Sep 20 2011

Ghostbusters: Lucy Bishoujo Statue by Kotobukiya

[It’s a total coincidence that just a couple of days before I post today’s Ghostbusters related entry, Mattel announced that they will not be offering a 2012 subscription for Club Ecto-1. They are apparently going through with the figures that were already in production and will be offering past figures one last time, but it seems as if Mattel’s Ghostbusters license has just about run its course. I can’t say as I’m surprised. I am pretty disappointed with the way Matty treated the license. And while I’m happy to finally own a decent set of the team in both 6″ and 12″ versions, I wish Mattel had planned the whole thing better than they did. With that having been said, let’s take a look at a Ghostbusters product that’s not made by Mattel.]

I haven’t looked at a lot of statues here on FigureFan. In fact, the closest thing I can think of would be one of Weta’s Doctor Who busts. Nonetheless, I’ve been wanting to check out some of Koto’s Bishoujo statues for a long time now, particularly because they feature a line of reasonably priced statues of both DC and Marvel ladies all in a uniform scale, and I’d really like to put together a collection of those. But I’m actually taking my first step into the line with what is more of a stand alone piece, this super cute anime inspired Ghostbusters statue. Let’s check out Lucy…
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The statue comes in a really attractive window box. It’s mostly black with a neon green lightning deco and lettering, along with the iconic Ghostbusters emblem and a nice illustration of the character. The back panel shows photos of the statue and has a little filecard about Lucy herself. While you get a good idea about what you’re getting inside, Lucy is wrapped up in a lot of plastic, which renders the window a little useless. I suppose if you take her out, unwrap her and put her back into the tray you could see things a little better. The box is entirely collector friendly, although you do need to partially disassemble her to get her back in and even then, it isn’t optimal for display purposes.
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Lucy comes out of the box separate from her stand and requiring just a wee bit of easy assembly. You plug the pegs on her feet into the stand. Pop her head off to slide the goggles down around her neck, and plug the proton emitter hose into the proton pack and place the wand in her hand. That’s it. There’s nothing tricky or delicate here, and everything comes apart again real easy if you want to return her to the package.
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While Lucy is an officially licensed Ghostbuster product, she’s like no other Ghostbuster we’ve seen before. As in keeping with Koto’s Bishoujo line, she’s a hyper-cute and sexy anime-style take on the license. Why Koto didn’t just give her red hair, slap some glasses on her and call her Janine is beyond me, because I think it would have worked. At the very least it would have made a hell of an easy repaint exclusive. But hey, very little about this statue is conventional.
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The base is regular plastic as is the equipment, while the statue itself is made from PVC. The PVC medium here makes for a bit of a soft sculpt, but I think it suits the statue fairly well. The paintwork and coloring is certainly well done. I think my only gripe here is that when placed under direct light the top of Lucy’s head looks somewhat transparent, or at least lighter than the rest of the statue.
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While Lucy herself looks like she’s straight off the pages of a manga, her equipment looks totally authentic and faithful to the film license. The sculpt on the proton pack is a little bit simplified, but still features most of the lights, knobs and wires from the original prop and the same goes for the wand. The trap, which is permanently attached to the stand, also looks great and includes the foot pedal. Her jumpsuit, or at least what’s left of it, looks like a modified version of the type worn by the guys. The top is modified to show off Lucy’s midriff and the zipper is pulled down to display her… um, paranormal assetts. Her pants are shredded to bits, [Holy crap, did she encounter a rape ghost?] and you can see the straps from her pink thong peeking out over her utility belt.
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Koto’s Bishoujo statues generally start at around $50-60, depending on where you go to order them. Older statues can go up or down a bit. I picked up Lucy from Big Bad Toy Store for just under fifty, which seemed like one of the better prices. I’ve had my eye on her since the first production images were released earlier this year and I’m quite happy with the final product. You can definitely expect to see some more of these statues here on FigureFan in the coming months. I’ve got my eye on Catwoman next!
Sep 19 2011

Captain America: Battlefield Cap (Comic Series) by Hasbro

It pains me greatly that I never got around to seeing Captain America in the theaters. What can I say? I’m always drinking working so I just never got a chance and before I knew it, it was gone. But, hey, that’s what my BD Player and huge TV are for. Nonetheless, watching Thor again this week got me craving some new Marvel movie stuff and that included a bunch of Captain America figures. I was mainly going to cherry pick this line for characters other than Cap, but when I saw this version, I just couldn’t resist.

