Tag Archives: reaction

Sep 20 2023

Dungeons & Dragons ReAction Figures by Super7

Monday’s review went super long, so today I’m taking it easy with a quick look at some ReAction figures! While Hasbro and NECA have both been releasing the higher profile toys based on the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Super7 also entered the campaign this year with the release of a handful of their 3 3/4-inch ReAction figures. Hasbro’s toys have been pulling from the 80’s Saturday Morning cartoon and the recent movie, NECA has been doing modern updates of the vintage LJN figures, leaving Super7 to focus on… vintage cover art? Oh yes, and it’s quite glorious! Let’s take a look at Super7’s three general releases and the boxed SDCC Exclusive. But before we embark on this journey, adventurers, take note! We’ll only be looking at packaged toys today, as this is one of those rare occasions where I won’t be opening any of these!

Because as cool as these figures are, it’s really the mating of the figure and the super nostalgic original art on the cardback that makes these releases so special to me. First up is an Efreeti as featured on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Masters Guide with art by the David C. Sutherland III from 1979. Yeah, these figures aren’t to scale, as the Efreeti was an absolute beast on that cover holding an unfortunate blonde maiden in his left hand and about to smite an entire party of adventurers with one swing of the scimitar in his right hand. The head sculpt is absolutely superb on this figure and the bright yellow and red coloring makes this Fire Plane dweller quite eye-catching. He also has a slender modesty sash to cover his genie junk. Really nice sculpted muscles too! He comes with his scimitar with a yellow hilt and silver blade.

The back of the three general release figures’ cards are all the same, featuring a reimagined piece of art that we’ll be seeing again in a bit. You also get artist renderings of the three figures released in this series, which reminds me of some of the comic and newspaper advertisements for Star Wars figures back in the day where they used illustrations instead of actual photos. Very nice!

Next up is the Githyanki based on the Emmanuel cover art from the 1st Edition AD&D Fiend Folio. It’s another banger of a piece with some absolutely amazing detail in the figure itself. From the sculpted wrappings on the arms and legs to the colorful strips of jeweled shingles that hang down his chest. The head sculpt is also extremely well done with everything conspiring to bring all the imagination of the artwork into a fully realized 3D figure. And once again, the colors really make this figure pop beautifully. He comes with a golden sword as depicted in the artwork. Yes, sadly my card is creased, which believe me is tempting me to try for another so I can open this one.

And the final stop on this trifecta, and what is easily for me the most iconic piece of art of the three, is The Sorceress as depicted on the front of the D&D Basic Set 1st Edition Second Box by artist Erol Otus. A more truncated version of this art also appeared on the cover of the D&D Basic Set 2nd Edition Rulebook. This is the piece of art that I will always most associate with my D&D days and it still fires my imagination today. As for the figure itself, while I think it’s good, it’s easily the least successful of these three in the translation from the art. She loses that heavily stylized look, not to mention having a little less in the chest and more in the waist, making her a little less alluring than her 2D counterpart. Still, I do love the colors and the sculpted detail is nice. She comes with a really nice version of the magic torch she holds aloft in the artwork.

And with the three general releases done and dusted, the final figure we’re looking at today is the SDCC exclusive, which was later available through online retailers, which makes its exclusivity claim rather dubious. Based on the D&D Basic Set 3rd Edition, this figure comes in the familiar Red Box with the absolutely epic artwork by Larry Elmore showing the Formidable Fighter taking on a red dragon. Lift off the top and you get the carded figure inside.

Super7 had to take a bit more liberties with this one as the character is only depicted from the back, but I think they did a nice job with the design. You get a brilliant metallic blue sheen on his scale mail armor, a sculpted furry loin cloth with studded belt and blue boots. The head sculpt is bearded and fierce and his horned helmet looks fantastic. He comes with a circular shield and a gold hilted sword with glow in the dark blade.

As I mentioned earlier, I am not generally a mint-on-card collector, but Super7 has issued more than a few ReAction figures that I have purchased to display carded. I just think that the mating of original art with the inspired figure is what makes these releases so special and it would be a shame to separate the two. If these were cheaper, I would definitely buy seconds as openers, but at $20 a pop for the regulars and $25 for the SDCC Exclusive, I’ll be content with hanging them on my wall. My only complaint with any of these is that I wish Super7 had credited the artists and where each piece of art came from on the backs of the cards. And it seems like Super7 isn’t done with these yet, as possible pre-orders for a second wave have been whispered!

Jun 16 2023

ReAction (G.I. JOE): Battle Android Trooper by Super7

I have reviewed a number of ReAction figures here on FFZ, but I have yet to give any of the ReAction JOEs the spotlight. It’s not an intentional slight, but nonetheless one that I will rectify today. And it works out perfectly, because I kind of ran out of time and needed something quick to look at!

Yup, I’ve been collecting this line pretty hard since the beginning, mainly to them display on card, but in the beginning I was buying some doubles for openers, and I still keep an eye out for sales to get more openers. If you’re unfamiliar with this line, they’re basically 5-POA figures based on the Sunbow cartoon character designs with some cool expanded universe kind of stuff in the way of troop builders. I think the figures themselves are quite good, but the real magic here for me is the figure on the card, which look absolutely spectacular. And while all of these have been great, the recent release of the Cobra BAT was so exceptional that it motivated me to go ahead and start reviewing some of these.

