Jin Saotome's 5 Minute Toy Review

Deadpool Bust Bank by Monogram Products

2012-01-26T22:49:00.000-06:00

In the midst of all the Iron Man, Wolverine, and Spiderman collectibles I found something I never expected to find in a million years sitting right there on the shelf. A Deadpool bank. You see when it comes to superhero banks companies like Marvel or DC bet on the big names. The ones with movies, a cartoon, or a video game. It will be a character a child would have seen and begged his mother for a toy of or put on a Halloween costume of. NOT Deadpool.

But here it is, a bust of everyone's favorite merc-with-a-mouth. This bank is a bust of him that stands 7" tall and is made of hollow, rotocast plastic for the most part. His swords and guns are individually sculpted from harder plastic and permanently glued on. This gives them a much more detailed look than if they were part of the same body sculpt and they stand out great.

Speaking of the sculpt, Deadpool's is immaculate. From muscles, veins, creases, and belt pouches, its all there. His face is really well done and I wouldn't be surprised if someone used it for a 12" custom. Admittedly the sculpt is a bit soft in certain joining areas being a child's toy bank and needing to be one hollow section to hold money but IT'S A DEADPOOL BANK. Do you understand what I'm saying?

This isn't a character a child would normally read comics about. He's violent, crazy, and shoots people for fun. But now any kid can drop their loose change in the slot located on his back to save up for their own katana. There's no articulation but that's a given when it comes to busts. The paint is fairly cleanly done, tho I would have liked to see his belt pouches painted brown or black. Grab your brush and get to it.

LOOK AT IT. THIS IS A DEADPOOL BANK. How many times do I need to say it? My entire review could just be that one sentence and it would explain everything you need to know. But to recap it's a 7" tall hollow, rotocast vinyl bank. Drop coins in his back. Turn the plug to take them out. What's the verdict? BUY THE DANG THING. You don't see Deadpool merchandise anywhere! It's got a great sculpt, nice paint apps, and it's DEADPOOL. Head over to our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store to preorder it or head over to Amazon to snag one. If you're lucky you can find it at Toys R Us but every one I've been to they've instantly sold out of it. Yeah, it's a Deadpool bank folks. And it's about time!

Thundercats Cheetara by Bandai figure review

2012-01-23T19:44:00.000-06:00

Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats ho! You all saw that coming. And what's already arrived in stores is the newest assortment of Thundercats featuring some of the current animated characters. Cheetara is the focus of this review. She's Marvel Legends scaled at six inches (a bit shorter as most women in the line are) and can be found alongside a new 6" classics Mum Ra and Lion-O. I believe the current Tigra is in this assortment too but didn't see him in the case. He is pictured on the back of the package.

Cheetara's sculpt is great with a very athletic look to her. The collar, torn shoulder sleeves, and bangles really make her look unique. The hair is nicely sculpted and her clawed toes look like they could do some damage. Then you get to the big black pins and shoulder discs. Bandai said they were looking into changing these but I guess that didn't happen yet. They really detract from the overall look but I guess we should be thankful they're not shiny metal rivets anymore.

The paint apps on the figure are spot on with hardly any slop. Speaking of spots she has darker colored ones on her shoulders and hair which are accurately placed but could be a lot darker as they get lost against her skin color. The gold on her bangles is shiny and the Thundercats emblem under her breasts is crisp. The pouch behind her back is even colored and so are her little kneecap decorations.

Now for the problem. While the facial paint is applied great the eye tampograph was set too small. There's extra space on her pink eyeliner-mask where the black edges should be but were squeezed to fit inside the actual eye sculpt, not around it. This makes her head look tiny and after matching it up against the picture on the back and the show art I can see ta huge difference. This could be a make-or-break thing for some as the eyes are the window to the soul and all.

Articulation is a mixed bag this time around. First the good, she has excellent ankle rockers and range of movement there. Her wrists are ball jointed and while they pop off easily are very good for holding her staff. That being said SHE IS MISSING BICEP CUTS. The other figures have them. She simply can't wield her staff in that may ways due to this. Her collar and hair sculpt have her neck joint reduced to a swivel and she's looking down at an angle because of this. You'll need to heat the hair up and bend it back a bit, freezing it in place with cold water to fix this.

Cheetara's hips also bump against her waist and don't get into a 90 deg angle, her waist joint only being a cut when it could have easily been a ball joint and given her so much more range of motion. The lack of double joints like the other figures have is also puzzling but doesn't affect her range, what's there anyway. She comes with one accessory, her staff. It's nicely detailed and even has the magic emblem on it, tho very hard to see as there's no paint to bring it out.

The verdict here? Eh...for $15 you could do a lot better but could also do a lot worse. I know many people are looking forward to this figure and with some customizing work she could be nearly perfect. But at the price you're paying Bandai really needs to ramp up their articulation and get rid of those terrible black pegs. Our Sponsors Past Generation Toys should have her soon and so should Big Bad Toy Store. You can always hunt her down at retail but be prepared to pay a dollar or two more at Toys R Us.

Big Bad Toy Store's GI Joe "Dreadnoks" Exclusive battle Set review

2012-01-16T01:29:00.000-06:00

Here we have part 2 of BBTS' exclusive GI Joe sets, the Dreadnoks Battle Set. Like the Slaughter's Marauders set in the last review you get 7 figures but this time they're all new characters to the lines with no repeats. Zanzibar, Burn Out, Clyde "Gnaw" Hyde, Road Pig, Thunder, Zandar, and Zanya have never had modern figures made as of yet. They all however are original Dreadnoks members tho Thunder's name use to be Thrasher and Clyde was Gnawgahyde, name changes usually being copyright cases. Either way you get 7 brand new figures.

Sculpting on all of these are top notch and it really shows in the brand new headsculpts. From Road Pig's scowl to Zanzibar's facial scars, every detail can be seen. Zanya, Zartan's daughter has an excellent sculpted head of dreads as does Burn Out. Dreadlocks are often very hard to capture sculpt-wise and here we see them in minute 1:18 scale done right. The bodies while re-uses are matched perfectly and have great sculpted detail.

Articulation is the same across each figure with no major surprises. All the Dreadnoks have the same range of motion and points of articulation. While there are no hinged wrists here there's also no weird knees. Each character can pose just about any way you'd need them to in battle or stealing someone's vehicle. Some characters have long gloves that turn fully while others turn at the wrist. These variations in articulation add a little extra touch to the characters that have them like Thunder and Zanya.

As mentioned earlier each body is a mix of re-used parts but were picked perfectly by Hasbro to represent the character. The battle-cut Storm Shadow body was used for Zanzibar where so the cuts match his facial scars. Zandar's upper arms are Zartan's, fitting as he's his brother. Re-uses like this save Hasbro on tooling costs keeping the cost of figures down while giving us a brand new character.

Paint apps are top notch in this set and there's a lot of detail on the accessories/removable clothing as well. Zanzibar and Road Pig have detailed arm tattoos, the fur on Clyde's vest is highlighted, and every piercing on Zanya's face are painted on along with some great fishnet arm stocking design. The color choices for Zandar may seem a bit on the pastel side but that's how the vintage character looked, tho his scarf is huge this time around.

