Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0092: Snake Eyes & Agent Scarlett

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

SNAKE EYES & AGENT SCARLETT

G.I. JOE VS COBRA (HASBRO)

Behold!  It is Friday!  The day at the end of the week where I do all the flashing back with the addendums and what have you!  What a day!  This week’s jump back into the past is jumping over into the G.I. Joe side of things, with a return look at Snake Eyes and Agent Scarlett!

In 1965, Hasbro invented the action figure with the very first GI Joe. The figure offered a take on the traditional doll idea, but meant for boys. He was 12 inches tall, had a cloth outfit, and was a pretty straight forward military man, offered in a variation for each of the four branches of the US military. After the end of the Vietnam War, soldiers and war were seen in a more negative light, so Hasbro had to change things up. This led to the Adventure Team era, which prevailed for most of the 70s. At the end of the decade, they faced another issue. Thanks to Kenner’s smaller scale Star Wars line, the industry was moving to smaller, less accessorized figures. Hasbro had to move quickly to reinvigorate GI Joe for a new audience, leading to the creation of GI Joe: A Real American Hero, which reworked the scale and made the line a collection of unique characters. It also provided the Joes with their first real foe, Cobra. It has remained the definitive take on the GI Joe concept pretty much since its inception. While the line never went away, after the 80s the line dwindled, until it was once again re-worked in 2002. That’s when I came on board. The line operated mostly on new sculpts, but there were a few re-releases mixed in. Today, I’ll be looking at one such release, with Joe mainstays Snake Eyes and Scarlett.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This pair was released as an exclusive two-pack through Toyfare magazine. They were meant to tie-in with the then current GI Joe VS Cobra.

SNAKE EYES

This is the 15th version of the ever silent ninja/commando/everything but the kitchen sink, Snake Eyes! Snake Eyes is 3 ¾ inches in height and he features 14 points of articulation. He’s meant to be a slightly more high quality recreation of the very first Snake Eyes figure, so he unsurprisingly used a lot of the same pieces. He’s mostly built out of the version 1.5, after Hasbro added the now standard swivels to his biceps, but instead of the original, he’s been given that of the second version of Roadblock. Not sure why that is, but I assume Hasbro had a good reason. Anyway, it’s a pretty great sculpt, even if it does show its age just a little. Obviously, it’s a tad more simplistic than most modern day sculpts, but that’s not too bad. He still has his fair share of detail, and he looks pretty great! The paint is a key point on this figure, as the original Snake Eyes didn’t actually have any. For this one, they’ve added some additional details to the various pouches and straps on the body to give him a little more variety. There is also a shade of very dark gray applied to the visor on his head, which was so subtle I almost didn’t notice it at first. Overall, the paint is pretty good, but there are a few areas where he has some bleed over. Snake Eyes included a submachine gun, a sword, some explosives, and a back pack, which a pretty impressive accessories compliment!

AGENT SCARLETT

This is the 6th version of Scarlett, or Agent Scarlett as she’s called here. She’s 3 ¾ inches in height and she has 14 points of articulation. Like Snake Eyes, she’s meant as a recreation of the original Scarlett figure from way back in the very first series of GI Joe: A Real American Hero. The figure is a complete re-use of swivel-armed version of the original figure, which is reasonable. Admittedly, the Scarlett sculpt is not as nice as Snake Eyes. Her arms sit a little bit far out at the shoulders, and the face is rather on the mannish side. It’s not terrible, but it’s not the greatest. The paint on Scarlett is a bit more intensive than that on Snake Eyes. All in all, it’s pretty good. There’s no real slop or bleed over, so that’s good. They’ve also made her a bit more colorful than her original incarnation, which is probably for the best. Scarlett comes armed with a crossbow and two swords, as well as a backpack.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

GI Joe was mostly in a lull when I came into the world of action figure collecting. As such, my first real introduction to the property was GI Joe VS Cobra. Once I had gotten the newer figures, I began looking into the older figures, particularly those of Snake Eyes. Thanks to an article run in Toyfare magazine, I learned of the second version of the character, which I really wanted. It didn’t prove easy to find, so I had to go without it until recently.

In the meantime, I purchased this set from Toyfare to hold me over. I remember being extremely excited when I first saw the order form in the issue in which they were offered! My always supportive Mom was feeling particularly awesome, so she ordered the set for me. Since then, it’s easily remained one of my favorite pieces of my GI Joe collection. It’s a great set and I really love it!

