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

[Team Jetfire]

922-2
Mattel- Masters of the Universe Retaliation: Teela



It’s been almost 2 years since Revelation was released and I think it is safe to say that He-Man’s third age has come and gone with little impact to the overall pop culture landscape. That isn’t to say I have not enjoyed its resurgence, but rather that there is only so much “skin on the bone” that can be mined for current audiences to keep them engaged. Yes it starts off strong, but typically devolves into the clich? He-Man vs Skeletor battle and then morphs into an odd “snake” based storyline that I never had any familiarity with. It happened in the OG series, then again in the 200X series and finally now with the current retro series. Time will tell if the rumored follow up Netflix series will see a release and if there are toys to follow, but given that the hype has cooled I can’t see there being much point for them to move on with it.

Pros: I was initially underwhelmed with this version of Teela and not for the reasons you would think as I actually liked Revelation and would have wanted a more “deluxe” release that is becoming of a main protagonist. I’m not sure what that would include given that the sculpt is beautiful, the articulation is solid and accessories are thoughtful, but I just have that feeling that something is missing.

Cons: Nothing that I can put my finger on, Revelations Teela is a solid release.

[Team Jetfire]

923-2
Diamond Select: The Lord of the Rings: Uruk-Hai Orc




I?m not going to lie, the Diamond LOTR releases have been a bit hit or miss for me (Gimli ? hit, RingWraith- miss), but I?m happy to report that I can put this one in the HIT column for a few reasons: 1. There are no hard plastic cloaks or tunics that limit mobility. 2. The legs have a full range of motion and did not break when I took them out of the package. 3. A MUCH better update to the Toybiz ``screaming Uruk-Hai Orc? figure whose face was literally falling apart because of the plastic breaking down after all these years. Heck, the only downside to this bad boy is that Diamond released it as an army builder (including two different heads) and I only have one body to put it on.

Pros: Great sculpt, great articulation, great accessories and overall great figure.

Cons: This is a bit of a personal opinion issue, but while I appreciate them including an alternative head and accessories, it doesn?t do much to help the figure without having an alternative body to put them on. And while I could buy another figure to ?army build? I will always have double the amount of heads to bodies, which is a waste.

[Team Jetfire]

924-2
McFarlane Toys- Fortnite: Jonesy



Is Fortnite good or bad for the world of gaming? Certainly a loaded question and I think the answer would change depending on the individual that you asked. Let's explore each side of the argument and see if we can answer the questions.

Fortnite is Good for the gaming world:
As I understand it, the game itself is free and extremely accessible to most classes of people who have access to decent high speed internet. ]
It is a multiplatform game that runs on most games systems, computers and mobile devices.
As far as I can tell, it does not follow a pay to win model, but I could be wrong about that.
There is almost limitless customization.
Playable characters are cross platform and not necessarily tied to only one intellectual property making for a very robust appeal amongst a large demographic of players.
The mechanics are solid for what it is. Namely, it is fun and enjoyable to play.
It is always changing and evolving with new seasons, skins and weapons. The ability to improve is baked into the game and it always stays fresh while not having to reinvent the wheel for a second, third, or fourth release to stay fresh like an Assassins Creed type game.

Fortnite is Bad for the gaming world
While the game is technically free, there is an element of pay for skins, weapons or items that you may want to make the game more “enjoyable”. There is a fine line of understanding for most people, especially younger kids, that do understand that paying for digital items is really meaningless in the long run and can get out of control very quickly.
The free to play game model is ruining traditional game designs given that there is little financial reason for a company to invest money into traditional campaigns or story lines.
Typical games have now introduced pay to win elements.
Requirements to have dedicated internet connections.
The overall homogenization of what games are going to be.

Overall, as it stands right now, I think that Fortnite is good for gaming given its overall ability to evolve and be accessible for most people. This is also under the assumption that other games, AAA games like Breath of the Wild two are still released to ensure a balance of traditional games and newer style games is maintained. Afterall, many fewer games is not a bad thing to allow time for people to actually finish the ones that they have on the go.

Pros: Even though he is/was the default character, I really like the look of Jonesy and McFarlane captures him pretty well. Overall standard solid sculpt, articulation and accessories. Good stuff.

Cons: Great figure with no overall issues to report.

[Team Jetfire]

S-51
Hasbro- Fortnite Legendary: Skye and Ollie



I’m not going to pretend that I know what is going on with this deluxe set. I mean, clearly these two are related in some way or another, but as far as I know it’s not typical that Fortnite characters have their own animal companions, but maybe Ollie is supposed to be her glider? But now that I think about it, as far as I am concerned, this set is proof of concept for a line of fully articulated Pokemon trainers that would come with full size Pokemon. Like, do you not that that vibe from these two?

