May 15 2010

Star Wars 30th Anniversary Collection: Hoth Patrol Battle Pack by Hasbro

I’m really not supposed to be buying Star Wars stuff until the new toys start hitting in August. Yeah, there was Zuckuss, but I rationalized him as a one-time slip up to a promise I made myself. Well, here’s another slip up, because the clearance price of $12.48 for a Wampa, Tauntaun and Luke figure seemed like too good a deal to pass up. Now, after the fact, it became clear that my excitement over great value blinded me a bit in the store, because when I got this set home and opened it up, it didn’t seem like such a great deal anymore. I don’t necessarily regret buying it, but its all in all its a pretty shabby assortment of toys.

As mentioned, the pack consists of a Tauntaun, Wampa and Luke Skywalker in Hoth gear. The package is standard for the 30th Anniversary Collection with a TRU Exclusive sticker on the window. It features a large window that shows off the figures nicely and has a cool ice cave motif inside that makes them look really nice in the package. The box is also very collector friendly as you can just slide out the tray and pop out the figures, and put them back again without tearing anything up. There’s surprisingly few rubber bands holding them in, and even without them, the figures fit snugly in place.

We’ll start off with the Wampa, because he is without a doubt the best thing in this box. He was originally issued back in the 2004 Saga Collection as a single carded Ultra Class figure. Despite being a bit long in the tooth (ha ha), his overal sculpt and articulation still hold up pretty well. His fur has lots of sculpted details and he even has pads on the bottoms of his feet. His shoulders and hips have rotating joints and he’s double jointed in the torso to give him the ability to twist a bit. His head will also turn, although not all that much. Hasbro may have gone a little overboard with the paintwork when dirtying this guy up, as he looks a tad too yellowish, but that may just be me. The blood around his mouth is a nice touch, though. The Wampa comes with a joint of meat and his right arm can be pulled off to simulate Luke’s barbarous lightsaber attack on this poor, harmless animal.

Moving on… the reuse of this Tauntaun is quite simply inexcusable, as its the one from the Power fo the Force 2 collection. Yeah, he’s stamped 2003, but I remember this sculpt and I know better. That’s right, folks, Hasbro reached all the way back to 1997 for this toy, and unfortunately it really shows. The sculpt isn’t horrific, but it looks really soft and dated. If Hasbro was insistant on reusing this mold, they probably could have saved it with better paint, but no such luck. The paint work is equally dated and has that grey, heavy handed wash that looks just terrible and yet characterized so many of the POTF2 toys. Even the white “snow” speckling on it doesn’t look good. The bit and harnass are separate and removable, and in case you’re wondering, he doesn’t have the split belly feature. This beast is a passable place holder if you are completely without a Tauntaun or are hoping for an updated release around the corner, but otherwise, you can do much better. I should note, that it is vastly improved if you happen to own a Hoth Luke that is capable of properly riding him. And that brings me to…

Luke Skywalker in Hoth gear. The sculpt on Luke actually isn’t bad at all, but this figure was a really poor choice for this pack because he doesn’t have the sculpting or articulation that would allow him to sit on the Tauntaun. Seriously, why would you include a mount and a rider in the same package that weren’t made to be used with each other? You can actually get Luke to sit on the Tauntaun, but you have to bend out his legs and force him on and it doesn’t look at all natural. His articulation is not only dated, but weird. He has this crazy, primitive joint in his neck that allows him to look up and down, but looks really strange. He has universal joints in his shoulders, rotating joints in his hips, but that’s it. Luke comes with a lightsaber and a useless pair of goggles that he cannot even wear. Wow. You can also remove the scarf hanging off his hat, but why? Unlike the other two figures, I can’t place this Luke anywhere, so if you can, please help me out. I’m pretty sure it isn’t the 2004 Saga Luke that was meant to go with the Ultra Class Wampa, but then I could be wrong. It just seems like a real oddball figure.

The original retail on this set was $24.99 and I’m sorry, but at that price, this set was a rip off. I do realize that these Battle Packs are designed by Hasbro to give them an outlet for cashing in on older stock. Its also a pretty good way for kids and new collectors to get toys that are otherwise not on the shelf anymore. But here’s another good way to do that: Ebay. Even still, Hasbro could have done much better when making the selections for this one. Actually the whole set would have been vastly improved with a more context appropriate Luke. At the clearance price of $12.48 its a little better. The Wampa alone would probably sell for close to that nowadays, but anything more and it would be stretching it.

May 14 2010

DC Universe Classics: Aquaman Vs. Black Manta “Undersea Assault” by Mattel

In this modern day of instant news on the Interwebs we collectors don’t get too many surprises in the toy aisles, but boy did I get one today when I went to pick up some groceries at Walmart. I knew Matty had some DCUC 2-packs coming out, hell I’ve had the Supergirl Vs. Luther one on pre-order forever, but I had no idea this Undersea Assault set with Aquaman and Black Manta even existed on the radar, and as a Walmart Exclusive to boot!

