Tag Archives: hasbro

May 17 2024

G. I. JOE Classified Cobra HISS Techno-Viper & Heetseek Missile System by Hasbro

Well, we all knew this was coming! When the HasLab HISS arrived I had fun speculating over that little tow hitch on the back and how long it would be before we got something to tow around with it. And here we are less than six months later and Hasbro delivered with the Cobra HMS! This mobile missile system is based off of the 1985 Sears Exclusive mobile missile platform that was towed by a red HISS. Of course, that toy in turn was a repaint of the original 1982 Mobile Missile System, which was part of GI JOE’s arsenal and towed around by the VAMP. But, the direct lineage can be traced back to the 2009 Rise of Cobra release of the Heetseek Missile System, a repaint and retool of the previously mentioned toys. I never owned Cobra’s version of this weapon system, and I was eager to make my HasLab HISS even more formidable, so picking up this one was a no-brainer for me!

The HMS comes in a box designed to match the one used for the Classified HISS with more of that bitchin red and black deco that makes it look like you’re viewing the art through a Virtual Gameboy screen, only without the crippling headaches and nausea. In addition to the weapon platform you also get a Techno-Viper repainted to match the deco of the figures that make up the HISS support teams, which reminds me I still need to review that HISS Fire Team set! And speaking of things I haven’t reviewed yet, I’m in a sticky situation here, because I have yet to check out the regular release Classified Techno-Viper here, and I don’t usually like to review repaints before the originals, but I’m going to have to let that slide here. So, I’ll just be treating the Techno-Viper like a brand new figure, and I’ll do comparisons when I get around to looking at the single boxed release. So, let’s start with the figure!

The original RAH Techno-Viper was released in 1988. I was a few years out of JOEs by then and he wasn’t in the cartoon, so I didn’t know these guys even existed until I returned to GI JOE as an adult collector. And that’s a shame, because I love the concept behind these fellas. These are fully combat-trained Vipers, capable of fighting their way through the battle lines to ask if you if you’ve tried turning off your weapons platform and turning it back on again. I kid, but it makes perfect sense to have these guys capable of on-site repairs of everything from HISS Tanks to Weather Dominators. And of course, I’m sure this guy is well versed in HEETSEEK Missile Systems. This is a straight repaint of the single release and I think he looks great in the gray, black, and red color scheme Classified has adopted for the HISS crew, particularly with the silver hoses and trim.

And oh boy do I love this helmet design! It’s got a little bit of Stormtrooper-Cylon vibe going on, but manages to be all its own thing at the same time. I dig how deep set the eye lenses are in the mask and the way the helmet and mask are all layered. It looks like the visor piece is designed to be removed and it all adds a lot of depth and credibility to the head sculpt.

The backpack is quite similar to the original RAH design. It has a pair of red tanks up top, containing who knows what. The lower half is designed to hold three repair tools, which simply slot in. There’s a grab bar on the bottom, which can also be used to secure the rifle by the handle, although I don’t think that’s intentional, rather just a place you can tuck it. The included hose can be attached to either of the pegs on top of the tanks with the other end pegging into either the rifle or any of the other tools. Frankly, I don’t understand what’s going on with this system of tanks and hoses. Why could you possibly need to connect spanners to the same tank as a rifle, and what’s any of it for? Don’t know, but it looks cool!

The rifle is an interesting sci-fi design with a prominent scope and a skeletal stock. There’s a hole in the barrel to take a blast effect part, if you have some lying around, although I have no idea what it’s supposed to shoot. Lasers would be my guess. The hose could use a little more slack to work with as some poses with the rifle will cause the hose to come unplugged and that can’t be good, because I’m guessing it needs that to fire.

As for the spanners, there are two claw-like wrenches and a hammer. These are no doubt used for the fine, precision work needed to keep Cobra’s equipment running well. Banging things with a hammer usually works! They look like they would be equally useful for taking swings at JOEs.

The Techno-Viper also packs an automatic pistol. It’s an interesting design that looks plausible with just a bit of sci-fi flavor. The detail in the sculpt is excellent and it looks like it’s got some optics mounted below the barrel. And like the rifle, it has a socket in the barrel for blast effects. The sidearm has a home in the holster strapped to the Techno-Viper’s left leg.

And the final accessory is a holographic readout that plugs into either of his wrist computers. The piece is cast in translucent orange plastic and has some schematics and information sculpted into it. It reminds me a bit of the holographic images that The Four Horsemen have been releasing with their Cosmic Legions figures. It’s a neat idea and well implemented here. All in all, this is a great figure, but do I like it better than the regular release? Well, I’ll reserve judgement until I get to do a proper comparison. Hopefully in the near future. Now, onto the HEETSEEK Missile System…

Here is the HMS with the stabilizers down and ready to fire! The four legs lock into place and hold the platform with the wheels suspended off the ground. In addition to a lot of great sculpted detail, the HMS is absolutely littered with cool markings, stenciled warning labels and general information. The missile cradle can rotate 360-degrees and elevate to adjust the targeting range.

And holy crap, these missiles are absolutely huge! And yes, the curious spelling of HEETSEEK is pulled directly off of the vintage toy release. These red bringers of destruction have white lettering on the sides, along with a black Cobra emblem near the tip. The missiles tab onto the cradle and remain secure, but can be removed and hurled across the room at that approaching VAMP. There are sockets in the back of the missiles for effect parts, and I really wish some smoke trails were included with these as it would have added a lot more value to the set.

There is an access panel on the side of the platform that can be removed to access the programming and launching console. On the original toys, this was a remote pedestal with a cable that connected it to the platform. I guess it’s more convenient to have it integrated into the platform itself, but considering the price of the set, it would have been nice to get an optional remote console as well.

The hitch folds up into the platform, but still has the connection bar hanging out. It seems like there could have been a way to make this retract all the way and be more flush with the device, but at least they added a little articulation to it so it’s not just hanging on the ground for people to trip over, because than you have to get the OSHA-Vipers on the scene and nobody wants that. If you are buying this as a stand alone piece, it definitely works for play or display all by itself. But, the real draw here is getting it all hooked up to the HISS. Unfortunately I don’t have a backdrop or lighting rig for something this big so I’m going to have to shoot these pictures in the Classified Room under less than ideal conditions.

Oh, hell yeah! And if this doesn’t look like enough obscene overkill, I might remind you that Classified HISS has rocket pack saddlebags that I don’t have installed at the moment. With the stabilizer legs flipped up and the HMS hitched up, the missile platform rolls along on it’s two wheels and pairs perfectly with the High Speed Sentry. The matching colors make this look like a natural extension of the HISS rather than an Add On. And setting it up to fire beside the HISS with a full compliment of HISS Crew makes for a great display.

I’m extremely happy with this set! It takes an already epic toy like the Classified HISS and adds even more wow-factor to it. Plus, I just love the idea of getting a Techno-Viper dedicated to HISS and HMS maintenance. It really rounds out that crew nicely. Personally, I think it really needed some firing effect parts for the back of the missiles and a pedestal console certainly would have been nice. I’ve seen a fair amount of complaints about the price on this set, which retailed at $79.99, but I don’t think the asking price is all that out of line, when you consider the Trouble Bubble and Ferret both retailed at $59.99. As with those sets, you get a figure and with the huge missiles, this beast definitely involves a lot more plastic than those other small vehicles. Is it $20 more? Well, that’s up to you. I will say that if the price on this one is goosed a bit, I have to imagine it’s because it’s really an accessory for an expensive vehicle that is no longer on the market and fewer collectors will own. I mean, it does display just fine on it’s own, but you’d be missing out on the connectivity feature, at least until the inevitable release of the Cobra Stinger. The HMS is a Pulse Exclusive and at the time I’m publishing this it is still available for purchase.

