#4073: Robi

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

ROBIN

DC PREMIER (MATTEL)

At last, nature is healing.  Or, something like that.  See, back at the end of 2019, Mattel, who had held the DC license for 17 years at that point, lost said license.  It was a choice on their own part, rather than DC’s, as they felt they needed to regroup.  Given the state of things, that was honestly pretty fair.  But also, I’m not gonna say Mattel giving up the DC license broke the world, but….can I convey a vague gesture around me in the text here?  Anyway, Mattel’s had pretty decent run of years here (helped by coincidentally scaling back their operations *just* before the pandemic that broke every major manufacturer’s supply chains for over a year), and with the DC license up for renewal again last year, they were able to successfully get it back.  We’re just now starting to get the very first of their new product, a basic 6-inch line of heavy hitters.  As there’s neither a Superman nor a Nightwing at the start, I’ve gone for the next best option: Robin!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robin is part of the first “Core” wave of Mattel’s DC Premier line, alongside a Batman, a Joker, and a Flash.  In stark contrast to most recent Robin figures, this one is Dick Grayson, specifically based on Dan Mora’s update to his classic design from the recent World’s Finest book.  It’s a fun design that keeps a lot of the signatures of Dick’s original look, while also working in some of Tim Drake’s design.  Essentially, it’s Dick’s original look, but now he gets to wear pants.  Good for him?  The figure stands about 6 1/4 inches tall and he has 24 points of articulation.  The pricing on this line puts it more or less in the same range as the recent Masters of the Universe movie line, which was honestly not a bad line, but Robin’s even better, with a really, really good articulation set-up.  There are some slight drawbacks; he lacks any mid-torso movement, and I would love more than just a swivel at the ankles.  But, the good greatly outweighs the bad here.  Robin’s sculpt is all-new, and appears to be shared with the deluxe version with the bike, but is otherwise unique.  It’s clearly inspired by Mora’s art, with a little bit of house styling in place as well.  The head sculpt is definitely the strongest piece; the separate hair is nice and sharp, and the expression feels right for Dick.  Robin’s cape is cloth, and it’s nothing terribly impressive, but neither is it bad looking.  Given Mattel’s earlier attempts at capes, it’s honestly refreshingly simple.  Robin’s coloring relies pretty heavily on molded plastic, but there’s still some paint mixed in.  He’s bright and colorful, as he should be, and the application is all very clean and sharp.  Robin gets quite an impressive array of extras, with two staffs, two pairs of different varieties of throwing weapons, two pairs of handcuffs, a knife, and a weapons rack to store them all on.  Additionally, Robin’s belt has three spots on the back where you can store some of the accessories, actually on the figure.  While I’d maybe like a more proper staff or some batarangs, I do like the variety offered, and the storage for everything is super cool.  You can also link up multiple racks if you have them, for a larger arsenal set-up.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I was hardly a Mattel fanboy during the latter part of their original run with the DC license, but I liked where they were headed right before giving up the license before, and I’ve been impressed by what I’ve picked up of their post-DC stuff.  While McFarlane certainly has grown on me, I was eager to see where Mattel could take things.  I was looking for a good intro figure, and when the first wave started showing up in stock, I liked the look of the Robin pictures enough to order one.  I’m really impressed.  He’s an incredibly good step forward, and shows Mattel really has changed their approach here.  I don’t know if I’m looking to go all-in here, but I’ll certainly pick up the occasional figure as they hit.

#4072: Grizzly

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

GRIZZLY

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“The rampaging strongman of Cable’s mercenary outfit the Six-Pack, the massive Grizzly balances unequal physical force with a liberal dose of sardonic humor. But don’t take him too lightly, lest he turns his prodigious mutant strength and massive battle-hammers to the attack. Now reunited with his former Six-Pack Comrades after serving with the SHIELD unit Weapon Prime, Grizzly battles those menaces that pose a threat to a safe and prosperous future for mutant and human alike.”

