Tag Archives: action figures

March 26, 2024

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Deluxe Mouse-Jaw

By Joe

Let’s talk about evil robot guy and his mechanical sidekick.

Nothing can be simple in this day and age of retail toy sales which is why the new mash-up of Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toyline features ostensibly 3 SKUs: standard, deluxe, and deluxe with build-a-figure parts. The standard releases are, as you may have expected, released abroad and you can find them basically wherever Mattel’s Masters of the Universe Origins line is sold. The deluxe figures are apparently going to be exclusive to Walmart. These are bigger or more involved figures that will cost you an extra five bucks. I’m not sure if it’s been confirmed that they’re exclusive to Walmart, or just first-run. Like a lot of store exclusives, don’t be shocked if they wind-up elsewhere by the end of the year. Lastly, we have the deluxe figures with included build-a-figure parts. These too will run you an extra 5 bucks vs. a standard figure and they can only be found at Target. And up first from that subline is Mouse-Jaw, the amalgamation of MOTU villain Trap-Jaw and the mechanical menace M.O.U.S.E.R. from TMNT.

I was going to just get the turtle boys, but here I am adding a villain. And a MOTU villain at that.

If you read my review of the Leonardo and Donatello figures from this line then you know I’m not much of a MOTU fan. It just never hit for me as a kid though I did watch the old cartoon and the mostly terrible movie. As a result, I only have surface level memories of the characters and toys from the show, but Trap-Jaw was indeed one such character. I also liked the robotic, or cyborg, type of characters and he seemed pretty neat. And, of course, I am well versed when it comes to Baxter Stockman’s mousers and I’ve owned several mouser toys over the years. This particular combination of characters feels quite clever. Mouse-Jaw (I’m assuming Mouse Trap was unavailable for toy marketing, or maybe Mattel just wanted a name it could trademark if it wanted) stood out among the rest when the first round of figures were revealed. He really looks exactly like one would expect of a mash-up of these two entities. All of the robotic parts on Trap-Jaw have basically been replaced with mouser parts. It’s all in the aesthetics of MOTU Origins, plus it comes with parts to eventually build the Metalhead-Roboto combination: Metal-Roboto (clever, huh?).

What kept me from getting this figure right away was not its design, but its price. Twenty five bucks for a retro-inspired action figure feels too rich. Granted, if you get all four of these planned releases you will end up with five figures for 20 bucks a piece – i.e. the standard MSRP for the other figures in the line. The issue there is I still think the 20 bucks is pushing it. Origins is typically in the $15 per figure range, but I’m guessing the extra five bucks is essentially Viacom’s cut for including the turtles. Still, being a TMNT fan and not really a MOTU one, I’ve mostly decided to pass on the MOTU characters. Lucky for me, Target stocked a lot of these guys and it soon became the only figure from the first wave warming the pegs at virtually every Target I’ve gone into over the past month. Perhaps for that reason, or just to make room for the next Target exclusive figure in the line, Mouse-Jaw hit the clearance rack recently knocking the barrier for entry down to $15. In other words, right in line with what I want to pay for this line.

Mouse-Jaw, despite carrying that “deluxe” label, is still your typical MOTU Origins figure. The torso, legs, and left arm are pretty standard and molded in blue plastic, for the most part. His legs do feature some unique sculpting, which may be from past Trap-Jaw figures, and the feet seem new as they resemble mouser feet. What is definitely new is the head which looks like the usual Trap-Jaw portrait, only with a mouser head around it like a helmet. The bottom jaw of the mouser is what forms the famous jaw portion of Trap-Jaw. The face, which is green, looks like a separate piece that’s glued in leaving the eyes and inner mouth as the only parts needing paint. The top of the helmet has a mouser eye painted on it, and the other major new part is the right arm. It’s all in molded, white, plastic and it’s designed to match the white portion of his harness to create the illusion of the entire right side of the character’s body being robotic. The shoulder bares some resemblance to a mouser head and the wrist ends in a canon. It looks pretty cool, though in what is typical of the line the absence of paint harms the aesthetics. Some linework, a wash, or just some painted details on the sculpted bits would have really made this figure stand out even more, but I get it, that’s not what this line is going for.

This makes me wish Hasbro had snuck a mouser into its TMNT x Power Rangers line.

Mouse-Jaw’s chief accessory is an actual mouser. It’s a conventional take on the diminutive robot with a working jaw, swivel in the head, swivels at the hips, and hinges at the ankles. The head also slides a bit on the neck piece if you want Mouse-Jaw to cock him like a shotgun. It has the same chicken posture as always and size-wise is probably right in between the recent mousers from Super7 and NECA. It does lack a way to look up and down and the only paint is the red for the “eye.” Inside the mouth, is another canon and on the rear is what could be confused for a stubby tail, but is really an adapter to plug the robot into Mouse-Jaw’s arm canon. This certainly adds some flair to the display, though it makes Mouse-Jaw harder to stand. It’s especially hard to deal with if you also clip in the included flamethrower effect. Sculpted in translucent yellow-orange plastic, the flamethrower can fit in the mouser canon or Mouse-Jaw’s canon. You can also pop the legs off of the mouser and clip them onto the sides of Mouse-Jaw’s belt. It’s a little goofy looking, but presents a more streamlined mouser gun.

While we wait to assemble Metal-Roboto, his parts can be put to use by other figures.

You can also plug the Metal-Roboto weapons into the gun arm of Mouse-Jaw in case you think he needs a double gun arm.

The only other accessories included are the build-a-figure parts. These include the right arm for Metal-Roboto and a trio of weapon parts: a gun, axe, and claw. There’s also a little, silver, transistor-like accessory that appears to be a hand adapter so Metal-Roboto (or really anyone) can use the extra weapons in place of hands. The arm is done in metallic silver with a light blue forearm. The elbow won’t have much bend to it when the figure comes out, but that’s more of a topic for later. The weapons are molded in a slightly pearl, blue, plastic. There are two ports on the arm, one on the outside of the shoulder and one the top of the forearm, they can plug into and it looks like the third will plug into the figure’s back. It’s a bit of a bummer that Mattel included the right arm instead of the left. That’s because these figures are modular and Mouse-Jaw can use this arm for his own if you wish and it looks kind of cool, but I’m not replacing the mouser arm for it. At any rate, I am interested in completing this version of Metalhead so hopefully the next three figures are of interest to me (and can be had for less than 25 bucks).

At first, I had no idea what purpose this silver piece served.

Then I figured it out and it’s pretty cool.

The articulation for Mouse-Jaw feels like it’s pretty typical of the line. I say this as someone who has only handled the turtle versions previously, but it really is more of the same. Where Mouse-Jaw differentiates itself from those figures is at the head where the jaw is articulated. It doesn’t open that wide, but it’s not nothing. The right shoulder is pretty limited due to the sculpt. You won’t be able to raise the arm out to the side very far, not even 45 degrees, and for some reason the elbow can’t hit a 90 degree bend when it should have been easy to achieve that and then some due to the sculpt. The ankles are also pretty restricted due to the shin sculpt. The ankles are basically useless as a result, which is a shame as that’s the one articulation point I want as much range as possible for assisting with stances. The articulation is worse than the turtles and rather basic. This figure needs to derive its shelf presence via the design more than the posing.

Despite those limitations, I do like this figure. It’s a fun look, though I do look at it and think to myself it would look a lot better with more painted details. That’s just not this line though and I can’t exactly hold that against it if it’s not what Mattel is striving for. At 25 bucks, it’s definitely overpriced especially if you have no interest in the build-a-figure. At the 15 I paid it’s pretty much right on the money for me. The next figure in the line is a Slash-Faker mash-up called Sla’ker which I’m less interested in. I definitely won’t want to pay full price so hopefully Target ordered a whole bunch of them and I can wait it out. If you get a chance to add this one for the same price I got it at then I think it’s a no-brainer if you’re at all interested in this line.

Like mousers and MOTU? Check these out:

NECA Cartoon TMNT Mousers Pack

It’s been a little while since we had a Turtle Tuesday around here. NECA was keeping me quite busy in March with release after release and really putting a hurting on my wallet. Not only were sets hitting stores, but items were going up on NECA’s website for preorder, all of which require payment upfront.…

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by Joe June 14, 2022June 9, 2022

Super7 TMNT Ultimates! Baxter Stockman

I am weak. When Super7 first unveiled its Ultimates! line of figures based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toyline from Playmates I said I was out. I still had those toys so why did I need 7″ versions of them in 2020? I had NECA and all of the TMNT product being released there,…

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by Joe September 20, 2020September 21, 2020

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Leonardo and Donatello

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by Joe March 12, 2024March 13, 2024

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, he-man, masters of the universe, masters of the universe origins, mattel, motu, motu origins, teenage mutant ninja turtles, turtles of grayskull | posted in toys

March 20, 2024

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

By Joe

After getting short-changed by toy manufacturers for decades, Jean finds herself with two animated versions in the span of a few years.

If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure! It was in 2020 that Hasbro announced a subline of Marvel Legends based on the 1992 animated series which were released throughout 2021. Arriving in attractive VHS styled boxes, the X-Men line was more dud than hit. I wanted to love it, but it was hard to shake the feeling that Hasbro was just phoning it in. Despite that, I still bought them all and I continue to buy some of the tie-in figures since Hasbro decided not to deliver the full team. That’s why when the first wave of X-Men ’97 action figures arrived last fall I used it to supplement my existing roster of characters by picking up Magneto, Rogue, and Gambit. The figures had an animated look, though they lacked the cel-shading of the VHS line, but were close enough. Just in time for the debut of the series is wave two. It’s comprised mostly of new characters like Goblin Queen and X-Cutioner as well as some redos in the style of X-Men ’97. As a result, it’s a less attractive wave for me since I don’t want letter of the day Magneto and the VHS Cyclops was one of the few figures I actually liked. However, there was one figure in the line that intrigued me even though I had the VHS version: Jean Grey.

The new figure has a bit of a dead eye going on, but it’s better than the old which looks like a duck-faced Sharon Stone.

I’m not sure which figure was my least favorite in the X-Men VHS line from Hasbro, but the fact that Jean is in the running should probably say enough. The figure is dated and Hasbro couldn’t even be bothered to get the color of her costume right, but more than anything, I just hated the portraits. The figure was a re-release of an existing figure with a new paint job as that’s basically all of the effort Hasbro could muster when it came to the line. She had a ponytailed portrait, but it looked nothing like the version of the character from the show. They also included her down hair portrait, even though she never sported that look in that costume during the entire show’s run, and it was a release that just left me all sorts of grumpy in the end. The only positive I could lay on it was that the cel-shading was actually done pretty well given the standards of the line.

I know there are a lot of people who dislike cel-shading on their figures, but this costume needs something because the design is rather plain.

Jean gets a redo with X-Men ’97, and like most of the characters in the show making a return, she still sports a look that’s very similar to her ’92 counterpart. It’s a costume based on the look Jim Lee gave her and based on some of the promotional artwork I’ve seen it looks like she’ll have the ponytail some days, and let her hair down on others. The figure itself comes in the usual blister and Jean has her hair down look on the card despite the default portrait being the ponytail one. The figure stands approximately 6.25″ to the top of the head. Her costume is basically now a pale orange and dark blue. The figure is mostly orange plastic with a V-shape of blue on the front of the torso and a more rectangular one on the back. The shoulder pads are little cuts of blue plastic pinned into the top of the joint. The belt is still separate from the body, but it fits quite snug to the crotch piece. Paint is largely reserved for the face, X logo, and the blue parts of the arms and hands. The blue on the torso appears to be plastic that’s been plugged into the orange portion. The legs have a lot of sculpted details to the costume, but zero paint which give the figure an unfinished look to it. It’s obviously a limitation to some degree of the character design, but some linework in the grooves cut into the legs would have added a lot.

New Jean seems to scale smaller, but I like that. The smaller head relative to the body is a better fit for the source material as well.

The main draw of this figure for me is simply the default portrait. Jean is sporting a very neutral expression to the point where she looks almost bored. The face and ears are at least painted okay, though it’s a little messy around the right ear. The blue trapezoid shape on her forehead is just painted on and lacks presence since it blends in with the dark blue cowl. The hair is a separate piece of bright, orange, plastic. The sculpt is fine, but Hasbro missed a paint hit as her forehead is visible between the top of the cowl and hair and it’s just left blue. Her part is going in the right direction though and her ponytail isn’t stupid long so I consider it a win. Her eyes are also blue this time, which is consistent with the animated series. The prior release went with the comic green eyes. Most of the colors match with the only one being off the crotch piece which is a darker orange. It’s more noticeable in pictures than in person.