I’ll reiterate what I said about the packaging for the Thor figure review. The movie Marvel cards are pretty sweet and I like Captain America’s the best. You get an image of Cap up in the left corner and the Avengers Assemble icon over in the right. Cap is carded with both his weapons displayed and his shield beside him. The best thing I can say about any carded figure is that I was sorry to rip him open. I might actually pick up an extra of this guy to hang carded on my wall. He really does look that great in the package.
Battlefield Cap is out of the package and… damn. He’s an amazing sculpt. Sure, he’s basically a standard modern Hasbro 3 3/4″ body, but his entire suit is textured, and there’s a ton of little details like the treads on his boots and the flap and buttons on his tunic.  The pounches are sculpted and even the star on his chest is sculpted on rather than just a tampo or paint app. His web gear is a separate, removable piece, with a working holster, sculpted ammo pouches and canteen. Nice! The head sculpt is nice, with a grey mask/hood and his blue combat helmet is removable. This figure would be a Triple-A slam dunk, if it weren’t for how soft the plastic in his legs is. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, since everything else about Cap is amazing, but it is annoyingly soft.
The paintwork is just as good as the sculpt. He’s mostly blue with some red trim and green and brown on his boots and the red and white striping on his mid section. I’m most impressed by the fact that every single one of the little buttons and buckles on him is painted silver. There’s no slop or bleeding either. Nice!
Articulation is standard modern 3 3/4″ Hasbro with a few nice surprises. Cap’s neck is ball jointed. His arms are ball jointed in the shoulders, hinged at the elbows, there are swivels in the biceps, and even ball joints in the wrists. His legs have those annoyingly awkward ball joints in the hips, double hinged knees, swivels at the tops of his boots, and his ankles feature both regular hinges, and lateral rockers to keep his feet flat at wide stances. His torso features that standard Hasbro ab ball joint.
Cap’s accessories include an automatic pistol, a Thompson machine gun and his trusty shield. The shield clips onto his wrist, but also has a peg that allows him to store it onto his back. You can even tuck his Thompson into his web gear strap and store it on his back and the pistol fits into his holster.
In a line that is stuffed with predictably awful variations on poor Cap, this Battlefield version stands out as being an absolutely amazing figure. Seriously, stand him next to the likes of whatever Desert or Arctic flavor Cap figure from the line you want and tell me he really looks like he’s some kind of special exclusive stand alone release. Sculpt, paint, accessories, articulation: This figure hits all the points dead on and suffers only from some unfortunate use of soft plastic in the legs. I picked him up for just under eight bucks, and what a deal it was. He won’t satisfy anyone looking for a standard Cap to stand in with your Avengers, but if you’re a fan of Steve Rogers, you really should have this one on your shelf.
Sep 17 2011

Thundercats: Classic Tygra 8-inch Collector Figure by Ban Dai

So, yesterday I did a lot of unabashed gushing over Ban Dai’s Classic Lion-O figure. Lest you were afraid that my Thundercats love and nostalgia was motivating me into giving this Classic 8-inch figures a free pass, I’ll tell you right now that Tygra does not quite live up to the standards set by Lion-O. Let’s check him out.

You get the same packaging seen with Lion-O. Once again, I like the collector friendly nature of it, but the deco is a little bland. Ban Dai pretty much gives you a huge window with a clear shot of the figure, and that ain’t a bad thing. The back shows off the figure and accessories as well as some other figures in Ban Dai’s collection.
Everything I said about Lion-O’s glorious toyishness certainly holds true for Tygra. He’s got that same great plastic glossy look and feel. The sculpt features a ton of little detail work in Tygra’s head, but other than his muscules, there’s not a lot of original sculpt on Tygra’s body. I’m also not at all crazy about the way Ban Dai sculpted his lower legs. The calfs are pronounced and it makes his leg structure look strange. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not, but doesn’t quite look right. Apart from that, Tygra features a piece of armor over his left shoulder, some sculpting to his boots, and his clawed feet are exposed.
Tygra’s paintwork is mostly great, except for one glaring problem on mine. His left eye is applied a little too high. In passing, it looks a little pecuiliar, but on close inspection you can really see what happened. I haven’t decided yet whether or not it warrants me picking up a second Tygra. Other than the eye flub, the paintwork on his head is pretty impressive. The orange and black stripes are pretty striking, especially against the blues of his outfit. As with Lion, his Thundercats emblem is very sharp and crisp.
Tygra has almost the same articulation as Lion-O. He’s actually missing one point, despite the package still claiming 18 points. Let’s recap: The head is ball jointed, but the neck is also hinged where it meets the shoulder to give him more of an up and down motion to his head. The arms feature ball joints in the shoulders, hinged elbows, swivels in the biceps, and ball jointed wrists. His legs are ball jointed at the hips, feature swivels in the thighs and just above the boots, feature double hinged knees, and hinged ankles. Tygra also has a ball joint in his waist. What’s he missing? The second ab joint. He’s still a damn poseable figure though.
Tygra comes with two versions of his bolo whip. One is the collapsed version, the other is the whip fully extended. The extended one comes in two halves in the package. It’s nice and flexible and really lends itself well to a bunch of different action poses. Tygra also comes with an extra right hand to better grip the whip at the handle. Just like with Lion-O, I’m not sure why anyone would want the prone hand, but I try not to complain about extra accessories.
Tygra’s a perfectly fine figure with great articulation. On his own, he looks great, but compared to Lion-O he looks like he’s a little lacking. Part of it might be the simpler character design, but it just feels like Ban Dai might have put in a little less effort with this one when compared to Lion-O. At the $17.99 to $20 retail, I still think he’s a great deal. He’s a super fun toy to play with and I still wholly recommend him. And that’s the first wave of the Thundercats Classic figures. Here’s hoping Ban Dai hurries the next wave along quickly. It may take me a little bit, but the next time I revisit the Thundercats toys, we’ll be looking at the 6-inch figuers based off of the new series.
Sep 16 2011