Here he is on the card, and yes I did pick up a pair of these so I could open the one we’re looking at today. The card oozes vintage goodness with the iconic GI JOE logo and the character art set against an explosive backdrop. The figure comes on a bubble with some of his accessories positioned beside him. I got one of these punched and the other unpunched, so let’s tear into that punched one and have a look!

Straightaway, I have to say that the sculpted detail and paintwork on this BAT are both exquisite, especially for this type of 3 3/4-inch retro-style figure. I have yet to review Super7’s Ultimates BAT (coming soon!) but in a lot of ways this simple little 5-POA figure captures all the detail of that larger and more complex figure quite well. The transparent chest piece is a real stand out with the fully sculpted and multi-color wires and mechanisms on full display inside. But there’s a lot of other cool details worthy of shout outs, including the tiny belt of grenades hanging off his shoulder strap, complete with teensy tiny painted buckle, and even the ribbed padding on the inside of his functional pistol holster. I mean… wow! This is great stuff!

The BATs colors have always been a great combo of matte black, metallic silver, and bright canary yellow and all of those colors are on full display here. The silver paint in particular looks sharp and shiny and the yellow just contrasts so well with the black. The Cobra emblem tampo on his shoulder patch looks awesome too. You really have to punch in close to notice any slop in the paint, but it is mostly noticeable around the silver collar.

The BAT retains the backpack from his other versions, which is still capable of holding his swappable hand attachments. Both hands are designed to come off, but the left hand on my figure feels a little tight and I don’t want to risk dislocating the peg, so I’m sticking to swapping out his right hand. The extra attachments include the usual pincer claw, laser gun, and drill arm, making it fun to display a whole squad of these guys, each kitted out a little differently.

You also get two conventional weapons, which include a pistol and a rifle. Either of his regular hands are capable of holding either weapon, and you can stow the pistol in his holster when it’s not in use.

I usually review ReAction figures in groups because there’s only so much you can say about these figures and only so many ways you can shoot pictures of a 5-POA figure. But I really felt that this guy needed his own spotlight. It feels like Super7 just poured the love into this figure and went above and beyond. I paid the full twenty bones for my first one, but was able to get a second on sale through Amazon at $15. It would be cool if Super7 released a three-pack of these at a little better price. I’d love to pick up a few more, but even I have to concede that these little beauties are pretty pricey for what they are.

Jul 20 2022

ReAction Star Trek: The Next Generation (Wave Two) by Super7

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost exactly one year since I checked out Super7’s first wave of Star Trek TNG ReAction figures. Well, minus Guinan, because I decided to wait to see if she turns up on clearance. The second wave has now hit and I’m back to check out this new assortment, but again minus one figure, because these are damn expensive and I’m trying to at least be a little selective. There are five figures here to look at, which more or less round out the main cast, so let’s get started!

This wave consists of Riker, Troi, LaForge, Dr. Crusher, and Q, as he appeared in his judge robes from the very first and last episodes. Also included in the wave was Armus, the tar creature who killed Lt. Yar on Vagra II. I skipped Armus because he’s just a one-off alien in a very terrible episode, and the figure didn’t look so hot anyway, but I’ll keep an eye out for him turning up on the cheap. I also thought it was in bad form to include the creature that killed Yar before even making Yar. I could also point out that while the crew are all depicted in their later season uniforms, Q and Armus are both from the first season, which just makes no sense to me at all.

The card designs are the same as the first wave, and they’re absolutely fantastic. You get the familiar TNG title logo up at the top with the Enterprise-D speeding out of the card with warp streaks all around it. Each card is personalized with individual character art inside a Delta insignia. The character art appears to be original and it looks great. There’s also some foil on the cards, which gives them a premium look, and they damn well should considering the price. I generally keep all my ReAction figures carded, and I was tempted to do so with these, but I opened the first wave, so let’s tear into these and check them out!

Starting out with Riker and LaForge, these figures utilize the same body that we saw last time for Worf, Picard, and Data. It’s unfortunate, since the cast were all very different heights, and Riker should not be as tall as LaForge. Sorry, but this kind of recycling would be acceptable on $10 retro figures, but not at nearly double that price. The paint on these are also not as tight as the first wave. Both of these figures have weird smudges on their backs, and LaForge has smudging on the front of his tunic as well. As expected, all the figures in this wave have the retro-style five points of articulation. And yeah, they should have given Riker one articulated knee, so he could do his signature pose.

Riker’s head sculpt isn’t great, but I guess it’s acceptable for a retro line like this. I like his blue eyes, but for some reason he looks a bit like an adult Wesley Crusher, which kind of makes me laugh. LaForge’s, on the other hand, is really quite good. Sure, he’s more recognizable because of his visor, but I think they did a great job on his facial features too. Both heads have paint issues, but Riker made out better with just some stray marks on his face. LaForge’s is an absolute mess, with silver paint from the visor on his nose and up near his eyebrows. It’s a shame, because the sculpt deserved better paint. Normally, I’m not very critical of paint on 3 3/4-inch figure portraits, because I punch in pretty close for these pictures, but the problems here are all noticeable with the figure in hand and viewed by the naked eye.

