Apr 24 2012

Vintage Vault: M.A.S.K. Jackhammer with Cliff Dagger by Kenner

I was going to do something other than MASK for Vintage Vault this week, but since I got desperate and tacked on a second edition last week with some variety, I thought I’d keep on trucking with those crazy secret raiders who will neutralize, as soon as they arrive. Today we’re sticking with the bad guys, though, and checking out one of the more iconic of VENOM’s vehicles and drivers. Its Cliff Dagger and his killer SUV war machine, Jackhammer. This vehicle and figure was part of Series 1 and its the first MASK toy we’re looking at that I actually owned as a kid. Will it live up to my nostalgia? Let’s find out…

As always, let’s start with the figure. Cliff Dagger is your classic thug through and through. He’s just the kind of guy you would hire as muscle to come along on a cash-grab bank job. Besides being none too bright, he’s a big, burly bald guy with an eye pactch and wool skull cap, and if there’s one thing we all learned from Saturday morning cartoons its eye patch wearing bald guys spell trouble. He was prominantly featured in the 80’s cartoon as one of VENOM’s number one henchmen.
Unlike so many of the MASK figures, which feature complex flight suits and such, Dagger is just a dude in his civies. He’s a decent looking little figure, and since he didn’t have any hair to paint, Kenner splurged to paint his hat and eye patch. He’s sporting a manly purple shirt with a sculpted shoulder holster and automatic pistol.
Cliff Dagger’s mask is called Torch, and its one of my favorites both in form and function. With its slits for the eyes and mouth, it looks like some kind of robot out of Doctor Who. Its simple and looks really low-tech. As its name implies its basically a flame thrower, which just defies all reason and yet is just amazingly cool. What I wouldn’t give to be able to shoot flames out of my head.
And then there’s Jackhammer. Its regular mode is your standard black utility vehicle. A lot of MASK’s cars are actually licensed vehicles, but apart from the real rubber Goodyear tires, there’s no identifying marks on Jackhammer. I’d say its like a cross between a Ford Bronco and a Chevy Blazer.  There are huge stickers on the sides to simulate relective surfaces. The vac metal wheels and front grill really contrast nicely with the black body. The driver area is pretty detailed both in terms of sculpt and stickers, both doors open, and it can seat two figures. Jackhammer is a great looking vehicle that really doesn’t betray its alt mode much at all.
Like Hurricane, Jackhammer doesn’t so much change from one vehicle to another, but rather transforms into a battle machine. Slide the hood back and it angles up and forms an armored shield over the windshield, while the front bumper simultaneously drops down to reveal a pair of laser guns. Press the rear bumper and the top of Jackhammer’s backhalf pops up into a rotating gun turret. There’s an additional gun hidden inside, which can be taken out and plugged into the turret. Roll the Jackhammer along and the front guns recoil as if they’re firing. In battle mode, the turret offers an additional seat, allowing the vehicle to seat a total of three figures.
I really loved this toy as a kid and none of that adoration has been tarnished with the passing of time. Jackhammer may not be one of the highest concept vehicles in the MASK toyline, but its a lot more feasible and practical than many of the vehicle designs. So much so that it practically made a cameo in the GI Joe: Rise of Cobra movie and toyline. Don’t believe me? Well, I’d direct you to my look at the Steel Crusher toy, but I just realized I never did one. Looks like I’ll have to add it to the list for next week.
Due to its high profile in the cartoon, Jackhammer tends to go for a bit more money than a lot of the Series 2 toys.  Wear and curling to the prominant stickers on the sides and on the hood are sometimes an issue. There aren’t a lot of pieces to lose, although the detachable gun for the turret is often missing. I seem to recall paying around $30 for mine and its and its a really nice and fresh example of a toy that belongs in every MASK collection.
Apr 23 2012

Avengers: “Rocket Grenade” Captain America by Hasbro

Its the final installment of this little Avengers trifecta. So far, we’ve looked at Thor and Iron Man, now its time to see how Cap turned out in the new Avengers lineup. I went with “Rocket Grenade” Cap because the other version featured a gimmick built into his shield, and I prefer to be able to toss aside the gimmicky weapons. Cap needs his shield, so the choice was pretty clear.