The figures come in a fishtank style package with artwork that remains totally faithful to the single carded figures. The figures come in cool action poses ready to kick each other’s ass, with their accessories in hand. The back panel shows photos of both figures along with their respective stats and biographies on the bottom. Wow, Manta’s actually mentions his murdering Aquaman’s infant son. That’s pretty heavy stuff for the back of a toy package and for a Wally World Exclusive, that’s positively hardcore! The package is completely collector friendly, which is a good thing, because right now my DCUC shelf is too congested to fit either of these figures.

Before going on to look at each figure, individually, I do want to point out that the plastic on these guys doesn’t seem like the same quality used on the single carded DCUC figures. Its not terrible, but it does feel considerably softer in some areas. On Aquaman it only seems to be the case on his legs, especially his knee joints. As for Black Manta, it seems to be his whole body. I’d sort of compare it to the differences in plastic Hasbro uses for their Marvel Universe and Secret Wars comic packs.

This version of Aquaman is my absolute favorite as it really harkens me back to my days as a yewt watching the Superfriends cartoon. Its also one of the more diverse and detailed sculpts of the line. The combination of sculpted scales and gold paint on his torso and upper arms looks fantastic, and I love the high gloss green used on his gauntlets, legs and boots. He has sculpted fins in his gauntlets and calves, and overall the head sculpt is pretty good too. He does look a bit more smug than Aquaman has any right to be, but all in all, its still a good sculpt. He comes with his gold trident, which is nicely sculpted, but the soft plastic gives the forks a tendency to bend a bit.

Like Aquaman, Black Manta also remains a favorite of mine because of his prominance on Superfriends. As his character design dictates, Manta is a much simpler sculpt than Aquaman. Apart from his muscle tone and his belt, his entire body is practically void of any detail and painted in one solid color. Oh wait, there’s actually one other paint app. The trademark information that’s stamped on his ass is painted white. WTF? Seriously, why in the name of all that is holy would Mattel decide to paint this white so that it stands out like a neon sign in the middle of the night?

Of course Manta’s head makes up for the lack of details from the neck down. He sports his huge silver saucer head, complete with hoses that run to his backpack. The metallic silver on his head and backpack really pop against his dark blue body. Overall, as a character, I think its safe to say that Manta enjoys the benefits of Boba Fett syndrome. He’s cool because he wears a cool looking helmet. Nuff said. Manta comes with a silver pistol.

Both figures have the same standard DCUC articulation. They have ball jointed necks; ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, knees and ankles; swivel cuts in the biceps, wrists and thighs; and universal joints in their hips. The only difference is in Black Manta. His head is technically balljointed, but the hoses keep it from being very poseable. You can turn his head from side to side quite easily, but it tends to snap back to center.

This 2-pack retails at $29.99. I probably need not point out to DCUC fans that this classic verision of Aquaman was in dire need of a reissue, what with the high prices he commands on Ebay, so to be able to get him and Manta for $15 a pop made my day! Even more incredible is the fact that I was actually able to find a Walmart Exclusive at retail. Apart from the Star Wars AT-ST, which was available in mass quantities, I think the last time I was able to walk into a Walmart and buy an exclusive was back when Hasbro reissued 2-packs of old Beast Wars figures as Dinobots. The other half of this 2-pack assortment is a Batman and Robin, which is a pretty nice set, but as much as I would love the Robin figure, I already have the Batman, so I took a pass.

May 12 2010

Ghostbusters: Stay Puft Marshmellow Man Bank by Diamond Select

This thing has been out there for quite a long time now, and I’ve had it in my basket at various e-tailers more than a few times, only to wind up cutting it in favor of something else. But as my collection of Mattel’s Ghostbusters figures has grown, my desire to own Mr. Stay Puft in plastic form has become more and more pressing. Today when I saw him on the shelf at TRU, I decided this was the day to get him.

I’m really not a fan of this type of packaging. Staypuft comes in a cardboard tray and twisty tied to the back in a rather flimsy manner. It looks ok from a presentation standpoint, and you certainly get the complete idea of what you’re getting, but the obvious drawback is that the toy is exposed to the elements. Granted, he’s just a big hunk of plastic, so there’s really nothing on him that can break, but out of the seven that were on the shelf, only two were without some kind of serious scratching or rubbing. One of them looked like a herd of cats had played with it. Sure, I was able to get a good one, but it makes me really happy that I didn’t order him online and have to get one sight unseen. The back panel shows off Diamond’s other Ghostbuster’s toys, nearly all of which are the Minimates, which I have zero interest in. The Slimer bank looks nice, but ultimately, the only reason I bought Stay Puft was to go with my figures, so Slimer is a pretty easy pass.