The ladies offer all new sculpting, but they do also share the same arms. The legs are almost the same, but Crusher’s have the bottom parts of her lab coat added. As a result, you have the same height issues going on, but in this case Troi is actually a bit taller than Crusher, because of her wall of hair. With that having been said, both of these sculpts are excellent for the line, and the paint here is actually not bad, making them stand out from the piss-poor paint on the dudes. They didn’t quite capture the magical contours of Troi’s tushie, but it is a retro line, so I’ll let it go. I am glad they put Crusher in her lab coat, and I think they did a great job working it into the retro sculpt. It would have been interesting to see them try it as a Kenner-style vinyl cape, but I’m not sure that would have worked.

The portraits here are pretty solid. I think Troi made out a little better in the likeness, but Crusher isn’t bad for a retro line. They also did a nice job with their hair. My only big complaint with Crusher is that she isn’t Dr. Pulaski. Crusher was easily the weakest character of the show to me, and I thought bringing in Pulaski punched things up a lot. Boy, was I pissed off when she only lasted one season. I would definitely have to buy a ReAction Pulaski if they made her, and then I could disappear Crusher!

And finally, we have Judge Q, and this is an excellent figure. I’m not sure the likeness is really there, but the costume is so distinctive, that there’s no denying who this is supposed to be. The robes are implemented in a fashion similar to Kenner’s Obi-Wan or Emperor, and they looks great. I like the paint and detail on his necklace, and all around this is solid work.

One of my big gripes with this line last time around was the lack of accessories, as all you got were some phasers. Here we have one step forward and one step back. Riker and LaForge come with the same phasers we saw last time, and they still can’t hold them very well. Crusher comes with a medical tricorder, and Troi and Q come with nothing. I’m fine with Troi and Q not including accessories, but that meant we should have had more come with the others. Could we at least get a diagnostic tool for LaForge? And maybe a regular tricorder so I could give it to Data? Not having a tricorder for Data pisses me off all the more when I see what a great job they did with Crusher’s medical tricorder. It may not look like much in the picture, but it’s so damn tiny that I think it’s impressive work. Either way, it’s not cool to skimp on accessories when you’re charging $18 a pop for 5-POA figures.

And last time I checked out these figures with Galoob’s Shuttlecraft, as both lines were scaled roughly the same. This time I pulled out the Playmates shuttle to see how that would work, and it works pretty damn well. Playmate’s shuttle was under-scaled for it’s own line, which makes these work even better. Of course, the giant single seat in the cockpit is completely out of whack, but I’ll be someone could 3D-print a set of two seats for it that would work even better. All in all, it makes for a great piece to display with these figures.

And that’s Wave Two of Super7’s TNG ReAction line! This assortment was a real mixed bag. Riker and LaForge should have been easy slam dunks, since they’re 95% recycled parts, but the QC on the paint was non-existent. At least the ladies and Q all came out fine. I haven’t seen anything about a third wave, and that’s fine by me, because I think I’m done with these. I would consider picking up some more aliens, and Yar if they ever do her, but my guess is that if we do get more figures, we’ll see some repaints, like LaForge in his Season One uniform, maybe a Thomas Riker, and at these prices, I’m not biting on those. If these were ten bucks a pop, I’d be willing to stick with it, but $18 for these is just way too much, making me wish I had just left them all carded. With Playmates releasing some new TNG figures soon, I’m interested to see how those turn out.

Jul 16 2021

ReAction Star Trek: The Next Generation (Wave One) by Super7

Playmates just announced a return to making Star Trek figures, and while I fear that line will be populated by stuff from the grim-dark, depressing, dystopian shit that is Discovery and Picard, it’ll certainly be worth a look. But it wasn’t too long ago that Super7 announced that they had secured the license to The Next Generation and that got me more excited! I don’t think a week ever passes me by without watching at least one episode of Star Trek. It will forever be my Go-To show when I want to put something on to relax or watch something while I’m having dinner. No, it’s not always The Next Generation, but that one remains one of my all-time great comfort shows. So, when Super7 announced they were adding TNG to their ReAction series, I smiled and said Make it So!

Now, I say in the title Wave One, but I bought an extra Borg Drone instead of Guinan, so I was fibbing just a little bit. The others include Picard, Data, Worf, and Wesley Crusher. If you’re keeping score, this is the second time ReAction and Star Trek teamed up, but the first time it was Funko doing Classic Trek, and well, they weren’t very good. I had high hopes for these, however, as I’ve been enjoying most of Super7’s ReAction lines. Transformers, Alien, ThunderCats, Jem, I’ve been buying a lot of them. Most of those I’ve chosen to keep carded, but I decided to open this TNG line, mainly because I want to be able to crew my Shuttlecraft Galileo from Galoob’s old line, and it’s just not compatible with the totes and totes of Playmates Trek figures I have.

