Nov 30 2015

Marvel Legends (Hulkbuster Wave): War Machine by Hasbro

With the craziness of one holiday behind us, we can now start the slow march to the next one. Decent Black Friday sales for action figures seemed few and far between in my neck of the woods, but I did manage to pick up a few Marvel Legends for cheap and today’s figure is one of them. Let’s check out Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes in the original version of his Marvel Cinematic Universe War Machine armor. He’s also the second rung on the ladder to me building the magnificent Hulkbuster BAF!

There’s nothing new to say about the packaging. War Machine comes with the Hulkbuster head off to one side and a spare swappable portrait off to the other. It’s probably the lightest and least congested package of this entire wave, but hey… somebody had to come with the head!

Does this guy look familiar? Yeah, it’s basically a repaint of the Iron Patriot that was part of the Iron Monger BAF assortment, a figure that I looked at back in the Summer of 2013. In fact the only difference in the sculpt here is the left hand, which has gone from the open palm repulsor attack to being a simple closed fist. The sculpt was pretty damn solid to begin with as it features plenty of panel lines and just an overall nice 6-inch scale version of the armor seen in the film.

The paint is also beautifully executed. The black and silver deco looks sharp and reserved compared to the red white and silver of the Patriot deco. The black uses a subtle bit of glitter, which I really dig and all the paint lines are clean. This figure also features all the same tiny tampos as the original, which include Rhodes’ name stamped vertically on the left of the chest plate, the “FF 445” on the left shoulder and the Air Force emblem on the left forearm. These are all crisp and stand out nicely against the black paint. Considering the face plate paint on my Patriot was rather miffed, I’m much happier with what I got this time around.

The alternate portrait features the open mask showing Rhodey’s face. Overall the sculpt is pretty good, but the eyes on mine are uneven and do their best to bring the whole thing down. How ironic is it that these factories seem to get people who can’t see properly to paint eyes? At least it’s probably marginally better than the Tony Stark face that I got with my Mark 42 armor. Either way, this extra noggin is about to go into the Tote of Forgotten Accessories with that Stark head.

The articulation here is solid, but has some issues. The arms feature rotating hinges at the shoulders, and thankfully the shoulder armor is hinged so as not to inhibit movement. There are swivels in the biceps and nice double hinges in the elbows. The wrists have rotating hinges, but the sculpt there really limts some of the movement. The legs have ball joints in the hips, and again the armor sculpt interrupts some of the movement here. The knees are double hinged, there are swivels up at the hips, and while there appear to be hinges in the ankles, the sculpt allows no movement at all. There’s a ball joint in the torso and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed. Honestly, the poseability here is probably totally accurate to someone wearing a suit like this in real life, but in the films, the wearers were a lot more limber.

While not really an accessory, War Machine comes with the same shoulder cannon as Iron Patriot. It is removable and can be pegged in two different positions, but it’s clearly intended to be worn to the left. It’s hinged so that it can be positioned in a prone position and then angled up over the shoulder when ready to fire.

Despite some limits to the articulation and some rough paint on the spare head, I dig this figure a lot. The armor sculpt definitely carries it and I find myself liking the more utilitarian deco a lot better than the flashier Patriot paint scheme. Most importantly, I’m just happy to be able to represent Rhodes on my Legends shelf because he is definitely one of my favorite supporting characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I love the fact that he was teased as being one of the core Avengers in a future Phase and I really hope to see Cheadle take the center stage at least once in the MCU.

Nov 26 2015

Transformers Combiner Wars: Legends Class Skywarp by Hasbro

It’s Transformers Thursday and it is also Thanksgiving, which is very appropriate as I am always thankful for little robots that turn into other things. I’m taking today to relax and be with family so I’ll be honest, I looked for a figure that I could do quick and dirty and Legends Skywarp seemed like the perfect fit.

Here’s the packaging and there ain’t a lot new I can say about it. Mine came from Amazon and it’s sort of beat to hell. It was way back in the Summer of last year that I started down the path of Legends Seekers with Generations Starscream. In February of this year, I looked at Combiner Wars Thundercracker and now Skywarp finally gets his due. He’s packaged in robot mode, but let’s start with his alt mode.

No surprises here, as this is the second straight repaint of this mold. It’s a great little jet mode, which straddles the line between update and homage. Of course, Skywarp does have a leg up by sporting the most bitchin’ deco of all the Seekers. Ooooh yeah. The Decepticon flag is purple and black, baby, and these colors don’t run! Seriously, look at him. He’s gorgeous! He’s got his null rays slung under the wings and a hinged landing gear under the nose.

