Jun 22 2011

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Shockwave by Hasbro

I had every intention of picking up a couple of DotM Deluxes today, but when I saw Shockwave sitting on the shelf, I just couldn’t resist picking him up instead. I’ve been kind of mixed on the early pictures of Shockwave I saw floating around the Interwebs, particularly the shots of his nebulous alt form, but when I actually had the box in my hand in the toy aisle, I just thought he looked amazing.

Shockwave is a Voyager Class toy and he comes in the same style window box that we saw when we looked at Megatron a little while back. I’m still really digging on this package. It displays the figure really well in his robot mode and the space-themed deco is a lot more appropriate to the Transformers brand than what we’ve been getting lately. There’s a Try Me hole on the window that lets you fiddle with the MechTech weapon conversion, but it doesn’t really work well in the box. The front has an illustration of Shockwave in his alien tank mode, which looks surprisingly good, while the back panel shows off photos of the toy in both robot and vehicle form. He has a bio blurb on one of the side panel and his tech specs on the other. Shockwave was always cool in the G1 cartoon, but it seems as if he got elevated to some major badass chops in the Bayformer Universe. I have a feeling he’s going to wind up a lot closer to the Marvel Comics version of the character. I guess we’ll see in just a couple of weeks!

As always, let’s start with his alt mode. I expected to hate it, since it looked like another jumbled Cybertronic mess of the type we got with Megatron from the first two movies. Turns out, it’s not quite that bad. Yes, Shockwave’s alt mode is still a nebulous looking attack vehicle with a big gun on top, but it holds together pretty well and with the sculpted treads and the front wheels it actually looks like something that might pass for a credible Cybertron war machine rather than a total afterthought. What’s more, the transformation is pretty straightforward. All in all, I’d say this alt mode is even better than Energon’s Shockwave homage, Shockblast. It’s certainly better than Revenge of the Fallen Megatron’s hermit crab tank mode.

In robot mode, Shockwave is just plain gorgeous. Am I being too generous? Maybe. Or maybe I’ve just become accustom to the Bayformer designs after having them rammed down my throat for three movies. Either way, the sculpt and the very Decepticon purple and grey coloring all really comes together for me in this figure. To me this is just a great rendition of Shockwave, complete with the cyclops head and the huge blaster on his arm. Admittedly, with a different head and a different colorscheme, this could have just as easily been Megatron too, but that doesn’t make him any less attractive a figure. The ribcage sculpt on his chest is really cool, and I like the way the sculpted treads are worn on his legs.

The MechTech cannon is definitely cool, and I was surprised that it is actually removable and Shockwave has a regular arm as well. There’s a big hose that can connnect from the cannon to various points on Shockwave’s body, which is a nice nod back to the hose on the G1 toy. It does limit the articulation a bit, but than you can remove it if you want to. I’ll also note that Shockwave’s MechTech weapon is the only one I own so far that will lock into its transformed mode, so that’s a big plus.

Shockwave’s articulation includes universal movement in the shoulders, hinged elbows and wrists, universal, ratcheting joints in the hips and hinged knees. His head also rotates. The lack of at least a swivel in the waist is a little disappointing, and the arm articulation is a little awkward. I can’t get Shockwave into a lot of the poses I would like, but he still has a decent amount of articulation for a Transformer.

Shockwave set me back just under $19, which is exactly how much I paid for Megatron. It’s a fair enough price point for what is a very nice looking and very well made figure. He’s probably the sturdiest and most solid feeling movie-related Transformer I’ve bought in a little while. He is still smaller than the Voyagers we’ve been used to getting, but he fits in nicely with Megatron and standing the two together really make me hope that Soundwave might also get a Voyager treatment in the line.