I dig the cards a lot. They are personalized with some great character art on the front, set against a snappy silver foil Delta symbol. The backdrop features the multi-colored star streaks with The Enterprise at warp, and the familiar title logo is at the top. The figures are on trays, so they don’t rattle around in their little bubble coffins, which is always a plus. The back of each card has a little blurb about the character, and oddly enough Star Trek is written in the Classic font at the top. It also features the standard ship’s computer LCARS display, which is really cool. Finally, you also get a Collect Them All style look at all six figures available in this wave. It’s not a bad assortment, but I would have preferred another alien instead of Guinan. Maybe a Romulan or Ferengi.

Straightaway, the Enterprise crew all share the same body, which is fine for some and a bummer for others. I have no problem with Data and Picard sharing a body, but Worf should have been bigger. Yeah, he is very slightly taller, but only because of his big head. The uniforms are modeled after the later seasons, with the tunic and trousers as opposed to the S1 jumpsuits, and that was probably a good choice. I dig that the patterns on the tunic are actually part of the sculpt, and the tiny comm-badges look good. Oh yeah, the rank pips on the collar are different sculpts. As always, these ReAction figures feature the old style five points of articulation. I like that the T-crotch doesn’t cause their legs to spread like they did on the Playmates figures. Ironically, these might actually be more compatible with the Playmates Bridge Playset than the Playmates figures were!

Wesley features a newly sculpted torso and arms for his fashionable sweater, although they cheaped out by giving him the same legs as the uniformed figures, so he’s as tall as Worf and kind of lame. The Borg is the only figure among these that uses a completely unique sculpt, and they did a beautiful job on him. Sure, it’s simplified design to match the retro style, but it still looks great, with tubes and implants all over. I think I actually like this one more than the Playmates Borg.

The head sculpts range from pretty good to outright fantastic. I think Picard’s is the weakest, but not terrible. I think the smile is a little uncharacteristic, as he tends to come across as a little stodgy and dour a lot of the time. Still, I dig it.

Data’s is second from the bottom, but again decent. The yellow eyes are a nice touch. When you punch in this close with the camera, the paint tends to look sloppy, but it’s not something that’s noticeable with the figure in hand. And at least his face isn’t bizarrely speckled like Galoob’s first Data!

Wesley’s is surprisingly good for being so simple. A lot of the likeness is conveyed in the hair sculpt, but the facial features are pretty good too, especially the shape of the mouth.

Worf comes out on top among the Enterprise crew. Holy shit, this is a phenomenal sculpt for a 3 3/4-inch retro line. Sure, they had the most to work with here, but the detail is still exceptional. They also managed to refrain from giving him a giant bobble head. I should also mention here that Worf’s baldric is sculpted separately and worn by the figure. That’s one of the few advantages of Super7 recycling the same body, because it looks great.

The Borg is on par with Worf as just having a fantastic portrait. Again, they had a lot to work with here, but it turned out fantastic. The Borgified part of his head is actually sculpted separately and attached to the head.

I hope you don’t like accessories, because half the figures in this wave come with bupkis, and the ones that do all come with the same one! Wesley and the Borg get nothing and the others get the same phaser. Now, in fairness, the phaser is incredibly detailed for such a tiny accessory. They can hold it pretty well, although they have to have their arms lowered to have it pointed straight out to shoot. But hey, that’s better than sculpting it into their hands like Galoob did back in the day!

So, here’s the deal. At $18 a pop, Super7’s ReAction figures are expensive for what they are. But their past lines like ThunderCats and Transformers have justified the cost to me with gorgeous card artwork and excellent unique sculpts. They’re just cool What If? lines to me and fun to collect and display. That’s not the case here. The Next Generation already had its turn at 3 3/4-inch and 4-inch figures, making these less a cool curiosity and more of a Here We Go Again! The cards look good, but I didn’t shed a tear when I was ripping into them. And while the figures look good, this wave features too much parts recycling to justify the cost. I like the phasers, but these really needed a few more extras. A tricorder with Data? A bat’leth with Worf? Maybe a PADD with Picard? Keep in mind, with shipping these set me back $120. That’s insane! I had no problem spending that for past ReAction waves, but the value just isn’t’ there on these. I don’t know if the cost of acquiring the license required cut backs, but with CBS/Paramount running the franchise into the ground, it couldn’t have been that expensive to get. Even McFarlane walked away from it just a year or so ago. Even still, with half the wave sharing the same body, these should have been no more than $10-15 a pop. Will I buy any more? It depends on what they show for Wave Two. Or more to the point, if there is a Wave Two! That’s all I have to say about the figures… so feel free to dip out now, but for anyone interested, I’m going to see how these work with…

The Galoob Shuttlecraft Galileo! I don’t have any loose figures to go with this beauty, because all my Galoob figures are carded, but they were the same scale as ReAction and not stylized like the Playmates line, so let’s see how they do!

The shuttle is definitely undersized, but that was the case with the Galoob figures as well. But they certainly fit well in the vehicle. The box claims this thing holds six figures, but I’ve always called bullshit on that. It comfortably seats four, with two in the cockpit and two in the back cargo area. Where are the other two supposed to go? Maybe if you pull them apart it would work, but it always seemed like a fascicle claim to me.

