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

[Team Jetfire]

671-2
Hasbro- Transformers Prime: Ironhide



Now this is an Ironhide that I can get behind. And while the Bay-Verse movies were off base on a great many things, I still applaud the choice of upgrading Ironhide to a beefy pickup truck as I feel it’s a much better representation of the character. I suppose they didn’t have much choice given the lack of pickups from the various Japanese toy lines, but a Vanette never really cut it for me. I suppose Bay and Co. could have gone a bit further by actually making movie Ironhide red, but that may have been a bridge too far I guess.

Pros: An original mold for the character, Ironhide is a nice little figure that looks great in both modes, has a fun transformation and even comes with 2 arm cannons.

Cons: Can’t expect much from a basic figure and Ironhide works pretty well. I wonder if this was the only version of Prime Ironhide.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

672-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Ant-Man and Stinger.




As a father myself it is hard to not love a father-daughter duo superhero team, especially when it has the potential to feature the extremely charming team of Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd and his daughter Cassie played by Abby Fortson. Slight issue though… because the events of Endgame, the super fun Cassie featured in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp, is somehow now a 17 year old girl. Not even joking as the actress who played her in ENDGAME was 17 at the time, I’m not really sure how the math on that works out given that before the blip she was 7 years old tops with a five year gap aging her up to…17? I know they grow up fast, but…

To make matters even more complicated, a completely new actress by the name of Kathryn Newton will be taking over the role in the 3rd upcoming Ant-Man movie and is even OLDER. My assumption is that they are working on a Young Avengers series and likely could not include Stinger as a 13 year old girl and the blip was probably the best time to age her up, but I’d be lying if I said that scene in Endgame kind of took me out of the story.

Pros: Ant-Man- I’ll be honest, I really kind of love this version of Ant-Man. From the looks of it he has a completely unique sculpt with Ant-Man comic details. Couple that with the old school comic head sculpt is spectacular.

Stinger- Much like the mold this is based on, Stinger is another fun female flyer with a great head sculpt that matches her Father.

Cons: While I would have loved some additional accessories, I really have no issues with this figure.

Stinger- Same issues for Stinger as I have for other basic repaints. Like they could have included something else right?

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

673-2
NECA- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- The Movie: Donatello.



These NECA TMNT figures have been such a wicked surprise and I cannot recommend them highly enough to fans of the turtles, but also fans of cool action figures. I know that I passed on them multiple times, but thanks to a boxing day sale at my LCS I was able to get all 4 for what I consider to be a steal; so much so that this TMNT series is the only other series that I picked up more non-turtle figures than turtle figures and this was AFTER I decided to stop collecting TMNT for good! I guess that didn’t go as planned, but it was for the best given how great these really are.


Pros: Much like his brothers, Donatello has a great sculpt with detail from the movie, a solid amount of usable articulation, some spare hands, a spare bandana, his trusty bo staff weapon with ability to store it and an extra slice of pizza.

Cons: Not so much a con, but rather an example of how dumb I am, the spare bandana piece has molded details on the top of the side it is supposed to sit on. It took 4 turtles for me to figure this out…

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

674-2
McFarlane Toys- DC Multiverse: Azrael



I’ve always thought of Azrael as an underused character. I mean sure, the 90’s, as part of the Knightfall series, was a very lucrative time for the character, but since then he has only seen limited action in the comics and even less in other forms of media. I wonder if that is due to the relatively non-secular nature of the character, which admittedly I know very little about, outside of the very stark imagery through his appearance. I suppose it stands to reason that the comic series that this version of Azrael is published under the “DC Black Label” which is typically reserved for more mature readers. I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, but from what I reviewed, it sounds like a super cool storyline that lives outside of the typical main DC Universe. And while I love that McFarlane seems to be really on top of some of the most current characters from the current run of comics, something inside me would really LOVE an old school Azrael from back in the day.

Pros: Amazing, amazing, amazing. There is really nothing else that I can say. Outstanding sculpt with a ridiculous amount of detail from right out of the comic, a solid amount of usable articulation and his trusty flaming sword that may or may not be magic.

Cons: Those McFarlane ankle joints may be the death of me; however I can look past given how great he really is.

[ghostlurk29]

And only $25!!! The new color variant doesn't look nearly as good.

[Team Jetfire]

675-2
Hasbro- Transformers Generations: Sandstorm.



I don’t think that I give enough credit to the engineers at Hasbro for the consistent amazing designs of these Transformers figures. And while Sandstorm is not my favorite figure to date (more on that later) I really appreciate the fact that Sandstorm is a heavily re-tooled version of Generations Springer that I covered way back on review 570-2. Now I certainly do not disapprove of Hasbro making re-paints, as Transformers have been practically built on the practice, but I wish I would have paid more attention to the original reviews when the pair was first released as I would have opted for Sandstorm only given that I liked his G1 toy much more. That said, in reviewing this figure, it is clear that Springer was intended as the primary design influence with retooling to some extent in order to sell as a repaint. My issue with that is that I really liked the look of G1 Sandstorm and wished they kept those design aesthetics rather than just giving him bigger tires in buggy mode, a rounded front end with some wing turbines in helicopter mode and painted him orange. I mean, can you even really classify this guy as Sandstorm at this point?

Pros: Despite my personal issues with Hasbro re-tooling Springer for Sandstorm, I still think he is a fun figure. The dune buggy mold is solid (once you figure out the back wheels), the chopper mode is a sleek update and the robot mode has a good amount of articulation with a good amount of poseability.

Cons: Overall the mold feels like a bit of a cop-out. I really liked Sandstorm as a kid, especially the rather bulbous Helicopter mode and while I appreciate them working the character in the way they did, he just feels like Springer with different parts. I mean, I get repaints and re-tools, but this figure was unique from the start.

[Team Jetfire]