#4101: Robin

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

ROBIN

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

While I had a handful of reviews from Hasbro’s running on fumes continuation of the Batman Animated tie-in line in the last few months, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve actually reviewed any of the original Kenner run of Batman: The Animated Series figures.  For today’s review, I’m actually going way back to the very beginning of said tie-ins, for a look at the first animated variant of Batman’s trusty sidekick, Robin!  So, let’s take a look at this early release for the other half of the dynamic duo!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin was released in the first series of Kenner’s Batman: The Animated Series line in 1992.  He joined two Batman variants, Penguin, Riddler, and Two-Face for the line’s debut at retail.  At this point, the line was actually sticking to rather faithful costume designs, rather than the wacky variants that followed, so Robin’s wearing Dick’s standard attire from the show.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  Robin was pretty notably predominantly parts re-use, which was rare for this line early on.  From the neck down, he was the Batman Returns Robin, topped off with a new head sculpt.  I’ve looked at the whole combo before through one of its re-releases during Hasbro’s run.  It’s sort of a mixed bag, since the original use wasn’t meant to be an animated style figure, so he’s very heavy on details that really shouldn’t be there.  The head’s perfectly serviceable, and a decent match for the show model, especially when filtered through the same lens as the other early run figures from the line.  Like the later release, he gets a cloth cape, similarly two-toned.  The cloth’s a bit thinner on this one, though, so it hangs quite a bit better, making for a much better overall look.  What’s also much better overall is the figure’s coloring; the re-paint from Hasbro was very cold and neon, and that was quite off model, but this one’s colors are much closer to his on-screen colors.  While the core figures of the early Kenner run were fairly standard depictions, there were definitely some wonky accessories going on, and in Robin’s case, that’s a whole hang glider set-up, which also has, like, guns, or something?  That doesn’t seem very Batman-y, now does it?  Honestly, it’s not a terrible piece, though, and it’s unobtrusive, so it really doesn’t bug me.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like I said when I reviewed the Hasbro repaint, I kind of missed the main runs of these guys, so I didn’t have a chance to pick this guy up new.  What can I say, I was a newborn at the time, and my parents wouldn’t give me any spending money.  I got the Hasbro one, and I’ve honestly always kinda loved that one, so I didn’t *need* this one, but also I’m a sucker for a Dick Grayson figure I don’t own, so I did kind of want one for posterity’s sake.  He’s been on my list, but I wasn’t actively searching.  But, while I was on vacation with my family this summer, I swung by Yesterday’s Fun early in the trip and struck up a conversation with the woman who works the counter, and mentioned I’d probably be stopping in a few times while we were there.  On one of my return trips, she pulled a box of just priced Batman stuff that hadn’t gone out for me to look through, and this guy was there for a very reasonable price, so I really couldn’t refuse.  He’s neat.  I like the differences between the releases, and I won’t deny this one’s a bit better than the later one, even if I don’t have quite the same nostalgic tie to him.

#4100: La Lunatica

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LA LUNATICA

X-MEN 2099 (TOY BIZ)

“Before joining the X-Men, the fierce La Lunatica was a prisoner of the sinister Brimstone Love. A psychic vampire, La Lunatica feeds on the traumatic memories of others — memories she brings screaming back to life with the slightest touch. Tough as nails and super strong, La Lunatica has broken free of Brimstone’s control and aims to bring the curtain crashing down on his sadistic Theater of Pain.”

