Oct 23 2014

Transformers Generations: Waspinator (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

It’s Transformers Thursday again and I’m still chipping away at my last wave of IDW Comic Packs. There were two figures in this wave that I was really excited to get: The first was Skids and the second was good old Waspinator here. I’m still not a steady reader of IDW’s Robots in Disguise comic, but at some point I will get to reading my stack of RiD TPBs. I promise! I haven’t been terribly impressed with the half dozen or so issues that I have read, but then it’s kind of been eclipsed by the brilliance of More Than Meets The Eye. One thing I will applaud about the comic is IDW’s willingness to bring characters from other continuities into the fold. Sure, we got a straight up Beast Wars version of Rhinox in Generations, but he was a Voyager and as far as Deluxes go, right now it seems that Hasbro is predicating the releases in this size assortment as part of the comic packs, at least where the Generations toys are concerned.

And there’s nothing wrong with that because as I’m so fond of pointing out, I think any kind of action figure comic pack is just amazing. Ok, so yeah it’s a little odd to see Waspinator on a G1-inspired cardback, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Beast Wars figures in the Classics-Universe-Generations lines. Anyway, I’ve gushed on and on about my infatuation with the presentation of the Generations Comic Pack long enough in the past and so let’s just move on to the figure. I’m going to buck the trend here and I’m actually going to start with Waspinator’s robot mode.

So, perfection isn’t a word I throw around a lot when talking about action figures, and I’m going to come just short of doing it here today. But damn, if this Waspinator figure doesn’t come close. There are minor nits to pick, the exposed hollow portion of the wasp butt between the legs is a little unsightly, but when you consider what a complex and difficult character design this is to reproduce at a Deluxe Class level, I’m willing to overlook whatever minor blemishes there may be. I love the way the wasp head splits to form the chest and even the bug leg kibble feels like it belongs there rather then getting in the way. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how I would sit down and design a transforming figure like this one, and that makes it all the more impressive to me. So, how could I possibly improve on this figure? Give him a sound chip that says, “Wazzzpinator has planzzzzz.”

The head sculpt is poetry in plastic. It has a remarkable amount of depth to it, particularly around the mandibles. I love the white plastic light piping in the eyes. I don’t recall seeing white plastic light piping on any previous Transformers, but it sure looks great here. Alas, there is a little chipping to the yellow paint on my Waspy’s noggin, but I don’t think it’s going to bother me enough to make me try for a better one.

If I have one significant gripe, it comes in the articulation, but not in the individual points. No, my only real issue is with how loose the joints are on this guy, particularly in the hips. If I put him in too wide of a stance, he’s likely to buckle and do the splits. It’s nothing that a little nail polish won’t fix, but still worth pointing out. As to the rest of the articulation, Waspinator features ball joints a plenty which not only gives him great articulation, but also makes for a nice nod back to the Beast Wars figures where ball joints started appearing as the order of the day.

Waspinator comes with one accessory and that’s his little handgun that transforms from his wasp stinger. The barrel is made of the same milky translucent plastic that they used for the light piping in his eyes. It looks cool enough and he can hold it well in either hand. You can also store it by pegging it into his wasp butt.

With how good Waspinator’s robot mode is I was expecting the beast mode to be a terrible afterthought. I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, it’s apparent that the designers went for the robot mode first and the wasp second, but it’s still a remarkably solid alt mode. Not only can he stand perfectly on his insect legs, supporting the full weight of his body, but the engineering includes a plethora of tabs and slots and pegs to secure this mode together quite nicely. Everything has an obvious and intentional place to go and it’s all intuitive enough that I didn’t even have to look at the instructions once. And you’ve just got to love the way his gun becomes his stinger.

Yes, he’s rather blocky under the wasp head, yes you can see through parts of him from the side, and yes, you can see his robot arms and hands pretty clearly, but I’m willing to forgive all of that for the sake of having such a great robot mode.

I didn’t talk a lot about the deco in robot mode, but it remains pretty much the same in both modes, so let’s discuss it here. You get the same two tones of green, the beautiful and bright yellow striped butt, and touches of brown for the legs, antenna, and other bits. I also really dig the paint they used for his huge compound eyes. Oh yeah, you get a perfect little Predacon insignia stamped on his back. The translucent wings include sculpted veins and look pretty good and by working the button on his back you can make them flap. I didn’t really need that gimmick in the toy, but then it really doesn’t hurt anything either. The wings are still connected with ball joints so you can angle them in a variety of ways.

Waspinator was easily one of my favorite characters in the Beast Wars series because he always made me laugh, and that shouldn’t be discounted. Comic relief characters are hard to do properly, particularly in a series aimed at kids. Just ask Jar Jar Binks! But Waspinator worked. He was endearing and he was the one Predacon I always felt bad for even though he was a bad guy. He was just trying to get by and could never get a break. It’s no surprise I had high hopes for this figure to turn out well and I’m so pleased that Hasbro did such a great job on him. Primus knows that Hasbro has put out some amazing figures this year in the Generations line, but Waspinator is definitely vying for the top spot as one of my favorite Deluxes this year. How about that? Never in a million years did I think I’d be raving about a Generations figure of Waspinator.

Oct 21 2014

Star Wars Black: Imperial Shadow Squadron (Target Exclusive) by Hasbro

Well, it didn’t take long to for Hasbro to repaint the Star Wars Black 6-inch Speeder Bike and Biker Scout. I just got around to looking at that set last week and now this new set landed on my doorstep. This new box is a Target Exclusive and contains black repaints of the Biker Scout and Bike along with a repainted Sandtrooper. Why? Because they’re SHADOW SQUADRON! I’m not usually up for these sort of repaints, but I happened to be online when this set dropped onto the website (it didn’t take too long to sell out) and I had a Target Giftcard with some monies left on it, so I figured why the hell not? Let’s check it out…

It may be a special exclusive, but the box is still mostly black and featureless. It’s pretty similar to what we got with the Speeder Bike set only elongated to include the extra figure and weapons. The back drop is illustrated with a still from A New Hope where the Falcon was sitting in The Death Star’s hanger bay. Yup, these Shadow Troops are so damn stealthy we couldn’t even see them in the movie. Why did they have a Speeder Bike sitting on the deck there? Because… shut up! Anyway, the box is still collector friendly and I may just save this package to keep the figures in there because I’m not sure how well they will fit into my regular 6-inch Black display.

