One thing to note is that this is really my first time trying to take a bunch of pictures of figures in the 3 3/4 inch size. It’s frickin’ harder than doing the larger figures and my pics kind of suck because of it. I started to get the hang of it towards the end of my shoot, so hopefully future entries will be better.

SCULPT and PAINT:

They are both pretty evenly matched here. The textures on both outfits is great, the little details are there for both Cap and Sinestro. Cap is based off his “Ultimates” World War 2 appearance, no there is no movie likeness to compare it to. He looks very similar to the larger Hasbro Marvel Legends version from a few years back, but they are clearly different sculpts and it’s not just a re-sized version. The paint is nice with no glaring issues that I noticed, besides Cap’s shield. What the hell happened to the stars on that thing? The “aspect ratio” is off and they look all skewed. That bugs me a little, but I’ll get over it someday after long sessions in therapy and a bottle of Jack.

Sinestro is from the movie, and based off his appearance there. The GL suit has nice texture and you can see Mark Strong’s creepy likeness in there. It’s not the best, but it’s not terrible either. The paint is minimal but it works.

So far, things look pretty even right? Both look like decent figures? Oh wait, now we get to:

ARTICULATION:

Did Mattel just give up? Was it like the end of the day and they had to get the GL figure designs out the door and so they quickly added some POA and tossed it to the next guy? Sinestro has 6 points of articulation. SIX.

Swivel head

Ball arms x2

Waist

Peg hips x2

WHAT?

That means your Sinestro figure can do this:

Oh, and this:

And don’t forget this!

Mattel, stop being lazy. McDonalds HAPPY MEAL toys have at least the same points of articulation, and those come free with a crappy cheeseburger and fries. There is really no excuse in today’s market to justify this. You use one body for the majority of the Green Lanterns, so tooling is shared across multiple figures. You can at least add pin elbows and knees so that the figures can sit down in other 3 3/4 inch-scaled vehicles!

Cap has 5 points of articulation.

IN HIS ARM.

I’m not going to associate POA with quality, but a modern action figure should have enough to be playable and to make some cool poses with, which Cap does. If you are going to limit your articulation, at least put the figure in a cool pose! Poor Sinestro looks like he’s nervously waiting for the proctologist to enter the room.

For the record, Cap has:

Ball neck

Ball shoulder x2

Shoulder/arm swivel x2

Double elbow x2

Wrist swivel x2

Waist/chest

Ball hips x2

Hip/thigh swivel

Double knee x2

Boot swivel x2

Ankle pin/disc x2

ACCESSORIES:

At least Sinestro comes with some accessories!

He has two sword constructs, cast in a translucent green plastic that actually look pretty neat. One can fit in his hand and the other snaps over his fist. He also comes with a plastic replica Green Lantern ring which is actually pretty cool, even though it doesn’t light up or anything. I don’t have pictures of it because my kids took it to play with and I’m pretty sure it has vanished into their stuff.

Captain America comes with his Helmet, his Shield, a rifle and a pistol. His pistol can slide into a side holster and the Shield can either clip to his arm or you can flick the clip over and peg it into a hole on his back. You need to make sure his straps are pushed out of the way of the hole for it to fit all the way in. Otherwise it keeps falling off, which is slightly annoying.

Value:

Both figures will run you about $8 bucks right now. I predict this price will remain consistent with the Captain America figures for the next year or so. Iron Man figures are still on the shelf at that price, all this time later. It’s an OK value. I remember when Marvel Legends ran 8 bucks, had a base or Build-A-Figure part and a comic.  That was a good deal. This is an OK deal.

The Green Lantern figures will soon go on clearance, and in some places already have. I told my kids they can get some of them when they hit a dollar, which they most likely will. That is about all I’m willing to pay for them. Mattel deserves to lose money on these sub-par figures.

Final Verdict:

Well, I think both toylines reflect their respective movies quite well.

Green Lantern is behind the curve with a couple cool things but just ultimately disappointing in the end.

You can also use the decent accessories for your other more well-liked toys.

