The 8-inch Lion-O was probably my favorite figure of 2011, and there was no reason for Ban Dai to backpedal on it. Nonetheless, Ban Dai got hammered by fans for making the figure in the oddball 8-inch scale and then when they relented and re-released the figure in a more standard 6-inch scale, collectors railed against them for starting over. I’m not saying Ban Dai didn’t mishandle a few things with the Thundercats license (that Tower of Omens was a piece of shit!) but overall I like what they delivered and I was sorry to see the line not work out. This Lion-O figure represented the beginning of the end for the revival of Classic Thundercats and while I still bought it to support the line, just looking at it makes me sad.

Transformers Generations: Fall of Cybertron Jazz by Hasbro… Poor Jazz represents everything that is wrong with Transformers these days. He’s too small, too simple, has too few paint apps, and he’s too expensive. Compare him with the Deluxe toys from War for Cybertron and he just comes up wanting in every possible way. While some figures in the line have escaped these cutbacks, Jazz personifies the struggle that Hasbro and other toy companies are having producing quality product against the rising costs of plastic and production.

Mass Effect 3: Miranda by Big Fish… I know what you’re thinking… Thane was way worse than Miranda. True, but I wasn’t looking forward to Thane, hence he wasn’t really a disappointment. Miranda, on the other hand was a major disappointment. Plus, her left arm fell off. As shitty a figure as Thane was, at least he didn’t break while being removed from the package. This line certainly had its ups and downs, and it’s a shame that Miranda had to be one of the downs.

Young Justice 4-inch Series, Wave 3… Ok, let me clarify. Sportsmaster was in Wave 3 and he was a solid figure, so what I’m really talking about here are those three shitty stealth repaints that I had to buy to finish my Hall of Justice. I’ve honestly bitched about this sorry situation enough in the individual features, culminating in my need to go onto Ebay to get Stealth Kid Flash. Because it wasn’t bad enough Mattel made us buy these, they also made it impossible to find the last figure in the wave. This situation, my friends, is customer appreciation at its finest.

DC Universe Classics: Orange Lantern Lex Luthor… What is it with Mattel making me buy shitty figures to complete Collect & Connect constructs? They’re evil marketing geniuses that’s what. I hated this figure so much that I actually considered paying more to get just the C&C part off of Ebay so I wouldn’t have to admit to having purchased the figure. He’s pure garbage, and while he might appeal to collectors with a translucent plastic fetish, all he does for me is make me mad when I see him peeking out from the back of my Lantern shelf.

And there’s the light at the end of the tunnel and we have emerged into 2013. We’re done with canned recycled retrospective feature week and tomorrow I’ll be back with the first new feature of the year.

Jan 3 2013

FigureFan’s Disappointments of 2012, Part 1

Ok, we’ve seen my favorites, and now it’s time to check out the turds floating in last year’s punchbowl. Again, this was tough, because I try to avoid buying things that look like they will be crap. So maybe the word turd is a little harsh in some cases. Almost nothing on this list is total crap, but everything here definitely disappointed me in some way.

TMNT Classics: Donatello by Playmates… The Classic Turtles are great figures, but they got upstaged on my “Favorites List” by the smaller modern guys in a major way. Nonetheless, Donatello represents here for one reason and one reason only, because of his mad eyes. Ok, I suppose that’s two reasons. The point is that by giving him wonky eyes, Playmates not only ruined the figure, but seriously marred the entire set. How can anyone appreciate their team of turtles on the shelf when Donny is standing there in the back looking like he got kicked in the head one too many times. It’s a crazy example of how one brush stroke can mar an otherwise excellent toy.

DC Universe All Stars: Superboy Prime… Besides turning out as a terrible looking figure, Superboy Prime earns Mattel a Disappointment Award for doing the bait-and-switch. The final product saw major changes from the pre-release images, and while that is bound to happen from time to time, the changes here made a great looking promo figure turn into a terrible release. Even worse, with hardly any brick-and-mortar stores actually carrying the DCU All Stars, I had to buy the figure online, so my disappointment wasn’t realized until I got the thing in hand and it was too late. It’s not often that I can say I regret buying a DCUC figure, but I certainly regret picking up Superboy Prime.