Jun 18 2011

Watchmen: The Comedian by DC Direct

As much as I’d love to do another Cyberverse figure today, a promise is a promise, so I thought I’d mix things up just a bit with a random DC entry from off the top shelf of my toy room. You haven’t seen any Watchmen figures reviewed on FigureFan before because it took me a long time to come around and even give that movie a chance. I was actually pretty excited about it when we first heard it was being made, but then the changes started to filter down and I got really soured on it. Fast forward to late last year when someone gave me a copy of the Blu-Ray for Christmas. It sat unopened on my shelf for weeks until finally I had nothing else to do and gave it a go. Turns out I liked it quite a bit, and not soon after I picked up my first Watchman figure from the film.

It’s The Comedian! I’m pretty sure this is the first action figure based on a rapist that I own, although I’ve never been entirely certain what Freddy Kruger got up to with those kids before he murdered them, so maybe not. Ok, this is getting a little dark, so let’s take a look at the package. I don’t own a lot of DC Direct figures, but all the ones I have purchased were carded. Comedian, on the other hand, comes in a nice window box with an extended cardback to let it hang on a peg. The interior tray of the box is printed with a graffitied wall, which makes for a nice backdrop to display the figure against. The back panel of the box shows the other figures available in this two series line.

DC Direct’s figures usually feature excellent sculpts, but I’m extra impressed with the job they did on The Comedian. Besides being a genuinely good likeness to actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan they attention to the little details of his costume and gear is pretty exquisite and the tiny cigar sculpted into his mouth is just the icing on the cake. His shoulder armor is hinged so as not to interfere with the arm articulation and he has two sculpted holsters on his belt to hold his trusty sidearms. The paintwork on my figure is razor sharp to match the sculpt. You have to look really hard to see any signs of bleed or slop.

The Comedian comes with his two automatic pistols, which fit in the aforementioned holsters or in his hands. The sculps and paintwork on these weapons hold up with the rest of the figure. He also comes with a display stand. I’m not really crazy about the stand. It’s just too small for him, but I won’t complain about getting it. Although a shotgun would have been more welcome.

If you’re familiar with DC Direct’s figures than you know not to expect a super articulated figure, but with 13 useful points of articulation, Comedian has much better poseability than I’m used to seeing in these figures. The arms feature ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows and swivel cuts to the wrists; his legs rotate at the hips, are hinged at the knees, and feature swivel cuts just above the boots. There’s no articulation in his torso, but his neck is ball jointed.

Comedian is the only Watchman figure I own and that’s mostly because I just stumbled upon him on clearance, but he’s definitely inspired me to hunt down some of the other figures in the line when I get the chance. DC Direct’s figures seldom disappoint me, but the overal quality on this guy has just blown me away.

Jun 16 2011

Masters of the Universe Classics: She-Ra (Re-Issue) by Mattel

[Yesterday was a Matty Collector Sale Day and I realized I never did get around to looking at one of the figures I picked up last month, so today we’re going to take a look at a belated very belated look at last month’s release re-release of She-Ra. As for the Sale Day, it worked out really well this month, since I was actually home and at my computer at 12pm when the sale kicked off. This happens about as often as Halley’s Comet comes around. Anyway, it all went really smoothly and I was able to secure both Battleground Teela and The Faceless One, as well as the re-issue of Whiplash. Now I just have to wait for Matty’s slow-ass shipping to get me the goods. Ghostbuster Winston Zedemore and Horde member Grizzlor were my two backups, but as I got all my first choices, I had to leave them be. Ok… on to today’s feature…]

So, the first time around, She-Ra sold out in a flash and unlike a lot of the other MOTUC figures, there aren’t a ton of them on Ebay. When Matty offered her as a re-issue last month, I jumped on it, but this time she lasted quite a while. I’m guessing she wasn’t in such high demand because Matty has let it be widely known that she won’t work with the forthcoming Swiftwind figure and that a new verison of She-Ra would be released. I really have no intention of getting Swiftwind, so this one was just fine with me.

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She-Ra comes on the standard MOTUC card with a Princess of Power sticker on the bubble. The back panel of the card shows some photos of other figures in the line and a bio card for She-Ra. She-Ra comes with two heads and is packaged with the vintage style head and the Filmation style head on the bottom of the bubble. I thought this was an interesting choice since I think it’s the weaker portrait. Anyway, my figure actually came with the head just barely attached, which segueys into a little story on it’s own, so let’s get the two heads out of the way before moving on to the rest of the figure.

