Well, no, not this. This is a poorly executed toy review. But the subject of the review, DC’s Primal Age Batcave? That is a love letter to the toys of my youth. From the figures to the playset, it’s clear that this line is being made by folks that loved their toys back in the Eighties and know how to pack in all the little details to capture what made those old toys so great. The retro spotlight has finally started to shift into the 80s, away from MEGOs and lightly detailed 3 3/4 figures and into toys of what I remember, figures reminiscent of 80s wrestling and sword & sorcery toys. This is getting exciting.

The highlight of this first series of DC Primal Age is easily the Batcave playset. First off, it’s a big play set like we used to get more frequently. It looked big from the images I’d seen online, but I still wasn’t prepared when the box from Funko arrived on my porch. The Castle is a shade over 21″ tall, about 15″ wide when closed and double that when opened. It’s as serious a playset as any we had back in the day. My MOTU play sets were all lost in the flood that claimed most of my childhood toys, but I have no doubt that the Batcave would look fantastic next to them if I could group them all together.

The exterior is pitch perfect. There are limited paint apps, with just a darkened area around the face, the bright, almost glowing eyes, and the top of the talons. The sculpt itself is kept simple with a little bit of flourish via the burning cauldrons and their clear bluish fire inserts. It’s just enough to capture enough of the details without going overboard. The back of the playset is simply a rocky surface with the one large window and a small, funny little lizard sculpted in at the base.

Just above the eyes and almost completely hidden if you’re looking at it head on, there’s a balcony area for one figure to stand on and look down on all those who would enter. Being able to slot Batman up there is probably my favorite part of the exterior. That’s his new permanent home when on display.

The inside of the castle is where the toy lets the playset aspect hit home. It opens on a hinge on the right side and reveals a few key areas where the figures can interact with the playset. The front half of the castle features a few clips to hold an assortment of original weapons (a shield, ax, hammer, sword) as well as a clip-on banner featuring a bat symbol just in case you weren’t sure who lived here. The accessories are all nicely done and a few extra points for them being different versions than what came with the various figures. There are also a couple of recessed areas on either side of the gated entrance where you can set an included fighting dummy. It’s a fun little piece with a removable helmet. I also relieved Ace of his gear and tossed it conveniently in the other corner. The gold saddle matches up with everything else and lets the castle feel like it came packed with even more stuff.

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Retro figures have been slowly running against the grain of super-articulation the last few years. We saw the return of MEGO and that okay. We saw the return of Kenner style figures and that was cool. But the folks over at Funko have finally brought retro just a little more forward and now they’re speaking my language. One of the powerhouse toy lines of the 1980s, Masters of the Universe figures had a unique… we’ll call it, battle-ready pose that is synonymous with the line. Though it was copied by a handful of knock-off lines, the pose was a dead giveaway that you had found a He-Man or He-Man like figure.

Now, some thirty years later, the retro lens has fallen upon those classic MOTU figures. Funko’s first foray into the Savage World figures features characters from Mortal Kombat X. The packaging, which I now realize I failed to shoot, keeps it simple and sticks to the vintage theme with a tall card just wide enough that features a bubble similar to the old MOTU figures. The back of the card also calls back to a simpler time by featuring the entire first wave on the box and encouraging us to collect them all.

Once you dig into the package, the figures themselves feature a few surprises. While the overall feel and look stays true to vintage, the figures are updated in a few important ways that really enhances them for modern collectors and will, I think, contribute to some overall success. The first big update is the articulation. While these are true to the basic 6 POA figures they’re homaging, the hips have been updated to be both posable and to do with any pesky rubber bands that will eventually incapacitate the figure. The ball & socket joint on the hips really changes thing up. My MOTU figures in these shots are old, but handling them at the same time really showcased how much better the new hips are and will be in years to come.

When it comes to sculpt, the new figures are chunky just like we’d remember, but strangely, have a ton more detail then any of us would’ve dreamed of back in the day. And it’s awesome. The newest MK game features some of the most ornate costumes yet, far from the old 16-bit days, and that level of detail is well translated here to the figure. Liu Kang’s dragon tunic is probably the best example with even the stitching worked into the sculpt, but I could choose some nice areas on each figure.

