Tag Archives: hasbro

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 28 2012

GI JOE Rise of Cobra: Steel Crusher APV by Hasbro

Earlier this week on Vintage Vault, we checked out Jackhammer, that black SUV of death from the MASK toy line. At the time, I tossed out a comment about how Hasbro paid homage to it in the Rise of Cobra line with the Steel Crusher. I was all ready to drop in a link when I was horrified and amazed to realize that I hadn’t featured the Steel Crusher here on FigureFan before. So today I’m remedying that oversight. Not only is it a cool, albeit subtle, nod back to the MASK toy, but its also one of the few truly shining moments of what is otherwise the mostly forgetable pile of schlock that made up the Rise of Cobra vehicles.

No package shot, but Steel Crusher comes in a fairly standard box with some angled corners and a little window to show the driver figure that is included. Apart from the weird penchant for green, I had no problem with the Rise of Cobra packaging. It was more functional than attractive, but at least it stored well. The front shows off some artwork of the vehicle in action and the back panel shows an actual photo of the toy.
Let’s get the figure out of the way first: He’s the Nano-Viper. I hated this guy when I first got him and quickly swapped him out with one of my many 25th Anniversary Stinger Drivers. In retrospect, he isn’t a bad figure, but I don’t think he really fits the bill as a vehicle driver. He looks like a cross between an urban combat soldier and a fighter pilot. I guess it makes sense, since the Steel Crusher is basically an urban assault vehicle, but the figure just seems kind of bland and forgettable. It also didn’t help that within just a few moments of playing around with him, his visor shot off his helmet and disappeared into the great beyond. Its probably in my cat’s secret stash by now.  Anyway, he’s grown on me a bit since I first got him, but I still prefer to have a Stinger Driver at the seat of this marvelous vehicle.
The Steel Crusher is based off the vehicle seen during the “Paris Pursuit” sequence of the Rise of Cobra movie. As such, it isn’t exactly your traditional Cobra vehicle, and therein lies the MASK homage. Its a black SUV that converts, similarly to the Jackhammer, into an armored, rolling death machine. But we’ll get to that in a minute. In its covert mode, it is a really great looking toy. The detail in the front grill, bumper and ramming bar is very impressive. Both side doors open up and you can fit figures into the roomy seats. The interior is amazingly detailed, right down to the sculpted stitching in the seats and the shifter on the console. This baby even has real rubber tires! There are a bunch of stickers to apply, most notably the Cobra emblems, which don’t make a lot of sense if you want to use it as a covert vehicle, but I think they go a long way to making it look more like an official Cobra vehicle.
To convert the vehicle for action, you slide the roof piece forward, which causes the missile launcher to pop up out of the back. You can then flip down the armor shield that covers the windshield, and you can flip open the two side-mounted rocket launchers. The end result is pretty similar to the overal concept of VENOM’s Jackhammer. Steel Crusher even has compartments to store the three missiles, similarly to how the Jackhammer houses the attachable machine gun. The vehicle looks really awesome with the armored windshield and the side rockets deployed.
You may not like the Rise of Cobra movie, lord knows I don’t. And you may not really dig the idea of a covert Cobra vehicle. But I’d challenge anyone to deny that this is a really well made, great looking, and ultimately fun toy. The fact that all the Cobra emblems are optional stickers, really give it a lot of possibilities for using it with other 3 3/4″ lines, but I personally think it looks great with the Cobra insignia. I’d go out on a limb here and say this is probably one of my favorite toys released in 2009 and certainly a pleasant surprise from the otherwise forgettable Rise of Cobra toy line. I passed on this thing for a long time, because I thought the $25 price tag was kind of high for a vehicle in this class assortment, but when I finally relented and bought it, I had no regrets about the pricetag. Its just a great all around toy.
Apr 23 2012

Avengers: “Rocket Grenade” Captain America by Hasbro

Its the final installment of this little Avengers trifecta. So far, we’ve looked at Thor and Iron Man, now its time to see how Cap turned out in the new Avengers lineup. I went with “Rocket Grenade” Cap because the other version featured a gimmick built into his shield, and I prefer to be able to toss aside the gimmicky weapons. Cap needs his shield, so the choice was pretty clear.