Once again, this figure is part of the “Concept Series.” I’ve beat that dead horse long enough, so I’m not going to go into it again here. The packaging looks great and this time there is a “Try Me” hole to let you flick up the blast shield on the big, stupid rocket launcher that comes with the figure. Seriously, if pressing that button becomes the deciding factor for buying this figure, you’ve got problems. Just saying. So, here’s my big dilemma with this figure. I absolutely love Cap’s WWII era costume from the movie. But he gets a new, more modern costume in the Avengers movie. This is an Avengers movie figure. Why the hell, Hasbro, are you still releasing him in the costume from his movie and not the Avengers movie? Its like Iron Man’s triangle arc reactor all over again. Maybe Cap wears this for a bit in Avengers, but I doubt it.
Avengers costume or not, I adore this figure. I’ve always been a Cap whore and toss in how much I love his movie costume, and it should be no surprise that this one is really scatching my itch. The sculpt is absolutely fantastic. There’s so much tiny detailing on him, including the ultra-fine texturing on his tunic, the stitching on his shoulder pads and the wrinkles on his pants. The belt pouches are also amazingly detailed, and you can even see the tiny stitching and the embossed “US” on his holster. The head sculpt is excellent, particularly the depth between the mask and Steve Rogers’ face. Even the paintwork rises to the occasion, as there’s no slop here to speak of. Hasbro really nailed this figure dead on.
Cap’s articulation is the same as “Heavy Assault” Iron Man. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed hips and shoulders, and hinged elbows and knees. Again, its a far cry from what we saw in the Captain America movie figures, but you can still get some good poses out of him and he’s very solid and easy to stand.
Naturally, Cap comes with his shield. The sculpt is the same we’ve been getting, but this one has a really nice high gloss finish, which looks amazing. The back has a clip to go around his wrist. It also has a peg so he can wear it on his back. Only problem there is the figure doesn’t have a hole on his back to peg it into. Nice oversight there, Hasbro!
In addition to his trusty shield, Cap also comes with the titular and very stupid “Rocket Grenade” launcher. It does have a button that flips up the blast shield, and the handle folds up and down. I suppose in terms of big stupid weapons, this one isn’t the worst around, but its still going to be cast aside into the bottomless pit of my useless accessories tote.
All in all, I’ve been more or less happy with all three of the Avengers figures I’ve picked up, but Cap here is without a doubt my favorite. This figure has one amazingly detailed sculpt for a 3 3/4″ scale, the paintwork is solid, and this is the first time I’ve had a proper metallic finished shield for one of my Caps in this scale. The lack of a shield peg in his back really does hurt the figure, but when everything else is so good, I can try to look the other way. Of course, just like the other two figures, there’s a good chance you already have a good movie version of Cap and with better articulation, so you’re probably better off passing on this guy altogether.
Apr 22 2012

Avengers: “Sword Spike” Thor by Hasbro

[Sure, I’ve been taking Sundays off lately, but this week I decided to press on with my look at the three Avengers figures I picked up this week. They’re nothing special, so I didn’t want to drag it out. Today will be Thor and then I’ll wrap it up tomorrow with Cap. That will also push this week’s MASK edition of Vintage Vault back to Tuesday. -FF]

Our second forray into Hasbro’s new 3 3/4″ Avengers figures brings us to the Lord of Asgard himself, Thor. This is another one of those “Concept Series” figures, since they seem to be the only kind I can find, and I’m still not entirely sure what the “concept” angle is all about, since ALL the figures come with those ridiculous weapons. Anyway, enough preamble, let’s see what we’ve got…
There’s the package and looking at it I find myself getting a sense of deja vous because… wait… didn’t I… yes, I did… I looked at a figure called“Sword Spike” Thor back when the Thor movie figures were out. In fact, that one was the only movie Thor figure I wound up buying. Talk about double dipping… shame on you Hasbro! The packaging is pretty much identical to the one we saw with Iron Man. The big difference is an insert in the bubble with a shot of the figure, but no “Try Me” hole on this one.
This version of Thor is essentially the exact same figure as the movie “Sword Spike” Thor only with less articulation, a sculpted helmet, and a permanently attached cape. There are some very minor coloring differences, for example the cape is brighter, but for all intents and purposes it is the same sculpt from the neck down. That having been said, it is still a great looking figure. There’s a lot of cool detail sculpted into his chest armor and even the little scales in his chainmail. The headsculpt is quite a good resemblance and I do like finally having a helmeted movie version of Thor, since I passed on the ones that came out previously. I am rather glad that Hasbro permanently attached his cape this time, as my movie Thor figure’s cape does not want to stay on for love or money. Most of the paintwork on this figure is fine, but there is some really sloppy red paintwork on the legs.
Articulation is almost the same as we saw on “Heavy Artillery” Iron Man. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders and hips. Hinges in the elbows and knees. In case you missed it, the big difference is that Thor only has hinges in the knees, rather than ball joints.
So, let’s look at “Sword Spike” Thor’s big weapon. Obviously its a… hey, wait a minute. There isn’t a sword anywhere in this package. Nope, just as you would not expect from the name, “Sword Spike” Thor comes with a big battle axe. As far as big stupid weapons go, this one isn’t all bad. I do kind of dig the gold, engraved axe head. Too bad it looks like its attached to a harpoon gun. There is a missile that shoots out of the top, which the package calls a “Launching Battle Spike” so at least there’s a spike in there somewhere, even if there is no sword. This version of Thor also comes with Mjolnir, which is essentially the same sculpt used for the movie figures.
Once again, this figure looks great, displays well, and he’s fun to play around with. The hobbled articulation at least adds a certain stability to the figure, but most collectors aren’t going to find that a worthy trade off. But here’s the real problem: If you’re holding this figure in your hand at the store, chances are  you can walk a couple of feet and find the same figure with better articulation on clearance from the Thor movie. And even if they aren’t on clearance, you’d still be getting the same figure with better articulation at the same price. This is the very reason why I wish Hasbro had varied the initial wave more. I’m very afraid that these figures are going to choke up the pegs and prevent us from getting movie versions of Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury. And even with that worry, I can’t recommend anyone run out and buy this one.
Apr 20 2012