Let’s start with the Shadow Scout and Speeder Bike. I just looked at the original versions of these things last week and so I’ll try to be brief. It’s obviously the same figure with a new coat of paint and the new deco consists of black armor with dark gray used for the bodysuit and the abdominal area. You also get some gray and silver paint hits to pick out the details in the sculpt and an Imperial insignia neatly printed on the left of his chest armor. The black alternates between a straight matte finish and some areas with bit more gloss. I really dig how the ankle holster and straps are painted to stand out from the boots. I’m really impressed with the way the deco on this guy came out.

I’ll defer on a rundown of the articulation and just point you toward my review of the regular figure for that. The joints aren’t at all mushy and he is lots of fun to pose. And yes, he still comes with his little pistol and I did manage to avoid snapping the trigger guard this time.

If the Shadow Scout impressed me, the new deco on the Speeder Bike absolutely wowed the hell out of me. I mean… damn. The paint finish on this thing is absolutely fantastic. Once again you get a couple different styles of black, both matte and glossy and the combination makes this piece really shine. Toss in some gray plastic and some silver paint hits and you’ve got a piece that pops like crazy. The Bike also comes decked out with Imperial insignia stamped on each side of the back and a smaller one dead center between the handlebars. If Hot Black Desiato, the lead singer of Disaster Area, owned a Speeder Bike, you could be damn sure this would be it! And yes, I like to think that Hitchhikers exists in the same universe as Star Wars.

The handlebars are a bit warped on mine, but if I display it with the Shadow Scout riding it, it’s impossible to tell. It also comes with the same tringular stand. Yes, the stand still feels all soft and cheap as hell, but damn if it doesn’t work great and add some options to the display.

Lastly, you get the Shadow Stormtrooper Commander looking equally dapper in his black and dark gray deco. This is actually a repaint of the Sandtrooper, rather than the straight Stormtrooper (yes, there are differences in those two sculpts) and he also comes with the pauldron. Once again the deco here just looks phenomenal. The deco still consists of a mix of matte black and slightly glossier black with the bodysuit in dark gray and some grey and silver paint hints to pick out the details in the helmet.. The pauldron looks exceptionally sharp with a matte black surface surrounded by a glossy border. I guess my only complaint here is that he didn’t get an Imperial insignia stamp. I think one would have looked good on his chest armor and that way my OCD wouldn’t be acting up over the fact that the Scout has one and the Stormy doesn’t.

I think it would have been cool if Hasbro had included the holster for the E-11 blaster on this guy. No chance to add a functional holster to a figure should ever be ignored and doing so would have given us a cool hybrid Stormy that was unique for something other than his deco.

The Shadow Stormy comes with his E-11 Blaster and you also get the rifle that came with the original Sandtrooper and the one that came with the original Stormy. The E-11 comes in the Shadow Stormy’s hand, but the rifles are mounted between the figures in a community pot, so I guess they’re up for grabs. I seem to remember in the Battlefront games the Biker Scouts were also snipers, so I’ll likely give him one of the rifles.

This set retails for $50, which is pretty damn good considering the Speeder Bike and Biker Scout alone went for $40. Between free shipping, a 5% Redcard discount, and some scraps left on a Target gift card, I netted this set for $30. I thought when I got it I would feel like a sucker for buying the ubiquitous “cool” black repaints, but once I got these toys open and out of the box I knew I did the right thing. By every right, this set should have been nothing more than a quick and dirty repaint cash grab, but I have to give it to Hasbro, they did a really nice job on it. Sure, they exist because they’re black and black Imperial armor look bad ass, but it genuinely feels like care was put into the re-deco and a lot more that was put into some of the regular stand alone figures… I’m looking at you Prequel Obi-Wan!

Oct 16 2014

Transformers Generations: Goldfire (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

It’s Transformers Thursday again and after a Masterpiece inspired detour last week, I’m back to checking out the last wave of Generations figures I picked up. I started with Skids, the one I wanted the most out of this wave and now I’ll check out the one that I had to choke down to get him… It’s Goldfire. He’s a repaint of the IDW Comic Pack Bumblebee and despite his copyright-challenged new name, in a roundabout way, he is intended to be an homage to Goldbug.

And there’s that great packaging fortified with 100% comic book goodness. I’ve opted not to read this one all the way through, as I’m pretty sure it’s a reprint of an issue of Robots in Disguise, and I’ve only read the first six issues of that book. I’m not in a rush to get back to it, but in case I do eventually, I didn’t want any spoilers. I do know that this is the issue where a wrecked Bumblebee gets an overhaul into Goldfire, although he’s not actually named in this issue so I’m not sure if he still goes by Bumblebee, Goldfire, or Goldbug. Either way let’s check out the figure and we’ll start with the alt mode…

Golfire’s car mode is a muscle car that is quite clearly inspired by the Chevy Camero that Bumblebee adopted in the Bay movies. I love the styling on this car, as it borrows from vintage and modern designs and the contours just looks amazing. There’s something about the way the hood swells really does it for me and I also dig the split spoiler in the back. One issue I still have with this mold is the faked out chest for the robot mode leaves zero clearance underneath so the car doesn’t roll as well as it should.

There aren’t a ton of paint apps, but the gold plastic looks so much better to me than the crappy yellow used on this mold the last time around. You get some black striping, silver and black on the front, and some black and red on the tail end. That’s it. The windows are clear tinted blue plastic, and Hasbro opted to not paint the rear window this time, which I think actually looks better, even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense. On the downside, the door pieces are cast in the same clear plastic as the windows and painted over and the gold paint on was already showing a few chips and scratches inside the package.

Goldfire comes with repaints of the same two weapons that came with Bumblebee and you can still peg these onto the sides of the car to weaponize him in his alt mode.