What, new mutant character from the ‘90s who was part of a paramilitary squad and has a “sardonic humor?”  That’s so very unique and original.  Is he also the best there is at what he does?  Well, “unequal physical force” suggests yes, I guess.  The name, though?  Not very original, since Grizzly is the fourth character to sport that name in the Marvel universe, and is, perhaps, the one with the least rational for using it.  But, he’s the only one who got a figure from Toy Biz, because it was the ’90, and we were all about the X-characters.  Anyway, here’s the figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Grizzly was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line, alongside fellow Six Pack member Kane.  He was the fourth member of the team, though he’s the fifth and final member I’m reviewing.  Yes, there were six members, but it’s Toy Biz, so they couldn’t finish a line-up; that would be out of character for them.  In their defense, the comics also pretty much forgot Hammer existed as well, so the main five are the ones you’d remember anyway.  The figure is about 5 1/2 inches tall and he has 6 points of articulation.  He lacked any sort of neck movement, and the shoulders were restricted by the action feature, but he does at least get knee joints.  His sculpt was unique to him, and would remain so for Toy Biz’s whole run.  It’s perfectly fine.  Generally, it looks the part.  I think an argument can be made for him being a bit under-scaled, especially given the slight scale up on the Cable and Kane from this same assortment, but given he was a Liefeld character, his scale was rather all over the place in the books.  Otherwise, the detailing matches up pretty well with his depictions in the comics, and there’s a decent assortment of textures.  Grizzly’s color work matches pretty well to the comics.  It’s odd, for sure.  Like, why is he red?  No idea.  He just is.  And he wears a lot of blue and green, which doesn’t really match.  But, also, there it is.  He’s packed with a pair of “Power Hammers” which he can hold in his hands, and swing up and down using his action feature.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The entirety of my knowledge of Grizzly comes from this figure’s existence.  And, admittedly, that’s not a lot.  I’ve never had much attachment to any of the Six Pack stuff, so I can’t say I really sought it out.  I got Grizzly because I was buying a couple of other Toy Biz figures online and wanted to combine shipping, and he was one I didn’t own.  I can’t say he does much to bring me into being interested, but also, like other X-Force figures, I can’t say he’s a bad figure, either.  And, if you really want that Six Pack line-up, this is the only Grizzly, so, you know, you gotta.

SeaQuest Customs

Posted by Ethan Wilson in General and tagged with , ,

On Wednesday, I wrapped up my running sub-feature from the last four months of looking at Playmates ill-fated SeaQuest DSV tie-in toyline.  Much like the show, it certainly showed a lot of promise early on, but despite the quality of the figures being there, the line just couldn’t secure its spot in a crowded ‘90s marketplace, and the show shifting gears and itself struggling to keep is own audience didn’t help matters.  The biggest drag to the toyline as it exists is the omissions.  Playmates released seven of the show’s ten regular characters, while also released two of the guest stars.  Plans for continuing the line would have of course included the three missing member, but not helping matters is that two of the three, Westphalen and Krieg, are major fixtures for the show’s first season, and the final of the three, Ortiz, is one of the few cast members to return in the show’s second season.  It just wasn’t right.  So, I decided to fix it, darn it!  I mean, I decided to fix it roughly 13 years ago, when I bough a spare Bridger and a Playmates Lore, with the intent of making a Krieg, because he was my favorite character.  Of course, I ended up getting side-tracked for far too long, but I found those parts while working to get my collecting in better order, and finally put that Krieg together.  And I liked the end result so much that I decided to put together the other two.  So, here they are!

KRIEG

As noted above, Krieg is a Bridger with a heavily modified Lore head from Playmates’ TNG line.  I aimed for closer to his look in the pilot, to keep him in line with the Hitchcock figure.  His head is still pretty easily removed, so maybe one day I’ll do an extra head for Season 3 Krieg!

WESTPHALEN

Of the three not produced, Westphalen is the only one to supposedly have gotten a prototype from Playmates, though no images have ever surfaced.  Mine uses a Hitchcock body, repainted to give it the proper science department blue, with a heavily modified Lwoxana Troi head.  I based her on her appearances early in “Games” when she’s more casual, in part to better pair her off with Zeller, and in part because it made re-using the Hitchcock body an easier alternative to some more heavy modification for her slightly more standard lab coated look.  I’m still not 100% on how the hair looks, but she was definitely a “close enough to call it done” figure.  I may revisit later.