Looks like they missed some paint on her forehead. As far as I know, this is true for all of the figures.

The portrait isn’t a homerun, but it’s a solid double and a vast improvement over the VHS figure. And if you’re like me then I have good news as the size of the ball joint on both figures is the same. If you want, you can put this head on the VHS Jean body and the only blemish is the dark blue cowl which should be shaded black. It’s not enough to bother me and since the cel shading was executed well I do think this will be my preferred Jean going forward. I do think the forearms on the new figure are a better match for the original series as well when it comes to the gauntlets she wears, but they’re the wrong color and I don’t know how easy it would be to swap the arms. The shade of orange wouldn’t be an exact match either, but someone more committed than me could definitely kitbash the hell out of these two figures.

She does seem even smaller when put next to Rogue and Bishop.

As for the actual, new, figure, it does some things better than the old while also creating its own issues. For additional accessories, we get the hair down portrait. Swapping is easy and the hair looks fine, but will lock the head down and cut out almost all articulation at the neck. This portrait has a slight smile to it, but it’s again another lifeless face. She looks like a mannequin. Aside from that, it’s at least painted well and the hair hides the ears. The only other accessories is another set of hands. She comes with a right fist and an open left hand. The second set is a style pose pair that are open and very similar (if not the same) as the open hands that have come with past Jeans.

The articulation is an area where this new Jean differentiates itself from the past ones the most. As far as I know, we’re dealing with all new sculpts here. The head is on a double ball peg instead of the hinged ball peg the other Jean has. It’s an improvement, though once again Hasbro buried the lower ball too deep in the neck needlessly limiting the range. She barely has any range looking down and only a little looking up. Rotation and tilt are fine, but Hasbro needs to figure these joints out. The shoulders are standard hinged pegs and she can raise her arms out to the side a full 90 degrees from the body. There’s a biceps swivel past that, pin-less double-jointed elbows, and a swivel and hinge at the wrist. The elbows will bend well past 90, though it’s not the most attractive joint. This Jean can at least get her hands to her forehead though.

Aside from the cowl being a little off, I think this looks pretty good. Certainly an improvement.

In the torso we have…nothing. It’s almost bizarre to see no articulation cut into a torso even though it’s theoretically a cleaner presentation. Instead, we get a ball joint at the waist. It goes forward and back a bit and offers full rotation and tilt. This is in comparison to the prior Jean which had a ball joint in the diaphragm and nothing at the waist. It should be both! Why can’t we have nice things, Hasbro? The hips will go out to the side past 45 degrees, but shy of full splits. Jean can kick forward about 90 degrees, but not back at all due to the shape of her buttocks. There is a thigh twist and the double-jointed knees are pin-less and work fine. The ankle hinge bends back all the way, but not forward very far. The ankle rocker is pretty steep, but there. Lastly, the ponytail just pegs into the back of the standard head and can rotate.

Yup, this is how she’s going to live on my shelf.

Is this new Jean an improvement on the old? Yes and no. There’s a softness to the sculpt, and when combined with the lack of any articulation cut into the torso as well as no paint, it gives the figure a very plain appearance. The softness does appear to at least resemble the animation, though I’m sure the show will feature shading of some kind. I don’t know why Hasbro didn’t get her a ball joint in the diaphragm as that would have really added to the articulation, but instead it’s just mediocre. It’s nice to see the arms updated with double-jointed elbows and I prefer the sculpted-in forearm gauntlets, but not enough to display this figure in place of the VHS version. Instead, I’m just taking this new head, slapping it on the old body, and calling it “good enough.” I just wish I didn’t have to spend another 25 bucks to get my Jean figure to this current state.

Get your X-Men fix right here before you check out the brand new X-Men ’97:

Marvel Legends X-Men Animated Series Jean Grey

For some reason, Jean Grey has never been treated well by toy makers. Back in the Toy Biz days, Jean had to wait several years to finally show up in the X-Men line of action figures, and once she did, it was in some gimmicky line in a costume that looked made-up. Her first, good,…

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by Joe August 15, 2022August 10, 2022

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Bishop

We’re going to keep this Marvel/Mutant Monday thing going for one more week! After taking a look at a trio of figures from Hasbro’s new X-Men ’97 line of figures in its Marvel Legends catalog I’ve decided to do one more: Bishop. The first three figures I looked at were basically all missing pieces to…

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by Joe October 30, 2023October 26, 2023

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Rogue

Previously, on X-Men reviews we looked at Magneto from the upcoming series X-Men ’97. The animated series may have been delayed into 2024, but the action figures from Hasbro are already here. And if you were collecting Hasbro’s line of figures based on the animated series from the 90s, this new line offers a chance…

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by Joe October 16, 2023

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, animation, disney, disney+, hasbro, jean grey, marvel, marvel comics, marvel girl, marvel legends, superhero cartoons, x-men, x-men 92, x-men 97, x-men tas | posted in Comics, Television, toys

March 12, 2024

MOTU – Turtles of Grayskull Leonardo and Donatello

By Joe

The warriors of the forgotten sewer have just been legitimized.

These days, there isn’t much the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles haven’t crossed-over with. Back in the day we had Star Trek, trolls, and the Universal Monsters. More modern times have seen cross-overs with the likes of WWE, Ghostbusters, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Throughout all of that, as well as the action figure license seemingly opening up, many of the world’s biggest toy producers have laid their hands on TMNT. One of the last remaining holdouts, Mattel, is now joining those ranks which is interesting because Mattel very nearly acquired the license from the beginning. A prototype was even made for a potential Mattel turtle, but it never went farther than that. Well, better late than never (yeah, right, think about all of the money Mattel and others missed out on by passing on TMNT in the 80s) as we now have Mattel versions of the turtles, but with a decidedly different flavor.

It’s Leo like you’ve never seen him before – naked!

Masters of the Universe is a toyline I’ve never been into. I was born into a post-MOTU world where the action figure market was massive: C.O.P.S., Transformers, M.A.S.K., The Real Ghostbusters, just to name a few. Sure, I watched He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on television like many boys my age and I had been excited to see the baffling live-action movie as well. I guess it just didn’t stick. For whatever reason, I can never recall asking my parents for the toys. I had friends and cousins who had a bunch of MOTU figures and play sets, but I never did and never really yearned for them either. It’s a bit surprising to me that I didn’t have one figure, but that’s just how it was. The only He-Man toys I can recall owning came from The New Adventures of He-Man. I had one action figure and one role play sword that made cool laser sounds. I don’t recall ever pretending to be He-Man while playing with it, rather I thought of myself as Link from The Legend of Zelda. That lone He-Man figure joined the likes of the Ultimate Warrior, Junkyard, and Sunstreaker as single toys I owned from popular toy lines.

I suppose it goes without saying that the new mashup of Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn’t specifically aimed at me since I don’t consider myself a MOTU fan. I do enjoy the good mashup though when it concerns my boys in green so it was naturally on my radar. And it’s impossible to be an action figure enthusiast in this day and age and not know about Masters of the Universe Origins. This retro-inspired toyline from Mattel is essentially the vintage line with modern improvements. The base look of the characters has changed very little, but they now have things like elbow joints – what a concept! It’s been well received and I constantly hear from TMNT fans how they wish Playmates Toys would do the same. It’s almost shocking that they haven’t tried (the Last Ronin figure they released is sort of in the same style), but maybe the re-releases are making them enough money?

Oh god I hate it. Put that shell back where it belongs!

First of all, I’ve seen the coverage of this line where a lot of the folks presenting it have stressed that this isn’t a mashup. It’s a story about the turtles and He-Man and there’s a companion comic book to emphasize that (it’s nothing special, but each figure comes with one). Bologna. There may be a story, but at least where the turtles are concerned, the character designs are clearly TMNT character crossed with MOTU character. Even the MOTU characters are getting turtle-themed armor so they’re like a mashup as well. Regardless, we have new character designs incorporated into the Origins set of tools and you’re either here for them or you’re not. For me personally, I could not care less about the MOTU characters. I’ll admit, Mouse-Jaw looks kind of cool, but I don’t need it. I’m here for the turtles and after only encountering the MOTU characters in stores, I finally came upon a lone Leonardo and singular Donatello so I decided to give them a whirl.

If you have always wanted to play dress-up with your turtles then these are for you.

This Turtles of Grayskull line of figures comes in a standard blister pack with new card art on the front and rear that’s pretty eye-catching. I confess, I don’t buy many blister-carded figures anymore so slotting these two in my shopping bag brought back the warm fuzzies of doing the same when I was a kid. Leonardo is billed as the heroic ninja turtle leader while Donatello is referred to as the heroic turtle-at-arms. In other words, this is He-Man Leo and Man-At-Arms Donnie. The Origins line is basically designed to be one size fits all – for the most part. This is nothing new to TMNT and it should come as no surprise that both figures are the same. The only sculpted difference are the heads. Origins differentiates releases via the accessories. Both figures have a bunch of removable armor pieces that either slide on or strap on. The only things non-removable are their furry trunks which are part of the sculpt, the wrist bands, and the shin guards. Donatello’s helmet also appears to be non-removable, which is a bummer.

They do have weapon storage, but in the case of Leonardo I don’t recommend it.

Both figures stand at a tick under 6″ – let’s call it 5 7/8″. They’re a little bigger than the vintage MOTU size, but I think that’s entirely due to these figures having articulated knees as opposed to pre-posed ones. As I said, the body is the same across both figures. It has a more pronounced V-shape to the torso and it reminds me a bit of the 2003 cartoon series design or the Super Mutants from even before that. It’s a different, more heroic, look for the turtles and their waists pinch in. The limbs are still plenty beefy and they have the right hands and feet. Leonardo is also in his classic Playmates green and Donatello in his brownish tone. The finish across the board is matte so no shiny, plastic, skin tones here. The shell is where the sculpt gets interesting as they have a sculpted-in shell on the back of the torso, but it’s not painted. Instead, they also have a more traditional shell that can be worn and it also doubles as a shield. It’s mildly unsettling. I don’t know why it bothers me, but it’s weird.

These two are pretty close in size to other modern iterations of the turtles so if you want them to drive the Turtle Van or the Party Wagon they probably can.

The Origins line is a throwback one, so it’s probably not terribly surprising to find out the paint, overall, is limited. The plastron is painted a sunflower yellow and each turtle has colored straps around their shins. The only other paint is reserved for the bracers on the wrists, the bandanas, eyes, and teeth. The paint on the bandana of my Leonardo is pretty sloppy with a lot of the blue continuing onto the face. I would have loved to have come across multiples of this figure in the store to see if some were better than others, but alas there has been only the one. The chest straps on my Leonardo were also stuck to the chest out of the package so the paint is a little marred underneath. There is a belt that goes across the back of the shell which is painted as well and it looks fine. Otherwise, these figures are more relying on the colored plastic of the armor bits to create shelf presence.

The traditional two-sword look for Leo kind of sucks with this release.

And those armor bits are a double-edged sword. Leonardo comes with a skirt piece, shoulder pads, and a chest harness which has this big, furry, mane attached to the back of it. He also has an additional forearm guard that is intended for his left arm. These three armor pieces just slide on and they make the figure more cumbersome to handle as they’re always moving. The Origins line is essentially a modular one so everything is intended to be mixed and matched amongst figures. In that, they’re kind of like the dolls we action figure collectors have been insisting are different from what we like. I don’t love the mane which appears to be glued to the harness which sucks. I was hoping it was removable, and I suppose if I really wanted to I could take it off, but I’m not the type to make permanent alterations to my toys. The chest strap does have some paint to it in the form of a big L in the middle of the chest which looks clean. The blue bits have a pearl quality to the finish, despite just being plastic and mostly look okay. They look better if you can hide the big rings on them that fit around the arms, but that can be a challenge.

Donatello looks fine, I’m just personally not a big fan of the Man-At-Arms aesthetic.