Hey, remember back nearer the beginning of the year, when I was taking a decent look at the world of X-Men 2099?  Well, let’s do that again!  While a lot of the team members had sort of a “hey, we slapped two words together and made a character out of it,” today’s focus takes a different approach: what if we just used regular words, but in Spanish?  Behold, La Lunatica.  She’s crazy.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Name certainly does a lot of implying, though.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

La Lunatica was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Men 2099 line.  She was originally shown as part of the Series 1 line-up, but was ultimately pushed back.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and she has 7 points of articulation.  While she was technically a new mold, La Lunatica was clearly reworked from Rogue, with whom she shares a general pose, articulation, and action feature set-up.  I don’t really feel like the uppercut feature really makes as much sense here, and it’s more awkward to use the right shoulder, what with her super large hair and all.  Her sculpt is kind of stiff and stilted, but I guess it looks pretty close to how she was depicted in the comics.  Certainly as close as the bulk of the rest of the line, so she fits right in.  There were two color set-ups for this figure, the first having a simple purple paint scheme for her outfit, and the second adding additional black sections to the costume, presumably to make the costume a little more modest for the purposes of a line ostensibly aimed at children?  Whatever the case, the variant with the black is generally less frequently appearing.  I do kind of like the additional contrast added by the extra black details, but as is so common with Toy Biz in this era, it just ignores the sculpt.  La Lunatica is packed with…like, I guess a sort of wrist mounted lacrosse stick thing, which she can use to “launch” her “energy ball” which looks more like a railway spike than a ball.  She’s also got an arm blade thing.  Cuz she’s crazy.  Maybe.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a La Lunatica figure as a kid, but I remember her being *everywhere* in comic shops and the like.  It kind of made me want to avoid her, for whatever reason.  I don’t know, maybe I just got sick of seeing her.  I ended up grabbing the standard version alongside most of the rest of the line, back in 2020, when I had the chance to snag them all loose.  The variant I actually just got quite recently, and I even bought her sealed, just to open.  I know.  Crazy.  Maybe.  She’s…fine.  Aggressively middle of the road.  There’s definitely some things that hold her back, and I don’t think she’s as fun as the rest of the line, but she’s not bad either.  She’s certainly still got that charm of the line.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0085: Kraven the Hunter

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

KRAVEN THE HUNTER

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (TOY BIZ)

I’ve been using this space here on Fridays to celebrate getting through the week a lot recently, and you know what, I’m really feeling that for this week in particular, because oh boy did it just keep going.  But I’m here at the end of it, and you guys are too, and that’s so very nice.  Good for us.  I’m using today’s Flashback Friday Figure Addendum to jump back into the Toy Biz Marvel well, because it brings me comfort and ease, and those are things I quite like having right now.  So, let’s jump in on return look at Kraven the Hunter!

Remember my review of Unmasked Spider-Man from just last week? Good, that means this intro can be a bit shorter. Like that figure, this one hails from ToyBiz’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series line from the 90s, and also comes from one of the boxed sets ToyBiz released exclusively through BJ’s Wholesalers. This time around, it’s Kraven the Hunter, one of the classic Spider-Man foes. He was a hunter looking for a more exciting hunt, which led to him fighting Spidey on numerous occasions and eventually joining the first incarnation of the Sinister Six. Let’s see how he turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kraven was released in the BJ’s exclusive Monster Mayhem set, which also included 5 other figures, all repaints. Kraven stands about 5 inches tall and has 9 points of articulation, which were both standard for the line. Kraven is 100% re-use, being a repaint of the main Spider-Man line’s own release of Kraven. The previous Kraven was based on his cartoon appearance, whereas this one seems to be more comic based. The biggest difference present is this figure’s leopard patterned pants in contrast to the previous figure’s black pants. The sculpt is a pretty good one, and is pretty in line with the classic Kraven design, so I can’t blame them for re-releasing it in a more comic accurate palate. The paint work is well applied and clean overall, and it appears to be a bit more detailed than the single release figure. Kraven included no accessories, which is a shame, because his hand is obviously molded to hold one.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I acquired this BJ’s exclusive at KB Toys. Yes, you read that right. Apparently, BJ’s would only actually hold on to these sets for a short while before selling them to KB for the rest of the distribution. Hey, it works for me. Anyway, I was on a trip to the beach, I think right before my brother was born, but I don’t recall for certain. My dad took me to the nearby KB and they had this set there. I had known about its existence, thanks to the internet, but I hadn’t seen it in person. I remember being pretty happy to get it, though it wasn’t really for Kraven. Still, he’s a decent figure, and does help bring back the memories of getting the set.