ORTIZ

Ortiz is ultimately a pretty simple figure, using O’Neill’s body, with a head from Wesley Crusher, who doesn’t actually look anything like Will Wheaton, but who does look an okay amount like Marco Sanchez.  Yay!

#4071: Clone Captain Rex

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

CLONE CAPTAIN REX

STAR WARS: EPIC WORLD OF ACTION (HASBRO)

“Rex served the Republic on the front lines during the Clone Wars, taking orders from Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano.”

It would seem that after finishing up Power of the Force, my comfort zone for Star Wars reviews is just Captain Rexes.  I didn’t plan it like that, but it sure did end up that way, huh?  My personal favorite parts of the Disney era figure tie-ins were the more basic toyline elements, which were unfortunately dropped after Solo.  Hasbro’s toyed with some other takes on the more all-ages approach to the toys, and the latest is Epic Force, the Star Wars equivalent to the Epic Heroes branding they did for Marvel.  The line started as more of a 5POA thing, but has slightly evolved.  It’s been a rather eclectic selection of characters, and today I’m looking at one of the line’s takes on Captain Rex.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Clone Captain Rex is a 2025 release for Hasbro’s Star Wars: Epic World of Action line, the re-branding of “Epic Force.”  Rex is specifically part of the “Power the Force” (note the lack of “of” there, because it’s important) branding of the line.  The figure stands 4 inches tall and he has 15 points of articulation.  While the earlier Epic offerings for Star Wars went back to the 5POA roots, “Power the Force” upgraded most of the figures to the same articulation scheme as the Epic Heroes, and Rex reflects that.  It’s a solid set-up, and while he might benefit from wrist joints, he otherwise covers the bases.  Scaling wise, the line maintains its 4-inch scaling, different from the classic 3 3/4-inch set-up for Star Wars, so he’s a little on the large side, but with the gradual shifting of the main line over time, he’s not actually that out of place.  Design-wise, the figure is based on his realistic Phase I armor, as seen in Ahsoka, which makes a degree of sense, it being his most recent appearance and all.  The sculpt is a solid one, with a decent level of detailing, matching up pretty well with the on-screen look.  It’s clean, well defined, and has a nice solid feel to it.  It also looks sufficiently different from prior figures, giving him a good reason to exist.  I do wish he had trigger fingers on the hands, though.   His paint work is decent, but notably basic and clean for a Rex figure.  I guess, it being a Phase I Rex, he should be a little cleaner, but it does seem a bit more scaled back than even that would explain.  Still, it’s far from bad, and the most important details are all still present.  Rex is packed with a pair of blaster pistols, as he’s prone to do.  In an effort to get into the “Power the Force” gimmick, which largely translates to clear plastic, they’re molded in translucent blue.  Also, one of the two of them has a permanently attached blast effect, which is cool and theory, but becomes a problem when it comes to the sculpted holsters on the figure.  Though both are functional, only one can be used, since the blast effect won’t fit, so, he can’t use it.  It’s an odd choice, for sure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I don’t do a bunch of big box retail shopping these days, so I miss out on a lot of more basic toy releases.  I knew this guy existed, but never put the effort into finding one.  But, it’s a Rex, so if it lands in front of me, I’m gonna want it.  A few weeks ago, I was killing some time walking my daughter around the mall while my wife and son saw a movie, and she wanted to walk through the (apparently no longer a temporary pop-up) Toys “R” Us, and this guy happened to be one of the two Epic figures they had.  Yay, new Rex for me!  He’s neat.  Nothing special or ground breaking, but neat.  I think if they’d included an extra not blasting blaster, he’d be pretty much all you’d need, but even so, he’s a fun little basic figure.