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She-Ra’s head fell off as soon as I took her off the tray. I wasn’t terribly concerned since I planned on popping off that head anyway. As it turns out, though, getting the vintage style head back on was quite the chore. I had to press so hard, I was all but certain that I was going to either snap the post or mangle the figure’s joints. Time after time, I thought I had it on and it just fell right off again. Eventually it went on and I hope that’s the last time I ever put it on. The Filmation style head snaps on easily, but it tends to flop about a lot. My guess is the vintage head socket is too small and the Filmation one is too big.

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As for the heads themselves, the vintage style noggin is the one that caused all the hub-bub with the first release because of the way the tiara/mask piece pegs into the forehead leaving a huge square socket when it’s removed. I never plan on using this head, so it doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. Apart from the huge hole, I think the sculpt is quite good as is the clever way the tiara/mask piece can be flipped. I just don’t think the mask looks very good on the figure. Still, I’ll give Matty points for trying something original here. The Filmation style head is excellent and remarkably close to the version of the character that I am more familiar with. The sculpt is beautiful and similar enough to the one used on Princess Adora. The paint apps are immaculate and the hair is sculpted nicely so as not to interfere too badly with the neck articulation. Nice job, guys.

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The rest of the figure is also quite good. As with Teela, She-Ra’s dress is sculpted from separate rubbery plastic and permanently attached to the figure’s body. It makes for a nice bit of depth to the figure’s sculpt, but it does have the drawback of hindering articulation, which we’ll get to in a minute. The gold paintwork on her bracers and boots is nice and vibrant and there’s very little slop or bleeding between her white outfit and the gold ornamentation. She-Ra has a separate cape sculpted from soft plastic that hangs around her neck. It’s easily removable by popping off the head, unless you’re in my situation and are too afraid to remove the head ever again.

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The articulation is standard for the female of the line, which is to say not as good as the male figures. She has universal movement in the shoulders and hips; hinged elbows, knees, and ankles; and swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists. What’s obviously missing is the torso swivel and ab crunch joint. As mentioned above, She-Ra’s skirt also severly inhibits her hip joints. My guess is the updated figure will have slits up the sides to rectify this. You can certainly get some poses out of her, but ultimately I find the articulation to be somewhat limiting.

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You get a fair number of accessories with She-Ra. Besides the bonus head, you get her sword and shield, and you get her comb which doubles as an axe (or is that an axe that doubles as a comb). The sword seems a bit lacking in quality compared to the one that came with Adora. It’s extra bendy and it floats around a bit in She-Ra’s hand, and really makes for the only other issue I have with the figure. The shield clips onto her arm in two places and holds pretty well. The axe is a clever little way to include the trademark combs that came with the original dolls, but I have little use for it.

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I’ll confess, I was never a big fan of She-Ra as a kid, although I’ve seen my fair share of the Filmation cartoon. That having been said, She-Ra was one figure that I desparately wanted to add to my MOTUC collection and I’m really thrilled that Matty offered her as a re-issue. I suppose it’s possible that the newer version will be great enough to make me buy it as well, but I don’t think that’s likely to happen. The biggest opportunity for a fix on this figure is the head hole for the tiara/mask piece, and while it would be nice to have the option to display the figure without any headgear, it’s not something that would make me buy another figure.