As the package says, Stay Puft is a bank. Ok, actually, you practically have to get him off the package to see the word bank hiding behind his head, so you might miss his actual raison d’etre. While I have no interest in keeping coins in him, his true purpose is still significant, as it points out that this guy is not a figure, but rather a hollow statue. His articulation is limited only to his head, which is designed to twist off so you can get to the money you put in. I suppose you can also fill it with Fluffernutter. His arms are fitted so they could technically swivel, but mine don’t want to and I don’t want to force it.

The sculpt here is obviously simple. After all, it is based off a cartoon style marshmellow man, so you can’t expect a whole lot of detail. They really nailed his appearance, but I doubt it was much of a challenge for Diamond’s sculpting wizards. My only complaint about the sculpt is they didn’t make any attempt to hide the coin slot, which is right on the back of his neck tie. I can’t really hold that against Mr. Puft, since he is a self proclaimed bank, and at least its on his back and not on the top of his head or anything.

I paid $20 for Stay Puft, which I guess isn’t too bad. He is pretty big and pretty nice for what he is. Considering the much smaller Ghostbusters figures from Mattel are sold at the same price point, I can’t complain too much. Ultimately, he definitely serves the purpose I bought him for as he displays real nice with the other figures. Sure, he’s not in scale with the Mattel figures, but he’s sizeable enough to make for a good stand in. Even if Mattel does ultimately release a Stay Puft, I doubt it would be much bigger than this guy.

May 11 2010

Busy Week

So, I took the week off of posting because I had a ridiculously busy work week. I haven’t had a day off in 8 days, and two of those included switching to the graveyard shift and back again. I am off tomorrow, but that’ll be mostly spent decompressing and getting my place cleaned up after a week of neglect. And I still have two more days to go before I get a proper weekend to myself. Its been work, come home, get drunk, go to sleep and repeat. So yeah, updates were pretty much out of the question.

Needless to say that I haven’t had the time to go toy shopping and it looks like a professional commitment is going to keep me out of the loop for Matty’s Sale Day next Monday, which is not a terribly big deal, since the reissue Mer Man is the only figure I really want this time around (maybe Optikk) and if I have to, I’ll go the secondary market route for both of them.

I did eek out enough time to go see Iron Man 2 last Saturday. I’ll probably attach my feelings about it to the next Iron Man related toy review I do. Probably sometime next week. Suffice it to say, I really enjoyed it a lot. The early reviews had me a bit nervous, claiming it to be a Spider-Man 3 style mess. Well, it was certianly a busy script, but I thought it tied together nicely. I don’t think anyone expects a sequel to be as tight as the original, and IR2 certainly wasn’t, but it was possibly more fun. Next chance I get, I’ll go see it again.

I’m also seriously overdue on my weekly Doctor Who review. I did manage to catch Vampires of Venice on Saturday and I’ll put together something on it for tomorrow. I also have another figure from the Resistance 2 line by DC Unlimited to review. Its been kicking around, unopened on my shelf for almost two weeks. I don’t usually do that, but I knew I was going to have a shitty week coming up, and I thought I’d save him to open him when I needed a treat. It was a good idea. I sliced him open yesterday and all I can say is these figures continue to impress.

So, now, I’m going to fix myself a nice, tall bourbon and coke, kick back, relax, and watch two of today’s new Blu-Ray releases: Daybreakersand Legion. Yeah, I already saw them both when they were in the theater. Daybreakers was an exceptionally well done film on a number of levels. Legion was, well, let’s just say its my kind of stupid.

Depending how I feel, I may pop over to Toys R Us tomorrow.

May 2 2010

Indiana Jones: German Troop Car by Hasbro

If clearance has a name, it must be Indiana Jones!

Its sad but true, there’s still fallout from Hasbro’s Indiana Jones toyline kicking around if you know where to look. I never saw one of these things at retail during the toyline’s lifespan, and then all of the sudden I stumble upon two of them at Ross’ toy graveyard for about seven bucks each. I was pretty excited to find it, because besides that elusive Vogel figure, this Troop Car was the last piece I needed to complete my collection. Couldn’t find it anywhere, now I have two. It never rains, but it pours.

The Troop Car is one of three larger vehicles released in the IJ toyline. The others included the German Cargo Truck from Raiders and the Soviet Jungle Cutter from Crystal Skull. The packaging is really sweet, and while they look like normal boxes, the inside trays actually convert to some cool little dioramas, provided you’re willing to trash the box to get it. The artwork on the boxes is somewhat reminiscent of the old Kenner line, only with a cool action packed illustration on the front and the toy images on the back, showing off the various features. In addition to the truck, you get three oil drums, a breakaway barricade, and a missile for the machine gun.

The toy itself is not as detailed as the Cargo Truck or the Jungle Cutter. Its a nice piece, but it just looks somewhat lacking. Some weathered paint apps or a sticker sheet would have gone a long way to helping it along, but then let’s remember that swastikas are a no-no. Still, what’s here gets the job done. There’s a spare tire mounted on the back, a decent looking grill and headlights on the front. The floor and runningboards are textured, there’s a clear windshield, steering wheel, and even a stick shift for the manual tranny.

