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

[Team Jetfire]

960-2
Hasbro- G.I. Joe Sigma 6: Samurai Snake Eyes





I have shared my adoration for Sigma 6 for as long as I have been doing these reviews, but even though I love them unabashedly I can see why some folks thought they were maybe a bit too immature for their collection. For instance, let me introduce you to SAMURAI Snake Eyes. That?s right folks, one of the most famous and recognizable NINJIAS in the world cosplaying as a samurai. Not only does it not make sense, I feel like it is unbelievably culturally insensitive to the history of feudal Japan and this is coming from an ignorant Canadian white dude. Now I get that Snake Eyes was the bee?s knees for Hasbro at this time (unfortunately still is) and he had more Sigma releases than any other character, but why not take this idea and release an updated version of the classic ARAH character BUDO. Now this may still be problematic given that BUDO was yet another white savior type in Asian martial arts, but they could have easily updated him. Either way, as with many of the other SIGMA releases we should have gotten a much wider selection of characters if they just slowed down on the Snake Eyes release.

Pros: I will say this about Samurai Snake Eyes: It is a very impressive looking figure; there is a lot going on with it. The base figure is standard, but to complete the look he comes with body armor, a very odd and somewhat useless shoulder mesh cape, a large backpack that looks like bug legs and of course a samurai inspired helmet. The weapon loadout is really impressive and includes a few blades, a claw whip and a disk launcher that attaches to his arm.

Cons: This is tough for me given that Hasbro has clearly put some money into this figure but it's just maybe a bit too much? I don?t know, given that new figures barely come with anything, I?ll just be happy with what we got.

[Team Jetfire]

961-2
Mattel- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Masterverse: Savage He-Man





As of this writing there have been a lot of news stories about Netflix's cancellation of the rumored live action He-Man project and as a long time fan I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. Yes, you read that correctly: I do not want a live action He-Man movie. Why do you ask? May I present you ***points at every live action adaptation, every recent pop culture project and of course fandom in general***: the issue.

Now you could argue that there have been some very successful live action adaptations of previous cartoons, toys and games, but the hits are few and far between. Fact is that the luster is gone and as much as it pains me to say it, the way Hollywood operates these days is incongruous with the media from 40 years ago. Call it wokeness or call it inclusion, but the reality is that any decision will piss off someone to the point that it isn?t even worth the headache.

The solution? Smaller scale. Live action isn?t the be-all end-all and animation is your friend. Follow the DC Animation model and create a direct to streaming feature length story and focus on what made the series good from the start. Hell, put a few more bucks down and release it in the Theaters (like Ninja Turtles) to test the waters from there.

Pros: Truth be told, I was less excited for He-Man and more interested in the Orko figure, but was pleasantly surprised with both. Savage He-Man looks appropriately savage and Orko maintains his rather scrawny look from the Revelation Netflix series. Accessory wise He-Man has a few included weapons including a spear, ax and his own power sword and some spare hands while Orko just has a magical looking base.

Cons: Nothing really; I really like this set. I suppose some magical effects for Orko would have been cool though.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

962-2
Diamond Select: Lord of the Rings: Gandalf the Grey.





I knew this was going to be a problem right from the jump and my fears were realized when I caught a YouTube review of this latest wave. Hard Plastic Clothing has struck again and made posing this figure extremely frustrating. I get that a full cloth tunic and cape may be cost prohibitive, but maybe if you are going to charge $35+ for a figure, you may want to make the best figure possible, especially for a character as iconic as Gandalf, and these HPCs are just not working any more. I suppose this furthers my love/hate relationship with Diamond as they have the ability to make wonderfully detailed figures and Gandalf looks amazing, but has such useless limited movement under the waist that it?s a wonder why I still bother.

Pros: First and foremost, Gandalf looks amazing. The sculpt, the painting and all the accessories are fantastic. Articulation above the waist is decent and I appreciate the sword/scabbard, his staff and pointy wizards hat.

Cons: I really want to love this figure but, hard plastic makes posing below the waist all but useless and in a design decision that only Diamond could pull off, the hard plastic cuffs on his sleeves makes it nearly impossible to hold his sword all the way to the hilt. Lastly the hat? the god damn hat. It?s not sculpted to actually fit on his head. I?m not even kidding, it?s like balancing a spoon on your nose. Any picture I have with his hat on has double sided tape to hold it in place.

[Team Jetfire]

34-R
Kotobukiya/ARTFX- Final Fantasy VIII: Guardian Force Gilgamesh
Approximate Release Date: 1999



Back in 1999 I was BIG into Final Fantasy 8, but the lore is vast, a lot has happened since then, and I have a bad memory. With that said, I love the look of Gilgamesh even though I had no idea what his name was until I recently googled ?Final Fantasy 8, 4 arm, red cape? to finally find out his name was Gilgamesh; big fan indeed?

Anyways, for those not lucky enough to play FF8 back in the day, it was a classic style, RPG video game that had a robust story, interesting characters and some really fantastical magical creatures throughout. One feature of the game was that during battles, the player could call down these Guardian Forces or GF?s that would attack your enemy, or provide your party with some type of magical advantage or healing. These ?calls? would trigger a 5-20 second animated sequence that would show the Guardian in action and complete with showing the effect of the attack (loss of HP) or effect on the party. These sequences were really cool and certainly broke up the gameplay, but over time became a bit tiresome and I think players were given the opportunity to skip the animation all together if they wanted. Now Gilgamesh was a GF featured later in the game so I don?t recall his animation, but thanks to YouTube I don?t need to remember.


https://youtu.be/JS_kW-_Jaag

Seeing this animation answers a lot of questions I had about Gilgamesh including why he has 4 arms, but only 3 swords and why he is unable to hold all three at one time. Also, if you watched the video and noticed a 4th sword that is not included with this figure just know that this was a very powerful sword that was typically wielded by another GF named Odin. I think in the game storyline Gilgamesh replaced Odin and took his sword, but I can?t recall the specifics.