 

Jun 15 2011

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Cyberverse Powerglide by Hasbro

While this will certainly not be the last Dark of the Moon toy you see featured here this week, I will at least promise to pull back on the Cyberverse stuff a little bit. Today I’m going to finish my look at the three Commander figures I own with a rather unexpected treat: Powerglide. Now, it’s no small secret that the last Powerglide figure was a bit disappointing. He was a decent enough figure on his own, but he didn’t fit in the Classics line and he was way too big to suit the character. Just take a look at Generations Warpath again, Hasbro. That’s how to do a proper revival of a G1 Minibot. Anyway, I saw Powerglide listed a little while back on the list of forthcoming Cyberverse figures, but I just figured it was a recycled name for a Bayformer inspired toy. Nope. What we have here is actually a pretty solid G1 homage that feels more faithful to the original character than that oversized Classics/Universe 2.0 toy did. Let’s take a look…

I’ve spilled enough electronic ink on the packaging used for the Cyberverse Commander figures, so I won’t linger for long on it here. Suffice it to say, it’s attractive, shows off the figure really well, and is even collector friendly. Powerglide is packaged in his robot form, but we’re still going to start by looking at his jet mode.

Yep, that’s the Powerglide we all know and love. He’s still based on the real world A-10 Warthog, a distinctive looking aircraft that’s been in service for a really long time. Powerglide has some crazy detail for such a little toy, complete with intricate panel lines and a tiny sculpted chaingun under the nose. The coloring is pretty faithful to the original G1 toy as well, and I love the wings on the silver Autobot emblems. He’s even got flip down landing gear and removable weapon racks for under his wings. This jet mode is a homerun.

Powerglide’s transformation is very clever and fairly complex for such a little figure. The resulting robot looks very good and makes for a great homage to the original character, especially where the headsculpt is concerned. Although there are a few little things about the figure that nag at me. The parts that form his shoulders peg into his torso, but not very strongly, so when you manipulate his arms, they tend to pull right out. Granted, it’s a problem that has certainly plagued bigger and more expensive Transformers, so I’m not going to make a big deal about it here. He has very nice articulation, with hinges and swivels in the shoulders, balljoints in the hips and hinged elbows and knees.

The weapon racks that you take off of Poweglide’s wings for transformation double as hand weapons, but neither of them work all that well. One of them looks pretty good, but it’s hard to get it to stay in his hand. The other just looks awkward and I’d rather put it to the side than display him holding it.

Yeah, Powerglide has a few issues, but they aren’t enough to blemish what is otherwise a really clever design and a very impressive little Transformer. Hasbro could have probably produced this exact figure as a Scout or Deluxe and I would have been more satisfied with it as a Classics Powerglide than I would the oversized toy they actually produced for that line. He’s yet another reason why I am really amazed by Cyberverse’s Commander assortment and I think he’s well worth picking up, even for those who don’t intend to pursue this line.

Jun 14 2011

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Cyberverse Optimus Prime by Hasbro

There sure are a lot of new Transformers in the toy aisles right now, and yet I seem to be addicted to buying nothing but these Cyberverse figures. It’s pretty strange since I all but ignored the Legends Class in the past. I guess I just really dig being able to take home a couple new Transformers from my weekly grocery run to Walmart without breaking the bank. This time around I picked up the Autobots’ Big Bot himself, Optimus Prime. Let’s check him out…

Optimus Prime is a Commander figure, so he’s from the slightly larger and more complex assortment in the line. We’ve already seen this packaging before when we looked at Ironhide. I still like it a lot, although the bio blurb on the back is kind of disappointing. The figure comes mounted in his robot mode and thanks to the half cylinder style of bubble, you can easily get the figure out and back in if you want. It’s a pretty cool way to deliver a collector friendly package on a cheap cardback. I should point out here that this figure is also available in a Limited Edition and packaged with a set of 3D Glasses.

As usual, I’m going to start out in vehicle mode. This version of Prime is just the cab, although you can get what is basically the same figure with the trailer in the larger assortment set. The cab is a pretty good miniaturized version of the Prime’s truck mode as seen in the live action movies. The proportions suffer a little bit, with the hood of the cab a bit longer than it should be, but the rest looks fine. The cab holds its form nicely, but the robot kibble hanging off the undercarriage scrapes on the ground preventing the toy from rolling as well as it should. There’s a weapon pod that fits on to the back of the cab, which is made up from the parts that will form Prime’s jetpack and guns in his robot mode. It looks surprisingly good.

