Firefly (Legacy Collection): Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Washburne by Funko

Ah, Firefly, what is there to say about it other than it was killed before it’s time. I actually didn’t get to see it until after Fox had already shit-canned it and indeed I’d never even heard about it until a year or so after it was cancelled and I picked up the DVDs because I was bored and the premise sounded interesting. It was love at first sight and if nothing else, I think it was cool that we got a pretty damn fine feature length film out of the deal too. That’s one thing more then most failed TV series get… what’s another thing? Action figures! This actually wasn’t the first stab somebody took at making figures out of this franchise. Even before these and Funko’s ReAction line, Diamond Select did a single wave of some super shitty figures based off of the Serenity movie. There were two versions of Mal, two versions of Jayne, and a Reaver and they were pretty awful. Let’s hope Funko fared better here.

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One thing Funko has down pat by now is their 6-inch figure packages. You get a couple of simple window boxes similar to what we’ve seen from Hasbro’s Black Series and even NECA’s Planet of the Apes line. These have a great deco, which is heavily inspired by the series artwork and you get character names and portraits on the spine. [Jayne: “‘pine? Is ‘pine OK?”] Quiet, you! Your figure will get its turn eventually! Anyway, I like everything about the presentation here, maybe even enough to actually keep the packages, as they are collector friendly and they do look shiny all lined up on the shelf. The backdrop behind the tray is even illustrated with a nice big sky. And before you ask, No! I’m keeping it! You can’t have it. You can’t take the sky from me!!! Today I’m starting with just two figures in the series. These are actually #1 and #5, but I thought it appropriate to feature The Heroes of Serenity Valley together. Let’s start with the Captain…

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Captain Mal comes in his trademark space-western garb, complete with khaki trousers, high boots, button down shirt, suspenders and his infamous brown coat (please, don’t call it a jacket!). The paint wash on the coat and the shirt is rather heavy handed and the decision to go with a gloss paint for the shirt is a strange one, but overall, I like the work on the outfit. That is not to say, I don’t have a few other gripes.

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The coat uses the usual plastic vest with sculpted sleeves and i normally don’t have any issues, but in this case, the coat tends to ride up a bit making it pretty obvious that the sleeves are not part of the coat. It also tends to give Mal a bit of a hunched look. Still, a dealbreaker this is not and overall I think the figure looks fine. The gunbelt features a working holster and I really dig the way the right flap of the coat is sculpted to fall back behind the holster. Nice!

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The likeness is not at all a bad one. I think it holds up really well under scrutiny, but looks best when viewed from a bit of a distance. It’s definitely Nathon Fillion and a far sight better than the likenesses we’ve been getting in Hasbro’s 6-inch Black line. It’s pretty clear that Gentle Giant is still at the helm.

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The articulation here hits all the right points for a 6-inch retail figure. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have swivels in the thighs. The ankles feature both hinges and rockers and there are ball joints in the torso and neck. You’ll note I didn’t mention the wrists, because these are just bizarre. The hands are hinged and placed on these tiny posts, which connect to ball joints inside the sleeve. They look very frail and neither wrist wanted to move at first. I threw caution to the wind and was able to get them started so now they do indeed have swivels and hinges, but man, that was a tense moment. I should also note that while I have no other issues with frozen joints, Funko is still using the clear plastic for the joints that have caused them and DC Collectibles so much trouble.

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Mal comes with two guns. you get his trusty pistol and a Winchester-style shotgun. He can hold the pistol in either hand quite well. I wasn’t really able to get him into a convincing firing position with the rifle, aside from doing a little trick with the perspective, but he can still hold it in some decent poses. Moving on to Zoe…

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Zoe sports similar khaki pants (minus side striping) and high boots as her Captain. She’s also got the brown vest and green shirt that I remember her wearing for most if not all of the episodes. Little details include the wide bracelet on her right wrist and the thin strip necklace and choker sculpted on. The gunbelt is a separate piece and includes sculpted and painted cartridges and a rather unique fast-draw holster for her shotgun.

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As with Mal, I think the likeness to Gina Torres is there. It’s a good portrait with clean paint. The hair is a bit at odds with the neck articulation, but it’s pliable enough and has parts at the shoulders to make it work a little better. The paint is clean, although her right eye is ever so slightly higher than where it was supposed to land. Still, in terms of googly eyed figures, I’ve seen a lot worse than this.

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The articulation is quite close to Mal. I’m not sure if Zoe features ankle rockers, but if she does, I can’t get them to work and I’m not going to force the issue. Her wrists aren’t on the same super thin posts, os that’s a plus. Most of the other joints are fine right out of the package, but I have some trouble getting her right elbow to swivel and again, not going to force it.

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Also like Mal, Zoe comes with two guns. You get her trademark shotgun and a pistol. The shotgun fits nicely into the loop on the belt holster. Her pistol doesn’t really have anywhere to go when she isn’t holding it, but maybe I’ll lend it to her husband when I get his figure.

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I’ve wanted a set of Firefly figures in my collection ever since I saw the show and now it’s finally happening! All in all, these turned out to be very nice figures with just a few bumps along the way. I’d say my biggest criticism is that the little quibbles I have are things that Funko should have probably worked out by now. With a couple waves of Game of Thrones, a wave of Magic the Gathering, and at least one other 6-inch Legacy line out there, it feels like they should be beyond some of these rookie mistakes. That having been said, I’m happy to report no QC issues this time around, so I guess there is some improvement. I didn’t buy these as a complete Wave, but I’m still going to try to get back to the line at some point next week and check out some more figures. This is definitely a line I want to support because I really want to see a second Wave.

ReAction Series: Big Trouble in Little China by Funko!