Thundercats: Classic Lion-O 8-inch Collector Figure by Ban Dai

It was a long struggle to finally get this figure. I had it pre-ordered, had to cancel the pre-order because I bought way too much other stuff that month. Re pre-ordered it at another site. Canceled that pre-order because the figures turned up at another site first. Had to pass on them at TRU because my order already shipped and now I finally have him. So, don’t take it lightly when I say that after finally getting this figure in hand, he was worth every spot of bother and frustration along the way. I’d like to think its rare that I completely lose my shit and gush like crazy over a figure, but put on your hip boots, folks, because it’s about to get deep in here. Lion-O is freaking awesome.

At first glance, I liked the packaging, but didn’t love it. I think I was just expecting something a bit more vintage looking. Instead you get something like a small window box with an extended card on the back to make it peg friendly. The familiar Thundercats logo is on the top and there’s very little about the package that blocks your view of the figure inside. Ban Dai obviously wanted to let these toys speak for themselves. And I think it was a good call. The back panel shows off the figure and some of the other Thundercats toys, both new and classic, and the package still features that annoying tri-lingual writing. Ultimately, the packaging won me over because with a quick snip of some tape on the bottom flap, it proves to be totally collector friendly, and I can keep my figures and their extra accessories displayed in the package when I’m not fiddling about with them. Cool!
Once out of the package, Lion-O is glorious. Let me try to do my best here, because words are failing me. If you’re expecting a collector grade figure, you will likely be disappointed. There’s stuff here that the snooty collector type will want to scoff at. Lion-O feels like a toy, and I’m not meaning that as a slight, in fact, quite the contrary. He has that great shiny plastic look and feel that makes the nostalgia just pour out of him. It’s like Ban Dai somehow managed to preserve the essence of the vintage toy aspect of the old LJN Lion-O figure and yet completely update it with super articulation and better proportions. Usually when I get a new figure that I love, I can’t wait to display him on the shelf. With Lion-O here, it’s like I want to take him around the house and fight battles with him. He’s just that much fun.
The head sculpt might as well be perfect, because I can’t find anything to even nit pick about it. It captures the character beautifully and still features that great windblown sculpt to his hair that the vintage toy had. The rest of his iconic outfit is wonderfully reproduced here and the sculpting on his muscles balances just the right amount of detail between realism and cartoon. I’m particularly thrilled with the way the Claw Shield came out. It has a great metallic gold sheen with the bright red crystals in the knuckles, and includes a slot to sheath the smaller Sword of Omens. Lion-O even has a removable strap hanging off his hip that can be used to secure the Claw Shield when he’s not wearing it.
Lion-O’s paintwork is solid, and here’s a great example of less being more. Thankfully, Ban Dai didn’t do something silly like use an ugly wash on his muscles or anything like that. [Oh wait, they did and then charged double for it in San Diego! -FF] The paintwork on his face is immaculate as is the Thundercats logo on his belt. I’m also happy to report that the discs and pins in his shoulder joints are cast in flesh colored plastic, so you don’t get the unsightly black joints that we see in the new series figures. On the downside, the pins in his ankles are also cast in flesh colored plastic. But that’s one of those reasons I pointed out that he’s more toy than collectible.
Ok, let’s talk articulation, because the package boasts 18 points. The head is ball jointed, but the neck is also hinged where it meets the shoulder to give him more of an up and down motion to his head. The arms feature ball joints in the shoulders, hinged elbows, swivels in the biceps, and ball jointed wrists. His legs are ball jointed at the hips, feature swivels in the thighs and just above the boots, feature double hinged knees, and hinged ankles. Lion-O also has a ball joint in his waist and another ab joint just below his chest. There’s few poses you can’t get this guy into!
Accessories include a long Sword of Omens, a short Sword of Omens, and the Claw Shield. Ok, here’s where you made out better if you picked up the SDCC version. Not that there’s anything wrong with this figure’s accessories, but I can’t deny that the vac-metalized swords of the SDCC Exclusive look so much better. Still, the sculpting on the swords is quite nice and they aren’t as rubbery as I was afraid they were going to be. You also get an extra pair of hands. The left one replaces the Claw Shield and the right one is designed to better grip the Sword of Omens. Why you would want the less grippy right hand is beyond me. But hey… free hand!
Lion-O runs anywhere from between $17.99 and $20. Considering he probably has about the same collector appeal as Mattel’s MOTU Classics figures, I think this is a great price. It’s probably even more so, since you can theoretically buy him at a retail store, rather than have to go online and pay an extra ten bucks to have him shipped. It’s certainly worth saying that right now Lion-O here is one of my favorite figures in my entire, not so humble, collection. Having this toy in hand, I’m actually shamed to think that I was disappointed when Ban Dai got the license to do Classic Thundercats figures. Clearly they knew what they were doing all along. Next time we’ll check out Tygra, but let me say here and now that if Ban Dai doesn’t at the very least release all the Thundercats in this format, I’m going to go apeshit. But the thought that we might also get the Mutants and Mumm-Ra has got me really excited. Oh yeah, we also now know that Ban Dai has the rights to the Silverhawks license and have even established a bit of a tie-in with the new cartoon series. 8-inch Classic Silverhawk figures? Probably not, but just saying, is all.
Sep 15 2011