Vintage Vault: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Northlord Barbarian by LJN

I really wanted to limit Vintage Vault to once a week, but truth be told I don’t have much new stuff coming in right now, and the show must go on, so I had no choice but sneak another one in this week. Rather than let MASK monopolize it the whole time, today at FigureFan we’re going to take our first look at LJN’s vintage series of action figures based on TSR’s ridiculously popular Advanced Dungeons & Dragons license.

The year was 1983 and while video games were as addictive as all hell, the graphics were primitive and most games were designed to be played for short snippets of time. We kids had to look to the power of imagination and the great Gary Gygax's in order to entertain ourselves with dice-based role playing games.

Naturally AD&D was the forerunner of the time and with a vast universe of heroes, villains, and monsters, well why wouldn’t TSR license it out for action figures and toys? Of course they did, LJN got the license, and the result was a solid, albeit meandering, collection of action figures, PVC bendies, steeds, and even a playset. The figures came in many sizes, but were based (more or less) on the 4-inch scale. The figure we’re checking out today is actually closer to 6-inches. Some may believe it was a special deluxe size class, but these larger figures were actually meant to be giants. Today we’re looking at one of those giants… The Northlord Barbarian!
Northlord and the rest of the giants came carded just like the smaller figures, but they did tend to come with a lot more gear. The average AD&D figure came with a couple of accessories, but these guys came with two weapons, a shield, a removable belt and a removable helmet. They’re also amazingly cool figures for their day… and really they still are. While the figures weren’t based on the Saturday morning AD&D cartoon, many of these figures crossed over into it and had cameos. I don’t actually remember seeing the Northlord in it, but I wouldn’t doubt that showed up at some point.
Its probably been a twenty years since I last laid eyes on this figure, but even now I’m immediately impressed. He was always one of my favorites from this line, and its still easy to see why. Northlord is delightfully colorful and a pretty amazing sculpt too. The head sculpt is expressive and while the paint apps are just simple black to define his eyes and eyebrows, it still works very well, and his long blonde hair and brown headband give him some real character. Northlord’s brown tunic has sculpted scales and the reliefwork in his shoulder armor and sash is wonderfully detailed. His arm bracers have tiny scaling sculpted into them, his boots have sculpted fur and leather wrappings. Even the details on his soft, removable belt are all there. LJN poured the love into this figure in spades and nearly thirty years later it still shows.