Transforming Skywarp is simple and fun and the robot mode is still just as solid as ever. Again, nothing new to the mold here, even the head is the same, but at this scale who’s going to notice anyway? There’s some nice sculpted detail on the chest intakes, and a surprising amount of detail sculpted inside the chest cavity behind where the cockpit piece goes. You’ll only see it going from one mode to the next, but it’s there! I also dig that the painted face of the wings face forwards, which is something that even the Leader Class versions of the Seekers didn’t do.

The articulation on these figures is lots of fun. You get ball joints in the shoulders, elbows, hips, and the knees are hinged. The null rays on the arms can rotate and they don’t even have to be removed for transformation.

The price on these little Legends have been all over the place, but I was able to complete my Seekers with Skywarp at the laughable price of $7.50. What a bargain! It’s great to have all three Seekers finally together in this scale so they can start their futile attack runs against Metroplex. And so, I am indeed thankful for cheap little changeable robots that I can stuff in my pocket and play with as I’m waiting for the turkey to digest.

I’m also really grateful for everyone who reads my crazy ramblings about toys and the many people I’ve befriended (whether through emails, comments here, or on Twitter) since I started this silly little blog so many years ago. The Internet is many things, a lot of them bad, but for me it’s shining virtue is that it can bring together kindred souls and make fast friends of people who have never even met. And so, to my Internet Family, and if you’re reading this, you have a seat at the table… Have a Happy Thanksgiving and may The Matrix light your darkest hour! Gobble, Gobble!

Nov 24 2015

Star Wars Rebels: Darth Vader and Ashoka Tano by Hasbro

A couple of weeks back I checked out one of these boxed 3 3/4-inch Mission Series two-packs and I’ve got a lot more on my stack waiting to be opened. Let’s do another one from Rebels! The current season of the series has really upped the ante by adding characters from both The Original Trilogy and Clone Wars and both of them are bundled in this little box of joy!

I gushed a lot about this packaging last time, so I’ll try to take it easy. Suffice it to say that the character art is fantastic as is the unrelated Force Awakens branding on the top near the J-hook. The window gives you a great look at the figures inside and the whole shebang is totally collector friendly. Yes, these are the simple five points of articulation figures that we’ve been seeing from Rebels all along, so if that’s a deal-breaker for you, just move along. As for everyone else… let’s start with Darth Vader…

Of course, this is the stylized version of Vader as seen in the series and as near as I can tell, an entirely new figure. There’s definitely a little McQuarrie influence in there, as is the case with a lot of Rebels’ designs, and I like it a lot. I like the way the cape bellows out to allow for his arm movement and the way the “skirt” and legs are sculpted to show more detail when they are moved. He also looks like he’s puffing his chest out a bit and holding his nose up in the air. With all that having been said, it’s not a dramatically new look for The Dark Lord of the Sith. I’d say the biggest changes are in the helmet, which actually looks like its scowling. Also, the red paint on the eyes is a nice touch. There aren’t a lot of paint apps on the figure, but what’s here is nice and clean.

Vader comes with his lightsaber, which he can hold in either hand. Because of the limited articulation, you can’t really get any action poses out of him, but he looks good holding it. Oddly enough, there’s a hook sculpted into his belt for the saber, the the accessory itself lacks any means to hang it. Moving on to Ashoka…

I am no fan of The Clone Wars series, despite having tried to watch it on many occasions. Still, I think it’s cool that Rebels has managed to incorporate Ashoka into the new series. Let’s face it, that series had a huge fan base! The sculpt and paintwork here are exceptionally good and she is also an entirely new figure. Indeed, I’d say this is one of the best looking Rebels figures produced so far, and probably among the best of Hasbro’s 5-POA style figures. All the little details are there from the carved patterns on her skirt to the panel lines on her arm bracers. The face is spot-on and the blue patterns on her tendrils are super sharp.

Ashoka comes with two lightsabers, one with a straight hilt and one slightly bent. She also has hooks on her waist for them, but like Vader’s I can’t see any way to attach them. Again, she looks good holding them at rest, but attempts at action poses just look goofy. I’m really excited for that 6-inch Black version of the character. Oh yeah, you also get this junk…

Blah! I mean… Oooh, that should be fun for the kids!