I was pretty indecisive over this mold’s robot mode when I looked at the original Bumblebee release. I think I came down in favor of it last time, but it hasn’t exactly been growing on me a lot. I actually have no problem at all with most of the figure, but it’s those shoulders that drive me nuts. The designers were definitely inspired by Bayformer Bumblebee what with the doors becoming wings and I think it looks OK right up until I start moving his arms. I just don’t like that the whole assembly is tied to the arm movement. If those pieces locked into place as shoulder armor and the shoulder joint was located inside and independent, I would have been totally on board with this guy.

The only new sculpting on this guy is found in the head. Goldfire sports a faceplate and his eyes are painted rather than light piped. It’s a decent enough sculpt that matches the comic art quite well, and it’s very nicely painted.

I’ve already talked about how the deco is much improved and obviously that carries over to the robot mode. Here you get the same gold plastic with black paint apps as in vehicle mode, but you also get some additional blue showing up int he feet, legs and biceps. It’s an odd color mix for the gold, but somehow it works. I also really dig the way the blue translucent plastic on the door wings looks with some light coming through it.

Goldfire’s two weapons can be held in both hands to be wielded akimbo, or you can put them together to make one big cannon. The Bumblebee figure was able to have the two halves peg into his forearms, but the pegs are too loose on this one and they keep falling out.

So, I still find myself waffling on this mold. The car mode looks great and the deco is much improved, but the robot mode still gives me pause. It looks fantastic standing on the shelf, but it loses some favor with me when I pick it up and play with it. The best thing I can say is that after having been forced to buy it to get the other figures in this wave at a good price, I’m not as displeased with the figure as I thought I would be. The new deco alone makes it an improvement over the original Bumblebee release, but that’s still not a ringing endorsement of this guy. Next Thursday, I’ll check out the other repaint in this wave… Dreadwing!

Oct 15 2014

Star Wars Black: Deluxe Speeder Bike with Biker Scout by Hasbro

Back when Hasbro first unveiled their Star Wars Black 6-inch line, there was a lot of speculation as to whether or not there would ever be any vehicles. Now that speculation can end because we got one! Even if it may be the only one (that still remains to be seen), the Speeder Bike seems like the perfect way to get a vehicle into the line and bundle it with a figure too! I’ve been particularly excited to get this set in hand to see how it turned out, mainly because I bought a case and got two of these along with the Deluxe Jabba the Hutt.

The packaging is a very simple, no frills window box. Like the boxes for the individual figures, the presentation here is as minimalist as you can get. There isn’t even any writing or art or anything on the side panels or the top. Yup, pretty boring. On the other hand, it’s a confident move to let your toy speak for itself, and that’s exactly what the huge window is doing here. I do find it interesting that the set is called “Speeder Bike with Biker Scout” as if it’s the figure that’s the accessory. I think most would have figured it to be the other way around. Either way, both pieces come on a clear plastic tray with the Scout seated on his ride and held in by rubber bands. I’m a little worried about the dreaded Pre-Posed Warping Syndrome. I can’t wait to bust this thing open and get them out! Oh yeah, the box is totally collector friendly so long as you’re careful clipping all those rubber bands and don’t mangle the tray. Let’s start with the figure…

My rule of thumb when evaluating the 6-inch Black figures can be summed up with, “is it an improvement over the best of the 3 3/4” versions and thereby does it take advantage of the upscale?” In the case of the Biker Scout I would have to say… yeah, sort of. It’s not a huge leap forward, but it I think it does take advantage of the larger size to deliver a marginally better sculpt then what we’ve had in the past and definitely better articulation. Most of the improvements in the sculpt can be found on the back of the belt and the armor for the arms. The underlying body suit also has a more intricate texture. I also like how the shoulder hinges are no longer visible through the shoulder armor. The treads on his boots are particularly impressive. I’ll confess you have to scrutinize this guy quite a bit to find the stand out differences between him and his smaller cousin, but there are some there to be found.

Obviously the bulk of the deco here consists of white armor on a black body suit. The figure does make some use of weathering and panel lining. The weathering mostly consists of some dirt on his boots and a little more of the same color on his chest. I’m kind of torn on whether or not I would have preferred him clean, but what we got certainly looks fine. The rest of the paint hits are used to pick out detail in his armor and it’s all executed with precision. I think my only quibble would be that I wish the black used for his visor was glossy instead of matte.

As for that articulation, I’m happy to report that my Biker Scout doesn’t suffer from any mushy joint syndrome, nor did any of his joints get warped or deformed from being packaged seated on the bike. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, swivels in the biceps, and double hinges in the elbows. The shoulder armor does inhibit the movement there a bit, but it’s not terribly restrictive. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have swivels in the thighs and tops of the boots, double hinges in the knees, and the ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a ball joint just below the chest armor and the neck is both ball jointed and hinged.

On the downside, his gun is a little piece of shit. I think it’s undersized, but that could be just me. The first time I put it into his hand the trigger guard snapped because it’s just weak soft rubber. It still looks alright in his hand, but paying good money for something from a “collector’s line” only to have a part break right out of the box is not my idea of fun. I’ll have to be more careful with the second one when I open it.

Moving on to the Speeder Bike, I’d say this piece is a bigger departure from the 3 3/4” version but mainly because it’s a far more static piece. There are some small improvements to the mold, but this piece also takes a few steps back. There are hinges on the air brakes, but they only allow for a little movement. The undercarriage blaster can still swivel, but those two examples are the extent of the articulation on this thing. The pedals are fixed into place (although they will pull out as they are just tabbed into the bottom) as are the handlebars. On the plus side, I expected this thing to be really soft and bendy and I’m happy to report that’s not really the case. Only the handlebars suffer from soft plastic and it’s not really an issue when the figure is holding them, only when the bike is unoccupied. The deco gets by mostly with colored plastic, although there are some silver dry brushed weathering effects here and there, which are only moderately convincing.

I’m not sure if this will make sense, but this Bike feels more like a prop than a proper 6-scale replica of the Bike. Upscaling the Speeder Bike to the 6-inch range offered lots of opportunities for more intricate moving parts and better defined instruments and such and sadly those opportunities are missed here. That’s not to say, however, that it doesn’t look good because it certainly does. What’s more, the Biker Scout looks fantastic when riding it, thanks to his excellent articulation and the addition of foot pegs on the pedals.