For Donatello, all of his armor comes on him out of the package. He has his own chest armor which features this big face guard right in the middle. I’ve never liked that aspect of the Man-At-Arms design and unfortunately that part doesn’t come off. In addition to that chest piece, he has a ring around his right bicep and a big piece of shoulder armor on the left. There’s a left wrist guard as well and he has shin guards which don’t loop on, but actually have plastic straps that basically function like zip ties. There are some silver bits painted on his chest and wrist as well as a fur trim, which is certainly a choice. The plastic is a lighter shade of purple and it also has that pearl quality that Leonardo’s has.

For some reason, I feel like the Power Rangers Shredder goes better with these guys than a standard one would.

In addition to the armor, both figures come with their own weapons. For Leonardo, he has his own take on He-Man’s sword of power, or whatever it’s called. It has a play feature in that it comes as two swords that can be snapped together into one. It’s cast in a silver plastic, and as one sword looks fine, but as two looks stupid. The handles are too thin for Leonardo to hold reliably and you’re better off just sticking with the one sword. It can slot into the belt on the back of the shell, but it’s tight and it left a weird bubble-looking eyesore on the blade. There must be a coating of some kind on the plastic. Donatello comes with what looks like a big mace. It’s all orange, and the handle is sculpted to resemble wood with tape around it like Donatello’s traditional bo staff. It can connect with Man-At-Arms’ version of the weapon to create one, large, version. There is a turtle shell sculpted into the top of the weapon, but given that it’s not painted it doesn’t really add to the vibe. I don’t particularly care for the look of this weapon, but it’s his only weapon so he’s going to have to make due. It also can slot into the belt loop and does so much easier than Leo’s swords. And as I mentioned before, the shells can come off and function as handheld shields, if you’re a sicko.

When it comes to mashups with other popular toy lines this definitely isn’t TMNT’s first rodeo.

Since this is a throwback line I wasn’t expecting much out of the articulation. Consider me surprised to find out these guys move pretty well. The heads are on double ball pegs so their range of motion is just fine. The shoulders are standard hinged ball pegs, but their range is plenty good as they can be raised up to a horizontal position and rotate just fine. They’re pegged in at a downward angle so rotating them can also raise the arms higher. There is no biceps swivel, but the forearm pegs in at the elbow and features a hinge so it rotates in addition to having the hinged motion. You should get 90 degrees, though this joint was the tightest on my figures. The wrists rotate and feature a horizontal hinge, the only major complaint I have since this is a line of guys wielding melee weapons. Give them vertical hinges!

I should probably toss-in one vintage comparison. This new Leonardo portrait and the shade of blue does give me 2003 vibes.

At the waist is a basic twist and the hips connect via ball and socket joints. They’re probably the most limited, or just tight, but they don’t kick forward as far as I’d like. I suppose this is a line of brawlers and not ninjas so I can’t expect the greatest range. There’s no room for the thigh to pivot on the ball joint, which is unfortunate. The knees are setup just like the elbows so you get a hinge and a rotation point. The hinge is very tight and offers less than 90 degrees of range. There is a shin twist and the ankles hinge forward and back and feature an ankle rocker. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting the ankle rocker so that being there was a pleasant surprise that has colored my thoughts on the articulation in a more positive light. Stepping back from that, the legs kind of suck and there’s no ab crunch to be found. A ball joint at the waist would have been nice to get a little more nuance in there, but perhaps Mattel felt that would break-up the vintage look too much. It would have helped add to the modular nature of the line though as ball joints are usually easy to separate. I haven’t tried disassembling these guys beyond removing the head and the hands. The legs do not look like they’re designed to come off easily so I personally wouldn’t try.

As far as mash-ups go these figures aren’t bad. They’re definitely TMNT figures for MOTU fans first as opposed to vice versa. Some of the stuff I don’t like are just traits of the line and not something I’d expect Mattel to change because it’s attracting a new audience. Incidentally, it’s the modular elements of these figures that don’t go far enough for me that are among my biggest criticisms. I wish Donatello’s helmet was removable and the fur trim of Leo’s harness. I still think the removable shell is bizarre and off-putting, but that could just be me. It never bothered me when Cecil turtle did it in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but I guess I don’t like seeing Leonardo take off his shell.

The mashup nature of the line is probably what will determine how much someone likes it. Leo essentially crossed with He-Man is a no-brainer, though it looks like Michelangelo is going to be as well. Donatello as Man-At-Arms doesn’t do nearly as much for me and I mostly bought him because I know I’m going to at least want all four turtles. That’s just how these things go. They’re fun figures to mess around with though, and it does make we wish Mattel was in charge of a TMNT Origins line of its own since Playmates doesn’t appear interested in doing such. The quality of the construction is good, the figures have a nice feel, and I think they do a good job of balancing modern design with vintage aesthetic. At 20 bucks a pop, they’re not quite the deal I wish they were. At 15 bucks these would be no-brainers, but there isn’t much occupying that price level anymore. If you’re holding out for a clearance sale, it might be hard to come by. These things appear to be flying off the shelves with only the Target exclusive Mouse-Jaw lingering on the pegs near me (which may have something to do with its $25 price tag) so it may not pay off to wait. If you really want them, get them!

There’s not a lot of Masters of the Universe coverage here, but there sure is plenty of Turtle Talk:

Rad Plastic

I think it was during the summer of 2020 while spending one of the many days of that year inside and isolated that I stumbled upon a Twitter post about an upcoming book titled Rad Plastic. I believe the tweet was from the account The Toys That Made Us, which is (was?) a Netflix series…

by Joe February 12, 2021February 5, 2021

Masters of the Universe: Revelation (Part 2)

Well, I sat on this one for awhile. Last summer saw the return of the Masters of the Universe to television in the form of Revelation. In somewhat typical Netflix fashion, the show arrived in “parts” rather than seasons though unlike many Netflix shows they’re at least not trying to trick us by calling either…

by Joe May 20, 2022

Playmates TMNT The Last Ronin PX Previews Exclusive (Chase)

A few years ago, Mattel launched a new subline of action figures based on their most famous IP: Masters of the Universe. The subline was titled Origins and it basically took the vintage toys of the 80s and updated them with more modern articulation while still preserving that vintage aesthetic. And ever since then, collectors…

by Joe November 29, 2022November 29, 2022

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, donatello, he-man, leonardo, masters of the universe, masters of the universe origins, mattel, teenage mutant ninja turtles | posted in toys

February 26, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Son Goku & Super Saiyan 2 Son Gohan Exclusive Edition

By Joe

We are now past Valentine’s Day and I’m ready to close the book on San Diego Comic Con 2023. The last action figure exclusive to look at is the two-pack of Super Saiyan Goku and Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Dragon Ball Z has been around for a long time and has given birth to many iconic images whether it’s Goku and Vegeta squaring off or Goku’s initial transformation into a Super Saiyan or any others. One of the top ones is definitely Gohan finishing off Cell with what has been dubbed the Father-Son Kamehameha. Gohan, bloodied and with his left arm just hanging limp at his side, summons the strength to muscle-up one last blast with his father urging him on from beyond the grave. Goku appears as a spirit behind him as if he’s providing his own blast alongside his son. Whether it’s to be taken literally or not has never been really clear to me, but it’s a dramatic moment and definitely a fan favorite.

Did you think I was going to make you wait until the end?

For Comic Con 2023, Bandai released a two-pack that has shockingly never happened before. A battle damaged Super Saiyan 2 Gohan and a “ghost” Super Saiyan Goku so collectors can essentially reenact that moment as part of their collection. It comes in an oversized box with a black and purple deco and the photography on the box makes it obvious what moment this represents. The window only shows Gohan which almost makes Goku feel like it’s a surprise, or a glorified accessory. Both figures are re-releases of past ones. We’ve seen this base Goku body many times before across several iterations of the character. Gohan is also a re-release, though it’s an older figure and one I’ve never interacted with before. Initially, I was only going to get the event exclusive Raditz, but this release just looked too cool and it earned my $95.

I’ve suddenly found myself with many Gohans.

Let’s talk Gohan first since, as I mentioned earlier, Goku feels more like an accessory here even though he’s a full-fledged action figure. Gohan is, as the box states, in his Super Saiyan 2 form and his purple gi is all tattered and torn. There’s some battle damage painted onto his flesh in places, but no blood. He’s a young teen so he’s much smaller than his father and stands about 4.25″ to the top of his face. He follows some past event exclusives by featuring translucent, yellow, plastic for his hair which has been brushed over with a pearlescent, gold, paint. It’s a pretty heavy coat of paint so it’s actually hard to tell that there’s any translucency to the plastic, but it’s there and it looks pretty nice. I don’t know if I prefer it to painted, yellow, plastic, but it’s fine. The face printing looks sharp and is likely updated from the original release of the figure. Bandai did a good job matching colors the rest of the way, and it helps that the upper body is cast all in flesh-colored plastic. The only painted flesh are the exposed knees. The rest of the paint is fairly minimal. The gi is painted and there’s a darker purple for the inside portions of the torn parts. There’s a little shading around the knees, and then there’s the battle damage. It’s limited to the chest, face, and left arm and I’m surprised there aren’t any cross-hatches on his right arm, but it looks good and at least it isn’t overdone.

I also now have a pair of Super Saiyan 2 boys.

Gohan is a wee bit small for the aura effect.

For optional parts, Gohan has four portraits: stoic, teeth gritting, yelling, and an even bigger yell. The two yelling are certainly pretty similar, but it’s hard to argue anything is missing. For hands, Gohan has a set of fists, open, relaxed, Kamehameha, and Kamehameha hands with pegs on them. And if you get those blast effect hands with pegs, that usually means you get some kind of blast effect and that is true of Gohan. He comes with the charging, Kamehameha, effect. It’s done in translucent, light, blue plastic and consists of a small sphere with slots in it to accommodate seven, acrylic, posts. It’s an effect we’ve seen a few times and it seems like it’s becoming a favorite of Bandai as I think I have four of them now. This one seems lighter in color from the one that came with Orange Piccolo and doesn’t feature any shading. It felt a little softer too and the posts are more finicky, but it’s still a useful accessory.

This Gohan has proven really fun to mess around with. Too bad he’s going to just occupy one pose on my shelf.

When I ordered this set I didn’t really think much about Gohan as a figure because, like I’m guessing most people, he only needs to hit one pose and that’s it. To my surprise though, this is a wonderfully engineered little figure. I’m finding myself really charmed by it and if I didn’t want him on my shelf in his iconic pose he’d make for a great desk figure to fiddle with. His head is on a hinged ball peg, which isn’t my favorite setup as you need to keep track of which way that hinge is going to make use of it. I didn’t mention it in the aesthetics, but I love that the faceplates do not include the sideburns so the fit is seamless. The heads get some tilt, rotation is fine, and there’s a joint at the base of the neck that lets him look up and down, though if you want him to look as far up as he can it will create a gap at the base of the neck. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and the range is terrific. Gohan’s arms go up past horizontal. The ball peg in the shoulder allows for the arms to come forward and across the chest pretty far. It’s not a true butterfly joint, but since the figure’s chest is so small the clearance is fine. There isn’t much in the way of a floating piece or cap to hide the joint which might turn off some, but it doesn’t bother me at all.

In the arms, we get the usual biceps swivel and double-jointed elbows which go past 90 degrees. The hands are on hinged ball joints and they work fine. The diaphragm has what feels like a single ball joint that lets Gohan tilt a bit to each side. It only pivots rather than provides for rotation and there’s no forward and back. The waist has a ball joint which rotates and goes forward and back enough. The legs will kick forward past horizontal and kick back almost as far. They don’t go out to the side for full splits, but it’s better than 45 degrees. There is a thigh swivel in each leg and the knees will go a little past 90 degrees. The sculpted tatters interfere a bit. The ankles are the only articulation point I dislike. I think it’s just a ball peg, but Gohan has these sculpted boots that Bandai apparently didn’t want to break up so they’re one, solid, piece except for the toe hinge. They’ll go forward a bit on the ball joint, but not back very far. The ankle rocker is pretty poor, but the toe hinge is at least done well.

Technically not the first dead Goku figure in this line. Or even the second.

That’s Gohan, which means we’re only halfway through this one because we still have to talk about Goku. This Goku is essentially the Super Saiyan Full Power Goku, only now he’s sculpted in blue, translucent, plastic. There’s some darker blue paint for things like his boots and shirt and his face is printed on as well. Some parts of the body are more transparent than others as there’s some air-brushing over his pants. It’s a cool looking figure though and puts any Marvel Legends Iceman to shame. The only parts that aren’t translucent are joints like the knees and the inner part of the butterfly joints, but they don’t stand out in an ugly fashion. He looks great. It’s a figure I never felt like I needed and I still feel that way, but if you’re going to do it it’s hard to imagine it being done better than this.

