Tag Archives: mattel

Jul 25 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Double Mischief by Mattel

Another Matty Sale Day has come and gone and you know what that means? Subscription figures are landing at my door! Yes, this month it’s figures (plural) because in addition to the Club Eternia release, the Club Etheria Mini Sub kicked off this month and that’s the one that I’m going to look at first. This is the second of these Mini Subs that I subscribed to, the first being the Club Filmation. I can honestly say that I didn’t think there was a bad figure in that entire series. Will that be the case with Club Etheria? Well, let’s take a look at Double Mischief and find out.

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While she may hail from a new Club Subscription, Double Mischief features the same great packaging we’ve been seeing all along. The only difference worth noting is a snazzy 30th Anniversary She-Ra logo printed on the back of the cardboard mailer box. You’ll have to take my word for it, though, as I tossed it before I was able to shoot any pictures. The front of the bubble has the Princess of Power sticker on the front. The back of the card has the usual bio and pictures of other figures in the line. Looks like I’m only missing Bow and Snout Spout. The bio proclaims that Double Mischief’s real name is Rebekkah Kettle. Wait… what? Ok, well for the rest of the feature I’m calling her Becky, because I don’t want to keep typing Double Mischief.

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Holy shit, this figure is crazy! I realize that’s usually a compliment for MOTUC figures, but in this case I don’t necessarily mean that in a good way. Becky’s gimmick is that she’s basically a female Man-E-Faces and while I happen to dig the Man-E figure a lot, in this case I’m getting more of a weird and off-putting vibe. I guess I’ll start with her portrait, because that’s where it’s all going on. She has the same bucket-head kind of helmet with a rotating set of faces. In this case, Becky only has two faces, one good and one bad. The idea is that she’s a member of the Great Rebellion posing as a Horde member. She’s a double agent, get it? So why does it work for me with Man-E-Faces and not with this chick?

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It’s tough to put my finger on exactly why. I think a big part of it is that Man-E was more of a freakish monster and Rebecca is just a regular lady with a monument sized bucket on her head. And girlfriend, that hair ain’t helping any neither. <insert double-snap here> The hair is not only a ridiculous fountain of plastic spurting out of her top, but the paint on it is terrible making it look dirty and just plain nasty. It looks less like hair and more like what you get when you push play-doh through one of those toy pasta maker machines.

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You switch faces simply but turning the knob on the top of her helmet and the main difference between the two is in the eyebrows. One face has a set of eeeevil eyebrows. And god help you if you stop halfway through changing the faces because you’ll be confronted with a featureless lump of flesh that will haunt your dreams forever.

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It’s a shame because I think the rest of the figure looks mostly good. I like the green dress and the high collar and those silver Go-Go boots look like they’re right out of a classic Star Trek episode. I had high hopes for the translucent green cape, but in person it looks kind of dingy and not so great. From the neck down, Becky has the same articulation as most of the other females in the line. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows and have swivels in the biceps and wrists. Her legs have universal movement at the hips, hinges in the knees and ankles, and swivels at the upper thighs. She also has lateral rockers in the ankles. Naturally, there’s no neck articulation because this chick doesn’t really have a neck. If you want her to look in either direction you can work the knob on the top of her head. She’s not someone you want with you in battle because she’s got zero peripheral vision.

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Becky comes with only one accessory and that’s her Horde crossbow. It’s designed so that it can convert to a less evil looking crossbow for when she’s with her Rebellion chums. You convert it simply by twisting the front. It’s because of the crossbow that I’ll probably keep her displayed with my Horde figures.

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Unfortunately Club Etheria isn’t off to a great start as far as I’m concerned. I find it odd that Matty put Double Mischief out there as their first offering and one that would land on people’s doorsteps smack dab in the middle of Subbing Season for 2015. I thought she was a dubious offering from the beginning and there are much stronger figures and characters that they could have used as their inaugural release. There are precious few figures in the Masters Classics collection that I don’t enjoy on some level, but I think Becky here is going to be counted as one of those few. Fortunately the rest of this Club’s offering should be a lot better.

Jul 23 2014

DC Universe Classics: Captain Marvel by Mattel

What’s this? DC Universe Classics??? Yup! I’m a little short on time today so I wanted to do something I could run through pretty quickly. My vehicle is about ready to die on me and so I’ve got to go out and engage in the horror of horrors known as car shopping. I’m not happy about it because in addition to tying up my day, it’s going to force me to spend a lot of money that could have gone to toys.  Anyway, I’ve been filling some holes in my DCUC collection latel and so it seemed like an opportune time to give the old line a little spotlight again. It’s hard to believe that we’re coming on two years since I completed Wave 20, the last wave in the line. The DC Signature Collection helped to soften the blow and put the line on life support and now even that’s gone. But the list of figures that I still need is substantial and last week I was able to check another one off as I finally added Captain Marvel to the collection.