The stand is a frosted translucent cheap piece of rubbery plastic, but damn if it isn’t clever. When I first set it up I was pissed because it seemed like the only way to display the bike was in elevated flight. It took me a few minutes to realize that the other two ball joints work as well. You can plug any of the three into the bottom of the bike and the irregular triangular shape of the stand makes it so that you can display the bike at different heights depending on what side you flip it onto. I was happy to see I could achieve the parked levitating look with the Scout standing beside it.

Both the Speeder Bike and the Biker Scout are very nice pieces and I’m very happy to have them in my growing 6-inch Black collection. They are not, however, toys that take full advantage of the collector’s grade potential of the larger scale and higher price point. At about $40 for the set, I’d say this box is definitely worth the money. The 6-inch Black figures generally retail for twenty and it’s easy to see where another twenty bucks went into the bike for plastic, tooling and paint. I’ll admit to having lowered my expectations of this line a bit since the initial wave came out, but that’s not to say that I’m not appreciating and enjoying these figures.

Oct 7 2014

Star Wars Black: Luke Skywalker and Yoda Dagobah Training (3 3/4” Scale) by Hasbro

The last three features have been all about expensive stuff, so I thought it’d be a nice change of pace to go dumpster-diving in the pegs again where all the “common” toys live. Plus, it’s been a little while since I revisited Hasbro’s 3 3/4” Star Wars Black line, so let’s remedy that today! I’m actually doubling up on today’s feature because figures #21 and #22 are designed to go together. Here we’ve got Luke and Yoda from the Jedi training scenes on Dagobah. I think it’s pretty cool that Hasbro has tied these two figures together and released them in the same wave. It reminds me a bit of when they released the four Dagobah themed figures in the Original Trilogy Collection with matching bases and everything. Wow, that takes me back! Anyway, this line has been a total crapshoot of highs and lows, so let’s take a look at this pair and see where they land…

The next wave will feature a redesigned card, so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where I’ll never have to look at these dreadful packages again. As one would probably expect, there’s quite a big disparity between what’s in the bubbles here. Besides being a normal sized figure, Luke has all sorts of extras packed in with him. Yoda on the other hand… well, even with the backpack and a couple of other accessories he seems really small in that big bubble. It’s a good example of how things often cost out across a wave of figures like this. You get a little more with Luke and a little less with Yoda, but if you’re buying both it all evens out in the end. Or at least that’s the idea. I’m going to start with Yoda because there’s not much to talk about so I might as well just to get him out of the way…

Based on Hasbro’s original pictures I had no interest in this figure at all. The promo pics looked absolutely terrible. However, when I finally saw him swinging on a peg in a store I thought he looked so much better in person. Now that I finally have him in hand I think he’s decidedly mediocre. The head sculpt is actually not too bad, although I think they gave him way too much hair. It looks like someone shaving creamed the back of his head.

The little softgoods robe is OK for what it is. It’s hard enough to do good looking softgoods clothes on regular 3 3/4” figures and Yoda is so tiny I’m not going to pick apart Hasbro’s effort on the robe. It even has a tiny belt to hold it together. I haven’t taken it off of him, but it feels like Yoda is just sporting a straight up five points of articulation. Again, for a figure this size, I’m not going to quibble.

Yoda comes with his tiny cane, which he can sort of hold in one hand, and he comes with a necklace thing, which doesn’t look very film accurate on him, but maybe I’m misremembering. He also comes with the backpack for Luke, which we’ll get to in a bit. Also, where the hell is his pet snake??? I WANT HIS SNAKE!!! Alright, enough about Yoda, let’s move on and talk about Luke and…

OMG, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HIS ARMS??? Yeah, Luke’s got some tragic arms, but as the old saying goes, the road to tragic arms is paved with good intentions… or something like that. That’s certainly the case here. Hasbro wanted to give us a Luke figure with super poseable, double-hinged elbows and even swappable hands. The result is this set of crazy arms. It’s not just me is it? They do look nuts, don’t they? Well, not only do they look really weird to me, but the left arm on my figure keeps popping out at the bicep swivel. They’re also loose as all hell. This wasn’t necessary, Hasbro. It’s an experiment that went horribly wrong.

It’s really tough to overlook those arms, but pretending we can for a moment, the rest of the figure isn’t too bad. I think the head sculpt is competent, but he’s definitely not dirty enough. He’s got some green smudge on his shirt, but he should be dirtied up more to accurately replicate the scene in the film. It’s also awkward that Luke has so much great articulation in his arms, but the ball joints in his knees allow for so little movement. He can’t even kneel down on one knee. And look at those crazy hip joints with the flesh tone hinges showing through his pants. C’mon, Hasbro… you’re not even trying anymore.

Luke comes with a removable gun belt with a holster that can fit his blaster. Check out how unbelieveably large his blaster is. It’s ridiculous. He also comes with a lightsaber hilt and a lit lightsaber. The weird thing about that is the hilt is pegged, but there’s nowhere to peg it onto the figure. He does have this weird thing on his belt that looks like it’s supposed to hold something, but it doesn’t, so… FAIL! His extra hands are flat out and are useful if you want to have him trying to lift his X-Wing or move some rocks around with The Force.

I was hoping there would be some payoff when putting the two figures together, but that’s just not the case. The softgoods backpack is too big and it looks downright awkward on Luke. That belt buckle is freaking huge! It looks like he’s gearing up to jump out of a plane. Remember those Original Trilogy Collection Dagobah figures I mentioned? Well, they did the whole Yoda backpack thing a lot better than this. In fact, let’s do a quick comparison.

The headsculpt has improved a bit, but I like the mud smeared all over the OTC Luke. I also think the backpack looks much better on the older figures. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that you pull apart and plug his top half into it so it is a cheat.

As for the Yodas. Man, that OTC Yoda creeps me the f’ck out! I don’t know what it is about it’s head, but I don’t want to look at it anymore. I think I’ll bury him in the back yard. I do like the articulation on the older figure better. The ball joints in the shoulders and swivels in the elbows are pretty cool, even if there is no articulation from the waist down.