Northlord comes with a removable helmet, which is a very nice piece all on its own. The blue, brown and yellow deco matches his armor and the sculpt is brimming with detail, from the scrollwork on the cheeks to the feathered pattern on the prominent wings. It fits right onto his head and stays in place… more or less.
Weapons, you say? Oh yes. Northlord comes with a battle axe, a broadsword, and a shield. He can hold any of the accessories in either hand quite well, and he has a loop on his belt to store whatever weapon he isn’t using at the moment. The axe has a sculpted leather wrapped handle and raised scrollwork sculpted into the axe heads. The sword is inscribed with TSR in runic style lettering, and has a very detailed yellow hilt. The shield has a raised eagle relief scupted onto the front, slong with the tiny faux rivets holding it together.
How’s about articulation? On paper, Northlord only has the standard five points we’re used to seeing in vintage figures: Shoulders, hips, and neck. But in execution, both the shoulders and the hips are all ball jointed, and that gives him a lot more movement than many figures released around his time. In fact, you can get him into some nice poses while wielding his weapons.
As we’ll see in future editions of Vintage Vault, LJN’s AD&D line wasn’t all gold. It had some flubs along the way, but the line mostly produced some very cool and very fun figures. Northlord is certainly one of the high points of the collection. He’s an absolutely beautiful display piece and a fine example of vintage action figure craftsmanship that put many other toy companies to shame. He’s a fantastic display piece and one that can hang on any of my figure shelves any day of the week.

Nice examples of Northlord are still pretty easy to find and you won’t have to raid dungeons for gold in order to afford them. In fact, so long as you don’t care about packaging, you can probably find a fairly minty and complete example for around $20-25. And that’s not bad for a 30 year old figure.
Apr 19 2012

GI JOE 25th Anniversary: Vamp with Double Clutch

The Joes don’t get much love around here at FigureFan these days, and I’m going to try to remedy that in the upcoming weeks with some looks back at the 25th Anniversary line of toys. Today we’re going to check out one of my favorite vehicles to be re-tooled and re-issued in the line. When I was a kid, the Vamp was the mainstay of my GI JOE forces. It was a rugged, all pupose little jeep with some good firepower that could get in an out of the action quickly. I loved the Vamp so much, I even traded some figures for one of my friends’ burnt out Vamps just so I could have two to play with. Naturally, when the 25th Anni. line came out, I was happy to replace my long lost Vamps with a minty new one. I was pretty surprised that I hadn’t featured the Vamp here on FigureFan before, although it did have a cameo in a comparison shot when I looked at the Cobra Stinger.

The packaging has its ups and downs. Its kind of a three-quarter box with a huge window, whereas I would have much preferred a straight up box that I could store the vehicle in. On the other hand, its hard to deny that this thing looks inviting on the toy shelf and I’d wager MISB collectors must have been pretty happy. The package showcases the toy and figure perfectly, against an animated action backdrop and the bottom of the box serves as a great base with the GI JOE logo  shelf. Its kind of like buying the toy in its own ready made display case. Alas, the package on mine didn’t survive the opening process and also doesn’t store very well over time.
Let’s start off with Double Clutch. Yes, its obviously another instance of Hasbro losing the copyright to the original name. Calling him Double Clutch was a pretty clever way around that. I always loved the original Clutch figure, just because he reminded me so much of my original 1970s 12-inch GI JOE with beard and all. He’s just a great generic looking all-purpose Joe who is more than happy to drive the other guys into the fray and back out again. The update is a great looking figure. You can even take his vest off and use him as a pretty good “Green Shirt.” The addition of a functional holster and sheath are always a bonus for me.
Despite being a pack-in figure, Double Clutch still comes with a bunch of stuff you would expect to get with a single carded figure. You get a knife and an automatic pistol, which can be stored in the figure’s sheath and holster. He also comes with a removable vest and helmet. And lastly, the figure comes with his own personalized stand, which oddly enough, reads “Clutch.” Seems like somewhere along the way I misplaced Double Clutch’s pistol so I leant him someone’s sub-machine gun.
The Vamp itself should be pretty close to the toy you remember from  your youth, assuming you’re as wretchedly old as I am. The body of the vehicle is basically the same with some little tweaks here and there to help it fit the modern era. The biggest difference is the seating area, which has been completely re-vamped (har har) to fit the larger 25th Anniversary figures and the seats are now painted, albeit a little sloppily. There’s a ton of great detail on the dashboard and the divider between the seats.
The hood is also more detailed than the original and includes a sculpted bedroll and a removable entrenching tool. The front bumper has two spotlights added to it, the front headlights now have clear plastic covers, and the hood opens to reveal the engine inside. The wheels are brand new sculpts, and I don’t recall the original having the little sculpted gas cap on the back of the right side.
The pom pom gun mounted on the back still swivels and raises and lowers. It has two new hoses added to it that come out of the back and connect to the base, which adds some cool detail. The lever with the firing gimmick that was present on the original, has been removed for this version. The back of the Vamp still has the little rack that holds the two removable gas tanks, as well as the tow hook so you can attach the Whirlwind if you happen to have one kicking around. The tail lights, which were just stickers on the original are clear plastic pieces on this update.
While you do get a sheet of stickers with the toy, several of the key stickers come pre-applied to make it look good in the package. Unfortunately, they weren’t applied with a lot of care, so you can see them running lopsided, particularly the “GI Joe” emblem on the driver side and the “United States” sticker on the hood. I’ve opted to leave the rest of the stickers off, but some day I might apply them.
I’m not sure how much I paid for this thing back in 2008, but I know it was under $20, and man was that a great deal. You got a fun, fantastic, and rugged vehicle with some nice, practical play features and a really solid figure too. With the quality of the current Joes on pegs (30th Anniversary, Pursuit of Cobra, and Renegads), I realize that a lot of collectors don’t look back on the 25th Anniversary Collection all that fondly, but I do. This pack is exactly the sort of thing that I miss so much from the world of GI JOE. The Vamp is as close to a perfect toy as you can get.
Apr 18 2012