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And there he is! I picked him up loose as part of some trades with a fellow collector, so there’s no packaged shot. That’s a shame because with all the bland and shitty packaging on the pegs these days, it’d be nice to see a little DCUC to brighten the day. I also got him without the C&C Kalibak part, but that’s OK, because I plan on picking up that figure complete on Ebay one of these days. Captain Marvel hails from the early reaches of the line, all the way back to Wave 6 and yes, if I remember correctly he was indeed packaged under the name “Shazam!” because of copyright issues. Poor guy. He’s never going to live that down, is he?

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In a line that garnered a fair share of criticism for recycling a handful of figure bucks with painted costumes, Captain Marvel actually stands out a bit thanks to his unique cape. But if you look more closely you can actually make out the sculpted flap of his tunic and where it buttons just under his right shoulder. It’s a little thing, but totally unnecessary and I think it’s cool that Mattel bothered to put it in there at all. Apart from that you get the sculpting on his segmented arm bracers and the cuffed tops of his boots. The sculpted cape is worn off his right shoulder and while the neck cord is a little chunky, I think it overall looks pretty good right down to the sculpted finials. Alas, the factory got a little sloppy with the glue on this one as there are a few gloppy parts around his neck.

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The pure cheese of the head sculpt suits the character quite well, although the squinting makes me think that I can repurpose this head if I ever want to customize a David Puddy figure from Seinfeld. You can stand Captain Marvel right next to Mary Batson and get creepy smiles beamed at you in stereo. The rest of the figure gets by mostly with red plastic and some yellow paint. The lightning bolt on his chest is nice and crisp, although there’s a little slop on the gold trim of his cape. I’ve also got a little of the red plastic bleeding through the yellow paint on the sides of his boots, but that’s no big deal to me. It’s a simple enough deco, but it’s so bright and colorful that I absolutely love it.

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Articulation consists of what we’ve been seeing in this line more or less since the beginning. The arms have ball joints in the shoulders, hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps and wrists. The legs have hinges in the hips that allow for universal movement, hinges in knees and ankles, and swivels in the thighs. There’s a swivel in the waist, an ab-crunch hinge in the torso and a ball joint in the neck. Nothing surprising, but it still works well.

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And that’s it… told ya today would be a quickie! It feels good to finally fill that gap on my shelf between Mary Batson and Freddy Freeman. This figure has been high on my want list for a long time now, and I can’t for the life of me noodle out why it took so long to pick him up. He tends to be fairly reasonably priced on the second hand market, at least when he’s loose, and even the trade that landed him in my collection didn’t require me to give up much of anything important. Either way, he brings me another step closer to a complete DCUC collection, but there are still quite a few steps on that journey left. The next time I stop back to look at DCUC, it’ll be for another figure I’ve been desparate to get… Orion!

Jun 25 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Extendar by Mattel

June’s Club Eternia subscription figure arrived a few days ago and I thought I’d go ahead and jump on the opportunity to get him featured and out of the way. He is Extendar and he is quite possibly one of the strongest arguments in favor of wrapping up this whole Club Eternia thing sooner rather than later. Maybe that’s a little harsh, because I truly do adore this line, and I’m sure there are collectors out there who were hoping against hope that Extendar would one day make the cut. More power to you, but for me this release is an example that when it comes to character selection, Matty is starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Yes, Extendar is my first disappointment of the 2014 Sub.

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There’s the packaging. We’ve seen it time and again, so I’m not going to dwell on it. The front insert declares that Extendar is indeed the “Heroic Master of Extension” which also happens to be what the ladies call me. At least they do when I goose them an extra fifty bucks for the night. As you can guess from his moniker, Extendar’s claim to fame is that he can extend his cybernetic arms, legs, torso and neck. Yes, this guy pretty much renders Mekaneck completely redundant. “Oh, you can extend your neck? That’s cute. I can extend EVERYTHING!” And yet, part of me is sad that I own this figure and not Mekaneck, because I’m thinking he’s got to be a much better figure than Extendar. Of course, it doesn’t help that the character was a late release in the toyline, which meant that I had virtually no exposure to him at all beyond a faint memory of seeing him advertised on the TV.

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In his regular un-extended form, Extendar is a woefully bland figure and that’s a shame because he features a lot of original parts in a line that is famous for recycling. The problem here for me is two-fold. First, the character design is painfully boring and the sculpt does nothing to prop it up. Extendar has a very knightly look with nearly featureless armor and even a faceplate to hide his head sculpt. There are a few flourishes here and there, but in a world full of as many fantastical freaks as Eternia, Extendar is practically unique in how generic and uninteresting he looks. The deco does nothing to pep things up. He features a bare pearlescent plastic with a red belt and some gold paintwork. I’m not a fan of the pearl plastic as it feels super soft and cheap and the gold paintwork on my figure is practically slopped on. Of course, you can jump on me by arguing that he’s being faithful to the vintage figure and I’d have to agree with you, but that doesn’t make me appreciate him any more.

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Despite his gimmick, which we’ll get to in a moment, Extendar still manages to retain most of the articulation that has become standard in the Classics line. His chest armor is actually a vest worn over the buck, so that inhibits the ab crunch hinge, but everything else is there. Unfortunately, the plastic is so soft that trying to pose him almost always results in me popping off his arms and legs. And of course, unless you have his head extended, the articulation there is useless.

