Mar 15 2011

Vintage Vault: Sectaurs Pinsor and Battle Beetle by Coleco

We haven’t taken a trip down to the Vintage Vault in a while, and since I was specifically looking for something different to do today, I figured we’d check in on the Sectaurs again. Yes, it’s another figure, but this time, we’re also looking at the big honking bug that the figure was bundled with. Meet Pinsor and Battle Beetle.

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I’d point out that naturally I don’t have the packaging for these guys anymore, but it’s worth noting that a MISB set just slipped through my grasp a few weeks ago at a more than reasonable price. Oh well. Suffice it to say these figures came in a good sized window box that would have been really difficult for me to store and still keep free of getting crushed or torn or anything else, so it’s probably for the best that I missed it. Mine is not quite a complete set, as we’ll see in a little bit, but both figures are in beautiful shape, although the Battle Beetle seems to be losing a hair now and then. At least I hope that’s his hair.

I’ve gone on in a couple of entries about how much I like the Sectaurs as just plain action figures. They have distinctive designs, they’re well articulated, they fit in great with the Masters of the Universe Classics, and they come with great weapons and accessories. But what really made this upstart line of toys from Coleco so awesome was the innovative bug-puppets that they could ride on. Behold the Battle Beetle!

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To the uninitiated, the Battle Beetle is one of a number of plastic creatures in the toy line that the figures can saddle up and ride, but you can put your hand into a glove-like thing underneath it to work it like a puppet. There’s a ring that you pass your finger through that works the pincers and the rest of the fingers are supposed to be his legs. He’s also got real hair on his back, and I don’t know about you but I find bug hair creepy. The Battle Beetle is one of the more common of the ride on critters, but they can all be tough to find in good condition because the hair tends to get pulled out or damaged and the glove is often missing. I was lucky to get this guy in almost perfect condition. The plastic portions of the Battle Beetle are nicely sculpted, with the same purplish color as the figures and he has a sculpted saddle that will fit any of the Sectaur figures. The pinchers work really well and you can use them to swoop down and grab another figure and carry it off. Sweet.

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Pinsor is a fairly distinctive figure as he’s a bit more portly than the other Sectaurs I’ve looked at here (Zak and Mantor), but the sculpt is instantly recognizeable as part of the series, particularly in the head sculpt. He’s got a big beefy head, a Prussian-style mustache and the same blue bug eyes and rubbery antenna that the other good-guy Sectaurs possess. Apart from being broader, Pinsor’s torso is similarly sculpted and colored as Zak and Mantor, as are his arms and legs. Mine has a bit of paint scratching on his butt from being fitted into the saddle on the Battle Beetle a zillion times over the years.

The articulation on Pinsor is identical to Zak and Mantor. He has ball jointed shoulders and hips and hinged knees. His head turns 360 degrees. His hand-claws are sculpted a bit strangely, but they do work to hold his accessories really well.

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Pinsor’s accessories include the removable rubbery belt and bandalier strap seen on the previous Sectaurs I’ve looked at here, although it’s style is unique to this figure. It includes a holster and a sheath for his pistol and sabre. Alas, I don’t have the pistol, but the sabre fits nicely on his back. He also comes with a big kite-style shield, which I love. It’s much better than the small target shields that came with Zak and Mantor.

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As with the other figures in this line, this set holds up really well even by today’s standards. The sculpting and colors are nice and while the articulation on Pinsor isn’t what we would call outstanding today, it still beats the basic five-points that we still sometimes see cropping up in action figures today. And while I think the figures themselves are worthwhile by themselves, to really experience the coolness factor of the Sectaurs, you really need to own at least one of these bigger bugs. As mentioned, Battle Beetle here is probably the best one to go with, but he isn’t necessarily the best. Not to worry, though, I’ll take a look at some more of the Sectaurs figures and the bigger ride ons in the near future… as soon as I can figure out what tote they’re hiding in.

Mar 14 2011

Down and Out!

