Tag Archives: comic packs

Apr 24 2014

Transformers Generations: Armada Starscream (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

Hopefully next week I’ll get back to looking at some Bayformers on Transformers Thursdays, but today we’re checking out another IDW Comic Pack that I picked up a couple of weeks back. Everyone should know by now how much I loved Armada, and thanks to IDW using the Armada Starscream design in their comic, Hasbro delivered a Deluxe Class homage to that comic character and, in a roundabout way, the Armada toy as well.

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Yup, the Comic Pack may indeed be the highest evolution of action figure packaging. Starscream comes in his robot mode and in front of a reprint copy of the IDW comic spotlighting the character in his new body. Cool! The Armada Seekers were a big deal to me because it was the first time we had a proper set of Decepticon Seekers in a really long while. They may not have been the best toys, but I loved the design and I thought they looked great standing on the shelf together. Pity mine are gone now, but maybe someday I’ll pony up and replace them. Let’s start with Starscream’s jet mode.

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Armada Starscream is a sleek Cybertronian jet and a pretty good approximation of the original toy. Hell, he even features Minicon ports on his back and sides to drive that homage home. I think this design works really well as a Cybertronian Seeker, and as soon as I saw it replaced the old Tetrajet design in my mind. In addition to the stylish finned nosecone, Starscream carries on his back two large engines that double as missile launchers. The launchers are of the flick-fire variety, where you can jam on the back and they will shoot. The use of clear yellow plastic is new, but I think it complements the deco fairly well. Speaking of the deco, it seems to me that this version is a little heavier on the red and lighter on the grey than the original Armada toy. Then again, we are dealing with a treatment of the IDW character design and not the Armada toy. You also get three sets of folding landing gear.

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Transforming Starscream is extremely simple and quite reminiscent of the Armada figure. The end result is rather hollow, particularly when viewed from the back, but the robot mode works well as a scaled down version of the original. The proportions are cleaned up a bit with longer arms and while the articulation here isn’t exactly superb, it’s leaps and bounds better than the Armada toy. This is a figure that looks badass just standing on the shelf. And that headsculpt? Yeah, that’s pure Starscream!

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The biggest change to the design is actually a huge improvement to the original toy that allows the shoulder launchers to be angled in the upward position. With the launchers pointed up, you get a nice nod back to the shoulder intakes of the G1 Seeker design. You can still flip the launchers forward so they rest on the shoulders, but doing so makes them stick out the back pretty far. I love this new feature and really wish it had been incorporated on the Armada Seeker toys.

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Starscream comes with a pair of translucent yellow swords that fold up and store under his wings. The original Armada toy allowed you to remove part of his wing and turn it into a sword, so these swords are a pretty cool update to that idea. He looks great holding them, but because of the limited articulation, particularly the lack of swivels in the biceps or wrists, there’s only so much you can do with them vis-à-vis posing.

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In the end, I dig this figure a lot. He’s got some opportunities, mostly in the articulation department, but he’s a fun toy and he looks great on the shelf, even if I don’t really have a display where he fits in. It’s a shame that he’s doomed to be an oddball figure in my collection, particularly because of how unlikely it will be that Hasbro will deliver on Thundercracker and Skywarp repaints. Yes, I realize that such releases would make no sense against the IDW source material, but as an Armada fan, I’d really like to have a set of all three Seekers based off this mold.

Nov 11 2013

Transformers Generations: Thundercracker (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

I don’t have a lot of patience for repaints these days, but when it comes to the Seeker Trinity, I will always open my wallet. That’s why it irks me when Hasbro releases a new Seeker mold and takes so long to release all three. We all remember what it was like when Classics/Universe 2.0 Skywarp was only released in a Target Exclusive 2-pack with Ultra Magnus, right? And even then it took forever to get Generations Thundercracker. Well, this time around Fall of Cybertron Thundercracker is following pretty closely on the original Starscream release. And thank Primus for that. He was my first Decepticon figure way back in 1984, so I’m always excited to get a new version of him.

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I believe this is the sixth IDW Comic Pack that I’ve featured here so I’ll try to refrain myself from gushing over how much I love the presentation. You get Thundercracker carded in his robot mode in front of a reprint Spotlight comic and a G1-inspired grid-deco on the card. This is wonderful stuff, as always and opening it gives me a head rush from one of the greatest smells ever. Someone really needs to make cologne that blends the odors of new toy and comic book. And speaking of comics… the one included here is pretty good. It’s tied in with Autocracy, a book that I have still not read, so I’m coming at it as a one-shot. Thundercracker tries to hunt down Metroplex, but with his own secret agenda. Ironically, one of the coolest things about this comic for me was that it featured cameos by the old Deluxe Insecticons, like Venom and Chop Shop. Hasbro… Do these guys in IDW Comic Packs… Please!

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Kicking things off with Thundercracker’s alt mode, it shares all the same highs and lows of the Starscream jet, but overall I find it to be a pretty cool design. Yeah, it’s a little chunky, but it does harken back a little bit to the old Cybertronian Tetra-Jet design. I think the biggest flaw is the fact that you can see through the top of it where the head folds in. On the other hand, everything locks together quite well, making it a fun and sturdy little toy.