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So, let’s talk about the extending gimmick. While the original toy just let you pull out the limbs by using a sort of telescoping feature, Extendar achieves his extensions by adding pieces to the arms, legs, torso, and neck. It’s the same idea we saw employed with figures like Mekaneck and Strong-Or and while it seemed like an OK substitute for the feature in those figures it feels more bothersome for a figure like Extendar where everything extends. I don’t know, having to keep six extra parts lying around seems like overkill to me. I will at least give some credit to the detail sculpting on the extension pieces. They look better than anything else on the figure. I’ll also grant you that Extendar has a freakishly imposing quality about him when he’s got everything extended out.

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To add insult to injury, even Extendar’s accessories are disappointing. The lance and shield are a nice idea to further the knightly motif of the figure, but they each have their own problems. The paintwork on the lance is pretty sloppy and there’s a fair amount of scratching around the grips as if it was put into the figure’s hands already… and a lot. The shield, which is hinged so that it extends outward to become bigger is an interesting idea, but it looks unfinished. A big accessory like that is just screaming for a couple more paint hits. The plastic also has a lot of scratching on it making it look used. Also, what’s with all the hidden peace symbols on this guy? There’s one sculpted into at least one of his extension pieces and you can also clearly see one in the upper right corner of the circuitry pattern on the shield.

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Sorry, Extendar… I’m just not digging you. At the very least I can say he looks somewhat interesting standing in the back of my MOTUC display with all his shit extended out. I also dig that you can at least combine two of the arm extenders to get one arm really long. I suppose you could do that for one of his legs too, but there would be really no point. Battle Lion may have been the first character in the 2014 Sub that I didn’t really want to have to buy, but at least he turned out to be an excellent figure. Extendar is the first release this year that I really don’t even want in my collection. Indeed, the only thing that keeps this guy from being the worst figure this line has produced is the existence of releases like Sir Laser-Lot, Cy-Chop, or that total piece of crap, The Mighty Spector. Of course, I wasn’t subbing then, so I didn’t have to buy them.  I’m actually kind of surprised that Matty would release a figure like this in the same month that the 2015 Subscription drive is starting, but then I may very well be in the minority on my general dislike for this figure.

Jun 18 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Battle Lion by Mattel

This week was another Matty Sale Day and that made me realize that I’m still about a month behind on one of the items that I got from the May Subscription. It’s Battle Lion, and the fact that I haven’t opened him until now should give some indication that this figure was not high on my list of wants. In fact, Battle Lion is the first offering of the 2014 Sub that I would rather not have been committed to buy. That’s not too bad, considering we’re already halfway done with the year. Now, in fairness, my disinterest in this figure probably has to do with the fact that I don’t have the King Greyskull figure to accompany him. Anyway, let’s check him out and see if he surprises me.

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Battle Lion comes in a package similar to the ones used for Battle Cat and Panthor. It’s a sort of trapezoidal window box with the familiar green stone Greyskull theme. My particular figure has one of his paw armor parts rattling around inside the box. The back taunts you with pictures of figures you can no longer buy from Matty and there’s the usual bio. As always, I love the presentation here. I was even tempted to keep the package to put him back in until I get him a proper rider. But thrift of space won the day and I pitched it. Let’s get this kitty out of the package…

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So, if you haven’t guessed already, this figure reuses the body from Battle Cat and Panthor. I thought the body sharing between those two figures was pretty successful, even though I still don’t own a Classics Panthor. At least they were different colors and that alone helped set them apart as being rather unique. Here, Battle Lion is still green, albeit missing Battle Cat’s stripes, and so the reuse is a lot more obvious and thereby makes the figure a lot less interesting to me. On the surface it felt more like a a quick cash grab than most of the parts recycled figures that this line turns out. Again, that probably won’t be an issue for someone keen to get this character, assuming such people exist. I’m a fan of the MYP series, but I still don’t remember the episode with Greyskull and Battle Lion, so at some point I should pull out my DVD set and re-educate myself on the matter. Anyway, my own personal well of interest in MOTU lore is about as deep as a puddle, so clearly this figure wasn’t aimed t me. Still, that’s never stopped me from enjoying figures based off of unknown characters before.

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The new bits include the head and tail. The tail is tufted at the end and on a ball and hinge joint for a little poseability. It certainly looks quite lion-y. The head sculpt is absolutely magnificent. The area around the eyes still seems to share a lot with Battle Cat, almost to the point where I’m wondering if this is a resculpt rather than a complete remold. The mane, however, is so majestic and the jaw, while very limited in its articulation looks great as well. Those giant saber-tooth fangs are just awesome and the paintwork on the teeth and mouth is actually better than on my Classics Battle Cat. If you’re going to repurpose a figure, this is how to do it. There’s nothing at all half-assed about this head sculpt. Quite the contrary, from a technical and artistic standpoint, I find it to be of a higher quality than the one used for Battle Cat. So, bravo to T4H for not phoning this one in as a quick-and-dirty project.