And then there’s the robot mode. If you’re looking for a mini version of the Prime from the Michael Bay movies, than I don’t think this is going to satisfy you. On the other hand, it’s still a really cool take on Prime. It actually looks more like the old Power Master Prime to me, although there’s a little Energon Prime in there as well, particularly in the way he wears some of his wheels as a backpack. The sculpt is really well done and the coloring is great. He has a removable jetpack, which looks great on him, but definitely makes him back heavy. Prime could have been greatly improved by a pair of heel spurs to keep him up. Still, his occasional tendency to topple over doesn’t ruin the toy. His two guns socket right into his hands. Articulation is very good for such a tiny figure. Prime has ball joints in his shoulders and hips and hinged elbows and knees.

As a Commander figure, Prime retails at just under eight bucks. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the price point on these guys. Yeah, it seems a little steep, but like Ironhide, this really is a well designed and nicely crafted little toy. It feels like too much to pay when it’s hanging on the peg, but once I’ve got them open I tend to feel as if the price is justified, even though the Deluxes are just a few dollars more. I honestly thought that Ironhide might have been a fluke, but now that I own two of these Cyberverse Commander figures, I’m still just as impressed. Shall we try for three? Next time, we’ll look at Cyberverse Powerglide and see if Hasbro can keep it going.

Jun 13 2011

Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver by Character Options

Given the mileage they get out of their molds, it was pretty inevitable that once Character Options released the first classic Sonic Screwdriver that more would follow. The first release was based off of The Third Doctor’s trusty device, and now CO has followed suit with the Fourth Doctor’s version. Let’s see what we got…

The packaging is the same design used for the Third Doctor’s screwdriver with a different printed insert to suit the Fourth Doctor and a new lenticular collectible card. The back panel has a blurb about the screwdriver and the Doctor himself. There’s no “Try Me” feature or anything and the batteries actually come mounted in the tray beside the toy. Yes, you will need a small phillips head screwdriver to put the batteries in the scewdriver. I believe that’s called irony. While we’re on the subject, you’ll also need a good pair of scissors or a razor blade to get into the ironclad clamshell of a package.

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As you’ve probably already guessed, this Sonic Screwdriver is just a very minor resculpt of the Third Doctor’s issue. In fact the only difference in the sculpt is the elongted bit on the back of the head and the fact that the head sits a little higher in the shaft. Again, the head of the screwdriver is made of soft bendy rubber to prevent it from snapping off. As a result what really separates this one from the previous release is the color scheme. The yellow spiral stripe is gone as is the simulated duct tape wrapped around the bottom of the shaft. What you get is a mostly silver piece with some black accents and the red on the instrument’s head. While the Third Doctor’s version is certainly pretty screen accurate, I’m guessing this one will be the more desireable for lacking the yellow striping. The sounds are activated by pulling down on the shaft and the sound chip is identical to the Third Doctor version. Pull it down a little bit to hear the first sound and pull it down all the way to hear the one with more of a warble to it.

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The Fourth Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver retails for around $25. As with the first release, I think $20 would have been a more reasonable price, but I’m not going to complain. I’ve wanted one of these for a long, long time, and it sure beats paying the $200+ dollars for the metal prop versions that some companies have put out. I tend to be a bigger Jon Pertwee fan than Tom Baker (although I love them both) and yet I still prefer this Sonic Screwdriver over the one used by Pertwee’s Doctor. Sure, if you have the first release, this one is really redundant, but hey, if you’re a Who fan, you really should own both anyway.

Jun 8 2011

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Cyberverse Ratchet and Crowbar

The last time I looked at the Cyberverse figures, I was a little befuddled about the differences in size and complexity. Now that the local retailers have put out more product I can see that there are two assortments of figures: The Commanders and Legions. With the Legions figures finally available around these parts, I picked up two of them to look at today. One familiar and one brand new.

The packaging on these guys is like a scaled down version of the Commander figures’ packages. You still get that half tube that displays the figure very nicely in his robot mode and mounted on a DotM cardback. It’s simple but attractive and let me say yet again how much more I like this package deco than the ones used on the previous two films. The large insignia on the lower right side clearly shows off whether the figure is a Decepticon or Autobot. They’re packaged as robots, but let’s start off with their vehicle modes.