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I seem to recall my biggest issues with Starscream was the general lack of sculpted detail, particularly there aren’t too many panel lines, and the coloring was a little drab. Thundercracker doesn’t have any additional sculpting, but his deco goes a long way to help me to overlook that. The blue and grey plastic used here just pops a lot better than the drab grey used on Screamer. Cracker also has some more prominent paint apps, like the striping on his wings and the beautiful little purple apps on his vents. Even his Decepticon wing insignia are outlined in silver to make them stand out better than Starscream’s.

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Thundercracker comes with repaints of the exact same chaingun style weapons as Starscream. Part of me thinks they could have tried something new, but then I also think these guys should have uniform weapons, so I’m Ok with it. However, the weapons are the only part of Cracker where the paint doesn’t outshine Starscream. Hasbro didn’t even bother to paint he barrels.

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The transformation here is extremely simple, which isn’t always a bad thing. I would have really appreciated this transformation as a kid, because you could go from playing with him as a jet or robot pretty quickly. As a repaint, there are no surprises in the robot mode. I still dig this bot form quite a bit, although it has its issues. The feet are rather awkward and make it difficult for him to stand, especially in wide stances and the torso still has that hollow look to it if you aren’t viewing him from dead on. It’s also worth noting that we didn’t get a head re-sculpt, but considering Starscream didn’t have his trademark douchebag smirk, I kind of assumed Hasbro would be using the stock head for all three. Once again, I’m Ok with it, because it is a very nice head and the light piping is pretty spectacular when you hit it just right. Obviously, the deco on Thundercracker still shines in his robot mode, making him a lot more attractive and interesting to look at than Screamer.

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You have a few different options on how Thundercracker can wield his weapons. Each one has two pegs and they can either be pegged into his forearms or he can hold them like guns. They’re large and sometimes awkward, but if I plug them into his forearms just right, I like having them slung under his arms so he can just sweep the room with firepower. Sweet!

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In the end Thundercracker is one of those figures that shouldn’t surprise anyone. It’s a straight repaint, but a very good one at that. The paintwork here really brings out the strengths of the mold and makes up for some of the lack of detail in the sculpt. I can liken it to the differences between the original Classics release of Starscream and the original Generations release of Thundercracker. It was an instance of the exact same mold taken to two extremes by different paint jobs. It’s not just an issue of the deco either. Cracker is just an example of better and more detailed coloring and for me that would make this the one to own if you only want to own this mold once. On the other hand, I can’t imagine just having one of the Seekers. Even now, I’m trying to resist paying top dollar for the Takara Skywarp, in hopes that he’ll be coming to the States via Hasbro at some point in time.

Oct 28 2013

Transformers Generations: Hoist (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

If Hasbro’s initial four figure wave of IDW inspired Transformers wasn’t enough, they quickly followed suit with two additional figures: Hoist and Thundercracker. I believe these were part of a revision wave, but since I seldom by Transformers by the case, son’t quote me on that. Today we’re going to check out Hoist, because like his buddy Trailcutter, he’s a character that is long overdue for getting the updated Classics style treatment. I’ve got a long day of work today, so I’ll try to be brief…

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The figure comes carded in the same glorious Comic Pack style as the previous four figures. Hoist in packaged in his robot mode against the backdrop of a reprint comic spotlighting the character. I can never get enough of this package and the comic is such a fantastic bonus. If Hasbro would just toss in a tray of Lunchables and a juicebox, I’d be all set for my afternoon. I blame my partial dyslexia on the fact that I’m never sure whether I’m 41 or 14.

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Of all the comics bundled with these packs, this one has been my favorite. “The Waiting Game” takes place during More Than Meets the Eye and features Hoist, Sunstreaker, Swerve, and Perceptor in a downed shuttle getting attacked by what they believe to be Tarn. It’s written by James Roberts, but it has all the great snarky dialogue and humor of Nick Roche’s usual masterpieces. The art is great and it has some decent action. It also has the distinction of allowing Hoist to describe himself to us in his own words: “I’m just an ordinary person. I’m normal” and then he goes on to point out that he’s the only one on The Lost Light who’s personality isn’t defined by a “crippling psychological disorder.” Great stuff.

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Kicking it off with Hoist’s alt mode, he pays homage to his G1 namesake by taking on the guise of a green tow truck with hazard stripes on the doors. Naturally the original Hoist toy was a modified version of Trailbreaker, so it’s only logical that Hasbro would follow suit and build this modern Hoist off of the Trailcutter figure. The similarities in vehicle mode are very easy to see as well as why they engineered Hoist with the removable cap, as it facilitated the ability to work the mold into both characters. Yes, this is a straight repaint with a tow arm swapped out for the cap. The tow arm pegs into the back of the cab and likes to fall apart at the hinge if you look at it funny. Unfortunately, Trailcutter’s forcefield generator is still conspicuously present, which is rather lazy on Hasbro’s part, plus Hoist suffers from the same smallish size when compared to his Classics Autobot brothers.