Pros: Hasbro continuing to kill it with these Fortnite figs and Skye is no exception. Fantastic sculpt with lots of details (a camera!), great articulation (FEMALE DOUBLE JOINTED ELBOWS!) and some cool accessories including 2 swords, storage for one in a neat backpack and a plunger gun.

Cons: Two minor things: I think she deserved a better gun and I wish they gave Ollie some type of harness to make it easier for her to hang on.

[Team Jetfire]

925-2
Super 7- Disney Ultimate’s: Prince John






Ok, quick rant that was born out of an online argument. I do not like Disney’s slate of “live action” reimagined movies and I cannot wait for the day that they are all done / exhausted. And before you get on me saying that “if I don’t like them, no one is forcing me to watch them”, I will counter that for ever crappy, uninspired and homogenous live action movie is one less potentially new film whose budget was cut in favor of the same-old.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched most of them (the Alice movies, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King) but on the whole I have been left just with the desire to just watch the original movie, especially true for my favorites Aladdin and Lion King. NOTHING in the original movies were made better by making them into live action versions; in fact some things were worse. And sure, there is some possibility that the movies made a good amount of money, which is always a good reason for a studio to green light such projects, but I’d argue there were a lot more misses than hits with the general population getting tired of the scheme at this point. Certainly it was a unique idea at first, but it is now old hat and Disney really needs to find its creative roots once again. Thankfully it seems as though some films are safe given that another ‘live action’ Robin Hood, even if they were anthropomorphic animals, would certainly fall on its face.

Pros: If this Super 7 line is to be judged by it’s best then I would like to submit Prince John for consideration given that he is indeed the best of the but thus far. I bit of an anomaly given that he is a rather odd character to round out the initial wave of figures, but I’m sure has his fans nevertheless: I’m just happy that Supper 7 released a Robin Hood to go with him in the follow up wave (which was my only pick up of the next wave). Solid cartoonish sculpt, a good amount of articulation, a lush cloak befitting royalty and a good amount of accessories including 2 versions of his squire: Sir Hiss. It’s also nuts to see that they included 3 different Prince John heads.

Cons: Nothing really. Prince John is my favorite of the bunch.

[Team Jetfire]

[Robimus]

I've yet to watch a single one of Disney's new live action adaptations start to finish.

I saw a bit of Aladdin, that was enough.

[dusty]

That Prince John looks like a fantastic figure. Not a line I collect but I could only imagine seeing those figures when I was a kid (not that any of our parents could afford to get us them)
As always great reviews

[Team Jetfire]

926-2
Toybiz- Lord of the Rings- Fellowship of the Rings: Council Legolas



It?s funny how things work out sometimes. See, this figure is trash: there is no other way to put it. It?s like ToyBiz had a ton of spare Legolas figures in the warehouse and needed to throw together a release as cheaply as possible to move these units. I?m not even joking when I say that what you see with this figure is what you get: Legolas in a cloak. I mean, sure it is one step up from the old 90?s Hasbro StarWars Emperor that only had a big plastic blob for a body underneath his cloak, as Legolas has a decently articulated body under his, but that is really it. No action features, no weapons and frankly, NO FUN. Hell, I?m not even sure that he could sit (physically) around the council which is presumably the one thing he SHOULD be able to do.

But not all is lost my friends, because in addition to being a very boring and uninspired figure, he also has a factory error, which now in the toy collecting world, makes him unique and a bit of a curiosity. I mean, I?m not going to be able to sell him or anything and pay back my thousands of dollars in debt from that Lord of the Rings restaurant opportunity (Honestly who wouldn?t want a place dedicated to SECOND BREAKFAST??), but at least I have a cool little error that sets this Legolas apart from all the other crappy Council versions. So what is the error? Have a look at his left (our right) boot. It?s actually on backwards. I?m not sure how that would have happened, nor am I sure why they didn?t notice in the factory, but the funny thing is that outside of the aesthetics, its makes no difference in the functionality of that knee and ankle joint because this figure sucks so bad.

Pros: This is easily one of the bigger letdowns of the old school ToyBiz figures, but really does not represent the bulk of what is a VERY solid line of figures. At any rate the sculpt is pretty nice and I paid very little money, even by today's standards.

Cons: No weapons, no functionality and just has to stand there under a big rubber cloak. Also, mine has a factory error (wrong boot) so they could even get that right.

[Team Jetfire]

Originally Posted by Robimus

I've yet to watch a single one of Disney's new live action adaptations start to finish.

I saw a bit of Aladdin, that was enough.

A truly wise idea to not watch given that you will be sitting there wondering why you didn?t just watch the cartoons.

Originally Posted by dusty

That Prince John looks like a fantastic figure. Not a line I collect but I could only imagine seeing those figures when I was a kid (not that any of our parents could afford to get us them)
As always great reviews

Thanks man, glad you are enjoying them still. PJ is actually a legitimately good toy and you can tell that they put a ton of resources into him. As a bit of a tease: The Robin Hood figure is also amazing.