The character backstories on the back of the box are well written and informative. This reveals that nobody really likes Road Pig that much and Clyde likes to cover himself in rancid hog fat. To keep his scent hidden while poaching of course. You get seven stands included in the box and the figures are easily removed. Their weapons may give you trouble as some are tiny and taped in well.

Speaking of weapons the assortment in this set is amazing. Burn Out's flamethrower gear and sawed off shotgun, Zanzibar's flintlock and cutlass, to Road Pig's Brick hammer are all sculpted and painted great. Road Pig's brick is so well detailed it could pass as the real thing and the removable clothing that characters like he and Thunder wear have cool metallic scuffing. Clyde has a removable back knife and Zanzibar can stow three of his weapons on his person in various holsters and sheathes. This is always a bonus.

So what's the verdict? This set is even cooler than the Marauders one. You get 7 brand new figures all with a ton of great accessories, nicely painted and articulated for only $49. You have to order them from Big Bad Toy Store directly because they're an exclusive set but at this price you're paying less than retail for each figure. My favorite of this set is Road Pig. Everyone I knew owned him as a kid and his cinder block hammer was iconic for the character. So head over to BBTS and get your set while they're still in stock because popular characters like Zander, Zanzibar, and Road Pig will have it sold out quickly.

Big Bad Toy Store's Exclusive GI Joe "Slaughter's Marauders" Battle Set Review

2012-01-12T15:17:00.002-06:00

GI Joe is a military staple in action figures and has been since its creation. The smaller 3 3/4" figures have an assortment of vehicles and bases which the 12" ones couldn't justify for a decent price. Today I cover Big Bad Toy Store's exclusive battle set of Slaughter's Marauders. This review is going to be longer than others because the set contains 7 figures, some characters you have and some brand new to the line. I will also be doing part 2 of the review later which covers BBTS' Dreadnok's battle set.

The sculpts on these figures is amazing. How Hasbro manages to pack so much detail into under 4" is great and the faces really bring the characters to life. Felix "Mercenary" Stratton is an ex-Cobra Viper and you can tell he's wearing a partial uniform. His serious face looks like he's seen it all and he has tiny sculpted earrings. Felix also sports an anti-Cobra tattoo which is clean and crisp. He's one of the new characters as only Spirit, Barbecue, and Low Light appeared as part of the original toy team.

Articulation for these figures is excellent. Ball heads, arms, and legs, allow just about any posing position you can think of. Some characters like Low Light and Barbecue have hinged wrists allowing them to angle their weapons in a new way. Basically if you need them to get into a pose, each figure can do it. Bull's kneepads do seem to keep him in sort of a bent-leg position but not too badly.

Each character is a mix of parts from other figures from earlier sets. Hasbro made excellent choices here as the parts match up perfectly for each character. Some keen-eyed folks will notice Red Dog's torso as Bazooka's and Falcon's lower legs from the earlier Resolute Duke. This saves on tooling and gives us unique figures each time. Hey, it's just like customizing your own Joes. The heads on the four new team members are all new sculpts however, nice!

Everyone gets a nice amount of accessories in this set. Most figures come with 2-3 weapons and a blade. Neat features include Falcon's removable beret, Bull and Merc's removable knives, and Spirit's removable arrow clip from his gun. Each of their vests or web-gear can be moved or repositioned as well. Bull comes with some great accessories, a joe-scale football and removable necklace/headband that fit on him perfectly.

Speaking of the accessories you also get stands for each character and bio-cards you can cut out from the back of the window box the figures come in. Take care not to lose anything while unpacking the figures. Merc's pistol has a tiny removable silencer and Low Light's glasses come off. One hasty tug and these will vanish into your carpet so take the figures out carefully. Falcon's grenade launcher actually cocks in half and has a TINY flip up sight.

Paint apps are plentiful here with the exception of Falcone whose upper shirt looks like it's missing something. The character's eyes feature two tones of color instead of the classic black pupil on white. Now there's brown iris as well. Low Light's vest has a great shading wash to it and Barbecue's armor has sooty highlights and metallic scuffing. Spirit's chest tattoo is amazing and you can make out every edge of Red Dog's tribal tattoos.

Each character has their own backstory and traits. Bull's burly beard and twin pistols make him stand out and Merc's ex-Cobra Viper history is very apparent. You can tell Barbecue utilizes fire with his flamethrower, Spirit is an Indian tracker, and Red Dog use to be a football player. It's things like this that set the Marauder's set apart from others. You really get a feel for the characters here and will enjoy having Sgt Slaughter (assuming you have one from the SDCC already) leading them into battle.

So what's the verdict? Slaughter's Marauders Battle Set is an excellent addition to anyone's GI Joe collection. You get 7 figures, 4 of which are new characters to the line, a whole bunch of accessories, stands, and all for just $49.99. That means each figure is a buck under what you'd pay for them separately at retail, and these are exclusives. Being store exclusives you can only order them online from our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store so get cracking. If you miss out on these you'll be stuck paying twice as much on ebay or even more for them individually from sellers. And don't forget to check back tomorrow for part 2 of the review featuring the Dreadnoks Battle Set.

Spray, iGear Mini Warriors MW-01 action figure Review

2012-01-11T12:35:00.000-06:00

While some 3rd Party companies focus on add-ons to existing figures, iGear is producing brand new complete action figures of our favorite Transformers. Spray here is of course Autobot Seaspray from the pocket-sized minibot G1 figures. He's the first of iGear's Mini Warrior line and stands 4" which is taller than Rager whom I reviewed earlier, but mainly because of his fan mounts. Head to head he's basically the same height.

Spray's articulation is loads of awesome. Everything is ball jointed including his waist and ankles. Tho his head is tiny you can move it easily and the props on his back spin. Every bit of him is sculpted nicely with tight edges and neat tech design. There's even a space on his chest to affix your own Autobot logo you can pick up at ReproLabels. He's molded in a sparkly matte plastic which doesn't shine like the rest of your Transformers but at least you can see the detail with the darker blue and solid white making him look far less knockoff-ish.

Spray is packed in a nice box similar to Rager and comes with his own sparkly hard plastic collector card and a tiny harpoon gun which unfortunately doesn't store in vehicle mode. No instructions are included but a bit of unfolding and extending his legs will transform him easily. The only paint are his eyes and windows on his feet which are crisp and clean. His face is a separate piece of plastic and unlike the G1version the faceplate isn't yellow, but all grey.

The altmode for Seaspray is a hovercraft type that's almost as big as a scout vehicle. It looks sleek and updated with all sorts of panels and window cuts on it. Unfortunately there are no wheels underneath so Spray can't roll anywhere, just sit. I would have loved to see spherical mouse-ball type wheels that would allow you to spin him like a real hovercraft but it wasn't in iGear's design.