I love this set! You get two great new figures for around $7.50 each. The MSRP is $14.99, but I got mine for a few bucks less. Vader is a rock solid figure, but Ashoka comes out as the true gem here. The paint and sculpt on her are just really above board for what we’re used to seeing in this line. I hope Hasbro uses this venue to get us some more Rebels figures, even if they’re just repacks of some of the harder to find releases. Hey, an Agent Kallus and AT-DP Driver pack would solve a lot of my problems!

Nov 23 2015

Marvel Legends (Hulkbuster Wave): Doctor Strange by Hasbro

It’s Marvel Monday again, folks, and it’s also time to start a brand new wave of Marvel Legends! Woo Hoo! I’ll warn you/apologize ahead of time that the Jameson is flowing freely today. This time I’m working my way up to the BAF Hulkbuster, one figure at a time and I’m starting off the wave with Doctor Strange! Can I just take this time to say how much I’m looking forward to the Doctor Strange movie? Yeah, Star Trek: Into Darkness almost killed Cumberbatch for me, but it wasn’t his fault. He just took a cartload of money and they handed him a “script.” See, I used quotes around the word script because it was a piece of shit. Hahaha… Seriously, I HATE THAT MOVIE!!! No, but I’m really hoping that Doctor Strange will redeem him for me. He’s perfect for the role and I’ve all but given up on the theory that Disney can make a bad Marvel flick or at least one that I don’t like.

Of course, this is the comic version of the character, so please excuse my little detour about the movie. The package is unchanged from the last Wave I looked at. It’s still a fairly compact window box, which is relatively collector friendly. In this case, the package weighs a ton because of the gigantic Hulkbuster leg, which I swear uses more plastic than the figure itself. You’ll also note that Strange’s name doesn’t appear on the front of the package, instead it’s just the generic moniker, “Marvel Hereoes.” Wow, that could apply to almost anyone. Yes, this is another case of a variant swap-out within the slot and in this case the other figure is The Vision. I don’t get why Hasbro does this anymore seeing as: a) Both figures are included in the case, and b) Each figure comes with a unique BAF part. Craziness! Anyway, let’s go ahead and commune with The Eye of Agamotto and free Strange from his prison.

Yes, this is the modern version of the character’s look and one that I’m not entirely familiar with. The last time I encountered Doctor Strange in my comic reading was back in issue #21 of Deadpool and he was still grasping at some of the vestiges of his more classic look. Here he’s given up the high collar and cape and is sporting something of a more streamlined “super hero” style costume. It’s convenient for Hasbro as they were able to get away with a repainted buck and adding just a sculpted “skirt” piece and new forearms. The new black and maroon deco gives him a far more sinister look. I won’t say I don’t like it, but I definitely prefer his older costume. This figure is also a tad more buff than I’m used to seeing him. The head sculpt is fantastic. He looks great and the paint is all nice and clean, even around the mustache.

The articulation is solid and about what I’ve come to expect from this line. The arms have rotating hinges at the shoulders and wrists. The elbows are double jointed and there are swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips with swivels in the thighs and tops of the boots. The knees are double hinged and the ankles are hinged with lateral rockers. The waist swivels, there’s an ab crunch hinge in the torso and the neck has both a hinge and a ball joint.

In addition to the mammoth BAF part, Strange comes with two magic effects parts. These are the same pieces that came with Scarlet Witch a little while back only now cast in a neon green plastic. I liked these pieces a lot back then and still dig them a lot now. Unfortunately, Strange’s hands look more like Spider-Man thwipping hands than spell-casting hands to me. But I suppose they get the job done.

Yes, if I were given my druthers I would have had classic Strange in this assortment, but Marvel is obviously more interested in promoting their current books and current looks. I’m OK with that. This more sinister version of Strange works for me too and Hasbro did a fine job with the figure. The new sculpted bits look good and the paint is sharp and clean. The articulation is solid and it’s nice to see a return of the magic effects parts. And since my old Legends Doctor Strange disappeared long ago, I’m very happy to have the character represented on my Legends shelf again. Besides, for Classic Strange I can always look to my Marvel Universe figure.

Nov 19 2015

Transformers Combiner Wars: Mirage by Hasbro

Y’all have no doubt noticed that I’ve been dipping into the older ChangeFormerBots in order to supplement my Transformers Thursdays. That’s because I’m sitting out most of the current wave of Combiner Wars, which gives us new takes on some of the 1984 Autobots. I am, however, picking up two of these guys and I thought I’d check out one of them today. Yes, it is Mirage!

