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

[Team Jetfire]

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Disney Toy Box- Pixar: Hector.



If you have not watched COCO yet, what the heck is wrong with you: It’s fantastic! GO WATCH IT. That said:

**MAJOR Spoilers for COCO Ahead***

I wish I was smart enough to figure out the big twist in COCO, but in a sense I’m glad that I was not spoiled given that the revelation was so good. And too their credit, PIXAR really did a good job in crafting the revelation in little cues throughout, including placement of a very specific gold tooth on a very important instrument. Anyway, I adore this movie and it honestly only gets better every time that I watch it.

Pros: These Toybox figures have such a great look and Hector is no exception: looks like he hobbled right off the screen with some great skeleton / tattered clothing details. Acidulation works for some decent poses and I love that he comes with the guitar that he picked up through the movie and his hat.

Cons: Skeletons are difficult to pull off as ironically enough; the plastic bones don’t offer a whole lot of support and he’s a bit bendy overall.

[Team Jetfire]

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Jazwares- Fortnite: Leviathan



So today I learned that a Leviathan is a sea monster prominently featured in old Jewish sea stories, which kind of makes sense given that A) this guy is certainly some type of sea monster and B) Fortnite likes to be a bit silly with ironic names. That said, I thought (and still low key do) this Leviathan was supposed to be a homage to Minion, the Fish bowl headed sea monster that appears next to Megamind in the same titled movie. My assumption falls apart some when you consider that Minion is a sea monster in a fish bowl attached to a robotic body, but not the same type of body opting for a furry gorilla suit over Fortnite’s space suit, which is a bit of a bummer as I thought it would have been a nice tie in.

Pros: If I’m being honest, I think Leviathan was the reason why I went so deep on the Jazwares Fortnite line. Sure figures like Skull Trooper and Jonesy are cool, but Leviathan is really different and in an isle full of Captain America, Batman and Optimus Prime figures, different is good. The sculpt is both interesting and very detailed on a brand new Jazwares body, the articulation scheme is top notch and the accessories are both cool and plentiful. So far one of the best Jazwares Fortnite figures to date.

Cons: That damn hand articulation is the bane of my existence. He’s also a bit tricky to stand given that his feet are both rounded on the bottom.

[Team Jetfire]

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Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Spider-Man & Iron Man Sentry






It’s crazy how in a relatively short amount of time Holland MCU Spider-Man has been featured (including the new movie in production) in more movies than both Maguire and Garfield COMBINED. Granted most of these weren’t starting roles and in the case of ENDGAME, it’s really just a bit part, but the point is, regardless how anyone feels, Holland is the titular Spider-Man on the big screen and for the most part I’m good with it. My only gripe is that Spider-Man’s whole shtick, his entire superhero backstory is aligned with Iron Man. I get that this is the MCU and Iron Man is basically the keystone of the universe, but canonically Spider-Man is his own thing and ultimately much greater than the sum of his Iron Man parts.

Pros: Spider-Man- So this is my initial MCU Spider-Man figure and I’m very impressed that it’s not just a repainted comic Spider-Man with having it’s own little molded details from his new suit. Articulation is strong with all the standard joints, plus butterfly joints and comes with a masked and Holland unmasked head as well as some web wings for gliding action.

Iron Man Sentry- My knowledge of the various Iron Man suits is rather limited, but I’m sure that this is a simple repaint of a previous released figure. Not to say that it’s a bad thing as it’s a phenomenally impressive looking sculpt. I also appreciate that he comes with a single blast effect, a standard Iron Man helmet and an open “Tony not really there to mentor Peter for story purposes'' helmet.

Cons: Spider-Man- There is really no other way to say it, this Spider-Man is lacking and I really wish they include some other accessories to fill out the set.