I came down with some bad mojo on Saturday night, from which I’m still trying to recover. I’m not sure what it was, but it landed me in bed all day Sunday. Today I felt well enough to at least sit up and build this…

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So, I still owe y’all one more non-Lego, non-Tron entry before I dive back into the Tron and Lego madness, which will likely dominate the rest of the week. I’ll drum up something for tomorrow. Until then, I’m going back to bed to finish up reading Game of Thrones and get myself well enough to go into work tomorrow.

See ya!

Mar 12 2011

Doctor Who: The Face of Boe by Character Options

I’ve still got a buttload of new Tron and Lego stuff to look at, but in the interest of mixing things up for those of you who don’t care about either, I’m going to take the weekend off from Tron and Legos and feature something different for a change. Today, I thought I’d dive into my Doctor Who shelves and come up with an older figure that I haven’t looked at here yet. There are actually a lot of great figures on my Who shelves that I need to revisit for Figurefan, but let’s start today with one of my favorite of the deluxe style figures: The Face of Boe.

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The package is long gone, and honestly I don’t even remember what it looked like, apart from featuring the orange swirly background and the 2005 series logo. The cool thing about Boe is he started out with what seemed like just a cameo of a big odd looking alien, and slowly he grew into this recurring mysterious character until ultimately it was intimated that Boe is none other than the impossibly old incarnation of the immortal Jack Harkness himself. It always seemed to me like Russell T. Davies left just enough wiggle room there to backpeddle on it if he had to, but honestly, if evolving into a big head in a tank is the cost of immortality, I think I’ll pass thank you.

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Obviously, Boe isn’t so much a figure as he is… well, I don’t know what you’d call it other than just a toy. He’s a giant head in a tank and I think Character Options did a pretty impressive job recreating this extremely unconventional alien in toy form. The head inside the tank is a very remarkable sculpt and certainly captures the look on the screen, right down to all his tendrils. He even has a little action feature that opens and closes his mouth when you work the switch on the back of the tank. Obviously, the smokey atmosphere in Boe’s tank isn’t replicated here, although CO added some green ooze paint apps inside, which I’m not all that crazy about. They just look cheesy and not really accurate to what was seen in the show.

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One thing I really like about this toy is the detailed sculpt of the life support and locomotive elements of Boe’s tank. I don’t recall ever seeing the sides of the tank in the show, but here we get to see what it looked like up close and personal. There are all sorts of tubes and tanks and controls and the entire thing rolls along on two simulated molded treads. In reality, the toy rolls along on two wheels and a ball bearing, all concealed under the toy.

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If you collect CO’s Doctor Who figures and you don’t already have The Face of Boe in your collection, I really recommend hunting him down. He’s not as easy to find these days as he once was, but he’s worth the effort. Not only is he a great looking toy, but he certainly turned out to be a pretty influencial character for both the 9th and 10th Doctor. And who knows? We may even see him again one day.

Mar 11 2011

Tron Legacy: 3 3/4″ Quorra and Jarvis by Spin Master

Given the chance, I wouldn’t have bet money on Spin Master’s Tron: Legacy figures surviving to see a second series. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been pretty pleased with the toys so far, but I’m not convinced Tron: Legacy turned out to be as a big a blockbuster as some of Disney’s other toy-pushing licenses out these days. Plus, the line has had its share of spotty QC issues that have led to some unfavorable word of mouth among collectors. Nonetheless, Series 2 happened and is filtering on to the pegs. It consists of some new 3 3/4″ figures and some new vehicles. Today we’re going to look at two of the new figures: Quorra and Jarvis.

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The packaging is the same as we’ve been seeing all along, except for the “Series 2” up in the corner and the back panel of the card, which shows off some of the new figures. The vertical neon Tron logo still dominates the left side of the card and the bubble shows off the figures nicely, while including an illustrated insert to customize the packaging to the particular character. Both figures have the Try Me hole so you can see their light gimmick without removing them from the packaging.

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Let’s start with Quorra. A bunch of entries back I prayed for a Series 2 so I could finally get an Olivia Wilde action figure. This ain’t quite what I had in mind. I’m not sure if it’s a way to get around paying royalties for using Ms Wilde’s likeness, but the figure features her with her helmet on as she appeared in her first five minutes or so of the film. Maybe kids will think this is cooler to play with, but I would have at least liked a swappable head. Then again, based on  Spin Master’s lack of success with Sam Flynn’s head sculpt, we may be better off this way.

