I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

[Team Jetfire]

507-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Silk




I’m a pretty big fan of Spider-Man and the larger Spider-Universe, but not sure I really get all the love for Silk. I mean, her story and subsequent connection to Peter Parker is interesting and I like her costume, but I’m being honest I prefer Spider-Gwen over Silk. Perhaps I'm missing something from the comics that would sell me on her more, but as it is, I'm not going after that recently announced fan’s choice figure when it is released. Kudos to her for wearing a mask though.

Pros: Overall, Silk is a fine figure and any Silk fan would be happy to have her in their collection, that said, Hasbro is sure getting their money's worth from this female body mould huh? Easily the best parts of this figure are Silk’s head sculpts, as they are both really beautiful. I love how they even included an extra mask accessory included with her mask down look.

Cons: I’m really starting to despise this female body mould, which sucks as I know that I have no less than 100 females coming down the pike with this same look. I just wish they would give double jointed elbows. Outside of that, Silk is a bit lite on accessories and despite the nice head sculpts, really should have come with some more stuff.

[WhenGeeksCollide]

https://youtu.be/TOtMnvy--co

[Team Jetfire]

508-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends:Rhino




Ok, it’s time for the clip show equivalent of these reviews where I quickly revisit the figures that make up this BAF:

Scarlet Spider-Man: I’m a sucker for special events in comics and while I was not actively collecting during this run, I always loved the original look of the cloned spiderman and I think this figure captured it really well.
Superior Venom: Might be the most I’ve paid for a Marvel Legend and his arm broke off… yay.
Misty KnIght: One of the hidden gems of this line and not worth i’s shelf warmer status. If you can get one still, I highly recommend it.
Kraven The Hunter: A nice figure with a great sculpt. Not much more can be said.
Ghost Rider: My appreciation of this figure was slightly skewed by the fact that I just opened the Ghost Rider rider figure and they are both pretty. I little light on accessories, but a lice figure nevertheless.
The Camelon: Who does not love a 3 in one figure? If it is using the suit sculpt: me.

Pros: Rhino has become a bit of a hot commodity and is due for an individual release. That said, for me, he is one of the better BAF figures that I have opened to date as he has a fantastic scallop, decent articulation that allows for a number of decent poses and 2 expressive head sculpts.

Cons: Outside of the availability/prices of the figures that provide the parts for this BAF, there is really nothing I can say as a con for this figure: he’s great!

[Team Jetfire]

509-2
Hasbro- GI Joe: Sigma Six: Grand Slam




I’m continuing to review each episode of the short lived G.I. Joe Renegades show; see review 275-2, 302-2, 330-2, 357-2, 384-2, 398-2, 425-2, 440-2, 452-2, 480-2 & 495-2 for previous thoughts.

EP: 13- Brothers of Light

Basic Premise (from Wikipedia): Disguising themselves as spiritual healers, Tomax and Xamot entrance most of the Joes and trap them in their cult-like commune called the Brothers of Light after they return Sister Leia, one of their disciples, to them. Meanwhile, Doctor Mindbender is seeking a psychic in order to learn the secrets to mind control, leading to him capturing the twins in order to use their psych abilities to adapt a control system enhancement for his Bio-Vipers.

Thoughts: A bit of a non sequitur, but still a fun episode. I loved how they gave Tomax and Xamot a clever backstory and it was nice to see the show runners staying true to the Crimson Guard being the twins personal army. It’s just too bad that Mindbender is playing such an important role and I still cannot stand his characterization.

Pros: I knew very little about the Grand Slam figure from the ARAH line, but after some quick research on yojoe.com, found that this SIGMA version is actually a decent homage to the original as both are munitions experts. Like Shipwreck before, Grand Slam was never featured in the short run of the cartoon or the comic, so what you see is what you get, but that is not to say this is a bad figure at all. Infact, he’s kind of amazing. First off, he’s one of the bigger, more solid figures, which I’m a fan of. He also comes with a ton of accessories and weapons including a rifle, a knife with blade cover, a removable helmet and a massive spring loaded missile launcher that he can hold onto really well. The cool thing about this launcher is that there are 3 separate “charges'' that fit into the back section and will eject after launching the missile. There is really no reason for it except for playability and a perfect example of why these figures were so great.

Cons: Again, this is more of a current day problem as current day action figures have this, but I don’t like how his hands are molded without trigger fingers. Just makes him look dumb when holding his rifle.

[Team Jetfire]

[Robimus]

Those remind me of the Small Soldiers movie.

[Team Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Robimus

Those remind me of the Small Soldiers movie.

Oh man, you are so right! I wish I still had my SS toys to compare.

[Team Jetfire]

510-2
DC Collectables- DC Icons: Nightwing.



