#4017: The Creeper

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

THE CREEPER

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES (KENNER)

You know, I can’t believe this, but going back to double-check some numbers, I realized that this will be the third time I’ve talked about the Creeper here on the site, which feels like a really high number.  Sure, I like the Creeper fine, but three times?  When he’s only got six figures total?  Weird.  Am I gonna have to track down those other three Creepers now?  No, I really can’t.  I can’t do it, guys.  Right, so today, I’m looking back at the Creeper, a very rare instance of Steve Ditko (of Spider-Man and Doctor Strange fame) creating a character for DC outright, rather than creating it for someone else and then just having them purchase it later.  Originally, he had no notable ties to any other major DC heroes, but in the ‘90s, he inexplicably showed up in The New Batman Adventures, getting his own focus episode “Beware the Creeper,” which re-worked his origin story to include Batman and the Joker.  And he also got his first action figure* that way!  Yay!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Creeper was released as part of Kenner’s The New Batman Adventures tie-in line, hitting with the second push of product in 1998.  He was one of two notable “new” figures, the other being Bruce Wayne.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He had an all-new sculpt, based on his design from the show.  In terms of accuracy, this one’s pretty good.  I mean, in general, TNBA’s tie-in figures were more on-model than earlier Kenner offerings, but Creeper in particular sticks very close to his animated counterpart.  While he’s still doing the line’s general “just standing there” posing, he’s got a lot of character in his stance, with crazed hands, and a notable hunch, which his neck extended forward.  His head sculpt matches well with the character’s on-screen likeness, translating his pretty nicely into three dimensions.  His signature boa is a separate piece here, which is sort of an odd choice, but to their credit, it’s molded to his torso in such a way that it actually stays in place pretty well.  His paint work is generally very basic, but it does well.  Mine’s taken a bit of wear over the years, but not tremendously so, so he ultimately looks pretty good even now.  It’s interesting that his hair is black, rather than having any sort of green to it, but that’s the approach they took with this line’s Joker as well, so it’s not too out there.  Creeper was packed with a television camera, referencing Jack Ryder’s role as a reporter on the show.  The plate on the back can be slid to show Jack, or flipped over to reveal Creeper.  The whole thing also turns into a bit cannon of some sort, because why not?  I do quite like that the missile is designed to resemble a microphone.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I saw this figure a great many times when he was new, and did *not* buy him…largely because I was really looking for that Bruce Wayne, who was more desirable at the time, meaning every store had not Bruce, and a whole peg of Creeper.  I caught his episode of the show after he’d disappeared from retail, so when I wanted one, I had to get a little help from Cosmic Comix.  He’s easily one of the best figures from this line.  He’s on model, he’s unique, and he’s got a gimmicky accessory that’s on brand and also not intrusive, which is all super cool.

*Though it almost wasn’t his first; Creeper was on the shortlist of figures had Kenner’s Super Powers continued in the ‘80s, and would have made his debut there.

#4016: Metalhead

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

METALHEAD

X-MEN 2099 (TOY BIZ)

“Powerhouse member of the outlaw mutant group the X-Men, Metalhead uses his power to absorb the properties of any metal he touches in fierce battles as he and his teammates rebel against corporate control. Recently, Metalhead has morphed into a larger, more monstrous version of his original self, and is currently trapped in an alloyed state possessing at once different properties of the many metals he’s absorbed.”