If you grew up in the 80s, you probably loved Big Trouble in Little China as much as I did. You probably watched it over and over again like I did. You probably drew your own comics chronicling the further adventures of The Pork Chop Express, just like I did. Actually, scratch that last part. I may have said too much. It’s classic John Carpenter goodness and it’s still one of my favorite WTF movies. So much of it makes no sense, and yet it’s so highly watchable and re-watchable and re-re-watchable. I love movies that are batshit crazy and don’t take themselves too seriously, and this one fits that bill perfectly. So far I’ve passed on the overwhelming majority of Funko’s ReAction figures on the grounds that a lot of them just miss the point. Making Kenner style figures of properties from 1990 and beyond, like Pulp Fiction and Firefly, just doesn’t make much sense to me, but I’m not judging anyone who digs them. Big Trouble on the other hand was a great license for them to score. Yeah, technically it missses the true “Vintage Kenner” Era by a couple of years, but it’s not that much of a stretch. It’s also a license that I desparately wanted figures from when I was a kid. Had they been made, it probably would have been the last line I collected before getting out of toys.

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There are a total of six figures in this series, which is a lot more than I thought the film would warrant, but upon review of the character selection, I think they were all good choices. You get Jack Burton, Gracie Law, David Lo Pan, and the three Elements: Thunder, Rain, and Lightning. Some fans may ask, where are Wang and Egg, but I don’t think either of them were distinctive enough to get their own figures and I believe Funko went the right route as to not water down this line too much.

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The figures all come on the same card, which draws its art directly from the movie poster. The only thing unique is the characters’ names printed above the bubble. On the one hand, it’s a bit of a lazier approach than actually giving each character their own card. On the other hand, I totally dig this artwork and it looks fantastic printed on an action figure card. To me the ReAction series should largely be about things we never got, and this is exactly what I would have loved to have back in 1986. I also don’t feel nearly as conflicted over whether or not to open them. If I ever want a carded example from this line later on down the road, I can just pick up one figure to get the full effect of the line, but I doubt it’ll ever come to that. Anyway, I’ve got a lot of figures to get through and you know what Jack Burton always says in a situation like this. Who? Jack Burton… ME!

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I’ve seen this figure get a pretty lukewarm reception when it was first revealed, but I actually dig it a lot. Yes, the head is oversized, but I actually think they did a pretty good job with the portrait. These are retro style 3 3/4″ figures, so the fact that I can see even a little of Kurt Russell in there is good enough for me. If nothing else, they certainly got the hair right. The other thing they got right is his wife-beater shirt with the artwork printed on it. It’s easily the high point of this figure and goes a long way to identify him with the character. Other points of interest include the watch on his left wrist and the defined muscles in his exposed arms. You also get a pair of accessories, which include his combat knife and machine pistol.

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For Gracie Law, they went with her in her ceremonial garb, which was a good choice, because it makes for a far more interesting figure than her street clothes. Again, for the style we’re going for here, the likness to Kim Cattrall ain’t bad. I like that she’s got a paler face to simulate the makeup and they even included her mole. The outfit is well done right down to the classic “robe legs” with the split down the middle just like old Kenner Obi-Wan used to have. She comes with a fairly intricate head dress that just clips right on the front of her head.

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David Lo Pan is quite recognizable, mostly because he’s wearing a rather distinctive outfit. Again, you get those “robe legs” split down the middle and some respectable detail, like the extended finger nails on his pinky fingers! The hat is nicely sculpted and painted, and and the dragon decorations on his robes are actually both sculpted and painted on. Lo Pan comes with the little Beholder monster, which is just a lump of sculpted fleshy plastic.

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And that brings us to the Elements, which to me turned out to be the real stars of this series. I kind of expected these to be quick and dirty remolds of the same figure, but as far as I can tell the straw hats (permanently sculpted to the head) are the only parts that are reused and I have to give Funko props for that. Each figure includes a removable cape and their own signature weapon from the movie. Rain has his claw weapons, Thunder has his knives, and Lightning has his propellers. OK, the propellers are the weakest of the three, they just look like wrenches. But, points for trying!

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As always, these retro-style figures all feature the simple five points of articulation. The plastic used here feels really good and I’m happy to see that Funko is starting to paint the faces rather than leave them bare plastic, because they look so much better this way.

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Funko’s Big Trouble line gives me everything I’m looking for out of the ReAction series. It’s an 80’s property that should have gotten action figures (but didn’t) and I truly believe the figures and card art were executed with some love of the property. In short, they did good here and these figures definitely scratch a nagging itch that goes back about 30 years. I also dig the whole “one and done” mentaility of these. I get one wave of figures to represent the movie on my shelf and I can move on. Of course, that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be glad to see these characters turn up in the Legacy line. Even a one-off of Jack Burton would be most welcome, but honestly, I love this move enough that I’d be on board for a full wave.

ReAction Figures: Universal Monsters, Series 1 by Funko

Early last month I checked out Series 2 of Funko’s Universal Monsters ReAction figures and was mighty impressed. I also waxed nostalgic about the original 1970’s REMCO figures that were also based off these movies and how this was one of those instances where Funko hit the whole nostalgia and retro concept right square in the bulls-eye. The Series 2 figures had great sculpts, awesome cards, and unlike a lot of their ReAction lines, they worked brilliantly at what they set out to do. I started with Series 2 because all of those characters were also released as part of REMCO’s original line, whereas only two of the four monsters in this first series were included in that vintage line: Gillman and Frankenstein’s monster. I like that they took the opportunity to expand and the additional characters, The Invisible Man and The Bride of Frankenstein, are pretty good choices, I think.

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Once again, the cards for these figures are excellent. Funko took B&W stills direct from the movies. I even like these designs better than the original REMCO cards. Maybe that’s blasphemy, but I think these do a better job of capturing the flavor of the individual films. James Whale directed three out of the four of these films and I think his talents are best displayed by the magnificent lighting in the shot of Elsa Lanchester as The Bride. I also think it’s rather clever that they used that profile shot of her while the figure also had to have its head turned in the package because of the tall hair sculpt. The shot used for Frankenstein’s monster is perhaps not quite so stunning, but still a fantastic image for the card and oozes atmosphere.