Once again, this figure is part of the “Concept Series.” I’ve beat that dead horse long enough, so I’m not going to go into it again here. The packaging looks great and this time there is a “Try Me” hole to let you flick up the blast shield on the big, stupid rocket launcher that comes with the figure. Seriously, if pressing that button becomes the deciding factor for buying this figure, you’ve got problems. Just saying. So, here’s my big dilemma with this figure. I absolutely love Cap’s WWII era costume from the movie. But he gets a new, more modern costume in the Avengers movie. This is an Avengers movie figure. Why the hell, Hasbro, are you still releasing him in the costume from his movie and not the Avengers movie? Its like Iron Man’s triangle arc reactor all over again. Maybe Cap wears this for a bit in Avengers, but I doubt it.
Avengers costume or not, I adore this figure. I’ve always been a Cap whore and toss in how much I love his movie costume, and it should be no surprise that this one is really scatching my itch. The sculpt is absolutely fantastic. There’s so much tiny detailing on him, including the ultra-fine texturing on his tunic, the stitching on his shoulder pads and the wrinkles on his pants. The belt pouches are also amazingly detailed, and you can even see the tiny stitching and the embossed “US” on his holster. The head sculpt is excellent, particularly the depth between the mask and Steve Rogers’ face. Even the paintwork rises to the occasion, as there’s no slop here to speak of. Hasbro really nailed this figure dead on.
Cap’s articulation is the same as “Heavy Assault” Iron Man. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed hips and shoulders, and hinged elbows and knees. Again, its a far cry from what we saw in the Captain America movie figures, but you can still get some good poses out of him and he’s very solid and easy to stand.
Naturally, Cap comes with his shield. The sculpt is the same we’ve been getting, but this one has a really nice high gloss finish, which looks amazing. The back has a clip to go around his wrist. It also has a peg so he can wear it on his back. Only problem there is the figure doesn’t have a hole on his back to peg it into. Nice oversight there, Hasbro!
In addition to his trusty shield, Cap also comes with the titular and very stupid “Rocket Grenade” launcher. It does have a button that flips up the blast shield, and the handle folds up and down. I suppose in terms of big stupid weapons, this one isn’t the worst around, but its still going to be cast aside into the bottomless pit of my useless accessories tote.
All in all, I’ve been more or less happy with all three of the Avengers figures I’ve picked up, but Cap here is without a doubt my favorite. This figure has one amazingly detailed sculpt for a 3 3/4″ scale, the paintwork is solid, and this is the first time I’ve had a proper metallic finished shield for one of my Caps in this scale. The lack of a shield peg in his back really does hurt the figure, but when everything else is so good, I can try to look the other way. Of course, just like the other two figures, there’s a good chance you already have a good movie version of Cap and with better articulation, so you’re probably better off passing on this guy altogether.
Apr 22 2012

Avengers: “Sword Spike” Thor by Hasbro

[Sure, I’ve been taking Sundays off lately, but this week I decided to press on with my look at the three Avengers figures I picked up this week. They’re nothing special, so I didn’t want to drag it out. Today will be Thor and then I’ll wrap it up tomorrow with Cap. That will also push this week’s MASK edition of Vintage Vault back to Tuesday. -FF]