The toy rolls really well and you can get it up to a good enough speed to really smash through the barricade and barrels. The machine gun on the back rotates and has a pegged platform to hold a figure. It also shoots a missile. Granted, that’s about all this thing does, but you can really load it up with figures. In addition to the gunner, there’s room for four figures on the seats and another four pegged on the runningboards. If you’re like me and acquired quite a few German soldiers from this line, you’ll have plenty of space for them on this ride.

My one big gripe with this toy is that the windshield and rollbar are made of soft rubbery plastic. I suppose its less likely to break, but if you store your car in the box, make sure its sitting upright or else you’ll get a little warpage like on mine. Thankfully it can be straightened out with a little patience and effort.

Overall, the Troop Car takes a backseat to the Cargo Truck as my favorite toy of the line, but then the Cargo Truck is work of art that’s hard to beat. This thing is not too shabby, though, and when you get past the fact that its a little bland, its actually a lot of fun. The bonus accessories are really cool and make great additions to display with the Cargo Truck and Motorcycle as well.

May 1 2010

Star Wars Legacy Collection: Zuckuss by Hasbro

All in all I’ve been pretty good about keeping my vow to kick collecting Star Wars. In the past couple of years the only Star Wars toys I’ve picked up were the Legacy Millenium Falcon and a set of figures I found clearanced at Ross. This year, I knew I’d be slacking back on that a little bit because of some of the great stuff shown off at Toy Fair. I know I will be picking up most of the vintage carded figures, that marvelous AT-AT (already pre-ordered), and a few other things. So, its probably that sense of impending doom that has made me spend a little more attention to what’s in the Star Wars section of the toy aisles these days. As a result, on my last trip to Toys R Us I spotted Zuckuss on the pegs and decided I needed him. They were doing a “buy one get one half off sale,” so I also picked up another figure too, but we’ll save that one for another time. Among the odds and ends that I kept when I sold off my Star Wars collection were the bounty hunters, so adding an updated Zuckuss to that cadre seemed like a good idea. I should note they also had two really sweet looking Force Unleashed multi-packs. I was really tempted, but maybe next time.

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Since its been a really long time since I last bought a carded Star Wars figure, this is my first experience with the new packaging. Overall, I like it. Its clean, compact and it shows the figure off very well. The position of the character art and name on the package makes it fairly easy to look through the pegs to see who’s hiding. The back panel has a little blurb on the character and a window to see what Build A Droid part you’re getting. My Zuckuss came with a leg for a figure which I am certain I will never, ever complete. Oh yeah, Darth Maul’s mug is stickered on the package. Jesus, does he have to get his picture on everything?

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The last time I owned a figure of this character it was the vintage Kenner release back when he was called 4-LOM (and 4-LOM was called Zuckuss). I remember he was a mail away figure and when I got him I had no idea what role he was going to play in the movie so I played with him as if he was a good guy. Little did I know that not only would he be a villain, but he’d only have about two nano-seconds of screen time. Of course, since then, there’s been a shit load of backstory retconned to this guy in comics and novels and everything else.

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Hasbro has continued to get better and better with many of their Star Wars figure sculpts. Zuckuss here is definitely on par with the quality of figures that were being released in the premium VOTC line several years back. The insectoid head sculpt is excellent and has two hoses that run from his breathing appartus on his backpack. I was delighted to find that I could unplug the backpack as well as the hoses from his face. Actually, I think he might die without that, so I put it back on pretty quickly. His robes are mostly sculpted in plastic, although he does have a softgoods skirt. Yes, that creates a disconnect between the plastic and cloth, but I still dig it as it frees up the leg articulation. I particularly like the fact that this figure represents the character’s short stature.

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The articulation on this little guy is excellent. He has ball joints in the shoulders, elbows and knees. His legs are jointed at the hips and his ankles are hinged. He also has a swivel cut in his waist and his head is ball jointed. For an extra that just stood in the background of a short scene, you can finally let your imagine run wild and make Zuckuss the action star that he was born to be!

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Zuckuss comes with his blaster carbine and… what?? Where’s the stand? I seriously cannot believe that Hasbro stopped putting figure stands in the packages. Obviously, I’ve been away for a while, but this to me is a no brainer. They have the molds made, how much could it cost to stamp those things out? I don’t even care if its personalized. Luckily I have plenty of generic clear disc stands lying around, so Zuckuss need not go standless, but seriously, Hasbro, bring back the stands.

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I’m coming to grips with the fact that collecting Star Wars figures is something that was seeded into me at such a young age and had such a profound effect on my childhood that I will never be free of it. Zuckuss here is a great example of that. He’s little more than window dressing in the movie and yet I love this figure so much. He’s just a badass little bug dude that is ready to pursue his quarry across the universe. What does he do with his all the bounty money he earns? Does he drink fine booze and smoke expensive cigars? Does he buy expensive cars and bug-hookers? I don’t know, but between this little figure and my warped imagination… by god, I’m going to find out!