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Moving on to the second pair of cards, The Invisible Man was always among my least favorite of these films. I never really considered Dr. Jack Griffin to be a proper Universal Monster, but the film still works for the genre, especially since Whale directed it along with so many of the others, and I still welcome the addition of the figure into this fold. And that brings us to the wonderful Creature From The Black Lagoon. It’s one of my favorites of this entire genre and I think both the movie and the Gillman costume both hold up remarkably well to this day, especially the underwater shots. As good as Series 2 was, and as many great characters as they packed into these two waves, Gillman was the one that had me most excited. Especially since I absolutely loved that old REMCO figure. Time to open these figures up, but fear not, I’ll be using a razor and a degree of care so I can save the cards. Let’s start with The Monster and his Bride!

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Frankenstein’s monster is a really nice sculpt and packed with some cool detail for a retro-style figure. The bolts in his neck are there, albeit they are a little hard to see. He does have a little paint applied to the scar at the top of his hairline. There are stitching marks around his wrists and his shoes even feature little lifts. You get the usual little sculpted wrinkles in his jacket and trousers. Is it a great likeness to Karloff in the makeup? Nah, not really. Karloff isn’t even credited anywhere on the card, but it’s an iconic enough look that it works fine for the figure. My one complaint would be that his clothes are way too clean and tidy. Some sculpted tears and weathering would have gone a long way. Still, this guy is a solid figure!

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The Monster’s Bride is also a really nice effort and a treat, since she never got a slot in REMCO’s line. I guess the female figures got slighted back then too. There’s very little detail on her torso and the lower half of her gown. Technically, she doesn’t even have feet, just a split down the middle of the skirt, similar to what Kenner did with their robed figures like Obi-Wan or Anakin Skywalker. Her arms, however, do have some great sculpted bandages and their yellowed color helps to break up all the white from the rest of her outfit. The head sculpt on this figure is really good for a vintage-style head, but the likeness isn’t really there, despite the fact that they credited the actress’ likeness on the back of the card. Lanchester had far more pronounced eyes. That having been said, the hair sculpt is fantastic and for a more generic version of the character, I think the head works brilliantly.

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Moving on to The Invisible Man, this was obviously a figure where likeness wasn’t an issue because Dr. Griffin’s head is all bandaged up. That having been said, the attention to detail in the bandages is excellent. If you look closely, the pattern of the wrappings even mimic how they looked on actor Claude Rains. The rest of the figure consists of a sculpted smoking jacket, which looks good, but doesn’t really attempt to recreate the complex checkered pattern on the one worn in the film. Going in, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this figure all that much, but I think Funko did a pretty solid job on him.

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Last up is Gillman and I gotta say, Funko did an amazing job with the sculpt on this guy. The texturing, the fins, the segmented plates of his chest are all lovingly recreated as is the frightening head of the fish-man itself. There are sculpted wrinkles at the ankles that look like they were going for a figure based on the actor in the suit, rather than the real creature. Intentional or not, it’s kind of meta and I dig that a lot. With the sculpt being so good on this figure, I kind of hate to knock it, but I think the paint could have been better. There’s are very few paint apps to speak of at all and here’s a case where I think the coloring on the REMCO figure worked better for me. But don’t worry, Gillman, you’re still a great figure.

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As with Series 2, these figures retail for around $10 each, but I was able to do a little better on some. They’re readily available at all sorts of e-tailers and there are even some variants out there if that sort of thing is your bag. I once likened the ReAction line as potentially being the Atari 2600 E.T. cartridge of the action figure world and Funko does indeed seem to be unleashing a torrent of these figures that very well may one day be filling a landfill out west somewhere. Obviously, I’m not here to say that all their efforts are without merit. Indeed, you’ll be seeing ReAction figures featured again here on FFZ and probably sooner than later. For now, all I’ll say is that if nothing else great comes out of the somewhat obnoxious flood of Funko ReAction figures, I’ll still consider these Universal Monsters figures as well worth the effort. These don’t feel like they were “phoned in” to turn a quick buck. Everything from the card art to the character selection to the figures themselves feel like a love letter to the old REMCO line and all the terrible Marty McFly and Pulp Fiction figures can’t wash that away.

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Collection): Garruk Wildspeaker by Funko

Well, it took me a while, but I’m finally checking out the last figure in Funko’s Magic The Gathering Legacy Collection. And it’s about time, because I started down this road back in early February! If you haven’t been keeping score at home, I’ve found this to be a pretty solid line. The ladies were all great and so far only one figure was downright awful. The final figure is Garruk Wildspeaker and my, he’s a big one!

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The packaging for this line is great. You get a window box that is designed to hang on a peg or stand on a shelf. The window shows you exactly what you’re getting inside and the side panel of the box has the figure’s name so you can line them up on a bookshelf and still know who is who. Garruk really fills up the box quite nicely. Between the figure and his accessory, there isn’t much room left in there! The only thing the package is really missing is a little blurb about the character himself. As I know nothing about these characters, I’m off to the Magic Wiki to learn a little something about Garruk. Wow, he’s a human, never would have guessed that. He’s also a naturalist, gruff, impatient, and he has a rather long and interesting backstory, which I won’t go into here. I was a little surprised at reading Garruk’s bio, because the figure looks more like a boss you might encounter in a Resident Evil game. I wouldn’t have pegged him for having that much personality or individualism.