So, there’s this guy, he’s a mutant, and he’s a member of the X-Men, but not the original X-Men, a later iteration of the team, and he turns into metal, and then at one point, he gets locked into his metal state, and he can’t turn back, and it causes him all sorts of angst.  But, I’m not talking about Colossus today!  No, I’m talking about the *other* guy with that backstory, Metalhead.  He’s totally different!  He lives in the year 2099!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metalhead is part of the first series of Toy Biz’s X-Men 2099 line.  He’s well placed, as a main member of the team, who got quite a bit of focus in the book’s run.  This is his second, post monstrous transformation look, which is admittedly the slightly more distinctive of the two.  The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  He’s definitely more restricted on the movement, lacking elbows, knees, or even a neck joint.  He does at least get a swivel at the waist, so, you know, he can turn…sort of.  Metalhead’s sculpt was new to him, and remained unique through the Toy Biz run.  It’s big and its bulky, and it’s got some heft to it, so he stands out well from the rest of the line (apart from Brimstone, who’s also big and bulky, I suppose).  He’s rather cartoony and a bit silly, but again feels like he’s a respectable recreation of Ron Frenz’s artwork from the book.  There’s a rather obvious lever on his back, which moves his arms up and down, all crazy action feature like.  Metalhead’s color work is pretty solid.  The base colors match the comics, and the transition from gold to silver on his skin tone is quite nicely handled.  There’s a bit of slop on some of the other spots, especially those silver bands on his legs, but overall not too shabby.  Metalhead is packed with an absurdly large gun thing, which fits very tightly into his left hand.  It splits apart in the middle, for, umm, reasons?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve brought up before, the only X-Men 2099 figure I had as a kid was Meanstreak.  I got pretty much everyone else from a big lot of loose Toy Biz figures that came into work five or so years ago.  While last week’s Brimstone Love was complete, Metalhead here was missing the front half of his gun.  That was it.  How embarrassing.  I had to buy a whole extra Metalhead just for the front of his gun.  Honestly, though, it’s not so bad.  While he’s not exceedingly posable, he’s certainly got a neat presence, and he’s fun to mess around with.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0066: Wolverine

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

WOLVERINE

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

It’s Friday!  We have once more made it to the end of the week!  Oh boy, that was rough, huh?  Well, let’s jump into another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum.  Once more, we’re looking into the world of Toy Biz, with a second look at Wolverine!

“When it comes to fighting Evil Mutants, the X-Men know there’s no one better than Wolverine! With his razor-sharp adamantium claws, his lightning-quick reflexes and his unmatched combat experience, Wolverine can outfight anyone! Thanks to his super-fast mutant healing ability, in just a few short hours he’s totally healthy and ready for action again, no matter how serious his wounds!”

Would you believe there was a time when a Wolverine figure was an exciting and new thing? I know, that’s a bit hard to grasp. But, until Mattel’s Secret Wars line, there were no Wolverine figures at all. And that one wasn’t even all that good! He’d have to wait until 1992 for a second go, courtesy of Toy Biz’s then-newly-launched X-Men line. He would be the first of very, very many.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Wolverine was released in Series 1 of the X-Men line. He was actually unique amongst the 5-inch X-Men figures for being in Wolverine’s brown costume. It was still his current look when these figures hit (which is more than could be said for a number of his Series 1 compatriots), but it was quickly replaced by the returning tiger-stripe design, which would be the main focus for a good decade. The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall (making it one of Toy Biz’s few offerings to truly stick to Wolverine’s proper stature) and he has 7 points of articulation. His sculpt was new to him, and remained unique for all of Toy Biz’s run. It’s a pretty decent one for the time. While it doesn’t quite eclipse the likes of Magneto and Nightcrawler, it’s still really quite good. The build of the body is probably the strongest aspect; Wolverine figures tend to overlook his distinctive stature, so this one getting it down so well is certainly notable. The head’s not quite as strong. This was really the first time that Logan’s hair was translated into three dimensions, so they were still sorting it all out. It ends up looking a little goofy and sort of impossible, but it’s not terrible. Wolverine’s paintwork is reasonable, though not anything outstanding. The base colors are all pretty decent recreations of the comics look, and he’s rather eye-catching. There’s some unevenness with the lines in a few spots, especially on the torso. Wolverine was packed with his mask, which works surprisingly well for the scale, as well as a katana. He was also the first Wolverine to feature the popping claw action, which allowed him to simulate Wolverine’s signature “snikt” move. It robs his arms of any elbow movement, and the claws are required to be rather small to facilitate. That said, it works reasonably well, and is certainly fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was too young to get Wolverine new, and he wasn’t one that was prone to showing up later on. Fortunately, Cosmic Comix had me covered there, and I got this guy not too long after getting into collecting. He’s actually not a bad figure, and despite the sort of odd removable mask, it was one of the better Wolverines from the line.