 

 

May 1 2010

Masters of the Univese Classics: Hordak by Mattel

While I was never a big follower of Filmation’s She-Ra cartoon, I always loved it’s main baddie, Hordak. Even though he had the annoying habit of snorting like a pig and had the silly ability to turn himself into a rocket, there was just something about his overall character design that I always found really cool. His bizarre, creepy head, his majestically sinister outfit, it all made me forget that he was on a less watchable spin-off series commanding a bunch of goofy Snake Mountain rejects. I just kept hoping in vain that one day he would set up shop on Eternia and leave that other show behind.

I didn’t start collecting the Masters Classics figures until the beginning of this year, so like many figures, Hordak had already come and gone. But while I was able to pick up just about all the figures I missed on the secondary market at reasonable prices, Hordak was a little beyond what I was willing to spend. Thankfully Matty has been re-issuing some of these past releases, and this month I was finally able to add this evil bastard to my collection.hdak9

Yep, it’s the same old packaging. The green stone castle motif and MOTU logo really picks at my nostalgia strings. The only real difference here is the Evil Horde sticker that appears on the bubble and “The Original” appearing next to the name, which signifies that this is a re-issue and not really the original. Ahhh… OK. The back panel has a bio and photos of some of the other figures that have been released in the series. As always, its a shame to tear these things open, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

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This revamp of Hordak is a really great looking figure on every front. In fact, I’d dare say he’s just about perfect. His head sculpt is brilliant in both design and execution. He’s always looked friggin creepy but this updated sculpt is all the more so. His face isn’t white anymore, but more bone colored. I love the way T4H textured the little bumps into his head and his little boney mohawk. His head rests in a large collar, or cowl, that is connected to his cape. The whole piece can be removed, if you so desire, just by popping off his head, lifting it off, and popping his head back on. This gives Hordak’s head a lot more range of movement, but to me he just doesn’t look as good without the whole evil ensamble.

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The rest of Hordak is just as fantastic, and his unique armor pieces go a long way to make this one of the more unique looking figures in the collection. In fact, the only piece of him that is an overt reuse appears to be the pelvis. His armor pieces are black with embossed, red crests on his chest piece and grieves. The silver trim used on his belt and armor is antiqued to make it look worn, which I think is one of the best paint app effects we’ve seen in the whole line. The whole black, gray, red ensemble really looks amazing together. There is a rather unfortunate little chip in the red crest of my Hordak’s breast plate, but I can live with that. In terms of looking evil, its hard to top a guy with a skull for a face, but Hordak manages to out-evil Skeletor on this outfit alone.

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Hordak comes with a few accessories. First, there’s his staff, which is amazingly well done. The detail work on the sculpting for the head of the staff is really elaborate, featuring a clawed hand holding a sphere with Hordak’s crest on it. Unfortunately, the plastic is a little soft and it has a habit of bending a bit. His crossbow is really cool, with the sculpt and paint job so good, it looks like the bolt is a separate removable piece, even though it isn’t. Finally, there’s his little Imp, which is a nifty little pack-in, although for some reason it has a rather unsightly seam running through his lower body. Couldn’t he just have been molded into one piece?

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There are no surprises in the articulation, as we get exactly what we’ve been getting in all the male characters of the line. The ball joint in the neck is a bit inhibited by the cape/cowl piece, but as mentioned above, you can remove it if you like. Hordak’s arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, hinged elbows and swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists. He swivels at the waist and his legs have universal joints in the hips and have hinged knees and ankles.

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In a line of figures as fantastic as MOTU Classics, it seems like every new figure I get is my new favorite. My expectations on Hordak were pretty high, and I wanted him so bad that I came pretty close to paying Ebay robbery prices. Sure, I’m glad I waited, but even if I had picked him up at twice the price, I still would have been quite happy with him. He’s just all around excellent. Here’s hoping Mattel continues to add more of The Horde to this collection.

*This Feature was re-worked and re-shot on 9/15/15. It originally appeared in a series of articles on Masters of the Universe Classics line.

Apr 28 2010

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010): Freddy Krueger by NECA

I practically grew up on the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. If you’re pushing forty like me, you probably remember that Freddy Krueger was a huge part of the pop culture of the time and there was always a bizarre amount of merchandising around the character. I had comic books, a toy freddy glove and I even had a poster of him (I won it spinning a wheel on the Jersey boardwalk) hanging in my room. Yeah… I had a poster of an undead child murderer hanging in my room. Amazing I turned out as well as I did. Hell, there was even a weekly TV series. Of all the crazed slashers that hit the theaters in the 80s, none of them had more appeal (or a better agent) than the K-Man.