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Hoist transforms just like Trailcutter, which at this point should be obvious because they’re basically the same toy. If you liked Trailcutter’s robot mode, you’ll find the same stuff to love here. The only big difference beside the deco is the new head sculpt, which is perfect for the character, and the fact that you can transform the tow arm into a fairly decent gun, which I like a lot better than Trailcutter’s cap-shield-gun-thingy. There’s not a whole lot else to say about this guy that hasn’t already been said in the other feature. Size is still the major sticking issue here with me. The G1 toys were pretty bulky and these guys look a little too diminutive when compared to their Classics Autobot brothers.

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Ever since Classics Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, Hasbro has shown us a remarkable ability to take a single Transformer mold and re-sculpt it into two remarkably unique figures. Alas, The mold used for Hoist and Trailcutter isn’t one of those instances. Instead, this pair is basically a case of repaints with some parts swapped out. That may be disappointing to some, I’ll concede having the forcefield emitter remain on Hoist strikes me as rather lazy, but that doesn’t mean Hoist is a bad figure. I still enjoy this mold a lot and it’s good to finally have the character represented on my Classics shelf.

Oct 7 2013

Transformers Generations: Orion Pax (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

Hey, folks, it’s time for a look at another one of Hasbro’s “Thrilling Thirty!” to celebrate Transformers’ 30th Anniversary, and oh my God, it’s Orion Pax. YES!!! I have wanted a genuine Orion Pax figure ever since he first appeared in the episode of the original Transformers cartoon, “War Dawn.” The e-hobby repaint of Kup was a pretty cool figure and that would have done the job back in the day, but it hardly fits into my modern TF collection. The fact that I had to settle for an IDW version as opposed to a Sunbow version doesn’t really faze me, so long as the character is finally represented on my shelf. And here he is!

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This being my final feature of Hasbro’s initial wave of IDW Comic Packs, we’ve already seen the packaging several times. Pax comes carded in robot form with a reprint comic on a G1 style card.  Suffice it to say, I find the presentation here perfect in every way. The comic is pretty good too. It stands on its own quite well, so if you’re like me and haven’t gotten around to reading Autocracy, it won’t count against you. There’s plenty of good action, familiar faces, and decent lines. Let’s start out with Pax’s alt mode.

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While in alt mode in the comic, Pax spends most panels pulling along a trailer of Decepticon prisoners. Better get busy making that trailer, third-parties! That having been said, Hasbro did a fine job reproducing the vehicle mode here, sans trailer. Pax is a Cybertronian truck, a bit more like a pick-up truck than a semi cab, but he still looks pretty good. The deco is a mix of red and blue, traditional Optimus colors, with some silver and yellow accents. I think it’s one of the better quality decos in recent Generations releases. True there aren’t a lot of paint apps, but I genuinely don’t get the feeling of any of the paint cuts that I have from some other modern figures. The clear windshield shows an Autobot symbol as well as some of the detailing in the inner workings of the cab.

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At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Pax’s alt mode is a bit small. Yup, that’s a common complaint against most modern Deluxe figures. He would work Ok as a sporty little pick-up truck, but he doesn’t look big enough to be pulling a trailer with two Decepticons in it. Prime comes with two weapons, a blaster and an energon axe and both accessories can peg into the sides of the vehicle to give him some firepower in alt mode. The blaster looks pretty good and even the axe can double as some kind of cannon if you use your imagination.

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Transforming Pax is easy and pretty clever. I like the way the side panels of his alt mode fold up and pack away on his legs. His wheels stow neatly behind him and his shoulders shift forward and lock into place securely. The resulting robot mode is excellent and there are no fake outs, so the windshield in his truck mode is really his chest in robot mode. The only distraction for me is the plate that sticks up behind his head, but I’m really just looking for things to pick on at this point. The truth is he’s a very clean looking robot with great poseability.

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And, yes, once again like a lot of Deluxes these days, he’s small. Now, Pax’s small size in robot mode does not bother me. Sure, he’s about the same size as the other Autobots in the comic, as Wheeljack just got him a new body. Nonetheless, to me Orion Pax should be slighter than he was as Prime and so his smaller stature in robot mode doesn’t concern me as much as his compact auto mode. On the other hand, I guess it’s hard to have it both ways, so I’ll let it slide.

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I’ve already mentioned his weapons. I absolutely love his rifle, because it finally gives us a G1-style Prime gun that can work with WFC Prime or even Classic Prime. The energon axe is pretty sweet too.

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Size quibbles aside, Orion Pax is an awesome figure and probably second only to Trailcutter as my favorite in this initial crop of IDW releases. It’s been a solid wave and I’m anxiously waiting for my Thundercracker and Hoist to turn up. I’m also really pleased to see the reveals of the next wave of four, which will include Skids, Waspinator, Goldfire, and Dreadwing. Yes, indeed, there’s some great stuff coming down the pike for us Transformers fans and lately Hasbro has been showing me that it doesn’t all have to come from third parties!

Sep 30 2013

Transformers Generations: Trailcutter (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

It seems like forever ago that I got Hasbro’s wave of IDW Deluxes and yet I’m still working my way through them. Today we’re going to check out Trailcutter, better known to some of us old GeeWunners as Trailbreaker. This release is a double payoff for me because a) We never got Trailbreaker in the Classics format and b) He’s a Hasbro release based on a Transformer as he appears in a comic that I’m actually reading!