Ratchet is a nice tiny approximation of his larger versions. In fact, the only thing that really bugs me about his ambulance mode are the large hinges on the front of the doors. Ok, I hate the radioactive green color too, but that’s more a style issue than anything else. And I’ll venture to say I like it better than the puke green used on previous versions. He still has the roof rack with the spare tire and there’s a remarkable amount of sculpted detail in the front bumper for such a little guy.

Transforming Ratchet is really easy and the resulting bot is once again quite faithful to his larger versions, albeit with the wheels and bumper that make up his chest not turned upside down. The head sculpt is excellent for its size and with ball jointed hips and rotating shoulders and balljoints in his elbows, he has a decent amount of articulation, albeit not as good as the Commander figures. I’m not blown away by Ratchet, but he’s a solid toy for his size and fun to fiddle about with.

Crowbar gets instant props for being a Decepticon car. The package actually calls him a police car but there’s no evidence of that on the toy itself. He doesn’t have any police markings or lightbars. I guess he could be an undercover cruiser. Whatever the case, the car is all black with just a few gray bits. I would have preferred the Decepticon logo on the hood, rather than reversed and offset on the roof, but that’s ok. Crowbar’s car mode does have a fair amount of seaming on it, but all in all it looks ok and holds together very well.

Transforming Crowbar is a little tough to get started because everything locks together so well. Most of the time, I just wind up pulling the ball joints out and reassembling him, but if you’re more careful and precise that isn’t necessary. His convesion is a lot more clever and impressive than Ratchet’s and the result is a very cool looking figure. His feet and legs are particularly well done, despite being mistransformed in the package. The sculpted detail on his head and torso are paritcularly well done and there’s a lot more interesting coloring going on in robot mode too.

The Legion figures retail at just under five bucks, which isn’t what I would call cheap for such small toys, but I’m not going to complain too much either. These guys are very well designed and beautifully sculpted. They also have a lot more play value than one might expect to find in such small figures. Crowbar is definitely my favorite of the pair, but Ratchet is no slouch either.

Jun 2 2011

Transformers Power Core Combiners: Icepick and Chainclaw by Hasbro

In case you haven’t noticed, Hasbro has killed off the Power Core Combiner line. I don’t think this will come as a great shock to many TF fans out there, as the product seemed to be rotting on the shelves, particularly the five-packs. I’ve reviewed a fair number of these figures here, both the two-packs and the larger sets and they have admittedly been quite the mixed bag. None of them have ever lived up to the first Combaticon set, but I’ve had very few complaints about the Commander and Minicon two-packs. Yesterday, I grabbed one of the newer Commander sets on clearance, so let’s check out Icepick and Chainclaw.

The packaging is ok. I like the big Decepticon insignia under the Transformers logo. Both figures are carded in robot form and they fill out the bubble nicely. The back panel shows off the toys in both of their modes. I’m kind of surprised they gave Icepick here an Intermediate Level of Transformation. He’s basically a Scout sized toy and fairly easy to transform into all his different forms.

As his name may suggest, Icepick’s alt form is an arctic halftrack. That right there makes him stand out because after decades of Transformers releases, there have only been a few arctic themed Transformers. His vehicle mode is pretty cool and includes a big plow on the front and molded simulated treads in the back. This mode holds together really well and rolls along thanks to hidden wheels under the fake treads. There’s a Minicon port on the top to attach his buddy Chainclaw in his weapon mode. One of my ungoing complaints in this line has been Hasbro’s unwillingness to hide the power combiner pegs on the vehicle and robot modes, but here they just don’t look too bad.

Like I said earlier, transforming Icepick is really quite easy and the resulting robot is really cool looking. He’s got pretty massive claws for hands and excellent articulation for a Scout sized toy. Once again, Hasbro doesn’t do a lot to hide the combiner pegs in this mode either. There they are just hanging off his shoulders, but like the alt mode, they don’t bother me a lot here. In fact, I really dig everything about Icepick’s robot mode.