The paint is well done on all the figures. Some areas have a simple vintage call back like Liu Kang’s eyes while other figures like Raiden feature more ornate paint applications. They’re well done over all and along with the sturdiness of the figures, these are easily some of my most favorite Funko figures yet.

While Liu Kang has to rely on his kicks and fists, the other figures each feature character appropriate accessories. Scorpion has his swords, Kitana her fans, Sub-Zero has some icy weapons, and Raiden features clip-on lightning. The accessories were the only weak spot for me. I had trouble with Kitana holding her fans and getting the swords into Scorpion’s mitts was a little bit of a struggle. In the future, I’d like to see the hands have a little more give and maybe the smaller items like the fans feature more of a grip.

Wave one consists of Liu Kang, Kitana, Raiden, Scorpion, & Sub-Zero, but this is Funko! It’s not going to end there. Raiden, Scorpion, & Sub-Zero each feature a chase variant. Each one is neatly done, from Scorpion’s flaming skull, Raiden with some charged blue limbs and an extra lightning wrap, to Sub-Zero being complete cast in an icy blue. I want to say Sub-Zero is my favorite chase because he’s so damn… yeah… cool, but the skull head on Scorpion is pretty awesome!

Overall, this is a great start to what I hope is a whole new option for retro figures. The updated sculpting and quality is what has me the most interested. I think those two things in particular could help build this line past ReAction. There are some great 80s properties (& beyond) that would be amazing in this style and I hope Funko gets the chance to explore it.

These figures are just now starting to hit stores so be on the lookout!

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I love superheroes, I really do. Looking at my toy collection makes that pretty clear. But one thing superheroes seemingly lack more and more as I’ve gotten older is a distinct and well-rounded life in their secret identity. It’s really part of maintaining the status quo, I suppose. Superman can punch out Brainiac ad nauseam and we don’t blink an eye, but how many times can we read about him surviving a parent teacher conference? (I’d at least like to find out…)

When I think back to Darkwing Duck, I don’t think of him as the shadowy guardian and crime fighter so much as that he was a great Dad. The show was fantastic, the villains roster solid, Launchpad is still one of my favorite characters, and Gizmoduck is a sensation to himself. And yet, it was Gosalyn and her relationship with Drake that truly made the show work for me. To this day, I will drink up comics that show strong family lives because of great shows like Darkwing Duck ( though, admittedly, I also save a lot of money this way).

Funko’s Darkwing Duck figure has me thinking about that relationship because the figure is so happy. He’s also kinda looking down so I just see him taken from a moment talking to Gosalyn versus say, getting dangerous. It’s a terrific sculpt and the expression leaves me recalling my favorite parts of the show.

The rest of sculpt is great; the whole first wave just looks like animation in real life. Darkwing stands about the same height as Scrooge, has a great paint, and features ball-jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, and swivels at the waist, neck, and v-crotch hips. The soft cape looks sharp as does the ginormous hat. The traditional gas gun is also included. Continue to Page 2…

Unlike DuckTales, I don’t remember as much about TaleSpin so this review might be a little light . The shows didn’t really overlap in their first run, so I must not have been watching as many cartoons when Baloo & Rebecca made their way into syndication. I knew about the show – the concept, reimagining The Jungle Book characters into a modern adventure show & air service shipping company, was out there, but they made it work for one, long 65-episode season.

My biggest memory of the show, which turned out to be semi on purpose, was the show reminding me of Cheers with the relationship between Baloo & Rebecca mimicking that of Sam and… well, Rebecca, from Cheers. Both Sam & Baloo have become unable to run their own business, both lose them to their respective Rebeccas, and both ultimately must work as an employee at their own business on the way towards falling in love.

Speaking of Rebecca, I was surprised to not see her featured on the card art. Just as with DuckTales, the card art is specific to the show and looks good, I like the circle bubble over the globe. It features a scene from the Flight of the Snow Duck which focused heavily on Baloo, Wildcat, and Molly and ends up with a couple series regulars missing. It’ll be interesting to see if future figures feature the same scenes or that we’ll see some different scenes mixed in on the card backers. Continue to Page 2…

Last week, I ran across a LEGO Forestman and suddenly I couldn’t stop thinking about the Camouflaged Outpost for the first time in nearly three decades. I loved that set! It was part tree, part giant rock, all secret base. I had a similar revelation last month when my son & I sat down to watch the new DuckTales. I’ve left Disney behind a bit as an adult and am getting to reexperience some of it with my son. I find myself right back to explaining how Goofy & Pluto can co-exist and identifying which one is Huey and which one is Louie.