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I’ve spilled a ton of electric ink on how much I love the idea of comic packs, so I’ll try not to waste a lot more time doing it here. Suffice it to say the packaging on this guy is fantastic. Trailcutter comes packaged in his robot mode in front of a spotlight comic and on a very G1-inspired cardback. An action figure and a comic… how can you go wrong? I’ve been no stranger to Transformers comics off and on over the decades. I was a faithful reader of the original Marvel book right up until the end… more or less. I dabbled in some of the stuff that followed and even found that old Armada comic to be surprisingly good. I enjoyed The War Within and I loved The Last Stand of the Wreckers. But it wasn’t until More Than Meets The Eye that I once again went all in on a Transformers title. MTMTE isn’t just a great Transformers comic, it’s one of the best comics I’ve ever read… and I’ve read a lot of comics in my 40+ years on this planet. On paper it sounds like the dumbest idea for a TF comic ever and yet in execution, every panel is like gold. This included issue, a Spotlight on Trailcutter, gives you just a mere morsel of that book’s awesomeness. Trust me, if you aren’t reading MTMTE go read it and come back. The first four volumes are available already in TPB. Go now… I’ll wait!

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Oh shit, I forgot. We’re here to talk about a toy. So… moving on to the figure itself, let’s start with Trailcutter’s vehicle mode. In keeping with tradition, he’s still a black SUV. For some reason this guy reminds me a lot of Generations Perceptor, although Trailcutter has four wheels and isn’t a halftrack. I dig the countours of the front of the vehicle and the sculpted winch on the bumper. Also, the striping on the sides and the bold Autobot emblem on the hood all give the eye something a little more than just black to look at. Trailcutter isn’t your typical SUV out to bring the kids to a soccer match either. Nope, he’s got his big forcefield emitter sticking up off the top of the roof and two guns facing forward. If you want to make him a little less threatening and more street accessible, you can take the cap off the back of the SUV and remove his guns, but the emitter remains. He’s a nice looking vehicle, but he does share a common problem with many Deluxe Transformers these days… he’s kind of small. He’s close to the same size as many of the Classic/Universe/Generations cars of yesteryear, but he’s an SUV, so he should be bigger.

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Transforming Trailcutter into his vehicle mode is a little fidgety. He’s one of those figures where everything needs to be just perfect to get him to fit together in alt mode and even then, it’s a little tough to close all the gaps. Getting him into robot mode, on the other hand, is pretty easy. The result is overall good, but I he’s not getting away from me without getting a few nits picked. Let’s deal with those first. He doesn’t have an Autobot symbol on him in robot mode. It’s a tiny oversight that just bugs me a bit, so let’s let it go because the bigger issue is size. Just like his vehicle mode, his robot mode is small. Yes, it’s been an ongoing issue with Deluxes ever since TF: Prime rolled onto the scene. It doesn’t always bother me, but Trailcutter should be at least as big as most of his Autobot peers. He stands just as tall as your average Classic Deluxe, but that’s including his forcefield emitter. In reality his head comes up to the shoulders of most of his peers. He still displays just fine with my Classics figures, but in perfect world he would have been bigger.

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All that aside, I really dig Trailcutter’s robot mode. He has a nice and powerful broad-shouldered look that doesn’t come away as being stocky despite his relatively shorter height. The way the front of the vehicle forms his chest is just the kind of classic Autobot design that I can never get enough of. And the headsculpt is a home run, which I’m happy to say homages the G1 style a little more than the comic style. As much as I love the current crop of Nick Roche IDW art, I’m not always so enamored with the organic quality of the faces. I know why they do it, to make the characters more expressive and easier to relate to, but I prefer something more mechanical and G1 in my figures’ portraits. The deco here is phenomenal and driven mostly by the color of the plastic over actual paint apps. You still get plenty of the black from the SUV showing up, but it’s now mixed with some beautiful red and grey accents and just a smidgen of blue.

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Trailcutter comes with a shield-gun thingy that basically forms the cap of his SUV mode. Some of you might have thought I was going to call him out on this piece, but, I don’t have a big issue with it. It’s not integrated into the robot mode, so you can set it aside if you want. There are also a couple of different ways you can peg it onto his back if you want to store it.

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So, yeah, Trailcutter has his shortcomings… see what I did there? But I still like him a lot. In fact, he’s definitely my favorite of the IDW Comic Pack wave so far. He has a great design in both modes and Hasbro’s team did a phenomenal job reverse engineering this guy from the IDW artwork and making him into a great looking and ultimately fun figure to play with. He’s already got a spot on my Classics shelf, filling a hole that has been vacant for far too long. Now I’m chomping at the bit to find Hoist, so my original Autobot updates can be yet one more step closer to being completed.

That’s three down, and one more IDW Comic Pack from the intiial assotment to go. Next week, we’ll check out Orion Pax!