Captain America is nothing groundbreaking, but is solid, it works and is well-rounded and fun. He fits in well with the other Hasbro lines like G.I. Joe, Marvel Universe and Star Wars.

Like our Minimate mascot? He is fresh from Luke’s Toy Store, where you can get your own custom Minimates, learn how to customize your own Minimates, or get Luke to make you a 10mfH one just like the one here!

They also sell standard Minimates and LOADS of awesome Minimate accessories and  Minimate dioramas!

I’m also a Dinosaur nerd.

Being a dinosaur nerd means I like reptiles by default. Crocodiles and Alligators are my favorite but Komodo Dragons, Jackson Chameleons and Iguanas are equally ass-kicking in their scaly, cold-blooded awesomeness!

So it should come as no surprise that of the comic book world – specifically within the Marvel Universe – my favorite villain has to be… DR. CURT CONNERS!

Didn’t see that one coming, did ya’?!

“Who the hell is Curt Conners?” You ask.

Well he is the Lizard!

In a nutshell – Dr. Curt Connors lost his arm working a field surgeon in the Army. Ever since, he has spent his life into unlocking the secret that reptiles possess with regards to limb regeneration. As biology professor at Empire State University, he taught several of Peter Parker’s classes. It was during this time that Connors thought he unlocked the genetic mechanism and injected himself with an untested serum. Oh sure he grew his arm back, but it also turned him into a humanoid reptile who hates ALL warm-blooded life. Poor Spider-Man often found himself chasing after Connors during these transformations, usually administering the antidote to save his teacher and friend before he or someone ended up hurt or worse.

Voila!  The Lizard!

Needless to say, when I saw this guy in the store, I snatched him up without thought!

Well – I thought he looked pretty bad-assed, but yeah – I didn’t care how much he was or nothin’ – he was going home with me. Oh Hasbro – how much impulse-spending-cash you take from me (see the forth-coming Parachute Captain America for more proof)!

So here he is – fresh from the sewers:

I'm too ssssssssssssexy for my ssssssssshirt...

The Lizard!

See? Bad-assed, right? Right?!

So let’s get to the basics, shall we?

Dr. Conners  here has a metric ASS-TON of articulation! Shoulders swivel and twist, waist twists, legs swivel and twist, legs twist at the calves, head turns and yes…

Oh my! (Insert "It's so big" joke here...)

…he has a three-piece segmented lizard-tail that burst out through the ass of his pants! How embarrassing!

All his joints are nice and tight and adjustable to just about any pose you would want. The tail helps with the balancing and he has yet to fall over due to any accidental bumps or nudges.

The paint could be a bit better, particularly on his nails and eyes, and really this is nit-picky. One of the things I like about the reddish splotches and markings is the fact that they are NOT uniform and it sells the “reality” of the beast, as nature is seldom symmetrical.

My dentissst lovesss me...

Added bonus? He comes adorned with a ripped-up lab coat complete with brown and gray stains on it as if he was truly hanging out all night in your toilet, thinking up the best way to end your primative, monkey-like existence!

The sculpt?

Balls! Out! Amazing!

Who do we have to thank for this?

Meet the talented, cute and plucky Sarah Richard – sculptor of this masterpiece!

Ms. Sara Richard and the infamous Charlie P. Pancake

“Who is she?” Gawd! STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!

She’s an illustrator/graphic artist /sculptor, fool!

“I grew up in a little town in New Hampshire, been drawing forever. When I’m not drawing (which seems like most of the day) I like running around, outside, inside, I have about 8 cups of tea a day.” she said, “I like tea. All sorts of tea. I like being outside, reading/ watching stuff about dinosaurs, hang gliding…..more tea.”

Whoa!

Wait!

Dinosaurs?!  How’d that happen?

