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

[Team Jetfire]

813-2
NECA- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Casey Jones and Raphael in Disguise





Probably my last NECA Turtles movie figures unless I can find April O?Neil and I can?t say that I?m surprised that they are amazing. Seriously, kudos to NECA for producing some of the best 6? figures on the market and double kudos for not making them cost an arm and a leg. Granted I did pick these up prior to the big price increase, but the point stands, pound for pound these are amazing figures and Hasbro should take some hints. What makes these so different? 1. Amazing unique sculpts: Probably the most expensive part of toy development is the cost of molds needed to inject plastic into and these are all both sculpted beautifully and are unique to these characters. Granted I?m sure there are some similarities with the 4 turtles, but given that they are basically the same on the screen, I don't have a problem with it. 2. Inclusion of soft goods. Certain other companies have moved away from soft goods, likely due to cost and rely way too heavy on hard plastic for jackets, dresses and coats. Ninety precent of the time it works fine, but the other ten creates all sorts of issues with posing and articulation. 3. Accessories: there are legit too many accessories with this pack. It?s not like I?m complaining, but this is way better than a spare set of hands and a different head sculpt (if you are lucky). Overall I wish that NECA was more prominent in Canada, but there is some potential seeing as though Toys R Us has started carrying a decent selection of figures.

Pros: Casey Jones: I actually really enjoyed Casey Jones in the TMNT movie and really appreciate that they included him so early on in the franchise. The sculpt is fantastic and captures his ?everyman? physique pretty well. The articulation works well enough for posing and I love how many accessories/weapons he comes with.

Raphael: Overall a way cool figure and much different than the original release. I love the soft goods overcoat and once I got the hat to work property: I loved it too. I didn?t take everything off to see what was underneath, so I assume it?s as good as the first one with a solid sculpt and nice articulation throughout.

Cons: Casey Jones & Raphael: I really have nothing bad to say about either figure and if you are able to track down the set I highly recommend it.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

814-2
McFarlane Toys- DC Multiverse: The Joker (Batman: White Knight)




Welp, let's talk about guns. I can?t recall if I?ve discussed them before, but as of this review the gun debate has once again hit a fever pitch due to yet another school shooting, this time in Texas, and I have thoughts as they relate to toys.

First thing is first: I?m Canadian and have no attachment to the USA 2nd amendment protecting the right to bear arms. As far as I know, Canada has some fairly strict gun control laws and given that we don?t seem to have a mass shooting every month, It seems to be working ok. Yes, there is still gun violence within our cities (one innocent mother was recently shot and killed in the crossfire of a road rage incident in Calgary last month), but on the whole we don?t have the same issues and fetishization with guns as our cousins to the south do.

Secondly: I don?t own any real guns. I don?t live on a ranch, my parents never had them and nor do I plan on chaining that. I?m a white, middle class guy who lives in Calgary that has as much use for a gun as I do a Boat. I don?t hunt, I don?t shoot for sport and my money is spent on other hobbies including toys and photography. I should also qualify that I?ve never been in a situation where I feel in danger or where a gun wouldn?t just make things so much worse.

Thirdly: I honestly think guns are really cool, but not in a ?look I?m Rambo? kind of way, but in a historical tool of war kind of way; like fighter jets or a tank. Guns are technologic marvels that have helped shape the world as we know it. I mean, I?m a kid of the 80?s and grew up with this romantic idea that guns are important in the fight between bad and good. Name a popular series or movie and I?ll show you a badass gun that was used to save the day. As a society we?ve started to move away from this trope, but we will never fully drop it; it?s just too ingrained in our storytelling; guns are still in most media including games, shows and blockbuster movies and in turn a big part of the overall design of action figures.

Which brings me to this point: Lots of people, including me, grew up with guns, gun imagery and were the target demographic for the big gun push of the 80 & 90s and will never touch a gun in their lifetime. I play games with guns, I watch movies with guns and I would really like it if my action figures based on the media I consume had guns. Hell, if you want to really do something that will make an actual difference, then feel free to ban actual guns as DC?s move to take them out of the plastic hands of our toys based on pretend characters will do precisely dick all. In fact, can we talk about how fucked up it is for DC and WB to produce a movie like Suicide Squad that glamorizes guns at the same time producing toys for that same movie and not including guns for safety sake? I?d like to be a fly on the wall at that board meeting.