#4070: The Regulator

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

THE REGULATOR

SEAQUEST DSV (PLAYMATES)

“Name: Dr. Leslie Ferina, aka “The Regulator”

Rank: Renegade Black Market Trader

Last Recorded Location: “Down World,” beneath the sea, south of Madagascar

UEO Case File #: Q8983-S/21-74373

Character Profile: Once thought of as true genius. Illegal trader of marine equipment and weapons. Long suspected a thief. Frightening, ruthless and violent. Paranoid loner. Contemptuous of society’s laws and rules.

Personal History: Showed exceptional scientific aptitude as a child. Received college scholarship at age 14. Ph.D in Marine Geophysics, 1992. Credited with the development of the “Hemosponge” artificial gill system, 1996. Stripped of credentials in 1999 after surgically adapting a miniature Hemosponge on a land based mammal. Listed as suicide and disappeared from public view, 2005. Now operated on black market from secluded underwater location, accompanied only by his companion Verne — the orangutan he once tried to surgically alter to breath underwater.

Mission Specialty: Obsessed with the search for the beginning of land-based evolution. Once kidnapped Darwin, who he believed could speak regular English, to aid in “research” of his spherical evolution theory.”

My very first SeaQuest DSV here on the site wasn’t of any of the members of the show’s regular cast, but was instead Dr. Rubin Zeller, a single episode antagonist, admittedly from one of the show’s best regarded episodes.  In this sense, I suppose it’s fitting that my last SeaQuest DSV review would be of the line’s *other* non-series regular figure, also a single episode antagonist, the eponymous character from “The Regulator.”  Though not as universally praised as “Games” and certainly leaning more into the show’s tendency for camp, “The Regulator” is a pretty solid building up of the world and the backstories of the characters, with Leslie “The Regulator” Ferina serving as an interesting character, whom it’s ultimately disappoint the show never got back to.  Well, at least he got an action figure. 

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Regulator is the final figure in Playmates Toys’ SeaQuest DSV tie-in toyline.  He’s one of the two antagonists included, but at least, unlike Zeller, the characters he interacts with the most were all actually included in the line.  Leslie has a number of looks over the course of the episode, but the figure goes for his introductory design, which is honestly his best and most memorable, so it makes a lot of sense.  The figure stands 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation.  He’s missing the waist swivel that the others had, and his neck joint is restricted by the hair, but otherwise, it works like the others.  His sculpt is…fine.  It’s honestly the weakest of the batch.  The body isn’t too bad, but feels a little softer than the others.  There’s at least some pretty sharp detailing on the boots and gloves.  The head’s just really not on the mark.  Despite the likenesses generally being quite strong, there’s pretty much no John Bedford Lloyd in this one.  His face is too wide, his hair too straight, and his expression just odd, and unlike the character.  The glasses are part of the attire, but don’t really translate well, and further hamper the likeness.  Regulator’s paint work is rather on the basic side.  It covers the general set-up, but there’s certainly some overlooked details, especially the hat, and the shirt’s pattern is greatly simplified.  Leslie is packed with his orangutan Verne, a voltage drive, PAL, harpoon gun, and display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Regulator is the not only the last SeaQuest  figure I’m reviewing, he’s also the last one I added to my collection.  I mostly just focused on the crew originally, but once I got Zeller, I figured I might as well just round them out.  I don’t remember exactly when I got Leslie, but I recall finding him at Gidget’s Gadgets during one of my family vacations.  Going by his placement in my database, it looks like December of 2017.  He was sealed at the time, and I only just opened him before doing this review.   He’s not as impressive as the rest of the line.  The choice of design is sensible, but the implementation is wonky.  And, as with Zeller, his presence in place of another member of the crew is rather unfortunate.  But, that’s what it is, and that’s a wrap on the line, which is quite a neat little set of quirky little figures.

#4069: Ambush Attack Batman

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

AMBUSH ATTACK BATMAN

BATMAN & ROBIN (KENNER)

“The cold front moving through the streets of Gotham City lately is the diabolical plan of Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy and Bane plotting to put the Dynamic Duo on ice! Batman and Robin respond immediately by using the Batcomputer deep within the Batcave to develop Covert Strike Cape technology: specially designed assault capes that reveal secret arsenals of cutting edge weaponry to battle against the evil forces threatening Gotham City! Discover the new, secret technology that gives Batman, Robin, and Batgirl the power to bring fiendish foes to justice!”