The translucent effect is pretty neat, but you will want to hide the few non-translucent parts, like the elbow joint, if it can be helped.

This Goku may look different, but he’s still plenty familiar.

Like Gohan, this is a figure that basically only needs to do one thing, but Bandai still outfit him like a full figure. Goku comes with three portraits: stoic, yelling, and teeth-gritting. The printing looks pretty good considering it’s on translucent plastic. If anything the white of the eyes are too opaque, but it’s good that they stand out. For hands, he has the usual Goku assortment: fists, Kamehameha, open, martial arts posed, and a set of Instant Transmission hands. All of the extras are probably good for those who want to have a little fun with their toy photography, but he only needs those Kamehameha hands for me. Articulation is the same as all of the other Goku figures. It’s fine, with some areas showing their age, but he can do what he needs to. The joints are all nice and firm, but not overly tight.

Don’t worry guys, Goku will be watching over you. Always watching…

Like I said, this set just needs to be able to hit one pose and it does. It actually does it even better than I would have expected. This is a great release as an event exclusive. It’s a variant of two of the most popular characters in Dragon Ball Z and it’s centered on an iconic moment. It’s a wonder that Bandai hasn’t done more of this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more to come. There are plenty of other spots they could look to, and in a way they’ve already started by including certain extra parts and accessories with some figures. They orchestrated Vegeta defeating Android 19 by including a new portrait with 19 and the upcoming full power Frieza comes with a new face for Legendary Super Saiyan Goku. I’m curious to see how far they go with this and it’s a natural path considering they’ve released damn near every major character at this point. As for this release, it was an event exclusive that Premium Bandai put for preorder on its website. It’s been made and distributed, but they may unload extra stock on another retailer so keep your eyes opened if you missed out. I like it enough to recommend it even at a mark-up, but certainly don’t sleep on it because it’s only likely to go up.

We’ve got plenty more from the world of Dragon Ball to talk about:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Orange Piccolo

When Akira Toriyama set out to draft the plot for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero his original goal for the film was to take a favorite character of his and give him an upgrade. That character was Piccolo who had basically been left behind by the likes of Goku and Vegeta way back at the…

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by Joe October 27, 2023October 26, 2023

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Son Gohan Beast

Last summer, fans of Dragon Ball were treated to a new movie: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. The intended purpose of the movie seemed to be to take two somewhat forgotten characters in Piccolo and Gohan and give them a makeover. The manga and anime Dragon Ball Super has basically been a story about Goku…

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by Joe September 7, 2023

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan Trunks: Infinite Latent Super Power

In the waning days of Toys ‘R Us, I found myself at one of the nearby stores in need of something. What that something was, I don’t recall, but since everything was hitting clearance I had a look around the store. TRU had started carrying the Bandai/Tamashii Nations S.H.Figuarts line of action figures which, at…

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by Joe January 24, 2024January 26, 2024

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, bandai, dead goku, dragon ball z, gohan, goku, s.h.figuarts, san diego comic con, super saiyan 2 gohan, super saiyan goku, tamashii nations | posted in Television, toys

February 21, 2024

Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta – S.H.Figuarts 15th Anniversary Ver.

By Joe

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Bandai/Tamashii Nations action figure line, S.H.Figuarts, Bandai turned to the fans. There was a large roster of releases eligible for re-release to mark the occasion, and anyone who wanted to could cast a vote for their five favorites. The winner was, not surprisingly, Vegeta. And in particular, it was the Super Saiyan God/Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (yeah, I know) version of the character that had been released with the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly. That movie actually marked the first time we saw Vegeta use the Super Saiyan God form in animation (he used it in the manga) so it made sense to finally do a figure of that version. Rather than make it a dedicated Super Saiyan God figure, Bandai included a second head so he could also show off his Super Saiyan Blue look.

He has a snazzy slip cover and a disc stand. Those are the only additions.

When that movie and figure debuted, I was still feeling my way through this line. Did I need such a release? Yeah, I kind of did, but it took me awhile to figure that out. As a result, I never got it so this figure was indeed among the five I selected when I made my voice heard. It wasn’t my number one choice though (that would have been the Dragon Ball Super version of Future Trunks), but at least it was a choice. This was to be a special edition too, but all that meant is we were getting a fancy slipcover and a disc stand. For me, someone who never bought this figure before, it seemed worth it. Was it worth it for those who already had it? That’s a much harder question.

Vegeta comes in the standard S.H.Figuarts box with the usual assortment of artwork. I don’t know if the photography is the same or not, but the name printed on the box does acknowledge the anniversary edition. There’s also a slipcover that goes over it with an image of the figure posed on the included “stand” with a timeline in the background and “2019” in a larger font since that was the year this one was originally released. The font and printing on the sides is surprisingly plain though. Like bootleg plain. If you’re an in-box collector you may be underwhelmed. If you’re not then you probably don’t care.

This figure will likely feel pretty familiar, whether you bought the first release or not.

The actual figure is basically the same Super Saiyan Vegeta figure that’s been released multiple times. This is my third version, personally. He has the same Cell Saga style of Saiyan armor only now it’s painted gray with a brighter yellow on the straps, abdomen, and lower back. The body suit is a very dark navy that’s almost black while the gloves and boots are more of an off-white. The only difference with this figure for me are the feet which feature a more rounded toe. I think they’re from the Resurrection F version of Vegeta? I’m not positive though.

I don’t have an all blue aura so this one will have to do.

It all means that this release of Vegeta has the same pros and cons as the other ones, only with more paint means more room for error. The paint on the abdomen, actually not a new spot to be painted, sucks. It doesn’t come all that close to the edges considering we’re dealing with a premium collectible here. At least the brightness of the yellow obscures that to a degree, but in-hand it’s pretty noticeable. The gray parts are okay and I like how it contrasts with the white piping. There is a scuff under my figure’s right arm and there are a few spots where it doesn’t properly fill the area.

The face printing on this release is not on par with the recently reissued Super Saiyan “Awakened Super Saiyan Blood” Vegeta. That one cost $35 at Target, this one cost $70 with a $10 shipping charge.

The Super Saiyan head looks pretty good on this body too.

The two portraits are the defining feature of this Vegeta. You basically get two hair pieces: one metallic magenta and the other a metallic blue. The sculpt is different from Super Saiyan Vegeta. It’s more narrow and less spiky, though still plenty spiky. I literally poked holes in the skin on my fingers swapping all of these heads as I moved them around the different bodies I have to figure out which combination I liked most since I intend to display all three versions. Nevertheless, I prefer the more full version of the Super Saiyan head’s hair, but this is fine. What’s not fine is the lack of options. Yeah, it’s great we get both the red and blue hair, but we only get one faceplate for Super Saiyan God (cocky smirk) while Super Saiyan Blue gets three expressions (stoic, teeth baring, and yelling). This is a re-release with 100% reuse sold at a fairly high price, why not just toss in more expressions? I feel like both looks need the cocky smirk, that’s just a Vegeta necessity, while the God head should at least have an angry look too. And perhaps more disappointing is that the face printing isn’t all that great. It’s not up to the new standards of the line and I don’t know if they’ve been improved at all since I don’t have the original release. Last year’s re-release of Super Saiyan Vegeta looks way better than the original release when it comes to the faces, it’s a shame the same can’t be said of the prestigious Premium Bandai 15th anniversary version.

For the God head you only get the one face. At least it’s the right one.

The stand is pretty lame, and hard to photograph since it’s so glossy.

Other than the heads, you get the usual assortment of Vegeta hands: fists, open, clenching, martial arts posed, and a lone right thumbs up hand. The crossed arms piece is also included and is just as annoying to fiddle with as it’s always been, but it does also look pretty good once you manage to get it into place. That’s it though as there are no effect parts or anything like that. You do get a special stand, but it doesn’t really earn that title of “special.” It’s just a black disc, the same that came with the event excusive stands a few years ago that featured Goku’s insignia as well as Whis and a Saiyan Space pod. Now it’s just all black with a 15th anniversary logo printed on it in metallic blue. It doesn’t say Vegeta or even Dragon Ball. It has slots that can be punched out for an action stand, but one wasn’t included.

This one is going to articulate just like the past iterations, which is pretty good.

I do think I prefer the red hair on the darker body.

The articulation for this guy is the same as the old one, so you can check the link down below if you want the full rundown. This figure is supposed to be a celebration of the line and it should have appeal to longtime collectors of the line because of that, but I don’t know if many would agree. Simply put, if you have the first release of this figure there’s really no reason to get this one. The extra stand sucks. It’s cheap and lazy. There are really no extra bells and whistles that I can see with the figure itself and the paint job is lackluster and not really reflective of the price point. If you’re like me and you wanted a version of Vegeta in these forms then it’s fine. It’s still a good figure despite the flaws, it’s just as a special release it seems phoned in. There’s nothing special about it.

Can’t get enough Vegeta? Here’s some things you may enjoy:

SH Figuarts Super Saiyan Vegeta

He’s the Prince of all Saiyans. The last survivor to have laid eyes on Planet Vegeta, home world of the mighty warriors and birthplace of the legendary Goku. And he’s also a pretty fine toy. Vegeta, arguably the most popular character to emerge from Dragon Ball Z, has seen his likeness cast in numerous forms…

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by Joe March 21, 2018August 7, 2020

Dragon Ball Super: Broly

The first movie under the Dragon Ball Super umbrella is one that sets out to take what was previously non-canon and adapt it into the main series. The most recent two Dragon Ball Z films; Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’, ended up being the start of Dragon Ball Super which is now well over…

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by Joe January 20, 2019

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball GT Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta

We’re back with another action figure review from everyone’s favorite version of Dragon Ball: Dragon Ball GT! And really, the only thing people remember from Dragon Ball GT is the Super Saiyan 4 transformation. Designed to bring the Saiyans back to their more primal roots, the Super Saiyan 4 transformation is pretty much on an…

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by Joe May 11, 2023April 20, 2023

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, bandai, dragon ball super, dragon ball z, s.h.figuarts, super saiyan blue vegeta, super saiyan god super saiyan vegeta, super saiyan god vegeta, tamashii nations, vegeta | posted in Television, toys

February 19, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Event Exclusive Raditz and Son Gohan

By Joe

I’ve been getting a little taste of July of late in the dead of winter as not one, not two, but three action figure exclusives from San Diego Comic Con have arrived at my door. That’s because the nature of the exclusive has changed over the years. Why make a limited number of something and sell it at one location when it’s something a lot of people want? As a company, you’re just denying yourselves more sales and letting resellers reap the rewards. That is why Bandai has been making its event exclusives available to non-attendees when it comes to most conventions. The lone exception thus far as been last year’s World Tour version of Son Goku Awakening Super Saiyan, a re-release of Super Saiyan Goku from the moment where he first transformed. And I think the only reason why that one was kept exclusive to the events and store fronts it was sold at is because shortly after a similar, but new, version of Super Saiyan Goku was put up for preorder (we’ll be talking about that one in due time).

When I first got into Dragon Ball action figure collecting I intended to only get my favorite characters. This was back in the early 2000s when Irwin Toys had the license. One of their earliest figures was Raditz, and since he wasn’t a favorite of mine on par with the likes of Vegeta and Piccolo, I passed. Then as more figures came along I got caught up in the frenzy and just started buying everything and only passing on the figures I felt turned out exceptionally poor. I regretted not getting that Raditz in the end and for some reason I didn’t consider that when it came time for Bandai, via the Premium Bandai route, to do its own Raditz. I hemmed and hawed, but at the time I was (stop me if you’ve heard this) just getting my favorites. Fast forward a few years and my collection is bigger than I intended. While I have never gone full completist or anything, I do have my favorite arcs and such from the manga/anime and Raditz represents a hole. The same was true of Nappa and thankfully he got a re-release via the convention route. Now, it’s Raditz’s turn.

Raditz is a pretty big boy. Here he is between some Piccolos.