Chainclaw is my favorite kind of Minicon, as he’s basically a Targetmaster. He transforms into a double rack rocket launcher pod and he looks pretty good on Icepick or really any other Transformer with a Minicon port. His robot mode is nice and clean and even sports good articulation for a Minicon. He’s almost worth buying the set on his own if you can find it for a good enough clearance price.

Unfortunately, Icepick’s combiner form isn’t all that great. I used the Combaticon drones to illustrate his combined form, as that’s the ones listed on the instructions. It doesn’t look too bad, but I think Icepick holds together the worst out of all the Commander figures I own. There’s really nothing to lock him together and his torso mode is very flat. What’s worse is that his leg joints aren’t strong enough to hold him up. As a result, you really just need to blow on him and he’ll double over and fall apart. On the plus side, I do like his combiner head. It’s very distinctive and looks like it has ice crystals coming out of his head. Why would he have ice crystals in his head? No logical reason, but it still looks cool.

You should have no trouble finding the Power Core Combiners on clearance now, and I would recommend this set strictly on the merits of the figures alone. You can forget all about their combiner abilities and still add a couple of nice and certainly unique Transformers to your collection. From my experience, you can’t really go wrong with the Commander two-packs, and I know I’ll be hunting down the ones I’m still missing whenever I can.

May 30 2011

Doctor Who: “The Time Monster” Master and TARDIS by Character Options

In case you haven’t noticed, Character Options is striving to get a lot of mileage out of their classic figure sculpts. They’re doing this by making us buy the same figures or toys over and over again to get a new piece in our collections. Just look at the four Davros sets or the fact that they’re putting out another Sontaran set with the ship, and you’ll see what I mean. This Time Monster set is yet another example, where I’m buying a figure that I already own, in this case The Master, just to get his TARDIS and a few little accessories. Does this piss me off? Nope. Not in the slightest. If this is what CO needs to do to get a return on their investment and keep making figures, that’s fine by me. I’ve waited so long for these figures and toys and I’m so happy that CO is making them, I’ll gladly keep forking over the dough as long as CO keeps making them.

The package is a window box with the same deco that’s been used for sets like the Vengeance on Varos or The Sontaran Experiment. You get a blue deco with the 2005 series logo. The front of the package features a photo of Roger Delgado as The Master along with a shot of his TARDIS as it appeared in the episode. The back panel has a nice synopsis of the episode, The Time Monster, and more photos from the show. One of my favorite things about this set is the cardboard insert that is illustrated with roundels from inside the TARDIS and can be taken out and used as a backdrop to display the figures with. No doubt this backdrop will go a long way for folks looking to do custom TARDIS interiors.

I don’t have much to say about The Master, as he’s the exact same figure that was released with the Claws of Axos set. He’s a fantastic figure with a wonderful likeness of Roger Delgado, but I’ve got nothing new to say here. Feel free to take a look at my review of The Claws of Axosset for more on the figure itself.

The TARDIS is designed to look like a 1970’s era computer bank. Much to The Doctor’s chagrin, The Master’s TARDIS had a fully functional Chameleon Circuit. It’s sculpted in hollow plastic and feels kind of like a dog’s chewtoy. The sculpt and the paint apps are simple enough, but don’t expect anything else out of it other than a prop. It doesn’t open, nothing moves on it, it’s just a display piece for decoration. Some may find that disappointing, but then there’s this counter-argument. “Holy shit, they actually have a toy based on The Masters TARDIS from The Time Monster.” Who the hell thought we’d ever see something like this? Yeah, I’m willing to be pretty forgiving here.

There are also three accessories included in the set. First, you get The Master’s Tissue Compression Eliminator, which is the same one issued with The Claws of Axos Master. Next up, you get the Crystal of Kronos, which is actually a really nice little scaled replica of the artifact from the episode. Lastly, you get the Time Sensor that The Doctor built, which is also a pretty nice piece.