Doctor Who: Judoon Trooper and Judoon Captain by Character Options

Its time for another jaunt in the TARDIS, back in time, to some of Character Options’ earlier Doctor Who figures. There’s more than a few of these guys that we haven’t shined the Spotlight of FigureFan on before. And with not a lot of new stuff on the shelves and pegs right now, I’ve got to find something to look at, haven’t I? Anyway, I’ll be off to The Pub in a little bit, so this is going to have to be a quickie.

I adore the Judoon. When they were first introduced in the episode “Smith and Jones” I thought they were Sontarans, right up until the Captain took his helmet off. You can’t blame me, what with their black leather armor and giant dome helmets. Nonetheless, giant space rhino mercenaries are just as cool as spud-headed clone warriors. The fact that they turned out to be the right arm of The Shadow Proclamation was just icing on the cake. Some time ago, I featured CO’s 1:6 scale treament of the Judoon, which you can check out HERE, but I was pretty surprised that I hadn’t tackled the 5-inch scale versions before. The larger Judoon featured a removable helmet, whereas these smaller guys came in two versions: The un-helmeted Captain and the helmeted Trooper.
Ok, so from the neck down, we’re basically looking at the same figure, with just two key differences. Let’s start with the Trooper. He’s got a huge, sculpted and non-removable, helmet. CO did a nice job sculpting his leathery armor, particularly the detail in the arms, the abdominal muscles, and all the tiny little belts and buckles that make him look like some kind of crazy S&M fiend. There aren’t a lot of paint apps, but what’s here is quite good. All the little buckles and pins are neatly painted silver. The strips of plastic that make up his “skirt” are soft, rubbery and quite flexible so as not to inhibit his leg movement. All in all, this is a pretty great likeness of the Trooper on the screen.

Mr. Judoon comes with three accessories. You get a gun, a language assimilator, and a bio scanner. The gun fits into the holster on the belt and the other two accessories peg into holes on his belt.
The Captain has his helmet off and I have to say, his head sculpt is brilliant. He’s got a cool textured, leathery skin and an angry toothy snarl. The horns look great and you have to love his tiny little Rhino ears. Its a shame CO couldn’t have pulled off a removable helmet for him, but I still love what we wound up with. The only other difference between the Captain and the Troopers is the inclusion of the language assimilation port in his neck. You can actually pull the assimilator off his belt and put it into the socket too! Why the Troopers have the assimilator when they don’t have the port is beyond me, but who am I to balk at extra accessories, eh?
The articulation on both figures is identical. You get arms that rotate at the shoulders, have hinged elbows, and swivels in the bicep and wrist. The legs have universal movement at the hips, hinges in the knees, and swivels in the thighs. The figure also swivels at the waist. Its fairly good poseability for a race that were more lumbering than agile in the show.
The great, or sad, thing about the Judoon figures was that they were dirt cheap for quite a while. I used to pick these things up for under six bucks each, and for a while I couldn’t stop myself. I was only able to dig out four Troopers for this feature, but I know I have at least one more Captain and a couple more Troopers hiding in a tote somewhere in the FigureFan Toy Closet. Whether friend or foe, these guys are among my favorite additions to The Doctor’s Rogue Gallery since the show came back in 2005, and I hope we get to see them again in a starring role sometime in the future… or the past.
Apr 17 2012

Avengers: Quinjet by Hasbro

If you’ve gone out your door to any retail establishment in the past month, surely you’ve noticed the onslaught of Avengers merchandise. The toy aisles are certainly getting taken over, and while you have to cull through a lot of gimmicky crap to get to it, there is a fairly cohesive 3 3/4″ action figure and toy line to be found. A big hurdle Hasbro will surely face with Avengers is that they’ve already put out a lot of these figures already in their 3 3/4″ Marvel Universe, Thor, and Iron Man 2 lines. And that’s a big reason why I’ve passed these figures up the last bunch of trips to the toy aisle. I’ll circle back and get them eventually, but until then I thought we’d start out by taking a look at the Avenger’s Quinjet.