This was written in the summer of 2018, and, if I’m honest, I remember very little about writing it.  Looking at the reviews around it, I think I probably wrote either during or immediately before my family vacation that year, so I might have had my mind on other things.  It was also the year of Infinity War, and the onslaught of Marvel product that accompanied it, so I might have even been a little burned out.  I think I did alright by him in the writing, though.  The only thing missing when I reviewed him was his katana, which I’ve since found, so aha, here it is!  He can’t hold it especially well, but I guess it’s still cool.

#4015: Cruisemissile Trooper

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

CRUISEMISSILE TROOPER

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Can you believe there was a time when a toymaker felt that there weren’t enough characters and concepts in the Star Wars movies to keep a toyline going, and decided to introduce their own?  Well, okay, there were actually a couple of times.  During the vintage run, Kenner had come up with some in-house creations, notably the “mini rigs”, which were smaller scale vehicles, and they had even proposed a continuation of line post-Jedi that would have used new concepts.  By the ‘90s, though, things were more locked down…apart from one particularly odd-ball item, dubbed the Cruisemissile Trooper.  Based on nothing seen in the films or any other official material, the Cruisemissile Trooper is nevertheless the modern line’s first Expanded Universe offering…such as it is.  But what is it?  Well, let’s explore that.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Cruisemissile Trooper was released under the Power of the Force II banner in 1997, officially as part of the vehicles line-up, though exactly how he’s classified can be a bit touchy.  It’s a vehicle, for sure, but there’s also a figure worked into it, and he’s not actually removable.  Also, the name very much suggests that the Trooper himself is the main focus, with the actual ship not getting its own name proper.  Whatever its distinctions, the whole contraption measures just over 10 inches long, has 4 points of articulation (where hinged flaps can fold out) and a sliding plate to reveal the Trooper’s head.  The actual Trooper is scaled to match the 3 3/4 inch figures of the main line (albeit only being an upper half; there aren’t actually any legs in there), and has a proper neck joint, as well as joints on the shoulders that move, but are too loose to hold an actual pose.  The figure’s sculpt is clearly patterned on the basic TIE Pilot sculpt, though he’s been modified to work better within the context of the Cruisemissile set-up.  Said set-up is a big, flat, pointy, arrowhead shaped thing that wraps all around the figure.  It looks a bit like a Star Destroyer got ‘90s-ized…which I suppose is fairly accurate.  There’s a lot of panelling and grates.  I don’t know that it *quite* lands the Imperial aesthetic, but it wouldn’t look entirely out of place with prequel era offerings.  You can fold out the back to reveal a pair of missile launchers, while the front flaps fold out from underneath to form wings.  Pushing back the slide towards the back pulls back the “hood”, allowing the spring-loaded trooper to pop his head up.  This was a gimmick that Kenner was fond of in ’97, offering a similarly-styled set of vehicles in their Batman & Robin tie-in line.  Color-wise, the vehicle is a lot of grey and silver, with some red thrown in for a bit of pop.  There were a fair number of decals, which kept it consistent in styling with the other vehicles of the time.  The Trooper is painted, albeit very basically, and is mostly white, which is a good contrast from the TIE Pilots.  The set included two missiles, but no other extras to speak of.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have a Cruisemissile Trooper as a kid.  I think I recall one of my friends having one?  I definitely had the equivalent Robin vehicle from the Batman & Robin line, so I was familiar with the concept, prior to tracking one of these down as an adult.  I say “tracking one down,” but in actuality, it’s one of those items that just landed in front of me at the right time.  I don’t know entirely what I think of it. It’s such a goofy idea, and it’s kind of unclear what it’s supposed to be, or how it ties into anything else.  It feels like they started with the gimmick and worked their way backwards, and never quite found their footing.  Not having any sort of follow-up to it doesn’t help, I suppose.  It’s just this one-off piece, a remnant of a direction the line *could* have gone, but didn’t, a lot like the early deluxe figures from the line.  I can’t say it’s not a fun toy, and I certainly found myself fiddling with it a lot during my review process, which isn’t a bad sign.  It’s just…odd.  I’ll take odd over boring, though.