May 24 2012

Marvel Universe: Greatest Battles Comic Pack: Gambit & Mister Sinister by Hasbro

Yesterday, there was a little ray of sunshine beaming through the clouds, as I actually found something new and noteworthy while picking up cat supplies at Walmart. Not only is it another awesome Marvel Comic Pack from Hasbro, but its the last of the three that I needed from this 2011/2012 assortment. This time around, its an X-Men themed pack featureing that epitome of douchebaggery itself, Gambit along with one of my personal favorite geneticist shapeshifters, Mr. Sinister.

I’ve certainly droned on enough in the past about how much I love this packaging, so let me just once again remark about how I think this is just perfect presentation. Two figures, mounted on a card with a comic book reprint as the backdrop. Superb! Sure, the comics are sometimes hit and miss, but in this case it has an awesome cover, and the comic itself is pretty great too, not the least of all because it features Sinister doing some rather painful experimental surgeries on a certain cajun mutant prick. Some may take issue that Sinister isn’t on the cover, but he does play prominantly inside. I’m also stoked that I now have every figure on the cover of this issue, with the one exception of Rogue.
So first off, let’s talk Gambit. Boy, do I hate Gambit, and yet I’ve wanted him in my 3 3/4″ Marvel collection ever since I passed on the one issued in that X-Men Origins: Wolverine line. So, it may seem odd to some that I really wanted a figure of a character I hate so much. Maybe I love to hate him, but more likely its just because he is such a top-tier character that not having him in my collection feels like a very conspicuous hole. Besides, which, I’ve always liked his design and the figure turned out splendidly, even if it is mostly a repaint.
Yes, a repaint! For all intents and purposes, this is a slightly repainted re-release of the aforementioned Wolverine: Origins figure. Not that that’s a bad thing. Wolverine might have been a shite movie, but it did produce some very nice figures. Indeed, I have Wolverine to thank for my Deadpool. I’m pretty sure this figure was originally released as part of the Animated Series of the movie figures, which explains why the head sculpt is a tad stylized, but its barely noticeable to me, and he fits in just fine with my other Marvel Universe X-Men. The only difference in sculpt that I can see is the addition of the kerchief around his neck.
The sculpting on the figure is especially nice, even if it is old. The jacket is just about perfect, with a slight bellowing to the bottom to give it a dynamic look, while also allowing for his leg articulation to work. There are a lot of nice loving details in the wrinkles and buttons, especially for a figure in this scale. The body sculpt is also executed with care, and extra detail is paid to his boots and his chest piece.

The paintwork is clean and sharp, and for a repaint not all that much different from the original figure. His coat is about the same, the chestpiece looks like it might be a bit more muted, and his boots look more grey than blue.
Gambit’s articulation isn’t quite up to what we’ve seen on the other two 2011/12 comic packs, but that’s because he’s an older sculpt. You do get a ball jointed neck. Arms with ball jointed shoulders and elbows, but no wrist articulation. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and double-hinged at the knees, but no ankle articulation. He has a swivel in the torso. Its ironic, but this is exactly the level of articulation that Hasbro is coming back to in order to cut costs for the new GI JOE and Avengers figures. Either way, you can still get some decent poses out of Gambit.

Gambit comes with his staff, and yes its the same staff that he came with the first time around. He is missing his cards, which I thought odd, but considering the amount of plastic and tooling that had to go into Mr. Sinister, Hasbro was probably anxious to save production costs on this set wherever possible.
Next up is Mr. Sinister, and holy hell am I happy to have this guy in my collection. He’s another one of those figures that makes me wonder why the single-carded MU series is full of so many repainted bucks for nine dollars, when we get a figure this amazing and impressive in a $15 two-pack. But then I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s look at the figure.

Yes, Sinister is a pretty sizeable figure and when you toss in his cape, he’s all the more impressive. Sure, its pretty obvious that he’s built on a slightly resculpted Colossus body, but here’s another example of Hasbro knowing how to resuse parts, because it really does work quite well for the character. Besides the obvious paint change, Hasbro extended the boots up over his knees, added shoulder armor, and swapped out the belt buckle, and obviously gave him a brand new head. And what a great head sculpt it is! The facial structure is really well executed and the paint apps are perfectly applied. And speaking of paintwork, I really dig what Hasbro used for his armor. Its a dark blue with a slight metallic twinge to it.
The cape is a separate piece and hangs off his shoulders, mostly around his neck. It does sit a tad awkwardly, giving him a bit of a hunched expression. Also, I would have liked it if it pegged in the back to make it stay a little better, but that’s nothing a little spot of bluetack won’t fix. The individual streams coming off of it really make for a unique piece, but in the end, and while I’ll probably display him on my MU shelf with the cape on, I think I prefer the figure without it.
Sinister fares better than Gambit in the articulation department. He’s got a ball jointed neck, with that extra hinge in there that I love so much. His arms feature ball jointed shoulders, swives in the biceps and wrists, and hinged elbows. His legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs and ankles, double hinges in the knees, and hinges in the ankles. Not bad!
I really can’t say enough good things about the three Greatest Battles packs that Hasbro put out in this assortment, and this set is yet another grand slam! It has important characters which are executed brilliantly and should make a great addition to any Marvel Universe collection. If you already own the Origins Gambit, I suppose you could beef about having to buy him again to get Sinister, but then again, if Sinister was a single carded release I probably wouldn’t have been able to find him on the pegs anyway. On the other hand to get two great figures for $15 really feels like a fantastic deal, as opposed to buying individually carded MU figures at about $9 a pop. This set has really got me excited over MU again, and I can’t wait until the new figures start turning up.
May 3 2012