May 15 2024

Transformers Legacy United: Gears by Hasbro

Hasbro continues to drift outside my area of interests with their current crop of Transformers, and as I’ve said before, I get it, and I’m fine with that. The kids who grew up on The Unicron Trilogy are the new nostalgia market with disposable income waiting to be farmed and it’s time to let them relive their childhoods as adults buying toys. Still, I’m thankful that we older fans are getting a bone thrown our way now and then to pick off those few G1 stragglers still waiting for an update. And to be honest, I don’t have a whole lot left on my list. But, Gears was certainly one of the old Mini-Bots waiting for an update, and while grumpy Gears would probably groan on about how it’s never going to happen… well, it finally happened.

Like many of the previous Minibot updates, Gears arrives as a Deluxe Class, which I think is the way to go with these guys, as I like them to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of The Datsuns and the other Autobot cars. I don’t recall owning Gears as a kid, I think he just never turned up on the pegs around my parts. But, I did enjoy the way the cartoon portrayed his character as kind of a polar opposite of Hound. Where Hound found beauty to appreciate on Earth, Gears hated the planet and longed to return to Cybertron. I also imagined Gears and Huffer just sitting in the back of Autobot briefings griping about how the mission was doomed to fail, and Ironhide leaning over and telling them to shut the hell up or he’d give them a nickle-plated knuckle sandwich. These guys must have been dangerous to morale whenever they got together. The Legacy packaging is similar to we saw last time when I checked out Pointblank and Needlenose. It’s colorful enough, but I’m not a big fan of the design. It’s too loud for my taste and doesn’t really convey the brand. Also, the toy is exposed in the box, so remember to check your figures for dry boogers and gum before you take it home! On a related note, Gears comes with his chest piece needing to be attached, which I assume is so that it doesn’t get pulled off through the hole in the box. Let’s start with the alt mode!

I was never sure exactly what Gears’ alt mode was supposed to be, but I’ve settled on a pickup truck with some kind of storage cap over the bed. This update is kind of rough with a lot of seams, pins, and obvious joints, particularly on the sides. It’s not something that really bothers me, partly because I don’t expect vehicle perfection from a mainline Deluxe, but mostly when I see this stuff I know it’s because Hasbro is making compromises for a really good robot mode. And while I do like me a solid alt mode, I’m always here for the robot mode first and foremost. And unlike some other releases, like Studio Series Brawn, this is an alt mode that locks together easily and perfectly, something that also makes me happy.

And that’s not to say that this alt mode is terrible. For starters, it really nails the colors perfectly. G1 Gears was such a colorful toy with it’s bright red and blue deco making him pop on the shelf, even when parked beside his Minibot chums. Here we get all of that pretty plastic, plus some snappy silver paint on the front grill, the back grill, the wheels, and there’s some yellow light his to the headlamps. Even the red paint on the front bumper is exceptionally nice. The windows are painted in a pale blue, which looks good and makes him display well beside the likes of Studio Series Brawn. On the other hand, it can look off next to some of the tinted translucent windows of past releases like Kingdom Huffer. They still display together fine, but the disparity is there. I’ll throw up some comparison pictures at the end.

There are several sockets on Gears’ alt mode to allow him to arm his gun while rolling out. I’m partial to mounting it on the roof or on either of the slots near his pickup bed. The front fenders are an option too. Tacking guns onto the alt modes is generally hit or miss with me, but I like it here a lot.

Transforming Gears is pretty intuitive and the engineering involves just the right level of involvement I look for in a Deluxe without being overly fiddly. And the resulting robot looks great! The design is full of boxy G1 goodness with a lot of detail in the sculpt. The red and blue deco transfers over from the vehicle mode with some added gray plastic and more of that silver paint showing. The proportions make him look like a compact clobbering machine with a lot of the truck kibble packed away in that backpack. I really dig how the wheels are concealed, but you can still see a hint of them folded in behind his chest. The articulation is superb, right down to the ankle rockers to keep his feet flat on the ground.

Gears always did have a strangely shaped head. A lot of the G1 Minibots did, and in this case it survived into the cartoon design and is well represented here. The face has more of that lovely silver paint and the eyes are painted blue. But in spite of having a slab of a head, he can still turn it from side to side and look up a bit. His expression is one of abject disappointment punctuated by a permanent bad humor, unless that is, someone pokes around under his hood and alters his circuitry.

Yeah, that very cartoon specific play feature is reproduced here, where you can open up his chest and give him the robot equivalent of an emotional lobotomy, like the Decepticons did in the episode Changing Gears. There is some sculpted detail in his chest cavity, but no additional paint. I’m tempted to have a go in there with a few different metallic Sharpie pens. Either way, this is a fun feature and I’m glad they put it in there.

As we’ve already seen, Gears comes with a short black rifle and it’s a great design with a magazine and both a peg for the grip and a side peg to help attach it to the truck mode.

And thanks to a couple of those peg holes on the alt mode, he can even store his rifle on his backpack, which is just the greatest thing ever! I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but bravo!

Gears has had precious little love from Hasbro since the G1 days, so to say this update is overdue would be quite the understatement. But this is a case where the wait paid off, because this figure came out great! Sure, the alt mode could have been more polished, but I’m willing to take the compromise when the result is a robot mode that looks this good, and a transformation that is quick and fun. There are still a few more Minibots that need some updated love, but the one I’m wondering about most is Beachcomber. I pre-ordered him over a year ago, and still nothing!

May 6 2024

G. I. JOE Classified: Retro Carded Scarlett by Hasbro

As promised last week, I’m back to check out the second of Hasbro’s Classified Do-Over figures. First came Duke and now it’s Scarlett’s turn. It’s easy to forget that in the early days of Classified, Hasbro was tying the toyline to designs from the video game, Operation Blackout. Probably not a great idea, since the game really was a pile of ass and Classified has since proven that you don’t need a media tie-in to have a successful toy line. Especially when most of the people buying them are probably nostalgia-driven old bastards like me. Well, Duke was an absolute homerun, so let’s see how Scarlett turned out!

Here she is on her super sexy retro-style card with some absolutely bitchin’ character art exploding right in your face. As with Duke, the card stock is nice and thick, perfect for MOC collectors and the extended bubble allows for all of Scarlett’s accessories to be laid out around, with only a couple of the extras nested below. The back of the card has a huge multi-lingual file card and a classic “Collect-Them-All” spread of the three figures in this wave, the other two being Duke and Recondo. Alas, as great as this looks, it is not at all collector friendly, so it’s time to rip it open and get at our new recruit!

And like the new Duke, Scarlett is a complete return to her original RAH ’82 roots with a few modern polishes thrown in for good measure. Her uniform consists of the classic khaki one-piece with matching gloves and boots and a dark green underlying body suit showing through on her legs, arms, and around her neck. She has her shuriken sculpted onto her glove, a canister grenade (I think that was a round grenade on the original) sculpted on her left shoulder, and the red recoil pad on her right. She even has the hidden last-resort pistol sculpted on the inside of her left gauntlet. There are a few reinforced tailoring lines added here and there as well as a gold zipper(?) running up the side of her abs. She has a primary belt that’s sculpted as part of the figure and then a secondary belt worn by the figure with some sculpted and painted cartridges. They even added a peg to this belt to keep it in place! Her quiver is attached to her right leg with a high thigh strap, and this is the most obvious new addition to the design. She also has her knife and sheath on her left leg, something that was sculpted onto the original figure, but is now attached with the knife as a removable accessory. I think Hasbro did such a great job updating this uniform that the only thing I can nitpick are the boots. I would have liked to see the return of her high heels and, yeah, they were ridiculous and totally unpractical, so I’d guess most people will be happy to see her have flats.

I’ve thought long and hard about this portrait. I like it a lot. The original RAH Scarlett was not what I would call a handsome woman, and this one certainly remedies that. It draws a fine line between being pretty and yet still striking me as a serious woman of action. The printing on the eyes and eyebrows are perfect. The lips are painted well, but I think they may be a tad too big. Everything else is great, right down to the light peppering of freckles. The hair is sculpted separately and looks great with no flyaway bangs to get in the way of targeting Cobra. You even get two ponytails, one falling pretty straight and a second to work better with the backpack. The whole shebang is rounded out with a couple of small black earrings. Now, I really liked the first Classified Scarlett’s portrait. It was more youthful and definitely presented a different take on the character, but in the end, I think this one is a big improvement.