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The armor is every bit as distinctive as the new head. It consists of four pieces: The saddle, which straps comfortably around his belly, the face plate, and two pieces for his front paws. Despite having fallen off in the package, I’m impressed at how well the paw pieces stay in place when clipped on. The face plate also stays on quite well and it doesn’t cause his head to droop like the weighty mask included with Battle Cat. In fact, I’d dare say that all this armor fits better. The saddle is very roomy and even has all sorts of controls and stuff sculpted into it and the mix of matte and gloss paint on all the armor pieces is certainly appreciated. Lastly, the two shields on the front of the armor are actually removable.

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As expected from a total body recycle, Battle Lion features the same articulation as Battle Cat. It’s been a while since I featured Cat, so let’s run down the points. The hind legs rotate at the hips, are hinged at the knees and again at that second knee (for lack of a better term), and they are ball jointed at the ankles. The front legs rotate at the shoulders and have ball joints at the knees and ankles. The head can raise and lower and twist side to side and there’s a swivel in the body, just behind the shoulders. As already mentioned, the tail is on a ball joint. The joints are all nice and tight and Battle Lion is quite fun to play with and pose.

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Don’t let my ignorance-slash-apathy for Battle Lion as a character fool you, he’s a magnificent toy. He looks amazing and in the end, I’ll certainly admit he makes for a good use of a recycled body. He even has me lamenting the fact that I don’t have the King Greyskull to ride him and seeing as how he’s going to be in my display anyway, I might as well try to pick up Greyskull for him. Well, played Matty, you will get even more money from me. Actually, you won’t as I’ll have to get him on the second-hand market, so… Haha… I win this round afterall! Granted, had Battle Lion been an optional purchase, I would not have bought him, but I can’t say as I’m pissed off for having to add him to my collection. If someone is going to force toys on me, they might as well be awesome ones like this kitty. My original intentions were to flip him on Ebay without even opening him, but very few MOTUC toys have disappointed me, and Battle Lion continues to press that trend!

May 30 2014

DC Unlimited: Injustice Green Lantern by Mattel

It’s Friday, it’s been a long week and I have a long working weekend ahead of me. Next week is going to be something of a themed week so I was hoping to squeeze in MOTUC’s Battle Lion today and that didn’t happen. I haven’t even gotten around to opening him yet and I needed something quicker and easier for today so I could start drinking earlier than usual. Oh, hello Injustice Green Lantern! You’ve been sitting in the corner of the closet since before Christmas. Let’s open you up and check you out. This shouldn’t take long.

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Ah, it’s refreshing to see this packaging again! I really do miss my 6-inch DC figure fix. Sure I’m planning on buying a lot of DC Collectibles figures this year, but on some level it just isn’t quite the same. As far as I’m concerned, the Unlimited off-shoot of DC Universe Classics had the best package design. That added panel of character art on the front really ties the whole thing together beautifully. I’ll note here that I still have not played Injustice, but I do have it and it is sitting on my rather copious pile of games. Maybe when I get tired of Dark Souls kicking my ass, I’ll finally unwrap it and pop it in. Anyway, I absolutely loved the Injustice Batman figure so I’ve got some high expectations for Green Lantern…

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Oh… Ok. Obviously these figures are beholden to their character designs in the game and while Batman’s new digs were downright awesome, Green Lantern’s are a lot less exciting. No, scratch that. Injustice Green Lantern is just downright boring to me and that’s certainly going to color my reception of this figure. The redesign of his Lantern costume is kind of lazy. His shirt has been turned into a tunic with shoulder pads and side straps to hold it on, while the arms and legs are covered with exaggerated ribbed muscles. I just don’t find the redesign in any way creative or cool looking. Maybe the outfit doesn’t lend itself to the bad boy treatment as well as the others. Of course, even if you do like the design, this figure still isn’t all that great.

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The portrait, for example, is another big stumbling block for me. The face sculpt is very soft for a DCUC figure. None of the detailing in the nose or mouth is very well defined at all. The paint around the mask and hairline is also pretty sloppy for a 6-inch figure. But beyond that the entire portrait just doesn’t work for me. This doesn’t look like Hal Jordan, it looks like the guy with the receding hairline that comes up from IT to fix the copier.

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Aside from some sloppiness on the head, the paint on the figure is pretty solid overall. I’ll definitely give props to the way they painted his tunic around the Lantern emblem. The way the green gets darker as it moves away from the emblem does create a cool effect that the Lantern is actually illuminated. You also get some sharp emblems on his arm bracers and the power ring is painted.

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The articulation is in line with Injustice Batman, which means it’s missing some key points from the DCUC style. There’s no ab crunch, but more importantly there are no swivel cuts in the biceps. Those bicep swivels are pretty much non-negotiable for me and my 6-inch figures and it really pisses me off that Mattel nixed them from these figures. Hal comes off as feeling rather stiff and while you can certainly get him into some different poses, none of them are all that exciting.

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So, considering I only dropped about six bucks on this figure, I’m not too bummed out about it. He’s not terrible. Oh, we’ve seen some real shitty Green Lantern figures out of Mattel back when that movie was out and this figure doesn’t come close to being as bad as any of them. But it isn’t a figure that grabs me in any way. The real kicker is that Mattel only produced a handful of figures based on the Injustice video game and with all the cool character designs in that game, Green Lantern is one of the few they decided to produce. I would have much rather seen figures of Aquaman or Wonder Woman. But for figures of those characters, I’ll have to turn to those tiny DC Collectibles sets.