Marvel Universe: Greatest Battles Comic Pack: Thanos & Adam Warlock by Hasbro

Ever since the Walmart near me started stocking Marvel Universe figures once again, the pegs have been a great source of figures from 2010 and 2011 that I never found anywhere else. This has been particularly true for the Comic Packs. While running into the World of Wally to stock up on hot pockets and frozen pizzas (the fuel that runs FigureFan), I spied one of the packs I’ve been hunting for ages: Thanos and Adam Warlock. I’ve considered picking up this set online many times for around $25, so this was a doubly great find. Oh, happy day!

I never grow tired of singing the praises of these Comic Packs’ packaging, and that’s especially the case with this colorful, seizure-inducing pack. Besides the giant window showing off two amazing looking figures, you’ve got an epic comic cover displayed behind them: Infinity Gauntlet #3. The illustrated insert is bright and beautiful with some dynamite character art.

The comics in these are often hit or miss with me, but this is really fantastic. You get Warlock assembling the army that he’s going to use to go up against Thanos, which is pretty impressive even as a stand alone. The artwork is solid, there are plenty of cool cameos, and the writing is particularly great. The reprint also doubles as a great teaser for the up and coming trade paperback, which is out by now and I may pick up despite actually owning the individual issues, as they’re rather tattered by now.
Let’s go ahead and start with Thanos. This is the second time he’s been released in the Marvel Universe. It probably goes without saying that Thanos was pretty high on my want list of figures. Alas, the initial single carded release was impossible to find in my area. I’ve had him sniped out from under me on Ebay several times and I just haven’t been able to bring myself to buy him online for the twenty or so bucks that he tends to sell for with shipping. So straight away, this Comic Pack is filling a seriously nagging hole in my collection. Unfortunately, this is a variant version, so the question is, am I happy having this be the Thanos for my collection? Well, sort of.
Make no mistake, this is a kick-ass figure. He uses the same body as the previous carded release, but with a brand new paint job. He also comes with a brand new head sculpt, and minus the interchangeable Infinity Gauntlet hand. The head sculpt is every bit as detailed as the carded version, but this one has Thanos giving a beaming, evil toothy grin, whereas the carded version had him snarling. I’m torn on which one I like better. This one gives him some more character, but I think the carded version might look a little better. Naturally, the loss of the Infinity Gauntlet hand is a big strike against this version.

As for the paint job, this version of Thanos has a darker blue costume. The gold also looks like it might be a little darker, duller, and less yellowish, but that could just be an optical illusion from the darker blue. Its a tough call since I don’t have both figures in front of me to compare. This version also has an additional vertical gold stripe running up his torso. I really do dig the coloring on this version a lot. I think the darker tone makes him look more sinister, possibly more realistic. The carded Thanos’ colors, on the other hand, make him look more in line with the comic book art, and more at home with a lot of his fellow MU figures. Gah… I’m so torn between the two of them. I guess the important thing is that I do really love this version.
Thanos is built off the same body used for Juggernaut, so you know he’s a big boy. He also sports some very nice articulation. You get a ball jointed neck, with the extra added hinge. Alas, the shoulder piece does a lot to mar his head movement beyond turning left or right. The arms feature ball jointed shoulders, single hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and at the base of the gauntlets. The legs feature ball jointed hips, double hinged knees, swivels at the thighs and top of the boots, and hinged ankles. The torso is ball jointed in the middle.
And then there’s Adam Warlock. Thanos was the main reason I wanted this pack so badly, and truth be told, I’ve never been a big follower of Warlock’s funnybooks. I have a few scattered issues here and there which came to me as parts of collections, rather than books I purposely acquired. That having been said, I have to admire what is one pretty fantastic looking figure.
Warlock is mainly a standard buck with a striking combination of glossy black and metallic red paint to make up his costume. The paint used here really is vibrant and impressive. The cape is a brand new sculpt, complete with a tiny skull fastener and a sculpted color. The cape is cast in yellow plastic, with a nice, rich glossy red paint for the outside. Warlock’s head sculpt is definitely some of Hasbro’s best work on the Marvel 3 3/4″ line. The stern expression is brimming with tiny little details, as is his coif of blonde hair. If only Hasbro could turn out head sculpts like this on all their figures!

