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

[Team Jetfire]

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Hasbro- Transformers Prime: Arachnid



There is honestly not much more to say about Arachnid but oof. I suppose it tracks that my dedication to the Transformers franchise had waived around the time Prime came out, but honestly given the quality of some of the figures released around that time I really cannot blame my past self. I suppose this line would eventually evolve to the more kid orientated Cyberverse line, so I’m not sure it’s fair to hold a figure like Arachnid to the same standard as Revenge of the Fallen deluxe figure, but it’s difficult not to expect something similar? I was honestly almost speechless that this counted as a deluxe Transformer.

Pros: Three things come to mind about Arachnid: 1. I’m glad that a female character was produced. 2. The helicopter mode is cool. 3 She was on sale.

Cons: Arachnid is basically one step above a happy meal toy. Ok, that’s harsh, but she really is a disappointment. A small figure that should have been a basic, a terribly frustrating transformation, brutal articulation scheme and limited poseability.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

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Hasbro- Star Wars Black Series: Captain Phasma.



Regardless of how the character eventually played out on screen, I still have a soft spot for Captain Phasma and will always appreciate the figure in my collection. Unfortunately the reason is not really Star Wars based and more tied to my own fond memories of an unforgettable trip to Europe that featured a few days in Paris, a day trip to Disneyland Paris, an international high speed train ride to Barcelona and an EPIC multi-day cruise throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Now what the heck could this have to do with Star Wars and Captain Phasma? Well, the dates of the cruse happened to coincide with the special “Force Friday '' merchandise drop that was supporting the Force Awakens movie that was set to release later that year. Being in Europe limited the opportunity for toy hunting, which was fine, but as luck would happen we came upon a Disney Store location in the Spanish holiday island city of Palma de Mallorca, (incidentally is still there and odd considering ours will be closed soon) and I was able to see some of the new Star Wars offerings that Disney had to offer. I don’t recall seeing any Hasbro Black series figures, but I did happen to talk myself into one of their exclusive 7” Die Cast Phasma figures that they produced for a short while and like any good trip souvenir I will always link the two together.

Pros: There is a lot to love about the Black Series Captain Phasma figure: Great detailed sculpt, a good amount of articulation allowing for a number of decent poses and her trademark blaster that can even be stored on her thigh armour.

Cons: Everything you want and nothing you don’t: I have no complaints about Phasma.

[Team Jetfire]

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Mattel- Jurassic Park Amber Collection: Dennis Nedry




Who was the villain of Steven Spielberg’s epic blockbuster Jurassic Park? It’s a fun thing to think about given that there really is no clear antagonist in the film. I mean there are some clear opposing forces that create drama for the humans, but I don’t think it can be distilled to one clear “bad guy” that would be standard in other blockbusters and (Jurassic Park sequels for that matter) of the time. 1994 saw Arnold Schwarzenegger taking on the leader of a Middle Eastern Terror group, 1995 Had Batman against Two Face and The Riddler and 1996 birthed the rise of Will Smith's action career, starring alongside Jurassic Park alum Jeff Goldblum fighting against a very prominent alien enemy in Independence Day. In fact, I’m having a really hard time coming up with a blockbuster action movie where the antagonist is so indistinct. Maybe that is why the movie was so well received and remains to be eternally re-watchable? It almost feels less like an action movie and more like a real life documentary about a zoo that went terribly wrong and the outcome that followed. That said, I thought it would be fun to do a deep dive over the span of these Jurassic Park figures as to who the opposing forces in this movie really were and who maybe could shoulder the blame for the Parks overall failure.