May 27 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Scorpia by Mattel

Like it or not, Matty seems to be focusing a lot on Princess of Power for 2014. I’m perfectly happy with that, not only because they’ve all been great figures, but it’s also nice to see a line put such an emphasis on female action figures. It took us forever just to get a 6-inch movie version of Black Widow out of Hasbro but Masters has been churning out the ladies in droves. I suppose that’s one of the benefits of not having to bend to the whims of retailers. For May, Matty doubled up with both a regular monthly figure and a quarterly beast. Today we’re checking out Scorpia and next week we’ll take a look at Battle Lion.

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You know the drill by now. Scorpia comes in the usual Greyskull-inspired package. She’s mounted inside the bubble on her side to accommodate that tail of hers. There’s a sticker on the bubble that signifies she is a member of “The Evil Horde” and her tagline is “Stinging Horde Enforcer!” The back of the card shows other Horde figures (Damn, I really need that Leech!) and the usual bio card. Wait… Scorpia’s real name is Lynda D’ream? There’s a stripper name if I ever heard one! Let’s get her open and check her out!

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I never watched a lot of She-Ra, but for whatever reason I remember Scorpia really well. Maybe she made an impact on me or I just happened to catch her episodes the most. Either way, I was excited to get this figure and I’m extremely pleased with the way she turned out. Her costume really advertises her Horde alliance what with the black and red deco and the Horde emblem sculpted rather creatively into her belt and the way the wings seem to rise up and cradle her boobs. Even before we get to her scorpion parts, it feels like a lot of original work went into this figure. She just seems really fresh. The scorpion parts are made of textured red plastic and include her shoulder armor, her dainty little claw and that long, lean and sexy tail. Mmmm… nothing does it for me like arachnid parts on a woman.

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The tail itself is surprisingly light. It’s made of very soft plastic and has one swivel cut in the first segment after it comes off her tushie. Some may complain that it isn’t actually articulated more, but I think what’s here works well. You can stretch it out and maneuver it into all sorts of positions and it will snap back to its natural state. It also doesn’t hinder the figure’s balance at all, but I’ll come back to that in a bit.

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The portrait here is fantastic. When I looked at Netossa last week I expressed a bit of fatigue over the sameness in many of the MOTUC lady portraits. That’s certainly not the case with Scorpia. Her face sculpt is as unique as they come. She’s just the right mix of scary and pretty, which is something I tend to attribute to my ex-fiancé. The paint apps on her face are also immaculate and I really dig the look of her exaggerated green eye shadow. Everything about this figure’s sculpt and paint are a homerun.

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Moving on to articulation and yeah, it’s mostly the same old song. But while the points are mostly the same, Scorpia feels like her articulation is a lot more serviceable. I’m thinking it has to do with the fact that there isn’t anything hindering those hips, but whatever the case I had an unusually great amount of fun posing her and it doesn’t hurt that she’s an extremely well balanced figure. Even with a set of high heeled boots and a big tail hanging off her back, she’s still quite easy to keep standing.

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You get one accessory with Scorpia and that’s her Horde crossbow.  Now, I’m quite partial to all the Horde crossbows so I was going to love this piece no matter what, but I still think this is one of the cooler ones. Scorpia may be part arachnid, but she’s also a girl and that means she needs to accessorize. Naturally, her crossbow is a custom piece with a very chic scorpion theme. The sculpt and paint on it are really beautiful and it clips onto her tiny little wrist quite well.

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If you haven’t figured it out by now, I think Scorpia is an awesome figure and I’m happy to have her join Catra and Octavia as a trio of Evil Horde ladies on my shelf. I don’t keep a finger on the pulse of the Masters fandom, so I’m not sure whether those collectors have warmed up to the idea of lots of PoP figures invading their Classics line, but personally, I can’t get enough of these gals. As vintage toys, these were characters were basically dolls and didn’t mesh well with the vintage Masters figures, but to get them as actual action figures is just really cool. It’s no wonder I picked up the Club Etheria Sub too. Honestly, if we got nothing but PoP figures for the rest of the year, and they were all as good as Scorpia, I would be perfectly fine with that.

May 23 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Netossa by Mattel

This month Matty Collector gave fans another crack at picking up Netossa and I was all ready to be there for Early Access to scoop her up. Then I did a little research and found that I could get her from another seller off Amazon with free shipping and save about seven bucks so I got her there instead. I originally passed on this gal the first time because I was missing a couple of the Princess of Power characters and wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to get them, but now I’m up to date on almost all of Etheria’s rebellious ladies, so I decided to add her to the collection.

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There’s the packaging looking as smashing as ever with Netossa trapped beyond the bubble. Now the tables are turned, Netossa! How do you like being trapped, eh? The only thing worth pointing out here is the Princess of Power sticker on the bubble. Her tag line on the insert is “Captivating Beauty!” Oh, I see what you did there, Matty! The back of the card shows a bunch of other PoP characters available, including that controversial Star Sisters three-pack, which I may have just picked up today for ridiculously cheap. Bow is also missing from my collection, and one of these days I’m going to have to lay out more money to get him than I would like to. Anyway, let’s free Netossa and see what she’s all about.