Nonetheless, it’s definitely Quorra. Her shoulders are bare like in the movie and she has a little skirt. Her feet are sculpted kind of strange to look like heels, but the way they curve at the heels, they don’t look very natural. Another issue is that they had to thicken her up a bit to cram those electronics into her. She looks fine from the front, but rather beefy when viewed in profile. My one big gripe with the figure is the way the skirt inhibits her leg movement. I don’t have the Light Runner yet, but when I do get it, I’m betting she won’t be able to sit in it all that well. I can’t deny Quorra is a disappointment, but just because I expected better, doesn’t make this a terrible figure.

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Next up is Jarvis. He’s the creepy Michael Berryman-looking guy who served as Clu’s toady. He got a lot of screentime and had a fair share of dialogue, so he definitely deserves a figure more than 60 percent of the characters they make Star Wars figures out of. There’s not a lot to say about his sculpt. His head is pretty good, and I think the face shield is done much better on this figure than it was done on Sam Flynn. He has a bit of a skirt, which unfortunately gets in the way of his leg articulation. I do wish Spin Master used a brighter, more vibrant paint for the lighting. It just looks dull.

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The light up effects are pretty good for figures in this scale. Quorra’s is very similar to the 3 3/4″ Sam Flynn figure I looked at quite a while back. Jarvis’ light is a little more underwhelming.

Both figures feature decent enough articulation. They have ball joints in their necks, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and ankles, and swivels in the wrists.

Accessories? Both figures come with the very cool Ident Disc style figure stand that we saw with Sam Flynn. They also both come with little Ident Discs. Quorra comes with a Light Katana and Jarvis comes with a Data Pad. A sticker would have been helpful to make the Data Pad look like something other than what it is: Just a little slab of black plastic.

What’s the verdict? Not bad. I’ve tempered my expectations a bit on these 3 3/4″ figures. They are perfectly passable, but with Hasbro doing some truly stellar sculpts in this scale these days, the competition is just getting steeper for smaller companies like Spin Master. Still, they look ok, the light effects are still cool, poseability is fine, and they definitely capture the spirit of the property. I still think the Deluxe sized figures are better executed and better values, but I doubt either of these characters will be released in the Deluxe size.

Mar 10 2011

Lego Atlantis: Angler Attack (#7978)

[My humblest apologies if you’re getting tired of the Tron-and-Legos-Marathon that’s been going on here lately. I’ve tried to pepper a little Transformers and DC loving around too. As always, this place reflects what I’m into on any given day and lately I’ve just been focused on completing my Tron Legacy collection and getting my Legos fix on as often as possible. Fear not, it can’t last forever. Sooner or later new Transformers or Doctor Who or something else will start showing up to mix things up around here. In the meantime, just be thankful that there aren’t any Tron Legos sets. -FF]

So, if you haven’t guessed yet, I’ve commited myself to the Lego Atlantis line. Or at least I have now that I’ve picked up one of the beefier sets. I tend to prefer the Lego vehicles and buildings, rather than being a big fan of the Lego beasties, so I really wasn’t sure how much I was going to dig this beast-centric set. But the images on the box convinced me to give it a try, so let’s see how it turned out.leg7978a

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And there’s the box. It’s decently sized and contains one instruction book, one sticker sheet, and three unnumbered baggies of bricks. Those bricks include two minifigs, a little Atlantean ruin with a treasure chest, a one man sub, and the Mr. Big and Ugly himself, the Angler Fish. Now keep in mind, while this set does tip out at just over 201 pieces, the majority of the pieces in this set are TINY. Yes, there’s a few sizeable bricks, but for the most part you’re dealing with a lot of really small bits. If nothing else, this was a really interesting build, especially for the size and price point. To the minifigs!!!

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You get one diver, Dr. Fisher, and you get the Barracuda Warrior, which is easily the best minifig I’ve seen in a while. I haven’t been all that smitten by the bad guys in this series, but I still gotta give props to the design on this guy. His head is huge and puts his mouth right in the middle of his chest. You also have to put on his teeth, as they are separate pieces. I dig him. I’m actually surprised they through a bad guy minifig in the set at all, as Fisher seems to have his plate full already what with having to deal with the Angler Fish.