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I mean, just look at this dude… he’s a hulking beast of a man! What little of his skin that is exposed is left as bare white plastic, except for some faint gray tatts on his left arm. It sort of has the same unfinished look to the skin as Ajani did, but in this case there isn’t as much of it showing and it lends itself to an almost zombie-like appearance, which I think looks pretty cool. His outfit consists of a gnarly patchwork of cloth scraps, chain mail armor and some reinforcing plates. I like the makeshift stitching sculpted into his front sash and the myriad of belts are sculpted so that they’re actually coming away from the figure to give it more of a convincing layered look. His hunched back is capped off with a shaggy pelt with spikes protruding from it. I dig the tortured, grasping manner of his left hand and his right hand is shielded with an extended armor plate furnished with spikes. Another really nice touch is the shattered sword hanging off the back of his belt.

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Garruk’s portrait consists of a soft plastic helmet permanently attached to the head, which is far more convincing then if it had all been sculpted as one piece. His black eyes can just about be made out inside the eye holes. The lower half of his face features the same unpainted white-gray plastic as skin, but with a brown painted beard as well. The face sculpt is very soft, and while probably not intentional it helps to carry that creepy ghostly visage that makes this guy look all the more formidable.

 

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Of course, with Garruk being the final figure I look at in this line, he’s the final say on whether or not Funko has fixed the bulk of their jointing issues. I’ve only had one or two frozen joints in this whole series so far, and even those were nothing too bad. In the case of Garruk all of his joints work just fine out of the box, with the exception of his waist swivel. I’m pretty sure it’s there, but I can’t get it to move and I’m not about to force the issue. Otherwise, let’s run through the rest of the points: The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders and wrists and hinged elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, have rotating hinges in the ankles, and swivels up high in the thighs and again down by the boots. The head is ball jointed as well. Most of the armor plates are made up of very soft plastic so as not to inhibit Garruk’s movements. He’s not what I would call super-articulated by any means, but there’s still some serviceable poseability here.

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Garruk comes with one accessory and it’s a big, honkin’ ax! The head has some nice weathering to it and painted patterns to match some of those found on Garruk’s armor. The shaft is sculpted and painted to look like wood with sculpted leather straps wrapped around it and a ring for a pommel.

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I would definitely rank Garruk as one of my favorite figures in the line. His character design is great and it translates pretty well into figure form. Besides being so satisfyingly big and hefty, the complexity of the sculpt used for his outfit is very impressive. It’s so easy to get lost in the details of every little piece of chain mail, buckle or strap. Overall, the muted gray and brown colors work well for him, but with a more dynamic paint job, this figure could be absolutely jaw-dropping instead of just very good. I could actually see this guy standing in with a number of other figure lines. As a whole, I think Funko did a solid job on this run, despite being criticized for paint applications not costing out in the final releases. To me, most of the figures still turned out just fine with only that one glaring exception, which is nearly too awful for words. I’m not entirely sure whether an actual fan of Magic The Gathering would be more or less charitable than I have been, but as straight fantasy figures, I’m glad to have these in my collection.

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Collection) Jace Beleren by Funko

I’m still working my way through Funko’s MTG Legacy Collection figures and today I’m opening up the second to the last in this series, Jace Beleren. As usual, I know absolutely nothing about this character, so I’m off to consult the Wisdom of the Internets to find out a little about him. Jace is a human Planeswalker with an affinity for blue magic, more specifically telepathy and has what is referred to as a “reserved and decadent” nature. This dude’s actually got a pretty interesting back story, which I enjoyed reading. Y’all can check it out at The Magic The Gathering Salvation Wiki.

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I don’t have anything new to say about the packaging, as we’ve seen it five times now. It’s a simple and clean design with a window that shows off the figure pretty well. You get the character’s name and portrait on the side panel, but no blurb describing who he is. Funko might want to consider doing that for future figures. Then again, maybe I’m the only one who buys figures of characters they don’t know. Anyway, the packaging is totally collector friendly and it is designed to hang on a peg or sit on a shelf. You’ll note from the box that Jace is actually the first figure in the wave, but I’m sure glad I didn’t buy these things in order, because I sure as hell would have stopped at Number One!

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With Jace out of the box, I’m going to go on record by saying this is not one of my favorite character designs from this series. I mean, yeah, he’s kind of got the whole exotic wizard-drifter look going for him… I guess. Beleren wears a soft, rubbery plastic cloak over an outfit that appears to be made of sculpted belts, straps, and sashes. Aside from the cloak, I can’t really figure out what look they were going for here. And apart from the painted white deco and a little black and red trim, the figure is mostly cast in this blue-green color, which isn’t terribly appealing to me. What’s more, the white paint used for the deco could have been cleaner and more evenly applied. I will say that I rather like the way the cloak is executed, particularly the way it hangs low over the figure’s head giving him a mysterious air. It’s also good because…

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Holy shit, this figure’s head is terrible!!! Besides the ridiculous mop of brown hair slathered across the left half of his face, the paint for the eyes is just atrocious. I can’t figure out if they were supposed to be painted entirely blue or if they’re just pupils, but either way it’s a real slop job. Hey, it’s not uncommon to get a little lazy-eye or something like that going on with an action figure, but this is something totally different and far worse. I think these may be some of the worst painted eyes I’ve ever seen on an action figure. Taking off the cloak also reveals some more sloppy paint on the piping of his shirt, so the lesson learned here… just leave the damn cloak on him!

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Jace features a lot of useful points of articulation, but I did have some stuck joints on my figure. Luckily I didn’t have to start boiling water or plug in the hair dryer, because the problem joints eventually gave in with a little coaxing. Let’s run through those points… The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, have swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges at the elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have double hinges in the knees, and swivels in the thighs. I can’t tell if there’s anything in the ankles, as the pants are sculpted to hang down over his shoes, but it doesn’t feel like there’s any movement there. Lastly, he has a ball joint in his torso and another in the neck. The figure has a good range of movement, and luckily he is capable of shielding his horribly painted face with his hands. But ultimately, who cares about articulation when the figure looks like trash?