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Hailing from the far reaches of Etheria, Netossa is a Nubian beauty and her action figure certainly looks the part. I thought that the blue hair with her dark complexion took me a little getting used to, but I find myself digging it a lot. It adds to her exotic charm. Her outfit design is one of the more interesting of rebellion ladies. The flared out tops and the detail work on her tummy give it something of an art deco vibe and I like the long sash part of her skirt that drops down between her legs. The ensemble is rounded out by a pair of white bracers and white boots. A little added silver and blue paint adds just the right touch.

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The portrait here is very good, although I’m starting to feel a sense of sameness with Matty’s MOTUC female sculpts. Netossa’s features are probably the most unique we’ve seen yet and still the cheekbones and somewhat flatness of the face feels very similar to a lot of the other ladies going all the way back to Teela. Maybe that’s not so much a complaint as just an observation. I still like what we got here and I’m pleased to see that Tossa’s expression came out a lot less stern than it looked in the original pictures. Her modern redesign does a nice job incorporating the soft goods hood from the vintage figure into some stylish wings, which I presume are supposed to be part of the cape, but more on that in a sec. The paintwork on the eyes and lips is excellent and the hair sculpt is pretty basic stuff.

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As her name suggests, Netossa’s big thing is tossing her net, which doubles as her cape. Of course, the cape is removable simply by popping off the head, but if you remove it, the wings on her head stay in place as they are sculpted as part of her noggin. I’m sure I’m going to display her with the cape on, so that’s not a huge deal for me, but considering the character is all about removing and tossing her cape, it’s something of an oversight in the design. I’ll also say that it would have been nice if they had incorporated some kind of handle or way for her to hold the cape like she’s tossing it. I tend to just hook her hand around the neck hole and it seems to work OK.

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The articulation here is exactly what you should expect by now from the female MOTUC bucks, but hey, let’s run through it anyway. 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, hinged at the knees and ankles, and she has rockers in the ankles. Netossa has a ball jointed neck and she can swivel at the waist. It’s worth mentioning that the knee joints on my figure are pretty loose so this one is probably going to be quite prone to taking shelf dives. I’ll have to make sure that she’s in the front row.

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Seeing how Netossa’s main accessory doubles as her cape, Mattel managed to get away without adding much in the way of extras. You do get a shield, which is a silver repaint of She-Ra’s shield with a blue crystal in it. I don’t mind the re-use here as it is indeed still a nice piece and it matches the figure well.

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All in all, Netossa is a cool enough figure and a nice addition to my Great Rebellion shelf. I find that she stands out nicely among what is already quite a motley crew of ladies. The design of her outfit is really well done and in the end I wound up liking her a lot more than I thought I would. I’m finding myself more and more pleased that Matty are giving us modern action figure updates to the more doll-like PoP toys as it makes me feel a little less self-conscious about collecting them and they do compliment the He-Man side of my collection remarkably well. Next week, I’ll check out the latest villain of the line… Scorpia!

May 2 2014

DC Unlimited: Injustice Batman by Mattel

With all the Marvel Legends love around here these days I’ve been really missing DC Universe Classics something fierce. Why is it that Hasbro can make Marvel 6-inch figures perform so well at retail but Mattel couldn’t? In the end, it might have something to do with Hasbro’s deft marketing of even comic based figures as movie tie-ins. Either way, I was jonesing bad enough that I went into my private stash of DC Unlimited. I’ve had some of these figures sitting around unopened since before Christmas just waiting for an occasion like this when I needed a fix. Today we’re going to check out Batman from the Injustice: Gods Among Us video game.

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Ah, it’s nice to see this packaging again. I always enjoyed the presentation for Mattel’s 6-inch line, but I think it hit its peak with the Unlimited releases. While I’m not currently buying any of their 4-inch line I like that they retained this style for those figures. I find it strangely comforting to still see it hanging on the pegs at Target. You get a great look at the figure and a really nice piece of character art on that angled side insert. Beautiful!

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I’ll have to confess to not having played Injustice yet. As much as I love fighting games, I tend not to buy them until they hit the bargain bins unless they’re a Capcom or SNK release. I don’t have many friends who are into fighting games and I don’t enjoy going online and getting my ass kicked by a 13 year old while he tells me about how he made sweet love to my sister last night. Little f’ckers! I have, however, watched a ton of videos of people playing the game and it looks like a lot of fun and something that I’ll need to pick up sooner or later. Of course, glancing at the stack of unopened games on my shelf, it’ll likely be later rather than sooner. Anyway, let’s open up Bats.