This review was very near the end of my first year on the site, though going by my records, I wrote it about a month in advance.  I certainly did go pretty in-depth on the background of the line, which is interesting, given that it was far from the first of my small-scale Joe reviews.  Earlier reviews were a bit more brief on the intros, so I guess I was probably trying to make up for that.  I recall rediscovering this set over the summer that year, after getting a few figures from the vintage line and doing a bit of digging in my personal collection.

In terms of the review itself, I think I did alright.  I didn’t quite know all the ins and outs of the vintage ARAH molds back in 2014, so I didn’t know the reasons for the Roadblock pelvis on Snake Eyes, which is just that the original pelvis mold was one of the many vintage molds lost when Hasbro returned to the scale in 1997, necessitating a lot of Frankensteining to get the old molds back up and running.  At the time of my original review, the figures were missing most of their accessories, but I’ve done a lot of digging, and managed to find the missing parts, which for these two is quite a lot of parts.

#4131: Clone Lieutenant

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

CLONE LIEUTENANT

STAR WAR: CLONE WARS (HASBRO)

“Through the creative vision of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the Cartoon Network, the Clone Wars are brought to life in an exciting new series of short animated chapters. A unique animation style captures the drama of this epic period in galactic history along with its outstanding heroes and adversaries. Noble Jedi warriors lead Clone Troopers into battle against the evil Separatist forces and their droid armies. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and their comrades struggle against the rising power of the dark side and confront personal challenges against a backdrop of war-torn planets.”

Undoubtedly my favorite thing to come out of the Prequel Era of Star Wars is Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars, a 2D animated bridging of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.  While the films rarely branched out beyond the core cast of characters, Clone Wars established a precedent, later followed by The Clone Wars, the 3D animated show, of placing focus on less fleshed out characters.  While its time spent with the titular clones was still a lot less than the later show would feature, they’re still a notable presence, and they made up a sizable portion of Hasbro’s tie-in line from the time…albeit mostly through a lot of repaints, but it’s kind of what you expect, right?  Okay, let’s take a look at a Clone Lieutenant.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Clone Lieutenant (who is only actually identified as “Clone Trooper” on the package, due to sharing all packaging elements with the Captain and the Commander) was released alongside the other two colored Clone variants as a late addition to the Star Wars: Clone Wars line in early 2005, before all the Revenge of the Sith product hit the shelves.  He’s based on the Phase I trooper designs, as seen in the first two seasons of the show.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 4 points of articulation.  He’s rather standard for the line on the movement front, with movement at the neck, shoulders, and waist.  They weren’t really built for poseability, but more as mini-maquettes of the show’s designs.  The Clones did get a leg up on the rest of the line, though, since they all got ball-jointed necks.  It doesn’t do a ton, but it gives him some subtle variety in his posing. He, as well as the Captain and the Commander, really just existed as way of putting the standard Clone Trooper mold back out there, so he’s just a complete re-use of that mold.  Like the rest of the line, it does a really good job of taking Tartakovsky’s designs and making them work in three dimensions.  He’s slightly pre-posed, but not in a crazy sort of way, which is ideal for a guy you’ll probably get a lot of.  Just the one raised arm for the rifle is a good look, and he’s honestly pretty stable on his feet.  The first use of the mold was all white, but the re-releases add the color markings for the different ranks.  The Lieutenant is blue, which, let’s be honest, is the coolest of the color markings.  Both literally and also in a figurative sense.  The application here is a little bit fuzzy around some of the edges, but in general, it looks alright.  The use of panel lining on the armor also does a lot to help the mold, as well as bringing it closed to animated stylings.  The Lieutenant was packed with his blaster rifle and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Back when these were new, the line was rather a hot commodity, so I only had a few pieces, and this guy wasn’t one of them.  In more recent years, I’ve found more of them, and in the case of this guy, I bought a lot of the recolored clone troopers, mostly just for him.  He wound up being the only one I actually got around to opening, and he’s been sitting mixed in with my 3D figures for a couple of years now.  For as simple as these figures are, I always really enjoy messing with them when I get the chance, and the Clones are really the star pieces of the line.