The Quinjet comes in a pretty big box with a little window showing the Iron Man figure that’s packed with it. While the packaging is nothing extraordinary, I have to say I really dig the overall presentation. The front panel shows an illustration of the jet along with profiles of The Avengers (well, the A-listers anyway. Hawkeye and Black Widow are nowhere to be found. Now you guys know how Antman and Wasp feel!) There’s a bit of a comic feel to the package with explosions declaring some of the features, like “Iron Man included!” and “2 modes!” Its nothing as gloriously obnoxious as the new Marvel Legends packaging, but it works. The back panel shows photos of the actual toy and some of its features, as well as some of the other toys and figures in the line. Let’s open her up, and slide out the cardboard tray…                                      
Wow, there’s a lot of empty space in there! The jet comes in four parts, so you’ll need to AVENGERS ASSEMBLE it! Sorry, couldn’t resist. Basically, you just have to attach the two wings and the tail section. You also get a simple instruction sheet and a small sheet of stickers. Yay, stickers! If you’re careful, you can actually get the tail section off again and store it in the box, which is a big plus for me, since I have zero shelf space to display this thing.
Let’s go ahead and get the Iron Man figure out of the way first. He’s a pack-in figure through and through, which means don’t expect to buy this and cross Iron Man off your list of Avengers figures to buy. He’s actually a pretty nice sculpt, but his paint apps are severely lacking. He’s cast in red plastic, so he doesn’t have that nice, glossy new car sheen that past Iron Man figures have had and he just has a bit of gold painted accents, most of which are rather sloppy. Mine has a random dab of gold on the side of his helmet! He also features the old school standard of five points of articulation. The head rotates, his arms rotate at the shoulders, and his legs rotate at the hips. All that having been said, I can’t help but feel a nostalgic charm eminating from this figure. He really does feel like an 80’s figure, and on some crazy level, I kind of dig it.
As for the Quinjet itself… keep in mind, I don’t recall actually having seen it in any clips from the film, so I’ll give Hasbro some credit and assume the design is pretty close to what we will see on screen. I do have to imagine that this toy is severely undersized, as it really only has room for two figures inside: One in the cockpit and one in the back, however there are pegs on the top, so you could conceivably crowd most of The Avengers on this thing. Its really more like a fighter than a transport. I get the diminished size thing, and it doesn’t bother me too much. Hasbro was obviously shooting for a certain price point here, so compromises had to be made.
While the design doesn’t really jive with what I tend to associate with the Quinjet from the comics, the toy is still pretty nice looking. There’s a lot of sculpted panel lines and tiny bolts, the deco is a pleasing charcoal, gold, and grey, and it has a pretty cool looking profile. I’m not crazy about the speckled yellow plastic used for the canopy, but its not a deal breaker.
The Quinjet has a few gimmicks and play features. Obviously, the canopy opens up so you can put a figure into the cockpit. The back also has a hatch that folds down to reveal a little area inside with a single chair. The three landing gear can be folded up or down, and there’s a little clear clip that pulls out of the side of the jet so that you can simulate a figure flying beside the jet, under its wing. The major action gimmick is the two-mode conversion. Slide the rear engines back and the cockpit drops down a bit, the wings reconfigure to show off the VTOL engines, and a missile launcher pops up out of the top and can rotate 360-degrees.

The Quinjet retails for $29.99 and that seems about right. There aren’t any electronics in it, and while you might expect to find them in a toy at this price point, I don’t miss them. Its size is a bit bigger than Hasbro’s Star Wars ships that retail for around $24.99. Its a fairly solid toy, except for wings, which feel a little flimsy.
There’s no doubt Hasbro struggled with this to keep costs down, but with cutbacks in articulation and entire figure lines being shit-canned, struggling seems to be a running theme with all toy companies in 2012. Nonetheless, the Quinjet is a pretty cool toy and if you don’t feel as though your Avengers have need of it, you can always repurpose it for your GI JOEs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hasbro does that at some point later down the line.
Apr 16 2012