Our second forray into Hasbro’s new 3 3/4″ Avengers figures brings us to the Lord of Asgard himself, Thor. This is another one of those “Concept Series” figures, since they seem to be the only kind I can find, and I’m still not entirely sure what the “concept” angle is all about, since ALL the figures come with those ridiculous weapons. Anyway, enough preamble, let’s see what we’ve got…
There’s the package and looking at it I find myself getting a sense of deja vous because… wait… didn’t I… yes, I did… I looked at a figure called“Sword Spike” Thor back when the Thor movie figures were out. In fact, that one was the only movie Thor figure I wound up buying. Talk about double dipping… shame on you Hasbro! The packaging is pretty much identical to the one we saw with Iron Man. The big difference is an insert in the bubble with a shot of the figure, but no “Try Me” hole on this one.
This version of Thor is essentially the exact same figure as the movie “Sword Spike” Thor only with less articulation, a sculpted helmet, and a permanently attached cape. There are some very minor coloring differences, for example the cape is brighter, but for all intents and purposes it is the same sculpt from the neck down. That having been said, it is still a great looking figure. There’s a lot of cool detail sculpted into his chest armor and even the little scales in his chainmail. The headsculpt is quite a good resemblance and I do like finally having a helmeted movie version of Thor, since I passed on the ones that came out previously. I am rather glad that Hasbro permanently attached his cape this time, as my movie Thor figure’s cape does not want to stay on for love or money. Most of the paintwork on this figure is fine, but there is some really sloppy red paintwork on the legs.
Articulation is almost the same as we saw on “Heavy Artillery” Iron Man. You get a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders and hips. Hinges in the elbows and knees. In case you missed it, the big difference is that Thor only has hinges in the knees, rather than ball joints.
So, let’s look at “Sword Spike” Thor’s big weapon. Obviously its a… hey, wait a minute. There isn’t a sword anywhere in this package. Nope, just as you would not expect from the name, “Sword Spike” Thor comes with a big battle axe. As far as big stupid weapons go, this one isn’t all bad. I do kind of dig the gold, engraved axe head. Too bad it looks like its attached to a harpoon gun. There is a missile that shoots out of the top, which the package calls a “Launching Battle Spike” so at least there’s a spike in there somewhere, even if there is no sword. This version of Thor also comes with Mjolnir, which is essentially the same sculpt used for the movie figures.
Once again, this figure looks great, displays well, and he’s fun to play around with. The hobbled articulation at least adds a certain stability to the figure, but most collectors aren’t going to find that a worthy trade off. But here’s the real problem: If you’re holding this figure in your hand at the store, chances are  you can walk a couple of feet and find the same figure with better articulation on clearance from the Thor movie. And even if they aren’t on clearance, you’d still be getting the same figure with better articulation at the same price. This is the very reason why I wish Hasbro had varied the initial wave more. I’m very afraid that these figures are going to choke up the pegs and prevent us from getting movie versions of Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury. And even with that worry, I can’t recommend anyone run out and buy this one.
Apr 19 2012

GI JOE 25th Anniversary: Vamp with Double Clutch

The Joes don’t get much love around here at FigureFan these days, and I’m going to try to remedy that in the upcoming weeks with some looks back at the 25th Anniversary line of toys. Today we’re going to check out one of my favorite vehicles to be re-tooled and re-issued in the line. When I was a kid, the Vamp was the mainstay of my GI JOE forces. It was a rugged, all pupose little jeep with some good firepower that could get in an out of the action quickly. I loved the Vamp so much, I even traded some figures for one of my friends’ burnt out Vamps just so I could have two to play with. Naturally, when the 25th Anni. line came out, I was happy to replace my long lost Vamps with a minty new one. I was pretty surprised that I hadn’t featured the Vamp here on FigureFan before, although it did have a cameo in a comparison shot when I looked at the Cobra Stinger.