#4130: Ripley

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

RIPLEY

ALIEN: RESURRECTION (KENNER)

Perhaps my favorite movie of all time is Aliens, which is, quite frankly, a bit surprising when you find out that the movie that introduced me to the franchise and got me super invested in it to the point of wanting to see the other movies and own the toys and stuff was…Alien: Resurrection.  It’s…well, it’s not a great film.  It’s not really even a good film.  Honestly, “film” seems like a stretch.  I don’t really buy into the distinction between “film” and “movie,” but Resurrection might be able to make a good case.  On the toy side of things, the original Alien film had gotten a little bit of toy coverage from Kenner upon its release, but it didn’t go over very well, and so all subsequent toys were canceled (including a whole line of 3 3/4 inch figures, put out many years later by Funko and Super 7, launching the ReAction brand).  Because of this, Alien’s sequels, Aliens and Alien Cubed, didn’t get toys at the time of their release (though Aliens got a toyline from Kenner in the ‘90s).  The first Alien movie to get a proper toyline in conjunction with its actual theatrical run was Alien: Resurrection, and oh boy, am I looking at one of those figures today.  So, let’s look at the eighth clone of Ellen Ripley, Ripley 8.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ripley was one of the six standard figures that made up the Alien: Resurrection tie-in line, released alongside the movie in 1997.  Though billed on the front of the box as being part of the “Hasbro Signature Collection” (whatever that means), the back of the box still lists Kenner, so, you know, it’s all very confusing, but that’s really just the whole Kenner/Hasbro deal in the ‘90s.  We just all decided to pretend we didn’t know they were one company masquerading as two, like some sort of strange Andy Kaufman bit.  Ripley (who is just listed as “Ripley” on the box, with neither first name, nor number) is described by the packaging as “Warrant Officer, Alien Expert,” which is…not really her in Resurrection?  I mean, I guess she knows the Aliens pretty well, but clones being different people and all, she was most certainly never a warrant officer.  The figure stands just shy of 6 1/4 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  None of the articulation on these figures was particularly useful, and Ripley really showcases that.  It’s all pretty much just there for minor tweaking of the one single pose she can really pull off.  In terms of scaling, she’s got a real lunge in her pose there, so it throws off the overall height, but she’s ultimately closer to the usual 7-inch set-ups than 6-inch.  Which, you know, with the Kenner Aliens line being very much a 5-inch line, is odd to say the least.  The sculpt is, as noted, rather pre-posed, with sort of a guns akimbo, wide-stance sort of thing.  Her sculpt is…fine?  The likeness is an okay Weaver likeness, though I’m not really sure it quite gets her specifically from Resurrection.  I think the hair really throws it off, ultimately.  Ripley has a couple of outfits in the movie, but this one is the one she spends a good chunk of the movie in, and is, rather amusingly, the one that’s also worn by Hillard during the journey through the ship.  Weaver saw Kim Flowers’ outfit and asked for one like it, and that’s the one that wound up as an action figure.  The paint work on this figure is generally good for the era and style.  It’s mostly just base work, which is rather clean, but she does also get some decent accenting, and a wash on her outfit to make it look appropriately grimy.  She’s packed with a pair of rifles, an egg, and a queen burster.  Oddly, the hands aren’t really sculpted to hold the guns, so they have these extra guards that wrap around the backs of the hands.  Why not just make the hands properly hold them?  Because shut-up, that’s why.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was just shy of 11 when I saw Resurrection, and really loved it at the time, so you’d think I’d have tracked down some figures, but, even though I looked at them a few times, I never actually did buy any of them.  Since then, I’ve had this sort of odd relationship with the movie, where every time I watch it, it’s worse than I remember.  So, I wasn’t really ever planning to buy any of these.  But, then she got donated to the Farpoint charity auction, and my dad knew I didn’t have her, so…you know, here we are?  She’s been sitting on my shelf unopened for a couple of years now, and I finally decided it was time to crack her open for the review.  She’s honestly not a bad figure from a technical stand-point.  Very much dialed into the style of the era, and all, but in a world before the likes of NECA, she’s not really bad.

#4129: Batman Beyond

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

BATMAN BEYOND

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Batman Beyond – Decades into the future, Gotham City has evolved into Neo-Gotham, a metropolis of tremendous skyscrapers, flying cars, and sleek technology. In that brave new world, a new kind of Batman is required to keep the peace.”