So what's the verdict? He's more articulated and designed better than Rager, also appearing taller because of the back props. The matte plastic and lack of wheels is a bit disappointing but aren't a dealbreaker. I really like the range of articulation he has in all his limbs and the spinning props are nice. Keep in mind he's an unlicensed product of a licensed character so weigh that internally as you will. You can pick him up at our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store or wait till he's back in stock at iGear's web store. I'd suggest BBTS because it's based in the USA. iGear's store ships from Hong Kong so it will take a while to reach you.

Rager, iGear Mini Warriors MW-02 Review

2012-01-07T16:55:00.002-06:00

Unless you've been under a rock for the last few years you're aware of 3rd party companies, specifically ones that deal in the Transformers fandom. Some offer add-on weapon kits, completely new headsculpts, and in iGear's case, completely new figures. He's called Rager but no mistake this character is the autobot Huffer. Normally I'm not a fan of mass-producing a licensed character. It would be like Universal copying Micky Mouse's design and calling him 'Mister Mousey'. I'm not sure why this is allowed here in the Transformers world but this was a free figure given to me to review so I don't feel like I've contributed to anything shady.

He's molded in a slightly sparkly yellow, blue, and silver plastic. The sparkle flecks are apparent in good lighting and hopefully he won't suffer from crumbly gold-plastic-syndrome as older figures do, degrading over time. His sculpt is well done with nice angles and a nice design to it. He's just over 3" tall which puts him under Scout class but over Legends class. Basically he was meant to mimic the pocket scale of the G1 figure.

Along with Rager you get a nice box with graphics, his bio, two pistols and included inside is a hard plastic sparkly collector's card with his tech-specs. Mine didn't come with instructions but he's simple to transform anyone can do it. Transformation is a breeze, just unfold some parts, turn his waist, flip his shoulders and you're done. The pistols are tiny and don't store on him in vehicle mode so you'll lose these in the carpet right away if you're not careful.

Rager's articulation is very good, ball joints everywhere, toes, a waist, but no thigh swivels. He can pose just about any way except cross one leg over another which isn't a big deal. His paint apps are clean but here's where we start going downhill. He's missing the silver on the hubcaps and black roof-lights. The G1 figure had both painted and if you're not even matching the character's color standards 25+ years ago then something is amiss.

Someone also forgot to topcoat Rager before molding him. Every bit of him is cast in matte plastic, not shiny like all other Transformers so while very sturdy with tight joints he feels and appears like a Biglots knock-off toy. His wheels turn, but don't spin freely. Almost all vehicle wheels spin freely around a metal axle. Here the pin head is on the inside of the leg and the rod glued inside the tire. Everything is tight and poor Rager won't roll anywhere.

Rager's head while ball-jointed is set so far back under his hood that you can't turn it without a toothpick or something thinner than your finger. I found this terribly annoying because the most important joint on a figure is the head/neck joint for personality and direction. So what's the verdict? Unless you're a die-hard fan of the minibots he's a pass. The dollar-store look, missing paint apps, lack of rolling wheels, and the fact you're buying an unlicensed product of a licensed character makes him kinda iffy. If you want him head over to our sponsor BBTS and snag him because he's already sold out at iGear's online store.

Lego Hero Factory Toxic Reapa Review

2012-01-06T01:01:00.002-06:00

I'll be blunt and break it to you that I'm not a huge fan of lego. I much preferred the Construx building toys when I was a kid for their I-beam and panel designs that allowed you to use less pieces to build bases for my toys. But when Lego entered the action figure-esq market with Bionicle, then Hero Factory, I was impressed. Toxic Reapa is one of the baddies from series, well, I don't think they're actually numbered or marketed series in that way.

Wait a second, why is Lego making Capri Sun drinks? Nope, that's the new packaging for this line. Gone are the containers and for this series you get a resealable, more eco-friendly pouch. It honestly doesn't matter to me but some of you may like the containment-pod-like packaging the others series came in. Here it's just discardable once you build the figure. It did seem to lower the cost however, these figures at $8.99 instead of $10.

Uh, there's no paint on the figure. With Lego there usually isn't and this is no surprise. Everything is molded in bright green or black plastic that looks nice and shiny. The hoses that run from his arms to his back tanks are clear with a green plastic stripe embedded in them. Same with the hand flames, a swirl of two plastics to make the effect pop. The eyes aren't light-piped this time which is a shame, the red would have looked neat glowing in the light like shown on the bag art.

Articulation gets five stars, Hero Factory figures finally have full range of motion because everything is ball-jointed. He's missing a waist joint but you won't even notice because of how well everything else moves. Crouching, leaping, arms crossed, head tilted, Toxic Reapa can do it all. Even his pecs and stomach armor plates adjust and you can get some great emotive poses from him.

Toxic Reapa's sculpt is, well, a Legoish skeletal being covered with armor like all the Bionicle/Hero Factory figures before him. The mask is really neat looking, almost Predator-like with the for mouth spikes. The teeth aren't symmetrical and there's cuts and dings in his forehead like he's been in battle. He stands a little under 6" tall but you can attach his head to the upper ball joint for a taller, less hunched-look.

What's the verdict on this toxic fellow? Well if you know Hero Factory you know what you're getting into. This is just a fun, posable, nifty looking figure. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has him (or will have him) and you can find this series anywhere Lego is sold. There's some other neat looking characters in the set, especially a half red, half black larger fellow. Keep an eye out.

DC Direct Flashpoint Cyborg Review

2012-01-06T00:30:00.002-06:00

DC Direct is know for it's ability to pump out a lot of different characters sculpted in a particular artist's style very quickly, usually right after a series has hit the newsstands. I'm not sure if this is the case since I haven't read any of the Flashpoint arc but Cyborg is looking pretty spiffy in his new duds. There's three other characters in the line, all with different looks than their classic ones. Batman, The Flash, and Wonder Woman.

Cyborg looks really, really nice. His armored body is perhaps one of the nicer sculpts I've seen with all sorts of panel detail, portholes, and overlapping plates. His facial sculpt is by far one of the better Cyborg likenesses I've seen. His arm blaster is really well done and there's a red grating inside the barrel. Some bulky shoulderpads adorn his shoulders and his oversized feet remind me of, well, Megaman. Probably why I bought a few to customize with.

Now let's address the elephant in the room. This will sound like a gripe and by all means it really is. Cyborg's articulation is virtually non-existent. His ball shoulders barely move because of the hard plastic shoulderpads. He has no waist joint. His hips are T-joints and the leg raises up maybe 30 deg. The pic left is the maximum range of movement he has. Only his head is decently articulated and it's kinda stuck hunched over.

Paint apps fare quite a bit better and are the saving grace here. As a statue he looks excellent. The silver is a deep metallic with a wash and shading blended in. The red ports are bright, the black suit parts matte, and they gave his lips and eyes a gloss that adds an extra bit of realism. If only DC Universe figures were painted like this. The only color molded in plastic is his skin tone and that's how it should be.