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Obviously, the Elm Street franchise changed a lot during its lifetime. The first movie was pretty damn creepy, the second was pretty damn crappy, and beyond that the series quickly turned into a parody of itself. That’s not an insult, mind you, I think the series really came into its own when it achieved a campy comic book-style wackiness mixed with some nuggets of true horror. I enjoyed the franchise for most of its stretch, and I was always willing to go see Freddy quick with his razor glove and the one-liners. Alas, by the time The New Nightmare came out, I just didn’t care any more. A lot of my friends still swear by that movie. I may have to check it out again. Anyway, reminiscing isn’t really why we’re here today. Nightmare on Elm Street got a remake and NECA stepped up with two action figures of the new Freddy Kreuger. There’s Freddy before and after getting the zippo equivalent of a lynching. I found both of these figures at Toys R Us today, but I opted to just bring home the “After” figure, since the first one is just some dude to me. I thought it funny that he was also hanging right next to a pair of figures from the older Elm Street films. Some day I may have to pick those up too.
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It seems there’s a lot of mixed feelings about the new Freddy design, or more specifically his face. Personally, I like it a lot. The burns are more realistic and his face is a lot creepier than his original style. Either way, this isn’t Robert Englund anymore, so he really should look different. Well, like the new look or not, the headsculpt on NECA’s figure (or sculpts, since he comes with two heads) is excellent and very close to the stills I’ve seen from the new movie. I think he looks a lot less human and more demonic. There’s a ton of intricate texturing in the sculpt and the coolest thing is the fedora is removable, so you can display either head with or without it. As for the two heads, there really isn’t a huge amount of difference. The one he had on in the package has the mouth closed, the other has it open in a partial snarl. The snarl head shows a bit more exposed muscle to the left cheek and as such, I think I like that one a little more. Overall, its just more expressive.

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The rest of the figure’s sculpt is just as good. The texturing on his ratty trademark sweater is excellent, both in the simulated fabric and the subtle tears and distressing. There are even some holes worn through it in the back. The red and green paint on the sweater looks really good too. It’s possibly a little too glossy for fabric, as it tends to look like its wet, but I’m really nitpicking to complain about anything. Of course, he wouldn’t be Freddy without his glove. The glove is nicely detailed and its sculpted into a partially open position that allows for a good looking pose in just about any position you move his arm. I’m a little disappointed that NECA didn’t go for a swappable glove in a different position. I would have definitely preferred that over getting the two portraits, but what’s here is still plenty good.

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What’s not so good is the articulation. I think NECA’s inconsistency with articulation is the company’s only failing. In this case, Freddy is a statue from the waist down. Ok, technically his ankles are balljoints, but between the sculpting of his pants cuffs and the lack of articulation in his legs, these joints are useless. His upper body is thankfully a different story. He has a slight ability to swivel at the waist. His arms feature balljoints in both the shoulders and elbows. His head is balljointed, and his wrists have swivel cuts. You can get a pretty good range of poses, just nothing terribly dynamic.

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Freddy set me back $13.99, which is pretty much what all the other figures in TRU’s “collectible” action figure aisle go for these days. It’s hard to quarrel with that price when the sculpt and paint are this good. I’m very happy with him and whether or not the movie flops or rises to the occasion, I’m glad to have this reimagined Kreuger in my collection.

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As for the movie… I’m not one of those people who rabidly object to Hollywood trying a remake. Yeah, many of them are souless cash grabs, but I think many of them have actually been fairly successful when it comes to the horror reboots. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was really well done. The Hills Have Eyes was awesome and Friday the 13th… well, as Meat Loaf says, “two out of three ain’t bad.” But while some are wailing over their beloved Freddy getting rebooted, I’m actually interested to see the results. On the one hand, it looks like they’re definitely going for scares over campy laughs, but then judging from the trailers, I’m worried that the thing is going to be too much of a shot-by-shot remake. Well, we’ll know soon enough. I’ll be hitting the theater the week it comes out.

 

Apr 28 2010

Ghostbusters: 1:6 Scale Peter Venkman by Mattel

Back when Matty first revealed the 12″ Ghostbusters, I spent a great deal of time vascilating over whether or not to get them. I knew from the get-go that I was going to invest in the 5″ figures, that much was a no brainer. I had initially told myself that would be the affordable way to go here, but then I saw the prototypes of the larger figures and had to change my pants. Of course, the actual production pieces didn’t quite live up to the prototypes (as they rarely do) but the figures still looked pretty good and their equipment looked incredible. In the end, I contented myself with knowing that they would be sold out before I could get the money together to buy one.