Since Kenner’s Super Powers ended in 1986, the line was pretty locked into characters and concepts that already existed at that time, and in fact, just a little before then, what with the necessary timelines for toy production and all that.  The proposed waves that might have been carry things forward a little bit, but not by much, again, pretty well locking the idea into a specific timeline.  A continuation that picks up four decades later is, obviously, going to be in an interesting spot, since you’re trying to hold to an aesthetic from the ‘80s, but there’s been a lot of ground covered since then.  What do you do?  Well, the McFarlane approach, especially at the start, was just to do characters and looks that didn’t exist in the ‘80s when they felt like it.  It’s become far more restrained later in the line, but we do still get the occasional oddball, like today’s entry, Batman Beyond.  He’s a character first introduced in 1999, thirteen years after the vintage line ended…which is actually less than half the time between his introduction and his inclusion in McFarlane’s Super Powers, 27 years later.  Maybe vintage is just a little bit relative.  Let’s take a look at the figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Batman Beyond is the first figure in Series 14 of McFarlane’s Super Powers.  He’s figure 67, which, I assure you, brought some amusement to my 10-year old.  Well, it’s possible it brought me more amusement bringing it up to him than it actually brought to him directly.  The figure stands 4 5/8 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Terry is built on the smaller male body, based on the Flash mold.  It’s a good fit for him, as he’s usually depicted as being a fair bit smaller than Bruce, more comparable to Dick Grayson, who used this base body in the last assortment.  He gets a new head, arms, and belt.  The head leans more into his animation model than it does the line’s overall aesthetic, but I feel that’s the right way to go; attempts at making more realistic versions of Terry’s masked face always look a little bit weird to me, and I don’t think the animated design is too far out of place to work with the rest of the line.  The only slightly odd part of the sculpt is the way it sits on the neck; it’s a bit too thin at the back, so there’s a notable gap where the neck from the body overhangs the head sculpt.  I have to wonder if this sculpt might be left over from some sort of more direct animated figure that got scrapped along the way.  The arms aren’t much different from the standard pieces, just adding the arm spikes at the back.  I’m a little surprised they did them at all, since they’re not super visible from the front, but I certainly don’t mind them.  Finishing out his distinctive silhouette is the belt piece, which is simple, but gets the job done.  Terry’s color work is generally simple, but the application of what paint is there is rather clean and adds some nice pop to the figure.  He’s sans accessories.  The solicitation mentions a cloth case, but I have to imagine that was a copy error, rather than an actual scrapped part.  I suppose a pair of cloth wings wouldn’t have been too out of place, but as it is, I think he’s fine without extras.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When they teased the silhouettes of Series 14, I figured this guy out right away, which I think is actually a testament to how good a job they did getting down perhaps the most important part of Batman Beyond: the silhouette.  I can’t say Terry was on my list for characters to be added to this line, but I also can’t say I’m unhappy with the choice.  He’s hardly the most modern character included in Todd’s run with the line, and I think he translates really well to the aesthetic, resulting in a figure that was quite a pleasant surprise when this set arrived at my door.

#4128: Venom

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

VENOM

SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES (TOY BIZ)

“Eddie Brock, former newspaper reporter, has joined with an evil, alien symbiote, giving him spider-like powers greater than those of Spider-Man himself! Driven by a twisted sense of justice, Brock has become Venom, humanity’s Lethal Protector…and he’s decided that humanity needs protection from Spider-Man!”

For a character only introduced in 1988, by 1994, Venom had a surprising amount of action figure coverage.  Toy Biz had added him to their run right at the start, and really just kept adding him.  By the time they launched their dedicated Spider-Man: The Animated Series line, they’d already done four versions of him under the Marvel Super Heroes banner, but that didn’t stop them from putting him in the first Spider-Man line-up too.  I mean, really, can you blame them?  He was pretty popular, and also on the cartoon, so it’s hard to avoid such a thing.  Let’s look at that fifth Venom today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Venom was released in Series 1 of the Spider-Man: The Animated Series tie-in line, which hit retail in 1994, right in time for the show’s launch.  Like others in the early assortments, Venom was drawing more directly from the show’s design, rather than the comics.  The figure stands 5 1/8 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  He gets the standard movement on the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, but loses the neck articulation in order to accommodate his action feature.  Much like the Marvel Super Heroes figures, this Venom is about he same height as his corresponding Spider-Man, mostly just relying on bulk to differentiate them.  That would become a gradual shift towards more monstrous sizes as the line progressed, but at this point, he was downright diminutive.  His sculpt was all-new, and a departure from the earlier Venoms, which had leaned into the character’s “symbiote with a mouth” look from the early days.  This one more represents his turn towards beastlier depictions, with much more intensely shaped eyes, a wider spread mouth creeping well past his ears, longer teeth, visible gums, and a whole lot of veins.  Truly, he’s a Venom who probably thinks this song is about him.  This was the Venom sculpt that served as the basis for the 10-inch figure as well, though that one had a more conventional neck.  Apart from being perhaps a little bit on the small side, it’s a pretty good sculpt, and looks quite a bit like his animated counterpart.  Squeezing the figure’s legs together activates his action feature, which extends his head upward, while keeping the jaw in place, so it looks like he’s opening his mouth.  It’s only a small extension, so not super noticeable, but it’s not the worst thing in the world.  In terms of color work, he’s predominantly just molded black plastic, with accenting in white and red.  The paint work is generally fairly clean, with only some minor fuzz, notably around the top of his logo.  Venom didn’t include any accessories, not even one of those weird plastic pins.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I’ve noted before, I didn’t have any of the proper 5-inch Venom figures as a kid, though I did have on of the 10-inch figures that was based on this mold, so I kind of experienced it a bit.  This one’s actually one of my most recent additions, picked up over the summer while I was on vacation.  He’s generally a rather straight forward figure, as far as Venoms go.  A bit more involved than some of the earliest offerings, but certainly not as crazy as some of the later versions got to be.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0091: Batgirl & Bane