The backpack is a wonderfully complex sculpt with a ton of pouches, straps, rumples, and buckles. It would have been great to see some paint apps on here, but instead it’s cast in the same very pale olive plastic as her belts and quiver. The alternate ponytail works perfectly with the backpack as it’s designed to cascade down in a sort of S-pattern. The backpack stays pretty snug in her back and you get a little functionality with the two pegs on the sides to mount her rifles through the trigger guards.

The articulation here is fantastic and offers a well needed update to the arms. Here you get bicep swivels and double-hinged elbows replacing the rotating hinged elbows of the previous figure. Of course, the new Scarlett is also based on a pinless body, but everything else is more or less the same when it comes to posability. You also get one set of fists and a set of accessory holding hands.

Scarlett comes with an automatic pistol and the aforementioned combat knife. The knife is pretty standard fare and fits into the sheath. Despite her having two trigger-finger style hands, she can still hold it quite well. The pistol is an excellent sculpt and cast in the pale olive plastic. It has a hole in the barrel to take a blast effect part, although none are included. The pistol seems a tad big for her, and sadly there’s no holster for her to store it on her person. I found the trigger guard to be a little too small to risk pegging it to the backpack.

There are two rifles included: One Sunbow style XMLR-3A Laser Rifle and an AR-15 style rifle. The Sunbow rifle is always a welcome addition and it’s the same accessory that was included with Duke. I love this sculpt!

The AR-15 is also fantastic with a ton of detail, including a scope mounted on the carry bar and a removable magazine. Granted, this is not a weapon that I associate with Scarlett, but seeing as Super7 also included this type of rifle with their Ultimate Scarlett, I feel like I’m missing a connection here. But hey, I’m not complaining as this is one of the line’s best looking weapons and even if Scarlett won’t be arming herself with it much, it’ll likely get repurposed to another JOE.

Of course, Scarlett is best known for her trademark crossbow and that’s obviously included here, along with some bolts to stock her quiver. The crossbow is cast in black plastic, as are the bolts, and it’s a little more rifle-like than the RAH version, but I dig it a lot. The bolts do notch into the crossbow and you get a few different types to choose from. Sadly, there is no string on the crossbow, but maybe that’s for the best. I’d prefer no string to a chonky plastic one that warps easily and just looks wrong. I would have liked an option to peg the crossbow into her back instead of the backpack, but she’s just going to have to hold it.

Finally, you get a rectangular black figure stand with the GI JOE shooting star logo sculpted onto it. As I mentioned with Duke, I’m always happy to get these and it’s pretty close to the generic ones I use for my Classified figures, so it fits in pretty well.

To me, Scarlett is a near perfect Classified update to the Real American Hero figure and definitely the one I’ve been waiting for. She is absolutely going to be replacing the first issue Scarlett in my display. With that being said, I think Scarlett falls just slightly below the update we got with Duke. I feel bad for saying that because she is still an extraordinary figure but I think Duke just came out slightly ahead. I haven’t picked up Recondo yet because I have the Tiger Force version but I probably will eventually.

Apr 29 2024

Marvel Legends (The Avengers): Giant-Man and Wasp by Hasbro

It seems like most of my Marvel Legends buying these days is stuff on deep discount, but every now and then Hasbro tosses something out there that gets me a bit excited. This time it was a new two-pack featuring Hank Pym as Giant-Man and Janet Van Dyne as The Wasp. It was an interesting reveal, coming shortly after the Giant-Man HasLab project just squeaked by, begging the question why wasn’t this pair of figures part of that project? If these were included, it would have given me the push I needed to back it, but since it wasn’t, I was able to pick up the figures off of Pulse and saved myself about $200 and the bother of finding somewhere to stand that huge figure. What was even more surprising is, this pack went up with a lot of people, myself including, believing it was a pre-order, but it actually shipped right away!

And here’s the snazzy packaging! Hank and Jan come in a colorful window box with a white front and lots of artwork on the side panels and the back. The figures are set against a blue background and when combined with the red and blue Avengers logo, this presentation really pops beautifully! The window is absolutely cluttered with accessories and extra hands and heads, making this feel like a decent value at the $50 price tag. I’m going to start with Hank, but let’s check him out as Giant-Man first…

We last saw Hank Pym as Giant-Man in Marvel Legends ten years ago as part of the Ultron Wave, and HOLY SHIT… TEN YEARS??? That was an OK figure, but it was definitely not my preferred version of the costume. Here, we finally get the good stuff, as Hank dons the bright red and blue suit, and the coloring here is absolutely gorgeous. Sure, the red paint above the zig-zag patterns on his boots doesn’t quite match the red plastic on the legs, but it’s a minor discrepancy on a tiny area. The black V-decoration on the torso is pretty sharp and you get a segmented silver belt worn around the waist, which does have a habit of riding up and needing adjusting.

The head sculpt shows some excellent definition in the facial features and it looks like the lower face is sculpted separately from the rest of the mask allowing for razor sharp lines. The red hood is broken up a bit by the white shingles on the sides of the head, the eyes are printed very well, and his antennae sweep up prominently from his brow.

The proportions on this figure are certainly a lot better than what we got last time and it features the wonders of pinless technology. The articulation follows the usual Legends formula with the bonus of butterfly shoulder crunches. You get two sets of hands, which include two graspy hands, as well as a right trigger finger hand and a left fist. The trigger finger hand is a strange choice, but it does actually work well with some of his accessories.

And I do enjoy that one of his accessories is a Quinjet. Is it supposed to be something that Hank shrunk down or is it a normal sized jet for Giant-Man to play with? I like to imagine it’s the later and he flies it around making whooshing noises, while The Avengers trapped inside scream in terror.

Swap the head and toss on his white coat and you have a Hank Pym to putter around in his Lab. The coat is surprisingly well tailored, considering this is kind of a first for modern Legends. It fits the figure nicely, the stitching is pretty tidy and while it lacks a ubiquitous pocket of pencils, I like it a lot. Had I picked up that West Coast Avengers boxed set, I would probably use the jacket on that Hank Pym figure, but with how much that set is being discounted these days, I may wind up with it eventually.

The head sculpt looks to be the same as the one included on Hank in that set and I dig it a lot. Pym is sporting his best serious scientist expression and the hair is sculpted as a separate piece and attached to the head.

Pym comes with a number of science accessories including including two pieces of glassware, which if my High School Science Class serves me well, I believe are a Florence Flask and an Erlenmeyer Flask. These are both frosted with some blue plastic inside ot look like liquid. You also get what looks like a data pad or perhaps a circuit pulled out of Pym’s latest invention. I guess it could be whatever you want it to be. Whatever the case, it’s a nice assortment of science lab stuff for Pym to work with. Now, let’s move on to Janet…

We’ve had plenty of Wasps in Marvel Legends, but I do believe that this is the first time we’ve got Janet in her classic (and IMHO best!) costume. The red dress with the flared shoulders, the high boots, the black undersuit, and the plunging neckline exposing her blue W, and the canisters on her belt… I just love this costume! If you have any of the previous Wasp figures from Legends, the wings should be familiar to you. Hasbro has certainly got their mileage out of these. The two sets plug into her back on hinges with the lower wings pegging into those, offering a good deal of posability.

Like Hank, you get two heads for Janet: One in costume and one out and both are gorgeous! The costumed head features her pointed cowl, complete with headset and antennae. The antennae are actually jointed inside where they connect to the head and can be articulated a little bit, which is really cool. The microphone on her headset can also be raised or lowered. The face is sculpted separately from the hood, offering a clean line between the two. And boy is the face beautiful! The printing on the eyes is just about perfect, there’s some nice color to her cheeks and her lips are fantastic!