Of course, they didn’t sell out, and that surprised me a lot. At $60 each, these are not exactly high-priced for 1:6 scale figures. Ask anyone who collects figures from Hot Toys or Sideshow or Triad and you’ll see that the price tag could be much worse. These days finding decent 1:6 scale figures under $100 is getting to be a rarity. On the other hand, while these are limited pieces, and the quality of their proton packs are worthy of higher end products, the figures themselves are about on par with what you would expect from a mass market release. I guess what I’m saying is that considering we’ve been waiting 25 years for proper Ghostbusters figures, I just thought these would sell better. Ray and Egon each hung around for over a month and a half when I finally decided to use some Christmas money to get them. Pete Venkman didn’t last nearly as long, but by the time he was put up for sale, I was already commited to get all three of the original Ghostbusters.

I’m not one to go ga-ga over packaging. Its usually something I just throw away, but I do tend to hang on to my 12″ figure packaging so that I can return them to the boxes for storage or display. But, its hard not to get excited about these packages, as they’re both really nicely designed and fairly collector friendly, so long as you’re patient when first opening your figures. The window package shows off the figure really nicely, and they’re secured very well via a molded tray and lots of twisties and rubber bands. In fact, Pete is secured a little too well as the packaging squished his head. Thankfully, after just about two days out of the package, his head puffed out to normal, but if you plan on keeping these sealed, you’ll have to live with it. The back of the package has some silly stats about Pete lifted from the movie and the side panel has part of a scene that can be completed by placing all four Ghostbusters boxes next to each other, or at least that will be the case once Winston is released.

Like Egon and Ray, I was able to excise Pete from his box without inflicting much damage. It took a lot of work, but it was worth it to preserve the fantastic packaging. Besides the fact that the figure looks great displayed in it, it also features a pull out cardboard locker to store the extra equipment.

Before I get into the figure itself, let’s talk head sculpt. There have been a lot of mixed emotions about these figures’ heads. They are clearly mass market quality sculpts and definitely lean more toward stylized, animated looks than realism. I don’t mean they look like the characters from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon, but rather that they look more like cartoonified versions of the actors. Now, compared to Ray and Egon, I think Pete looks most like his real life counterpart. It definitely seems as if the sculpts are getting slightly better with subsequent releases. Pete does suffer from some serious bobblehead. You can get his head to hold most positions, but if you bump it or shake it, the head is going to bob all over the place. Its interesting since both Ray and Egon suffered from almost the opposite problem. Still, all said and done, I’m fairly happy with Venkman’s head sculpt.

As with their 5″ cousins, these 12″ figures share the exact same body, jumpsuit, utility belt and proton pack. Everything from the neck down is identical, apart from their personalized name tag on their left breast. So if you have Ray and/or Egon, you basically know 90 percent of what you’re getting with Venkman. I don’t think this is as offensive a cop out as it is with the smaller figures, mainly because the cloth suits and adjustable equipment offer some inevitable cosmetic differences between the three figures. The jumpsuits are pretty good and fit fairly well, and they have all the right zippers and pockets. The Ghostbusters emblem on the shoulders is crisp and clear.

Naturally, Venkman has a fully removable proton pack. It belts on around the arms and waist, is fully adjustable, and can be made to fit very securely. The pack is easily the most amazing thing about the figure. I won’t go so far as to say its like buying a scale model of the pack and they throw in a figure for you to display it on, but its close. The amount of detail on this thing is absolutely incredible, as everything is detailed with excellent paint apps and even stickers with readible text and lots of wires and hoses running about. There’s also some good weathering on the black paint making it look a bit scuffed and worn. The pack runs off batteries and a push of a conealed button on the bottom causes red LED lights to cycle for about a minute. A sound chip of the pack warming up would have been cool too, but alas, its just lights. The wand is made of sturdy plastic with a flexible hose and it easily clips on to the side of the pack for storage.

Just like Ray and Egon, Peter comes with a walkie talkie with a holster that clips onto the belt, two pairs of extra non-gloved hands, and a ghost trap. I think its really cool that Mattel has thrown in a ghost trap with each of the 12″ figures. The trap is excellently detailed and the doors are spring-loaded to flip open with the push of a button. The foot pedal is articulated, but it doesn’t trigger the trap to open. As you may recall, both Ray and Egon also came with a piece of personalized equipment. Ray had his infrared goggles and Egon had his PKE Meter. What’s Pete’s special item? Just a pair of molded folded gloves that can be tucked into his belt. Disappointing? You bet! These should have come with all three figures, and even so, it doesn’t come close to equaling the goggles or the PKE. What’s more, there’s not a lot of space on the belt to hang them, unless you take the walkie talkie off.

Just like with Ray and Egon, there’s one thing about Pete that really irks me. You know that tube that comes out of the pants leg of his jumpsuit? It doesn’t go anywhere. Its just tucked in between his back and the proton packs. Now, I read somewhere that this is exactly how the real thing was situated in the film. That’s all fine and dandy, but would it have killed Mattel to secure it to something? Sure, you really have to look to notice, but let’s face it, these are supposed to be figures of fictional characters, not figures of the actors in their costume. The tubes are secured in the smaller scale figures, I wish they had done the same with the larger ones. Still, this is the worst complaint I can come up with… not too shabby, I guess.