So what's the verdict? He's a 6" tall robot brick that looks cool. Honestly, DC Direct could make amazing figures if they just took the time to add a few more moving bits. But they still maintain they're 'collector oriented' and don't realize collectors pose their figures too. It's a real shame because this figure fits in with so many different playstyles, a half-man half-machine. Pick him up at our sponsor BBTS and customize some joints into him, make the shoulderpads move up and down. Or take him apart for customs. I of course did the latter.

GI Joe Cobra Trooper "Zombie Viper" Review

2011-12-31T01:20:00.002-06:00

If you haven't noticed Zombies are all the rage these days. From the Walking Dead show/comic to countless independent and mainstream movies, these shambling corpses are here to stay. Now feast your eyes on what has to be one of the coolest GI Joe yet, the Zombie Viper. Here we have a truly horrifying Cobra Trooper that's been given Compound Z, a mysterious chemical that turns them into these creatures.

Right off the bat you'll notice the extreme attention to detail. Every boil, wart, suit tatter, and chunk of hanging rot is perfectly captured in tiny 1:18 scale. The face is really well done and has a gooey, mindless look to it. There are removable sleeve sections that can be easily lost so be careful. But they look great hanging from the arms. The removable harness is done great too and appears to have some sort of pipe bombs and detonators on the side.

Then we get to the accessories. TENDRIL LIMBS. That is all that's really need to be said here for you to snatch every one you see and army build. Pop off Zombie Viper's lower arms and these long, creepy, plant-like tendrils attach on. They look great and have five tendril-like digits. Mine say L and R but I have to reverse them to match up with the bicep sculpt. He comes with a helmet and container that plugs into it as well as the harness back.

The articulation for this figure is excellent as well. Both wrists have hinges so you can get all the creepy reaching poses. His bare feet have hinges and everything else is standard Joe articulation. A quick note, there are four ports on his back and three holes in his helmet, I suppose if you want to add more canisters tho he only comes with one. But with the army-building possibilities for this guy I'd say load one up with extra juice.

The paint apps on the Zombie Viper are really great as well. His whole body has a grimy wash to it as does his suit. Even the harness has a black wash making it look old and dirty. I noticed the card art shows ZV having dark hair but it's not painted here. Nor are his kneecaps being made from that unpaintable plastic. I suppose you could paint a few of these with different hair colors and mix up their look if you wanted.

So what's the verdict? Another must-have action figure especially if you're into the 3 3/4" scale. Head over to BBTS now and snag him because he won't be there for long. This is an army builder at its finest and I hope to see repaints or variants down the line with different heads or parts. Where else can you pit the Joes up against the undead? Er, chemically enhanced nearly-dead?

Transformers Prime Deluxe Starscream Review

2011-12-31T01:01:00.002-06:00

Another 'First Edition' figure, Transformers Prime Starscream like Arcee is an incredible figure. When in alt mode he's slightly bigger than a Scout yet when transformed or 'unfolded' as the case might be, he's almost as tall as a Voyager class figure. I'm really liking this excellent use of space within the figure and the equally great engineering that allows for all sorts of twisting and folding of parts. I'm pretty sure every section of Starscream had to be turned around in some way.

His Alt Mode is a jet of some sort and it actually looks quite nice from the top, fairly alright from the bottom. Like all jetformers you can see robot parts underneath, Starscream's legs in this case. It's not terrible by any means and I was impressed they got the body to fold up as well as they did to make a jet form. This is the first time I haven't seen working landing gears on a TF and I'm really liking it. No obnoxiously large folding wheel sections, yay!

The articulation and range of motion Starscream has is incredible. He can bow, cross his arms, fold his legs, recline, lay on his side, literally just about anything you can imagine him doing. Everything is ball jointed and hinged save for his wrists, they don't turn, only move up and down. This is forgivable seeing you can rotate his arms all different directions in 3 spots. He comes with two missile clusters that fit on his forearms and under his wings. I kinda miss his null rays.

Paint work on this figure is top notch. There are all sorts of metallic colors, both painted and molded in color. Little sections of red adorn his body except they didn't paint his crest red and this may annoy some demanding show-accurate folks. I like the tiny sections of blue, only four of them that they could have easily skipped but were included. Starscream's eyes are painted red and don't light-pipe however.

So what's the final verdict? Buy this figure. Even if you're not a Transformers fan a super-posable slender, evil looking robot is just too cool to pass up. Have him sitting on your computer reading a tiny newspaper or pouring a cup of coffee. He has the articulation to do it. Have him stalking across your display shelves or hiding up against a wall looking over his shoulder. Snag him at our sponsors Big Bad Toy Store or Past Generation Toys for a great deal. The First Edition figures are already selling out everywhere and will be replaced by alternate molds later this March.

Boar Predator, NECA Movie Series 4 Review

2011-12-17T17:41:00.002-06:00

Toy company NECA has produced some nice pieces over the years and now we're beginning to see some real amazing products from them. We're use to nice paint apps and well-hidden articulation but sometimes that articulation has been a little lacking. Not this time. With the 7" Series 4 Movie Predators we get a whole new slew of reptilian hunters ready to go on a big game expedition on your shelves.

With the Boar Predator you'll notice right off the bat it looks like a scaled down version of a Hot Toys figure. The sculpt is mindbogglingly detailed with all sorts of skin texture, armor tech, and individual sculpted accessories. His helmet is particularly nice with all sorts of pitting and hand-hammered style of detail. The leather armor is strung with fabric cord and the tiny skulls are really well done. This time the netting looks believable as part of the sculpt. His flying disc is well done and fits perfectly in his fingers, but that's the only accessory he comes with.

As paint apps go this figure is a thing of beauty. Different faded flesh tones mixed with a mottled black and orange look to his skin make him look quite realistic. A gloss is applied to only the lighter shades of flesh to give the Boar Predator a really unique look to his skin. Each dread is fully painted and the tiny bands on them sport a 2 color weathered look. Inside his disc carrier are tiny painted gears as well. Truly NECA went all out here.

But what about articulation? I'm happy to say NECA went all out here too. Their Predators now sport a ball waist, ball hips, and double-jointed knees so you can make them crouch. Along with the regular ball shoulders/neck/wrists, and elbows this allows for a full range of posing at last. You'll need to heat the ankles to get full motion out of them as I found out later but once you do it's near perfect articulation for your hunters.

The points of articulation are well hidden too with only the knee pegs slightly visible. Everything else fits snugly like a Hot Toys Predator. Now for a gripe. All the Boar Predators sport two lower left arms. Either way the piece is the same just flipped around so the bottom of the armor sculpt faces up and makes it look different. This was probably done to save on tooling costs and you really won't notice it unless you look underneath to see the armpad display.

I found out you can heat and pop the previous series Predator figure parts on so this gives NECA a wealth of different parts to mix and match to make unique figures. You could to this too, well except for the lower legs which are hinge jointed instead of plug-in. But that doesn't mean you can swap heads with your other figures for some cool looks. So what's the verdict? For around $16 you cannot go wrong. Amazing sculpt, full articulation, and great paint apps make series 4 look like they stepped off the screen. BBTS has them as a set or singles for a great price, or you can check your local Toys R Us as that's the only place I've seen them at so far.

