“Like his people, the king of dead men beyond Dunharrow is a cursed soul. In ages past, he and his army had renounced their pledge of allegiance to the King of Gondor and fled to their mountain homes. Since that time, they lay bound by a curse to the shadowy depths beyond Dunharrow as bodiless spectres, awaiting the chance to honor their broken oath. Only a true King of Gondor can wield the power to release the dead King and his ghostly multitudes from this curse. Thus for many an age they have haunted the Paths of the Dead, awaiting the one that can set them free.”

Packaging: It’s minimal, it holds the figure in, keeps it relatively safe from damage, and tells you what it is. It does it’s job, even if it’s not the most eye-catching package out there. *Snicker* For those that just rip them open anyway, like me, who really cares?

Sculpt: Wonderful! Great details, and most of the figure is a kind of rubber, which makes it easy to move things around if needed. His withered face has every little detail, his armour is perfect down to the chain links of his “skirt”. I’m very impressed. The only thing that looks funny is if you remove his cloak, his ball joint shoulders look a bit odd.

Articulation: Way more than I expected, but up to par with most Toy Biz figures.
ball jointed head
ball jointed shoulders x2
bicep swivels x2
double elbow joints x2
wrist swivels x2
ball jointed legs x2
thigh swivels x2
double jointed knees x2
hinged ankles x2
side to side ankles x2
—————————–
23 total POA

Paint: this is the one place I was dissapointed. There are really no paint apps here. There is a crappy wash put on there to help bring out the detail, but I think it would have been better to actually paint the details in. I probably will sometime, but I shouldn’t have to.

Accessories: He comes with a helmet, which not only fits on his head, but looks good and in proportion at the same time. He also has his sword with scabbard, his cloak, and a sculpted cloth type thing that I think is supposed to be part of his robes. With all his robes and cloak on, it hinders his posability a bit, but it’s not that big of a deal. If you leave his robes off and cloak on, it works pretty well.

Action Feature: This dude glows in the dark. I haven’t tried him in pitch dark yet, being he’s on my desk at work right now, but I stuck him in a darker corner of my work area, and he glew quite well. I’m sure in the pitch dark he looks quite awesome.

Disaster (or minor annoyance) strikes! This figure also marks the first time I have had a Toy Biz figure break on me right out of the package. As I was trying out his wrist swivels, the left hand twisted right off. I jammed part of a paperclip in the stump and into his hand connecting the two and Viola! It’s good as new! I have heard many QC concerns with LOTR and Marvel Legends in this regards, so I guess it was bound to happen to me sooner or later.

My opinion: All in all, I am very happy with this figure. Toy Biz is my absolute favorite toy company right now, due to the properties they have, the prices they charge, and the level of care they put in to their figures bridging the gap between kids and collectors.

Tony Stark lives 3 lives.

1. Scientific genius, able to create “Transistors” that can do nearly anything and can be any size.
2. Suave ladies man with women vying for his attention all over the world.
3. Most importantly, the armored hero known as Iron Man.

I’ll admit right here and now that I’m not the hugest Iron Man fan. In fact, this is the first IM figure I have bought, besides War Machine. But ever since I was a kid I liked the character and his design. Even if I really had no idea what he did. As I am thinking back, my first “real” comic that my brother bought for me many, many years ago was a Spider-Man/Iron Man team up book. They fought a villian called Magma or something, underground. That’s probably the only IM comic I ever had. But anyways, on to the review!

Packaging: The same Marvel Legends packaging we have seen for 14 or whatever series. It’s a clamshell. It has a carboard back and a sticker on the front. You nedd scissors to get it open and It had 3 twist-ties holding the figure in.

Articulation: The Standard ML artic. That is to say, a buttload. Everything you would expect this version of Ol Shellhead to have, except side to side ankles, which is the only thing I missed.

Accessories: The back “tentacle” of Mojo. It feels cheap. I didn’t take a pic of it.
I don’t think I am going to try and collect all of Mojo pieces anyway. I liked him in Jr. High, but he’s kind of lame now.

Paint: Ooh. Here is where the hits come. It’s not that good. You would think that a solid grey paintjob wouldn’t be that hard. You might be dissapointed if you think that.