When we set down to watch the new DuckTales, I was caught in between the flood of my own memories and watching my son learn the characters anew in what’s essentially “his” version. Of course, while I was thinking back to Gyro, the Beagles, and the Number One Dime, my son was picking out his favorite character, the Aflac Duck from the crossover commercial. Well, maybe he’ll have a sentimental moment for an old insurance commercial in thirty years, who knows?

After enjoying the new show and being drawn back into the old one, my mind turned, as it often does, to action figures. I may have been away from the site for a while, playing Dad and working too hard, but my toy addiction is still quite robust. It doesn’t seem like there was a lot of collecting options for DuckTales figures, though Darkwing Duck got some love back in the day. Striking while the iron is seemingly super-hot, Funko has stepped in to end the long wait – which has been decades for some and only a few weeks for me. Shucks.

Last week, Funko announced a new 3 ¾” line featuring characters from the Disney Afternoon cartoon block. The first wave features characters from Talespin, Darkwing Duck, Rescue Rangers, and DuckTales in the form of the richest duck in the world himself, Scrooge McDuck. Last week, they looked wonderful in the mock-ups and the collector response has seemed overwhelmingly positive so far. Which is great because now I can tell you they look great in person as well. The excitement out there will be richly rewarded when the figures arrive. Continue to Page 2…

The pictures tonight aren’t quite up to par due to a technical glitch. I figured I’d go ahead and post the review anyway, my apologies. This review also won’t feature any real spoilers that I’m unaware of… as I still haven’t seen Captain America: Civil War. Oops! I know, I should turn in my nerd card. My wife & I have just been bad about getting a babysitter for the Sam-bug and going out to the theater. I think we’ll be making a more concentrated effort during Giant Man Week. Seems only right.

Since I haven’t seen the film, I can’t really speak to much about T’Challa in the film. I do know that he seems pretty accurate to the comics and that he nearly steals the show. More importantly for a toy collector, I also know that he’s got a kickass costume that’s well translated to action figure form here by Hasbro for their Marvel Legends line. The cinematic figures have become a favorite part of the ML line for me in recent years. We’ve been running quite a deficit on some characters, so I’m extra happy that Black Panther was selected right out of the gate.

Black Panther has had a couple of comic figures in the line before, but I ended up selling both. The first because it was done on this weird sandpaper textured body and the second because of the white/blue highlight overspray (though the sculpt was fantastic). This Black Panther surpasses both of those easily. The detail work to get the costume right is amazing. The texture on the base costume is so fine that you have to almost strain to see it. And the layering and piping up from there appears to be pretty accurate to the film. He looks just as sharp as the character in the movie and that already puts it up pretty high on the list of my favorite Marvel Legends.

The figure is even striking despite being basically mono-chromatic color scheme. The silver highlights could be a little less sloppy overall, but the figure looks good cast in all black with the just the little bit of paint to get it right. Maybe I’m just beyond thrilled that there isn’t an overspray for effect. It gives me more hope that the next eventual Black Spidey won’t have that either. Continue to Page 2…

“I’ll show you who hasn’t got a mind! Eh, I mean, who has a mind.” -Trap Jaw, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. “Teela’s Triumph” (1985).

I couldn’t tell you how long it’s been since I reviewed a MOTU Classics figures. This is at least the first one this year and its June. That’s not good. Part of it is just me being annoyed about missing the SDCC Tops 2pk last year. I missed both times they were available online and it broke my completist streak. I can’t complain – 7 years of not missing a product is a good run, but the eBay price for those Tops got dumb fast and every time I muster the gumption to spend the money the damn thing always costs more than the last time. True evil.