So, this pair was on clearance for five bucks each at an online retailer where I was buying some other figures and I tossed them into the cart. The Yoda is passable, I suppose, if only because I don’t have many versions of him and the softgoods robe tugs on the nostalgia I have for the vintage Kenner Yoda. But even still, I can’t recommend either of these on any meaningful level. In the end they’re just another example of what a wildly inconsistent line this has been. I don’t think I’ve been this disappointed with Star Wars figures since the days of that pre-posed “Attack of the Clones” garbage.

Oct 2 2014

Transformers Generations: Autobot Skids (IDW Comic Pack) by Hasbro

It’s Transformers Thursday and I worked late into the night to spare you all another Armada figure! Yes, I had some ~~new~~ newish figures arrive in the mail yesterday afternoon and I jumped on the opportunity to get one of these guys ready to go for today’s feature. Skids is from a couple waves ago, but he’s been eluding me for a long while now and I’ve been reluctant to pay scalper prices for him because of many reports that he isn’t all that exceptional. But he’s Skids and I needed him for my Classics/Generations shelf, so I was willing to take a chance. Fortunately an online retailer surprised me and put this wave back up for order a couple weeks back and I was able to pick him up with the rest of the assortment.

Oh god, how I love these comic packs! The presentation is just so superb… from the old school Transformers logo and grid pattern on the card to the way it cleverly uses an actual comic book for the packaging art. Hasbro has used this style with great success for everything from Marvel to GI Joe and Star Wars. I wish they’d bring all of it back because I can’t get enough of it. Also, I gotta say for a figure that I’ve heard a lot of negative things about, he sure looks fine to me in the package. Let me bust this guy open and check him out. But first, I’m going to light up a Hoyo De Monterrey Excalibur Cigarillo and enjoy the comic book. Be back in a few.

And BACK! Yeah, this is More Than Meets The Eye #22, so I’ve already read it. In fact, I believe this is the last issue in Volume 5 of the TPB with Volume 6 not due out for a couple of more months. It’s still a great read, but that goes without saying as I’m on record that MTMTE is not only my favorite piece of Transformers fiction, but one of the best comics I’ve ever read. For those still not blessed with the experience, this issue is a nice way to dip your toe in and get the flavor as it showcases some of the great humor, dialogue and characterization. Although I’m not really sure why they chose it as Skids’ comic because he’s not at all central to the issue. Anywho… let’s start off with Skids’ alt mode.

Gone are the old days of being a mini-van! Skids’ auto mode is a cute and compact blue sports car and not a bad one at that. The first thing that strikes me about him is the deco and that’s worth pointing out because the color and paintwork on Hasbro’s Deluxes these days hasn’t always been the best. Skids bucks that trend with a vibrant blue plastic as the base coloring of the figure and some bright red and white paint to jazz things up. The windows may appear to be painted black, but they’re actually just a really dark tinted clear plastic. The front grill is picked out with some additional gray paint and some gold hits as well and there’s a tiny Autobot emblem stamped right where the hood ornament might go. This car is defintely pleasing to the eye. Just compare Skids’ auto mode to the IDW version of Bumblebee and look at the difference in overall quality and appearance.

Skids does have his share of seams from the transformation, but nothing too bad. It was a little tough for me to close all the gaps and tighten it all up when going into car mode on the first go around. The transformation here is very clever and feels very fresh, but it’s one of those designs that requires you to lock everything up at the end and while there’s certainly a tab for everything to hold it in place, making it happen just right requires precision transformation skills. On the other hand, going to robot mode is pretty intuitive.

There are sockets located just in front of each of Skids’ rear wheels that allow you to peg in his extra weapons. I always enjoy this option. Any time that I can’t store the weapons under the car, I like to have the ability to weaponize the hell out of it. Skids actually looks pretty decent with his guns hanging off his sides. So far so good, we’ve already had a peek at his robot mode, let’s check it out for reals!

So my initial reaction is one of pure love. Skids is a wonderfully intricate design and a fantastic reproduction of his comic character art. The way he wears the front of his car mode instantly reminds me of IDW Trailcutter and Hoist, which ain’t a bad thing at all. But there’s so much else going on with him. To be more specific, he’s positively bristling with weapons! He’s got rocket packs in his shoulders, two double barreled cannon angling up on either side of his head and two more sets of double barreled guns on his arms that can be slung below his fists or worn in a split fashion. So cool!

And check out that portrait! It’s a great likeness to his IDW counterpart. The odd thing here is that he’s decked out on the back of his noggin for light piping, but his eyes appear to be painted over. And yet they have an eerie piercing quality about them. It’s pretty nice work.

As solid as the deco is in car mode, it’s in robot mode that it really shines. Skids carries over all of that brilliant blue plastic and shows off some more of that striking red paint. I’m extremely impressed with the paint apps that went into each of his individual rocket hatches. This stuff may sound like nothing to crow about, but with how stingy Hasbro has been with paint lately, I really want to call it out when it looks this good.

Ok, so with all that having been said, I can certainly see some issues. First and foremost his shoulder articulation is at odds with all his car kibble. His shoulders bump up against the roof and door parts on his back. I can still get a full rotation out of the shoulders by shifting things around, but there’s almost no lateral shoulder articulation. The articulation is there, but the sculpt won’t allow it. He is an amnesiac. I suppose I could just pretend he forgot how his shoulders work.

Two other points worth mentioning occur down south in his legs. First off, those plates that jut off the backs of his lower legs are rather unsightly when viewed from the side. Also, Skids is in dire need of a set of heel spurs. He doesn’t look like he’s back heavy, and yet he’s constantly falling backward. I really dig the way his wheels fold down to form his feet, because you don’t see that a lot, but it’s clear that his footsies aren’t up to the task of holding him vertical. I mention these two things together because if Hasbro had been able to engineer a swivel into those lower leg parts they could have angled downward and solved both problems. I know, it’s easy to say but something like that isn’t simple or cheap to execute. I’m imagine it wouldn’t cost out for a Deluxe. It looks as if they already maxed the budget on this guy with sculpt and paint.