Remember when I looked at a Batman & Robin figure last week?  Cool, well I guess I’m gonna do that again!  While from the 1989 film on, the live-action Batman movies have had selling merchandise as at least part of their purpose, Batman & Robin took it to new levels, with director Joel Schumacher reportedly reminding actors between takes that they were shooting a “toy commercial.”  And, for all its faults, it did sell some toys.  For as many toyetic concepts existed in the film itself, the toyline expanded them even further, and…well there were certainly some reaches.  Batman and Robin got paraded around with all manner of frivolous outfits and gimmicks, and today we’re looking at one of those, Ambush Attack Batman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Ambush Attack Batman was released in the second year of Kenner’s Batman & Robin tie-in line.  The theme for that second round was “Covert Strike Cape” so all of the figures had some sort of cape-related feature.  I’ll get to that.  The figure stands just shy of 5 inches tall and he has 5 points of articulation.  The  core figure is pretty typical of the Kenner lines at this point.  He’s got the most basic of movement, and the slightest bit of a pre-pose to him, as if he’s sort of mid-step.  The sculpt is new, which was honestly notable in the second year, where there was a decent amount of parts re-using from the Batman Forever line.  It’s…fine?  There’s the standard Clooney Batman head, which looks the part well enough, and the body has a sort of armored look that’s fine enough.  It’s a bit out of step with the more classical armor approaches of the movie’s aesthetic, being a lot more tech heavy and segmented, but perhaps I’m reading a bit too much into the designs here?  It’s a goofy Batman variant, and it does what it needs to.  There’s a spot on his lower back where the cape clips into place, which keeps it nice and secure.  The cape is huge and very wide.  It’s designed to swing forward at his waist, allowing for use of the capture claws mounted on the bottom portion.  It makes him a little hard to stand, but that’s not really surprising, because there’s not much call for properly balancing something like this.  The color scheme on this figure is rather unique, placing Batman in a predominantly green and yellow set-up.  There’s a part of me that’s genuinely curious, given the “Ambush Attack” descriptor and the green and yellow coloring, if there was an Ambush Bug fan at Kenner who was sneaking in a reference with this release.  I have nothing to go on for that, mind you, but I think it would be neat.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t have much from the second year of this line, because I’d largely moved on to better things.  I was back to more of a Marvel push, and whatever DC I wanted would have most certainly been related to the animated side.  This guy and one other second year Batman were gifts, most likely for my birthday, from a family friend, who was most certainly operating on “he likes super heroes, so I’ll just buy him a couple of Batman figures.”  They would have most certainly been on some kind of sale by that point.  I can’t say I ever thought much of him.  I recall it even took me a bit to actually open him, a rarity at the time, and the most use he got during play time would have been as a stand-in for some sort of Green Lantern Batman.  He’s fine, but honestly a bit unfocused and unclear on what his gimmick is really supposed to be.  But, he survived a good number of collection purges, so I must not have hated him.  

#4068: Kane – 2nd Edition

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

KANE — 2ND EDITION

X-FORCE (TOY BIZ)

“A product of the same Weapon X program that created Wolverine, Garrison Kane’s arms were replaced with a pair of multi-purpose bionic weapons. Now, alongside his mentor Cable, he battles those menaces that would jeopardize the prosperity of the future as a member of the mercenary unit called Six Pack!”