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In the accessories department, Jace comes up with a big goose egg. Zilch! Nada! That’s disappointing, because he isn’t a terribly big figure and he could have definitely used something else in there to justify the original MSRP of about twenty bucks. Hell, at least if he came with something I could give to another figure, that might have justified the purchase. I couldn’t even come up with anything interesting to do with him in my studio. I just wanted to shoot him real fast and be done with it.

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Well, I’ve had a lot of good things to say about this line up until now, but Jace is the first figure in this series that I’d rather I hadn’t picked up. Actually, that’s not true. I got him for under ten bucks, and my OCD would have kept me up at night if I had all but one figure in this line. This figure is a nasty piece of work on just about every level, but hey at least none of his joints broke. It’s rather shocking when you consider that the portraits on the three ladies of this line were all clean and sharp. Maybe I just got a bad one, but either way, Jace is the first figure in the line that I honestly couldn’t recommend, unless maybe to a customizer. I’m guessing someone with some serious painting chops could probably turn this figure into something special. Or maybe not.

 

ReAction Figures: Universal Monsters, Series 2 by Funko

I’ve certainly given my share of grief to Funko’s ReAction line of action figures and that’s despite only having featured one of them here on FFZ. I’m not against the concept. Hell, my unending praise of Warpo’s Legends of Cthulhu line alone should prove that. But Funko’s scatter shot approach to the whole retro-vintage thing makes it seem more like a shameless cash grab than actually doing something interesting with the concept. This entire faux-vintage idea grew out of Super-7 bringing the un-produced Kenner Alien figures to market based on original prototypes. It was a pretty big success for something as niche as it was and so ReAction was born giving us “what if” imaginings of lines that were never produced. I think it’s a noble gesture where actual 70’s and 80’s properties are concerned, but when you extend it to stuff like Firefly or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, everything starts to break down. Of course, by casting a wide, wide, WIDE net over all sorts of properties it means that they do have a chance to get it right sometimes and today we’re looking at one of those instances with Series 2 of their Universal Monsters. (I know, “what happened to Series 1?” I’ll get to it eventually.) Keep in mind, these figures aren’t a case of paying tribute to what could have been, but rather what was, as the company REMCO* put out a line of six 3 3/4” Universal Monsters figures back in 1979 and I have a lot of fond memories of those figures and the playsets.

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Series 2 consists of Dracula, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera and The Wolfman. While Series 1 actually contains my favorite monster, The Gillman, I went with this Series first because I thought it was a little better fleshed out and all of the figures were ones featured in the vintage REMCO line. I like the fact that the cards are all original and the front of each one is branded solely based on the character’s movie. You actually have to turn the card over to see anything tying it in with a larger series. The figures each come just rattling around in their coffin-style bubbles, just like the good old days, although my Dracula came with the bubble completely detached from the card. That sort of thing would have really pissed me off if I was keeping them carded, but who am I kidding? There was never any chance of that!

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It would be impossible to pick my favorite card in this set as they all feature great B&W shots from the original films. I will say that I get a chuckle out of The Phantom’s every time I look at it. It looks like Lon Chaney is looking down in horror at his little action figure! Everyone’s a critic! As good as these cards are, I really wasn’t sad about opening them up. It’s probably because the appeal here is the figures themselves as replacements for my beloved REMCO monsters. Let’s start out with Dracula and The Phantom of the Opera.

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These guys look splendid, although as might be expected there’s some parts sharing and resculpting here. You wouldn’t think that would be a factor in cheap ten dollar figures, but it’s done well so I don’t have any issues with it. These are, afterall, a couple of dudes in black suits and capes so the arms and legs are shared. The torso’s appear to be remolds as there are obvious differences, like Dracula’s very nicely sculpted and painted medallion and The Phantom’s tie. They both have waistcoats, but Dracula’s hangs down over his pants, whereas Phantom’s does not. And of course, they both sport the same basic black vinyl cape, which should have old school Kenner fans mighty happy.

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The head sculpts are also quite good and not overly proportioned like on some of the other ReAction figures. Dracula isn’t really the spitting image of Bela Lagosi, but it’s a good generic vampire. Phantom on the other hand, I think they did a pretty nice job on making him look like Chaney in the makeup.

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Next, we have The Wolfman and The Mummy and again, Funko did some nice work on this pair. I’d say Wolfman is probably the best sculpt of this wave just because of all the detail they put into his furry hands and feet, the little rumples in his shirt and the creases in his trousers. The head sculpt is pretty damn nice too and all the paint is sharp and clean.

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The Mummy also has a lot of detail packed into his sculpt. All the bandages are defined and thre’s little tatters and tears in them to make them look old. There’s not a lot of paintwork on this guy, but then he doesn’t need it. This head sculpt is equally as impressive as Wolfman’s and I’d say if we’re talking likenesses, this one comes pretty damn close to a Boris Karloff in makeup.

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As expected, these figures all have the standard old school five points of articulation. The joints are all nice and tight and the plastic quality feels great. The only drawback might be the total lack of accessories, but then I can’t think of anything to include with these characters anyway.

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I’ve been really choosey about which ReAction figures I’m buying and so far I’ve made some fairly good choices. Sure, The Rocketeer was a little disappointing, but I was perfectly happy with my 80’s Slashers and these Universal Monsters are absolutely fantastic. They hit the right nostalgia buttons by letting me relive the fun memories of my REMCO figures and these actually look like Funko put a lot of love in them, rather than just crank them out. These guys are proof positive that you can do genuine retro-style figures and not have them look like trash. I’ve already got Series 1 on order so I should be able to swing back and check them out in a week or so.

*If you want to read a great little article on the original REMCO toys, check out Terrordaves.com.