Marvel Legends: Extremis Iron Man… Because I only allowed each toyline to appear once in each list, this slot was a tight race between Extremis Iron Man and Future Foundation Spider-Man. In fairness, on its own this Iron Man is a fairly competent figure, but as soon as you put him up against some of the other figures in Hasbro’s new Marvel Legends line he comes up wanting. He’s too small, not terribly well articulated, and overall underwhelming. I kind of get the feeling that he was just here to fill a slot in a quick and dirty manner (that’s what she said?). And to keep the comparisons rolling, his paint and sculpting don’t even live up to many of the older, smaller and cheaper 3 ¾” Iron Man 2 figures. At least Hasbro released him in two versions, so that the crappy Stealth variant would make the regular one look better.

Duke Nukem by NECA… You’ve got to hand it to NECA, in an effort to be as accurate to the game as possible; they obviously wanted to capture the disappointment of Duke Nukem Forever in action figure form. And they did! NECA’s Duke features a solid enough sculpt, but the articulation is downright weird and the paintwork, particularly on the flesh tones, leaves a lot to be desired. And then there are the accessories. Sure, kudos for the cigar, which I promptly lost, but how can Duke come with just a handgun? Where’s his arsenal? And, no, the fact that he has feet doesn’t count as a “Mighty Boot” accessory. Duke should have come with a cool assortment of weapons, instead all he came with was disappointment.

Avengers: “Sword Spike” Thor… While most of Hasbro’s 3 ¾” Avengers figures were disappointments, this version of Thor earns a place on this list because he represented the ultimate in toy company hubris and laziness. Hasbro took what was essentially the exact same figure from the previous year, cut out most of its articulation, gave him a new shitty weapon and put him on an Avengers card. They even kept the same name, which in the new context made no sense because he now came with a halberd and not a sword. To add insult to injury, a lot of stores had this figure hanging just a few pegs away from the better articulated Thor-branded figure… on clearance! It’s the retail equivalent of Hasbro unzipping their pants, pulling out their Mjolnir and slapping us in the face with it.
Ok, that’s enough disappointment for one day. I’m going to take some Topamax and gin to level out my mood and I’ll be back tomorrow with the final five.

Jan 2 2013

FigureFan’s Favorites 2012, Part 2

Second verse, same as the first. And again in no particular order…

Thundercats: Mega-Scale Mumm-Ra by Mezco… I had such high hopes for the Thundercats in 2011. Some of it paid off. I got some decent figures and the 8-inch Classic Lion-O proved to be my favorite figure from that year. But 2012 saw the prospects of a continued line die a slow death. In the end, I had to live vicariously through Mezco and the hopes they might keep the Classic Thunderkitty goodness going with their Mega-Scale statues. In 2012 we got Mumm-Ra and Panthro. I still haven’t opened my Panthro yet, but Mumm-Ra proved to be another outstanding effort in this line. I love this big guy, and I think he was one of the best values of the year.

Marvel Universe: Cable by Hasbro… I’m sorry to say it, but overall Marvel Universe has been disappointing me lately. Maybe the Marvel Legends figures are just pushing their smaller cousins out of my field of interest. It’s also possible that I’m just evolving beyond the 3 3/4” scale. GI Joe and Star Wars were the only lines that really tied me to it, and I don’t collect a lot of those anymore. Maybe the new 3 ¾” Doctor Who figures will bring me back. Either way, the MU figures this year have been competent enough, but not spectacular. The exception to that, however, was Cable, a figure executed so well that he barely feels like an MU figure at all.

Green Lantern Classics: Collect & Connect Stel by Mattel… I came into 2012 with a lot of Green Lantern fatigue from that shitty movie and the carpet bombing of marketing that followed it. But that didn’t stop the franchise from producing one of my favorite figures this year. Sure, Stel is a C&C figure, but he’s amazing in every way. The sculpt, the coloring, the articulation… he’s got it all. I never had much affinity for the character, but he certainly made for some excellent action figure fodder and Mattel went above and beyond.