Accessories? With Warlock, you get an Infinity Gauntlet that is designed to snap over a fist hand. It doesn’t stay on all that well, but I do like having it be removable so that it can be used on many different figures. You also get his staff, which is sculpted with a lot of detail and finished with a nice bronze paint wash.
Warlock features the kind of articulation I’d like to see with all of the Marvel Universe figures. The neck is ball jointed with the added hinge. The arms have ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. His legs have ball jointed hips, double hinged knees, hinged ankles, and swivels in the thighs and again just below the knees. Hasbro, why do we get better articulation in these Comic Pack figures, when they tend to be cheaper than the single carded releases? Hmm?
So, what we have here is a pretty amazing Comic Pack with two mighty fine figures. I’ve decided that I’m not going to agonize over which Thanos is better and just be happy to finally have him in my collection. If the opportunity arises, I’ll be happy to pick up the single carded release too, but right now I’m content to have this one. As for Adam Warlock, I could have been perfectly happy never having him in my collection, but seeing as how wonderful the figure turned out, he’ll certainly get a spot on my Marvel Universe shelf.
Apr 14 2012

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

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

Whether it be Star Wars, GI Joe, or Marvel, the packaging on these Hasbro comic packs is awesome. You take two figures and card them in front of a reprint comic book on a huge bubble and you have marketing genius. Its hard to believe these are done by the same company that pulled the comic reprints from Marvel Legends the moment they got a hold of the line.
The funnybook included in the package is Daredevil #132. I generally don’t read DD’s books, but I enjoy the character when he appears in events or crosses over into the other books that I do read. This ish is nothing special, but its an enjoyable read and a good choice for this pack as it has plenty of action between DD and Bullseye and you get some pretty good background info on what kind of guy Murdoch is if you aren’t all that familiar with the character. Its more or less one big fight between the two at a circus. Its definitely dated, and there are some really unintentionally funny lines because of it.
If you’re thinking that this Bullseye figure is a straight repack of the single carded version, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Generally speaking, I’ve found that the figures in these comic packs aren’t quite as good as the ones released single carded, but this one is a thousand times better than the carded release. Its a completely new figure, slightly bigger than the single carded one. The head sculpt is different, not necessarily better, just different. Both head sculpts are great so it just boils down to personal preference. What is certainly better, is this Bullseye has two working hands, rather than the playing cards molded into the left hand as with the solo release. This one comes with a gun and a dagger and he can hold them in either hand. If you really are keen on the playing cards, you can always swap the card hand on the other figure into this one and get the best of both worlds. The other really cool thing is the belt with functional holster and sheath for his weapons.
Another thing that is loads better about this comic pack Bullseye is the articulation, which is identical on both figures in this pack. You get ball jointed necks with that lovely extra hinge. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders, swivels in the arms and wrists, and double hinged elbows. The legs feature ball joints in the hips, swivels in the thighs,  and double hinges in the knees. The ankles are hinged and even have rocker joints! The torso’s swivel at the waist and are ball jointed at the chest. This is the kind of articulation that we should be getting in all the single carded figures, Hasbro. They are, afterall, more expensive per figure than these comic packs.
I don’t have quite as much to say about Daredevil, as I don’t own the single carded release to compare him to. And let’s face it, Daredevil isn’t the flashiest of costumed superheroes around. He’s mostly a guy in a maroon suit. I’m not usually a big fan of the paint wash that Hasbro uses on the MU figures, but in this case I think it turned out really well. It really adds definition to the sculpted muscles and allows the “DD” tampo on his chest to stand out a bit more. The headsculpt is excellent right down to his tiny little horn bumps. His belt is a separately sculpted piece and he has a pouch on his left leg to hold his batons, which can also be pegged together. As mentioned above, Daredevil has the same amazing articulation as Bullseye.
This pack cost $14.88 at Walmart, which is a pretty great deal. At $7.44 a figure and a free comic, you just can’t go wrong. These are without a doubt two of the better MU figures I’ve picked up in a while and they sport the best articulation I’ve seen in the line to date. These are the bucks that I wish Hasbro would use more often, particularly for the single-carded figures, which tend to cost more. Even having already owned the previous release of Bullseye, I am still thrilled to have picked up this set. Its fantastic.
Jan 15 2011

Marvel Secret Wars Comic Pack #11: Thor and Enchantress by Hasbro

Slowly but surely, I’m finishing off my collection of Hasbro’s Secret Wars comic packs. I think I only have two more to go after this one. Lord knows some of these packs got a little random with the figure assortments, but number eleven is a pretty straight shooting Thor theme, which also allows you to add an excellent villain to your Marvel Universe rogues gallery. Let’s take a look.

As always, I love the packaging here. In this case, you can’t see much of the comic cover, but the artwork on the bubble insert sure is nice. This pack includes the penultimate issue of the Secret Wars series, which builds up to quite the cliffhanger, but other then that doesn’t feature a whole hell of a lot of action.

The Thor figure is a nice pick up, as he’s only been released as his modern design in the Marvel Universe line and this is his more classic and iconic look. Of course, with the Thor movie’s release right around the corner, I’m willing to bet there will be a newer and better sculpt of classic Thor released, assuming Hasbro keeps with tradition and includes “comic series” figures in with the movie toys. Nevertheless, this comic pack version of Thor is a pretty solid sculpt and doesn’t really suffer from any of the quality control issues that have nagged some of the comic pack figures. I’m not 100 percent satisfied with the head sculpt, and the way his cape seems to levitate off his shoulders is a little odd, but other than that I’m pretty happy here. Mjolnir even has the tiny inscription on the side, which is pretty damn amazing.