And the other head is quite spectacular too! It’s a different face sculpt with notable differences to the eyebrows, but otherwise pretty close. The vintage style coif is sculpted separately from the head in an almost chocolate brown plastic with some adorable curls at the ends. I’d definitely say Janet here ranks up there among Hasbro’s best female portraits.

Like Hank, Janet’s body is pinless and if I still reviewed Legends figures as much as I used to, I’d probably stop pointing that out by now, but it’s still kind of new to me. It’s really nice to see the gals getting double hinged elbows and bicep swivels as opposed to just the rotating hinges in the elbows. The joints here all feel really nice and you get two sets of hands: One pair of fists and one pair of gesturing hands.

With Legends going for about $25 these days, the $50 price tag on this set seems about right. Actually if you include all the extras, it’s probably even a bit better. Given how much I love these characters, this set was a must-have for me and with it being a Pulse Exclusive, I wasn’t willing to risk not getting it to see if it would eventually be clearanced at the Pulse Outlet. I buy so few new Legends these days, I don’t feel bad about splurging on a set like this. Both figures are excellent, but for me it was getting the classic costume Wasp that really made my day!

Apr 24 2024

G. I. JOE Classified: Retro Carded Duke by Hasbro

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost four years since Classified began with Duke arriving as one of those first figures. Classified’s first take on Duke wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but I was still pretty happy with him and even now I still think it’s a pretty cool and fun figure. But as the line continued and began to stick more closely with the traditional Real American Hero designs, I think we were all hoping and waiting for Duke (and Scarlett) to get more conservative do-overs. And rather than just produce regular new versions, Hasbro upped the ante and shipped them on some snazzy retro card backs!

Naturally, Duke isn’t the first figure to get this treatment. We’ve seen several Classified figures released on jumbo retro cards. It’s an undeniably beautiful presentation. The colorful character art is extraordinary, the figure comes in an elongated tray and bubble to show off all his extras, and the card stock is extremely sturdy, which will no doubt please MOC collectors. I got mine from Amazon and even they couldn’t damage the card! The back of the card has a giant multilingual File Card as well as a Collect-Them-All style spread showing Duke with Scarlett and Recondo, the other figures this wave. Alas, it’s not collector friendly and while I may grab a second to keep carded if they turn up on sale, this one is getting sliced open to get Hauser into action! I hope you wore your poncho, because I’m about to start gushing!

Because what we have here is one of the finest examples of Classified’s ability to take a classic RAH design, nudge it into modernity, and use the larger scale to pack in some lovely added detail. Retro Duke dons the same green trousers, high brown boots, and khaki button-down shirt as the vintage figure and it all looks superb! The sleeves are rolled up a little higher here, practically up to the elbows, there’s some more color to his belt, but all the familiar beats are present and accounted for. Naturally, some aspects of the original figure that were merely sculpted on are now fully fleshed out accessories, like the bandoleer strap, the holstered pistol on his right thigh, and the knife and sheath on his left boot. And we even get butterfly crunches in the shoulders in addition to the all the usual Classified articulation. In terms of the uniform and body sculpt, I honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more.

The portrait is another direct hit, as this is the epitome of Duke perfection. I really liked the head sculpt Hasbro did for the first Classified Duke, but this one is just leaps and bounds better. The chiseled jaw, the bold nose, the concrete brow, it all looks so damn good. Even the hair is surprisingly sharp and clean considering that it’s part of the head and not separately sculpted. If I were to do a Venn Diagram of RAH Duke, Sunbow Duke, and an ideal Modern Duke, I think this portrait would fall right in the middle of those connecting circles. Now, would I have liked a second smiling head or shouty head? Yes, absolutely. But considering how good this is, I’m not going to get greedy.

Like the RAH figure, this Duke also comes with a removable helmet. And while we’ve certainly seen some pretty detailed helmets in this line, Hasbro went with a pretty simple design as a nod back to the original figure. They did, however, add a clear visor that can be worn up or down and I probably could have done without this, as it strikes me more as a Flash helmet rather than a Duke helmet, but that’s OK. Maybe it was just Hasbro’s way of saying that Gambello is coming. Duke also comes with a pair of binoculars which he can wear around his neck, and these are very similar to the accessory included with the original RAH figure. They fit pretty well, but I prefer to tuck them under the bandoleer to keep them more flush with his chest.

The backpack is certainly a strong nod to the original, but with plenty of modern flourishes, like the twin canteens behind his shoulders and the extra pouches and straps. And yes, it’s a repaint of the same backpack issued with the first Classified Duke. The entrenching tool is still front and center, but this time it’s painted green to help it stand out better. The blade also has the GI JOE motto on printed on it, which really makes me smile. The pack plugs into the hole on the back of the figure and it stays put very well, which has not always been the case with Classified backpacks.

Duke comes with two sets of hands: Fists and a pair to hold his weapons and accessories. The lack of a flat, saluting hand is kind of conspicuously absent. Hey, I’m really trying to come up with some criticisms here!

The knife on his left boot can be removed from the sheath and it’s a beautiful little representation of a military KA-BAR style knife. The pommel is rather distinctive, as it’s a gold disk more reminiscent of a medieval dagger than the flattened butt cap of a military fighting knife, but pretty cool nonetheless. The segmented grip is brown and the dark gray blade has a small fuller near the back and a clipped point. The straps holding the sheath to the boot can ride up and down a bit and occasionally need adjusting.

The sidearm holstered on his right thigh is a modern style automatic pistol. It’s cast all in black with some excellent detail in the sculpt. There’s also a hole in the center of the barrel so it can make use of blast effect parts included with other Classified figures. Like the boot sheath, this holster is held on by two straps and it seems to stay in place really well.

As for bigger weapons, Duke comes with his traditional M-32 Pulverizer Submachine gun, and wow is this a great sculpt. The weapon is cast in green plastic, has an effect part hole in the barrel and a removable magazine.

And you get the Sunbow style XMLR-3A laser rifle, which is another absolute banger of a sculpt. The detail is so sharp and crisp, especially on the top rail and foregrip. The stick is black while the rest of the weapon is green. If Hasbro ever released a weapons pack with a bunch of these, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

And finally, you get a figure stand! This is a black rectangle with two foot pegs and the GI JOE shooting star logo sculpted into it. This stand is extremely similar to the generic ones I buy for my Classified figures, only mine are missing the star emblem and have an extra footpeg.

If you can’t tell, I’m rather smitten with this figure and it probably goes without saying that I’ll be retiring my original Classified Duke. You served the shelf well for four years, and now you stand relieved, sir. Go buy a fishing boat and enjoy your retirement. Yes, Hasbro absolutely hit it out of the park with this figure and it really shows how far this line has come both in style and execution since the first days. What’s also great is Hasbro seems to have made this figure easy to get, as it’s been available through most major online toy retailers, and even now it’s still available on Amazon for the MSRP of $24.99. Can Retro Scarlett also be this good? Well, we’ll find out next week!

Mar 25 2024

G. I. JOE Classified: VAMP and Clutch by Hasbro

You may remember that I ended last year going hot and heavy with G.I. JOE Classified and so I tried to go easy at the beginning of this year. Well, that turned into an unintentional three month Classified hiatus, so it’s long overdue that I start hitting the Classified content again. And what better way to get back into it than with a glorious new vehicle! For a while I was really convinced that the only vehicles we were going to get out of Classified was motorcycles and the Trouble Bubble. But then HasLab got going with the glorious HISS Tank and the forthcoming Dragonfly Helicopter and the horizons expanded. What I did not expect was to see any mid to larger sized vehicles outside of HasLab projects. And then The VAMP hit Pulse and I was gobsmacked! Naturally I mashed that pre-order button and here we are!