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

BATGIRL & BANE

DC MINIMATES (DC DIRECT)

Well, it’s Friday again.  So, you know, there’s that.  Here it is.  We made it?  Yeah, let’s go with that.  Let’s try to liven stuff up a bit here, with a Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Today, we’re flashing back to some Minimates, but not just any Minimates, DC Minimates!  Let’s take a second look at Batgirl & Bane!

One of the great tragedies for many Minimates collectors was the cancellation of DC Direct’s DC Minimates after only eight series. Not only did the line present us with definitive versions of many of DC’s top characters, it also gave us some wacky side characters like Ambush Bug and Ma Hunkel, and it was the first Minimate line to push the envelope in terms of sculpting. However, the line was met with its fair share of difficulties, most notably hitting shelves when Minimates were at a low point and being gone just before they hit it big. Still, we got a decent 64 figure run, and that’s certainly better than nothing. Today I’ll be looking at two figures from the Batman side of things, Batgirl and Bane.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Batgirl and Bane were released as part of the fourth series of DC Minimates. They’re an odd pair, seing as the two have never actually met. Heck, they didn’t even exist at the same time! Anyway, they’re both Batman characters, I guess.

BATGIRL

Batgirl is built on the basic Minimate body, so she stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. She’s based on the Barbra Gordon version of the character, in her second costume. She features a sculpted mask, cape, belt and gloves. The cape and gloves were previously used on both the series one and series three Batmen, as well as being used before that in the DC C3 line. The mask and belt are new, so as to properly depict her exposed hair and more elaborate belt design. The paint work is pretty clean on Batgirl, with no real slop, and some very sharp line work on all the transitions. This set was released during the period of time when Minimates were using full slip over masks for everyone, even characters that only had half masks, so Batgirl got a full face mask. Some figures took advantage of this and gave the figure a different facial expression on the unmasked head. Sadly, Batgirl didn’t do this, which is a shame, as it would have the unmasked face be Barbra in full librarian mode. Batgirl includes a pair of bat-cuffs and a spare hair piece to display her unmasked.

BANE

Bane demonstrates one of the unique traits of the DC Minimates line: use of the larger Minimate body. The body features the same articulation and relative proportions, but is about a half an inch taller than the basic body. So, DC used it for larger characters such as Bane here. Bane features three sculpted parts: mask, belt, and wrist gauntlet with tube that plugs into the mask. All of these pieces are new to Bane, mostly due to his use of the larger body. All of the pieces accurately capture Bane’s look from the comics, so kudos to them on that. The paint work is pretty good overall, though there a few issues. The shirt features black detailing with gray highlights, but on the edges of the torso, the gray highlights have been missed, leaving their spots flesh-toned. Also, the sides of the shirt don’t quite line up with the front. Finally, the mask, while well detailed, seems to sit a bit too low, which gives him an abnormally large head. Under the mask, there’s a fully detailed face with hair, which Is a nice touch I suppose, though I hardly see anyone displaying him this way.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As with the rest of the DC Minimates line, I purchased these two as soon as they were released. While I think they’re both well done figures, I remember being disappointed in general by the lineup for Series Four, as well as baffled by the choice to pack these two together. It’s a cool set, but it’s hard to tell what audience they were aiming for, as the two figures present appeal to two different sensibilities.