It’s truly amazing to watch a lot of the X-Force cast’s bios evolve as they reappear in the Toy Biz line and have clearly had major developments to their backstories in the comics.  Garrison Kane’s first figure was produced while he was still one of the book’s many mystery characters, but by figure 2 we knew a little more about him, and so his bio actually, you know, talks more about who he is and less about what this figure’s action feature represents.  They even mention Six Pack!  Everybody loves Six Pack!  Alright, let’s take a look at the second Kane figure!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kane (2nd Edition) was released in the second series of Toy Biz’s X-Force line.  It’s crazy to think that, of all the characters in the first round to immediately get a second go, it was Kane who showed right back up.  Shatterstar, Deadpool, and Warpath all got second figures too, but they had to wait, whereas Kane was just right back at the head of the line.  I guess it was more a case of getting while the getting was good, because he didn’t get any additional follow-ups.  While the first Kane figure was the subject of a downright obscene number of variants, they had it better under control for his second figure, so he just has one standardized release.  The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation.  Elbow joints had still not become standardized yet, so he lacks them, but he does get a swivel on his right wrist, even if it’s really just tied into his action feature.  He gets two of them, both tied into his hands.  His right hand, which is permanently in propeller mode, has a spinning mode, while his left has a “super punch,” which really just means it means the hand moves back and forth *a little.*  Beyond the action features and articulation, Kane’s sculpt showcases the rather quick evolution of the line’s sculpts.  His first figure was quite rudimentary, but by this assortment, they were a lot more involved, with far sharper detailing and generally bulkier promotions.  It makes for a decent match for Kane’s non-Liefeld appearances, and is generally a rather nice little sculpt.  The permanent propeller hand is really goofy, of course, so he’d probably benefit from an alternate hand or something, but it was what it was.  He had a removable vest piece, which was later re-used for the Fantastic Four Mr. Fantastic, which adds some more variety to his look.  Kane’s paint work is generally basic, and marks a slight departure from his original colors, but he still maintains enough consistency that he generally looks like the same guy.  Kane is packed with a small gun, which he can hold him his left hand, and only his left hand, because his right hand is a propeller.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kane was added to my collection at the same time as last week’s Cable II figure, when they were traded in at work still sealed and were still quite cheap.  I remember the first Kane, but have very little memory of the second one’s existence when I was a kid.  I think I just lumped him in with the original.  It’s not like I had any real frame of reference on the character.  I didn’t know much of what to expect on this figure, but I actually quite enjoy the final product.  Even with his permanent propeller hand.

Shoutout to my friends at All Time Toys, from whom I purchased this figure for review!  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0078: Senyaka

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

SENYAKA

X-MEN (TOY BIZ)

Hey, we’re here, and it’s Friday, and we officially made it, you guys.  Last Friday wasn’t a Flashback day, so I didn’t do my whole end of the week motivation, so here’s me getting back to it.  We did it!  And for getting to the end of the week?  Well, here’s some more Toy Biz Marvel coverage.  Unfortunately, we’re looking back at Senyaka.  It’s the best I can offer.  We’ll try to make the best of it?

“A member of the humanity-hating Acolytes, Senyaka is perhaps the most ruthless soldier in Magneto’s war against mankind! Often leading the other Acolytes into battle, Senyaka uses his psionic whips to course pain into his ensnared foes! Even more deadly, however, is his power to energize his own energies by sapping his victim’s very life forces. Though struck down in battle by Magneto himself, Senyaka has returned to plague humans once again, with each attack more lethal than the last!”

Remember in my last two Toy Biz X-Men reviews, where I was discussing characters who were pretty much only relevant during the ’90s? Yeah, so today’s focus wasn’t even particularly relevant *then.* That bio up there? Probably the most that’s ever been said about Senyaka. I think I actually learned stuff from that bio, which I guess is the point, isn’t it? Well, Senyaka got an action figure, so I guess I should maybe review it.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Senyaka was released twice during the Toy Biz X-Men run. Initially, he was offered up as a TRU-exclusive alongside Series 7 in 1994, and then was added to a proper assortment in 1995 as part of the Mutant Genesis Series. He’s the same figure either way, and mostly it just served to make him *incredibly* easy to find. The figure stands 5 inches tall and he has 8 points of articulation. He’s got no movement at his neck or right elbow, due to how the figure is designed, making him a bit on the stiff side. Apparently, Senyaka’s had multiple costumes? Who knew? Well, he’s sporting his Alcolytes costume, which seems reasonable enough. The sculpt is pretty typical for the line. He’s stiff, he’s buff, and he’s got pouches and shoulder pads. There’s not a ton of detailing going on, but it looks like all of the important stuff is there. Senyaka’s paint work is pretty standard. The base color work is all pretty clean, and the colors seem to more or less match what Senyaka was usually sporting. Senyaka had a slightly different accessory selection depending on release. Both included his whip, but the Mutant Genesis release also added a nunchuck-looking thing. Mine has neither, so I guess doesn’t really matter.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Senyaka’s another one of those “if I’m getting the rest of the line, I might as well” figures. I’ve got no attachment to the character, but then who really does? I got mine loose, hence the lack of accessories. Perhaps someday I’ll find them. Ultimately, there’s nothing really impressive about this guy, but he’s certainly not the worst thing the line offered, and fills in a line-up of villains alright.