#4014: Captain Nathan Hale Bridger

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

CAPTAIN NATHAN HALE BRIDGER

SEAQUEST DSV (PLAYMATES)

“Name: Nathan Hale Bridger

Rank: Captain

Assignment: seaQuest DSV 4600

UEO Military ID#: AI147-5024-TS9

Security Access: Indefinite

Date of Birth: November 10, 1963

Character Profile: Passionate, decisive leader. Extremely intelligent and inquisitive. Diplomatic and open minded. Dedicated to maintaining peace. Advanced degrees in geology and biology. Driven by great love for the sea and its exploration.

Personal History: Original lead designer on NORPAC Confederation’s Project seaQuest, 2007. Death of only son during military combat led to resignation of commission, 2010. Took refuge on isolated Caribbean island to pursue marine research. With rescued bottlenose dolphin, Darwin, pioneered method of rudimentary communication between humans and dolphins using hand signals. Close relationship developed. Assumed command of refitted seaQuest at request of Admiral Noyce, 2018.

Mission Specialty: Responsible for acting as intermediary, balancing concerns of Commander Ford’s Navy personnel and Dr. Westphelan’s scientific crew aboard seaQuest.”

Nine years ago, I brought up a thing I don’t often discuss around here: the ‘90s!  Okay, not that, but it *is* something *from* the ‘90s, namely SeaQuest DSV, the Amblin-produced sci-fi series that had a really great debut season, and then also two more seasons after that.  There was a lot of push behind the show at the start, including, amongst other things, a line of figures from Playmates, who were in the thick of handling the Star Trek license at the time.  The covered the majority of the show’s cast, including its lead, Captain Nathan Bridger, portrayed by veteran actor Roy Scheider.  Let’s take a look at that figure today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Captain Nathan Hale Bridger was released in the first and only series of Playmates’ SeaQuest DSV tie-in line in 1993.  As the show’s star, his presence was kind of a guarantee.  Notably, this marked Scheider’s first time as an action figure (and his last time too; NECA solicited one for their Jaws line, but his estate pulled the rights before release), which was pretty cool.  The figure stands just shy of 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  The SeaQuest figures had an articulation scheme similar to Playmates’ Trek line, but tweaked to actually be a bit better.  They get proper t-hips, rather than the somewhat pointless v-hips, and also had thigh swivels (which Trek only had on the larger First Contact figures).  It means that Bridger gets a rather impressive movement scheme, should you wish to go all action oriented with him.  Bridger’s sculpt was totally unique to him.  Like with the articulation, Playmates was clearly aiming to keep these figures in line with their Trek stuff stylistically.  They’re the same style, but, again like the articulation, they seem a bit improved.  The detailing’s a little sharper, and the uniform has less areas of smooth coverage, and the internal proportions are a little better, with the head in particular being smaller relative to the body than the Trek figures tended to be.  There’s a lot of nice character specific elements on his uniform, like Bridger’s slightly more casual layout, with rolled up sleeves and a more zipped down collar.  The main selling paint is the head sculpt, which is honestly a pretty respectable likeness of Scheider, so you can pretty clearly tell who he’s supposed to be without much of a hint.  Apparently, though, Scheider didn’t feel the same, and went back and forth with Playmates and their factories regarding the exact nature of it, which is rumored to have played a part in the short-lived nature of the line.  The paint work on this figure is pretty good.  Generally, it’s pretty basic application, especially on the head.  The uniform gets some pretty impressive work on all the markings and insignias, though, and ultimately the only detail missing his his name on the front of the uniform.  Bridger was packed with a Stun Gun, PAL (Personal Audio Link), SeaPoc computer, mammal vo-corder, away team launcher with undersea spelunking hook, and display stand.  It’s a pretty nice selection of standard issue stuff, for the most part.  The launcher and spelunking hook are definitely goofy and gimmicky, but they’re also totally removed from the main figure, so they don’t really ruin anything.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I missed SeaQuest and its tie-in figures in their initial run (being under two at the time), but came around pretty quickly, thanks to the show’s consistent re-runs on the Sci-Fi Channel, and the fact that my dad had a full set of the figures.  Bridger’s not my *first* figure from the line, but he’s a very early one,  purchased for my by my dad, some time in the late ‘90s.  He mostly got mixed in with my Trek figures (especially the Cadet Data, given the similar uniform set-ups), which got him some decent play when I was a kid (which resulted in the bald spot my figure’s got on the back of his head).  He’s really not a bad figure, and showed that Playmates was very much throwing their all behind what was an unproven property.  It’s a shame it didn’t pan out, but he’s a nice figure.