I always liked this original TNG shuttle design and I was sorry when they dumped it. Although the replacement isn’t bad and Playmates did an excellent job on that one. As a toy, Galoob’s Galileo ain’t so great, but I do adore it as a curiosity. There’s no electronics, the sides of the nacelles are detailed with stickers, which never stay on, and the Pop Up Sensor Unit and Slide-Out Phaser Cannon are kind of underwhelming. It’s not a cheap toy to get nowadays, so I can’t really recommend hunting one down. Still, it’s nice to finally have some figures to go in it!

Mar 24 2021

ReAction ThunderCats (Wave Two) by Super7

The good news is, I’m actually here on a Wednesday with some midweek content. The bad news is it’s a quick and dirty look at some packaged figures that I won’t be opening. For the record, I’m really enjoying lots of different licenses from Super7’s ReAction line, and they are to date the only figures I collect with the intent to keep them carded. I love some of these lines so much, I just want to share them even though I’m not playing around with them and delivering a full on review. At the same time, it’s frustrating because I want to tear them open and play with them. But ultimately, I think more than half the charm of these releases lie in the packaging and overall presentation. On the other hand, if Super7 wants to get me to buy doubles and open them, all they need to do is release a Cat’s Lair and some vehicles, and I’d have no choice! And then I’m reminded that I’m still making the toy equivalent of car payments on that Ultimate Thunder Tank.

Anywho, as you can tell by the title, this is the second wave of ThunderCats ReAction figures and I’m starting off with a shot of the back of the card’s “Collect Them All!” panel to show what figures were included in the previous wave. Or you can just check out my review for the complete rundown. For the uninitiated, ReAction figures are basically old school 5-Points of Articulation figures patterned after the old Kenner stuff. It’s basically a big What If? or What Could Have Been? Funko had the ReAction license for a while, and while some of them were decent, like the Universal Monsters, most were just crap. Super7 has been making out a lot better, and I own far more of these than I have shown off here. I really have to fix that!

The first assortment gave us Lion-O, Panthro, and Cheetara, and this one delivers on the final adult ThunderCat, Tygra. The character art for each of the previous ThunderCats has been nothing short of fantastic, and Tygra’s card isn’t going to upset that winning streak. I particularly love the way his bolo whip disappears behind the bubble, leaves the card, and reemerges. As with the previous wave, the figures are nested in trays inside the bubbles so they don’t rattle around in there. The body sculpt here is a bit soft, but that fits in with the animated look. The portrait, on the other hand is excellent. They really captured Tygra’s look perfectly, and all the paint is nice and clean. Tygra’s bolo whip is actually made of string and has a plastic handle and plastic balls on the end. Will Wilykit and Wilykat be a two-pack in the next wave? My guess is that they’ll be single-packed with their hoverboards. But what about faithful old Snarf? Will he get a card of his own? Only time will tell!

We got two Evil Mutants in the first wave, Slithe and Jackalman. This time, Monkian joins the team of baddies! I’m fine with that, but poor Vultureman seems to never get any love these days. Hopefully we’ll see him in Wave Three! Monkian is a solid figure, but his head sculpt isn’t quite all that I hoped it would be. I don’t think it’s bad for this style of figure, but I think Jackalman made out a lot better. I will say the detail in the mouth is pretty well done for the scale. The card art, on the other hand, is much better than we got for Jackalman. Monkian comes with his spiked flail, and the ball is actually connected to the handle with a chain, which is totally rad!

The first wave gave us powered up Mumm-Ra, so here we get withered old Mummy Mumm-Ra. This figure was probably a lot more difficult to do, because of the robes. Naturally, they took the old school Kenner route by sculpting the robes as part of each leg and it works well here. The bandages are a little too neatly sculpted, but I think they probably did the best they could given the scale and simple style of the figure. I do like the head sculpt and the way the hood hangs over the face a bit. Mumm-Ra comes with his staff and it looks pretty good. I started with these three figures, because I think they were all a given for this wave. The rest are surprises of varying degrees.

First up is Jaga, and I think this was the least surprising. Jaga is a pretty big deal in the cartoon and he appears in a lot of episodes, especially for someone who’s killed in the premier! I like this figure a lot. Once again the body is fairly simple but fits the animated look. The little studs on his wrist cuffs are a nice touch, as are the sculpted tops of his boots. The head sculpt is a great match for his cartoon counterpart as well. The cape is vinyl, but I thought it interesting that they didn’t go the Kenner route and attach it with shoulder loops. Instead it hangs around his neck. I’m not sure how the shape will hold up once he’s out of the package, and I may never know! Jaga comes with a pretty generic looking sword. I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing a translucent spirit version of Jaga in the near future. In fact, I’d bet a cartload of Thundrillium on it!

The penultimate figure here is Grune and he gets the dubious prize of being my least favorite figure in this assortment. I was just never a big fan of this character in the original series. I liked him a little better in the 2011 reboot, but still not a whole lot. I think this figure looks OK. The shoulder armor is well done, and I really dig his mace, but that’s about it. His portrait isn’t bad and certainly shows off some pretty good detail for the style and scale. I’m not a fan of the card art on this one, either. He looks goofy and deranged. Not a total dud, but definitely bottom of my list so far.