Marvel Legends: Punisher by Hasbro… It may be because Frank Castle has been absent from my collection for so long, but this figure really hit the spot for me. It captures all there is about the character, he comes with all sorts of great weapons, and I just can’t stop playing around with him. One of the greatest compliments I can pay an action figure is to keep it standing on my desk, rather than regulate it to the shelves in the other room, and Punisher has been on my desk ever since I opened him up. It seems like I can’t go more than an hour without reaching over and picking him up.

Hot Toys’ Captain America: The First Avenger… 2012 was the year I finally broke down and bought some Hot Toys figures and Cap was my first. I was really apprehensive about blowing the money as I am generally not a 1:6 scale collector and I was a little afraid that the figure would be lost on me. Nonetheless, from the moment I had the package in hand, I knew there were no regrets. Cap’s outfit in this movie is my favorite design and I just had to have it in this epic format. While I doubt I will ever go all out into collecting Hot Toys in a hardcore manner, I can certainly see myself grabbing two or three a year.

And that’s all the good stuff… tomorrow we’ll start the one-two punch to the gonads that make up my biggest disappointments of 2012… Hang tight, ya’ll are already halfway through this wonderful week of shitty filler articles!

Jan 1 2013

FigureFan’s Favorites 2012, Part 1

 

Happy New Year, folks! Let’s jump right in with the first five delectable items on my Favorites list. I’ll point out that these are not in any order because that would have taken more effort and the whole point of this song and dance was to get me a week off… let’s go!

 

Masters of the Universe Classics: The Wind Raider by Mattel… As much as I give Matty Collector a hard time, I can’t deny they produce some amazing toys and figures. But as I mentioned in a recent feature, I didn’t give a lot of attention to the MOTUC line in 2012. Nonetheless, I couldn’t resist grabbing the Wind Raider, and I’m certainly glad I did. Besides being the only vehicle released in the line so far, it is one big, beautiful, and very high-quality toy. At about $60 shipped, it certainly wasn’t cheap, and yet I was still totally impressed and satisfied with it when it came out of the box. The fact that Matty has managed to make it readily available for purchase throughout the year is even better. This piece really belongs in every MOTUC collection.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Nickelodeon’s Ninja Turtles by Playmates… Yep, I’m cheating on this one, because I’m using one slot for four figures. I make no apologies, because how could I choose just one of the Heroes in a Half Shell? Some may be surprised to find the smaller, modern versions of the Turtles on this list, rather than the larger Classic-inspired figures, but when you get down to it, these little guys are just more amazing. The new designs are fantastic, the sculpts and articulation are great, and they’re also some of the best values hanging on the action figure pegs today. And this is coming from someone who doesn’t like the show they’re based on! It’s no surprise that the TMNT sections were cleaned out at most retailers in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I often lament the kids growing up today without the kind of kick-ass toys I had as a kid, but these figures actually make me jealous of those damn kids.

Marvel Legends: Steve Rogers & Thor by Hasbro… I really tried to break this tie, but in the end, I just couldn’t do it. In 2012 Hasbro brought Marvel Legends back with a vengeance, and there were lots of solid efforts. This entry originally started as a three-way tie with Arnim Zola finally getting edged out. Steve Rogers and Thor are both prime examples of what I look for in a great action figure. I’d say that of the two, Rogers is more fun to pick up and play with, but Thor’s heft and sculpt capture everything there is to say about the character. If anything, these two figures showed me that Hasbro was trying to do things right with Legends this time around.


Doctor Who: “The Chase” Collector Set by Character Options… You can call this my token Doctor Who slot if you wish, but I’m putting it here anyway. Based on an episode that aired in 1965, the bulk of this set is comprised of a Mechanoid, a robot that looks like a giant Christmas tree ornament that we saw once and never again. The bottom line is that it’s almost impossible that this set exists and yet it does, and for that I love it to pieces. Doctor Who may have grown into a huge international success, but classic and obscure items like this one are geared toward a very niche market, and I congratulate Character Options for making them. The fact that it had a couple of extra classic Daleks was just icing on the cake!