So all in all, there aren’t many surprises to be had with Pete. If he’s not your first Ghostbusters 12-incher, you already know what you’re getting. The head sculpt is decent enough, and really only his lack of a cool personalized accessory ranked as severely disappointing. I was certainly very surprised at how quickly he sold out, and I’m very glad I was able to get one and complete my three, but I’m pretty sure this is where I’m calling it quits with the 12″ line. Maybe if Winston comes out on a slow month and I’ve got the money kicking around, I’ll splurge on him, but unless Matty releases a 12″ Gozer, I’ll be sticking with the 5″ figures from now on.

Apr 27 2010

Masters of the Universe Classics: Evil Lyn by Mattel

Last month, I sat out the release of Moss Man, mainly because I had obligations that were going to keep me from being at my computer at 12pm. I probably could have gotten out of it, but the truth was I wasn’t all that keen on Moss Man. Nothing against him, but he’s the first release in the MOTU Classics line that I didn’t see as a “must have” purchase. This month, on the other hand, Matty brought out their big guns with the First Lady of Snake Mountain herself, Evil Lyn. There was no stopping me from being at the computer this time. Obviously, Evil Lyn was a popular release, and she seems to have sold out in under ten minutes. Not a record, mind you, but still pretty damn quick to those of us subscription-less collectors trying to nab her. So far, my luck has held out on every release date, and I was able to score her along with a few other goodies.

The packaging on these figures has not changed, and that’s a good thing because its still awesome. The green rock-motif on the card and the classic Masters logo makes me want to pop in a Filmation DVD and remember the simpler times. The package shows off the figure nicely, along with her falcon Skreetch. The back of the card features a bio as well as teases you with photos of a bunch of figures that you can no longer get outside of Ebay. Lord knows I’m not a mint on card collector, but if ever there was a line that tempted me to it, its this one. The presentation on these figures is just fantastic.

Naturally, Evil Lyn is a repaint of Teela from the neck down, but amazingly, she just doesn’t seem like one. I don’t know if its the dramatic color change, the yellow skin, or the wonderful head sculpt, but Evil Lyn really feels like her own figure and not a quickie repaint cash grab. Everything that was white and gold on Teela’s outfit is blue and darker blue on Evil Lyn. I was admittedly worried about Matty’s choice to go with the vintage-style yellow skin on this figure, but I have to say it turned out looking great. Its very faithful to the original figure and it serves to set her apart from Teela all the more. Overall, the other paint apps on the figure are a bit mixed. The paint apps on Evil Lyn’s face, notably the eyes, lipstick and green mascara are practically perfect, and its cool that she even has little black paint apps on her fingernails, but there’s some notable slop on her chest armor. Its not terrible, but the paint on my Teela is so immaculate, its hard not to notice even minor flubs here.

The head sculpt is spot on. She’s the perfect blend of beauty and wickedness and I love the exotic quality to her eyes that makes her look not quite human. Her simple skull cap with crest is right in line with her vintage counterpart. There’s a little disparity between the skin tone in her face and the rest of her body, but apart from that I wouldn’t change a thing. Funny, it wasn’t until getting this figure that I realized we have no idea what Evil Lyn’s hair looks like… or even if she has any!

Evil Lyn comes with a nice inventory of accessories, although not quite as much as her counterpart, Teela. She has a little hooked dagger with a nicely sculpted skull pommel and a wickedly jagged back edge. She has a blue orb wand that can convert to a full staff by swapping out the shaft. She also comes with her bird buddy, Skreetch. Granted, Skreetch is just a repaint of Teela’s Zoar, but its still an awesome sculpt, complete with hinged wings and feet that can grip Evil Lyn’s arm. Skreetch also comes with his own perch, which Zoar was sadly missing, as well as removable birdy battle armor. No doubt about it, with Evil Lyn you get a good amount of stuff for your money.

The articulation here is the same as on Teela, which means its close to the standards set by the male figures in the line, but not quite the same. Her head is ball jointed. Her arms have ball joints in the shoulders, hinged elbows and swivel cuts in the biceps and wrists. Her legs have universal movement in the hips, hinged ankles and knees and swivel cuts at her boots. She also has the extra joint in her feet that allow you to set her at a wide stance, while keeping both her feet flat on the ground. What she’s missing is a swivel cut in the waist. Still, she’s got a great degree of poseability. No complaints here.

Naturally, I’ve been waiting to get my hands on an Evil Lyn figure ever since I first started collecting this line and my cadre of evil-doers from Snake Mountain no longer feels like it has a huge vacant hole. (well, except for Mer Man, but thanks to a pending re-release, he will soon be mine!) I still give Teela the nod as the better figure, mainly because the paint apps on her outfit are just so striking and expertly applied, but then Evil Lyn makes up with that in spades because, well, she’s the bad girl and we all know bad girls are more fun.