Continuing my quest to re-watch all the DC Animated features to date and give some thoughts regarding 3 key touchpoints: Animation Style, Voice Acting & Story. These are really just rough notes as I watched the movie and might not make a whole lot of sense unless you have recently watched it. See 290-2, 303-2, 318-2, 331-2, 344-2, 358-2, 369-2, 371-2, 385-2, 399-2, 414-2, 426-2, 441-2, 453-2, 462-2, 468-2, 481-2, 490-2 & 496-2 for my previous instalments

Son of Batman- 2014

Animation Style: As noted in the Justice League: War review, the animation style in Son of Batman, and most of the DC moves going forward, will be very similar as they are now part of the new 52 world, something that I’m totally fine with given that I like the overall look and designs of the characters.

Voice Acting: Jason O’Mara reprises his role as Batman (get used to it) and while it takes some getting used to from what we are all familiar with (Kevin Conroy) i’ve grown to like it. A young man by the name of Stuart Allen takes on the role of Damien Wayne/ Robin and does a fantastic job in capturing his arrogance, while still sounding like a kid. Thomas Gibson (Dharma and Greg & Criminal Minds) lends his voice once to Deathstroke and Sean Maher starts his run as NightWing. In interesting credits, the beautiful and talented Morena Baccarin (Vanessa from Deadpool, Leslie from Gotham and a guest starring role in Star Trek the Next Generation as a pleasure slave) plays Tallia. If you are not aware, there is a rather odd connection between Deathstroke and Deadpool in that the latter is a bit of a goof on the other.

Story: Son of Batman is a loose adaptation of the story arch when… wait for it… found out he had a son mothered by the “insane, but in the sexy way” Talia Al Ghul. This boy, who was trained by Batman’s long time foil Ra’s Al Ghul, would eventually become Robin and become a main character in both Batman’s life and subsequent “bat-centric” DC movies. Fans have strong feelings about the character and not all are super positive, but as a lifelong fan of Robin, in all iterations, I like him. Yes, the bloodlust and attitude gets old after a while, but it’s nice to see his growth over time. Outside of that it’s nice to see other Bat villains in action including Ra’s, Talia and of course Deathstroke, who will always be a badass in my book.The overall story is a bit bizarre and is overshadowed by the introduction/training of Damien, but feels like a story that would be featured in a Batman comic. It was also cool to see an appearance by Man-Bat (or rather MEN-BAT) as It will always remind me of Batman: the Animated Series.

Pros: I really need to work on my timing for opening these figures as I just opened Mcfarlane’s Nightwing 20 reviews ago. Ah well, At least I can compare the two. Icon’s NightWing has a fairly basic look, with limited detail throughout the costume. That said, the head sculpt and overall coloring are quite stunning and really do stand out. Articulation wise he is ok, but would have indeed benefited from a thigh swivel. He comes with a few different hands (although I think my version was packed with doubles of the same ones), his night sticks and a bat grapple rope.

Cons: As mentioned, the sculpt is a bit basic and a bit of a departure to what we have come to expect from these Icons and also peeved that mine came with doubles of the same hands. I feel that Nighwing is starting to show signs of the eventual cancellation of the line given that there was no consideration to include storage for his night sticks or include other accessories. If you are a fan of the character, he’ll fit in with your collection, but for overall detail I have to give the edge to McFarlane for their Nightwing.

[Team Jetfire]

511-2
Hasbro- Transformers Prime: Predaking




There is really no easy way to say this, but Predaking sucks and I'm really disappointed in the figure. Should have been an easy win, but there are just so many little things that drive me crazy about a figure like this that it makes me wonder how it was produced, especially for such a titular character. I guess it doesn’t help that I had fairly high expectations as the Leader Class Predaking is quite good, but the issues present in this figure are not all from personal nitpicks; for the most part, this figure is just quantifiable trash.

Pros: Easily the best part of this Predaking is his beast mode, although that is not saying much given that in as far as other Transformers Dragons go, he’s really just ok. I dig all the spikey detail throughout, the decent wingspan and the 2 extra head attachments that I feel most of the budget went into. Transformation is interesting as it does not follow the standard “beast type” transformation conventions of just simply standing up, but still fairly basic. In robot mode, Predaking looks pretty cool, has a lot of molded details throughout and the double dragon head guns are very ambitious, but It’s clear that they did try with this figure, but feels like they ran out of money to really finish him off.

Cons: I’ll be 100% honest with this guy, I was really disappointed when I first opened him up. First issue was that he is a floppy mess. Now I know this might be an individual issue, but still bugs the hell out of me. Secondly, the back assembly in robot mode is a laughable mess of parts mashed together in a hope that they will stay together. Thirdly, those wings are simply ridiculous. They attach at the figures waist and just kind of flop around and generally get in the way. Fourthly, the tail weapon does not effectively plug into the hand and will either cause the arm to fall due to floppiness, or simply just fall out of the peg.

[Team Jetfire]