This is quite an early review for me, before I’d even made it to 200, and just outside the site’s first six months.  I can make a few quibbles stylistically, but for the most part, I had the formula of my reviews down pretty well at this point.  I will note that I didn’t actually talk too much about the figure’s sculpt, which is a shame, because it’s actually quite a nice one, with a lot of sharp, smaller detail work.  While most of the early Toy Biz Marvel figures were more comic than cartoon based, the Spider-Man line tended to lean more into actual cartoon accuracy in the sculpts.  That makes Kraven’s sculpt being so clearly a comics sculpt, not a show one, all the more notable, as well as the fact that the paint was haphazardly changed to match the cartoon for the single release.  It was evidently a late change, since this was the paint scheme shown on the back of the packaging of the original figure (which is part of why it was a good long while before I actually learned the two Kravens were different).  I did make a few factual errors in my original review, the first being that ‘’Monster Mayhem” was actually an eight figure set, not six, so there another seven figures that went along with him.  The second is that he actually *did* include an accessory.  While double checking the accessories of the single release, I realized I recognized the mold on his spear as the same as a random plastic spear I’d had in a parts bin next to my desk, but in a different color.  A quick double check revealed that, yes, this figure included the same spear as the single, but in black, rather than brown.  It’s quite a simple piece, and honestly doesn’t look or feel much like other Toy Biz accessories of the era, but at least it means he has something to hold.

#4099: Obi-Wan Kenobi – Cold Weather Gear

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OBI-WAN KENOBI — COLD WEATHER GEAR

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE JEDI (HASBRO)

“A Jedi must always be well equipped for any circumstance. Obi-Wan Kenobi, a loyal and disciplined Jedi, is often sent by the Jedi Council to resolve matters on worlds where the environment is very cold. He often must prepare for these missions by bringing special gear with him to handle the colder temperatures.”

With my review of IG-11 last week, I’ve once again exhausted my new Star Wars merch, so it’s time to go back to the retro stuff.  With my meager Episode I collection wrapped up, I’m moving onto that which follows, Power of the Jedi.  The diminishing returns of the Episode I line at retail led Hasbro to rework it into a more franchise comprehensive line, more in the mold of the just wrapped up Power of the Force.  In addition to putting out the handful of remaining Episode I toys, the new line offered up some Original Trilogy stuff, and also a handful of early stage concept figures from the Episode I production process.  A few of the heavy hitters got some variants this way, especially Obi-Wan, whose Cold Weather variant I’m looking at today.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Obi-Wan Kenobi — Cold Weather Gear was released during Star Wars: Power of the Jedi’s second year in 2001.  He’s one of two Obi-Wan concept variants from that year.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  Obi-Wan was sporting an all-new sculpt for his all-new cold weather gear design.  The gear design is pretty consistent with the other looks we’ve seen in Star Wars, bringing to mind the Hoth looks for sure.  The sculpt captures it well, with minimal pre-posing, and an extensive level of detailing that’s all pretty sharp.  The design’s a little limiting on the movement front, especially on the hips, but it’s not as bas as some.  The head sculpt is, to my eyes, the strongest McGregor likeness of the ’99-’01 run, generally just hitting the mark a bit better than the others.  It lacks the Padawan braid and the rat tail is pressed into the head, rather than sticking out, making him far less prone to breaking as well.  His color work brings to mind Han’s Hoth Gear, or the toy version at least, which is a decent set-up.  It’s always nice to see a little bit of blue on a Star Wars figure, especially in this era.  Obi-Wan was packed with a lightsaber, removable cap with goggles, and a survival pack.  The lightsaber is notably missing the black detailing on the hilt, which is a bit of a step down.  The paint on the visor of the goggles is also quite prone to rubbing off, due to the soft rubber construction, but it’s otherwise a very cool piece.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m fairly certain this was my first Power of the Jedi figure.  I’d seen a fair number of figures from the line, but I remember this guy showing up in ToyFare, and thinking he looked super cool, so I kept my eye out for him.  He was ultimately a comic book store purchase, if I recall, probably Comics to Astonish, which tended to have the best off the beaten path selection of newer Star Wars figures at the time.  I’ve always really liked this one, and time hasn’t really changed that.  He’s quite a fun variant.