Raditz comes in the event exclusive packaging which is just the standard package, but with a two-tone approach. In this case, it’s orange on black. This version also comes with a buddy, or rather a foe, in nephew Gohan (more on him when we get to the accessories since that’s essentially what he is) though it isn’t a moment specific release since at that point in the fight Raditz had some battle damage. And since Premium Bandai is intended to be a one and done affair, Bandai couldn’t just re-release Raditz with some new accessories. No, he necessitated a new color scheme. In both the manga and anime, Raditz had black armor with dark brown shoulder pads. When Bandai made its first Nappa figure, it featured the same color scheme as that’s how he appeared in the manga and his first appearance in the anime. When the event version came around, it meant Nappa could have his anime colors from when the Saiyans land on Earth. Raditz, unfortunately, has no real other look so he’s recolored to have light brown shoulder pads. It’s not accurate to the show or manga, but beggars (i.e. me) can’t be choosers.

Raditz could really mess with some folks if he dyed his hair blond.

Raditz stands a tick over 6″ to the top of his portrait and considerably taller when you factor in that giant mass of hair he’s got going on. He has his scouter, which features a blue lens now, and the muted brown shoulder pads and other plating over dark navy, almost black, armor. The scouter is removable, but only so you can swap the faces. There’s no replacement ear if you want to go without the Scouter look since Raditz never took it off. The hair is pretty damn huge, as expected, but done in a more simpler manner when compared with Super Saiyan 3 Goku. It’s thinner and lighter so it isn’t the impediment to standing that it is with Goku, which I guess is why we don’t get a flight stand for Raditz. In addition to the color change on the armor, the bands Raditz wears on his left arm and left thigh are now silver instead of red. It does pair well with the white piping of the armor, though I wish they had just left it red. One advantage this release has over the original is that the faces are using the new printing process recent DBZ figures have featured so they look very nice. My lone complaint is that they didn’t do the portraits in the same manner as they’re done for Vegeta with much of the front hair part of the face. This means there is an unsightly gap between the hair and sideburns. It’s a small thing, but we are talking about an $85 figure.

I think this cocky expression is going to wind up being my preferred look.

As is customary with S.H.Figuarts releases, there isn’t a ton of paint on Raditz. There’s basically no shading and the paint is reserved for the trim work on the armor and the bands on his arm and leg. What’s there is pretty clean. His skin tone is on the pale side, but I think that is to differentiate it once more from the first run of the figure. It looks good, but it’s also a bit of a shame for those with the old one since I think these faces are a slight improvement, but probably would look off when placed on the old figure. The joints are colored pretty well and don’t feature any extreme differences from the softer parts, a problem we’ll be talking about on another SHF release in the not too distance future.

This face, on the other hand, is definitely the worst.

For accessories, Raditz gets a solid complement of faces. We have a stoic/grumpy face, a smirk where he’s giving a side eye, a yelling face for when he’s angry, and a perplexed/surprised face for when he spies an unexpected power level on his scouter. Unfortunately, my stoic face is not aligned properly and his eyes (in particular, his left eye) is printed partially over his eyebrow which makes his pupil all but disappear. I reached out to Bandai about a potential replacement, but they send the error essentially wasn’t “bad enough” to warrant any action on their part. I guess they don’t take the “Premium” part of their store too seriously. For hands, he’s got a set of fists, open, and clenching. His left hand was a bear to swap as the joint kept coming apart at the forearm, not the wrist, so I had to hit just the fist to get it off. The other hands are also tough to get one snug and may need some heating up.

I like the idea behind the crossed-arms piece, but it just doesn’t work with this figure.

We get two versions of his tail. There’s the “belted” version that goes around his waist and an extended version. The extended version has a bend to it and I suspect that’s so Goku can grab it, provided you have a Goku with gripping hands (I don’t think I do). He also has a crossed-arms piece like many a cocky fighter before him. The arms can disconnect at the bicep and the crossed arms piece can be inserted. It’s a piece that’s never fun to put on, and with Raditz the shoulder pads and his incredibly spiky hair cause some issues. I mentioned that Raditz is easier to stand than Super Saiyan 3 Goku, but he’s still not as easy to stand as other figures in the line. For that reason, he actually has a panel on his back that can pop off and there’s a replacement part that features a port for a stand. We saw something similar with Piccolo, though Raditz required the adapter so it can get around the hair. You basically take any stand, remove the claw, and it can slot into that for easy posing.

This is easily the most paint I’ve ever seen on a SHF figure.

The big accessory Raditz comes with is, of course, his nephew Gohan. Gohan is a mostly static figure and it’s depicting him when he emerges from the Saiyan pod to confront his dear uncle. Unlike Raditz, this little guy is fully painted because he’s basically a slug figure. The paint is done quite well as the emblem on his shirt is clean and there’s even little tears under his eyes. Gohan has an angry expression, but he also has a second faceplate which features his eyes closed like he’s smacking into Raditz. There is a tiny bit of articulation at the head which is on a ball and the ponytail is as well. Now, I lamented that Raditz doesn’t come with a flight stand like Super Saiyan 3 Goku, but there is one in the box. It’s here for Gohan though. Yeah, it probably would have been a little greedy to expect two, but it is what it is. Gohan needs the stand because he literally can’t stand on his own given the sculpt. It would have been cool if he was supplied with a second lower half that you could pop out so he could stand, but if such a thing were at the expense of the stand then I guess I’m fine. If you don’t value the Gohan much, you can just leave him in the box and give the stand to Raditz, but I personally can’t see myself doing that.

Raditz being a bulky character in Saiyan armor isn’t the most poseable of figures. He’s pretty similar to Nappa when it comes to restrictions, only now you have to deal with that big mass of hair. The head is, like SS# Goku, on a hinged ball peg and there’s another ball joint at the base of the neck. This gives the figure solid range at the head looking in all directions, and since the hinge is behind the face plate, you’ll always know which war it’s oriented. The hair curves away from the body in such a way that it provides for more clearance than one might have expected. There’s also a joint maybe a third of the way down the hair to give it a little nuance. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and they lift out to the side beyond 90 degrees as the shoulder pads are on hinges and lift out of the way. Those shoulder pads are a nuisance with the crossed-arms piece though and getting them to stay flush with the chest armor is damn near impossible (even the glamour shots feature a gap). The biceps swivel and that’s all good while the double-jointed arms are a bit too beefy to go much past 90 degrees. The hinged ball joints in the wrists are pretty standard, but the design of the Saiyan armor restricts the range pretty severely.

If you switch to the extended tail you technically gain another point of articulation.

In the torso, we get a ball joint. I’m not detecting a hinge in there so it just goes forward and back a bit. There’s some rotation and tilt, but do be mindful of paint rub on the abdomen when doing so. The waist does rotate a little bit, but it’s pretty minimal, while the armor bits down here are all hinged as well. There’s a decent chance they’ll pop off repeatedly when fiddling with this guy, but try not to get too frustrated. The hips go out to the side maybe 45 degrees, so no splits for Raditz. They kick forward nearly 90, and go back a bit. There is a thigh swivel and it’s incorporated into the sculpt rather well and the double-jointed knees, like the elbows, only go a little past 90 because of the chunky anatomy. It’s one of the better looking knee joints as a result since there’s no gapping present. The ankles are restricted like the wrists, but you get a bit of a rocker and they’ll move forward, but not much back. There’s also a toe hinge, if that’s something you value. It’s not a good one though as it doesn’t stay flush with the sole of the boot.

Raditz is a bulky figure and mostly moves like one. His biggest issues from an articulation standpoint stem from the design of the Saiyan armor. Bandai hasn’t really come up with a good way of doing it as the hinges just don’t work very well. Yes, they’ll get out of the way for certain poses, but it looks stupid when there’s this big gap between the chest and shoulder. They almost need to be on a track instead so then can slide back and create the illusion that the armor is bending. Or, Bandai should just supply different shapes that plug in. That would probably be the most aesthetically pleasing approach, but it would probably be more expensive. Though given the amount of characters that wear this style of armor, I think they’d be able to make their money back. It would also provide for a reasonable excuse to reissue the Ginyu Force, and since they’d be a little different from the original P-Bandai releases, it’s something they could do without betraying the intent of that service. My figure did have a fairly loose left hip joint. I popped the leg off and found it was drowning in some kind of a lubricant. It wasn’t a clear oil, but more like Crisco as it was a milky color. I ran some dry Q-Tips through the hip and leg and it’s much better now. If yours is loose you may want to take a look for yourself.

Despite some qualms I have with this figure, I do mostly like it and I think it’s a great representation of Raditz. Yes, the colors are no longer anime accurate, but they’re close enough. If the armor had been a carbon copy of Nappa’s then it would bother me more, and really the only thing that bothers me are the red bands now being silver. Everything else looks great and the little, in-scale, Gohan is a fun inclusion. I wish we could get more of these slug style figures for the various kids and little guys in the show because the articulated figures of Kid Goku, Krillin, and others are way too big. The bad portrait is a definitely a bummer though. Some could wave it off as not a big deal since he has other display options, but we’re talking about an $85 release. That shouldn’t happen, and for a company in this business to just throw their hands in the air over it does not engender much consumer loyalty. For whatever reason, I’ve always been drawn to the design of Raditz so I’m glad I finally gave in to my own wants and picked up a figure of the character. Maybe this means we’ll now get a new Goku from this fight with a special, snap-on, Special Beam Canon to reenact one of the most iconic shots from the anime? I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t happened yet, but we also still haven’t received a Kamehameha Goku vs Vegeta’s Galick Gun style of release so there’s still plenty of iconic moments left wanting and it wouldn’t shock me if Bandai gets to them all some day.

If you’re interested in more S.H.Figuarts releases then I got you covered:

S.H.Figuarts Piccolo: The Proud Namekian

When the S.H.Figuarts line was launched years ago and Dragon Ball Z was at the forefront, it wasn’t Goku who got to be the first figure out of the gate. Nope, it was Piccolo. That figure caught my attention when it was announced even though I had not purchased a Dragon Ball figure in quite…

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by Joe September 7, 2021September 2, 2021

S.H.Figuarts Nappa – Event Exclusive Color Edition

When it comes to my S.H.Figuarts collection, I’ve been able to largely keep to just Dragon Ball. And by Dragon Ball, I mean the original anime and manga that centered on a young boy named Goku. Even though that’s my favorite edition of the venerable series, it doesn’t mean my favorite is the one shared…

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by Joe September 1, 2021February 1, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku

I believe I have touched on it before, and it’s also probably common knowledge among fans of Dragon Ball, that the story was supposed to end with Gohan’s triumph over Perfect Cell. Goku was dead and gone having sacrificed himself to save the world, but his son would carry on his legacy in his own…

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by Joe February 7, 2024January 29, 2024

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, bandai, dragon ball z, gohan, goku, raditz, san diego comic con, tamashii nations | posted in Television, toys

February 14, 2024

Naughty or Nice Father Frost & Mall Santa

By Joe

Fresh Monkey Fiction is back with Naughty or Nice Wave Two and just in time for…(checks calendar)…Valentine’s Day? Okay, so things didn’t go quite as planned with this line. In 2021, Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with Big Bad Toy Store for this line of action figures based primarily on Santa Claus. That preorder took about a year to fulfill, but the first wave arrived just in time for Christmas 2022. It was around that same time that FMF put wave two up for preorder. I’m sure they tried their best, but FMF is a small shop and probably doesn’t have much sway when it comes to overseas factory priority. I suppose I could have waited and put this review on hold until we get closer to Christmas 2024, but there’s this flying, naked, guy in my house pointing a bow and arrow at me so I guess we have to do it now.

The new figures are basically the same as the old ones, just with new heads and a longer coat for Father Frost.

The Naughty or Nice Collection is essentially one figure modified for each separate release. Both figures we’re going to look at today utilize the same body as the two figures I looked at in 2022. I’ll link to that review at the bottom of this entry, but essentially if you liked those figures then you’ll probably like these ones provided you like the aesthetic they’re going for. Obviously, I’m not all-in on this line as I have need for only so many Santas in my collection, but these two appealed to me. Both figures come packaged in a window box display and it’s been modified from the first wave. Where wave one had more of a “Hasbro” shape, wave two is rectangular. There’s more red incorporated, the character name is now on the bottom of the front of the box instead of the top, the cross-sell has been updated, and the side panels feature images of other figures from wave two. I have no idea which design in-box collectors will prefer, but both seem fine to me.

Father Frost is managing better up top than his Santa brothers.

They don’t all have to be red and green.