Ah, a June 2020 review.  After the Day of the Wolverines, I was more invested in getting Toy Biz Marvel back on the schedule, and Senyaka wound up as one of those.  I wasn’t exactly enamored to be reviewing him.  I think I’d probably be a touch kinder to him these days, but I can’t say my review was exactly off the mark.  When last I discussed him, the figure was missing his primary accessory from his original release, as well as his secondary accessory from the later release.  Now he’s got both his whip and his nunchuck.  Hooray!  Compete Senyaka!  That’s the best kind of Senyaka…I guess?  Doesn’t make him less stiff, but I guess it’s kinda cool to have the extras, even if he can’t *really* hold the nunchucks.

#4067: DJ R-3X

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

DJ R-3X

DROID DEPOT (DISNEY)

“All different types of droids populate the Star Wars galaxy. Each droid is different and has their own unique personality and colors. Rex, a former pilot of a Starspeeder 3000 for Star Tours, was recently reprogrammed to be a DJ in Oga’s Cantina. Join DJ R-3X on their adventures throughout the galaxy. May the Force be with you… and your droids!”

The beats are about to get riggity-Rexed!  I’m sorry, was that bad?  Well, I’m standing by it.  While I haven’t discussed the Disney Parks attraction Star Tours much here on the site, I did talk a little bit about it, way back in 2020, when I discussed its original star, pilot droid RX-24, the original “Captain Rex.”  Rex was of course removed from the ride in its 2011 reworking, which made R2-D2 and C-3PO the main focuses of the ride.  Rex was sidelined for the better part of a decade, but finally resurfaced as part of Galaxy’s Edge, now as “DJ R-3X.”  He’s gotten a couple of figures, the latest of which is part of Disney’s in-house parks merch, which I’m looking at today!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DJ R-3X was a November 2025 offering from Disney’s Droid Depot line, the Parks and website exclusive line which replaced the Droid Factory build-a-droids.  This is Rex’s second figure since he became a DJ, the first being his 2020 Black Series figure (though I guess that was technically released twice.)  The figure stands just over 3 inches tall and he has 18 points of articulation.  He’s actually not much smaller than the Black Series figure, and thus doesn’t really look *drastically* different.  His movement is mostly the same as well, though he’s actually got some extra utility thanks to the headphones and visor’s articulation, which was missing from the Black Series release. I do miss the spinning sections of the torso, and I’ve found that the joints on the arms are a bit looser than I’d like, but overall, he’s got a respectable set-up.  The sculpt is a good match for the prop from the parks, and the detailing is all pretty sharp.  His color work is actually a bit of an improvement over the Hasbro version, which was fine, but certainly more on the basic side of things.  This one, on the other hand, is quite remarkably weathered, which is certainly fitting of the very lived-in aesthetic of Star Wars as a whole, but specifically the Galaxy’s Edge  area.  Like the last Rex, this guy is without accessories, but he’s involved enough on his own that it doesn’t feel so light.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m not much of a Disney parks guy, and in fact hadn’t been to Disney World since going on a trip with my parents back in 2007, meaning the last time I was there, Disney hadn’t yet acquired Star Wars, and therefore didn’t have anything apart from Star Tours for the license.  I hadn’t gotten to see any of the Galaxy’s Edge stuff, including Rex’s revamped placement.  My son Matty turned 10 this year, so for his spring break, we all flew down to Disney, and we got to spend some time in Galaxy’s Edge, which was super fun.  While there, I found this guy, and I absolutely couldn’t pass him up, because, well, it’s Rex.  He’s got some quirks for sure, but I like him for different reasons than the Black Series.  They’re both good for different reasons, though, so I’m glad to have them both.