This review was from my first year, at about the 3/4 mark for the year, and boy was that first year a heavy one for Minimates.  This was my 58th Minimate review, meaning almost a quarter of my reviews at the time were Minimates.  I mean, it makes sense, but it’s crazy to think about it these days, when they’re such a rarity.

I think the actual review holds up well for the most part, but I did make an error.  Batgirl did *not* include the bat cuffs, just the alternate hairpiece.  I didn’t have a photo of that, or of Bane’s alternate unmasked look, in the original review, so I’ve included those, as well as some turnarounds, because why not?

#4127: Paz Vizsla

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

PAZ VIZSLA

STAR WARS: EPIC FORCE (HASBRO)

“A descendant of the esteemed house Vizsla, brawny warrior Paz Vizsla is protected by the strongest Beskar armor.”

Would you believe I’ve finished up all my Saga reviews?  Well, I guess I haven’t *really*, but I’ve finished all the reviews of figures that are ready to go, since all the ones I have left are pretty woefully incomplete.  I’m past the days of incomplete figure reviews…mostly.  Anyway, I’m actually jumping a fair bit further ahead for today’s review, to something “modern” era, though still a couple of years old at this point.  I don’t get much into the Mandalorian-based stuff anymore, but I’m doing at least this one jump back with a look at this Paz Vizsla figure that’s, you know, actually named Paz Vizsla, rather than just “Heavy Infantry Mandalorian.”

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Paz Vizsla was part of the debut assortment of Hasbro’s Star Wars: Epic Force line, back in 2024.  He was one of two deluxe figures in the set, the other being Sabine.  Paz has pretty much always been relegated to the deluxe sizing, so it makes sense that it happened again here.  The same core figure, with a different selection of accessories, was also available in the “Unite the Clans” three-pack at the end of the year.  The figure stands 4 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The Epic lines are all technically 4-inch lines, rather than 3 3/4-inch, and it was especially notable on the earlier Star Wars stuff.  Thankfully, in the case of a character like Paz, they stuck to that strict 4-inch mark, which means that he scales okay with earlier figures, since Paz should be a little taller than the others.  His sculpt is unique to him, and it’s based on his design from the show.  The level of detail here is definitely not as in depth as, say, a Vintage Collection figure, but it’s a little more than a Retro Collection figure, making it kind of feel a bit like a mid-run Power of the Force figure.  Gee, I wonder who around these parts might like such an aesthetic? Honestly, it works well.  It gets all the important details down, with a decent degree of sharpness, but it still lets them do more of a basic feel overall.  The paint work here leans heavily into the basic side.  The broad colors are present, but there’s a lot of spots where things are just left unpainted.  This is where the figure feels more like a Retro Collection or even proper Kenner figure over, say, Power of the Force, because after the ‘90s, it was very rare to just get straight up unpainted details.  The torso is definitely the most stripped down, with a lot of just unpainted dark blue.  Other sections get more variation, though, and the actual application is clean.  Paz is packed with his jetpack (which is definitely a fair bit oversized), his large gun (which has been converted into a missile launcher and is *comedically* oversized), a missile for said large gun, and a removable flame-thrower effect that clips onto either of his forearms (though it has a gauntlet attached which is quite clearly meant to match the left side).  They cover all of his standard extras, and there’s enough more there relative to the standard releases that it feels like “deluxe” was justified.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Epic Force launched, I liked the idea, especially with the similarities to Power of the Force, and the fact that I’d really been bummed out by the ending of the basic 5-POA line after Resistance, but I’d also kind of moved on and was focusing on scaling back on my Star Wars collecting in general.  That said, one of the collections I more or less kept intact was my modern era Retro Collection stuff, and Paz was notably absent from that set-up, so this figure offered a decent little “close enough” set-up.  I wouldn’t say it was enough to make me go out hunting, but when a loose one came into work, I really had no good excuse not to, and so he got added to my collection.  And, you know, sat in a box for two years waiting to be reviewed.  Look, I got to him, didn’t I?  It’s interesting to look back at this figure now, given how quickly the Epic line evolved into something totally different than what it was here.  He’s a weird sort of middle-ground figure, and while I’m happy to have a Paz that fits with my Retro figures, it’s not hard to see why this incarnation of the line really struggled to find its footing.  He’s a good figure and a good toy, but just feels so very much like he’s from an entire different era than the one that spawned him, which is odd for a figure that’s not intentionally a throw-back. 

#4126: Advanced Stealth B.A.T.