Anyways, long story short, I?ve basically stopped buying DC multiverse figures because of the ridiculous decision to ban guns from their figures. I?ll still pick up a few characters if guns are not part of their schtick (like Red Robin), but for the most part I cannot support that level of hypocrisy.

Pros: I know very little about the White Knight story outside of what I recall from the research I did for Batman, but I do know The Joker is kind of the good guy in this iteration. Overall the sculpt is great and captures the style of the book very well, I love that he still comes with a gun (regardless of how impractical it likely is, and appreciate the alternative head sculpts, which is something McFarlane rarely does.

Cons: I got nothing, this figure is fantastic.

[Team Jetfire]

815-2
Hasbro- Transformers Generations: Swerve & Flanker




As with all Transformers, the package for Swerve & Flanker provides a transforming difficulty level. It?s basically to ensure parents or grandparents don?t buy their 5 year old a Masterpiece level Transformer to play with. Pretty standard stuff, but I find it funny that the scale is between 0-4 where Swerve is a 1 which makes sense because he?s really basic. That said, if Swerve is a 1, what counts as a 0? Why even have a 0? Is a figure that doesn?t transform a 0? I?m so confused.

Pros: I love these little two pack figures and glad to see they produced a few more Generation 1 MiniBot characters. The transformation is fun and he looks good in both modes. Flanker is a nice little addition too.

Cons: Overall both figures are great. No complaints here.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

816-2
Hasbro- Star Wars Black Series: Darth Nihilus



So true story, I know so little about Darth Nihilus that I actually labeled him Darth Raven on my photo files for the figure; what a huge Star Wars fan I am huh? In my defense D.N. is a fairly obscure character that existed in the extended universe and the video games, so it's one of those “those who know, know” type of things. Thankfully for noobs like me all the answers are right at my fingertips and after a quick Bing search I was able to get up to speed... well sort of. Turns out, as with much of the EU, Darth Nihilus is a complicated dude and in an effort to not piss off any more EU fans, I’ll just let you try and figure it out. All I know is that he looks badass and is an amazing black series figure.

Pros: Really fantastic Black Series figure all around. Superb sculpt that captures the character really well, a full range of articulation with an ever import cloth cape and of course his trusty lightsaber. I was really very happily surprised with this one.

Cons: My only gripe is that he has no lightsaber hilt storage, but given that it was an EU character he probably stored it in some pocket dimension that only Sith can access.

[Team Jetfire]

817-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Adam Warlock.




So what do you like better: Space or Old. I’ve heard it before jokingly on a podcast, but think it is a valid question when it comes to an individual’s popular culture preferences. I mean, think about it: do you gravitate to Sci-Fi stories or Fantasy? Are you a fan of Star Trek or Lord of the Rings? SPACE or OLD? I suppose there are a few outliers that may not fit that mold exactly, but for the most part every “geeky” movie fits into those two categories in some way or another. I myself am a fan of both, with the caveat that it really depends on the series. For example, I ADORE the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but am not a fan of Game of Thrones. I mean I should like it, but it just never resonated with me. This brings me to Marvel and their different genres. Yes it is cool that space is a big part of their universe, and while I am a fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, I’ve just never enjoyed the space themed comics. Perhaps the ever growing cosmic wing of the MCU will change my mind as well as my feelings of indifference to Adam Warlock.

Pros: I’m sure a lot of folks were excited for this figure’s release, but not me. I mean, he’s fine however I haven’t ever had a connection to the character nor do I think the figure is particularly well done. Ok, I’m being too harsh, especially for the “PROS” section of the review so I will concede that both heads are pretty great and I appreciate the energy effects.