The figure is cast in grey with silver paint sprayed on. But it’s not sprayed well. As you can see they fully assembled the figure and then half-assedly sprayed the thing silver. Move a joint and you can see the paint lines. The paint in general is also not even. It’s really not a huge deal, but it bugs me. The rest of the paint details are just fine.

Quality: The plastic feels cheap. The arms feel like they are going to snap everytime you move them. They have that “ratchet” clicky thing going on and it feels like they are hollow or something. I don’t like it. Also, the mask bugs me. For one, it keeps falling off. and it looks dumb underneath.

I’m not sure why they even went with a faceplate with this version. It’s not true to this version, and seems more complicated than needed. They should have just given him a full helmet. It’s not like the helmet had to be small like a regular IM figure. What a bunch of gimboids.

Overall: I like the figure. I figured we will never see another First appearence IM figure, unless the movie really does well and Hasbro digs deep into the well to make as many IM’s as they can. There are a few minor quibbles, but I can overlook them. It’s the old adage “The sum is greater than the parts”. I like the design, mostly because he looks like an old 50’s robot from a bad Sci-Fi movie.

DESTROY!

“Hey sister, where do you get your hair done? It looks fabulous!”

Having friends is a great thing, and this is coming from an anti-social ass. I can’t make it to SDCC and doubt that I will ever make the trip- this of course tends to screw me in the ‘complete the damn collection’ situation. So before I begin I want to thank my friend Chris for helping me out- I know how much of a pain in the ass it is to acquire these buggers and I really appreciate it.

So Plastic Man, for those who do not know, was a Golden Age character (a cute term for comic characters made when The History Channel was simply called ‘The News’) and has a fairly interesting origin, and that’s saying something since most old school origins range from mundane to completely bat shit insane.

Eel O’Brien was a prick. Seriously, this was the guy who batman beat up every issue in his title- and not the cool villains either. I’m talking henchman level. Suffice to say things changed the day O’Brien was shot in a heist gone wrong (it’s always the ‘gone wrong’ ones isn’t ?) and his gang decided ’screw em’ and took off. Eel (which DAMN so couldn’t name a children’s character that now) found himself at a monastary (don’t ask why this would be in the middle of a city…) where the kindly monks nursed him back to health. So remember, like Nuns, Monks are pure tempered Awesome. Don’t argue.

Of course this being a comic when old Eel (hee hee) recuperated he discovered that he’d been changed from his injuries (since it should be mentioned he’d been shot and then doused in freaky chemicals…..this happens alot in comics) either way our boy here now possessed powers that Reed Richards would later steal…the jerk. Now seeing the kindness shown him despite being a total tool Eel was a changed man dedicating his life to fighting people like what he once was. So it’s like ‘My Name is Earl’ but with super powers.

Oh and Crazy…because well who knows? It makes him awesome so don’t fight it.

Like just about every Mattel convention exclusive Plastic Man here comes in a cool package. In this case he’s his own box! Pretty cool- oh those goggles can be worn.

Comparing him to my other DC figures leaves me thinking the boy has a true rarity in this line- A completely new sculpt. Originally I believed Plastic Man shared parts with fellow skinny hero Deadman, and nope! Not a thing! Deadman carries a distinct crosshatch style of showing muscle definition- not so with Plastic Man, who rolls with a smoother muscle sculpt- more superheroey if that makes sense.

Tell me, have you seen the DCUC figures? If so then you know what to expect with regards to movement- nothing new to be seen here Which is fine by me, Mattel’s DC line boasts what I feel is as perfect a balance of articulation and sculpt so there’s no need to add anything. Sadly Plastic Man here suffers from the same limited neck movement that damn near every figure since around Wave 8. Seriously Mattel this is getting annoying just fix the damn neck already! Aside from THAT Plastic Man offers an adequate range of movement lacking any major obstructions (except that DAMN NECK!!!)

Paint is what you’d expect- good but not fall down awesome. His goggles shows wear. Of course being that he is an exclusive in short supply…well beggars can’t be choosers.

Now this is all and good- but I know what you’re really interested in- Plastic Man’s accessories! When he was first unveiled I was ‘oh cool’ and then came the announced accessories….well let’s just the next exclamation was far more colorful.