#4098: Tarzan of Mars

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TARZAN OF MARS

TARZAN: EPIC ADVENTURES (TRENDMASTERS)

Way back in February, I took a look at Edgar Rice Burroughs’ first enduring pulp hero, John Carter.  But John’s not really his most famous creation.  That would be Tarzan, occasional lord of the jungle, occasional Disney property, and definitely the one of the two that gets the more prominent merchandise push. The John Carter figure I reviewed back in February was actually part of a line of Tarzan figures, and I’ve apparently not actually reviewed anything Tarzan here on the site, so I guess here’s a Tarzan, but of a more Mars-y variety than usual.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tarzan of Mars was released in Trendmasters’ Tarzan: Epic Adventures line in 1995.  He was, like the John Carter figure, released under the “Conqueror of Mars” subline, first in a two-pack alongside one of the Plantmen, and then in a few other configurations as the line progressed.  The figure stands (or, rather, much like John, crouches) 3 1/2 inches tall and he has 3 points of articulation.  Articulation is just at the neck and shoulders, but he’s at least got slightly better range than John.  His sculpt is mostly unique.  The head is shared with all the smaller Tarzans, but otherwise he’s new.  It’s an interesting design, not based on anything specific that I know of.  It’s certainly got quite a Warlord vibe to it, which isn’t a terrible vibe to give a Mars-themed Tarzan.  The posing is quite intense, and like John, the resulting proportions are certainly a bit odd.  The arms in particular are a lot longer than they should be, and also I don’t think they’re the same length.  Tarzan is screaming, which definitely makes more sense for him than it did for John, so I can dig it.  Tarzan’s color work sports a nice selection of differing colors, to keep him visually interesting, while also staying true to most depictions of the character.  His skin tone is notably a little different from John, which feels appropriate.  Tarzan was packed with a helmet, spear, and knife.  The helmet is by far the coolest piece, but all of them are pretty neat extras.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this line came out, my Dad was set on getting a full run of the Barsoom related characters, which also included the various alien races.  Since Tarzan was packed with on of those, he bought the whole set, and gave me, a kid far more invested in Tarzan than anyone else in the line, the Tarzan, making this my first Tarzan action figure, albeit a slightly non-standard one.  He’s goofy, but I still really dig him, and he remains my favorite Tarzan figure in my collection.

#4097: Night Hunter Robin

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NIGHT HUNTER ROBIN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