The packaging has its ups and downs. Its kind of a three-quarter box with a huge window, whereas I would have much preferred a straight up box that I could store the vehicle in. On the other hand, its hard to deny that this thing looks inviting on the toy shelf and I’d wager MISB collectors must have been pretty happy. The package showcases the toy and figure perfectly, against an animated action backdrop and the bottom of the box serves as a great base with the GI JOE logo  shelf. Its kind of like buying the toy in its own ready made display case. Alas, the package on mine didn’t survive the opening process and also doesn’t store very well over time.
Let’s start off with Double Clutch. Yes, its obviously another instance of Hasbro losing the copyright to the original name. Calling him Double Clutch was a pretty clever way around that. I always loved the original Clutch figure, just because he reminded me so much of my original 1970s 12-inch GI JOE with beard and all. He’s just a great generic looking all-purpose Joe who is more than happy to drive the other guys into the fray and back out again. The update is a great looking figure. You can even take his vest off and use him as a pretty good “Green Shirt.” The addition of a functional holster and sheath are always a bonus for me.
Despite being a pack-in figure, Double Clutch still comes with a bunch of stuff you would expect to get with a single carded figure. You get a knife and an automatic pistol, which can be stored in the figure’s sheath and holster. He also comes with a removable vest and helmet. And lastly, the figure comes with his own personalized stand, which oddly enough, reads “Clutch.” Seems like somewhere along the way I misplaced Double Clutch’s pistol so I leant him someone’s sub-machine gun.
The Vamp itself should be pretty close to the toy you remember from  your youth, assuming you’re as wretchedly old as I am. The body of the vehicle is basically the same with some little tweaks here and there to help it fit the modern era. The biggest difference is the seating area, which has been completely re-vamped (har har) to fit the larger 25th Anniversary figures and the seats are now painted, albeit a little sloppily. There’s a ton of great detail on the dashboard and the divider between the seats.
The hood is also more detailed than the original and includes a sculpted bedroll and a removable entrenching tool. The front bumper has two spotlights added to it, the front headlights now have clear plastic covers, and the hood opens to reveal the engine inside. The wheels are brand new sculpts, and I don’t recall the original having the little sculpted gas cap on the back of the right side.
The pom pom gun mounted on the back still swivels and raises and lowers. It has two new hoses added to it that come out of the back and connect to the base, which adds some cool detail. The lever with the firing gimmick that was present on the original, has been removed for this version. The back of the Vamp still has the little rack that holds the two removable gas tanks, as well as the tow hook so you can attach the Whirlwind if you happen to have one kicking around. The tail lights, which were just stickers on the original are clear plastic pieces on this update.
While you do get a sheet of stickers with the toy, several of the key stickers come pre-applied to make it look good in the package. Unfortunately, they weren’t applied with a lot of care, so you can see them running lopsided, particularly the “GI Joe” emblem on the driver side and the “United States” sticker on the hood. I’ve opted to leave the rest of the stickers off, but some day I might apply them.
I’m not sure how much I paid for this thing back in 2008, but I know it was under $20, and man was that a great deal. You got a fun, fantastic, and rugged vehicle with some nice, practical play features and a really solid figure too. With the quality of the current Joes on pegs (30th Anniversary, Pursuit of Cobra, and Renegads), I realize that a lot of collectors don’t look back on the 25th Anniversary Collection all that fondly, but I do. This pack is exactly the sort of thing that I miss so much from the world of GI JOE. The Vamp is as close to a perfect toy as you can get.
Apr 17 2012

Avengers: Quinjet by Hasbro

If you’ve gone out your door to any retail establishment in the past month, surely you’ve noticed the onslaught of Avengers merchandise. The toy aisles are certainly getting taken over, and while you have to cull through a lot of gimmicky crap to get to it, there is a fairly cohesive 3 3/4″ action figure and toy line to be found. A big hurdle Hasbro will surely face with Avengers is that they’ve already put out a lot of these figures already in their 3 3/4″ Marvel Universe, Thor, and Iron Man 2 lines. And that’s a big reason why I’ve passed these figures up the last bunch of trips to the toy aisle. I’ll circle back and get them eventually, but until then I thought we’d start out by taking a look at the Avenger’s Quinjet.