#4013: Metallo

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

METALLO

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (KENNER)

Early in the production of Batman: The Animated Series, the producers realized that, if they intended for the show to have a long run, they’d need to rely on a deeper stable of foes than just the heavy hitters from Batman’s rogues gallery.  To help with this, they put effort into rebuilding some of the more obscure characters into antagonists of depth equal to their more popular counterparts (with their revamp of Mr. Freeze serving as perhaps the most successful case of this).  When the same team moved onto Superman: The Animated Series, they took a similar approach to Superman’s rogues.  One of the beneficiaries was Metallo, who was granted a new design and a revamped and more streamlined origin story, resulting in a fan-favorite, who also got an action figure along the way.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Metallo was released in Series 4 of Kenner’s Superman: The Animated Series line.  As with the rest of the assortment, his domestic release was handled by Diamond Distributors, as US retailers had bailed on the line after Series 2.  He was re-released with a slight paint tweak as part of a four-pack, which also included Supergirl and Bizarro from the same assortment.  The figure seen here is the original single release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He’s got the standard movement for the line, which is the usual Kenner 5 POA, plus a waist swivel.  Metallo’s sculpt was all-new to him, and would remain unique, apart from the previously mentioned boxed set version.  It’s generally a pretty good one.  The STAS figures were all a slight departure from the show designs, but Metallo sticks closer than most.  His legs are maybe a little bulky, but that’s really it.  Otherwise, he recreates the show’s updated design for the character nicely.  The strongest parts are the exposed portions of his robotic skeleton, which sticks very close to the animation model.  The human portion of the head is a little more detailed than the animation model, but feels consistent with the character, enough that it’s pretty clearly the same guy.  The rest of the sculpt is clean and basic, which is what it needs to be.  His chest features the cavity that holds his Kryptonite heart; the cover is on a hinge, and pushing the button on his back pushes the heart forward, making it “beat” and opening the cover to reveal it.  It’s not quite the way it works on the show, but it’s a cool enough gimmick to feel worth it.  Metallo’s paint work is generally on point.  The general color work is basic, but matches his coloring from the show well.  The robotic side gets some really nice accenting, with the only small slip-up being that they didn’t paint the remnant of his shirt cuff the correct tan color.  Otherwise, it looks really cool.  Metallo was packed with a somewhat goofy hover bike thing, which also doubles as a really big shoulder cannon thing.  Either way, it’s got a missile that it can launch, which is silly, but fun.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As a kid, I remember how hard this assortment was to get, Metallo especially.  A friend of my parents had a display in his house with all of his DCAU figures, and Metallo was one of them, and one that I was always particularly fascinated by.  At some point, my dad took note of this fascination, and tracked one down on eBay, and thus I had my own Metallo.  This guy got a lot of play time when I was a kid, and remained one of my favorites.  Revisiting him, I still very much like him.  There were a lot of compromises made on these figures, but Metallo has very few of them, and it results in a fairly accurate figure, which is also just quite a bit of fun.