The vehicle comes in a nearly fully enclosed box with just a small window to show off the Clutch figure. Honestly, the size of the box didn’t blow me away, but then there is some minor assembly required as you have to pop on the four wheels and mount the rear machine gun. There’s also some accessories to attach and we’ll get to those each in turn. I really loved the fact that Hasbro packaged the machine gun in it’s own tray to keep the barrels from warping, and you get the ubiquitous cardboard footlocker with tissue wrapped extras. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed that there weren’t any blast effect parts included, especially for an expensive item like this. Still, if you collect this line, you probably have quite a few already. Let’s start with the pack-in figure, Clutch…

Lance Steinberg, aka Clutch will always have a special place in my heart because we were both born in NJ and only about 30 miles from each other: Him in Asbury Park and me in Metuchen. He’s also one of those clean and classic looking JOEs from the early days that reminded me a lot of the 12-inch hand-me-down JOEs that I got from my uncle. In addition to the VAMP driver, Clutch was my JOE’s chief mechanic, a role he shared with Cover Girl, and it’s possible that my head canon had the two of them getting up to more than just oil changes when they were alone in the garage. Anyway… Classified Clutch does a beautiful job of taking the design beats from the original figure and really flushing them out and extrapolating lots of detail. Classified’s other vehicle-bundled JOE, Breaker, kind of came out a little generic, but that isn’t the case with Clutch here at all. You get an intricately detailed tactical vest over a short sleeve t-shirt, olive green trousers with brown knee guards and high boots with brown around the sculpted laces. I dig the lighter green used for the t-shirt against the olive green and brown for the vest.

The head sculpt reflects that classic JOE flavor I’m talking about with the black beard and mustache. The update has the mustache not connecting with the beard, which was an interesting choice, but I can dig it. Hasbro went with sculpting the hair as part of the head here, and while I prefer the hair sculpt to be a different piece, I’m guessing they wanted the sideburns to seamlessly connect to the beard, so they went this route. It looks good, although the paint doesn’t always quite match the hair sculpt around the edges. Still you have to punch in pretty close to notice it. Everything else here looks great!

The helmet fits over the head and features loose chin straps hanging on either side. You also get a sculpted optics mount on the front, which I thought was a wonderful detail. It would have been really cool to have a night vision scope to attach to it. Maybe some third-party will oblige or Hasbro will revisit the concept later.

You also get a fully enclosed helmet, reminiscent of the Steel Brigade style, but this is an actual helmet rather than a second head option. On the one hand, I think this design is really bad ass and I dig the teeth painted on the sides. On the other hand, it seems like overkill for a jeep driver and more akin to something a pilot would wear. This helmet is definitely getting gifted to another JOE, I just don’t know who yet.

Clutch sports some sharp tatts printed on each arm. You get some racing flags, dice, and burning rubber on the left forearm and some crossed pistons and a pin-up girl on his right. I love both of these designs and they really add a lot of personality to the figure.

Clutch has an equipment rig on his right thigh, which includes a removable wrench. This is the same wrench sculpt that came with Cover Girl, but the additional red and gray paint really make it stand out and picks out the detail.

As for weapons, you get an automatic pistol and a shotgun. The pistol is sizeable with some great attention to detail. I especially like the stars sculpted on the painted brown grips. The pistol can be carried in the holster attached to his chest.

The shotgun is a repaint of the one that came with Cover Girl, this time with a brown stock and foregrip, instead of green. Hey, it never hurts to have a boomstick tucked behind the seat! Now let’s get the VAMP out of the garage and ready to bust some snakes!

And here she is all ready to roll out! I think Hasbro did a wonderful job taking the classic VAMP design and enhancing it with some extra detail and modernization without going overboard. There are no stickers to apply, so all the lettering is tampo’d or preapplied decals, and there’s a lot of it. From tiny warning signs to insignia and registration markings, it was fun to discover it all when I first got the VAMP out of the box. I really like the olive green plastic they used for the body and the addition of some extra black for the roll cage looks great. In addition to installing the wheels and rear machine guns, there are a number of smaller accessories and fixtures that need to be attached. These include three sets of light rails. One goes on the front ramming bar and the other two on the top of the windshield frame. The frames are black with translucent blue lenses for the lights, giving them a bit of a glow effect, even though they don’t actually light up. It’s also nice that these are optional in case you want to go with a cleaner more classic look. Grab bars also snap onto the frame above the door hatches.

The profile is perfectly iconic and I dig how high it sits on the wheels. I’ve seen some people complaining that it’s too small, but I don’t agree. Yeah, it does look pretty silly if you load it up with a ton of figures, but this isn’t a troop transport, it’s a jeep. It’s a fast attack vehicle with a top speed of 140mph and a maximum range of 550 miles. I think it’s perfectly sized for the Classified line. But sure, you can have some JOEs hitch a ride on the running board and hanging off the grab bars and I think it still looks fine. One gripe I have is that I wish the running boards were a little larger and maybe had some pegs too.

The front bumper includes a working winch as well as two yellow toe hooks. I do wish the winch rope was black and it was a bit longer, but I may remedy that myself if I feel ambitious some day.

The hood includes a clip to attach the included entrenching tool, you also get a bundle. presumably full of tools or equipment, that attaches to the hood. It’s brown with individually painted black tie-down straps and a nice added bit of kit that wasn’t on the original VAMP. Finally there’s an environmental sensor that pegs in next to the equipment package. I always thought this thing was a laser gun or something, but I don’t think it was ever actually called out on the original blueprints. I really like the addition of an actual windshield, as well as the fact that it can hinge down. And if you want to see what she’s got under the hood, just lift it up to reveal the fully sculpted engine inside.

The backside includes a cage to hold two gas cans and there’s a rack on the outside of the cage to hold the included axe. Oh, and there’s a tow hitch on the back for the obligatory MMS that’ll be coming any month now. But, I’d really like to see the Twin Battle Gun released as well, because that’s what my childhood VAMP was always towing.

The interior is pretty spiffy with biscuit colored seats and a really detailed dashboard. A number of the controls are painted, you get printed graphics for all the display screens and instruments and the shifter on the center console actually slides forward and backward. And check out the sideview mirrors, which are actual mirrors… cool! The steering wheel turns, but it isn’t actually connected to the front wheels. There’s also a clip at the back of the driver’s cabin to hold an included fire extinguisher! The figures slide into the seats easily and there’s plenty of room for the figures in both seats. Alas, no seatbelts!

The pom-pom guns from the original toy have been replaced with a pair of turret mounted machineguns, and these can actually be broken down into two separate machine guns. The assembly can rotate 360-degrees and raise and lower to offer a wide radius of coverage. Each gun is belt fed from a pair of ammo cases that sit on the platform in front of the turret. These don’t actually secure into the plate, so I used a bit of poster putty to get them to stick and it seems to work really well. While the original VAMP was billed as having a crew of only one, it always had a passenger seat, and I imagine it helps to have someone on hand to control the machine gun, unless it had some kind of crazy sophisticated auto tracking system. I would have liked it if the dashboard design actually had a joystick or something to facilitate control of the guns, but I’ll just have to use my imagination on that front.

It’s crazy to think we got a VAMP before an AWE Striker, and yet here we are! The VAMP had a sticker price of $99 and was a Hasbro Pulse exclusive. I’ve seen some griping about the price, but if you figure Clutch as $25, as per the going price of the figures these days, I don’t think $75 is a big ask for what you’re getting here. And even as a pack-in figure, Clutch feels every bit as good as a single boxed release. As for the VAMP itself, I think the design perfectly straddles that line between classic vs modern update, and everything about it feels well thought out. The build quality is solid and this is a rugged toy capable of getting into all kinds of scrapes with Cobra. No, it’s not going to win any battles against the HasLab HISS, but then it wasn’t designed to, so as of now, Cobra is still going to dominate on the battlefield until there are Dragonflys filling the skies overhead.

Mar 18 2024

Marvel Legends (No Way Home): Deluxe Doc Ock and Green Goblin by Hasbro

Hey, how about a Marvel Monday for old time’s sake! I’ve been picking up a lot of Legends lately on deep discount and I may do a couple speed reviews of some of those waves, but before even considering any of that I wanted to swing back and check out a couple of Deluxe releases that came out late last year. I have to imagine that it was a general malaise over the recent MCU films that caused Hasbro to drop their bucket back into the Spider-Man: No Way Home well and produce some new figures based on what was probably the last MCU flick that really hit home with the fans. No pun intended. We got a wave of retro-carded figures and these two Deluxes, which had me excited for MCU figures for the first time in a long while.