Transformers Commemorative Series:  Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro… Sneaking onto the list as a technicality is this amazing Toys R Us exclusive. Hasbro released Powermaster Prime way back in 2003, but I featured him this year and he isn’t old enough to be a “Vintage Vault” entry, so here he is! Easily one of my favorite Transformers releases of all time, this set is so hefty and so beautifully packaged, that it puts most of the Transformers SDCC Exclusives to shame. This toy features a plethora of modes and all kinds of little custom tweaks to give it even more playability. There’s so much cool interchangeable stuff here that it reminds me of the glorious old Micronaut sets that I grew up with. This “Commemorative Edition” was also the first time that the superior Takara version of the toy was released stateside. I paid $50 for this beauty back in the day, which was a good enough deal that I eventually picked up a second set to leave packaged. Even during times when I have the bulk of my Transformers collection put away, Powermaster Prime is always out on display. I just love him that much.

Swing by tomorrow, and I’ll wrap up my Favorites List with the last five entries…

Dec 31 2012

Happy New Year and Welcome to FigureFan’s Best and Worst Week…

It’s almost a brand new year and you know what that means? Lists! Lots of insufferable lists! And the worst are those Best and Worst lists. They’re cliché and awful, and just like taking that horrid first gulp of Alka-Seltzer on the morning of New Year’s Day, I’ve determined they’re absolutely necessary. Which brings me to the real reason I’m doing this: I need a week off! Between balancing work and the Holidays and drinking enough so that I can cope, it’s been a real bitch keeping FigureFan chugging along. I’m proud of the fact that I didn’t drop the ball this 4th Quarter, like I did last year, but I’m really spent and this is the best way to keep the ball rolling with some content while still getting me a much needed rest bit. And that means compiling a list of my Favorites and my Biggest Disappointments of 2012. It’s the lowest common denominator of blog content, but it’s necessary if I’m going to chill for a week and keep myself from freaking out.

It may surprise some to know that I attempt to write a set of these lists every year and somewhere along the way I either bore myself to tears or just get too frustrated trying to set up categories or figure out what was released when. This year, I wanted to make it work and so I set up some simple and ludicrously arbitrary rules to help move the process along. So first off, these lists are not necessarily about what came out this year, but rather what I featured this year. If I didn’t buy it, I’m not touching it, so there are no doubt plenty of great and shitty releases from 2012 that won’t be included because I never featured them. In a vague attempt to keep things topical, I am going to exclude any “Vintage Vault” features from consideration. To keep things even more arbitrary, I am also only allowing each toy line to appear once on each list.

The great news is, I’m already done! Yes, I’ve compiled a week’s worth of this bullshit delightful content, with Tuesday and Wednesday making up my ten Favorites, and Thursday and Friday the ten Biggest Disappointments. The entries will drop in automatically, and I can go crawl into bed for the week and try to sleep off the shellshock from the horror show that was the last couple of months.

Enjoy, have a safe and happy New Years, and I’ll be back next week year to kick off the year more proper like and get things back to business as usual.

By figurefanzero
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Dec 29 2012

Marvel Legends: X-Force Deadpool by Hasbro

I love Deadpool so much that sometimes it just hurts. I’ve lost track as to where the pendulum of Deadpool love swings these days. I distinctly remember him becoming so cool that nerd culture railed against him, before it eventually became cool and different to love him again. Where is the Deadpool barometer these days? I don’t know, but his funnybook is pretty damn good right now, and I’ve never let my love of Deadpool fluctuate. Well, except for that time I was vomiting into a bin in the back alley of the Regal 20 after seeing Wolverine Origins. Considering my adoration for all things ‘Pool, I was certainly beside myself with joy when I found that the Merc with a Mouth would be getting a slot in Marvel Legends Wave 3. Then I found out that the regular version would be the X-Force version and the feeling of battered spouse syndrome washed over me.