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

ADVANCED STEALTH BAT

G.I. JOE AND THE TRANSFORMERS (COLLECTOR’S CLUB)

“OLD SNAKE’s first attempt to harness a strength similar to the AUTOBOTS, that he once tried to capture, resulted in varied results. The hulking robot of Old Snake’s creation truly did possess brute force as well as great intelligence, however, the interference from former GENERAL CLAYTON “HAWK” ABERNATHY and the EARTH DEFENSE COMMAND caused the loss of any semblance of control over SERPENT O.R. Not willing to commit the same error again, Old Snake decided to forgo intellect in his next endeavor. Mimicking the programming from COBRA’s prolific but now-outdated Battle Android Troopers, Old Snake upgraded the COBRA B.A.T. with added size as well as the ability to disguise themselves as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Although not quite the height of the Autobots, the lithe and agile STEALTH B.A.T. can maneuver in ways that most of the robots from CYBERTRON cannot even imagine. To further aid in espionage as well as assault operations, each Stealth B.A.T. also features a detachable bat-like NIGHTSHRIEK remote unit that can access small spaces and create havoc through sabotage and data breaches.

A Stealth B.A.T. has the potential to become the truly perfect soldier, with the sound of their mighty steel boots causing fear and panic wherever they march. With each attack that they commit, COBRA comes closer to regaining the greatness and glory it once possessed!”

As two Hasbro-owned properties depicting a pair of warring factions embroiled in a heavily sci-fi-based war, G.I. Joe and Transformers are no strangers to crossovers.  While the cartoons in the ‘80s merely suggested a crossover (with the character “Old Snake” clearly being an older Cobra Commander after his organization has fallen away), the comics have had a number of direct crossovers, and, eventually, so did the toys.  Hasbro had some offerings of their own, usually pairing off G.I. Joe figures with non-transforming vehicles done up to match the colors of proper Transformers, and that was further built-upon through some crossover projects between the two franchises’ respective Collector’s Clubs.  In 2015, the Clubs collaborated on a set sort of based on “Only Human,” the episode of Transformers that featured Old Snake, with a pack that featured Snake himself, as well as two upgraded versions of the Cobra B.A.T., now featuring a transformation gimmick.  Today, I’m taking a look at one of those B.A.T.s!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Advanced Stealth B.A.T. was released alongside Old Snake and a duplicate B.A.T. as a three-pack in the G.I. Joe and the Transformers line, a 2015 joint-exclusive between the G.I. Joe and Transformers Collector’s clubs.  The set was the second such exclusive.  While Old Snake was a more direct cartoon-adaptation, the B.A.T. is a unique design, albeit one that’s a fairly sensible one within the context of the story they’re setting up in the bio.  The figure stands about 5 1/2 inches tall and has 23 workable points of articulation.  All of the Collector’s Club figures were rather heavy on re-used parts, so as to keep costs down.  In the B.A.T.’s case, they’ve opted to use the 2012 Transformers Prime Soundwave mold.  I’m a big fan of this mold, and I think it’s a really well implemented translation of the cartoon design, which is itself a pretty great design.  It poses well, and its transformation, though a little bit fiddly, works well, and holds together nicely.  It’s also a good mold in terms of capturing the general B.A.T. feel, since the face plate kind of follows the same general layout, and the more angular body shaping goes well with the usual B.A.T. depictions.  The only real downside is those fins on the back, which were prone to warping on the original use of the mold, and are even more warped on this release.  The color scheme is classic B.A.T, leaning more heavily into the cartoon look, especially with the red visor.  Like the original version of the mold, this figure transforms into an aerial attack drone, which feels like a good fit for the B.A.T.  I love that the red visor remains present in the alt-mode as well.  The Stealth B.A.T. includes “Nightshriek,” a recolored version of Prime Laserbeak, who matches the B.A.T.’s color scheme, and even adds a little bit of turquoise, simulating the chest panel of the original B.A.T. when placed on this figures torso for storage. 