Both figures come in fully enclosed boxes with some nice artwork and shots of the figures. I don’t mind the enclosed boxes for these Deluxes, but I am getting tired of tiny accessories wrapped in tissue paper just begging to be accidently thrown away. Interestingly enough, Doc Ock is billed as being from Spider-Man 2 (the second Raimi film), while Gobbie is billed as being from No Way Home. Obviously the Goblin figure design is very specific to that movie, but Octavius could really work for either film. I’m guessing it was maybe a licensing issue, similar to the one that put the Andrew Garfield Spidey figure on an Amazing Spider-Man 2 card. Anyway… let’s start with Doctor Otto Octavius.

I’m starting with Ock, because I don’t have quite as much to say about this figure, but that’s not to say it isn’t fantastic. He comes out of the box with his articulator arms permanently attached. The body features a textured black top, black trousers, and brown shoes. He’s got some double trench coat action going with a brown one layered under the green. The brown coat has a set of gold zipper tracks while the outer coat has buttons and lapels with some tiny sculpted stitching. Wrapped around his waist is the silver harness to secure the arms to him. It’s a fairly basic costume design, but the figure handles it well with the different muted colors and some very subtle textures.

The head sculpt is pretty solid likeness to Alfred Molina. I really love the hair sculpt and the way the glasses turned out. Lord knows it ain’t easy to do decent looking specs in this scale, but Hasbro certainly pulled it off here. It killed me to turn down the Hot Toys figure, but that head sculpt just wasn’t working for me in terms of likeness or expression. Certainly not on a $300+ figure! So, at least Hasbro came through on the $40 version. I also dig the dour expression.

The articulator arms are cast in a very dense, but pliable plastic and they do a fairly good job of holding the shape you bend them into. They have a sharp, segmented sculpt and you get six sets of claws to work with: Two flat ones to act as feet, two grasping claws, and two articulated claws. Octavius himself even comes with two sets of hands: Fists and grasping hands.

And I have to say, posing the arms is lots of fun, especially when mixing up the different claws. There was certainly an issue of compromise here between durability and playability, and I think Hasbro made the right call by allowing just enough from each column. It was nice to really give the arms a workout without worrying about breaking or tearing them, even if that meant they weren’t always going to stay put exactly where I wanted them.

The arms are robust enough to act as legs and support the figure, but that stance does start to widen as the arms slowly attempt to pull back to their original configuration. I will likely use a clear rubber band to hold them closer together so I can display Ock with them supporting him. Although, I suppose a display stand supporting the figure would also do the trick.

Octavius turned out great! He’s one of those figures that takes up residence on my desk for a while after I opened him because he’s just so much fun to mess around with. I’ve wanted a figure like this ever since I first saw Spider-Man 2, and now that I have him, it’s nice to see he doesn’t disappoint. Let’s move on to Green Goblin!

So, unlike Octavius, who can work for either film, Norman Osborne is decidedly based on his appearance in No Way Home, where his armor is all kinds of messed up and modified. It’s an interesting look, which brings the design a bit closer to some of the comic book beats and away from the Power Rangery flavor of the original Raimi film design. Personally, I never had an issue with the older design, but this one certainly makes for a more interesting action figure. And boy is there a lot going on with this sculpt! Parts of the suit’s covering have been ripped away to reveal the internal supports and framework, painted in both gold and silver. He’s added a belt with shoulder strap and satchel as homage to the comic look, and you get the remnants of his purple hoody, cast in plastic and sitting on his shoulders. The green paint for the suit has a nice metallic sheen to it. He’s also has sculpted rockets on his both forearms and extended blades on his left. This is undoubtedly one of the most complex sculpts I’ve seen on a Marvel Legends figure and it looks fantastic!

Osborne does come with the Goblin mask head, even though it gets smashed fairly early on, but I’m happy to have the option to display it and it certainly maintains the quality found in the rest of the figure. The deep set eye globes are painted gold and if you look into the mouth you can see the mesh screen that covered Norman’s mouth on the costume. There’s a bit of swirl in the plastic here and there, but it doesn’t bother me. The only thing here that’s kind of off-putting is the lack of a neck piece for when he’s wearing the mask, so you just see his exposed skin. That looks kind of weird, but I don’t think this figure is really intended to be regularly displayed with the masked head. It’s probably more of a bonus.

Because you also get the unmasked head with goggles and hood, which is represents Gobbie’s new look for No Way Home, and Hasbro did a really nice job on this head sculpt! Willem Defoe certainly has a unique look about him, so I’m thinking that may have given the sculptors more hooks to hang their sculpt on. Either way, it turned out to be an excellent likeness, right down to his maniacal, toothy grin. And once again, the hair sculpt here is just pitch perfect! The goggles fit over the head pretty snug and the head goes into the hood and is secured around the neck hole. As much as I love the Goblin head, I’ll likely be displaying the figure unmasked and with the Goblin head somewhere on the shelf in front of him.

Of course, you also get the glider, which is a pretty fine piece of kit all on its own. The sculpt is pretty complex with panel lines, hydraulics and various mechanical bits and bobs all over the place. The bulk of the glider is painted in a metallic gray while the panels on the wings are textured and painted purple. The glider connects to a transparent stand via a ball socket, and this is the same type of stand that Hasbro uses for their Star Wars Black Series speeder bikes. The wings also articulate independently of one another. The only thing to watch out for here is the blades on the front of the glider, which are made of slightly bendy plastic. If you plan on storing this in a tote, I could see them getting bent or warped pretty easily.

Gobbie attaches to the glider by slipping his toes into the stirrups and pegging his heels into the pedals. The pedals are pegged into the glider, so they can swivel to accommodate different positions. It also helps to make securing him easier, as I preferred to pull out the pedals, attach them to his feet and then peg them back into the glider. A little balance is required when getting the ball socket on the stand to support his weight, but I was able to make most poses work out. I think a little nail polish might help make the socket connection more firm and supportive.

Green Goblin’s final accessory is a tiny grenade, or what passed for a pumpkin bomb in the films. It’s just a tiny orange ball with a green light painted on it, but it fits perfectly in the right grippy hand.

Goblin feels like the more substantial offering of these two figures with a crazy complex sculpt, extra head, and the glider, but considering how awesome Ock’s articulator arms are, I think everything balances out in the end. As for the quality of the figures, there’s not much to complain about here, as I think Hasbro knocked each of these right out of the park. I can distinctly remember the moment I saw that these guys were coming back for No Way Home and thinking about the opportunity for new Marvel Legends figures, and sure enough here they are. And at $39.99 each, I think the pricing is actually right on point, as they both feel like premium releases. I don’t really have any interest in a No Way Home Lizard or Electro, so displaying these guys with the Sandman from the retro wave gives me all the MCU Spidey villains I wanted!

Feb 9 2024

G. I. JOE Classified: Breaker with Ram Cycle by Hasbro

There was a lot of GI JOE Classified content here leading up to Christmas, so I tried to give it a rest for at least a couple of weeks and I guess that turned into a whole month. But truth be told this line has been one of my absolute high points for collecting right now and there’s so many goodies to cover, so here we are again with another vehicle from Classified. Sure, that HasLab HISS Tank is going to be hard to beat with a mere motorcycle, but the GI JOE line has some truly iconic smaller scale vehicles that are so totally doable as retail-friendly releases. And the Ram Cycle is certainly one of them! Also, this was only the second vehicle to release in the line, so it was a pretty big deal when it did!