Murderbee, aka: Cyberfire Bumblebee Transformers DotM Review

2011-12-11T05:28:00.003-06:00

"Enraged by the betrayal of Sentinel Prime and the death of his teammates at the hands of the Decepticons, Bumblebee could no longer stand for Optimus' quest for peace. Too much had been lost and now it was time for vengance. Bumblebee set out on an energon-soaked quest to slaughter of every Decepticon in the universe starting with those on earth. With every spark taken his eyes began to burn with the endless fury of a warrior who had gone over the edge into the abyss. Murderbee had awakened."

Ok, none of that was real but it's what Cyberfire Bumblebee's bio should have read. As a rule of thumb Bumblebee repaints suck and yet this figure takes that rule and crushes to scrap. The mold is the exact same as the 1st wave DotM BB right down to the Mechtech weapon. The kind blue eyes have been replaced by blazing red ones and he sports a fiery yellow black paintjob. Somehow this is all it takes to create the most violent looking Transformer ever.

His alt mode is the same of course and sports the neat 'cyberfire' deco. Like most of the DotM deluxes it sports a hidden stealth mode where you can partially transform him and expose various c-clip and mechtech ports in vehicle mode. There's some neat blasters hidden in the roof as well. Add enough weapons and suddenly you have something out of Death Race which is oddly appropriate for this mold.

BB's robot mode is very well articulated and designed better than Nitro BB's. The ball jointed everthing, articulated thumb, and locking hood really look nice. The dark colors really lend themselves well to the mold's sculpt and when you get to the face you'll find some of the brightest red light-pipe eyes staring back at you with an unbridled, eternal malice that cannot be reckoned with.

No matter what position you put Cyberfire Bumblebee in he will look like he's just torn the head off of Megatron and jammed it down Unicron's throat for kicks. Just holding him makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This is exactly the response a repaint should illicit, shock and awe. BB doesn't disappoint in this category and he feels like a 'violent future version' of the character where everything that could have gone wrong has.

His Mechtech weapon is the same and works great, pulling back the hammer extends it in various places. But why stop there? Tack on every Mechtech, 5mm, or c-clip weapon you have. Now you have an Armored Black Ops Assault Murderbee. Barricade? Yeah, he's over there in the corner imitating a pile of ash. Too bad Megatron is dead because BB here would have liked to add another trophy to his wall, Predator style.

So what's the verdict? Do you really need another Bumblebee repaint in the sea of BB figures already on your shelf? HELL YES YOU DO. Big Bad Toy Store has him right now. You might even find him in a two-fer pack at Walmart if you're lucky. Track him down. Buy him. Put every Decepticon in a pile and have him sitting on top as he should be. Because this isn't your daddy's Bumblebee. This is Murderbee.

Transformers Prime Arcee Review

2011-11-18T23:37:00.002-06:00

With every new Transformers show or movie we get a brand new line of figures and Transformers Prime is no different. Well, I guess that's not exactly true as they didn't give us just figures but rather plastic masterpieces this time around. Arcee is part of the Deluxe wave and stands a tad under 6". She's no longer pink and white like her G1 form but a nice dark blue and silver with some black thrown in.

Right away you'll notice her female form and what a form it is. The sculpt is gorgeous and she has some nice curves, er.. angles. Her face sculpt is really nicely done with sculpted inner pupils that show up when the light piping is activated. Petite hands and feet give her a graceful appearance and there's plenty of mechanical detail on her body that stands out with a little help from the paint apps.

Articulation is spot on. Ball jointed everything, double jointed neck and elbows, jointed wrists, swivel waist, cut biceps/hips, everything on Arcee moves. This means you can get her into some amazing sitting/crouching/leaning poses. There's no ankle articulation but that's not a real issue as her wide high-heels of sorts give plenty of stability in any pose. It strikes me as amazing they got everything to move on her!

Transformation into altmode is easy and part of the engineering masterpiece. Spin this, flip this, fold this, and you're done. She looks like a bike, not a folded up sexy robot. She's almost scaled for GI Joe/Marvel Universe figures, shorter figures will look fine riding her. Arcee's blades attach on to both forms and look pretty cool tho only one side of the blade is painted. Speaking of paint it's crisp and clean looking, her autobot tampo nice and centered like a necklace.

It appears all of the Transformers Prime figures have deceivingly small alt modes that transform into these full-sized robots. It's almost like mass-shifting and I'm blown away by how well it works. Combined with amazing articulation, sculpted, and engineering work, you should already be on your way to buy all of the Transformers Prime line. Our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store has them for preorder.

Something of note by the way, the packaging says "First Edition" and these initial run of figures will be different than the full release of the line in February 2012. There's different molds/versions of the characters and running changes seem to have been made. This First Edition is available to specialty shops and for a limited time at Toys R Us if you're lucky enough to find them on the shelf. The verdict, a must-buy for Transformers fans especially if you like the show!

Batman Arkham City Batsuit figure Review

2011-11-16T12:44:00.002-06:00

The line of 6" DC Universe figures is ever expanding and we now have figures from the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Toys R Us has an exclusive grey and blue Batman with the black mask that pays homage to the classic Batman design. This appears to be one of the modded costumes you can wear in the game as well. He doesn't come with any accessories, but his hands are fists so he wouldn't be able to hold them either.

Sculpting is pretty decent. There's a nice carbon-fiber texture all over his main body, the armored boots/gloves are nicely done, and the belt is pretty spiffy looking too. The face/cowl looks stern and the cape hangs well. The packaging does a nice job of displaying the figure and is part of the Batman legacy line that's out. No Build-a-figure pieces here unfortunately as it only has 3 or so figure in it per wave.

Now, articulation..this is where the figure disappoints. The range of motion is exactly what you see in the pictures. Because of the design neither his elbows, hips, or knees, can achieve a 90 deg angle. He has all the points of artic that a regular DCU has but they simply don't work. No ankle rockers and no decent movement forward/back means you can't really pose him walking that well either. You'll have to carve a lot of plastic out of the joints to fix this, if you want to go the customizing route.

Paint is a mixed bag. I'm not thrilled on how bright everything is but that's the classic look for you. Its applied neatly for the most part and there's a light wash over his body that brings out the suit detail along with his belt. The blue doesn't have any sort of wash which is a shame because there's a lot of cool armor detail that can be brought out here.

The verdict? Unless you have some customizing skill and want to carve the excess plastic from every joint (which I did, and it works) he's kinda a statue. The design is cool and there's a black and grey version which you may prefer. Our sponsors BBTS carries all the Batman legacy figures at great prices and Past Generation Toys has some of the Legacy as well.

Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Figures Review

2011-11-15T23:13:00.002-06:00

So the newest craze in video game/collectibles are the Skylanders figures. They're 2"-3" tall statuette pvc figures on bases. You put them on a portal that's a peripheral to whatever game system you have (Xbox, Wii, PS3, DS) and you can play as that character. As the character levels up the figure (some of them if not all) store the information and you can bring them to your friends house. This in itself is a pretty neat idea.