Here’s the packaging and I’ve got nothing new to say about it, other then it comes with a reprint comic and if you’re expecting Mirage in it, you’ll be disappointed. So instead, let me take this time to say that I went with this new Mirage just to see if it might stand in for my Classics version. Don’t get me wrong, I really dig the Classic version, but I also wanted a bit of a chunkier version in my collection. Which version of Mirage will prevail and reside on my Classics Shelf? Let’s press on and find out…

Yes, Mirge is a repaint of Combiner Wars Dragstrip and as far as the vehicle mode works it’s a slam dunk. Indeed, this car actually works better for me as Mirage because it’s missing the extra wheels from Dragstrip’s original alt mode. The coloring here is also a lot more appealing to me and the toy looks gorgeous with the white and blue deco. Damn, the blue plastic they used here sure is pretty! You also get a little bit of black paint in the cockpit and a nice coat of silver paint on the spoiler. The nose of the car features an Autobot emblem and “62” and the side panels feature “62 Circuit Racing.” I maybe would have enjoyed having a little more in the way of decals, but what’s here is good. Yup, in terms of alt modes, I am totally in love with this toy as Mirage.

In robot mode things get a tad more iffy. Iffy but not entirely off. Again, the colors look really nice on this figure and the arms and legs actually work perfectly fine for me as Mirage. Obviously, the biggest departure from the original Mirage design is the chest, which sports the combiner post recessed into it. Again, it’s not a deal breaker for me, and the Classics version of the character didn’t really match up to the original either, so I’m willing to give it a pass. It’s just that with some of the ingenious engineering Hasbro has been doing with shared molds these days, it’s almost criminal they couldn’t find a way to have his back land on his front. Sure, you can turn his head and bottom half around and try to fake it, but the front of the car sticks out too far and the arms are still wrong. I’m chalking it up to the fact that this is already a combiner and has too much going on to be messing with that kind of cross-figure engineering.

Hasbro did supply Mirage with a brand new head sculpt and while it looks perfectly fine when viewed normally, when I get in real close and, OH MY GOD, WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIS NOSE? It looks like he got punched one too many times. Damn, Hasbro, how’d you muck up Mirage’s face so badly?

Mirage comes with a combiner foot/hand piece, which I won’t be using and also the gun-sword that came with Dragstrip, this time cast in grey plastic. Nothing else to say here… moving on.

Turns out I really do love this figure and it works better as Mirage for me than I thought it would. But am I going to swap out Classics Mirage on the shelf with this figure? Honestly, I can’t decide. On the one hand, I do like the bulkier and more G1 feel of this guy. On the other hand, the svelt body style of the Classics figure meshes nicely with Mirage’s ninja-like sneaking abilities. Chances are, I’m going to end up leaving Classics Mirage where he is and keep this guy with the Combiner Wars figures, but it’s a huge credit to this figure that it’s such a hard decision.

Nov 12 2015

Transformers Cybertron: Hot Shot and Excellion by Hasbro

It’s likely that next week I’ll have a new figure to look at for Transformers Thursday, but in the meantime, I’m rolling up my sleeve and digging into one of the Unicron Trilogy totes for this week’s feature. I came out with Cybertron Hot Shot and I dove back in to find his repaint Excellion. I’ve got no packaged shots to show you, so let’s just get started with Hot Shot and his alt mode.

Cybertron had some totally bitchin’ alt modes and this is definitely one of them. Keep in mind, this is his sports car mode, before he went all “Defense Force” on us and turned into an armored personnel carrier, but that’s a Feature for another day. Here his car mode is sleek and futuristic and sports a rather large yellow tinted canopy. There isn’t a whole lot of sculpted detail on this car, but you do get some intake vents and a tiny Autobot emblem on the front of the hood. The deco is blue with some yellow on the back and a few red accents. The wheels are painted silver and you get some additional yellow tinted plastic on the headlamps. The choice of colors here doesn’t do a whole lot for me, but it’s not bad. There’s also a top mounted engine on the back, which has a port on it so you can peg in his gun. It also houses his CyberKey gimmick. Plug in the key…

…And it just pops out a pair of rather anemic looking wings. On the one hand, it gives the toy some more of that glorious clear yellow plastic. On the other hand, I’m not sure the purpose here. Are those supposed to get the car off the ground? Eh, why not. If it worked for Tracks, I’ll buy it. It’s worth noting that the springs on my toy are showing their age and it is an absolute bitch to get the wings to lock back into place.