#4066: Force Commander & Microtron

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

FORCE COMMANDER & MICROTRON

MICRONAUTS REACTION+ FIGRURES (SUPER 7)

Back in December of last year, I got to take my first look at Super 7’s revival of Micronauts, a brand with a history of really struggling, not just at retail, but also behind the scenes.  Despite all that, it seems like Super 7’s had at least a little more luck than others, and they’ve even managed to get through multiple rounds of follow-ups.  I’ve finally pulled myself together and jumped on board for those, so today, I’m taking a look at the second round of figures, Force Commander and Microtron!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Force Commander and Microtron are Series 2 of Super 7’s Micronauts ReAction+ Figures, which like the first series, is an o-ring construction based line.  And, much like the first series, both figures included were larger scale, non-o-ring figures in the vintage line, in a sort of reversal of things.

FORCE COMMANDER

“Force Commander, ruler of Homeworld, the Capitol of the Microverse under the rule of Baron Karza.  Captured and merged with his horse Oberon in the Body Banks, he temporarily became a centaur-like being.  As Force Commander, he was a leader of the rebellion against Baron Karza.”

Karza’s opposite number (at least in the toyline; the fiction never really treated him as such, more often treating him as somewhat misguided and out of touch), Force Commander’s original figure jointed the vintage line in its second year, alongside the Baron.  The figure stands 3 3/4 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  Force Commander and Karza have classically shared most of their parts, and this release is no exception.  From the neck down, he’s identical to the Series 1 Karza, which is accurate, and also not a bad thing, since the Karza sculpt is really quite nice.  He has a new head sculpt.  There are two head variants on the original figure, and Super 7’s gone with Hong Kong-produced version with larger eyes and rebreather.  It’s the generally more “on-model” of the two, and looks a bit better, so it’s the right choice.  The sculpt is clean and sharp and fits well with the rest of the mold.  Force Commander’s color work is pretty much the same set-up as Karza, just swapping out white plastic for the black plastic.  I think it ends up rather striking.  Force Commander has a backpack piece, modeled on his original rocket pack, now as a simple plug-in back pack.

MICROTRON

“Microtron has been Princess Mari’s diminutive roboid attendant since her birth.  He is equipped with an interlingual translator.  He never abandons her while she joins the underground and the Micronauts fighting Baron Karza.”

As with Biotron from Series 1, the original Microtron was less a figure himself and more a vehicle/accessory to the main figures from the line. He was much larger in scale, and had features like a seat that flipped out of the top of his head.  Just like Biotron, the comics would shrink him down significantly to better interact with the other characters, which the toys never really replicated.  The figure stands 2 1/2 inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation.  While the original figure had no real movement below the shoulders, this figure uses the o-ring construction to give him movement at the waist, and he’s also got swivels at the “hips” on the tops of the treads, so there’s some more room for tweaking his posing there.  The sculpt is a pretty respectable recreation of the original, just shrunk down and made more posable.  His color scheme is particularly eye-catching, and like Biotron, he gets to dabble in the signature Mircronauts chrome a bit, albeit not for the head, but rather his visor and arms.  It’s quite a fun look, and it gives him a lot of pop that might get lost if he were just relying on painted silver.  The original Microtron had a number of swappable parts, but this release just grants him his drill piece.  It’s chromed as well, and you can still place it in its original (somewhat unfortunate) spot on the front of the pelvis, or in any of the 5mm sockets on the front or back of the torso.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the first series, I kind of dragged my feet on getting these, and I don’t really know why exactly I did that, but I finally bought them, and now here they are.  Back in the Palisades days, I really wanted a Force Commander, but was never able to get one, so I’m happy to finally have the chance here.  Karza was neat, but I like Force Commander just a little bit better.  Microtron is just a cool little robot guy, and I can never really complain about getting one of those.  Despite the delay in getting them, I think this one’s a bit more exciting for me than the first.