Vintage Vault: M.A.S.K. Vampire with Floyd Malloy by Kenner

This week’s Vintage Vault contains more of Kenner’s MASK goodness. Last week we looked at one of the good guys, this time we’ll flip over to the baddies and take a look at one of VENOM’s vehicles and drivers. Here’s another Series 2 toy, hence one that I never owned as a kid. Its the Vampire with biker gang-member and expert forger, Floyd Malloy and his mask, Buckshot. Vampire is one of the smallest of the MASK toy assortments, but that doesn’t make it any less cool. Let’s start with the figure…

As usual, these MASK figures are only about half the size of your average 3 3/4″ figure (you do the math, I’ve been drinking!), but they still have a respectable amount of sculpted detail and articulation. Malloy has the usual lack of paintwork on the head, with just the fleshtone and the yellow tuft of hair, but if you look close enough, you see a lot of personality in that f’ugly mug. Yes, Floyd Malloy is not only a bad guy, but he looks like he has some deeper genetic issues. Holy hell! It may be hard to tell because of the lack of paint apps on the head, but Malloy has a face that would scare werewolves.
Malloy’s outfit makes him one of my favorite VENOM figures. The black, red, and silver deco looks outstanding and the design has a definite Mad Max meets posh quality that works well for a biker terrorist. I can’t get over how much sculpted detail Kenner worked into this little guy, but suffice it to say its pretty amazing. I have no idea what that little thing jutting up on his right shoulder is, but I’m betting its some kind of weapon.
Buckshot is a somewhat unique as it doesn’t cover the figure’s whole head, but rather has a hole int he top for his tuft of yellow hair to stick out. A lot of the masks used by MASK and VENOM have some pretty sophisticated weapons and devices. Malloy’s on the other hand is basically just a shotgun. Once again, its a remarkably detailed sculpt and the deco matches the same color scheme as Malloy’s outfit.
Malloy’s vehicle, the Vampire, is a red sports motorcycle. It doesn’t look like the kind of bike a dirtbag like this guy would be caught dead on, but than again it ain’t your average motorcycle. The sculpt is relatively simple, and the toy relies on stickers, particularly on the saddlebags, and some nice vac metal on the engine, exhaust and wheels to spruce it up. Unlike most vehicles in this toyline, Vampire isn’t quite as good at hiding its alt form. You can definitely tell there’s something going on under those saddlebags, but it is a small toy, so I’m willing to give it a pass. It can be tricky to get Malloy to sit correctly on the bike, but with a little patience, he can do it.
Vampire converts into a cool little one-man attack jet. Remember that whole concept versus execution thing I talked about last week? Well, Vampire hits both points dead on. The conversion is easy enough, as all you have to do is push the button on the back and then fold down the two wings. The button moves the sheels backwards, drops the front of the bike down to reveal a rotating gun, the stabilizer wings spring up in the back and the engine-slash-missile launchers are revealed in the back. The result is a very cool little jet with a pair of missile launchers. Malloy does have to be repositioned a bit when the bike converts, so it isn’t as fluid as most of the other MASK and VENOM vehicles, but the concept still works well.
One of the really cool things about the MASK line is that the smaller toys can be just as fun as the bigger ones, and Vampire here is a perfect example of that. I love the idea of having a motorcycle that turns into a jet and the transformation is both simple and cool. Toss in the fact that the Malloy figure is one of my favorites and you’ve got a great little set here. I was lucky enough to pick up this little guy, complete, but no box, for just under $20. Sure, its a bit steep for a little toy, but it was well worth it for such a nice example of this cool toy.
Apr 15 2012

Thank you for calling FigureFan, I’m not in to take your call…

Nothing to see here, as I’m taking the day off. Still, there were just a couple of points of business I wanted to mention today.

For all you masochists out there, don’t forget tomorrow is Matty Sale Day. Its another opportunity for Matty to show you their appreciation by letting Digital River bend you over a table and… ah, that got away from me a bit. Although, I should give credit where credit is due. I did get my notification yesterday that my Voltron Club-Whatever-The-Hell-Its-Called Subscription was charged and shipped. Its nice to know mine shipped out at least one day before the sale. What wasn’t nice was how it goes from $55 retail to $71 shipped. But its what I’ve come to expect. I haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to bother with any of the other figures being offered up tomorrow. Draego-Man does look somewhat cool.

C2E2 is being held in Chicago this weekend, with a few action figure and toy companies showing some wares. So… yeah, that’s something that happened.