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Long before I had anything to do with Transformers, I was a pretty involved G.I. Joe fan, and I have always particularly liked the B.A.T.s and their various incarnations.  When I finally *did* dip my toes into Transformers, the first one I picked up for myself, just of my own volition was the Beast Hunters variant of Prime Soundwave, because I’ve always liked Soundwave, and I just liked the look of the mold.  It’s become perhaps my favorite mold of one of my favorite Transformers, so when I found out it was used for a B.A.T. in the crossover, I was certainly intrigued.  Of course, it’s not like the set’s super plentiful and easy to find, and it’s enough of a slog to get one that even Max, my go-to Transformers expert guy, didn’t have one.  When this one came into work, all by himself, with no Old Snake, and no duplicate B.A.T., I wanted it, but also was completely content to let Max have it, since he was the Transformers guy.  That’s what he does.  That’s his thing!  And he was gonna take it, but, at the last second, he handed it over to me, because he felt like it would mean more to me, what with it being a G.I. Joe crossover figure built on a Soundwave mold and all.  Because he’s nice like that.  That’s also what he does.  That’s also his thing!  I do very much appreciate Max’s sacrifice on this one, because this is honestly a favorite of mine, and has remained on a shelf next to my desk, frequently serving as the figure I idly fiddle with while working, for most of the four years since I got him.

#4125: Robin

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

ROBIN

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

“Robin was the sidekick of Batman and a member of the Justice Society Infinity”

In 1961, Flash #123, a story titled “Flash of Two Worlds,” reintroduced the original Flash, Jay Garrick, by showing his exploits as having taken place on a parallel Earth to that of Barry Allen, the then current Flash.  The story’s success led to follow-ups, reviving other Golden Age DC heroes, and placing them on this newly created “Earth 2.”  Since Earth 2 had allowed the characters to age more or less in real time from where they’d been left off in the ‘40s, when the “original” Dick Grayson reappeared six years later in 1967, he wasn’t a teen sidekick anymore, but rather an adult member of the Justice Society.  But, where his Earth 1 counterpart would take up the monicker “Nightwing,” Earth 2 Dick maintained the “Robin” name.  While the Earth 1 Dick gets most of the toy coverage, Earth 2’s version gets a lot of coverage himself, and he’s even joined the Earth 1 version’s four Super Powers figures with one of his own.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin is the final figure in Wave 13 of McFarlane’s Super Powers, numbered 66 in the overall line-up.  He’s not specifically denoted “Earth 2” anywhere on the packaging, but the bio on the back indicates it, though the call-out of Justice Society Infinity is a really specific post-Infinite Crisis reference.  When Earth 2 Dick Grayson first reappeared, he was sporting a costume heavily inspired by Batman’s, rather than his own Robin costume.  This figure is based instead on his second, more on brand costume, which, it should be noted, was actually worn by Earth 1 Dick Grayson first, during one of of the JLA/JSA crossovers.  Earth 2 Dick had full possession of it after that, though, and he kept the look until his demise during Crisis on Infinite Earths.  The figure stands 4 5/8 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  He’s using the standard male body that’s based on the Flash mold, a first for any version of Dick in the line.  That said, it’s a far better match than the rather large base body of the first two Nightwings, and means he scales far better next to the various basic Batmen, so I certainly don’t mind it.  He gets a modified version of the Gold Label Nightwing head sculpt, with the hair removed on the sides and the lines of the mask removed, so that his wrap-around mask can be properly displayed.  I like that they keep that bit of consistency between the two.  He also gets a new belt piece, which matches well to his unique belt design as seen in the comics.  It’s all topped off with a cloth cape, which I think is actually a little nicer than a lot of the others from this line.  His color work is very bright and colorful, and the paint application is mostly pretty clean, and without any real slop or bleed over.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When McFarlane’s Super Powers started, we got a modern Nightwing, and I figured that was the only Dick Grayson we’d get.  Then we got ‘90s Nightwing, and I was like, wow, I guess we’re getting two, but that’s got to be it, right.  Then we got ‘80s Nightwing, and I was really happy, but also 100% sure there was no way there could possibly be another Dick Grayson.  So this guy?  Totally out of left field.  Am I shocked?  A bit.  Am I unhappy?  Not in the slightest.  He turned out really well.  It’s a design that translates really well to the aesthetic, and it just makes for an incredibly fun figure.  And, sure, I’m now thinking it’d be great to *also* have his first costume, but you know what, I’m okay with just this one.

Bringing Back the Shameless Plug!

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General

Hi there faithful readers! Do you love reading my reviews here on the site?  Well, I mean, I hope you do.  I hope you’re not all just hate reading. Whatever the case, while this site is primarily a labor of love, done for my own entertainment and amusement, it does carry with it some monetary costs.  In an effort to keep things running smoothly around here, I’ve officially launched the Figure in Question Patreon, and I’ll be adding a link to the sidebar as well.  If you like what I do and want to chip in, I have multiple tiers with some cool bonus benefits, so please feel free to check that out.  Otherwise, feel free to keep enjoying the site!  Now, back to the toy reviews!