And there he is, X-Force Deadpool. Regular Deadpool will be taking over the slot at some point and while it’s supposed to be an even breakout, I still fear not being able to find him. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against X-Force Deadpool, apart from the fact that Hasbro released the other X-Force Marvel Legends in a pricey Con Exclusive and so he’s going to be alone on the shelf. It also just feels wrong to have the X-Force version on my shelf and not regular flavor Deadpool. Nonetheless, I’ll try not to let it sour my outlook.

Where was I? Oh, right, the packaging. I adore the character art that features Deadpool playing with a pair of action figures. One is himself, and the other is Doctor Doom and he’s popping the head off Doom. Priceless. Deadpool comes on a tray surrounded by his healthy arsenal of office tools and a figure stand. The only thing left to say is I can’t wait to see the red version in package.


Deadpool gets by with very little unique sculpting. His costume lets the black and grey paint do the talking. The head sculpt is a great representation of ‘Pool’s hood with sculpted seams running up the top and his nose and jawline detectable under the hood. Hasbro went with a furled brow and narrowed eyes. This isn’t flippant, “talking to the fourth wall about my love for Bea Arthur” Deadpool. This is “I’m going to slice open your torso and stick a grenade in your guts” Deadpool. Oddly enough, the other original sculpting that is distinctly Deadpool are his treaded shoes.


Of course, you also get Wade’s trademark weapons rig, which is a separate piece and easily removable. The belt, with sculpted pouches and iconic belt buckle, is black and the rest of the harness is grey with the red and black “X” in the center. The back of the rig holds his two katana sword scabbards, and both of the scabbards are removable from the rig. Deadpool also has a functional pistol holster strapped to the front of his right thigh. The rig fits well, although mine had some mold flashing on it, which had to be trimmed off.


Deadpool’s articulation is both excellent and frustrating at the same time. He sports a ton of points, all of which are quite serviceable. The neck is ball jointed, but also contains the extra hinge, which gives Wade a huge range of motion in his noggin. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, double hinged at the elbows, hinged again at the wrists, and feature swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, hinged again at the ankles, and swivel at the hips and ankles. Lastly, his torso features the extra shoulder crunches, a swivel at the waist and an ab crunch at torso. That’s a lot of good articulation, so what’s frustrating? Those damn hip joints. Hasbro’s hip joints illicit a lot of scorn, but on the whole, they don’t bother me too much. But on a figure like Deadpool, where I want to put him into tons of crazy poses, I can feel the irritation. Every time you want to pose his legs, you need to swing the ball joint around to get it where it needs to be, and then position the rest of the leg. It’s serviceable, but very annoying. And don’t get me started on trying to line up the stripes on his outfit.


What would Deadpool be without his trademark arsenal? He comes with two firearms: A silver pistol and a black assault rifle. I’m not crazy about the little stubby pistol, but the rifle is excellent. He also comes with his two katana swords, and they are definitely the showpieces of the pack. They’re wonderfully sculpted and painted and fit into their scabbards. Alas, since Deadpool’s right hand is sculpted to hold his guns, it’s hard to get him to hold both of his swords at the same time. 6-inch scale chimichangas and Hot Pockets are not included.

A few little quibbles keep Deadpool from being perfect, but that shouldn’t stop fans from enjoying the hell out of him. He’s still an excellent figure, lots of fun to play around with, and he certainly captures the kick-ass side of Wade Wilson’s personality quite well. I’m certainly anxious to pick him up in his traditional red and black colors, and with this version in hand, I’m willing to concede that I’ll likely pay a premium for the regular ‘Pool if I have to.