Anyway, tomorrow kicks off a new week with another MASK edition of Vintage Vault. Also included next week will be a little Doctor Who, one of the vehicles from the upcoming Avengers movie, some GI JOE, and at the end of the week, a second helping of Vintage Vault, which will be something not-MASK.

Until then…  enjoy your Sunday!

Apr 14 2012

Marvel Universe: Greatest Battles Comic Pack: Daredevil & Bullseye by Hasbro

I know… riiiight? You just made us suffer through an entire week of Marvel Legends and now its more Marvel? Sorry, folks, I post ’em as I get ’em and while I am genuinely trying to mix things up this week, I had to sneak this one in here. Besides, its been a while since I’ve looked at any of Hasbro’s Marvel Universe comic packs. In fact, I think the last time I did it was one of the initial Secret Wars assortment. Its not that I don’t love these things to death, but distribution of these in my area has been crap. Nonetheless, with my local Walmart once again stocking MU figures, This morning I was able to pick up one that I’ve been after for a while. Its a particularly great and unlikely release, since both Bullseye and Daredevil have been released as single carded versions. Bullseye was once ridiculously expensive, but then Hasbro included him in newer case revisions and he became more and more common. The single carded Daredevil continues to be pretty elusive and expensive, unless you want to settle for the peg-warming Shadowlands version. No, thank you, Hasbro. Not today.

Whether it be Star Wars, GI Joe, or Marvel, the packaging on these Hasbro comic packs is awesome. You take two figures and card them in front of a reprint comic book on a huge bubble and you have marketing genius. Its hard to believe these are done by the same company that pulled the comic reprints from Marvel Legends the moment they got a hold of the line.
The funnybook included in the package is Daredevil #132. I generally don’t read DD’s books, but I enjoy the character when he appears in events or crosses over into the other books that I do read. This ish is nothing special, but its an enjoyable read and a good choice for this pack as it has plenty of action between DD and Bullseye and you get some pretty good background info on what kind of guy Murdoch is if you aren’t all that familiar with the character. Its more or less one big fight between the two at a circus. Its definitely dated, and there are some really unintentionally funny lines because of it.
If you’re thinking that this Bullseye figure is a straight repack of the single carded version, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Generally speaking, I’ve found that the figures in these comic packs aren’t quite as good as the ones released single carded, but this one is a thousand times better than the carded release. Its a completely new figure, slightly bigger than the single carded one. The head sculpt is different, not necessarily better, just different. Both head sculpts are great so it just boils down to personal preference. What is certainly better, is this Bullseye has two working hands, rather than the playing cards molded into the left hand as with the solo release. This one comes with a gun and a dagger and he can hold them in either hand. If you really are keen on the playing cards, you can always swap the card hand on the other figure into this one and get the best of both worlds. The other really cool thing is the belt with functional holster and sheath for his weapons.
Another thing that is loads better about this comic pack Bullseye is the articulation, which is identical on both figures in this pack. You get ball jointed necks with that lovely extra hinge. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders, swivels in the arms and wrists, and double hinged elbows. The legs feature ball joints in the hips, swivels in the thighs,  and double hinges in the knees. The ankles are hinged and even have rocker joints! The torso’s swivel at the waist and are ball jointed at the chest. This is the kind of articulation that we should be getting in all the single carded figures, Hasbro. They are, afterall, more expensive per figure than these comic packs.
I don’t have quite as much to say about Daredevil, as I don’t own the single carded release to compare him to. And let’s face it, Daredevil isn’t the flashiest of costumed superheroes around. He’s mostly a guy in a maroon suit. I’m not usually a big fan of the paint wash that Hasbro uses on the MU figures, but in this case I think it turned out really well. It really adds definition to the sculpted muscles and allows the “DD” tampo on his chest to stand out a bit more. The headsculpt is excellent right down to his tiny little horn bumps. His belt is a separately sculpted piece and he has a pouch on his left leg to hold his batons, which can also be pegged together. As mentioned above, Daredevil has the same amazing articulation as Bullseye.
This pack cost $14.88 at Walmart, which is a pretty great deal. At $7.44 a figure and a free comic, you just can’t go wrong. These are without a doubt two of the better MU figures I’ve picked up in a while and they sport the best articulation I’ve seen in the line to date. These are the bucks that I wish Hasbro would use more often, particularly for the single-carded figures, which tend to cost more. Even having already owned the previous release of Bullseye, I am still thrilled to have picked up this set. Its fantastic.