And that brings us to the biggest surprise of the assortment, both literally and figuratively. I would never have guessed we’d see Snowman of Hook Mountain so early in this line, and yet here he is. And he’s quite spectacular! He’s a chunky guy, and in that sense, he kind of mirrors Slithe from the first wave as being bigger proportioned than the rest. I think they absolutely nailed this figure. He looks great, the colors are perfect, and I really love the card art. He comes with a spear and even his helmet, which is suspended off to the side of the bubble. My only gripe here is that they missed an opportunity to release him with Snowmeow, similar to the He-Man/Skeletor with BattleCat/Panthor that they gave us in the Masters of the Universe ReAction line. Yeah, that might have been more than they wanted to invest in the character, but it would have been cool.

And there you have it. Another six figures, and I’m quite pleased with what we got. These are going in clamshell protectors and eventually they will be hung on my wall along with the first wave. It’s killing me not to open them, but every time I’ve opened ReAction figures in the past, I’ve regretted it. And unfortunately, the pricing on these, about $18 a pop, makes me unlikely to run out and pick up doubles. Unless of course those vehicles and playsets get announced. Then all bets are off. Will there be a third wave? God, I hope so! We definitely need Vultureman and the Thunder Kittens. We need Snarf in some form. And they need to start digging into the Berserkers. Let’s get Willa and some Warrior Maidens! Lets get Lynxana and Mandora! Oh, I could go on and on!

Aug 12 2020

ReAction ThunderCats (Wave One) by Super7

Why do I love collecting ThunderCats so much? It probably has to do with it being one of the few 80’s toy properties where I watched the cartoon religiously but never had any of the toys. I guess maybe I’m making up for lost time? And here comes Super7 to help me stoke that plastic furnace of thunder kitty love! I should just start a new recurring feature called Mint on Card by Super7, because I have been picking up a lot of their ReAction figures lately, and these remain the only figures I buy with the intent of leaving them carded. I realize that Mint on Card reviews aren’t terribly exciting. And believe me, if they weren’t so expensive, I’d be grabbing doubles of these figures to open, but at $18-20 a pop, that’s not going to happen unless they go on clearance somewhere. Anywho, Super7 has been hard at work keeping the ThunderCats Classics line they acquired from Mattel going, but they’ve also given us this little snack to tide us over in the form of ReAction ThunderCats!

For the uninitiated, the ReAction line takes various properties and converts them into retro-style figures similar to Kenner’s Star Wars line. This practice had varying degrees of success in the hands of Funko, but now that Super7 has taken over, the results have been a lot more even. The first wave of ThunderCats consists of six figures and it’s a satisfying mix of both Cats and Mutants. The assortment includes Panthro, Jackalman, Slithe, Cheetara, Mumm-Ra in his powered up form, and Lion-O. It’s a solid assortment, unless you happen to be a Tygra fanboy, and then you’re shit out of luck until the next wave. As always, these figures feature five points of articulation each and come carded on beautiful retro-style packaging, which is decidedly not collector friendly. The back of the cards all feature the same Collect Them All photo of all the figures in the wave. Let’s start out with a look at the Cats!

You can’t have a first wave of ThunderCats without Lion-O, The Lord of the ThunderCats! Also, I think Cheetara was a fine choice, because she often gets pushed to later releases so it’s nice to see her out front and center. And Panthro is the third to round out this trio. So, assuming we’re going to get single carded releases of the Thunder Kittens, this wave splits the team of heroic kitties right down the middle, leaving WilyKit, WilyKat, and Tygra for the second assortment. What about Snarf? Honestly, I would have expected him to be included with Lion-O as an accessory, but it’s probably not out of the question to get him as a single carded release. We’ve seen ReAction figures as small as Gizmo from Gremlins released in the past. But before getting into the figures, let me take a moment to gush all over these cardbacks, because they are indeed gorgeous.

I think Funko’s biggest misstep with ReAction was saving money by using a single generic card for each series. It was a missed opportunity to exploit the potential of the whole retro-carded formula. Super7 recognized the value in collecting these figures as showpieces, making the card itself almost as important as the figure. As a result, the art for each of the characters is unique, dynamic, and exciting with the characters spilling out over the borders of the cards as if they’re coming right at you. Almost like these ThunderCats are loose! Lion-O strikes his iconic pose, Panthro looks like he’s ready to put the beat down on some dirty Mutants, and Cheetara is just looking sexy as all hell. Meow! All of the cards feature the beautiful ThunderCats logo emblazoned across the top and the Kenner-style ReAction logo in the bottom right hand corner. My only complaint here is that Super7 really should have credited the artist on the back of the card. It just feels like that’s a major part of what makes these so collectible.

The figures are fitted into trays inside the bubbles ensuring they’re accessories stay put and the Cats are always in the optimal position for display, which is a huge win over Super7’s Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles ReAction (I’ll have a look at those here soon!) where they just are just rattling around in their bubbles. Sure, the later is more accurate for the vintage vibe they’re going for, but I’m willing to embrace the anachronism for a better display item. The sculpting on these figures is sharp and the paint is bright and clean. Of the three, I think Lion-O and Cheetara are the best at representing their characters. That’s not to say Panthro is bad, but I think he lost a little too much of his buff physique when being adapted to this format. These look like they’re the result of a lot more love and care than Funko ever injected into their ReAction figures, and the quality seems to be leaps and bounds better too. The accessories are pretty much what I would expect, with the ‘Cats possessing their iconic weapons. Panthro has his nun-chucks, connected with a piece of black string. Lion-O comes with both versions of the Sword of Omens, one retracted and one extended, as well as his Claw Shield. The swords are cast in gray plastic with the Eye of Thundara painted on the hilts. Cheetara’s staff is obviously the least interesting of the arsenal. Let’s move on to Mumm-Ra and the Evil Mutants!

