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Old 04-15-2019, 09:51 AM   #371
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Re: I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

204-2
Hasbro- Returns of the Titans: Skull Crusher





I remember when Beast Wars came out I was so incensed that Hasbro (or Kenner) had the gall to take my precious transformer vehicles and replace them with animals, but I clearly forgot that G1 was full of animal Transformers that totally made sense. Granted they were not meant to be life-like and kept some robotic features so perhaps that made it better? In any case I liked these when they first came out, ended up loving Beast Wars and love the fact that we got updates of these decepticon headmasters that I was never able to get when I was younger.

Pros: A gigantic robotic crocodile, what is not to love? I’m also a sucker for headmasters so that is a plus and the robot mode is certainly reminiscent of the G1 version with superior articulation.

Cons: I wish his little crocodile feet would have a bit more movement in animal mode. Also he’s a bit back heavy in robot mode finding a pose that he can make without falling backwards is a bit of a challenge.










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Old 04-15-2019, 09:51 AM   #372
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Old 04-22-2019, 09:49 AM   #373
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Re: I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

205-2
Thinkway Toys- Pixar- Eve








Back when Pixar was first releasing feature films it became somewhat of a tradition to rate them from most to least favorite and I thought I might be fun to try it with all 20 films released to date. To be honest it’s not an easy task as I do genuinely like all the Pixar offerings and still feel, despite some less than good films, that they are superior to most animated movies.

It should go without saying that these are my own thoughts and not meant to say that one movie is quantifiably better than the other, but I’ll try provide some rational with each selection to make sense of the ranking. And with that said, on to the bottom!

20. The Good Dinosaur- I saw this movie one time in the theaters and it was overall a pretty forgettable story in an extremely beautiful setting. In truth, I feel that’s in-line with the difficulties surrounding production what with delays and major rewrites providing a less than cohesive story line in the finished product. In short, Pixar films typically have amazing characters participating in unique, yet compelling stories that look amazing and the Good Dinosaur just did not meet that mark. I’ll revisit it eventually, but I’m not really in any rush.

Pros: Eve is a surprisingly fun toy with a good amount of articulation for the character with a pivoting head and ball jointed shoulders that fit nicely back into egg mode. Accessory wise she has everything that you would want including a clear stand, blaster arm, light bulb that fits into her arm, an “exploding rock” and Plant in boot plot device that can actually fit in her body cavity to in-act the life beacon. The other cool feature that is totally great is that you can change the eye expressions every time you press its head down; it’s a bit of a gimikey thing that reminds me of the He-Man figure : Man-E-faces, but works totally great have gives a lot of emotion to the robot.

Cons: Not sure if this is just mine, but the arm joints are a bit loose and can really be held in place. Also the boot does not fit very well in the body cavity and just sits there loose.








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Old 04-22-2019, 09:50 AM   #374
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Old 04-26-2019, 11:33 AM   #375
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206-2
Disney Store- Toy Box- Marvel: Spider-Man



Heh, so the one Toy Box figure that could have really benefited from some great articulation did not get ankle tilts…I’m not really mad; just disappointed given that it seems as though it was standard for all the other Toy Box Figures, including the ones that can even use them due to hard plastic skirt syndrome!

Pros: Nice sculpt based on the MCU version of the character, with a decent amount of articulation and poseability.

Cons: sadly not ankle tilts and the massive web accessory is more “playschool” then I think they are going for on this Toy Box line.










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Old 05-13-2019, 03:26 PM   #376
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207-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: Doctor Strange Astral Projection.



So I guess I’m in to making lists now because I decided to now rank the Marvel MCU films much like I’m doing with the Pixar films. It’s a nice bit of harmony as both have 20 films, span a good amount of years and have had various degrees of success. The only difference, in my mind anyways, is that the MCU is really on a roll with a really exciting few years ahead whereas Pixar seems to have stalled with less than impressive sequels and very little new content on the horizon. That said, the MCU took a number of movies to get going, movies like…

Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating- 20. The Incredible Hulk- I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who’s favorite MCU film is The Incredible Hulk. Now that is not a slight at the movie, as it’s completely fine (and much better than Ang Lee’s Hulk from a few years previous), but missing the connective tissue that is present throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps because it was only the second one out of the bunch and had to rely heavily on a character that is pretty one sided in a story line that is familiar (Hulk smash). I would be surprised if the “fair weather fan” would even know that The Incredible Hulk was part of the MCU, especially considering Mark Ruffalo was not even attached to the character until the Avengers. In fact it’s a bit curious as to how Edward Norton would have fit in if they decided to not re-cast.

Pros: I want to like this version of Doctor Strange as I think it looks really cool and fits well within his ability to exist in the Astral realm where he has ghost-like features. Looking closely, the sculpt is really well done with lots of detail in his costume. There is also one more added point of articulation on his calf area that actually helps his poseability and kind of makes me want it standard on all Marvel Legends going forward.

Cons: Astral Doctor Strange could have been a fantastic figure, however unfortunately you get no “magic effect” or cape accessory, hindered leg poseability due to the damn plastic skirt thing and the dread that a leg or arm is going to snap off given the brittle feeling plastic coupled with really tight joints. DISAPPOINTED!!!