And that wraps up Marvel Universe week, and actually it wraps up my work on FigureFan Zero for the rest of the year. I am taking tomorrow off to finish up all the automated content that will populate on the site throughout next week. There will be no new features next week, just a retrospective type deal that will allow me some much needed rest, although I will likely be working on content for the following week from time to time. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Dec 28 2012

Marvel Legends: Doctor Doom by Hasbro

And moving on in Hasbro’s wave of “Epic Heroes” is… ah… Doctor Doom? Obviously, the Latverian Ministry of Propaganda has wormed their way into the Hasbro organization. The iron fisted dictator of Latveria is not someone I tend to think of as an “epic hero” but I’m so happy to get him in the Legends scale, I’m going to look the other way on this one. I’ll also note here how tempted I was to go with the Marvel Select version over this one just so I could get that kick ass throne. In the end superior articulation won the day.

Packaged shot! Not a lot new to say here, other than the character art, both front and back, is stellar. The Legends artwork has had its ups and downs, but what’s here is definitely some of the best so far. Dr. Doom doesn’t share his slot with another character, so his name is printed on the insert. He does, however, have a variant in this wave, which I understand is the white Future Foundation version. As much as I dig Doom and the Future Foundation, it’s a repaint that will be easy for me to skip.

Doom was originally released in 2007 as part of Hasbro’s initial (re)launch of the Marvel Legends line and what we’re getting here is basically a repaint of that figure. Isn’t that kind of cheap on Hasbro’s part? Yes it is. On the other hand, they had access to a good sculpt and an opportunity to improve on it, so maybe it wasn’t such a terrible idea. I’ll admit I was in love with this figure before I even got him open and when I finally had the figure in hand, things just kept getting better. Having not owned the previous figure, I had no idea that the cape or the mask would be removable and I practically squee’d with delight when the two pieces came off of the figure. The squee quickly turned into a desperate struggle to recover Doom’s mask from FigureFeline before he could carry it off to his subsofa lair.


The figure hits all the right points, with the arms and legs encased in full armor and the torso clad in a sculpted green tunic. You get a snug brown belt with the “D” buckle and a functional scabbard with a very cool closing flap that secures through a loop. The armor has a matte silver finish, which gives it an aged look, and the sculpt features all the little catches that keep it fastened. The removable mask covers about three-quarters of the head and features all the tiny rivets and eyeholes. Remove the mask and you get Doom’s disfigured, sneering face. The removable cape fits perfectly and lifts off without having to pop off the figure’s head. It does make the figure a little back heavy, but I’m guessing that would have been hard to prevent.

Doom as well articulated, but because Hasbro grabbed him from a previous line, he’s a little different than other figures in this wave. The neck, shoulders, and elbows are ball jointed, and the arms feature a swivel in the forearms at the ends of the gauntlets. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, knees, and ankles. The torso includes both a swivel in the waist and a ball joint under the chest. Basically, we’re sacrificing some extra hinges and swivels for ball joints all around. I can’t really complain about his poseability, although his tunic does inhibit his upper leg movement quite a bit.

If you don’t count the mask or the cape, Dr. Doom only comes with two accessories. You get his trademark luger, which fits in his holster and can be held in his right hand. You also get the same figure stand that comes with all the figures in this wave.

Doctor Doom is a spot-on representation of the character. The sculpt is great and the colors are perfect. No doubt, plenty of collectors are going to see this figure as a shameless repack and quick money grab. Me? I bailed on the previous incarnation of Marvel Legends very soon after Hasbro acquired it, so this was a brand new figure for me, but I can sympathize with the folks who are forced to shell out more money to get a better version of a figure that they already own. On the flipside, at least there is no BAF part to trifle with, so if you want to stand on principle and skip the release, you aren’t missing out on anything except a better paint job.

Tomorrow, we’ll wrap up Legends Week with Deadpool!

Dec 27 2012

Marvel Legends: The Punisher (Marvel Knights) by Hasbro

Yes, the next stop on this week of Marvel Legends “Epic Heroes” is everyone’s favorite (well, mine at least) anti-hero and NRA poster child, The Punisher. Gratuitous violence is always fun, so I’ve always got a place for Frank Castle in my collection. In fact, I’ve been jonesing for a new and decent figure of him for a while now, and Hasbro’s earlier effort at the character the 3 ¾” scale was pretty bad, but then I haven’t seen the new one yet. Either way, let’s see how the new Legends version turned out!