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The character designs for the game have been hit and miss with me, but Batman got a gorgeous makeover. It’s all about the armor. Oh, that gorgeous armor. It’s not a drastic departure from Bats’ regular look, but the two-tone grey and black and the sculpted reinforced plates just make this one of the most attractive Batsuits I’ve seen in a while. Everything looks so beautifully curved and chiseled and the intricacies of the armor are married so perfectly with the glossy sheen of the plastic. Just check out all the detail work in the abdomen and the stylish redesign of the utility belt. Man, that’s awesome. You also get those cool bladed fins on his gauntlets and I really dig the way the cape starts at the top corners of his breast plates and cascades back over his shoulders. The sculpt and coloring here goes above and beyond what I’m used to seeing in the DCU line. What’s not to like? Well, the knee and shin guards seem out of place. The matte grey doesn’t match the rest of the armor making them look rather tacked on.

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I think the biggest departure here from traditional Bats is found in the helmet. It’s more armored and some may find the combination of black blue and grey a little much. Personally, I like the way it carries on the motif of the rest of the suit. I also dig the creepy pupil-less eyes. About my only complaint here is the ears. They’re pretty soft and bendy, so they don’t stand straight up like they’re supposed to.

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The articulation here is pretty good. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, hinged at the elbows and feature swivels and hinges in the wrists, but sadly no bicep swivels. The legs have the usual DCUC style hips, ball joints in the knees, swivels in the lower thighs, and hinges in the ankles. The chest appears to have a ball joint, but all it seems good for is a swivel. Lastly, the neck has a ball joint with a nice range of motion.

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The only reason I picked up this figure was because it was part of Amazon’s crazy pre-Christmas deals. I think I wound up getting him and some others for about $6 each. He turned out to be a hidden gem for me, as he’s definitely one of my favorite Batman figures in my 6-inch scale collection. While not all the designs in Injustice are as cool as Batman, I’ve enjoyed this figure enough that I might try to hunt down a few more. I know I have Green Lantern sitting in my pile of unopened figures, but I think a purchase of The Joker is a must.

Apr 23 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Blade by Mattel

It’s that time again, kids! My monthly box from Matty Collector hit my doorstep earlier this week. Considering the sale was on the 15th and I got my sub figure on the 20th, I’d say that’s record time. It almost justifies the crazy shipping prices that Matty charges. Anyway, this month’s figure is Blade… yes, the bald eye-patch guy from the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie. I have absolutely no idea what the general nerd reception is for that movie these days. I kind of liked it back then, but I wasn’t a hardcore MOTU fan so it probably didn’t offend me as much as some. It’s probably been 20 years since I’ve seen it, and no… I am under no obligation to watch it for this review. I tell ya what, if Matty gets around to doing one more movie figure, I’ll watch it for that review. There, the gauntlet has been thrown down. Now, let’s look at the figure.

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Blade may be from the movie, but you wouldn’t know it from the packaging. There’s no sticker or anything declaring his Hollywood origins. You just get an awesome card and bubble with that glorious Greyskull-inspired green brick deco. The insert dubs Blade as the “Evil Master of Swords” and the bio on the back even gives a nod to the 1987 movie plot. I love the idea of folding all of this stuff into one uniform line of action figures and even if it does mean I have to watch the movie again, I really do hope we get more figures from the film. I’ll also confess that I never knew there was a Blade figure in the original MOTU toyline. Nope, I only just learned that today while poking around the Interwebs to remind me a little bit about the character in the film.

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There he is, and might I say, “Damn, this guy is bitchin!” He’s like some kind of techno-sky-pirate-warlord from one of those late-night Cinemax Post-Apocalypse movies. And I mean that in every way as a compliment. I don’t even know where to begin with this guy. I guess I’ll start with the armor. Blade is wearing a soft, rubbery vest and skirt that’s sculpted and painted to look like chainmail and the effect works brilliantly. If I wasn’t already in the know, I’d have to get in pretty close to see that all those chain links are faked out, especially with the way it falls down between his legs. It’s brilliant! The chain coat is beautifully adorned with a silver medallion in the center. The huge slabs of shoulder armor may be a tad much, but… hell, why not? In for a penny, in for a pound. If you’re going for a high intimidation factor, and I do believe this guy is, you might as well go all out and turn your shoulders into razor tipped walls. The whole ensemble is nicely rounded out with rings of sculpted daggers around each of his thighs and a dart gun mounted on his left bracer. Christ, this is one outstanding battle ensemble!

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The portrait is pretty sweet too. Blade’s bald head sports a nasty scar that disappears under his patched eye and he’s wearing a fierce scowl. His ears are covered with bladed back-swept wings and he’s even got a pair of spikes protruding out from his chin. What the hell are those for? Does he chin butt people? Sure, it’s crazy… crazy awesome! The hell with Eternia, Blade would be right at home in the Badlands, manning a custom gun turret on top of a battle wagon made out of a converted ’76 Ford Torino. Don’t tell me you can’t picture that!

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Blade comes with his trusty swords, each of which fit into loops on his belt for convenient carrying. He has one straight broadsword and one slightly curved cutlass-style weapon. Much has been made by the fan community about the paint operations being nixed from these swords. The cutlass is completely unpainted and the broadsword just has red paint on the crossguard. I get it, they would have looked better painted, but considering how much spectacular work was done on the figure itself, I can live with the unpainted weapons. Besides, they may still turn up all painted up in a weapons pack somewhere down the road. Of course, having to buy the painted swords separately will just give the fans something else to complain about.