Let’s talk Father Frost first. This is basically blue, wizard, Santa and it’s not based on any specific folklore that I’m aware of. I think of it as a combination of Santa and Jack Frost. Frost stands at about 6.5″ to the top of his head, slightly taller with the hat, and the only thing different about the sculpt from the Santa figures I looked at from wave one is that this figure has a longer coat which necessitated a different belt overlay. The head is different from the traditional Santa to feature a longer beard and hair on top and a face that is less full. What attracted me to this design is the blue and white deco. There’s a lot of red, white, and green in my Christmas display so any chance I have at adding some blue is welcome. I do like how the figure turned out, though I will say the shade of blue has a touch more yellow to it than the promotional shots and even the images on the box where it’s a darker blue. I would have preferred that, or even a more powder blue, where as this is almost in between.

And he apparently has some rather gnarly powers.

The paint job on Father Frost is an improvement over wave one in some respects, but also not perfect. The head portrait is done very well. I like how he has blue eyes with a touch of white inside them. Upon very close inspection the left ear isn’t perfect nor is the transition from beard to right cheek, but it’s nothing you would see even at an arm’s length. The white portions of the coat have been dirtied with a paint wash that makes the robe look more lived in. The belt buckle is painted silver as are the buckles on the boots and it’s pretty clean. Based on the box, it looks like the end of the belt was supposed to be painted silver, but it was missed by the factory on mine and I’m guessing it will be on most. The only paint detail that bugs me a little is the hem of the coat isn’t painted all the way to the edge. It’s worse on the back, but at least it’s the back. For this wave it does look like all of the hinges are cast in the best color so when paint flakes off of them there won’t be a miscolored piece beneath it.

He comes with the same naughty and/or nice list we’ve seen a whole bunch, but in his hands I like to think of it as a spell scroll.

Father Frost comes with a solid assortment of accessories and optional parts. He comes with a set of blue gripping hands, but also has four ungloved hands: trigger right, gripping left, left fist, pointing right. Basically, if you don’t like the look of the blue, gloved, hands you have bare hands instead. He has an alternate head which is the same sculpt as the default, but it’s cast in translucent blue plastic. This was added after solicitation on the suggestion of someone in the Facebook community (if I’m not mistaken) so that Father Frost could match one of the elves in the wave and it’s a good idea and pretty cool that it was added. It looks nice, but it’s hard to get onto the ball joint. And you want to get it all the way seated so that you can’t see the painted neck. They also wisely added some gray paint to the top of the neck ball so there isn’t an odd blob of color inside the head. Father Frost’s main accessory is his staff which is topped with a translucent, blue, crystal. It looks like the sculpted rope was supposed to be painted a different color to differentiate it from the staff, but that didn’t happen. Still, it looks fine. The other accessories are reused: a present which opens, a nice list, and a stand. There’s also a little locomotive toy which fits inside the present. The present has a white and blue deco to coordinate with Father Frost.

Father Frost is the magical interpretation of Santa, Mall Santa is the opposite. This guy seems to be clearly inspired by the movie Bad Santa, but he’s kept legally distinct. He’s basically a worn down, drunken, cynical, Santa just trying to make a buck. He features a balding portrait with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He has a five o’clock shadow and a look of almost sad indifference in his eyes. His left eye is supposed to be a black eye, but the paint there is a bit lacking and it doesn’t make it as obvious as the promotional images. His beard is part of the sculpt and I kind of wish they sculpted it in such a way to make it look more obvious and pathetic that it’s a false beard. Maybe a gap between the chin and beard or hooks around his ears would have done the trick. There appears to be a paint wash on his face to dirty him up which has been applied to the body as well. His suit is a deeper red than the other Santas and the whites are all dirty. There’s even a stain in the middle of his chest, which is a nice touch. The look the figure is going for is obvious, but I do wish he could have been on a skinnier base, but I know that’s not really what this line is designed to do.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with a cookie?!”

Mall Santa does not come with any alternate hands or portraits. His default hands are gloved, gripping, hands and I’m torn on if I prefer those to ungloved hands. The good news is if you do want different hands then you could always borrow them from another figure. Mall Santa’s main accessory is his bottle of whisky. It’s a translucent amber with a black cap with prints on both sides to let you know that it is indeed whisky. The cap doesn’t come off, and the articulation is limited in that he can’t really “drink” it. The cap also isn’t removable, so while I like it, the accessory is a bit limited. There’s also a handheld bell in case he’s more of a donation seeking Santa. He comes with a crushed, red, present with silver ribbon which is pretty neat and makes for a good pillow should you wish to display him passed out. He also has a gingerbread man cookie with a bite taken out of the head and a teddy bear toy. There’s nothing cynical about the bear, it’s just another toy for the display. He also comes with the customary stand, should you wish to use it.

“Ohh Krampus, I have another one for your naughty list.”

Both Father Frost and Mall Santa arrive as expected. Obviously, since they were based on the same molds as last year’s figures it makes sense. The articulation is completely the same, which is why I’m not doing a rundown on it for this space. I would like to see some improvements to the upper body to get better range out of the shoulders since these figures should be able to eat cookies and drink milk (or booze) and they can’t do that. Father Frost basically is what I wanted. Some of the paint could be better and I would have preferred a darker blue, but he looks fine with the other figures and will make for a nice addition to the Christmas display. Mall Santa is also mostly as expected and any disappointment I have with it is basically the same as when it was solicited. I would have loved a passed out, second, portrait and more booze. A crumpled beer can, six pack, empty bottles, something else to go with the whisky would have been cool. His paint is clean though, actually better applied than Father Frost, and the figure works for me. I also count Bad Santa among my favorite Christmas movies and I understand it’s not for everyone.

“Look out, kids, Santa needs to empty his stomach.”

If you’re looking to add more Santa figures to your Christmas action figure collection in February, then I can certainly recommend these two. The others are probably just as good and it all comes down to if you like the design. This line is exclusive to Big Bad Toy Store and everything from wave two is in-stock as of this writing. Each Santa will set you back $37 which isn’t a small amount. They are from a smaller company and not produced in the same volume as a bigger toy company, but it’s probably still a little more than I think most would want. I compare the price to original IP from other small shops where their figures come in at the 30 dollar mark. Still, with the amount of paint and overall feel of these figures I would say you’re getting something better than Marvel Legends quality so it’s reasonable to me. Just don’t ask me about those reindeer they’re currently soliciting for wave three.

Who doesn’t want to read about Christmas toys in February?!

Naughty or Nice Classic Santa and Cyborg Santa

It was looking like we were in for a photo finish this year. Last year, toymaker Fresh Monkey Fiction partnered with online retailer Big Bad Toy Store to launch the Naughty or Nice collection. Structured similar to a Kickstarter campaign, FMF posted several action figures for preorder with a minimum order quantity needed for the…

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by Joe December 19, 2022December 20, 2022

McFarlane Toys Gold Label Batman Santa (Blue Suit)

Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s the jolly one – Santa Claus! Oh, wait, no, it’s the somber, moody, one: Batman Santa! Yes, it’s our first Christmas themed post of 2023 and it’s an action figure review – shocking, I know. McFarlane Toys has held the DC license for several years now, but this is my first…

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by Joe November 10, 2023November 7, 2023

Figura Obscura – The Ghost of Jacob Marley

Four Horsemen Studios is back with another holiday release in its Figura Obscura line of action figures. This sister line of their more famous Mythic Legions property launched two years ago with Krampus and continued with last year’s Father Christmas. Many fans, myself included, expected another holiday figure this year, though if you had asked…

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by Joe December 6, 2023December 6, 2023

1 Comment | tags: action figures, bad santa, big bad toy store, christmas, christmas toys, father frost, fresh monkey fiction, mall santa, naughty or nice, santa, santa claus | posted in christmas, toys

February 12, 2024

Marvel Legends Marvel’s Crystar

By Joe

Hailing from the planet…I don’t know. He’s a crystal guy.

Marvel Legends are still sold primarily at major retailers. This includes the likes of Target, Walmart, and even Best Buy which has been adding more toys to its portfolio over the years. And since they’re made by Hasbro, a company that has been selling toys to kids for generations, they still mostly operate on the same retail model. These things are in the toy aisle because that’s where parents go to buy their kids toys. Only, action figures (and Marvel Legends especially) haven’t really been kid’s toys for awhile now. I don’t have any hard data to support my conclusion, but I go to Target weekly and I have yet to see one single child so much as gaze at the Marvel Legends toys. I do see adults picking them over and maybe some are buying for a kid, but these things have been the domain of adult collectors for awhile now. The adults buying them today grew up playing with action figures in the 80s and 90s and still have an attachment to the form.

And that is why a character like Crystar can get his own figure in Marvel Legends. The irony here is Crystar is not available in Target and never will be. This figure is part of the Void Build-A-Figure wave which is what Hasbro calls a Fan Channel release. That’s just branding for specialty retail and sometimes Amazon (and in this case, yes Amazon) as opposed to brick and mortar. Crystar is a character people under 40 probably have no experience with. And a great deal of the people who do know who Crystar is might only know of the character as a curiosity since Glenn Danzig ripped-off the cover of one of the Saga of Crystar issues for the iconic Danzig skull logo created by artist Michael Golden. Those who don’t know the character from that bit of trivia probably know it from the old Remco toyline. Following the success of Masters of the Universe, other companies were looking to create their own in-house toyline and make millions. Marvel teamed up with Remco to create Crystar and give him his own comic, The Saga of Crystar, which would release in step with the action figures. Didn’t work, but for those who did have the toys and enjoyed them seeing a new version was an unexpected jolt of nostalgia.

You can’t really tell, but he does have painted eyes.

I am one of those who know of Crystar via the Danzig connection. I’m not quite old enough to have interacted with the property when it was at retail, though in looking at the figures as an adult there’s some familiarity. I probably saw Crystar figures at yard sales or flea markets and maybe even in comic book stores as a youth, but I never did own any of them. I have been a pretty big Danzig fan since I was a pre-teen though, so I felt like I had to get this figure when it was first revealed last year at San Diego Comic Con. I have that famous 8th issue, so I might as well add the action figure as well.

He’s got gripping hands and one set of non-gripping hands, but I don’t know how likely it us that people will use them.

Crystar comes in the current Marvel Legends window box following a brief flirtation with plastic-free packaging. It is part of a Build-A-Figure wave, some crab-like creature called The Void, which kind of sucks since part of the money I paid for Crystar went towards a figure I’ll never assemble. I got my figure from Big Bad Toy Store where it cost me twenty-six bucks, a steep price for a Marvel Legends release, but one that is becoming normal. The box contains some vintage artwork of the character, but the toy is clearly an homage to the original action figure which was cast in translucent, blue, plastic and came with a sword and shield. This figure too is cast in translucent, blue, plastic and is a rather striking looking figure in-hand. Messing around with the transparency of a figure is certainly a little gimmicky, but hey, sometimes it works.

The elbows and knees are cloudy and ugly, but hey! Pinless!

Crystar, as far as I know, is mostly made-up of new parts. That’s because the body had to be sculpted to resemble a crystal so there are lots of flat panels coming together to form hard edges. There’s very little in the way of paint as a result. The helmet looks to be painted on and there’s a little white for the eyes, but the rest of the figure is just translucent plastic or red plastic for gloves, trunks, and boots. Considering what they were going for, this is acceptable. If this were an Iceman figure then I’d be bemoaning the lack of a frosted paint job, but for Crystar it’s appropriate. He stands a tick over 6″ which feels like the median for Marvel Legends. I have no idea how tall he’s supposed to be, but it seems fine.

Where the visuals do take a hit is with the joints. Hasbro’s latest gimmick of the past few years is selling its customer base on the wonders of pin-less joints. For years, most Legends releases had double-jointed knees and elbows and holding those hinge joints in place were plastic pins slotted above and below the elbow. Maybe companies still use them while some don’t. In general, pins don’t bother me if they’re colored properly. They certainly create problems with a character like Spider-Man where the outside of the arm is a different color from the inside and a pin-less approach is superior. With Crystar, it sucks because the elbows and knees need to be a harder plastic apparently for the process to work. This leads to differences in color and for the elbows they’re more blue and less transparent. Blue pins would have looked pretty bad too so I guess if they couldn’t do transparent pins then it’s a pick your poison situation. It’s also an issue with the knees, but at least when they aren’t bent the boots hide them. Hasbro went with a hinged-ball joint for the head and the disc for the joint is also visible through the neck. Again, pick your poison as a double-ball peg wouldn’t have looked any better. This figure is the rare one where I’d have probably preferred the neck just end in a ball and socket joint to avoid the issue.

