Category: Toy Reviews
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.
Cobra Trooper (Dollar General)
Out of all the Dollar General figures this one might be the most surprising. A generic Cobra Trooper in black. Seems simple enough. But the execution here is pretty darn good. Appearance: Where the black Cobra Commander looks formal, the black on the basic trooper makes him look like an elite guard or a night […]
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.
Duke (Dollar General)
Love him or hate him, you can’t deny Duke has a recognizable name as far as GI Joe is concerned. Which is probably why this figure bears his name. However, my guess is he will find his way into most people’s displays as nameless green shirt. Appearance: If I had seen this figure without a […]
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.
Jar Jar Binks (Movie Heroes)
I feel bad for Jar Jar. Haters have used him so often as a symbol of what they don’t like in the prequels, he hardly ever gets any new merchandise. From my memory, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a movie version of him in action figure form. Appearance: I was excited to […]
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 […]
Cobra Commander (Dollar General)
I’ve documented how I no longer have my vintage mail away Cobra Commander. So it’s no surprise this black suited CC that was part of the Dollar General series appealed to me. Appearance: I’ve always seen the hooded version of Cobra Commander as a more ceremonial version. He’s not going to wear that hood just […]
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.
Baraka
I must confess that the only Mortal Kombat game I have a passing familiarity with is the first one. I know that there have been more than one sequel in the series, but I wasn’t even sure when did the character whose action figure I’m reviewing today came out, although as you can see, that didn’t stop me from getting this action figure made by Jazwares.
Cordicon Reviews Dollar General GI Joes
I’ve not managed to snag any of the dollar store GI Joe figures yet. Not for lack of trying, mind you. One person that has is Cordicon from Twitter. He’s a YouTube reviewer, so I thought I’d link to his reviews in case you were wanting to see what the fuss is about. Honestly, I’ve […]
Batman (Caped Crusader)
For a long time, I’ve avoided buying Batman figures. Most are done in either an animated style or in a scale other than 3 3/4″. I don’t have anything against other scales, just really wanted a Dark Knight that could stand among GI Joe, Hellboy, and Marvel movie figures and not look out of place. […]
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.
SCCC Artist Spotlight: Robert Atkins
I had heard about Robert Atkins on the What’s on Joe Mind? Podcast. I knew he was a GI Joe artist. So I was very excited to hear he was coming to our local Summit City Comic Con here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I actually had a TVFT table, so I didn’t get as much […]
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.
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