Pros: I’d like to say that was an impulse purchase from the discount bin of a Winners discount store, but that would be a lie. I actually actively searched for him and was VERY happy to have him in my collection. Who can blame me though? My very own 6” Wayne Knight who played such iconic 90s characters as the devious computer genius/ hacker Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park, Assistant to Bill Murray: Stan Podolak who helped Michael Jordan defeat the Mon-stars basketball team in the original Space Jam and of course the well-known, reoccurring foil of Jerry Seinfeld : Newman. I’ve also had Jurassic Park on my radar for some time. Call it nostalgia, or simply wanting to get a piece of one of my favorite movies, Dennis and the rest of the Amber collection are no-brainer pick-ups for me. Overall He has a great sculpt, a surprisingly good amount of articulation (for a Mattel figure) and some nice accessories including a spare poison sprayed face, a shave cream can with DNA samples and some extra hands. Good stuff!

Cons: Two minor issues: the ankle articulation is hindered by his pant leg and while I really appreciate the stand, It’s not wide enough to support a posed stance.

[Team Jetfire]

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Mattel- Masters of the Universe Origins: Trap Jaw.



“Get woke, go broke”

A jaunty rhyme that I have seen throughout the various He-Man (and GI Joe for that matter) “fan groups” on Facebook which amounts to a rallying cry and dog whistle to those who discount a TV series or movie because it has a progressive message or theme that goes against their personal ideas and intern these projects become unprofitable because fans do not want to hear that message and will not financially support the media. A ridiculous sentiment for a number of reasons, but also brings up a bigger issue with fandom and the internet in general. It actually makes me question if the folks complaining ever saw an actual episode of the original series? I mean, if they did they would surely recall the moral message after every story, and these were not waxing poetic on the virtues of men fighting in wars. If you are not familiar just check out some clips on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/EBqEgnyb68o

Could you imagine the backlash from certain groups if these came out now? As it turns out Eternia was really progressive from the start; so why are fans so angry? Did they not learn anything from the show they apparently REAL fans of?

Somewhat Ironic epilogue, did you know that He-Man is kind of an icon of the LGBTQ+ community? And while Mattel has not directly said as much, it's a pretty compelling argument. Check for yourself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He-Man

Pros: I was always more of a fan of Skeletor and his evil henchmen with Trapjaw being one of my favorites so I was really happy to have tracked down this origins version of the character as it does not disappoint. A great reto sculpt with good articulation and 3 different arm attachments. Bonus points for making his name sake jaw adjustable.

Cons: Not against the figure itself, but the distribution on these figures is beyond inexcusable and Mattel is once again leaving money on the table with terrible decisions.

[Team Jetfire]

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Mattel- Masters of the Universe Revelations: Beast Man



Full disclosure: this is actually my second Masters of the Universe Revelation figure review (Skeletor is forthcoming in the normal reviews) but I wanted to get Beast Man open under my special reviews given that bought a figure with a real crunched up package and I wanted to make certain all was well on the inside; plus if i’m being 100% I was real excited to crack open another MOTU figures, especially from series 2, given that Skeletor (spoiler) didn’t really meet all expectations. That said, Beast Man is a fantastic figure and Mattel really nailed it with this guy.

I’m not sure when these series 2 figures are set to hit retail, but I picked mine up from an awesome little collectable shop in Airdrie, Alberta called Snap! Collectables and only paid a slight $5 premium for early access, which is well worth it given how Mattel is SOOOO good with distribution lately.

I never had Beast Man as a kid, but always liked him as one of Skeletor’s various minions so this pick up was a no-brainer. I feel that MOTU and Mattel should be praised for the amount of different characters that they created for the series. I mean both GI Joe and Transformers used to be really good at this, but lately they have put less work into developing individual villains in favor of making faceless soldiers which are cool, but still takes away from some really interesting characters. Let’s hope for more!

Pros: Revelations Beast Man is great! He has an awesome detailed sculpt, lots of usable articulation that allows for a bunch of great poses, 3 different sets of hands and his trademark whip that he can store on his belt. I can’t recall if this sculpt is based on Classic, or the current Revelation design, but there is no question it is Beast Man. I also like that his whip is not plastic in favor of a fabric rope.

Cons: There is a good chance it’s due to safety, but I feel his whip handle could stand to be a bit less bulky as it looks funny on his belt.