I’m guessing most will opt to equip Crystar with sword and shield.

Aside from the eyesores related to the articulation, the figure looks pretty damn cool for what it is. It also comes with what could be considered a robust array of accessories given the usual outlay for a Legends release these days. Crystar has a right fist, an open left hand, and a set of gripping hands. The gripping hands even have the proper hinge so that’s perfect because his other accessories are a sword and shield. Both are done in the same translucent plastic (actually, the shield is fully transparent with just a hint of blue coloring) as the figure itself and are again an homage to the old action figure release. The sword is pretty neat and well-stylized. I do get a bit of a He-Man vibe from it and Crystar looks good wielding it. The shield is plain by comparison, just a plastic circle with a little bit of sculpting, but there’s an elegance to its simplicity. Lastly, are the BAF parts: two sets of giant crab legs. They’ll look good in your trashcan.

If shields aren’t your thing he can pull-off some two-handed sword poses.

Articulation for Crystar is fairly basic by Legends standards. Given the visual issues with some of the joints, that’s probably for the best. We have that disc hinge at the head so he can rotate, look up, and down, with a little bit of tilt. The hinged-ball joints at the shoulders do what they’re supposed to, and we get a biceps swivel, double-jointed elbows, and wrists that rotate and hinge. There is an ab crunch that basically clicks forward and back one slot. The diamond on the belt will obstruct the range going forward, and while it does flex a little, I wouldn’t recommend leaving him crunched forward as that would probably warp the piece over time. There’s a waist twist below that and, once again, that diamond belt buckle will interfere with the range. The legs go out to the side for full splits and the usual thigh cut is. The double-jointed knees will bend past 90 degrees, but doing so exposes the ugly joint. The ankles hinge and the rocker is in place and works fine.

For you Legends collectors interested in scale, he’s pretty much average height for the line.

Pretty standard stuff and Crystar should be able to do enough to look interesting on your shelf. Not that he really needs to since the design of the character makes it rather interesting by itself. Two-hand swords poses are achievable though he can’t quite hit his pose from The Saga of Crystar #8. That’s all I cared about and as an oddball addition to my Danzig collection and the figure gets close enough to satisfy me there. As an action figure it’s also pretty good for what it is. This is probably the most satisfied I’ve been with a Hasbro release in quite some time as it doesn’t have any real problems and the presentation pretty much nailed it. I can do without the BAF crap, but that’s the nature of the BAF gimmick if you’re not interested in the end result. Hasbro doesn’t often do these obscure releases so I’ll give them credit for taking a shot with Crystar, especially since it’s a figure that probably required more new tooling than a lot of the stuff the company puts out. Hopefully it gives them confidence to do more and maybe they’ll finally start truly catering the line to adult collectors because that’s who is buying them.

And if you want to Crystar beside some other lines, here’s a Naughty or Nice Father Frost and a S.H.Figuarts Goku.

If you want to read more about the Danzig/Crystar connection look below. And here’s some other Hasbro stuff you may or may not care about:

The Saga of Crystar – Crystal Warrior #8

There’s been a hole in my Danzig collection for quite some time. It was a hole that was easy to fill and actually quite cheap considering most Danzig records fetch well over $100 these days, but an important piece was missing. And that piece is not what one would necessarily expect, but I would assume…

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by Joe February 3, 2020January 31, 2020

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Drizzt Do’Urden and Guenhwyvar

I was quite surprised when Hasbro unveiled a deluxe action figure set starring the Forgotten Realms hero, Drizzt Do’Urden. Drizzt was a character I was familiar with going back into my middle school days when I traded Star Wars novels for Dragonlance. Even though my nose was buried in stories about Raistlin Majere and Tanis…

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by Joe February 8, 2021February 8, 2021

Marvel Legends X-Men Retro Card Marvel’s Beast

2022 was the year a dream toyline of mine was made a reality. Hasbro finally decided to do a line of Marvel Legends based on the animated series X-Men, which premiered 30 years prior on Halloween 1992. The line was staggered with a release coming every 6-8 weeks or so and ended up totaling 8…

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by Joe January 26, 2023January 10, 2023

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, crystar, Danzig, hasbro, marvel, marvel legends, michael golden, samhain, the saga of crystar | posted in Comics, toys

February 7, 2024

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku

By Joe

I believe I have touched on it before, and it’s also probably common knowledge among fans of Dragon Ball, that the story was supposed to end with Gohan’s triumph over Perfect Cell. Goku was dead and gone having sacrificed himself to save the world, but his son would carry on his legacy in his own way. Or at least that was one possible ending. Series creator Akira Toriyama has said to have had many endings in mind, some even before the Z era began. The thing is, Dragon Ball was really popular and when something is really popular there are a lot of people that don’t want it to end for purely artistic reasons. No, they want to run that thing into the ground! Squeeze every last coin from its corpse before it gets put away to be rebooted in 10 years. Whether it was supposed to end or not with Gohan’s triumph, it did not. And if you’re going to keep the story going, well you have to bring Goku back and give him an awesome new power-up.

Goku was able to power-up while dead and it did wonders for his hair. Not so much his eyebrows.

When Gohan beat Cell he broke through the Super Saiyan barrier to reach an awesome new height. It was basically the goal of all of the Saiyan characters during that arc and it was accomplished by the youngest of them all fulfilling his own character arc which essentially began in the first episode of Dragon Ball Z. Gohan’s Super Saiyan hair was sort of the least impressive of the four Super Saiyans as it kind of just looked like Goku’s base form hair, only blond. When he breaks past that it shoots up and looks pretty cool and is more like the other characters. He’s also given an aura that crackles with blue lightning which would become the defining feature of what is now called Super Saiyan 2 because when the form was applied to Goku and Vegeta there was really little room for their hair to shoot higher. Maybe that’s why when it came time to design Super Saiyan 3 Toriyama made sure it was quite distinct. It keeps the blue lightning, but the hair goes way beyond big. For Goku, his hair is almost as long as he is tall. For Gotenks, it might be even more. The characters also lose their eyebrows, for some reason, which are replaced by a Piccolo-like ridge for their brow. They eyes also turn teal, but pick-up a black iris too.

I’ve talked to a lot of fans who state that Super Saiyan 3 is their favorite look of them all (and at this point, there are a lot of Saiyan transformations). For me, it’s never been that high on my list. I don’t dislike it or anything, but its presence in the anime was much smaller than the standard Super Saiyan look. It doesn’t even have a victory under its belt, though when Goku debuts the form against Majin Buu, it’s noted by Piccolo that he felt Goku could have won the battle and Goku more or less confirms that he could have. He opted not to as, at the time of the fight, he was technically dead and felt that a dead guy shouldn’t be the one to save the world. It’s an interesting thought, though since your family inhabits that world still you may want to just do them a solid, Goku. Goku does tackle Kid Buu in the form, but he basically runs out of gas as by then he’s alive (just go with it) and finding the form hard to maintain. That’s a feature of the form that basically sticks to it as much later in Dragon Ball Super when Goku shows the returning Future Trunks the form, Vegeta dismisses it as being too costly in energy to wield. I do think some of that stems from Vegeta being just a wee bit jealous that Goku cracked yet another barrier he failed to.

Because Dragon Ball Z originally ended with the battle against Kid Buu, Super Saiyan 3 didn’t get a lot of screentime. When the series returned with the film Battle of Gods, the form was essentially replaced by Super Saiyan God and the forms that followed that. I also personally only ever watched the Buu Saga once. By then, I was burned out by the slow drip on Toonami and I was just buying the VHS releases of the show as they came out. I think they were 25 bucks a pop for 3 episodes, a terrible value, but apparently I had enough cash laying around. I basically watched them all once, then never again, where as I saw the earlier sagas repeatedly on television. I don’t even have all of those tapes anymore as some of them got damaged from water in my garage so I just tossed all of them. Part of me regrets doing that as VHS nostalgia is on the rise and who knows where it will take us? What motivated me to finally pick up this figure (yes, I swear this post is an action figure review) is that I’ve been doing a rewatch of the series (well, Dragon Ball Z Kai technically as I don’t have the time for the original) with my kids and we recently got to the Super Saiyan 3 episode and my daughter pointed out to me that I don’t have a Super Saiyan 3 Goku in my collection. When a kid throws shade at your toys, you have to respond. I was considering picking up the 2021 reissue of the figure as it’s still in stock on Big Bad Toy Store, but it’s 70 bucks. That’s pretty steep for a figure I don’t know how badly I need.

He pairs pretty well with the standard Tamashii Nations yellow aura.

As luck would have it, YouTuber Toy Bro (real name Jared) recently decided to clear out some stuff he no longer wanted. I follow him on Twitter (or whatever it’s called) and happened to be scrolling through my feed when one of his for sale posts popped up containing a Super Saiyan 3 Goku for a great price. I immediately sent him a DM, and because I apparently haven’t bought anything off of Twitter in quite some time, my account immediately got locked for suspicious behavior. Thanks, Elon! I unlocked it pretty quickly and once I sent the DM he got back to me right away. We exchanged PayPal info, and Goku was on his way the next day. If you’re thinking of buying off of Toy Bro, I certainly recommend it so thanks to Jared for the hook-up which saved me about 30 bucks. If you’re curious what he had to say about this figure (I don’t think it’s this exact figure, I’m guessing the one he sold me was an extra) you can check out his video review here. I’ll probably watch it when I’m done typing this to see if his thoughts align with mine.

He unfortunately does not pair well with the Super Saiyan 2 aura as the giant hair prevents him from being able to get in close to have the lightning parts surround him.

This is definitely the longest intro to a figure review I’ve done, but part of that is because there isn’t a ton here for me to talk about. This figure is pretty old and I’m not sure if this is the first version released in 2017 or the reissue, but we’re essentially dealing with the same Goku body Bandai has released several times at this point, but with crazy Super Saiyan 3 hair. That’s why it’s a bit of a surprise to me the reissue is so expensive, but with the hair being what it is, it requires a larger box which takes up more room, it’s heavier, and maybe all of that is enough to drive the costs up. Or maybe BBTS has just slapped their own surcharge on the thing and it was originally less in 2021 (the other outlets that still have it in stock have it priced similarly, so it isn’t just BBTS).

Goku stands about 5.5″ to the top of his face, taller if you include the hair. The hair sticks out about 3.5″ from his head so it’s pretty damn big. It’s cast in yellow, but has a top coat of a pearlescent paint to give it a shiny, sparkly, finish. There’s some orange where the hair meets the head for shading and it looks pretty sharp. The facial details are in place, though this figure predates what Bandai has been doing the past year or so with the faces on its figures so it has a softer, less-detailed, look compared with the more recent offerings. There’s still a noticeable outline around the eyes, and for some reason there’s some shading in the ear, so it’s not as if the face looks bad or anything. I just currently have him next to the newest version of Super Saiyan Vegeta and I’m missing the extra paint for the brow lines and creases around the eyes.

Some of the forms that followed Super Saiyan 3.

After that, the body is mostly unpainted plastic. The exposed flesh on the chest as well as the blue undershirt is painted as are the boots and wrist straps. The rest is bare plastic. There’s a very light application of shading around the crotch which is probably unnecessary. It’s at least not as heavy as some other figures which make it appear as if the character wet its pants. The lack of paint gives the figure a very clean look, just not exactly flashy. At least for the body as the hair is very flashy. And since this body is exactly the same as other Goku figures I’ve looked at, I don’t feel a need to rundown the articulation again. This figure does feature articulated hair as it’s connected to itself at two different points. They don’t really offer much as the hair is pretty firm and also really spiky. You actually have to be pretty careful handling it because it hurts! The head is also connected to the neck in a slightly different manner than usual and I think it’s basically a hinge. This means no nuance posing, but he can look down just fine and the rotation is there as long as you’re willing to work with that hair. And the hair obviously adds substantial weight to the figure and it does make the figure more difficult to stand than most, but it’s still doable. It needs a lot of shelf space though since the hair does extend beyond the figure quite a bit. The other joints feel a bit tighter than usual and I’m curious if that is deliberate to help offset the weight of the hair or just coincidence? Nothing is so tight I had to worry about breaking anything, but he’s tighter than my other Goku figures. And since he’s like those other figures, he also has the flesh-colored plastic inside the torso for the butterfly joint which looks silly from behind when that arms are as far as they’ll go. The plastic should be orange as it’s continuing his shirt, but it’s not.