Okay, we’re gonna do this Batman & Robin thing.  One.  More.  Time.  For now, at least, because this effectively wraps up what remains of my childhood collection, such as it is in reviewing condition.  Might change later, I guess, because who knows?  So, let’s cap things off with a Robin figure, since that’s how I started these reviews in the first place, some six years and some change ago.  This time, he’s red, for…reasons.  Anyway, here’s Night Hunter Robin.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Night Hunter Robin was released in 1997 as part of Kenner’s Batman & Robin tie-in line.  He was one-half of one of the two-packs they did early in the run (the other half being Poison Ivy), which largely seemed to exist to pump out some extra variants of the main cast relatively quickly.  In the case of this one, he’s at his core not super removed from the basic Robin design for the movie, albeit colored rather differently.  Exactly why that made him “Night Hunter” is sort of lost on me, but maybe they just though it sounded cool.  It does sound cool.  It sounds like perhaps the coolest descriptor a Batman-themed figure could get.  Sounds like the sort of descriptor that could, I don’t know, pull someone in to a whole lifetime of action figure collecting if they weren’t careful.  It also shows that the rather “grab some common descriptor words out of a hat” approach can lead to some doubling up, even when it’s seemingly unintended.  The figure stands just under 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  His sculpt is…well it’s really, really similar to the Iceboard Robin sculpt, but it’s not the same.  It’s not different in any ways that actually really matter, mind you.  The posing on his right arm is *slightly* less bent, and his pelvis is *slightly* wider, and the placement of the peg holes for his cape are *slightly* different.  If you didn’t have the two figures right next to each other, you could be forgiven for not actually knowing the molds were different.  In that regard, it’s a good sculpt, just like Iceboard was, so that’s pretty nice.  The main change-up here is the coloring.  The two packs really liked having at least one of the included figures be chromed, and that was Robin.  He’s predominantly a chromed red, which, as you can see on my figure, it’s quite prone to flaking over time.  The sections that were red on his main costume are now a very shiny black, which is a good contrast.  The rest of his coloring, like the mold, is different from the standard in very slight, very easily missed ways, but they’re there.  Night Hunter Robin was packed with a sort of missile/batarang/crossbow looking thing, which went over his arm.  It’s missing from mine, but I can’t say I really feel like I *need* it, so that’s okay.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m writing this review on the eve of my 34th birthday, which I suppose is appropriate, because he’s one of the many Batman & Robin figures I got on my 5th birthday, back in ’97.  In contrast to the others, this one I very specifically asked for.  I don’t really know why, but I remember I *really* wanted the two-pack, pretty much exclusively for this Robin figure.  I recall losing all but his cape for a very long while, but if I recall correctly, he turned back up during “The Find,” my big excavation of missing figures and parts at my parents’ house from just before I moved out of state back in 2016.  He’s a bit worse for wear, but I do still quite like him, and I do get something of a giggle out of him sharing a descriptor with my original Batman, a fact that escaped me until I sat down to write this very review. 

#4096: Tigra

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

TIGRA

MARVEL HALL OF FAME (TOY BIZ)

“Blasting out of the Marvel Universe are its most powerful heroines, the She-Force! Joining together to fight evil are mutants Marvel Girl, Wolfsbane and Dazzler along with Avengers Tigra and Ms. Marvel. Challenging the threat of the Brotherhood of evil Mutants, the She-Force has what it takes to get the job done. Using their combined abilities, the She-Force takes down the Brotherhood in one explosive battle!”

We started off this month’s theme of Toy Biz Marvel reviews with a feral heroine (who is *not* Feral, mind you), so why not finish them off that way as well, with this month’s singe non-X related Toy Biz review.  Today’s focus, the Avenger Tigra made her figure debut with today’s review focus, though she wound up with a rather quick follow-up to it, all things considered.  But, that’s later on, and also in the past (since I’ve already reviewed it), so let’s keep the focus on this specific figure.  Oh yeah, here’s Tigra!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Tigra was released in Series 6 of the Puzzle Zoo-exclusive Marvel Hall of Fame line, the second of the three “She-Force” branded line-ups.  She’s the last one I’m looking at from this particular set, which is notably in stark contrast to what I said when I reviewed Marvel Girl last week…yeah, I made a bit of a oopsie there.  Sorry about that guys.  I’d say it won’t happen again, but the rigors of a daily review site mean it *probably* will, so we’ll just deal with it as we can.  Anyway, here’s this Tigra figure.  She stands 5 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  She’s an almost complete parts-reuse of the Spider-Man line’s Black Cat figure, albeit it ever so slightly modified to add a tail to the back.  Honestly, it’s a pretty inspired choice.  Apart from the fact that she’s good boots, rather than bare feet, there’s not really any issues getting the details to match up pretty well with Tigra’s usual comics appearances.  The sculpt is a little bit stiff and pre-posed, and there’s admittedly not a lot to be done with the articulation, but at least she can just sort of stand there, I guess?  Well, slight asterisk on the standing, since that’s definitely something this mold was never very good at.  Thankfully, though, she’s got peg holes in the feet, so you can supply your own stand, if need be.  In terms of color work, she’s actually pretty great.  It’s interesting, because Hasbro had a bit of trouble getting her shade of orange right, but Toy Biz pretty much got it right out of the gate.  Otherwise, the color layout and the patterning of the stripes is pretty impressive, and there’s some nice accenting on the darker sections of her fur.  Tigra is packed with a recolored version of Lady Deathstrike’s big claw thing, which is now black.  It was an odd extra for Deathstrike, and it’s even odder for Tigra, but also it’s really not all that out there for the average “She-Force” accessory.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I had the United They Stand Tigra, which at the time fulfilled my Tigre-related figure needs.  That one’s not bad, but she’s admittedly a bit more queued into the show design, making her slightly more limited in her applications.  This one’s been on my radar for a bit, but doesn’t turn up as often as some of the others from the set, I’ve found.  Back in June, I took a trip down to South Carolina for a memorial service for Jess, and I got to swing by our old comic shop in the area, Power Comics, who still had a really nice selection of Toy Biz figures, so I got to snag a few I was missing, including Tigra here.  She’s not much for posing, but she certainly looks the part, which puts her a bit ahead of a number of the Toy Biz repaint figures.  Honestly, not a bad figure.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0084: Batgirl