If you missed out on picking up The Claws of Axos set, and you’re in the market for this Master figure, this set is a nice pick-up. It’s especially a nice set if you passed on the Axos set out of bitterness that the Axon figure was actually just a repainted Krynoid. On the other hand, if you already have The Master in your collection, this set is by no means a must have. The TARDIS is cool enough and the accessories are nice, but it hardly justifies buying the set. On the other hand, with a retail of about $25-30, picking this one up isn’t going to break your bank like collecting all the Davros sets will. Personally, I’m trying to support this line as much as possible, so buying this set was a no brainer for me.

May 29 2011

Masters of the Universe Classics: Catra by Mattel

Today we’re looking at on one of this month’s MOTUC figures from Matty Collector. It’s Catra and the fact that I own this figure is proof that Mattel is making some awesome figures. [Need more proof? I bought She-Ra too, and we’ll probably be looking at her tomorrow. -FF] I have absolutely no recollection of or affinity for this character from the old Filmation cartoons, but then I never spent a lot of time watching She-Ra. Nonetheless, she looked pretty cool and I was just itching to get some new MOTUC figures this month. Besides, I’ve yet to be disappointed by an MOTUC purchase. So let’s see if that track record holds true.

When the Matty box showed up at my door this morning I had almost completely forgot that even ordered it. That’s a slightly less beligerent way of saying Matty’s shipping is pricey and slow. Ok, it’s only been 10 days since the sale, but it seems like most of the other retailers I deal with can get my goods to me faster and cheaper. But, I digress… let’s look at the packaging. It’s the same old Greyskull inspired green brick motif, and it’s just as magnificent looking as ever. Some may argue that Matty should have done more of a Princess of Power themed package for the figures from that property, but I’m not one of them. Besides, there’s a nice Evil Horde sticker right on the bubble to declare her affiliation.

In a universe populated by bat-shit crazy looking people and creatures, Catra looks pretty normal. Even more so when you consider that she’s totally obsessed with cats and can indeed turn into one herself. The head sculpt is positively gorgeous with some definite feline aspects to her facial structure, particularly in her eyes and her high cheekbones. Her hair is very nicely sculpted and doesn’t interfere with her neck articulation. The legs and boots seem to borrow from She-Ra, which is fine, but I’m not terribly thrilled with her useless and very soft left hand. The hand is sculpted to look like she’s going to scratch someone, and I’m guessing that safety protocols required the fingers to be bendy. But wait, isn’t this an Adult Collectors line? I dunno. It’s not such a big deal, if you plan on keeping her shield clipped to her left hand, but I would have rather had a functional hand. Her one-piece outfit is sculpted from rubbery plastic and permanently attached just like She-Ra and Teela and I really dig The Horde emblem sculpted into it. It’s a nice break from the cat motif of the rest of her gear. She also comes with a soft plastic cape that floats freely around her neck and can be removed by popping off her head.

Catra comes with a nice little assortment of accessories. You get her sword, shield, whip, tiara and cat mask. The sword and shield both have a cat motif. The shield is actually a resculpt of She-Ra’s. The whip has a comb sculpted into the handle, which seems to be the running gag with the MOTUC Princess of Power ladies. The tiara and mask are sculpted to fit snugly onto Catra’s face and either one holds on quite well, although I prefer displaying her with the tiara over the mask.

The articulation is standard for the females of the MOTUC line. You get a ball jointed neck, univeral movement in the shoulders and hips, hinged elbows, knees, and ankles, swivels in the wrists and boots. You don’t get any torso articulation, which is a bummer, but it seems to be par for the course with the ladies of the MOTUC line.

All things considered, I’m really happy with this figure. She looks great and helps to add a little to the ranks of the MOTUC ladies. I like the understated design and the quality of the sculpt and paintwork is certainly up to The Four Horseman’s excellent standards. I can even live with her floppy left hand. Plus, now my Hordak has someone to keep him company. I’ll probably have to break down and pick up Grizzlor now too, although I may wait until he makes another appearance on MattyCollector.