Iron Man Sentry- While I love the look of this figure, the articulation is really limited and makes a simple stance, like having his legs shoulder width apart, difficult.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

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Hasbro- Star Wars Black Series: Princess Leia Organa Boushh Disguise




Apologies in advance as I know there are a lot of fans of the Star Wars Extended Universe, but it’s characters like Boushh, and their rather extended background, that really make me happy that most of it has become legends. And don’t get me wrong, I like a good backstory, but Star Wars, especially the original trilogy, spent years filling books, comics and cartoons with rather interesting details on EVERY SINGLE on screen character featured in those movies. Thankfully a lot of these details have been painstakingly copied into the various WOOKIEEPEDIA articles set up for some amateur toy reviewers, like yours truly, to read and openly scoff in said toy review. Now, perhaps scoff is a little harsh, but the opening paragraph is a perfect example as to why I don’t love the EU:

“Boushh was a successful male Ubese bounty hunter active around the time of the formation of the Galactic Empire. Known for his melee skills and penchant for thermal detonators”

Get it? Leia used a thermal detonator, so clear the main character trait of Boushh, the bounty hunter (of course) is that he likes to use THERMAL DETONATORS! Could you imagine if your entire personality was based on the one thing you did in a two minute section of your life? That said, one part of his background did bring up some nostalgic feelings as Boushh was apparently killed by the antagonist in the very cool Shadows of the Empire story: Xizor whom I really hope will be eventually included in Disney canon in some form or another.

Pros: From one extreme to another, Leia went from Jabba Slave barely wearing anything, to having this full body uniform that was supposedly taken from a dead male bounty hunter named Boushh. I guess Hasbro felt that the only way that Leia would sell if she was either half-naked, or dressed up as a dude. Don’t get me wrong as I always liked this on screen version of the character and the toy does a nice job in capturing the overall look with a great sculpt, a soft goods cape, good accessories including her staff, thermal detonator that fits on her belt and iconic helmet that fits well on her head as well as the typical articulation points for Black Series figures.

Cons: I’ve said it before and I know I’ll say it again… hard plastic tunics or skirts ruin toys and I really wish that they would stop using them. Seriously she can stand feet shoulder width apart. Do they realize how difficult it is to pose a figure with this kind of limitation? And there is a solution in doing a cloth/plastic combo like they did for EP3 Kenobi, but is likely too much money. So frustrating! Additionally, the helmet is a tad big, but likely due to the fact that it is removable. As a collector I would have liked a separate, detachable head, but the removable helmet has way more play value.

[Team Jetfire]

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Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Havok



Once again I’ve learned something new while doing some quick research for this review. Fact is, as with many of these Marvel Legends figures, I know very little about these characters, or rather, what I do know comes from other media sources and are often changed for ease of storytelling. For example Alex Summers (AKA Havok) was featured as one of the main Mutants in the X-Men First Class movie. It was a nice touch given that his more well-known brother Scott Summers (Cyclops) usually has the spotlight, but created an issue given that in the canonical comic universe, Alex is Scott’s YOUNGER brother, which is opposite from the movie. I’m not sure why I did not question it further as it would stand to reason that Havok would be younger as Cyclops was one of the first X-Men, was news to me nevertheless. The movie Havok also strays from the comic further, by playing him up as a mature big brother to Scott, whereas it seems as though those roles are reversed in the comic. Either way, Havok is a bit meh to me as Cyclops has long been my favorite.

Pros: Overall a nice representation of the character of Havok that features a sculpt and paintjob from out of the comics, a nice detailed head sculpt with the three raised silver bands that adorn his head and 2 energy effects that clip on his forearms.

Cons: Again, a somewhat basic re-tool figure that Hasbro has released as a “path of least resistance” to the character. A bit of paint, some re-used energy effects and the easiest head sculpt they could have used makes Havok a bit of a letdown.

[Team Jetfire]

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Bandai Spirits- Gundam Universe: GU-05 RX-0 Unicorn Gundam 02 Banshee



I really wish that I better remembered how the Gundam Universe was intertwined as I can never recall what is part of the main line and what are considered separate continuity. Things like Gundam Wing and G-Gundam are simple, but Gundam Unicorn and Orphans (previously reviewed Gundam) are hazy. If I recall correctly Unicron is the main line, but based on a book far into the future and treated somewhat as a separate entity, but Orphans is a separate thing. I suppose I could finish both series (that I started on Netflix), or even spend 10 minutes reading about it on Wikipedia, but who has time for that?