Anyway, after that, I haven’t even opened all the MOTUC figures. All the Club 200x stuff is still in box. The Laser figures still in box. All of this year’s figures are still in b- well, I did open Trap Jaw! That’s a start. One of the reasons I was really thinking about MOTUC lately is the run of disappointing news. Snake Mountain is up in the air if not crashed and burned. I started to make a site at SnakeMountain.net to help push for it, but it just feels pointless. There’s no SDCC exclusive this year (which considering last year, is a blessing in disguise I guess). And then there are all the delays. MOTU Classics just seems rudderless. For the first time, I have serious doubts about the future. It’s weird times.

None of this has anything to do with old Trap Jaw here though. I just felt like opening one up and taking some pictures. Trap Jaw is the most recent figure so I opted for him instead of going back to pick up a year-old figure that’s been sitting around waiting. So much for first come, first serve.

I have to admit that I only like these Filmation figures as kind of cool novelty, but even after opening Trap Jaw – I’m not super into him. I signed up mostly for Evilseed & Clawful more than simpler versions of figures I already have. But maybe it’s just that I’m rusty n the MOTU love front and I need to get back into it. I’m curious to hear from all of you – how are you receiving the Filmation/2.0 figures?

The technicals are still good here. The basic buck isn’t changed. Though Trap Jaw strangely got a new torso that’s raised to meet the harness on his right arm, but they reuse those ol’ Trap Jaw upper thighs for the umpteenth time. And I do love the new pieces. The new head sculpt is fantastic. I think I like it better than the regular version. It just has more personality. The jaw is new to match the cartoon and gone is the Walking Dead tongue behind his steel mouth. I like that on the original, but it doesn’t need to be here, so good call. The lower legs are well done and the design thankfully covers up the super useful, but ugly new ankle joints. The simpler loincloth is present along with a simplified belt. He looks good all put together and I find myself liking the bright colors. Continue to Page 2…

First, there’s a lot to like. The robot mode looks sharp out of the box. I never had Leader-1 as a kid. I wanted to have him and I got close once we my family ran across the blue repaint in a Skaggs Grocery store years later. My parents ended up not grabbing it for me, but I at least saw it! I was happy about that. I bought a used one year later. He’s a bit of a beater, but I like to think he’s that same one I saw years ago. On a side note, I miss that Skaggs Grocery store. It’s a Ford dealership now. Woo hoo.

Visually, I really like the overall robot. I like that so much of the jet mode is visible in robot mode. I love Battle Robo, but since he’s a futuristic tank his robot mode looks mostly like a robot. Eagle Robo has a more transforming robot feel with the alt mode shining through. The high shoulders bring a good balance to the clunky legs and I like the head sculpt. The head sculpts are the big thing to get used to since they’re the most notable anime aspect of the figures, and different from the toys we remember. The only visual negative is the neck – it’s just this lone black rod. Like Leader-1’s head is just continually on a pike. It just is weird. There’s nothing sophisticated about it and it just jars an otherwise near perfect visual.

Like Tank, the upgraded articulation is one of the best things about the figure. The legs are a little blocked by all the kibble. The wings wrap around the legs but the vertical stabilizers are immobile and get in the way of the ankle on deeps poses. He can still do plenty – the transformation process gives him a second hinge in the leg that helps the ankles out, but he’s not quite as possible as Tank. The arms are just as good as Tank and the neck articulation even better. The rod is ugly, but it helps the figure be expressive (& helps you find poses where you can hide the rod entirely behind the chin.

The transformation process is where Eagle Robo lets me down a bit. In fact, I have to use the dreaded F-word to describe him: fiddly. The legs are great, they’re the most Gobot part of the figure with the wings just wrapping around and keeping it simple. The nose cone also pops over the head. Simple enough. But the arms… I’m not even sure I understand where everything tabs in. I just kind of press it altogether and hope it gets there. I still can’t get all the pegs on the underside aligned, but he holds together fine. Continue to Page 2…

I’m not starting new lines. I’m not. As part of my 2016 reevaluation, I recognized that I spend too much on toys and the first way too slow things down was to vow not to buy into new toy lines. When Machine Robo debuted, I tried to write it off under that ban, but I’m weak. I loved the Gobots I had as a kid. There was no snooty competition between them and my Transformers. Scooter. Turbo. Black Cy-Kill. They all just merged right in. And now, 30 years later, I’m just going to treat them the same. These are MP Gobots. I’m not gonna fight with myself.