#4012: Brimstone Love

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

BRIMSTONE LOVE

X-MEN 2099 (TOY BIZ)

“The proprietor of the Theater of Pain, Brimstone Love is in the business of suffering! This shape-shifter takes personal interest in the souls he seeks to exploit, making sure to document and record every torturous moment, and ensuring a healthy profit on the blackest of markets. He has currently taken an interest in the lives of the X-Men, dispatching his seekers to hunt the mutants down and bring them into Brimstone Love’s web of calculated cruelty.”

In the ‘90s, Marvel launched a whole line of comics that was set in the future of the Marvel universe, in the year 2099, at that time over a hundred years removed from the main continuity.  Mostly, these days, it exists as the background of the creation of Miquel O’Hara, Spider-Man 2099, who was far and away the most conventionally popular of the bunch, but they had equivalents for most of the major Marvel titles at the time, which of course included X-Men.  While X-Men 2099 and its cast have largely faded into obscurity, they did at the very least get their own dedicated toyline, covering not just the team, but also some of their antagonists.  Once such antagonist was Brimstone Love, a guy whose name is Brimstone Love…and, yeah, I don’t actually have another thing to say about him.  Name’s cool, though.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Brimstone Love was released in Series 1 of Toy Biz’s X-Men 2099 line.  He’s the only non-team member in the first series, but still a notable character from the early run of the book, fitting with the rest of the figures.  The figure stands 5 1/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He lacks a neck joint, and also elbows, but does get a waist swivel, albeit one that’s somewhat spring-loaded for an “attack” feature.  Brimstone’s sculpt was all new to him, and remained unique to him for all of Toy Biz’s run.  I guess that makes sense, since it’s rather a unique design, and there’s little call for such a sculpt to be repurposed for other characters.  It’s generally not a bad recreation of Ron Frenz’s illustrations of the character.  He’s got a distinctive set of proportions, matching Brimstone’s admittedly very ‘90s build from the comics, and the angular nature of the musculature is certainly distinctive.  His cape is a separate piece, which can be removed, though it’s not really designed with that in mind.  It’s not actually affixed, mind you, but sits around the neck, sort of free-floating.  His color work is decent enough, again matching the comics look.  The bulk of him is this a pretty neat metallic blue, and he’s got a splash of red going on, which keeps things from getting too monotonous.  Brimstone is packed with a flame effect attachment, as well as what I have to assume is maybe a set of brass knuckles?  I don’t know, and the packaging didn’t say.  The flame is flat and opaque, but generally fine.  The knuckles are the same color, and fit well over the figure’s hand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I think I’ve maybe read one issue of X-Men 2099 over the years, so I can’t say I know much of the characters beyond what I’ve loosely gleaned from the tie-in toys.  Brimstone is one of those characters that I really don’t know, but I snagged him as part of a lot that had pretty much all of the other X-Men 2099 figures, back a few years ago.  Most of them were incomplete, but Brimstone notably had all of his parts, as well as his cardback.  He’s an interesting figure.  Kind of limited in what he can do, but he certainly casts an imposing silhouette. 

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0065: Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Disguise

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

LUKE SKYWALKER in STORMTROOPER DISGUISE

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

Welcome to the end of another week!  Once more it’s Friday, which means it’s time for another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Jumping back over to the Star Wars side of things, I’m revisiting Luke Skywalker, of the disguised as a Stormtrooper variety!

 “Disguised as stormtroopers and fighting off a regiment of Imperial troops inside the Death Star, the escaping band of heroes finds refuge in a garbage receptacle. The Rebels realize their problem has changed when the walls begin closing in.”