“I can tell you exactly. I was in my senior year of college (Columbus College of Art and Design) working on my Hasbro entry figure of some harpy chick design I came up with with 24 points of articulation (I wanted that job really bad) and I decided to pop in Jurassic Park in the background. I hadn’t seen it in years and figured eh, whatev. Buuuut for some reason viewing then really sparked something and I watched the other two right away (I know they’re bad, but I can’t hate them. They have dinosaurs in them!) And then I just got hooked, I looked into paleo art, sculptures and Illustrations, I wanted to sculpt a raptor in my 3-d illustration class. But My teacher, Mark Hazlrig (pretty much the best teacher in the world) told me to stay on task with my Hasbro project.” she says,  “I remembered Hasbro did the Jurassic Park toys in the past and that fueled my drive to make the sculpt I was working as good as I could. Aaaaand I got into Hasbro. “

I was just about to segue into that – just how did the Hasbro thing happen? How did you get the gig to design Marvel’s bestest super-villain?

“Well that was designed by Logan Lubera, a designer at Hasbro. I just sculpted the piece based on Logan’s kick-ass design. I sculpted that figure during my second 6 month stint in-house at Hasbro last year. Now I’m freelancing from my home studio. Which is awesome, cause I am no morning person and zombie-crawling from my bed to desk at around 10am is fantastic.”

Sweetness!

Hey – this is pretty cool – it’s like I’m asking actual questions in real-time! GO ME!

So any other reptile / Dinosaur projects in the works, miss?

“I do have one I can’t talk about that’s pretty big for me. And I have a few ideas for some stories I’ve wanted to make happen. One is called Paleo-femmes. It’ll be about different tribes of female warriors pretty much kicking the crap out of each other. Each tribe will be influenced in mannerisms and dress by a certain species of dinosaurs so you’ll have a raptor tribe really making life miserable for some sort of hadrosaur tribe. I’m hoping to get started on these sequentials this year. It seems like I keep talking about it and it’s been a year or so since I mentioned it first, and well….not enough hours in the day. I’ll make sure to let you know when I get it going. I’m also always trying to get something to show up in Prehistoric Times Magazine in an art section.”

You heard it here, folks! How cool was it to have some insight from an actual toy sculptor?!

For more info on Ms. Richard, why don’t you all get your butts over to her website: http://www.sararichard.com/ and check her out!

Er…check out her website!

THE LIZARD COMMANDSSSSSSSSSS IT!!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

—————————-

Well, I enjoyed the movie well enough to want to buy a couple of the figures. I figured I’d start off with the “Johnny Blaze” Ghost Rider and the Caretaker, and possibly Blackheart down the line. So far I’ve found the first one (and Blackheart, but still on the fence about that one) which is actually called “Chain Attack Ghost Rider”. Please excuse my semi-blurry photos. I’m still getting used to my new camera. 

On to the review!

This figure is part of the Ghost Rider Movie action figure line by Hasbro. I think Toy Biz actually created these, but Hasbro got the molds and released them.

As for the character, Johnny Blaze turns into the Ghost Rider at dark and in the presence of evil. See my review for the movie on this very forum. Or click
Here.

Packaging:

Standard bubble/card. Pretty nice. Some dececnt graphics, using movie materials, tells you a bit about the character on the back and shows a couple other figures in the series. Does it’s job holding in the figure, and doesn’t take a blowtorch to get open. Uses rubber bands to hold the actual figure in, which scissors make short work of. I like that better than twist-ties. The “chain” accessory was almost “sewn in” to the bubble, which was kinda weird to get out.

Articulation:

Your typical Toy Biz standard (since they designed them in the first place) I won’t go over every one, but lets just say there is lots more than you can ever need. What I will mention is that his right arm ball joint and the individual fingers on the right hand are lost due to the action feature. It kind of sucks, but it’s not that big of a deal.

Sculpt:

Pretty awesome! All the leather and spikes are pretty well detailed. There are interchangable heads and both are nice. The flames look a little like a giant flame ‘fro on the Ghost Rider head, but it’s still cool. 
The likeness of Nicholas Cage is pretty impressive, for good or bad. 

However, due to the interchangable-ness of the heads, they somehow got an extra segment of neck on the Johnny Blaze head, and his neck doesn’t meet the body quite like it should. Boo to that, but more later.

Also, the plastic feels a bit soft. Not too terrible, but still a little too soft.