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , ,

BATGIRL

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

Greetings and welcome to the end of the week. We’ve done it once more, and I continue to be proud of us for making it here.  We did it again, guys!  We’re back with following up on some Batman & Robin stuff, because why not, I guess? So, here’s a second look at Batgirl!

“Gotham City becomes a very cold place when Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane triple team to plot the icy demise of Batman and Robin. The crimefighters respond immediately by using the Batcomputer deep within the Batcave to develop an array of cutting-edge weapons that can be used in their battle against this multitude of fiendish foes. Discover the Secrets of the Batcave! – secret technology that gives Batman , Robin and Batgirl the ultimate ability to save Gotham City!”

Back in April, I jumped into the Batman & Robin line with a look at the “& Robin” portion of the film.  Today, I look at the central character who doesn’t get named at all.  I mean, seriously, isn’t it a little odd that the film where you explicitly call out Batman and Robin as your title characters is the one where you add in Batgirl as your third protagonist?  Isn’t that a little weird?  I think it’s a little weird.  Look at me, armchair quarterbacking a movie from 1997.  That’s a real good use of my time, right?  Yeah…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batgirl was released in the first wave of Batman & Robin product from Kenner, hitting shelves in 1997 to tie-in with the film.  Unlike the various Batmen and Robins, she didn’t get any sort of adjective in front of her name; she’s simply “Batgirl.”  Man, no goofy Kenner name is just a bummer.  Did they even try with Batgirl in this thing?  Oh, right, I’ve seen the movie: the answer is “no.”  The figure stands 4 3/4 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  So, right off the bat (heh), let’s address the inaccuracies of the figure.  As I brought up in my Robin review, the whole Batman & Robin process was quite expedited, so the figures were working from early costume designs.  In Robin’s case, that was all well and good, because he kept his design, but in Batgirl’s case, that means she’s a bit off from her film appearance.  The big change is the full cowl in place of the domino mask she was sporting in the final product.  It’s not a particularly attractive design, at least as implemented on the figure.  She’s also got the wrong version of the bat symbol, and is missing a lot of the ribbing and such that ran throughout the body suit, making for a much more basic looking design.  There is also a removable cape, which actually is a pretty decently designed piece. Her paintwork is fairly basic stuff.  She’s rather monochromatic, but that’s honestly a bit more faithful to the film than most of the color schemes to come out of this movie.  Batgirl was packed with a “Battle Blade Blaster” and “Strike Scythe,” which are the weird green and black things.  They don’t correlate to anything in the movie, but they certainly exist, now don’t they?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I mentioned in my Robin review, Batman & Robin was the first Batman movie I saw in theaters, and despite its lackluster quality, five-year-old me really enjoyed it.  Being the big thing of the summer, a whole bunch of the tie-in figures wound up as birthday presents for me that year, including Batgirl here.  She’s not necessarily one of my favorites, and that was the case even as a kid.  She really only served as my Batgirl until the Animated figure found its way into my collection and replaced her.  She’s okay, I guess, and like the rest of the line, honestly better than the movie that spawned her.