The last thing to talk about is Skids guns, which combine together to form a big rifle. I love the design on these things, especially the pistol, which looks like it has a drum magazine. They look great when combined and they have multiple pegs so you can attach them to any like sized port. I think the pistol works well for my Generations Swerve, at least until I get around to buying that third-party “My First Blaster” for him.

And so, I was tempering myself for disappointment, but in the end, I’m really not seeing why this guy gets such a bad rap by some. Granted, I’ve been told that I’m really forgiving when it comes to my assessment of Hasbro’s Deluxe Transformers and I would tend to agree with that criticism. Anyone who is an articulation whore, and there’s nothing wrong with that, will certainly be frustrated by Skids’ arms, but I really dig the engineering of his transformation and looking at him up on my shelf, I think he’s one of the better looking Deluxes in my Classics/Generations lineup. At one point, I almost laid down $25 for him and in retrospect I probably would have been OK with that. Of course, it was better to get him for $15 as part of the wave assortment.

Next Thursday I’m going to detour to check out Masterpiece Wheeljack and after that I’ll come back to this Generations wave and start looking at the rest of them.

Oct 1 2014

Marvel Legends Infinite: Agent Venom by Hasbro

So, I had originally planned on looking at DC Collectibles Starfire today, but my figure turned out to be all kinds of broken, so I’m working on getting a replacement. I also just made up a new rule. If a DC figure fumbles too badly to be reviewed then Marvel gets to take the ball. I suppose the reverse would be the case. Fair is fair. Anyway, today’s figure, Agent Venom, comes from that curious new breed of Walgreens Exclusives. Nope, that’s not a typo. I didn’t mean to say Walmart. As odd as it seems, Walgreens is indeed asserting their presence in the action figure game by signing exclusive deals with companies like Hasbro, Funko, and even Character Options to make them the only source for certain characters from Marvel, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, and Doctor Who. I actually had some luck getting one of the Doctor Who exclusives, but my hunt for Agent Venom proved fruitless. Luckily, thanks to this awesome dude, I was able to get me an agent Venom without having to carve out a piece of my kidney for him on Ebay. Although, his price on the secondary market does seem to be calming down.

I’ve got no packaging to show you, as I just asked that he be mailed to me loose or in a tray or whatever way possible. Suffice it to say, Agent Venom comes in a package very similar to what we’ve been seeing in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends Infinite line. Since there is no packaging to speak of, I’ll take the opportunity here to say that this was a character I desperately wanted in the Legends line. Flash Thompson is a fantastic and compelling character to me on every level. I loved that he didn’t get left out of the Superior Spider-Man run. Some of the interchanges between him and Doc Ock were priceless. And Agent Venom’s involvement in the affairs of Spider-Island was easily my favorite thing about that whole story arc. Well, him and J. Jonah, of course. It was cruel blow to find out that Flash was going to be a hard to find exclusive, and I’m really thrilled to have him in hand.

Cast entirely in black plastic, Agent Venom is an imposing looking figure. The sculpt here is fantastic and I’m particularly fond of the armor pieces that look like a cross between sports equipment, riot gear, and crustacean parts. You get a mix of what looks like fabricated straps with that cool bumpy texture that looks and feels a bit like natural shell. Most of the torso bulk comes from a soft rubbery vest that’s laid on over the figure’s buck, which thankfully has the shoulder pads attached. This means that they can flop up and down to avoid hindering the shoulder articulation. It works so much better than putting them on a hinge as I don’t have to worry about them popping off like the ones on the Space Armor Iron Man figure included in the recent Guardians wave. The paintwork on the figure consists almost entirely of his white markings. I know some have complained about rough paint on this figure, but I’m actually pleased with mine. I think the paint itself could have been laid on a little thicker, as the black tends to bleed through in some areas, but apart from that the lines are pretty crisp and there’s no slop to speak of.

In addition to all that great armor, Agent Venom sports a well stocked equipment belt, which is all sculpted in one piece. The belt features enough pouches to make both Rob Liefeld and Deadpool jealous. He’s also got a canteen, smoke grenades, regular grenades, and a combat knife. Oh yeah, he’s also got a sculpted hip holster with a permanently attached automatic. And the silver paint on that gun is the only other paint on the figure apart from those white markings. Wait, what? The gun doesn’t come out of the holster? Boo. Agent Venom needs weapons!

Well, ask and you shall receive. Flash actually comes with four guns. You get a pair of gray automatic pistols, a gray sub-machine gun, and a black pistol with a laser scope (oh, look! One more paint hit!) mounted under the barrel. Nice! And like a lot of other people who get this figure, I’ll be giving those matching pistols to my Winter Soldier Black Widow who also suffered from Guns-sculped-into-the-holster Syndrome.

In addition to an embarrasment of guns, Agent Venom also comes with a single piece of four tendrils that plugs into his back. The ends of the tendrils are sculpted into little “hands” to hold his guns, although this feature works with somewhat mixed results. It’s still a very cool option.

The articulation on this figure is great. There are no mushy joints and all the right points are there. His arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the gloves. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, although they are those somewhat frustrating ones that require you to reposition the joint to make it work in different positions. The legs have double hinged knees, swivels at the top of the thighs, and the ankles have both hinges and lateral rockers. Agent Venom can swivel at the waist, and despite wearing the vest he can still hinge forward and backward a bit in the torso. He also has a hinge and a generous ball joint in the neck. He’s well balanced and loads of fun to play with!

Man, do I love this figure and I am absolutely thrilled to add him to my Legends shelf. Whether or not Walgreens having exclusive figures pans out to be a benefit or headache to collectors remains to be seen. On the plus side, I’ve got at least three Walgreens within a 20 minute radius of my home, whereas the nearest Toys R Us is about an hour away. On the downside, distribution seems to have been a little spotty so far, but I suppose we need to give it time. In the case of Agent Venom, however, we have a figure that was cancelled from a previous wave and then still left out when that wave found it’s way to TRU’s shelves. As a result, I would have been happy to get this figure in my hands no matter who wound up offering it. Hey, Walgreens, how about that red Legends Deadpool? Maybe you can work your mojo with Hasbro and get your hooks into that one too!