Paint:

Decent. Nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. It’s fine for a mass-market figure. Nothing horrible stood out to me like things did on the last Toy Biz Marvel Legends lines.

Action Feature:

Ah yes. This is a kids line, I guess. Action features, then. 
Johnny/Ghost Rider has a button on his back that you press and he whips his chain around. Wooooo. You can check out the video clip to see it in action!

Nothing exciting, but I guess the kids probably like it. It hurts the articulation though because of it. That’s not cool. Especially because this seemed to be one of the few figures in the line that were aimed at collectors. They should have instead left the action feature out of the figure and given Johnny here a “Flame shooting shotgun” or something. That would have at least made sense for the figure.

Also, his head comes off and is interchangable. Both fit in pretty tight, and still pop off with ease.

Here was where I had to fix the extra neck piece. I just cut the extra piece off and glued the head on. I’m not planning on switching the heads anyway. I have a Ghost Rider I like for display already from Marvel Legends.

Accessories:

His chain and the two heads. They sell his bike as a “deluxe” offering with another Ghost Rider figure, but I wonder if it wouldn’t have been smarter to single pack the bike on a card. With all the variations of GR in this line, I really don’t want to buy another one just to get a movie-accurate bike for him to sit on. So I won’t. 

Bottom Line:

The figure was about $8 at Wal-Mart, which isn’t too bad of a price. The action feature sucks, but can be pretty much ignored without much hooplah. The sculpt is nice, and looks good displayed with other Marvel Legends-type figures. Small neck repair/fix needed if you want. It bugged me. 

One is a killer. The other is an idiot in a... OK they're both idiots in a goofy costume.

Whenever it’s announced that another movie is being remade or rebooted it always to the same reaction, fan after fan throwing a damn fit.

It’s nice to see entitlement at work- it really is. Now I can’t sit here and claim I’m innocent, Lord knows I’m not, but I like to think that as I get older I at least take these things a little bit better. At best I’ll say “I’m not interested” rather than… “they’re raping my childhood!” Hell, it’s not like any of us have to actually go and see the films in question. I try to keep that in mind whenever announcements pop up. Well that, and these things usually give us all sorts of new goodies- like new figures!

I didn’t care for Scream 4 all that much (the killer(s) reveal still bugs me) but I felt it was passable enough and I imagine THIS generation will love it. As it is, I will say it’s nice to finally get a Ghostface action figure- hell, we’ve been waiting since 1996 dammit.

I know what you’re saying- ‘there  already has been a figure made of this guy!’ Well see, that’s not entirely true. Back in the late 90′s McFarlane toys ‘Movie Maniacs’ line (aka the grandaddy of the horror toy genre). They released a ‘Ghostface’ figure as part of their second wave. In what can only be seen now as foreshadowing for the corporate stupidity to come- it turned out that McF didn’t exactly have the rights to Ghostface per se.

See here’s the thing, Ghostface from ‘Scream’ took his look from a Halloween mask found by the films production crew at one of the movie’s shooting locations. Wes Craven loved the look and thus the killer scored his famous look, point being the costume already existed prior to this movie (hell I remember a guy wearing it a Halloween party I attended in 1994…) Now with that in mind, it comes as no shock to learn that what McF and Co. had done was not license the film character, but actually the cheaper costume.

Of course McFarlane has still advertised it as ‘Scream’ and in fact had included a reproduction of the film’s poster with the figure (all Movie Maniacs did that actually). There was some hoopla leading to the figure being rereleased without any mention of the film on the packaging, and the movie poster reproduction was replaced with a generic “Ghost face” picture. So in essence THIS guy is officially the very first Ghostface figure.

Ghostface here rolls out with a surprising amount of articulation for a direct market horror figure, seems the days of them being ‘statues’ are about over. Aside from the legs, which is hampered a little by the cloth skirt (more on that in a sec) the rest of him displays a great range of movement- unlike the earlier figure who had plenty of articulation but was sculpted so that only one pose would look proper- modern Ghostface looks pretty sweet in many poses.