This review is another pandemic shutdown review, written almost two months before it ultimately published.  I originally had it slotted with a different number and a publish date a month earlier, but it got bumped off the schedule to make way for the Siege Ultra Magnus Spoiler pack, which I was eager to get out quickly, I guess.  The mystery of it excited me.  The actual review here is pretty good, I think.  The shut down stuff definitely gave me some time to work on my craft, and I still think these are some of my best reviews.  I was missing her “Strike Scythe” at the time, but it turned up in the six years that have followed, so here’s an updated photo.

#4095: IG-11 — Nevarro Marshall

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

IG-11 — NEVARRO MARSHALL

STAR WARS: THE BLACK SERIES (HASBRO)

“The blasted fragments of the assassin droid hero undergo a complete rebuild and reprogramming, including the addition of marshal stripes that denote IG-11 as Nevarro’s new protector.”

Two Star Wars: The Black Series Reviews? In the same quarter? Is that legal?  Well, yeah.  But is it ethical? That’s a far more complex issue.  So, it would seem I’ve exhausted my admittedly kind of small Episode I collection, which means it’s time to move onto the next thing.  But, before I do another retro dive, I happen to have a new Star Wars figure, so why not give that a bit of focus?  With the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu, the whole Mandalorian side of the franchise is getting a little bit more focus from the toys, mostly based on the movie, but with a few non-movie ones as well.  The Mandalorian’s third season was kind of sparse on its own toy coverage at the time of release, but there’s been some filling in since then, and we’ve finally gotten my most anticipated figure from the season, the rebuilt IG-11 as Marshall of Nevarro!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

IG-11 — Navarro Marshall is figure 46 in the Mandalorian sub-line of Phase IV of Star Wars: The Black Series.  He’s hitting alongside the second batch of Mandalorian & Grogu product, and is the only show-based figure in the bunch.  There was a white-boxed “First Edition” release to kick things off, followed quite closely by the standard release.  As the name implies, the figure is based on IG-11’s slightly modified appearance from the end of Season 3’s last episode.  The figure stands 7 1/4 inches tall and he has 30 points of articulation.  While the last two IG-11s re-used the quite inaccurate IG-88 mold, this time around, he’s making liberal re-use of the brand-new parts introduced with the deluxe IG-12 in 2024.  The 12 parts were far better scaled and just more screen accurate then the 88 mold, so it’s a much better starting point, for sure.  This release gets a new torso, to showcase his proper droid-ness, as opposed to the remote control compartment of 12.  While I won’t deny it looks the part, I was disappointed by the removal of the built-in hinge joint used on the original IG-88 mold.  It gave him a lot more posing options, and this figure is a lot stiffer by comparison.  It does otherwise look very nice, though, and the detailing is all quite sharp.  He also gets a new belt add-on piece, complete with holster, as seen in the show.  IG-12’s color work was rather on the basic side, and while Marshall IG-11 isn’t quite back to the level of his original release in terms of accenting, he’s at least a bit of an improvement over 12.  In particular, his silver is a more consistent and more proper metallic finish, as opposed to the swirly, kind of translucent shade of the IG-12.  He also gets all of the fancy, eye-catching Marshal stripes, which gives him a nice splash of color, and his paint application is notably pretty clean.  IG-11 is packed with his blaster pistol, which fits in his holster.  You can sort of get him to hold it in one of the hands, but it’s really tricky, and doesn’t stay well, so it’s not super advisable.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve been anticipating this figure pretty much since the show appearance, but especially since IG-12’s release, since I figured Hasbro would be eager to re-use the molds.  I believe I said at the end of the IG-12 mold that I’d kill for this figure, though I did re-negotiate a bit on it before the end.  I did say I’d pay good money for it, which I did, in fact, do.  12 was cool, but he was really always just a place-holder for this guy.  He took a bit longer to get here than I expected, but I’m glad he’s here.  Issues with the torso articulation aside, I really quite like this mold, and I’d still definitely buy at least an IG-88 built from these parts.