So, apparently there was this movie released yesterday. Star Wars? Kind of a big deal I guess. While I’m still totally up to date on the actual Last Jedi stuff in my collection, I still have plenty of older figures in the backlog. And, since I looked at the Stormtrooper Disguise Han Solo two weeks ago, why not take a looksie at his companion Luke figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Luke Skywalker as Stormtrooper was released in the 1996 assortment of Power of the Force II, as that year’s third variant of Luke, and the fifth overall Luke in the line. This was our second Stormtrooper Disguise Luke, following the one released in the original Power of the Force line. He’s about 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation. Despite how it may look, the only re-used piece on this guy is the torso, which is the same one used on the Stormtrooper Han. Nevertheless, he’s still the same height as Han and the basic troopers, meaning he’s not actually short for a Stormtrooper. Instead of Han’s more pre-posed look, Luke has a more generic standing pose, which looks decent enough. He still follows the general style of the line, so he’s far more muscle bound than any of the troopers we see on screen. But, like I said with Han, if you’re gonna have the style, I guess it’s best to stick with it. His head is a re-working of the early PotF2 Luke head. It’s not one of the better Hamill likenesses, but it’s not as terrible as some of the early sculpts. Plus, it means he fits with the rest of them, which I suppose is for the best. The paint on Luke is fairly straight forward stuff. It’s pretty clean overall, and matches up with the rest of the line pretty well. Luke was packed with a removable helmet (the same one included with Han) and a standard Stormtrooper blaster. It’s a pretty standard set of extras, but more than one accessory is always nice with a Star Wars figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After getting Han as a mail-away, I was on the look out for this guy. It took him a little while to hit, but I ended up finding him at Another Universe, the comic book store in the local mall. I was pretty excited for him, and he makes for a pretty cool pairing with Han to be sure.

This review went up the day after the release of The Last Jedi.  It would have most certainly been written before I saw the movie, more than likely a week or two in advance.  I had no idea at the time what kind of response we were in for.  Man, what a wonderfully blissful time that was, huh?  As far as the actual review, this one was pretty well on point.  I think he’s generally an okay figure, albeit a rather dated one.  The only thing missing from my original was his blaster rifle, which I’ve since replaced.  Yay, he can shoot people now.  Also, for some reason I didn’t have turnarounds for this guy, so I’m adding those too!

#4011: Pote Snitkin

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

POTE SNITKIN

STAR WARS: POWER OF THE FORCE II (KENNER)

“Pote Snitkin worked as a helmsman for Jabba the Hutt. The Skrilling piloted one of Jabba’s desert skiffs before foolishly battling Jedi Luke Skywalker over the Great Pit of Carkoon.”

There are a great many Star Wars characters with multiple action figures under their belt.  Even some of the more minor ones.  In particular, the earlier you are in the run of the line, the more likely it is that there are other versions of the characters.  Power of the Force has a lot of characters who are prone to multiple releases, but there are a few unique ones in the mix.  Today, I’m looking at one of the unique ones, Pote Snitkin, a rather minor character from the Jabba sequence at the beginning of Return of the Jedi.  Let’s take a look at Pote!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Pote Snitkin is the last of the four figures in the Fan Club assortment of Star Wars: Power of the Force II from 1998.  He is also, notably, the last single carded figure from the line that I’m reviewing here on the site, which is pretty nifty.  The figure a little over 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  While he’s got the standard articulation set-up for the line, he’s notably pretty restricted by how the sculpt is laid out with it all.  The neck joint in particular is without much range, and the shoulders don’t do much in the default configuration.  That said, his outer poncho piece is removable, which frees up the shoulders a bit more.  The actual sculpt quality is quite strong.  He’s got a lot of depth, with plenty of texture work.  He very much feels at home in the lived-in look of the Star Wars universe, and exhibits some of the most in depth sculpting of the line at this time.  Pote’s got a decent build to him, being notably bigger and bulkier than the standard figure, which just gives the sculpting more of a canvas to work with.  He’s a little bit pre-posed, especially on the arms, but it’s all rather natural, and he looks fine just standing.  Pote’s color work is, much like the sculpt, quite strong.  The base colors seem a decent match for the movie, and he gets a pretty nice selection of accenting, which helps to further emphasize the level of sculpted detailing.  Pote is packed with a force pike, a blaster rifle, and a Freeze Frame…that doesn’t actually have Pote in it…since it’s apparently his “view” of Luke clearing the skiff.  Kind of an odd choice, but there it is.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I had none of the Fan Club figures as a kid, as I didn’t actually know they existed, so Pote was not for child Ethan.  Pote’s not for most of the Ethans up to this point, because it actually took me a little bit to get one.  He’s easily the least frequently appearing of the four figures, I’m sure in no small part due to this being his only figure.  As it happens, Pote is, as touched on above, the last single carded figure I needed for my set, who I finally managed to snag on eBay.  He’s a really strong figure, actually, quite possibly the line’s finest sculpt.  There’s a lot to like there, and it’s aged very well, while still feeling right at home with the rest of the line.  Feels like a pretty fitting final single to pick up.