Sep 25 2014

Transformers Armada: Sideways with Rook and Crosswise by Hasbro

I honestly thought I’d have some more Generations Deluxes for today’s Transformers Thursday, but I’m waiting to ship my Pile of Loot, so it might be another week or so. In the meantime, I dug my salty mitts into the Armada bin again and this time I pulled out Sideways. And then I had to go back in after his two Minicons. Sideways is a convaluted figure, so let’s jump right in and get started with a look at his alt mode….

Sidways is a purple and yellow sports cycle. Ah, it’s all coming back to me now… “back on Cybertron they called my Sideways. I guess I’m a bit of a drifter.” No, Sideways, you’re a bit of a douchebag! I don’t remember a lot about muscling my way through the Armada cartoon, but I do remember hating this guy with a white hot passion. Him and that damn butt-rock guitar riff that they trotted out every time he was on screen. Was he an Autobot? Was he a Decepticon? Who cares? In the end he was dick. Of course, I got the toy before I ever saw his character in the series, so I just figured his faction swap gimmick was something like Punch and Counterpunch. And I kept believing that even after I was shown different in the cartoon.

Sideways’ motorcycle mode is a bit chunky, but designing transforming motorcycles can be tricky. I think the only figure that ever got it really right was Cy-kill and he was a f’cking Go-Bot! Ok, G1 Wreckgar wasn’t that bad either. My point is, if you try to make the alt mode too perfect, you’re going to come away with a monstrosity like Lugnutz from the Cybertron line. You can go see for yourself, but don’t worry… I’ll get to him eventually. Anyway, I do like Sideways’ alt mode well enough. The paint and deco are awesome and if you combine his Minicons, Rook and Crosswise, they can ride him. Ok, I might as well talk about his Minicons, because that’s where things get all sorts of crazy.

So, there they are, Rook and Crosswise, and they are an odd pair in the world of Minicons. Don’t ask me which one is which, because I don’t know. And for godsakes, don’t tell me, because I don’t care. What do they turn into? Well each one on their own does serve a special function… they’re basically like headmasters, but before we get to that they can combine into one robot rider for Sideways.

There’s his combined mode. All in all, not too shabby for what it is. Thanks to a generous helping of ball joints, the combined mode is actually kind of fun to play around with. Hasbro has done at least one Minicon combiner since, but the fact that this guy is just two robots makes him more impressive to me. Some paint hits on that head sculpt wouldn’t have gone amiss.

He also sits on the bike rathe well, thanks to the assistance of a tab that comes out of his butticular region. He also has little notches in his hands so he can sort of grip the handle bars. All in all, this is some pretty good engineering for a 10 year old line of Transformers and I’d like to see Hasbro try something similar again. Ok, let’s lay these two crazy little bots aside for a moment and look at Sideways in his robot mode.

Call me crazy, but I dig it. I always have. I get a major later-G1 toy vibe off of this guy. His transformation is quite simple, but all the more clever for it. The way the front of the bike becomes his chest works really well and I love the way his translucent neon exhaust pipes become arm mounted missiles. Cool! I also love the way his wheels fold up and pack on his back. I’m a big fan of symmetry in my Transformers and such a characteristic is sadly lacking from a lot of transforming motorcycles. The only thing that throws off Sideways’ symmetry are the wheels peaking up over his shoulders, and I can live with that. Did I mention how much I dig the paint and deco on this guy? I think I did, but it’s worth repeating because it serves him just as well in robot mode.

And then there’s that head. It’s a cylindrical bucket reminiscent of a knights helmet with the handlebars becoming antlers. Did somebody say Ni? His Minicons should have transformed into shrubbery. They don’t. But they do transform into two different heads for Sideways and when you plug each one in it reveals a different faction symbol in his chest.

As far as gimmicks, go this one isn’t terrible. Like I said earlier, it’s a very cool nod back to the Headmasters and the way they would reveal the figure’s stats in the chest. I’m pretty sure, my figure is messed up, though, because I would think the black (and more sinister looking) head is supposed to reveal the Decepticon emblem and the white head the Autobot emblem. Mine is the other way around. And if you aren’t a fan of the handlebar antlers on the stock head, I’ve got bad new for you: The faction heads have antlers made out of the Minicons legs. Although, if the bother you, you can fold them back a bit.

In a lot of ways, this is a fun figure and I feel bad about not embracing the Headmaster gimmick here, just because Hasbro should get points for trying it. It’s a neat feature, I kind of like it, but I never display this guy with the faction heads. I just prefer to go with the stock figure and stand his combined Minicons in front of him. Unless he’s displayed in alt mode and in that case I always have the two combined and riding him. Of course, Hasbro repainted this mold and used it again in the Energon line for Rapid Run, but I’ll save that for another day. Maybe next week I’ll have some new Generations figures to look at. If not, it’ll be another nostalgic trip to the Armada tote.

Sep 22 2014

Marvel Universe Infinite: Wonder Man by Hasbro

The last time I visited with the Infinite Series, I took a look at Grim Reaper so it seems only fair that this time I check out Eric’s brother, Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man and as luck would have it, he just so happens to be part of the new wave of figures. I’m sure I mentioned last time how much I love Eric and Simon’s backstory. When it comes to origin stories, I tend to find the tragic ones a lot more interesting and that’s a big part of what draws me to Wonder Man, a character born out of desperation, manipulation and bad choices.

Here’s the packaging and since I’m tired of talking about how much it sucks, I’ll take this opportunity to put the figure into some context. Wonder Man’s first 3 3/4” Hasbro outing came back in the Marvel Universe line. This version of the character is his powered up and unstable form, which was also quite beautifully showcased in a story arc on Avenger’s Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. I’ll also note here that I’ll probably be skipping the rest of this wave as the rest of the assortment are repacks of the Marvel Universe Guardians of the Galaxy set from a year or so back. If you don’t have those figures, I highly recommend getting them, but chances are you may still be able to do better on price by tracking down and buying the boxed set. I still think packing that Rocket and Groot together as one $10 carded figure is kind of cheap on Hasbro’s part, but whatevs.