Transforming Hot Shot results in a robot mode that both impresses and disappoints. Overall he has a decent profile and he’d have good proportions too if it weren’t for the derpy little forearms. His car door kibble also extends way beyond his hands making them seem beyond intrusive. If you look closely, Hasbro tried to rationalize it buy sculpting some guns in there, but they’re really hard to see. The back of the bot features the canopy hanging off as a sort of tail and the spoiler serves as heel spurs.

But damn, look at that face! One thing the Cybertron series knew how to do was sculpt some handsome robot faces. He’s so damn regal looking, even with those ugly exposed screws on the fronts of his shoulders. The deco in robot mode adds a lot of darker blue and some more red. I dig how his chest looks almost like it’s the hood of a car, albeit a different car. Not sure if that was by design, but it sort of drives home his Autobot heritage. That was a robo-pun. And, oh yeah… that’s a sculpted Autobot emblem on his shoulder. Always a plus in my book!

In robot mode, Hot Shot’s CyberKey gimmick doesn’t really do much except he does look better with the wings extended. Naturally, he can wield his gun, which fires a missile and is crafted in more of that delicious clear yellow plastic. I’m really not a clear plastic nut when it comes to my toys, but the Cybertron figures sure knew how to use it to enhance the look of these toys. Moving on to his buddy, Excellion…

Thankfully, Hot Shot was repainted into a new character and not just a powered up version of himself. I know, I can call these figures whatever I want, but releasing a repaint under the same character name just cheeses me off. In auto mode, Excellion is mostly red and orange with a gold flame motif on his hood. It also replaces all the yellow clear plastic with blue clear plastic. I can’t help but presume that Hasbro was going for a Hot Rod/Rodimus homage here, although going with the gold and blue instead of yellow does kind of make it more unique than your average copy-cat paint job. Strictly as a matter of personal taste, I do like this deco better than Hot Shot’s, at least in auto mode.

In robot mode, it’s a bit of a toss up. I think I like both paint schemes fairly equally. They’re definitely distinctive from another and in this case without the bright yellow calling attention to the door kibble, it seems a little less obtrusive on Excellion. The silver panels on his shoulders are also rather striking!

Back in the day, in this case around 2005/2006, I remember being blown away by these figures. Nowadays, I can still see what I loved in them. The robot mode designs look great and the coloring on both figures is quite nice. On the other hand, they haven’t aged all that well as toys. The articulation is clunky by today’s standards and the arms could have used some re-work. Still, stand these guys on the shelf and they still look magnificent and rather robust for Deluxe Class figures. In my quest to weed out some of my many Change-o-bots, these guys are getting a pass and going back into the bin for keepsies!

Nov 10 2015

Star Wars Rebels: Garazeb Orrelios and C1-10P Chopper by Hasbro

If you’ve followed my adventures in the toy aisles over the last year then you probably know how frustrating it was for me to collect Hasbro’s 3 3/4″ Rebels line. Just getting the crew of the Ghost was like pulling wookie teeth and even I eventually gave up on the chance of ever finding Chopper outside of the $30-40 he was going for in the Interweb’s various scalper dens of scum and villainy. Nonetheless, Hasbro has finally started to make a mends with me and this line by releasing the annoying little Astromech Droid in a new two-pack. Yeah, it meant having to buy Zeb again, but considering the alternatives, I’m not going to complain. Well, maybe a little.

They may be Rebels figures, but there’s a new Star Wars flick hitting theaters in a little more than a month and that means everything has to be branded accordingly with Kylo Ren’s filthy mug and his garage-kit lightsaber. These new two-packs seem to run the gamot of series from Original Trilogy to Rebels to Force Awakens. It doesn’t matter, throw some friggin Ewoks in there too. Just get figures on the pegs and people will buy them! I cannot understand why Hasbro is being so stand offish with Rebels and the 3 3/4″ line (let alone the new movie). It’s probably the biggest chance they have to sell toys in forever and even what little they have out is tough to find. Anyway, the package is a little window box and it’s totally collector friendly. It’s also absolutely gorgeous right down to the amazing artwork of Zeb and Chopper. They really do hide the characters’ names, though, all the way on the bottom left hand corner. You also get a big missile launcher that appears to be exclusive to this set, because Hasbro just can’t resist an opportunity to toss in a big missile launcher. Let’s start with Zeb…

…and yup, as suspected it is just a repack of the regular Zeb figure, which was packed with a Stormtrooper under the original assortment of Rebels figures. I liked this figure a lot back then and I still like him now. It’s a really great sculpt that follows the rather simplified animated style of the series and yet there’s still a fair amount of detail on him. The paint is also really tight, at least when compared to some of Hasbro’s other efforts in this scale lately. The colors really pop on this figure, the graffiti on his shoulder looks great, and I particularly love the green paint they used for his eyes.