Overall these Final Fantasy Guardian Forces figures are really great, but are FRAGILE as anything and not aging very well.

Pros: Gilgamesh is a beautiful figure that has an amazing sculpt with lots of detail and a great paint scheme. The engineering of the 4 arms is impressive and I appreciate that they were able to give some level of articulation to each arm.

Cons: Detail comes at a cost and Gilgamesh has very little ability to pose. Yes the arms have a bit of movement, but that is basically it. Also, his plastic seems to be deteriorating given that his elbow joints just seem to fall apart now.

[Team Jetfire]

963-2
McFarlane Toys: Fortnite: Bigmouth





Whoa. Someone at McFarlane was up for a challenge and hit it out of the park. Just look at how beautiful this figure is and really does a good job in showcasing what McFarlane is capable of doing when given the runway to work. Like it’s crazy to me that this was sold on toy shelves. Also, while it is difficult to look past the… big mouth, check out the details on the belt. The frog and potion aren’t accessories; they are sculpted and painted as part of this figure. Entirely unnecessary, but gives this figure such character. Amazing.

Pros: In short, Big Mouth is amazing. Amazing sculpt, amazing detail and amazing paint job. Just a masterclass on how Macfarlane toys raised the bar for toy production.

Cons: I’m not sure that the compound bow was the right choice for this fella given that to use a bow you need to hold it crossways to your body and turn your head to where you are aiming. Given that Big Mouth has no neck, it makes the weapon basically useless. Seriously, a hand gun would have been fine.

[Team Jetfire]

964-2
Super 7- Disney Ultimates: Robin Hood






So the book closes on my brief, yet ridiculously long, affair with Super 7 and their Ultimates line of Disney figures and I have some thoughts.


They have the ability to be amazing figures with lots of detail and lots of accessories.
Quality seems to be decent.
There is something like including too many accessories.
Not all Ultimates are created the same. Some are clearly better than others, especially in this Disney series.
Batch made toys are a bad business model as it takes far too long from design to production to having them in hand.
They are premium figures with a premium cost and I?m not sure that the value is there for me. I may dabble in a GI Joe or Star Trek figure, but only if I can find them on sale.

Pros: Robin Hood was the only figure I picked up from wave 2 and I have to say he is really fantastic and probably my favorite of the bunch. Great cartoony sculpt, a good articulation scheme that allows for many poses and more accessories that you can shake a stick at, including his entire stork costume from the movie. Extra points for having the ability to hold the bow and arrow property in both costume configurations.

Cons: It?s not clear from the pictures, but the only part that is needed to make the ?stork? costume is the torso and upper arms; everything else from the head, the crouched legs, the wings and tunic are included as accessories. Why could they not have just included a torso so that you could have both figures in this release, rather than having one completed and the rest of the parts sitting in a storage bin. Seriously 4 less wing accessories could have made this a perfect figure.

[Team Jetfire]

[Team Jetfire]

965-2
Toybiz- Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings: Bilbo Transfixed.




Ok, this is hilarious. Hasbro gets a lot of crap for producing figures for very obscure characters that only had mere seconds on screen, but this is next level. Toybiz actually made a figure from that millisecond where Bilbo goes nutty looking at the “one ring”. Like, that’s it folks: that’s the figure. I mean, I’m not sure what else I was expecting, but it’s not like Toybiz to go this cheap on a release in the past. Surely they could have included a normal looking head so he didn’t always look like he’s falling in a chair that he leaned just a bit too far on (picture included). I suppose this lands in the realm of oddities that Toybiz rounded out the LOTR collection with near the end and even though it’s a bit of a light release, I’m happy to have it in my precious collection.

Pros: Bilbo transfixed is an interesting figure to have in a collection, but fun never-the-less. Its absurdity is its strength and I have to appreciate it.

Cons: Overall a very basic release and really only geared to hardcore LOTR fans who love the movies and get a kick out of that screen every time it plays. (Me)

[Team Jetfire]

35-2
Hasbro: Transformers Energon- Snowcat



I have a love-hate relationship with Transformers Energon. On one hand the toys, including Snowcat, were a solid upgrade from the gimmick filled Transformers Armada figures, but the show was nearly unwatchable and almost ruined the Transformers series for me entirely as I almost lost total interest. Now looking back, through the lens of what Hasbro has done with Transformers now, I think I was maybe a bit too harsh on Energon at the time. Yes it was ridiculous, but at least it was a unified version of the series that had a defined focus. Basically the stuff on TV was also the same stuff on the shelves. Now it's a bit of a mess with multiple lines going based on different media sources and they all seem to revolve around Optimus and BumbleBee. Also, Energon was able to take a few risks including what I think is the first official GI Joe/Transformers collaboration with this Snowcat figure. For those not aware, back in the 80?s, G.I.Joe had a vehicle called the Snowcat that the Transformers designers used as direct inspiration for this figure of the same name. I recall being blown away that they would make such a connection between the two properties at the time and had solidified Snowcat as one of my favorites from the line. Also, he has built in Skies (that he uses in the cartoon); how can you NOT love that.

Pros: I adore this figure for the simple reason that it is a direct homage to the G.I. Joe vehicle of the same name. Couple that with a solid overall sculpt, a decent amount of articulation, adjustable skis and a fun transformation scheme then you got a fantastic toy.

Cons: In the cartoon he has poles, like poles for skiing and I wish they were able to incorporate them into this design.