Getting back to Wonder Man, this figure appears to use the same mold from the Marvel Universe version only this time he’s cast in translucent purple and blue plastics to simulate his ionic energy form. The only paint apps here are his eyes and the W-ish stripe that runs across his chest, back, and shoulders. I know some people go absolutely apeshit over translucent plastic figures and toys. I’m not one of them, but I have to admit that the effect here works well and the figure looks quite striking. I am, unfortunately missing the original Wonder Man release from my Marvel Universe collection, so I can’t give you a side-by-side comparison.

Translucent plastic sometimes has it’s downsides, but there’s none of that here. The sculpted detail in the head is pretty damn sharp and I can make out all the details from the original mold. The joints are also sturdy and the figure is highly poseable. How poseable? Let’s run down those points… The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows, and have swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and ankles, and double-hinged at the knees. Simon has a ball joint in the torso and another at the neck. It’s basically most of what you expect to find in a modern MU buck, minus some swivels in the legs.

And that’s pretty much all there is to say about this guy. I’m not usually one to go for these kinds of… ah… repaints? But in this case I really like what Hasbro did here. The translucent effect looks fantastic on the figure and it suits the character quite well. I’m also very pleased I was able to get him at a decent price without having to buy the entire wave with three figures I already own. And I’ll give a shout out to Nerd Rage Toys for that! It’s a retailer that is quickly becoming my go-to source for Hasbro 3 3/4″ figures. I also think it was smart to get a version of Wonder Man on the pegs soon after Grim Reaper and without doing a straight repack too! I don’t know that this is an essential figure, but I’m mighty glad to have it in my collection.

Sep 18 2014

Transformers Armada: Thrust with Inferno by Hasbro

My well of Generations and Classics figures has run dry for now, so until something new turns up, I’ll be back to digging into the Unicron Trilogy toys for my Transformers Thursdays. Today I reached into the Armada bin and pulled up… Deluxe Class Thrust! When Armada first came out I was newly returned to the toy collecting scene. Everything was fresh and exciting and I was positively drunk with a desire to get the figures as soon as possible, and for some reason I was especially obsessed with finding Cyclonus and Thrust. I would make regular trips to all the Targets, Kmarts, and Walmarts in the area and kept coming up empty. Finally, I broke down and paid a premium for them on Ebay. A few days later I was picking up cold medicine in a CVS or Walgreens and there were both figures hanging on the pegs in their pathetic little toy aisle. What were the odds of that? I still bought them and so I do still have carded examples of both figures floating around somewhere, but I couldn’t find the carded Thrust in time for today’s review, so let’s jump straight to the alt mode.

As the name suggests, Thrust is a jet. In retrospect it’s odd that they went with a Deluxe jet so early in the line when they already had Starscream and later Skywarp and Thundercracker covered as larger toys. It’s even more odd when you consider how many repaints Hasbro got out of this mold. The mold itself has that rather toyish looking charm that characterized just about all of the Armada toys, and yet it still manages to pack a ridiculous amount of detail in the sculpt. This thing has sculpted panel lines, exposed engine parts, a VTOL fan, and even tiny rivets scattered across the body. And man, how I loved Armada’s sculpted faction emblems. The Decepticon emblem on his wing is gorgeous. If it weren’t for the giant goofy flick-fire missiles slung under the wings, this would have been a far more serious looking jet.

Thrust’s deco is also rather schizophrenic. The gray body has a wonderful wash over it, which evokes a slight camo motif, but then the neon green missiles and mint green paint apps on the wings throw any realism out the window. Still, extra little touches like the red and silver paint hits betray a time when Hasbro was willing to throw a lot more money into the coloring of their Deluxe figures.

Thrust’s Minicon buddy is Inferno and he’s one of my favorites. His alt mode is a missile truck and he has a very simple but effective transformation that gives him a simple four points of articulation. Still, what’s up with that face sculpt? He looks like a bird wearing a monocle. Why was Armada so obsessed with giving the Transformers crazy faces?

Inferno can ride on Thrust’s back when they are both in vehicle mode, and this feature is easily my favorite thing about Thrust. Inferno doesn’t just get plugged on top, but he’s actually got a little compartment between the tail fins made for him to sit. He works so perfectly in there that Thrust’s jet mode looks a bit odd to me without Inferno riding along. Of course, it also helps that Inferno adds a missile launcher to Thrust’s arsenal. This kind of interplay between their vehicle modes is great, especially considering Thrust’s Minicon gimmick when he’s in robot mode is so ridiculous that I’m not even going to showcase it.

And here we are in robot mode and man is Thrust a hot mess. Let me start out by saying I get a HUGE Beast Machines Vehicon vibe off of this guy and I don’t mean that in a good way. Yeah, Beast Machines Tankor is still one of my favorite Deluxe Transformers of all time, but he’s the exception to the rule. Most of Thrust’s design problems lie in his arms and legs. His arms have lots of tail fin kibble, which gets in the way of a lot of posing. He also doesn’t have hands, just thrusters to use as weapons. I don’t have a problem with Transformers having one gun hand. I actually kind of like it. But, c’mon guys, how does the dude get through life without at least one workable hand?

The legs, however, are the real mess here. The missile launchers that are mounted on his knees could not be more awkwardly placed. You can take the missiles out to help a bit, but that’s a cheat and the launcher stubs still look fugly there. Also, check out the hollowed out tail that hangs down between his legs. The pegs on it are what his legs peg into in vehicle mode. Having them so close to his legs in their natural position is just terrible design. You might as well just leave them pegged in. Bah!

The deco in robot mode also takes a hit. Besides the bland grey plastic, he shows off a lot of that ugly neon green. At least he has those two lovely sculpted and painted Decepticon insignia in his shoulders. Mmm… pretty.

And that’s Thrust for ya. I don’t enjoy speaking ill of the Armada line, but even my ridiculous nostalgic love for Armada can’t blind me to the fact that this figure has not aged well. Then again, it was never one of my favorites back then either. That’s kind of ironic considering how much I went through to find him and that I wound up with two of them. Still, based solely on his pedigree as an Armada figure, I can’t totally hate on him. He’s got a strange charm to him and having Cyclonus and Demolisher on the shelf without him just wouldn’t seem right. The crazy thing is, I also have two of the subsequent repaints of this mold, but I’ll save them for another day.

FigureFan Zero

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