[Team Jetfire]

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Jazwares- Fortnite Legendary Series: Tomatohead




Tomatohead is one of the Jazwares figures that make this Fortnite line fun and enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, there are some more serious and slick looking figures though the line and I also get my fill of badass figures from other lines, but sometimes you just need to appreciate a soldier with a gigantic tomato head and pizza cutter melee weapon. Jazwares Legendary series looks to have dried up some, which is a shame, but If you are a fan of fun toys produced by a company that is really trying to earn your money, there are still some available on Amazon or at Walmart that are well worth the sale price.

Pros: Tomatohead is a combo of everything I love in life: Pizza, video games and a well sculpted, fully articulated action figure with a good selection of great accessories and weapons. I also commend Jazwares on including an extra head. Seriously, the effort in these figures was staggering.

Cons: As I mentioned before, sometimes less is more and given how frustrating it is for any Jazwares figure to hold weapons, less finger articulation would have made this a perfect action figure.

[Team Jetfire]

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





As of this writing I have still not seen the newly released Black Widow movie and the new Shang Chi movie has not been released yet. And while I have seen, and enjoyed, the 3 recent Disney Plus MCU series, I really feel that it’s going to be tough to top Infinity War or Endgame as an epic spectacle. Don’t get me wrong, I’m open to them trying and I’ll be here for all of it, it’s just that they (Disney and Marvel Studios) are operating in a different time. The stakes and expectations from both the fans and the company are so much higher with any change or decision being highly scrutinized from all angles. This doesn’t even take into account how the “market” has cooled off in the wake of COVID; I mean after a finish like Endgame, do people even care anymore?

Pros: Iron Man- This is probably one of the best “two pack” releases Hasbro has produced and possibly my favorite version of Ironman yet. The figure itself is based on the Nanotech suit that Tony wears in the Infinity War movie and looks great. I also really appreciate the extras provided including two removable hand cannons, some extra hands and some sonic blasters attached with a clear plastic frame for floating effect.

Iron Spider- Since it was first hinted, the Iron Spider suit was surely going to be a hit when featured on the big screen and I’d say it delivered, even if it is not my favorite version of Spider-Man in the MCU. That said, the sculpt is great and I LOVE the four mechanical spider arms that really make this suit iconic. I also appreciate that they included an unmasked head given that they rarely go without unmasking the heroes in the movies for more than 2 minutes at any given time.

Cons: Iron Man- Less of a design issue and more of a QC problem, but the left shoulder of my version is frozen and I can’t seem to get it loose. Not wanting to break a figure that would cost a pretty penny to replace, it will just have to be what it is.

Iron Spider- I’m going to be honest, I would have rather the character have the red and gold costume from the comic; also the fact that the regular Iron Spider release did not include the mechanical arms is peak Hasbro cheapness.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

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Hasbro- Star Wars Black Series: Poe Dameron




As a general fan of the “Sequel Trilogy” and the character of Poe Dameron, there’s a reality that I sometimes need to cope with at times. Perhaps parts of the Trilogy would have been better served if Poe died when he and Finn crashed on Jakku, like they were supposed to. Obviously the immediate effect of this would really only have been felt on The Force Awakens, but the entire trajectory would have been changed for the other main characters with most of the heavy lifting coming from Finn, who’s impact was less and less over the span of the movies. This is not to say that Poe’s inclusion made the films worse and I really loved him as a character, but perhaps a movie with new main characters mixed with a much more compelling villain, AND mixing 4 classic characters back into the mix is a pretty tall order.

Pros: I will always love the look of a Star Wars flight suit and for the most part Poe delivers. Not only is there a ton of sculpted details, but also random fight suit straps and hoses all over him. I also appreciate that they included gloved and ungloved hands and an X-Wing helmet. Lastly, a blaster WITH holster is always a bonus in my book.

Cons: What is with that face? Did the sculptor reference a tired old drunk, washing down his sorrows at the local watering hole? Luckily you can cover most of it with the helmet. Also, and I’m not sure how it happened, the hand and forearms look to be molded incorrectly in a downward pitch. Lastly, the gun's barrel is permanently pointing down.