I picked up a few and though I don't have the game/portal device yet I'll just focus on the figural aspect of them. At first glance they're neat little collectibles. Prism Break has transparent crystal sections on him and sports a really nice weathered paint job. The eyes/glowing sections of the characters are airbrushed in and are really well done. Even the bases are hand-painted with washes and brushed-on highlights.

If you were hoping for articulation, sorry, these are little statues. But that doesn't get in the way of their charm. Each one is intricately sculpted, some way more than others. Hair buckles, scales, armor, it's all visible. Chop Chop the skeletal knight has tiny bone sections and a great armor design. For a 2" tall characters this is pretty impressive. His skull-base looks fairly menacing too.

Speaking of bases they can't be removed and that's where the info is stored. I opened one up, they're little foil discs with a tiny microchip embedded in them. On the bottom is the element/faction and surprise, they're made by Activision! For the video game company's first foray into the figure design/production they did a wonderful job. If only they were articulated!

The Skylanders will run you $7.50 or so for the singles, $20 for the 3-packs, and more for the portal/starter sets for your individual gaming system. However the figures can be used for any game system which means you can play on your Xbox at home and take the same figure for your DS on the go.

The verdict? I haven't played the game but lots of other people have and it's apparently works for single, multiplayer, and vs covering all the basic play types. Some characters are inherantly more powerful than others like the Legendary characters and some are store exclusives like Whirwind you see there. So head to Ebay to pick up the game system exclusives like Ignitor and Dark Spyro.

NECA Robocop action figure Review

2011-11-09T16:42:00.003-06:00

"Your move creep." Who is Robocop? You should know by now, officer Alex Murphy gets wounded (well killed) in the line of duty and brought back as a cyborg cop. There were three movies, two if you consider the last one a bad dream. Back in the 90's we had Robocop figures that fired strips of caps that ran through their back, remember those? NECA decided it was time to revive the Robocop name with a 7" tall action figure of our favorite cyber-cop.

From what I can tell matching up the figure with the movie designs the sculpt is dead on, so are the proportions. The helmet could be a bit more rounded at the bottom edge but that's nitpicking. THEM LIPS. It's all about the lips. If you don't get Peter Weller's lips down then you should just forget about it. Fortunately NECA blows us away with their ability to produce an excellent sculpt all the way around.

Articulation is pretty decent. Let's remember that Robocop was a slow moving tank in the movies. He punched through walls, shot things, and got in and out of cars. The NECA figure features a ball jointed neck, torso, and shoulders. Then there's hinge elbows, knees, ankles and a cut waist. The hips are kinda V-crotch kinda all joint because of the character design. Pistons on the ankles actually work. He can't punch the street like Iron Man but he looks great when posed.

Robocop comes with an alternate dataspike right hand that's easy to attach. It's hard plastic so careful you don't break it off. Also it can go right through your eye, awesome! One thing of note is that the nose is showing on some of the figures in package. No worries, that's an assembly error. Heat the helmet up and it peels off. Add some superglue and press it down further where its suppose to go. Very easy fix.

Paint is also excellent, a nice glossy silver with fading purple and blue hues that are airbrushed on. The lower face is painted perfectly and the black is all glossy with little slop. So what's the verdict? Get this Robocop if you love the character. It's the best version in a 7" scale and looks much better than its squiggly-lipped smaller Figma clone that was released later. Our sponsor BBTS has him for a great price and if you're really lucky you might stumble on him at a Toys R Us that hasn't sold out.

Walmart Exclusive Sideswipe Transformers Dark of the Moon Figure Review

2011-11-04T16:16:00.004-05:00

Strolling through Walmart I stumbled upon a really brightly colored Autobot, Sideswipe. Normally plain silver he's been decked out as a Walmart Exclusive in dark blue and Spawn-eye green. I know what you're thinking, recolors are usually bleh but this one is quite good since he's the Sidearm Sideswipe mold. He comes with two allspark-blue guns and some neat features that make him worth picking up.

Transformation is much simpler than his previous versions and his head is on a neat spin-n-spring up feature that hides it away in alt mode. Sideswipe has excellent articulation and a head that can look straight up. His knees are a little hindered by the black piston in the back and you can just cut it off for better range of movement. His little crotch pistons don't hinder his movement at all.

Paint is what's new here and man is it nice looking. The lime yellow stands out great against the blue and there's just enough silver and black to blend. Not sure why they made his guns and inner thighs bright blue but it's a minor quip. Sideswipe has Transtech symbols on him! This is pretty cool considering the line got scrapped and replaced by Amada...ugh. The giant Autobot symbol on his hood was a great touch too.

Sideswipe's feet can be spun around to recreate his skating action with his toes serving as hidden balance points in the back. In alt mode the gullwings of the car open up to deploy his guns or store them inside. These along with the hide-a-head gimmick make him really neat to play around with. However you'll have to find him first. He's a Walmart Exclusive so check there first or just save time by snagging him at Past Generation Toys seeing as he's been out for a while and everyone has snagged him up. Ebay is another option to find him. There's a repainted Bumblebee in the same exclusive wave but he's pretty forgettable seeing how he's based on the first movie mold we ever got.

Dr Who: The Silent, closed mouth action figure Review

2011-11-04T15:36:00.002-05:00

The Silent (or group Silence) are one of the scariest monsters in Dr Who history and were created by producer Steven Moffat. Based off the painting of Edvard Munch's The Scream these creepy tall men were also explained as the 'Men in Black', causing people to forget they had seen them as soon as they looked away. Underground Toys' makes the Dr Who figure Silent with closed mouth.

Right away you'll notice the excellent sculpting on the head and hands, full of winkled alien texture. The suit is well done too with plenty of wrinkles and folds to it. The Silent's beady black eyes are deep set into the sockets giving it a very creepy look. There's different versions including one with an open scream mouth and one with lighting attachments like they zap people with in the show.

Paint work is really well done on the alien skin and make the Silent look withered with deep shadows and highlights. The suit is all one color, black of course, except for the inner shirt. Articulation has much improved with this figure and it's almost on par with DCU. Ball shoulders, hinged hips, cut bicep/thighs, only thing it doesn't have are ankle joints and the head is just a swivel. But that's a minor nitpick seeing as how they don't do any running around in the show.

The Silent is 6" tall so he fits in perfect with your Marvel Legends/DCU while the other Dr Who are unfortunately only 5" Halo sized. Watch the episodes The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon if you missed those to see these guys in action. BigBadToyStore has both versions in stock and you can find them loose on Ebay for a decent price.

Play Arts Kai Sneaking Suit Snake: Metal gear Solid figure review

2011-10-21T14:37:00.003-05:00

If you're a fan of the Metal Gear Solid series then you may have heard about the new Play Arts Kai series of MGS figures. These are 10" super-articulated figures. This review is for Snake in his 'sneaking suit'. Right off the bat you'll feel the weight of this figure. All the parts are solid PVC not hollow ABS plastic. The design chosen from this figure is from the Peacewalker game but I hear we'll be getting the original game designs as well.