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You also get a laser whip. I did not at all remember Blade having this in the movie until a friend set me straight and showed me some pics of He-Man getting the shit whipped out of him by Blade. It’s a cool accessory, but it doesn’t quite live up to the weapon in the film. Plus, I get a bit of a Gummi-Worm vibe from it. I don’t think I’ll display it with the character. His name is Blade not Whip, I want him to have his swords at the ready, not a licorice candy whip.

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Blade is yet another reason why I’m so very happy I subbed Club Eternia this year. Mattel went absolutely apeshit on this guy with all the new sculpting and paintwork and they turned out a truly amazing figure. Even if I wasn’t collecting this line, I think I’d want to have this guy on my shelf just because he’s dripping with 80’s sci-fi badassery. You’re not going to the display shelves yet, Mr. Blade. No, you’re going to hang out on my desk for a while so I can play with you on my downtime. Keep it up, Matty. You’re making 2014 a great year!

Apr 16 2014

Masters of the Universe Classics: Fang Man by Mattel

You can tell I’m running behind because today’s feature was part of Matty Collector’s Early Access from LAST month. In fact, I’m writing this a couple days after getting the shipping notice for this month’s figure. What can I say? I didn’t have the same sense of urgency to get to Fang Man as I did Hydron because Fang Man was a second chance at an older figure rather than a new release. The truth is I haven’t even opened the shipping box until today. That doesn’t mean I’m not really excited to finally get him. I was kicking myself for missing out on him the first time around, and since then I’ve come mighty close to paying too much for him a couple of times from The Ebays. Good thing I held out!

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Hey, it’s the MOTUC packaging. We’ve seen it dozens of times, so I really don’t have anything new to say. What’s that? I have to go watch the episode he was in? No, I only had to do that with the Filmation Sub figures. He’s still a Filmation character so the rule still applies? Crap! Fine… give me about 25 minutes… And… I’m back. Ok, so the episode was “The Time Corridor.” Skeletor goes back in time to plant the Wheel of Infinity on the foundation where Castle Greyskull will be built. I’m a little shaky on the science here, but The Sorceress says it’ll spin really fast and get so big that it will destroy the Castle in the future. Anyway, he takes Fang Man and Tri-Klops back with him, but Fang Man is only in the whole thing for about a minute. He makes a failed charge against He-Man while riding a dragon and he’s never seen from again. I like that the bio on the back of the card suggests that Skeletor just left him in the past. What a prick! Ok, onto the figure!

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There’s a reason I came close to buying this figure at a premium, he’s fantastic. I get a bit of a Don Bluth Dragon’s Lair vibe off of the character design, particularly the outfit. The tunic is layered onto the figure and it looks great. The sculpted spikes underneath the back are a nice touch a the black belt with silver fixtures cinches it at his waist. The way the head protrudes out of the top, front of the torso gives Fang Man a very distinctive hunched over posture. The coloring on this figure is excellent. The pale blue skin contrasts nicely with the maroon tunic and orange collar and bracers. The clasps on his boots are even painted and the metallic silver on the belt is a beautiful final touch.

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The portrait here is also superb. The yellow eyes, spikes, and the snout all look amazing. The tongue that hangs out of the mouth is even articulated so you can swing it left and right. The jaw isn’t articulated, but adding a jaw hinge would have probably messed with what is an otherwise perfect head sculpt, so I’m glad they didn’t try.

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Fang Man features all the usual MOTUC articulation. I’m not going to run through it here because I’ve done it dozens of times and we should all know what to expect by now. He does, however feature two points of articulation in the head. The neck is attached to the body by a ball joint right at the orange collar. It’ll rotate 360-degrees and can look up and down a bit. There’s a second ball joint right behind the ears. Because the head is attached to the front of the torso, Fang Man can’t really turn his head left or right, only cock it like a dog. Also, while I’m sure there’s a ab crunch hinge buried in there, the tunic prevents it from being very useful. None of these are complaints, mind you, just characteristics of the figure design.

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Fang Man comes with a few accessories. First off, you get the Wheel of Infinity, which is a simple little medallion that he can clutch in his hands. It’s nothing amazing, but still a nice nod to the episode. Next up, he has what I think is supposed to be a taser or energy weapon of some kind. And lastly you get what is one of my favorite swords in the line so far. I like it because it’s a very simple and serviceable design and it has a tiny dragon head sculpted into the crossguard. The hilt is also painted a different color from the rest of the blade.

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No doubt about it, Fang Man is one of my favorites in this line. Granted, that’s a long list, but I can’t help but dig the great character design and beautiful colors of this figure. He’s unique enough to set him apart from The Snake Men, but I could see him possibly cozying up to Draego-Man on my shelf. It’s a shame he didn’t get a little more play in the cartoon, but I love that Matty gave him a figure anyway. Just about every one of the Filmation figures has been a hit for me, and I really hope that Matty gets more of them out to us collectors. Line up another Filmation Sub, Matty, and I’ll be happy to jump on board again.