Matty Sale Day… Yawn!

Yes, folks, today was Matty Sale Day, albeit not a terribly interesting one. Ghostbusters was a no show, although I haven’t picked up any of the Ghostbusters figures in a long while anyway, so that’s fine with me. In the DC Universe, there were two new JLU 3-packs. I’ve collected JLU from time to time, but I think that ship has mostly sailed for me. I was slightly tempted to go for the Jay Garrick/ Alan Scott/ Carter Hall set, but my willpower held out. There was also a Retro Action style Green Lantern. Blah!

MOTU Classics debuted two new figures. One is Hurricane Hordak, which I am passing on. You can kind of equate this guy to Battle Armor He-Man and Skeletor. I’m not knocking him, but I’m pretty much done buying variants of the same character in this line and the original MOTUC Hordak release is just so perfect to me, I don’t need to sully my shelf with another. In keeping with the Evil Horde theme, the other new figure is Leech. I waffled quite a bit on this guy before finally deciding to pass him over. This one is just a little too goofy even for my MOTU Classics shelves… and man, that’s saying quite a lot. If I was buying something else to combine shipping, I might have picked him up, but that wasn’t the case. The reissue is Chief Carnivous, a figure that I picked up the first time around. Sorry, Matty Collector, no monies for you this month! Wow, it feels good to say that for a change.

Lastly, Matty has announced that they are extending their subscriptions again, starting Saturday and promise that this will be the last time. I already have my Voltron Club Lion Force sub purchased, and I haven’t changed my mind about passing on Club Eternia again. I am, however, going forward and buying the DC Universe sub. Now, I know, some will say I should have shown support and done this back when the sub was in danger of not going through. Some others will say it was never in danger of not going through. The point is, a) I wasn’t confident enough to give Digital River my money for something that might not happen and b) I wasn’t going to subscribe if I didn’t know who the exclusive figure was going to be. Now that I know the sub is a go and I know the Club Exclusive is Metron, I’m happy to sign up. Oops, I guess Matty Collector is getting some of my monies this month. Damn!

Meanwhile, on the home front, I picked up a bunch of Marvel movie figures, as mentioned in today’s feature. I also got a nice box on my stoop with a pair of Ban Dai’s Thundercats Classic figures and Koto’s new Ghostbusters statue. Plenty of fun stuff to look at going into the weekend!