Another improvement over the earlier figure is in sculpt. Of course over ten years have passed between the two it shouldn’t be surprising. The new guy finally has a mask that looks about right- with a larger hood closer to how he looked in the film- in fact I can’t really complain about the sculpting. So let’s move on to the big point of contention that this guy has been seeing with people.

The cloth bits.

See when the first pics popped up people were livid to find that lower half of the costume and the flowing bits on his arms were not going to be sculpted. Now I’ll be the first one to say I was just as annoyed as the rest. Since I, like most people, feel that mixed media rarely (if ever) works on smaller scale figures. Doesn’t help that the early pics made the guy look just… well CHEAP. Fan outrage was so bad in fact that NECA is actually producting a second version with an all plastic body.

So here comes me pissing and moaning about the damn skirt… Oh wait, no I won’t. See, while I initially detested the use of cloth, having him now I actually find I prefer it. Unless you’re really nitpicky it’s likely you won’t even notice it most of the time- I keep mine on a shelf and it looks completely fine. Sure if he’s right in front of you, one can’t help to notice it…..but how many people will really have this thing up close all the time? Like me I suspect people will have him tossed up on a shelf with tons of other figures.

Honestly I understand WHY NECA did it- to allow for a higher range of motion (he has fully sculpted jeans beneath) and I can’t complain. The new figure shows that he’ll now be stuck in a legs straight pose- which to me just draws attention to a far worse aspect of this guy: That in the end… Ghostface is a guy in a dress.

The arm tassles are a little more noticeable as even from a distance they’re kinda see-through and technically inaccurate. It’s weird but the original based on the retail costume had the movie’s tassles and the movie costume version has the reverse… Go figure.

So what’s a good killer without some sort of shovel, rake or other implements of destruction (gold star to whoever gets the reference by the way) and Ghostface of course comes with his hunting knife. It’s a tiny little thing, which means this guy has to be one of the earlier film killers (see part 4 to understand what I mean…) but either way it looks fine- so no complaints.

One last thing before I go- we do have a variant of this guy for those completists out there. Not much to speak of- same overall figure but with a decayed ghost mask (think Myers from the new Halloween movies) I didn’t get it since I can’t justify another 15 bucks for what amounts to one piece of plastic. Besides it appears that this look never actually showed up in the film- so not really a ‘must get.’

But yeah- I dig the figure, despite going in thinking I’d be dissappointed like many people are already. I’d tell you that unless you’re ultra picky it’s a fine figure for the set.

…and hey- at least it’s ‘officially’ him this time.

LOOK BEHIND YOU!

CLOUD CITY COMICS AND TOYS!!!

Located in the Shoppingtown Mall here in Syracuse, New York (GO YANKEES) Cloud City is one of (if not THE) best comic shops I’ve had the privilege of visiting!

“We don’t have customers – we have friends here,” boasts owner Jeff Watkins, owner of this awesome establishment and a former Whale Warrior (he had just returned from the Antarctic where he was helping to fight off whalers before opening Cloud City just three short years ago)!
“It’s one of our pillars!”

Boasting an impressive collection of statues, Cloud City delivers in SPADES it’s mainstays – Toys and Comics!

“I grew up as that kid on Christmas morning with Star Wars action figures!” he gushes. As if the namesake of the store wasn’t a giveaway of Lucasfilm fandom on display.

The store itself boasts a friendly and inviting “hangout” area where you can hunker down, read your latest funnybook or talk capes and films with fellow nerds and enthusiasts!

Cloud City Comics and Toys is highly recommended! Great selections of toys, collectibles and comics, great customer service and interaction couple with a friendly, inviting environment makes it tops as the place to pick up your monthly 4-Color fix!

Stop by or give them a call at 315-449-0016!

And oh yes…

…she WILL be mine!

Anybody who knows me, well, they know one giant thing about me…

1. I have a massive obsession with Dinosaurs…

2. …my favorite Book & Movie are – DURRR – Jurassic Park!