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Old 05-14-2019, 10:21 AM   #377
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Re: I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

208-2
Hasbro- Transformers- Dark of the Moon: Optimus Prime.



Good lord, will these DOTM the moon figures ever end? I Just unpacked a few more from storage and that should be it. And while I’m apparently doing “best of” lists, I may as well do it with the Transformers movies because...why not? I’ll include the 6 live action films as well as the animated movie because it was released in the theatres (even though I first watched it on VHS.) As with my other dumb lists, these are my opinions and have very little to do whether or not the movie was critically received or even if it was a commercial success; sometimes you just like a movie for your own reasons. From worse to best broken down by GOOD, BAD and UGLY parts of each movie. :

Transformers Movie Rating #7. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen-

This is probably no surprise, but Revenge of the Fallen is easily the worst of the Transformers Movies and rightfully so; it's pretty terrible. However, like Darth Vader, there is some good mixed in there; not a lot, but some nevertheless.

The Good: The fight and action scenes are some of the best in all of the series with that forest scene certainly taking top spot. Other passable aspects include the addition of some different characters like roller skating, blade wielding Corvette, Sideswipe, the first big screen movie combiner: Devastator with other constructicons as well as my name sake (albeit not this version): Jetfire. As with all the Transformers media some consideration needs to be given to the toys that support these moves and where the film fell flat, the toys knocked it out of the park as some of the best, yet most complicated, Transformers to date. And while I don’t love a complicated Transformer, I can’t poo-poo on a figure line with Masterpiece level engineering for a mainline price; THAT Leader Optimus is nothing short of amazing and might be in my top ten Transformers figure.

DOTM Optimus Prime

Pros: I like this type of figure as it allows the kids who can’t necessarily afford the Leader class price tag to get the their hands on the big guy himself for the price of a deluxe (which was around $15 at that time). No complaints on the vehicle mode and the robot mode has a decent sculpt with good articulation

Cons: While I appreciate the addition of the axe, these spring loaded accessories were a total miss for me as they were never able to be locked in place rendering them basically useless.














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Old 05-15-2019, 03:40 PM   #378
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Re: I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

209-2
Funko- Disney Afternoons: Uncle Scrooge McDuck



If you grew up with The Disney Afternoon shows it’s pretty clear as to why it was so popular: familiar Disney characters in fun and exciting adventures and given that Ducktails was one of the first, it was, in my opinion anyways, one of the best. Not to say that it would hold up now, as it was clearly for kids, but still had some decent Episodes, a movie and even a NES video game that honestly may have solidified the series in my memory more than the cartoon. Ducktails has also survived the reboot process with a new version that I legitimately find to be enjoyable to watch as an adult; it’s still geared to kids, but has the humour you would find in shows like Gravity Falls or Adventure Time if that is your cup of tea. At any rate, it’f fun and worth a watch.

Pros: Fantastic detailed sculpt with character specific accessories, including his trademark Cane

Cons: More of an issue due to the size, but Scrooge has rather limited articulation. Funko did what they could and works well enough, but n true greedy Scrooge fashion, I would have loved more.









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Old 05-21-2019, 11:56 AM   #379
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Re: I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

210-2
Hasbro- Marvel Legends: The All Father, Oden & Old King Thor




Rating of worst to best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies continued; see review 207-2 for the first instalment:

Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: 19- Thor: The Dark World- I finally got around to seeing Thor: The Dark World and to be honest, it was adequate: Nothing special or groundbreaking, but did provide some much needed character development for both Thor and Loki, two of the more popular characters in the current MCU. I suppose a silver lining of the relative “boring” Thor franchise is that it forced them to make some much needed changes to better appeal to the masses.

The All Father, Oden & Old King Thor

Pros: In truth Hasbro’s decision to create a build a figure from 2 different characters is equal parts brilliant and frustrating.Yes, it’s really great that a figure like Ogen was produced and even better that a fairly obscure character like Old King Thor would have been offered in a briallian re-tool, but where does that leave the collectors who might want both? I mean the wave was decent enough, but do I really want 2 of everything? Nope. Of the two, while I like the idea of Old Thor, I feel that they did a better job with Oden what with an amazing head sculpt and nice staff.

Cons: As mentioned, it’s a bummer that completists would need two waves if they wanted both characters, which is insane. Also the bane of my existence on today’s toys is very prevalent on this figure: hard plastic skirt syndrome that ruins any chance of lower body posability… BOO!













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Old 05-27-2019, 06:16 PM   #380
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Re: I open a toy & post it here... VOL 2!

211-2
Hasbro- Sigma 6: Kamakura




Another great Sigma 6 figure that almost perfectly blends both playability and poseability in one figure; man do I miss this toy line! And while I have said it before, I will say it again: Gi Joe deserves a better future and hope for a time when we see six inch, Black Series/Marvel Legends style figures on the toy shelves. I understand that a new movie is in production so there IS hope.

Pros: Great “anime” style Ninja sculpt, a good amount of “non hindered’ usable articulation as well as a really fun selection of ninja accessories including duel swords, duel fan blades, removable goggles and a glider backpack; just think of the Ninja Adventures!!

Cons: By current standards the articulation is somewhat dated and does limit some poseability.











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