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The little patch of ruin looks like it would be right at home on the bottom of an aquarium. It’s got a treasure chest that opens and closes, a couple of sprigs of seaweed and a piece of ancient column that sits on an angle. There’s a couple of jewels and a bronzed helmet to put in the chest. It’s a cool little accent piece for the set and it gives our hero something to battle the Barracuda Warrior and the Angler Fish over.

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Fisher’s little sub is ok, but nothing special. The Atlantis line features a lot of these little one-man submersables. I’ll at least give kudos that they’ve all been unique so far. This one has a little grabber arm, a clip to hold a harpoon gun, and a spinning propeller on the front. It features the same kind of handlebars as the other subs we’ve seen, so the pilot hangs on, rather than actually sits down. I’m not crazy about the prop being on the front, though, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

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The Angler Fish is a obviously the real draw of the set. He’s a really cool piece and made for a fun build. There’s some really clever stuff at play here. My favorite thing is the complex joint for the bottom of the jaw. I had no idea why I was building it the way I was, and it’s the first time I’ve used those rubbery pieces in a Lego set, but in the end it lets you pull down the bottom jaw and it’ll snap back. Like I said, it’s really clever. His teeth are awesome, and he’s even got a gold tooth! His bait tendril has a jewel on the end, which is pretty funny as it suggests he’s trying to trap the divers and not other fish. The overall design of this guy still looks more robotic than organic, which is a pretty unavoidable failing of a lot of the Legos beasts, but I still like him a lot. I think the only downside are his little top two fins. They’re the same pieces used for the divers’ flippers so it looks kind of cheesy. They’re also blank on one side, which makes the detail two-dimensional.

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Overall, I’m happy with this set. I’m getting a little tired of the diver minifigs, but even if I consider Fisher and his sub as bonuses, the Angler Fish and Barracuda Warrior make this set a worthwhile purchase. I had a lot of fun building it, and there weren’t a lot of redundant steps like in some of the sets I’ve been building. At just under $20, it’s a fair deal, and it’s also one of the few Atlantis sets left on the shelves in my neck of the woods.

Mar 9 2011

Tron Legacy: Ultimate Sam Flynn by Spin Master

Even though I’ve been going nuts, picking up all the other Tron toys, I had no intention of buying any of the 1:6 scale figures fromTron: Legacy. But sometimes a deal is too good to pass up and I wound up getting this guy for just a few dollars more than the cost of the Deluxe figures. Why not? Says I, so I took him home with me.

The packaging is pretty spiffy for a mass release figure, but probably nothing you haven’t seen in this scale before. It’s basically a window box with a front flap, emblazoned with the Tron logo, that covers up part of the window. It’s a decent enough design as it shows off the figure, screams the name of the license, and allows you to really see what you’re getting in the box. As with all the electronic Tron toys, there’s a Try Me hole cut out in the front of the window that lets you see the figure light up and demonstrate the impulse projection gimmick. The packaging is also fairly collector friendly. It’s easy to get the figure in and out without mangling anything, but the accessories are all attached to the back of the tray, so unless you go to the trouble of re-tying them, they’re going to be rattling around in the bottom of the box. And there are a lot of accessories.

Once out of the box the figure shows a lot of resemblance to its Deluxe sized cousin. There’s a lot more sculpted detail and some of the light effects that were just painted on the smaller figure, like the four rings on his torso and the bars on his thighs are now replaced with blue transparent plastic and actual lights. The painted lights are also more prominant and look a lot better than on the smaller figure.

So there’s good news and bad news about the electronics. The good news is that the lights have been added to his thighs too, so when he’s lit up you do get a much better looking effect than the Deluxe. The bad news is that pretty much everything else is just like the Deluxe. The impulse projection has a few more frames of animation, but otherwise it is exactly the same and the figure says the same lines:

  • My name is Sam Flynn.
  • Some things are worth the risk.
  • We gotta work together. It’s the only way!
  • Where am I? Am I on The Grid?
  • This is it… Come on.
  • I’m not a program.