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Collection): Ajani Goldmane by Funko

I’ve already checked out the three ladies from Funko’s MTG Legacy Collection and now I’m moving on to the dudes, starting with Ajani Goldmane. He’s not just a dude, he’s a LION dude, or more precisely an albino Nacatl Planeswalker, who specializes in spells that buff the health and strength of his allies. I don’t claim to have known any of that, nor is there any information about the character printed on the box, instead I consulted that all-knowing oracle of wisdom known as The InterWebs.

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We’ve seen this packaging enough now that I don’t want to waste a lot of time dwelling on it. It’s a nice, collector friendly window box that lets you see the figure your getting and also has the figure’s identity printed on the side panel, which is a huge plus in my book. Unlike the ladies of the line, Goldmane and his huge accessory really fills out his box completely. There’s very little room in there for anything else.

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Out of the box this is one impressively large figure. Granted, he’s not much taller than the ladies, but he’s probably got about twice the bulk of Lil, Chandra, or Nissa. And because he’s got those funky hind animal legs, he can actually stand a lot taller when they are extended all the way out. The sculpt here is quite impressive with all sorts of musculature in the buck, a lot of which isn’t even readily visible under the outfit, but it’s there nonetheless and I really respect that. On the other hand, the fur texture on the body isn’t all that well defined, giving him that kind of smooth Thundercat appearance where it’s hard to tell whether he’s supposed to be furry or just have skin. I do, however, dig the adorable and giant kitty paws he has for feet and he has a very soft and pliable tail.

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The top part of Goldmane’s outfit consists of large golden pieces of shoulder armor with a sculpted bluish-green cloak covering the one on his right. Yeah, once again Funko went the extra mile by actually sculpted the armor under the cloak. It’s something you wouldn’t actually see unless you removed the cloak and left shoulder piece, but they did it anyway. They also sculpted and painted a necklace, which is barely visible under the outfit. The rest of his wardrobe consists of a brown “leather” belt around his waist and “leather” thigh armor and matching arm bracers. All the pieces intended to be leather are sculpted in soft plastic and they’re embossed with various designs. Goldmane also features some wraps around his ankles and hands, which are sculpted as part of the buck and painted. The complexity of the outfit is all quite impressive as it’s comprised of quite a few pieces, all layered quite convincingly onto the figure.

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The portrait is good, albeit a little soft. Goldmane has one eye closed, presumeably from a wound, and his mouth open showing a pair of nasty fangs. I dig the braided hair that’s sculpted from his mane and the wrinkles around his nose are a nice touch. Still, as good a sculpt as it is, it falls a bit flat and I think that’s more down to the lack of paint apps than anything else.

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So let’s talk paint. There have been frequent complaints that the retail versions of the MTG figures are missing a lot of the paint apps that were seen on the prototypes. That’s not unusual as sometimes things just don’t cost out when items move from ideal vision to the mass production line. It didn’t bother me on any of the ladies, but I think it’s a lot more obvious on Goldmane, particularly where his fur is concerned. I get that he’s an albino, but even still the pure marshmallowy, white plastic buck comes off as rather bland and unfinished. A paint wash certainly would have helped things along, particularly on the head. This is a big figure with a complex sculpt, but when you get down to it the deco is just white, brown, blue-green, and gold and it falls a little short. There are also a few minor dings to the gold paint on my figure.

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Goldmane sports plenty of useful points of articulation and my figure had no issues with frozen joints or breakage. The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders, hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips with hinges in both sets of knees (I don’t know what else to call them!) and swivels in the ankles and thighs. He’s got a ball joint cleverly concealed in his torso and one in the neck, although the sculpt of his mane severely restricts his neck articulation.

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While the ladies of the line were rather lacking in accessories, Goldmane’s extras steal the show. He comes with a scimitar, which can fit into the brown sheath on his belt and he also comes with a massive double-headed ax. The sword is fairly simple, but it does feature some ornamentation etched in the blade as well as a raised leaping cat. The problem here is that Goldmane’s right hand is obviously sculpted to hold the narrow hilt, but the grip is so tight, it’s impossible for me to get the sword hilt into it. I’ve tried pulling his thum back just a bit and all I got for my efforts was stabbed by his super sharp claws. I’m sure a little blowdryer action would get to open, but I haven’t bothered with it yet.

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The ax, on the other hand, is an absolute work of art. As if a giant lion man in armor isn’t intimidating enough, Goldmane carries around this thing. It’s very tribal looking with sculpted strips of leather wrapped around the handle and teeth and fur trim. The blades are gray and gold and both have raised cat motifs.

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Goldmane earns another thumbs up from me for this line, although those thumbs aren’t held up quite as high as with the previous three figures. Yes, he could have used a few more strokes from the painter’s brush, but a lot of that has to do with his size and the impressive quality of the sculpt demanding a better quality deco. That’s not to say the paint that’s here is bad, I just wish there were more of it. Everything else about this guy is solid and I’d dare say he makes a great piece for any fantasty figure collection. Indeed, he even looks right at home amidst my Masters Classics figures. And even at the full retail of around twenty bucks, this is a lot of plastic for the money. At the $13 I spent on mine, the deal is all the sweeter.

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Series): Liliana Vess

Alrighty, today I’m checking out the final gal in Funko’s Magic The Gathering Legacy line. The first two figures, Chandra and Nissa, not only impressed me, but they’ve put almost all my fears to rest about quality issues in the Legacy Collection Firefly and Rocketeer figures that were shown off at Toy Fair this week. Hell, at this rate I may even take my chances with some more of their Game of Thrones figures. But today we’re here to talk about Liliana Vess, so let’s do it!

