Author Archive: Errex
I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.
Thor (Ages of Thunder)
This version of Thor comes from a series of comics set before his exile to Earth and the stories portray him in a rather unflattering light, as something of a bully with a quick temper and a penchant for extreme violence.
Luke Skywalker (Hoth Outfit)
Hasbro had been promising a cold-weather Luke ever since they first announced a newly sculpted Taun Taun, over a year ago, and they pretty much delivered with their latest Luke Skywalker (Hoth Outfit) figure, numbered as 95th in the Star Wars Vintage Collection and released as part of the third wave of figures from 2012.
Ryu
One of the more easily recognizable characters from the Street Fighert games, Ryu is one of my favorite fighters thanks to the clean-cut character design and the ease of learning how to beat the game using him. Jazwares did a pretty good job of rekindling my interest in the character by including him in the starting line-up for their 4-inch Street Fighter action figure line.
Astonishing Wolverine
Other than Iron Man and Spiderman, the only other Marvel character that has had a comparable number of action figures made of, in recent years, has to be Wolverine. The figure I’m reviewing this evening is from the Marvel Universe Series 3, wave 16 and is none other than Astonishing Wolverine.
Raiden
Raiden is possibly the only character in the Mortal Kombat games to have a definite heroic disposition, since his goal is to thwart Shao Khan’s plans for dominating the Earthrealm. The character was inspired by the Three Storms, the evil enforcers from the John Carpenter film Big Trouble in Little China, a movie that borrowed and adjusted rather liberally elements of Chinese folklore.
Imperial Navy Commander
The Imperial Navy Commander (VC94) is one action figure I didn’t expect from Hasbro at this point, because not too long ago we had the Imperial Navy Troopers released in the 30th Anniversary and Saga Legends lines (their cards read Death Star Troopers both times). That was a reasonably fine figure, so I wasn’t expecting any drastic changes, but the figure released by Hasbro as part of the third wave of the Star Wars Vintage Collection in 2012, is a very welcome improvement.
Sagat
Sagat was the final boss in the original Street Fighter game, and also one of the four Grand Masters the player had to face in the sequel, Street Fighter II. In subsequent games, Sagat became also a playable character from the start, which boosted his popularity. Therefore, it was only logical for Jazwares to include him as part of the first series of action figures in their 4-inch action figure line.
Darth Maul
It’s been a while since I got a Darth Maul action figure, the last being the shirtless version from the Legacy Collection based on Expanded Universe material, which is fine, don’t get me wrong, but what I really wanted was a more canon update on the character. Lucky for me, with the 2012 release of Episode I in 3D format, we get the first ever Darth Maul figure made by Hasbro for the Star Wars Vintage Collection.
Guile
Guile is one of the most easily recognizable Street Fighter II characters. Although he’s been featured regularly in the Street Fighter series of games, Jazwares shipped this figure with the wave of figures that comes in the Super Street Fighter IV packaging.
Ultra.Poseable Spider-Man (Movie Series)
Even though Spider-Man toys are not uncommon at toy aisles, most of what I see isn’t too exciting either. The first wave of action figures released for the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man movie didn’t deviate at all from the design approach we had seen since the Fiercest Foes of Spider-Man started a couple of years ago, consisting on mostly made-up costumes with outlandish color pallettes.
Blanka
I love video games. I don’t get to play much nowadays, but one of my early favorites was Street Fighter II for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo consoles. I know there has been a number of licensors over the years that made action figures based on the SF intellectual property, but generally speaking, their […]
Reptile Blast Lizard (Movie Series)
Well, I was one of those people that were not too thrilled by the Internet images of the villain from the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man movie. Still, when the 10” toys started appearing on shelves, the designs looked interesting, even though that is a scale I normally don’t collect.
Naboo Royal Guard
One of the figures I was most curious about from Hasbro’s Star Wars Vintage Collection in 2012 was the Naboo Royal Guard (VC83), released just in time for the release of Episode I 3D.
Daultay Dofine
Daultay Dofine (VC82) was the captain of the Trade Federation vessel that received Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi in the opening scenes of The Phantom Menace. Given that he had more than a few dialogue lines and is mostly remembered because Darth Sidious referred to him as “stunted slime” when he dared whine in his (holographic) presence, I find it strange that it took this long for Hasbro to produce an action figure of him. This figure is part of the Vintage Collection wave released roughly at the time of the Episode I 3D premiere, which was a pretty smart move although I think the figure turned out to be good enough to sell even in a non-movie year.
Scorpion
I was never a hardcore Mortal Kombat player. The gimmicky nature of the game’s graphic presentation and the rather cumbersome gameplay were simply no match against Street Fighter II in the struggle for my arcade tokens. However, the franchise prospered and spawned over the years a few more iterations of the game for release in home consoles and arcade systems, with cleaner graphics, streamlined gameplay and what’s more relevant for this review, improved character designs that now serve as inspiration for Jazwares to produce action figures.
Anakin Skywalker
One of the figures I was actually anticipating from the first wave of figures in the 2012 Star Wars Vintage Collection by Hasbro is this version of young Anakin Skywalker (VC80) in his padawan garb. I never got the chance to buy the figure released in 2000 that came with a hard plastic cloak, so getting an updated version to coincide with the 3d release of the film was a chance I would not miss.
Sub-Zero
Jazwares made another of the more readily recognizable characters in the Mortal Kombat game, Sub-Zero into a 4-inch action figure in their 2012 line. While in the first games the character models for Sub-Zero and Scorpion were identical, except for the coloring, on subsequent games the character designs grew more distinct from one another, although still adhering somewhat to the ninja-look characteristic to these games.
Darth Sidious
I wasn’t really looking forward to another version of this character, since Hasbro pretty much got it perfect with the Legacy and the Evolutions offerings of a few years ago. In my mind, this figure released in 2012 to coincide with the Episode I 3D launch was going to be just another repack with only a few new accessories thrown in. Boy, was I wrong…
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