I say ‘accessories’ but really it’s alternate body parts. Two sets of ‘weapon’ hands, two rubber arms, a neck extension, spring legs and finally a DEO file on Plastic Man. My least favorite of the group are easily the neck extension and rubber arms. My main beef with them is being they aren’t plastic (which really shouldn’t PLASTIC MAN be plastic only?) and the effect just looks ‘off.’ The arms aren’t poseable either, hanging limp by his sides. The neck piece, which is difficult to attach and looks just plain ugly on him. Another issues with the neck piece deals with my fear of eventually ruining the damn thing- each time I’ve had to remove it the rubber feels near to tearing off. The arms dodge this via a release button for the arms on the figures back (great feature by the way).

Now onto the bits I actually LIKE.

First we have his hands: a Fly swatter and paddle-ball. I’m well aware at how stupid these are, but Plas is notorious for being mental so weird ass ‘weapons’ are appropriate for him. Just be careful switching them out with his normal fists. Usually this would be where we’d stop, as a general rule these sort of figures get only alt hands and head (or in this case:neck) but good old Plastic Man gives us what may be my favorite- his spring legs! A real spring is encased in plastic leading up waist (his belt is oversized and hides the seam) snaps on at the waist (obviously) and just gives the whole figure that tiny bit extra to make it even more special. Really wish we’d see more accessories of this range appear more often, moreso now what with the price hikes.

He also comes with a paper goods item- the DEO file. Just look at is a cool bio card with more detail than you usually find. Mattel really should continue with these on the mass produced figures- anything to make that 15 buck price tag just a little more palatable.

Before I drop off this subject I have to mention one final accessory, a piece that could only be found at SDCC (leave it to Mattel to make an ‘exclusive’ exclusive) Plas’ suitcase body. What really amounts to a bonus torso- it resembles a suitcase (that opens revealing three classic comics!) with the distinctive markings making it evident that it’s Plastic Man in disguise (he can’t change color…be wary of yellow,red,black and skin tone objects), attatching the head with extended neck and arms complete the piece. It’s a nice surprise, far more suitable a con exclusive than say….Gleek so it appears Mattel is learning…slowly but surely.

So another year, another San Diego Comic Con gone by with the slew of exclusives. Plas is a great one- popular character with a ton of cool accessories. I highly recommend it.

I’m not sure what I think of it. I love the original, and it was fun to see someone try and do something with it. I don’t really think it was “good”, but it was interesting.

The concept behind it is that the filmmakers took the original film and digitally pulled out the sets from the original 1920 film. They then filmed the actors on a green screen and placed them into the old sets. It gives it a similar feel to “Sky Captain”, and I kind of dug that. I sort of liked the bizarre combination of old-style look and modern acting. It took a little bit to get used to, but I ultimately enjoyed it.

Sadly, the main reason I was excited for the movie ended up disappointing me. I was eager to see legendary Doug Jones play Cesare the somnambulist, but he really didn’t have much to do, and just kind of looked silly. I think all the other actors did surprisingly well, and the guy playing Caligari himself hit all the right notes for me. I also thought the actor playing Alan had some good charisma.

Overall, it was a worthwhile oddity for a “Caligari” fan to watch, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone that isn’t a fan of the original.

Even more Iron Man 2 crap! What can I say? The damn movie isn’t even out yet but it’s EVERYWHERE, and since it’s so close that means the toy line has just kicked in. Like last summer’s Wolverine movie toy line this one will be split up into both a comic based line and film based line, only difference here is that IM2 will have a third line devoted to ‘concept’ armors. Meaning weird made up crap to sell to kids.

Believe it or not the concept armors they’ve released so far are actually cool. Helps that a guy like Stark would more than likely have 3 billion different armors about, unlike say Spidey who by all accounts should barely be able to afford the ONE suit.

The line is in the 4 inch scale, which seems to be the trend at Hasbro these days, eh to each their own- bonus being that you can display them alongside the Joes of the last few years if you collected them (I did ). So now, less procrastinating and more reviewing!

As you can see above this is the comic’s version of Tony Stark’s first suit of armor, built while he was a prisoner of the evil Vietnamese (it was the 60’s remember that) and dying from shrapnel….Hell you know the origin dammit (and if not, why would HERE be your first exposure?). Anyways the armor looks like something you’d build with spare scraps of metal. The paint is fantastic and I’d say this is by far the best version of this armor ever produced! See prior releases tended to focus more on the clunkiness of the armor, and generally making it look brand new with a bright shiny silver paint job. At best you’d get a ding in the armor, and that’s just one I mean, this being the first version (which technically can’t count since it was the similar gold skirted version) that was released with the old late 90’s Avengers boxed set.