No effect part, but at least he comes with a flight stand.

He does have a removable halo, which I guess is like an effect part?

The accessories for Super Saiyan 3 Goku are also mostly the same as other Goku figures with only one exception. For hands, we get a pair of fists, the martial arts pose hands, clenchy hands, instant transmission hands, chops, and splayed open. Pretty standard stuff, though I think a lot of Goku figures only bother to provide one instant transmission hand. Interestingly, I never noticed until now that the newer figures have a slightly thicker wrist peg. This means the hands for Super Hero Goku won’t fit on this figure. Goku also has four different expressions to swap between: smirk, teeth-gritting, yelling, and stoic with a side eye. They’re appropriate for the character and the only negative is that they’re just not as well-painted as current figures. Swapping hands and faces is a lot harder than is typical of this line. You may even need to use heat for some of them and I had the wrist hinge come apart on me when swapping one of the hands which is annoying (it’s easily fixed, at least). Goku also comes with an acrylic halo on a post which comes plugged into his hair by default, but can be removed. The actual halo is only slightly frosted rather than yellow like the one that came with Frieza or Super Saiyan 2 Goku. It looks fine, but there’s no way to hide the post so it always looks a little silly to me. Lastly, Goku comes with a standard Tamashii Nations stand. I’m guessing because he’s a bit harder to stand than usual the stand is intended to remedy that. It has the standard claw attachment without the crotch hook and it works well if you just want some added stability or want to put Goku in a flying pose. While I would have loved an actual effect part, I do always like getting another flight stand.

“What?! Just because you grew your hair out doesn’t give you an excuse to get so smug. Bow to me, monkey!”

“Yeah, there won’t be any bowing from me, Frieza.”

Super Saiyan 3 Goku is here to satisfy the urge of DBZ collectors to add this specific version of Goku to their collection. It’s perfectly fine for this line and I really like how the hair turned out. While the body is mostly unpainted, at least it has a pretty matte appearance and I like the shades of orange and blue in use here versus most of the other Goku figures I have. I guess the real question is if I had spent 70 or more dollars on this figure would I be just as content? Probably not. I don’t think I’d have regretted the buy, but I definitely would have felt like I paid too much. It would have been a lot of money for basically just a new head and generic stand. In an era where we’re getting some pretty nice looking reissues for $35, a $70 Super Saiyan 3 Goku reissue is a hard sell.

Feel like there aren’t enough Gokus? There are never enough Gokus!:

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super Son Goku Super Hero

Back in the early 2000s I was a collector of Irwin Toys’ Dragon Ball Z line of action figures. When I started collecting that line, I just focused on my favorite characters which were primarily Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo. Gradually, the collector impulse took over and I started buying entire waves as they came out…

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by Joe August 19, 2022August 9, 2022

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Event Exclusive Super Saiyan 2 Son Goku

I feel like I need a little break with all of the TMNT reviews I’ve been doing lately. I could use a break from action figure reviews all together, but I have quite the backlog and I buy tons of them so I only have myself to blame for that. Today, we’re looking at last…

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by Joe March 23, 2023

S.H.Figuarts Dragon Ball Super Event Exclusive Color Edition Super Saiyan God Son Goku

The last of my San Diego Comic Con 2021 exclusives has finally arrived and it’s the event exclusive version of the Bandai/Tamashii Nations Super Saiyan God Goku. Now, Dragon Ball fans might quibble with my title for this article as I called it Dragon Ball Super when this form technically debuted in a Dragon Ball…

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by Joe April 7, 2022March 29, 2022

1 Comment | tags: action figures, akira toriyama, bandai, dragon ball z, goku, s.h.figuarts, super saiyan 3 goku, tamashii nations | posted in Television, toys

February 5, 2024

NECA Dungeons & Dragons Strongheart Ultimate Action Figure

By Joe

“Stand down, fiend! Or I shall slay you in the name of justice!”

It was roughly a year ago that I added Warduke to my collection from NECA Toys’ Dungeons & Dragons line of action figures. Warduke is basically a modern rendition of the character as featured in the vintage D&D toyline from LJN in the 80s. While I wasn’t a fan of that old toyline, I could not pass on such an iconic character design like Warduke. It was also always my intention to get him a buddy on the shelf. Or rather a foe. Enter Strongheart!

Strongheart is here because of the guy on his right.

Strongheart is another character pulled from that old toyline. He’s the good guy knight ready to oppose the likes of Warduke and the other baddies. He’s a pretty generic knight, and while his character write-up on the back of the box notes he follows the word of no god, he also passes as a pretty convincing paladin for those who care not for the lore. Mostly, he’s just a cool looking action figure. Ever since I saw him unveiled by NECA I knew I was going to add him to my modest collection, it was just a matter of when. I figured I’d come across the figure eventually during my many Target runs, but it never happened. Finally, I got sick of looking and just ordered him online from Target. I grabbed some water filters too so I could get free shipping. Sometimes, you just have to play the game.

Height comparisons with a Super7 Turtle and the Hasbro Drizzt.

Strongheart comes in the same style of packaging as all NECA Ultimate figures. The front of the box features artwork by Daniel Horne depicting the character while the rest of the box features product shots and a cross-sell for the half-orc assassin, Zarak. Strongheart is an action figure sculpted by Thomas Gwyn with paint by Jon Wardell and Geoffrey Trapp, and as mentioned previously, is based on the same figure from the LJN toyline. The character has also appeared in other media since. Strongheart stands a tick over the 7.5″ mark to the top of his helm, taller if you want to factor in the wings on his helmet or the head-tail thing which probably has a proper name. He’s a character covered from head to toe in armor. It’s sculpted in a dull silver and hit with a paint wash giving the appearance of a knight who has seen his share of battles. There are plated elements to the armor, mostly the torso, shoulders, and knees, with chainmail underneath. He has a brown belt which features a large loop his scabbard can slot into and there’s a blue skirt piece with some nice texture and paint details. This is a glorious looking action figure and a shining example of what NECA does best. Warduke may be the flashier of the two because of his character design, but I keep coming back to Strongheart and appreciating the little details like the plastic chains on his back and the straps on his gauntlets. Just a terrific looking figure.

More comparisons against Super7, since they do a lot in this 1:10 or 7″ scale.

Strongheart’s head is protected by a mighty helm which features a movable visor to reveal his face underneath. He has the look of a generic knight with a moustache, and as a reader of DragonLance back in my youth, I get some serious Sturm Brightblade vibes from this guy. Customizers could have some real fun with this one. Like Warduke, the wings on his helm are a rigid plastic and do fee like they could be a touch brittle. It’s fine in-hand, but definitely take care to make sure this is one figure who won’t take any shelf dives. The cape is soft goods and I really like the shade of blue in play here. It’s quite regal, befitting an honor-bound knight. It is wired, but it’s not a very heavy grade wire so it’s more of an adjustment wire rather than something designed to create wind-blown stances. Capes are an underrated aspect of NECA’s business as their soft goods capes are among the best around.

He’s got a fine looking mug, but I’ll be displaying this guy visor-down.

Strongheart comes outfitted with a trio of weapons and a bunch of hands. For hands, we get fists, gripping, tight gripping, and relaxed hands. The standard gripping hands are intended to work with Strongheart’s sword, named Steel, and his hammer. The sword is plain, but well-sculpted and it looks good. It’s a utilitarian blade, not an ornamental one. Strongheart holds it well and it slots into his scabbard easily. The hammer is more ornate in appearance with gold-painted accents on it. It looks a little undersized in his hand, but not comical. There’s a loop at the end of the handle, but I don’t see anywhere to store it on his belt which is a shame. The third weapon is a small dagger and it has its own scabbard which is “taped” to the sword’s. It’s like a concealed weapon, which seems like an odd thing for a knight to have, but maybe it’s more of a utility knife for him? Getting it into the scabbard was tough the first time, but I heated it and slid the tiniest slotted screwdriver I have into it as well and it works fine now. The tighter gripping hands work well with the dagger, though I’ll probably stick with the sword or hammer for my display. Strongheart also has a blue kite shield which he can feature on either arm. It has two straps done in plastic to slide over his forearm, but they’re pretty tight. I even popped one side of the front one off trying to get it on. It was only glued down, so I can re-glue it if I want. You could try to work that front strap into a gripping hand, but I find it works better with one of the relaxed hands.

If blades aren’t your thing he can always bludgeon his foes.

As was the case with Warduke, Strongheart looks better than he poses. He is easier to pose than Warduke as his torso doesn’t feature as complicated a design, but he’s not going to do anything crazy. The head is on a double-ball peg, I think, and it moves around fine. Just be careful with the wings. The tail on the top of the helm also swivels and of course we already talked about the moving visor. The shoulders are hinged ball pegs and they can get out to the side just about all of the way. The shoulder pads do a surprisingly good job of getting out of the way and aren’t much of an impediment. Like Warduke, he can’t place his arms at his sides as there just isn’t enough room carved out under the arm. There is a biceps swivel while the elbows are single-hinged and swivel. The hands rotate just fine, but like Warduke, all of the gripping hands feature a horizontal hinge which is a huge and inexcusable oversight. NECA, do better!

I appreciate the commitment to weapon storage here, I just wish it extended to the hammer.

The torso features a diaphragm joint that’s likely a ball joint. It doesn’t really move forward or back, but it can tilt and rotate a bit. The waist features another ball joint and you do get a little forward and back there, but it’s mostly for rotation. The hips are ball and socket joints and the legs move pretty well with the only real restriction being the skirt, which is all one piece of soft plastic. If one were to cut it up, you could probably get more range. There is a thigh twist on the joint, and the knees are double-jointed this time around. They’re pretty tight while the kneepads move up and down a bit to hide the joint. I was finding it tough to get this guy straight-legged because of the tightness. The ankles feature a hinge and rocker which work okay.

If you’re willing to put in some effort, you can get some decent poses out this pair.

Strongheart is pretty basic in the articulation department by today’s standards. He’s a guy in bulky armor, so it’s not unexpected, but could be better. I can get better weapon swinging poses out of the NECA Last Ronin figure and I feel like that level of articulation was achievable here. Still, he moves better than Warduke and I was having a much easier time posing Strongheart when trying to pose the two together while Warduke was frustrating. The lack of a vertical hinge for the hands is really irritating too as it removes a lot of stabbing gestures. I will say, and it’s pictured, Strongheart is capable of holding the handle of his sword while it’s still sheathed which is pretty cool, though he can’t two-hand hold it.

Even if he can’t pose all that well, it doesn’t take much effort to make this guy look bad ass.

If you’re buying Strongheart though, I bet you’re not doing so to put him in some outragious pose. He has presence on the shelf even in basic poses, and he can hit a few key poses to boot. I just love the look of this guy and all of the weapons and the shield really add to the experience. I wish he had a place for that hammer, I guess you can hang it off the scabbard, but it looks stupid. The figure looks great beside Warduke and I’m really happy to have it. I am not planning on going any deeper right now with these LJN remakes, but if NECA could get that DragonLance license then you bet I’ll be a day one buyer!

Want to see more from NECA or D&D? We’ve got a few other pieces that may interest you:

NECA Dungeons & Dragons Warduke Ultimate Action Figure

When it comes to the subject of New Year’s Resolutions, I consider the topic to be a fairly silly one. If there’s something in your life that you could improve upon, or a habit that should be broken, don’t wait for a new year to try to make that change – just do it! Making…

by Joe February 2, 2023January 27, 2023

NECA The Last Ronin (Armored)

When it comes to multimedia based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we find ourselves in a rare dry spell when it comes to television and movies. The final episode of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aired in 2020 with no new television series announced since. The show did receive a long-delayed finale…

by Joe January 31, 2023January 9, 2023

Hasbro Dungeons & Dragons Drizzt Do’Urden and Guenhwyvar

by Joe February 8, 2021February 8, 2021

Leave a comment | tags: action figures, d and d, d&d, dnd, dungeons and dragons, ljn, neca, paladin, strongheart, warduke, wizards of the coast | posted in toys

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