The Punisher is one of those sneaky Legends figures which use one slot to provide collectors with two characters. As a result, The Punisher’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on the package, instead it just says “Marvel Knights,” with the other “knight” being Blade. Both characters appear in the artwork on the front and back of the card. Checking out the rest of the package… Holy crap, this is almost like a pack of guns with a figure tossed in! Hasbro must have found a huge cache of 6-inch scale weapons because Mystique came with quite the arsenal, now Punisher, and as we’ll see Deadpool comes with a healthy assortment of party favors too. Ah, but we’ll get to the accessories soon enough… let’s start with the figure.


The new Marvel Legends has produced some pretty epic head sculpts, and Frank Castle’s noggin continues that tradition. He’s thoroughly comic book inspired, and thank god for that because I haven’t cared for any of the character’s movie excursions.  He doesn’t look quite as pinch faced as the old Toy Biz version, but he still looks like he’s detecting the rotten stench of someone who needs punishing. Seriously, this dude is pissed off!  I honestly think the sculpt and paintwork are near perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Most of Punisher seems to rely on new sculpting. I was expecting him to borrow a little more heavily from Fantomex, but only the trench coat is used here, and it works great. Frank’s arms are sculpted to look like the sleeves of the coat, which looks good, but unfortunately means that he looks funny if you decide to display him with the coat off. But seeing as how I was never really happy with the removable coat on the Toy Biz figure, I’m happy to get this one. His belt features a ton of pouches and he has a functional holster for his gun on his leg.

Let’s count down Frank’s articulation. The head is ball jointed and includes the extra hinge to help him look up and down. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, double hinged at the elbows, have swivel cuts in the biceps, and the wrists have hinges and swivels. The legs are ball jointed with swivels at the hips, hinged at the knees, and the ankles have hinges and swivel. Frank also features a ball joint in his torso.


No Punisher figure would be complete without a shit ton of weapons and as we’ve already seen, Frank comes with enough firearms to start his own personal war. For starters he has a sub machine pistol, a sniper rifle, and an assault rifle. They’re all great looking pieces, but why do they all look so familiar. Of course, it’s because Hasbro borrowed them all from Mystique. That’s pretty cheeky, Hasbro, repacking accessories in the same wave. The pistol also stands out in my memory as being a recycled gun, but I can’t place it. I think it stands out because it’s a horrible little sculpt, maybe from 6-inch Movie Cap? The one weapon here that I haven’t seen before is his very cool riot shotgun. I should also note here that I’ve had a huge problem with ML figures holding their guns, but I’m happy to report Punisher can hold almost everything he comes with very well. The sniper rifle is a bit of a problem, though.

My anticipation ran so high for this figure, I was pretty sure there was no way he was going to meet my expectations, and yet he does. While I could argue that there was a missed opportunity here to make him work with and without the coat, I’ll applaud Hasbro for having the good sense to pick one version and make it work extremely well. I’m not even going to complain about the heavy reuse of Mystique’s guns, mainly because they’re all good. And while I was happy to pick him up on sale for $13, Punisher is a figure that I still would have picked up, even if I found him hanging on the peg at TRU for $20. He’s every bit that good.

Dec 26 2012

Marvel Legends: U.S. Agent by Hasbro

It’s over! Christmas is over!!! Sorry, folks, I don’t want to be “that guy” but I tend to celebrate the day after Christmas with more jubilation than the actual day itself. Hopefully everyone had a good holiday. Me? I’ve got another week or so of madness at work and then things can start getting back to normal. Anyway, I’m here to kick off my look at Hasbro’s Wave 3 of Marvel Legends (for reals this time!) and I thought we’d do it with US Agent. I’m starting with US Agent because John Walker is the one character in this wave that I don’t have a lot of affinity toward. In my copious readings throughout the Marvel Universe, I’ve only rubbed elbows with US Agent a handful of times and while I’ve always dug his back story, I don’t like him much as a character. Nonetheless, I was more than willing to add him to my 6-inch Marvel shelf, so let’s press on and see what we’ve got.