As with the Cats, I think Super7 made some good character choices here as well. Mumm-Ra was a no brainer, but I would have been happier with either this or his decrepit mummy form. Slithe is the Leader of the Evil Mutants, so he was a natural choice. As for Jackalman? Well, honestly they could have gone with him or Monkian and I would have been fine. Poor Vultureman never seems to get any love. Ah well, maybe in the next Wave.

The card art for the baddies is (mostly) every bit as good as what we got for the Cats. I’m not ashamed to admit that Mumm-Ra scared the ever-living shit out of me when I was a kid, and this character art captures that freakish terror perfectly. From his beady red eyes, to his grasping claw and his shredded bandages, I can practically hear his demented blathering. Slithe has that bloated and confused look that he often shows, although they didn’t quite get his one popped eye right for the card. Finally, Jackalman looks good, but his jaw looks like it’s kind of sloffing off. But seriously, I’m nitpicking. This art is just fantastic.

As for the figures, they’re pretty great too. I was particularly interested to see how they would do Mumm-Ra’s cape and bandages, and they went with sculpted bandages and a vinyl cape, and I wholeheartedly approve. Slithe is particularly cool because they gave him his short and squat body type and his tail can be seen tucked between his legs too. As for Jackalman, well his little noggin is a work of art. As with the Cats, the coloring on these figures is superb. They’re bright and beautiful with some sharp lines and careful applications. As for accessories, Mumm-Ra comes with his sword and a dagger, Slithe comes with his axe, which is mostly hidden behind his back, and Jackalman comes with his spiked club.

By now the ThunderCats have been released in just about every scale and style I can imagine. From the more animated faithful figures made by Ban Dai and Mattel to the vintage Masters of the Universe style of Funko’s Savage World, and now we have the old Kenner style. I like these a lot, and I think the characters translated pretty well, but I can imagine that they aren’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. The biggest advantage to these little fellows would be allowing vehicles to be smaller and less costly, but I’m not sure if that’s part of Super7’s plans. Still, a 3 3/4-inch scale ReAaction Thundertank would be damn cool, not to mention a little playset based around Mumm-Ra’s tomb. Anything like that would certainly get me to spring for a second set of these to open and play with. In the meantime, I’ll just be anxiously awaiting a second wave. How about Tygra, WilyKIt, WilyKat, Shriveled Mumm-Ra, Monkian, and Vulture Man. Yeah, that would do nicely!

Feb 26 2020

ReAction Transformers (Wave One) by Super7

I’ve been sick as a dog for the last two days and I didn’t think I was going to be able to get any midweek content in, but thanks to just the right cocktail of Nyquil, cough drops, and Jameson, I’ve managed to prop myself up at my computer and tap something out that’s quick and painless. A little thing called Toy Fair happened over the weekend and boy there were a lot of surprises and tons of cool stuff shown. One of those things was Super7’s new Wave of ReAction Transformers. These are kind of like the old Action Masters, in that they don’t transform, with a smidgen of Heroes of Cybertron. They’re roughly 3 3/4-inch scale, they’re based on the Sunbow cartoon designs, and like most ReAction figures they feature a nostalgic five points of articulation. The moment I saw these on the cards, I knew I was going all in. Unfortunately, I only have one set and I’m not opening them, so we’ll just have to settle for checking them out in package. And that’s fine, because I think these shine the most when carded. The initial assortment consists of Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave from the Decpticons, and Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Bumblebee from the Autobots. Let’s start with the Autobots!

Oh yeah! These cards are absolutely gorgeous! We get all new character art, unique for each card, showing the character against a Cybertronian backdrop. The bubble is orientated to the left and the borders feature the familiar grid pattern that transitions from black to red, just like it did on the original figure packages. The top of the card has the iconic original Transformers logo in red for the Autobots and purple for the Decepticons, and you get the Kenner-style ReAction logo on the bottom right hand side. Even the character’s name above the figure is printed in the yellow and black box similar to how they originally called out the character’s name and function. The figures are secured in a tray so they don’t rattle around in the bubble like some ReAction figures do, and if they have a weapon it’s placed to the figure’s right.

On the flipside, you get a classic “Collect Them All” style spread showing all the figures in the wave. I’ll note that this card-back is taken from Soundwave and not Optimus Prime, as it has the Transformers logo in purple and says “Evil Decepticons.” I really dig that they even did some customization on the back, but I’m only going to show the reverse side for one. And yeah, I would have loved a reprint of the old tech spec card on the bottom instead of the multi-lingual warnings, but I guess you have to pay the lawyers, right?