Zeb comes with two accessories. You get the same gun he came with in his original release and you get the previously mentioned missile launcher. The launcher is a nice looking BFG, but it’s not really designed for a figure with only five points of articulation. I’ll probably give it to a figure who can actually handle it properly.

And then we have Chopper and he is definitely the hardest I ever worked to get a figure of a character that I do not like. I hoped he would grow on me as the show went on, but that hasn’t been the case. Thankfully, his antics aren’t enough to spoil what has become a great little series. Anyway, I have major mixed feelings about his little figure. On the one hand, there’s some nice detail going on in the front. The recessed parts look really good and the paint is fairly solid.

On the other hand, there’s really nothing at all going on with his backside. It also feels like there were some missed opportunities with him. When you see how little plastic is involved with this guy, Hasbro could at least have included some peg-in arms or a middle wheel or something to beef him up. As it is all he has are just three points of articulation (head and “shoulders”) and nothing else. It’s crazy how happy I am to finally have this guy in my collection, but not having a complete set of the Ghost crew was really ticking me off.

This set retails for around $15 and despite Chopper’s insane prices on the secondary market, this one seems to be pretty easy to find and even the online prices haven’t been inflated. As a matter of fact, at the time I’m posting this, the set is actually available on Amazon for eleven bucks! It’s a great opportunity for collectors like me who never found the angry little Astromech droid and while I should be complaining about having to buy another Zeb to get him, I’m not. In fact, getting this set has given me a push to try to track down the remaining figures in the line that I’m still missing. But, what does the future hold for the Rebels 3 3/4″ line? Who knows. Right now the only new figure that’s been shown has been the new Inquisitor, although unless they plan on releasing that figure in a two-pack like this one, it seems like at least a handful of other figures should follow.

Nov 9 2015

Marvel Universe Infinite: Doc Ock and Vulture by Hasbro

While Hasbro’s 3 3/4″ Marvel line is still alive, it certainly feels like it’s on life support with only sporadic releases here and there. Even as a dedicated collector of this line, looking back I’ve only reviewed two of these figures all year and one of those was all the way back in January! Granted, Legends has been picking up a lot of the slack, but I still enjoy the smaller scale as well. Anyway, today I’m checking out two figures from one of the recent waves and both happen to be pulled from Spider-Man’s Rogue Gallery: Doc Ock and Vulture!

Blah! Well, the packaging hasn’t changed. It’s still as bland and flavorless as it has been for a while. God, I miss the colorful cards with the great character art and the funny quips on the back about collecting them all. This just feels like generic packaging at its worst. Oh well. Let’s rip these open and we’ll start with Vulture.

Vulture has a few good things going for him. The head sculpt is fantastic, although the right eye on my figure looks like it’s oozing out of its socket. But even still, you have to get in pretty close to see it. And if you want to stick him in a pose with his arms up over his head and his wings spread, he looks damn nice on the shelf. If you want to play with him, or change his pose, or touch him in any way, that’s where the problems begin.

Remember these wings? They’re the ones from the Falcon figure that was released four years back. I was iffy on them with Sam Wilson way back then and they’re not doing any favors for this figure now. A big part of the problem is that the wings will fall out of the slots in the arms if you just look at them funny. But even if that wasn’t the case. Even if I were to take a couple dabs of gorilla glue and stick them in there for good, they really only look good in that one pose and that defeats the purpose of the arm articulation. Put his arms down and they kind of look like they’re coming out of his head.

Speaking of articulation, Vulture feels like we took a trip back in time to the beginning of the line. He’s got absolutely zero torso articulation and yes, that means not even a waist swivel. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and elbows, but no bicep swivels and no wrist swivels. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have double hinged knees, and the ankles have hinges and rockers. The neck is ball jointed, but with the collar, it can barely turn left and right. Granted, this figure qualifies as super poseable when compared to the 5-POA Star Wars figures swinging on the pegs next to them, but they still feel really dated for this line. Let’s move on…

Doctor Octopus fares better on almost every level. The sculpt is fairly simple, but it works just fine. The portrait probably isn’t better than Vulture’s on a technical level, but it isn’t bad either. And while both figures feature add on parts for their gimmick, Ock’s mechanical arms work loads better than Vulture’s crappy wings.