The Quinjet comes in a pretty big box with a little window showing the Iron Man figure that’s packed with it. While the packaging is nothing extraordinary, I have to say I really dig the overall presentation. The front panel shows an illustration of the jet along with profiles of The Avengers (well, the A-listers anyway. Hawkeye and Black Widow are nowhere to be found. Now you guys know how Antman and Wasp feel!) There’s a bit of a comic feel to the package with explosions declaring some of the features, like “Iron Man included!” and “2 modes!” Its nothing as gloriously obnoxious as the new Marvel Legends packaging, but it works. The back panel shows photos of the actual toy and some of its features, as well as some of the other toys and figures in the line. Let’s open her up, and slide out the cardboard tray…                                      
Wow, there’s a lot of empty space in there! The jet comes in four parts, so you’ll need to AVENGERS ASSEMBLE it! Sorry, couldn’t resist. Basically, you just have to attach the two wings and the tail section. You also get a simple instruction sheet and a small sheet of stickers. Yay, stickers! If you’re careful, you can actually get the tail section off again and store it in the box, which is a big plus for me, since I have zero shelf space to display this thing.
Let’s go ahead and get the Iron Man figure out of the way first. He’s a pack-in figure through and through, which means don’t expect to buy this and cross Iron Man off your list of Avengers figures to buy. He’s actually a pretty nice sculpt, but his paint apps are severely lacking. He’s cast in red plastic, so he doesn’t have that nice, glossy new car sheen that past Iron Man figures have had and he just has a bit of gold painted accents, most of which are rather sloppy. Mine has a random dab of gold on the side of his helmet! He also features the old school standard of five points of articulation. The head rotates, his arms rotate at the shoulders, and his legs rotate at the hips. All that having been said, I can’t help but feel a nostalgic charm eminating from this figure. He really does feel like an 80’s figure, and on some crazy level, I kind of dig it.
As for the Quinjet itself… keep in mind, I don’t recall actually having seen it in any clips from the film, so I’ll give Hasbro some credit and assume the design is pretty close to what we will see on screen. I do have to imagine that this toy is severely undersized, as it really only has room for two figures inside: One in the cockpit and one in the back, however there are pegs on the top, so you could conceivably crowd most of The Avengers on this thing. Its really more like a fighter than a transport. I get the diminished size thing, and it doesn’t bother me too much. Hasbro was obviously shooting for a certain price point here, so compromises had to be made.
While the design doesn’t really jive with what I tend to associate with the Quinjet from the comics, the toy is still pretty nice looking. There’s a lot of sculpted panel lines and tiny bolts, the deco is a pleasing charcoal, gold, and grey, and it has a pretty cool looking profile. I’m not crazy about the speckled yellow plastic used for the canopy, but its not a deal breaker.
The Quinjet has a few gimmicks and play features. Obviously, the canopy opens up so you can put a figure into the cockpit. The back also has a hatch that folds down to reveal a little area inside with a single chair. The three landing gear can be folded up or down, and there’s a little clear clip that pulls out of the side of the jet so that you can simulate a figure flying beside the jet, under its wing. The major action gimmick is the two-mode conversion. Slide the rear engines back and the cockpit drops down a bit, the wings reconfigure to show off the VTOL engines, and a missile launcher pops up out of the top and can rotate 360-degrees.

The Quinjet retails for $29.99 and that seems about right. There aren’t any electronics in it, and while you might expect to find them in a toy at this price point, I don’t miss them. Its size is a bit bigger than Hasbro’s Star Wars ships that retail for around $24.99. Its a fairly solid toy, except for wings, which feel a little flimsy.
There’s no doubt Hasbro struggled with this to keep costs down, but with cutbacks in articulation and entire figure lines being shit-canned, struggling seems to be a running theme with all toy companies in 2012. Nonetheless, the Quinjet is a pretty cool toy and if you don’t feel as though your Avengers have need of it, you can always repurpose it for your GI JOEs. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hasbro does that at some point later down the line.
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.
Apr 13 2012

Transformers: Commemorative Edition: Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro, Part 2

Welcome back to the second part of the amazing Powermaster Optimus Prime. We’ve looked at Prime’s cruising and ass-kicking modes, so let’s check out everything else. Before we go anywhere we have to start with the tiniest robot in the set and the key to unlocking Prime’s awesomeness. He’s Ginrai!