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We’ve already seen the packaging for this line twice, so I won’t dwell on it much more. I like it a lot as it identifies the figure on the side of the box, shows off the goods inside pretty well, and is totally collector friendly. Once again, I will humbly suggest that putting character bios on the boxes would have been a nice idea. I can’t be the only one buying these figures who knows nothing about MTG. Or maybe I am. Either way, a consultation with Wizards of the Coast told me a little bit about our gal Lil. Apparently she’s a century old Necromancer, charismatic, charming, and witty and likes making deals with demons. Wooo hooo.. witch-ay woman… let’s see how high she flies.

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And there she is in all her dark beauty. As great as the other two figures were, I’d say straightaway that Liliana is the most impressive at first sight, mainly because of the tattoo scroll work that is etched all over her visible skin. It’s not only a very cool design for the character, but it’s implemented very well on the figure. Ms. Vess’ mostly purple outfit has a bit of a gypsy flavor to me. She’s got a flowing skirt that’s slit up the side so we can see a little leg, and a top that exposes her midriff, (wow, Wizards of the Coast love their bare midriffs!) and a sash over her left shoulder that hooks at the back of her skirt and connects to each of her sleeves at the wrist. She’s also wearing greaves, which are painted with a metallic purple and a gold ram’s horn style tiara.

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The portrait here is more complex than what we’ve seen with Chandra and Nissa. Besides the scroll work tatts on her face, Lil is the first of these ladies to have pupils in her eyes and they’re painted nice and straight. The paint used for her lips and eye brows is also crisp and expertly applied. I actually get a little Marina Sirtis vibe off of her,which ain’t a bad thing. After three figures, it’s safe to say that the guys at Funko (or in this case Gentle Giant) know how to craft a pretty female portrait in this scale.

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Lilian’s articulation is identical to what we saw with Nissa, but I’ll run through it anyway. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps and hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed with swivels at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have rotating swivels and lateral rockers in the ankles. She has a ball joint just under her chest and another in her neck. Once again, I had absolutely no troubles with frozen joints or breakage, although it’s worth noting that Lil’s magnificent mane of hair hinders her neck articulation.

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If Liliana has a downside, it’s her total lack of accessories. So far none of the ladies in this line have been over-encumbered with extra goodies, but Nissa’s staff was nice and at least they threw in a fireball with Chandra. Some magic effect parts would have gone a long way to make this feel like a more complete package. I suppose you could argue that Lil’s costume is a bit more complex and uses more plastic than the other two. Either way, it’s not a deal breaker for me.

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Well, that’s it for the three figures that I picked up from this line, but if you’ve liked what you’ve seen then fear not, I’ve already ordered the rest of the wave so there will be more Magic The Gathering to come. I mentioned at the start of these Features that I got these three figures for a deal, around $11 each, but I would have been pretty happy even if I had shelled out full retail. Indeed, two of the remaining figures ran me a lot closer to retail and I have no worries. If Funko can keep showing the improvements they’ve been making in the Legacy line, I look forward to having a lot more of these figures on my shelves. In fact, with how proficient they are at grabbing up licenses, I’m rather excited to see what the future holds for this line.

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Collection): Nissa Revane

Last week I dipped my toe into Funko’s Legacy Collection Magic The Gathering figures with a look at Hot Pyromancer Chandra and I was mighty impressed. Today I’m pressing onward with Nissa Revane. In case you missed the first feature, I’ll point out once again that I know next to nothing about Magic The Gathering, but these looked like some nice fantasy figures and I’m always up for that. So let’s see what’s in the cards for Nissa. See, I said “cards” because these figures are based off a card game. Cards. Funny? No? Little bit? Ok then, moving on…

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The package consists of a window box designed to stand on a shelf or hang on a peg. It’s all the rage with 6-inch figure lines these days and it certainly gets the job done. The box identifies the figure, lets you get a good look at what’s inside, and it’s totally collector friendly. I really dig how Funko puts the figure’s name and portrait on the side panel so you can line them up on a shelf and still know which is which without having to pull them off. If Hasbro had done that with the Star Wars Black boxes, I might have hung on to them. Anyway, the one thing the package is missing is a little bio about the character. And because I know nothing about these characters, I quickly buggered off to Wizards of the Coast to find some information about Nissa. Apparently she’s a rather proud Elf that wields nature magic. Her biggest turn-on is flowers and her turn-off’s include both vampires and snakes. Let’s get her out of the box…

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Nissa Refane is clearly one of those hot chick tree-huggers. You know, the kind you pretend to like soy milk for so they’ll go out with you and then they wind up leaving you for a botanist after you paid for her BA degree in Ecology. Yeah, you know the type. She’s the epitome of a classic fantasty wood elf and I mean that in every good way possible. The green and brown motif really invokes the feel of the forest and the paint on this figure is pretty near flawless.

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I totally dig the way Funko constructed Nissa’s outfit. It’s quite complex and layered for a figure in this scale and price range. The boots and leggings are part of the sculpt, but skirt and sash are sculpted of softer rubber and permanently attached around the waist. The top of the outfit is part of the figure buck with extra pieces of soft plastic attached to make the high collar, cape, and the loops that hang free around her arms. The arm loops are pegged in, so if you pull them too far, they just pull out and you can pop them back in. The lacing for the top piece is also sculpted into the buck and painted. The detailing in her wrist bracers is quite good too and her taut exposed midriff reveals some painted tattoos.

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Funko certainly seems to know how to sculpt a pretty female face because the portrait here is every bit as good as Chandra’s. Nissa has somewhat of a slightly concerned expression, or possibly its a hint of sadness. She sports green, pupil-less eyes and those extra long Elf ears that usually turn up in anime, mangas, or games by Blizzard. She features shoulder length brown hair, complete with a very thin gold chain painted in and some tattoos on her face that match the ones on her tummy.