The arms simply peg into the back and each one has one swivel cut to allow for a little bit of posing. I also really like the silver paint they used for the arms. Yeah, proper bendy arms would have been cool, but these look great on the figure and still allow for some play-ability. Frankly, I’m glad they went this way.

As for the rest of Ock’s articulation, it’s still lacking any torso articulation at all, but you do get some additional points over what Vulture’s dated body is sporting. Ock’s arms feature swivels in the biceps and rotating hinges in the wrists. There are no rockers in the ankles, but the sculpted pants cuffs would have canceled it out anyway.

And so here we have one hit and one miss on Marvel’s 3 3/4″ front. I really dig Doc Ock a lot and it’s kind of surprising to me that it took them this long to get around to doing him. Vulture is also a great choice of character for the line, but he really needed a new set of wings to make him work. These flappers were rather disappointing on Falcon and they’re no be here nearly four years later. I can appreciate Hasbro wanting to reuse parts, but this just wasn’t a good example of it. Oh, and the Marvel Universe love for Spidey’s villains doesn’t end here. There’s still a relatively new release of Sandman out there, I just haven’t found him yet.

Nov 3 2015

Star Wars Black (The Force Awakens): First Order Snowtrooper Officer by Hasbro

I didn’t think I’d be seeing another Star Wars Black figure until the next full Wave arrives, but thanks to Toys R Us I have a little something to tide me over via their Exclusive Snowtrooper Officer. I was a little pissed off when I first saw this figure revealed and I mistook it as news that the regular First Order Snowtrooper was going to be a TRU Exclusive. Afterall, sometimes those are impossible for me to get hold of. I settled down a lot when I saw it was just the Officer variant and as it turned out I had no difficulty getting it off their website anyway.

The box is right in line with what we saw in the first wave of 6-inch Force Awakens figures. It’s tweaked from the original 6-inch Black line with a larger piece of monochrome character art and a nice red background, which makes the figure pop in the package a little more. Both side panels now tell what the figure is, which was one of my gripes about the older style boxes. The red panel, however, does not designate a number for this figure, presumably because it’s an Exclusive. And speaking of Exclusives, the box does have the silver “R” sticker on the window identifying it as such.

Think you’re safe from the First Order just because it’s chilly where you live? Think again! Much like The Empire, TFO has specially bundled up troops to invade your icy world and oppress you. I’ll confess, I don’t like the design of these guys as much as the classic Imperial version, but I do still like it a lot. The biggest similarity is the kama, but in this case it looks like it’s evolved more into a trench coat and I ain’t hating it. I do, however, wish they had sprung for some soft goods because the plastic kama does impede the leg articulation quite a bit. But more on that later.

I dig the helmet design a lot. It’s nearly featureless design, little gas mask nubs and creepy, almost non-existantly narrow eye slit conspire to create a rather disturbingly blank visage. To me, the more impersonal you can make a soldier the scarier he is and these guys are quite a bit scary.

Since this is an Officer, the figure does include the rank-defining pauldron on the right shoulder and in this case it’s red. Ah, I bet Hasbro is thanking their lucky stars for the original Sandtrooper Pauldron that has since given them the ability to sell variant figures with very little effort. I presume the piece is removable, but my figure’s noggin is on there pretty good and I didn’t want to risk pulling it off and breaking the neck post. The backpack, on the other hand, is easily removed. It comes separate from the figure in the package and simply pegs right into the back. Obviously the bulk of the figure is white, although Hasbro did mix up that white to use a nice glossy coat on the armored parts and a matte for the cloth. It’s subtle, but nonetheless appreciated. A little black paint here and there and the big red pauldron are the only other real coloring to be found. Still, what’s here is pretty tidy.

Articulation is serviceable, but there aren’t an over abundance of points. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, but sadly no bicep swivels. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, but that plastic kama restricts them quite a bit. The knees are double hinged, there are swivels in the thighs and the ankles feature rotating hinges and lateral rockers. The torso features a ball joint, which is cleverly masked under the chest armor and the neck also is ball jointed. Even with all that being said, the figure feels rather limited. Not to make excuses, but I imagine that might be fairly accurate for a soldier all bundled up in arctic gear.