For those that aren’t up on their Transformers history, toward the tail end of G1, Transformers were being designed with little robot buddies that changed into their guns (Targetmasters), heads (Headmasters), or in this case engines (yep, Powermasters). The Powermasters never seemed to catch on as much over here, and I never really understood them. In theory you needed to transform these little guys into the engine and plug them into the vehicle so it could transform into its robot mode. In practice, you could still transform the toy without it, so if you lost the little bugger, you weren’t completely screwed. Anyway, Ginrai is a pretty cool little figure for how small he is. His arms rotate at the shoulders, and his legs are technically articulated, but only as part of the transforming gimmick.
Anyway, you change him into his engine mode and plug him straight into the front grill of Prime’s cab and you can change Prime into his most basic robot mode. The overall design is fairly similar to the original Optimus Prime, but the truck-front chest is actually a fake, as the cab’s real front is on Prime’s back. I like the looks of this Prime, as he has a bit more of an animated look. The stickers on the legs add some nice detail too. Granted, the articulation on this figure is pretty limited, even for a Transformer. In fact, really all he can do is bend his arms at the elbows.
The rest of Prime’s trailer transforms into a pretty cool little base. Transformers bases have been pretty hit and miss over the years, but I really think this one is one of the better ones. There’s a couple of ramps and platforms to park other Transformers. There are two turrets and three larger elevated guns on the tower. The only real eyesore here is the obvious Prime arms sticking up the top, but if they bother you, you can always fold them down out of the way. Prime can also stand in the tower to man the guns, but as a base, this is more convincing when populated by smaller Transformers. Overall, I think this is a really cool looking piece. There’s a lot of great sculpted detail and the huge stickers really make it look great.
Next up, is Prime’s slightly more powered up version. You basically ball him up into a box and plug it into a body made up from his trailer. Pop on a bunch of guns and his new head, and you’ve got the more bulked up Prime. This version actually uses the front of the cab as his chest, and you can clearly see the Powermaster engine plugged in there. You get a little more articulation here. His arms rotate at the shoulders and his legs can assume a wider stance. Yeah, its not much more, but a little better.
At this point, you can also convert the spare trailer into yet another robot called Apex Bomber. This guy isn’t really a transformation, but rather building him out of the parts you break the spare trailer down into. Normally, I consider this type of Transformer design cheating, but in this case, its like a bonus robot, so I’m not complaining. Apex Bomber looks pretty great. He’s nicely proportioned, has arms that rotate at the shoulder, he can hold Prime’s weapons if the big guy feels like sharing, and he can mount the missile launcher on his shoulder. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of G1 Top Spin. I just like this design.
Ok, so enough farting around. Its time to take everything and stick it all together into Apex Armor Optimus Prime. He’s basically the medium bulked out Prime figure with bits of Apex Bomber attached all over him. He gets bigger feet, bulkier arms, and that magnificent chromed out bling-chest that was absent from the American release, and if you ask me it really makes this figure. AAOP can still hold both his guns, he gets a pair of duel cannons on his ankles so he can kick you in the face and shoot you at the same time, and he can mount the big missile launcher on his shoulder.
Yes, Apex Armor Optimus Prime is a brick. He has the same articulation as the medium bulked out Prime, which means he can only rotate his arms at the shoulders, and assume a wide stance at the legs. But he’s still a friggen glorious looking brick. He’s also a pretty solid figure, considering how much crap he’s got stuck all over him.
And there ya have it, one if my favorite Transformers of all time (if not my favorite). I love everything about this set, from the presentation to the design of the toy, to just how good AA Optimus looks standing on my shelf. What he lacks in articulation he makes up in spades with balls-to-the-wall play value. There are just so many options and combinations in both robot and vehicle modes that fiddling about with him never gets old. I’ve never regretted ponying up for two of these back in the day, although truth be told considering how awesome it is, you can still pick one up for surprisingly cheap. Sure, MISB versions can go for over a hundred bucks, but if you’re persistant enough, you can often find open and complete ones for just $10-20 over the original MSRP. Considering how much, oh let’s say the 2009 SDCC Soundwave goes for these, days, Powermaster Optimus Prime is a steal.
Apr 12 2012