Prime looks pretty good, although this is the one figure in this wave where the proportions are a little off. He seems a tad big-headed and his upper body makes his legs look a little scrawny. It’s not too bad, but worth pointing out, especially since the rest don’t really have this problem. The simple sculpt reflects the animated style of the cartoon, but there are still some great touches of detail like the markings on his forearms and the vents in his lower legs. The head sculpt looks great too. The coloring is just about perfect, with bright red and blue plastic and a flat gray for what would have been silver on the toy. There’s even some yellow paint hits on the pelvis and the chest windshield is painted blue. Finally, you get an Autobot symbol stamped on his left shoulder. I think this one is the weakest of the bunch for me, which is ironic because it’s freaking Optimus Prime. I still dig him, but I think he needed some tweaks. Prime comes with his iconic buster-rifle, which he can hold in his right hand.

Jazz is up next and I think he turned out great. I especially love his character art, where he’s offering a reassuring smirk, giving me the thumbs up, and just oozing personality and character. I can practically hear Scatman Crothers voice when I look at it. The figure is also excellent, although I would have liked a wider stance for just about all of these figures. The head sculpt on the figure is superb. Here you get a white and black deco with a couple of shades of gray and some blue and red hits, and of course a beautiful Autobot insignia on the chest-hood. Jazz comes with his gun, which looks to be accurate to the original toy’s weapon, and it looks like he can hold it either hand.

The last of the Autobots is Bumblebee, and this is probably my favorite of the three. I was surprised too! But for some reason as a kid I was obsessed with having a figure that actually looked like Bumblebee in the cartoon and this is about as close as I’ll likely ever come. His character art is pretty solid, but it’s the figure really shines for me. It reflects all those impossible changes in the cartoon where his car kibble is softened over to the point where you can barely make out the hood details in his feet, his upper arms are black instead of yellow with those segmented round tubes for elbows, and his chest is flattened and boxed out instead of curved. I absolutely love it! The head is probably too big, but I’m OK with that and I like how they emphasized his devil horns. The coloring here is mostly black and yellow but with some blue added for the windows and the red Autobot insignia on his chest. Unfortunately, the paint on this one is the weakest of the bunch. The paint lines on the black are a little rough in some areas, but it’s not terribly apparent when the figure is in hand. Bumblebee comes with his little pistol and I’m glad they included that! I should also note here that Bumblebee is scaled to be smaller than the other figures in the wave and that’s pretty cool too! Moving on to the Decepticons!

Megatron’s card art is epic, as he stands with his fusion cannon aimed and ready to fire. The figure is no slouch either. Maybe a little too much upper body bulk compared to his legs, but it’s all good. The head sculpt is just about perfect, and little touches in the figure’s detail include the triggers on the tops of the shoulders, the little triangles on his chest, and the vents on his abdomen. The pale white plastic they used is a great fit for his cartoon color and you get some darker gray on the legs, black for the cannon, pelvis and fists, red in the elbows, and some red,  yellow, and blue paint hits for the panel under his chest. Megatron doesn’t come with an accessory, but that’s because he has his mounted arm cannon. I think this guy turned out all kinds of great.

Up next is Soundwave, and oh boy is he perfect! The card art shows him holding his rather distinctive gun and about to eject one of his Cassette Warriors and it looks so damn great. The figure features a sharp sculpt and you get some cool details from the tape deck buttons on his pelvis to the vents on his lower legs. The coloring here is spot on from the blue and gray body to the yellow and red applications, it’s all right on the money. You even get the razor thin red stripes around his forearms. I like that they used the same blue for his tape door as the Autobots’ windows, it adds a nice uniformity to the line’s color palate. Soundwave comes with his battery gun, and they went all out with the paint on this one, giving it the red accents and painting the beam emitter silver. I’d say this is my favorite of the Decpticons, but there’s some pretty stiff competition here because Starscream is coming up next.

 

And he serves up some tough competition. Starscream’s card art oozes arrogance as he stands with hands on hips and offering a defiant smirk. The figure’s bubble is extra wide to accommodate the wingspan, and I’ll mention here again how much I dig the subtle size differences in some fo these figures. This sculpt is up there with the best of them, and it’s good they did such a fine job because I presume we’ll be seeing it at least two more times. Five more if they want to give us The Rainmakers, and hell yeah I’d buy them too. The head sculpt is possibly the best of the bunch. They captured Starscream perfectly, and I’ll be interested to see if the other Seekers get original portraits or if they just keep using this one. Like Megatron, the pale gray plastic they use here looks great, as does the blue and red coloring. He’s got red and white striping on his wings, as well as Decepticon insignia, and the yellow on the cockpit really makes the figure pop. Starscream comes with Megatron on his gun form.

The idea of Transformers that don’t transform may seem pretty daft to a lot of people, and I get that. But ever since I was a kid I wanted a proper line of figures based on the classic Sunbow designs, and these scratch that itch wonderfully. Indeed, if these were swinging on the pegs when I was a kid I would have gone crazy over them. Granted, I can’t vouch for how much fun they are but every time I glance over at them carded and standing on my shelf, I can’t help but smile. Better articulation would have been optimal, but I think this format gives us the best chance of getting a lot of figures. I will likely buy a couple doubles to open at some point down the road, but right now I’m just so excited about what else is coming for this series. The stuff Super7 showed off at Toy Fair looks great, and I hope this line goes on forever.