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Ah, but Funko has made great looking figures before only to have them snap apart in my people’s hands. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case the articulation. I’m happy to say that my figure has absolutely zero issues with frozen or brittle joints. And while Chandra did have a restricted ball joint in the chest that I wasn’t willing to force, Nissa’s got complete movement in hers. The articulation here is pretty much the same as Chandra’s, but let’s run through it anyway. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, and have rotating hinges in the ankles. The neck has a ball joint, which is somewhat restricted by the sculpted hair, and that ball joint under the chest allows for swiveling and leaning forward or back. Nissa is one limber little Elf!

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Nissa comes with one accessory and that’s her magical staff. It’s a sculpted to look like a twisted piece of wood and she can comfortably hold it in her left hand.

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So far, Funko’s MTG line is two for two, and hot damn, I’m loving these figures. The quality and craftsmanship here is right on par with some of the better efforts of DC Collectibles or even NECA. Nissa features a superb sculpt, great paint, and wonderful articulation… what more can you want in a figure? I’ve got one more of these ladies to open before I decide whether or not to pick up the other half of the line, but the next figure would have to be a disaster to make me stop collecting these now. I’m certainly getting more and more confidence in Funko’s 6-inch action figure chops and anxious to see what they’ll have to show us at Toy Fair this week.

Magic The Gathering (Legacy Collection): Chandra Nalaar by Funko

So, I bought some of these Magic The Gathering figures. I know next to nothing about the game, only that it’s played with cards and has something to do with wizards. I honestly didn’t even know it had characters to make figures out of. So why the hell did I buy these? Well, there are four reasons. 1) I have a problem. 2) I wanted to see how Funko’s Legacy line is improving for when they get around to doing Firefly figures. 3) They were really cheap. 4) I have a problem. I got nothing else to preference this little ditty with, so let’s just dig right in. We’re starting with Ms. Chandra Nalaar!

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There’s the box. It’s very similar to the packages we’ve been seeing for Funko’s Game of Thrones, Hasbro’s 6-inch Star Wars Black, and NECA’s Classic Planet of the Apes, just to name a few. I was a little apprehensive about buying these online, mainly because the paint and QC with Funko’s Legacy line has been pretty spotty, but they were cheap enough that I was willing to roll the dice, or in this case throw down my card. There’s nothing on the package to really tell me anything about this character so I went right to the source, Wizards of the Coast, to learn something about her. She’s a pyromancer and described as strong-willed and independent. Good enough, I can work with that.

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From what I’ve seen, this line strikes me as a fairly traditional fantasy line, but Chandra here is a bit of an exception, as she looks a little more steampunkish to me. That’s cool. As much as the concept gets played out, I still like a little steampunk in my fantasy. Chandra’s outfit is a sort of stylish mish-mash of chainmail reinforced with plates, some leather, and some strategically placed hoses. The detail on her outfit is exceptionally well done. From the texture of the chainmail to the rivets in the plate armor, even the wrappings of her sleeves and boots, and the fingerless gloves… it’s all top notch work.

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As wonderful as the figure is from the neck down, the portrait doesn’t disappoint either. Chandra sports a clean and pretty face sculpt with a magnifcent sprout of flame hair twisting off the top and a pair of goggles worn up right about on her hairline. The plastic used for her skin is a tad waxy, but I’m not going to complain about it because everything else about the portrait, including the eerie firey orange paint in her eyes is without fault. Stack this head and body sculpt up against most anything DC Collectibles has done recently and you’d have some pretty good competition.

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So the sculpt is fantastic, but does it have the paint to back it up? Oh yes it does! The armor has a nice tarnished gray finish and the leather is painted with a few different shades of supple brown. There are even subtle patterns painted on the edges of the sash wrapped around her waist. From the dark brown of her boots to the brilliant orange fire of her hair, the paintwork on this figure is something to be admired. Everything is crisp and spot-on beautiful.

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Articulation is one of the areas where Funko has been having the most problems with this line. It isn’t so much with the degree or design of articulation, but rather problems with frozen and snapping joints. I’m happy to say that nearly all of Chandra’s points of articulation were limber and serviceable right out of the package. The only point of contention is what appears to be a ball joint under her chest. There’s very little give to it and I’m not comfortable trying to force it for fear that I’ll snap the figure in half. Yes, I’d like that joint to work, maybe I’ll try a boil and pop, but it’s not a dealbreaker for me. As for the rest of the points… The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and hinges in the elbows. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, double hinged at the knees, have swivels in the upper thighs, and rotating hinges in the ankles. The neck is ball jointed. It’s worth noting that the armor plates on her shoulders and left arm are all made of flexible plastic and glued on so as to not interfere with the articulation. It’s a great way to go, unlike the hinged shoulder armor DC Collectibles used for that QC-disaster of a Starfire figure.

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If there’s anything I can nitpick Chandra for it’s that she’s light in the accessories. She comes with a ball of fire that she can sort of hold in her hand. Seeing as I know nothing about the character, I’ll assume she’s not big on anything but throwing fireballs. I certainly can’t point to anything missing, so I’ll just move on.

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While I started out this feature by kidding around about why I bought her, the real reason is that I just dig fantasy style figures and all of these character designs appealed to me. If you’ve read my Masters of the Universe Classics features then you should know I don’t need character or backstory to enjoy a good action figure. Nope, it’s all about design and coloring and craftsmanship and Chandra here hits all those points beautifully. I’m so pleasantly surprised at how well this figure came out and it’s instilled a lot more confidence in the belief that Funko is moving in the right direction with the Legacy line. You’ll note I pulled a lot of comparisons between Chandra and DC Collectibles’ products and that’s because I feel that’s the market that Funko is going for and if Chandra is any example of what they’re capable of, they have it in them to surpass the competition in sculpt and paint quality. So far, I’ve only picked up the three ladies of this line, so I’ll swing back next week and check out another. If all three ladies impress me as much as Chandra, I’ll definitely be picking up the dudes as well.