Ah yes, I had almost forgotten how well the Marvel Legends packaging captures the obnoxious bravado of your typical superhero funnybook. Hasbro has classified this assortment as the “Epic Heroes!” wave in lieu of there being a Build-A-Figure to tie it all together. US Agent is one of the few figures without a variant in the wave, and he doesn’t share his card art with anyone. Walker comes on his tray with shield and gun in hand, a knife hovering off to the side, and his figure stand to the left. The back of the card has a nice piece of character art with a little tagline and the rest of the wave’s figures pictured at the bottom.


You may be tired of me linking back to previous features this week, but I’m going to do it one last time, but only because US Agent is a repaint and resculpt of Wave 2’s Bucky Cap, and so I’ll be referencing it frequently. US Agent is built off the exact same buck, with a new head sculpt, a new belt, and new gauntlets. Apart from those three areas, the figure is a straight repaint. Now, that’s not a complaint, mind you, Bucky Cap is a great figure to revisit. Besides, we all know by now that toy companies are resorting to heavy parts reuse to defray the rising costs of plastics and to make sure they’re able to make the most profit from your monies. I have no problem with the practice when parts re-use makes sense, and it certainly makes sense here.

So let’s take a quick look at what’s new. The new head sculpt is meatier than Bucky Cap’s, which does seem a little more proportionate to the body. The new hood has beefier wings and his ears are exposed. Walker looks plenty pissed, and while the overall sculpt is a little soft and not the best of what we’ve seen in this line, it does get the job done ok by me. US Agent’s portrait certainly oozes a ton of personality. The belt is a new, separate piece, but it appears to be permanently attached to the figure. Here’s the one stumbling block of the new figure. Bucky Cap had a functional holster and sheath and US Agent does not. Perhaps, Hasbro felt that if they kept the same gear on US Agent than collectors would have complained about too much being the same. Fair enough, but personally I would rather have retained the functionality of Bucky Cap’s belt. I especially lament the loss of the sheath, as I will likely never display US Agent holding his knife.

The new paint scheme is certainly appropriate to US Agent’s first costume. The black and red and white make for an intriguing motif and sets him apart from the Bucky Cap figure. There’s something a little off about the paint on the torso, though. It looks like Hasbro painted over the torso with some glossy paint and it doesn’t look so hot up near the shoulders. It may have something to do with the plastic. I’m not sure what it is, but it detracts slightly from the figure.

Since US Agent shares the same body as Bucky Cap, you’d probably expect him to have the same articulation, and you’d be right. The head is ball jointed and features that delightful extra hinge to help him look up. The arms feature ball joints in the shoulders, swivels in the biceps, double hinged elbows, and wrists with hinges and swivels. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, feature swivels at the thighs and the tops of the boots, and have ankles with hinges and rocker joints. US Agent can also swivel at the waist and he features an ab crunch hinge. I can’t ask for much more articulation than this. Well done, Hasbro!


US Agent comes with the same gear as Bucky Cap. You get his shield, an automatic pistol, and a combat knife. The knife is identical and I will likely lose it rather quickly since I have nowhere to put it. Maybe US Agent will trade it to Deadpool for some chimichangas. The pistol is repainted silver and black, which admittedly looks loads better than Bucky Cap’s unpainted, grey gun. US Agent’s shield is a snazzy black, white and red repaint of Bucky Cap’s shield and it features the same wrist clip and peg so that it can be stored on his back.

US Agent holds very few surprises. I knew going in that he was going to borrow heavily from last wave’s Bucky Cap, but it’s logical and prudent recycling that serves the character well. True, I lament the loss of the holster and sheath, but I can sort of understand why Hasbro did it. Otherwise, US Agent is a solid and very fun figure with excellent articulation. Yes, I’d rank him a little below Bucky Cap, but that may be as much because of my indifference to the character, rather than the quality of the figure.

Tomorrow, we’ll check out The Punisher!