Hard to believe, but it’s been twenty years since the Micheal Crichton novel debuted – about billionaire entrepreneur John Hammond’s island off Costa Rica that was populated by living, breathing dinosaurs made possible by cloning and destined to be the greatest theme park & zoo ever until a hurricane & industrial sabotage released the prehistoric beasts from their fences and allowed them to rampage.

The film (now 18 years old, natch), released by Universal Studios and directed by Steven Spielberg, brought the prehistoric animals to life with revolutionary CGI effects that still stand up to…

…TODAY: the Jurassic Park franchise is still going strong, with rumors of a 4th film surfacing and a series of best-selling comics published by IDW sweeping comic shops (the latest mini-series, Devils in the Dessert is being written & drawn by the legendary John Byrne and will have a review coming soon on this very site!).

It should be no surprise that the Toy Market hasn’t been left out of the runaway prehistoric franchise!

The first toy-line debuted in conjunction with the first film as well as another for it’s sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, both manufactured by Kenner. Toys for Jurassic Park III bore the Hasbro logo as Kenner had been purchased & integrated between 1998 & 2001.

A Toys R Us exclusive, Jurassic Park is a new line compromised of all the old favorites from the past lines, which brings us finally to the reason you’re here:

Of all the Jurassic Park dinosaurs I own this is hands-down my absolute favorite! I have to stress that is indeed a BIG BOY and measures over twenty-seven inches long!!!

The Alan Grant figure above, is a standard 3 3/4″ figure and is in scale to the JP Cruiser pictured and I’ll elaborate on it some more later as it was an unexpected surprise!

The articulation on the T-Rex is limited. His legs move at the hips, his feet twist 90 degrees in either direction and his arms move up and and down.

That’s it.

But it’s a GIGANTIC TREX!!! What more do you want?!

Well – you do get more!

The original creature was released in The Lost World line as the “Bull Tyrannosaurus” and came with a cage that had an attached figure inside that could be swallowed through the rubber jaws of the beast and retrieved in the stomach via a hatch in the belly.

Hasbro removed the hatch and sealed it in this version, but it can still swallow a 3 3/4″ figure completely, ending at a plastic stopper in the throat and easily retrievable.

In a stroke of genius, Hasbro replaced the hatch with a sound box. When “On” you hear the thundering footsteps of the T-Rex as he marches towards his victims. Pressing a button at the base of spine plays a plethora of random sounds including the infamous roar from the films as well as some grunts and chewing and crunching sounds!

Yummy!

The paint is interesting. When I first saw the orange on gray I was taken back, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the change! We’re always hearing about how Dinosaurs were probably very colorful from their link to birds. Plus I like the switch from the drab grays, browns and greens the films used.

The patterns are applied well and there’s no bleeding on the nails onto the flesh. Everything is clean. The orange-black-white kinda’ blurs and thickens, but it’s animal – nothing in nature is ever perfect when it comes to color so the fact each one could be a tad random adds to the realism.

Now there are two extras included (as if the T-Rex itself wasn’t good enough!). The first one is pretty ho-hum a bonus action figure just called a “Forest General” who, apparently stole Klaw’s sound-radar hand from Marvel Comics. It’s a standard figure and in scale with the other humans but I simply tossed it in the junk drawer. I dug out (pun intended) the Dr. Alan Grant and armed him up with some left over G.I. Joe guns and he looks MUCH BETTER!

Now the second bonus?

Remember that Jurassic Park Cruiser above?

On the back of the box was a punch-out for the vehicle, and to be honest, usually I find these things a waste of time, but guys – THIS ONE ROCKS!!!

First – it’s scale PERFECTLY with both the humans AND the dinos! Scale means a lot to me, folks, as I put these things on display! Second, it looks VERBATIM from the first film – whoever the artist was that designed this did a BANG-UP job! It punched out quite easily and assembled in seconds. The cardboard is unusually thick and so it’s a quality little bonus integrated into usually disposable material.

All in all – this is an AWESOME figure with a lot value! Whether it’s for your kids or your own monster collection, it can’t be beat!

Unless someone makes an awesome Godzilla that has a fire breath feature.