A few more lines in this bigger, more expensive figure would have been welcome, but all in all the electronics look fantastic on this figure. The button has moved from his armpit on the Deluxe to the center of his chest on this version.

Accessories are definitely one of this figure’s strong points, although most of them are just scaled up versions of what we’ve seen in the Deluxe scale, albeit with some diecast added. You get Sam’s Ident Disc, a Light Katana, a set of Light Chucks, a Fighting Staff, and a Lightcycle Baton. Instead of pegging into the figure’s leg, the Baton here uses a magnet to attach. It’s a nice idea and holds on to the figure pretty well. The Ident Disc has some really nice weight to it too.

The articulation adds some useful points over the Deluxe sized figure. The arms feature ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows and swivels in the biceps, elbows and wrists. The legs have ball joints in the hips, swivels in the knees and ankles, and hinges in the knees and ankles. The fingers are hinged to grip the accessories and the feet are hinged too allow him to stand in more dynamic positions. Still no articulation in the torso or head, though.

I think the biggest problem with this Ultimate version of Sam Flynn is that, apart from its size, it still feels like a tweaked version of the Deluxe. Yes there are a bit more electronics, yes there are more accessories, some added articulation and some diecast… when I lay it all out it seems like a lot, but with the figure in hand? I’m not so sure. On the other hand, even at full price, this figure is only twice the cost of the Deluxe. And let’s face it at $30 for a 1:6 scale figure these days, it isn’t like you’re paying for a premium format figure. It’s not at all a bad figure at the price, but unless you’re an absolute Tron fanatic, you might find yourself content with the Deluxe version.

Mar 8 2011

Lego Atlantis: Ocean Speeder (#7976)

As promised, I’m stepping back a notch in the Atlantis series to look at one of the impulse sets, before moving forward to the bigger sets. This one is called Ocean Speeder. It’s about five bucks and contains 54 pieces, so I tempered my expectations a little.

The set comes in a tiny box that contains a folded sheet of instructions, a sticker sheet, and two unnumbered baggies of bricks. The pieces build one minifig, a one man submarine, and a little platform to hold the treasure.

The minifig, Lance Spears, is pretty good, but if you own any of the other Atlantis sets, he isn’t anything you haven’t seen before. He includes a helmet with oxygen tanks, flippers, and a harpoon gun. The paintwork on the figure is pretty awesome and adds a lot of detail. He also has a double printed face. Not much else to say here.

The platform is designed to look like a small chunk of ruins on the seabed. It has a little pedastal that holds the golden chalice and there’s a sprig of seaweed that comes up from the corner. There’s also a little red snake, which seems really out of place to me. Are there really snakes like this slithering around on the bottom of the ocean? Ah well, even so, I won’t gripe about a free snake.

The little sub is simple enough. It has two spinning propellers that can pivot up and down, and a set of grabber claws on the front. Like most of the smaller subs in this line, there’s no seat, instead the diver just hangs on to a set of handlebars. The wings are hinged and can fold down into different positions while the craft is in use. A pair of stickers provide some cool details along the top. Overall, this isn’t a bad little vehicle, but there are a couple of things that bug me. The handlebars should stick out farther and the grabber arms are a little too stubby to be much use. Still, I’m glad to get as many of the small subs in this line I can get for when I finally pick up the Exploration HQ.

Impressive or not, it’s tough to complain a lot about these impulse sets. You still get a bunch of cool stuff for five bucks. It’s a fun build and the finished product certainly has play value. Although, if this is your first Atlantis set, you won’t have any bad guys for the diver to fight, except for that snake. Ocean Speeder is a good way to get introduced to the Atlantis line, but if I didn’t already have the next larger set, this one wouldn’t have won me over.

Mar 7 2011

DC Universe Classics Wave 11: The Question by Mattel

I didn’t forget that I need to revisit the rest of Wave 11, so in the interest of taking a short break from the cavalcade of Tron Legacy toys, [oh yes, there’s more coming… so don’t pass out on me yet, Calahan! -FF] I thought I’d take a look at the other figure that was my most anticipated release of the wave: The Question.