Besides the backpack, the Snowtrooper Officer includes his rifle, which is not only a very nice sculpt, complete with scope and extended stock, but also features some lovely white and silver painted accents. His right hand is sculpted to hold it, complete with trigger finger that fits in the guard.

This guy really doesn’t hold many surprises, but I do like him a lot. A little cloth would have gone a long way to improve the range of leg movement and reinforce that this is a premium line for collectors, but there I go again setting my expectations for 6-inch Black a little too high. Still, I don’t want to go out bitching about what is a rather nice figure. I’m very glad to have been able to find him and I’ll look forward to scooping up a pair of the regular Snowtroopers when they make their appearance.

Nov 2 2015

Marvel Legends (Hobgoblin Wave): Hobgoblin Build-A-Figure by Hasbro

“Getting tattoos of Norman Osborne doesn’t make you tough, just stupid!”

~ Phil Urich, aka. Hobgoblin

Wow, I started looking at this Wave way back in August and thanks to some detours, I’m only now wrapping it up with a look at the Build-A-Figure. Obviously, there’s no packaging to show you, as this guy is pieced together from parts collected through this wave of figures, so let me take a moment to say that I was really excited that we were getting this guy. I don’t tend to mingle in a lot of comic-book reading circles, so I was rather surprised to find that the Phil Urich version of Hobgoblin is so polarizing, because I enjoyed him and the associated run of Spider-Man. Some may accuse me of believing that Dan Slott can do no wrong at the Amazing Spider-Man helm, and I’ll concede that there might just be something of truth in that. Either way, Slott’s run got me reading Spider-Man again on a regular basis so it’s obvious where my feelings lie.

And there he is in all his glory. I seriously love this design as I get a strong Renaissance vibe off of it, between the period style of the outfit and the fact that the wings look like something cobbled together by Da vinci. As far as BAFs go, he’s not exactly a big character, but with those big wings, it’s easy to see where all the extra plastic went. I’ll toss this out there to anyone building him. I put the arms on before the backpack and realized my mistake too late. I was still able to get the wings on, but it would have been a lot easier if I had placed the backpack first before pegging in those arms.

The coloring is pretty accurate to the character art and the mix of orange and blue with a little silver thrown in makes for a pretty attractive figure and one that certainly feels suitable for the Fall months we’re in. If I hadn’t had NECA’s Leatherface to look at, I probably would have used this guy as a Halloween Feature. I also really dig the way you get an extra sword hilt that plugs into the top of his wing assembly. That’s a really cool touch that you don’t often see in the Legends line.

The headsculpt is quite good and I like that it’s independent of the hood as it adds a lot of depth and credibility to the sculpt. The paint on the teeth, on the other hand, is a little rough. I’m not entirely sure that it isn’t on purpose though as Hobgoblin looks pretty haphazard and manic in the art and the paint kind of reflects that. Of course, I may be giving Hasbro a little too much credit on that one.

The articulation here is great. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and his skirt is split in two places front and back so as to not inhibit the range of movement there. The legs are double hinged in the knees, with swivels in the thighs. The ankles are hinged and have generous lateral rockers. He can swivel at the waist and the torso has an ab crunch hinge. The neck is both ball jointed and hinged, but because of the hood, there’s some restriction there. The only downside? The wings aren’t articulated, but that’s understandable to me.

In addition to the sword hilt, Hobgoblin comes with an ignited sword and a flaming bomb. The flame sword is quite a work of art and is cast in a beautiful blend of translucent red and orange plastic. I can’t say as I’ve seen anything like it since Mattel’s Draego-Man from the Masters Classics line. He can hold it comfortably in his left hand and he looks great wielding it. Alas, I can’t show you the flaming bomb, because it fell on the floor and the cat dragged it under the sofa into his Lair with all his other plastic pretties.

Hobgoblin is a fantastic BAF and a great way to cap off what was a very solid wave of Legends figures. I can’t say as there was a bad figure in the bunch, My only real gripe at all was my Spider-Woman losing her arm and to be honest, I’ve since decided to go ahead and replace her. I’ve also decided that I really need to go back and finish off that last wave of Spider-Man Legends. The Ultimate Green Goblin isn’t really a “must have” BAF for me to complete, but at the same time I can’t stand seeing him lying in the corner missing some limbs.

FigureFan Zero

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