Yup, this one has been out for a while. So long, in fact, that it’s even been re-released as a Tiger Force repaint. But, as I’m sure you’ve heard a lot by now, a big part of 2024 for me is going to be taking care of unfinished business. FFZ has never really been about being cutting edge. I leave that to the people willing to pay triple on Ebay for stolen toys to get that FIRST IN reputation. Anyway, this set comes in a beautiful window box that shows off the toys very well. It also has the dreaded Cobra Island moniker, signifying that it was a Target Exclusive. Remember how much fun that was kids? It was actually a lot worse with the Baroness and Cobra COILS set, which I never actually saw at a Target and quickly became scalper feed, but there were eventually shelves full of the Ram Cycle, so I guess lessons were learned. Let’s start with Breaker.

Breaker dips all the way back to that initial first year of Real American Hero figures. On the one hand, I’m not sure I dig Hasbro taking figures that were originally carded releases and bundling them with vehicles, but Hasbro’s model seems to require figures with all the vehicles, so I can dig it. Also, the 2008 version of the RAM Cycle was released with a Corporal Breaker, so at least Hasbro is being consistent. The JOE Communications officer was a pretty simple figure, and this release really reflects that. You get plain green fatigues, granted with a lot of sculpted detail, black boots, rolled up sleeves, black gloves, a green wristwatch, and an absolute slab of a combat vest with sculpted pouches and black shoulder straps. The vest adds some crazy bulk to the figure, which surprisingly to me looks less obtrusive when viewed from the side than from the front. Some may balk at the relative vanilla look of this guy, but personally, I enjoy the more traditional military looking figures, and Breaker here has that in spades.

The head sculpt is really solid and presents a very classic JOE look. I’m talking classic 12-inch JOE look! You get the black beard with some back-swept hair, a prominent nose and a stoic, slightly determined stare. He definitely lacks the sleepy, dead eyes of the original RAH figure, that made me think Breaker was a stoner. On the downside, the seam that bisects his hair is kind of ugly, especially by Classified standards. Still, if Hasbro ever wanted to give this guy a camo paintjob and release him as an Adventure Team exclusive, I’d definitely be down for that.

Breaker is definitely light on the accessories, which some may blame on him being bundled with a vehicle, but in fairness the original Breaker didn’t come with a whole lot. He had a helmet, radio headset and backpack radio. Here we get the helmet and headset all in one, with the helmet repurposed as a motorcycle helmet with a visor. The helmet looks great and includes a microphone. The lack of a backpack still kind of bugs me, although a radio backpack would be kind of outdated for Classified. Maybe they could have given him a SINCGARS unit. That would have been cool. At the very least, he should have come with a pistol and holster, even if the original figure was released unarmed. Heck, Baroness got a ton of extras and she was bundled with a motorcycle as well.

Moving on to the RAM Cycle and this is an absolute beauty. As with a lot of what Classified is doing now, it takes the original design and just injects a dose of modern realism into an updated sculpt. The body is mostly cast in an olive green, which is a lot duller than the RAH toy, but adds to that more realistic look. You also get some black and gray in the mix, found in the engine, wheels, tires, exhaust, seat, and other little bits and bobs. There is some wonderful detail in the engine, a few panel lines, and some sculpted bolts. This bike looks great!

The RAM features a lot of the same markings as the original toy, this time all printed on. The MG 1027 can still be found stenciled in white on the gas tank (although I could have sworn it was MC 1027 on the original), along with the updated JOE star emblem. Other insignia and markings are present, including the American Flag.

The dash is very well detailed. I was surprised to see the gauges were actually sculpted and painted, rather than just stickers. I like the bit of added sculpting in the handlebars and you even get some extra detail on the gas cap.

The side mounted minigun adds the Rapid Fire in this Rapid Fire Motorcycle and the sidecar-type attachment also stabilizes the motorcycle so it can stand fine for display purposes. As a kid, I remember the idea of attaching a chain gun to a motorcycle sidecar was about the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I remember even my Dad being pretty impressed at the concept. Somehow I don’t think it’s real world practical, but boy is it an amazingly toyetic concept.

As we saw in the packaged shot, the minigun pod is not only removable from the cycle itself, but it can also be opened up and the gun can be removed and wielded by hand, which is so awesome. There is a flip down kickstand to stabilize the bike when the weapon pod is not attached. And yeah, I guess this would make up for the fact that Breaker doesn’t come with a pistol. About three thousand rounds a minute? That’s what I call communication!

And Breaker does indeed sit quite nicely on the bike and looks damn good on it! His hands can grip the handle bars and his feat peg into the pedals. His butt does hover a bit off the seat, but that’s fine. There’s even enough room for a second rider if they don’t mind getting cozy.

One of the cool things about the Real American Hero line was the wide range of vehicles and playsets. For every wallet-busting USS FLAGG there was a small and affordable toy like The RAM Cycle that let kids actually save up allowance and add to their toychest. Granted, the Classified version is bigger and pricier, but it still feels like a decent enough value when you bundle in the figure. The sculpt here is excellent and the added feature of the removable minigun adds tons of play value. It’s a little tougher to find at a decent price these days, but well worth it if you can hunt one down.

Feb 7 2024

Marvel Legends (Void Wave): Crystar by Hasbro

Y’all remember Crystar? Goodness and Light! Evil and Might! …the winner is up to you! Well, nobody really won, because the comic book only lasted 11 issues and the toyline by Remco fizzled out pretty quickly. Not even a cartoon! I never owned any of the figures, but damn that commercial made me want them and I did have a couple issues of the comic, picked out of 25-cent milk crates at the used bookstore downtown. For a failed toy franchise, it sure left a big impression on me. If someone told me that we were getting a modern Crystar figure, I would assume it would be through a company like Nacelle or Zica, but nope… it’s Hasbro accessing the license through their Marvel Legends line. And I wouldn’t get too excited, because this is almost guaranteed to be a one-off, like that Matt Tracker Hasbro released through the GI JOE 25th Anniversary line.

Even stranger, Crystar was not released as a single store exclusive, but rather as part of a regular wave created around The Void Build-A-Figure. To the uninitiated, Crystar is a Prince of Crystalium and fights against the chaotic forces of Moltar and his Magma Men. It’s a classic good vs evil toy premise, but with some pretty hardcore stuff like people shooting out each other’s eyes and the body horror of Crystar himself having to be rended from death by merging his body with The Great Prisma-Crystal. It was an imaginative line and the toys looked great, so getting a modern updated Crystar figure like this definitely scratches a very old itch.

And wow, did Hasbro go full-on crystal with this guy! The bulk of the body is cast in a gorgeous translucent blue plastic with crystal-like facets sculpted all over the place. The gauntlets, boots, and undies are all cast in red plastic and he has a blue crystal embedded right where his belt buckle would be. This is an absolutely beautiful update to the vintage Remco figure! And while the original Crystar had to get by with just old school 5 POA, plus hinged knees, Hasbro’s new release conforms to the Marvel Legends standard. And since the body is entirely new, they went with pinless joints. You also get two sets of hands, which include one pair of accessory holding hands, a right fist and a left hand with splayed fingers.

The portrait also falls pretty closely in line with the original figure. The head and helmet are both sculpted in more of that sumptuous crystal blue plastic while the front crest and the side wings are cast in the same red plastic used for his boots and gauntlets. The original figure had a red connecting band between the crest and wings making it more like a complete crown (it was also removable), so I’m not sure if that was an oversight or an intentional stylistic change here. It might be fun to get an extra figure to make that simple change with some red paint. It looks like there’s some added face printing in there, but it’s kind of hard to tell as it gets lost in all that blue crystal.

The vintage Remco figure came with three accessories: A sword, shield, and prism looking-glass. These looking-glasses were color coded and included with each of the original figures. Hasbro nixed the prism, which is honestly totally expected, but he does get his trusty sword and shield. The sword is cast in transparent blue plastic and hits all the beats of the original sword design while smoothing out the proportions and giving it a bit more detail. The hilt has a ribbed grip, the crossguard hooks toward the blade at the ends, and there’s a diamond-like swell near the base of the blade.

The shield is also cast in translucent blue plastic and is a nice homage to the original figure’s shield. There’s a octagonal central boss with arrow like designs connecting the corners of the hexagon with the outer ring of the shield. The inside of the shield has a grab bar which works well with the figure’s grippy hands. I love how immaculate and clear this shield is, as it offers very little distortion when looking through it.