#4094: Combat Ready Roboto

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , ,

COMBAT READY ROBOTO

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (MATTEL)

Back in May, two weeks before the Masters of the Universe movie hit theaters, I looked at the Mekaneck figure from its tie-in line and joked about how the film was already being labeled a “bomb” despite, you know, not being out yet.  Well, came out and…I mean, yeah, it didn’t do great at the box office. It does sort of feel like it’s one of those “repeat it enough times and it becomes the truth” sort of deals, if I’m honest, where the discussion of it “bombing” well in advance of its actual release did sort of drive some people away, but what do I know.  Well, I know that despite it’s box office performance, they’ve already greenlit a sequel.  I also know that I saw the movie in the theatre and immensely enjoyed it, having pretty much no notes.  I have no notes about a movie with Jared Leto in it.  That’s astounding.  I mean, okay, if I had one note, it would be “don’t bring back Jared Leto for the sequel” because I think part of the success is that he could have been replaced by literally anyone, but I’m getting distracted and off topic here.  As I’ve discussed before, my rule when it comes to most MotU collecting is sticking to the same batch of characters.  Obviously, I already got Mekaneck, but one of my other favorites, Roboto, who is voiced in the movie by Kristen Wiig, was also included, so I kinda had to get her

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Combat Ready Roboto is from the second deluxe series of the Masters of the Universe movie tie-in line, which hit right before the film’s release in May.  Given Roboto’s more sizable role in the movie, her early inclusion in the line certainly makes sense.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and she has 18 points of articulation.  Due to the nature of the figure’s action feature, Roboto’s left arm isn’t *really* articulated, so I’m not counting any of it’s “movement” in that number.  Roboto is scaled in such a way that she’s notably taller than the main figures, but not quite as much taller as she should be.  It’s not uncommon in these sorts of lines, and for the style, I think it works well enough, but she should technically be at least another inch or so taller for accurate scaling.  What articulation is present is all pretty solid, and an improvement on even the already pretty great standard set-up that Mekaneck got.  The ankle joints in particular prove quite useful in keeping the figure balanced.  The sculpt does a respectable job of recreating Roboto’s movie design.  Roboto’s been prone to some adjustments of design over the years, and the film takes that a bit further, with a more modernized approach to the look, which essentially rebuilds her from the ground up.  That said, there’s enough common design elements to tie her back into the vintage look, meaning she still looks like conceivably the same character.  In terms of actual sculpt quality, some of the technical details are perhaps a bit soft, but she’s generally solid for the scale and style.  As noted above, the left arm, which is in cannon mode, is tied into the “Combat Ready” action feature.  Twisting her waist raises the arm upward at the shoulder, and opens up the cannon…a little bit.  It’s honestly not a terribly impressive feature, and it gets kind of easily lost in all the other details.  It’s also a shame that you can’t move the shoulder at all independent of the feature, and there’s no way to lock the feature in place, so she’ll always just have her arm down by her side when idly posed.  Roboto’s color work is generally basic, but covers all of the necessary details, with no real omissions.  I guess there could be some more accenting or smaller detailing, but all the important stuff is there.  The best work is definitely on the head, and I also really like the clear chest plate piece.  

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I almost broke for Roboto when I ordered Mekaneck, but the two weren’t in stock at the same time, so I held off.  But, I had some other stuff I wanted, and needed to pad out an order to get free shipping, so I found myself in a situation where I’d literally be paying more not to get her, and how could I resist at that point?  I actually hadn’t yet seen the movie when I ordered her, but by the time she arrived I had, and I was all the more happy to have snagged her.  While she’s a bit more finicky than Mekaneck, she’s still a lot of fun, and I’m really enjoying Mattel doing the whole actually fun toys bit again.  That’s a neat change of pace.  And now I wait to see if they do a movie figure of a certain mid-credits appearing character I’d quite like to own.