During the heavy comic book reading days of my youth, I had an on-again off-again relationship with The Question. I can’t say as I particularly loved the comics I read, but I did recognize and love a lot of the same styles that were present in my favorite pulps like Mickey Spillane and the like. Beyond that I just loved his character design. You want to instill fear in the scum of the city, don’t dress up like some fruity bat. No, come out of the dark at them with a raincoat, fedora and no friggin face! That’ll scare them straight. More recently, I kind of rediscovered him based on his appearances in Justice League Unlimited as he was voiced by the masterful Jeffrey Combs, a performance that really added a lot of depth to the character.

Pretty standard DCUC packaging here. Remember, this is Wave 11, so there’s no Collector’s Button peeking through the bottom insert of the bubble. I’m both delighted and amazed that The Question appears as a Fan’s Choice selection and there’s a sticker on the bubble distinguishing him as such.

In a line of figures that tends to rely a lot on generic bodies and painted costumes, The Question is certainly a very unique looking figure. Mattel obviously had to do a lot of original tooling for this guy and it was certainly worth it. His double breasted vest and trenchcoat are both separately sculpted pieces, as is his necktie. It all conspires to give him a layered realism to his sculpt. I guess if you’re going to do a sculpt this unique, you might as well go all out. His face is obviously blank, but there’s some good detail in his hair and the sculpted fedora. And between that fedora and high collared raincoat, this guy’s profile is that of a truly classic pulp icon.

As you might expect, The Question’s sculpted plastic trenchcoat takes its toll on the figure’s articulation. His legs have all the points you would expect from a DCUC figure, including universal hip joints, swivels in the thighs, and hinges in the knees and ankles. You can get some movement here thanks to the soft sculpt of the raincoat, but there is some limitation there. From the waist up, he has universal joints in his shoulders, swivels in the biceps, hinges in the elbows and swivels in the wrists. His head is also ball jointed.

Considering the DCUC line is mostly based on colorfully costumed superheroes, The Question may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But obviously there’s enough love floating around for him to get him picked as the Fan’s Choice figure. Whatever the case, it’s hard to deny that Mattel went all out on the sculpt. He’s just plain awesome.

Mar 6 2011

Transformers Generations: Scourge by Hasbro

The new upper eschelon of Decepticon leadership was easily my favorite thing to come out of the original Transformers movie. I can’t exactly put my finger on why, but I absolutely loved Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge from the moment I laid eyes on them. They were all so sleek and new and nothing like the Decepticons that had come before them. Scourge got a little love not all that long ago as part of Hasbro’s short lived Titanium line, and now he gets the proper mainstream overhaul in Generations. Purists may be a bit bummed out about his new alt mode, but I think most will find a lot to love in his new robot form. Let’s check him out!

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Ahhh, yep. That’s the Generations packaging. We just saw it a few days ago when I looked at Kup, so I’m not going to say a lot more about it. Scourge comes packaged in his alt mode and he fills the bubble out pretty nicely. His weapon is mounted alongside him.

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Scourge’s new alt form is a flying-wing style bomber, and I really thought I was going to have a huge problem accepting it. In fairness to Hasbro, it’s a pretty good homage, considering they decided to go with a real world aircraft and not the sci-fi interstellar hovercraft thingy that the original G1 Scourge used as an alt form. Why they decided to make the change is another matter. The G1 inspired colors translate very well and there are a lot of other similarities at play here. Scourge can even poke his head out of his alt mode like he sometimes did in the G1 cartoon. Some sculpted panel lines add detail and there are two sets of folding landing gear that are a nice touch but really don’t support the aircraft. All in all, this alt mode comes close, and as much as I would have preferred a sci-fi alt mode, this bomber mode ultimately gets the job done.

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Transforming Scourge is fidgity and not a whole lot of fun. Some of the parts shifting is stubborn and the hinges on his wings are prone to pop off at least once during the transformation process. I also tend to think that Hasbro over complicated his arm designs just to beef up the complexity of the toy. Nonetheless, once he’s in robot form, I’m willing to forgive an awful lot of this toy’s shortcomings.