On the flipside you have The Enchantress, and if you’ve been keeping up with The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, then you’ve seen a fair deal of her lately. I honestly avoided picking up this set because I’ve read some rather unfavorable reviews of this figure, but having her in hand, I have to say I think she turned out quite good. The head sculpt is nice and the paint apps are relatively clean. The only thing I’m going to complain about here is the odd way her waist joins with her hips. It just looks awkward. Still, all in all I’m very satisfied with her figure. Granted, Enchantress is just as likely to get a comic style release as part of the new Thor movie toys, so you may want to wait to see what’s coming.

Secret Wars pack #11 is a nice score, especially for Thor fans who just can’t wait until the movie figures start turning up, which based on early photos are looking really amazing. While the Secret Wars comic packs are fast disappearing from the shelves, you may still be able to grab some of these straggling on the pegs at your local toy aisle. I found this one for $12.99, which is a pretty solid deal for two great figures and a comic book.

Dec 19 2010

GI JOE 25th Anniversary Comic Pack: Beachhead and Data Frame by Hasbro

Time to round out the Hasbro Comic Pack Weekend with a look at one more and this time it’s from GI JOE. Marshall’s is still flooded with these things. They’re all over the pegs and now they’re even further marked down to $5.00 a pop. You can’t beat that, folks! Even still, this Beachhead and Mainframe Data Frame comic pack is probably the last one I will pick up, as none of the others really interest me. Ninja’s? Pfft. Ninjas were the whole reason GI JOE started to go to shit in the 90s. Well, that and a half dozen other things that were so weird it made 80s GI JOE look like straight non-fiction by comparison. Anyway, this was a no-brainer pick up for me, as I didn’t have either of these figures in my 25th Anni. Collection, and to be honest, this may be the first time I ever owned a Mainframe Data Frame figure, period.

So before we get to the figures, let’s look at the funny book, which amazingly enough has our heroes getting attacked by… a flying roach. To make matters worse they look like a couple of terrified schoolgirls. Once again, this is not a classic Marvel reprint, but rather a brand new book by Larry Hama and this one was much better than the last one I looked at (Scrap-Iron and Wild Bill). Granted, not a lot happens. It’s got Beachhead and Data Frame crawling through the sewers under the Cobra base looking to hack their computer, while Baroness and Zaranna hang out on the surface and try to thwart them with Battle Andriod Troopers. I don’t have a lot to say about the Joe portions, but there is some really fun interplay between The Baroness and Zaranna and the art is pretty solid. By the way… Zaranna. Thanks, Hasbro, for prominantly featuring a character in the comic that we never got in the 25th Anni. Collection. Why don’t you just kick us in the balls while you’re at it. Anyway, it was overall an enjoyable little read.

I don’t recall ever seeing a single carded 25th Anni. Beachhead ouside those Hall of Heroes figures, so I didn’t have him in my collection. One thing I did not expect was his swappable head. You can have him completely maskless, or put his mask on him so that it’s covering his nose and mouth, which really makes no sense, since there’s no way he could do that with his balaclava, unless he pulled it down over his head through the eyeholes. I guess it’s just some other face covering, but it’s kind of weird because it makes him look like a Cobra agent. The rest of the figure is outstanding and just brimming with wonderful detail, including his beret under his shoulder strap.


Beachhead comes with some pretty outstanding gear. He’s got a sub machine gun that actually has a removable clip, which might be a first for me in the 3 3/4″ scale. You can pull the one out of the gun and replace it with the one he carries in his ammo satchel. He also comes with an automatic pistol, which isn’t pictured because I dropped it during the shoot and it disappeared into oblivion. It does fit into his sculpted holster, but not terribly well. I’ll probably dip into my box-o-loose-weapons and find him a better one. As if all that isn’t enough, he also comes with a personalized figure stand. Nice.

And then there’s Data Frame, who as I’ve been hinting at throughout is actually Mainframe with his copyright revoked. Like I said, I never owned his figure before, so this was a nice treat, as I recall him being pretty prominantly featured in the 80’s cartoon. Being a computer specialist, that probably meant that GI JOE was a little ahead of his time in that regard. I’m a bit surprised at the head sculpt on this guy as the character always struck me as a bit of a mild mannered technogeek guy, but the figure’s expression looks like he’s going to tear off someone’s head and spit down their neck. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU TOOK DOWN THE FIREWALL?????” Yeah. The helmet is sculpted onto the head, which surprised me, since most of the 25th Anni. Joes have removable helmets, but it’s no biggie. The rest of the figure is nicely detailed. I like the markings on his uniform and the sculpted holstered gun he has on his chest.


Data Frame comes with some pretty cool extras. In addition to his gun and personalized figure stand, he also comes with a portable computer system, which he can carry like a suitcase and comes complete with with fold out legs, a small black device… I have no idea what it is, and a pair of cardboard computer discs, which was a neat idea, but I still just threw them out with the packaging. He also has a dagger, which fits into the sheath on his leg.

Hasbro undoubtedly did a really nice job on this pack. It had an enjoyable comic, two figures I really needed in my collection, and a load of cool accessories and extras. Compared to what I got saddled with in the last JOE comic pack just so I could get Scrap-Iron (I’m looking at you, shitty blue Wild Bill!!!), this one was just a pleasant surprise all around and highly recommended. If you can pick it up at Marshall’s for just five bucks, well that’s just gravy.