The only other (which had a gold Variant as well) still maintained a slightly clunky if polished up look

What places the new figure above those is most definitely the paint. Unlike before, where it looked almost store bought new, now we have an armor that seriously looks like you need your shots before and after wearing. Dull grey instead of shiny silver covers the body now, with the addition of silver scratches and a rust colored….I guess you could say wash over it. Unfortunately the paint is great except for one problem. They skipped the rust on the back! Yup, just grey and silver (was too lazy to snap a pic…sorry)

Being that this is the earlier armor, movement is a little limited. Not saying he’s lacking articulation. That’s hardly the case, it’s more to do with the stiffness of his joint (hmm just had Wizard of Oz pop into my head for some reason…) as it is he appears to have the same amount as the average Marvel figure- a great deal, not old school Toy Biz, but a good medium. I don’t like the stiffness as it makes posing difficult. Only other gripe is the ankle joints being poorly done- really he looks like a damn robot with joints like that!

After all that you get two accessories: The stand with armor cards (three cards that overlay to show the armor- they fit into the stand as a display) but I can’t find them to show you. The other thing is really not necessary, since I remember no instance of this with this armor, but old clunky here comes with a snap on energy blast for his hand. Nothing really to say, it’s solid enough that it won’t wilt…but I don’t plan on displaying it that way.

And that’s about it. Only other thing I can think to mention is, like other Marvel figures I’ve seen, he appears to be a little larger in scale than the Joe line. Which works in this case since a guy in armor would be a bit larger. Overall it’s a solid figure and I’d happily recommend it.

Look for more in the future and subscribe to their very own Youtube channel!

Anyways, here is their “no-holds barred” look at the original Terminator by James Cameron.

This evening of February 12th, 2010 gives us the rebirth of another of Universal’s pictures monster icon… that of The Wolfman!

Originally released in 1941, The Wolfman became the quintessential werewolf flick and over the years endeared itself to a legion of fans for it dreamily-surreal cinematography, a smartly written script by Curt Siodmak (which would instill the cornerstone myths of werewolf-lore in our subconscious with the hallmarks of the transformation triggered by the full moon, silver bullets to dispatch werewolves and the pentagram marking the beast), and the amazing make-up that brought the lycanthrope to life by the legendary Jack Pierce!

The remake, I am proud to say, honors ALL that came before and gives a fresh visual look to an established classic…

…which brings me to our subject matter…

In conjunction with the film, Mezco toys has produced two deluxe action figures – a standard 7″ action figure and a deluxe, fully-articulated 13″ version, of which we’ll be looking at the former.

It’s a nice, solid figure with a bit of heft to it, which I like. To me, I like to actually “feel” my money’s worth and this has that feel.

The paint job is pretty standard, no major issues, and surprisingly they did a WONDERFUL job detailing his face. His hands, while not able to grasp anything, end in some nice, almost-talon-like claws as do his feet.

He has 14 points of articulation at his calves, thighs, waist, wrists, elbows, shoulders and head. His elbows, however merely swivel so it can look slightly awkward.

I want to stress this is a display-piece figure and not an actual toy. Not that it couldn’t stand-up to the wear and tear of playing, I just don’t see any child being happy with the aforementioned articulation.

While his feet look deceptive, I assure you he will stand quite well on his own, the bottoms being flat, and should you choose to build a diorama for him, there are peg holes that will allow you to mount him on a myriad of terrains.

Included with him was a detailed cane accessory from the original film and featured as a nod in the remake.

It’s a neat little accessory and the paint appliance is nice and clean, but it is little more than decoration as the Wolfman himself can’t grasp & hold it. But hey – any accessory is better than no accessory!

This is hands-down an awesome figure if you like monsters like I do. It looks pretty awesome displayed and it’s going on my Universal Monster shelf along with my Sideshow Collectibles Dracula, Frankenstein & Wolfman busts and two deluxe Van Helsing 13″ figures.

Just beware the moors on a full moon…