Sculpting is out of this world immaculate. Every fold, texture, web-belt notch, and buckle is rendered sharply in plastic. Snake's face is amazingly realistic and reminds me of a scaled down Hot Toys head. Of course these figures are only 2" off from being that tall. I really like how they sculpted the web gear on but made it look like a separate piece to the body. There's lots of little gold rivets that stand out as well.

The paint work on Snake is equally amazing with every level of shading, highlights, texture wash, and effect you could think of. His eyes and mouth have a realistic gloss to them that adds to his lifelike appearance. He comes with an extra set of hands, riot shield, twin pistols, and silencer that are really nicely sculpted and painted. The shield has different detachable straps so he can hold it different ways. The insignia on his shoulder and shield are crisp and readable.

Now for articulation. If you're familiar with the old 7" Play Arts figures then this is fairly close. You get ball jointed everything with basically a great range of movement allowing you to pose Snake however you'd like. However the elbows only bend 90 deg. And then there's the knees. For all the great sculpting when you bend the knees fully the inner knee joint is completely revealed looking totally bizarre.

This kind of design allows for the knee to fold all the way back but at a terrible price. Kai figures have inner plug-in joints like Revoltech for their knees and elbows but they double-jointed the joint itself and not the actual limbs. The Play Arts Kai figures are a whole different scale than anything else out there so they may look odd with your normal collection. Snake will run you about $40 plus shipping depending on what version you want. Ebay is a good place to find him as well as BBTS for about $50. So the choice is yours, will an amazingly sculpted/painted Solid Snake fit into your collection with weird knees and at a 10" scale?

Walmart exclusive Movie Thor and Loki Marvel Legends Review

2011-10-20T14:54:00.002-05:00

Available at USA Walmarts right now are the Thor and Captain America movie figures in your favorite 6" Marvel Legends scale. I'll be covering Movie Thor and Loki in this section but there's other figures in each series, some new and some repaints. Starting off with Loki you'll notice he looks downright pissed. This is a great headsculpt that really shows off his dark nature. The grasping left hand is great for those "I SHALL RULE THE WORLD!" poses. He clocks in at 7 1/2" too which makes for a pretty tall villain.

Loki's back fur is removable and technically so are his fur boot cuffs and waistband if you heat them up. See, that's the Hulk Classics Doc Samson body underneath with extra parts added on like Hasbro is doing with the Marvel Universe line. Re-using bodies is fine except Loki's thighs don't have a swivel, making it hard for him to sit. Instead he gets an Indian-style sitting position. But if you're going to just have him stand there and look tough this isn't an issue.

The paint work on both the Thor and Cap A are truly awesome. It's what we remember Marvel Legends being like when ToyBiz had them. There's wash on the body, fur, highlights on the muscles and face, and drybrushed highlights on his furry cloak. Everything is detailed and the re-release figures (Ultimate Cap and Blob-series Battle Thor) are painted SO much better than the original ones they're worth picking up again.

So with Loki out of the way we move on to Thor. This is Chris Hemsworth and he stands at 7 1/4", way taller than your regular Marvel Legends. In fact he's almost the same size as the Marvel Select version and much more articulated. He has cut-hip swivels like the Marvel Universe figures, a first for the ML line if I'm correct. Everything is super poseable tho and works for getting some amazing poses out of him.

I like the helmeted head but wish he came with an un-helmeted one as well. You might be able to use the Marvel Select alt head for this with a little Dremel work. The sculpt on Thor and Mjolnir is sharply detailed. From his winged helmet tips to the super fine tread on the underside of his boots, this is one well sculpted figure. His cape has a great texture to it as well. Mjolnir looks equally impressive.

The paint work on Thor is quite nice tho the helmet is missing any sort of wash, almost like it was a last minute addition. Everything else is painted and has some sort of shading on it like the very subtle tones on his cape. His scale-mail sleeves are highlighted to look like floating metal plates. Even Mjolnir has a great wash that brings out the detail and battle scuffing on its surface.

So what's the verdict? At $14.99 each which seems to be the running price of 6" figures now from all companies they're great figures. The other re-released figures in the set actually have more paint apps than these and are worth the price too. The scale might turn some collectors off but we are talking about Thor and Loki, two Asgardian gods who are portrayed at different heights in the comics, Loki especially being able to shapeshift. This will probably be your definitive Loki for the moment seeing how absolutely badass he looks. So run down to your local Walmart and pick them up.

Marvel Universe Scarlet Spider figure Review

2011-10-12T16:57:00.002-05:00

Spiderman has gone through a lot of changes over the years, none so controversial as the whole clone thing that read like a bad soap opera. But one good thing to come out of it was the Scarlet Spider costume design, a red suit with a blue hoodie. Here we have SS in 3 3/4" scale in the Marvel Universe series. I really wish they'd make one 6" scale because this figures shows how well they could do it.

Scarlet Spider has great articulation since he sports an updated MU body that has the better torso and cut hips. Still no rocker ankles and only single joint elbows so far but it's still the better MU body and works great here. You can get SS into the spiderman poses you need and still have him look great. His head is on a decent ball joint as well.

Sculpting on his hoodie and costume accessories are excellent. They're all removable too if you pop his different joints off carefully, with the exception of the hoodie. You could remove that too if you peeled the glue from the side seam however. Basic body sculpt and paint is on par with the current MU offerings, a great wash on the hoodie and sharp details on the eyes. The spider symbol is nicely done as well.

If you like the Scarlet Spider design then hit up Past Generations Toys because he's selling out everywhere. They also have harder to find characters like X-23 and Steve Rogers. With Marvel Universe exploring a whole lot of characters you can add Scarlet Spidey to your collection as the first decent version of him we've ever had. Just watch out for clones and Jackals. They end up making a mess of things.

Bandai Ultraman Ultra-Act: Glenfire figure review

2011-10-12T16:43:00.003-05:00

I'll admit I don't know a lot about Glenfire or the Ultraman Zero movie from which he hails but I am familiar with Ultraman. This character shares similarities in costume color/design and combined with a bunch of flames was enough to win me over. The Ultra-Act series are similar to Figuarts in design and articulation. They're like the Marvel Legends of Japan. Right off the bat the figure looks great in packaging and inside shows off his multiple hands and accessories. Open the tray carefully because the hands will spill out.

Glenfire stands 6" tall and has some really nice sculpting. From the fire crest (which can be replaced by a larger one) to his costume tech, it's finely detailed. His accessories are also wonderfully sculpted with a real flame-look to them that's often difficult to capture in plastic. The hands swap out with some practice. They're hard to pull off and you have a moving ball joint that adds to the difficulty of putting them back on. Articulated fingers may have helped here. His toes are articulated but unfortunately cause stability problems since they're rounded on the bottom.

Articulation is a mixed bag. While he sports more articulation points than a Hasbro Marvel legends not all of it is useful. Mainly because the internal hinges in the shoulders/hips can pop free easily when you pose him. Solid ML style ball hips/shoulders would have helped here but careful posing and he shouldn't give you too much trouble. His double jointed limbs give some great range of motion too.