Say hello to the avatar of the Black Lantern Corps. Black Hand personifies death and after his suicide is returned to life as the first of the Black Lanterns. From there began ‘The Blackest Night’ mega series that lasted for 400 hundred and 6000 comics…..or at least felt that way. Hand has seen action figure form a few times already, mainly in the DC Direct line. He is part of the initial Green Lantern Classics line, to promote next years Green Lantern film, if you somehow were unaware.

Now sometimes I wonder how Mattel decides who gets the ‘royal’ treatment as it were, as too many higher profile characters seem to get by with the bare minimum of new parts and then we see guys like this. Black Hand is about 99% new parts, the cape is a reuse from Dr. Midnite which isn’t a big deal, it looks fine, and the seem to have spared no expense on this guy. His original suit was revealed to be made from an old body bag, this suit give the black sections a stretched rubbery look, with the blue being more of a skin-tight deal. Tossed in are textured black bands on his arms and legs along with riveted chest logo.

This boys a freak. I should mention that.

Being dead, or undead as it were, what little skin that is exposed has a dried withered look to it. It’s not as grotesque as some artwork has shown him, actually I like how he turned out.

tell me you wouldn't piss yourself seeing eyes like that

Hand has a little surprise for those of us who have been collecting Mattel’s DC figures for the last few years. When these figures first hit many were just a tiny bit upset that the articulation was scaled back in favor of the sculpt. I will admit I too was annoyed at first, however I now prefer this to the somewhat over done articulation of yesterday. Black Hand comes loaded with the standard DC movement AND double knee and elbow joints. They serve no purpose that I can see so I can’t really understand their inclusion. Of course Mattel has stated this sort of thing will not be on every figure and I know that I definitely have totally new parts….

My figure has a few issues when it comes to paint, but that should be expected when buying a mass market figure- so remember to double check when buying. I should also mention that Hand’s right….hand is too small for his arm, good thing it’s only noticeable if you have his arms raised- and besides you’ll be too busy eyeballing his miscolored hand. I get he’s called ‘Black Hand’ but his hand DID match his arm for skin tone.

He doesn’t come with any accessories besides the build a figure piece, which is aggravating. See throughout ‘Blackest Night’ Hand here was toting around Batman’s skull (don’t ask), the DC Direct figure came with it and it would have made the price tag a wee bit more bearable.

Overall he’s a good figure, and a direct improvement over the previous versions.

Not bad for a loser. My first experience with Black Hand came in the early 90′s, I’d scored some old ‘Green Lantern Corps’ comics at my local flea market (now a liquor store, dollar store AND mechanics….go figure) and in issue 205 I met Black Hand. The GL power stealing villain whose whole gimmick was power stealing and bad puns.

Yeah. PUNS. Yes, this guy was lame. Even his half-assed batman wannabe suit (which has something to do with him being a nod to Batman creator Bill Finger…thank you WIKI) didn’t help much. Thankfully he was seldom used in comics, with good reason, until ‘Green Lantern:Rebirth #1, written by Geoff Johns. Where he’s quickly curb-stomped by, then Spectre, Hal Jordan- who burned his hand off…..oh ha ha.

Now because Johns has an unabashed man-crush on EVERYTHING pre-1992 in the DC Universe, and can’t seem to tell a story that doesn’t necessitate the purchase of 100+ issues to complete, it was certain Black Hand would be back.

Good thing aging fan-boys have taken over the comics industry huh?

Long and short Johns tweaks Hand’s backstory a bit. Now he’s a death obsessed weirdo who is tied into an ancient Green Lantern prophecy….and not some lame ass villain who nearly wet his pants the time Starman villain ‘The Mist’ (the female one) pulled a gun on him. I have to admit the single issue revamp on Hand might be one of the single best stories I’ve read in Johns GL run and proves that it’s mainly bad writing that ruins characters.

Of course I am getting sick of the constant trotting out of Silver Age crap these days. But that’s a whole different rant.

How 'Blackest Night' should've ended. You know I'm right dammit.

“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!”