#4010: John Carter

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

JOHN CARTER

TARZAN: THE EPIC ADVENTURES (TRENDMASTERS)

“The Warlord of Mars!  Faster, smarter and a better swordsman than any Martian warrior, John Carter has no equal!”

Writer Edgar Rice Burroughs is perhaps best know for his creation Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, but Tarzan isn’t actually Burroughs’ first enduring pulp hero.  That would be the star of his “Barsoom” series, John Carter, Warlord of Mars.  John Carter is a precursor to…well, just about every major sci-fi hero since, so, you know, kind of a big deal.  Despite his significance in the world of fiction, John’s not had the same level of success as Tarzan.  They both had Disney movies, but one has a Phil Collins soundtrack that shaped a generation, and the other is the victim of executive in-fighting and got essentially no merchandising.  Tarzan’s gotten a lot of merch over the years, especially action figures.  Carter?  Well, he’s got a couple.  Here’s one of them.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

John Carter was released as part of Trendmasters’ 1995 Tarzan: The Epic Adventures line, specifically under its “Conqueror of Mars” sub-line.  He was available one of three ways.  First, as part of a two-pack with the Thark O Mad Zad, then in a larger nine figure boxed set, and then finally alongside his wife Deja Thoris.  The figure stands (or crouches, anyway) 3 1/2 inches tall and he has 3 points of articulation.  Movement is limited to swivels at the neck and both shoulders.  None of the joints are fully unobstructed, especially the shoulders, but there’s a bit of variety to be had nonetheless.  The sculpt to this guy is unique.  He’s sporting some intricate armor, which is a little larger and more involved than we usually see John in, but it’s also not totally out of place.  He’s incredibly pre-posed, to the point that a Total Justice figure looks tame.  He’s got a very serious deep lunge going on.  All of that pre-posing makes the exact proportions of John seem…off?  The arms are most certainly too long for the rest of the body, but at least they’re bent at the elbows, so as to better hide it.  His head is a reasonable enough rendition of John.  The scream is kind of an odd choice, as that’s more of a Tarzan thing, but it works in a sort of action oriented sense.  John’s color work feels pretty true to the illustrations of the character.  He’s kind of orange, but less-so than Deja Thoris, suggesting it’s just from all the time he’s spent on the red planet.  John was packed with a sword and small pistol, allowing for him to really get into that action-oriented orientation.  For action.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I knew Tarzan from all manner of media tie-ins when I was a kid, but didn’t know John Carter prior to this line.  In my defense, I was three.  Given it was a Tarzan line, I was more invested in Tarzan, but my dad, a pretty big Barsoom fan, was eager to track down that particular set of characters, which got me interested in just who the heck they were.  I subsequently read the first book, which got me pretty invested in Carter as a character.  Not too long after, I tracked down this one for myself, picking him up loose, sometime in the early ‘00s.  He’s a goofy figure, but there’s limited options for Carter, so it’s always nice to get anything at all.  And there’s no denying this guy has a certain charm about him.