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Yep, that’s Scourge all right. There are obvious differences to be found, particularly in his legs and feet and the configuration of his wings, but when you look at where it really counts, this Scourge is close enough to the animated original to make me a very happy Transfan. The configuration of the chest is particularly nice as is the way he wears his offset Decepticon insignia. The head sculpt, though, that’s where this figure is a real homerun. The paint apps on my Scourge’s face aren’t quite as neat as I would have liked, but they aren’t bad enough to ruin the figure. And speaking of paint apps, they even painted the tips of his claws, just like the animated version. Sweet. You can split his wings to come up with something a little more like the original toy, but I’m content to leave them in the bomber configuration, as they don’t get in the way as much.

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Scouge comes with a beefy gun that is a big tease because simply by looking at it, it seems like it could be a Targetmaster. But don’t get your hopes up, as this is not Fracas. The gun simply splits apart and folds up so that it can be stored inside his wings. It’s a cool gimmick, but with the tooling that went into making the gun do that, Hasbro could have just as easily given us a proper Targetmaster like they did with Universe 2.0’s Cyclonus figure. Boo!

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In the end, Scourge is far from a perfect figure, but he does hit enough points to make him a big win in my book. Granted, a lot has to do with the fact that I love the character, so I may be willing to forgive a few more sins than the average collector. The new alt mode is something that I’m gradually getting used to, mainly because it undoubtedly captures the color and personality of the original toy. And in bot mode, Scourge needs to make no apologies at all. It’s only the troublesome transformation that blemishes this figure a bit for me. If you’re really a G1 purist, you may still want to consider the Titanium version, as it did a remarkable job capturing the spirit of the original toy, diecast and all. But believe me when I say, this Generations version is still an excellent update.

Mar 5 2011

Tron Legacy: Deluxe Clu by Spin Master

Here we go, the last of the four Deluxe figures from the Tron: Legacy movie. This time it’s Kevin Flynn’s evil Cyber-Doppleganger and Dictator of The Grid: Clu, implessively played by the computer generated and de-aged Jeff Bridges. The last two figures we looked at in this assortment had pretty simple electronics, but Clu goes back to the same innovative formula used on the Deluxe Sam Flynn figure by including not just lights, but an impulse projected face and a soundchip.

Yep, Clu comes on a big card with the same deco we’ve been seeing on all of these figures. There’s a Try Me hole cut out in the bubble so you can see his electronics. It’s a great feature for MOSC collectors, although what they do when the battery runs out is beyond me. There’s an illustrated insert in the bubble to customize the package to fit the character and the back features a little bio blurb about Clu and a whole lot of safety and warnings gobbledygook about the toy’s electronics.

When I first had Clu out of the package, I thought for a moment that he just a repaint of Sam with some new electronics, but that’s not the case at all. Put them next to each other and you can see that Clu is a completely new sculpt, although he does look closer to Sam than either Rinzler or the Black Guard. Also like Sam, Clu’s got a lot more paint apps to replicate the lighting from the character design.

The electronics gimmick is activated by pressing the button under Clu’s left armpit. Pressing it once activates the orange lighting on his torso and pressing it again activates the impulse projected face and the voice clips. The face is a pretty good likeness of young Jeff Bridges and the speech is loud and clear. He spouts off the following quips:

  • So, you like bikes!
  • Flynn lives
  • Out there! Is our destiny!
  • You get the reward you deserve
  • Greetings, Programs!

Clu’s articulation is also identical to the Deluxe Sam Flynn figure. He has the ball jointed shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles. He also has swivel cuts in the wrists. Because of the impulse projection gimmick, Clu’s head is not articulated.

Clu’s accessories consist of his Ident Disc and a Light Katana. Interestingly, he doesn’t come with a baton and the figure lacks the peg on the thigh used to secure it as we saw on Rinzler and Sam.

So, Clu wraps up Tron Legacy’s Deluxe line of figures, at least for now. Overall, I was pretty impressed with this line and I would have liked to see it go on. I guess it’s not impossible, but we’ve already seen the second wave of figures and toys from the movie hitting the shelves and online sites, but there hasn’t been any news or images about the Deluxe line continuing. Granted, I think another complete wave of four figures might be pushing it, but a case revision with Quorra and one of Clu’s Sentries would have rounded out the line pretty nicely and been most welcome.