Granted when I call these MP Gobots, these are not based on the toy line. The toy line is a licensing nightmare. I may have this wrong, but Tonka licensed the toys from Bandai and then gave them original names and characters. The molds then belong to Bandai, while the names and characters belonged to Tonka (and were later acquired by Hasbro, leaving some names used as Transformers). So a GoBots revival would just take a lot of cooperation and profit sharing between companies that don’t share.

Action Toys though, they have this figured out. They licensed toys based on the anime Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos. This means the toys won’t be exactly like you remember, but they’re close enough unless you’re a stickler. In Battle Robo’s case, the most notable difference is the color. The imported Battle Robo was a very dark blue tank named Tank. The color is the last of my concern, so it’s noted, and we can jump in to the figure.

The sculpt is excellent. As a fan of the toys, I don’t have a lot of memories of the cartoon and I can’t say that the sculpt is accurate. The level of detail seems amped up from what might’ve been in an 80s cartoon, but I can’t say if they took liberties or not. I love it though. He looks sharp. One thing I did have to get used to is the height. Takara went BIG for their Masterpiece line. While I think Action Toys matched the quality of an MP with Battle Robo, they did not go as big. While I wish they were bigger, it really makes sense. Gobots were almost always smaller than their TF counterparts. If you don’t want these guys to look way smaller, these updated versions can hang out with any of the MP Minicars Takara makes (which is currently Bumblebee, Red Bumblebee, & Gold Bumblebee). The important thing is that Action Toys seems to be making the robot modes to scale with one another, again based on the cartoon, and internal scale if far more important than any imaginary TF mash-up. Continue to Page 2…

But nostalgia isn’t done with us. Nostalgia goes both ways for a lot of us. While I gobble up MP Transformers, DC Classics, & Marvel Legends, I still keep & display my G1 Transformers, my Super Powers, & my Marvel Secret Wars. I just can’t quit those old toys. There’s an inherent charm to them, to their limited articulation, their sorta-detailed paintwork, and their weird, and sometimes unhelpful, pre-posing. It’s that charm, working with nostalgia, that turns those things into something worth replicating. It creates a market for throwback articulation & sculpts to go right alongside our hyper-articulated modern toys.

Fresh Monkey Fiction is one of many companies taking advantage of that nostalgia boon right now and they did it in a unique way, taking inspiration from Mattel’s Secret Wars toy line. The figures use a buck body that captures the soft musculature and bent knees of those vintage figures. Newer ‘kids’ might scoff at this look and say, “you had to be there”, but I’d assure them that had they been there, receiving the IAT newsletter, they would’ve been reading about how awesome, and unfortunately abbreviated, that toy line was. Have no doubt.

When FMF offered to send over some review samples of their new nostalgia toys, the 10-figure strong Amazing Heroes line, I took them up on the offer to see if they were able to capture that Secret Wars charm. After playing around with them for a few days and taking pictures to share, I can say that not only did they capture that old charm, they’ve worked in some of that innovation too with some great head sculpts and sharper paint.

And then there’s the packaging. Normally, packaging is destined for the garbage bin, but Amazing Heroes earns a reprieve thanks to a few key points. Firstly, they are resealable, the figures can be removed and returned without tearing up the packaging. Better still, the cardback designs are vintage-inspired and feel like something in-line with the era. What really surprised me, was the alternate cardbacks. The standard design features eight figures in thumbnail, but the alternates include a set of modern art and a set of “golden age” art. The golden age art hit me hard. I included a picture of the Captain Action one above – there’s just something about having that vintage artwork, large & in charge, right next to the figure that really sings to my own sense of nostalgia.

The figures FMF included in their sample package were from Series 1: Black Terror, Daredevil (no, not that one), Captain Action, Stardust, Green Turtle, & Blank Slate, and Series 1.5: Champion of Mars, Silver Streak, Madman, & John Aman Amazing Man. Many of these characters are older golden age characters that have fallen into public domain (Madman, Captain Action, & John Aman Amazing Man are licensed). Many of these characters I knew and was familiar with, but it’s been cool to rea up on a few of these guys that I really had no idea bout before. Continue to Page 2…