Cons: Put a Dr. Strange head on this figure and you have my reasoning as to why this figure is so generic. Perhaps it’s my own ignorance to the character, but Hasbro probably could have done a better job to make this an actual Adam Warlock figure.

[Team Jetfire]

818-2
Mattel- Jurassic Park Amber Collection: Ian Malcolm



So I?m an idiot twice in a row and it?s somewhat fitting that it involves the self described ?chaostician? Dr Ian Malcolm. See a number of years ago I was on vacation and came across a Mattel Jurassic Park Amber collection Ian Malcom, such as this, at a Game Stop in Maui, Hawaii and passed on it. Sure, I love Jurassic Park and think a figure like Dr Malcom would be a neat edition to my collection, but he was just one figure and at that time it seemed odd to do ?one-offs?, besides I?m sure it would eventually come to Canada right? RIGHT? It wasn?t until I saw his cast mate Dennis Nedry on the pegs at my local Toys R Us that I knew I missed the preverbal boat on a retail release for Malcolm. Too bad really given that I was now enamored with the line after picking up the portly computer genius, but also after I found out that basically the entire cast was being released. Thankfully I was able to pick him up on the aftermarket, but you would have thought I?d learn my lesson.

Fast forward to last April where we were in Florida on vacation and a trip to Target would spark my Jurassic interest once more. News to me, but Mattel is producing a line of smaller scale Jurassic Park themed figures including 3 ? figures and Dinosaurs starting off with, you guessed it, Dr Ian Malcom. I was smitten with these at first, but initially passed on them for the size alone, besides if I changed my mind I could always go pack and get them. A day later I had to head back to Target for supplies and guess what: They were gone: all of them. Shocking right? Well over the next 2 weeks I would check out the odd Target location to see if that was just an odd store anomaly, but nope, nothing. ***Sigh***

Hopefully in time they will make their way into Canadian stores, but I?m not holding my breath.

Pros: If you are looking for an action figure to perfectly capture the lanky, sexy and fascinating character that is Dr Ian Malcom then look no further. Much like Dennis Nedry before, Malcolm is not so much an Action figure, but a toy based on a normal dude, which for fans of the series is basically perfect. Great sculpt, decent articulation and amazing accessories makes him a must own for any Jurassic Park Fan.

Cons: Not that I?m complaining, but the included ?amber stand? is only really useful if you want to pose the figure standing feet shoulder width apart without bent knees. Boo!

[Robimus]

Oh, baby!!!!!

They need a scale T Rex for that line

Haslab it!

[Team Jetfire]

819-2
Hasbro- GI Joe Classified: Beachhead.




You know what?s pathetic? It has been basically a year since I have seen a new Gi Joe Classified figure on the shelves. Sure, I have been able to purchase some via internet retailers, but the ability of Hasbro to provide a stable supply of these figures, in spite of their push of pre-orders and coming soon images, is ridiculous. And don?t get me wrong, I know the challenges that are facing this line, but I have never had a company be so blas? with both the market and the fandom and don?t even get me started on the exclusives. I mean, what has happened to Toys R Us and these Cobra Island exclusives? Sure we got a handful of the initial figures, but I?ve only seen Major Bludd once and Barbeque never showed up, despite being on clearance in some Targets down south. Outside of that there is no indication where the new round of exclusives are going to show up, if at all and in true Hasbro fashion, they are not just clever repaints of existing molds, but brand new characters like OUTBACK in a Tiger Force motif. I suppose there is a time when these figures will be released through all channels, but seeing as it's been a long time since the initial round of Cobra Island figures were released and still nothing outside of the exclusive status, I have a really hard time believing it.

Pros: I consider myself very lucky to have tracked down a BeachHead figure and at retail to boot. As critical as I am of Hasbro about how they have rolled out the Classified line, I have to say that every figure opened, including Beachhead, is an absolute treat. Amazingly detailed sculpt, all the articulation that you could want and a bunch of great accessories.

Cons: The backpack doesn?t seem to want to stay on very well on my Beachhead. Also, and this isn?t such a big deal to me, the weapons could stand to be more realistic and less NERF- like.