Crystar is a really cool figure and a beautiful update to the original Remco release. The only downside for this guy is that now I obviously want more, and I think it’s a safe bet this will be a one-time deal. I don’t know what the appeal of this fellow will be at retail, as both the comic and action figure line lean toward the obscure these days. I doubt there’s a whole lot of love for the original comic series, and the character only appeared in a handful of other Marvel books. I’m actually still pretty surprised that Hasbro included him as part of a Build-A-Figure wave rather than just a one-off store exclusive. But even if you are buying him just to get that Void BAF piece, I think he’s a fantastic figure and definitely worth a place on that ecclectic corner of the Marvel Legends shelves that all of us collectors probably have. ironically, the only two figures that I pre-ordered in this wave was Crystar and Power Princess, although I’ll agree that this wave is pretty damn strong, and I may wind up grabbing some more if they turn up on sale here and there.

Jan 24 2024

Transformers Legacy: Pointblank and Needlenose by Hasbro

I’ve made a commitment to myself to go back and take a look at some of the Transformers I missed spotlighting here last year, and there are quite a few of them! It’s also the only way I’m going to get much Transformers content, because I’m really not interested in too much Hasbro is doing with the brand right now. Anyway, I picked up Pointblank and Needlenose when they were first released and while I remember opening them, I guess I had something else going on because they wound up bagged and toted before I even spent any serious time with them. So let’s get these two Targetmasters out have a look!

The Legacy package design sure was something! I often gripe about how bland the package design got after the live action films, but I think this was a case of overcompensation. The colors are obnoxious and nothing about this look really screams Transformers to me. Also, these are the windowless boxes that expose the toys to the elements, meaning sticky kid fingers and boogers, so it’s safe to say I’m not a fan. And I still don’t know what the added Evolution moniker was all about. Anyway, both of these guys were G1 Targetmasters with Pointblank releasing in 1987 and Needlenose was out the following year. I would have been 16 and out of the Transformers game, but I did later own an original G1 Pointblank when I got into collecting Transformers in my 30’s. I never did own an original Needlenose, so let’s start with him!

Needlenose’s alt mode is a super sleek fighter jet with a fair amount of robot bits packed into his undercarriage. And that’s not a complaint, I always like to imagine these undercarriage constructs as just meant to be cargo pods or something. The dorsal section of the aircraft has some lovely sculpted panel lines and a pale gray and dark blue deco with some teal stripes and a Decepticon insignia printed on one of his stubby wings. The design sticks pretty close to the original toy with a horizontal stabilizer added to the tail fin and some short angled wings protruding from just in front of the cockpit. Also, the cockpit is painted orange, while I think the original’s was translucent orange plastic.

Not only is Needlenose a Targetmaster, but he comes with TWO little Nebulan buddies, Sunbeam and Zigzag. These are pretty standard stuff when it comes to these little fellas. There’s no articulation in the robot modes but these are impressive sculpts for such tiny figures and the paint is pretty damn good as well. The designs don’t stray too far from the original G1 Nebulans, and Sunbeam even has a gun sculpted in his hand, just like the vintage toy.

When transformed into their weapon modes, the Nebulans can be pegged in under Needlenose’s wings to give him some serious firepower. Sunbeam turns into a stocky purple cannon, while Zigzag becomes a black double-barreled gun. I’m not a huge fan of the asymmetry here, but it’s still plenty cool.

Needlenose’s transformation is a lot more clever than I was expecting. As always, I like to do these without the instructions and it was a tad confusing at first, but once I figured it out I think it’s pretty fun. The robot mode here is a fantastic update to the vintage release, recreating the general design of the chest plate, paying homage to the stickers down in the legs, and adding some great detail to the arms. Most of the deco translates from the jet mode but with some more purple added to the mix. The proportions are also perfect, and he has all the articulation I expect from a modern Transformers figure. Yes, he is basically wearing a jet on his back, but that’s been a favorite design trope of mine ever since the Aerialbots, and I love it here just as much. The jet does truncate a bit and I dig the way the wings angle back behind the shoulders in true Seeker fashion. The large phallic nosecone hanging down between his legs is maybe a bit unfortunate, though! Or maybe it makes him extra popular with the femmebots.

The head sculpt takes the likeness from the original toy and just polishes the heck out of it. I’m a big fan of the knight’s visor motif above his eyes. The yellow face is punctuated with red eyes and most of his face is dominated by a mouth plate. Hasbro did a great job on this one!

And of course, Needlenose can wield his Nebulan guns in his robot mode as well as his jet mode and he looks all sorts of bad ass while doing it. As far as I’m concerned, Legacy Needlenose is pretty much Deluxe Class perfection. He looks fantastic in robot mode, very good in jet mode, and he’s fun to transform and play around with. This figure represents the Hasbro design team firing on all cylinders! Now, let’s move on to Pointblank!

The Autobot Enforcer’s vehicle mode got a pretty big overhaul for this modern release, while still hitting most of the design beats from the original futuristic sportscar. I think the only things I kind of miss here are the spoiler/shield piece that filled in the gap in the back (more on that in a bit) and the flame deco on the sides, but otherwise I think this is a great update, that is more elongated and sleeker than his G1 version. The red plastic looks very sharp and the teal bits are a lot more vibrant than what I remember being on my original toy. There’s a good amount of sculpted detail in the body and the addition of the translucent blue canopy over the painted one on the vintage release is a huge improvement. Most of all, I just really dig how great this car looks parked along side some of the other recent Autobot cars updates like Kup and Blur.

Pointblank comes with the Nebulan Peacemaker who is the spitting image of his G1 counterpart only with a lot better sculpted detail and a few more paint applications. The black and red plastic looks great together and I’m really impressed at the paint on his tiny face and visor, as well as the panels on his shoulders and chest.

Pointblank can equip Peacemaker in his auto mode and this does help fill out the gap left behind by the absent shield piece. It looks very good and even allows for Peacemaker’s gun barrel to angle up so he can try to take out Needlenose or any other Decepticon fliers. But, it does make for an aesthetic departure from the look of the original toy, which may irk some people. In the end, I’m fine with it.

I did not find Pointblank’s transformation to be nearly as fun as Needlenose’s. There are some fiddly things to the engineering here, not to mention the pair of ball jointed door panels that seem to pop off so often, that I resort to just popping them off on purpose to get them out of the way until I’m ready for them. Still, when all is said and done, the final robot looks fantastic… at least from the front. The translucent blue cockpit cockpit looks great on his chest, the bold shoulders with forward facing wheels is a great design, and you even get the blue kneepads present on the original toy. But, he’s kind of flat when viewed from the side and he’s quite the eyesore from the back. You get hollow leg syndrome, unfinished panels with screws in the shoulders, and just a lot of rough stuff back here. It kind of reminds me of those old Hollywood studio sets where the buildings are only finished on the side facing the camera.

The portrait is fantastic, giving the Autobot Enforcer a stoic expression. The visor is a very pale blue, which was a good choice as the coloring on the original toy often struck me as not having a visor at all. The silver face paint pops nicely and he’s got a single fin cresting from the top of his “helmet.”

Naturally, Peacemaker becomes Pointblank’s weapon in robot mode as well as car mode, and while he is a tad chunky, he gets the job done. Even with all that nasty business in the back, Pointblank is still a very cool figure and a superb update to the G1 toy. He does suffer from a fiddly transformation, and those door panels popping off gets really annoying, but his two very solid modes help smooth things out with me.

Wow, I’m glad I dug these guys out and finally gave them their due, because these are both really great figures and just lovely updates. But, if you want me to pick favorites, I’m going to give Needlenose the nod as the better of these two figures. Overall, he seems a bit more polished and comes with two Nebulans instead of just one. I also like transforming him a lot more than I do Pointblank. But I’d still recommend Pointblank as a pick up, and these two have been chasing each other around my desk for the better part of a week now.