Pros: These Gundam figures are somehow both equally AMAZING and FRUSTRATING. Amazing due to the extremely detailed sculpt, decent amount of articulation and MECH specific accessories, however…

Cons: Frustrating due to the sculpt interpreting with possibility, the claw hand being cumbersome and awkward for holding the laser sword and the figure feeling VERY fragile.

[Team Jetfire]

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Bandai- Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Harry Potter.





It’s been more than a year since I started looking at the various Wizarding World of Harry Potter rides and attractions for these figures. For those unaware, I started these reviews as a countdown of sorts to when I could ride the new Hagrid ride at Universal Island of Adventure, but obviously did not materialize give that I was never able to complete the trip to Florida last April as well as what would have been a trip this April due to COVID restrictions effectively cancelling the Worlds Cheerleading competition held in Orlando. I’ll continue reviewing the attraction for the next Harry Potter figure review, but I wanted to take this time to mark the 1 year point (more or less as of this writing) in which the world shutdown and the hopes of the trip to Florida were dashed. I won’t go into too much detail on my views of the pandemic as honestly, who really cares what I think, but will say that I know we have all been affected in one way or another and I hope that whatever a return to normal means to you, that it happens sooner than later.

I truly hope that these reviews provide a respite to what is happening in your day to day life and I’m very thankful to anyone that reads or enjoys my nonsense. I’ve been doing these reviews for some time, but have been dedicated to providing a new one every day for the both the enjoyment of others, but also for my own personal well-being. Nothing like a free form outlet, some built-in nostalgia and a deadline to get your mind off the real world, right?

Pros: I have a bit of a love hate relationship with higher end Japanese collectables in that I often think that I’m going to get a top of the line figure with everything that I would have ever wanted on a toy, but are often somewhat letdown with the product in hand. This is not to say that Harry is a bad figure, quite the opposite really, but I REALLY need to temper my expectations as price doesn’t always equal better. What I do appreciate is the detailed sculpt featuring Harry in his dress robes from his 1st year at Hogwarts, a good amount of usable articulation and a lot of character specific accessories including a want, some spell books, his Nimbus 2000, three separate expression faces, a windswept cloak and of course his trusty pet Owl Hedwig.

Cons: My issues with this figure are a little more nuanced as they represent little pain points that I’ve developed over time collecting and reviewing figures. First issue is the hard plastic cloak that limits lower body articulation. A soft goods cloak wouldn’t have helped in this case, but there is softer plastic out there. Second issue is the ability of the figure to “ride” on the broom. This is an integral feature of the figure and even shown on the box image, but it was near impossible to get him in that stance. Third issue is that they didn’t include a stand or an attachment to allow Hedwig the ability to stand on his own. I suppose as this is a collector figure, Bandai figures fans can buy their own stand, but it just seems odd. Outside of those personal issues, the only other issues are the rather feminine looking face sculpts.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

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Disney Toy Box- Marvel: The Winter Soldier & Captain America.






Disney Toy Box coming in again real hot with another murderer in cartoonish plastic. Not that I mind though. I mean, he WAS under mind control at the time and since then he’s helped save the universe, plus I just really like the character. That said, I initially passed on this two pack as I have no space for bulky vehicles, but when it was marked down 40% on the already cheap sale price, I really had no choice.

Pros: Winter Soldier- This figure is amazing. I mean, come on just look at him: Fantastic sculpt with the Infinity aesthetic, solid articulation, 2 great looking head sculpts and two accessories including a knife and rather large rifle, both of which can be stored on his person.

Captain America- Capt’ is basically a re-released version of the previously released Captain America single release with “Captain America 2- Winter Soldier” paint job and new, really nice looking unmasked head. And while it might be a paint error, I LOVE the huge eyes on the helmet head sculpt. Almost like they were capturing the moment he realized that the WS was his best friend.

Motorcycle- It’s a fun little vehicle that doesn’t take up too much space on the shelf. Bonus points given for working suspension.

Cons: Winter Soldier- Everything is great except…. No ankle tilts.

Captain America- No issues, solid box set figure that more or less differentiates itself from the initial release to rationalize the re-release.

Motorcycle- Overall it’s a bit oversized and a bit tough to get Captain America to sit on it. Also the working voice with phrases gimmick sounds really bad.