Transformers: Commemorative Edition: Powermaster Optimus Prime by Hasbro, Part 1

I’ve been meaning to get around to this one for quite a while now, but I never thought I had the time to do it right. This beauty was released back in 2003 as part of Toys R Us’ exclusive Commemorative Series, which were basically reissues of G1 Transformers. It was a great series of collectibles, and while many cases required Hasbro to ruin muck about with the molds for safety concerns, there were a few cases where Hasbro was able to improve on the originals and Powermaster Optimus here is one of them. This Commemorative release included parts that weren’t on the original US release, so outside of importing a Takara toy, this was the first time we Americans could really get this toy complete and as it was intended to be. After nearly 30 years of collecting Transformers, its hard for me to settle on a favorite figure, but if you were to put a gun to my head and make me choose, this one would probably be it. In fact, I loved this thing so much, I actually bought two so I could keep one in the package. There’s a lot to look at here, so I’m going to tackle this guy in two parts. Today we’ll look at the packaging and the vehicle modes, and then tomorrow we’ll look at the robot and base modes.

Prime comes in a huge box that just oozes G1 nostalgia. It has the same red grid pattern as the original issue toys did and the same Transformers logo. Even the side panels that show the various modes of the toy during conversion are similar to what appeared on the original box panels. The front has a flap secured with velcro that has some really awesome artwork of Apex Armor Prime. Fold it open and it reveals cutouts in the box with windows to show Prime in his truck mode, the extra Apex Armor trailer, the larger Prime head, and the Powermaster Ginrai figure.
The back of the panel features a gorgeous battle montage just like the ones that appeared in one form or another on the original G1 boxes throughout the years. There are also bio blurbs for regular flavor Prime, Apex Armor Prime, and Apex Bomber.
Open up the box and you find two sticker sheets, a large folded set of instructions, and the huge tray that slides out to reveal all the pieces of the set spread out before you. I can’t say enough great things about the packaging here. It really feels like those expensive collector sets that Takara releases for the combiners. It still baffles me that I was able to walk into a Toys R Us and buy this masterpiece off the shelf for a mere fifty bucks.
Optimus Prime’s basic truck form is fairly similar in design to his G1 version. The red cab with chromed front and silver striping should be readily familiar as is the blue and grey trailer with the stripe and Autobot emblem on the sides. There’s a little more kibble than on the original version of Prime. You can clearly see robot fists peeking out both behind the cab and on the front of the trailer, but to be fair, the designers packed so many modes into this toy, I’m amazed the basic tractor trailer mode looks as good as it does. The toy rolls along great and the cab detatches from the trailer, and as we’ll see later, transforms into a basic version of Optimus Prime, similar to the original version of Prime. This vehicle right here could have been released all by itself as a stand alone toy and it would have been just fine.
The Apex Armor trailer is a cool little battle wagon all on its own… sort of. Actually, its just a box on wheels with a big gun. The chrome front piece is made to look like a cab of sorts. And you can peg the big missile launcher onto the top. But this section really shines when its attached to the back of Prime’s trailer. Snap on all the additional weapons and parts and you get…
Optimus Prime’s Mega-Super-Destroy-You-Death-Train! That’s right, rolling along on seven sets of wheels, Prime is through taking crap and now he’s loaded for bear. This thing really strides the fine line between awesome and ridiculous, but you can hardly deny that its overkill. The cool thing about this toy is you can really customize the set up a bit by pegging the guns onto various places, but I tend to like the official version best. He’s got two angled cannons on the front of the cab, two giant guns on the front roof and one huge rotating missile launcher on the back. He’s also got a pair of wings for… well, they just look cool. You might as well be stylish while your running down Decepticons and blowing them into slag. This thing is so long, I barely have any shelves big enough to display it in all its glory.

So, that’s Powermaster Optimus Prime in all his vehicular glory. I’m going to break here and come back tomorrow to take a look at the base and various robot modes contained within this awesome toy.