The clear suspended orb in the middle of Glenfire's chest is really neat looking, as are his fire attachments. One is the fire-fist that replaces his hand and he also comes with two fire-staves. The larger one is unfortunately very heavy and falls out of his hands rather easily. Find your balance point. The other one is easy to wield and looks cool as well. Detach his smaller crest for the larger one and he looks like he's ready to do some damage.

Back to articulation, Glendfire and his double-ball-jointed-everything can strike up just about any pose you need but the balance issue with the feet may limit that. He has a plug in his back that can be removed, I'm guessing for a stand (not included) which could help with holding a pose. His paint work is basic solid colors with some very subtle dark shading on the red. You may want to apply a light gunmetal wash to his tech sections to get that great detail standing out.

So what's this guy going to run you? About 2,320 yen at Ami-Ami if you act now which is about $31 with the current high exchange rate. But if you want a 6" scaled flaming superhero with a bunch of neat fire effects this guy is pretty awesome. I've heard about issues with the first series of Ultra Act figures but this one seems to have cleared up any issues. Snag him and battle some baddies.

The Walking Dead Officer Rick Grimes; McFarlane toys review

2011-10-05T01:28:00.002-05:00

Rick Grimes hails from the comic turned TV show "The Walking Dead". Basically it's zombies 24/7 and the group of people that try to survive. Rick is your small-town sheriff that stands at 5". Yes, even tho these were marketed everywhere as 6" figures they're that odd Halo 3 scale. I guess Master Chief has a hunting buddy. But let's skip the scale and get to the figure which is actually really nice as I don't want to harp on the issue.

Rick sports almost Halo-style articulation like dual-ball neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, and ankles. His hips are swing-out just like Halo and work well enough for what they're intended. He won't be crossing his legs anytime soon but you can get him into most poses. His waist turns and he can hold some of his rifles in both hands. The joints have little ratchet lines on them and look kinda odd close up but you can bend his arms and hide them.

The sculpt of this figure is excellent. Every winkle, seam line, police badge, and pouch on his belt is done in perfect detail. Open his jacket and you'll see his name plate and shirt badge too. All his accessories are sculpted perfectly and the shotguns/rifles have nicely designed stocks/barrels. Rick was sculpted in a leaning position then given articulated so his left leg is a little longer than the other meaning you'll need to lean his hips to make him stand or bend a knee. This isn't as off-putting as it sounds.

Rick comes with five guns, a sack to hold them in, and a hatchet. His pistol and hatchet fit on his belt and the guns in the sack, then the sack on his shoulder via the oddly placed hole right on his jacket. That could have been moved to the back. So the figure can carry everything he comes with. Even his holster strap snaps over to keep his gun in. I really like the detail of the weapons and how they're not just molded in color but have details like the slides painted.

Speaking of paint, the entire figure is painted head to toe. There's highlights and shadows on all his clothes, a nice flesh tone with stubble, a bloody bandaged right hand, nice gold badges on his clothes and hat, you name it and they painted it. This leaves you with a very nice looking figure. And it better be nice looking for $20 toys r us is charging. I hope he'll be cheaper at Walmart but don't know if this line will show up there. I mean you're getting zombies that have pop-off limbs, one with an exploding head feature, and another with a torn-away-guts-hanging-crawler action. This is both amazing and mainstream-ewww at the same time. Rick's eyes are painted in a look-to-my-left position so take that as you will.

So there you have it. Rick's guns are scaled for Halo and some of them will fit Marvel Universe figures. The Punisher would do well here. Rick is scaled odd but he's a really decent figure that's painted great and articulated well. But we're getting a whole line of pop-apart, gut spilling, brain-exploding zombies. I'll pick more up if they're around $15 elsewhere as $20 is hard to swing when it doesn't match anything you already own. Man, if only these were Marvel legends scale, McFarlane would have sold so many for the accessories alone..

DC Universe Wave 19 Magog action figure review

2011-10-05T00:58:00.002-05:00

If you've read the Kingdom Come graphic novel (and you better have) then you know who Magog is even if you haven't caught his appearances in the regular comics. Cabl...I mean Magog stands 6" tall like the rest of the DCU and has a brand new sculpt for every part of his body. I particularly like the sculpt of the organic golden sections growing out of his skin, pants, and boots. His waist gun is sculpted on to his belt and can't be removed unfortunately.

Magog's paint apps are what you expect for DCU with a light shading on his flesh tones and a wash of dark brown on his belt and pouches. His boots could have benefited from a wash but like the rest of him are solid colors. The gold is nice and neat, shiny and smooth. His ram horns are shiny gold and look pretty nifty. You can even see the tiny scars on Cab...Magog's right eye and his mouth-line is painted in, uncommon for a DCU.

Articulation for Ca...Ok let's get this out of the way. Magog is DC's visual version of Marvel's Cable. Pouches, shoulderpad, kneepads, webgear-pants, metal left arm/body section, and a right eye with a star-scar. I simply can't unsee that. But anyway articulation is what you'd expect for a DCU with a better tilt neck joint. His shoulderpad fringes are flexible to allows his arms plenty of room. Mattel got rid of the rocker foot joints and that's all he's missing.

Overall Magog is another fine addition to your DC Universe collection and comes with a hard plastic staff and a chunk of the S.T.R.I.P.E. build a figure robot. You have to collect all 6 figures to make STRIPE but that's where you'll pause. because each figure will run you $18. While I want a giant red white and blue robot I'm torn between the characters I'm not interested in and the $100+ it will cost to end up with them. Though the golden age Sandman is in the set. I'd get him too. Magog the Cable clone, he's waiting at a Walmart/Target/Toys R Us near you.

Transformers Cyberverse Autobot Guzzle action figure review

2011-10-02T22:20:00.001-05:00

Transformers Cyberverse has plenty of already Deluxe and above sized guys such as Optimus Prime and Megatron but there's also the G1ish gems like Powerglide thrown into the mix. Another such character is Guzzle who hasn't been seen since his G1 Sparkbot toy. He's a green tank that turns into a yellow chested robot with some rather large limbs.

Guzzle has some pretty decent articulation for a Cyberverse like ball shoulders, elbows, hips, moving toes, tho his head is restricted to barely a swivel. His knees are jointed but more of an unfolded transformation, still they do the job. Guz's long reach is great and he can grapple other figures like a wrestler. I wish the giant cannon folded down over his shoulder but it can be swung out of the way.

Detail, detail, detail! Guzzle is loaded. His head is tiny yet you can see the inner eye detail and beak-like mouthparts. All over his body is excellent detail and on his alt mode every rivet is pronounced. His paint is pretty good too tho a wash would have really brought out the detail. Like his G1 form he has a bright yellow chest and tan/silver sections.

Tank mode is nice and compact. The turret doesn't rotate which may be a deal breaker for some. His gun comes in two parts and the larger section folds allowing it to be held in both hands, one hand, or split up on top of the tank. There's lettering on the sides and it looks like a great little military green tank. Overall he's a great little pocket-sized character like Powerglide and I hope Cyberverse starts to focus on the lesser known characters like Guzzle.